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Guardian reporter filmed masked militants seconds before West Bank attack on French mayor

New video footage of Israeli settler assault on European delegation as Netanyahu attempts to raise doubt

Hours after Israeli militants attacked a delegation of European diplomats, French clerics and a visiting mayor in the occupied West Bank, Israel’s leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, responded by questioning the delegation’s account of the assault.

“Serious accusations require serious evidence” was the all-caps headline of a social media post from the office of the prime minister. As news of the attack spread globally there was no pledge to find those accountable and bring them to justice.

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© Photograph: UGC/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: UGC/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: UGC/AFP/Getty Images

Flydubai captain describes blocking axe blows as co-pilot attacked him

18 October 2026 at 18:27

Capt Smit Machchhar said he screamed for help as he reached to open the cockpit door on flight FZ1073

The captain of a flydubai flight who was attacked by a co-pilot who intended to crash the plane has described ⁠blocking axe blows to his head and screaming for help as he reached to open the cockpit door.

Capt Smit ⁠Machchhar has been hailed ⁠as a ​hero for his role in averting disaster on the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv last month, helping to thwart what the UAE ⁠attorney general has said was an attempted suicide attack by the co-pilot who had intended to crash the plane into Ben Gurion airport.

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© Photograph: Israel's Foreign Ministry/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Israel's Foreign Ministry/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Israel's Foreign Ministry/AFP/Getty Images

Mondlane: "Chapo é bem sucedido a assassinar opositores"

18 October 2026 at 17:55
Promessa feita: se for condenado, não leva o povo à rua. Mondlane cola ao líder moçambicano a "estatística" mais sanguinária, sem recusar dialogar. Até Cristo teve Judas, diz o fã de Flávio Bolsonaro.

© JOÃO PORFÍRIO/OBSERVADOR

Venâncio Mondlane esteve duas vezes em Portugal em menos de um mês

US ambassador to Israel calls West Bank settler attack on American photojournalist ‘terror’

Mike Huckabee calls for arrest and prosecution of those responsible as Heidi Levine, 63, recovers in hospital in Israel

The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has denounced the settler attack that left the Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine badly beaten and needing surgery as a “despicable act of terror” and called for the arrest and prosecution of those responsible.

Levine, 63, an award-winning journalist who lives in Israel, was set upon last Friday by masked Israeli settlers who used clubs and other weapons to attack Palestinian people attempting to harvest their olives in occupied West Bank towns.

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© Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP

© Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP

© Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP

Hilarious quips and ‘100,000-volt’ energy: the hypemen (and women) redefining Afrobeats music

Style of emceeing based on high-octane, ad-libbed vocals has flourished thanks to its unique way of captivating crowds

For the 2015 freshmen cohort of the history degree programme at the University of Lagos, their classmate’s first-semester presentation was so captivating that they began calling him Toby Shang, after the 16th-century Chinese dynasty he had focused on.

His crowd engagement that day had been harnessed from his high school days as a ginger-man (energiser) in a three-man band and as a private tutor. By his final year at university, his viral catchphrases and infectious energy had resulted in a hit song, Shedibalabala. Today, he is one of the self-acclaimed “evangelists and pioneers” in the Afrobeats sub-genre some are now calling Afrohype or lamba.

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© Photograph: Sogo Oladele/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sogo Oladele/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sogo Oladele/The Guardian

South Africa Rescues 200 Patients From Suspected Illegal Rehab Centre

18 October 2026 at 10:40
South African authorities have rescued about 200 patients held in chains at a rehabilitation centre suspected of operating illegally. Some were found with sores covering their bodies and were being kept in overcrowded rooms. An investigation is now focused on the facility's licensing and those responsible for running it.

SERAP Sues Nigeria's INEC Over Unaccounted ₦126bn Election Funds

18 October 2026 at 10:40
Nigerian civil society group SERAP has sued the Independent National Electoral Commission over its failure to account for ₦126bn in election spending. The lawsuit seeks a full public breakdown of funds meant for ballot boxes, devices and other materials. A ruling is expected ahead of Nigeria's 2027 elections.

Nas ruas, "ninguém vai esperar pelo apito da UNITA"

18 October 2026 at 09:57
A crise de sucessão de João Lourenço abriu uma "janela de oportunidade" para retirar o MPLA do poder. Membros da sociedade civil ouvidos pelo Observador sonham com um resultado diferente de 2022.

© JULIO PACHECO NTELA/AFP via Getty Images

Ativistas e analistas acreditam que o resultado eleitoral será efetivado nas ruas

An extraordinary life: descendant welcomes biography of woman ‘gifted’ to Queen Victoria

A girl called Àìná was captured by an African king and later taken to England to become Sarah Forbes Bonetta, protege of the imperial monarch

When she was seven years old, Bayo Randle’s great-great-grandmother Sarah Forbes Bonetta was presented to Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle as a “diplomatic gift” from an African king.

Victoria would go on to pay for Bonetta’s education, approve her marriage to one of west Africa’s wealthiest men, and become godmother to her eldest daughter.

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© Photograph: Royal Collection Trust / William Bambridge (1819-79)

© Photograph: Royal Collection Trust / William Bambridge (1819-79)

© Photograph: Royal Collection Trust / William Bambridge (1819-79)

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