A drone attack by the RSF and its allied al-Hilou group on a preschool in Kalogi in Sudan has killed more than 100 people, dozens of whom were children. It sparked international condemnation amid worsening violence as the RSF fights Sudan’s Armed Forces in South Kordofan state.
At least three people have been killed and six injured in a car explosion outside a police station in Mexico’s western state of Michoacan, according to local and federal security officials.
The blast on Saturday took place at a central avenue in Coahuayana, the attorney general’s office said in a statement.
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“The driver died at the scene, while two other people died in the regional hospital, and six others were injured,” it added.
The two victims who died in the hospital were community police officers, said Hector Zepeda, commander of the Coahuayana community police. He said the remains of some of the victims were found scattered in the area of the explosion, which also damaged nearby buildings. Images circulating online showed a completely burned-out vehicle.
The explosion came as the federal government has stepped up security activities in the state following the recent assassinations of an outspoken representative of the lime growers and a popular mayor standing up to the drug cartels.
Last month, President Claudia Sheinbaum sent 2,000 troops – on top of the 4,300 permanent ones and 4,000 in neighbouring states – to Michoacan following the high-profile killings.
“With this operation [from the federal government], a lot of marines came,” Zepeda said. “We stopped doing patrols because the operation is going on.”
The community police, which patrol various rural communities, trace their roots to the civilian vigilante forces that took up arms more than a decade ago to defend communities from the cartels, and then were formalised by the state.
At least three of the six drug cartels that the United States has designated as “terrorist” organisations – Jalisco New Generation, United Cartels and The New Michoacan Family – operate in Michoacan, in addition to a number of other splinter groups, some supported by the Sinaloa cartel.
Last year, some 3,000 explosive devices were seized in the state compared with 160 in 2022. So far this year, there have been more than 2,000, according to the state security agency.
Bethlehem has lit its Christmas tree for the first time since Israel began its genocide on Palestinians in Gaza, offering a rare moment of hope even as West Bank residents under occupation face severe economic hardships and ongoing Israeli assaults.
Australia cruised to an emphatic eight-wicket win over England in the day-night second Ashes Test in Brisbane on Sunday for an ominous 2-0 lead in the series.
The hosts chased down the paltry target of 65 in just 10 overs, captain Steve Smith pulling Gus Atkinson for a huge six over square leg for the winning runs.
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Although not as humiliating as the two-day loss in the first Test in Perth, England were comprehensively outplayed in Brisbane in every department.
Their batting, apart from that of Joe Root and Zak Crawley in the first innings and captain Ben Stokes and Will Jacks in the second, was just as rash as in Perth.
They gave their wickets away with poor strokes on the bouncy Gabba surface.
They also bowled poorly, pitching too short on the Gabba wicket and wasting the new pink ball, in stark contrast to an Australian attack missing spearheads Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
To make matters worse, England dropped five catches in the first innings, whereas Australia’s fielders caught everything that came their way.
Josh Inglis’s brilliant run-out of Stokes in the first innings changed the course of the match.
Australia now have a 2-0 lead in the five-Test series and are overwhelming favourites to retain the Ashes with matches in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney to follow.
England were behind the game once they let Australia’s tail help the home side post 511 on Saturday, an overall lead of 177.
They then lost six second-innings wickets under lights to end the third day 134-6, still 43 runs behind the Australian total.
While many expected England to surrender meekly on Sunday, Stokes and all-rounder Jacks led a fighting rearguard action to ensure Australia had to bat a second time.
Stokes and Jacks defied the Australian pace attack on a fiercely hot day to edge their way past the initial deficit target and begin to set Australia something to chase.
England batting coach Marcus Trescothick said Saturday his batsmen would not change their aggressive approach, despite a clatter of wickets from poor shots.
But Stokes and Jacks did the exact opposite during the first session on Sunday.
They left balls they didn’t need to play and seemed happy to take their runs in singles rather than expansive boundary shots.
They scored just 28 runs in the first hour and passed the 43-run deficit 96 minutes into the session, scoring only 59 runs in the two hours.
The Australian bowlers, who ran rampant under lights on Saturday with the pink ball, were far more ineffective on Sunday, despite the wicket beginning to play some tricks.
The English offered only one chance when Scott Boland squared up Stokes, who got a thick edge over the slips cordon.
They continued to frustrate the Australians in the second session until just before the drinks break, Jacks got an edge to Michael Neser and Smith snared a breathtaking catch at slip, diving full length to his left and catching it low to the ground.
Neser struck again in the next over when Stokes nibbled at a ball outside the off-stump and got a fine edge to keeper Alex Carey to leave England 227-8, a lead of exactly 50.
Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer offered no real resistance as Neser recorded career-best figures of 5-42 and Smith equalled Rahul Dravid on 210 outfield catches, three behind current record-holder Root.
Sixty-five was never going to be enough, and although Australia lost Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne in the chase, Smith and Jake Weatherald guided the home side to an easy win in style.
The third test starts December 17 at the Adelaide Oval, with England needing a win to have any chance of reclaiming the Ashes. The fourth test starts Boxing Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and Sydney will host the fifth test from January 4.
After being relentlessly decimated by bombs and starved of medical aid during Israel’s genocidal war, Gaza’s healthcare system remains on the brink of collapse despite nearly two months of a ceasefire.
Doctors in the war-ravaged, besieged enclave say they are struggling to save lives because Israel is not allowing the most essential medical supplies in. Sweets, mobile phones and even electric bicycles are permitted to enter, but antibiotics, IV solutions and surgical materials are banned.
“We are facing a situation in which 54 percent of essential medicines are unavailable, and 40 percent of the drugs for surgeries and emergency care – the very medications we rely on to treat the wounded – are missing,” Dr Munir al-Bursh, the director general of Gaza’s Ministry of Health, told Al Jazeera.
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The ministry describes the shortages as unprecedented, stating that Israel is allowing just five trucks carrying medical supplies into Gaza a week. Three trucks deliver supplies to international organisations such as the UN and its partners, and just two to government-run hospitals.
That number is a tiny fraction of the aid Israel is obligated to supply Gaza under the ceasefire agreement – affecting other areas of Palestinian lives.
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza continues unabated, with some 600 violations of the ceasefire in the two months.
“At least 600 trucks should be entering the Gaza Strip every single day, but what is entering is very little,” said Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza City.
“Cooking gas is only at 16 percent of what is needed; there is a shortage of shelters, tents, tarps and everything Palestinians need to shelter from the rain. We see Palestinians collecting wood, cartons and anything they can light up a fire with.”
People living with chronic illnesses are bearing the burden of such restrictions.
Naif Musbah, 68, who lives in the Nuseirat refugee camp, has colon cancer – and the supplies he needs to be treated are not available.
“I need colostomy bases and bags so I can attach them to the stomach and the device in order to be able to pass stools. They are not available, nor are the bases, and we end up soiling ourselves. The situation is extremely difficult. There’s also no gauze, cold packs, adhesive tape, gloves or disinfectant solution – nothing,” Musbah told Al Jazeera.
With no way to manage his condition, the sick Palestinian man says he feels as if the war has robbed him of his dignity.
Meanwhile, doctors have been improvising with what little they have left, while the families of patients search for simple items to make the lives of their loved ones easier – items, they say, that should not be this hard to find.
During Israel’s genocidal war – which has spanned more than two years – nearly all of Gaza’s hospitals and healthcare facilities were attacked, with at least 125 health facilities damaged, including 34 hospitals.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah said he had been “thrown under the bus” as he tore into the club over his treatment and signalled a potential exit, after watching from the bench as they were held to a 3-3 Premier League draw with Leeds United on Saturday.
In his incendiary post-match comments, the 33-year-old Egyptian lashed out at the club and coach Arne Slot, telling journalists he felt he had been scapegoated for their poor start to the season and suggesting that he may not have long left at Anfield.
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“I’m very, very disappointed to be fair. I have done so much for this club, everybody can see that during the years and especially last season,” Salah told reporters in the post-match mixed zone, before taking aim at the club’s leadership.
“I don’t know, it seems like the club is throwing me under the bus. That’s how I felt it, how I feel it.
“I think it’s very clear that someone wants me to get all the blame. The club promised me in the summer, a lot of promises and nothing so far.”
The Egyptian, who signed a two-year contract extension in April, has become an iconic figure in an eight-year spell at Liverpool in which he won two Premier League titles and scored 250 goals in all competitions for the club.
Yet after an indifferent start to the season, he has begun the last three matches on the bench, playing only 45 minutes.
Liverpool visit Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday before hosting Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, two games that may herald the end of Salah’s time on Merseyside.
“I called my mum and dad yesterday, I told them to come to Brighton game, it doesn’t matter if I play or not. I’m going to enjoy it. We’ll see what’s going to happen, but in my head, I’m going to enjoy that game, if I play it or not, if I’m on the bench or not,” Salah, who is going to the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt on December 15, said.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen now, so I’m just going to be in Anfield, say goodbye to the fans (before) going to Africa Cup (of Nations), because I don’t know what’s going to happen when I’m there.”
Speaking after the draw, Slot said he had left Salah on the bench because he felt the team needed something different.
“We were 2-0 up, we were 3-2 up. At that moment in time, it was more about controlling the game, and we didn’t need a goal at that moment in time,” he said.
“Normally, when you need a goal, like last week against Sunderland, I brought Mo on. We needed different players like Wataru (Endo) when we needed to bring the win over the line; he (Endo) gave everything.
“We have to accept the situation we are in. The short-term future of Mo is that he is going to the Africa Cup of Nations, but before that we play Inter Milan,” he concluded.
Salah scored 34 goals and had 18 assists in 52 games across all competitions as Liverpool won the Premier League last season, but with his side floundering, he has managed five goals and three assists in 19 games in the current campaign.
The forward indicated that his relationship with Slot had broken down completely.
“I had a good relationship with the manager, and all of a sudden we don’t have any relationship. I don’t know why, it seems to me, how I see it, someone doesn’t want me in the club,” he said.
Since joining Liverpool from AS Roma in 2017, Salah has become the club’s third-highest scorer behind Ian Rush and Roger Hunt.
“I don’t think I’m the problem. I have done so much for this club with the respect I want to get,” he said. “And I don’t have to go every day fighting for my position because I’ve earned it.”
