Tottenham’s Conte era gets off to winning start

AFP

Antonio Conte was dished up the good and the bad in his first match in charge of Tottenham who beat Vitesse Arnhem 3-2 in the Europa Conference League on Thursday in a game which also three red cards.

Conte took his place in the dug out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after his work permit arrived in time two days after his appointment.

Spurs had not mustered a single shot on target in the weekend defeat to Manchester United, which spelled the end for Nuno Espirito Santo after just four months in charge.

Against Vitesse they’d conjured up two within the first 90 seconds, encouraging the fans, some draped in Italian flags to make Conte feel at home.

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The Italian former Inter Milan, Chelsea and Juventus boss only had to wait 14 minutes for his new side’s first goal, with Son Heung-min driving in a low angled shot from the right.

Shortly after Lucas Moura, taking receipt of an inch-perfect cross from Harry Kane, clinically converted the chance, sliding the ball past the onrushing keeper Markus Schubert.

The reenergized hosts were 3-0 up before the half hour, the goal awarded to Vitesse defender Jacob Rasmussen who in trying to keep out Kane’s close range shot dragged the ball over the line.

Rasmussen made quick amends, heading past Hugo Lloris four minutes later.

On 39 minutes a defensive error by Moura resulted in Matus Bero slotting past Lloris to give Conte plenty to talk about at his first half-time prep talk in the Spurs dressing room.

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On the hour Tottenham went a man down after defender Cristian Romero received his second booking for a foul on Lois Openda.

Lloris was then kept busy as Vitesse tried to capitalise on their numerical advantage, the Spurs skipper superbly denying Riechedly Bazoer’s curling shot with his left hand.

Conte made a triple substitution, introducing Harry Winks, Davinson Sanchez and Tanguy Ndomblee for Son, Moura and Oliver Skipp.

Vitesse had a man sent off of their own when captain Danilho Doekhi felled Kane in the centre circle to earn his second booking, as Tottenham held on for a much needed win.

Vitesse keeper Markus Schubert was also sent off for handling the ball outside of his area.

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While Conte was left with plenty of food for thought in north London ahead of his Premier League return against Everton, former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho watched his Roma side earn a come-from-behind 2-2 draw against Bodo/Glimt.

The Norwegians had embarrassed Mourinho’s Serie A charges 6-1 at home in the first match between the two sides last month.

Central America

Teens visit ETESAL substation to learn about responsible energy use

Within the framework of World Energy Day, teenagers from the institutional care center Ciudad Niñez y Adolescencia (CNA), run by the Consejo Nacional de la Primera Infancia, Niñez y Adolescencia (Conapina), took part in an educational visit to a substation operated by Empresa Transmisora de El Salvador (ETESAL) in Santa Ana.

The aim of the activity was to give participants first-hand knowledge of how the country’s electricity transmission system works and to highlight the importance of responsible energy use.

During the tour, the group learned about the process that delivers electricity to homes, businesses, and industries. They were also introduced to specialized technical equipment and the safety measures required to ensure an efficient and reliable service.

Before the guided visit, the teenagers attended two informative talks and an environmental awareness session focused on the relevance of responsible energy consumption and its impact on the environment.

According to Nelson Menjívar, head of Conapina’s programs unit, the initiative serves a dual purpose. “It has two objectives: a recreational component and an educational one, so that adolescents can learn about the work carried out by ETESAL and how some of the resources they use at home are generated. This is in keeping with the guarantees established under the Crecer Juntos law; we ensure those rights for children,” he said.

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Menjívar stressed that these activities help young people better understand how essential services function in their daily lives while promoting efficient consumption habits and a culture of environmental respect and care.

The event is part of the principle of shared responsibility set out in the Crecer Juntos law, promoted by the administration of Nayib Bukele, which states that families, society, private companies, and the State must work together to safeguard the comprehensive well-being of children and adolescents.

Central America

Guatemala’s president denounces MP raids during Constitutional Court election

The president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, on Thursday accused the Ministerio Público (MP) of interfering in the process to select magistrates for the country’s highest court, the Corte de Constitucionalidad (CC).

Arévalo has been locked in an ongoing dispute with Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union and labeled by critics as “corrupt” and “anti-democratic” after efforts to block the president from taking office two years ago.

Earlier on Thursday, the MP said it was investigating alleged irregularities in the voting process and carried out raids at polling sites set up at Club La Aurora and Parque Erick Barrondo, in Guatemala City, where the Colegio de Abogados y Notarios de Guatemala (CANG) was electing its principal and alternate representatives to the CC.

In posts on X, the president described the operation as a “spurious” action aimed at “interfering” in the election and “intimidating” voters in order to “alter” the outcome.

Voting was temporarily disrupted by the searches, the frisking of the CANG president, and a power outage caused by the explosion of a nearby transformer. Once the process resumed and concluded, the association elected Astrid Jeannette Lemus Rodríguez as one of the five members of the Constitutional Court, with Luis Fernando Bermejo Quiñónez chosen as her alternate.

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“They failed in their attempt to hijack the elections (…). Honest lawyers won,” Arévalo wrote in a subsequent message.

International

Florida judge sets 2027 trial in Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against BBC

A federal judge in Florida has scheduled February 2027 for the trial in the lawsuit filed by U.S. President Donald Trump against the BBC, in which he is seeking $10 billion in damages for defamation.

Trump accuses the British broadcaster of airing a misleading edit of a speech he delivered on January 6, 2021, which, he says, made it appear that he explicitly urged his supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

The president filed the suit in December in federal court in Florida, alleging defamation and violations of a law governing business practices when the program was broadcast ahead of the 2024 election.

Trump is seeking $5 billion in damages for each of the two claims.

Lawyers for the BBC unsuccessfully asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that Trump had not suffered a “legally recognizable harm,” since the investigative program Panorama, which included the edited footage, aired outside the United States.