Madagascar held a ceremony Tuesday marking the return of three skulls kept by France for 128 years, including one believed to be that of a Malagasy king decapitated by French troops in the 19th century.

France handed over the skulls in Paris on August 27 in the first such restitution since it passed a law in 2023 facilitating the return of human remains taken during its colonial conquests.

The skulls are believed to belong to King Toera, leader of the Sakalava people, who was beheaded by French troops in 1897, and two of his warriors.

They arrived in Madagascar late Monday and were received at the airport by members of the Sakalava group dressed in traditional robes.

Held in three boxes draped with the flag of the Indian Ocean nation, the skulls were driven through the capital Antananarivo to the city’s mausoleum Tuesday, where they were received by President Andry Rajoelina and a gathering of government and Sakalava dignitaries.

They will continue their journey by road to the west coast area of Belo Tsiribihina, about 320 kilometres (200 miles) from the capital, where they are expected to be buried later this week.

The skulls were taken to France as trophies and kept in Paris’s national history museum alongside hundreds of other remains from Madagascar, which declared independence in 1960 after more than 60 years of French colonial rule.

French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said at the Paris event that a joint scientific committee confirmed they were from the Sakalava people but said it could only “presume” that one belonged to King Toera.

France has in recent years sent back various artefacts taken during its imperial conquests, but each time required special legislation until parliament adopted the law simplifying the repatriation of human remains.

Thumbnail image by Reuters — File image of a skull of Namibian genocide victim

Chapel Hill, N.C. — North Carolina’s high-point moment in its first game under coach Bill Belichick came early.

A festive pregame atmosphere led to a roar from the crowd at kickoff. And a season-opening drive moved at a crisp pace to the end zone.

After that, well, Monday night’s hyped-up debut turned into a romp by TCU – along with a reminder that even an NFL icon with six Super Bowl titles as a head coach can’t just magically turn the Tar Heels into winners after decades of also-ran status.

“We played competitively but then just couldn’t sustain it,” Belichick said in the familiar low tone from his NFL news conferences after the 48-14 loss. “Obviously, we have a lot of work to do. We need to do a better job all the way around – coaching, playing, all three phases of the game.”

CBSSports.com’s Shehan Jeyarajah points out that, “The NFL is generally a defensive league where teams are close to evenly matched. At the college level, Belichick will come to understand just how big the talent differentials are between the good and bad teams — and he was on the wrong end.”

The blowout put a major damper on a night buzzing with optimism for the 73-year-old Belichick’s college debut, only to see the Horned Frogs dominate so thoroughly they drove UNC fans to the Kenan Stadium exits by midway through the third quarter.

“It was a great environment tonight,” Belichick said. “I mean, the fans were awesome. There was great energy in the stadium. We just didn’t do enough to keep it going. We’ve got to play better for the energy to be sustainable.”

By the end of the game, Kenan was a ghost town and the Tar Heels had given up more points than in any previous opener in their history, according to Sportradar.

It was a jarring result, even amid uncertainty as to exactly what to expect from UNC with roughly 70 new players between transfers and incoming recruits. There were few highlights after that opening drive beyond Kaleb Cost’s athletic reeling in of a deflected ball for an interception and quarterback Max Johnson returning in relief from a serious leg injury sustained in last year’s opener at Minnesota.

“We’re just moving forward, just moving forward,” said Cost, offering an unintentional callback to Belichick’s famous “We’re on to Cincinnati” response to reporters’ questions after a blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2014.

UNC was picked to finish eighth in the 17-team Atlantic Coast Conference, though that seemed almost entirely predicated on Belichick’s mere presence. This is a man, after all, who teamed with legendary quarterback Tom Brady to win six world titles in his 24-year run with the New England Patriots. Someone who won more regular-season and playoff games in the NFL (333) than anyone other than Don Shula.

So there was spectacle to Belichick’s debut as he took the field sporting a familiar look from the pro sideline with a gray hoodie – only this one bearing the name “Carolina Football” in that distinctive shade of light blue.

An estimated 5,000 fans packed onto a main campus quad for a pregame concert and throngs lined the team’s walk to Kenan, where UNC has sold out all its season tickets – at an elevated price with Belichick’s arrival – and single-game seats for the season. The game attracted ESPN to hold a pregame studio show from the sideline with a crew that included former Alabama coach Nick Saban, with Belichick popping over briefly to say hello.

There were notable former UNC athletes from years past, including NBA legend Michael Jordan – who won a national championship under Dean Smith here in 1982 – and former UNC star linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who played under Belichick when he was an assistant and eventually defensive coordinator with the New York Giants during the 1980s.

And it wasn’t hard to spot Jordon Hudson – Belichick’s 24-year-old girlfriend who has generated her own tabloid-level curiosity – as she walked the pregame sideline sporting Carolina blue pants shimmering with sequins-like additions on the legs.

 
Belichick roamed the field during pregame warmups for the better part of a half-hour. At one point, he stood on the UNC end of the field with general manager Michael Lombardi, then shared a quick handshake with ACC commissioner Jim Phillips as he made his way toward midfield.

Once there, Belichick shook hands with members of the officiating crew and watched the Horned Frogs warm up.

The Tar Heels got off to a sprint of a start with an 83-yard drive that ended with Caleb Hood scoring through the right side from 8 yards out, followed by forcing a quick punt. But things soon started getting away.

TCU – which lost in a similar scenario as the “other” team in Deion Sanders’ debut at Colorado two years ago – never looked rattled or thrown. Bud Clark provided a highlight by jumping Gio Lopez’s sideline throw for an easy 25-yard pick-six as TCU took a 20-7 lead into the break.

It quickly got worse after halftime. Kevorian Barnes sprinted through the right side and down the sideline for a 75-yard touchdown on the first snap. Trent Battle added his own big run, slipping through the left side untouched and going 28 yards for a TD.

And finally, Devean Deal had a 37-yard scoop-and-score on Lopez’s fumble to make it 41-7 and start the Kenan exodus.

By the end, UNC had just 222 total yards, 320 fewer than TCU, and a short week to fix problems before visiting Charlotte on Saturday.

“They were clearly the better team tonight,” Belichick said. “They deserved to win and they did it decisively.”

• Decision taken in accordance with Imran Khan’s directives: Gohar
• He says party will hold peaceful protest outside Parliament House.
• Waqas Akram says MNAs will briefly attend, then boycott sessions.

ISLAMABAD: After submitting resignations from multiple parliamentary panels, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has now decided to boycott National Assembly (NA) sessions, The News reported on Tuesday.

The move, in line with the PTI founder Imran Khan’s directives, will see the party converge outside the Parliament House for informal proceedings.

The development comes against the backdrop of multiple disqualifications of PTI lawmakers, including former leader of the opposition in the NA and Senate Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz, after the courts sentenced them in cases related to the May 9 riots — further exacerbating the former ruling party’s existing legal woes.

Announcing the decision, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that the parliamentary party’s members fully support the decision and they would now be staging peaceful protest gatherings outside the Parliament House.

“Our members were disqualified, and we were not even allowed to speak. If we wanted to celebrate Independence Day, they did not allow us to do so either,” Gohar lamented while reflecting on PTI lawmakers’ disqualifications.

“We tried to present our demands in the assembly session in a democratic manner, but we were not allowed to speak,” the PTI chairman added.

When contacted, PTI Information Secretary Waqas Akram confirmed the development. But when asked, would the party lawmakers totally stay away from the session, he explained that the members would briefly attend each sitting and then come out in protest.

“Our members will hold assembly outside the Parliament,” he explained.

Meanwhile, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has urged PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) members to reconsider their decision to resign from the standing committees of the Lower House.

“I wish that they should remain part of the standing committees of the House,” Sadiq said while while chairing a meeting of the House Business Advisory Committee a day earlier.