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Former Yes musician plays at sanctuary to raise awareness of animals that remain stuck in cages at ‘bile farms’ Rick Wakeman has played to all kinds of people around the globe, but he has now performed to an audience he had never encountered before – an enclosure of 150 bears.The former Yes musician, who has gone on to have a prolific solo career, played the piano at a Vietnamese bear sanctuary. Continue reading...

Fighting escalates after Tigrayan rebels form new coalition aimed at overthrowing Abiy Ahmed governmentThere are growing fears of a return to civil war in Ethiopia after an offensive by fighters from Tigray into the neighbouring states of Afar and Amhara and the formation of a new rebel alliance aimed at overthrowing the government of the prime minister, Abiy Ahmed.About 600,000 people died between 2020 and 2022 during a devastating war between the Ethiopian army and the political party and paramilitary group the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Both sides are now accusing the other of triggering a return to open conflict. Continue reading...

The editorial board for the Houston Chronicle raked President Donald Trump over the coals Thursday morning for his plan to ban diesel exports from the United States for three months — a plan that even some of his own advisers have warned will only make the fuel crisis even worse.Trump's solution, wrote the board, only proves he doesn't understand how energy markets work."There isn’t one big, frictionless domestic oil and gas market for Trump to micromanage," wrote the board. In Houston, they continued, there is surplus production of diesel, "but infrastructure bottlenecks and regulatory barriers like the Jones Act make it difficult to easily transport it to, say, Boston and the rest of the East Coast, so we export the rest to buyers across the planet. Hang out in Galveston and you can watch those diesel-filled tankers sail across the horizon."At the same time, the board wrote, East Coast states are reliant on importing diesel because they can't make enough to meet demand. "Banning U.S. exports would make those global prices skyrocket — sending the price at the pump along the Atlantic coast skyrocketing, too."States and cities that produce a lot of petroleum might temporarily get relief at the pump, the board noted, but it wouldn't last: "Because we make more than we can use, stockpiles would build, storage tanks fill up, and refiners would have the untimely incentive to actually produce less. Meanwhile, the energy industry could be scared away from making any future investments in refining or export capacity."The actual solution to the crisis, the board continued, is to end the Iran war that Trump started, which is destabilizing global energy markets in the first place.

President Donald Trump personally greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews — a display of deference that observers say wasn't returned when Trump visited Beijing in May.HuffPost senior reporter S.V. Dáte was among the first to flag the historic nature of the gesture, noting "going out to the airport to greet a foreign leader has not been done in 60 years," and that "presidents in recent decades have done that only for papal visits." His verdict: "Trump is doing it to honor a ruthless dictator."Multiple accounts noted Trump and first lady Melania Trump stood at the bottom of the stairs as six F-16s and six F-22s sat parked behind them and a red carpet rolled across the concrete, kicking off a three-day state visit including a formal dinner. It was, several pointed out, the first time an American president has greeted a visiting head of state that way since John F. Kennedy welcomed British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1962.Xi did not extend Trump the same courtesy in May.Social media users were quick to note the hypocrisy. One user going by Covie wrote: "Notice that President Xi didn't even go to the airport to meet trump when trump visited China but trump is at the airport putting on a whole show to greet Xi when Xi visits US. Republicans' daddy has a daddy." Tech commentator O.C. Omar added: "You know who is Boss."An account tracking Chinese news, Dailylifenews, resurfaced an old Trump tweet mocking Barack Obama for hosting a visit from then-Vice President Xi Jinping in 2012, when Trump called the honors "so wrong."Uppsala University peace and conflict researcher Ashok Swain contrasted the treatment with Trump's chillier reception of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who "didn't even come to White House front door."Commentator Mario Nawfal noted the stakes: Beijing remains the top source of fentanyl precursor chemicals blamed for roughly 35,000 American deaths in the past year, with tariffs, chips and rare earths also on the table. "If he walks away from three days of pageantry without a single commitment," Nawfal wrote, "Beijing got the photographs for free."The last President who went to the tarmac to receive a visiting head of state was John F Kennedy in 60s. Trump is rolling out the red carpet for Xi in the hope that America and China can manage the Great Reset. https://t.co/Ce76vytzk8— Zakka Jacob (@Zakka_Jacob) September 24, 2026

Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Airtel Money targets $9bn IPO in boost for ailing UK stock marketNils Pratley: Does this mark the end of London’s listing drought? Not yetA payments business that operates across Africa and is ultimately controlled by an Indian billionaire has announced its intention to float on the struggling London Stock Exchange.Airtel Money, the mobile money arm of Airtel Africa, is planning one of the biggest UK listings in years, in a boost for the shrinking London market that has faced a string of recent departures. Continue reading...

Arrest of Shadrack Sibiya comes as country reels from cases of femicide and alleged police corruption and criminalityOne of South Africa’s most senior police officers has been charged with raping an 18-year-old woman and grooming a 16-year-old girl, as the country’s police face allegations of corruption and failing to tackle violence against women and girls.Shadrack Sibiya, who was already suspended from his role as deputy national police commissioner over allegations he interfered with political killings investigations, was arrested on Monday. He is facing charges of rape, people trafficking, promoting the sexual grooming of a child and two counts of grooming a child. Continue reading...

Islamic State-inspired bombings of churches and hotels in 2019 was one of the country’s worst ever attacksA court in Sri Lanka has convicted 15 men on terrorist charges for their involvement in the deadly 2019 Easter bombings and sentenced them each to at least 220 years in prison.The terror attacks, which targeted luxury hotels and churches as they held Easter services, left 267 people dead and wounded almost 600. The bombings, which were inspired by Islamic State (IS), were among the deadliest terror attacks in Sri Lanka’s history and sent shockwaves through the country. Continue reading...

Nearly 75 Haitians living in Ohio have been detained at one of four Ohio detention facilities that contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since President Trump took away their legal protected status on July 27 — a 142.3% increase, according to a new report.Springfield ICE Watch reported 74 people detained by ICE from Aug. 7 to Sept. 17, according to a new report by Ohio Immigrant Alliance.“Only 8% of the Haitians being detained in Springfield have had removal orders,” Springfield ICE Watch said in a statement.“ICE has been most often seen in Springfield doing traffic stops in the middle of the road while people are on their way to or from work, or in the parking lots of apartment complexes with high immigrant populations, grocery stores, and gas stations.”The report looked at the roster of four ICE detention facilities in Ohio: Butler County Jail in Hamilton, Mahoning County Justice Center in Youngstown, Seneca County Jail in Tiffin, and Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio in Stryker.There are two ICE detention facilities in Ohio — the Geauga County Safety Center in Chardon and the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown, but they do not publish their rosters publicly and therefore weren’t included in Ohio Immigrant Alliance’s report.There were 26 Haitians booked in Butler County Jail, Mahoning County Justice Center, Seneca County Jail, and Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio prior to TPS ending, from Jan. 1 to July 26, according to the report.At least 445 people were booked into those four ICE detention facilities between July 27 and Aug. 31, according to the report. Of those, 239 were Latin American and 62 were Haitian.More Haitians are now being detained by ICE after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled at the end of June that President Donald Trump could end temporary protected status for the 330,000 Haitians who’ve fled the violence in their home country. Legal protected status officially ended for Haitians on July 27.About 15,000 Haitians live in Springfield, with a mixture of temporary protected status, citizenship, and other legal status.Butler County Jail, which had 1,078 people as of Friday morning, held 44 Haitian people between July 27 and Aug. 31.The general housing capacity for Butler County Jail is 844, even though the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction recommends 756 as the housing capacity, according to a 2025 ODRC inspection report.Erik Crew, a staff attorney at Haitian Bridge Alliance, said he interviewed 15 Haitians who were detained by ICE and held at the Butler County Jail.“None had criminal records,” he said in a statement. “All entered the U.S. with its authorization, all had active and valid work authorization, and all had done everything the U.S. had asked.”Springfield Pastor Gilbert Joubert Adrien was recently released from Butler County Jail after being detained by ICE in August.Haitian Support Center Executive Director Viles Dorsainvil said Adrien used his time detained to minister to other people in jail.“He told us that he was a source of consolation for other detainees,” Dorsainvil said.ICE is starting to use the smartphone app SmartLINK to track Haitian in Springfield and seems to be phasing out ankle monitors, Dorsainvil said.Haitians living in Springfield have been receiving letters requiring them to report to the ICE offices in Blue Ash or Westerville to accept ankle monitors after TPS ended.There are hundreds of Haitians in Springfield with ankle monitors, Dorsainvil said.“We don’t know what is going to happen, but what we’ve seen so far is the relief of the ankle monitors,” Dorsainvil said.A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said ICE evaluates those enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program on a “case-by-case basis to determine the appropriate level of supervision and technology.”“Decisions about enrollment, electronic monitoring, and any escalation or de-escalation of supervision are made by career law enforcement officers after reviewing relevant factors, including immigration status, criminal history, compliance history, and humanitarian or medical considerations,” the spokesperson said in an email.Haitian college student who lost temporary protected status dies after walking into traffic“(Alternatives to Detention) uses a continuum of technology and case management tools, including SmartLINK and GPS monitoring, to provide varying levels of supervision based on the alien’s individual circumstances. ATD technology is not assigned based on nationality.”Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Wright State University student, died in an apparent suicide last month, which his family said happened after he was forced to wear an ankle monitor by ICE.Many advocates have been calling on to ICE to stop using the ankle monitors.“We don’t know if (the ankle monitors) will come back,” Dorsainvil said. “What we all have to do is to continue to raise our concerns.”ICE raids are continuing to happen in Springfield and a doctor recently told Dorsainvil that ICE picked up two people in his parking lot.“They don’t have the freedom even to seek medical help,” Dorsainvil said.Dorsainvil shared how a Haitian woman recently went to an ICE check-in with her two-month-old baby and they kept the mother, but ICE gave the baby back to the woman’s driver.“The woman didn’t even know the driver very well,” Dorsainvil said. “The driver came back to the (Haitian Support) Center with the baby, and we were able to locate the father.”The Ohio Immigrant Alliance report also said more than 90 immigrant students from preschool to high school have missed school for weeks “due to ICE’s presence and parents’ concerns for safety.”“Some parents we know are keeping their children at home,” Dorsainvil said.“We’re having a conversation with some parents who received letters already because the kids are not showing up at school. So we are asking them to start a conversation with the school just to tell them about the situation.”Springfield City Schools did not respond to the Ohio Capital Journal’s request for comment.Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on X or on Bluesky.Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: [email protected].