Humanitarian

Morocco jailed 17 Senegal fans following fan disturbances at the Africa Cup of Nations final in January.

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has pardoned the Senegalese football supporters jailed after violence at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final in Rabat for “humanitarian reasons”, a royal court statement has confirmed.

It said that in view “of the age-old fraternal ties” between the two countries “and on the occasion of the advent of Eid al-Adha”, the king has “granted, on humanitarian grounds, his royal pardon to the Senegalese supporters”.

The Muslim holiday will be celebrated on Wednesday in Morocco.

The 18 fans were jailed following a pitch invasion that followed the awarding of a penalty to Morocco in injury time of the final on January 18.

The game was stopped for 14 minutes while the Senegal players and staff left the field in protest at the decision. When play resumed, Morocco missed the penalty before Senegal sealed a 1-0 win in injury time.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF), the continent’s governing body for football, overturned the decision on March 17, awarding the game as a 3-0 win to Morocco, which saw the North Africans crowned champions.

CAF upheld the appeal by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, saying Senegal had infringed tournament regulations by walking off.

Senegal have lodged their own appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a ruling from the Switzerland-based body could take up to a year.

May 12 (UPI) — Cuba’s foreign minister has denied his government received a $100 million offer in humanitarian aid from the United States, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly claimed Washington tried to send assistance and Cuban authorities refused to distribute it.

In a message posted on X, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla described Rubio’s version as a “fable” and a “$100 million lie,” and questioned who would finance the aid, how it would be distributed and whether it would consist of cash, fuel, food or medicine.

“Someone should ask the U.S. secretary of state about the fable of the alleged offer of $100 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba, which nobody here knows anything about,” Rodríguez wrote.

Rodríguez also questioned whether the alleged assistance would be “a donation, a deception or a dirty business to undermine our independence,” and argued that “lifting the fuel blockade would be easier.”

The statements responded to comments made Friday by Rubio during a press conference in Italy, where he said the United States offered humanitarian aid to Cuba and that the island’s government did not allow its distribution.

“We have offered the regime there $100 million in humanitarian aid, which unfortunately so far they have not agreed to distribute to help the people of Cuba,” Rubio said.

The secretary of state added that Washington had previously delivered about $6 million in humanitarian aid channeled through Catholic charity Caritas and said the United States seeks to expand assistance because of the island’s economic and social deterioration.

“We want to help the people of Cuba, who are being hurt by this regime, which has destroyed the country and the economy,” Rubio said.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will hold talks with Cuba, although he did not provide specific details about the scope of those contacts.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump described Cuba as “a failed country” and wrote, “Cuba is asking for help, and we’re going to talk!”

According to El Nuevo Herald, Rubio also said he discussed the Cuban situation with Pope Leo XIV during a meeting held at the Vatican. Rubio blamed the Cuban government for preventing greater humanitarian assistance.

The exchange came amid a renewed rise in tensions between the governments of Trump and Miguel Díaz-Canel after sanctions imposed by the Trump administration against the Cuban military conglomerate GAESA, its director and mining company Moa Nickel.

Rubio announced the measures last week as part of an economic offensive aimed at restricting the Cuban regime’s sources of income and pressuring the island for political and economic reforms.

“The sanctions imposed … demonstrate that the Trump administration will not stand idly by while the Cuban communist regime threatens our national security in our hemisphere,” Rubio wrote on social media.