hope

Mumbai, India – For millions of Indians, the ghosts of a home Cricket World Cup defeat to Australia still haunt their memories two years on from the final in Ahmedabad.

It’s a wound that still stings the cricket-mad nation of at least 1.4 billion people, tens of thousands of whom thronged the world’s largest cricket stadium on 19 November 2023, and millions of others who followed the game elsewhere.

But just as the heartbreak of the “cursed day” brought them together two years ago, local fans hope that this Sunday will give them a reason to celebrate as India face New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final at the same venue.

A stunned crowd of more than 90,000 watched in silence as Australia crushed India with a six-wicket victory at the Narendra Modi Stadium, turning the undefeated home side’s crowning moment into a day where thousands of seats had emptied before the final ball was bowled.

The sombre atmosphere was akin to a prophecy come true as, on the eve of the 2023 final, Australia’s captain Pat Cummins famously said: “In sport, there’s nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent.”

“The 2023 final defeat is still on our minds,” Sounak Biswas, a 29-year-old fan from Mumbai, told Al Jazeera. “Social media posts calling the Ahmedabad stadium a bad omen keep reinforcing that thought.

“On Sunday, I hope I can forget those bad memories and create happier ones.”

Cautious optimism

The collective mood of the country – from fans to experts and the media – is optimistic.

Oddsmakers have given India a 70 percent chance of defeating New Zealand to become the first host nation to retain its title, local media have thrown their weight behind Suryakumar Yadav’s team to cross the final hurdle and cricket chatter has taken centre stage at workplaces, homes and outdoor gatherings.

Come Sunday, fans will throng pubs, roadside cafes and restaurants from Mumbai to Kolkata and Chennai to Chandigarh to catch the action on large screens or their smartphones. While those without internet access will gather outside electronics stores, a pane of glass separating them from the live broadcast playing on the high-end televisions inside.

Then there are those fans who will undertake journeys from all corners of the country to Ahmedabad in order to watch the action from up close and soak in the atmosphere of a World Cup final.

Mumbai-based fan Biswas and his friend Piyush Nathani will join another 30 or so members of the “North Stand Gang” – a hardcore fan group from the Wankhede Stadium – as they carry their support to the neighbouring state.

For Nathani, Sunday’s final will cap an exhilarating journey of watching the monthlong tournament across stadiums in India and Sri Lanka.

Through the ups and downs of Team India’s campaign, he has held on to one small ritual and he won’t change it for the big match.

“I wear the same jersey and pair of trousers for every game,” the 29-year-old said.

Squad depth to India’s rescue

India’s route to the final included its fair share of hiccups: the co-hosts didn’t look their strongest against minnows USA in their opening game, fell to South Africa in the next stage and were pushed to the brink by England in the semifinals.

But in their pursuit of victory, a different player stepped up as the team began to falter.

From the ever-reliable pace-bowling star Jasprit Bumrah and versatile all-rounder Hardik Pandya to young wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan and the stunning Sanju Samson, who made a sparkling return to the playing XI, India never fell short of match-winners.

“The Indian team is by far the best in the tournament because of the quality in the squad,” Indian cricketer and TV analyst Aditya Tare told Al Jazeera ahead of the final.

“There were moments when the team was under pressure, but they showed character, picked themselves up from tough situations and finished games off.

“The biggest example of the squad’s depth is Sanju Samson. He didn’t get a spot in the playing XI for a few games, but the moment he got in, he picked up two player of the match awards. That goes to show that India isn’t reliant on just one or two players [to win matches].”

‘Pressure is privilege’

Suryakumar’s team will undoubtedly carry the hopes of more than 1.4 billion people at home and millions of Indian diaspora watching elsewhere in the world, with Sunday’s result shaping the mood of the nation the next morning – whether Indians wake up brimming with joy or grappling with another heartbreak.

For some fans, however, that pressure is not a burden but a sign of how deeply the team is loved.

“I think pressure is a privilege,” Aritra Mustafi, a fan from Bengaluru, said of the expectations the team carries. “If 90,000 fans turn up again, and it puts the team under pressure, it’s a privilege [for the players] that so many are supporting them.”

The venue has been a major part of the discourse in the run-up to the final. The decision to stage another World Cup final at the 132,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium instead of the traditional homes of Indian cricket – Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium or Kolkata’s Eden Gardens – has prompted debate among fans online.

Those who have attended matches there believe the vast stadium gives more supporters a chance to witness India playing for another world title.

“From a fan atmosphere perspective, Gujarat might not be the best place, but stadium-wise it’s pretty good because of the crowd management,” said Mustafi, who attended two matches in Ahmedabad during the 50-over World Cup in 2023. “There are concerns about how such a huge crowd will enter and exit, but during my last visit, I did not face any issues.”

Watching your team lift a trophy on the grandest stage is a dream for many fans, and Hyderabad-based Praketh Reddy is no different.

“I want to experience how it feels to watch India win the World Cup,” he said. “Singing our national song — Vande Mataram — with a 100,000-strong crowd will be incredible. If we win, the post-match celebrations will go on late … I don’t think I’ll make it back to my hotel until about 3am!”

For Biswas, the final also carries a personal significance: it falls a day after his birthday, and a victory would be the sweetest present.

“When the captain of our country lifts the trophy, it will be a dream come true,” he said.

Nigeria’s Bola Tinubu was elected on promises to tackle the nation’s widespread violence and address two of its root causes: Poverty and corruption. But with the country going to the polls next year, has he delivered on his “Renewed Hope” agenda?

Mehdi Hasan goes head-to-head with Daniel Bwala, Tinubu’s once staunch critic-turned-Special Adviser on Media and Policy Communications, on the administration’s record in office and where he stands on his past accusations against his current boss.

Joining the discussion are:
Ayisha Osori – Director, Open Society Foundations Ideas/Workshop Lab
Aanu Adeoye – Journalist, Financial Times
Tunde Doherty – UK chairman, All Progressives Congress

Every time Adriana Molina drives up Lake Avenue to her retro-style women’s clothing shop Sidecca in Altadena, she sees the new outdoor mural she commissioned for the store by muralist and illustrator Annie Bolding. It gives her hope.

“I’m here to stay, and this mural solidified my decision to reopen my business,” said Molina on a recent winter day, sitting next to Bolding inside the boutique. “I grew up in Altadena. The community has motivated me this whole time, and I want them to drive by this mural and smile.”

“ALTADENA.” The word — in big white letters, set against layers of blue — appears toward the top of the mural, on the store’s brick wall facing Lake. Above are the San Gabriel Mountains, painted a deep brown, California poppies and Mariposa Street and Lake Avenue street signs. Below are green grass, a monarch butterfly and Altadena’s Christmas Tree Lane. A bright blue house is on a multicolored striped path in the middle of the mural. Next to it, on a hiking trail, a sign says, “Welcome Home Altadena… With Love, Sidecca.”

For Molina and Bolding, the mural is a personal ode to the Eaton fire-ravaged community — art as a message of optimism and healing.

A car passes by the new Altadena mural on the side of Sidecca apparel shop, which commissioned the piece after fire and floods devastated the community.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

When the fire tore through Altadena in January 2025, Sidecca and a few other stores on the north side of Mariposa Street’s bustling Mariposa Junction survived, while the other half-block of businesses burned to the ground. The fire leveled Bolding’s parents’ house off Lake and the home of one of Molina’s close relatives.

Molina staged pop-ups and sold merchandise online during months of remediation, and officially reopened Sidecca’s doors in November as part of Mariposa Junction’s larger comeback. Then the store suffered another blow: flooding and damage during rainstorms in late December. While Molina prepped to temporarily close her store yet again for renovations, Bolding began work on the mural. She started painting on the one-year anniversary of the fire and finished eight days later.

“On the day I started it, it was so cold and windy, and I was scared being up on the ladder,” said Bolding. “But getting to talk to community members while I was painting was very special. People were excited and honking as they drove by. That night, I drove up to the lot where my parents’ place was, and I stood there and all the feelings flooded back.”

The mural’s origin story is that of two creative women bound by strength and a desire to give back.

Molina, who has worked in the fashion industry for more than 30 years, opened Sidecca’s Altadena spot in 2023, after closing its longtime Pasadena location. Voted Pasadena’s best women’s clothing store five times by Pasadena Weekly, Sidecca sells fun vintage-inspired merchandise and clothes, from ‘50s style dresses to snazzy magnets, tote bags and sunglasses. A big rainbow zips across the top of one of the store’s walls.

A display in Sidecca in 2023, two years before the Eaton fire devastated Altadena.

(Alejandro R. Jimenez)

“A few months after Sidecca opened in Altadena, my mom walked in and saw how colorful it was, and said, ‘This reminds me of my daughter,’ ” Bolding said. “With zero hesitation, my mom said to Adriana, ‘Here’s her Instagram. This is my daughter’s stuff.’ ”

Bolding, who goes by Disco Day Designs, calls herself “a joyful creator who loves to intentionally transform spaces.” Known for the bright murals she creates for brands and shops, Bolding gained attention on social media for a trash bin she painted with palm trees and stripes. She brought it to the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival as part of a contest organized by the festival’s sustainability partner, Global Inheritance.

“I fixated on the trash can,” said Molina. “I looked at Annie’s murals and was like, ‘Oh, she has to do something in here for us.’ ”

“Game recognizes game,” added Bolding, smiling.

Molina wanted to rebrand Sidecca with a new logo, bags and art, and connected with Bolding about that and a possible mural inside the store. “I wanted ‘Sidecca’ painted across a wall as an acronym that stands for style, individuality, diversity, expression, community, culture and art,” she said. “That’s who we are.”

Then came Jan. 7, 2025.

The store was closed all day for a holiday lunch. Then the winds picked up and the flames roared. Molina, who lives with her husband and two children on the Altadena-Pasadena, evacuated with her family to Long Beach and came back days later. She knew the store was OK because she’d seen it — intact — on the news.

“As soon as we could come up to the shop, we went,” Molina said. “There were ashes all over.”

Bolding and her husband were in Palm Springs fixing up an AirBnb they cohost when Bolding got a call from her mom about the fire in Altadena. She urged her mom, dad and younger brother to evacuate. After they did, their home burned down. Her parents now live in a Pasadena apartment.

When Molina started selling Altadena-themed merch on Sidecca’s website, Bolding donated three designs, including one with lively retro daisies. In July, she wrote an email to Molina reviving the idea of a mural, but outside versus inside, as an ode to Altadena.

“It felt like anything I could do to bring joy, let’s go,” said Molina. “And I really wanted a little house in there, and for it to say, ‘Welcome home.’ ”

The mural would be Bolding’s first public piece of art on a main street.

“Lake always felt like the road going home,” she said. “That rainbow road in the mural, leading to the mountains, is so symbolic. Very ‘Wizard of Oz.’ The mountains, their silhouette, have always felt majestic, safe, and why it was so heartbreaking anytime to see them burn. To me, they feel like mother.”

Muralist Annie Bolding stands in front of her new Altadena mural on the side of the Sidecca apparel shop. The work is Bolding’s first piece of public art on a main street.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Bolding’s joyful daisies decorated the Sidecca tote bag given to customers at November’s reopening, just before December’s intense rainstorms. Water gushed through Sidecca’s ceiling. Molina and her employee Manisa Ianakiev were overwhelmed.

“We were like, ‘Is this really happening?’ ” said Molina. “Then people started bringing tools and towels. It was an example of community.”

Bolding planned to start painting the mural Jan. 4, during the Altadena Forever Run, but rain swept through. After Molina’s landlord installed a plywood base, Bolding started on the mural several days later.

Since then, the shop’s ceiling has been replaced, and Molina is working on trying to replace the floor — while continuing to stage pop-ups and sell merchandise online — before fully reopening the bricks-and-mortar boutique this spring.

“People say, ‘Every time I go into your store, I just get happy. I’m in a better mood,’ ” said Molina. “I get that all the time. And what Annie has done, this mural, is beautiful. It makes me happy.”

Maryna Bondarenko, a 51-year-old journalist, has three packed suitcases in her apartment in Poland, hopeful for the return of peace in Ukraine. She fled Kyiv with her son and mother when Russia invaded on February 24, 2022, expecting to be away for just a month or two. Now, four years later, she continues to work in a Ukrainian language newsroom serving over 1.5 million Ukrainians in Poland. Bondarenko recounts many moments of anticipation for returning home, having even packed her belongings multiple times, convinced the war would soon end.

The ongoing war has resulted in Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War Two, with over 5 million Ukrainians dispersed across Europe, particularly in Central and Eastern regions. Most refugees are women and children due to martial law in Ukraine that prevents military-age men from leaving. Bondarenko expresses a strong desire to reunite with her husband, Andrij Dudko, who works as a drone operator on the front line. However, the harsh conditions in Kyiv, including devastating air strikes and bitter winter, keep her from returning with her child.

In Poland, large Ukrainian communities have formed in cities like Warsaw and Krakow, but this has sometimes led to tensions with local residents over jobs and welfare benefits. Bondarenko wishes to return home but acknowledges that Ukraine will be significantly changed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hopes that 70% of Ukrainians abroad will go back after the war, but surveys indicate that many want to stay away, particularly among younger generations. Her 11-year-old son, Danylo, finds it hard to remember life in Ukraine and finds Poland more familiar, though he has faced some hostility at school.

Additionally, Iryna Kushnir and Olga Yermolenko, who were high school friends in Kharkiv, found each other again in Istanbul, where they moved at the start of the war. Kushnir had hoped for a quick return home but remains in Turkey, now married and employed as a teacher at Istanbul University, while she left her 19-year-old daughter Sofia to study in Ukraine. Yermolenko works remotely for Ukrainian clients and stays in touch with her mother who still lives in Kharkiv. Despite her efforts to adapt to life in Turkey, she feels caught between her past and an uncertain future. Both women follow the war closely, with Yermolenko expressing fear when seeing news of missile strikes in Kharkiv and making sure to check on her mother’s safety.

With information from Reuters

A group of children gather on a Saturday morning in front of a three-block classroom at the Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN) displacement camp in Wurro-Jabbe, a community in Yola, Adamawa State, northeastern Nigeria. They run across the dusty fields, playing and chatting, but when a chessboard is laid in front of the closed classroom, the children fall silent and move closer to the scene. Their sudden silence and concentration do not come as a surprise because on the chessboard before them, new possibilities begin to unfold.

Seventeen-year-old Partsi David, one of the oldest players in the group, sets up the chessboard and gives instructions before the teachers arrive. She randomly selects the first team to play and urges the next group to be patient as each player is eager to demonstrate their moves first. 

It has been a decade since EYN established the camp to accommodate displaced persons from Mubi, Michika, Madagali, and other communities attacked by Boko Haram. While most residents from Mubi have returned home following the restoration of peace in their communities, those from Madagali and other parts of Michika remain in the camp. Apart from relying on donations from EYN and other humanitarian organisations over the past decade, the displaced persons have also taken up farming and menial work to survive. 

Survival became a priority over the years, pushing education down the list, and many children relied on the camp’s only primary school, run by older displaced persons who taught the younger ones basic English and numeracy. With barely enough chairs and tables inside the three-block classroom, the pupils bring mats from home to sit on. 

According to the United Nations International Organisation for Migration, Boko Haram has displaced over 200,000 people in Adamawa State so far, with residents of Michika and Madagali being among the most affected populations. As of 2025, 69 per cent of children living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps across Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe were said to lack access to education services. 

However, through the Chess in IDP Camp Initiative, displaced children at the EYN camp are now being relocated to formal schools in Yola, where they have been receiving structured education over the past few years. The change came after a young woman, Vivian Ibrahim, introduced chess to the displaced children in 2023. 

After establishing the initiative in the EYN camp, Vivian replicated it in Malkohi, another Yola community where a displacement camp is situated. It was in this environment that chess began to take root.

The game of chess 

The displaced persons in Malkhohi are from Askira Uba, Gwoza, Damboa, and other parts of Borno State. Having developed a passion for chess during her junior secondary school years, Vivian’s experience enabled her to teach the game to the children.

She recounted that barely a few minutes after she introduced the game to them, the children began to catch up. “The kind of moves and the thinking ahead that I saw some of them doing left me amazed, and I was like, these kids are very intelligent,” Vivian said. 

On social media, she showcased how the children had embraced chess and how well they played. 

People began reaching out with tokens of support for the initiative, and soon, more chessboards were acquired. As monetary donations kept flowing, Vivian conceived the idea to direct every penny donated to the campaign toward the educational development of children from the various camps. The initiative’s goal is to use chess as a tool to help displaced children access opportunities in life. 

That same year, the initiative secured secondary school admission for five children at the Malkhohi IDP camp, and after she shared the success story on Facebook, the President of the Gift of Chess, an international chess club, reached out to her. 

“He donated $500, so I used it to get more of them back to school. And we got books, school uniforms, sandals, school bags, and all of those things,” she said. 

From the Malkhohi camp, Vivian began expanding her work to displacement camps in Yola alongside her younger brother, who was also skilled at the game and her only volunteer at the time. They held weekly chess lessons for the children after establishing chess clubs at Malkhohi and EYN camps. “We recently enrolled three-year-olds,” Vivian said with a smile. 

As the years rolled by, the children’s skills steadily improved. She noticed a shift in their mindset, particularly in their career aspirations. She explained that many of them believed their future was limited to manual labour since they were displaced children, but after several chess lessons, many of them felt they were really good at something. Vivian believed that participating in tournaments outside the camp would help the children realise not only that they were capable, but also that they were deserving and worthy of every opportunity. 

New opportunities 

As the children’s confidence grew, the initiative organised a tournament between the two camps and later expanded it across the state, so the young players could showcase their skills. They competed in the state chess tournaments and emerged as champions. The children said their confidence was boosted, and their learning efforts doubled.

For twelve-year-old Timothy Hassan, it was an opportunity to shine. 

“I love to calculate. I love mathematics,” he stated. 

However, he never thought his dreams could come true, since he didn’t have access to secondary education; education at the EYN camp stops at the primary level. So when the game was introduced to his camp in 2024, Timothy was among the first group to show interest. 

“I’ve participated in local tournaments within Adamawa and even travelled to Lagos and Delta states to compete,” he told HumAngle with a bright smile. 

Timothy says the feeling he gets anytime he’s set to travel for a competition is indescribable because he never thought it would be possible for him to leave the camp or even travel outside the state. Now, he gets to compete with other chess players, and the initiative has enrolled him in a secondary school where he is continuing his education. 

“The game has made me a more focused person. It has reduced the rate at which I play around the camp unnecessarily as I spend my free time practising with the chessboard,” Timothy said.  “I want to be an engineer,” he added. 

When preparations were underway for the National Sports Festival in 2025, the Chess in IDP Camp initiative seized the opportunity, as there was no group to represent Adamawa State in the chess section. 

“I made contact with the Adamawa State Sports Council, and I presented the kids to them. They played a match. The people at the sports council were impressed,” Vivian told HumAngle. 

The children were then selected to represent the state during the chess tournaments in Delta State. They competed against teams from other states in Nigeria and finished fourth.

Partsi, one of the chess players who represented the state at the National Sports Festival, says she’s getting better at the game with each passing day. She also participated in a secondary school tournament in Adamawa, where she emerged as the female winner. 

While she wants to become a doctor, Partsi aspires to be a famous chess player. 

“I want to be seen on TV, and I also want to be the winner in every competition. I want to win for Nigeria,”  she said. 

In 2024, Vivian noted that the Commander of the 105 Composite Group, Nigerian Air Force (NAF), who is a patron of the NAF Chess Club in Maiduguri, Borno State, reached out to the Chess in IDP Camp Initiative in Yola, requesting that the programme be introduced to some displaced camps in Borno. Led by Vivian and Tunde Onakoya, a Nigerian chess master and founder of Chess in Slums Africa, the initiative reached Maiduguri, with Tunde directly engaging players at the Muna and Shuwari IDP camps. 

Tunde’s visit was said to have brought further media and public attention to the role that chess can play in healing, learning, and reimagining futures for children affected by conflict.

“This game makes me calm whenever I’m playing because chess doesn’t want your attention to be divided. It wants your full attention,” Partsi said. 

After Tunde became affiliated with the initiative, Vivian explained that several chess players in the state, mostly young people, volunteered to teach the children. This increase in human resources helped the initiative to reach more children in the camps.

Vivian highlighted that the initiative teaches chess to over 200 IDP children from both camps, ranging from ages four to 18. The chess clubs operate on Saturdays for two hours during the school term, but during the holidays, volunteers visit two to three times a week to tutor the children. 

Fifteen-year-old Emmanuel Paul, one of the players who joined the club in 2024, said he needed no persuasion to join. 

“The game itself impresses me. The game requires a lot of calculation,” he told HumAngle. 

The boy explained that the game makes him feel confident, and anytime there is a forthcoming tournament, he feels ready to play. Emmanuel said the hardest part of the game is the endgame when a tournament is drawing to a close. 

“If you don’t strategise well during the endgame, your opponent will win,” he said. 

Like many other chess players in the camp, Emmanuel has been enrolled in a secondary school by the Chess in IDP Camp Initiative. 

Mary Zira, a renowned chess player from the EYN IDP camp, secured a scholarship for secondary education at a private school in Yola. This came shortly after she returned from an international competition in Georgia in 2025. There, she competed in the Chess Community Games, won a silver medal, and earned a chance to speak at the United Nations. 

Impressed by her performance, an individual reached out to the initiative and offered to sponsor her secondary education. While Mary is currently in a private boarding school, her mother, Hannatu Victor, spoke to HumAngle about the achievement. 

“I am a very proud mother,” Mary’s mother stated. 

She explained that she had never imagined her daughter’s life would change overnight because of a game. “This game is helping us, especially our kids, in furthering their education. It also exposes them because they go out to meet other children when they play in different places,” she said. 

From chessboards to classrooms 

Following several tournament victories by the displaced children, the Chess in IDP Camp Initiative has gained widespread recognition. Although the initiative has not yet partnered with any local or international humanitarian organisation, Vivian remains grateful to individuals who have given the children the opportunity for a better life. 

According to Vivian, about 70 young chess players from both the Malkhohi and EYN IDP camps have been enrolled in various private and public secondary schools in Yola, with the initiative covering their fees. The oldest student has recently completed secondary school and is now ready to pursue a university education. Scholarships have also been secured for some of the children.

Apart from chess, a group of young volunteers from the Modibbo Adama University, Yola, who recently joined the initiative, are incorporating AI and tech sessions into several chess classes. Their goal is to equip the children for a rapidly changing world. 

Elisha Samson, one of the volunteers at the camp, told HumAngle that the children have shown noticeable improvement in STEM subjects integrated into their sessions. The volunteers have been teaching the children how to use Arduino, an open-source platform used for building electronics projects. 

“I feel that, going further in the future, maybe we could have a lot of them build very cool tech on their own without us guiding them to do it,” Elisha said. 

Elisha noted that the major challenges they face as volunteers are the lack of electricity in the camp, as some of the tech and AI concepts they are introducing to the children require electricity. 

“Sometimes we have to come with a backup power supply from home, and then we use it for them. We also need more Arduino kits to be able to handle more students or show more students what we’re talking about and have lots of practicals because our practicals are limited, as the kits we have are very limited,” he added.

Jerry Sunday, another volunteer with the initiative, explained that sessions are more interaction-based. 

“When we notice that a student is trying to lose interest or is not doing well, we break the concepts down into basic everyday examples, and they quickly understand and relate to it,” he said, adding that students who don’t do very well are often paired with better-performing colleagues who serve as their tutors. 

Despite these efforts, sessions are sometimes disrupted.  

“There is no consistency in attendance, especially during the rainy season, because most of them go to help their parents on the farm,” the volunteer said. 

A 2024 fact sheet on Nigeria’s education, developed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), shows that rural and poor children across all levels have lower school completion rates than urban and wealthier children, whose completion rates are above average. The report further states that while 90 per cent of children from the wealthiest quintile complete senior secondary education, less than 16 per cent of children from the poorest quintile do so.

Against all odds, the children continue to excel. 

Rebecca David, a displaced woman from Madagali whose daughters participate in the chess programme, noted that their confidence has improved since they enrolled. 

“They are now smarter and more critical in doing regular things at home,” she said. 

With a focus on long-term sustainability, the initiative aims to partner with local and international organisations to enrol more children in school, expand opportunities for the children, and ensure that displaced children have the chance to dream beyond the confines of their camps.