Conviction in the first and only trial for crimes in Sudan
The Hague — The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday convicted the first militia leader ever put on trial for atrocities committed in Sudan’s Darfur region more than 20 years ago.
The court found Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman guilty of 27 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including rape, murder and persecution. His sentence will be determined at a later date after a new round of hearings.
The conviction in the first and only trial looking at crimes in Sudan since the case was referred to the court by the UN Security Council in 2005 is a landmark for the ICC. There are still outstanding arrest warrants against Sudanese officials, including one accusing former president Omar al-Bashir of genocide charges. Reuters
Read more here: ICC convicts first Janjaweed leader for Darfur war crimes
Barrick to sell Ivorian assets
Bangaluru — Barrick Mining said on Monday it will sell its interests in the Tongon gold mine and certain assets in Ivory Coast to Atlantic Group for up to $305m as the Canadian miner looks to strengthen its balance sheet.
The deal with Abidjan-based Atlantic is part of Barrick’s plan to monetise noncore assets in markets with rising operational costs, a strategy it has undertaken since its 2019 merger with African-focused Randgold Resources. The company has been pivoting towards high-margin, long-life assets, with a growing focus on copper and strategic operations in Africa and the Middle East.
The deal comes as gold prices hover around $3,900/oz, supported by safe-haven flows from broader economic uncertainty and prospects of further Federal Reserve rate cuts. Reuters
EU president faces no-confidence motion
Brussels — European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will face bids to remove her for the second time in three months when hard-right and left groups in the European parliament present no-confidence motions this week.
Though the motions of censure have almost no chance of reaching the two-thirds majority of votes required to unseat Von der Leyen, they could expose more general disquiet over her leadership and destabilise the EU assembly, whose backing is required to pass legislation.
The motions are set to be proposed on Monday by France’s far right and hard left — Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally, and Manon Aubry of France Unbowed — followed by Von der Leyen’s defence.
The votes will take place on Thursday. For Von der Leyen this is not a new experience. She also faced a no-confidence motion in July from mainly far-right legislators, which she comfortably survived. Reuters
Greece predicts growth of 2.4%
Athens — Greece expects its economy to grow faster in 2026, outperforming Europe’s major economies, thanks to higher investment and robust consumer spending, the government’s 2026 draft budget showed on Monday.
The government expects economic output to rise 2.4% next year after expansion of 2.2% this year, partly with the help of EU recovery funds.
“A key driver of this momentum is the growth rate of investment, which is expected to reach 10.2% in 2026,” finance minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said after submitting the 2026 draft budget to parliament.
The government trimmed its previous estimate for 2025 growth of 2.3% to 2.2% due to a stagnating European economy, a key source of investment and tourism for Greece, and the effects of the Trump administration’s new tariff policy in the US. Reuters
Not our drones over Europe, says Kremlin
Moscow — The Kremlin said on Monday that there was no reason to blame Russia for the drones sighted across Europe and dismissed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s remarks that he assumed Russia was behind the drone flights.
“There are many politicians in Europe who are now inclined to blame Russia for everything. They do so unreasonably, indiscriminately,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “The whole story of these drones is, well, really rather strange, to say the very least,” Peskov said. “There is no reason to blame Russia for this.” Reuters
Plane makers pour cold water on speculation
Prague — Executives from Boeing and Airbus dampened speculation of imminent decisions to replace their best-selling narrowbody models, telling a major audience of investors that it would take time to achieve the required jump in performance.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Boeing was in the early stages of developing a 737 successor. But marketing chief Darren Hulst told the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading in Prague that a launch is “some way off”, while a senior Airbus executive said it would “take a bit of time” to achieve the 25%-30% efficiency gain needed to attract the market. Reuters
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