Protests, debate follow death of Maricarmen, 87, Spain protest symbol | Housing News
Thousands of protestors honor Maricarmen Abascal’s life, while tributes within parliament spark debate.
Published On 9 Oct 2026
Thousands of Spaniards protested outside Spain’s parliament after the death of Maria del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction ignited nationwide protests and sparked a snap general election.
Meanwhile, tributes to Abascal were debated within the legislature as lawmakers accused each other of exploiting the case ahead of the election.
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Maricarmen Abascal died on Wednesday after being hospitalised for severe anxiety and exhaustion since her eviction on a stretcher from her Madrid home on September 23.
While in the hospital, she reached a deal to return to her home but died before she could return. No cause of death has been announced.
‘Killing someone’
“They killed her through heartbreak,” Diana, a demonstrator, told Al Jazeera. “Taking an 87-year-old woman out of her home after she had lived in the same house for 70 years, that is killing someone.”
Diana joined thousands of protesters outside Spain’s parliament.
Outside Abascal’s building, mourners left flowers, candles, handwritten notes and children’s drawings.
“They’re not deaths; they’re murders,” protesters chanted as they walked from a protest camp in the central Puerta del Sol square to Abascal’s former home on Thursday.
Tributes in Spain’s legislature
Protests over home shortages and surging rents following her eviction prompted Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call a snap general election for November 29 after parliament failed to pass emergency housing measures.
Tributes to Abascal in the Madrid region’s legislature caused arguments as lawmakers accused each other of exploiting the case ahead of the election.
Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the conservative opposition People’s Party (PP), accused Sanchez and the Socialists of trying to exploit the housing crisis for political gain ahead of the election.
“We will not allow this attempt to manipulate the emotions of the Spanish people; all of this has happened during their eight years in government. It won’t fly,” Feijoo said.
The PP, which holds absolute majorities in the Madrid regional and local assemblies, refused to observe a minute of silence in her honour. Instead, hard-left deputies staged one outside City Hall and gave Abascal a 60-second standing ovation during a tense debate in the regional assembly, while PP lawmakers remained seated with folded arms.
Left-leaning parties criticised conservatives for rejecting legislation in parliament aimed at curbing soaring rental prices.
Support for housing intervention
A survey carried out in June and published by state pollster CIS on Thursday found that 76.3 percent of Spaniards supported intervention in the market to guarantee access to housing, while 79 percent believed the right to housing should take precedence over treating homes as a market commodity.
Ombudsman Angel Gabilondo said addressing the housing crisis would require greater commitment from all levels of government.
He said his office was preparing a housing report and reiterated proposals to expand public housing, restrict tourist rentals, increase rent assistance and strengthen protections against evictions for vulnerable households.
‘Bridgerton’ prequel about Lady Violet headed to Netflix
Dearest gentle “Bridgerton” viewers — rejoice, for a new prequel series about Lady Violet is headed to Netflix.
The streamer and Shondaland announced Thursday that an untitled spinoff about the early life of the future matriarch of the Bridgerton clan is in the works. Shonda Rhimes and Nicholas Nardini will write and serve as showrunners on the limited series, which will tell the story of young Lady Violet’s romance with her future husband, Viscount Edmund Bridgerton.
The show will be the second spinoff set in the expanding world of the popular Regency romance following the 2023 prequel series “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,” which explored the early days of the eponymous queen’s marriage to King George III.
Portrayed by Ruth Gemmell in the flagship series, Lady Violet is the mother of the eight Bridgerton siblings whose individual adventures in (and around) the marriage mart are the focus of the show. A younger version of the character, played by Connie Jenkins-Greig, also appeared in the “Queen Charlotte” prequel. The cast of the untitled Lady Violet prequel has not yet been announced.
Based on the popular book series by Julia Quinn, “Bridgerton” has been a hit with audiences since premiering in 2020. The first four seasons have chronicled the steamy happily-ever-afters of the eldest Bridgerton siblings, Daphne, Anthony, Colin and Benedict. The fifth season of the series, which will follow the love story of Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) and Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza), is currently in production in London.
In addition to Rhimes and Nardini, who was also a writer on “Scandal,” “Queen Charlotte” and “Inventing Anna,” frequent Rhimes collaborator Tom Verica will direct and executive produce on the upcoming limited series. Shondaland’s Betsy Beers is also an executive producer.
Andy Pages’ clutch hit, sturdy bullpen carry Dodgers back to NLCS
ATLANTA — Without Andy Pages, the Dodgers wouldn’t have popped champagne in the Truist Park visiting clubhouse Wednesday night.
His October track record suggested he was an unlikely hero. He entered Wednesday with a .123 playoff batting average. He was benched in Game 5 of the World Series last year. He’d even started this postseason hitless in the first two games of the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, and was given the red light on ABS challenges.
He didn’t carry any of that up to the plate with him in the seventh inning, with the score tied, the bases loaded and hard-throwing Braves reliever Robert Suarez entering the game to face him.
“I like being in those at-bats,” Pages said in Spanish after the Dodgers’ 4-1 win in Game 4 of the NLDS. “There are times the result comes, sometimes not, but I prepare to be in those spots. And today I was able to get the result.”
He was patient, working a full count as he fouled off and then foul-tipped a pair of fastballs in the zone.
The next one, he sent through the middle of the infield for a two-run single to finally give the Dodgers the lead in the deciding moment of the series.
The Dodgers are headed to the NL Championship Series for the ninth time in 14 seasons. They will play the Milwaukee Brewers, who finished off the San Diego Padres in four games, starting Sunday. And they came one step closer to their goal of winning a third straight World Series.
Pages has contributed to the last two titles with his regular-season play and his glove. The game-saving catch he made in Game 7 of the World Series last year, trampling Kiké Hernández in the process, has been immortalized in bobblehead form. But now, he has a big moment with his bat.
“There’s never been a doubt about him, his talent,” Hernández said. “You can’t carry previous postseasons into this postseason. Everything is a new chapter. Every time you take the field in October, you get an opportunity to rewrite your story. So the fact that he struggled in the previous couple postseasons doesn’t mean that was going to happen again this year.
“I mean, during the regular season, you have two bad games and nobody freaks out about it, but because people are adding up previous postseasons, they’re going to freak out. But nobody doubted him. That’s why he stayed in the lineup. And I’m really happy that he was the one that won us a series.”
The signs of a potential breakout were there. When Pages came back from a fractured left hand for the final week of the season, he didn’t miss a beat.
Then he went 0 for 7 in the first two games of the NLDS, and manager Dave Roberts said he wanted to see him “slow down a little bit.”
“I’m going to continue to give Andy leash,” Roberts said. “I believe in him. I feel that for us to win the World Series this year, we’re gonna need him to be an active part of our team.”
Pages recorded two hits in Game 3 and logged another single in his first at-bat Wednesday.
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“Everybody really forgets how young Andy Pages is, you know?” veteran infielder Miguel Rojas said of the 25-year-old. “He’s just starting his career. He’s still like a rookie in this clubhouse for us, because he’s one of the youngest. But at the same time, we see his potential, we see what he can do on the field and we feel so proud of him because … whenever he has the opportunity to contribute to this team, he does it in different ways. Defensively, offensively and on the bases.”
On Wednesday, Pages already had showed off his range in center field when he tracked down a fly ball off Matt Olson’s bat in the left-field gap. But the Dodgers desperately needed someone to contribute with runners in scoring position.
The game had been tied at one run apiece since the second inning.
The lone run Dodgers starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow gave up was made possible by Braves leadoff hitter Michael Harris II’s speed. He got on top of Glasnow’s first pitch, a fastball up and out of the strike zone, to shoot a single through the right side.
Harris then stole second and advanced on a groundout. Then, in an 0-and-2 count to Ozzie Albies, Glasnow spiked a curveball in front of the plate. Catcher Will Smith managed to block the ball, despite the high bounce, but it rolled back toward the mound, giving Harris time to dash home.
Glasnow limited the Braves to one hit in 4-2/3 innings. But five walks prevented him from pitching deeper into the game.
The Dodgers couldn’t get anything going against Braves starter Tyler Mahle, either.
They hadn’t faced Mahle since April, when he was with the San Francisco Giants and racking up a 5.13 ERA. But he’d been lights out since the Braves acquired him, authoring a 1.99 ERA. In his postseason debut, he limited the Philadelphia Phillies to one run in seven innings.
The Dodgers saw that new and improved version of him on Wednesday.
The one run the Dodgers scored against him was something of a fluke.
In the second inning, Shohei Ohtani, who moved up to the cleanup spot after hitting fifth the day before, drew a five-pitch walk without taking a swing. He then stole second base, drawing an errant throw that allowed him to advance to third. So, he was in position to score the tying run when Braves shortstop Mauricio Dubón, who robbed Freddie Freeman of a home run as the left fielder the day before, dropped a popup in shallow left.
The Dodgers recorded only three hits against Mahle in 6⅓ innings. So, the game would come down to the bullpens.
In the seventh, the Dodgers loaded the bases with a single from Teoscar Hernández, a walk from pinch-hitting rookie Josue De Paula, and a five-pitch walk from Kyle Tucker.
The Dodgers had gone 0 for 15 with runners in scoring position for the series when Pages stepped to the plate.
“It’s been incredible, especially the way he’s working, just to be ready for these big moments,” Teoscar Hernández said. “I think he was a little bit off his timing at the beginning of the series. Now that he understands he doesn’t have to do too much to help this team win games, I think everything is coming back to the way it was before he got hurt.
“He’s one of the best on the team. We get to this point because of him, the regular season he had. This is not a surprise for me that he’s having this kind of moment in the playoffs.”
Pages didn’t seem surprised, either.
“What happened last year, happened,” he said. “It’s in the past now. All I can do now is be in the moment. And being in the moment today, I was able to get the result.”
USS Abraham Lincoln returns after record-breaking deployment | US-Israel war on Iran
Families cheered and embraced their loved ones as the USS Abraham Lincoln returned home to San Diego after more than 300 days at sea to support the US-led war on Iran. The extended deployment led to supply shortages, facility breakdowns and reports of suicide attempts.
Published On 9 Oct 2026
Newspaper headlines: ‘Stark warning’ over ADHD and ‘Andrew wins legal fight’
Several of today’s papers lead with the government’s review of ADHD and autism diagnoses. A “stark warning over rising demand for NHS autism and ADHD care” tops the Guardian. Elsewhere, it reports that two Latvians have been arrested after they were “found inside RAF base”. And, after it was revealed that the three sisters who died in the Brighton sea had taken their own lives, the paper describes their “final pilgrimage”.
HBO orders ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ show with Constance Wu, Henry Golding
“Crazy Rich Asians” will officially be back on screen, with some familiar faces joining for the ride.
HBO announced on Thursday that it had ordered an original drama series of the same name based on author Kevin Kwan’s book series eight years after director Jon M. Chu’s “Crazy Rich Asians” film adaptation marked a watershed moment for Asian representation in Hollywood. The series will see stars Constance Wu and Henry Golding reprise their roles as lovebirds Rachel Chu and Nick Young; Ronny Chieng as Nick’s cousin Eddie Cheng and Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh as the hard-to-please Young family matriarch, Eleanor.
Although not exactly the movie sequel some fans were hoping for, the series will pick up after the events of the 2018 film and will be based on Kwan’s books, HBO announced. Adele Lim, who co-wrote Chu’s 2018 film, will serve as showrunner and will executive produce the series alongside Kwan, Chu and “Crazy Rich Asians” movie producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson.
HBO announced its series order just days after parent company Warner Bros. Discovery closed its $111-billion deal with Paramount Skydance.
The official series order comes more than a year after Golding shared that he and some of his “Crazy Rich Asians” collaborators had reunited to discuss the future of the franchise, including a meeting with Lim. The Times confirmed last year that the series was in early development.
The “Crazy Rich Asians” series could fill the void left by the onetime promise of a “Crazy Rich Asians” sequel. Prospects of a sequel crumbled in 2019 when the Hollywood Reporter broke news that Lim left the sequel over pay disparity.
Lions Bay Capital faces cease trade order over late filings (TSXV:LBI:CA)
- Lions Bay Capital Inc. (LBI:CA) received a failure-to-file cease trade order from the British Columbia Securities Commission on October 5, 2026.
- The order follows the company’s failure to file its audited annual financial statements, management’s discussion and analysis, and CEO/CFO certifications for
Friday 9 October Armed Forces Day in Egypt
During the Six-day War with Israel in June 1967, Egypt had lost control of the Sinai Peninsula.
In an attempt to regain the territory, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat carried out a surprise attack on 6 October 1973. The attack was supported by the Syrians and met with initial success when more than 80,000 Egyptian troops breached the fortifications set up by the Israelis and took control of the Sinai territory. After two days, the Egyptians were forced to retreat when the Israeli army counterattacked and surrounded the Egyptian forces.
The war ended in a cease-fire brokered by the United States. The assault proved unsuccessful in liberating the Sinai Peninsula, but the conflict directly led to talks at Camp David organised by US President Jimmy Carter. These talks resulted in the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty of 1979 which eventually saw the return of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
The holiday is marked by large military parades and fireworks. It was during one of the parades on Armed Forces Day in 1981, when President Anwar Sadat was assassinated by opponents of the peace with Israel.
NFL is urging Supreme Court to rule on prediction markets
The NFL is urging the Supreme Court to rule on the regulation of prediction markets, arguing in an amicus brief filed Thursday that states — which already regulate legal sports books — are better positioned to oversee sports-related contracts “given the current landscape.”
The NFL is supporting New Jersey’s request for the Supreme Court to rule on the governing authority for prediction markets, which provide an opportunity to trade — or wager — on the result of future events. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has maintained it has exclusive federal jurisdiction, while states have argued that the array of typically yes-or-no questions is akin to gambling and falls under their purview.
“Absent the clarity that only this Court can provide, (prediction market) operators will continue exploiting the gap between state and federal regulation, endangering consumers and the integrity of sports events across the country,” lawyers for the NFL wrote.
According to the NFL’s brief, on the first Sunday of this season, more than half of the trading volume on prediction markets — $1.8 billion out of $3.3 billion total — was related to the league.
“Any delay from the Court will result in increasing consumer harm and risk to game integrity,” the NFL wrote in its brief.
Kalshi spokeswoman Elisabeth Diana said its top priority is market integrity, and she pointed to its partnerships with the NHL, Major League Baseball and other sports organizations as evidence.
“Contrary to the NFL’s statements, the CFTC is actively policing sports-related markets, which are now listed on nearly every U.S. commodities exchange,” Diana said. “The CFTC’s ongoing rulemaking addresses many of the NFL’s supposed concerns. And those rules sit atop the same comprehensive system of federal enforcement that protects trillions of dollars of transactions in U.S. markets.”
A Polymarket spokesperson said the operator “shares the NFL’s commitment to preserving the integrity of the game,” and it is working on “a harmonized federal framework that delivers a stronger, more consistent form of integrity compared to a patchwork of disconnected state laws built for a bygone era.”
Ohio filed a brief on Wednesday urging the high court to side with New Jersey and preserve the power of all states to regulate prediction markets, as they do casino gambling and sports betting. The filing was backed by 38 states, including Republican and Democratic attorneys general from states including Arkansas, California, Illinois, Missouri, New York, South Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Roughly 20 states are involved in litigation over prediction markets, and a split has formed between appeals courts, making it more likely that the Supreme Court will take up the issue. The 6th and 9th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals have ruled in favor of states seeking to regulate prediction markets, while the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Kalshi in a ruling earlier this year.
“As between the two approaches, the NFL believes the Sixth and Ninth Circuits got it right, given the current landscape,” lawyers for the league wrote in their brief.
The NFL also is questioning the CFTC’s enforcement capabilities. In its filing, the league writes that the commission has 543 employees and their responsibilities include a range of derivatives beyond event contracts.
“Without adequate staff engaged in oversight and enforcement, even the best regulations cannot meaningfully ensure game integrity and consumer protection,” lawyers wrote in the NFL brief.
A message was left by the AP seeking comment from the CFTC.
The NFL has urged the CFTC and prediction markets to adopt a list of prohibited wagers that it feels pose the greatest threats to game integrity, according to the brief, but they have declined thus far. It also has asked the commission to adopt an age limit of 21 for trading on prediction markets, up from the current 18.
Diana said Kalshi has tried to collaborate with the NFL on market integrity, but it has received no response.
Cohen writes for the Associated Press. Associated Press writer Marc Levy contributed to this report.
USS Lincoln returns to US after long deployment supporting war on Iran | US-Israel war on Iran News
Crew members express relief upon return from record-breaking deployment of 265 days that strained conditions on board.
Published On 9 Oct 2026
The United States aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has returned to its home port after a 322-day deployment, including a record 265 consecutive days at sea, during which it helped wage the US-Israel war on Iran.
The vessel returned to Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California, on Thursday, where members of its crew were greeted by family and friends.
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“It feels amazing,” 20-year-old Abel Ramirez told The Associated Press news agency, adding that his parents had driven from Texas to meet him. “There was a certain point when I never thought I would come off.”
The record-setting deployment of the USS Lincoln became a symbol for larger criticisms of the US war effort, which has dragged on since February with no clear end in sight and has strained US military stockpiles.
The prolonged deployment prompted a series of news reports calling attention to deteriorating conditions, food shortages and a series of reported suicide attempts by crew members.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth praised the sailors on Wednesday in remarks that accused the media of trying to turn the ship into “a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission”.
President Donald Trump and members of his administration have frequently lashed out at the news media for critical reporting on the war on Iran. Trump himself has called the reporting about the USS Lincoln “fake news”.
“The Lincoln has been out there for a period of time, a good period of time,” he said at an Oval Office meeting on August 17. “I know people on the Lincoln, and they say it’s beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of.”
Earlier that month, when confronted with the amount of time the USS Lincoln had spent at sea without a port stop, Trump quipped that its deployment was “not nearly long enough“.
The reports of mental health strain on the USS Lincoln come as public opinion polls show low approval ratings among US voters for the war against Iran.
On Thursday, the Pew Research Center released a poll that found 65 percent of Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of the war, compared with 33 percent who approved.
The war has also fuelled concerns about the cost of living ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. Since the war began, Iran has hindered commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for the trade of fuel, fertiliser and other goods.
Sailors returning home on the USS Lincoln said that they were looking forward to fresh meals and spending time with their families.
Alma Solano Velez said that her husband, one of the US service members on board, shared a list of foods he had been craving over his 10-month deployment: oxtail, barbecue chicken, broccoli and shrimp empanadas, among others.
She added that he had spoken about “the lack of food and showers” and was looking forward to seeing their four-year-old daughter.
Will Ethiopia’s neighbours intervene as Tigray war escalates? | Armed Groups News
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – After nearly two weeks of fierce fighting, Ethiopian federal forces entered the Tigrayan capital of Mekelle as forces from an alliance of rebel groups, including the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), withdrew from the city.
The fighting that erupted late last month has effectively ended the 2022 Pretoria ceasefire and the fragile peace that followed the devastating Tigray war.
But Mekelle’s capture may mark the end of conventional warfare rather than the end of the conflict. Fighting has continued elsewhere in Tigray, while reports of Eritrean troops entering northern Tigrayan towns have added a potentially more dangerous regional dimension.
Ethiopian federal forces used air power and ground forces to advance across Tigray. After suffering successive defeats around the towns of Alamata and Kobo, rebel forces withdrew into the surrounding countryside. They have pledged to continue fighting.
“We will confront the enemy on our terms and where we choose,” TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael said.
A war that may not be over
There are echoes of the war that began in 2020, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government declared victory after federal forces captured Mekelle. Tigrayan forces subsequently regrouped in the mountains, retook much of the region and recaptured the capital, prolonging the war for nearly a year and a half.
The renewed conflict could follow a similar trajectory, particularly if the TPLF and other armed groups succeed in turning the mountainous terrain into a prolonged armed rebellion. Ethiopia is already fighting insurgencies in Amhara and Oromia, raising the prospect of its federal forces being stretched across multiple fronts.
But the battlefield reversals suffered by the rebels could have implications well beyond Tigray. They have raised concern in Egypt and among other Ethiopian rivals, according to Hossamaldeen Ibrahim, an African analyst at the Bloomsbury Intelligence and Security Institute.
“Egypt views the Renaissance Dam, and any Ethiopian [army] move towards the Red Sea, as a strategic threat, so it has allied with Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia against any Ethiopian unilateralism,” Ibrahim told Al Jazeera.
“Ethiopia is seeking a sea outlet; Eritrea sees this as an existential threat.”
Ethiopia’s Red Sea ambitions
Ethiopia has been landlocked since Eritrea won its war of independence in 1991, leaving Addis Ababa heavily dependent on neighbouring countries for access to international trade.
Abiy has increasingly made access to the Red Sea a strategic priority since 2023, raising concerns in Eritrea over Ethiopia’s ambitions, particularly over the port of Assab.
Ethiopia currently relies heavily on Djibouti for maritime trade, while also pursuing alternative arrangements, including through Kenya and Somaliland.
After being sworn in on Monday for another five-year term following his party’s victory in the June 1 election, Abiy again put the issue at the centre of his parliamentary address.
“Based on the principle of give and take, we will work diligently to ensure that Ethiopia has an outlet to the sea,” he told parliament.
The issue has increasingly become part of a wider regional contest.
A loose regional alignment
In recent months, Egypt, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia have found themselves sharing concerns over Ethiopia’s regional ambitions. On October 4, the leaders of the four countries met for a quadrilateral consultative summit in New Alamein, Egypt, where they discussed regional issues and pledged to strengthen political, economic and trade cooperation as well as consultation and coordination.
The meeting does not amount to a formal military alliance, and the four countries have different interests in their dealings with Addis Ababa. The summit’s joint declaration also called for respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, noninterference in internal affairs and the peaceful resolution of disputes.
But their concerns increasingly overlap around Ethiopia’s ambitions in the Red Sea, the Nile and the wider Horn of Africa.
Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea have also deteriorated sharply since the Pretoria ceasefire. Ethiopia closed its embassy in Eritrea and expelled Eritrean diplomats on October 1, accusing Asmara of hostile acts and involvement in the renewed fighting. Eritrea responded by severing diplomatic ties, while denying that it supported the opposition alliance. Egypt and Sudan have also denied Ethiopian accusations that they are backing the alliance.
The Ethiopian army’s advance into Tigray has added another layer to that rivalry.
“The [Ethiopian army’s] advance in Tigray directly threatens [Eritrean President] Isaias [Afwerki] and the Eritrean state,” said Etana H Dinka, an assistant professor of African history at the University of Miami.
Eritrean forces fought alongside Ethiopian troops during the 2020–22 Tigray war, but relations between Abiy and Isaias have since deteriorated. Eritrean troops have reportedly been seen in towns in northern Tigray, adding a potentially significant new dimension to the conflict. The Associated Press news agency reported Eritrean troops entering Adigrat and Idaga Hamus after crossing into Ethiopia, while Eritrea has neither confirmed nor denied the troop movements.
Eritrea’s role could be decisive
For Eritrea, the location of the fighting matters as much as its outcome.
A prolonged conflict in Tigray could keep Ethiopian forces tied down and limit Addis Ababa’s ability to pursue its Red Sea ambitions. But a decisive Ethiopian victory could leave the federal government with greater freedom to turn its attention towards regional rivals.
“With reports that Eritrean troops are moving into Tigray, Eritrea seems keen on boosting TPLF forces withdrawing northwards, so that the engagement between Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers takes place in Tigrayan territory, and not in Eritrea,” said Mohamed Kheir Omer, a researcher focused on the Horn of Africa.
That could create an incentive for Eritrea to support forces capable of keeping the Ethiopian army tied down, without necessarily entering a direct confrontation of its own.
Sudan adds another layer
Sudan’s war adds another dimension to the regional rivalry.
Egypt has provided political backing and logistical and technical support to Sudan’s army, according to the Reuters news agency, while the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been accused of atrocities in Darfur.
Ethiopia has faced accusations of facilitating support for the RSF. A Reuters investigation reported in February that Ethiopia was hosting a camp in its western Benishangul-Gumuz region where thousands of fighters linked to the RSF were being trained. Reuters cited eight sources, including a senior Ethiopian government official, who said the United Arab Emirates financed the camp’s construction and provided military trainers and logistical support. The UAE denied the allegations, and Reuters said it could not independently verify the UAE’s role.
Those competing relationships are part of a broader contest over the Nile, Sudan, the Red Sea and access to trade routes.
For Egypt, its dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam remains a major strategic concern. For Eritrea, Ethiopia’s search for a Red Sea outlet is viewed through the lens of national security. For Sudan’s neighbours, the conflict threatens to reshape regional power balances.
Will Egypt, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia intervene?
The shared interests of Ethiopia’s regional rivals do not necessarily translate into direct intervention.
Egypt has its own calculations over the Nile and Sudan. Eritrea has a direct security interest in developments in Tigray. Somalia is dealing with its own security challenges and a complicated relationship with Addis Ababa. Sudan remains consumed by its devastating civil war.
At the same time, Ethiopia’s federal forces now face the possibility of fighting on several fronts.
The TPLF, Amhara Fano and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) have each sought to challenge the federal government in different parts of the country. If they can maintain pressure on the army while retreating from major population centres, the fall of Mekelle could prove to be only the first phase of a much longer conflict.
For Ethiopia’s rivals, the question is whether to exploit that vulnerability or avoid being drawn into another regional war.
The extent of any regional involvement may ultimately depend on whether the TPLF can keep federal forces tied down in Tigray, and away from the Eritrean border.
“It isn’t difficult to understand Cairo’s commitment to prevent Ethiopia from succeeding in the current warfare, whatever its army’s intended goals, including Abiy’s acclaimed access to the Red Sea, are,” University of Miami’s Dinka said.
The question now is whether those regional calculations will remain largely diplomatic or spill into the battlefield.
Michael Jackson’s iconic red Thriller jacket and famous rhinestone glove set to fetch millions at auction
FANS of Michael Jackson will be looking at the competition and hoping to beat it when his latest memorabilia goes under the hammer.
The late King of Pop’s original Thriller jacket and Motown 25 glove are being put up for Auction in Abu Dhabi.
On December 7, the iconic garments will headline Julien’s Auctions’ Fashion Legacy Evening Sale.
Created by Deborah Nadoolman Landis, the red leather jacket was one of two created for Michael’s 1983 video – with the other shredded for the zombie scenes and now on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Estimates for the jacket up for auction are only available upon request by interested bidders. It last sold in 2011 for almost £1.4million.
Michael wore the white rhinestone glove, tipped to fetch £700,000, the same year at the taping of Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever.
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In 2022, a massive collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia was being auctioned with an estimated value of £2.5million.
The 32,000 items linked with the King of Pop were being sold as a single lot in a private online auction on behalf of an anonymous owner.
The collection was originally intended for a museum in Los Angeles, but plans fell through and it was auctioned through House of Consultants.
The owner said: “This is a rare opportunity to buy cultural heritage from the most influential artist of the century.”
Oil finishes sharply higher even as Trump says no attacks on Iran before midterms
Oil finishes sharply higher even as Trump says no attacks on Iran before midterms
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