/news/world/rss 九一星空无限 Keep up with the latest developments and breaking news around the globe with 九一星空无限talk ZB. Wed, 15 Oct 2025 17:58:38 Z en /news/world/italian-prime-minister-giorgia-meloni-says-she-would-kill-someone-if-she-had-to-quit-smoking/ /news/world/italian-prime-minister-giorgia-meloni-says-she-would-kill-someone-if-she-had-to-quit-smoking/ Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has joked that quitting cigarettes would make her outright murderous. As she attended the Gaza peace summit in Egypt, Meloni was captured sharing a lighter moment with other world leaders. “You look great. But I have to make you stop smoking,” a translator for Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan can be heard telling her. While Meloni seemingly acknowledged it was a bad habit, she joked there might be violent consequences if she gave up cigarettes. “I know, I know,” she said, before quipping, “I don’t want to kill someone”. The 48-year-old previously admitted she had started smoking again after successfully quitting 13 years ago, il Giornale reports. In “La versione di Girogia”, Meloni wrote that the habit had helped her connect with other world leaders, specifically naming Tunisian President Kais Saied as a fellow smoker. The subject itself seemed to have that effect, with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer sharing a laugh over the Turkish leader’s plea. Amused, Macron himself remarked quitting is “impossible”. Erdogan’s mention of Meloni’s looks was only the second comment about her appearance during the summit. Italy’s first female Prime Minister was also the subject of high praise from US President Donald Trump, CNN reports. “I’m not normally allowed to say it because usually it’s the end of your political career if you say it”, Trump told the summit on October 13, “she’s a beautiful young woman!” The infamously outspoken politician continued to laud Meloni’s beauty as she stood behind him. “Now if you use the word beautiful in the United States about a woman, that’s the end of your political career, but I’ll take my chances!” The pair have fostered a good relationship thanks to their shared political views, with Trump previously describing her as a “fantastic woman”. Wed, 15 Oct 2025 02:06:34 Z /news/world/a-man-disappeared-while-running-for-office-he-might-still-win/ /news/world/a-man-disappeared-while-running-for-office-he-might-still-win/ Petros Krommidas went missing last spring near the shore in Long Beach, New York. Police found a towel among his belongings on the beach, but no sign of the 29-year-old Ivy League graduate who was running for local office in Nassau County as a Democrat. His family believes he may have gone for a swim while training for a triathlon. More than five months later, and after a gruelling search by police and divers, Krommidas has not been found and is presumed dead. Despite that, voters could still elect him as legislator for the county’s 4th District in next month’s election – with the encouragement of his family and local Democrats. If Krommidas wins, it could trigger a special election. The candidacy of a man who has been missing for months has sparked a heartbreaking and morbid debate in this section of Long Island. “It is extremely painful for Petros’ family, it’s unfair to the voters and it’s making a political mockery of a young man’s passion to make the world a better place,” said Joe Scianablo, a Democrat running for Town of Hempstead supervisor and a friend of Krommidas, in an emailed statement today. Initially, the local Democratic Party made efforts to remove Krommidas from the ballot, filing a motion in September to replace him with another candidate. When two voters filed a lawsuit attempting to stop them, Democrats accused their rivals of trying to keep him there for political advantage. “Nassau Republicans forcing our missing friend to stay on the ballot is frankly ghoulish,” Nassau County Young Democrats wrote in a Facebook post. A local judge sided with the voters, saying that Krommidas must remain on the ballot because he has not been declared legally dead. “A ‘missing person’ status does not qualify as a vacancy,” Judge Gary Knobel ruled, noting that a person must be missing for three years before they can be legally declared deceased. Because Krommidas already had been selected as the party’s nominee, he was required by law to be the candidate. The judge’s ruling prompted local Democrats to change tack. “If the Republican Party won’t do the moral thing and remove him from the ballot, then we’ll win it for him,” Nassau County Young Democrats wrote in a social media post on Monday, as the local party mobilised to campaign for him. In a statement shared with local media, the chairman of Nassau County Republican Committee, Joseph Cairo, noted that the local GOP did not file the lawsuit and said he was praying for the family. “It is my sincere intention and desire that the Republican Party and its candidates will show the highest level of sensitivity during these challenging times for the Krommidas family,” Cairo said. His family and local Democrats encourage people to vote for him, which could potentially trigger a special election. Photo / @MarioNawfal via X The Nassau County Republican Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment today. The judge’s ruling noted that a similar scenario had played out in 1972, when Democrat Nicholas Begich went missing in a light aircraft while he was running for election to the US House in Alaska. Despite the fact that he could not be located, Begich was re-elected to Alaska’s sole seat in the US House weeks later. When he was declared dead in December, a special election was held and another candidate took office. Krommidas’ family could not immediately be reached for comment but have encouraged voters to honour his legacy by electing him on November 4. In a Facebook post last week, Krommidas’ sister Eleni-Lemonia Krommidas said there had been “confusion and emotion” surrounding her brother’s disappearance and the upcoming election. “Regardless of what’s happening, his name remains on the ballot,” she wrote as she asked others to vote for Krommidas. “His heart would have brought light and positive change to this community,” she said. “That’s what I’m voting for – honouring the beautiful person he was and the values he lived and led by.” Wed, 15 Oct 2025 01:16:37 Z /news/world/instagram-tightens-teen-safety-rules-filters-adult-posts-after-california-law/ /news/world/instagram-tightens-teen-safety-rules-filters-adult-posts-after-california-law/ Instagram said its teen accounts for users aged 13 to 17 will now only see content that would get a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association, a day after California passed a law requiring social media companies to warn users of “profound” health risks. In addition to an existing automated system that scans content for age-inappropriateness, the app will now serve up surveys to parents asking them to review particular posts and report whether they feel it is okay for teens, Instagram said in a blog post today. The updates will also block teen accounts from seeing posts from people who regularly share what the app considers to be adult content. Teens whose caregivers set up parental controls and opt for even more limited content settings will no longer be able to see comments on posts or leave one of their own. California Governor Gavin 九一星空无限om signed a law yesterday requiring that social media companies show users aged under 18 warning labels declaring that their apps – such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat – come with “a profound risk of harm” to their mental health. In the past, Meta has announced new teen safety features such as its “take a break” reminder just days before its executives have been scheduled to testify before Congress about the app’s impact on young people. Last year, Instagram unveiled teen accounts a day before a key House committee was scheduled to weigh amendments to the Kids Online Safety Act, which would have created a new obligation for companies to mitigate potential harms to children. The measure passed in the Senate but stalled in the House. The new features are the latest in a steady drip of teen safety tweaks the app has rolled out as parents, researchers, and lawmakers urge its parent company, Meta, to stop serving dangerous or inappropriate content to young people. The new system will filter even more content depicting violence, substance use, and dangerous stunts from teenagers’ feeds, the company said. “Our responsibility is to maximise positive experiences and minimise negative experiences,” Instagram chief executive Adam Mosseri said on the Today show, discussing the tension between keeping teenagers engaged on the app and shielding them from harmful content and experiences. Advocates for children’s online safety, however, urged parents to remain sceptical. “We don’t know if [the updates] will actually work and create an environment that is safe for kids,” said Sarah Gardner, chief executive of tech advocacy organisation Heat Initiative. Based on a user’s self-reported age as well as age-detection technology that examines a user’s in-app behaviour, Instagram says it automatically puts people between age 13 and 17 into teen accounts with the accompanying guardrails. Parents can use Meta’s parental controls to link their accounts with their teen’s and opt for settings that are more or less restrictive. With parental permission, 16- and 17-year-olds can opt out of some teen account restrictions. Instagram, originally an app for sharing photos with friends, has increasingly shown content from non-friends as it competes with TikTok, YouTube and Twitch for teenagers’ time. Along the way, it has come under fire for showing young people content promoting suicide and self-harm. Beginning with a “sensitive content” filter in 2021, Instagram has introduced a series of features it says are designed to limit potentially harmful posts and protect teens from bullying and predation. Last year, it launched “teen accounts” that come with automatic restrictions on recommended content as well as friend requests and direct messages. A report earlier this year from Gen Z-led tech advocacy organisation Design It For Us showed that even when using teen accounts, users were shown posts depicting sex acts and promoting disordered eating. When my colleague Geoffrey Fowler tested it in May, he found the app repeatedly recommended posts about binge drinking, drug paraphernalia, and nicotine products to a teen account. Meta at the time said that the posts in question were outliers and that most were “unobjectionable”. Other close looks at the efficacy of teen account protections had similar findings. A September report from Meta whistleblower Arturo Bejar alongside a group of academics and tech advocacy organisations found that teen accounts were still able to send “grossly offensive and misogynistic comments” and view posts describing “demeaning sexual acts”. Meta has vehemently denied the report’s findings, with spokesman Andy Stone calling it a “highly subjective, misleading assessment that repeatedly misrepresents our efforts and misstates how our safety tools work”. “There is no reason to trust that Instagram’s promised changes will actually make the product safe for teens: Nearly two-thirds of Instagram’s promoted safety tools for teens were ineffective or non-existent,” said Josh Golin, executive director of children’s advocacy organisation Fairplay, citing the report’s findings. As Instagram fields a fresh wave of pushback from critics, it is also experimenting with AI-powered chatbots that users, including teenagers, can talk with. A report in August from family advocacy group Common Sense Media found that the bot was coaching teen accounts on suicide and self-harm. When Fowler tested Instagram’s chatbot, he found it willing to offer advice on disordered eating. Meta responded that the bot’s behaviour was violating its policies and that it planned to investigate. Design It For Us co-chair Zamaan Qureshi said that rather than taking responsibility for what teens encounter on the platform, Meta is shifting responsibility to parents to both flag inappropriate content and double-check what is slipping through the filters. Furthermore, Qureshi said, it is hard to take Meta’s series of safety updates at face value because the company doesn’t share data showing whether past updates have been effective at making the app safer for teens. “They’re a very sophisticated company, so they’re fully capable of doing this kind of research,” he said. Wed, 15 Oct 2025 01:06:59 Z /news/world/d-angelo-rb-visionary-and-godfather-of-neo-soul-dies-at-51/ /news/world/d-angelo-rb-visionary-and-godfather-of-neo-soul-dies-at-51/ D’Angelo, the visionary singer and musician who blended R&B and soul in landmark albums such as Brown Sugar and Voodoo, mesmerising critics and audiences even as he disappeared from public view for years at a time, died on October 14. He was 51. His family announced the death in a statement, saying he had “a prolonged and courageous battle with cancer”. They did not say where he died. Beginning with his debut album, 1995’s Brown Sugar, D’Angelo helped pave the way for a new era in R&B, nodding to an old-school soul sound while incorporating notes of funk, hip-hop and jazz. Alongside musicians such as Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Maxwell and Jill Scott, he became a defining artist of neo-soul, a genre that was named by his own manager, Kedar Massenburg. Despite releasing only three studio albums, D’Angelo was hailed as one of the greatest R&B singers and musical talents of his generation. A versatile musician who could toggle between guitar, drums and keyboards, he sang in a sultry, breathy style that could burst into euphoric heights. He drew early comparisons to Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone and Prince, who also displayed a musical obsessiveness and played multiple instruments on his albums. “D’Angelo bears no resemblance to the dozens of sound-alike crooners who populate ‘Quiet Storm’ radio formats; his falsetto yelps, note-bending purrs and stop-and-go phrasing mark him as a one-of-a-kind singer,” Washington Post music critic Geoffrey Himes wrote in 1995. With the success of Brown Sugar, other musicians came into the singer’s fold. The drummer and producer Questlove, who became a collaborator, told Vice in 2014 that before hearing D’Angelo, “I had lost faith in modern R&B”. “Not since Prince had any black singer floored me musically the way D’Angelo did,” he added. “There were plenty of great singers, but their music was mundane. From his keyboard patches to his sloppy, human-like drum programming, I felt like I had a kindred spirit.” D’Angelo spent years working on his sophomore album, 2000’s Voodoo, an eclectic record that was influenced by the birth of his first child; the sounds of gospel, Latin, blues and hip-hop; and bootlegs of James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone. The album was born out of thousands of hours of musical experimentation at Electric Lady Studios in New York, where the singer collaborated with a free-flowing collective – the Soulquarians – that included Questlove, Badu, Q-Tip and J Dilla. D’Angelo was born Michael Eugene Archer in Richmond, Virginia, in 1974. Photo / Getty Images “It is an album of loose, long, dirty grooves, finger snaps, falsetto serenades, gruff mumbles and bottom-dwelling bass,” the music journalist Toure wrote in Rolling Stone. “It is soul music for the age of hip-hop.” Voodoo topped the Billboard album chart and earned D’Angelo two Grammy Awards. It also turned the singer into a reluctant sex symbol: the music video for one of the record’s standout tracks, the sultry“Untitled (How Does It Feel), featured a shirtless, muscular D’Angelo singing into the camera, and was heavily featured on MTV. “Sometimes, you know, I feel uncomfortable,” he told Toure in 2000. “To be onstage and tryin’ to do your music and people goin’, ‘Take it off! Take it off!’ Cause I’m not no stripper. I’m up there doin’ somethin’ I strongly believe in.” After the album’s release, D’Angelo receded from public view for more than a decade. He was arrested for cocaine and marijuana possession, as well as for disorderly conduct, and later spoke candidly about his struggles with addiction and rehabilitation stints. A mug shot during that time became tabloid fodder for his stark physical transformation from his “Untitled” days. But he found his way back to music. After years of silence, racial justice protests and high-profile killings of black men by police pushed him to release Black Messiah in 2014. The album featured some of his most politically explicit material – “All we wanted was a chance to talk,” he sang. “’Stead we only got outlined in chalk” – and earned him two more Grammy Awards. “Instead of feeling heavy with expectation, it feels weightless in its delivery, sophisticated in its detail and urgent in its fury,” wrote Post music critic Chris Richards. It was apparent, he added, that D’Angelo had “labored over these songs, but he makes herculean agony feel so effortless – and not even in a show-offy, Prince kind of way. At its best, his music sounds more like an act of nature than an exercise of human creativity.” D’Angelo directly referenced his years away and grappled with his public image. “So, if you’re wondering, what about the shape I’m in,” he sang, “I hope it ain’t my abdomen that you’re referring to.” “When I wrote it, I envisioned it being the first thing people would hear, because it kind of tells the story of where I’ve been,” he told Rolling Stone of the lyric. “It was kind of like me answering some questions, without really being asked. Not just for everybody, but also for myself.” The youngest of three sons, he was born Michael Eugene Archer in Richmond on February 11, 1974. His father and grandfather were Pentecostal preachers. His mother was a legal secretary, and his parents divorced when he was 5. D’Angelo, who adopted his stage name as a teenager, played the organ and helped lead the church choir as a child. It was there, he said, that he first felt the powerful hold music could have over others. “I learned at an early age that what we were doing in the choir was just as important as the preacher. It was a ministry in itself,” he told GQ in 2012. “We could stir the pot, you know? The stage is our pulpit, and you can use all of that energy and that music and the lights and the colours and the sound.” While church members warned him against secular music, D’Angelo’s grandmother encouraged him to experiment. He found additional inspiration from his uncle’s record collection, which had everything from Gaye to Mahalia Jackson to Miles Davis to Otis Redding. While in high school, he formed the band Michael Archer and Precise, performing soul covers and a smattering of originals at talent shows around Virginia. He briefly made beats and rapped for a hip-hop group, I.D.U. (Intelligent, Deadly But Unique), which led to a solo record deal with EMI. In 1994, he began to gain notice within the industry for co-writing and co-producing U Will Know, an anti-violence track recorded by the R&B supergroup Black Men United. He’d end up recording Brown Sugar in his mother’s Richmond home and, after its release, went on to collaborate with neo-soul musicians such as Hill, singing on her 1998 love song Nothing Even Matters. After years out of view, D’Angelo returned with Black Messiah and two more Grammys. Photo / Getty Images In recent years, rumours swirled about a potential new D’Angelo album. He made rare appearances, including on the online concert series Verzuz in 2021; in May, he announced that he was cancelling a scheduled performance at the annual Roots Picnic in Philadelphia because of complications from surgery. Singer and musician Raphael Saadiq, a frequent collaborator, said in a Rolling Stone podcast interview last year that the pair were working on songs for a new album. D’Angelo had three children, including a son from a relationship with singer-songwriter Angie Stone, who worked on his Brown Sugar album. Stone died in a car crash in March. Complete information on survivors was not immediately available. Like other groundbreaking musicians before him, D’Angelo bristled at being put into boxes. During a 2014 lecture at the Red Ball Music Academy festival in Brooklyn, he expressed frustration with rigid genre labels, including “neo-soul”. Staring out, he recalled, “I used to always say, ‘I do black music. I make black music.’” Wed, 15 Oct 2025 00:35:13 Z /news/world/australian-doctors-warn-of-excessive-medical-weed-prescriptions/ /news/world/australian-doctors-warn-of-excessive-medical-weed-prescriptions/ Australia’s medical cannabis industry is “excessively” prescribing weed with little oversight and needs urgent regulation, the country’s top doctors’ association and pharmacists warned today. Legalised for medical use in 2016, Australians are estimated to have spent up to US$500 million ($874m) on licit pot last year, according to a think-tank. Today, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia said the industry was too often issuing prescriptions without “proper clinical oversight”. “Urgent action is needed to ensure medicinal cannabis is prescribed, dispensed and regulated in the same manner as other registered drugs of dependence,” AMA president Danielle McMullen said. While acknowledging evidence suggesting medical cannabis can help treat epilepsy, chemotherapy-induced nausea, or multiple sclerosis, the association warned the system was being “exploited”. “There is little, or no evidence base for many of the conditions for which it is being prescribed, such as anxiety, insomnia, or depression,” McMullen said. In its submission to an Australian Government inquiry into the industry, the AMA called for “comprehensive reform” of the way medical cannabis was bought and sold. Members working in emergency departments were calling for more resources to deal with growing numbers of patients with cases related to excessive intake of cannabis, including psychosis, the association said. “Alarmingly, doctors are seeing medicinal cannabis use in people who have pre-existing psychotic conditions.” The AMA warned that telehealth models – in which patients can be issued prescriptions online without an in-person doctor visit – were being “exploited as commercial pathways for unapproved products”. This year, newspaper the Age revealed that one doctor working for medical cannabis giant Montu had issued 72,000 prescriptions to 10,000 patients in just two years. In some instances, the newspaper reported, consultations with patients were scheduled to last no longer than 10 minutes. The global medical cannabis market is expected to grow to over US$65 billion by 2030, according to consulting firm Grand View Research. -Agence France-Presse Tue, 14 Oct 2025 03:01:46 Z /news/world/economics-nobel-laureate-says-ai-s-amazing-possibilities-need-firm-rules/ /news/world/economics-nobel-laureate-says-ai-s-amazing-possibilities-need-firm-rules/ A winner of this year’s Nobel prize in economics warned today that artificial intelligence offers “amazing possibilities” but should be regulated because of its job-destroying potential. The remarks from Canadian Peter Howitt, professor emeritus at Brown University in the United States, came amid growing concerns about how AI will impact society and the labour market. California Governor Gavin 九一星空无限om today signed a first-of-its-kind law regulating interactions with AI chatbots, rejecting a push from the White House to leave the technology unchecked. Howitt was one of three economists honoured today by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for work on how technology drives and affects growth. His research with fellow winner Philippe Aghion of France focused on the theory of “creative destruction” in which a new and better product enters the market, and the companies selling the older products lose out. Howitt told a news conference that it remains to be seen who will be the leader in AI, and “we don’t know what the creative destruction effects are going to be”. Brown University Professor Emeritus of Economics Peter Howitt. Photo / Ashley McCabe, AFP “It’s obviously a fantastic technology that has amazing possibilities. “And it also obviously has an amazing potential for destroying other jobs or replacing highly skilled labour. “And all I can say is that this is a conflict. It’s going to have to be regulated,” he said. “Private incentives in an unregulated market are not really going to resolve this conflict in a way that’s best for society, and we don’t know what’s going to come from it.” Howitt, 79, said it was a “big moment in human history” and likened it to past periods of technological innovation, including the telecoms boom of the 1990s, and the dawns of electricity and steam power. He said those innovations all demonstrated how technology can enhance and not just replace labour. “How we’re going to do it this time? I wish I had specific answers, but I don’t,” he added. The third economist to be honoured today, American-Israeli Joel Mokyr, was more sanguine about the impact of AI on the labour market. “Machines don’t replace us. They move us to more interesting, more challenging work,” Mokyr, 79, told a news conference live streamed from Northwestern University in the suburbs of Chicago. “Technological change not only replaces people, it creates new tasks.” American-Israeli scientist Joel Mokyr. Photo / Northwestern University in Illinois, AFP Mokyr won his Nobel for his work on identifying the “prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress”. He said his main concern about the labour market of the future was not “technological unemployment” but labour scarcity as the population ages and fewer people enter the workforce. Howitt said that when he and Aghion first wrote their seminal 1992 paper on creative destruction it took five years to get it published, but his collaborator knew they were on to something special. “Right from the beginning, from our very first research, I remember back in 1987, Philippe saying we’re going to get a Nobel Prize for this. I said, ‘Sure, sure, sure,’” Howitt recalled. “He said, ‘Our time will come. Our time will come,’ okay, and now it’s come. Amazing.” - Agence France-Presse Tue, 14 Oct 2025 00:25:33 Z /news/world/madagascar-s-cornered-leader-ignores-calls-to-resign-after-spiralling-unrest/ /news/world/madagascar-s-cornered-leader-ignores-calls-to-resign-after-spiralling-unrest/ Madagascar’s embattled President Andry Rajoelina said today that he was sheltering in a “safe place” following an attempt on his life, ignoring calls to resign after spiralling unrest that has forced him into hiding. The twice-delayed speech marked his first public address since a mutinous Army unit backed anti-government protests and followed reports that the 51-year-old leader had fled the country. “Since September 25, there have been attempts on my life and coup attempts. A group of military personnel and politicians planned to assassinate me,” he said in a live address on Facebook. “I was forced to find a safe place to protect my life,” he said, without revealing his location. The protests, led by mostly young demonstrators, erupted over chronic power and water cuts in the impoverished Indian Ocean country, but developed into a broader anti-government movement calling for Rajoelina to resign. Rajoelina, a former mayor of the capital, Antananarivo, called for the constitution to be respected, ignoring calls to step down. “I am on a mission to find solutions,” he said. Rajoelina first came to power in 2009 following a coup sparked by an uprising that ousted former President Marc Ravalomanana. Radio France Internationale said Rajoelina left Madagascar on a French military plane at the weekend, but French officials did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for confirmation. French President Emmanuel Macron, who expressed “great concern” over the island’s crisis, also refused to confirm this. Rajoelina has not appeared in public since last Thursday NZT and his address, set for state television and radio, was twice delayed as armed forces attempted to seize the state broadcaster. Defying orders Earlier in the day, mutinous soldiers and security forces who pledged support to the demonstrators at the weekend joined jubilant crowds in front of Antananarivo city hall, in a rally that had an air of celebration amid expectations Rajoelina would step down. Among the crowds in the morning rally were soldiers from the army Capsat unit, which played a major role in the 2009 coup. At the weekend, the unit declared it would “refuse orders to shoot” on demonstrations, some of which have been met with harsh security force action. Also present were officers from the gendarmerie paramilitary police force, accused of using heavy-handed tactics during the protests. They admitted in a video statement to “faults and excesses” in their response. The United Nations has said at least 22 people were killed in the first days of the protests, some by security forces and others in violence sparked by criminal gangs and looters. Rajoelina has disputed the toll, saying last week there were “12 confirmed deaths and all of these individuals were looters and vandals”. As pressure mounted on Rajoelina, he pardoned eight individuals in a decree issued yesterday, including French-Malagasy dual national Paul Maillot Rafanoharana, who was sentenced in 2021 to 20 years in prison for an attempted coup in Madagascar. ‘Apologise and resign’ Amid rumours that Rajoelina had fled, his Government said at the weekend that he remained in Madagascar and was managing national affairs. Before his speech, protesters said they expected him to step down. “We hope that he will apologise and genuinely announce his resignation,” law student Finaritra Manitra Andrianamelasoa, 24, told AFP at the city hall gathering, where a large flag of the Gen Z movement that led the protests was on display. “We already expect him to offer his apologies to all Malagasy citizens, as we have had many casualties, relatives, who have been injured during the protests,” said 19-year-old Steven Rasolonjanahary. To try to defuse the protests, the President last month sacked his entire Government. Meeting one of the demands of the protesters, the Senate announced the dismissal of its president, Richard Ravalomanana, a former general of the gendarmerie. Madagascar has had a turbulent political history since the country off the east coast of Africa gained independence from France in 1960. The latest turmoil drew expressions of concern from the region. The African Union’s security council called on all armed forces “to return to uphold their constitutional mandate, and to refrain from meddling in the political affairs of the country”. -Agence France-Presse Tue, 14 Oct 2025 00:11:35 Z /news/world/hamas-hands-over-seven-israeli-hostages-to-red-cross-in-gaza-idf-says/ /news/world/hamas-hands-over-seven-israeli-hostages-to-red-cross-in-gaza-idf-says/ Hamas handed over the first seven of 20 surviving Israeli hostages to Red Cross representatives in Gaza on Monday, sparking cheers of joy in Tel Aviv where a huge crowd was gathered to support hostage families. Under a ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump after two years of war, Hamas is due to release all surviving hostages on Monday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The releases came as Trump landed in the region for a peace summit, having declared the war “over”. “According to information provided by the Red Cross, seven hostages have been transferred into their custody, and are on their way to IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli military and security service said. “The IDF is prepared to receive additional hostages who are expected to be transferred to the Red Cross later on.” In Tel Aviv, hundreds of people gathered on Hostages Square erupted in joy as news broke of the first releases. A woman reacts as people celebrate at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv as news came out that Hamas has already handed over seven surviving hostages to the Red Cross on October 13, 2025. Photo / AFP, Menahem Kahana Among them, Noga shared her pain and joy with AFP. “I’m torn between emotion and sadness for those who won’t be coming back,” she said. The Israeli government has confirmed the seven hostages’ names: Eitan Abraham Mor, 25, Gali Berman, 28, Ziv Berman, 28, Omri Miran, 48, Alon Ohel, 24, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24, and Matan Angrest, 22. Israel’s Foreign Ministry posted to social media a message for each of the seven: “Welcome home.” “We’ve been waiting 738 days to say this: Welcome home Alon, Eitan, Guy, Ziv, Gali, Omri, and Matan!” Palestinian prisoners to be released Shosh Bedrosian, a spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, said “Palestinian prisoners will be released once Israel has confirmation that all of our hostages set to be released tomorrow are across the border into Israel”. Two Hamas sources, meanwhile, told AFP the group was insisting Israel free seven prominent Palestinian figures as part of the exchange – at least one of whom Israel has previously refused to release. The source said that the group and its allies had nevertheless “completed all preparations” for handing over all the living hostages to Israel. Under the plan, Hamas is to release the remaining 47 hostages – living and dead – who were abducted on October 7, 2023, during a cross-border Hamas attack that left 1219 people dead, most of them civilians, and triggered Israel’s devastating campaign. Hamas is also expected to hand over the remains of a soldier killed in 2014 during a previous Gaza war. Among the Palestinian prisoners to be released, 250 are security detainees, including many convicted of killing Israelis, while about 1700 were detained by the Israeli Army in Gaza during the war. Families of the 250 Palestinian prisoners to be released as part of the deal gathered at a popular overlook in the occupied West Bank near Ofer Prison. East Jerusalem tour guide Jamil Jahalin told the Associated Press he was cautiously optimistic the exchange would proceed smoothly. He pointed towards the momentum behind the deal and the visit of Trump. Jahalin’s brother-in-law has been imprisoned for 23 years and is due for release, but his family was told by Israeli security forces that he would be deported abroad. According to Hamas’s media office, hundreds of people have gathered outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza where nearly 2000 former Palestinian prisoners and detainees are due to arrive. ‘War is over. Okay?’ Trump landed in Israel aboard Air Force One on Monday as a first group of Israeli hostages returned home from Gaza after two years’ captivity. The US leader was greeted on a red carpet at Ben Gurion airport by Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog. Trump’s lightning visit to Israel and Egypt aims to celebrate his role in brokering last week’s ceasefire and hostage release deal - but comes at a precarious time as Israel and Hamas negotiate what comes next. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One at the start of the “very special” visit, Trump brushed off concerns about whether the ceasefire would endure. “I think it’s going to hold. I think people are tired of it. It’s been centuries,” he said of the fighting. “The war is over. Okay? You understand that?” the US president added. In Israel, Trump is due to meet the families of hostages, before addressing the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem. His trip is partly a victory lap over the Gaza deal he helped broker with a 20-point peace plan announced in late September. Peace summit After visiting Israel, Trump will head to Egypt where he and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will co-host a summit of more than 20 world leaders to back his plan to end the Gaza war and promote Middle East peace. Trump will be looking to resolve some of the huge uncertainty around the next phases of the peace plan - including Hamas’s refusal to disarm and Israel’s failure to pledge a full withdrawal from the devastated territory. Trump insisted he had “guarantees” from both sides and other key regional players about the initial phase of the deal, and the future stages. Trump also said he would be “proud” to visit Gaza itself, but did not say when such a difficult security challenge would be possible. A new governing body for devastated Gaza - which Trump himself would head under his own plan - would be established “very quickly,” he added. Under the plan, as Israel conducts a partial withdrawal from Gaza, it will be replaced by a multi-national force coordinated by a US-led command centre in Israel. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,806 people, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers credible. The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children. - Agence France-Presse Mon, 13 Oct 2025 07:55:38 Z /news/world/homeowners-fiery-halloween-display-keeps-fooling-neighbours/ /news/world/homeowners-fiery-halloween-display-keeps-fooling-neighbours/ Following a series of fearful 911 calls, a South Carolina couple are getting heat for their fiery Halloween display. Amanda Peden and Sam Lee decorate their home dramatically every Halloween, setting up fake car crashes and body bags in their front garden, the U.S Sun reports. This year, they have controversially created the illusion their Fountain Inn home is ablaze, complete with plumes of smoke and flames in the windows. Peden shared a video of the display on Facebook, inviting local residents to come and view their “burning” home. “Our house will be on fire (not real fire) as Halloween decorations every night from 8 - 10 PM between now and October 31,″ she wrote. “Please do not call the fire department again!”. Some reactions were less than impressed with what was described as a “real-life scary” scene. One comment suggested the couple need to “put a sign on the yard stating it’s not real”, while another said the decorations “honestly should be illegal”. But the engaged couple, who live at the property with Peden’s 15-year-old son, are unfazed by the comments. Lee told TODAY.com the community enjoys the family’s seasonal spectacles, which get “crazier and crazier every year”. “Most people appreciate it, but you’ve got the one percent who are never happy with anything.” The former mayor of Fountain Inn said, “if dispatch gets a call about the fire, they call me directly and check in”. Despite knowing about the decorations, Fountain Inn Fire Chief Russell Alexander told People he still sends a truck over to the residence when alerted to the faux danger - just in case. “There’s always that slight chance of a lamp shorted out or the smoke machine overheated. Ethically, it’s, it’s what we do.” He confirmed the department has received four calls about the house so far this year. “The first year, we were inundated with phone calls from people driving by the home”, he said, “this year hasn’t been as bad...we’ve only had a few calls from people who are new to the area.” Alexander said the light show doesn’t accurately mimic a real house fire but admitted “it’s got some real feel to it”, the Daily Mail reports. The fire chief hopes to use the house to demonstrate the “stop, drop and roll” method in an upcoming video for National Fire Prevention Week. Mon, 13 Oct 2025 01:35:09 Z /news/world/zelenskyy-urges-trump-to-broker-ukraine-peace-like-in-the-middle-east/ /news/world/zelenskyy-urges-trump-to-broker-ukraine-peace-like-in-the-middle-east/ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is urging Donald Trump to broker peace in Ukraine like in “the Middle East”. If the United States President could stop one war, Zelenskyy said during a Saturday (local time) phone call, “others can be stopped as well”. The call came a day after Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy grid, knocking out power to parts of the capital, Kyiv, and nine other Ukrainian regions. Diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have slowed in recent months, in part because global attention has shifted to Israel’s two-year war with militant Palestinian group Hamas, Kyiv says. Trump, who announced the first phase of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas last week, met Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks in August but failed to extract any kind of peace deal. “I had a call with US President Donald Trump. A very positive and productive one,” Zelenskyy said on Facebook, congratulating Trump for his “outstanding” ceasefire plan in the Middle East. “If a war can be stopped in one region, then surely other wars can be stopped as well, including the Russian war,” Zelenskyy added, calling for Trump to pressure the Kremlin into negotiations. Relations between the two leaders have warmed dramatically since February, when they sparred during a now infamous televised meeting at the White House. Trump has since grown more hostile towards Moscow while expressing sympathy for Ukraine. In September, he wrote on Truth Social that Kyiv should try to “take back” all its occupied territory with Europe’s and Nato’s help. US first lady Melania Trump said on Friday local time that she had secured the release of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia after establishing an extraordinary back channel of communication with Putin. Strikes cut power Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least five people on Saturday and cut power to parts of Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, according to Ukrainian officials. Two people died inside a church in Kostyantynivka when it was hit by a strike, according to local authorities. In Russia’s border region of Belgorod, a truck driver was killed by a Ukrainian strike, according to local officials. Moscow has targeted Ukraine’s energy grid each winter since it invaded in 2022, cutting power and heating to millions of households and disrupting water supply in what Kyiv says is a brazen war crime. Russia denies targeting civilians and says Ukraine uses the energy sites to power its military sector. Ukrainian drone attacks killed two people in Russia, according to regional officials. Both countries have accused each other of frustrating progress towards a peace deal in recent months. Russia blames Kyiv and its European allies for the impasse, accusing them of undermining peace negotiations with Washington. Ukraine and Europe accuse Russia of playing for time so it can seize more Ukrainian territory. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, describing it as a “special military operation” to demilitarise the country and prevent the expansion of Nato. Kyiv and its European allies say the war is an illegal land grab that has resulted in tens of thousands of civilian and military casualties and widespread destruction. Millions of Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes since 2022, while Russia now occupies around a fifth of Ukrainian territory - much of it ravaged by fighting. - Agence France-Presse Sun, 12 Oct 2025 01:16:50 Z /news/world/israeli-hostages-set-for-release-as-first-phase-of-trump-gaza-peace-plan-begins/ /news/world/israeli-hostages-set-for-release-as-first-phase-of-trump-gaza-peace-plan-begins/ Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returned to a devastated Gaza City today as Hamas said it would start releasing Israeli hostages on Monday morning local time as part of the first phase of United States President Donald Trump’s peace plan. Trump’s Middle East envoy promised Israeli hostage families their loved ones would be returned to them, and the region’s top US general visited Gaza one day after the guns fell silent. “Your courage has moved the world,” Steve Witkoff told the families and huge crowd in Tel Aviv, Israel. “To the hostages themselves: you are coming home,” he declared, as Israelis chanted “Thank you Trump”. Shortly afterwards, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said: “the prisoner exchange is set to begin on Monday morning as agreed”. Israel and Hamas are to release hostages and prisoners, two years after the Palestinian militant group’s October 7, 2023, attack triggered a counter-offensive that killed more than 67,000 Palestinians. But mediators still have to secure a longer-term political solution that aims to see Hamas hand in its weapons and step aside from governing Gaza. In an interview with AFP in Qatar, Badran, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, warned: “The second phase of the Trump plan, as it is clear from the points themselves, contains many complexities and difficulties”. Hamas, he said, would not attend the formal signing of the Gaza peace deal in Egypt, where international leaders are due to gather on Monday local time to discuss implementing the first phase of the ceasefire. Hamas is resisting calls to disarm. An official from the group, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that it was “out of the question”. Hamas ally Iran also warned it did not trust Israel to respect the ceasefire. “There is absolutely no trust in the Zionist regime,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said. Multinational force Under the Trump plan, as Israel conducts a phased withdrawal from Gaza’s cities, it will be replaced by a multi-national force from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, co-ordinated by a US-led command centre in Israel. US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper, Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner visited Gaza. Witkoff, Kushner, and Trump’s daughter Ivanka then went on to Tel Aviv to attend a gathering with the families of the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is one of about 20 hostages believed to still be alive, said: “We will continue to shout and fight until everyone is home”. “We finally feel hope, but we cannot and will not stop now,” added Zairo Shachar Mohr Munder, whose uncle Abraham was abducted during the Hamas attack and his body recovered in August. Hamas has until noon on Monday local time to hand over 47 remaining Israeli hostages – living and dead – from the 251 abducted two years ago. The remains of one more hostage, held in Gaza since 2014, are also expected to be returned. In exchange, Israel will release 250 prisoners, including some serving life sentences for deadly anti-Israeli attacks, and 1700 Gazans detained by the military since the war broke out. The Israeli prison service said it had moved the 250 national security detainees to two prisons ahead of the handover. ‘Stood and cried’ According to Gaza’s civil defence agency, a rescue service operating under Hamas authority, more than 500,000 Palestinians had returned to Gaza City by today. “We walked for hours, and every step was filled with fear and anxiety for my home,” Raja Salmi, 52, told AFP. When she reached the Al-Rimal neighbourhood, she found her house utterly destroyed. “I stood before it and cried. All those memories are now just dust,” she said. Drone footage shot by AFP showed whole city blocks reduced to a twisted mess of concrete and steel reinforcing wire. The walls and windows of five-storey apartment blocks had been torn off and now choke the roadsides as disconsolate residents poke through the rubble. The United Nations humanitarian office says Israel has allowed agencies to start transporting 170,000 tonnes of aid into Gaza if the ceasefire holds. ‘Ghost town’ Men, women and children navigated streets filled with rubble, searching for homes amid collapsed concrete slabs, destroyed vehicles and debris. Sami Musa, 28, returned alone to check on his family’s house. “Thank God ... I found that our home is still standing,” Musa told AFP. “It felt like a ghost town, not Gaza,” Musa said. “The smell of death still lingers in the air.” Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,682 people, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible. The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children. The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. - Agence France-Presse Sun, 12 Oct 2025 01:09:35 Z /news/world/white-house-begins-firing-workers-amid-prolonged-shutdown/ /news/world/white-house-begins-firing-workers-amid-prolonged-shutdown/ The White House has begun mass layoffs of federal workers as President Donald Trump tries to amp up pressure on opposition Democrats to end a government shutdown that has crippled public services.  With the crisis set to go into a third week and no off-ramp in sight, Trump’s budget chief Russ Vought announced on social media that the administration had begun following through on threats to fire some of the 750,000 public servants placed on enforced leave.  The Office of Management and Budget, headed by Vought, told AFP the layoffs would be “substantial”, but gave no precise numbers or details of which departments would be most affected.  The President has repeatedly emphasised that he views cutbacks as a way of increasing pain on Democrats, and said last week he was meeting Vought to determine which of “the many Democrat agencies, most of which are a political scam” should be targeted.  ‘Cause more chaos’  Democratic leaders in Congress have dismissed the threats as an attempt at intimidation and said mass firings would not stand up in court.  “A shutdown does not give Trump or Vought new, special powers to cause more chaos or permanently weaken more basic services for the American people, and the simple fact is this administration has been recklessly firing - and rehiring - essential workers all year,” said Patty Murray, the party’s lead senator on government funding.  “This is nothing new, and no one should be intimidated by these crooks.”  A US Treasury spokesperson told AFP the department had begun sending out notices of layoffs while the Health and Human Services Department said it had started firing nonessential workers “as a direct consequence of the Democrat-led government shutdown”.  Education workforce cut  Education officials were also reducing their workforce, a source with knowledge of staffing decisions at the department told AFP.  Public servants who hang onto their jobs still face the misery of going without pay while the crisis remains unresolved, with the standoff expected to drag on until at least the middle of next week.  Adding to the pain, 1.3 million active-duty service military personnel are set to miss their pay due next Wednesday - which has not happened in any of the funding shutdowns through modern history.  “We’re not in a good mood here in the Capitol - it’s a somber day,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a news conference marking the 10th day of the shutdown.  Public clashes  Rising tensions between the two parties have been on full display this week, with Johnson and Democratic senators clashing over the shutdown in front of the gathered press.  And there was a fiery exchange after a House Democratic leadership press conference when Republican Congressman Mike Lawler needled House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries over his role in the crisis.  Jeffries told Lawler to “keep your mouth shut” as the two traded barbs and later called the Republican a “malignant clown”.  ‘Tired of the chaos’  Nonessential government work stopped after the September 30 funding deadline, with Senate Democrats repeatedly blocking a Republican resolution to reopen federal agencies.  The sticking point has been a refusal by Republicans to include language in the bill to address expiring subsidies that make health insurance affordable for 24 million Americans.  With a prolonged shutdown looking more likely each day, members of Congress have been looking to Trump to step in and break the deadlock.  But the President has been largely tuned out, with his focus on the Gaza ceasefire deal and sending federal troops to bolster his mass deportation drive in Democratic-led cities such as Chicago and Portland.  “The American people are sick and tired of the chaos, crisis and confusion that has been visited upon the country by Donald Trump and Republican complete control of Congress,” Jeffries told a news conference.  The Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) meanwhile announced it would delay publication of key inflation data due next week to October 24, with the shutdown logjamming government data releases.  The consumer price index data is being published to allow the Social Security Administration to “ensure the accurate and timely payment of benefits”, it said.  - Agence France-Presse  Fri, 10 Oct 2025 21:37:33 Z /news/world/life-threatening-wave-heights-magnitude-74-quake-strikes-philippines-tsunami-alert-issued/ /news/world/life-threatening-wave-heights-magnitude-74-quake-strikes-philippines-tsunami-alert-issued/ A shallow magnitude 7.4 earthquake has struck the Philippines, prompting tsunami alerts. The quake struck in the Mindanao region at a depth of 62 kilometres. The Philippine Seismology Agency said a destructive tsunami “with life-threatening wave heights” is expected. Hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 300km, an alert said. Indonesia also also issues its own tsunami warning for North Sulawesi and the Papua regions, according to Reuters. There are no immediate reports of damage, the Guardian reported. Officials in the Philippines have warned residents to expect waves above normal tides in the next two hours. Multiple aftershocks have already struck the area, including a 5.9 and a 6.0 magnitude quake within the last half hour. This comes after a powerful earthquake struck the central Philippines on October 1. The shallow quake killed at least 60 people and severely damaged buildings and infrastructure in cities nearby. More than 150 were believed to have been injured. The 6.9 magnitude quake struck around 10 pm local time, just west of Palompon and close to the city of Bogo in Cebu province, CNN reported. The Philippines sits along the Ring of Fire, a 40,000km arc of seismic fault lines encircling the Pacific Ocean. It is home to over half of the world’s volcanoes and frequently struck by powerful earthquakes. - Additional reporting RNZ Fri, 10 Oct 2025 03:45:47 Z /news/world/theres-two-people-dead-pensioner-admits-killing-couple-in-brighton-home/ /news/world/theres-two-people-dead-pensioner-admits-killing-couple-in-brighton-home/ A Brighton pensioner walked into a police station and demanded to be arrested, claiming to have murdered two people that afternoon. Derek Martin, 67, killed his stepdaughter Chloe and her husband Josh Bashford before turning himself in to the Brighton Police Station, Metro reports. Bodycam footage captured Martin telling officers, “I’ve killed two people”, before insisting he needed to be taken into custody. “I have to be arrested. There’s two people dead.” But he denied murder charges in the Brighton Law Courts, instead pleading guilty to manslaughter on account of his alleged diminished responsibility. He is accused of murdering Chloe over money, the BBC reports, having argued with her over an overdue payment of £150 ($347) - a tenth of the £1,500 ($3473) she had owed him. He was more than £8,000 ($18,500) in debt himself - generated predominantly from his gambling habit. The Times reports Martin told police he could not explain why he had allegedly attacked his stepdaughter. “I don’t know, I’d just had enough, it’s just constant, money, money, money, go out, go out, go out...” Prosecutor Julian Evans described how Martin attacked Chloe with a hammer before stabbing her eight times. While he was no longer married to her mother, Elaine Sturges, the 30-year-old reportedly still saw him as a father figure, and her four children considered him a grandfather. He went on to murder Chloe’s husband when he returned home, stabbing him four times before strangling him to death. Martin then moved the bodies into two rooms of the house, removing the handles from each door. After picking the murdered couple’s children up from school, according to People, Martin texted Sturges, then turned himself in for the crime. “Elaine I’m so sorry, I can’t believe what I’ve done, I know everyone hates me anyway especially the boys, I hate myself anyway and please, please look after the children really well”, he wrote. “I’m just about to walk into the police station then that’s my days over and good job too, I know it’s going to mean nothing but I’m so sorry, don’t take the children home x.” Martin has a history of mental health issues and has reportedly attempted suicide several times, Metro reports. He was not taking his medication at the time of the murders and had stopped sleeping anything more than one or two hours a night. His state of mind is the key question at issue, with his psychiatrist, Dr. Seena Fazel, telling the court the killings had not been intentional, according to People. The trial is set to continue for another two weeks. Fri, 10 Oct 2025 01:50:08 Z /news/world/team-of-200-us-troops-to-oversee-gaza-truce-officials-say/ /news/world/team-of-200-us-troops-to-oversee-gaza-truce-officials-say/ A United States military team of 200 people will be deployed in the Middle East to “oversee” the Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after a peace deal brokered by President Donald Trump, senior US officials said today. Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of the US military’s Central Command, “will initially have 200 people on the ground. His role will be to oversee, observe, make sure there are no violations,” one senior official told reporters. Egyptian, Qatari, Turkish and probably Emirati military officials would be embedded in the team, he said. A second official said that “no US troops are intended to go into Gaza”. “The notion is to make it collegial, if you will. And the Israelis will obviously be in constant touch with them,” the first official said. “Putting Admiral Cooper in the room gave a lot of confidence and security to the Arab countries,” they added. “And therefore it was passed on to Hamas that we were taking a very strong role, or the President was taking a very strong position in standing behind his guarantees and his commitments here.” The second official said the US personnel were intended “to help create the joint control centre and then integrate all the other security forces that will be going in there to deconflict with IDF (Israeli Defence Forces)”. -Agence France-Presse Fri, 10 Oct 2025 01:41:32 Z /news/world/israel-says-all-parties-signed-phase-one-of-gaza-deal/ /news/world/israel-says-all-parties-signed-phase-one-of-gaza-deal/ Israel says all parties have signed the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, adding that Hamas freeing the captives would “bring the end to this war”.  The agreement in Egypt follows a 20-point peace plan for Gaza announced last month by US President Donald Trump, after more than two years of war sparked by Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel.  Trump said he planned to leave on Sunday (local time) for the Middle East. Egypt is planning an event to celebrate the conclusion of the agreement, with the US President also expected to stop in Israel and consider going to devastated Gaza.  Despite celebrations in Israel and Gaza and a flood of messages from world leaders hailing the deal, numerous issues remain unsettled, including the plan’s call for Hamas to disarm and a proposed transitional authority for Gaza led by Trump himself.  Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said the Palestinian Islamist movement rejected the latter.  “No Palestinian would accept this. All the factions, including the Palestinian Authority, reject this,” Hamdan told Qatar-based broadcaster Al Araby.  Trump said the issue of Hamas surrendering its weapons would be addressed in the second phase of the peace plan.  “There will be disarming,” he told reporters, adding there would also be “pullbacks” by Israeli forces.  Trump added that hostages held in the Palestinian territory would be released on “Monday or Tuesday” and said that the deal had “ended the war in Gaza”.  People celebrate at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on October 9, 2025, following the announcement of the new Gaza ceasefire deal. Photo / John Wessels, AFP  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile faced pushback from his far-right allies.  Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said he would vote against the deal, calling the plan to release thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the 47 hostages remaining in Gaza “an unbearable heavy price”.  The ceasefire was to take hold within 24 hours of the security Cabinet meeting, the Israeli Government said. That meeting concluded late on Thursday, Israeli media reported, and was to be followed by a full Cabinet meeting to approve the deal, under which the military should withdraw from Gaza.  “The final draft of phase one was signed this morning in Egypt by all parties to release all the hostages,” Government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian told journalists earlier.  “All of our hostages, the living and the deceased, will be released 72 hours later, which will bring us to Monday,” she said.  Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the release of the hostages “should bring the end to this war”.  ‘Tears of joy’  US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, travelled to Jerusalem on Thursday night, where they met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, his office said.  The two later met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his office said, with Israeli media reporting that they later participated in the ongoing government meeting held to approve the plan.  The deal, thrashed out in indirect, closed-door talks in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, also envisions a surge of aid into Gaza, where the UN has declared famine.  The announcement sparked joy in Gaza, much of which has been flattened by Israel’s offensive.  “Honestly, when I heard the news, I couldn’t hold back. Tears of joy flowed. Two years of bombing, terror, destruction, loss, humiliation, and the constant feeling that we could die at any moment,” displaced Palestinian Samer Joudeh told AFP.  In Israel, thousands of people gathered in a Tel Aviv Square to celebrate, some holding photos of hostages still in Gaza and waving Israeli and US flags.  “We have been waiting for this day for 734 days. We cannot imagine being anywhere else this morning,” said Laurence Ytzhak, 54.  While Arab leaders, including Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, said they hoped the ceasefire would lead to a permanent solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, there was no indication the talks were addressing any of the deeper issues at stake.  Hamas has submitted a list of Palestinian prisoners it wants released from Israeli jails in the first phase.  The list names 250 Palestinians sentenced to life imprisonment and 1700 others arrested by Israel since the war began, according to a Hamas source.  High-profile inmate Marwan Barghouti – from Hamas’ rival, the Fatah movement – is among those the group wanted to see released, according to Egyptian state-linked media.  However, Israel said Barghouti would not be part of the exchange.  During talks in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh resort, Israel and Palestinian factions on October 9 agreed on a US-proposed Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal. Photo / Egyptian Presidency, AFP  ‘Convince Israelis to de-escalate’  The talks were taking place under the shadow of the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.  Militants also took 251 people hostage into Gaza, where 47 remain, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.  Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,194 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.  The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.  Gaza’s civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas’ authority, reported several strikes on the territory after the announcement of the deal.  AFP journalists and witnesses said more explosions and artillery fire could be heard Thursday evening in southern and central Gaza.  Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said mediators must “endeavour to convince the Israelis to de-escalate or cease fire until the agreement we reached is signed”.  – Khaled Desouki, Gianluca Pacchiani, and Danny Kemp, Agence France-Presse  Thu, 09 Oct 2025 23:06:55 Z /news/world/brazilian-couple-who-left-priesthood-and-convent-have-tied-the-knot/ /news/world/brazilian-couple-who-left-priesthood-and-convent-have-tied-the-knot/ A Brazilian couple have tied the knot after both leaving their vocations – as a nun and a priest in the Catholic Church. Jackson and Lais Dognini originally met six years ago while they were leading lives of monasticism, O Globo reports, before eventually reconnecting and finding love in the secular world. Lais shared their story to Instagram in September as she announced they had wed in March this year. “He wanted to be a priest and went to the seminary, I wanted to be a religious (I don’t use the word nun because I think it’s ugly) and I went to the convent”, she said of her and Jackson’s former lives. The novice nun spent two years in a Carmelite convent before she left to treat her depression, a fateful decision that would later spark a romance between the two. Lais and Jackson Dognini met while they were both living lives of religious servitude. Photo / Lais Dognini While the couple crossed paths during their years of theological devotion, it wasn’t until Jackson sent Lais a departing message of prayer that they really connected. They began to message one another frequently, though Jackson was still studying in seminary school and believed Lais would soon return to the convent. According to El Globo, after Jackson decided to leave his own training, they grew even closer and soon made plans to meet. “Our first meeting was to go to mass together, go out to dinner and then go to the movies. That day, he was going to ask me to marry him, and I didn’t know anything. It was St Therese’s day.” They had begun a relationship by April 2024, were engaged by October 2024, and married by March 2025, the New York Post reports. “It seems little, right? But let’s face it, we are already adults, and we know what we want from life,” Lais wrote on her Instagram. According to O Globo, Lais has clarified that they didn’t leave cloistered life to be together. “I had already left the convent three years ago, he had already left the seminary by discernment of the vocation. We had no contact, we even lived in different states”, she said. “It was only after that that we started to relate, so there were no scandals.” Thu, 09 Oct 2025 02:47:42 Z /news/world/what-we-know-about-the-gaza-deal-which-includes-the-return-of-hostages-troop-withdrawals-and-aid/ /news/world/what-we-know-about-the-gaza-deal-which-includes-the-return-of-hostages-troop-withdrawals-and-aid/ United States President Donald Trump announced today that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a deal for the first phase of a ceasefire in Gaza, after days of indirect talks in Egypt. Qatar, which helped broker the deal along with Egypt, the US and Turkey, said it was the “first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which will lead to ending the war, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of aid”. On his Truth Social network, Trump wrote that “ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.” Here is what we know so far about the agreement, which is set to be signed on Thursday local time in Egypt: What does it include? A Hamas official said the group will exchange 20 living hostages for 2000 Palestinian prisoners, 250 of them serving life sentences and 1700 others detained since the start of the war. The exchange should take place within 72 hours of the implementation of the deal, which was also “agreed with Palestinian factions”, a Palestinian source with knowledge of the negotiations told AFP. The deal also provides for “specific Israeli [troop] withdrawals to coincide with the exchange, and the entry of aid” into the famine-stricken Gaza Strip, the source added. Under the deal, a daily minimum of 400 trucks of aid will enter the Gaza Strip for the first five days of the ceasefire, to be increased in following days, according to the Hamas official. It also provides for the “return of displaced persons from the south of the Gaza Strip to Gaza [City] and the north immediately,” they added. Hamas has called on Trump to compel Israel to fully implement the agreement and “not allow it to evade or procrastinate in implementing what has been agreed”. What’s next? Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said both sides had agreed “on all the provisions and implementation mechanisms of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will convene his Government on Thursday to approve the agreement. The deal will be formally signed on Thursday at around midday (tomorrow NZT) in Egypt, a source with knowledge of the agreement told AFP on condition of anonymity. A Hamas official said negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire would begin “immediately”. Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza called for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages held in Gaza, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the territory. -Agence France-Presse Thu, 09 Oct 2025 02:43:44 Z /news/world/un-peacekeeping-forces-to-be-cut-25-due-to-budget-strains-official-says/ /news/world/un-peacekeeping-forces-to-be-cut-25-due-to-budget-strains-official-says/ The United Nations will be forced to reduce its peacekeeping forces worldwide by around 25% due to a lack of funding, largely linked to United States aid cuts, a senior UN official said today. About 13,000 to 14,000 military and police personnel, as well as their equipment, will have to be repatriated, the official said on condition of anonymity, with “a large number of civilian staff in missions” also to be affected. The US was expected to contribute US$1.3 billion of the total US$5.4b budget for 2025-2026 peacekeeping operations. But it has now informed the UN that it will only pay around half the amount, or US$682 million - which includes US$85m earmarked for a new international anti-gang mission in Haiti that was not in the original budget. China is expected to contribute US$1.2b to the peacekeeping budget, which had US$2b in unpaid contributions as of July. Of its total budget, the UN now expects a shortfall of 16% to 17% in the current peacekeeping budget. US President Donald Trump has long claimed that international institutions have taken advantage of the US and has overseen massive cuts to US foreign aid since his return to the White House in January. “We know that there will be consequences in terms of monitoring ceasefires, protection of civilians, working with the humanitarians, or other peacekeeping activities,” the official said. The 25% reduction in troops will be spread across nine of the 11 peacekeeping missions, which had already developed contingency plans for potential budget cuts, the official said. The UN has peacekeepers deployed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, southern Lebanon, Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Western Sahara, among other places. The announcement “potentially means a significant reduction in protection for things like humanitarian convoys and the civilians who rely on aid”, Louis Charbonneau of Human Rights Watch told AFP. “We hope the UN will prioritise lifesaving humanitarian and human rights activities,” he added. Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group said the cuts’ impact on the ground “will vary case by case”. “In somewhere like South Sudan, where peacekeepers offer many civilians a little protection and there was nearly a new war this year, cutting back peacekeepers sends a very bad signal.” -Agence France-Presse Thu, 09 Oct 2025 01:56:34 Z /news/world/canadian-marine-park-threatens-to-kill-30-beluga-whales-if-funding-refused/ /news/world/canadian-marine-park-threatens-to-kill-30-beluga-whales-if-funding-refused/ A Canadian marine park is threatening to euthanise 30 captive beluga whales unless the Government grants it an immediate cash injection. Marineland, which closed to the public last year, claims it has no choice but to kill the whales now that Canada’s Fisheries Ministry has refused emergency funding. It says it can no longer care for its remaining animals, the New York Times reports. The aquatic park at Niagara Falls said the fate of the beluga whales would be “a direct consequence of the minister’s decision”. Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson emphatically rejected Marineland’s demands in her response. “The fact that Marineland has not planned for a viable alternative, despite raising these whales in captivity for many years, does not place the onus on the Canadian Government to cover your expenses.” The attraction previously tried to offload the whales to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, a zoo and aquarium in Zhuhai, China. Thompson barred the transfer because she “could not in good conscience approve an export that would perpetuate the treatment these belugas have endured”. Her decision was informed by the 2019 “Free Willy” bill, which regulated aquatic animal exploitation, banning whale captivity at aquariums and water parks. Marineland has been in dire need of financial assistance since the legislation came into force, facing increasing pressure from animal activists and declining visitor numbers. According to Species Unite, in August last year, the park was fined for the poor conditions in which three black bears were kept, and it was confirmed in November that five whales died last year. Melissa Matlow, an adviser at World Animal Protection, told the New York Times that “threatening to kill all their animals if they don’t get emergency funding is just repugnant”. “We need to take comfort that this is the last generation of whales and dolphins that will ever have to suffer again in Canada.” Thu, 09 Oct 2025 01:46:45 Z /news/world/in-private-trump-was-putting-on-the-thumbscrews-to-pressure-israel-s-leader/ /news/world/in-private-trump-was-putting-on-the-thumbscrews-to-pressure-israel-s-leader/ It was a typically theatrical moment for the man who loves to publicly boast of being the “peacemaker-in-chief”. Donald Trump’s top diplomat interrupted a televised meeting at the White House to hand the United States President a note and whisper in his ear that a Gaza deal was imminent. Shortly afterwards he announced the agreement on his Truth Social network. “BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!” he posted. But while the climax played out in front of reporters, including AFP journalists in the room, most of Trump’s efforts had been behind the scenes, as he sought to pressure a reluctant Benjamin Netanyahu and win Arab support. Pressure on Netanyahu Seeking an unlikely Nobel Peace Prize and keen to bolster his legacy, Trump’s approach has been different to the blank cheque he has previously been regarded as giving key ally Israel. When Trump hosted Netanyahu at the White House on September 29 to unveil his 20-point peace plan, he publicly gave the appearance of being fully behind the Israeli Prime Minister. Trump said that if Hamas did not accept the plan then Israel would have his “full backing to finish the job” and destroy the Palestinian militant group. But in private, Trump was putting on the thumbscrews. Firstly, the plan he laid before Netanyahu and Israeli officials had already been drafted following extensive consultations with Arab and Muslim leaders at the United Nations the previous week. When Netanyahu was confronted with it, he found there were key areas in it that he had sworn not to accept, especially on his refusal to allow a Palestinian state. Arab unity over Qatar attack Trump was also privately incensed by Israel’s attack on Hamas members in fellow US ally Qatar while negotiations were at a sensitive stage. He used Arab unity against the attack to get them all to agree to the plan. He then ambushed Netanyahu, making him call Qatar’s leader from the Oval Office to apologise. Trump even sat holding the phone for Netanyahu while the Israeli leader read from a piece of paper, a photo released by the White House showed. Politico reported that a senior Qatari official was also in the room for the call to make sure Netanyahu stayed on-script. Trump later signed an extraordinary order giving Qatar US security guarantees. The shift also reflected the close ties that Trump has fostered with Arab states during both his presidencies. In his first term the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco signed the Abraham Accords recognising Israel. This time around, Trump’s first major foreign trip was to the Gulf states of Qatar, Egypt and Abu Dhabi - with no stop in Israel. Seizing on Hamas offer Trump piled on the pressure, giving Hamas a deadline of October 5 to make a deal or face “all hell”. Hamas responded cunningly, playing on Trump’s well-documented pledge to win the release of all the hostages held in Gaza. Trump has repeatedly met relatives of the hostages at the White House. Trump quickly seized it as a win. He issued a video message and, in an unprecedented step for a US president, reposted the statement by the group that Washington has designated a terrorist organisation. There was no mention of the fact that Hamas had not fully agreed to most of the other points in his plan. Instead of quibbling over the details, Trump pushed Israel, Hamas and their mediators to quickly thrash out a deal. Trump told the Axios news outlet that he had said to Netanyahu: “‘Bibi, this is your chance for victory.’ He was fine with it. He’s got to be fine with it. He has no choice. With me, you got to be fine.” -Agence France-Presse Thu, 09 Oct 2025 01:31:48 Z /news/world/former-ufc-fighter-suman-mokhtarian-shot-dead-in-sydney-s-northwest/ /news/world/former-ufc-fighter-suman-mokhtarian-shot-dead-in-sydney-s-northwest/ Former UFC star Suman Mokhtarian was gunned down in a “brazen” broad daylight shooting while on a walk in Sydney, police said, months after surviving an attempt on his life. The 33-year-old was shot dead in a “targeted” attack in Riverstone, a suburb in Sydney’s northwest on Wednesday evening, according to New South Wales Police. A short time after the shooting, two cars were found on fire in different locations – a hallmark of recent organised crime hits that have rattled the city. The shooting, linked to organised crime, followed a previous attempt on Mokhtarian's life in February. Photo / Getty Images “It’s very brazen, and it’s a shame that this is happening in our community,” NSW Police superintendent Jason Joyce said at a press conference. “You’d want to think that in a residential area that people could wander the streets at that time of night and be safe, but we do believe it’s a targeted attack,” he said. Local media reported that Mokhtarian had survived an attempt on his life last February, when a gunman fired on him outside a gym in Sydney’s west. The UFC star fought twice in 2018 and 2019 before moving into coaching, according to ESPN. He helped develop some of Australia’s top mixed martial arts prospects at a gym in Sydney’s west, the publication said. A local who only identified himself by his first name, Ben, said he was walking with his wife when he heard a gunshot. “It was around then, when we heard a bang as well, and a lot of smoke went up in the air ... that would have been the car,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald. “There was a large commotion, a lot of people were just shocked because they’ve never witnessed anything like this. “The shooting happened with children literally riding bikes around the park.” The incident came a day after police foiled a “kill team” bearing firearms, balaclavas, body-worn cameras and jerrycans on the way to a daycare centre. Police are investigating if the two incidents are linked. -Agence France-Presse Thu, 09 Oct 2025 00:57:07 Z /news/world/us-faces-travel-delays-as-government-shutdown-carries-on-and-more-staff-take-sick-days/ /news/world/us-faces-travel-delays-as-government-shutdown-carries-on-and-more-staff-take-sick-days/ Concerns over flight delays and missed pay due to the United States Government shutdown escalated today as senators rejected yet another bid to end the standoff. Democrats voted for a sixth time to block a Republican stop-gap funding measure to reopen government departments, keeping much of the federal workforce home or working without pay. With the shutdown in its eighth day, lines at airports were expected to grow amid increased absenteeism among security and safety staff at some of the country’s busiest hubs. Air traffic controllers - seen as “essential” public servants - are kept at work during government shutdowns, but higher numbers are calling in sick rather than working without pay, leading to shortages. Staffing problems have already been reported in almost a dozen airports from Chicago and Boston to Burbank and Houston, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), with further issues expected at Newark, a major hub for the New York City area. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CNN that he was “encouraging air traffic controllers to show up for work”, after noting an increase in use of sick days earlier this week. “We’re having maybe a bit of rebellion by air traffic controllers caused by the shutdown,” Duffy said. “The problem is, when I’ve talked to them, they are stressed out. They are wondering, how do they put food on the table?” Duffy said just over half - 53% - of current delays are a result of lack of staffing, as compared to about 5% in recent months, before the shutdown. “My message to them: they work for me. They got to go to work, show up, control the airspace, and eventually they get paid,” Duffy said. No end in sight Aviation monitor FlightAware reported around 10,000 flights delayed on Tuesday and Wednesday NZT. Although this is not thought to be an unusually high number, the FAA warned it could worsen. “As Secretary Duffy said, there have been increased staffing shortages across the system,” it said in a statement. “When that happens, the FAA slows traffic into some airports to ensure safe operations.” There appears to be little hope of a quick end to the shutdown, with Democrats refusing to back any funding bill that doesn’t offer an extension of expiring healthcare subsidies for 24 million people. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has been forcing votes most days on a temporary fix passed by the Republican-led House of Representatives, each one failing to garner sufficient Democratic votes. Trump continues to wield the threat of turning many of the 750,000 enforced absences - known as furloughs - into permanent layoffs. A draft memo circulated by the White House this week said furloughed workers aren’t guaranteed compensation for their time off -- meaning many could lose out on back pay. Some federal workers - including US Capitol Police - are set to miss part of their pay for the first time on Saturday - amping up pressure for Congress to end the crisis. A bigger so-called pain point comes next Thursday, when 1.3 million active-duty service members - as well as tens of thousands of National Guard members and thousands of Coast Guard personnel - are due to miss their first pay. -Agence France-Presse Thu, 09 Oct 2025 00:53:34 Z /news/world/us-president-donald-trump-announces-peace-plan-for-gaza/ /news/world/us-president-donald-trump-announces-peace-plan-for-gaza/ US President Donald Trump has announced a deal has been reached over the first phase in a peace plan for Gaza. It includes all hostages to be released and Israeli forces to withdraw from Gaza. Taking to Truth Social, Trump wrote: “I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan. “This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.” New Zealand welcomes peace deal The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Peters, welcomed the announcement. “Over the past two years, both Israelis and Palestinians have suffered immensely,” Peters said. “Today is a positive first step in bringing that suffering to an end. “We commend the efforts of the parties involved in the negotiations, including the US, Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye.” The New Zealand Jewish Council also welcomed the deal, saying it was a “deep relief”. Spokesman Ben Kepes said the council was grateful for a moment of respite after months of anguish. “We are hopeful that the coming days will see all remaining hostages safely returned to their families and that rebuilding can begin for the people of Gaza under the governance of those who have their best interests at heart. “This is a moment that calls for empathy, not ego; for bridge-building, not posturing. We urge all New Zealanders, and indeed all who care about peace, to set aside divisive rhetoric and unite in celebrating a step toward reconciliation. The time for healing must begin.” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called the deal a “watershed moment in a conflict that has killed too many”. Said Luxon: “New Zealand welcomes the news and hopes this provides a platform for a lasting solution where future generations of Israelis and Palestinians live in peace and security.” Trump, meanwhile, wrote that all parties in the two-year conflict would be treated fairly. “This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen.” Pictures released from ceasefire talks in Sharm El Sheikh as Donald Trump says a deal is sealed He ended his announcement with a quote from the Bible: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” AFP reported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying his country would bring home all the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, after Trump and mediators reported a deal to end the Gaza war. “With God’s help we will bring them all home,” Netanyahu’s office said in a brief statement. Meanwhile, it is being reported by Egyptian state-linked media that Israel and Hamas had reached a deal for the end of the Gaza war, a hostage-prisoner exchange and aid entry into Gaza. Al-Qahera 九一星空无限, which has links to the state intelligence services, said a deal “was reached tonight on all the terms and mechanisms for implementing the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement”. Trump said earlier that he may travel to the Middle East later this week as a deal was “very close”. In a dramatic moment, AFP journalists saw US Secretary of State Marco Rubio interrupt an event at the White House and hand Trump an urgent note about the progress of the negotiations in Egypt. “I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday,” Trump said, adding that he was “most likely” to turn up in Egypt but would also consider going to war-torn Gaza. Trump’s plan called for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages held in Gaza, Hamas’ disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff arrived at the talks earlier. ‘Optimism prevails’ As night fell in the coastal area of Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, an AFP contributor described an atmosphere of anticipation before the announcement, with joyful chants of “Allahu akbar”, meaning God is the greatest, and some celebratory gunfire into the air. “We’re closely following every bit of news about the negotiations and the ceasefire,” said 50-year-old Mohammed Zamlot, who had been displaced from northern Gaza. Hamas had submitted a list of Palestinian prisoners it wants released from Israeli jails in the first phase of the truce. In exchange, Hamas is set to free the remaining 47 hostages, both alive and dead, who were seized in its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which sparked the war. Qatar’s prime minister and Turkey’s intelligence chief were also expected at the talks on Wednesday. Hamas said it would be joined by delegations from Islamic Jihad, which has also held some of the hostages in Gaza, as well as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The negotiations were taking place under the shadow of the second anniversary of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also took 251 people hostage into Gaza, where 47 remain, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,183 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible. The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children. The territory’s civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas’ authority, said the bombardment of Gaza had not stopped in the hours before the deal. An AFP journalist in Israel near the Gaza border reported hearing multiple explosions in the morning. Protests, prisoners Global pressure to end the war has escalated, with much of Gaza flattened, a UN-declared famine unfolding and Israeli hostage families still longing for their loved ones’ return. One key to the negotiations was the names of the Palestinian prisoners Hamas pushed for. High-profile inmate Marwan Barghouti - from Hamas’ rival, the Fatah movement - is among those the group wanted to see released, according to Egyptian state-linked media. Hamas’ top negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, also said the Islamist group wants “guarantees from President Trump and the sponsor countries that the war will end once and for all”. Gaza mediator Qatar on Thursday confirmed an agreement for the first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as part of a peace deal for the Palestinian territory. “The mediators announce that tonight an agreement was reached on all the provisions and implementation mechanisms of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which will lead to ending the war, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of aid. The details will be announced later,” Qatar foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari posted on X. - Additional reporting Agence France-Presse Wed, 08 Oct 2025 23:17:20 Z /news/world/outgoing-french-pm-sees-replacement-named-in-next-48-hours/ /news/world/outgoing-french-pm-sees-replacement-named-in-next-48-hours/ Outgoing French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who intensified a political crisis by resigning earlier this week, said today that he expected President Emmanuel Macron to name a new PM within the next 48 hours. “I feel that a path is possible,” Lecornu told French television. “I think that the situation allows the President to name a prime minister in the next 48 hours,” he said, adding that he was not “running after” the job. Lecornu’s comments on France 2 public television had been eagerly awaited after Macron gave him until today NZT to find a way out of months of deadlock over an austerity budget. Macron had been left with the options of reappointing Lecornu, naming the eighth PM of his increasingly troubled mandate, calling snap legislative elections or even resigning himself. In comments indicating that naming a replacement was now the most likely outcome, Lecornu said he had told Macron that the prospects for snap legislative elections had “receded” and there was a majority in the lower house of parliament against being dissolved. After former PM Edouard Philippe said that Macron himself should step down and call snap presidential polls, Lecornu insisted the President should serve out his mandate until 2027. It was “not the time to change the president”, Lecornu said, adding: “Let’s not make the French believe that it’s the president who votes the budget.” 'Mission finished' Suggesting that a more technocratic government could be named, Lecornu said that people in a new cabinet should not have “ambitions” to stand in the 2027 presidential elections. “The situation is already difficult enough. We need a team that decides to roll up its sleeves and solve the country’s problems until the presidential election,” he said. He added a “path” should be found to open a debate on the lowering of the pension age - the most contentious domestic reform of Macron’s mandate - but warned any suspension would cost at least €3 billion ($6b) in 2027. Education Minister Elisabeth Borne, who was PM at the time the reform was forced through parliament without a vote, had called for it to be suspended. Lecornu offered no clue over who the next leader would be but indicated that he would not be reappointed. “I tried everything... This evening my mission is finished,” he said. He added that a new budget could be presented to the cabinet on Monday local time. But it would “not be perfect” and there would be “lots to debate”, he cautioned. -Agence France-Presse Wed, 08 Oct 2025 20:37:04 Z /news/world/us-naval-flotilla-and-deadly-strikes-spark-fears-of-wider-venezuela-conflict/ /news/world/us-naval-flotilla-and-deadly-strikes-spark-fears-of-wider-venezuela-conflict/ With Washington claiming legal justification for deadly attacks on alleged Venezuelan drug runners in the Caribbean, one hot question is whether something bigger against President Nicolas Maduro is afoot. The United States is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels, President Donald Trump said last week in a letter to Congress, asserting legal authority for at least four strikes in international waters that have killed at least 21 people in recent weeks. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, however, still question the legality of the strikes. CNN today also reported on the existence of a Justice Department memo, citing people familiar with the matter, that says Trump has legal authority to order deadly force against drug cartels, claiming they pose imminent threats to Americans. The US has notably accused Maduro of leading a cartel. Trump has also authorised the CIA to conduct lethal targeting in the region, CNN reported. President Donald Trump asserts authority for strikes, but lawmakers question their legality. Photo / Getty Images Attorney-General Pam Bondi, testifying today in Congress, refused to confirm whether such a Justice Department memo exists. “What I can tell you is Maduro is a narco-terrorist,” Bondi said, noting her department’s US$50 million bounty for Maduro’s capture to face US charges. Trump, like his predecessor Joe Biden, does not recognise Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate president, claiming that he fraudulently retained power after elections last year. Asked by White House reporters today whether he wanted regime change in Venezuela, Trump said: “Well, we’re not talking about that”. “We are talking about the fact that you had an election, which was a very strange election, to put it mildly. “I can only say that billions of dollars of drugs are pouring into our country from Venezuela,” he added. Along with a small Navy armada in the Caribbean, the US has deployed F-35 war planes to Puerto Rico. And the Caracas Government, which has placed its military on alert and mobilised citizen militia, alleged last week that the planes flew near its coast. Such flights and the fact that the US ships sailing off the coast of Venezuela have Marines on board, suggest that the US might be planning some kind of escalation, said Evan Ellis, a Latin America researcher at the US War College. “President Trump, my general sense is - his patience has run out,” said Ellis, who served under Trump during his first term. Trump himself hinted at a broadening of fronts against Venezuelan traffickers while speaking at a US naval event on Monday saying: “They’re not coming in by sea anymore, so now we’ll have to start looking about the land - because they’ll be forced to go by land”. “And let me tell you right now, that’s not going to work out well for them either,” he added. Maduro sent Trump a letter seeking dialogue, but the White House rejected the overture. The US has deployed military forces near Venezuela, raising concerns of potential escalation against President Nicolas Maduro. Photo / Getty Images A US attack on some kind of drug trafficking target on Venezuelan soil is a possibility, said Frank Mora, a former deputy assistant secretary of defence for the western hemisphere during Barack Obama’s first term. “Deploying a naval flotilla to then not do anything or simply take out some speed boats – I do not think that is what they had in mind,” Mora told AFP. But the Trump Administration does not have a clear goal, he argued. “On one hand the President says he wants to dismantle the drug traffic. But at the same time, the hope is that this leads to the collapse of the regime,” said Mora. The clock is ticking for the Trump Administration as lawmakers’ opposition to the US deployment grows. US diplomats and military experts may debate, but the final word is Trump’s, as seen in other US military action like the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities. “It’s also possible that Trump could finally cut some deal that he’s satisfied with and go on to the next thing,” Ellis said. -Agence France-Presse Wed, 08 Oct 2025 03:14:18 Z /news/world/australian-researchers-find-that-women-have-a-higher-genetic-risk-of-depression/ /news/world/australian-researchers-find-that-women-have-a-higher-genetic-risk-of-depression/ Women are genetically at higher risk of clinical depression than men, Australian researchers found in a study published today that could change how the disorder is treated. Billed as one of the largest-ever studies of its kind, scientists poured through the DNA of almost 200,000 people with depression to pinpoint shared genetic “flags”. Women had almost twice as many of these genetic markers linked to depression than men, according to the project led by Australia’s Berghofer Medical Research Institute. “The genetic component to depression is larger in females compared to males,” said researcher Jodi Thomas. “Unpacking the shared and unique genetic factors in males and females gives us a clearer picture of what causes depression - and opens the door to more personalised treatments.” It has long been known that depression is more common in women, but the biological causes remain something of a mystery. Around 13,000 genetic markers were linked with depression in women, the researchers found, compared with 7000 markers in men. Some of these genetic changes could alter biological pathways linked to metabolism or hormone production. “We found some genetic differences that may help explain why females with depression more often experience metabolic symptoms, such as weight changes or altered energy levels,” Thomas said. Researcher Brittany Mitchell said the findings could lead to changes in how depression is treated in women. “Until now, there hasn’t been much consistent research to explain why depression affects females and males differently, including the possible role of genetics,” she said. “There are more and more stories coming out about how many of the medications that are currently developed - and the research that we’ve known to date - has mostly been focused around men or male participants.” Clinical depression, or major depressive disorder, is one of the most common mental disorders in the world. More than 300 million people across the globe have depression, according to the World Health Organisation. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications. -Agence France-Presse Wed, 08 Oct 2025 01:47:54 Z /news/world/don-t-you-ever-challenge-my-integrity-bondi-clashes-with-senators-on-epstein-trump-foes/ /news/world/don-t-you-ever-challenge-my-integrity-bondi-clashes-with-senators-on-epstein-trump-foes/ A defiant United States Attorney-General Pam Bondi eagerly clashed with Democrats in a Senate oversight hearing today, as she defended her record against accusations she has weaponised the Justice Department to shield President Donald Trump’s allies and target his foes. Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Bondi countered that her predecessors in the Biden Administration had politicised the agency first. She touted her efforts in eight months in office to refocus federal law enforcement on combating illegal immigration and violent crime. She repeatedly dodged questions on pressing issues: such as the department’s decision to prosecute former FBI director James Comey; its review of its case files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; and a now closed FBI bribery investigation into Trump’s border tsar Tom Homan. And again and again through almost five hours of exchanges, she lashed out at committee Democrats, responding to their questions with personalised, non sequitur attacks. “Don’t you ever challenge my integrity,” Bondi responded to questions over whether she had improperly let Trump influence the department’s decisions. “I have abided by every ethical standard. Do not question my ability to be fair and impartial as Attorney-General.” Today’s oversight hearing, Bondi’s first appearance before the Judiciary Committee since her confirmation hearing in January, came at a contentious moment. In eight months at the helm of the Justice Department, scores of veteran prosecutors and federal agents have been fired, forced out or resigned. Bondi has endured persistent blowback from the right over her decision to reverse course and withhold documents related to the department’s investigation of Epstein. And Democrats have assailed her for decisions to de-emphasise traditional work carried out by the Justice Department - such as enforcing public corruption, civil rights and national security laws - in favour of deploying resources in furtherance of Trump’s political aims. Bondi’s combative exchanges, excerpted and shared on social media in real time by Administration officials, appeared designed to appeal to a president who has consistently prized partisan pugnaciousness in his Cabinet officials. They could also counter criticism Bondi has received from some corners of Trump’s base who have called for her to more aggressively target his perceived foes. She accused Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) of lying about his military record to win elections, insinuated Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) supported antifa, and questioned campaign donations Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) received which Republicans have since sought to link to a donor tied to Epstein. At one point, she angrily dismissed Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) when he asked whether Trump had consulted with her before his deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago, a city Durbin represents. “I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate President Trump,” Bondi shot back. “If you’re not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will.” Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) questions Bondi during today's hearing. Photo / Demetrius Freeman, The Washington Post Democrats expressed alarm about what they described as the swift erosion of the Justice Department’s credibility and Bondi’s willingness to accede to Trump’s growing influence over the agency - including his demands last month that she move quickly to prosecute those he considers political enemies, such as Comey. Such levels of White House interference would “make even President Nixon recoil”, Durbin, the committee’s top Democrat, remarked. Hirono expressed her concern more bluntly. “What was once the Department of Justice has become the Department of Revenge and Corruption,” she said. “Rather than pursuing cases without fear or favour, this DOJ seeks to favour the President’s friends and instil fear in his alleged enemies.” Comey is set to make his first appearance in federal court tomorrow on charges he lied to Congress, accusations he has denied. The Justice Department secured its indictment against him over objections from career prosecutors - including Erik Siebert, the former US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia - who had concluded there was insufficient evidence to move forward with a case. Asked about her role in that investigation and the Administration’s decision to oust Siebert to make way for a new appointee willing to pursue a prosecution, Bondi refused to answer, saying she could not discuss ongoing criminal matters. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) pressed Bondi on whether she interpreted a social media post from Trump days before Comey’s indictment, which urged the Justice Department to move swiftly to bring a case against the former director, as an explicit directive and an improper breach of traditional firewalls that for decades have shielded her agency from White House pressure. “President Trump is the most transparent president in American history,” Bondi responded. “I don’t think he said anything he hasn’t said for years.” The Attorney-General added: “Comey was indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia by, I may point out, one of the most liberal grand juries in the country.” Bondi sidestepped questions on a number of other issues, including: whether she had discussed the Comey case with Trump; whether she was consulted before the President deployed federal agents and National Guard troops to Democratic cities such as Washington and Chicago; and whether she thought there was a legal basis for recent military strikes on boats that Administration officials say were engaged in drug trafficking. Republicans, including the Judiciary Committee’s chairman, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, commended Bondi’s leadership as a necessary corrective after years of what he has assailed as politicised decision-making under the Biden Administration. Grassley yesterday released records indicating that the FBI, under Biden, had analysed phone records of several GOP lawmakers - including some of the Judiciary Committee’s members such as senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) - as part of its investigation into Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Those records were obtained through a grand jury investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith and showed only the numbers those lawmakers called and the duration of the calls, not their content. Smith had previously disclosed steps taken by his team to investigate whether lawmakers had been involved in Trump’s alleged efforts. Grassley today called those actions by Smith “an outrage” and an “unconstitutional breach”. He and several Republican members of the committee pressed Bondi to open an investigation of the matter and potentially pursue criminal prosecution. Graham asked Bondi: “Can you tell me why my phone records were sought by the Jack Smith agents? Why did they ask to know who I called?” Almost simultaneously, FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that he had fired “those who acted unethically” and opened an investigation into Smith’s subpoenas of the senators’ phone records. Bondi declined to answer questions about any steps the Justice Department might be taking - though she characterised Smith’s broader investigation as a “wasted US$50 million” effort to “put President Trump in jail”. Several senators reminded Bondi of vows she made during her January confirmation hearing that “politics would play no part” in her role as Attorney-General. She also maintained at the time that she could not imagine a scenario in which the President might ask her to do something immoral, illegal, or unconstitutional over the objections of career Justice Department staffers. Despite all that’s happened in the eight months since, Bondi insisted near the conclusion of the hearing: “I absolutely have upheld that commitment”. - Perry Stein and Katherine Tarrant contributed to this report. Wed, 08 Oct 2025 00:20:22 Z /news/world/nsw-police-seize-guns-arrest-trio-over-alleged-daycare-hit-plot/ /news/world/nsw-police-seize-guns-arrest-trio-over-alleged-daycare-hit-plot/ Australian police say they have foiled an alleged organised crime hit near a Sydney daycare facility. New South Wales police swooped in on two cars after learning the men were preparing to carry out the alleged hit in Revesby, a suburb in the city’s southwest on Tuesday. Police stopped two cars and arrested the men. They found two firearms, balaclavas, bodyworn cameras and jerry cans containing fuel during a search. A third firearm was later located during subsequent searches of vehicles and premises allegedly linked to the men. Police said they will allege the “kill team” were en route to attempt a hit on a man near a daycare centre. “This was a calculated and coordinated intervention that stopped what we will allege was a planned killing nearby a daycare centre – a deeply concerning scenario,” Police Assistant Commissioner Scott Cook said. “This outcome reflects the strength of our intelligence capabilities and the precision of our surveillance operations,” he said. “These individuals were being watched, and we moved at the right moment.” Footage showed the two cars littered with bullet holes, with one vehicle appearing to have mounted a pedestrian crossing before coming to a stop. The men were charged with a string of offences, including conspiracy to commit murder and participating in a criminal group. The trio were refused bail and are set to appear in court. Investigations are ongoing. - Agence France-Presse Wed, 08 Oct 2025 00:16:16 Z /news/world/canadian-pm-mark-carney-visits-donald-trump-in-bid-to-ease-tariffs/ /news/world/canadian-pm-mark-carney-visits-donald-trump-in-bid-to-ease-tariffs/ US President Donald Trump has struck a friendly tone with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, hailing progress towards a trade deal but offering few concrete concessions on steep US tariffs.  Trump repeatedly showered praise on “great leader” Carney, who was under pressure at home to show progress from his second visit to the White House since taking office in April.  “I think they’re going to walk away very happy,” Trump told reporters as he sat alongside Carney in the Oval Office. “And I think we’ve come a long way over the last few months, actually, in terms of that relationship.”  Trump said that the North American neighbours had “natural conflict” over business as their manufacturers were competing for the same market but said there was “nothing wrong with it”.  Carney said he was confident that Canada would “get the right deal” from the United States, his country’s main economic partner.  The pair shared a series of light-hearted moments, even laughing as Trump joked about a Canadian “merger” in a reference to his previous calls for Canada to become the 51st US state.  “He is a world-class leader,” Trump said of the former central banker. “He’s a nice man, but he can be very nasty.”  But Trump and Carney studiously avoided giving any precise details on how they might ease US tariffs on lumber, aluminium, steel and automobiles. The US President announced 25% tariffs on all imported heavy trucks would start on November 1.  The 60-year-old Carney entered politics less than a year ago after campaigning on his extensive crisis management experience as a way of countering Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats.  But while the vast majority of Canada’s trade remains protected by the USMCA, a free-trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico, Trump has called for revisions when it comes up for renegotiation soon.  Seventy-five per cent of Canada’s exports are sold across its southern border. Canada saw its GDP decline by 1.5% in the second quarter, adding to the economic pressure.  Mark Carney hopes to convince Donald Trump to ease US tariffs that are negatively impacting Canada's economy. Photo / Jim Watson, AFP  ‘Broken promises’  Before the visit Canada’s opposition heaped pressure on Carney, as the country is the last major US ally not to seal a deal with Washington.  “If you return with excuses, broken promises and photo ops, you will have failed our workers, our businesses and our country,” conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre wrote in an open letter to Carney.  Carney faces particular criticism for making concessions to Trump while getting little in return.  At the end of June, Carney cancelled a tax targeting American tech giants under pressure from Trump, who called it outrageous. He also lifted many of the tariffs imposed by the previous government.  “Mark Carney has no choice, he must return from Washington with progress,” said Daniel Beland, a political scientist at McGill University in Montreal, pointing to the steel and aluminium tariffs as key areas.  But Carney at least seemed to have negotiated the first hurdle of an Oval Office visit.  While the Canadian safely navigated his first appearance there six months ago, Trump has previously savaged visiting foreign leaders in the gilded room, including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.  “These meetings can easily go off track, and everything plays out publicly,” said Genevieve Tellier, a political scientist at the University of Ottawa.  Last week, Trump once again brought up the possibility of annexing Canada during a speech to US generals and admirals, referencing the country’s potential participation in a new “Golden Dome” missile shield.  – Danny Kemp, Agence France-Presse  Tue, 07 Oct 2025 20:47:43 Z