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Teen killed in Montgomery mass shooting

Rival gunmen shot at each other in a crowded downtown nightlife district in Alabama's capital city Saturday night, killing two people and injuring 12 others in a chaotic street scene, police said.

The dead included a 43-year-old woman and a 17-year-old male, while five of the 14 people wounded were hospitalised with life-threatening injuries, including a juvenile, police said.

Police were called around 11:30 p.m. to what Montgomery Police Chief James Graboys described as a "mass shooting" that happened within earshot of officers on routine patrol in downtown Montgomery.

"This was two parties involved that were basically shooting at each other in the middle of a crowd," Graboys said.

The shooters, he said, "did not care about the people around them when they did it."

Seven of the 14 victims were under 20, and the youngest was 16, Graboys said. At least two of the victims were armed and the shooting began when someone targeted one of the 14 victims, Graboys said.

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Somalia thwarts Al-Shabab attack

Somali government forces successfully ended a six-hour siege by militants at a major prison located near the president's office in the capital, Mogadishu, killing all seven attackers, the government said yesterday.

The government said no civilian or security officers were killed in the Saturday attack, which was claimed by the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militant group that has in the past staged numerous attacks in Somalia.

Saturday's attack came just hours after the federal government lifted several long-standing roadblocks in Mogadishu. The barriers had been in place for years to safeguard critical government sites, but many residents argued that they obstructed traffic and commerce.

Mogadishu had been relatively calm in recent months as government forces, backed by local militias and African Union troops, pushed al-Shabab fighters out of several areas in central and southern Somalia.

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Russia unleashes 496 drones and 53 missiles in night of terror

Russia launched drones, missiles and guided aerial bombs across Ukraine early yesterday, killing five people in a major nighttime attack that Ukrainian officials said targeted civilian infrastructure.

Moscow fired 53 ballistic and cruise missiles and 496 drones, Ukraine's air force said. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that nine regions were targeted.

Four people, including a 15-year-old, died in a combined drone and missile strike on Lviv, according to regional officials and Ukraine's emergency service.

It was the largest aerial assault on the historic western city and surrounding region since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the local military administration. Earlier in the war, Lviv was seen as a haven from the fighting and destruction farther east.

In a Telegram post, Kozytskyi said Russia launched about 140 Shahed drones and 23 ballistic missiles across the region. At least six more people were injured, according to a statement by Ukraine's police force.

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'Diddy' plans to appeal sentence

Attorneys for Sean 'Diddy' Combs are planning to appeal after the Grammy-winning artiste and music executive was sentenced Friday to more than four years in prison for transporting people across state lines for sexual encounters. The case shattered his carefully cultivated reputation as an affable celebrity entrepreneur, A-list party host and reality TV star.

It culminated a public reckoning for the 55-year-old hip-hop star, who made a plea for leniency and wept as his lawyers played a video portraying his family life, career and philanthropy.

US District Judge Arun Subramanian also fined Combs US$500,000, the maximum allowed.

Combs was convicted in July of flying his girlfriends and male sex workers around the country to engage in drug-fueled sexual encounters over many years and in multiple places.

The sordid, nearly two-month trial in a federal court in Manhattan featured harrowing testimony from women who said Combs beat, threatened, sexually assaulted and blackmailed them.

He was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put him behind bars for life.