Headline

Pope Meets ‘Team Francis’ Before Charity Football Match

Published

5 years ago

November 20, 2021

Football-fan Pope Francis met Saturday with priests, migrants and Swiss Guards making up his very own team for a charity match this weekend promoting the inclusion of the Roma community.

“Team Pope — Fratelli Tutti” (All Brothers) will face players from a Croatian group, the World Rom Organization, on Sunday at the training grounds of Rome club Lazio — with Lazio star Ciro Immobile refereeing.

Among the Vatican team are three migrants who Francis said were being integrated into Italy after a “path marked by abuse and violence” that included time on the Greek island of Lesbos.

In 2013, the pope brought back three Syrian families from Lesbos, the major point of entry for migrants into Europe. He is returning to the island next month as part of a trip to Greece and Cyprus.

“It is a team where there are no barriers, and which makes inclusion a simple normality,” the 84-year-old pontiff told the players Saturday, according to a Vatican statement.

The match is intended to raise funds for an initiative by the diocese of Rome to promote the inclusion of Roma and other vulnerable people.

During a visit to Slovakia in September, Francis called for “integration” for the marginalised ethnic Roma in the east of the country.

After hearing from Roma at the Lunik IX estate in Kosice, the pope told members of the community that “all too often you have been the object of prejudice and harsh judgements”.

AFP

Headline

Indian Court Denies Bail To Nigerian Man Over Drug Charges

Published

3 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

A court in India has denied bail to a 44-year-old Nigerian national, Cristian Soporuchukwu, who is currently facing drug trafficking charges in the country.

Cristian Soporuchukwu initially entered India on a business visa but was later arrested over allegations of involvement in the sale of hard drugs.

Reports indicated that after arriving in India, Soporuchukwu travelled through Goa, Delhi, and Mumbai, where he allegedly established links with suspected drug traffickers.

He was accused of purchasing MDMA crystals and distributing them to college students and information technology workers.

According to reports, operatives of the Beguru Police arrested Cristian Soporuchukwu in April 2025 for allegedly selling MDMA crystals around Begur Lake and the AECS Layout Road area.

The New Indian Express reported that the High Court of Karnataka subsequently dismissed the Nigerian’s bail application.

“The anti-narcotics wing seized about 1 kg of MDMA crystals, a pocket weighing machine, 10 zip-lock covers, a mobile phone and a scooter from him,” the report stated.

Justice V. Srishananda, while ruling on the bail application, reportedly held that errors relating to the grounds of arrest could not automatically justify bail in serious narcotics-related offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, NDPS, Act.

The court further noted that Cristian Soporuchukwu had allegedly overstayed his visa in India, according to the report.

Headline

Strait Of Hormuz: US Announces Sanctions Against Iran

Published

4 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States Treasury has announced sanctions against Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority.

Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, said this in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement extended the threat of sanctions to anyone paying the fees, saying they may be providing support to and receiving services from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and therefore may be exposed to sanctions risk.

“The Iranian military’s latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash.

“Treasury has deprived the Iranian regime of revenue for their weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions,” Bessent said.

Bessent added that the US has succeeded in disrupting tens of billions of dollars’ worth of revenue from being accessible to Tehran.

Headline

US Launches New Airstrikes On Iran

Published

4 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States has launched new airstrikes in southern Iran.

The strike shot down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz and then a ground control site.

A US official revealed that American forces struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.

The official described the strikes as purely defensive, saying the US intended to maintain the ceasefire.

Report says this is the second time in three days that the US has carried out self-defense strikes against Iranian military targets in southern Iran.

Recall that on Monday the US carried out airstrikes against Iranian missile locations and boats that US Central Command said were preparing to launch mines in the Strait of Hormuz.