Headlines
Cape Verde Becomes First Country to Name Stadium after Pele
Cape Verde has become the first country to name a stadium after Pele following FIFA president, Gianni Infantino’s call for every nation to do so, Standard UK reports.
The Prime Minister of the African country said they would name their national stadium – Estádio da Várzea – after the Brazil great, who died aged 82 on December 29.
Cape Verde, which is made up of a group of islands to the west of the main African continent in the Atlantic Ocean, shares Portuguese as a common language with Brazil.
Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva said Brazil and Cape Verde had a history and a culture that “go hand in hand, considering that they are two sister countries, linked by language and by very similar identities”.
“Pele was and will always be a reference in Brazil, in our Portuguese-speaking world and in the rest of the world, being an idol that connects several generations,” the Prime Minister added. ”As a tribute and recognition to this figure who makes us all great, I manifest the intention (of the Government) to name our national stadium as ‘Pele Stadium’ in an initiative to which, I believe, several countries around the world will accompany us.”
The official Cape Verde government website said that the executive had already notified FIFA of its intention to change the name of the stadium.
Infantino told reporters in Brazil on Monday: “We’re going to ask every country in the world to name one of their football stadiums with the name of Pele.”
Pele was laid to rest in Brazil on Tuesday after lying in state for 24 hours at the Vila Belmiro Stadium, the home of his former club Santos.
The Punch
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
