Global Pulse

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  • Mbappe, Vini and Konate obscure Real’s Ceuta message

    Mbappe, Vini and Konate obscure Real’s Ceuta message

    A pre-match display of solidarity with the Spanish North African autonomous city of Ceuta has stirred unexpected controversy in La Liga, after three of Real Madrid’s star players obscured the official message printed on unity T-shirts ahead of their dramatic Tuesday clash against Elche.

    Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and new signing Ibrahima Konate rolled their pre-match T-shirts up to chest level, hiding part of the slogan that read “Todos somos caballas” — translated as “We are all Ceutans” — that had been distributed to both squads to show support for the territory amid an ongoing migration crisis. While the three Real Madrid players adjusted their shirts, all other members of both Real Madrid and Elche kept the garments fully visible through all pre-match formalities. Mbappe and Vinicius went a step further, removing the shirts entirely before the traditional pre-match handshake between the two sides, while Konate left his on for several additional minutes. Representatives for all three players have been approached for comment on their choice to modify the solidarity garment.

    The pre-match tribute was organized as part of a broader La Liga-wide campaign to back Ceuta, which faced an unprecedented migration emergency in late July. Over two days, July 30 and 31, more than 72,000 migrants crossed the border from Morocco into the small Spanish territory, many swimming around the fortified border fence that divides the two territories. Ceuta’s mayor confirmed that at least 100 migrants lost their lives during the dangerous crossing. While the vast majority of arrivals have returned to Morocco, an estimated 5,000 people remain, staying in unregulated makeshift camps or sleeping rough on city streets and public beaches. The unplanned influx has sparked social unrest in the city, with local residents voicing widespread public safety concerns, and some locals taking extreme action including destroying migrant shelters and blocking humanitarian aid convoys.

    This is not the first public show of support for Ceuta from Real Madrid as a club. Earlier this season, ahead of a Champions League group stage match against Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu on September 8, fans in the stadium’s south stand arranged a card display featuring Ceuta’s official coat of arms, and the entire crowd joined the tribute with a unanimous round of applause.

    The controversy over the T-shirts emerged minutes before a memorable match for Real Madrid, who fought back from surrendering an early two-goal lead to secure a last-gasp 3-2 win. Carlos Espina scored the decisive winning goal in second-half stoppage time, with Mbappe among the club’s goal scorers on the night, and Vinicius named in the starting lineup.

    The incident also brings to light divides across La Liga over the Ceuta solidarity initiative. Barcelona declined to participate in the T-shirt campaign entirely, while players at most other top-flight fixtures across the league wore the garments as planned.

    As a side note, Real Madrid has enjoyed a blistering start to the current season, winning six of their seven matches across all competitions, cementing their position as one of the title favorites for the 2025-26 La Liga campaign.

  • Philippines’ Duterte seen in person for first time at International Criminal Court

    Philippines’ Duterte seen in person for first time at International Criminal Court

    Eighteen months after his arrest at Manila’s international airport, former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has made his first in-person appearance before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, where he has been detained since March 2025. The 81-year-old, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity stemming from his signature anti-drug campaign, arrived at the court on Wednesday dressed in a dark suit and untucked white shirt.

    Duterte, who led the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, launched a brutal nationwide war on drugs immediately after taking office, which rights groups and ICC investigators say resulted in the extrajudicial killing of tens of thousands of low-level drug suspects and small-time dealers. The court’s investigation into the killings spans more than seven years, starting in November 2011 when Duterte served as mayor of the major southern city Davao, and ending in March 2016 when Duterte withdrew the Philippines’ membership from the ICC.

    Prior to this week’s hearing, Duterte had only appeared remotely before the court and had repeatedly skipped scheduled in-person proceedings, with his legal team arguing that his declining health leaves him unfit to participate in a full trial. Wednesday’s status hearing was called specifically to address the defense’s claims that Duterte lives with severe memory impairment that prevents him from collaborating effectively with his legal team. Prosecutors have pushed back against this claim, disputing that Duterte is unfit to stand trial. The former president first disclosed his diagnosis of myasthenia gravis — an autoimmune disorder that causes nerve and muscle dysfunction — back in 2019, when he was still in office. When he was elected in 2016 at the age of 71, he was the oldest candidate ever to win the Philippine presidency.

    Duterte’s appearance at the ICC comes as his political dynasty is locked in a high-stakes power struggle that reshaped the country’s political landscape and cleared the path for his arrest. The alliance between the Duterte and Marcos political families, which delivered a landslide election victory for incumbent President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in 2022, has collapsed in a very public feud between Marcos and Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte. That falling-out, which fractured the ruling coalition, is widely seen as having enabled the arrest of the former president in 2025.

    Sara Duterte, currently the frontrunner in polling for the 2028 presidential election (for which Marcos is constitutionally barred from seeking a second term), is also fighting for her own political future. She is currently undergoing an impeachment trial on charges that include misappropriation of public funds and making threats to assassinate President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Marcos’ cousin. If convicted in the impeachment proceeding, she will be permanently disqualified from holding any public office, ending her presidential bid before the 2028 campaign even begins. Duterte’s formal trial on the ICC charges is currently scheduled to begin in November.

  • Watch: Will Ed Sheeran cancel his tour as support acts quit?

    Watch: Will Ed Sheeran cancel his tour as support acts quit?

    The future of Ed Sheeran’s highly anticipated United States tour has been thrown into serious question following a sudden wave of departures that has sent shockwaves through the live music industry. In an unexpected turn of events, every member of Sheeran’s touring backing band and all scheduled opening support acts have confirmed their withdrawal from the upcoming run of shows, leaving fans and industry observers scrambling to understand what comes next for the global superstar’s tour.

    The mass exit, which was not accompanied by an official public statement from either the departing performers or Sheeran’s team explaining the underlying motivations for the decision, has sparked widespread speculation across social media and entertainment outlets. Ticket holders who have already purchased access to the shows have taken to online platforms to share their concerns, with many asking whether the entire tour will be scrapped entirely, or if Sheeran will move forward with a last-minute reshuffle of his touring lineup to salvage the schedule.

    Industry insiders note that a full withdrawal of all support acts and backing personnel is an extremely rare occurrence in major arena touring, adding another layer of uncertainty to the situation. While Sheeran has not yet issued a public response to the departures as of this reporting, fans around the world are waiting anxiously for an update on whether the tour will proceed as planned, be rescheduled, or be canceled outright. The situation remains fluid, with no clear timeline for an official announcement from the singer’s camp.

  • EU chief opens door for Canada to become ‘associate member’

    EU chief opens door for Canada to become ‘associate member’

    In a landmark address to the European Parliament this week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has thrown her full support behind a transformative proposal that would grant Canada status as the European Union’s first-ever associate member — a move designed to deepen cross-Atlantic collaboration across critical policy and economic sectors at a moment of growing global instability.

    The announcement comes one week after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney publicly outlined his ambition to build what he called a “unique alliance” between Canada and the bloc, a push that follows a sharp breakdown in trade negotiations between Ottawa and Washington last month. Those collapsed talks triggered the imposition of new reciprocal tariffs between the two North American neighbors, worsening already tense relations between Carney’s government and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Carney was present in Strasbourg for von der Leyen’s annual State of the Union address and is scheduled to deliver his own address to the European Parliament on Thursday.

    Von der Leyen was careful to frame the associate membership proposal as a collaborative, defensive initiative rather than an antagonistic move, stressing that closer EU-Canada ties are not aimed at opposing any third country. “This is not a partnership against anyone else, but for our common strength,” she told the assembled parliamentarians. She added that expanded strategic partnerships represent a core policy choice for the EU, one that directly addresses growing fractures in the long-standing global rules-based international order.

    Highlighting the deep alignment between Brussels and Ottawa, von der Leyen noted that the EU and Canada share common perspectives on nearly every major global challenge, from artificial intelligence governance and climate action to geopolitical competition. The two sides have already coordinated closely on a range of pressing priorities, including support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, defense cooperation, raw material supply chain resilience, and the defense of democratic governance. “But above all…Europe and Canada believe in democracy,” she emphasized. Key sectors targeted for expanded future cooperation include energy, critical mineral extraction, battery manufacturing, artificial innovation, cybersecurity, and broader economic security.

    The push for closer Canadian ties also coincides with growing friction between the EU and the Trump administration, which has imposed sweeping new trade tariffs on European member states in recent months, mirroring the aggressive trade policies it has deployed against Canada.

    In addition to the associate membership proposal, von der Leyen used her wide-ranging address to unveil plans for a new European Security Council, a coordinating body that would bring the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and other key partner nations including Canada and Norway into core European security planning. She argued that the rising threat of Russian aggression on the continent has made the creation of this new leadership-focused security framework an urgent priority. “For a long time, we have discussed a leaders’ format focused on the security of our continent, with partners like Canada, Norway, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and others involved,” she said. “This is even more urgent now, given the nature and scale of the risks at play. This is why we will set out our ideas to make a European Security Council a reality.”

  • Athletes can’t stretch their legs in container beds at Japan’s Asian Games, official says

    Athletes can’t stretch their legs in container beds at Japan’s Asian Games, official says

    As the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya, Japan prepares for its official opening this Saturday, a heated controversy over athlete housing has dominated pre-Games discussions, with delegations from across the continent voicing sharp criticism of the makeshift wooden container accommodation built for 2,000 competitors.

    The root of the housing crisis stretches back to last-minute changes to the Games’ sporting program. Initially, organizers planned for 15,000 registered athletes and officials. But when the Olympic Council of Asia added two new sports — teqball, a hybrid of football and table tennis, and padel — in mid-August, the total number of attendees surged to more than 17,000, leaving organizers scrambling to source additional beds. With a fixed budget and limited workforce already allocated for the original headcount, Aichi Governor and organizing committee president Hideaki Omura initially stated that the region had “neither the manpower nor the budget” to accommodate the extra participants, even suggesting that unaccommodated attendees arrange their own lodging. After public pushback, organizers confirmed last month that all 17,000-plus registered participants would receive Games-approved accommodation, claiming final preparations were progressing smoothly for what they billed as “the most spectacular Asian Games held for generations.”

    Unlike traditional major multi-sport events that build a dedicated, centralized athletes’ village, Nagoya organizers opted for a distributed temporary housing model. The most controversial option is the fleet of wooden container huts, designed to be repurposed as disaster evacuation facilities after the Games. But the compact units have drawn near-universal criticism from visiting delegations.

    Jung Jae-yong, vice-president of the Korea Basketball Association, described the container accommodation as the “worst it has ever been” in an interview with AFP, highlighting a critical size flaw: “Athletes who are over two metres tall cannot even stretch their legs out on the beds. It’s unreasonable.” Jung added that dissatisfaction over the substandard housing is shared by representatives from many other participating nations, not just South Korea. A member of the South Korean basketball team amplified these complaints by posting a viral video showing a leaking pipe and completely soaked floor in his container unit, captioned simply “Please help me.”

    The housing issues were compounded by extreme weather last week, when record rainfall triggered widespread flooding across Nagoya. All athletes staying in the container huts were briefly evacuated, and water leakage was also reported in some competition venues. To help their athletes adapt to the unexpected living conditions, Indian sporting authorities even built full-size replicas of the container huts back home for training and acclimatization.

    Beyond the container units, organizers are housing an additional 4,000 to 5,000 participants on an Italian cruise ship that docked in Nagoya earlier this week, while the remaining attendees are placed in local hotels. Even with all athletes guaranteed beds, some delegations still report uneven arrangements. Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino confirmed to AFP that while all of the country’s competitors have secured accommodation, some team officials and coaches have been placed in separate hotels and private Airbnb rentals.

    In response to the growing wave of criticism, accommodation manager Yuta Matsuo told Reuters that local organizers are “fully aware of the dissatisfaction and concerns voiced by the athlete delegations” and are “taking concrete steps to improve the environment for the athletes.”

    While preliminary matches for basketball and football have already kicked off, the official opening ceremony of the 2026 Asian Games will take place this Saturday, with competition running through to the closing ceremony on October 4.

  • Why Trump is all-in on AI despite the warnings

    Why Trump is all-in on AI despite the warnings

    In a striking shift that has reshaped the American political discourse around emerging technology, former and current U.S. President Donald Trump has emerged as one of the most vocal opponents of artificial intelligence regulation, dismissing widespread warnings about AI risks as nothing more than a manufactured hoax.

    Framing himself as a “hoax buster” in a series of public social media posts released Monday, Trump lavished praise on AI as “the greatest economic development engine in history” and launched sharp criticism at policymakers, industry experts, and even members of his own Republican Party who have raised alarms about the technology’s potential harms, from mass labor disruption to existential civilizational risk. This public stance is not an outlier: it marks the latest in a string of efforts by Trump to beat back growing AI skepticism through blunt, unapologetic rhetoric, even when it puts him at odds with long-time political allies.

    The divide within conservative circles became clear just one day after Trump’s posts, when his former chief advisor Steve Bannon took the stage at a “pro-human” conference focused on AI risks, arguing that unregulated AI could not be given free rein. “We think this could be a great technology, but we’re not going to give these guys a carte blanche,” Bannon told attendees, adding that there had been no meaningful public debate over appropriate guardrails for the sector.

    Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a leading democratic socialist, echoed those concerns in remarks preceding Bannon’s address, slamming Washington policymakers for failing to confront what he called the “potentially catastrophic consequence” of unregulated AI. “Congress under both Democratic and Republican control has been asleep at the wheel,” Sanders said. “And now we have a president whose ignorance regarding this issue is truly embarrassing.”

    For his part, Trump has pushed back against calls for new regulatory frameworks, arguing that no new laws or industry guardrails are needed beyond strong presidential leadership. “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades,” he wrote in his social media posts. “We already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies.”

    This approach aligns with a broader pattern of centralized executive authority that has defined Trump’s second term in office. On issues ranging from immigration to trade policy, Trump has argued that the president should hold unilateral power to approve or block policies he deems good or bad for the country, rather than deferring to congressional debate or stakeholder input. Unlike trade and immigration, however, AI is a relatively new policy priority for Trump, leading analysts to probe the underlying drivers of his uncompromising stance.

    One core explanation lies in Trump’s focus on his economic legacy. For several years, AI-related investment — from semiconductor manufacturing to new data center infrastructure — has been the single largest driver of U.S. economic expansion. A 2026 second-quarter analysis from forecasting firm ING found that tech investment tied to AI accounted for more than one-third of total U.S. economic growth during the period. The ongoing U.S. stock market boom, which has lifted retirement savings for millions of Americans, is also heavily tied to massive corporate spending on AI infrastructure. Any move to slow or restrict AI growth is therefore seen as a threat to the economic record Trump has staked his political reputation on.

    A second key factor is the intensifying U.S.-China great power competition. Trump frames AI development as a zero-sum race between the world’s two largest economies, arguing that whoever claims global leadership in AI will ultimately dominate the 21st century. “We’re leading China in AI,” Trump said in remarks Saturday. “and frankly, I want to keep it that way, because whoever wins AI wins.”

    Trump’s close personal and political ties to leading Silicon Valley moguls and AI entrepreneurs also help explain his enthusiastic opposition to regulation. Since the start of his second term, major tech leaders have held prominent positions in his orbit: David Sacks, co-chair of Trump’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and his informal AI policy lead, has repeatedly echoed Trump’s skepticism of regulation, framing growing calls for guardrails as overblown panic stoked for political gain. “I think this is becoming a panic,” Sacks told CBS News over the weekend. “We’re in an election season, and there is an incentive for political actors to try and amplify the fear.”

    Other major tech leaders, including Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and former Apple CEO Tim Cook, all held high-profile roles at Trump’s inauguration, though they hold a range of views on AI regulation. In the case of Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who has publicly called for slowing AI development to assess risks, his public conflict over the Pentagon’s unrestricted use of Anthropic’s AI models is widely believed to have hurt his standing with the Trump administration.

    The AI debate, long confined to tech industry circles, has now spilled fully into mainstream American politics, according to industry observers. “This is the most prominent debate in the entire industry and has been since the beginning,” said Matt Calkins, CEO of enterprise tech firm Appian. “We knew it would spill into politics at some point because it had to.”

    Looking ahead, the path to new federal AI regulation remains deeply uncertain. With Trump firmly opposed to new rules, even congressional Republicans who previously expressed openness to regulation have backed away. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, has now echoed Trump’s “AI hoax” rhetoric, dimming prospects for bipartisan legislation that could reach Trump’s desk.

    With midterm congressional elections approaching, candidates from both major parties are treading carefully: public polling shows a majority of Americans remain skeptical of unregulated AI’s promised benefits, but few Republican candidates are willing to cross Trump on an issue he has made a core political priority.

    For now, the issue has not yet reached a crisis point that would force decisive political action, but observers warn that could change quickly. “It is possible that events in the future might electrify the public, and then positions – and talk – might not be so cheap,” Calkins noted.

  • Moment NBC presenters confirm live on air that their helicopter crashed in LA

    Moment NBC presenters confirm live on air that their helicopter crashed in LA

    In a raw, emotional segment aired live on Los Angeles NBC affiliate NBC4, veteran news anchor Colleen Williams delivered the devastating confirmation that a downed aircraft in the area was indeed a helicopter owned and operated by the local news outlet. The live on-air announcement unfolded as breaking coverage of the crash was already underway, with the confirmation shocking both the newsroom team and viewers tuning in across Southern California. Williams, a well-known and trusted figure in LA local news, delivered the confirmation with visible emotion, as the gravity of the incident settled over the live broadcast. The crash, which was already being investigated by local authorities at the time of the announcement, marked an unprecedented incident for the regional news station, marking one of the rare occasions a local media outlet has had to cover the loss of one of its own aircraft in real time. As the confirmation spread, first responder teams were already dispatched to the crash site in Los Angeles to assess the scene, attend to any casualties, and begin the initial investigation into what caused the helicopter to go down.

  • The small fee raising big questions for India’s payments revolution

    The small fee raising big questions for India’s payments revolution

    Since its 2016 launch, India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has cemented its reputation as the backbone of the country’s digital economy, transforming how individuals and businesses transfer money and complete purchases. Now, a planned new fee for certain merchant transactions through the ubiquitous platform has ignited broad debate across India’s business and tech sectors, with conflicting views on whether the charge will sustain the system’s growth or undermine its widespread adoption.

    The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates UPI, announced Tuesday that starting October 15, a 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) will apply to eligible UPI payments over 2,000 rupees ($21) made by customers to merchants. Critically, the regulation requires merchants to absorb the full cost of the fee, and explicitly bars them from passing the expense on to consumers. A separate flat 5-rupee fee applies to specific high-value merchant transactions including rail tickets, fuel purchases, telecom bills, insurance premiums and agricultural input payments over the 2,000-rupee threshold. For all other eligible transactions over 2,000 rupees, the 0.4% fee is capped at 300 rupees per transaction, limiting costs for very large payments.

    The new structure carves out wide exemptions to limit disruption for most users. All person-to-person transfers remain free, no matter the transaction amount. All merchant payments under 2,000 rupees also stay free of charge, as do QR code-based merchant transactions in rural and semi-urban regions. According to the Indian government, roughly 96% of all person-to-merchant UPI transactions will remain entirely unaffected by the new fees, falling either below the threshold or into one of the exempt categories.

    For years after UPI’s launch, the cost of building, operating and expanding the payments infrastructure has been covered primarily by the national government, partner banks and payments service providers. Indian officials frame the new MDR as a necessary step to keep the system sustainable for the long term. In an official press release, the finance ministry clarified that the MDR is not a government-imposed tax; all revenue collected from the fee will be distributed to payments providers, including banks, to fund ongoing operations, infrastructure upgrades, cybersecurity improvements, innovation and future expansion of the UPI network. The government argues that shifting to this market-linked pricing model reduces the burden on public tax revenue that currently covers UPI subsidies, placing the cost on the large businesses that derive the most benefit from the platform.

    Despite these justifications, the policy has drawn sharp criticism from analysts and business leaders who warn it could raise operational costs for enterprises and discourage UPI adoption, particularly for larger transactions. Some social media users have pointed out that the zero-cost model has long been UPI’s biggest draw for both merchants and consumers, and introducing fees could erode its core advantage over cash and other payment methods. High-profile voices have echoed these concerns: former Indian government chief economic adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian has questioned the existing framework’s private cost-benefit analysis, while prominent Indian entrepreneur Ashneer Grover warned in an interview with CNN-News18 that some small shopkeepers may simply refuse large UPI payments and demand cash instead, reversing years of progress toward digitalization.

    Bipin Preet Singh, CEO of leading Indian fintech firm MobiKwik, has pushed back on that criticism, supporting the fee as a necessary investment in the system’s future. “When government funds the subsidies paid for UPI, that amount comes from tax payers’ pocket. Moving to market-linked pricing mechanism removes this tax burden and directly links the cost to large businesses which benefit from UPI,” Singh explained.

    UPI’s growth over the past decade has been nothing short of revolutionary, cementing its status as the world’s largest digital real-time payments system by transaction volume. NPCI data shows that in August 2025 alone, UPI processed a record 24.51 billion transactions worth a total of 29.82 trillion rupees, approximately $311 billion. It is now a universal tool in India, used by everyone from street-side vegetable vendors to large corporate enterprises, and is credited with accelerating financial inclusion across the country. As the October 15 implementation date approaches, industry observers are closely watching whether the new fee structure will alter usage patterns, especially for large-value transactions, and whether it will strike the right balance between long-term system sustainability and accessible digital payments for all.

  • All supporting acts quit Ed Sheeran tour in protest of Macklemore’s removal

    All supporting acts quit Ed Sheeran tour in protest of Macklemore’s removal

    A wave of artist withdrawals has rocked Ed Sheeran’s ongoing *Loop Tour*, after opening act Macklemore was removed from the lineup for his public pro-Palestine stance, leaving the British pop star facing widespread criticism over his neutral position on the escalating Gaza conflict.

    On Tuesday, Grammy-winning artist Finneas became the highest-profile of four supporting acts to confirm their exit from the tour, joined by Irish singer Aaron Rowe, Irish folk band Beoga, and Danish pop group Lukas Graham. All four acts issued public statements framing their departure as an act of solidarity with both Macklemore and the Palestinian people, arguing that artists must never be silenced for speaking out against human rights abuses.

    “Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” Finneas wrote in a social media post confirming his exit. Aaron Rowe, who described Sheeran as a personal friend who had transformed his career, emphasized that his Irish background gave him unique perspective on systemic violence and occupation. “But as Irish people we know all too well about genocide, forced famine and violent occupation. I cannot stand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up against Israeli genocide and who highlight the savage murder of children,” Rowe said.

    Beoga echoed this position in their own announcement, blaming pressure from Zionist lobbies for Macklemore’s removal from the tour. Lukas Graham frontman added that freedom of speech must extend to conversations about civilian suffering in conflict, saying, “Nobody’s bank balance should decide who gets to speak or which suffering we’re allowed to acknowledge.”

    The chain of exits traces back to a September 4 performance, when Macklemore took the stage as an opening act and delivered a two-minute speech calling for a free Palestine before performing his track *Hind’s Hall*—a song named for 5-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza earlier this year. The speech quickly drew both widespread praise from pro-Palestine activists and fierce backlash from pro-Israel groups, including the Israeli American Council, which launched a public petition demanding Sheeran drop the rapper from the tour.

    On Monday, Macklemore released a statement explaining his ouster: after billionaire Robert Kraft organized a coalition of stadium owners to threaten to block Sheeran from accessing their venues if he kept Macklemore on the lineup, Sheeran and his management team removed the rapper from all remaining tour dates. Sheeran has pushed back against this narrative, arguing that the decision to cut Macklemore rested solely with tour promoters, not with him.

    The *Shape of You* singer has also rejected accusations that he is complicit in silencing pro-Palestine voices by refusing to take a public stance on the conflict. Sheeran says he holds personal views on what he calls a devastating ongoing conflict, but chooses not to inject political discourse into his professional tour platform. “Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have [views] and it doesn’t mean I don’t care,” he said in a statement. Still, many fans have taken to social media to criticize Sheeran’s position, pointing to past instances where the singer has used his platform to raise awareness for other political and social causes.

  • Meet the Scottish teenagers poised to represent Uganda

    Meet the Scottish teenagers poised to represent Uganda

    For two teenage Scottish brothers from Partick Thistle, the dream of international football recognition is taking an unexpected and historic turn. Eighteen-year-old goalkeeper Olly Fisher and 16-year-old striker Seb Fisher are on track to represent Uganda, a path they never could have anticipated just a year ago. What makes this opportunity even more remarkable is their eligibility through birthright: their mother Kate was born in Uganda, after their grandfather moved there to teach and spent four or five years raising a family in the East African nation. If they earn their spots in the national youth teams, the siblings will become the first white players to ever wear an Uganda national football shirt, a milestone that has already captured attention across both countries.

    The chain of events that led to this unique opportunity started with a casual conversation years ago. The Fished’ father struck up a chance chat with a football consultant at a match in Nigeria, and six months ago, the family learned that Uganda’s national youth program was interested in bringing the brothers in for trials. By early August, the pair received official invitations to join the under-20 and under-17 national training camps respectively. They traveled to Jinja, in eastern Uganda, last week and are set to stay for another week to complete their camp assessments.

    Both brothers have described their shock and deep honor at receiving the call-ups. “I couldn’t believe it when I got the invitation,” Seb recalled in an interview with BBC Sport Scotland. “It’s the kind of opportunity that you never imagine coming your way, even in your wildest dreams. Most people I’ve told can barely believe it either.” Olly echoed his brother’s reaction, noting that the news brought a flood of conflicting emotions: “I was really shocked because I never thought this was a possibility. But at the same time, I felt so honored to be asked to represent Uganda. It’s a huge opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.” Their mother Kate, who was born in the country her sons are now set to represent, is ecstatic about the experience, telling the boys it will be life-changing no matter what happens.

    There is already a strong Scottish connection guiding the brothers through this process, as Laryea Kingston, the current head coach of Uganda’s under-20 national team, is a former Hearts and Ghana midfielder with deep ties to Scottish football. Coach Kingston is the one who first highlighted the historic nature of the Fisher brothers’ potential call-ups, a point that is not lost on the teenagers. “Coach Kingston told us we’d be the first white players to represent Uganda, which means this would be history in the making,” Seb said. “That makes it really, really special.” Olly agreed, adding that breaking new ground for the nation’s football program makes the entire experience feel one-of-a-kind.

    Growing up, the brothers heard countless stories about Uganda from their grandparents, so the country already feels like a connected part of their family history, even before they set foot on its soil. Though they have had to adapt to oppressively warm training conditions that they never experienced back in Scotland, the brothers say they have been embraced wholeheartedly by their new teammates. “Everyone has been so brilliant and welcoming,” Seb explained. “Some of the boys actually come from the same area where my mum was born, so we’ve had a lot to talk about already, and it’s helped us build those connections fast.”

    After the training camp concludes, the brothers will return to Scotland to resume their everyday lives: Olly will split his time between playing for Partick Thistle and starting university, while Seb will go back to playing for the club and finishing secondary school. But both are already planning ahead for their return to Uganda to join their international teammates. Olly has his sights set on securing a spot on the under-20 squad if Uganda qualifies for next year’s Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations, while Seb is hoping to earn a place on the under-17 roster for the Under-17 World Cup scheduled for November in Qatar. For the young footballers, this opportunity is exactly what every aspiring player dreams of. “That’s what you want as a footballer, being in an international environment,” Seb said. “Pushing yourself against top talent and competing at this level will only make you a better player. I’m sure this experience will benefit us a lot when we go back to Scotland and continue playing for Partick Thistle.”