Trump leans on Nigeria, Africa to support bid for 2026 World Cup

US President Donald Trump lobbied publicly on Monday for Nigeria to support the North American bid to host the 2026 World Cup.

In a press conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in the White House Rose Garden, Trump appealed for support from the region for the joint bid submitted to FIFA by the United States, Canada and Mexico for the 2026 tournament, which is in competition with Morocco's hosting candidacy.

"I hope all African countries and countries throughout the world - that we also will be supporting you - and that they will, likewise, support us in our bid, along with Canada and Mexico, for the 2026 World Cup," Trump said.

"We will be watching very closely, and any help that they could give us in that bid, we would appreciate."

Last week, Trump seemed to warn US allies not to oppose the "STRONG bid" by the North American neighbours.

"It would be a shame if countries that we always support were to lobby against the U.S. bid. Why should we be supporting these countries when they don't support us (including at the United Nations)?" he tweeted.

The 2026 World Cup follows Qatar in 2022 and will be the first with 48 teams.

After the scandals which surrounded the voting for the World Cups in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, it will be the first World Cup to see the host elected by FIFA members at their congress, and no longer by the former executive committee.

The vote is planned for the FIFA congress on June 13 in Moscow, on the eve of the opening match of the World Cup.

DPA

Moroccan rapper jailed for video insulting police

RABAT One of Morocco's most famous rappers and activists was handed a one-year jail sentence on 11 May for "insulting the police" through a video, report the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Human Rights Watch and Freedom House.


Mouad Belghouat, better known as "al-Haqed" (the sullen one), was arrested in March after a video of his song "Kilab ed-Dowla" (Dogs of the State) was posted on YouTube. He was jailed because the video "showed contempt" toward police with the intention of "undermining their honour," reports Human Rights Watch.

TV5 reports that the song has been circulating online for over a year, but the video, with a photomontage of a police officer whose head had been replaced by a donkey's, was the major incentive for the charges. The video is no longer available online, and Belghouat denies any involvement in its creation, says TV5.

The case has mobilised the country's activist community due to Belghouat's strong voice in the pro-reform 20 February youth movement, formed shortly after Arab Spring protests broke out last year across the region. He is a well-known critic of corruption, injustice and wealth disparity in Morocco.

As such, Belghouat had previously been arrested for allegedly beating up a pro-government protester, a trumped-up charge according to his supporters, report ANHRI and Human Rights Watch. He was found guilty in January 2012 and sentenced to four months' imprisonment, which he had already served in pre-trial detention, say the members.

Despite its highly-touted constitutional reform, Morocco has shown a pattern of severely punishing criticism of the King or public institutions, particularly on social media. Earlier this year, 18-year old student Walid Bahomane was sentenced to 18 months in prison on a charge of "attacking the nation's sacred values" for posting content on Facebook ridiculing the King, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Activist Abdelsamad Haydour, 25, was sentenced to three years in prison in February for criticising the King in a YouTube video he made with another activist from the 20 February movement, reports ANHRI.

As Human Rights Watch notes, Morocco's constitution, which was amended in 2011, makes no provision for punishing freedom of expression. To the contrary, it includes strong free expression guarantees.

1200 African migrants evacuated from Libya

More than 1,200 African migrants who have been stuck in the southern Libyan desert town of Sabha for weeks in dire conditions have been evacuated and are on their way to Chad, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday. The group, half of whom are Chadian, were among up to 3,000 migrants stranded in Sabha due to fighting, the agency said.
Interim government forces overthrew forces loyal to deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi there nearly two weeks ago.
"A convoy of 15 trucks with 1,206 migrants left Sabha on Sunday for Gatroun and is now en route to Chad," IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandya said.
"This is the first really big group. We have negotiated safe passage for them," she added.
The sub-Saharan migrants, who feared being caught in the crossfire in Sabha, had also been victims of harassment and discrimination, sometimes accused of being foreign mercenaries backing loyalist forces, according to the Geneva-based agency. Those evacuated include a large number from Nigeria, as well as migrants from nine other countries -- Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Somalia and Sudan, she said. Women and children are among the group. The migrants will be taken to Zouarke, along the Nigerian-Chadian border, a trip that will take a week before going to Faya-Largeau in Chad. It is not possible to go directly from Libya into Chad as the border area is heavily mined, the spokeswoman said.
Non-Chadian migrants will be brought to their home countries or their intended final destinations.
"They had been caught in the middle of this conflict for control of Sabha. The fighting had prevented us from getting supplies into our centre in the town and in getting the migrants out," said IOM Chief of Mission in Chad, Qasim Sufi. "The migrants are extremely relieved that they will now be able to get home and put this experience behind them," he said. At least several hundred more migrants still in Sabha are seeking evacuation, but hundreds of Somalis appear to be moving north on their own, possibly heading for Tunisia, Pandya said. The operation is financed by the European Community's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Office (ECHO), as well as the U.S. and German governments, the IOM said.