I arrived to take my exam after half the allotted time had already passed. I hadn’t been delayed by bombing, or even by a power cut, but by a worn-out banknote that no one was willing to accept.
With their immortal 0-0 draw against Spain yesterday, Cape Verde have now given me two truly great World Cup moments. On 11 July 2018, I was on Santo Antão, the archipelago’s outermost island, reachable only by boat from Mindelo, Cape Verde’s second biggest city, on the neighbouring island of São Vincente. We’d been looking for somewhere to watch England’s semi-final against Croatia, and had happily stumbled on a place called Bar Oásis.
Every white Serco prison van that drove into Woolwich Crown Court on Friday morning was met with a cacophony of cheers, applause and ululation. Protesters massed outside the court wanted the Filton Four – Samuel Corner, Charlotte Head, Leona Kamio and Fatema Rajwani, who were scheduled to be sentenced by Mr Justice Johnson – to know that they were there for them and for the Palestinian cause. Even after a speaker announced that the ‘Filton Four are already inside,’ the cries of support continued.
In 2018, when Fifa announced that Mexico, Canada and the USA would host the 2026 World Cup, I thought I’d go to North America for it. I was 31 and somehow believed this would be my last tournament: I couldn’t imagine life after forty. An even more ridiculous idea, it turns out, was assuming I’d be able to afford it.
John Healey’s resignation as defence secretary is the latest skirmish in a wider campaign to secure an increase in defence spending. Tom Stevenson described the Strategic Defence Review as the ‘object of a proxy battle between the armed forces and the Treasury’ and it seems that, for now, the Treasury is winning the battle over whether to stump up an additional £28 billion over the next four years. Most of the media, however, are on the side of the armed forces.
It isn’t an exaggeration to say that we are living under a kind of house arrest, unable to go out, with an oppressive sense that an assault could occur at any moment. Members of ethnic minority communities have asked their white friends to accompany or drive them to work, hoping it would reduce the risk of being targeted. With more protests announced for today, schools closed early. I had to try to explain to my daughter why she would be missing her ukulele club this afternoon.
New York Knicks fans outside Madison Square Garden (Alamy / Kerry Burke / New York Daily News)
I’m following the NBA Finals thousands of miles from midtown Manhattan. In my North London flat, I set the alarm for 1.20 a.m. on game nights, just in time for tip-off, and watch on my laptop. I inherited my fandom from my father. When he landed in Brooklyn as a teenager, nearly fifty years ago, rooting for the Knicks was one of the ways he became American. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t a fan. Knicks stars were my earliest childhood heroes; their rivals, including the Spurs, the first targets of my disdain.