Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Italy warns Russian tanker could explode in Mediterranean at any time
ROME, Italy
A sanctioned Russian tanker loaded with liquid natural gas is drifting out of control in the Mediterranean with no crew on board and a gaping hole in one side, prompting warnings of a "serious risk of a major ecological disaster".
An official in Italy, one of nine EU countries to write a joint letter to the European Commission urging action, has called the Arctic Metagaz an "environmental bomb" waiting to go off.
The tanker, part of a shadow fleet transporting sanctioned Russian oil and gas, was badly damaged in a suspected sea drone attack near Maltese waters earlier this month.
Ukraine has not commented on reports that it was responsible for crippling it.
The Arctic Metagaz is now floating south away from Italian waters and the island of Lampedusa towards Libya, with Italian and Maltese officials continuing to monitor its movement.
Speaking on Italy's Radio 24, the secretary of Italy's Council of Ministers, Alfredo Mantovano, said the risks from the tanker were "enormous" and warned that it could "explode at any moment".
It is said to be carrying "significant" quantities of liquid natural gas, or LNG. An official in Rome told reporters it also had 450 tonnes of fuel oil and 250 tonnes of diesel on board.
On Tuesday afternoon the tanker was about 45 nautical miles (83km) from Italian territorial waters and 25 miles from the search-and-rescue zone ascribed to Libya.
The Arctic Metagaz set out from the Russian port of Murmansk in February.
In early March, when it went up in flames, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for a "terrorist attack".
Senegalese Football Federation bashes AFCON title stripping
DAKAR, Senegal
The Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) has criticized the “unfair, unprecedented, and unacceptable decision” to strip its team of the Africa Cup of Nations title and award it to host nation Morocco two months after they contested the final.
The Confederation of African Football’s appeals board on Tuesday ruled Senegal “forfeited the final” by walking off the field and turned its 1-0 win in extra time into a 3-0 default win for Morocco.
The FSF said the decision “discredits African football,” and that it will appeal “as soon as possible” to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, a process that would typically take a year to deliver a verdict.
“The FSF reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the values of integrity and sporting justice and will keep the public informed of developments in this matter,” the federation said in a statement.
The CAF cited article 82 of tournament regulations for its marquee event to justify the verdict enforced on appeal, though not at the first hearing.
It states “if, for any reason whatsoever, a team withdraws from the competition or does not report for a match, or refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorization of the referee, it shall be considered loser and shall be eliminated for good from the current competition.”
In the meantime, Senegal’s government demands “independent international investigation into suspected corruption within CAF’s governing bodies.”
It calls CAF’s decision to award AFCON title to Morocco “grossly illegal and profoundly unjust,” promising to challenge it in global courts.
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
CAF Appeals board declares Morocco AFCON 2025 Champions
CAIRO, Egypt
Morocco was stunningly awarded the Africa Cup of Nations title on Tuesday by appeals judges who overturned Senegal’s victory in a chaotic final in January.
The Confederation of African Football said its appeals board ruled that Senegal is “declared to have forfeited the final” and its 1-0 win in extra time becomes a 3-0 default win for host nation Morocco.
In the January 18 final in Rabat, Senegal players led by coach Pape Thiaw left the field in protest during stoppage time for 15 minutes — and fans tried to storm the field — when Morocco was awarded a penalty that was set to decide the match.
When play resumed, Morocco forward Brahim Diaz’s spot kick — a controversial slow chip shot known as a “Panenka” — was saved by goalkeeper Édouard Mendy and Senegal scored the only goal in extra time.
Tension in the stadium was already raised by Senegal being denied a goal minutes before the penalty was given to Morocco.
In the second minute of stoppage time, Senegal’s apparent go-ahead goal was ruled out for a foul by Abdoulaye Seck, but TV replays showed little contact on Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi.
At an initial disciplinary hearing, CAF imposed fines of than $1 million in fines and bans for Senegal and Morocco players and officials but left the result untouched.
The case could go to a further appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
CAF cited article 82 of tournament regulations for its marquee event to justify the verdict enforced on appeal, though not at the first hearing.
It states “if, for any reason whatsoever, a team withdraws from the competition or does not report for a match, or refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorization of the referee, it shall be considered loser and shall be eliminated for good from the current competition.”
Arsenal comfortably beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0
LONDON, England
Goals from Eberechi Eze and Declan Rice helped Arsenal comfortably beat Bayer Leverkusen as the Gunners secured their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Arsenal will play Sporting in the last eight after the Portuguese side staged a dramatic comeback from 3-0 down before kick-off to put five past Bodo/Glimt.
The Gunners came into this tie level on aggregate with the Germans, after Kai Havertz's late penalty last week secured a 1-1 draw, and they did not let Leverkusen settle in the first half.
Arsenal twice went close through Gabriel from trademark corners with Leverkusen goalkeeper Janis Blaswich making excellent saves to keep the game scoreless.
But there was nothing Blaswich could do about the opener, when Eze controlled the ball on the edge of the area and swivelled before powering the ball high into the net for his first goal in the Champions League.
Arsenal picked up from where they left off in the second half and Rice wrapped up the tie when he ran onto a Leverkusen clearance and calmly placed the ball into the bottom corner.
With the game won, Mikel Arteta was able to give some of his key players a rest before the Gunners take on Manchester City in the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley on Sunday.
Iran security chief Larijani reported killed as conflict escalates
JERUSALEM, Israel
Iran’s powerful security chief Ali Larijani has reportedly been killed, according to Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz, though Tehran is yet to confirm the claim.
If verified, his death would be a major blow to Iran’s leadership at a time of heightened tensions following the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in earlier strikes blamed on Israel and the United States.
Larijani had emerged as one of the most visible figures in Iran’s leadership since the start of the conflict, while the new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has largely remained out of public view.
He was seen days ago at a pro-government rally in Tehran, signalling defiance despite ongoing military pressure.
A longtime insider, Larijani played a central role in shaping Iran’s security and nuclear strategy. He headed the Supreme National Security Council, overseeing defence coordination and nuclear policy.
“Larijani is a true insider… a canny operator,” said Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group, describing him as a figure who understood both the system’s ideology and its diplomatic limits.
Born in Iraq to a prominent clerical family, Larijani built a career across Iran’s military, media and political institutions. He served in the Revolutionary Guard, led state broadcasting, and was speaker of parliament for more than a decade.
He also served as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator in talks with Western powers and supported the 2015 nuclear deal before it collapsed following the United States' withdrawal.
In recent years, he had taken on a more active diplomatic role, engaging Gulf states as Tehran explored renewed negotiations before the outbreak of war.
Despite his reputation as a pragmatist, Larijani remained a firm defender of Iran’s nuclear programme. “We are not moving towards weapons, but pressure could force Iran in that direction,” he warned in 2025.
He was also among senior officials sanctioned by Washington over the government’s response to nationwide protests, which rights groups say were met with deadly force.
His reported killing, if confirmed, would remove one of Iran’s most experienced power brokers at a critical moment in the region’s escalating conflict.
Former Belgian diplomat to stand trial over Patrice Lumumba's death
BRUSSELS, Belgium
A 93-year-old former Belgian diplomat was ordered on Tuesday to stand trial over the 1961 killing of Congolese independence Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, in a decision hailed as a major step towards confronting the country's colonial past.
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| Patrice Lumumba (R) and other two, under arrest |
Etienne Davignon, a one-time European commissioner and the only person still alive among 10 Belgians accused by the Congolese leader's family of complicity in his murder, stands accused of participation in "war crimes."
The former prime minister's grandson, Mehdi Lumumba, welcomed the Brussels court decision -- which remains subject to appeal -- as "historic."
"We are all relieved," he told our reporter. "Belgium is finally confronting its history."
If the trial goes ahead, Davignon would be the first Belgian official to face justice in the 65 years since Lumumba was executed and his body dissolved in acid.
In its decision, the court went beyond prosecutors' submissions and extended the scope of the trial to cover Lumumba's political allies, Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito -- who were murdered alongside him.
Lawyers for Davignon, who denies all charges, argued in a closed-door hearing in January that too much time had passed since the events, according to multiple sources.
Lumumba's relatives, conversely, have maintained the time is ripe for a long-overdue legal reckoning.
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| Etienne Davignon |
"It's a gigantic victory," the family's lawyer, Christophe Marchand, said on Tuesday.
"No-one believed when we first brought the case in 2011 that Belgium would prove capable of seriously investigating this," he said, adding: "It's very hard for a country to judge its own colonial crimes."
Prosecutors accused Davignon of "participation in war crimes" over his role in the "unlawful detention and transfer" of Lumumba, as well as "humiliating and degrading treatment."
A fiery critic of Belgium's colonial rule, Lumumba became his country's first prime minister after it gained independence from Belgium in 1960.
But he fell out with the former colonial power and with the United States and was ousted in a coup a few months after taking office.
He was executed on January 17, 1961, aged just 35, in the southern region of Katanga, with the support of Belgian mercenaries.
His body was never recovered.
Davignon, who went on to become a vice president of the European Commission in the 1980s, was a novice diplomat at the time of the assassination.
After entering the diplomatic service in 1959, Davignon rose through the ranks after his early involvement in Congolese independence talks.
Family lawyer Marchand had described the accused as "a link in the chain" of a "disastrous state-sponsored criminal enterprise."
The case -- the latest step in Belgium's decades-long reckoning with the role it played in Lumumba's killing -- had already led to one macabre discovery: one of Lumumba's teeth.
The only known remains of the assassinated leader was seized from the daughter of a deceased Belgian police officer who had been involved in the disappearance of the body.
It was returned in a coffin to the authorities in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, during an official ceremony in 2022 that aimed to turn a page on the grim chapter of its colonial past.
During the handover, then Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo reiterated the government's "apologies" for its "moral responsibility" in Lumumba's disappearance.
De Croo pointed the finger at Belgian officials who at the time "chose not to see" and "not to act."
Monday, March 16, 2026
Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of killing hundreds in hospital strike
By Yama Bariz, KABUL Afghanistan
Dozens of people are feared dead or injured at a drug treatment centre in Afghanistan's capital after an air strike that the Taliban government blamed on Pakistan.
The hospital in Kabul was hit on Monday evening, killing some people and injuring others, the government's spokesman said on X.
Pakistan denied striking any health facility, saying it "precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure" in Kabul and the eastern province of Nangahar.
Our Correspondent visited the hospital, parts of which were still on fire, and saw more than 30 bodies being carried out on stretchers.
Some 2,000 people were being treated there, according to hospital officials, who believe there could be hundreds of casualties.
The Afghan health ministry's spokesman, Sharafat Zaman Amarkhail, said there were no military facilities near the hospital.
Residents reported hearing loud explosions across Kabul at around 20:50 local time (16:20 GMT), followed by the sound of aircraft and air defence systems.
Family members of those being treated at the hospital were gathered outside, desperately trying to find information about their loved ones.
A Taliban government spokesperson claimed the death toll reached at least 400, but the number has not independently verified.
Pakistan's information ministry said the strikes were "precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted".
It dismissed Afghanistan's claim as a "misreporting of facts... [that] seeks to stir sentiments, covering illegitimate support to cross-border terrorism".
The ongoing conflict between the neighbouring countries re-erupted in February, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan of harbouring militant groups, something the Taliban government denies.
At least 75 people have been killed and 193 injured in Afghanistan as a result of ongoing cross-border fighting between the countries since 26 February, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
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