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Debrecen (Hungary) (AFP) – Ireland beat Israel 3-0 amid a tense and sombre atmosphere at a Nations League match in Hungary. The Irish players wore black armbands in a show of solidarity with Gaza, and the two teams refused to shake each other’s hands at the start of the match. “The purpose of the protest is to raise awareness,” says Ireland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson. The situation has drawn criticism for some Israeli fans, who feel that “politics and sports need to be separated”. Despite pressure from within Ireland for the team to boycott the match, the team voted to go ahead with the fixture.

Demonstrators camp in a central Madrid square, vowing to keep up the pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez over Spain’s housing crisis. The movement was triggered by the police eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her lifelong Madrid apartment. The images of Abascal being carried from her home on a stretcher after police broke down her door caused widespread outrage and put the housing crisis centre-stage as the country approaches elections next year. “If they don’t give us effective solutions on Tuesday, it’s not going to end”, says Nadinne Fillol, a 38 stand-up comedian.

Demonstrators camp in a central Madrid square, vowing to keep up the pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez over Spain’s housing crisis. The movement was triggered by the police eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her lifelong Madrid apartment. The images of Abascal being carried from her home on a stretcher after police broke down her door caused widespread outrage and put the housing crisis centre-stage as the country approaches elections next year. “If they don’t give us effective solutions on Tuesday, it’s not going to end”, says Nadinne Fillol, a 38 stand-up comedian.

Debrecen (Hungary) (AFP) – Ireland beats Israel 3-0 amid a tense and sombre atmosphere at a Nations League match in Hungary. Irish players refused to shake the Israeli team’s hands and wore black armbands in a show of solidarity with Gaza. “The purpose of the protest is to raise awareness,” says Ireland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson. The situation has drawn criticism for some Israeli fans, who feel that “politics and sports need to be separated”. The match was held in Hungary, a “neutral” venue, after Ireland refused to host the Israeli team.

Debrecen (Hungary) (AFP) – Ireland’s football team voted on Saturday to fulfil a Nations League tie with Israel despite goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu pulling out of the match due to unease over the war in Gaza, its football association says. “We carried out a vote amongst the squad to establish their sentiment on fulfilling the fixtures,” Football Association of Ireland (FAI) head David Courell tells reporters in Debrecen, Hungary, where the game is taking place on September 27.

Addis Ababa (AFP) – Thousands gather in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa to mark the east African nation’s Orthodox Church festival of Meskel, marked by vibrant hymns, traditional white robes, a traditional large bonfire and calls for peace amidst renewed conflict in the country’s northern Tigray region. “The people leading the country, as well as those on any other side, must come to peace,” says Yared Kebede, a worshipper.

Lourdes (France) (AFP) – Pope Leo XIV calls on the Church to “heal the deep wounds, acts of unfaithfulness and painful mistakes committed within its ranks” during a large open-air Mass on his state visit held on the meadow at the Lourdes sanctuary in France, without directly mentioning clerical sexual abuse. A 2021 inquiry found that clergy or lay members of the Church had abused about 330,000 minors in France over 70 years.

Lourdes (France) (AFP) – Pope Leo XIV calls on the Church to “heal the deep wounds, acts of unfaithfulness and painful mistakes committed within its ranks” during a large open-air Mass on his state visit held on the meadow at the Lourdes sanctuary in France, without directly mentioning clerical sexual abuse. A 2021 inquiry found that clergy or lay members of the Church had abused about 330,000 minors in France over 70 years.

Badung (Indonesia) (AFP) – The men of the village of Tuban in Bali, Indonesia, hurl burning coconut husks at each other during the annual ‘Siat Geni’ or ‘war of fire’ — a long-standing tradition carried out to dispel spirits believed to bring misfortune. The war of fire is held during the fourth full moon of the Balinese calendar, which usually falls around September or October.

Badung (Indonesia) (AFP) – The men of the village of Tuban in Bali, Indonesia, hurl burning coconut husks at each other during the annual ‘Siat Geni’ or ‘war of fire’ — a long-standing tradition carried out to dispel spirits believed to bring misfortune. The war of fire is held during the fourth full moon of the Balinese calendar, which usually falls around September or October.

Mexico (AFP) – Thousands take to the street of Mexico City demanding truth and justice for 43 students who disappeared in 2014. The landmark case is considered emblematic of the corruption and impunity feeding Mexico’s disappearance crisis. The students from the Ayotzinapa rural teachers college disappeared on September 26, 2014, while traveling from Guerrero state to a protest in Mexico City. Local police stopped them in the town of Iguala, where six died in an hours-long street clash and 43 later went missing. IMAGES

Lima (AFP) – Between prayers and long workdays, sculptors and workers from a bustling neighborhood in northern Lima are racing against the clock to finish a 14-meter monument to Pope Leo XIV, which will be unveiled before the pontiff’s visit to Peru, scheduled for November 11 to 16.