MADRID (AP) — Kylian Mbappé believes this could be the year he wins the Ballon d’Or for the first time.
He's optimistic after winning his second consecutive World Cup Golden Boot with 10 goals, the most in 56 years. He also overtook Lionel Messi for the most all-time World Cup goals with 22. There were also 42 goals in 44 matches for Real Madrid, although the club finished last season without a major trophy.
“There are many people who speak about me and the Ballon d’Or. Of course I’ve made history in the most important competition. Maybe it’s a good year for this, but people can vote according to what they think,” Mbappé said on Monday.
The award will be presented on Oct. 26 in London. The men’s Ballon d’Or last year was won by Ousmane Dembélé after Paris Saint-Germain won its first Champions League title.
“I think when you play for Real Madrid, the best club in the world, people automatically associate you with this award,” Mbappé added. “I always think I’m the best, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.”
Other strong candidates include Harry Kane — 61 goals in 51 games for Bayern Munich — and Lamine Yamal, who won the World Cup with Spain and La Liga with Barcelona.
“I don’t like making comparisons because I do a lot of things that others don’t," Mbappé said. "If we get into that it becomes an endless debate, you know?”
His best finish in the voting was third in 2023. He spoke ahead of Real Madrid’s Champions League opener against Inter Milan in Madrid on Tuesday.
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Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, left, attempts a shot on goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Betis and Real Madrid in Seville, Spain, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
An official in Tigray’s new federal-backed administration urged rebel fighters to lay down their weapons Friday, hours after a rebel commander called for continued resistance despite losing the northern Ethiopian region’s capital.
The calls came nearly three weeks after rebels trying to overthrow the government lost control of Mekelle, Tigray's capital. Government-allied fighters entered Mekelle on Oct. 4 after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, withdrew.
Redae Halefom Woldeselassie, the caretaker administration’s chief executive for political and public mobilization, said rebel forces were collapsing and urged fighters to enter a disarmament and reintegration program.
“This is not the time for settling scores, I call upon you to return to your homes and continue your civilian lives,” he said in Mekelle.
He dismissed the prospect of the rebels retaking the city and portrayed the conflict as serving a small group of leaders rather than the people of Tigray.
Hours earlier, Lt. Gen. Fisseha Kidanu, who was identified in a television broadcast as commander of the Tigray army, pledged to reverse recent military setbacks.
“Local militias across the region — alongside all volunteers joining the resistance — are expected to engage the enemy,” he said Thursday on Tigray Broadcast Media, a new rebel television station. His location was not disclosed.
Fisseha urged attacks on government-held positions despite his opponents’ advantages in drones and heavy weapons. The TPLF has also claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on government forces. The Associated Press could not independently verify those claims.
Ethiopia’s government subsequently established a six-month caretaker administration promising to restore services, help displaced people return and prepare for elections.
The government’s allies include the Tigray Peace Force, comprising former members of the TPLF’s armed wing — a division within Tigrayan forces that has complicated the renewed conflict.
Redae said Ethiopian troops and allied forces were conducting joint security operations, including measures to prevent looting. He promised preparations for displaced residents to return but gave no timetable.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, speaking Monday to the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, accused the TPLF of acquiring weapons and forcibly recruiting young people instead of disarming under the November 2022 Pretoria peace agreement. He said his government had done everything within its capacity to implement the accord.
At Ayder Hospital in Mekelle, Luel Berhanu, 22, and Samuel Belay, 20, said they were loading goats onto a truck in Finariwa, about 80 kilometers (49 miles) south of the city, when a strike hit around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
They said four civilians were killed and about six people wounded. The AP could not independently verify the casualties or establish who carried out the attack.
Luel said the truck’s headlights were on and a drone was hovering overhead shortly before the explosion. He said the blast severely injured his right eye and right arm, leaving him unable to see through that eye.
Samuel said they were working as day laborers loading the animals.
Hospital footage showed Luel with a bloodstained bandage covering his right eye and dressings around his shoulder and arm. Samuel lay on his side with an intravenous line attached to his arm.
A witness interviewed by the AP reported movements earlier that day by fighters identified as Agew Shengo, a militia that has previously fought alongside Tigrayan forces in neighboring Amhara region. Luel said rebel forces had been in the area several hours before the strike but none were present when it occurred.
The renewed fighting has effectively shattered the Pretoria agreement, which ended the region's devastating 2020-2022 war. That conflict caused an estimated 500,000 civilian deaths through violence, famine and collapsed health services, according to researchers at Ghent University in Belgium.
Magnus Taylor, deputy Horn of Africa director at the International Crisis Group, told the AP last week that controlling towns and roads would not necessarily secure rural areas where Tigrayan fighters regrouped during the previous war.
“We shouldn’t imagine that this conflict is completely over just because the TPLF has lost Mekelle,” he said.
Amir Aman Kiyaro reported from Hamburg, Germany. Filmon Equar Hailu reported from Mekelle, Ethiopia.
In this photo taken with a smartphone Getachew Reda, center, a former Tigray leader and adviser to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, arrives at the airport in Mekelle, Ethiopia, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Filmon Equar Hailu)
In this photo taken with a smartphone, supporters gather to welcome former Tigray leader Getachew Reda in Mekelle, Ethiopia, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Filmon Equar Hailu)
