Morocco taking AFCON title from Senegal dubbed ‘joke of the century’ – Press Review

The Africa Cup of Nations has taken another mind-boggling turn. It’s “the joke of the century”, according to the Senegalese daily Le Soleil. Le Dakarois reports that the Confederation of African Football’s appeal board decided that Senegal were “declared to have forfeited the final” by walking off, and therefore automatically lose 3-0. The Guinean website Le Djely calls it a disproportionate decision. The mood in Morocco is quite different. Moroccan news site 360 says that CAF has “saved African football from the grip of unsportsmanlike conduct”. 

Meanwhile, an exclusive report in the Guardian reveals that the UK‘s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, attended the US-Iran talks in Geneva in late February, after which he judged that Tehran’s offer had been significant enough to prevent a war in the Middle East. This in part explains the UK government’s reluctance to back the US attack on Iran. 

A long read in The New York Times looks into the American weapons being smuggled into Mexico and used by violent drug cartels. Firearms are sold in American gun shops and on websites and phone apps and are then funnelled to Mexican cartel members. The paper says as many as 1 million weapons could be being smuggled into Mexico every year.  

Finally, in the UK, one of art’s worst kept secrets has just been solved. Reuters has uncovered Banksy‘s identity. The Times, though, says that the street artist’s identity has been known since the early 2000s: “he’s a shortsighted bloke from Bristol called Robin”. The Wall Street Journal explains that although anonymity helped Banksy move undetected, it did make art collectors uneasy and his art is now going to sell for a lot more. For Sky News, the revelation of Banksy’s identity will only add to his legacy as an artist of the people.  

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