PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin became the 48th player in NHL history to score 500 career goals in the third period against the Buffalo Sabres.
Sidney Crosby, from behind the net, sent a between-the-legs pass in front to Malkin, who was sitting on the ice when he flipped the puck past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The entire bench emptied to congratulate Malkin after he scored and the hometown crowd gave him a standing ovation.
Earlier in the game, Crosby became the 10th player in NHL history to record 1,600 regular-season points in a career.
Malkin, who has the third-most goals in Penguins’ history with 500 in 1,150 games, is the 20th player in NHL history to score 500 goals with one team. The Penguins selected the 38-year-old Malkin No. 2 overall in the 2004 NHL Draft.
He joined Crosby (592), Washington’s Alex Ovechkin (853) and Nashville’s Steven Stamkos (555) as the only active players with 500 goals. Stamkos achieved it with Tampa Bay. Malkin also joins Ovechkin as the only Russian-born players in NHL history to reach the mark.
Pittsburgh is the second team in NHL history, behind Montreal, with three 500-goal scorers.
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Pittsburgh Penguins' Bryan Rust (17) celebrates his goal with Sidney Crosby (87), Erik Karlsson (65) and Evgeni Malkin (71) during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
SHENGJIN, Albania (AP) — An Italian navy ship on Wednesday docked at the Albanian port of Shengjin to bring the first group of 16 migrants intercepted in international waters to be processed there.
The naval ship Libra left the port of Lampedusa on Monday with 16 men — 10 from Bangladesh and six from Egypt — who were rescued at sea after departing from Libya, a ministry spokesperson said.
Last week, Italy formally opened two centers in Albania where it plans to process thousands of asylum-seekers outside its borders.
The centers will only house adult men, while vulnerable people such as women, children, the elderly and those who are ill or victims of torture will be accommodated in Italy. Families will not be separated.
Based on that criteria, two minors were returned to Italy on an Italian boat, local media reported without elaborating. When asked for a comment, Italy’s embassy in Albania said it was not in charge of the centers’ operation.
Italian Ambassador to Albania Fabrizio Bucci said Friday the two centers were ready to process migrants after the opening was delayed for months to consolidate the crumbling soil at one center, in Gjader where they will be accommodated.
A small group of activists gathered at the entrance of the port to protest the arrival of the migrants, holding a banner saying, “The European dream ends here.”
“This deal is against human rights, more concretely the migrants’ rights,” said Edison Lika, a protester.
Though the center in Gjader has capacity for 3,000 migrants, it will start with 400 and increase to 880 in a few weeks.
The number of people reaching Italy along the central Mediterranean migration route from North Africa has fallen by 61% in 2024, from 2023. According to the Italian Interior Ministry, as of Oct. 15, 54,129 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea this year, compared to 138,947 by the same date last year.
Under a five-year deal signed last November by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, up to 3,000 migrants picked up by the Italian coast guard in international waters each month will be sheltered in Albania. They will be screened initially on board the ships that rescue them before being sent to Albania for further screening.
The two centers will cost Italy 670 million euros ($730 million) over five years. The facilities are run by Italy and are under Italian jurisdiction, while Albanian guards provide external security.
The first center, an area in Shengjin, 66 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of the capital, Tirana, is used for screening newcomers. While another one, about 22 kilometers (14 miles) to its east, near the former military airport in Gjader, accommodates migrants during the processing of their asylum requests.
Italian officials expect the Gjader center will never be at full occupancy but that depends on the flow of migrants brought to Albania.
In Albania, the migrants retain their right under international and European Union law to apply for asylum in Italy and have their claims processed there, a move expected to take a maximum of 28 days, including any appeal case, to process.
Italy has agreed to welcome those who are granted asylum. Those whose applications are rejected face deportation directly from Albania.
The controversial agreement to outsource the housing of asylum-seekers to a non-EU member country has been hailed by some countries that, like Italy, are experiencing a high level of migrant arrivals.
The agreement was endorsed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as an example of “out-of-box thinking” in tackling the issue of migration into the European Union.
But it has been slammed by human rights groups as setting a dangerous precedent.
Rama has made it clear that no other country will be able to have such centers in Albania. He said Albania felt an expression of gratitude for the tens of thousands of Albanians who were welcomed by Italy when communism fell in 1991, or support extended by Rome during the economic turmoil in 1997 and in the aftermath of the 2019 earthquake.
Meloni and her right-wing allies have long demanded that European countries share more of the migration burden. She has held up the Albania agreement as an innovative solution to a problem that has vexed the EU for years.
Follow Llazar Semini at https://x.com/lsemini
A view of a migrant processing center at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, as the first group of migrants who were intercepted in international waters arrived Wednesday. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
A general view of a migrant processing center at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, as the first group of migrants who were intercepted in international waters arrived Wednesday. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
The Italian navy ship Libra as it arrives at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, carrying the first group of migrants who were intercepted in international waters. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
Activists, holding pictures of the Italian and Albanian premiers dressed as police officers, protest at the entrance of the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, following the arrival of an Italian navy ship carrying the first group of migrants who were intercepted in international waters. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
The Italian navy ship Libra arrives at the port of Shengjin northwestern Albania Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, carrying the first group of migrants who were intercepted in international waters and redirected to Albania in force of an agreement between the two counties. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
The Italian navy ship Libra arrives at the port of Shengjin northwestern Albania Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, carrying the first group of migrants who were intercepted in international waters and redirected to Albania in force of an agreement between the two counties. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
Security official stands on the Italian navy ship Libra as it arrives at the port of Shengjin northwestern Albania Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, carrying the first group of migrants who were intercepted in international waters and redirected to Albania in force of an agreement between the two counties. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
Migrants and security officials walk at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania. Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 after disembarking from the Italian navy ship Libra carrying the first group of 16 migrants intercepted in international waters. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
Migrants and security officials walk at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania. Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 after disembarking from the Italian navy ship Libra, carrying the first group of 16 migrants intercepted in international waters. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
Migrants and security officials walk at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania. Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 after disembarking from the Italian navy ship Libra, carrying the first group of 16 migrants intercepted in international waters. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
Migrant and security officials walk at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania. Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 after disembarking from the Italian navy ship Libra, carrying the first group of 16 migrants intercepted in international waters. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
The Italian navy ship Libra is docked at Shengjin port northwestern Albania Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, carrying the first group of migrants who were intercepted in international waters and redirected to Albania in force of an agreement between the two counties.. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
A migrant and security officials walk at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania. Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 after disembarking from the Italian navy ship Libra, carrying the first group of 16 migrants intercepted in international waters. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
Migrantw and security officials walk at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania. Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 after disembarking from the Italian navy ship Libra, carrying the first group of 16 migrants intercepted in international waters. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
The Italian navy ship Libra, right, arrives at the port of Shengjin northwestern Albania Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, carrying the first group of migrants who were intercepted in international waters. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
The Italian navy ship Libra arrives at the port of Shengjin northwestern Albania Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, carrying the first group of migrants who were intercepted in international waters. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
FILE - Italy's Premier Giorgia Meloni, right, and Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama shake hands after the signing of a memorandum of understanding on migrant management centers during a meeting in Rome, Italy, on Nov. 6, 2023. (Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via AP, File)
FILE - Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama, left, walks with his arm around Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after a group photo during the European Political Community Summit at the Mimi Castle in Bulboaca, Moldova, on June 1, 2023. Italy's government on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024 formally opened two centers in Albania where it plans to process male migrants who are intercepted in international waters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)
An Italian navy ship approaches the port of Shengjin northwestern Albania Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 carrying the first group of migrants who were intercepted in international waters and whose asylum applications will be processed in Albania instead of in Italy, under a five-year agreement between the two countries. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
