booster

UN chief says 700 million people live in extreme poverty as Qatar calls for doubling efforts to support Palestinians.

Doha, Qatar – A declaration of intent to fight deepening global inequality is a “booster shot for development”, the head of the United Nations declares.

At the Second World Summit for Social Development in Qatar on Tuesday, the president of the UN General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, announced the adoption of the Doha Political Declaration.

“Social development and inclusion is essential for strong societies,” she said, adding that the declaration must “end social injustice and guarantee dignity for everyone, prioritising a people-first approach.”

In a keynote speech, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on global leaders to unite behind the “bold people’s plan”.

“It’s unconscionable that nearly 700 million people still live in extreme poverty while the richest 1 per cent own nearly half of global wealth,” he told the delegations.

“It’s intolerable that almost four billion people lack access to any form of social protection at all.”

The summit in Qatar’s capital, Doha, was convened to build on the development goals established 30 years ago during the Copenhagen Summit.

According to the UN, about 40 heads of state, 170 ministerial-level representatives, heads of NGOs and 14,000 delegates from around the world were expected to attend.

The declaration calls for commitments in several areas, including poverty eradication, access to “decent work”, social integration, gender equality and climate action.

Guterres noted the progress that has been made over the past three decades.

“Over one billion people have escaped extreme poverty. Global unemployment is at a near-historic low. Access to healthcare, education and social protection has dramatically expanded. People are living longer, and child and maternal mortality have declined. And more girls are attending school with rising graduation rates for all students,” he said.

However, he insisted that more challenges must be faced, saying the Second World Summit “opens at a moment of high global uncertainty, divisions, conflicts and widespread human suffering”.

“Developing countries are not getting the level of support they need,” he warned. “We are not moving fast enough to mitigate the volatility and outright destruction wrought by a warming planet.”

Peace and stability

Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, opened the event by calling for sustained efforts to support the Palestinian people amid the devastation of Israel’s two-year war on Gaza.

“It’s impossible to achieve social development in any society without peace and stability,” he said, adding that only “constant peace, not temporary settlements, is just peace.”

Calling on the international community to increase support for reconstruction, he added: “It goes without saying that the Palestinian people need all forms of aid to be able to recover from the devastation” caused by “the apartheid system in Palestine”.

The UN estimates more than $70bn is needed to rebuild Gaza.

Addressing reporters on the sidelines later, Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” by “continued violations of the ceasefire” in the enclave.

“They must stop, and all parties must abide by the decisions of the first phase of the peace agreement,” he demanded.

The emir also condemned the war crimes being carried out in Sudan.

“We express our collective shock at the horrific atrocities committed in the city of el-Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur region and reaffirm our condemnation of these acts in the strongest terms,” Sheikh Tamim said after the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group captured the capital of North Darfur State last week.

Brett Steigh, a Narbonne High graduate, booster, local businessman and gambler, claims he violated City and Southern Section rules by paying parents of high school football players to help level the playing field.

Steigh said during a Monday night appearance on the “Fattal Factor” podcast that he paid parents to secure transfers for Narbonne and St. Bernard before currently “helping” Bishop Montgomery. Narbonne in Harbor City is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, while the Archdiocese of Los Angeles operates St. Bernard in Playa del Rey and Bishop Montgomery in Torrance.

While name, image and likeness policies allow for payment of players, recruiting transfer athletes and paying their parents as much as $50,000 remains a violation of the California Interscholastic Federation’s undue influence rules.

“I ain’t doing nothing that others aren’t doing,” Steigh said, alleging Orange County private schools, including national powerhouse Mater Dei, paid to secure transfer players.

A Mater Dei spokesperson has not yet responded to a request for comment in response to the allegation.

Steigh said he recruited players in 2018 and 2024 to Narbonne without the knowledge of the head coaches while paying parents to move. Both times, Narbonne was sanctioned by the City Section for rule violations.

He said he met with St. Bernard President Carter Paysinger in 2020 and agreed to support that school after former Narbonne coach Manuel Douglas took over the program. Douglas told The Times on Tuesday the payments reached close to $1 million between funding tuition for incoming freshman football players and improvements at the school. Douglas said school administrators were aware of the contributions.

Douglas and Steigh became the subject of FBI and IRS investigations after Douglas failed to report donations from Steigh and didn’t pay taxes on them. Steigh said they didn’t face any charges. Douglas resigned in 2020 and St. Bernard shut down its football program in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Steigh said he has now been “supporting” Bishop Montgomery with the knowledge of the school’s president, Patrick Lee.

Bishop Montgomery had five transfers declared ineligible by the Southern Section and has received more than 20 transfers in its football program entering this school year. The school fired its head coach, Ed Hodgkiss, on Saturday.

In a text message to The Times, Lee denied any connection to Steigh.

“What he said was an outright lie,” Lee said. “Neither the principal nor I ever met this man, spoke to him, emailed him, texted him — nothing.”

The City and Southern Section commissioners are aware of the statements Steigh made during the podcast, with one telling The Times they are reviewing them.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is investigating why five Bishop Montgomery transfer students were declared ineligible for two years by the Southern Section for violating CIF bylaw 202, which involves submitting false information. The archdiocese declined to address questions about Steigh’s allegations.

“The Archdiocese of Los Angeles does not discuss details of an ongoing investigation,” a spokesperson told The Times. “Once we have more information, we’ll share that with you.”

Bishop Montgomery canceled the game it was scheduled to play Friday against Leuzinger High, the second consecutive week the team forfeited a game after calling off a contest against Mater Dei last week. If Bishop Montgomery cancels the remainder of its football season, the players on the roster might be free to immediately transfer to other programs if they get a hardship waiver.

Steigh said he agreed to appear on reporter Tarek Fattal’s podcast because he felt it was wrong that Hodgkiss — the Bishop Montgomery football coach — was fired.

“Pat knew what the deal was and now he’s backing away. Not fair,” Steigh said, referring to the Bishop Montgomery president.

Hodgkiss told The Times he has been advised by legal counsel not to answer any questions.

A Bishop Montgomery parent wrote in a letter to The Times that an influx of football transfers joining the program was given preferential treatment.

“Returning players were demoted, excluded from trips or quit,” the parent wrote. “Archdiocesan Catholic values appear secondary to short-term athletic exposure. Despite my June outreach to the school, no reply ever came.”

In the spring, The Times asked new Bishop Montgomery Principal Michele Starkey if she was aware of any involvement by Steigh in Bishop Montgomery’s program. She said no.

When Steigh was asked during the podcast why he would risk players’ eligibility by getting involved at Bishop Montgomery, Steigh said he felt previous administrations he worked with didn’t have the backbone to succeed at recruiting players.

“They told us it wouldn’t be … sorry I shouldn’t say that,” Steigh said of Bishop Montgomery’s leadership. “They’re basically supporting to win right now.”

When pressed for more details, Steigh said, “I can’t comment on any players at Bishop Montgomery.”

He said he has now decided to retire from supporting high school football programs.

Steigh said he previously was a traditional booster at Narbonne, making donations to help pay for helmets, uniforms and a washing machine.

“In 2018, I decided to play the game that everyone else was playing,” Steigh said. “The head coach at the time did not want to do this. It was all on me. I lied to him. These players just showed up. Why? I wanted to compete with the private schools. I felt it was unfair public schools being left behind.”

Four coaches of Marine League schools forfeited games against Narbonne last season while demanding a City Section investigation into whether transfers were paid to play for the school.

“All these rumors through all these years, it’s all true,” Steigh said. “It was all me.”