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A MAN on trial in the Albanian capital, Tirana, has allegedly shot and killed the presiding judge. Appeals court judge Astrit Kalaja died on Monday as he was being transported to the hospital, Albanian police said. The 30-year-old suspect fled the scene but was later detained, and the revolver he is believed to have used was also found, police added. The gunman also shot a father and son who were party to the trial. They were both rushed to the hospital, where their injuries were deemed not to be life-threatening. The Albanian press reported that the court case concerned a…

A SUDANESE militia leader has been found guilty of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region more than 20 years ago. Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, was one of the leaders of the Janjaweed, a government-backed group that terrorised Darfur, killing hundreds of thousands of people. Kushayb is the first person to be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the atrocities in Darfur. He had argued it was a case of mistaken identity. The conflict lasted from 2003 to 2020 and was one of the world’s gravest humanitarian disasters, with…

MADAGASCAR’s President Andry Rajoelina has appointed Ruphin Fortunat Zafisambo as prime minister, as anti-government protests once again eruped in the country. The appointment of Zafisambo, a military general, on Monday comes a week after the government was dissolved in response to the protests. However, protesters are now calling on Rajoelina himself to resign. Police fired tear gas at demonstrators on the streets of the capital, Antananarivo, on Monday, the start of a third consecutive week of protests. The unrest began over water and electricity cuts, but has evolved into broader anti-government anger against Rajoelina’s administration. Protesters have gathered in cities…

ERLING Haaland continued his prolific form as Manchester City battled to a narrow victory over Brentford and gave boss Pep Guardiola his 250th Premier League win. Guardiola is the 16th manager to reach the milestone with a single club, but has done so in just 349 games – 74 games quicker than anyone else. Haaland outmuscled Sepp van den Berg to gather Josko Gvardiol’s looping cross, then wriggled away from the defender before precisely slotting past Caoimhin Kelleher. It is the Norwegian striker’s third goal this week and his 18th in 11 games for club and country this season. City…

NEGOTIATORS converge on Egypt ahead of talks aimed at ending Israel’s nearly two-year war on the Gaza Strip. Israeli attacks on Gaza have continued unabated, with at least 19 Palestinians reported killed today. One person has also died of forced starvation, the Health Ministry in the besieged territory says. This is as international activists deported from Israel after joining an intercepted Gaza aid flotilla have given further accounts of mistreatment by guards during their detention. The latest claims made by participants in the Global Sumud Flotilla added to the growing scrutiny of Israel on Sunday for its treatment of the…

AT least three Indian states have banned a cough syrup after several children died allegedly after consuming the product, said local authorities and reports. The death of at least nine children, all aged under five, since late August, in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have been linked to a cough medicine they were prescribed. India’s health ministry Saturday said laboratory tests on samples of the syrup the children had consumed revealed it was contaminated with diethylene glycol (DEG), a toxic substance used in industrial solvents that can be fatal if ingested even in small amounts. “The samples are…

SEVEN al-Shabab militants who attacked a high-security prison in Somalia’s capital have all been killed, the country’s government has said. A huge explosion and gunfire were heard coming from Godka Jilicow, a detention centre that holds al-Shabab militants in Mogadishu on Saturday evening. In a statement, al-Shabab said it released “all the prisoners” from the facility and inflicted heavy casualties on those guarding the centre. The militants disguised themselves as soldiers in order to enter the prison, government-run news agency Sonna Live reported on Sunday. The government did not indicate how many of its security forces were killed during the…

THE son of Zimbabwe’s former President Robert Mugabe has appeared in a Harare court charged with drug possession. Robert Mugabe Jr, 33, was arrested on Wednesday morning as he drove the wrong way down a one-way street, according to court documents. Police searched a black sling bag he was wearing at the time and allegedly found two small sachets of cannabis. Following the incident, police said in a statement that five people in a “syndicate linked to him” were also arrested. Mr Mugabe’s lawyer told the BBC they plan to deny the charges, and contested the factual claims made by…

JUST three days after a “phenomenal” display against Olympiakos in the Champions League, things are not looking so positive once again for Martin Odegaard. The Arsenal captain made history in the 2-0 win over West Ham on Saturday when he had to be withdrawn after only 30 minutes, becoming the first player in Premier League history to be substituted before half-time in three consecutive starts. It continues a frustrating opening few weeks of the season for the 26-year-old Norwegian, having also come off early in victories against Leeds and Nottingham Forest. On those occasions it was because of an ongoing…

ISRAELI attacks across the besieged Gaza Strip have killed at least 70 Palestinians, medical sources said, despite calls from United States President Donald Trump for Israel to stop its bombardment after Hamas said it had accepted some elements of Trump’s 20-point plan to end Israel’s war. At least 45 of the victims killed in bombardments and air strikes on Saturday were in the famine-struck Gaza City, where the Israeli army has been pressing an offensive in recent weeks, forcing some one million residents to flee to the overcrowded south. Eighteen people were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli…

A RUSSIAN strike has hit two trains at a train station in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, killing one person and injuring at least 30 others, as Moscow continues its near-daily targeting of Ukraine’s railway infrastructure. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that 30 were wounded on Saturday, calling the strike on Shostka station in Sumy “savage”. “The Russians could not have been unaware that they were striking civilians,” added Zelenskyy. Hours later, local prosecutors said that a 71-year-old man was found dead in one of the wrecked carriages. The site is around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Russian border. Russia struck…

MOROCCO is currently building what will be the globe’s largest football stadium in preparation for co-hosting the 2030 World Cup. But for the demonstrators who have taken to the streets each night across the country since last Saturday, this 115,000-capacity showpiece and all the other football infrastructure in development, costing a reported $5bn (£3.7bn), are an affront – an example of a government that has got its priorities wrong. “I am protesting because I want my country to be better. I don’t want to leave Morocco, and I don’t want to resent my country for choosing to stay,” says Hajar…

SOUTH Africa’s highest court has unanimously ruled that all parents of new-borns are entitled to equal parental leave, a landmark judgment hailed as a major victory for gender equality and family rights. Under the current law, mothers are granted four months of leave, while fathers receive just 10 days. In its ruling, the Constitutional Court declared parts of the legislation unconstitutional, calling it discriminatory against fathers, and ruled that both parents may now share the granted leave however they choose. “This is a ground-breaking step for equality, family wellbeing, and the future of fatherhood in South Africa,” said Sthembiso Phakathi,…

LAMINE Yamal has been ruled out of Spain’s World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Bulgaria this month after suffering a recurrence of his groin injury, Barcelona said on Friday. The 18-year-old winger is expected to be sidelined for up to three weeks after the problem resurfaced following Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. “The pain reappeared after the match with PSG,” Barcelona said on Friday. “The estimated recovery time is two-to-three weeks.” Barcelona made the statement after Yamal had been called up to the national squad, with Spain promptly confirming the news and removing him from…

PRESIDENT Trump has said Hamas is ready for a “lasting peace” after the Palestinian militants agreed to release all remaining hostages, as he called on Israel to stop bombing Gaza. The US leader was responding to a statement by Hamas earlier on Friday in which the group committed to returning all remaining hostages in Gaza, dead and alive. Hamas also said it wants to engage in negotiations to discuss further details of the president’s peace plan, including handing over “administration of the enclave to a Palestinian body of independent technocrats”. However, other aspects of the 20-point document, it warned, would…

MUSICIAN and producer Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sentenced to four years and two months in prison for transporting people across state lines for sexual encounters. His sentencing hearing on Friday capped a federal case that featured harrowing testimony and ended in a forceful reckoning for one of the most popular figures in hip-hop. Combs, 55, was also fined half a million dollars. Since Combs has served a year in jail already, he is expected to be released in about three years. His lawyers wanted him freed immediately and said the time behind bars has already forced him to embrace…

MADAGASCAN President Andry Rajoelina condemned on Friday what he said was an attempt to topple his government, as fresh protests flared against the political elite and years of misrule. The poverty-stricken Indian Ocean island has been rocked by near-daily demonstrations called on social media by a movement known as “Gen Z”, to which security forces have responded with arrests, tear gas and bullets. The protests forced Rajoelina to sack his government on Monday and invite dialogue to restore order. But that was not enough to placate the anger, and demonstrators have demanded the president’s resignation over his government’s failure to…

CHAD’s parliament on Friday overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment scrapping presidential term limits, in a move condemned by opponents of President Mahamat Deby. President Mahamat Deby was first made transitional president by army generals in 2021 after rebels killed his father, Idriss Deby Itno, in a gun battle, ending his 30 years in power in the impoverished central African nation. Deby was then elected head of state in May 2024 for five years, in a contested vote boycotted by a majority of opposition parties. Friday’s parliamentary vote for the constitutional reform, presented by Deby’s Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), saw 236…

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that football “cannot solve geopolitical problems”, as he comes under pressure to suspend Israel over the Palestinian conflict. The sport’s world governing body said in a statement that at a meeting of the FIFA Council, Infantino “stressed the importance of promoting peace and unity, particularly in the context of the ongoing situation in Gaza”. “At FIFA, we are committed to using the power of football to bring people together in a divided world,” Infantino said. “Our thoughts are with those who are suffering in the many conflicts that exist around the world today,…

AT least 53 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since dawn across Gaza as Israel threatened tens of thousands remaining in Gaza City with a forced order to leave, saying it was their “last opportunity” to flee or face the “full force” of Israel’s assault. Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Wednesday that anyone who stayed would be considered “terrorists and terror supporters”. The continuous bombardment of Gaza City has razed the territory’s largest urban centre, killing dozens of people daily, destroying numerous residential buildings and schools, and forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee to…