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Albania’s Edi Rama Refuses to Resign as Student Protesters Torch Ministries in Tirana: October 15, 2026

TIRANA, Albania — Prime Minister Edi Rama vowed he will not resign as student-led anti-government protests entered a third day of clashes with police in Tirana, after demonstrators attacked ministries and set the Education Ministry ablaze, BBC News and The Guardian reported.

Protests that began Tuesday over university conditions, tuition and job prospects turned violent on Wednesday. Riot police used tear gas and water cannon; police said 51 officers were injured and 65 people arrested, while Tirana’s public hospital treated seven injured protesters, The Guardian reported.

“As for calls for my resignation, governments are changed through democratic elections. We had elections last year, not a revolution,” Rama told Reuters in written answers cited by the Guardian. He said he would discuss education costs but condemned attacks on institutions as unrelated to legitimate student demands.

Deputy Prime Minister Albana Koçiu urged “calmness” and said “Albania does not need to burn to change.” Student Enida Bimi told Reuters the anger was about “corruption all around,” while Education Minister Mirela Kumbaro drew a line between civic protest and violence against public property. The unrest is the biggest challenge yet to Rama’s fourth term.

Sources: BBC News, The Guardian

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Eight Crew Missing After Drones Set the Tanker Wine Trader Ablaze Off Romania’s Black Sea Coast: October 15, 2026

SULINA, Romania — Eight of 12 crew members were missing Thursday after a drone attack set the San Marino-flagged tanker Wine Trader ablaze about 13 nautical miles (24 km) east of the Danube mouth at Sulina, Romanian naval authorities and President Nicușor Dan said, according to BBC News.

The vessel reported blasts and a fire on Thursday morning. Romanian authorities launched a search with two Black Hawk helicopters and two rescue boats. A swarm of Russian drones was detected overnight near Ukraine’s Snake Island, not far from the scene, the BBC said.

Moscow said two cargo ships with military cargo bound for Ukraine’s Odesa port were hit during the crossing but did not name the vessels. On Tuesday, drones struck two merchant ships off Bulgaria; one sank and 11 sailors went missing. Sofia summoned Russia’s ambassador, saying it suspected Moscow was behind that earlier attack.

BBC News noted the Black Sea’s western coast has seen a spate of drone incidents as the Ukraine war’s maritime front widens toward NATO members Romania and Bulgaria.

Sources: BBC News

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Zelenskyy Says ‘We’re Done’ Holding Back as Ukraine Hits a Ryazan Refinery After Trump’s Energy Pause Collapses: October 15, 2026

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine is finished holding back strikes on Russian energy sites after a brief pause tied to U.S. President Donald Trump’s so-called “energy ceasefire,” as Russia reported a fire at a refinery in the Ryazan region early Thursday, BBC News, NPR and DW reported.

“The block [on energy infrastructure attacks] is out. We’re done,” Zelenskyy told the Financial Times, according to DW and the BBC. Kyiv had restricted attacks for about three days while Russia kept hitting Ukrainian power infrastructure, leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity. The Kremlin never said it had agreed to Trump’s Sunday proposal.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said four missiles and dozens of drones were intercepted and that falling debris caused a fire at a plant south of Moscow in Ryazan; a senior Ukrainian official confirmed to NPR that Ukraine had hit the refinery. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Kyiv of clashing with U.S. peace efforts.

Zelenskyy also accused Washington of cutting intelligence-sharing on Russian ballistic launches and of deliberate Starshield/Starlink limits to pressure Kyiv after a U.S. deal to import Russian diesel — claims Trump has denied on intelligence and that SpaceX’s Elon Musk has partly attributed to U.S. military decisions.

Separately on Thursday, Zelenskyy’s office said Ukrainian forces had struck an airfield in Russia’s Voronezh region overnight, destroying four Su-34 jets and damaging two more that it said were loaded to attack Ukraine.

Sources: BBC News, NPR, DW

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World Brief, Evening: October 14, 2026

Elon Musk said Starshield speed limits on Ukraine’s drones are a U.S. government call; Mauritius extended its riot curfew for two more nights; and Tropical Storm Trudy is still aimed at becoming a major hurricane off southwestern Mexico. Ten stories as of Wednesday evening, October 14.

1. Kyiv / Ukraine, London / United Kingdom, and SpaceX. Elon Musk said Wednesday that any speed or usage limits on Starshield — SpaceX’s military-grade sister to Starlink — are set by the U.S. military and ultimately the president, after Ukraine said overnight caps at 160 km/h (100 mph) knocked drone and interceptor missions offline without warning, BBC News reported. Former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said connectivity up to that speed was being restored and asked Musk to remove the Starshield limit entirely; Musk replied that Starlink itself is limited to civilian or defensive use. In London, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy got a Downing Street hug from Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who accelerated Lightweight Multirole Missile deliveries and told him Britain is “behind you.” Asked by Piers Morgan if he felt betrayed by Washington’s Russian diesel deal, Zelenskyy said “really yes,” but that it was “a little bit more complicated” than emotion alone. The White House has not commented on the Starshield limits.

2. Port Louis and island-wide / Mauritius. After the Indian Ocean island’s worst riots in decades — sparked by water shortages, living costs and a police shooting of a woman — the Cabinet on Wednesday extended overnight curfews for Wednesday and Thursday nights (8:30 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.) across about a third of the country, AFP and local outlets reported. Police put total arrests since the unrest began at 94, including 16 minors, with seven officers wounded; schools and nurseries were suspended Thursday and Friday. Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam had already imposed a first curfew Tuesday, warning of “anti-patriotic” acts, BBC News reported. The officer who shot the woman has been arrested.

3. Nairobi / Kenya. Kenya confirmed a second Ebola case — a 39-year-old close relative of the first victim — who was already in quarantine when he fell ill Tuesday, the health ministry said, per BBC News. Officials said both cases are linked, with “no evidence of spread in the wider community,” and that Kenya remains open with no travel restrictions. The first patient, a 40-year-old businessman who died October 5 after traveling from DR Congo through Uganda undetected, had 128 contacts; 113 had been found by Wednesday, most quarantined. The Bundibugyo strain driving Congo’s outbreak has no approved vaccine; Congo has recorded more than 4,000 Ebola deaths this year.

4. Tirana / Albania. On a second day of student-led unrest, protesters set part of the education ministry alight and attacked the prime minister’s office and the finance and interior ministries, BBC News reported. Riot police used tear gas and water cannons; sixteen people were arrested over Tuesday’s violence. Students began outside the education ministry demanding better university conditions and jobs; the protests feed into the broader “Flamingo Revolution” calling for Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign amid corruption anger, including over a luxury tourism project linked to Jared Kushner. Opposition leader Sali Berisha praised the students; ministers condemned arson as endangering lives.

5. South of Acapulco and west of Baja / Mexico. Tropical Storm Trudy strengthened to 65 mph (100 km/h) by 3:00 p.m. CST Wednesday about 345 miles south of Acapulco, and the National Hurricane Center still forecasts a major hurricane by Friday with a possible approach to southwestern Mexico on Saturday; watches are likely tonight or Thursday. Farther northwest, Hurricane Simon weakened further to about 75 mph southwest of Baja California Sur, NHC aircraft data showed. Outer bands could bring 2–4 inches of rain (locally 6) from Guerrero to Jalisco this weekend, with life-threatening surf and rip currents.

6. Bogotá and nationwide / Colombia. Thousands marched in Bogotá and other cities Wednesday against right-wing President Abelardo de la Espriella’s austerity push and security policies, in the opposition’s first major street action since he took office in August, Al Jazeera reported. Former President Gustavo Petro joined the capital rally; unions, Indigenous groups and students objected to budget cuts and restored ties with Israel, including a new Colombian embassy in Jerusalem opened the same day. De la Espriella issued expanded police powers ahead of the marches and said protest is fine but “violence, vandalism and blockades” will not be tolerated; reporters described Wednesday’s actions as largely peaceful.

7. Brasília / Brazil. A Quaest poll for Brazil’s October 25 presidential runoff put senator Flávio Bolsonaro at 46% to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s 44% — a two-point edge inside the poll’s ±2-point margin, so a technical tie — Reuters reported. Quaest surveyed 2,154 people aged 16 and up from October 10–13. The reading lands amid a bitter campaign that has already seen Lula’s party accuse Meta of tilting the field toward the Bolsonaro camp.

8. East Sea of Korea / North Korea. North Korean state media said the Missile Administration test-fired two types of submarine-launched strategic cruise missiles in the East Sea on October 14, overseen by senior officials including Kim Jong Sik and Missile Administration chief Jang Chang Ha, AP and Yonhap reported, citing KCNA. Pyongyang said the exercise checked underwater combat readiness and showed the “reliability” of its deterrents, and claimed no adverse impact on neighbors. The report did not say whether the launch platform was a submarine or an underwater test stand.

9. Canberra / Australia. Australia’s unemployment rate held at 4.7% in September — still the highest post-COVID seasonally adjusted reading — after August was revised up from 4.6%, ABC News reported. Employment fell by an estimated 39,300 and unemployment rose by 8,900; the participation rate slipped to 66.8%. The September-quarter average jobless rate of 4.63% sits above the Reserve Bank’s December-quarter forecast of 4.5%.

10. Istanbul / Turkey. Torrential rain shut down large parts of Istanbul with flash flooding described as the city’s heaviest rainfall since 1985, Al Jazeera reported; video showed streets underwater and a woman pulled from floodwaters in the Esenyurt district. Transport and daily life were heavily disrupted as the storm moved across the megacity.

Coming Up

Confirmed dates on The Watch and beyond: October 15, G20 finance ministers in Bangkok as the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings continue through October 18. October 15–16, the European Council in Brussels. October 19, Alberta’s referendum on whether to move toward a binding independence vote. Pope Leo XIV’s audiences remain cancelled through October 20 while he recovers at Gemelli. NHC: Trudy is forecast as a major hurricane by Friday with a possible southwestern Mexico approach Saturday.

Sources: BBC News; AP; Reuters; Al Jazeera; ABC News; U.S. National Hurricane Center; KCNA via AP/Yonhap; AFP reports on Mauritius cabinet measures.

World Brief: October 14, 2026

Russia threw 39 ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s grid the same night SpaceX quietly throttled Kyiv’s Starlink; a Houthi missile tore the top off an Aramco tower in Dhahran; and Pope Leo XIV is up and walking a day after cancer surgery. Ten stories as of Wednesday morning, October 14.

1. Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lutsk / Ukraine, plus London and Balakovo, Russia. Russia fired 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones at energy and critical infrastructure in Kyiv, the Kyiv region and Kharkiv overnight, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, leaving at least 600,000 people without power and damaging 26 power-system sites and four oil and gas facilities, all despite President Trump’s claim of an “energy ceasefire.” Three people were killed in Kyiv, and later on Wednesday a Russian drone strike on a warehouse in Lutsk killed at least six, BBC News reported. The same night, SpaceX put a 160 km/h (100 mph) speed limit on Starlink terminals in motion without telling Kyiv, presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov said, disrupting a number of drone missions; he said it “cannot be a coincidence.” SpaceX hasn’t commented, and the 7th Rapid Reaction Corps had to cancel some sorties, DW reported. Zelenskyy meets Prime Minister Andy Burnham at Downing Street on Wednesday; Burnham says he wants to “repair bridges” between Ukraine and the U.S. and promises Kyiv won’t leave “empty-handed,” per BBC News. Going the other way, Ukrainian drones hit Sberbank’s data centre in Balakovo on the Volga, Russia’s biggest, which the bank says kept running normally, Reuters reported.

2. Dhahran, Riyadh and Sanaa / Saudi Arabia and Yemen. A Houthi missile hit an administrative building at Aramco’s headquarters complex in Dhahran overnight after the Saudi-led coalition struck the Yemen Petroleum Company’s al-Sabaha depot near Sanaa, BBC News reported. The energy ministry called it a “limited fire,” but sources told Reuters a ballistic missile caused extensive damage and a blaze between the sixth and 10th floors; “top three floors have gone,” one employee told AFP. Debris from intercepted cruise missiles injured two women, a man and a child in Riyadh. Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarea said attacks on Saudi airports and oil sites “will continue in the coming days,” and on Wednesday the coalition said it shot down another ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh, Al Jazeera reported. The IMF’s Kristalina Georgieva warned of “potentially negative spillovers for everybody, everywhere.”

3. Rome / Vatican City and Italy. Pope Leo XIV, 71, has started walking and is back on a normal diet a day after surgery at Gemelli Hospital that removed the lower lobe of his right lung, and his recovery is “progressing as expected,” his doctors said; blood tests and an X-ray on Wednesday showed his recovery “proceeding normally,” BBC News reported. The tissue was confirmed as lung adenocarcinoma, and he’s expected to stay in hospital about a week. The open question is his early-November trip to South America, including Peru, his home for more than 20 years, which may now be in doubt given the risks of flying soon after lung surgery, BBC News said.

4. Bunia and eastern Congo / Democratic Republic of the Congo. Congo’s Ebola outbreak has passed 9,000 confirmed cases, with the Health Ministry reporting 9,066 cases and 4,381 deaths across seven provinces, AP reported. It’s the country’s worst outbreak on record, caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there’s no approved vaccine or treatment; the WHO says a vaccine trial is due to start in Congo this month, per Africanews/AFP. Armed groups and community distrust keep complicating the response.

5. Dublin / Republic of Ireland. More than 300,000 public-sector workers, including nurses, doctors, teachers and civil servants, walked out Wednesday in a 24-hour strike over pay, with schools expected to close and hospital appointments cancelled, BBC News reported. Expenditure minister Jack Chambers called it “deeply disappointing.” Unions say the government never set up formal talks, and another strike is planned for October 21.

6. New Delhi / India. A Delhi magistrate sent Cockroach Janta Party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to five days in judicial custody after they climbed a locked gate into Jantar Mantar, the protest site police just removed from the city’s authorised list, BBC News reported. They deny trespass and the other charges. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi called the arrests “an act of cowardice,” and founder Abhijeet Dipke dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “declare the Emergency officially.” The Gen Z-led movement wants Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar out over alleged voter-roll irregularities, which the commission denies.

7. Brasília / Brazil. With the October 25 runoff between President Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro closing in, Meta has told Brazil’s electoral court it did not tilt Facebook or Instagram toward Bolsonaro, after Lula’s campaign accused it of throttling his posts, AFP reported. The court had given Meta 48 hours to explain, profile by profile. Meta conceded a global glitch that froze Instagram view counts and a wrongful suspension of the campaign’s ad account in September, but called the interference charge false, O Globo reported.

8. Acapulco and Cabo Corrientes / Mexico. Tropical Storm Trudy, about 375 miles south of Acapulco with 60 mph winds, is expected to become a hurricane tonight and a major hurricane by Friday, and it could approach southwestern Mexico on Saturday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Watches will likely be needed later today or tonight. Hurricane Simon has weakened to 90 mph while drifting about 165 miles west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes, and Mexico dropped its hurricane watch for Las Islas Marías, per the NHC.

9. Kalimantan, Sumatra and Singapore / Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Indonesia is fighting its worst wildfire season in a decade, and the haze has turned the air over Kalimantan and Sumatra amber, hidden Singapore’s skyline and closed some schools in Malaysia, BBC News reported. Monitor Nusantara Atlas counts more than a million hotspots and 900,000 hectares burned, with an unusually strong El Niño making it worse. President Prabowo Subianto calls slash-and-burn clearing “ecological terrorism,” and authorities have suspended 26 companies’ licences.

10. Cairns / Australia. The Australian Defence Force has confirmed a hidden video recording device was found Sunday in a cabin aboard the navy ship HMAS Leeuwin in Cairns, Queensland, BBC News reported. Senator Jacqui Lambie told parliament that personnel told her concealed cameras had been found in female sailors’ showers and that footage may have been uploaded online. Defence wouldn’t say where the device was, but it said the ship stayed alongside for the investigation, which went to military police.

Coming Up

Confirmed dates on The Watch: October 15, G20 finance ministers in Bangkok, as the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings run through October 18. October 15–16, the European Council in Brussels. October 19, Alberta’s referendum on whether to move toward a binding independence vote.

Sources: BBC News; DW; Reuters; Al Jazeera; AP; Africanews/AFP; AFP; O Globo; U.S. National Hurricane Center; Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X.

U.S. Embassy Says China-Linked Hackers Breached a Suva Regional Organisation; China Denies the Charge: October 14, 2026

SUVA, Fiji — Hackers with links to China compromised a regional organisation based in Suva between July and August, the U.S. Embassy in Fiji said, warning that Pacific governments and telecom networks are also being targeted, The Straits Times, The Fiji Times and RNZ Pacific reported.

“Hackers with links to China maintained access to the organisation’s network over several days,” the embassy said in a Facebook statement that did not name the organisation. Fiji’s policing and communications minister, Ioane Naivalurua, said police were investigating and urged governments and firms to harden digital systems.

China’s foreign ministry said it was unaware of the case, opposed hacking, and also opposed “using cybersecurity issues to smear China,” spokesperson Mao Ning told a briefing, according to The Straits Times (AFP). The Pacific Islands Forum said its secretariat was not the body that was hacked but stressed that digital security is tied to economic resilience and sovereignty.

Fiji is emerging as a Pacific telecom hub as Google expands subsea cables linking Guam, Australia, French Polynesia and the U.S. mainland via Suva. The embassy also pointed to an August FBI case against China-linked QTFY hackers who targeted U.S. critical infrastructure, saying that action “matters directly for the Pacific.” Fiji had separately asked Washington for evidence of a related corruption claim involving a Chinese state employee in Suva.

Sources: The Straits Times (AFP), The Fiji Times, RNZ Pacific

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Treasury Hits Bank of America With More Than $1.21 Billion in Anti-Money-Laundering and Sanctions Penalties: October 14, 2026

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department announced more than $1.21 billion in penalties against Bank of America for anti-money-laundering and sanctions failures, the third-largest penalty in Treasury history and the largest ever by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Treasury said Tuesday.

FinCEN assessed a $1.2 billion civil penalty — crediting a record $750 million OCC fine — after finding the nation’s second-largest bank failed to timely report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions, including more than $1 billion tied to national-security risks such as Chinese money-laundering networks and trade-based laundering with a southwest-border nexus, the Treasury Department said. OFAC separately settled 475 apparent sanctions violations for $11.6 million.

“When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond its own walls,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. Regulators said the bank overly relied on law-enforcement and peer-bank tips instead of its own monitoring, effectively outsourcing proactive detection.

Bank of America admitted it willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to maintain a compliant AML program, conduct foreign correspondent due diligence and file suspicious activity reports. In a statement to the BBC it said third-quarter results would include a non-tax-deductible $1.2 billion charge, about 17 cents a share, and that remediation work is underway. The consent order requires a lookback and independent reviews of monitoring, customer due diligence and data governance.

Sources: U.S. Department of the Treasury, BBC News, The Associated Press

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U.S. Inflation Jumps to 3.7% in September as Gasoline, Clothes and Air Fares Climb Ahead of the Midterms: October 14, 2026

WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer prices rose 3.7% in the year through September, up from 3.4% in August, as gasoline, clothing and air fares got more expensive weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, the Associated Press and BBC News reported Wednesday.

The Labor Department said the consumer price index jumped 0.6% from August to September, after a 0.4% rise the prior month. The annual reading was hotter than economists had expected. The Associated Press said higher gas, clothes and air fares drove the acceleration.

The BBC said gasoline prices have spiked after Middle East energy supplies were disrupted by the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, with crude moving from just over $70 a barrel before the war to more than $100. Cost-of-living pressures are a central campaign issue for both parties.

The Federal Reserve targets 2% inflation and last month raised its benchmark rate by a quarter point to a 3.75%–4.00% range, its first hike in three years. Markets still see only a modest chance of another increase at the Oct. 27–28 meeting, but Wednesday’s print keeps affordability at the centre of the midterm fight.

Sources: The Associated Press, BBC News

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Colombia Opens an Embassy in Jerusalem and Restores Its Free-Trade Deal With Israel: October 14, 2026

JERUSALEM — Colombia opened its embassy in Jerusalem on Wednesday, becoming the 10th country to do so, as new President Abelardo de la Espriella reversed his predecessor’s break with Israel and restored a free-trade agreement, Reuters reported via Al-Monitor and The Jerusalem Post.

Colombian Foreign Minister Omar Bula Escobar cut a ribbon beside Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. “Today, we are taking a concrete step towards restoring diplomatic relations between our countries, relations that should never have been broken,” Escobar said. Saar called the move recognition that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital and “a historical truth.”

Most countries keep embassies to Israel in Tel Aviv. Israel regards Jerusalem as its capital; Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Former Colombian President Gustavo Petro broke relations in May 2024 over Israel’s Gaza campaign, closed the Tel Aviv embassy and recalled Colombia’s ambassador — a step Israel called antisemitic. De la Espriella, a right-winger who took office in August, reinstated the free-trade pact on Tuesday, Al-Monitor (Reuters) reported.

Countries that have moved embassies to Jerusalem since the United States did so in 2018 include Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay and Somaliland, Israel’s Foreign Ministry noted. Saar and Escobar were also due to hold bilateral talks Wednesday.

Sources: Al-Monitor (Reuters), The Jerusalem Post

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Mauritius Imposes an Overnight Curfew After the Worst Riots in Decades Follow a Police Shooting: October 14, 2026

PORT LOUIS, Mauritius — Police in Mauritius enforced an overnight curfew to quell the island’s worst riots in decades after a woman was shot and wounded by an officer at a roadblock, BBC News, Al Jazeera and AFP reported.

Protests over water shortages and the cost of living that began about a week ago turned violent after 27-year-old Elodie Thomas was shot Friday while traveling home from work. The officer has been arrested and remanded; the Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating. Indian surgeons removed a bullet in an operation Monday, local media said.

Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam ordered the curfew from 8:30 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday across roughly a third of the island, including Port Louis and major population centres. He warned against those “acting against the interests of the country” and said perpetrators would face “very heavy consequences,” the BBC reported. Protesters had burned tyres, blocked roads, vandalized police stations and torched vehicles; schools and public transport closed, and foreign embassies issued caution alerts.

Police said some incidents and arrests continued overnight despite the curfew, but by Wednesday morning traffic was moving and residents were urged to resume normal activities. The cabinet was due to meet Wednesday afternoon to reassess next steps. Analyst Zoë McCathie of Signal Risk told the BBC protests on this scale had not been seen since about 1999, when police were also a main target.

AFP said looting hit two supermarkets and several officers were injured. Ramgoolam has also blamed drug traffickers for orchestrating disorder — a claim local reporting has not independently verified. Water shortages are expected to persist until the rainy season in December.

Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera, AFP (via Africanews)

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