International

Colombian stadium first in Latin America renamed after Pele

Photo: CARL DE SOUZA / AFP

January 5 | By AFP |

Colombia is the first Latin American country to meet FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s request to name a stadium after Pele.

Infantino on Monday said world football’s governing body would ask all countries to name a stadium after the Brazilian icon, widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time, who died last week after a long battle with illness.

And late on Wednesday, the governor of Colombia’s southern Meta department, Juan Guillermo Zuluaga announced on Twitter that a stadium in the city of Villavicencio “will be called BELLO HORIZONTE ‘REY PELE’.”

“Future generations must know who this world football icon was,” said Zuluaga.

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The 15,000 capacity stadium inaugurated in 1958 was previously called simply Bello Horizonte, which means “beautiful skyline” in Spanish.

It is the home of modest second division Colombian side Llaneros.

Pele died on December 29 aged 82 following a long battle with colon cancer.

He was buried on Tuesday in Santos, the city where he played most of his football career and made his name.

While attending Pele’s wake, Infantino said he would ask all FIFA’s member federations to pay tribute to Pele by renaming a stadium after the three-time World Cup winner.

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Colombia was beaten to the stadium move by Cape Verde, whose prime minister Jose Ulisses Correia e Silva had announced earlier on Wednesday the renaming of the national stadium in the capital Praia.

The northeastern Brazilian city of Maceio has since 1979 had a stadium called “Rei Pele” (King Pele) although it is commonly known as the Trapichao.

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.

International

U.S. counterterrorism chief resigns over opposition to war in Iran

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced Tuesday that he has resigned from his post, citing his opposition to the ongoing war in Iran.

In a post on X, Kent said he could not, “in good conscience,” support the conflict, arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States. He also claimed that the war was driven by pressure from Israel and its lobbying influence in Washington.

In a resignation letter addressed to Donald Trump, Kent alleged that at the start of the current administration, senior Israeli officials and influential figures in U.S. media carried out a disinformation campaign that undermined the “America First” platform and fostered pro-war sentiment aimed at triggering a conflict with Iran.

Kent further stated that he could not support sending a new generation of Americans to “fight and die in a war that provides no benefit to the American people and does not justify the cost in American lives.”

Since the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28, at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed, while 10 others have been seriously wounded and around 200 have sustained minor injuries, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal.

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International

German president warns Iran war could spread and disrupt Strait of Hormuz

The president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned Monday that the war involving Iran could expand and further disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. He urged a swift end to hostilities between Iran, United States and Israel.

Speaking in Panama City during a joint appearance with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, Steinmeier said available information suggests Iran has significant capacity to disrupt maritime traffic through the key oil route.

“Iran has considerable potential to interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Steinmeier said through an interpreter. “We should therefore reach an end to the hostilities as soon as possible and call on all parties involved to make that happen.”

The remarks came during Steinmeier’s visit to Panama, the first by a German president to the Central American nation.

The German leader described the possibility of the conflict spreading as “very dangerous,” saying recent developments indicate that such a scenario cannot be ruled out.

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Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump urged allied nations to help ensure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran moved to block the waterway in response to U.S. strikes. However, several allies—particularly in Europe—have shown little support for the proposal.

“Some are very enthusiastic, others are not, and some are countries we have helped for many years,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have protected them from terrible external threats, and they’re not that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm is important to me.”

Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said the Strait of Hormuz falls “outside NATO’s scope” and stressed that “the war involving Iran is not Europe’s war.”