US Denies Visas to Senegal Women's Basketball Team
THE United States rejected visa applications for multiple members of Senegal's women's basketball team which was scheduled to train in the country, the country' prime minister said Thursday, as he cancelled the group's participation in the practice.
The visa refusals come amid US President Donald Trump's administration's immigration crackdown and tightened border controls.
The United States is set to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Senegal is among 36 nations that the United States is considering adding to a travel ban barring entry to its territory, according to an internal administration memo.
Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko posted on Facebook that he had been 'informed about the refusal to issue visas to several members of the Senegalese women's national basketball team'.
He said that he had instructed the country's minister of sports to cancel what was to have been a 10-day training camp in the United States.
According to Babacar Ndiaye, president of the Senegalese Basketball Federation, the United States only renewed visas for 'those who held old visas and rejected new requests'.
Les Lionnes had been slated to train in the United States ahead of the Afrobasket 2025 tournament in Ivory Coast, which begins in July.
A spokesperson for the US State Department told AFP that it was not able to comment on individual cases, while the US Embassy in Senegal did not reply to a request for comment.
In addition to pulling the plug on the training, Prime Minister Sonko thanked China for having 'awarded dozens of training scholarships for our athletes and their coaches'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
39 minutes ago
- The Sun
Chinese exports of rare-earth magnets plummet in May
BEIJING: Chinese exports of rare-earth magnets continued their downward slide in May, official data showed on Friday, reflecting restrictions imposed by Beijing during its trade war with the United States. China is the world's leading producer of rare earths, used to make magnets essential to the automotive, electronics and defence industries. Since April, Beijing has required traders to obtain licences before they export the strategic materials, a move seen as retaliation for US curbs on the import of Chinese goods. Many manufacturers, particularly in the automotive sector, have bewailed what they view as sporadic licence issuances. And Chinese customs data revealed Friday that the country's rare-earth magnet exports plummeted by 70 percent year-on-year in May, following an initial slowdown observed in April. Exports fell below the $60 million mark, hitting their lowest level since 2015 excluding the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Bloomberg News. After talks between China and the US in London this month, Beijing said it had issued a 'certain number' of export licences for rare earths. US President Donald Trump said last week on his Truth Social platform that 'any necessary rare earths... will be supplied, up front, by China'. Beijing also said it would launch a 'green channel' to facilitate rare earth exports to the European Union. But its exports of rare-earth magnets to the EU in May plunged by 81 percent year-on-year, according to the customs figures. And exports of small parcels to the US dropped by half compared to the previous month. Last month, Washington ended a tariff exemption previously enjoyed by low-value parcels shipped from China and Hong Kong. The measure dealt a severe blow to platforms shipping low-cost items from China, such as Shein and Temu. The decline was offset by a rise in China's total small parcel exports to the rest of the world, which were up 40 percent year-on-year, with particularly notable increases to Singapore, Russia, Europe and Australia. Besides the US, several countries have been trying to limit the rise of platforms sending cheap products made in China. This month, France adopted a bill that aims to curb fast fashion by banning advertising and imposing an additional tax on small parcels.
New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
UK MPs vote in favour of assisted dying law in historic step
LONDON: Britain took a historic step towards allowing euthanasia on Friday when MPs backed contentious legislation that would introduce assisted dying for terminally ill people. Lawmakers in the lower House of Commons voted 314 in favour to 291 to send the proposal to the upper House of Lords for further scrutiny following four hours of emotional debate. The outcome sparked celebrations among supporters gathered outside parliament who say legalised euthanasia will give people with an incurable illness dignity and choice at the end of their lives. But opponents attending a neighbouring counter-protest said they feared vulnerable people could be coerced into dying and urged lawmakers to focus on improving palliative care instead. The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would allow assisted suicide in England and Wales for adults who have been given less than six months to live. They would have to be able to administer the life-ending substance themselves, and any patient's wish to die would have to be signed off by two doctors and a panel of experts. A change in the law would see Britain emulate several other countries in Europe and elsewhere that allow some form of assisted dying, including Belgium and the Netherlands. Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who proposed the legislation, told Friday's so-called third reading debate that a law change would "offer a compassionate and safe choice" for terminally ill people. She said maintaining the status quo would mean more "heartbreaking stories" of "pain and trauma, suicide attempts, PTSD, lonely trips to Switzerland, (and) police investigations." But Vicky Foxcroft, also of Labour, said the proposal did not include adequate safeguards for disabled people. "We have to protect those people who are susceptible to coercion, who already feel like society doesn't value them, who often feel like a burden to the state, society and their family," she pleaded. Outside parliament, protesters waved placards with slogans including "Let us choose" and "Don't make doctors killers." David Walker, 82, said he supported changing the law because he saw his wife of 60 years suffer for three years at the end of her life. "That's why I'm here, because I can't help her anymore, but I can help other people who are going through the same thing, because if you have no quality of life, you have nothing," he told AFP. But Elizabeth Burden, a 52-year-old doctor, said she feared the legislation would open a "slippery slope" where those eligible for assisted dying expands. "Once we allow this, everything will slip down because dementia patients, all patients... are vulnerable," she told AFP. MPs backed the proposed legislation by 330 to 275 votes at an initial vote in parliament last November. Since then, the bill has undergone several changes, including applying a ban on adverts for assisted dying and allowing all health workers to opt out of helping someone end their life. MPs in the 650-seat parliament also added a safeguard which would prevent a person being eligible "solely as a result of voluntarily stopping eating or drinking," ruling out people with anorexia. Britain's medical community and Prime Minister Keir Starmer's top ministerial team are split on the proposed law change. His health and justice secretaries publicly oppose it. But in a YouGov poll of 2,003 adults, surveyed last month and published Thursday, 73 per cent of respondents backed an assisted dying law. MPs had backed an earlier version of the proposed legislation by 330 to 275 votes at an initial vote in parliament last November, before parliament introduced the changes. The House of Lords now needs to approve the legislation before the end of the current parliamentary year, likely in the autumn, or the bill will fail. If it passes and receives royal assent, it would still be four years before an assisted dying service was implemented. A government impact assessment published this month estimated that approximately 160 to 640 assisted deaths could take place in the first year, rising to a possible 4,500 in a decade. Assisted suicide currently carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Separate legislation is going through the devolved Scottish parliament. At the end of March, the Isle of Man became the first British territory to pass an assisted dying bill.
New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
NBA great Vlade Divac injured in Montenegro motorcycle crash
BELGRADE: Former basketball star and LA Lakers centre Vlade Divac is recovering today after breaking his hip in a motorcycle accident in Montenegro, hospital staff told AFP. The 57-year-old was injured late Thursday after falling from his motorcycle near the coast, said hospital spokeswoman Ljubica Mitrovic. "Divac was immediately brought to the hospital in Risan, where doctors conducted thorough examinations," she said, referring to a town about 47 kilometres (29 miles) west of the capital Podgorica. "Unfortunately, it was confirmed that he had suffered a hip fracture. Surgery was performed." Divac is in a stable condition at the hospital. Drafted into the NBA in 1989 by the Los Angeles Lakers, the towering centre became one of the first European players to make an impact in the league. He played seven seasons for the Lakers before moving on to the Charlotte Hornets then the Sacramento Kings, and eventually finishing his NBA career back with the Lakers. Mentored by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, he quickly adapted to the NBA and became the first player born and trained outside the United States to play more than 1,000 games in the league. A silver medallist in Olympic basketball with both Yugoslavia and later Serbia, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2010. He played 117 games for the national team of Yugoslavia and later Serbia and Montenegro, winning World Championship titles in 1990 and 2002, and was also crowned European champion in 1989, 1991, and 1995. The hospital has asked the public and media to respect Divac's privacy during his recovery. - AFP
