Andrew Watson: The 'most influential' black footballer for decades lost to history

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  By Andrew Aloia BBC Sport Last updated on 11 October 2021 11 October 2021 . From the section Football Watson was a trailblazer who helped transform how football was played There are two murals of black footballers facing one another across an alleyway in Glasgow. One helped shape football as we know it, the other is Pele. Andrew Watson captained Scotland to a 6-1 win over England on his debut in 1881. He was a pioneer, the world's first black international, but for more than a century the significance of his achievements went unrecognised. Research conducted over the past three decades has left us with some biographical details: a man descended of slaves and of those who enslaved them, born in Guyana, raised to become an English gentleman and famed as one of Scottish football's first icons. And yet today, 100 years on from his death aged 64, Watson remains something of an enigma, the picture built around him a fractured one. His grainy, faded, sepia image evokes many differen...

US resumes some Bahrain arms sales for 'external defence'

Bahrain protest Feb 2011 The US says the equipment it is supplying will not be used against protesters
The United States is resuming sales of some weapons to Bahrain, but says it will not supply the Gulf state with any crowd control equipment.
The US State Department says the shipment will help Bahrain "maintain its external defence capabilities."
Arms sales were frozen last year after the Bahraini government suppressed pro-democracy demonstrations.
Amnesty International says 60 people have been killed since the protests began in February 2011.
It is thought a frigate and other coast guard vessels will be supplied, along with upgraded engines for F-16 fighters.
The State Department says an order for Humvee all-terrain vehicles and a new type of wire-guided missile will not be included.
Bahrain is a key US ally in the Gulf, hosting the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.
Officials in Washington say the Obama administration still has concerns about human rights in Bahrain.
But human rights campaigners have condemned this move, saying it is out of step with the United States' commitment to reform in Bahrain.

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