World
Albanian judge killed in courtroom shooting amid growing anger over justice system reforms
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On Oct. 6, Albanian Appeals Court Judge Astrit Kalaja was shot inside the Tirana courtroom where he oversaw a property dispute case, according to the International Commission of Jurists. Kalaja died of his wounds, and two others were injured in the shooting. The 30-year-old suspect has been arrested.
Kalaja’s killing quickly became a lightning rod for nationwide dissatisfaction with the Albanian judiciary.
Former Albanian Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations Agim Nesho told Fox News Digital that reforms implemented almost a decade ago by the European Union and the U.S. were “intended to strengthen the rule of law,” but have been “transformed into a political instrument, undermining democratic institutions and concentrating power in the hands of the executive.”
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Police secure the perimeter outside Tirana Appeal Court after a judge was shot dead, in Tirana, on Oct. 6, 2025. A man on trial opened fire in a courtroom in the Albanian capital Tirana, killing Appeals Court Judge Astrit Kalaja, who was presiding over the man’s case when the man opened fire, police said. (Adnan Beci/AFP via Getty Images)
“As a result,” Nesho said, “the public’s confidence in the justice system has severely eroded, with institutional dysfunction reaching a level where some segments of society feel driven to take justice into their own hands — a dangerous sign of democratic backsliding.”
Opposition Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha told Fox News Digital that Kalaja’s killing was “an abominable act and an alarm bell that should not be ignored.”
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Berisha said that the “evident support that the act has garnered,” including the creation of a now inactive GoFundMe to support the killer’s legal rights, demonstrates “protest against a dysfunctional judiciary, against a corrupt and politicized judicial system.”
Berisha said judicial reforms “left the country without a Constitutional Court and without a High Court for more than five years,” creating a “staggering backlog” of around 200,000 cases. He said that the process of vetting judicial personnel turned into “a witch-hunt against magistrates that were perceived [to be] independent or potentially right-leaning.” According to Berisha, this led to the “weaponization of the judiciary against the opposition.”
Lawmakers of the Democratic Party, left, look on as their colleagues of the ruling Socialist party vote in Tirana, Albania, Feb. 22, 2024. (Armando Babani/AP Photo)
A 2020 report on U.S. assistance to Albania describes American and EU efforts to “restore the integrity of the Albanian justice system.” The report states that USAID assisted the High Court with creating a procedure to manage 72% of its 35,000 backlogged cases. It also stated that 125 of 286 judges and prosecutors put through vetting procedures had “been dismissed for unexplained wealth, ties to organized crime, or incompetence,” while 50 judges chose to resign rather than go through vetting.
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Berisha claimed that in the aftermath of reforms, it now takes about 15–20 years for the resolution of legal disputes. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” Berisha said.
Lawyer Besnik Muçi, formerly a prosecutor and a judge in the Constitutional Court of Albania, told Fox News Digital that judicial reforms aimed “to establish a credible, fair, independent, professional, service-oriented justice system that is open, accountable and efficient.” He said that the Albanian justice system “has failed in almost all” parameters.
Muçi said the courts’ backlog consists of about 150,000 cases. He also noted that the closure of five appeal courts and some district courts has “almost blocked the citizens’ access to justice.” He also explained that most court buildings do not “meet…the security conditions and standards necessary.”
“Citizens do not believe in the justice system,” Muçi said.
Then Albanian President Ilir Meta holds an American flag as he delivers a speech during a rally in Tirana, on March 2, 2020. Thousands of Albanians rallied on March 2, 2020 against the country’s left-wing government and Prime Minister Edi Rama, responding to a call from the president who accuses him of violating the constitution. (Photo by Gent Shkullaku/AFP via Getty Images)
After Kalaja’s murder, the Korça Bar Association and National Bar Association of Albania boycotted court proceedings on Oct. 9 and 10. Korça Bar Association Director Nevzat Tarelli told Albanian news station CNA that Kalaja’s killing highlighted the need for increased security for and trust in judicial personnel. He also said that “people who expect justice in a timely manner, if they do not receive it, no longer have faith in justice.”
Engjëll Agaçi, general secretary of Albania’s Council of Ministers, did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about nationwide discontent with the judiciary or the size of Albania’s court case backlog.
A State Department spokesperson declined to respond to questions about the success of U.S.-backed judicial reform efforts in Albania or address the issues that Kalaja’s killing has highlighted.
“We offer our deepest sympathies to the victims of this attack and their families and strongly condemn the use of violence against judges and prosecutors,” the spokesperson said.
World
Shakira Acquitted of Tax Fraud in Spain, Will Be Reimbursed $64 Million: Singer Says She’s Spent Eight Years ‘Enduring Campaigns to Destroy My Reputation’
After an eight-year court battle, a Spanish court has ordered the country’s treasury to refund nearly $65 million to singer Shakira after ruling that the money was improperly collected.
The country’s high court has acquitted the Colombian singer of tax fraud and ordered the treasury to repay the money to her, with interest. In the ruling, the court said that tax authorities failed to prove Shakira had spent 183 days in Spain in 2011, effectively making her a resident and liable for personal income tax. The court ruled instead that she had spent just 163 days in the country during that financial year.
The country’s tax agency said it would appeal to the Spanish Supreme Court, and would make no payment until the final ruling.
In a lengthy statement following the ruling, Shakira said: “After more than eight years of enduring brutal public targeting, orchestrated campaigns to destroy my reputation, and sleepless nights that ultimately impacted my health and my family’s well-being, the National High Court has finally set the record straight. There was never any fraud, and the Administration itself could never prove otherwise, simply because it wasn’t true.
“Yet, for nearly a decade, I was treated as guilty. Every step of the process was leaked, distorted, and amplified, using my name and public image to send a threatening message to the rest of the taxpayers.
“Today, that narrative crumbles, and it does so with the full force of a court ruling. My greatest wish is that this ruling sets a precedent for the Treasury and serves the thousands of ordinary citizens who are abused and crushed every day by a system that presumes their guilt and forces them to prove their innocence at the cost of economic and emotional ruin. This victory is dedicated to them.”
The news comes just days after Shakira was announced as a halftime performer, along with Madonna and BTS, during the half-time show at this summer’s Fifa Men’s World Cup final. Earlier in May, she performed for an estimated 2 million people at a free concert on the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro.
World
Bodies of four missing Italian divers found inside ‘shark cave’ in Maldives days after they vanished
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Rescuers located the bodies of four Italian divers deep inside an underwater cave in the Maldives, days after the group vanished during a dangerous dive far beyond recreational limits, Italy’s Foreign Ministry said Monday.
Officials said Finnish cave-diving specialists found the bodies in the innermost section of the cave system in Vaavu Atoll, where the divers disappeared Thursday while exploring at a depth of about 160 feet. The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 98 feet.
“As was previously thought, the four bodies were found inside the cave, not only inside the cave but well inside the cave into the third segment of the cave, which is the largest part,” Maldives government spokesman Ahmed Shaam said, adding the victims were found “pretty much together.”
The Thinwana Kandu cave system where the bodies were found is known locally as “shark cave.”
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Monica Montefalcone, one of five Italian scuba divers who died near Alimathaa in the Maldives archipelago while exploring an underwater cave, is shown in this undated photo released by Greenpeace Italia on May 15, 2026. (Greenpeace Italia/AP)
Recovery crews plan to retrieve two bodies Tuesday and the remaining two the following day, officials said.
The discovery came after authorities resumed the search following the death of a Maldivian military diver involved in the rescue mission. Mohamed Mahdi died Saturday from decompression sickness after attempting to reach the trapped divers.
Mohamed Mahdi, a member of the Maldivian National Defense Force, died from decompression sickness during the dangerous mission, officials said. (Maldives National Defense Force)
A fifth Italian diver, identified earlier as a diving instructor, was previously found dead outside the cave.
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The specialized Finnish team used advanced closed-circuit rebreather systems, allowing for longer and deeper dives in the cave’s confined environment.
Divers prepare to search for four missing Italian divers near Alimathaa Island, Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, on May 15, 2026. (Maldives President’s Media Division/AP)
Rough seas and hazardous underwater conditions repeatedly delayed search efforts as crews mapped and marked the cave entrance before pushing deeper inside.
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Authorities continue to investigate the situation and what led to the divers’ deaths.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published on •Updated
The bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has criticised the overwhelmingly male nature of peace negotiation teams, linking it to contemporary diplomacy’s tendency toward short-term results.
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“This is a bigger problem we see around the world with different peace talks when we see that they don’t actually address the issues of long-standing peace,” she said at a press conference in Tallinn, Estonia on Sunday.
The ceasefires many talks yield, she said, too often simply declare hostilities over without resolving the “underlying issues” that perpetuate future violence.
Another problem, she said, is the lack of female input.
“There are also studies that show that when women are part of the negotiations, these peace (efforts) last longer,” Kallas expanded, adding that “the picture that we saw from the US China talks, (was) a lot of masculinity in the room”.
“Women have a role,” she said.
Various studies and international bodies, including the UN Security Council, argue that women’s participation in conflict resolution improves outcomes, but mediators and negotiating parties often leave women out of their teams.
According to data compiled by the Council on Foreign Relations, women represented only 16 percent of negotiators in active peace processes led or co-led by the United Nations in 2022.
Security and defence analyst Iana Maisuradze of the European Policy Centre think tank argues that the EU is a firm supporter of the UN resolution calling for more female participation during conflict resolution – and that it is not “sexist argument” to believe that women are beneficial to negotiations. She told Euronews the data backs this up.
“The argument is that women focus on things that male-dominated negotiators are not focusing on such as education, health, victims’ rights, social reconciliation (and) community: things that really bring people together rather than a zero-sum game, which men tend to do,” Maisuradze said.
“Having women at table works because we also bring different perspectives to the resolution of the conflict, and also to the implementation of peace agreements.”
A seat at the table
Kallas’ comments came amid wider chatter in the Belgian capital regarding whether the EU should have a seat at the table for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine – and who should represent the bloc if so.
Putin recently floated appointing former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as the EU’s lead negotiator in potential peace talks on Ukraine. This notion was widely dismissed by European heads of state, and the discussion of who Europe’s mouthpiece should be continues.
Diplomatic sources in Ukraine have said that Russia would “never” accept a woman as lead negotiator.
A diplomatic source in Brussels reiterated this, saying there is no possibility a female figure is being considered as part of the discussions. But another source in the Belgian capital told Euronews that “equality is an important factor”.
Regardless of their differences on the gender issue, most EU officials argue that appointing any envoy before a major European Council (EUCO) summit in June could be unrealistic.
European Commission spokesperson for foreign affairs Anitta Hipper said in response to a question by Euronews on Monday that Kallas is a “feminist” and “has a lot of practice back home”. She was the first female prime minister of Estonia from 2021 to 2024.
Hipper said the Commission could not comment on whether Russia would want a woman at the table, but reiterated that European heads of state will meet in Limassol in Cyprus in the coming weeks to discuss what form any future talks with Ukraine, Russia and Europe might take before June’s EUCO.
“What will be discussed is what our position is in terms of the demands and the ask and what unity we have in demanding our lists of asks from Russia,” Hipper said.
“This is something that we will be looking into – into the what, and not into the who.”
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