UAE ‘backed’ Colombian fighters in Sudan, says report

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Hello and welcome to NewsHour for the BBC World Service. We're coming to you live from London. I'm James Menendez. And coming up later in the programme, we'll be getting the latest on the war in Iran, including a report from our chief correspondent, Lise Doucette, who is in Tehran. And she's been speaking to people there. I just moved back one year ago. I lived in Berlin for 16 years. And I just moved back because I love Iran. and I thought, if I'm not here now, when should I be here? More from Lise and those she's been speaking to in the Iranian capital in about half an hour. But we are going to start today in Sudan and a new report into the involvement of foreign forces in the country's long-running civil war, interventions that most observers believe are fueling the conflict and preventing a settlement. In this case, the foreign forces are Colombian mercenaries who, the report says, were brought in by the United Arab Emirates to help one side in the war, the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, and help them capture the city of Al-Fasha last year. The siege and eventual takeover of Al-Fasha in the Darfur region is one of the most brutal chapters of the conflict, with widespread reports of atrocities. Hey! Hey! And the fire! Hey! No! Hey! Hey! Well, in that clip from El Fasha shared on social media in August last year, you can hear Spanish-speaking soldiers. It was apparently filmed by one of those Colombian mercenaries. Their presence has been spoken about before, but the report's authors, and we'll be hearing from one of them in a moment, say they've now established a clear link between them and the United Arab Emirates. The UAE has always denied supporting the RSF in its fight against the Sudanese army. In 2024, there was this heated exchange at a UN Security Council meeting when the Sudanese ambassador made that very accusation, and then it was denied by the UAE representative, Mohamed Issa Abu Shabab. We see this as a shameful abuse by one of the warring parties of Sudan of this council. using this platform to spread false allegations against the UAE to distract from the grave violations that are happening on the ground. There will be no military victory or a military settlement of the conflict in Sudan. The only way to settle will be through the negotiating table. Well, I've been speaking to Justin Lynch, who's the co-director of the Conflict Insights Group that produced today's report. I asked him first, how did they identify the Colombian mercenaries? We mostly relied on the cookies on people's phones. And we use this to track the locations of more than 50 Colombian mercenaries. We knew they were mercenaries. They were Colombian because they oftentimes set their language to Colombian Spanish or some type of Spanish. And we tracked them going from Bogota or places in Colombia to UAE-supported military facilities in Somalia, in the UAE, and also in Libya, and then onward to Sudan. How did you know the details of their devices so that you could track these cookies? How did you get hold of their phone numbers, if you like? Yeah, so we're not tracking their phone numbers. What we're tracking is basically the cookies that are installed on their phones. So this is something that is GDPR compliant because these mercenaries opted into it. They accepted the terms and the conditions. And it's something that most people have on their phones. Because we're a security research organization, we have really high standards of privacy. So this is not something that anybody can get access to. What was their involvement then in the siege and the battle for that city El Fasher in Darfur that became such a notorious episode in the Civil War? I mean, how closely were the mercenaries involved in that fighting? Well, we can tell that there were multiple Colombian mercenaries who were there. There was one mercenary in particular that we focus on. His phone was set to Colombian Spanish, and they were present in El Fasher during the atrocities. They named their Wi-Fi network Atacador, which is attacker in Spanish. And so it gives you some idea of their involvement. What we did as well is we layered with other types of open source evidence, videos, with contracts, and we could really give a full picture of the mercenary support. But what was their role as fighters? I mean, were they fighting alongside the RSF? Were they just giving them advice? Were they flying drones? What were they doing? We can't say, and that's one of the limitations of our report. We don't know if this person was advising, if this person was fighting, because we can only see their kind of phone movements. But in general, what these mercenaries were often doing was flying drones. We can tell that because other devices named their Wi-Fi networks anti-aero, which is anti-air, or they named them drones. And they were located a couple of kilometers away from remote airstrips that had popped up in the middle of nowhere. What about the links to the United Arab Emirates, which is a controversial issue, not least because the UAE has consistently denied backing the RSF. Can you just give us a bit more detail about the links between the mercenaries and the UAE government? This is the first report that I can think of where we can show exactly the movement and prove those links to the UAE. Specifically, one of the mercenaries was trained at a UAE military facility. This military facility specializes in training mercenaries for many years, specifically in drone operations. The other one that we could prove that had links to the UAE named their Wi-Fi network Desert Wolves in Spanish. and this is the name of the mercenary group whose leader has been sanctioned by the Treasury Department. He's a retired Colombian colonel, is that right? Exactly, and the Treasury Department said, look, this guy's based in the UAE and we have contracts of these mercenaries who are paid through this organization and we've proven the links. Other organizations have shown that this particular company was set up by members of the UAE royal family's close advisors. So the links are undeniable. And what makes this report different is that we don't rely on human sources. This is all quantitative. It's all publicly available, but very hard to find. Did you put some of this directly to the UAE when drawing up this report? We did not. But I know that multiple journalists have. I know that the BBC obviously have. And, you know, I think that what's really interesting here is that when you speak with diplomats, Western diplomats from the UK, the US, everybody knows what the UAE is doing. And they find it really fruitless to speak with the UAE because they deny this to them. Yeah. But what is the UAE's interest in Sudan and backing the RSF? I think it's one of the really important questions of our time because many people say, look, this is about gold. This is about something different that's deeply embedded in the UAE. They want to have political control of countries and they want to have allies across not only Africa, but across the Middle East. And so you've seen them take the strategy of supporting the RSF with all of this support. And what's really striking to me doing this research is that this is a really complex network, right? These are mercenaries flying in from Colombia. I mean, there's many layers of shell companies involved, but it really is not super successful, right? Of course, these mercenaries were critical. It took the RSF almost two and a half years to take over the city of Al-Fasher. This is an area that the RSF should control. And so the point here is really that these mercenary support isn't super successful. These are guys who speak Spanish. They don't speak Arabic. It's just a very big enterprise for not a lot of impact. Do you or anybody else know how many Colombian mercenaries there are in Sudan or have been in Sudan? I mean, are we talking dozens, hundreds, thousands? My understanding is that there are thousands of mercenaries, and that closely aligns with the numbers that we saw that were traveling to Sudan. We also should say that foreign intervention is happening on both sides of the civil war, people backing the RSF, but also people backing the Sudanese armed forces. If you zoom out, this is really a foreign war where many parties are giving weapons to both sides. That was Justin Lynch of the Conflict Insights Group speaking to me from Cairo. We will be hearing from Colombia itself later in the program about why so many people are traveling to fight in foreign wars. president trump may have said last night he was extending the ceasefire with iran but it's still not clear whether proposed talks between washington and tehran will go ahead and tension in the strait of hormuz remains as high as ever today the iranian revolutionary guards say they seized two ships that tried to pass through the channel and that's after u.s forces intercepted and boarded Iranian vessels earlier this week. With me in the studio, Siavash Adalan from BBC's Persian service. What more do we know about what happened today with those ships in the Strait of Hormuz? Well, according to the communique issued by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, they identified and detained two vessels that they said were offending by entering into Iran's territorial waters and going through the routes that were designated by the Revolutionary Guards as a route that you need to get permission for in order to pass through. One of them is called MSC Francesca, linked to Israel, as the Revolutionary Guard said, and the other vessel was called Epamanidos Were any shots fired We don know We don think there were any shots fired Otherwise we would have heard about it I think they just interdicted the ships and then took them to the Iranian ports for inspection. That's what they said. They will look at the cargo to see what they're carrying. And I think it's just a tit for tat against what the US did when they seized an Iranian vessel. And they said they went on board and inspected the cargo. I think they just wanted to retaliate in that way. So you've got America's blockade, you've got Iran still seizing ships. And yet on the table, these talks that may or may not happen. I mean, what's going on? Is this part of a negotiating tactic on both sides to put pressure on the other? Yeah, both sides are accusing the other of breaking the ceasefire terms, one by a naval blockade, the other one by closing the Strait of Hormuz. We don't know exactly what went on behind the scenes and what the agreements could have been. But it seems now that each side is saying, okay, if you want us to enter into talks, you need to let go of this strangulation of whatever you're holding. Iran says we won't enter talks unless the U.S. stops the naval blockade. And the U.S. is saying, well, Iran needs to open the Strait of Hormuz. And what Donald Trump says, they need to give us a unified, consistent message as what they want, implying that there's some sort of a fracture or disagreement among Iranian leadership as to what they should be doing. But the tactics, it seems, have shifted from a military confrontation where they were just, you know, delivering shots at each other to each one holding the other one's throat and just trying to strangle the other, seeing which one will blink first, because Iran has a chokehold on the world economy. And the US is now trying to strangle Iran's economy. So which one really falls first is a question we have to find out. Yes, and one we'll be keeping watch on. Siavash, thank you very much indeed. Siavash Adelan from the BBC's Persian service. And as I mentioned, we will be hearing from Tehran a little later in the program in about 20 minutes. This is James Menendez with News Out, live from the BBC. Now, it looks as if a big, long-promised loan from the European Union to Ukraine may finally be dispersed this week. The package, worth $106 billion, was drawn up last year, but it was vetoed by Hungary. The outgoing Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, blocked the money when Hungary stopped getting Russian oil through a pipeline that crosses Ukraine, which Kiev said had been damaged in a Russian strike. Well, that oil is now flowing again. And perhaps more importantly, Mr. Orban has just been voted out of office. Well, joining me now from Kiev is Dr. Victoria Vidovichenko, a Ukrainian academic who's a joint programme leader of the Future of Ukraine programme at Cambridge University. Victoria, very good to have you with us here on NewsHour. First of all, how badly needed is this money in Ukraine? Good afternoon, everyone. It's absolutely essential to keep on the reform track which Ukraine is paving into, and that was blocked by Hungarian veto, as correctly mentioned earlier. We are talking about the term budget of 90 billion euros loan for Ukraine and the Blocks of 20 package of sanction that was blocked by Hungary. So in this case, it's absolutely essential. And there were some of the preconditions that Hungary and Slovakia in particular were also, also, let's say, waiting specifically, which is related to the pipeline, Druzhba, or friendship, that they say the oil will be going into. And that's how UNLOX happened, as we speak, just one hour ago. Yeah, I mean, Hungary always said that Ukraine was deliberately stopping that oil flowing down that pipeline. Was that true? Well, definitely, there is always the rationale that Hungary wanted to continue the Russian oil to come to the European Union member states country. And that was actually a big misunderstanding, but at the same time a challenge for the European Union member states in particular, because there was a discrepancy in this case when the sanctions were only tackling some of the sectors of Russian economy, but not tackling what we say the backbone, which is feeding the military economy of Russian Federation, which is oil and gas. That's why for Hungary, with the previous, let's say, administration, Viktor Orban, and we're expecting, of course, with the new administration coming in a couple of weeks, understanding that Hungary will continue, let's say, staying more pro-European in this case. But at the same time, for a moment, yes, that's why the pipeline friendship or druzba was very much of the prerequisite of Viktor Orban's political campaign or electoral campaign at the beginning of April in particular, and also blocking or vetoing European Council decision starting from December 2025 on the precondition that it's limiting the Hungary economy being prosperous. So you've got the situation now that the EU is able to offer financial support to Ukraine once again, but Russian oil is now flowing once again into the European Union. And as you hinted, I mean, Russia is making money from that oil and making a lot more money, isn't it? Because prices are so much higher. Yeah, exactly. So in this case, it's a Russian oil, but of course, cross cut into another country. So definitely, that was something that's still on the negotiation table as we speak now between Ukrainian, let's say representatives and EU representatives and I believe we will hear more with upcoming definitely Prime Minister of Hungary in particular what will be the precondition after all. For a moment yes the decision comes after Kiev said that the Druzhba pipeline which runs through Ukraine has restarted deliveries of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia and that's how we see re-blocking or de-blocking of the loan very necessary for a continuing of the reform path of Ukraine, but also very necessary for the support, especially of the armed forces of Ukraine. So just briefly, Victoria, I mean, does that mean that there isn't that much pressure on Russia now to find a resolution to this war? Because it's, I mean, it is making so much money from oil exports. Well, indeed, and there were a lot of the think tanks in Ukraine, in particular, proving that it's not the best way, or let's say, not the optimal way to continue. But at the same time, that's what we say the prerequisite for the blocking, as we speak, of this loan happening, which is essential, as we say, to supporting the economy of Ukraine, which in reality will happen only at the end of May. Because you still need to do what we say some paperwork and the preparation of the memorandum and the financial loans and also understanding what kind of mechanism is going to be there. And also, which is important, now EU is thinking about the next term or next round of the budgeting, which is in EU terms is for the seven years. In this case, that's what we say the changes might happen because we still say that it's not the best option when the Russian oil is entering the European markets per se, being the backbone of the Russian economy. and of course, the Russian economy that helps to shoot Ukrainian and Ukrainian infrastructure in particular. Okay, we'll have to leave it there. Thank you very much indeed. That was Dr. Victoria Vidovichenko joining us from Kiev. Time to go back in time now, about 200 million years, in fact, to the Jurassic period and an early ancestor of the crocodile, because a fragment of the world's oldest marine crocodile has gone on display in Dorset in England. It's extremely rare and it was found by an amateur fossil hunter trawling the coastline. Let's talk to Dr Paul Davis, paleontologist and curator at the Lyme Regis Museum in Dorset. Welcome to the programme. What exactly is this fragment? Oh, so this fragment is a piece of the jaw, the upper jaw, of creatures called Thalatosuchians. they're a group that belongs to the crocodile group because we have to remember that today the crocodiles and alligators are just a small portion of what was available in the past and these thalatosuchians were truly marine crocodile-like animals that were ocean-going. Yeah there aren't very many traces of this of this creature are there in the world? no no um so this uh is the part of one of the world's oldest um of the slatter sukin groups so we get them here in dorset we've got about 11 specimens in total uh one partial skeleton and quite a number of well 10 isolated fragments from this creature right and tell us a bit more about how it's found heather salt she's a what an amateur fossil hunter and she came across it well not far from you well that's right heather was actually taking part of one of our guided fossil walks where we take people onto the beach and she found it and showed it to the guide and the guide recognized it as something interesting put a picture on our group uh chat i spotted the picture immediately rushed down because i recognized what it was and spoke to heather and she kindly donated it to the museum yeah she was actually after something else i think wasn't she though that's right an ammonite she was an ammonite which are an extinct type of uh squid type creature that lived in a shell and she was that's what she was hoping to find i mean this is a thousand a million times better than that um how long did it take you to to work out exactly what it was and sort of you know prove what it was um pretty much as soon as i saw it in person really i've got a very good idea from the photograph um but as soon as i saw it in person it just 100% confirmed what I thought it was. Yeah, how often do these sort of level of finds happen? Well, surprisingly often. You've got to remember the number of eyes that are on our Jurassic Coast, our World Heritage Site for its paleontology down here. There's large numbers of people who go fossil collecting. So they do, these rare, unusual finds turn up far more frequently than you might expect, and usually to people who are not professional paleontologists. Yeah, well, it's good that they don't put them in their pocket and they hand them to people like you who can identify them. Paul, thank you very much indeed. Dr. Paul Davis, paleontologist at the Lyme Regis Museum. You're listening to NewsHour from the BBC World Service. Do stay with us. Lots more coming up in the second half of the program. Transcribed by — Starting a business can be overwhelming. You're juggling multiple roles, designer, marketer, logistics manager, all while bringing your vision to life. Shopify helps millions of business sell online. Build fast with templates and AI descriptions and photos, inventory and shipping. Sign up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.nl. That's Shopify.nl. It's time to see what you can accomplish with Shopify by your side. Welcome back to News Out. There is a film festival in Cannes taking place, but not the one you might expect. Welcome to a new wave of creativity. A place where artificial intelligence meets human emotion. This one is the World AI Film Festival, set up to highlight the creative possibilities of artificial intelligence in cinema. Of course, others see it as a danger to jobs and the authenticity of movies. So what does this AI-inflected cinema look right now? Marco Landi is the founder and main sponsor of the festival. BBC's Sally Bundock asked him if all of the films are fully AI-made. It is almost AI-made, but not totally. We are allowing also hybrid films because we want to respect the filmmaking of today. But we want to explore the opportunities of using this new technology like AI that is providing a lot of opportunity to many, many people in the world. AI is democratizing the possibility to make films. But, for example, last night we honoured Claude Delelouch, one of the most famous directors in France, and he was with us explaining that he's now creating his 60 films and he wants to use AI. Because he said he's giving me a lot of possibilities. In the film industry itself, though, there's huge concern about AI and what it means going forward. At the Zurich Film Festival last year, we saw the AI-generated actress Tilly Norwood cause huge debate about the future, what this means and what it means for many, many jobs within the industry. I can answer the same way that yesterday Claude Delouche and Jean-Michel Jarre replied to this question. when the film was coming out almost 80 years ago people were scared because they say this is the end of theaters and it was not the end of theaters when the movie moved from black and white to color there was a major concern about what is going to happen it's always the same situation we need to embrace it and regulate it. And this is the objective of the discussion we are having during the two days because we have people, experts on the film industry around the world. But this is exactly the point. We need to discuss how to embrace it because you cannot just say, no, I'm not interested. But at the same time, we need to put regulation. How? Which way? This is something so new because it involves so many different things, so many different interests that we must discuss it. Marco Landi, founder of the World AI Film Festival, now getting underway. You're listening to the BBC. This is the BBC World Service in London. You're listening to NewsHour and I'm James Menendez. Let's return to the war in Iran because, as you'll have heard, our chief international correspondent Lise Doucette is in the capital Tehran this week looking at the prospect of talks between Iran and the US and also the impact of the conflict on people living there. She's able to report on condition that none of her material is used on the BBC's Persian service. Similar restrictions are imposed on all media organisations operating in Iran. Here's Lisa's report. So it's a warm spring day and we've come to Sana'i Street, named after an Iranian poet here in central Tehran. and the kind of shops you'd find on streets anywhere, corner stores, fast food, household products. Let's just, here's a shoe shop. Let's go in there. The owner's putting out the awning. And it seems to be a father and son shop. Salaam, salaam. Can I ask your first name? I'm Mohamed. Mohamed, and this is your dad? Mustafa. Mustafa, Mustafa. How long have you had this shop? 40 years. 40 years. Wow, family business. Yes. How is business now? It's not really good, but we are okay to be here because all of the... All of... in Iran, we are actually not working. The economy is not really good, and we are happy right now. You're happy that you can come back to work? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you have many customers? Not really. Now not. Before there was many. Before many. Now not. And why? Bad economy. The bad economy. People don't have money. And what about the ceasefire? We are happy about war. Really? It's your dad? Do you agree? Why are you happy about war? I can't really say that. Say the reason. And you what? Do you want the war to go on? The economic situation is worsening every day and we're really tired of that. So that's why some people believe that if there is going to be a war, maybe afterwards things will dramatically change for the better. Thank you so much for speaking with us and I hope you sell lots of shoes today. And he's offering us sweets, this hospitality, whatever the circumstances they offer it. Thank you. Hello. What's your name? Shala. Shala. You've got a loaf of bread, you've got some hamburger buns, and a list. Here's your shopping list. What's it like shopping now, during the ceasefire? It's not ceasefire. I mean, it's supposed to be, but it's not. Well, there's no missiles. I paid so much money for something like a bread like this, but 35, two months, about three months ago. Now it's three times more. People go through hell right now to be able to pay for a loaf of bread. For a worker, somebody who doesn't earn much, people who are well-off, they are OK. If you were to send a message to the negotiators, what would you say? I would say stop it. That's enough. Just stop it. Stop negotiating. Stop negotiating as well, because I don't think that it's going to happen something good for us, because the way that Trump is talking about it, it's just threatening people, you know? And here's a young man just walking past us, and he is, what are you holding? It's a walak butter, kareye walak, local herb north of Tehran from Tajweesh. Do you work here in Tehran? Well, yes, I'm an architect, and also I teach. What is with the ceasefires in place? Negotiations may or may not be going on. Are you hopeful? Well, I'm trying to be hopeful. We're trying to pass this stage and just go to normal life, but that would be a bit difficult in Iran to imagine that. But yeah, we're all hopeful that things will get better. I mean, you know, politics in Iran and also the whole region is super complicated and to have to grasp an idea what's going to happen is super difficult so we are just living everyday life making like things to enjoy like you know they call it lipstick effects that every day we go we go forward so to make us happy for anything but you could have a life outside of iran if you wanted but you stay why i just moved back one year ago i lived in berlin for 16 years. And I just moved back because I love Iran and I thought, if I'm not here now, when should I be here? So that's my whole motto. If there could be one change in your life which would make a big difference, what would it be? I think that would be freedom. Freedom of thought and freedom in prospects of future in the long term. So I think that would give hope to everyone if even the situation is difficult. Thank you so much. We hope life gets better for you and for everyone close to you. Thank you. Some of these sentiments may surprise you, but Iranians are exhausted, exhausted by nuclear negotiations which have dominated their lives for decades, by international sanctions, by tensions with the wider world. As you've been hearing, they just want to get on with their lives. That was our chief international correspondent, Lise Doucette, reporting there from Tehran. Don't forget, as ever, there is a live page on our website up and running with all the latest updates, including some more details on those seizures by Iran of a couple of cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz and some analysis of what that might mean for the proposed talks in Islamabad. It's all at bbc.com forward slash news. Now we're going to return for a few minutes to our top story today, a new report tracing the journey of mercenaries from Colombia to the United Arab Emirates, and then on to the deserts of Darfur in Sudan where they been fighting alongside one side in the civil war They the rapid support forces Mario Urue is a professor and security expert at Rosario University in Bogot He's been studying the rise in Colombian mercenaries and their involvement in Sudan and also other conflicts, including the war in Ukraine. So how many Colombians does he think have become mercenaries? There are almost like 10,000. The working group of the UN make this estimate that it's 10,000 Colombian majority in the world. Yeah, and why are they fighting? I mean, presumably it's not ideological. Is it just about money? That's because the Colombian army is a huge army because of the Alvaro U.S. president's security policy that enrolled a lot of militars in Colombia from that moment, 20, 25 years ago. And now they are retired, most of them, because the regular soldiers, the professional soldiers, they have a life expectancy in the military of about 25 years. After that, they have to retire. And in this moment, we have a lot of military soldiers that are looking for a job. They don't have that kind of benefits that they have when they were in the army. And now there are not in the labor market in Colombia the capacity to absorb them. So they are like victims of these networks of mercenaries that make offers of job abroad so attractive. So they go to these offers and we go to Ukraine, to Mexico, to Sudan, to Congo and other places. And why do you describe them as victims? Is it because in many cases they are promised things that aren't delivered when they arrive in those countries? Exactly. There is two kinds of victim situation. The first one is Colombia doesn't have a veterans law, so they don't have this capacity to insert themselves in the labor market. And second is the one you say, because most of them, not all of them, but most of them are cheated to go to certain places like Sudan. There are some of them that know the situation or, for example, for the Mexican cartels. But most of them are, they have cheated by the recruiters that promise them some things, promise them to go, for example, to the Emirates, where the labor conditions are much better. but they finish in places like Sudan with this kind of problems. I mean, lots of people listening won't have much sympathy for these former soldiers, I mean, because they are now mercenaries. I mean, they are getting paid to fight. But, I mean, what happens to them? I mean, do some of them presumably come home and they're injured? Some of them perhaps have been involved in traumatic situations. Is that what's happening? They have this double situation because they are on the one side victims, but on the other side victimers because they fight in a row in conflicts, not ideologically, but for money. But most of them, that's almost a problem, fight for the benefit. And in some cases, like in Sudan, for example, most of them come from Ukraine. So they are like typical war dogs that go to different places, sum up this expertise in fighting and go to other places. So there are the two kinds of mercenaries, the ones that go some months to Ukraine or elsewhere, and the other that are in this network of confluence. And is that why Colombian mercenaries are so in demand? Because they are battle-hardened. They are experts in fighting in general, but also in things like drone technology and this sort of thing that they've learned in Ukraine and also presumably the skills they've picked up in Colombia. The problem, for example, in Ukraine is that they are beginning to recruit some people that don't have this expertise in the military. So, for example, for the drones driving or something like that, and there is some kind of connection that is so preocupant for the Colombian authorities that they are connected to, for example, Mexican carpools, because there are some brigades, like the 47th Brigade in Ukraine, teach them how to use drones, and then that expertise is used by drug traffics or even in the Colombian conflict for armed groups. Oh, I see. So when they come home, they've actually learned skills abroad that they're then bringing back and making the conflict in Colombia worse. Exactly. In Colombia, Sudan and elsewhere. That's the main problem. They're learning some capabilities that allow them to make this kind of hurt for the communities and for the governments. So what do you think the Colombian government should be doing about this? I mean, can it put restrictions on people leaving? I mean, does it have to offer veterans better pensions to encourage them to stay? Or what do you think they should be doing? On the one hand, the Colombian government just approved, the president's thing, the law that approves the convention of anti-mercenaries. That's some good news. But the main problem is that we don't have a veteran law that allows them to learn some skills that professional or technical skills that can lead them to insert themselves in the labor market. So I think on the one hand, we need a veteran law. On the other hand, there's some problem because they've been mercenaries. The government doesn't have the manner to regulate or to make face to this problem. So I think the main solution could be that veteran law. Mario Uruenia-Sanchez, security expert, speaking to me from Bogotá in Colombia. You're listening to Newshead. This is James Menendez with NewsHour. It was that most unlikely of football success stories. Leicester City, 5,000 to 1 outsiders at the beginning of the season, went on to win the Premier League and put the English town on the map. That was a decade ago and how painful it must be for Leicester fans now looking back at those glory days. because last night the same club was relegated to the third tier of English football. Well, let's talk to Rob Ward who wrote a play about all this, Fantastic Foxes, The Remarkable Rise of Leicester City Football Club. Rob, very good to talk to you here on NewsHour. Commiserations, how are you feeling? It's obviously devastating for the people of Leicester, for a lot of my friends, Leicester City fans, the people that I work with, you know, on the show in 2024. It's, yeah, really unexpected when you consider where they were, as you say, only 10 years ago. Yeah, and what did that success, winning the Premier League, what did that mean for the club, but also the fans and indeed Leicester? Well, I think it was such a remarkable achievement and it was almost beyond what anyone thought was possible in today's Premier League. with just how much money is involved in the game now and how dominated the league has become by the Manchester City, the Manchester United before them. For a club like Leicester, who had never won the top tier English football, they'd never won the title in their history. So to have those two things combined, it was such a remarkable success. It really, you know, I think often in sport we can get drawn into hyperbole, But I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say it really was the greatest underdog story in the history of British sport. It was quite something. And presumably gave a huge boost in confidence to people in the city. I mean, how did you portray it in your play? Well, what we looked at in the play was we looked at a long history of the city and the relationship that, you know, the various communities within the city have with their football team. And Leicester's a very, very diverse city. And what was a beautiful thing about the title's success in 2016 is it really felt like it brought all of those communities together out onto the streets and into the parks of Leicester. And that's essentially what we tried to portray in the play, was that sense of a city coming together. Yeah, so what now? I mean, does that mean that those sort of bonds are going to start to fray, do you think, with people losing interest as the club sinks? One of the things that I found when I was researching the play and speaking to the fan base is just how committed and passionate they are about their club. And often through adversity, you can find a lot of strength, strength in unity, strength in coming together. Less than 20 years ago, Leicester dropped down to the third tier where they'll find themselves next season. And when they did this 20 years ago, it was the first time in their history that they'd sunk that low. But they were turning out record attendances at that time for the third tier English football. And not long after that, they got that club back up to the Premier League. So I'm sure those fans will be confident of being able to do that again. But there are going to be tough times ahead just because of the financial situation. Just briefly, is that it? I mean, is it a lack of investment that's led to this? I think there's been a problem with King Power, who own the club. I think they were hit during COVID quite badly because they're a sort of duty-free company. And there has been a sense that there's been a lack of investment in that squad over the years. That said, the team that has just been relegated from the Championship, it's one of the highest wage bills. And for that level, expensively assembled teams ever put together. So I think there is a bit more to it than just the investment recently. Yeah, so sort of living beyond their means. Rob, we'll have to leave it there, but thank you very much indeed. That was Rob Ward. And that brings us to the end of this edition of News Hour from me and the rest of the team here in London. Thanks so much for being with us. Until the next time, bye-bye. Starting a business can be overwhelming. You're juggling multiple roles, designer, marketer, logistics manager, all while bringing your vision to life. Shopify helps millions of business sell online. Build fast with templates and AI descriptions and photos, inventory and shipping. Sign up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at shopify.nl. That's shopify.nl. It's time to see what you can accomplish with Shopify by your side.