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DIPLOMACY

DR Congo asks Arsenal, other clubs to end Visit Rwanda sponsorship

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The Democratic Republic of Congo’s foreign minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner has urged soccer clubs Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Paris St Germain to end their “blood-stained” sponsorship agreements with “Visit Rwanda” following the worsening humanitarian crisis in the country.

The DR Congo health ministry said on Saturday there were almost 800 bodies in hospital morgues around Goma following the offensive by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels to seize east Congo’s largest city, home to lucrative gold, coltan and tin mines.

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Democratic Republic of the Congo’s foreign minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at U.N. headquarters in New York City, U.S., January 28, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

The latest escalation has worsened a long-standing humanitarian crisis that has driven hundreds of thousands to seek shelter in Goma after fleeing fighting between M23 and Congolese troops.

The fighting has led to human rights violations including summary executions, the bombing of displacement camps, reports of gang rape and other sexual violence, according to the United Nations.

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Wagner wrote to the three clubs this week and questioned the morality of their sponsorship deals, citing a U.N. report that suggested there were 4,000 Rwandan troops active in DR Congo.

“Thousands are currently trapped in the city of Goma with restricted access to food, water, and security,” Wagner said in her letters to the clubs, according to a media statement from her ministry on Sunday.

“Countless lives have been lost; rape, murder and theft prevail. Your sponsor is directly responsible for this misery. If not for your own consciences, then the clubs should do it (end their sponsorship agreement) for the victims of Rwandan aggression.”

Rwanda says it is defending itself, accusing Congo’s military of joining forces with ethnic Hutu-led militias bent on slaughtering Tutsis in Congo and threatening Rwanda, where Hutus targeted Tutsis in a 1994 genocide and some later fled to Congo.

Congo denies this and accuses Rwanda of using M23 to pillage valuable minerals from Congolese territory.

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“Visit Rwanda” began their sponsorship of Arsenal in 2018, with the latest deal reported to be worth more than 10 million pounds ($12.39 million) per year.

Bayern Munich signed a five-year football development and tourism promotion partnership with Rwanda in 2023, while “Visit Rwanda” has been a sponsor of PSG since 2019.

Reuters has contacted the three clubs and “Visit Rwanda” for comment.

British foreign minister David Lammy told parliament on Tuesday Rwanda received over $1 billion in global aid every year, including around 32 million pounds of bilateral UK assistance, but “all of that is under threat when you attack your neighbours.”

-Reuters

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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DIPLOMACY

Morocco’s Sovereignty over Western Sahara gains more support from Belgium

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More countries are putting their weight behind Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara as Belgium becomes the latest to do so.

The Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bernard Quintin has remarked that  “Belgium deems the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative, presented in 2007, to be a serious and credible effort by Morocco and a very good basis for a solution accepted by all parties.”

The Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs who is also in charge of  European Affairs, Foreign Trade and Cultural Institutions made the remarks during a press briefing following his talks with Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates Nasser Bourita. 

The Belgian minister said that his meeting with his Moroccan counterpart “helped me understand the ins and outs of the autonomy plan and realize the existential nature of this issue for Morocco.”

He further remarked that  “we know how important of an issue this is for Morocco”.

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Continuing, he said: “Some prominent European and international partners have changed their position”, he said, noting that Morocco and Belgium “will continue to engage constructively on this subject.”

Belgium “fully supports the UN process for a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution” and “recalls the UN’s exclusive role in the political process,” Quintin said.

He also reiterated Belgium’s backing for “UN Security Council Resolution 2703, which underscores the role and responsibility of the parties in seeking a realistic, pragmatic, and enduring political solution based on compromise”.

Belgium’s constructive stance aligns with the international momentum driven by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist Him, in support of Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara and the Autonomy Plan.

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US commends Morocco’s King Mohammed VI’s leadership in advancing peace & security

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United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio has commended Morocco’s role in advancing regional and global peace and unity. This is the aftermath of the conversation Rubio had with the Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.

According to a press release from the US Department of State,  the Secretary and Foreign Minister discussed the strong U.S.-Morocco partnership in advancing regional and global peace and security, under King Mohamed VI’s leadership. 

They discussed the implementation of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, the release of the hostages, and Morocco’s leadership in contributing humanitarian aid for Gaza. 

They committed to cooperate intensively in advancing shared interests in the region and ending conflicts, including building on the Abraham Accords. 

The Secretary and Foreign Minister affirmed the importance of expanding trade, investment, and commercial cooperation that would benefit Americans and Moroccans.

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After taking office, Trump pardons 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants

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U.S. President Donald Trump shows a signed executive order as U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance looks on during a rally on the inauguration day of his second Presidential term, inside Capital One, in Washington, U.S. January 20, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Sega

Donald Trump pardoned about 1,500 of his supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol four years ago as he moved swiftly to impose his will on the U.S. government just hours after reclaiming the presidency on Monday.

After a day of ceremony, Trump signed a series of executive actions to curb immigration and roll back environmental regulations and racial and gender diversity initiatives. He did not take immediate action to raise tariffs, a key campaign promise, but said he could impose 25% duties on Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1.

His decision to pardon supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is sure to enrage police, lawmakers and others whose lives were put at risk during an unprecedented episode in modern U.S. history.

Roughly 140 police officers were assaulted during the attack, with some sprayed with chemical irritants and others struck with pipes, poles and other weapons. Four people died during the chaos, including a Trump supporter who was shot dead by police.

Trump ordered 14 leaders of the far-right Oath Keepers and Proud Boys militant groups, who were serving long prison sentences, released from prison early, but left their convictions intact.

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Earlier in the day, Trump, 78, took the oath of office in the Capitol Rotunda, where a mob of his supporters had rampaged on Jan. 6 in an unsuccessful attempt to reverse his 2020 loss to Joe Biden.

At the ceremony, Trump portrayed himself as a saviour chosen by God to rescue a faltering nation.

“I was saved by God to make America great again,” he said.

Trump is the first president in more than a century to win a second term after losing the White House and the first felon to occupy the White House. The oldest president ever to be sworn in, he is backed by Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress.

Trump moved quickly to clamp down on illegal immigration, a signature issue since he first entered politics in 2015.

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Shortly after he took the oath of office, U.S. border authorities shut down a program that allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter the U.S. legally by scheduling an appointment through a smartphone. Existing appointments were canceled.

Nearly 1,660 Afghans who had been cleared by the U.S. government to resettle in the U.S., including family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel, were having their flights canceled under a Trump order suspending U.S. refugee programs, a U.S. official and a leading refugee resettlement advocate said on Monday.

BORDER EMERGENCY DECLARED, CLIMATE DEAL NIXED

At the White House, Trump signed an order that declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, which would unlock funding and allow him to dispatch troops there. He signed an order that would end a policy that confers citizenship to those born in the United States, which is certain to trigger a lengthy court fight. Another executive order designated Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations.

Trump once again withdrew the United States from the Paris climate deal, removing the world’s biggest historic emitter from global efforts to fight climate change for the second time in a decade.

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“We’re getting rid of all the cancer … caused by the Biden administration,” Trump said as he signed a stack of executive orders in the Oval Office.

His inauguration amounts to a triumphant return for a political disruptor who survived two assassination attempts and won the election despite a criminal conviction and a prosecution stemming from his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.

Other orders revoked Biden administration policies governing artificial intelligence and electric vehicles. He also imposed a freeze on federal hiring and ordered government workers to return to the office, rather than working from home. He also signed paperwork to create a “Department of Government Efficiency,” an outside advisory board headed by billionaire Elon Musk that aims to cut large swaths of government spending.

In the State Department, more than a dozen nonpartisan senior diplomats were asked to resign as part of a broader plan to replace nonpartisan civil servants with loyalists.

He also said he would issue orders to scrap federal diversity programs and require the government to recognize only genders assigned at birth.

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While Trump sought to portray himself as a peacemaker and unifier during his half-hour speech, his tone was often sharply partisan. He repeated false claims from his campaign that other countries were emptying their prisons into America and voiced familiar grievances over his criminal prosecutions.

With Biden seated nearby, Trump issued a stinging indictment of his predecessor’s policies from immigration to foreign affairs.

“We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders, but refuses to defend American borders, or more importantly, its own people,” Trump said.

Numerous tech executives who have sought to curry favor with the incoming administration – including the three richest men in the world, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg – had prominent seats on stage, next to cabinet nominees and members of Trump’s family.

Trump said he would send astronauts to Mars, prompting Musk – who has long talked about colonizing the planet – to raise his fists.

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Trump vowed to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and repeated his intention to take back control of the Panama Canal, one of several foreign policy pronouncements that have caused consternation among U.S. allies.

RETURN TO POWER

Trump took the oath of office to “preserve, protect and defend” the U.S. Constitution at 12:01 p.m. ET (1701 GMT), administered by Chief Justice John Roberts. His vice president, JD Vance, was sworn in just before him.

Outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in November, was seated next to Biden in a section with former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in 2016, sat with her husband Bill. Obama’s wife, Michelle, chose not to attend.

The ceremony was moved indoors due to the extreme cold gripping much of the country.

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Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration and has continued to claim falsely that the 2020 election he lost to Biden was rigged.

Biden, in one of his last official acts, pardoned several people whom Trump has threatened with retaliation, including General Mark Milley, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who Trump has suggested should be executed for holding back-channel talks with China. Milley’s portrait was removed from the Pentagon shortly after Trump’s inauguration.

He also pardoned five family members minutes before leaving office, citing fears that Trump would target them.

Reuters

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