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This year's National Day Golden Week holiday, led to notable increases in the number of visitors in Hong Kong  boosting local retail, catering and hospitality sectors, and even benefiting the city's banking business.

The Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel Hong Kong said its room bookings from Oct 1 to 8 have exceeded expectations, reflecting strong demand from both local guests and visitors from the Chinese mainland.

"Compared with the same period last year, our booking figures have shown a notable increase, indicating a robust rebound in travel sentiment and consumer confidence," the hotel's general manager Christina Cheng said.

She attributed the business improvement to the continued recovery of cross-border travel and tourism and the positive impact brought by the occurrence of mega events and the panda economy in 2024-25.

Looking ahead, the hotel remains optimistic about the upcoming peak travel periods including Christmas and Chinese New Year. "These holidays traditionally drive strong demand, and we anticipate continued growth supported by increased flight capacity and evolving travel trends such as seeking wellness, sustainability and personalized service," Cheng added.

The Hong Kong Immigration Department said that more than 232,000 mainland visitors flocked into the city on Oct 1, an increase of 5 percent.

Annie Yau Tse On-yee, chairman of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association, said the tourist-propelled Hong Kong retail market has been stabilized.

"Thirty percent of the surveyed retailers in Hong Kong said their business performance on Oct 1 improved, which is driven by the influx of tourists. Among various retail segments, the jewelry, cosmetics and personal care product sector has registered positive growth," she said.

"The government effort of launching mega events has boosted significant growth in people traffic flows, though it does not necessarily translate into sales growth. We hope the government can continue to attract more overnight tourists visiting Hong Kong, and explore ways to lure more tourists from ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and Middle Eastern countries," she said.

Leung Chun-wah, chairman of the Association for Hong Kong Catering Services Management, said the catering sector has recorded a satisfactory performance.

"Overall business (as of) Oct 1 is up 10 percent to 20 percent compared with a typical weekend, which is considered very satisfactory. Surveyed restaurants in tourist areas including Tsim Sha Tsui, Mongkok and Causeway Bay have seen business growth of 20 percent or more due to the fireworks display on both sides of Victoria Harbour," Leung said.

Many mainland visitors also used their trips to Hong Kong to handle asset management and explore investment opportunities. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) reported a surge of around 10 to 15 percent in new accounts opened by cross-border customers during the first two days of the Golden Week, compared with usual levels.

Yuen Yun-fat, a district manager at the bank, said that mainland clients primarily make term deposits, purchase foreign currencies, or invest in funds, while some seek insurance products and plans for family wealth inheritance. "Many are here to optimize their asset allocation, as Hong Kong offers safer, more flexible and diverse options for their portfolios," he said.

"After all, as an international financial center, Hong Kong is the primary destination for many investors aiming to manage allocations and access the overseas markets," Yuen added.

To meet the robust demand during the holiday, banks across Hong Kong, including ICBC (Asia), HSBC, Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Hang Seng Bank, have extended the operating hours at some of their branches.


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Londonderry Chamber of Commerce President Andrew Fleming has urged government and agencies to match the North Wests ambition with investment and delivery in a speech delivered at the Chambers 67th Presidents Annual Dinner at the Everglades Hotel.

Addressing over 350 guests, including business leaders, elected representatives, and civic partners, Fleming told the dinner, sponsored by Foyle Port, of a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the region, with more than 2 billion of investment projects in roads, regeneration, university expansion, and healthcare now in motion.

IN PICTURES: Derry Chamber of Commerce 67th Presidents annual dinner at the Everglades Hotel

He highlighted that while investment commitments are welcome, they must be delivered visibly and on time to build confidence among the private sector and unlock wider economic benefits.

Following a welcome reception sponsored by EY, the Annual Dinner was hosted by broadcaster Lynette Fay.

The event programme, sponsored by A&L Goodbody, featured a cultural panel with Ed Stobart of Alleycats TV, Darren Hargan of Les Foyer des Artistes, and Cath McBride of In Your Space Circus  the Presidents chosen charity for the year.

The evenings entertainment, sponsored by FNW Group, featured three live musical pieces from Les Foyer des Artistes, adding to a night that celebrated the North Wests thriving cultural scene as much as its business successes.

In his address, President Fleming called for a new story for the region  one that replaces outdated narratives of decline with confidence, ambition, and delivery. He emphasised the importance of ambitious regional collaboration, pointing to partnerships across Derry, Strabane, Donegal, and the Causeway Coast as vital to gaining scale, influence, and credibility on the island of Ireland and beyond.

The event concluded with a call from President Fleming for the North West to be recognised as the second city of Northern Ireland and the heart of a wider cross-border city region.

We are not a sub-region, he said. We cannot and should not be treated as one. With confidence, collaboration, and delivery, the North West can lead.

Andrew Fleming, President, Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, said: We are at a turning point. Our businesses, universities, and communities are ready to seize this moment, but we need delivery of promised projects, visible leadership from government, and investment that reflects the potential of this region. Together, with confidence and collaboration, we can make the North West a place of opportunity for generations to come.

The most powerful signal of progress is not a new building or statistic. Its when a young person chooses to stay, when a parent believes their childs best chance is here, and when that child agrees.

This is our moment. We have the scale, talent, and ambition to be a place of possibility, not periphery. With major investment underway and partnerships across Derry, Strabane, Donegal and beyond, the future is ours to shape. But delivery is key  we must ensure that ambition turns into action, and that no one is left behind. The story we tell of this city matters. Poor Derry is a story of limits; Promising Derry is a story of potential. It is time we choose confidence.

Ryan McCready, Chair, Foyle Port, said: We are proud to be headline sponsor of this years Presidents Annual Dinner. Foyle Port has served the people and businesses of the North West as its regional marine gateway for over 170 years.

"Today, our role is clear: to be a sustainable trading and utility platform that drives prosperity, supports high-quality jobs, and unlocks the regions untapped potential for generations to come.
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Priscilla Presley was the star guest on The Late Late Show Country special this weekend, sitting down with Patrick Kielty for a candid conversation about love, fame, and life after Elvis.

She described Elvis as a country boy at heart who had to learn how to handle global superstardom. Meeting him at just fourteen while living in Germany, Priscilla admitted the beginnings of their relationship, not helped by there ten year age gap , were closely watched by her parents.

He didnt know anyone there , we just built a connection. Love was in the air.

Life at Graceland, however, came with challenges. There were girls everywhere it was like the movie Girls, Girls, Girls, she laughed, before admitting the pressures left her struggling to find her own identity.

Dance classes became her escape, giving her a life outside the kings inner circle.

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Priscilla recalled to Kielty that Even after our divorce in 1973 the bond never faded. I loved him as much the day I left as I did when I first met him. But I had to find myself.

She remained close to Elvis until his death, recalling her worry as his health declined and his reliance on prescription pills grew.

The interview also turned to her daughter Lisa Marie Presley, whose sudden death in 2023 remains a huge source of pain.

Priscilla shared memories of their final night out at the Golden Globes and admitted she sensed something wasnt right. Little did I know that would be the last time Id see her, she said softly.

Still, Presley spoke of the joy she finds in her day to day life. I feel in charge of myself now, that gives me strength.
Boundries of good spectator behaviour were crossed at this years Ryder Cup, and it wasnt happening for the first time. This has been going on for years, mostly whenever the competition has an American setting.

This time, however, at the latest renewal of the bi-annual USA and Europe set-to, what was being spewed from behind the ropes had a highly personal smell to it, the drink-filled loudest of mouths making Rory McElroy, and to a lesser degree, Shane Lowry, their main targets for abuse.

READ NEXT: Dundalk forced to settle for a draw away to Athlone

Its one thing hollering and booing when a European hits a poor drive or misses a short putt  the Americans are renowned for that  but its the work of real guttersnipes when comments are made about players wife or family.

Frustration had obviously set in causing the Irishmen to answer back, but they might have been better off trying to close their ears to what was coming at them and instead answer with their clubs.

This is exactly what both did when were playing alongside each other in Saturdays foursomes, Lowrys eagle and McIlroys drive to within two feet at the hole when the diatribe from the sidelines was at its loudest was the perfect riposte.

All of that aside, the contest was good, Europe wiping the floor with the Yanks when there were two playing together. However, it was much different on Sunday when it was every man for himself.

The home team made a spirited comeback, and with only a four games to be decided were within an ace of pulling off a result that was most unlikely at the beginning of the day.

Europe were looking for a half to take their score to 14 points, enough to retain the trophy. The focus was on Shane Lowry on the 18th. His opponent Henley missed a relatively easy putt, and this left the Irishman needing to sink a six-footer.

Offalymen do pressure well, as we saw in the 1982 All-Ireland final. Lowry sank the putt to secure the trophy for his team, and then took off on the wildest of celebrations.

A couple of his leaps on the green were a reminder of what his countyman, Seamus Darby, came up with after beating Charlie Nelligan with the shot 43 years ago, depriving Kerry of the 5-in-a-row.

For good measure, Europe came up with another point to win by 15-13.
ACT and Hometree are hosting Community Conversations across Ireland. This collaborative project aims to give people a chance to help shape Ireland's 25-year Nature Restoration Plan. Discussions, workshops, and walks will take place in all provinces throughout September and October, bringing communities together to share their stories, ideas and lived experiences.

One of these events will take place on Saturday, October 11th, in Omeath on the shores of Carlingford Lough in Louth. The day will begin with a walk along the Greenway path accompanied by local farmer and environmentalist, John Ross Mac Mathuna and marine biologist Lucy Taylor.

The discussion will be about the various land uses around the Lough and the Lough itself. The walk will start at 11:30am from the carpark at the Dolmen Centre in Omeath. This will be followed by a Community Conversations Workshop from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Dolmen Centre in Omeath.

Organisers say that:

Everyone is welcome and no sign-up is necessary. We particularly welcome people who may feel that they are excluded from conversations around nature. We would like to acknowledge the support of the staff in the Dolmen Centre and Suzie Cahn of the Shifting Tides project in organising this event.

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These conversations are designed to be authentic, inclusive, and impactful, building trust in Ireland's Nature Restoration Plan. By fostering open dialogue and shared learning, they will help shape nature policy that reflects the voices and lived experiences of communities. Insights gathered from these events will be presented to the Independent Advisory Committee, ensuring community voices are heard in partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

This is more than a consultation; it's an opportunity for communities to be part of something lasting. We warmly invite individuals and communities to join the conversation and share the event details within their own networks to reach as many voices as possible. Your voice and your community matter. Together, we can shape Irelands future with nature at its heart.
People in Louth are being urged to vote local in the Community Housing Awards, run by the Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH). The programme is designed to reward innovation and sustainability in public housing in urban and rural areas across the country.

31 nominees from around Ireland have made the shortlist for eight individual categories that span all aspects of effective Community Housing projects and each nominee is also eligible for the Public Choice Award. In Louth, the selected nominee is Coulter Close, Dundalk - Housing with Supports - Tuath.

The Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) is the national representative federation for approved housing bodies (AHBs) in Ireland. CEO Donal McManus explains why the Public Choice award is a valuable part of the programme: We are lucky to work with amazing people who create homes around Ireland every day and make a lasting positive impact.

"The Public Choice award is an opportunity for these communities to get behind local teams and show their pride in their neighbourhoods.

"The ICSH works hard to support our members in approved housing bodies around the country and their contribution is more vital than ever as they build lasting relationships with local authorities, the Land Development Agency and above all, people who need homes. Our biennial awards offer an opportunity to have their achievements recognised by the industry and the public and were really looking forward to the ceremony.

Approved housing bodies, local authorities and the Land Development Agency have been working hard in recent years to increase delivery of secure and affordable social and cost rental homes in response to a pressing need for housing across the state and towards the goal of ensuring that 20% of our homes are social and cost rental.

AHBs alone provided 4,385 new social homes and a remarkable 1,213 cost rental homes in 2024, 41% of total social housing and 56% of total cost rental delivery.

IPB Insurance is sponsoring the awards and its Chief Executive John Kearns, says As the mutual insurer for our local authority members, state agencies, and housing bodies, these awards are a perfect fit. They celebrate and promote social, affordable, sustainable, and accessible community housing for all.

"We congratulate ICSH for their leadership in recognising the outstanding contributions of the stakeholders tasked with providing housing. These awards are a showcase of excellence and innovation in Irelands social and affordable housing sector, highlighting projects and individuals committed to sustainability, community, and addressing housing needs.

"They also shine a light on the collaborative efforts of individuals, state agencies, approved housing bodies, and local authorities in building a better Ireland.

Members of the public can vote for their chosen Public Choice award nominee here. Voting will close on 13th October at 23.59pm.

The winner will be announced as part of the overall awards ceremony, at the ICSH National Housing Conference which will be held at the Slieve Russell Hotel in Cavan on Wednesday, October 15 2025.
A Louth champion of circular living was honoured at the Circular.ie Full Circle Awards held in the Aviva Stadium last Wednesday.

Ray Hunt, artist-in-residence in the Dolmen Centre in Omeath, Co Louth, was a runner-up in the Creative Circular Artist category, honouring those who transform waste materials into art, furniture, decor, or other creative expressions through upcycling.

The judging panel paid tribute to Ray Hunt for being an exceptional artist and recycler. They praised him for having transformed the Dolmen Centre where he works by bringing a wealth of beauty to it and to other community spaces around Omeath, and for being renowned for being generous with his time.

This is the first year of the Full Circle Awards, created by Circular.ie to spotlight people and projects that demonstrate what circular living looks like, and celebrate the big impact that individuals and communities throughout Ireland, including in Louth, are creating by making circular living part of their everyday lives in practical ways.

Speaking about the Full Circle Awards, Minister of State at the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment with special responsibility for the Circular Economy, Alan Dillon TD said: These awards highlight how people across Ireland are making a real difference in their community by embracing and promoting circular living in their daily lives. They also act as inspiration to others, creating momentum throughout the country.

The event in the Aviva also celebrated the launch of Circular.ie  Irelands new national platform designed to help people in Louth reduce waste, get more from the things they already have, save money, and build thriving local communities through circular living.

Developed by The Rediscovery Centre, in collaboration with the Department of Climate, Energy and Environment and other stakeholders working in this area, Circular.ie offers practical tools, guidance, and inspiration for anyone in Louth looking to live more sustainably  from reusing and repairing to sharing and repurposing.

Increasing awareness and engagement with the circular economy is a key goal of the Circular.ie platform, which aims to simplify the concept of circularity and show how everyday choices can lead to meaningful change. Recent research by Circular.ie shows that while awareness of the term circular economy is growing, many people still see it as a business or government activity and not as something they can personally get involved with.

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Welcoming the launch of Circular.ie, Minister Alan Dillon TD said: Im delighted to officially launch Circular.ie, Irelands national platform for the circular economy. Driving engagement through effective communication is paramount to delivering real change and is a key objective of the Circular Economy Strategy, which I have launched for public consultation. Going beyond digital communications, this programme supports communities across Ireland to embrace the opportunities of circular living, increase engagement and share their impact.

Announcing Circular.ie, which includes the new online platform and a public engagement programme, CEO of The Rediscovery Centre, which is spearheading the project, Claire Downey said: Circular living is all around us. Our mapping has identified brilliant initiatives all across the country and a growing interest from communities to get more involved, including in Louth. Circular.ie is about meeting people where they are at and providing practical steps and support for them to get started or go that bit further.
An Coimisiun Pleanala (formerly An Bord Pleanala) has upheld the decision by Louth County Council to grant planning permission for a new Lidl development in Blackrock.

Louth County Council granted planning permission to Lidl Ireland GmbH in November 2024 for the construction of a Discount Foodstore Supermarket with ancillary off-licence sales, at Knock Shee Avenue, in Blackrock.

The planned development comprises the construction of a single storey Discount Foodstore Supermarket with ancillary off-licence use (with mono-pitch roof and internal mezzanine plant deck), measuring c. 2,295 sqm gross floor space with a net retail sales area of c. 1,499 sqm.

The application also provided for items including vehicular and pedestrian access, car and cycle parking, free standing and building mounted signage, trolley bay cover/enclosure, refrigeration and air conditioning plant and equipment, and roof mounted solar panels. Significant Further Information on the proposed development was received by Louth County Council in August which provided, among other things, a coffee shop.

Louth County Council granted planning permission for the development on 15 November, subject to 23 planning conditions. An appeal against the decision was lodged with An Bord Pleanala in December 2024. Listed as third party appellants by An Coimisiun Pleanala were, Tim Compton obo Knockshee Management Company CLG; Paul & Faye Healy; and Monahill Supermarkets Ltd.

An Coimisiun Pleanala made the decision to grant planning permission subject to 17 planning conditions on 24 September 2025.

Included in the conditions, An Coimisiun Pleanala said that: "The proposed caf6 and public plaza area shall be built in tandem with the retail unit, and the site shall be fully landscaped and the cafe in full operation prior to the opening of the retail store", and that "The proposed retail and caf6 unit shall not operate outside the hours of 0800 to 2200 Monday to Saturday inclusive and 0900 to 2100 hours on Sundays."
ON the morning of Wednesday, June 17, 1959, Ireland went to the polls in blazing sunshine, to make vital decisions on the future of the country, our headline said.

The Evening Echos lead story outlined those decisions: Firstly, to choose between Mr de Valera and General Sean Mac Eoin as successor to President Sean T OKelly and, secondly, and of more far-reaching consequence, to decide whether or not to abolish the proportional representation system of voting, which has been in operation in Ireland ever since the State was established.

OKelly, Irelands second president, was a founder member of both Fianna Fail and its predecessor, Sinn Fein, and a veteran of the 1916 Rising, in which he had fought in the GPO beside Padraig Pearse.

OKelly lacked tact, a fault that only worsened when he was in his cups, which was frequently, but his warmth and decency made him a popular president through his two seven-year terms.

According to Rule, the second volume of David McCullaghs biography de Valera, by the time Fianna Fail came back to power in 1957, Dev, then 75, had become almost a figurehead in government. Fianna Fail had enjoyed a landslide that gave them a majority of nine seats more than the combined opposition, but the popular opinion was that de Valera was too old, and out of touch.

Almost blind, he could not read briefing documents, and deferred increasingly to his tanaiste  and eventual successor  Sean Lemass.

There were advantages for Lemass in de Valeras continuing rather inactively in office, McCullagh wrote.

Lemass had the effective power to direct public policy, and when he introduced changes, they were cloaked by the apparent changelessness of the Chief.

He later claimed he urged de Valera not to stand for the presidency, preferring for him to remain taoiseach until he died, in the expectation that he would not interfere with what I was doing, as he was not interfering anyway.

In November 1957, de Valera acknowledged his political mortality, telling the Fianna Fail ard fheis that I am quite aware that the years are passing  I know I am hampered considerably by the fact that I cannot read.

However, he said: As long as this organisation wants me, as long as Dail Eireann thinks I am doing my work and can do it, then I stay.

The day-to day business of politics ground on: Fianna Fail reintroduced internment without trial for IRA suspects, and published the Whittaker report, which called for a radical departure from the economic policies that had until then shaped the State. The reports implementation would revolutionise the economy.

In December 1958, Independent TDs Noel Browne and Jack McQuillan put down a motion criticising de Valeras holding of the office of taoiseach, while also being the controlling director of the Irish Press Group.

In the subsequent Dail debate, it was revealed that de Valera and his eldest son, Vivion, had benefitted financially from the newspaper group, with Browne outlining how they had, since 1929, bought up close to 150,000 shares in the company, which was worth almost 1m.

The debate was adjourned, and the vote postponed until Thursday, January 14, 1959.

On Wednesday, January 13, Dev told the Fianna Fail parliamentary party meeting he intended soon to retire from active politics, giving his successor time to prepare for the next election. He had, he said, been approached about the presidency, but he would leave the matter entirely in the hands of the party.

The January 14 vote on Noel Browne and Jack McQuillans motion passed comfortably in the governments favour, 49 to 71, but it was overshadowed by the bombshell news that Dev was to seek the presidency.

The Evening Echo reported on election day, June 17, that: Polling opened this morning under absolutely ideal weather conditions. From an early hour, the sun was bright in a cloudless sky and, by noon, the heat was intense, almost tropical.

As is always the case on election day, there was little sign of activity around the polling stations in Cork in the first few hours. That is, of course, due to the fact that the great majority of the electorate cannot spare even the few minutes necessary to record their votes until they finish work for the day.

Polling was slow in all the city locations, the bulk of the visitors there being housewives, who took time from their morning shopping to fulfil their duty to the State.

The following day, our headline ran: Country Awaits Decision Of Electors As Busy Staffs Count Votes above: Huge Number Of Spoiled Votes, and Many Support Mr de Valera But Want PR.

In 40 constituencies throughout the State to-day, the sorting and counting of votes cast in yesterdays election and referendum were proceeding. As the poll was so low  in some cases little over 50% of the electorate  it was thought that preliminary figures would be available late this afternoon.

It was stated at an early stage of the count in Cork that there were indications of a large number of spoiled votes in the referendum, many people not understanding the method of stating their preference, despite the elaborate guidelines given beforehand by the political parties. Later, word came from Dublin that the number of spoiled votes was huge.

In the end, de Valera won the presidency by 56%, and the referendum  of more far-reaching consequence  to abolish PR was lost by 52% to 48%. As writer and broadcaster Breandan O hEithir put it at the time: The people stuck with the devil they knew in both contests.

On Friday, our headline ran: Mr de Valera Elected President But The Nation Says No To His Policy On The Straight Vote.

It was no surprise that Mr de Valera should receive a substantial majority in the presidential election, but the most notable feature of Wednesdays voting is that so many people, while supporting the former taoiseach for president, should reject his policy on PR.

Mr de Valera becomes president by 538,058 votes against 417,482 cast for General Sean Mac Eoin, but over 80,000 of his supporters voted for PR. Close on half a million people showed their determination not to accept the straight vote in favour of the present electoral system.

The following day, the Evening Echo quoted the New York Times. Mr Sean T OKelly was described as the perfect President of the Irish Republic by the New York Times today in an editorial which said it was strange to feel a sense of regret, as if at the passing of an era, now that Eamon de Valera has become president.

The New York Times said of OKelly: Only the Constitutional prohibition on a third term prevented him from continuing in his post, as everyone would have liked. There, indeed, is Ireland in the flesh and at its best.

Of Dev, it said: He has exemplified for more than 40 years and more than any individual Ireland  for 21 years he was head of the Government; now he is the head of the State.

(The 21 years covered his time as president of the Executive Council  in effect taoiseach from 1932 to 1937 and then as taoiseach from 1937 to 1948, 1951 to 1954, and 1957 to 1959. He would likely have noted he was also president of Dail Eireann from 1919 to 1921, and president of the Irish Republic from 1921 to 1922.)

Dev did not leave office easily.

According to Ronan Fannings Eamon de Valera: A Will to Power, His private secretary, Padraig O hAnnrachain, recalled how, when the photographers were waiting for him to leave Government Buildings for the last time, de Valera asked for a moment alone.

After some time had passed, O hAnnrachain re-entered his office and found the taoiseach with his arms wrapped around the switchboard through which he could communicate with ministers, heads of departments, the army, and gardai at the flick of a switch.

There were tears in his eyes. Oh, Padraig, he exclaimed. Its awfully hard to leave the levers of power.

President de Valera went on to serve two terms. In 1963, he hosted John F Kennedy in the Aras, and months later attended JFKs funeral in Washington. In 1966, Dublins Jewish community recognised him for his support, planting the Eamon de Valera Forest near Nazareth. In 1969, on the 50th anniversary of Dail Eireann, he became the first president to address both houses of the Oireachtas.

His message of goodwill on behalf of the Irish people to Nasa on the first lunar landing still rests on the moon: May God grant that the skill and courage which have enabled man to alight upon the moon will enable him, also, to secure peace and happiness upon the Earth and avoid the danger of self-destruction.

When Eamon de Valera finally retired, on June 24, 1973, at the age of 90, he was the worlds oldest head of state. He died on August 29, 1975.

Irish voting system introduced by British prime minister to hinder Sinn Fein

In 1959, the Fianna Fail government attempted to pass the third amendment to Irelands Constitution, to change the electoral system from proportional representation under the single transferable vote (PRSTV) to first past the post (FPTP).

The referendum was held on June 17, 1959, the same day as the election in which taoiseach Eamon de Valera became president. Fine Gael and Labour opposed the referendum, likely realising they might never see office again if it passed, and it was narrowly rejected, by 52% to 48%.

PRSTV was introduced by British prime minister David Lloyd Georges government in the 1919 Local Government Act of Ireland.

Under British rule, Ireland had used the FPTP system that is still in operation today.

Under FPTP, voters typically give their preference to one candidate and the candidate with the most votes, a plurality, wins, regardless of whether they have more than half of the votes, called a majority.

George Crosbie, President Eamonn de Valera, and the lord mayor of Cork, Cornelius Desmond, at the opening of the new Cork Opera House on October 31, 1965.

The First World War from 1914 to 1918 meant that when Ireland voted in the UK general election of 1918, it had been eight years since the electorate had had their say. In that election, and in the aftermath of the executions following the 1916 Rising which saw public sympathy swing toward the rebels, support collapsed for the moderate Irish Parliamentary Party, which had been the dominant force in Irish nationalism for three decades.

Sinn Fein, under FPTP, enjoyed a landslide, winning 73 of 105 seats, or 69.5%, with only 47% of the vote. Seeking to stymie Sinn Fein, Lloyd Georges government introduced PRSTV in local elections.

Under FPTP, there is one representative for everyone in a constituency, but under PRSTV, a larger constituency elects a small team of representatives, meaning that results more closely reflect the intentions of the electorate.

Sinn Fein recognised PRSTV as a tool of empowerment, and that voting system was first used at the local level in Ireland during the 1919 Sligo by-election, and subsequently in the 1920 local elections. Under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, it was prescribed for all elections here.

The Constitution of the Irish Free State, adopted on independence in 1922, prescribed proportional representation for elections to Dail Eireann, and the 1937 Constitution of Ireland similarly enshrined PRSTV.

As David McCullagh notes, when de Valera introduced legislation for his referendum in 1959, the Fine Gael and Labour leaders, John A Costello and William Norton, took the unusual step of opposing the first reading of the bill.

In his second-stage speech, de Valera had to answer the awkward question: Why, if PR was such a bad thing, had he insisted on including it in the Constitution and specifying the single transferable vote, against the advice of Costello himself?

Naturally, it wouldnt do for de Valera to admit that he had been wrong, so he listed a number of reasons: He wanted to leave the existing electoral system in place in order to minimise opposition to the Constitution; if he hadnt specified PRSTV, successive governments would have tried to choose a system of PR that would benefit themselves, and putting it into the Constitution meant that people would have the right to decide their electoral system.

(It has been suggested that de Valera championed a return to FPTP because he feared a resurgence of the then latest splinter of Sinn Fein.)

Taoiseach Micheal Martin stands at the Eamon De Valera bust at the Cork Public Museum in September 2020. Picture: Darragh Kane.

A decade after the proposed third amendment was rejected, Fianna Fail tried again, with a second referendum on the same issue held in 1968. This time, it was resoundingly rejected by a margin of 61% to 39%.

Nowadays, we use the PRSTV system in every election on the island of Ireland, with the exception of Northern Irelands general elections to the UKs Westminster parliament.

In truth, perhaps not too many of us could easily explain exactly how preferences are distributed under the single transferable vote when its gone midnight in Nemo and youre on the 17th count. That happened last November, when the final seat in Cork North Central was in the balance, with only 35 votes between the sitting People Before Profit-Solidarity TD and his young Labour Party challenger.

Still, it would be a brave politician that would suggest changing the system now.
Irish magician and escapologist Steve Spade is set to perform in East Cork this month.

Mr Spade, who was the winner of the 2023 Merlin Award for Outstanding Magic and Escapology, will take to the stage at Sea Church in Ballycotton on October 18.

As the only certified Irish escape artist/magician and member of the Society of American Magicians, Mr Spades performance promises to offer audiences a chance to witness some unique and dangerous tricks, including being burnt alive, underwater escapes and predicting headlines.

The Cork show comes as part of Spades Lost Magic tour of Ireland and the UK.

Events manager with Sea Church, Matthew Sisk said they are thrilled to welcome Steve Spade to Ballycotton.

We are all extremely excited about his coming performance,, given Steves extraordinary talent, said Mr Sisk.

His reputation speaks for itself and for people who were lucky enough to secure tickets already  prepare to be stunned.

Mr Spade said that he is really looking forward to the show at Sea Church.

Having seen the beautiful and unique venue space, I think it will provide the perfect atmosphere for my Halloween themed night, said Mr Spade.

Its always great to bring shows back home to Ireland and, as a Limerick native, its fantastic to visit neighbouring Cork and engage with audiences in such a great setting.

Attendees will also have the option of using the Sea Church Express, a return shuttle service to Ballycotton, which departs from Cobh and then passes through Midleton, Cloyne, as well as Shanagarry.

The service brings people to Ballycotton 90 minutes before showtime and leaves 30 minutes after the show ends.

For further information, or to book a ticket, email: events@seachurch.ie.
Helen McEntee, minister for education and youth, has opened Dromahane NS's new building outside Mallow, describing it as the culmination of years of education, collaboration, and commitment from the entire school community.

This is not just the opening of a new building, but the beginning of a new chapter in the lives of children, families, and educators who will shape its story, Ms McEntee said.

Dromahane National School has evolved greatly since its first opening in 1996. It was, and remains, an integral part of a vibrant community.

It has a strong tradition of nurturing the holistic development of all pupils.

Ms McEntee described the journey to the opening of the new school as filled with challenges and triumphs and she praised the local community for all of their perseverance.

From the initial planning stages to the construction phase and now the official opening, the school communitys unwavering commitment has ensured a nurturing and inspiring environment for pupils, she said.

I am deeply appreciative of the huge amount of work and effort that took place over the past number of years.

This work helped create a school building that meets 21st-century educational needs. Its design and learning spaces will support learning for current and future students.

Ms McEntee extended her sincere thanks to Dromohane school principal Denis Murray, deputy principal Norma Ryan and to Denis Kelly, the chairperson of the board of management, for their invitation to attend the school opening.

Ms McEntee said the new building reflected the continued investment by the department in building projects.

She noted that, since 2020, the Department of Education and Youth has invested more than 730m supporting the completion of 170 school building projects in Cork, with a further 48 currently in construction.

Across the country, she added, the department has invested more than 6bn in school building projects across the country since 2020.

This included the completion of more than 1,400 projects and more than 400 school building projects currently underway, involving 40 new school buildings.

Cutting the ribbon alongside the Bishop of Cloyne, Dr William Crean, Ms McEntee said it was her great honour to officially open Dromahane National School.

May it be a place of joy, learning, friendship and endless possibility, she said.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has led tributes to Don OLeary, the former director of the Cork Life Centre, who passed away yesterday morning at the age of 68.

For more than 18 years, Mr OLeary worked as director of the Cork Life Centre, providing one-to-one, relationship-based tuition to hundreds of young Cork people failed by Irelands mainstream education system.

Mr OLeary had been living with terminal cancer since 2021, and to the end he was adamant that he wanted nobody to use phrases such as he had been bravely fighting cancer, because he believed such language implied judgement on those who have illnesses.

Mr Martin said Mr OLeary had been passionate about education and had made a significant contribution to creating learning opportunities for young people for whom conventional education did not always suit.

He believed in the dignity of every individual, and the capacity of every individual to grow.

Don O'Leary deep in conversation with Taoiseach Micheal Martin in November, 2022. Picture: Donal O'Keeffe.

I had met with Don on quite a number of occasions in respect of the Cork Life Centre, and in terms of the work done there, Mr Martin said.

The Taoiseach  who, as minister for health and children, had opened the centre in 2001 - recalled spending a very enjoyable and worthwhile afternoon there in November, 2022.

Im a teacher myself at heart, and Dons views resonated with my own in many respects.

His contribution to the Cork Life Centre and to many, many young people was very, very positive, and he has left a significant legacy in that sense, Mr Martin said.

A native of Ballyphehane, Mr OLeary lived most of his life in Fairhill.

In 1987 he was jailed for five years in Portlaoise Prison for membership of the Provisional IRA, and he served three. He often said his real crime had been possession of Sinn Fein election posters, and he once told The Echo that while he had not actually been a member of the IRA when he went to prison, I most certainly was when I came out.

He was elected as a Sinn Fein councillor for the Cork city north-west ward in 1999. Contemporaries remember him as a firebrand who always spoke out the oppressed and the overlooked, raising in City Hall more than quarter of a century ago the plight of the people of Gaza.

Ill health forced him to stand down from the council in 2000 and he was replaced by future TD Jonathan OBrien.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said she was very saddened to hear of Mr OLearys passing.

Dons impactful work in the area of educational disadvantage helped many people, she said.

I want to express my sympathies to his family and friends at this time.

During Mr OLearys time as director of the Life Centre, he grew its student body from five when he took over in 2006, to 55, and he expanded its curriculum and introduced Leaving Certificate subjects for those who wished to study them.

In 2022, after long and often fractious negotiations, and following several interventions by Mr Martin, Mr OLeary hailed a deal that had been agreed with the Department of Education whereby nine of the centres staff would be given contracts by the department, a development Mr OLeary said would secure the Life Centres future.

Though he never wavered from his politics as a socialist and a republican, he always said that Corks elected representatives of all persuasions had understood the importance of the Life Centre.

That was his true litmus test of anyone: whether they had the best interests of the young people of the Life Centre at heart.

In his wars with the Department of Education, Thomas Gould and Donnchadh O Laoghaire might have been his more natural political allies, but he often also praised politicians such as Mr Martin, former tanaiste Simon Coveney, current EU commissioner Michael McGrath, Fianna Fails Padraig OSullivan and Tony Fitzgerald, Dublin senator Lynn Ruane, and Wexford Fine Gael TD Paul Kehoe, among many others.

He held Fine Gaels Colm Burke in especially high esteem, and he never forgot Mr Burke for getting him a break at a time when Mr OLearys status as a former IRA prisoner rendered him politically radioactive and practically unemployable.

Never a man to put a tooth on a thing, he would say: Colm has more of a social conscience than most of the leftwingers I know. And then he would add the sting: Ill never understand why hes a Blueshirt.

In December 2023, Mr OLeary resigned as director of the Life Centre, following a number of unresolved disputes with the centres board of trustees.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that he felt heartbroken to leave. Still, being the man he was, he stayed in touch with many of his former students and continued to be a presence in their lives. He loved them, and he was loved in return.

Rachel Lucey, who had worked as his deputy in the Life Centre, remained his great friend to the end.

In a statement, the Cork Life Centre said on Friday that its community was deeply saddened by Mr OLearys passing.

His impact on the centre and our young people, over the course of almost two decades in the role, was immense and his loss will be sincerely felt by all.

The best way to honour Dons work and contribution to the Cork Life Centre will be to keep doing what we've always done and being who we have always been.

We remain committed to serving our young people with integrity and respect by providing a safe, holistic learning environment for our young people to pursue their right to an education and step into their full potential.

The Centre will carry forward the legacy we have been given and do all we can to ensure the sustainability of this wonderful organisation into the future. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.

In 2022, Mr OLeary was presented with the Lord Mayors civic award for his work in education.

On Friday, Cork City Council said Mr OLeary and the team at Cork Life Centre ensured that young people facing challenges in their lives did not lose out on an education.

At a time when many young people felt left behind by mainstream education systems, Don stood firmly on the side of inclusion, compassion and possibility.

The Lord Mayor of Cork, councillor Fergal Dennehy, said Mr OLeary was fearless in his advocacy, often challenging authority with honesty and conviction".

His legacy will endure not only in the centre he helped create, but in the lives transformed by his dedication.

In 2021, UCC presented Mr OLeary with an honorary doctorate in recognition of his work at the Life Centre.

Don OLeary, pictured with his grandsons James, Daniel, Eoin and Cian, when he received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Arts at UCC in 2021. Picture: Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision

Mr O'Leary is survived by his wife Betty, their children Don and Eilis, and their beloved grandchildren, Daniel, James, Eoin, and Cian.

In December of 2021, when Mr OLeary made public his diagnosis of terminal cancer, he told this reporter:

If I had one wish for anyone, it would be to give them one day of the last 16 years of days that I have had in the Life Centre.

Mr OLearys remains will repose at Coughlans Funeral Home, Shandon Street today, Saturday, from 10am to 4pm and on Sunday from 1pm, with his family in attendance at 3pm and prayers at 4pm.

Requiem Mass on Monday, October 6 at 11am in the Church of the Resurrection, Farranree, and funeral afterwards to St Michaels Cemetery, Blackrock.
An intoxicated man who had passed out in the street and was blocking traffic was found lying in Temperance Lane, Macroom District Court was told.

Court presenter Sergeant Trish OSullivan said that Cormac Fitzpatrick, aged 45 of South Terrace, Cork City was found lying in the road at Temperance Lane, Sleveen East, Macroom, Co Cork at 5.15pm in the evening on September 12, 2025.

The court head that Fitzpatrick was lying in the middle of the road causing an obstruction to traffic and pedestrians and when he was approached by gardai he was unable to stand up, such was his state of inebriation.

Fitzpatrick was arrested for his own safety and the safety of others and taken to Macroom Garda Station where he was charged with being intoxicated in a public place. The court was told that Fitzpatrick had 55 previous convictions, including many for similar offences and that he had been attending counselling for his alcohol addiction.

Judge Joanne Carroll said that Fitzpatrick had created quite a disturbance by obstructing traffic in the laneway and was causing other citizens problems with his public intoxication. She said that Fitzpatrick needed to deal with his alcohol issue.

Fitzpatrick was admitted to a probation bond for nine months on condition that he attends alcohol addiction treatment, engages with mental health services and seeks training or employment. The judge added: If youre busy, you dont have time to be causing problems.

This article is funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.
A Cobh man is among the Irish activists detained by Israel after a flotilla was intercepted while trying to reach Gaza, and his daughters have expressed concern that he may be on hunger strike while in custody.

A video shared to social media on behalf of Paddy ODonovan, aged 61, shows him saying: If you are watching this video, Im after being kidnapped by the IOF, Israeli Occupation Forces, on our way to bring aid to Gaza.

In the video, where he is seen holding up his Irish passport, he asked people to put pressure on their local representatives and TDs on his behalf.

Cork East TD Liam Quaide wrote to the Tanaiste on Wednesday on behalf of the volunteers on the Global Sumud Flotilla, expressing grave concern on the reports that activists had been detained and taken to Israel, saying that Irish citizens onboard include a local constituent of his, Paddy ODonovan from Cobh.

It is vital now that the Government applies maximum diplomatic pressure to ensure the safe release of all the volunteers, including our Irish citizens, to grant them consular access and any medical aid they need, he said.

He called for the Government to end the use of Irish airports and airspace for the transit of arms to Israel, enact the Occupied Territories Bill, push for the immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and demand an urgent international intervention to ensure unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza.

Mr Quaide added: When the history books are being written on the Gaza genocide, the flotilla volunteers will be looked back upon as heroes, at a time when those with the most power in Europe limited themselves to rhetoric of concern and condemnation, but cowered from taking meaningful action.

Mr ODonovans daughters Robyn and Rebecca told The Neil Prendeville Show on Corks RedFM that they have heard some of those detained have gone on hunger strike.

Robyn said: Were trying to piece it all together.

So far we know, theyre on an indefinite hunger strike, and that theyre being transferred to a prison 30 miles off Egypt.

She added: If you know my dad, my dad would definitely be included in that, hes going to do everything in his power to make a difference.

My heart breaks, but Im so proud of him, we are all so proud of him  not once for any second did he think about backing out or coming home, he is so set on making a difference.

Robyn added that they have not heard from him since Tuesday evening, and he has been gone for about five weeks now.

It feels like a lifetime for us, so I can only imagine being on the boats for that long, she said.

Rebecca added: Were worried sick, we want our dad home.

But she added that they were beyond proud of him.

What hes doing is amazing.

Theres nothing that he wont do to help someone, hes so brave.

They knew the blockade was waiting for them, they knew the Israelis were going to do something.

She said it would be a relief if they were taken to court, asked to sign something admitting wrongdoing and deported back to Ireland, but said: I personally dont think they will sign these pieces of paper to say theyre terrorists and what theyve done is wrong.
The national president of the Macra network has called on the Government to ensure that Budget 2026 delivers meaningful support for young farmers and rural communities.

In its pre-budget submission, Macra highlighted several key policy priorities that must be addressed if rural Ireland is to thrive into the future.

Josephine ONeill, national president of the Macra network, said that this budget is a critical moment to show young people living and working in rural Ireland that their future matters.

The decisions made now will determine whether the next generation can continue to farm, build communities, and sustain rural life, said Ms ONeill. We need more than token gestures, we need strategic investment and long-term commitment.

Investment in generational renewal

In its submission, Macra called for a comprehensive support package for young farmers.

While the delivery of the report from the Commission on Generational Renewal was originally welcomed by the organisation, Ms ONeill said that the Government must support some of the recommendations outlined in the report in the upcoming budget.

Waiting for the delivery of these recommendations until the next Common Agricultural Policy is too late, said Ms ONeill.

The agricultural sector will be in the depths of a generational renewal crisis, she warned.

By then, the average age of an Irish farmer will be 63, while the percentage of farmers under the age of 35 will be critically low, she said. Waiting until 2028 will be akin to closing the door to young farmers.

Tax reform to support farm succession

Another issue highlighted by Macra is access to finance and taxation for young farmers.

As a result, Macra is calling on the Government to support the extension of reliefs such as the young trained farmer stamp duty relief, farm consolidation relief, and capital acquisition tax, while also demanding an increase to the capital acquisitions tax thresholds by 20% to incentivise generational transfers.

Affordable housing in rural areas

Ms ONeill further highlighted access to housing as one of the greatest challenges for young people.

Macra is calling for the delivery of the rural housing guidelines and the reform of the renovation and derelict property grants to enable young people to live and build in their local communities.

Our Government needs to ensure that young people can live in rural Ireland, said Ms ONeill. Providing rural housing supports is vital to the viability and resilience of rural Ireland.

Rural transport andinfrastructure investment

Ms ONeill further highlighted how reliable rural transport and broadband connectivity are essential for vibrant rural communities.

The organisation is urging the Government to increase investment in rural public transport, broadband expansion, and local infrastructure to combat isolation and encourage economic growth.

Support for social and community initiatives

Finally, beyond farming, Ms ONeill highlighted the need for sustained funding for youth organisations, mental health initiatives, and rural development programmes, which play a crucial role in building community resilience and supporting young people.

Young farmers and rural youth have done their part for Irelands future, said Ms ONeill.

Its time for Government to stop talking and start delivering.
A major march through Cork, just about to begin in the city centre, will call on Government to address housing in Budget 2026 on Tuesday.

The Raise the Roof campaign group, comprising trade unions, political parties, and civil society groups, will say that the Government must prioritise funding for housing in the Budget, alongside real commitment for the State to step up and take more effective measures in tackling the current crisis.

Paul Gavan, campaigns and advocacy officer at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, will address the gathering and say that, for more than a decade now, the housing crisis has had a devastating effect on workers and their families.

Without the kind of radical reset that was called for by the Housing Commission, Ireland risks a second decade of high rents, unaffordable homes, and record levels of homelessness.

"Next weeks Budget must mark a new departure for the Government in tackling the housing crisis. UCC Students Union president, Alex Angland, will comment on the lack of affordable student accommodation, which, he says, is the biggest challenge facing students in Cork city.

Cork is trailing behind other cities in its provision of publicly owned accommodation. UCC has the lowest number of beds per student in the university sector, only 1,500 beds for its 26,000 students.

"In the private market, students commonly face rents of up to 14,000 for the academic year.

"The government needs to invest in student accommodation in this budget or risk pricing students out of their degrees. Adrian Kane of Siptu will address the protestors, saying that the housing crisis is being exploited by the far right and that the Government must prioritise housing over everything else in the coming budget.

There is nothing natural about the current crisis and it can be resolved through effective state action.
A book of condolence in memory of the late Don OLeary, former director of the Cork Life Centre, has been opened by the Lord Mayor of Cork, councillor Fergal Dennehy.

The book of condolence, which is located in Cork City Hall, will be available to the public to sign between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Friday, for two weeks.

Mr OLeary passed away on Friday, at the age of 68, following a long illness.

Mr OLeary served as director of the Life Centre for more than 18 years, during which time he helped hundreds of young people who had been failed by the conventional education system.

A Ballyphehane native who lived most of his life in Fairhill, Mr OLeary was a lifelong advocate for social justice.

Jailed for three years in the late 1980s for membership of the Provisional IRA, he was elected a member of Cork City Council for Sinn Fein in 1999.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin said of Mr OLeary: Don always affirmed young people, helping them develop self-esteem and confidence in their own abilities.

The Lord Mayor said Mr OLeary had provided wrap-around services for the young people in his care, nurturing their self-esteem and their self-belief.

Perhaps most importantly, he gave them the keys to their future, Mr Dennehy said.

He was fearless in his advocacy, often challenging authority with honesty and conviction.

Those who met and knew him, will remember his warmth, humour, and unshakeable belief in the potential of every young person.

His legacy will endure, not only in the centre he helped create, but in the lives transformed by his dedication.

Mr OLeary is survived by his wife Betty, their children Don and Eilis, and their grandchildren, Daniel, James, Eoin, and Cian.

Mr OLearys remains will repose at Coughlans Funeral Home, Shandon Street today, Saturday, from 10am to 4pm and on Sunday from 1pm, with his family in attendance at 3pm and prayers at 4pm.

Requiem Mass on Monday, October 6 at 11am in the Church of the Resurrection, Farranree, and funeral afterwards to St Michaels Cemetery, Blackrock.
Businesses, organisations, community groups, and public buildings across Cork are being encouraged to go the extra mile to support breastfeeding mothers.

Under the umbrella of National Breastfeeding Week, which runs until Tuesday, Cork County Council has joined forces with Healthy Ireland and the HSE for Were Breastfeeding Friendly in County Cork, an initiative aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of mothers, babies, and their families.

Participating premises have received a resource pack, including a window sticker and information materials, to help staff and customers to create a supportive and welcoming environment for mothers.

Hailing the initiative, Mayor of the County of Cork, Mary Linehan-Foley, said breastfeeding is a natural part of family life, and that mothers should feel confident and supported to feed their babies anywhere.

At the launch of We're Breastfeeding Friendly by Cork County Council, in partnership with Healthy Ireland and the HSE, were Michelle Burke with baby Alison, Niall O'Callaghan Healthy Ireland Co-ordinator at Cork County Council with county mayor Cllr Mary Linehan Foley.

I am very pleased that Cork County Council is taking a leadership role in promoting this campaign, ensuring that businesses and public services across the county are equipped to provide a warm welcome to breastfeeding families, said Ms Linehan-Foley.

I am also very proud Cork County Council is being a positive role model in this initiative by rolling it out in many of its buildings, including many of the libraries.

Gabrielle OKeeffe, head of health wellbeing and strategy in Cork Kerry Community Healthcare at the HSE, said research shows mothers feel best supported when staff are informed, when there are comfortable spaces available, and when small gestures, such as a glass of water or ease of access with a buggy, are offered to them.

The Were Breastfeeding Friendly initiative helps create those environments, making everyday life easier for parents and families, said Ms OKeeffe.

To register for the Were Breastfeeding Friendly in County Cork initiative, visit corkcoco.ie. All who register will be listed on the Cork County Council website, and are encouraged to share their involvement on social media using #wbffcork and tagging @corkcoco and @healthyireland.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) will submit abusiness case in the second half of next year for the M20 Cork to Limerick motorway.

Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central Colm Burke asked for an update on the progress of the M20 Limerick to Cork motorway project in the Dail during the week.

His party colleague in Cork South Central and minister of state at the Department of Transport, Jerry Buttimer, replied that he and Mr Burke both share an urgent need to have the road completed. "It is a project of gargantuan importance," he added.

Mr Buttimer said the project involves 80km of refurbishment and will address many of the road safety concerns on the existing N20, improve connectivity between Cork and Limerick, and relieve congestion in towns such as Mallow, Buttevant, and Charleville.

A preferred route has been selected and the project team is currently engaging in the design and evaluation phase, said Mr Buttimer.

At this juncture I understand that TII expects to submit a preliminary business case to the Department of Transport in the second half of next year.

Given the scale of expenditure required, the project will require the approval of the Government at that stage before submission of statutory documents to An Coimisiun Pleanala, which will follow thereafter.

Mr Burke said the existing road is now past its sell-by date.

I am therefore asking for more definitive dates for when we will go through the planning process, he said.

The other issue is that a lot of land is totally locked up now because there is still indecision about the final route.

Mr Buttimer said that he will work with everyone to reduce the projects time and will get further information from TII about the timelines for the project.
The HSE has been urged to prioritise funds for the expansion of Kinsale Community Hospital, that would see the number of beds more than double.

The hospital currently has the capacity to accommodate up to 40 residents for short-stay convalescence or respite care, as well as long-term care options. It also facilitates outpatient appointments for patients with a consultant geriatrician who attends on a monthly basis.

Fianna Fail Cork South West TD Christopher OSullivan has said that investment into Kinsale Community Hospital is needed to increase the facilitys bed capacity to 100.

Mr OSullivan said this level of investment would greatly improve both inpatient and outpatient services, while easing pressure on staff and patients as the regions population grows.

He said it was important that bed capacity at the hospital increases as soon as possible, allowing the facility to continue providing extraordinary care to its future patients.

The HSE owns two acres next to the hospital which would be perfect for an extension to accommodate extra beds, said Mr OSullivan.

Kinsale Community hospital is an amazing asset to the Kinsale hinterlands.

The care patients get is extraordinary, the staff are incredibly hard working and dedicated, but the hospital needs more acute beds and kite beds for older people, he added.

In April, 160,000 was secured for the refurbishment and extension of the 40-bed Older Persons Nursing Unit to significantly enhance the care and comfort for our senior citizens.

I want to see that number expanded to ensure Kinsale Community Hospitals ability to provide its high standards of care to the people in and around Kinsale for years to come.
How much of a legacy will you have left behind 50 years after you die?

Perhaps a few grandchildren will remember you, or your career or sporting achievements may live on for a while.

But imagine creating objects with your bare hands that are so beautiful, and such an intrinsic part of the city that you loved, that your legacy shines as brightly today as the day you passed away half a century ago.

That is surely true of the great Cork sculptor Seamus Murphy.

Fifty years ago today, he was buried in Rathcooney graveyard, having passed away two days earlier, aged 68.

But so much of his genius remains, if you know where to look.

Take a stroll with me down Pana and stop at No.124, site of Camerons Bakery. Here, at ankle-biting height, you will see a dog trough carved out of limestone by Murphy.

It was commissioned in the 1950s when Knolly and Christine Stokes ran the Milk Bar here. Customers would tie their dogs outside, so the owners decided to provide refreshments for their pet clientele as well.

The story goes that when Knolly queried Murphys use of the Irish for dogs - madrai - on the ornament and suggested his well-heeled customers might not understand it, the sculptor shrugged: Im quite sure all the dogs can.

Before his death in 1975, Murphy is said to have volunteered that the madrai was his favourite work - evidence, perhaps, of his well-documented humility and humour.

Now, join me for a stroll further up Pana, and into The Long Valley for a coffee and a doorstep sangwidge.

Here, you can see Murphys bust of his contemporary, Dublin composer and Abbey Theatre music director, Freddie May.

Walk on to the Grand Parade, and there is Murphys Onion Seller sculpture in Bishop Lucey Park, and at the library is a bust of the writer, Sean O Faolain.

One of Murphy's finest works, Dreamline, recently restored for Cork Public Museum

Across the river, at City Hall, are his busts of martyred Lord Mayors Terence MacSwiney and Tomas MacCurtain.

Fancy a walk away from the crowds? Pop into Fitzgeralds Park and you will be unable to escape Murphys legacy.

Here are his busts of Michael Collins, Tomas MacCurtain and Eamon de Valera - who died just a month before Murphy - along with his famous Dreamline sculpture, recently lovingly restored, and death masks of Cork musician Sean O Riada and Cork writer Frank OConnor.

There isnt a well-known figure from the first half-century of the Irish state that Murphy didnt either know or pay homage to through his wonderful art.

Pop across the park now to UCC, and marvel at Murphys statue of St Finbarr, which replaced the one of Queen Victoria in 1934.

University historian John A. Murphy once asked Seamus why the patriotic people of Cork had left the statue of the English queen in situ for so long - 85 years - and he retorted: Sure, they thought she was the Blessed Virgin!

Lets end our tour of Seamus Murphys Cork by heading to Blackpool, to appreciate the Church of the Annunciation he designed, just down the road from his Watercourse Road workshop.

When it opened with a dedication ceremony 80 years ago, on October 7, 1945, poet Patrick Kavanagh was in attendance, and recalled the pride with which local people viewed it. An old fellow told me: Do you see that iron railing there? That was made in Cork, and they say we can do nothing in Cork! recounted Kavanagh.

Not all of Murphys work survived the ravages of time.

A limestone cross he designed was erected at the top of Galtymore in 1962, after an epic journey. The three-quarters of a ton monument was driven to within 70ft of the peak by a Bren Gun Carrier, a task that took three days as it kept getting stuck in bog. It was carried the rest of the way by five men, and on Whit Sunday, more than 1,000 people witnessed the blessing ceremony.

Sadly, just 13 years later, the cross was wrecked by gales.

Nor does Murphys work lie solely in Cork. His sculpture of St Brigid and the Twelve Apostles proudly adorns the Church of St Brigid in San Francisco - which, fittingly, the Church sold to the San Francisco Academy of Art University in 2004.

The sculptors wit and humour follow him around, and a story grew legs that he had modelled the apostles on the leaders of the Easter Rising!

Although never proven, it is widely believed that Murphy based his Doubting Thomas on de Valera, while the other apostles were based on his friends, such as Tim Buckley, of The Tailor And Ansty fame.

Although he was born in Mallow in 1907, Murphy moved to Ballyhooley Road in Cork as a child and became a beloved adopted son of the city. He adored it and its people, many of whom he documented in his acclaimed 1950 memoir, Stone Mad.

He moved to Wellesley Terrace in Wellington Road when he married, and his knowledge of that part of the city became legendary - to the extent that in later life Murphy became something of a historian.

An insight into this can be found in the 1975 Holly Bough, and an article about the Old Youghal Road - the longest named road in Cork city.

Three esteemed journalists of the day had been commissioned to write about three different sections of it - Walter McGrath the western end, Tim Horgan the centre section, and Michael Dromey the Mayfield end.

McGrath wrote: Seamus Murphy, an adopted son of Old Youghal Road, had promised to edit the article, to add to it, and correct it - as only he could have done. Sadly, he died while this article was being prepared.

No man alive knew as much about the Old Youghal Road as Seamus. All three of us writers claimed his friendship and comradeship. This article is published in humble tribute to him.

Tributes after his death 50 years ago included this heartfelt comment from Murphys friend, Padraig O Maidin: Long after us, men will talk of the time that Seamus Murphy was alive. In his company, life was wholesome and good and real - he gave it meaning. Seamus wanted to share his vision of life with us, so he painted and sculpted and talked and wrote. His faith in us was indestructible. Some day we would see. Men would come, sometime, and make Cork the city he longed for, a caring, generous, joyous community, creating great architecture and lovely homes.

That vision may still be very much a work in progress, but it underlines that Murphy was not just a great Cork man for his talents - but for his love of the city and its people. He really was the best of us.

The 50th anniversary of his passing was marked earlier this year when Cork City Libraries selected Stone Mad as the One City, One Book choice at Cork World Book Fest. Perhaps the acclaimed memoir could be added to the school syllabus in English or History, for the insights it gives into a now lost Ireland.

We are lucky to still have plenty of evidence of Murphys brilliance all around us. We really should have a statue of him too in Cork... but who on earth would we ask to create it?
Sean McCarthaigh

A narrative verdict has been returned on the death of a hotel chef who was found dead at home two days after he was involved in an altercation with security staff outside a bar in Dublin city centre.

James Kailedzi, 31, who came originally from Malawi, was pronounced dead at his apartment on Hatch Street, Dublin 2, on March 25th, 2023 where he was discovered by friends concerned about his welfare.

A postmortem showed he died as a result of a traumatic blunt force head injury.

The inquest heard evidence that Mr Kailedzi had gone to the Pygmalion bar on the corner of Coppinger Row and William Street South, Dublin 2 on March 23rd, 2023 with two friends, one of whom, Arthur Bradford, was denied entry to the premises.

Mr Bradford said he and the deceased were subsequently followed by security staff who grabbed Mr Kailedzi.

The inquest heard there appeared to be some physical contact which resulted in Mr Kailedzi falling to the ground.

Mr Bradford recounted how Mr Kailedzi was unconscious for a short period but walked home alone after he regained consciousness.

The witness said his friend seemed a bit drowsy at the time but believed his appearance was due to alcohol.

He told coroner Aisling Gannon that he had unsuccessfully tried calling Mr Kailedzi several times the following day and subsequently called to his friends apartment on March 25th, 2023 with some others, where they discovered Mr Kailedzi deceased on his bed.

Another witness, Reo Odirile, gave evidence that both the deceased and Mr Bradford had been quite aggressive before seeing security staff from the Pygmalion pushing them towards South William Street.

Mr Odirile said he observed Mr Kailedzi swinging at a security staff member, Leonardo Santos, at one point before next noticing the deceased on the ground.

He said he did not see how Mr Kailedzi fell to the ground, but did recall that he was wobbly after getting up.

Mr Odirile said he believed the security staff had overreacted to the situation.

In a written statement, another eyewitness, Sean Richardson, said he had seen Mr Kailedzi falling like somebody who got knocked out at the UFC after he was pushed by Mr Santos in retaliation for his own push.

Mr Richardson said the deceased had hit his head on a pole as he fell.

A former security guard at Pygmalion, Gabriel Manfrim, said he had refused Mr Bradford entry to the bar as he had been barred from the premises, while he had also been threatened by him when he worked at another venue.

The witness said he had asked Mr Kailedzi to leave the bar after a group of girls had complained about his conduct.

He recalled that the two men started arguing with the pubs security staff when they were asked to move away after they had been arguing with a group of females sitting outside the bar.

Mr Manfrim said he was dealing with Mr Bradford, while his colleague, Leonardo Santos, was with the deceased.

He told the inquest that he saw Mr Kailedzi grabbing onto a pole and making to go through his colleague as well as swinging at Mr Santos with a whiskey glass.

Mr Manfrim said the other security guard had pushed back against Mr Kailedzi to protect himself.

He said Mr Kailedzi fell and stayed on the floor for several minutes.

Mr Manfrim said he called gardai as he was afraid of Mr Bradford after he had threatened him: I will kill you. I know where you live.

The security guard stressed that no kicks or punches were thrown by security staff, and the only thing he saw was the push by his colleague

In evidence, Mr Santos corroborated what had happened and said Mr Bradford had stood outside the bar insulting security staff while the deceased was inside.

He said Mr Kailedzi was asked to leave Pygmalion when a group of girls complained he was disrespecting them.

Mr Santos said the two men were screaming and shouting at them as they tried to come back towards the bar a short time later.

He admitted pushing Mr Kailedzi once when he lost his balance and then a second time after the deceased came at him with a glass.

Mr Santos said Mr Kailedzi fell on the ground but later stood up and left, heading in the direction of St Stephens Green with Mr Bradford.

In reply to the questions from the coroner, Mr Santos said he had pushed the deceased with the same level of force on both occasions in self-defence.

Cross-examined by counsel for Mr Kailedzis family, William Dunne BL, who questioned if he had overreacted on the night. Mr Santos replied: We were always calm.

Detective Inspector Katherina Joyce said CCTV footage showed that security staff at the bar only escalated their interaction with the deceased and Mr Bradford following a complaint from a group of French tourists.

Det Insp Joyce said Mr Bradford had been persistently antagonistic and abusive to the two security guards at the door to Pygmalion for 50 minutes while Mr Kailedzi was inside in the bar.

She said the demeanour of both security guards during this period was tolerant and patient.

Det Insp Joyce described what happened as a very tragic incident with the direst of consequences.

She agreed with the coroner that the physical contact with the deceased was minimal.

Det Joyce noted that the right side of the deceaseds skull, where he suffered a head injury, was thinner than the other part.

The inquest heard that the DPP had directed that no prosecution should arise in relation to Mr Kailedzis death following a review of a Garda file on the case.

Det Joyce said an appeal against that decision by Mr Kailedzis family was not upheld.

She told Mr Dunne that the need for an ambulance has been raised by Garda command and control in a 999 call.

However, it was not proceeded with after being informed that the deceased had left the scene.

The coroner said she would record a narrative verdict to reflect the complexities of the facts of the case.

Ms Gannon said she would notify the owners and directors of Pygmalion about concerns of the response of staff to patrons, including non-customers in a crisis or emergency situation.

In response to a suggestion by Mr Dunne, the coroner said she would also ask the Private Security Authority to consider making first aid training a requirement for the issuing of licences for security staff.
(Photo: Peter Kenny)A group led by Christian Solidarity International at a side-event of the United Nations on Nagorno-Karabakh in Geneva on Sept. 29, 2025

The Swiss Peace Initiative for Nagorno-Karabakh was highlighted at the September session of the Human Rights Council and during a side event at the UN in Geneva, during the week ending Oct. 4, supported by Swiss parliamentarians.

The event was hosted by Christian Solidarity International.

"It is still not too late to undo the ethnic cleansing of Nagorno Karabakh," Christian Solidarity International's UN representative Abi McDougal told the Human Rights Council when she spoke at a session on Oct. 2.

The initiative is an international measure for upholding the right of return for 150,000 people displaced from their homeland she said.

The statement came during the second anniversary of the exodus of Armenian Christians from Nagorno Karabakh (or Artsakh), who were forcibly displaced from their homeland by Azerbaijan's military invasion in September-October 2023.

McDougal cited the Swiss Peace Initiative for Nagorno Karabakh as a feasible means to implement the right of return of these Armenians.

She explained that on November 17, 2023, the International Court of Justice ruled that Azerbaijan must "ensure that persons who have left Nagorno-Karabakh after 19 September 2023 and who wish to return to Nagorno-Karabakh can do so in a safe, unimpeded and expeditious manner."

"Thus far, the international community has taken no steps to ensure this order is implemented," McDougal pointed out.

Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh by Armenians, is a mountainous region located at the southern end of the Karabakh mountain range, within Azerbaijan.

It is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but until 2023, its inhabitants were predominantly ethnic Armenians.

The CSI representative spoke of the Swiss Peace Initiative as a "neutral, credible, and law-based framework to acknowledge and operationalize the right of return for Nagorno Karabakh's Armenian population."

In March, the Swiss parliament authorized the government to hold a peace forum under international supervision between Azerbaijan and representatives of displaced Armenians from Nagorno Karabakh, "to negotiate the collective return, in complete security, of the Armenian population."

(Photo: Peter Kenny) A group led by Christian Solidarity International at a side-event of the United Nations Nagorno-Karabakh in Geneva on Sept. 29, 2025

On Sept. 29, CSI held an event coinciding with the Human Rights Council, where two members of the Swiss parliament, Erich Vontobel from Zurich and Nicolas Walder from Geneva, presented the Swiss Peace Initiative to diplomats and NGO staff at the UN.

They were joined by Artak Beglaryan, the former human rights ombudsman of the Republic of Artsakh and president of the Artsakh Union, along with Dr. Paul Williams, a peace negotiator known worldwide.

Vontobel, a representative of the Swiss Democratic Union (EDU), which he describes as a "Christian" party, in the Federal Council Assembly, and is responsible for affairs relating to Armenia and Azerbaijan. He said he had visited Armenia and spoke to refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh.

"The displacement of over 100,000 people is a clear violation of international law...If Switzerland accepts this, we lose our credibility," said the Swiss parliamentarian, noting he represents a "Christian party."

He said that a real risk of conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia remains, and diplomacy remains the only viable path forward.

A motion put forward by Vontobel had been accepted in the assembly with cross-party support.

He said that is how the Swiss peace initiative was born. The initiative does not call for sanctions or interventions, but for dialogue, he said, and broad international support is needed because the problem remains unsolved.

Walder, a member of the left-leaning Green Party, said that credible figures had described the events that took place in 2023 as genocide and ethnic cleansing, and that Russian peacekeepers had failed to ensure security guarantees.

"Geopolitical rivalry overshadowed the international duty to protect the civilian population," said Walder, noting that more than 80 per cent of the people displaced from Nagorno Karabakh want to return home.

He said international agreements on Nagorno-Karabakh mediated by the United States and signed by Armenia and Azerbaijan speak about peace but have ignored the "primary party" of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian forcibly displaced people from there.

"Ignoring the primary victim and party of the conflict doesn't mean sustainable and comprehensive peace. This peace will mean an inclusive and just process which will put the return of people at the center of any kind of settlement," said Walder.

He said strong international security guarantees are needed/.

In May, the Geneva-based World Council of Churches, in collaboration with the Protestant Church in Switzerland, had convened the Armenian Heritage Conference in Bern, the location of the Swiss parliament.

It was titled, "Religious Freedom: Preserving Armenian Spiritual, Cultural and Historical Heritage in Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh."

The WCC and the Swiss Protestant Churches issued an urgent call for immediate action to the international community at a press conference during the event.

"The destruction of Armenian sacred heritage is not only an attack on history, but on religious freedom, on human dignity, and on the values that bind humanity across traditions," the WCC secretary general Rev. Jerry Pillay had said in an opening speech.

"This conference is an act of moral resistance and spiritual solidarity."
Actor Eric Dane has finally shared why he was missing from the emotional "Grey's Anatomy" reunion at the 2025 Emmy Awards.

In a new interview, the 52-year-old revealed that a serious fall left him hospitalized and unable to attend the tribute.

"I was in the hospital during the Emmys getting stitches put in my head," Dane told The Washington Post on Thursday. "I missed an opportunity I was really looking forward to."

According to PageSix, Dane was originally scheduled to appear on stage with his former co-star Jesse Williams to celebrate the 20th anniversary of "Grey's Anatomy," the long-running medical drama that premiered in 2005.

The pair were also set to present the award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series.

Instead, Williams presented the award alone, with no mention of the missing actor or their hit show. Fans quickly noticed Dane's absence, especially given the significance of the reunion.

"I was really upset," Dane said. "It would have been great to see Jesse and get reunited with some of my peers, and to be able to present in front of my colleaguesI thought that would've been a special moment."

Eric Dane opened up about his absence from the Emmys and missing the planned 'Grey's Anatomy' reunion, revealing that he was hospitalized shortly before the telecast. https://t.co/JITRtWUAKc  Entertainment Weekly (@EW) October 3, 2025

Eric Dane Opens Up About ALS Battle

Dane also opened up about his recent diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive nerve disease that affects muscle movement.

He first announced the diagnosis in April after noticing weakness in his right hand.

"At first, I thought maybe I had just been using my hand too much," he said in a Good Morning America interview. "But a few weeks later, it got worse."

By June, Dane reported that his right arm had completely lost function. "My left side is functioning," he told Diane Sawyer, THR reported.

"But my right side has completely stopped working. I feel like in a couple more months, I might not have my left hand either. It's sobering."

Despite the challenges, the "Euphoria" star is doing his best to stay positive. "He wants to live life," according to sources.

"He doesn't want people grieving himhe just wants the people in his life to be present and as happy as they can be."

Dane is expected to return for Season 3 of HBO's "Euphoria," continuing his role as Cal Jacobs.

"I know tomorrow isn't promised," he said. "So I'm going to enjoy what I can today."
Three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis has ended his eight-year acting hiatus to star in "Anemone," a psychological drama directed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis in his feature directorial debut.

The film marks Day-Lewis's first screen appearance since Paul Thomas Anderson's "Phantom Thread" in 2017, when he announced his retirement from acting.

Day-Lewis co-wrote the screenplay with Ronan after they spent four years developing the project together. The collaboration began with a simple concept about brotherhood, which evolved into a story about two estranged brothers confronting family trauma. The 68-year-old actor revealed that his decision to return was motivated by "a lingering sadness" at the thought of his son making films without him.

The film centers on Ray Stoker, a reclusive former British soldier living in isolation in the forests of Northern England. His brother Jem, played by Sean Bean, appears after decades apart to persuade Ray to return home and face his troubled past, including reconnecting with his abandoned teenage son. The cast also includes Samantha Morton and Samuel Bottomley.

Day-Lewis admitted he felt "certain hesitations about re-entering the public sphere" when considering whether to act in the film. He described experiencing "a subtle fear, an anxiety about re-engaging with the filmmaking process," but emphasized that Ronan "made it abundantly clear that he wouldn't proceed unless I participated." The actor explained that collaborating with his son "reignited that passion" for acting.

This marks the second time Day-Lewis has come out of retirement. He previously stepped away from acting in 1997 after "The Boxer" to pursue shoemaking in Italy, before returning in 2002 for Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York." Day-Lewis now acknowledges that his 2017 retirement announcement may have been premature, stating he "never truly intended to retire" but merely wanted to "explore other projects."

Principal photography for "Anemone" commenced in October 2024 in Manchester, England, with additional filming scheduled to take place in Wales. The production faced minor disruptions during filming in Chester when traffic wardens issued parking tickets to 1980s prop vehicles parked on double-yellow lines.

"Anemone" had its world premiere at the 2025 New York Film Festival on September 28. Focus Features released the film in select theaters on October 3, with a wider expansion following on October 10. The film has received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Day-Lewis's performance and the cinematography while criticizing the screenplay.

Day-Lewis reflected on his return to the spotlight with characteristic humility, calling himself "foolish" for his prior retirement announcement and accepting the attention he had largely avoided for nearly a decade. The collaboration with Ronan represents not just Day-Lewis's comeback but also the beginning of a new generation's filmmaking career in the Day-Lewis family.
Charlie Hunnam underwent a dramatic physical and psychological transformation to portray notorious serial killer Ed Gein in Netflix's "Monster: The Ed Gein Story," which premiered on October 3, 2025.

The 45-year-old actor lost 30 pounds in just three weeks and spent months researching the infamous murderer known as the "Butcher of Plainfield" to deliver an authentic portrayal of one of America's most disturbing criminals.

The "Sons of Anarchy" star initially struggled with the physical demands of the role after putting on his costume for the first time. Hunnam realized he needed to alter his appearance to match Gein's skeletal frame drastically. The rapid weight loss was accomplished in approximately three weeks, which the actor described as "not a pleasant process."

Beyond the physical transformation, Hunnam dedicated extensive effort to capturing Gein's distinctive voice and mannerisms. The actor went to extraordinary lengths to obtain rare audio recordings of the real criminal, tracking down materials that even Netflix's research team could not access. Director Max Winkler noted that "our best researchers couldn't get it, but Charlie got it, because he's Charlie and he does crazy shit."

Hunnam contacted Joshua Kunau, producer of the documentary "Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein," who provided access to a 70-minute interview with Gein conducted the night of his arrest. This previously unavailable recording proved crucial in developing the character's voice, which Hunnam described as childlike and affected.

The psychological preparation for the role proved equally challenging. Hunnam focused on understanding the motivations behind Gein's crimes rather than simply recreating the horrific acts themselves. The actor delved into the murderer's traumatic relationship with his abusive mother, Augusta, who reportedly told him daily that she hated him for not being born female.

Hunnam's method acting approach extended to studying Gein's physical presence and energy. The actor worked to embody someone who had been isolated and malnourished, describing how he learned "not to take up a lot of space, not to be sort of front and centre and too confident in my physicality." This attention to detail included learning dance routines and how to play the accordion for specific scenes.

The transformation represents one of Hunnam's most extreme physical and psychological commitments to a role. The actor acknowledged the vast difference between his own personality and that of Gein. His dedication to authenticity helped create what critics are calling one of the most unsettling and compelling performances in the Monster anthology series.
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Sean 'Diddy' Combs has been sentenced to over four years in prison. He has been convicted on prostitution-related charges involving his two ex-girlfriends. While his attorney had argued for a sentence which would be a little over a year, the sentence was fixed to four years. As per the attorney, Diddy has already served 13 months in a New York jail. However, the prosecutors wanted 11 years. They cited his domestic violence history while putting in the argument.







The court also heard from Combs' children. The prosecutors detailed the case to the judges. Towards the end of the hearing, Judge Arun Subramanian stated that a message needs to be sent with appropriate punishment.



Combs shared a statement before he was sentenced to 4 years in jail. Naming his two ex-girlfriends, Cassandra Ventura and "Jane" (pseudonym), he apologised to his victims. He said, "My actions were disgusting, shameful, and sick... I got lost in excess, I got lost in my ego."



He also apologised to his mother and children. Diddy noted, "I'm so sorry. They deserved better." Most of his children were in the courtroom when the hearing happened. He also begged the judge for a second chance. "I ask your honour for mercy. I beg your honour for mercy. I don't have nobody to blame but myself. I know that I've learned my lesson," Combs said.



For those unaware, the prosecutors accused Sean of creating a business empire to run a criminal enterprise of sex trafficking. He allegedly sex-trafficked women through "freak-offs". He would allegedly also pay male escorts to have sex with his girlfriends, which he would film and watch. The prosecutors also noted that Combs forced the women to have unwanted intercourse, which involved physical violence and drugs.







Once the hearing was done and Combs was sentenced to 50 months of prison and a fine of 500,000 dollars, his attorney Marc Agnifilo stated that his legal team is also planning to appeal the decision.



Also Read: Diddy Found Guilty of Transporting Women for Prostitution, Denied Release From Jail


Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 3, 2025) - Lorne Park Capital Partners Inc. (TSXV: LPC) ("Lorne Park" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Ontario Securities Commission granted its non-objection to the previously announced plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement") of the Company involving an affiliate (the "Purchaser") of Sagard Private Equity Canada LP ("Sagard"). The Arrangement is anticipated to close as soon as reasonably practicable and around mid-October, 2025, subject to the satisfaction of all closing conditions. Under the Arrangement, the Purchaser will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company (the "Shares") for a cash consideration of C$2.23 per Share in cash (the "Consideration"), other than certain Shares held by certain Shareholders who entered into equity rollover agreements with the Purchaser. The Consideration implies an equity value for the Company of approximately C$126.8M.

Full details of the Arrangement and certain other matters are set out in the management information circular of Lorne Park dated July 14, 2025 (the "Information Circular") and letter of transmittal (the "Letter of Transmittal"). A copy of the Information Circular and other meeting materials can be found on the Company's website at www.lpcp.ca or under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Registered shareholders who have not already done so must complete and sign the Letter of Transmittal and return it, together with the certificate(s) / DRS advice(s) representing their Shares and any other required documents and instruments, in accordance with the procedures set out in the Letter of Transmittal in order to receive the Consideration for their Shares.

Lorne Park also announced that its subsidiary, Bellwether Investment Management Inc. ("Bellwether"), and certain individuals employed by Bellwether have reached a final settlement agreement (the "Settlement Agreement") with the Ontario Securities Commission (the "OSC") that resolves the OSC's review regarding certain past deficiencies in Bellwether's "know your client" process and obligations related to specified trading activities.

"We are pleased to have resolved these matters and look forward to moving ahead with the support of Sagard," said Robert Sewell, CEO of Lorne Park. "Important steps have been taken over the last few years to enhance the compliance system, and we are committed to continuing this progress. In connection with the settlement, we are pleased to announce the appointment of Carlo Pannella as the new ultimate designated person and chief executive officer and Alan Fustey as the new interim chief compliance officer of Bellwether."

The Settlement Agreement is available on the OSC's website at www.osc.ca.

About Lorne Park Capital Partners Inc.

Lorne Park was created to bring together boutique investment management and wealth advisory firms in order to deliver robust, cost-effective investment solutions to affluent investors, foundations, estates and trusts. Lorne Park's unique strategy creates better alignment between investment managers and wealth advisors while providing them with additional resources to accelerate their growth.

About Bellwether Investment Management Inc.

Bellwether is a boutique investment manager that offers tailored investment solutions for affluent investors, foundations, estates and trusts utilizing its proprietary "Disciplined Dividend Growth" Investment Process. Bellwether provides discretionary investment management focused on global dividend growth investing and is dedicated to serving the distinct needs of affluent families. Bellwether's suite of investment solutions includes global equity and fixed income strategies as well as alternative strategies focused on private credit and global real estate and infrastructure. Bellwether Investment Management Inc. is registered as a portfolio manager in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan, an exempt market dealer in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, and an investment fund manager in Ontario and Quebec.

Cautionary Notes

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains statements which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", "plan", and other similar expressions. Forward-looking information in this news release includes, without limitation, Lorne Park's objectives, goals and future plans. Forward-looking information addresses possible future events, conditions and financial performance based upon management's current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions. In particular, the forward-looking information contained in this news release reflects assumptions about the completion of the Arrangement and the satisfaction of closing conditions with respect thereto. Management of Lorne Park considers the assumptions on which the forward-looking information contained herein are based to be reasonable. However, by its very nature, forward-looking information inherently involves known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such information. Such risks include, without limitation, changes in economic conditions, applicable laws or regulations. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Lorne Park disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/269117

SOURCE: Lorne Park Capital Partners Inc.
Fort Wayne Medical Education Program

FORT WAYNE, INDIANA / ACCESS Newswire / October 3, 2025 / Fort Wayne Medical Education Program (FWMEP) is committed to safeguarding the privacy and security of its patients' and employee's information. As part of that commitment, we are writing to notify you of a data privacy incident involving personal information of certain patients, employees, and employees' dependents.

What Happened: On December 17, 2024, we discovered suspicious activity in our network. Upon discovery, we took immediate action to secure our systems and we retained cybersecurity professionals to investigate the incident. After a thorough investigation, we learned that certain data was accessed or acquired from our network by an unauthorized actor between December 12, 2024 and December 17, 2024. We performed a detailed review of the contents of the involved data to identify that data and to whom it belonged. After a thorough investigation, on September 9, 2025, we confirmed that certain personal information and protected health information (PHI) was contained in the data set.

What Information Was Involved: The information involved varied by individual. For a limited number of employees and employees' dependents, the information included first and last name along with a Social Security number, driver's license or state ID number, or passport number. For those persons whose PHI was involved, that information included names along with Social Security numbers, government ID numbers like driver's license or passport number, date of birth, medical information including history, health insurance information, medical billing information including bank account number and payment or credit card number (but not CVC), and date of birth.

Individuals whose information was involved and for whom we had address information were provided written notice on October 2, 2025.

What We Are Doing: Upon learning of the incident, we took immediate steps to address it, including securing our systems and taking parts of our network offline. We retained cybersecurity professionals to help us investigate. We also notified federal law enforcement and the Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights.. Additionally, we are offering complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection services, free of charge, to individuals whose Social Security numbers were involved through Haystack, a global leader in risk mitigation and response. Should individuals have any questions or concerns, they may contact FWMEP's dedicated assistance line with Haystack at 1-833-809-4990.

What Impacted Individuals Can Do: As a general matter, one should remain vigilant by reviewing credit reports, financial account statements, and explanation of benefits forms for suspicious activity and to detect errors. We also remind everyone that individuals are entitled to one free credit report annually from the each of the three major credit reporting bureaus, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. To order a free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228.

Individuals can further educate themselves regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, credit freezes, and the steps to take to protect personal information by contacting the credit reporting bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), or state Attorneys General. The FTC also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. The FTC may be reached at 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261.

For More Information: For any further information, please contact FWMEP's dedicated assistance line with Haystack at 1-833-809-4990.

SOURCE: Fort Wayne Medical Education Program

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/healthcare-and-pharmaceutical/notice-of-data-privacy-incident-1081657
DELRAY BEACH, Fla., Oct. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The global Busbar Market is anticipated to grow from estimated USD 15.72 billion in 2025 to USD 27.71 billion by 2035, at a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period. The Busbar Market is expanding as demand grows for efficient, safe, and compact power distribution systems across residential, commercial, and industrial applications. Rapid urbanization, industrial automation, the integration of renewable energy sources, and the electrification of sectors such as electric vehicles and data centers are key drivers of this growth. Compared with traditional cabling, busbars deliver higher power efficiency, reduced transmission losses, space savings, and greater reliability, making them the preferred choice for modern power infrastructures.

Browse 260 market data Tables and 150 Figures spread through 300 Pages and in-depth TOC on 'Busbar Market- Global Forecast to 2030'

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The rising number of data centers worldwide, driven by cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and digitalization, is further boosting demand for busbar trunking systems, which address challenges associated with high power loads while offering flexibility and scalability. Similarly, the increasing adoption of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind requires robust distribution solutions, where busbars play a critical role in minimizing losses and maintaining grid stability.

Rising investments in smart grids, stricter energy-efficiency regulations, and the global push toward sustainable infrastructure also accelerate growth. In emerging economies across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa, rapid urbanization, high-rise construction, and industrial expansion are fueling the need for safe, reliable, and cost-effective electricity distribution. Additionally, innovations such as insulated and flexible busbars are opening new opportunities in small-scale applications, including electric vehicles, aerospace, and smart manufacturing, further propelling market growth.

Copper, by material, to dominate Busbar Market throughout forecast period.

The high level of electrical conductivity, thermal performance, and mechanical strength of copper has made it one of the most utilized busbars in the transfer of higher current flow with a minimum loss of energy required, heat dissipation, and the capability to withstand the rigorous demand conditions of the load compared to other materials such as aluminium. Its size and stability ensure that it is the material of choice in the most demanding environments, such as data centers, renewable energy, EV charging infrastructure, and high-rise buildings, where value and safety are paramount. Copper is more costly, but in the long term, the advantages of reduced loss transmission, lower maintenance requirements, and adherence to strict energy efficiency standards are important than the cost aspect. In the future, copper is likely to remain the market leader in busbars, as the world continues to electrify, the integration of renewable energy grows, and industries need high-performance, compact, and sustainable power distribution solutions.

Asia Pacific to be fastest-growing region during forecast period.

The Asia Pacific region is expected to experience the fastest growth in the Busbar Market, driven by increasing urbanization, industrialization, and large-scale infrastructure projects in countries such as China, India, Japan, and South Korea. These developments necessitate reliable and efficient power distribution systems. Moreover, the Asia Pacific is at the forefront of the global renewable energy movement, particularly in solar and wind power, where busbars play a crucial role in reducing transmission losses and integrating distributed energy systems into national electricity grids. There is also a high demand for efficient busbars with high capacity due to the rapid expansion of data centers in countries such as Singapore, India, and China, fueled by the use of cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and digitalization. Additionally, government initiatives promoting smart cities, the electrification of transport, and grid modernization further enhance the adoption of busbars. The region's cost-effective manufacturing capabilities enable large-scale production and implementation of these systems.

Key Market Players

Some of the major players in the Busbar Market are ABB, Siemens, Schneider Electric, Eaton, and Legrand. The major strategies adopted by these players include acquisitions, product launches, agreements, partnerships, and expansions.

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ABB (Switzerland)

ABB (Switzerland) provides busbars integral to electrical distribution systems, ensuring efficient power transmission across utilities, transportation, automotive, and industrial sectors. ABB's busbar solutions are recognized for their high reliability, superior performance, and compliance with international safety standards, making them suitable for low- and medium-voltage applications. ABB emphasizes sustainability and energy efficiency, aligning its products with the growing demand for renewable energy and smart grid technologies. The company operates through four business segments: Electrification, Motion, Process Automation, and Robotics & Discrete Automation. The company provides its Busbar products under the Electrification business segment. ABB has a strong presence in more than 100 countries. It has a network of over 150 manufacturing sites and many sales and service centers worldwide. Geographically, ABB has a strong presence across North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.

Schneider Electric (France)

Schneider Electric (France) offers a comprehensive range of busbar solutions designed to enhance electrical distribution, improve energy efficiency, and support the growing trend of integrating renewable energy. Schneider Electric's busbars are widely used across utilities, renewable energy, commercial buildings, data centers, and industrial facilities. Its solutions prioritize safety, scalability, and sustainability, ensuring customers can optimize energy flow while reducing energy losses and operational costs. The company operates through two business segments: Energy Management and Industrial Automation. The company provides its busbar in the Industrial Automation business segment. These busbars are designed to handle complex power distribution needs, ensuring flexibility and reliability in applications such as renewable energy grids, smart cities, and industrial automation. Schneider Electric's global presence spans over 100 countries, with strong footholds in regions such as North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

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MANCHESTER, England, Oct. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2025 "Jiangsu Traditional Chinese Medicine Goes Global" European Cultural Tour officially opened on October 3 in Manchester, drawing more than a hundred guests from Chinese and British government agencies, media organizations, overseas Chinese associations, and public institutions. The event aims to promote Jiangsu's traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) culture to international audiences.

Co-hosted by the Xinhua Daily Media Group and Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, the launch ceremony was organized by the Health Media Center of Xinhua Daily News, with support from the Cyberspace Administration of Jiangsu Province and the Jiangsu Commission of Health. The program also received backing from the China-UK Traditional Chinese Medicine Centre (Manchester) and the UK Shulan College of Chinese Medicine.

In his remarks, Zhao Ming, Deputy Director of the Cyberspace Administration of Jiangsu Province, described TCM as a "cultural treasure" of Chinese civilization that embodies the philosophies and health traditions of the East. He noted that Jiangsu has long been a center for TCM development and exchange-from Xu Fu's ancient voyages in search of medicinal herbs to Zheng He's maritime expeditions. In recent years, the "Jiangsu Traditional Chinese Medicine Goes Global" initiative has highlighted the province's rich TCM heritage through international exhibitions, cultural fairs, and social media outreach, earning broad recognition overseas. Citing the UK's role as a European hub for TCM practice and research, Zhao said he hoped the event would help expand collaboration between China and the UK in TCM treatment, education, research, and industry.

The ceremony included speeches from Tang Rui, Consul General of China in Manchester; Gu Xindong, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Xinhua Daily News; Councillor Janet Easley, Mayor of Rochdale; Councillor Kerry Waters, Mayor of Stockport; and Lisa Yam, President of the Federation of Chinese Associations in Manchester. Following the addresses, the guests gathered on stage to officially launch the 2025 "Jiangsu Traditional Chinese Medicine Goes Global" European Cultural Tour.

After the ceremony, guests visited an exhibition on TCM culture. Nearly a dozen TCM specialists from major hospitals in Jiangsu-including facilities in Nanjing, Wuxi, Changzhou, and Yangzhou-demonstrated clinical techniques and spoke with attendees. The exhibition featured hands-on displays where visitors could examine traditional medicinal ingredients, experience Tuina massage and moxibustion therapy, and sample herbal teas and medicinal dishes. The consultation area proved particularly popular, with many local residents trying TCM therapies and learning more about their potential benefits.

By presenting both the historical depth and contemporary relevance of Jiangsu's TCM traditions, the event created a new platform for the international promotion of Chinese medicine. Looking ahead, organizers said the "Jiangsu Traditional Chinese Medicine Goes Global" program will continue to leverage digital outreach to foster cultural exchange and strengthen global health cooperation.

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BRUSSELS, Oct. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- MG, one of the world's most recognized automotive brands, made its debut at BusWorld Brussels, under the theme "Find You More." It officially launched its new commercial vehicle brand MG COMMERCIAL. The brand's first all-electric city bus, the iEV12, and its first all-electric city bus chassis, the B12E, were also unveiled.

Since its founding in 1971, BusWorld has stood as one of the largest and most influential events in the passenger transport industry, long serving as a barometer for the development of the global bus industry. MG's debut marks its strengthened commitment to sustainable mobility and its vision of integrating personal and public transportation into a seamless ecosystem.

MG COMMERCIAL is positioned as a dedicated brand for medium- and large-sized buses, with a focus on the premium segment of the new energy commercial vehicle market. By offering advanced, value-driven solutions, the brand seeks to provide European operators with a full spectrum of mobility options while supporting the region's transition toward low-carbon public transport. The new brand embodies MG's broader vision of building an integrated ecosystem that connects personal and public mobility, ensuring smoother, smarter, and greener travel experiences across modes of transportation.

The all-electric city bus, the iEV12, and the all-electric city bus chassis, the B12E, are purpose-built for the premium public transport sector. Both models are developed on MG's next-generation electric drive platform, featuring modular battery systems, intelligent architecture, and integrated connectivity management. These innovations respond directly to the growing demand in Europe and beyond for sustainable and efficient public transport. They highlight MG COMMERCIAL's leadership in zero-emission solutions, safety, and smart mobility.

With a century-long legacy of engineering excellence, MG is intensifying its investment in research and development for the public transport sector. The iEV12 and B12E expand MG's new energy commercial vehicle portfolio and reaffirm its commitment to driving the transition toward green, intelligent mobility. With intelligent cockpits, modular energy systems, and advanced fleet management platforms, MG COMMERCIAL's products embody its pursuit of efficient, safe, and carbon-neutral transport solutions.

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His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, opened the Centre for Arabic Studies at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, in the presence of Her Highness Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA). His Highness also launched the Joanina Digital Library, presented the library with the rare Barbosa manuscript dated 1565, and signed his book "A Momentous Journey", published in Arabic, English and Portuguese.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251004071025/en/

Sharjah Ruler opens Centre for Arabic Studies in Portugal (Photo: AETOSWire)

His Highness unveiled a commemorative plaque marking the opening of the centre, before reviewing its services, resources and programmes that support Arabic teaching.

He then proceeded to the historic Joanina Library at the University of Coimbra, where he launched the Joanina Digital Library and delivered a speech.

He praised the university, which conferred on him an honorary doctorate seven years ago, and highlighted the Gulf region's connection with Portuguese history through his research into the Barbosa manuscript, lost for a century before its discovery and acquisition by His Highness in 2012.

Commending Barbosa's honesty in describing what he witnessed in the Gulf, he noted the manuscript represents a rare, detailed testimony of the region's reality in that era.

Explaining his decision to publish "A Momentous Journey", he said: "When I decided to release this book, I was not seeking historical proof alone, but true fairness for our people, and the restoration of their narrative as seen by a contemporary witness making it a firm foundation for building relations among nations."

He also announced the launch of the Joanina Digital Library, a project carried out with Sharjah's support in cooperation with the University of Coimbra, expressing his hope that this partnership would continue to advance knowledge.

Amilcar Falcao, Rector of the University of Coimbra, delivered a speech praising the growing closeness between Portugal and Sharjah, underlining the strong commitment of both sides to building lasting relations. He said the development of the project in collaboration with the SBA was clear evidence of the value of international partnerships. The new digital collection, named the "Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi Collection", provides a valuable research resource across diverse fields.

During the ceremony, His Highness signed copies of "A Momentous Journey", which is a scholarly study of the Barbosa manuscript, one of the most important Portuguese documents chronicling the early 16th century. He also presented the library with the original 1565 manuscript, describing it as one of the most complete surviving versions.

Concluding the visit, he toured the historic Joanina Library, viewing rare manuscripts and learning about its departments and the preservation efforts for its valuable holdings.

*Source: AETOSWire

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Anistons lawyer, Blair Berk, spoke on her behalf for the first time, detailing two years of Carwyles harassment and stalking, including various failed attempts to make physical contact with the actor.

A judge remained undecided Friday on the treatment and placement plan for a man charged with stalking Jennifer Aniston and ramming his car into the front gate of her home.

Jimmy Wayne Carwyle, a 48-year-old from Mississippi, has pleaded not guilty to felony stalking and vandalism. But in May, Judge Maria Cavalluzzi found him not competent to stand trial after evaluations from two experts. At Fridays hearing in a Los Angeles court dedicated to mental health cases, she heard arguments on Carwyles treatment and placement.

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Anistons lawyer, Blair Berk, spoke on her behalf for the first time, detailing two years of Carwyles harassment and stalking, including various failed attempts to make physical contact with the actor.

Cavalluzzi said she leaned toward sending Carwyle to a mental health treatment alternative to imprisonment. She requested another hearing, scheduled for later this month, to hear from a mental health professional before making a final decision.

Prosecutors and Anistons attorney will have a chance to weigh in, Cavalluzzi said.

The judge acknowledged Anistons very real fear, but she said she cant ignore the opinions of mental health professionals who have evaluated Carwyle and deemed him not a danger to society. The alternative treatment option offers community-based housing, treatment and support services as opposed to incarceration.

Harassment started 2 years ago, prosecutors say

Prosecutors alleged Carwyle had been harassing the Friends star with a flood of voicemail, email and social media messages for two years before driving his Chrysler PT Cruiser through the gate of her home in the wealthy Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles on May 5, only feet away from where she was, Berk said.

Carwyle had a stated and persistent delusion to impregnate Aniston with three children, Berk said, and there is simply no way to prevent him from carrying out his delusion if he walks out.

The prosecution expressed concern that if Carwyle were offered the treatment in Los Angeles, nothing would stop him from traveling those few miles to Ms. Aniston, Berk said.

Berk and William Donovan, the deputy district attorney, argued Carwyle was a present danger to Aniston and those around her. Berk said he attempted to enter her property twice, but was turned away.

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Carwyles lawyer, Robert Krauss, said his client qualifies for alternative treatment, arguing that he hasnt been convicted of violent crimes. Granting him alternative treatment, is not like giving him a break or showing him leniency, Krauss said. Its just one thing and one thing only  and that is absolute, pure faithfulness of the law.

Krauss also referenced a report from the probation department, which recommended Carwyle be granted probation and 90 days in jail if convicted, much less than the over three years maximum sentence for his two charges. Carwyle has been in jail since May and, if convicted, could be let out with time served.

Suspect says he wont walk away from treatment

Carwyle was present at the hearing and addressed questions from Cavalluzzi, saying he wasnt right in the head, when asked about the text messages he sent Aniston. He said he has been taking medication, which is keeping him focused, and admitted his wrongdoing.

When Cavalluzzi asked how she can be sure he wont walk away from the treatment program  a stated concern from the prosecution  Carwyle responded, You have my word.

Berk said Carwyle traveled thousands of miles over a year ago after sending thousands of messages that reflected his delusions and intentions to not just make contact with Ms. Aniston, but to commit criminal wrongs against her, sexual violence against her. She added that Carwyle stressed in his messaging that he would be unabated by doctors or others or FBI intervening.

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Donovan argued that a state hospital is a much safer, much more effective place for him to go, and will offer the treatment Carwyle needs to address his delusions. The prosecution also argued theres no evidence that Carwyles delusions toward Aniston have stopped, even with medication.

Carwyle has been under involuntary medication for the past few months. Krauss said that Carwyles actions toward Aniston were just the product of psychosis from someone who is unmedicated. The government must keep its promise of treatment rather than punishment and of rehabilitation rather than incarceration, he said.

The hearing was postponed several times in recent months as Carwyle at first objected to the incompetence finding and asked for an opinion, and both sides sought more time to examine the case.

Carwyle remains jailed, but he is under a judges order not to contact or get near Aniston.

Authorities said Aniston was home at the time of the gate crash, but he did not come into contact with her. A security guard stopped him in her driveway until police arrived. No one was injured.

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Carwyle also faces an aggravating circumstance of the threat of great bodily harm.

Aniston became one of the biggest stars in television in her 10 years on NBCs Friends. She won an Emmy Award for best lead actress in a comedy for the role, and she has been nominated for nine more. She currently stars in The Morning Show on Apple TV+.
Javed Akhtar, owner of Nagpurs popular Gulshan Plaza in Sitabuldi, died in a tragic road accident in Italys Grosseto with his wife, Nadira Gulshan. The couples three children are critically injured and are currently in the hospital. The family was on their way to Tuscany when the vehicle was hit by a truck. The Indian Embassy is currently assisting the family

The victims involved in road crash in Italy have been identified as Nagpur-based hotelier Javed Akhtar and his wife, Nadira Gulshan, while their three children sustained critical, life-threatening injuries. Image courtesy: X

An Indian familys European vacation ended in heartbreak on Thursday when a road accident in Italy claimed the lives of a prominent businessman and his wife.

The victims have been identified as Nagpur-based hotelier Javed Akhtar and his wife, Nadira Gulshan, while their three children sustained critical, life-threatening injuries.

The Indian Embassy in Italy has confirmed the accident and said it is coordinating closely with local authorities and the family back home to provide all possible assistance.

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The shocking incident has left many wondering about the circumstances surrounding the crash, including whether timely assistance by Italian authorities could have made a difference. Heres what happened

The tragic accident

Javed Akhtar, 55, owner of Nagpurs Gulshan Plaza and his wife Nadira Gulshan, 47, were enjoying a long-awaited European vacation with their three childrendaughters Arzoo and Shifa, and son Jazel. The family had arrived in France on September 22 before making their way to Italy.

Javed and his family loved travelling and would choose an exotic vacation every year, a grieving relative gathered at the Akhtar family home in Civil Lines told The Times of India.

On Thursday morning, their nine-seater tourist minibus, carrying a group of Asian travellers, was headed to a final sightseeing stop in Tuscany when disaster struck. Around 9 am on the Aurelia state road, a broken-down van being pushed along the roadside was struck by a truck, which then collided with the Akhtars vehicle.

v. Around 9 am on the Aurelia state road, a broken-down van being pushed along the roadside was struck by a truck, which then collided with the Akhtars vehicle. image for representation

Javed, Nadira, and the driver died on the spot, while the minibus was left mangled. Their daughter Arzoo, a 25-year-old MBA graduate, suffered severe head injuries. Her siblings, 15-year-old Jazel, a Class 10 student, and 21-year-old Shifa, a second-year undergraduate, were critically injured and are receiving treatment in hospitals at Grosseto and Florence, according to Italian media reports.

Also read: Years after Indian family froze to death on US-Canada border, leader of human smuggling plot sentenced to decade in jail

Did help arrive late for the family?

Questions have arisen over whether quicker assistance could have made a difference for the Akhtar family.

According to reports, their son Jazel contacted the local helpline after regaining consciousness following the crash. Italian.News, a local news portal, suggested that the emergency response may have been delayed for the victims.

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Once authorities were alerted, a large-scale rescue operation was launched immediately. Two fire department teams, guided by an incident commander, worked to extract the injured from the twisted wreckage before handing them over to medical personnel. Given the severity of their injuries, rescue helicopters were deployed to transport the children to nearby hospitals for urgent treatment.

The crash site, sealed for investigation, witnessed a traffic jam with Italian military police piecing together the tragedys cause.

Also read: How Indian truck driver, behind fatal Florida crash, has triggered a political row in US

Indian embassy responds

The Indian Embassy in Italy expressed deep condolences over the tragic deaths of the Nagpur couple, assuring that it is extending full support to the bereaved family.

The Embassy conveys its heartfelt and sincere condolences for the tragic loss of two Indian nationals from Nagpur in an accident near Grosseto. Our prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured family members who are undergoing treatment. The Embassy is in contact with the family and local Italian authorities. We are providing all assistance to the family, the embassy wrote on X.

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The Embassy conveys its heartfelt and sincere condolences for the tragic loss of two Indian nationals from Nagpur in an accident near Grosseto.



Our prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured family members who are undergoing treatment. The Embassy is in contact with the  India in Italy (@IndiainItaly) October 3, 2025

According to the Times of India, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also moved quickly to assist the family, coordinating with the Indian Embassy in Rome to facilitate the repatriation of the couples bodies and ensure proper care for the injured children.

Nagpurs district collector, Vipin Itankar, also sent urgent communications to the embassy to help navigate legal procedures and support the survivors during this difficult time.

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With input from agencies
In his speech at the Valdai Discussion Club, the Russian president gave no sign of readiness for compromise, terming the war as a defensive struggle against Western hegemony

Vladimir Putins speech at the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi carried the cadence of a statesman seeking to define an era laced with a turbulent multipolar world, Western hegemony, and the calculations of a wartime leader preparing his country for a prolonged struggle. They were an indication of how Moscow sees the future balance of power, the war endurance effort, and the vulnerabilities of the West.

The Valdai Forum has long been one of the Kremlins most important platforms for signalling policy. Unlike routine speeches or briefings, Valdai allows Putin to present Russias worldview in a controlled setting to an audience of academics, journalists and diplomats. This years speech indicated the strategic intent and wartime manifesto. It was both a warning and a declaration that Russia is prepared for a long confrontation not only in Ukraine but against the entire Western dominance.

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Several themes run through the Valdai speech. First is the insistence that Russia is not isolated but part of an emerging multipolar order. Second is the claim that Russia is prepared for a long war of attrition, confident in its capacity to outlast Ukraine and its backers. Third is the message to Europe that Moscow sees weakness in its internal divisions and is prepared to exploit them. Fourth is the warning that escalation is always possible, though not necessarily in the form of direct Nato confrontation. Cyber operations, pressure on energy infrastructure and calibrated strikes on supply chains remain in Moscows playbook.

The Crowbar Logic of Power

The speech was built around a simple but forceful metaphor. There is no counter to a crowbar except another crowbar, Putin said, presenting power as a blunt tool that inevitably invites a matching response. He cast the struggle in Ukraine as a direct outcome of Western hegemony, insisting that attempts by Washington and its allies to enforce absolute dominance had produced a multipolar backlash.

In this, Putin clarified, Russia is not the aggressor but the counterweight, forced to pick up its own crowbar to balance the blows of the West. Putin derided the Wests reliance on sanctions and bans, arguing that prohibitions only reveal weakness. He mocked Europes regulatory zeal, suggesting that before long everything would be banned to hell.

What makes the metaphor a dangerous escalation is that Western escalatory actions, like the long-range missiles, advanced drones, and expanded sanctions, will be met with reciprocation. For Europe, this is a dangerous spiral in an effort to balance deterrence with escalation.

Ukraine: From Innovation to Industrial Grind

On the battlefield, Putin highlighted territorial gains in Luhansk and Kupiansk while dismissing Ukrainian counter-strikes as costly failures. He placed Ukrainian losses at nearly 45,000 in September alone, with half deemed irrecoverable. Russian losses, he insisted, were far lower, with no need for forced mobilisation. These figures may be propaganda, yet they reveal Russias strategic narrative: that time and attrition are on its side.

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This connects with a broader truth about the war. The early phase of Ukrainian resistance was defined by ingenuity. From garage-built drones to improvised missile conversions, Ukraine shocked the world by turning scarcity into innovation. But as the war drags into its fourth year, the frontier of innovation has plateaued. The contest now is less about invention and more about production. The decisive factor will be who can turn ideas into mass-manufactured systems that sustain the fight month after month. Here, Russia holds certain advantages, whereas Ukraine risks war exhaustion and political fatigue. Putin knows this and is playing for time.

Europe in the Crosshairs

Strikingly, Putin assigned responsibility for prolonging the war not to Washington but to Europe. He claimed that European leaders must bear the blame for failing to stop hostilities and warned that Russia would respond to the militarisation of the continent. This framing attempts to drive a wedge between European capitals and Washington. It also seeks to exploit Europes own vulnerabilities: rising energy costs, migration pressures and political instability. Putins description of Europe as a civilisation being eaten from the inside by uncontrolled migration taps into anxieties already roiling European politics.

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By casting Nato fears of a Russian attack as nonsense, Putin tried to defuse the idea that Moscow seeks wider conquest. Yet in the same breath, he threatened that Russias retaliatory measures against European militarisation would not be long in coming. The juxtaposition is deliberate: reassure against the charge of imperial ambition while keeping deterrence through the promise of asymmetrical retaliation.

Global Reverberations

The Valdai address was not aimed only at a domestic audience. It was also a message to the West and, in particular, to Europe. For Ukraine, this means that negotiations are not yet viable. Putin gave no sign of readiness for compromise, terming the war as a defensive struggle against Western hegemony. It highlighted the sanctions, intervention and double standards of the US as a coercive power that believes in unilateralism and exceptionalism. Russias defiance demonstrates that a state can resist Western pressure and survive. For Ukraine, this means that negotiations are not yet viable. Putin gave no sign of readiness for compromise, terming the war as a defensive struggle against Western hegemony.

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What Comes Next

If the war has entered its industrial phase, Ukraines survival depends on scaling production. Small-batch innovation is no longer enough. Drones, missiles and electronic warfare kits must be manufactured in volumes that match Russias ability to churn out shells and armour. Western support must shift accordingly: less emphasis on dramatic one-off weapons deliveries and more on sustaining Ukraines defence industry. The lesson of earlier wars is that endurance often matters more than brilliance. Marginal gains in range, reliability and logistics, multiplied across thousands of systems, decide campaigns.

Europe, meanwhile, must brace for pressure. Putins words about migration and cultural decline were not casual observations but signals of a strategy. Russia will use every lever available, from energy pricing to disinformation, to stretch European resilience. The speech should remind European leaders that they are not bystanders. They are already combatants in the wider sense, and their cohesion will be tested as the war drags on.

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Valdai: A Strategic Broadcast

The Valdai speech was not theatre for its own sake. It was a strategic broadcast. Putin wants to present Russia as unbowed, as a power that has absorbed sanctions, defied isolation and continues to gain ground in Ukraine. He wants Europe to doubt its endurance and the West to question its unity. He wants his own people to believe that their sacrifices are bearable and that the outcome is inevitable.

The author is former Director General, Mechanised Forces. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Beyond President Trumps erratic behavior in equating foes and friends, the United States, in various capacities, has made important statements and observations regarding the stability of the Indo-Pacific and the role of the Quad

Given the statements from other important figures in the US beyond Donald Trump, it is clear that the appetite for the strengthening of the Quad remains. Image- AP

As Washington retreats inwards from its traditional role as the hegemon of the system, ensuring some sort of equilibrium of the international system, doubts emerge on the future of the US-led groupings. China, the aspiring hegemon, hopes to find more space in the international order and claim leadership owing to the USs perceived unreliability. The Quad, which is often misperceived as being a grouping aimed only to counter China, is one such important grouping, the future of which seems unsure.

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Last month, several media outlets, including the New York Times and the South China Morning Post, speculated that American President Donald Trump had shelved his plans to visit India for the upcoming Quad meeting between the leaders of India, Japan, Australia and the US. The silence of the US State Department led to the confirmation bias of the speculation.

What remains odd nevertheless is that beyond Trump, the US in various capacities has made important statements and observations on the stability of the Indo-Pacific and of the Quad. A cursory glance at events around the Quad and the stability of the Indo-Pacific from July this year to now reveals that the interest remains in sustaining the Quad.

On July 1 this year, for example, the Foreign Ministers of the four Quad countries met in Washington DC, and the meeting was hosted by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. The meeting welcomed initiatives like the Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI) workshop, launched STEM scholarships for 50 Indo-Pacific students, coordinated about $30 million in aid for the earthquake victims in Myanmar, condemned the terrorist attack against India this year, and looked forward to Indias Leaders Summit later in 2025.

Following the ministers meeting, the State Department Spokesperson highlighted new Quad efforts to tackle regional challenges, including strengthened prosperity and security ties. It noted the USs role in unveiling initiatives for Indo-Pacific stability.

In July, when the US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth met with the Philippines President Marcos to advance deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, the discussion focused on bilateral security cooperation as a pillar of broader regional stability, aligning with the Quads goals of countering threats and upholding international law. The exact same sentiments were on display during President Marcos visit to India in August, as he emphasised that the term Indo-Pacific is a correct evolution of the term Asia-Pacific, reflecting the regions interconnected trade, politics and economy. India and the Philippines during the visit also reaffirmed the two countries commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, governed by international law.

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In July again, US Deputy Spokesperson Pigott announced progress on three major US trade initiatives in the Indo-Pacific, describing them as evidence of sustained US leadership, and strong partnership with allies. In August this year, the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) made a statement on regional security, which emphasised that the US and its allies are resolute in the commitment to maintaining stability and security against adversaries seeking to upend the status quo, underscoring the ironclad nature of US alliances in the Indo-Pacific. While China was not mentioned by name, it is known that China is a revisionist power in the international system, while status quoist powers include the US, India, Japan, Australia and so on.

Last month, in September, the US State Department made a statement on the commitment of the US to maritime security in the Indo-Pacific. Key points included upholding the freedom of navigation and overflight under international law. In 2025 alone, India has made several similar statements on the freedom of navigation. Examples include Defence Minister Rajnath Singhs statement at a naval event in Goa that India will ensure the freedom of navigation and will not allow pressure on friendly nations.

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In July, Indias External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, speaking at the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting in Washington, underscored Indias responsibility for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific amid rising tensions. In August 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his bilateral meeting with President Marcos, reiterated Indias support for freedom of navigation in accordance with international law, highlighting the Philippines as a key partner in the Indo-Pacific Ocean vision.

What is also pertinent to mention in this context is that the first-ever Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission was completed in July this year and involved coast guards from India, Japan, Australia and the US. In September, in his meeting with Jaishankar at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Rubio reiterated Indias critical importance to the US, and the two leaders agreed to continue working together to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region, including through the Quad, with emphasis on collaboration in trade, defence, energy, pharmaceuticals, and critical minerals.

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When PM Modi visited Tokyo in August this year and met Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba, the two sides expressed serious concerns over unilateral actions in the East and South China Sea and opposed efforts to change the status quo by force, endangering freedom of navigation and overflight. While China was not mentioned again by name, the fact that China has unilaterally attempted to alter the status quo in the South and East China Seas is well known.

In 2025, the Australian Navys destroyer, HMAS Sydney, was deployed to the Indo-Pacific from March to July for training, exercises, and engagements. HMAS Sydney participated in various activities, including Exercise Bersama Shield and a multilateral maritime cooperation activity in the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone. A Freedom of Navigation activity was also conducted by HMAS Sydney, with the UKs HMS Spey, near the Spratly Islands in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).

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In August, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles emphasised the expectation that all countries should respect the freedom of navigation and overflight. In his statement with his Philippine counterpart, Marles expressed serious concern over the situation in the South China Sea, particularly dangerous and coercive actions by China against Philippine vessels.

From all the events and joint statements from the four Quad countries, it is adequately clear that the Quad needs to only get stronger. All four Quad countries have displayed similar concerns and similar respect for international law in the Indo-Pacific. What becomes a hurdle, however, is Trumps erratic policies and statements, equating foes like China, allies like Japan and Australia and friends like India alike.

Given the statements from other important figures in the US beyond Trump, it is clear that the appetite for the strengthening of the Quad remains. While the three other Quad countries brace for more unpredictable and ill-planned policies from Trump, it is pertinent that the three at least keep engagements sustained and hope for the Trump storm to blow over, because the Quad is here to stay.

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Sriparna Pathak, Professor of China Studies, and Associate Director, Motwani Jadeja Institute of American Studies, OP Jindal Global University. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Rather than take Muhammad Yunus excuses and explanations at face value, Trump and Marco Rubio should break with the naive and failed policies of Biden

It has now been more than a year since escalating protests forced the freely elected but increasingly authoritarian Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign. There were many reasons to protest the former premier, whose father had led Bangladesh to independence and who herself had ruled the country for 20 of its 54 years.

Hasinas critics accused her of renaming public institutions to glorify her own family, and allegations about public corruption in infrastructure projects benefitting her and her family outraged university students struggling to find work. Some Bangladeshis also accused her Awami League of manipulating elections.

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In 2008, I was an election observer on a bipartisan US delegation to Bangladesh; there was broad consensus that her election was free and fair. The opposition, likely seeking to save face, chose to boycott rather than contest the next election. In 2018 and 2024, the Awami League again won, albeit in elections that many international observers considered were marred by voter suppression, vote rigging, and violence. The elections may have been imperfect, but there was still an airing of ideas and some popular legitimacy.

Hasinas term ended prematurely. Student protests, nominally over civil service quotas for veterans of the independence war and their family members, escalated and turned violent. At the time, many journalists suggested blaming Sheikh Hasina for the bloodshed. They reported the outrage and expansion of demonstrations were organic. In reality, it now appears that Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, perhaps backed by Qatari and Turkish funding, instigated and fanned the flames of protests.

Following Sheikh Hasinas ouster, the then President Joe Biden celebrated Bangladeshs supposed democratic turn. On September 24, 2024, Biden met with interim leader Muhammad Yunus at the United Nations to express US support for the transition and commend the student-led movement. If the students could do so much sacrifice for their country, Biden told Bangladeshs interim leader Muhammad Yunus. Later, the White House issued a statement promising continued US support as Bangladesh implements its new reform agenda.

What Yunus pitched as reform was autocracy and retribution by any other name. He has opened prison cells and released Islamists and terrorists, not on human rights grounds, but rather to make room for his political opponents. Yunus and his backers accuse journalists, civil society leaders, and former secularist leaders of spurious charges up to and including murder. Yunus henchmen focus special ire on Bangladeshs small Hindu and Christian communities. Yunus hides behind his nearly two-decade-old Nobel Peace Prize much like Yemeni Muslim Brotherhood activist Tawakkol Karman used her prize as a shield to pursue personal and political agendas rooted more in retribution and hate than in peace and justice.

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Rather than right the wrongs of Bidens naive approach to Bangladesh and the radical Islamist agenda driving Yunus, Marco Rubios State Department appears intent on repeating them. On a June 30, 2025, phone call, press reports suggest Rubio endorsed Yunuss so-called reform agenda.

President Donald Trumps second-term tilt toward Pakistan and away from India has only encouraged Pakistan and Yunus to accelerate their project to transform Bangladesh into a second Pakistanterror-sponsoring and intolerant.

The crisis no US president saw coming has defined the foreign policy legacy of every Oval Office occupant since George HW Bush in 1989. Trump may lobby for a Nobel Prize and exaggerate his peace-making, but his and Rubios blind spot toward Bangladesh and Yunus effort to transform Bangladesh into an incubator of intolerance and Islamist radicalism will be as consequential to regional security as President Jimmy Carters naive belief that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini sought democracy rather than religious rule in Iran.

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Rather than take Yunus excuses and explanations at face value, Trump and Rubio should break with the naive and failed policies of Biden and then Secretary of State Antony Blinken. They should call events in Bangladesh what they are: a slow-motion coup, and should sanction Yunus for his complicity and his imprisonment of journalists and former lawmakers.

The United States should put Bangladesh on its religious freedom watchlist and designate Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami as a terrorist group. The United States should further revert recognition of Bangladeshs true leadership to Sheikh Hasina until forthcoming elections in which the Awami League should have equal and legal status. To do anything other would be to sacrifice religious liberty and democracy and sow the seeds for regional instability for decades to come.

Michael Rubin is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.

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India is uniquely positioned to fill the growing global skill shortage, with demand soaring in countries like Russia, Japan, Israel, and beyond, as the world faces a projected talent shortfall of over 85 million by 2030

Since the war with Ukraine, Russia has been grappling with a major labour shortage in its industrial hubs and plans to bring in up to one million foreign workers, including Indians. The shortfall could widen to 3.1 million workers by 2030, says the Russian Labour Ministry. To address the gap, the ministry wants to increase the quota for qualified foreign workers in 2025 by 1.5 times.

Russian companies in the machinery and electronics sectors are interested in hiring skilled Indian professionals to address the labour shortage. Indias Ambassador to Russia, Vinay Kumar, told Russian state news agency TASS that the demand for Indian workers was expanding beyond traditional sectors.

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At a broader level, there is a manpower requirement in Russia, and India has a skilled manpower. So at present, within the framework of Russian regulations, laws and quotas, the companies are hiring Indians, Kumar said. He pointed out that many Indians working in Russia so far have been employed in construction and textiles, but interest in hiring them for machinery and electronics roles has been steadily rising.

As far as I know, by the end of the year, 1 million specialists from India will come to Russia, including to the Sverdlovsk region. A new Consulate General is opening in Yekaterinburg, which will deal with these issues, Andrey Besedin, head of the Ural Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has said. Some Russian workers are deployed in the military operation in Ukraine, and many young Russians do not go to factories, he added. The Sverdlovsk region, in the Ural Mountains, is regarded as the backbone of Russian heavy industry and its military-industrial complex.

Demographics of Russia

The population of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) in 1950 was around 102.8 million. Russia has an estimated population of 146.0 million as of January 2025, down from 147.2 million recorded in the 2021 census. The total area of Russia is 17.1 million sq km. It has a population density of 8.5 inhabitants per square kilometre. Overall life expectancy is 73 years. The fertility rate is 1.41 children born per woman as of 2024, in line with the European average, which is below the replacement rate of 2.1.

Russia has one of the oldest populations in the world, with a median age of 41.9 years. There is a natural decline of the Russian population. It can be classified as a demographic crisis. According to the United Nations, Russias immigrant population is the worlds third largest, numbering over 11.6 million, most of whom are from other post-Soviet states. Russia needs labour to till land; they need skilled industrial workers and middle-level managers.

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Indians in Russia

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, there are approximately 62,825 Indians in Russia. The growing community is composed primarily of students (pursuing medical and technical degrees), businessmen, and a surge of labourers filling labour shortages. The diaspora is found in major cities like Moscow and is involved in various sectors, including trade, IT, and manufacturing. Many Indian businessmen operate trading companies, importing goods like tea, coffee, spices, pharmaceuticals, and garments from India.

Russia is seeing a sharp increase in Indian workers, with applications for employment visas rising dramatically and projections of over 40,000 Indian nationals arriving for work in 2025 to fill jobs in construction, textiles, agriculture, manufacturing, and warehousing. The Indian community in Russia, especially in Moscow, has faced difficulties in obtaining permission to build Hindu temples and sees limited infrastructure to support their cultural and religious practices.

Indians in West Asia

There is an over 9 million large Indian diaspora in West Asia, with people residing primarily in the UAE (over 3.5 million) and Saudi Arabia (around 2.5 million). They work in both skilled and unskilled roles. Skilled professionals include nurses and technicians, while many others work in blue-collar jobs. India seeks to expand economic ties and cooperation in various sectors, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, higher education, defence, space exploration, AI, and cybersecurity, to benefit both India and West Asian nations.

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The diaspora also enhances Indias soft power and cultural engagement in the region, exemplified by the huge Bollywood presence and the recent BAPS Hindu Temple in Abu Dhabi. This significant population contributes billions of dollars in remittances to Indias economy annually, boosting foreign exchange reserves and household incomes in India. While the exact numbers are not published, it is estimated that India receives over $135 billion in remittances, with a significant portion originating from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

West Asia is a politically volatile region marked by geopolitical tensions and proxy warfare, posing risks to the safety and livelihoods of Indian workers. Some Gulf countries have implemented Arabisation or indigenisation policies to prioritise local employment, which can affect expatriate workers. Also in some countries there are issues about labour living conditions and exploitation.

Indians in the US

There are over 5.2 million Indian Americans in the US, making them the second-largest Asian ethnic group and representing 21 per cent of the total Asian population. This demographic is characterised by high educational attainment and median household incomes significantly above the national average. The median household income is significantly higher than the national average, with half of households earning over $160,000. Indian Americans are a significant contributor to the US tax base and hold substantial wealth in Fortune 500 companies.

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A large portion, about two-thirds, are immigrants, though the number of US-born individuals is growing. The Indian American population has grown by over 174 per cent since 2000. The largest Indian American communities are found in California, Texas, New Jersey, and New York. Indian Americans often demonstrate high English proficiency compared to other Asian communities. The community is diverse, encompassing various regions and cultures from India, and known for its entrepreneurial spirit and contributions to various sectors, and it holds significant positions in politics, academia, and the corporate world.

Indian heads of major global corporations include tech leaders like Sundar Pichai (Alphabet/Google), Satya Nadella (Microsoft), and Arvind Krishna (IBM), along with others such as Leena Nair (Chanel), Ajay Banga (World Bank President), Rajeev Suri (Nokia), and Shantanu Narayen (Adobe). Neal Mohan (CEO of YouTube), Raj Subramaniam (CEO of FedEx), and many others. Their success highlights a growing trend of Indian-origin leaders heading major global organisations, driven by strong educational backgrounds and professional expertise.

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Yet, Trump-era new US visa rules affect Indian travellers due to longer waiting periods and no overseas interviews.

Indians in the UK

There are over 1.8 million people of Indian ethnicity in the UK, making them the largest ethnic minority group, with a history rooted in historical and colonial ties. British Indians are a diverse group, primarily of Punjabi, Gujarati, and Bengali origin, and have achieved significant success in various sectors like healthcare, technology, engineering, and politics, with Rishi Sunak serving as the Prime Minister. Key concentrations of the community are found in the London boroughs of Harrow and Brent and cities such as Ealing, Leicester and Birmingham.

Indians in Canada

As of the 2021 census, at 1.86 million, Indian Canadians are the largest non-European ethnic group in the country and form the fastest-growing national origin in Canada. Canada contains the worlds seventh-largest Indian diaspora. The highest concentrations are in Ontario and British Columbia, followed by growing communities in Alberta and Quebec as well, with the majority of them being foreign-born. They mostly speak Canadian English, Punjabi, Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati, and Bengali. The religion-wise breakdown is Sikhs (36 per cent), Hindus (32 per cent), Christians (12 per cent), Islam (11 per cent), and other Indian minorities.

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India became the highest source country of immigration to Canada by 2017, with yearly permanent residents increasing from 30,915 in 2012 to 85,585 in 2019, representing 25 per cent of total immigration to Canada. Additionally, India also became the top source country for international students in Canada, rising from 48,765 in 2015 to 219,855 in 2019.

Mirroring historical Indo-Canadian migration patterns, the majority of new immigrants from India continue to hail from Punjab, with an increasing proportion also hailing from Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. In the 2025 Canadian federal election, a record-setting 22 Canadians of Indian origin were elected to the Canadian House of Commons. Prominent figures of Indian descent have also served in powerful cabinet roles, such as Anita Anand as the Foreign Minister and Maninder Sidhu as the International Trade Minister in the Mark Carney administration.

Indian students comprise around 40 per cent of Canadas international students. Notwithstanding, according to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), nearly 80 per cent of Indian student visa applications were rejected in 2025.

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Indians in Australia

Indian Australians are one of the largest groups, with 976,000 persons declaring Indian ancestry at the 2021 census, representing 3.8 per cent of the Australian population. Regions with significant populations are Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide. Predominantly Hindu, but a significant number of Sikhs and Christians, among others. Indians are the youngest average age (34 years) and the fastest-growing community, both in terms of absolute numbers and percentages, in Australia.

India has been the largest source of new permanent annual migrants to Australia since 2016 and overall the third-largest source nation of cumulative total migrant population, behind England and China. Additionally, 70,000 students were studying in Australian universities and colleges. Indians are the highest educated migrant group in Australia, with 54.6 per cent of Indians in Australia having a bachelors or higher degree, more than three times Australias national average. India became the largest source of skilled migrants in the 21st century.

Japan Seeks To Hire Indians

In 2025, more than 29 per cent of Japans population will be over 65 years of age. Japan is currently facing a shortfall of nearly 2.5 lakhs in IT, AI, data science, etc., annually, emphasising overseas hires to fill expertise gaps beyond the domestic supply. Japans workforce is plummeting with a projected loss of over 11 million workers by 2040. This labour crisis is putting GDP & domestic production at risk unless overseas talent fills critical vacancies.

Japan has been actively seeking skilled Indian workers through programmes like the Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) visa across 14 sectors, which supports professionals in sectors like IT, healthcare, manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and many more with smoother immigration. Much more accessible than the complex and often delayed visa processes of the US, UK, or Germany, especially for Indian professionals. This effort is driven by a labour shortage and an ageing population, with the goal of attracting 50,000 skilled Indians over the next five years.

Opportunities exist for IT and tech professionals, English teachers, and specialists in areas like wellness and geriatric care. Indian tech specialists, including rookies, possess vast technical acumen & complex coding skills, especially in globally booming fields like IT, AI, ML, data science & engineering. Indian professionals bring more to a workplace at comparatively lower costs than workers from other nationalities. This perfectly matches Japans demand for innovation & digital transformation across all sectors.

Japan offers perks similar to Western countries, but with a culture similar to India. It is emerging as the best overseas career destination for Indian professionals. Japan has a stable economy and believes in long-term employment and job stability, unlike the US or UK, where short-term contracts & layoffs are common. This culture creates a dependable environment for career growth and financial planning. Compared to recent spikes in racism and unwillingness to welcome immigrants for working in the US and UK, Japan remains one of the safest, most respectful countries for Indians living and working abroad.

Both the Japanese and Indian workforces set high regard for punctuality, value hierarchy and relentless commitment to excellence. This company-first attitude augurs well for Indians, as they can get acclimatised and thrive in Japans structured workflow. Japanese companies workplace dynamics involve valuing team achievements rather than bolstering individual gains. This is a blessing in disguise for Indian professionals who are adept at relishing collaborative work environments and love contributing towards team and organisational success.

Japanese companies invest heavily in on-the-job training and long-term reskilling. This offers Indian workers continuous milestone-driven learning opportunities and professional growth, unlike the self-driven learning model adopted by Western countries. Unlike the short-term contract culture in the West paired with immediate firing in crunch situations, Japan offers stable jobs with well-defined career paths, bonuses, and loyalty rewards. This benefits Indian talents looking for long-term professional security.

Indian talent, in most cases, possesses excellent written and verbal English fluency & cross-cultural communication abilities, making them the best fit for middle- to upper-management roles. Additionally, Indians can learn Japanese much faster than other foreign professionals, with 3 to 4 months of training making them suitable for positions that require bilingual ability. Indian professionals have a flexible mindset and can transform shared values like hierarchy, loyalty and collectivism.

Bilateral agreements and MoUs between Japan and India promote structured talent exchange, encourage hiring through certified channels, and support Indian workers through placement, training, and legal protection frameworks.

Israel Needs Indian Workforce

Israel needs Indian workers, primarily to fill the significant labour shortage in its construction sector following the October 2023 conflict, which led to Palestinian construction workers being barred from the country. Under a bilateral agreement, thousands of Indian construction workers and caregivers have been recruited, with the potential for more to fill vital labour gaps in Israels rebuilding efforts.

A formal agreement between India and Israel was signed in November 2023 to facilitate temporary employment of Indian workers. Recruitment drives have focused on skilled Indian construction workers, particularly in areas like framework, iron bending, and tiling. Indian workers also fill positions in the caregiver sector. The partnership offers significant economic benefits, with nearly three-times higher wages in Israel providing a strong incentive for Indian workers, while India benefits from the remittances sent home by its citizens. It provides a powerful incentive for workers from states such as Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar to seek employment abroad.

Thousands of Indian workers have arrived in Israel under the bilateral framework agreement, with ongoing efforts to recruit many more. The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in India is involved in organising recruitment drives and aligning Indian skilling programmes with global demands. The government-to-government (G2G) recruitment process helps protect workers from exploitation by middlemen.

Way Ahead

A recent FICCI-KPMG study, Global Mobility of Indian Workforce, has estimated that by 2030, the demand for skilled workers will exceed supply, leading to a talent shortage of over 85.2 million people. Major shortages will be in many economies like Germany, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US. The rate at which this shortage is growing, around 12 per cent per annum, is outpacing the economic growth of any of these countries. In 25 years, that shortfall could reach 250 million. Thats a staggering gap. While several African economies also have labour surpluses, they often lack the infrastructure or governance systems to benefit from them. India is uniquely placed to help fill this gap.

The global labour market does not seem to be future-ready. The skills needed in 2030 will be quite different from what we have today. This is a challenge for the entire world. India already contributes about 700,000 workers abroad each year, particularly in technology, healthcare, transportation, and hospitality. Indian talent is generally well-regarded globally. The growing opportunity is waiting to be tapped. Get going, India.

The writer is former Director General, Centre for Air Power Studies. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
A Tunisian court has sentenced a man to death over Facebook posts deemed offensive to President Kais Saied, drawing sharp criticism from human rights groups

The lawyer explained his client was found guilty of "insulting the president, the minister of justice, and the judiciary"

A Tunisian court in Nabeul has sentenced a 51-year-old man to death over Facebook posts considered offensive to President Kais Saied, his lawyer and a human rights group said on Friday. The defendant, identified as Saber Chouchane by rights activists, was convicted on charges that included spreading false news, according to his lawyer, Oussama Bouthelja.

Bouthelja said that Chouchane was found guilty of insulting the president, the minister of justice, and the judiciary, and that some of his posts were deemed to be incitement. The court delivered its verdict on Wednesday. An appeal against the ruling will be filed, Bouthelja said. Chouchane was detained in January 2024, reported AFP.

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Rights concerns and legal context

The Paris-based Tunisian human rights group CRLDHT condemned the sentence, describing it as setting a serious precedent and calling for Chouchanes immediate release. The group stated Tunisia has reached unprecedented levels of human rights violations.

Under Tunisian law, an attack intended to change the state structure or incite residents to attack each other with weapons, causing chaos, murder and robbery on Tunisian soil is punishable by death. While death sentences continue to be issued, Tunisia has not carried out executions since 1991.

President Saied, elected in 2019, staged a sweeping consolidation of power in 2021. Since then, rights groups have voiced concerns over reduced freedoms. In September 2022, Saied introduced Decree 54, which criminalises spreading false news and has been criticised for curbing free speech. Dozens of Saieds critics have faced prosecution under this law and remain in detention. Critics have also accused Tunisias judiciary of following political instructions, although Saied insists the courts operate independently and protect individual freedoms.
Jeff Bezos warns of an AI industrial bubble amid high valuations but predicts the technology will bring major societal benefits in the long term.

Jeff Bezos noted that although companies are investing billions in computing infrastructure to drive AI breakthroughs, the technology still falls short of many of its promised capabilities. (Image credit: AFP)

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos compared todays rapid surge in artificial intelligence to an industrial bubble, cautioning that some investments will inevitably be lost, while stressing the technologys potential for lasting benefits. Speaking at a tech conference in Italy on Friday, Bezos acknowledged the fervour around AI but insisted that the excitement did not diminish its reality or transformative potential. AI is real, and it is going to change every industry, he said.

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Bezos pointed out that while companies are investing billions in computing infrastructure to power AI breakthroughs, the technology still falls short of many of its anticipated capabilities. Equally uncertain is how companies will profit from AI innovations. This has led to concerns over whether valuations for AI-related stocks are inflated.

Those bubbles society wants to avoid. The ones that are industrial are not nearly as bad, it could even be good, because when the dust settles and you see who are the winners, society benefits from those inventions and thats whats going to happen here.

Bezos, who has invested in the American generative AI start-up Perplexity, added, This is real. The benefits to society from AI are going to be gigantic.

Market valuations and future outlook

Among the Magnificent Seven stocks, five are trading above their five-year average price/earnings ratios. Alphabet stands at 23.4 times expected earnings over the next 12 months; Apple at 32.1 times; Meta Platforms at 24.6 times; Microsoft at 31.8 times; and Tesla at 188.8 times forward earnings. Amazon and Nvidia are below their five-year averages, at 30.2 times and 32.7 times forward earnings respectively. The S&P 500 is trading at 23 times forward earnings, compared with its five-year average of 20.3 times.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, expressed similar optimism at a news conference on September 23 at the first Stargate data centre in Abilene, Texas. We are confident that this technology will drive a new wave of unprecedented economic growth, he said. Not just economic growth, but peoples lives will be much better. Scientific breakthroughs, huge quality of life improvements, new ways to express creativity.
China is providing intelligence to Russia to enable Moscow to better launch missile strikes inside Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian intelligence official was quoted as saying on Saturday.

This is an AI generated image for representational purpose.

A senior Ukrainian intelligence official has accused China of providing intelligence support to Russia to aid its missile strikes on Ukraine.

Oleh Alexandrov, an official with Ukraines Foreign Intelligence Agency, told the state-run Ukrinform news agency on Saturday that Beijing has been sharing satellite intelligence with Moscow. The information reportedly includes data on targets inside Ukraine, including those linked to foreign investment.

Ukraine has not provided evidence to support the claim, and China has not commented on the allegation.

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There is evidence of a high level of cooperation between Russia and China in conducting satellite reconnaissance of the territory of Ukraine in order to identify and further explore strategic objects for targeting, Alexandrov told Ukrinform.

As we have seen in recent months, these sites may belong to foreign investors.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and regional officials said a Russian missile attack in August struck a U.S.-owned appliance factory in the western Zakarpattia region, injuring 15 people.

Zelenskyy said in April that China was supplying weapons and gunpowder to Russia. He also said that his government had intelligence that China was producing weapons on Russian territory.
Hamas has agreed to release all hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, following which Trump ordered Israel to immediately stop the bombardment of Gaza

PM Narendra Modi greets the gathering during the foundation stone laying and inauguration of various development projects at a public rally, in Jharsuguda, Odisha. Image Courtesy: @NarendraModi/X via PTI Photo

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday welcomed US President Donald Trumps peace efforts in Gaza, highlighting that the agreement to release all hostages is a significant step forward.

We welcome President Trumps leadership as peace efforts in Gaza make decisive progress. Indications of the release of hostages mark a significant step forward, PM Modi said in a post on X.

We welcome President Trumps leadership as peace efforts in Gaza make decisive progress. Indications of the release of hostages mark a significant step forward.



India will continue to strongly support all efforts towards a durable and just peace.@realDonaldTrump @POTUS  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 4, 2025

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On late Friday, Hamas agreed to release all hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, following which Trump ordered Israel to immediately stop the bombardment of Gaza.

Last month, the prime minister said that the US president's 20-point plan was a step towards reaching long-term peace and security for not just Israelis and Palestinians but the region at large.

The Palestinian group has also agreed to surrender governing power in the Gaza Strip, in accordance with Trumps plan, marking a major moment for Gazas future. In a statement over the matter, Hamas asked for further negotiations on other parts of the plan, and did not say whether it would lay down its arms, a key part of Trumps proposal unveiled on Monday.

The latest assertions from Trump underlined that Israel and Hamas are the closest they have been in two years to achieving an end to the Gaza war, which has caused a major humanitarian crisis in the coastal enclave.

Whats the peace plan?

The plan specifies an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of all hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and the introduction of a transitional government led by an international body.

Many elements of the 20 points have been included in numerous ceasefire deals proposed over the last two years, including those accepted and then subsequently rejected at various stages by both Israel and Hamas.

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Under the fresh plan, once all hostages are freed, Israel will release 250 prisoners serving life sentences, along with 1,700 Gazans detained after October 7, 2023, including all women and children held during that period. Additionally, for each Israeli hostage whose remains are returned, Israel will hand over the remains of 15 deceased Gazans.
As President Donald Trump pushes Israel and Hamas toward his 20-point peace plan, signs of calm are emerging in Gaza but deep uncertainties remain. With timelines unclear, key issues like Hamas disarmament, Israels withdrawal, and Gazas future governance could decide whether this marks the wars end or just another fragile pause.

Palestinians walk on a coastal path northwest of Nuseirat refugee camp as they are displaced southward following an Israeli announcement of closing Al-Rashid road towards the north of the besieged Gaza Strip on October 4, 2025.- AFP

After more than two years of war, Gaza may be edging closer to an uneasy calm, though whether this marks the beginning of peace or yet another false dawn remains uncertain.

US President Donald Trumps latest intervention has shifted the diplomatic calculus. Following Hamas conditional acceptance of key elements of his 20-point peace plan, Trump urged Israel to halt its bombardment of Gaza, claiming the moment had come to end the suffering and restore peace.

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Israel, in turn, announced it would begin immediate implementation of the plans first stage after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus visit to Washington.

Cautious calm after months of devastation

The first signs of change are already visible on the ground. Gazans reported heavy bombardments immediately after Trumps appeal but said strikes have since slowed considerably, with long stretches of calm interrupted by occasional blasts. Still, few are declaring peace just yet.

Previous truces have collapsed swiftly. Temporary ceasefires in 2023 and early 2025 broke down within weeks, as both sides accused each other of violations and returned to fighting. Analysts caution that this latest pause could prove similarly fragile.

Hamas, Israel to hold indirect Gaza hostage talks in Cairo

Hamas and Israel will engage in indirect talks in Cairo on Sunday and Monday to secure the release of hostages and detainees, Egyptian state-linked media reported Saturday.

Al-Qahera News, which is closely linked to Egypts intelligence service, reported that both delegations have begun moving to launch talks in Cairo tomorrow and the day after, to discuss arranging the ground conditions for the exchange of all detainees and prisoners, in accordance with Trumps proposal.

A plan short on timelines

Trumps proposal outlines an end to hostilities once both sides agree, followed by the release of all Israeli hostages within 72 hours. Yet, crucial ambiguities remain not least when that clock begins. Netanyahu endorsed the plan days before Hamas responded, leaving the sequence of implementation unclear.

The logistical challenges are also daunting. Hamas sources told regional media that while handing over living hostages might be relatively straightforward, recovering bodies from Gazas ruins could take far longer. Israel says 48 hostages remain in Gaza, including 20 believed to be alive.

Moreover, Hamas statement left key points unresolved. It accepted the broad framework to end the war and the idea of transferring Gazas governance to a technocratic Palestinian administration backed by Arab and Islamic states. But it avoided explicit mention of disarmament, a central demand in Trumps plan and one of Israels chief war aims.

Political calculus on both sides

For Netanyahu, backing the plan may be a tactical decision, an attempt to maintain US support while managing pressure from far-right coalition partners vehemently opposed to Palestinian statehood or any concession to Hamas. His government remains deeply divided, and even a limited pullback could provoke political turmoil in Jerusalem.

Hamas, by contrast, appears to be pursuing strategic ambiguity. By conditionally engaging with Trumps proposal, agreeing to release hostages while leaving contentious issues open, the group has effectively shifted responsibility to Israel and regional mediators such as Qatar and Egypt.

By saying yes, but, Hamas has placed the onus back on Netanyahu and the Arab states, said Amjad Iraqi, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group. Its a move that preserves its political leverage while appearing constructive.

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Israels conditional assent

Netanyahus approval of Trumps plan is itself remarkable. The framework hints at a potential, albeit conditional, path toward Palestinian statehood, an outcome the Israeli prime minister has repeatedly ruled out. Yet, the inclusion of such language may have been necessary to secure Hamas participation and broader Arab support.

Still, analysts caution against overstating the breakthrough. Getting both sides to engage at all is a significant achievement, said Oren Setter, a senior fellow at Harvards Belfer Center and former head of the Israel Defence Forces strategic planning division. But this is the beginning of the process, not the end.

Obstacles to lasting peace

Major hurdles remain before any durable peace can emerge. The Trump plan envisions an international transitional body, chaired by the US president and including figures such as former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to oversee Gazas governance. Hamas response mentioned no such mechanism, suggesting potential friction over future authority.

Meanwhile, the question of Israels military withdrawal remains murky. Hamas called for a full withdrawal, while Trumps plan described a staged retreat to prepare for hostage exchanges. Such differences could easily reignite tensions if implementation falters.

Hope tempered by history

For Gazas two million residents, exhausted by bombardment and displacement, even partial calm feels like a reprieve. We have had so many false dawns, one resident told Reuters. We just hope this one lasts.

Trump has framed his initiative as the final push for long-sought peace in the Middle East. Whether it ends the war or simply resets it for another cycle will depend on whether both Hamas and Israel can translate their cautious engagement into action and whether Washington can sustain its leverage long enough to see it through.
The death toll in the nearly two-year Israel-Hamas war has passed 67,000 Palestinians, Gazas Health Ministry said Saturday.

Palestinians flee south via Salah al-Din Road, in central Gaza, on the third day of a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on November 26, 2023. File Photo- AP

The death toll in the nearly two-year Israel-Hamas conflict has surpassed 67,000 Palestinians, Gazas Health Ministry reported Saturday. The rise comes after the ministry added over 700 names whose data had recently been verified.

Israels military said it is preparing for the first phase of US President Donald Trumps plan to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of the remaining hostages. An official, speaking anonymously, said the army has adopted a defensive-only posture and will not conduct active strikes.

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On October 1, Israels defence minister ordered all remaining Palestinians to evacuate Gaza City, warning that those who stay would be considered militant supporters and face the full force of Israels offensive.

At least 21 Palestinians were killed across the territory, according to local hospitals, as Hamas reviewed a new proposal from Trump aimed at ending the conflict and returning the captives taken in Hamas October 7, 2023 attack.

A senior Hamas official told The Associated Press that some points in the plan were unacceptable and would require amendments, but further details will be discussed with other Palestinian factions.

Meanwhile, around 400,000 Palestinians have fled famine-stricken Gaza City since Israel launched its offensive last month. Hundreds of thousands remain in the city, many unable to leave due to financial constraints or physical weakness, preventing them from reaching tent camps in the south.

This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south, Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X. Those who remain in Gaza will be (considered) terrorists and terror supporters.

The road south was packed as Palestinians fled, with hastily loaded trucks and cars driving alongside people on foot carrying their belongings.

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We left barefoot, Hussein al-Del said. The Israelis were striking at random, with no mercy for anyone. We left behind our food, our furniture, blankets, and everything. We left only with our souls," he said.

At least seven people, including first responders, were killed when two Israeli strikes minutes apart hit a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, according to Al-Ahli Hospital, where the casualties were taken. Officials there said more than three dozen people were wounded.

Five Palestinians were killed later in a strike on people gathered around a drinking water tank elsewhere in Gaza City, the hospital said. Shifa Hospital said a man was killed in a strike on his apartment. Strikes in central Gaza killed another eight people, according to Al-Awda Hospital.

Another strike hit a tent in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah, seriously wounding two people, according to hospital officials.

Earlier on October 1 at the same hospital, dozens of people attended a funeral service for a Palestinian freelance journalist, Yahya Barzaq. He was killed Tuesday along with five other people in an airstrike while working for Turkish broadcast outlet TRT.

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More than 189 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the outbreak of the war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on October 1 strikes or the strike that killed Barzaq. Israel states it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths, saying its militants are embedded in populated areas.

The military said at least seven projectiles were launched into Israel from Gaza, all of which were either intercepted or fell in open areas. There were no reports of casualties. Hamas military capabilities have been vastly depleted, but it still manages to carry out sporadic attacks.

With inputs from inputs
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office early on Saturday said that the government is preparing to immediately implement the first phase of Trumps Gaza peace plan

Hamas accepted part of US President Donald Trumps ultimatum to end the war, prompting him to call on Israel to 'immediately' halt its bombardment of Gaza. (Image credit: AFP)

Hamas on Saturday said that it is ready to discuss and resolve all the outstanding issues the group has with US President Donald Trump after it partially accepted his deal, breaking a stalemate in the Gaza war.

We are ready to begin negotiations immediately to finalise all issues, a senior Hamas official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Hamas has agreed to release all hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, following which Trump ordered Israel to immediately stop the bombardment of Gaza.

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Hamass response to Trumps 20-point peace plan has offered optimism to the world that there can finally be a resolution to the long-drawn war in Gaza that has killed thousands in the past two years.

Israel enters first phase of peace plan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office early on Saturday said that the government is preparing to immediately implement the first phase of Trumps Gaza peace plan.

In light of Hamass response, Israel is preparing to immediately implement the first phase of Trumps plan for the immediate release of all hostages, the statement said.

It added, We will continue to work in full cooperation with the President and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles set forth by Israel that are consistent with President Trumps vision.

Strikes continue in Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been ordered to halt the offensive in Gaza after Hamas partially accepted US President Donald Trumps peace plan. However, some Palestinian media reports suggest that strikes are still being conducted in Gaza.

The IDF has said that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir instructed troops to remove any threat. Hamas has agreed to release all hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

A report by Times of Israel mentioned Palestinian media as saying that four people were killed in a strike in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, and artillery shelling was carried out in an area north of Bureij in central Gaza and in the Khan Younis area in the Strips south.

Overnight, the IDF released a statement saying that per the order of the political echelon, Zamir had directed troops to prepare for the implementation of the first stage of Trumps plans to free the hostages. The statement, issued after a meeting with top generals for a special situational assessment in light of the developments, did not specify what the order involved.

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Hamas expresses conditional support for Trumps Gaza peace proposal, emphasising prisoner exchanges, humanitarian aid and Gaza governance while asserting procedural safeguards and security assurances.

Palestinians flee south via Salah al-Din Road, in central Gaza, on the third day of a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on November 26, 2023. File Photo- AP

Hamas has signalled a tentative and conditional approach to US President Donald Trumps latest Gaza peace proposal, laying out a framework that emphasises Palestinian agency while carefully delineating the boundaries of its commitment.

The statement, issued on Friday, highlighted the groups effort to balance international diplomacy without compromising its strategic priorities.

The Islamic Resistance Movement welcomed the efforts of the United States, Arab nations, and international actors aimed at ending the conflict. Central to Hamass response were calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities in Gaza, the release and exchange of prisoners, urgent humanitarian assistance and a firm rejection of occupation or the forced displacement of Palestinians.

We value the efforts made by the Arab, Islamic, and international parties, as well as those of the US President, calling for an end to the war on the Gaza Strip, Hamas stated, emphasising the role of multilateral diplomacy in shaping the conflicts resolution.

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Conditional prisoner exchange

A key component of Trumps proposal involves a prisoner exchange, and Hamas expressed its conditional approval. The movement indicated that it would release all Israeli prisoners, living and deceased, under the agreed formula, provided the necessary field conditions for implementation were secured. This phrasing underscores Hamass insistence on procedural safeguards and its need to maintain leverage in ongoing negotiations.

The group also confirmed its willingness to engage immediately with mediators to discuss the logistics of the exchange. Analysts suggest this signals a tactical openness to Trumps plan, while leaving space for Hamas to shape the negotiation process on its own terms.

Governance of Gaza

Beyond immediate security and humanitarian concerns, Hamas addressed the future governance of Gaza. The group reaffirmed its approval of transferring authority to an independent Palestinian administration, described as a technocratic entity backed by Arab and Islamic states.

This represents a subtle acknowledgment of the international communitys role in overseeing Gazas administration, while allowing Hamas to maintain influence through participation in the process.

The statement further indicated that issues relating to broader Palestinian rights and the long-term future of Gaza would be addressed through an inclusive national framework aligned with international law.

Hamas emphasised its full participation in such a framework, signalling a willingness to engage with other Palestinian factions while retaining its strategic objectives.

Analysing Hamass approach

Observers note that Hamass response reflects a careful balancing act. By framing its engagement as conditional, the movement is able to appear cooperative to international audiences, while safeguarding its core political and military interests.

The insistence on field conditions, procedural guarantees, and adherence to international law demonstrates an attempt to control the pace and scope of implementation.

The response also highlights Hamass diplomatic acumen. By publicly approving aspects of Trumps plan, the group positions itself as a pragmatic actor willing to negotiate, while simultaneously asserting that ultimate compliance is contingent on security assurances. This dual approach allows Hamas to maintain credibility both with its constituents in Gaza and with the wider Arab and Islamic world.

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Next steps

The international community, including the United States, will now need to work closely with mediators to translate the plan from proposal to actionable steps. The success of the initiative will depend on the ability of all parties to meet Hamass conditions, implement safeguards, and manage the complex humanitarian and political realities on the ground.

For the time being, Hamass response signals cautious engagement rather than outright acceptance. It demonstrates an awareness that while international backing and US involvement are valuable, the movement retains decisive influence over the fate of Gazas governance, humanitarian access, and security arrangements.
The UNs nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, has called on Ukraine and Russia to show the political will to secure the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and restore its external power line, which has been cut off since 23 September.

A view shows Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol after the Nova Kakhovka dam breached, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine June 16, 2023. REUTERS

The head of the UNs nuclear watchdog, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, urged Ukraine and Russia on Friday to show the political will needed to keep the area around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant safe and restore its external power line.

Europes largest nuclear facility, with six reactors, has been under Russian control since the early weeks of Moscows invasion. It has been cut off from external power since 23 September  the tenth time the line has failed  forcing the plant to rely on emergency diesel generators to cool fuel in its reactors.

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Grossi stresses political will over technical issues

Grossi said both sides had agreed they were ready to carry out repairs on their respective sides of the frontline. But for this to happen, the security situation on the ground must improve so that the technicians can carry out their vital work without endangering their lives, he said. Im calling on both sides to do what is necessary to prevent a further deterioration. It is a question of political will, not whether it is technically possible, which it is.

Blame game over nuclear safety

Each side has accused the other of putting nuclear safety at risk. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine this week that strikes near the plant are playing a dangerous game, while Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Moscow of deliberately cutting the line to connect the plant to its own grid.

Power cut at Chornobyl raises further concerns

Grossi also drew attention to a recent power cut at the decommissioned Chornobyl nuclear plant, which lasted 16 hours.

During the blackout, the containment vessel built in 2016 experienced a partial loss of power and had no reserve electricity for three hours when the nearby town of Slavutych lost its power line.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of deliberately staging the attack that cut power to Chornobyl.
Gazas civil defence agency has also said that Israel carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City despite Trumps appeal

Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward along a destroyed area after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip, September 23, 2025. Reuters file

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been ordered to halt the offensive in Gaza after Hamas partially accepted US President Donald Trumps peace plan. However, some Palestinian media reports suggest that strikes are still being conducted in Gaza.

The IDF, early on Saturday, said that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir instructed troops to remove any threat. Hamas has agreed to release all hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, following which Trump ordered Israel to immediately stop the bombardment of Gaza.

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A report by Times of Israel mentioned Palestinian media as saying that four people were killed in a strike in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, and artillery shelling was carried out in an area north of Bureij in central Gaza and in the Khan Younis area in the Strips south.

Overnight, the IDF released a statement saying that per the order of the political echelon, Zamir had directed troops to prepare for the implementation of the first stage of Trumps plans to free the hostages. The statement, issued after a meeting with top generals for a special situational assessment in light of the developments, did not specify what the order involved.

Meanwhile, Gazas civil defence agency has also said that Israel carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City despite Trumps appeal.

It was a very violent night, during which the (Israeli army) carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City and other areas in the Strip, despite President Trumps call to halt the bombing, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Bassal, whose agency is a rescue force which operates under Hamas authority, added that 20 homes were destroyed in the overnight bombardments.

Gazas Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis said two children were killed and eight people were wounded in a drone strike on a tent in a camp for displaced Gazans.

The peace plan for Gaza, presented by Trump this week and backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages within 72 hours, Hamass disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

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With inputs from agencies
A 27 year old Indian student from Hyderabad was shot dead by unidentified assailants at a gas station in the US state of Texas, authorities said on Saturday.

A 27-year-old student from Hyderabad (India) was fatally shot at a Texas gas station by unknown attackers, authorities reported Saturday.

Chandrashekar Pole, who was working part-time at the Dallas station, was killed during what local media described as a robbery on Friday.

The Dallas Police Department confirmed that an investigation into the incident is underway.

We are actively investigating the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident and working to bring clarity to the case, a police spokesperson said.

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Chandrashekar had completed his Bachelor of Dental Surgery in Hyderabad, and had gone to the US two years ago for an MS, his brother Damodar told reporters. He was enrolled in Masters in Data Analytics at the University of North Texas, Denton.

He completed the degree six months ago and was looking for a job, his brother said, adding that Chandrashekar was working part time at the gas station to support himself.

Expressing grief over the demise of the student, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family.

Assuring support to the family of the deceased, Revanth Reddy said his government would extend all cooperation to bring back the body.

The Dallas County Medical Examiners Office is yet to release the official cause of death or issue a death certificate, a necessary document before the body can be released for repatriation.

Expressing concern over the incident, BRS MLA T Harish Rao called the killing tragic and said he and other party leaders visited the bereaved family and offered condolences.

The Consulate General of India (CGI) in Houston, which oversees Texas and nearby states, is coordinating with local authorities and the victims family.

In a post on X, the consulate said the investigation is ongoing, and it is following up closely with them, and providing continued support to the family during this difficult time.

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We are providing all possible consular assistance to the family, including facilitating communication with local authorities and expediting necessary paperwork, a CGI official said.

Repatriation of mortal remains requires completion of legal formalities, including issuance of a death certificate and No Objection Certificates from the consulate.

The incident has brought attention to safety concerns for international students working part-time jobs in the US, especially in roles that may expose them to risks during late hours.

Past incidents involving Indian students in the US, including shootings and unexplained deaths, have underscored safety concerns and the complexities involved in repatriation.

In January this year, a 26-year-old student from Telangana, who was living in Connecticut in America, was allegedly shot dead by unidentified persons, while another man from Ranga Reddy district was found dead with bullet wounds in the US.

In September, a 30-year-old man from Mahabubnagar district died in California after allegedly being shot by police following a scuffle with his roommate.

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Various cases have seen Indian consulates actively assisting families, often after lengthy legal and bureaucratic processes.

With inputs from agencies
Iran executed six death-row inmates Saturday it alleged carried out attacks in the countrys oil-rich southwest on behalf of Israel, the latest prisoners to be put to death in a wave of executions believed to be the highest in decades.

The executions follow the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June, which ended with Tehran vowing it would target its enemies at home and abroad. However, activists warn Iran often relies on coerced confessions and closed-door trials in its death penalty cases, particularly those involving Israel.

Iran said the men killed police officers and security forces, as well as orchestrated bombings targeting sites around Khorramshahr in Irans restive Khuzestan province. Iranian state television aired footage of one of the men talking about the attacks, saying it was the first time the details were being made public.

A Kurdish group called the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported the mens execution, identifying them all as Arab political prisoners detained during protests in 2019. It said Iran had accused the men of having links to the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz, which has launched attacks against oil pipelines in Irans southwest in the past and other attacks.

The six men were subjected to severe torture and coerced into giving televised confessions under duress, Hengaw said.

The Arab population of Khuzestan has long complained of discrimination by Irans central government. The region also has been roiled like other parts of Iran in the waves of nationwide protests the country has seen in recent years.

Iran separately put to death another inmate Saturday it accused of killing a Sunni cleric in 2009 in Irans Kurdistan province, among other crimes.

In response to those protests and the June war, Iran has been putting prisoners to death at a pace unseen since 1988, when it executed thousands at the end of the Iran-Iraq war.

The Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights and the Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran put the number of people executed in 2025 at over 1,000, noting the figure could be higher as Iran does not report on each execution.

Independent human rights experts at the United Nations have also criticized Irans executions.

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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.)
Israel carried out airstrikes in Gaza on Saturday (Oct 4), killing six people, just hours after Trump called for a halt to the bombing. Earlier, Trump said Hamas had agreed to release hostages and accept key terms of a US-brokered peace plan.

A view of the site of Thursday's Israeli strike that damaged and destroyed residential buildings, at Shati (Beach) refugee camp, in Gaza City. Reuters

Israel carried out airstrikes in Gaza on Saturday (Oct 4), Reuters reported, citing local authorities, just hours after US President Donald Trump called for a halt to the bombing, saying Hamas had agreed to release hostages and accept key terms of a US-brokered peace plan.

Gaza officials said six people were killed in the strikes  four in a home in Gaza City and two in Khan Younis in the south.

Israel prepares for Trumps peace plan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said Israel was preparing for the immediate implementation of the first stage of Trumps Gaza plan following Hamas response.

Shortly after, Israeli media reported that the government had instructed the military to scale back offensive operations.

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The Israel Defense Forces chief of staff said troops were being readied to carry out the plan, though he did not confirm any reduction in combat activity.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, responded to Trumps 20-point plan after the US president gave the group until Sunday to accept or face grave consequences.

Israel must immediately stop the bombing: Trump

Trump, who has positioned himself as a key mediator, said on Friday he believed Hamas was ready for a lasting PEACE and called on Netanyahu to act.

Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! he wrote on Truth Social. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long-sought PEACE in the Middle East.

Israel signals cooperation with US plan

Netanyahus office said Israel will continue to work in full cooperation with the President and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles set out by Israel, which align with President Trumps vision.

Families of hostages and a war-weary public are pressing Netanyahu to negotiate, while hardline members of his coalition insist on continuing military operations.

October 7 attack and Israels offence

Israel launched its offensive after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. About 48 hostages remain, 20 reportedly alive. Gaza health authorities say over 66,000 people have been killed, most civilians, and the assault has left much of the strip in ruins, with famine and dire conditions across the enclave.
Palestinian Ambassador to India, Abdullah Mohammad Abu Shawesh, said that the release of hostages from Gaza cannot happen if it is a complicated war zone.

Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward along a destroyed area after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip, September 23, 2025. Reuters file

Palestinian Ambassador to India, Abdullah Mohammad Abu Shawesh, said that the release of hostages from Gaza cannot happen if it is a complicated war zone. While speaking to CNN News18, the Palestinian envoy said that the details of Hamas accepting US President Donald Trumps Gaza peace plan are yet to be discussed, and the Palestinian side will be waiting for that.

Hamas accepted the President Trump Plan, but details have to be discussed. They have an issue with Tony Blairs name, but that can be discussed. Our official position has been one force of Palestine, so Hamas giving up weapons is our official position, he told CNN News18.

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Release of hostages cannot happen like that; it is a complicated war zone, he added. Shawesh also spoke about the historical ties between India and Palestine. India and Palestine have historical relations. India supports a two-state solution, and is a key pillar in the political arena," he said.

Is the Israel-Hamas war coming to an end?

The latest assertions from Trump underlined that Israel and Hamas are the closest they have been in two years to achieving an end to the Gaza war, which has caused a major humanitarian crisis in the coastal enclave.

Trump is widely seen as the only international leader with the power to compel the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to agree to a ceasefire deal. In their Friday statement, Hamas said it was giving its approval of releasing all occupation prisoners  both living and remains  according to the exchange formula contained in President Trumps proposal, with the necessary field conditions for implementing the exchange."

The Palestinian group also maintained that it was willing to turn over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independent technocrats based on Palestinian national consensus and supported by Arab and Islamic backing.

However, Hamas made it clear that other issues in Trumps proposal would need to be discussed further within a unified Palestinian national framework. While the issue is not specified, it is likely to include arms, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and international guarantees for a permanent ceasefire.

What does Trumps plan entail?

It is pertinent to note that Trumps plan called for an immediate end to fighting in Gaza, an exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners within 72 hours of the deals signing, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and a transitional authority led by Trump.

The American leaders proposal also called for a surge of aid to Gaza, parts of which are experiencing famine, and the reconstruction of the mostly demolished strip. While the deal was largely seen as unfavourable to Hamas, there has been international pressure on the group to accept the plan, with most regional and global powers welcoming the Trump initiative.

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While Hamas immediately did not agree to disarm, its acceptance of a hostage handover will be seen as significant. 48 hostages have been used as leverage throughout the nearly two-year war. Hence, giving them up would leave the group with few bargaining chips going forward.
Japan is all set to witness history as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party [LDP] picks Sanae Takaichi as the leader of the party, paving the way for her to be countrys first female prime minister

Sanae Takaichi is expected to become Japans first female prime minister after winning the Liberal Democratic partys leadership election. Reuters

Japan is all set to witness history as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party [LDP] picks Sanae Takaichi as the leader of the party, paving the way for her to be the first female prime minister of the country. Takaichi, a right-winger, has pledged to build a strong and prosperous Japan on the international stage.

During the Saturday ballot, she managed to beat her moderate rival, Shinjiro Koizumi, in a runoff election at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo on Saturday. LDP conducted the polls after former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced his resignation as the party leader. Ishiba was in office for a year, and at that time, his appointment angered the right wing of his party.

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Takaichi now inherits a LDP that has suffered two bruising elections in the past year as voters punished it over a funding scandal and its failure to address the cost-of-living crisis. Recently, I have heard harsh voices from across the country saying we dont know what the LDP stands for anymore, Takaichi said moments before the runoff vote. That sense of urgency drove me. I wanted to turn peoples anxieties about their daily lives and the future into hope.

How it played out

According to Kyodo Times, Takaichi won the first round of voting, securing 183 of 589 votes, with Koizumi in second place with 164 votes. With that, three other candidates were knocked out of the contest.

The runoff, in which MPs votes were given greater weight than those of rank-and-file party members, theoretically favoured Koizumi, who was said to be more popular among lawmakers. However, it was Takaichi who emerged as a winner after the second decisive round of voting.

While the LDP-led coalition no longer holds a majority of seats in parliament, Takaichi is widely expected to be approved as prime minister when MPs vote in the middle of the month. To deny her the prime ministership, opposition parties would have to unite behind their own candidate  a scenario observers have described as unthinkable.

Takaichis immediate task will now be to unite her party and win back public support after more than a year of scandal and poor election results.
The final boat out of the 42 flotilla that was heading to Gaza with humanitarian aid was intercepted by the Israeli forces on Friday

People stand on a boat from a flotilla that had been carrying aid to Gaza until it was intercepted by Israel, docked in the port of Larnaca, Cyprus. Reuters

The final boat out of the 42 flotilla that was heading to Gaza with humanitarian aid was intercepted by the Israeli forces on Friday. The boat, along with other vessels carrying activists, politicians, etc., was trying to breach Israels 16-year maritime blockade to deliver aid to the Palestinian coastal enclave, struggling with a grave humanitarian crisis.

A live stream from the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) late on Thursday evening showed the Polish-flagged sailing boat Marinette still sailing strong towards Gaza after the Israeli government claimed that they had halted the flotilla carrying about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists, including Greta Thunberg.

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On Friday, Israels foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar, said that procedures are being undertaken to deport the participants who are in custody. Four Italian MPs among the 40 Italian nationals taking part in the flotilla are expected to return on a scheduled flight to Italy, The Guardian reported.

Meanwhile, footage from Thursday night showed the final boat of the flotilla crewed by six people, including three Turkish citizens, a German and an Omani. Speaking via a video call with flotilla organisers. We have a bunch of very tough Turks onboard  weve got a lady from Oman and me, and were just going to continue in the direction," the Australian captain of Marinette said.

The ship that joined late

While speaking to the media, Hannah Claire Smith, a flotilla spokesperson, said Marinette had joined the flotilla late after bad weather forced it to return to the port of Barcelona. Smith noted that, probably because of this delay, Marinette managed to surprise the Israelis.

According to The Guardian, the boat was intercepted on Friday morning when GSF estimated that it was 42.5 nautical miles from the Gaza coast. This was the first time since Israel imposed a naval blockade in 2009 that an unauthorised humanitarian mission had come closer than 70 nautical miles to Gaza.

According to the flotillas live tracker, a sailing boat named Mikeno also appeared to have crossed into Gazas territorial waters, idling 9 miles off the coast before being intercepted. GSF maintained that it had no firm information on the matter since the organisers had lost contact with Mikenos crew hours earlier.

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It could be a tracker error or a technical issue with the monitoring, said Smith. We will only have confirmation after speaking with the Mikeno crew, which is impossible right now as they are currently being held by the Israelis. The detained activists on the flotilla are being taken to Israel, where they will face deportation, according to Israels foreign ministry.
Al-Shamie, 35, was a British citizen of Syrian descent who was living in Prestwich, Manchester. Authorities said that his name did not appear in the initial searches of police and security service counter-terrorism records

Police and emergency personnel are at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester, UK, after a car-ramming and stabbing attack on October 2, 2025. (Photo: Phil Noble/Reuters)

The man behind the Manchester synagogue attack that killed two was arrested on suspicion of rape and was out on bail at the time of the incident, the police have said.

Police suspect that Al-Shamie may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology and reported that three additional individuals, aged between 18 and their mid-40s, have been arrested on suspicion of committing, preparing, or instigating acts of terrorism.

Shamie, 35, was a British citizen of Syrian descent who was living in Prestwich, Manchester. Authorities said that his name did not appear in the initial searches of police and security service counter-terrorism records.

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Who was Al-Shamie?

Talking to the BBC, locals in Prestwich said that Shamie was a weightlifting enthusiast who mostly remained isolated and rarely spoke to his neighbours. ITV News reported the attacker was understood to have worked as a tutor teaching English and computer programming.

In a statement to the press, his family said, We fully distance ourselves from this attack and express our deep shock and sorrow over what has happened. Our hearts and thoughts are with the victims and their families, and we pray for their strength and comfort.

The investigation into the attack will focus on the circumstances surrounding the fatal police shooting of Jihad Al-Shamie, as well as whether police may have caused or contributed to the death of the man later found to have suffered the fatal gunshot wound.

Terrorist attack

The attack was declared a terrorist incident by authorities on Thursday.

Three other people, two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s, have been arrested and held in custody on suspicion of terrorism-linked offences.

Interior minister Shabana Mahmood said it was too early to say if a cell was behind the attack.

With inputs from agencies
Munich Airport was forced to halt operations again late on Friday over suspected drone sightings, with dozens of flights and more than 6,000 passengers affected.

Passengers carry on inflatable mattresses that they were provided with to sleep at Munich International Airport in Munich, southern Germany, on early October 4, 2025. AFP

Munich Airport was forced to halt operations again late on Friday over suspected drone sightings, with dozens of flights and more than 6,000 passengers affected.

Airports in Denmark, Norway and Poland have recently suspended flights due to unidentified drones, while Romania and Estonia have pointed the finger at Russia, which has brushed off the allegations.

For the second night in a row Munich airport said it had to cancel air traffic after unconfirmed drone sightings.

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It said in a statement that from 9:30 pm air traffic was restricted and then cancelled, meaning 23 incoming flights were diverted and 12 bound for Munich were cancelled.

Forty-six departures had to be cancelled or delayed until Saturday, with a total of 6,500 passengers affected.

As on the previous night, the airport, in collaboration with the airlines, promptly provided supplies for passengers in the terminals. Camp beds were set up, along with blankets, drinks, and snacks, the airport said.

The airport expects service to be resumed as normal at 5:00 am on Saturday.

The initial disruption on Thursday caused more than 30 flights to be cancelled there and left nearly 3,000 passengers stranded.

A police spokesman told AFP that they were currently investigating a lead about a possible drone sighting over Munich airport on Friday evening.

The first incident began at 8:30 pm local time on Thursday when police say drones were spotted in areas close to the airport, including the towns of Freising and Erding.

Erding plays host to an airfield used by the German military. Bild newspaper said some of the drones were spotted flying over the facility, although police could not confirm this.

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The first drones near the airport perimeter were seen around 9:05 pm on Thursday, and then over the airport complex about an hour later.

The sightings ended around midnight, but not before causing the closure of both runways.

Police helicopters were deployed but no information is available on the type and number of drones, police said.

High alert

Earlier on Friday German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the first nights incident was a wake-up call on the threat from drones.

The race between the threat from drones and the defence against drones is becoming more and more difficult, he told Bild, adding that more financing and research on the issue was urgently needed at the national and European levels.

The disruptions came as the country celebrated German Unity Day on Friday  a national holiday  and as Munich geared up for the final weekend of Oktoberfest, which draws hundreds of thousands of people the city every day.

The annual beer gala and funfair had already closed for half a day on Wednesday after a bomb scare.

The German government is expected on Wednesday to sign off on plans for a change in the law to let the army shoot drones down if necessary.

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Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder told Bild that we must be able to shoot (drones) down immediately instead of waiting and said that the police should also have the power to do so.

The drone sightings in Denmark and high-profile aerial incursions in Estonia and Poland have heightened fears that Russias assault on Ukraine could spill over Europes borders.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Europe on Thursday that the recent drone incursions showed Moscow was looking to escalate its aggression.

Germany is on high alert, saying a swarm of them had flown over the country last week, including over military and industrial sites.

Denmark also raised the alarm, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reiterating last week that only one country poses a threat to Europes security  and thats Russia.

Moscow said it firmly rejects any suggestion of involvement, with Russian President Vladimir Putin accusing Europe of stoking hysteria to justify rising military spending.
The two officials talked about boosting cooperation in areas such as defence and security, energy, rare earths and critical minerals and health and pharmaceuticals

NSA Doval with Celso Luis Nunes Amorim, the Special Advisor to the Brazilian president

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met the Special Advisor to the Brazilian president, Celso Luis Nunes Amorim, to discuss strenghthening bilateral relations between the two countries.

Amorim, accompanied by a delegation of senior officials, is on a visit to New Delhi ahead of a planned trip to India by Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Doval and Amorim held talks under the framework of the India-Brazil Strategic Dialogue.

The dialogue was an opportunity to follow up on the issues identified under the five pillars of cooperation during the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Brazil in July, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

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The two officials talked about boosting cooperation in areas such as defence and security, energy, rare earths and critical minerals and health and pharmaceuticals. They also discussed cooperation in multilateral forums such as BRICS, India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA), and the forthcoming COP-30 to be hosted by Brazil in November.

Both sides agreed to carry forward the work to implement the vision laid down by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Lula da Silva, the MEA said.

India-Brazil ties

New Delhi is preparing for Lulas visit, which is slated to happen early next year. Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin will come to the capital to oversee the preparations of Lulas arrival.

Both countries are currently grappling with steep U.S. tariffs and are seeking to boost bilateral trade to mitigate the impact. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the issue with President Lula during their bilateral summit in Brasilia on July 9.

Lula followed up with another conversation with Modi on August 7, just hours after the White House announced a 50 per cent tariff on both nations. He later convened a virtual BRICS leaders meeting on the global economic situation, which was attended by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

With inputs from agencies
As the unrest widened, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif dispatched a high-powered delegation to Muzaffarabad on Wednesday (October 1, 2025) to find a negotiated solution to the problem

Activists of the Awami Action Committee (AAC) chanted slogans during the funeral prayers for protesters allegedly killed by security forces, at a demonstration in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on October 2, 2025. (Image credit: AFP)

The Pakistani government has finally reached an agreement with the protesters who led demonstrations in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) for several days, leading to multiple deaths.

Violence marred the peace of the region owing to a strike, which began on September 29, 2025, when talks broke down between officials and leaders of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC), a representative body of protesters.

The protests came after 30 civilians were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following airstrikes by Pakistan Air Force J-17 fighter jets. As per a report by All India Radio, the jets were using Chinese-made LS-6 laser-guided bombs.

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How did the negotiation take place?

The protesters had issued a charter of 38 points, urging the authorities to accept them or they would take to the roads, which they did eventually, leading to violent clashes with police that killed at least 10 people, including three police personnel. Hundreds of policemen and civilians were injured in the protests.

As the unrest widened, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif dispatched a high-powered delegation to Muzaffarabad on Wednesday (October 1, 2025) to find a negotiated solution to the problem.

The team, led by former premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, engaged in extensive discussions for two consecutive days, which concluded around midnight. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry announced on social media that an agreement had been reached between the two sides.

Negotiating delegation has signed the final agreement with the Action Committee. The protesters are returning to their homes. All roads have been reopened. This is a victory for peace, he posted on X.

What are the points of agreement?

The copy of the agreement shared by Chaudhry on X showed that a detailed document with 25 points was signed to end the protest, including compensation for those killed in violence, registering cases of terrorism on the incidents of violence and vandalism resulting in deaths of police personnel and protesters.

The federal government also agreed to establish two additional intermediate and secondary education boards for the Muzaffarabad and Poonch divisions in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

It was decided that the local government would release funds within 15 days to implement health cards, ensuring free medical treatment for patients. Additionally, MRI and CT scan machines will be gradually installed in every district of PoK, with support from the federal government.

The federal government also committed PKR 10 billion toward upgrading PoKs electricity infrastructure.

With inputs from PTI
Pakistan has pitched a plan to US officials to build and operate a port on the Arabian Sea, the Financial Times reported, in what is seen as another bid by Munir to draw Trump closer.

Pakistans Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (L) and Field Marshal Asim Munir (R) met US President Donald Trump (centre) at the White House.

Advisers to Pakistans Army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, have approached US officials with a proposal to build and operate a port on the Arabian Sea, the Financial Times reported on Friday (Oct 3), in what is being seen as another desperate attempt to woo US President Donald Trump.

Pasni project and mineral access

The plan calls for American investors to develop a terminal in Pasni, a port town in Balochistans Gwadar district, giving access to Pakistans critical minerals.

The province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, remains restive with a long-running insurgency by Baloch groups and allegations of human rights abuses by the Pakistani state.

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Trump-Munir White House meeting

The proposal comes after Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met US President Donald Trump at the White House in late September, where Sharif sought American investment in agriculture, technology, mining and energy.

According to the report, the offer was conveyed to some US officials and shown to Munir ahead of his talks with Trump.

The plan rules out any US military use of the port and instead seeks financing for a rail corridor connecting Pasni to Pakistans mineral-rich western provinces.

Trumps outreach to Pakistan marks a departure from Joe Biden, who kept Islamabad at arms length due to its ties with the Taliban during the US war in Afghanistan.

AFP reported that shortly before the May conflict with India, a company run by the Trump family signed a cryptocurrency agreement with Islamabad.

Sharif praises Trump as man of peace

Last month, Trump hosted Sharif and Munir at the White House to discuss regional security and counter-terrorism.

Sharif, the first Pakistani leader to visit the White House in six years, hailed Trump as a man of peace for his sincere efforts to end conflicts worldwide and praised his courageous and decisive leadership in brokering a ceasefire with India.
Pakistan has made a sudden U-turn on US President Donald Trumps Gaza peace plan, after initially criticising it. While Foreign Minister Dar had said the proposal differed from what Muslim-majority nations had proposed, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised it as a step towards ending the ongoing bloodshed in Gaza.

The importance of the base can be gauged by the fact that Munir called Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at 2:30 am on the intervening night of May 9 and 10, during Operation Sindoor, to inform him that the base had been struck by India. Reuters

In what is being seen as a massive flip-flop, Pakistan seems to have made a sudden U-turn on US President Donald Trumps Gaza peace proposal.

While Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar initially criticised the plan for diverging from what Muslim-majority nations had proposed, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised it as a step towards ending the bloodshed.

Shehbaz Sharif posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Alhamdolillah, we are closer to a ceasefire than we have been since this genocide was launched on the Palestinian people.

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Thanking Trump and leaders from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, and Indonesia, Sharif added, The statement issued by Hamas creates a window for a ceasefire and ensuring peace that we must not allow to close again. InshaAllah, Pakistan will continue to work with all its partners and brotherly nations to everlasting peace in Palestine.

Trumps 20-point peace blueprint

Earlier this week, Trump unveiled a 20-point plan aimed at ending the year-long conflict between Israel and Hamas. The proposal calls for all hostages to be returned within 72 hours of a ceasefire and outlines a roadmap for rebuilding a New Gaza. It also suggests the deployment of international and Arab forces to oversee Israels phased withdrawal and reconstruction in the enclave.

Dar criticises initial plan differences

Pakistans tone had shifted on Friday when Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told lawmakers that Trumps plan differed from the joint proposal of eight Muslim-majority nations that met the US president on 22 September during the UN General Assembly.

I have made it clear that these 20 points which Trump has made public are not the same as ours. Some changes have been made to the draft we had, Dar said.

According to Dar, the Muslim nations proposal called for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a path for a just peace based on the two-state solution. By contrast, Trumps plan envisages only a partial pullback of Israeli troops, tied to the release of hostages held by Hamas.

Dar also claimed that Trump personally assured Muslim leaders he would prevent any Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank, a key demand of hardliners in Prime Minister Netanyahus coalition.

Dar later welcomes Hamas response

On Saturday, Dar softened his stance, calling Hamas response a welcome step. He wrote on X:

This must now result in an immediate ceasefire, end to Palestinian suffering, ensure hostages release, and allow free flow of humanitarian aid. Israel MUST immediately stop its attacks. We reaffirm Pakistans unwavering support for the Palestinian cause and a sovereign, viable State of Palestine on the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
At least 30 people were killed in a Russian drone strike on a railway station in Ukraines northern Sumy region on Saturday, officials said. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack as savage, accusing Moscow of deliberately targeting civilians.

This handout photograph taken by the Ukrainian Emergency Service and released on August 21, 2025, shows a Ukrainian emergency workers using water hoses on a fire following a Russian air attack, in Lviv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Image- AFP

At least 30 people were killed in a Russian drone strike on a railway station in Ukraines northern Sumy region on Saturday (October 4), an attack President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced as savage.

The strike hit a station in Shostka, damaging a train bound for Kyiv, regional governor Oleh Hryhorov said, according to Reuters.

They were striking civilians: Zelenskyy

Zelenskyy posted footage on Telegram showing a burning carriage and shattered windows, saying emergency services were at the scene. The Russians could not have been unaware that they were striking civilians. This is terror the world must not ignore, he said. Every day Russia takes peoples lives. Only strength can make them stop. Strong action is needed  lip service is not enough now.

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Earlier, local officials said that 30 people were injured and no fatalities were immediately reported after the incident. The attack is part of Moscows near-daily strikes on Ukraines railway infrastructure over the past two months.

Russia targets Naftogaz facilities in massive attack

The train strike came a day after Russia launched 35 missiles and 60 drones at Naftogaz facilities in Kharkiv and Poltava, in what officials described as the largest assault on gas production since the start of the war. Naftogaz chief executive Sergii Koretskyi said the attack caused critical damage and left more than 8,000 consumers without power, insisting there was no military rationale for targeting energy sites.

Energy grid under pressure as Moscow attacks power infra

Moreover, Russias defence ministry confirmed overnight strikes on energy and military-industrial targets. With winter approaching, Moscow has intensified attacks on Ukraines power grid, triggering prolonged blackouts in several regions.

Ukraine has responded with a wave of drone attacks on Russian oil refineries, hitting 19 facilities in September alone, according to Kyivs drone force commander. The strikes have caused fuel shortages in parts of Russia.

Peace talks remain stalled, Trump pushes for mediation

Meanwhile, peace talks remain stalled. Moscow has accused European nations of blocking negotiations, while Zelenskyy has called for tougher sanctions and pressed for direct talks with Vladimir Putin.

US President Donald Trump has cast himself as a potential mediator, urging a Zelenskyy-Putin meeting and warning Moscow of secondary sanctions if the war continues.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit India on October 89 for his first official trip to the country. He will join PM Modi at the Global Fintech Fest and hold bilateral talks to strengthen ties.

(File) PM Narendra Modi will hold wide-ranging discussions with his UK counterpart, Keir Starmer, on the entire gamut of India-UK bilateral relations. (Image: AFP

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will make his first official visit to India on October 89, 2025, at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced.

During the visit, Starmer will join Modi in Mumbai for the 6th Global Fintech Fest, delivering keynote addresses and engaging with innovators, industry leaders, and policymakers.

On October 9, both leaders will meet business and industry representatives to explore opportunities under the IndiaUK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and discuss regional and global issues.

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India-UK strategic partnership in focus

The two-day visit will also review progress under the IndiaUK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership through the Vision 2035 roadmap, a 10-year plan covering trade and investment, technology and innovation, defence and security, climate and energy, health, education, and people-to-people ties.

The visit will build on the momentum generated by Prime Minister Modis trip to the UK on July 2324, 2025, and provide an opportunity to reaffirm the shared vision of India and the UK for a forward-looking partnership, the MEA said.

Strengthening ties in trade, technology, and defence

Starmers visit is expected to deepen cooperation between the two nations in trade, technology, defence, and security, particularly amid global uncertainties. The visit follows Modis UK trip, where both leaders signed a free trade agreement (FTA) pending ratification, and a defence industrial roadmap promoting co-development and co-production of key defence products.

During that trip, Modi also met King Charles III at the Sandringham Estate, presenting a tree sapling under his Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam environmental initiative. Modi said on X, We discussed different aspects of India-UK relations, including trade, investment, education, health, wellness, environmental protection, and sustainability.
After mobilising hundreds of federal agents and thousands of soldiers to the nations capital, President Donald Trump has declared victory over what he called a crisis of crime in Washington, and floated the idea of using such deployments to US cities as training grounds for the military.

File-Tourists ride bicycles past National Guard vehicles near the Washington Monument after President Donald Trump announced a federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, on Tuesday. Reuters

President Donald Trump has declared victory in his self-styled war on crime in Washington, D.C., hailing a 30-day security surge as proof that his hard-line tactics can restore law and order to American cities. But the data behind the declaration paints a far more complicated picture, one that raises questions about the durability and depth of the so-called crime victory.

Trump, who mobilised hundreds of federal agents and thousands of National Guard troops to the US capital in early August, has described the operation as a model for future deployments to other Democrat-run cities.

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We have a very safe city now, he said this week. The country is going to be safe. We do it one at a time.

The president has since ordered similar crackdowns in Memphis and hinted at upcoming deployments in Chicago and other urban centres. Yet experts warn that the apparent fall in crime since the Washington mobilisation may have less to do with military-style policing and more to do with short-term data fluctuations and public reporting patterns.

To make a claim based on a very short-term intervention under highly unusual circumstances doesnt make any sense, said Jeffrey Fagan, a professor at Columbia Law School who studies crime trends and policing.

A mixed picture on the ground

A review of public safety data and interviews with analysts conducted by Reuters shows that while reports of gun-related offences have fallen sharply, overall violent crime levels have not changed substantially.

In the month before the federal surge, Washington recorded an average of seven violent crimes a day including assaults, robberies, homicides and sexual offences. That figure dipped to about five or six per day in mid-August, when Trumps show of force began. But by late September, the number had crept back up to roughly seven per day.

Gun crimes showed a more visible decline, falling from an average of 97 incidents a day to 65 during the operation.

Thats too sudden of a change to be passed off as a coincidence, said Peter Moskos, a criminologist at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Still, he cautioned that such changes often reflect short-term disruptions rather than structural improvements in safety.

Measuring crime is complicated

Washingtons crime data, like that of other U.S. cities, is based on reports to police and observed incidents. But those numbers can vary widely depending on public confidence in law enforcement. Fagan noted that immigrants who make up about one in seven D.C. residents may have been reluctant to report crimes during the surge, as federal immigration agents were working alongside local police.

City officials have been careful not to endorse Trumps sweeping claims. Washingtons Democratic mayor, Muriel Bowser, has credited the influx of federal agents with some short-term improvements but rejected the idea that immigration raids or troop deployments were responsible for crime reductions.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, however, maintained that the results speak for themselves. It is an objective fact that crime in D.C. dropped dramatically during the Presidents 30-day emergency, she said in a statement.

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Was crime already falling?

The White House said total crime in Washington fell by 17% during the surge compared with the same period in 2024, with homicides down 50%, assaults with dangerous weapons down 16%, and robberies down 22%.

But analysts say the trend predates Trumps intervention. City police data and FBI statistics show that violent crime had already been declining since early 2024, following a record surge in homicides the previous yearthe citys highest in more than two decades.

You really need months and months of this data to be able to draw a conclusion, said Jeff Asher, a crime analyst with AH Datalytics. If crime was already falling, you did the intervention and it kept falling, what does that show?

National data supports his scepticism. Reports from more than 500 U.S. police departments show homicides down about 20% in the first seven months of 2025 compared with the same period last year.

A limited surge, big claims

Despite Trumps rhetoric, the federal intervention in Washington was relatively modest in scale. About 500 federal agents were sent to assist the citys 3,200 local police officersan increase of roughly 15%. Around 2,000 National Guard troops were also deployed, though they are barred by law from performing most policing duties.

According to Washington police bulletins, total arrests across the city rose by less than 2% between July and August, while the jail population increased by about 7%. That translates to an average of 2,150 people held dailyup slightly from 2,000 before the surge began.

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Politics or policing?

For critics, Trumps focus on headline-grabbing deployments reflects political optics more than evidence-based policymaking. The White House has framed the operation as both a law enforcement success and a prototype for urban readiness training for the militarya claim that has drawn sharp criticism from legal scholars.

The idea of using cities as military training grounds raises profound constitutional and civil liberties issues, said Fagan.

Whether Trumps crackdown becomes a template for future interventions may depend less on the data than on the politics. For now, Washingtons brief dip in reported crime offers the president a powerful talking point but one that may not withstand closer statistical scrutiny.

As Asher put it: Its a story of timing, not transformation.
US President Donald Trump asked Israel to immediately stop the bombardment of Gaza after Hamas partially accepted his ultimatum to end the war that has been raging on for nearly two years.

US President Donald Trump asked Israel to immediately stop the bombardment of Gaza after Hamas partially accepted his ultimatum to end the war that has been raging on for nearly two years. On late Friday, Hamas agreed to release all hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The Palestinian group also agreed to surrender governing power in the Gaza Strip, in accordance with Trumps plan, marking a major moment for Gazas future. In a statement over the matter, Hamas asked for further negotiations on other parts of the plan, and did not say whether it would lay down its arms  a key part of Trumps proposal unveiled on Monday.

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Despite this lack of clarity, Trump wrote a post on TruthSocial in which he noted: Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE." He went on to ask Israel to stop bombing Gaza.

Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, its far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on the details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone; this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East," the American leader wrote in the TruthSocial post.

Is the Israel-Hamas war ending?

The latest assertions from Trump underlined that Israel and Hamas are the closest they have been in two years to achieving an end to the Gaza war, which has caused a major humanitarian crisis in the coastal enclave.

Trump is widely seen as the only international leader with the power to compel the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to agree to a ceasefire deal. In their Friday statement, Hamas said it was giving its approval of releasing all occupation prisoners  both living and remains  according to the exchange formula contained in President Trumps proposal, with the necessary field conditions for implementing the exchange."

The Palestinian group also maintained that it was willing to turn over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independent technocrats based on Palestinian national consensus and supported by Arab and Islamic backing.

However, Hamas made it clear that other issues in Trumps proposal would need to be discussed further within a unified Palestinian national framework. While the issue is not specified, it is likely to include arms, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and international guarantees for a permanent ceasefire.

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Trumps ultimatum

It is pertinent to note that Trumps plan called for an immediate end to fighting in Gaza, an exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners within 72 hours of the deals signing, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and a transitional authority led by Trump.

The American leaders proposal also called for a surge of aid to Gaza, parts of which are experiencing famine, and the reconstruction of the mostly demolished strip. While the deal was largely seen as unfavourable to Hamas, there has been international pressure on the group to accept the plan, with most regional and global powers welcoming the Trump initiative.

While Hamas immediately did not agree to disarm, its acceptance of a hostage handover will be seen as significant. 48 hostages have been used as leverage throughout the nearly two-year war. Hence, giving them up would leave the group with few bargaining chips going forward.
Israel has paused its bombing of Gaza as a US-brokered peace plan takes shape, with Trumps latest warning Hamas to act swiftly on a hostage release and peace deal, saying that he will not tolerate delay.

President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the State Dining Room of the White House, on Monday, in Washington. AP

After reports that Israel had paused its bombing of Gaza as a US-brokered peace plan began to take effect, US President Donald Trump on Saturday (October 4) issued a stern warning to Hamas, urging the group to act quickly or face consequences.

I appreciate that Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed. Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off. I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again. Lets get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!, Trump wrote on Truth Social.

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Kushner, Witkoff head to Egypt for talks

In the latest development, Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner and senior US envoy Steve Witkoff were headed to Egypt to finalise details of a possible hostage release, a White House official said. The move came after Hamas responded positively to a US-brokered plan to end two years of war.

Conflicts heavy toll

The war began after Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, killing about 1,200 people, including combatants. Israels retaliatory campaign has since killed more than 66,000 Palestinians.

Hostage release and peace plan

Hamas has signalled readiness to release all hostages and discuss the 20-point peace plan put forward by Trump and backed by the UK, France, India, Saudi Arabia and others. Still, major issues remain unresolved, including Hamass disarmament, Israels withdrawal, and the exact timeline for implementation.

The plan requires all hostagesalive and deceasedto be freed within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting the deal. But confusion remains over when that 72-hour window officially begins. Sources close to Hamas said living hostages could be released quickly, but recovering bodies from Gazas rubble may take longer.

Global pressure for deal

Previous ceasefires have collapsed with Israel resuming its offensive, but this time global pressure is mounting, with many accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza. Hamas has said it will engage through mediators, in negotiations to discuss the details of this process.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco is the first to challenge a proclamation Trump issued two weeks ago announcing the fee as the Republican president moves to further restrict immigration to the United States

A US flag and a US H-1B Visa application form are seen in this illustration taken, September 22, 2025. File Image/Reuters

A coalition of unions, employers and religious groups filed a lawsuit on Friday seeking to block President Donald Trumps bid to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly-skilled foreign workers.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco is the first to challenge a proclamation Trump issued two weeks ago announcing the fee as the Republican president moves to further restrict immigration to the United States.

Plaintiffs include the United Auto Workers union, the American Association of University Professors, a nurse recruitment agency and several religious organizations. They argued that Trumps power to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals does not allow him to override the law that created the H-1B visa program.

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White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson in a statement said Trumps administration engaged in lawful actions discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down American wages, while providing certainty to employers who need to bring the best talent from overseas.

The program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers in specialty fields, and technology companies in particular rely heavily on workers who receive H-1B visas.

Critics of H-1Bs and other work visa programs say they are often used to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor. But business groups and major companies have said H-1Bs are a critical means to address a shortage of qualified American workers.

Employers who sponsor H-1B workers currently typically pay between $2,000 and $5,000 in fees, depending on the size of the company and other factors.

Trumps order bars new H-1B recipients from entering the United States unless the employer sponsoring their visa has made an additional $100,000 payment. The administration has said the order does not apply to people who already hold H-1B visas or those who submitted applications before September 21.

Trump in his unprecedented order invoked his power under federal immigration law to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals that would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.

He said that high numbers of lower-wage workers in the H-1B program have undercut its integrity and that the program threatens national security, including by discouraging Americans from pursuing careers in science and technology. He said the large-scale replacement of American workers through the H-1B program threatens the countrys economic and national security.

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The plaintiffs argue that Trump has no authority to alter a comprehensive statutory scheme governing the visa program and cannot under the U.S. Constitution unilaterally impose fees, taxes or other mechanisms to generate revenue for the United States, saying that power is reserved for Congress.

The Proclamation transforms the H-1B program into one where employers must either pay to play or seek a national interest exemption, which will be doled out at the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security, a system that opens the door to selective enforcement and corruption, the lawsuit said.

The groups argue that agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and U.S. State Department likewise adopted new policies to implement Trumps proclamation without following necessary rulemaking processes and without considering how extorting exorbitant fees will stifle innovation.

The H-1B program offers 65,000 visas annually to employers bringing in temporary foreign workers in specialized fields, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees. The visas are approved for a period of three to six years.

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India was by far the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved visas, while China was a distant second at 11.7%, according to government data.
Turkey says 36 of its nationals detained on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla intercepted by Israel are expected to return home on a special flight.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators stage a sit-in in front of police officers during a protest on Milans highway against the Israeli armys interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla, on October 3, 2025. (Photo: AFP)

Turkey announced on Saturday that 36 of its citizens detained aboard Gaza-bound aid flotilla vessels intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters are expected to return home via a special flight.

Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said on X that the number may still change, with procedures for the remaining citizens being finalised as soon as possible so that they can come to Turkey.

He added that nationals from other countries were also due to be on board the same flight.

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Turkey has condemned the interception, describing it as an act of terrorism. On Thursday, it also confirmed the launch of an investigation after Israeli forces arrested Turkish citizens travelling on the flotilla.

Israel deports first activists from Gaza aid flotilla

Israel on Friday deported four Italian activists, the first of hundreds detained from an aid flotilla bound for Gaza, shortly after the interception of the groups final boat brought an end to its mission.

The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail last month, ferrying politicians and activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, towards Gaza, where the United Nations says famine is taking hold.

The Israeli navy began intercepting the boats on Wednesday, and an Israeli official said the following day that boats carrying more than 400 people had been prevented from reaching the Palestinian territory.

The military said Friday that the navy had stopped all 42 of the fleets vessels in an operation that lasted approximately 12 hours, and transferred flotilla members to Israels Ashdod Port for processing by police.

Israels foreign ministry said it deported four Italian activists who were aboard the flotilla, adding that the rest are in the process of being deported.

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Israeli police said more than 470 flotilla participants were taken into custody by the military police, subjected to rigorous screening, and transferred to the prison administration.

Authorities earlier said that none of the vessels had breached the maritime blockade of Gaza.

Marinette, the last remaining boat of the Global Sumud Flotilla, was intercepted at 10:29 am (0729 GMT) local time, approximately 42.5 nautical miles from Gaza, the flotillas organisers said on Telegram.

They added that Israeli naval forces had illegally intercepted all 42 of our vessels  each carrying humanitarian aid, volunteers, and the determination to break Israels illegal siege on Gaza.

Among those detained were more than 20 journalists, according to media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), including reporters from Spains El Pais, Qatars Al Jazeera, and Italys public broadcaster RAI.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has shared a post on his social media on the fifth anniversary of the liberation of Jabrayil from Armenian occupation, Azernews reports.
An Indian student, Chandrashekar Pole, was shot dead while working at a gas station in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday night. The Hyderabad native and University of North Texas student had moved to the US in 2023 for higher studies.

In a tragic incident, an Indian student was shot dead while working at a gas station in Texas, United States, on Thursday night. Chandrashekar Pole, a native of Hyderabad and a student at the University of North Texas, was killed by unidentified gunmen in Dallas.

Pole had moved to the US in 2023 for higher studies after completing his bachelors in dental surgery in Hyderabad. He had earned his masters degree six months ago and was seeking a full-time job while working part-time at the gas station.

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According to reports, Pole was shot by a person of African-American origin while on duty at a petrol station in Delton. The students family has appealed to the government to help bring his body back to India.

Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) MLA Sudhir Reddy and former Telangana Minister T Harish Rao, along with other party leaders, visited the family to offer condolences.

Harish Rao said, It is tragic that Chandra Shekar Pole, a Dalit student from L B Nagar who completed BDS and went to America (Dallas) for higher studies, died in a shooting carried out by miscreants early morning." He urged the Telangana government to take steps to repatriate the body.

VIDEO | Hyderabad: BRS leader T Harish Rao visits family of dental student Chandrashekar Pole shot dead in Texas, USA.



(Full video available on PTI Videos  https://t.co/n147TvrpG7)#Hyderabad pic.twitter.com/gBRt3xHMzd  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 4, 2025

He added, The pain that the parents are going through, knowing that their son, who they believed would reach great heights, is no more, is heart-wrenching to witness. We, on behalf of BRS, demand that the state government take initiative and make efforts to bring Chandra Shekhars mortal remains to his hometown as quickly as possible."

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Earlier, another Indian-origin man from Telangana, 30-year-old Mohammed Nizamuddin, was shot dead by police in Santa Clara, California, US.
Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara was deported to El Salvador after months in immigration detention, sparking criticism from press freedom groups.

Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevara embraces a relative after his deportation from the US following three months in federal custody, in Olocuilta, El Salvador. (Image credit: AFP)

Mario Guevara, a 48-year-old Spanish-language journalist, was deported on Friday to El Salvador after spending nearly four months in immigration detention in Georgia. Guevara, who had lived in the US for two decades, was arrested on 14 June while covering a protest near Atlanta and later handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In a live Facebook video posted after his return, Guevara was seen escorted by Salvadoran officials, greeting his mother and expressing gratitude to God. He later shared photos of himself enjoying pupusas, a national dish, and pledged to continue working twice as hard from his home country. His deportation followed a ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which declined to block a deportation order issued last month by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

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Arrest, legal battles and Press freedom concerns

Guevaras arrest and detention drew widespread criticism from journalism and civil liberties groups. The Committee to Protect Journalists described the deportation as a troubling sign for press freedom, marking the first time the organisation has documented such retaliation against a reporter in the US. Authorities, however, rejected claims that Guevara was targeted for his work, stating he was living in the country illegally.

In an email Friday to AFP, the Department of Homeland Security called Guevara an illegal alien with a removal order from an immigration judge pending since 2012.

I was deported not for being a criminal, the 48-year-old journalist, who won an Emmy award for his reporting in 2023, said on arriving back in El Salvador, visibly exhausted, his eyes filling with tears.

What cost me, he said, was the fact that I reported onthe injust arrests (of migrants) that were taking place.

Video from his arrest shows Guevara wearing a vest marked PRESS while standing with other reporters, telling officers he was a member of the media. Charges filed against him in both DeKalb and Gwinnett counties were dismissed by local prosecutors. Although an immigration judge granted him bond in July, he remained in custody during government appeals.

Guevaras immigration history dates back to 2012, when his attempt to remain in the US was denied but later left unresolved. His lawyers argued that he had work and residency authorisation for 13 years and currently has a pending visa application supported by his US citizen son. Despite these claims, the Board of Immigration Appeals reopened his case, dismissed his appeal, and ordered deportation. His lawyers took the matter to the 11th Circuit, which refused to halt the deportation order.

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A separate case challenging the constitutionality of his detention remains active in federal court, where his attorneys argue he was punished for his journalism and unlawfully held in retaliation for his reporting.

(With agency inputs)
Thousands first took to the streets of Muzaffarabad on Monday, calling for an end to lavish perks for the political elite, including free electricity and luxury vehicles

Activists of the Awami Action Committee (AAC) chanted slogans during the funeral prayers for protesters allegedly killed by security forces, at a demonstration in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on October 2, 2025. (Image credit: AFP)

The sixth consecutive day of violent protests has gripped Pakistanoccupied Kashmir (PoK) along the border with India, leaving nine confirmed dead amid a continuing internet blackout and restricted media coverage. On October 3, a highlevel government delegation held the second round of talks with protest leaders in Muzaffarabad in an attempt to end demonstrations that have injured hundreds.

The unrest began on Monday when thousands gathered in Muzaffarabad to demand the removal of lucrative privileges for the political class, including free electricity and luxury vehicles. Protesters have accused politicians of acting like gangsters and called for an end to such benefits. They should stand with us, said 51-year-old protester Asad Tabbasum.

Visuals showing a massive crowd chanting Inqalab Aayega (revolution will come) on the streets surfaced on X.

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 MASSIVE protests erupted in Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoK) last night.



 Yesterday, MEA said India is CLOSELY MONITORING the situation. pic.twitter.com/jM9C88xJW1  Megh Updates  (@MeghUpdates) October 4, 2025

India strongly condemns Pakistans oppressive approach

India on Friday condemned Pakistan for its crackdown on protesters in PoK, saying the neighbouring country must be held accountable for its horrific human rights violations.

We have seen reports on protests in several areas of Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir, including brutalities by Pakistani forces on innocent civilians, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

We believe that it is a natural consequence of Pakistans oppressive approach and its systemic plundering of resources from these territories, which remain under its forcible and illegal occupation, he said.

Jaiswal was responding to a question at his weekly media briefing.

Pakistan must be held accountable for its horrific human rights violations, he said

Ongoing protests and demands

Security forces and police have deployed in large numbers to contain the protests, at times using tear gas to disperse crowds that peaked at around 6,000. The PoK government reported that six civilians and three policemen have been killed since the unrest began. Over 170 police officers and at least 50 civilians have been injured, although protest organisers claim more than 100 civilians have been hurt.

Streets were stained with blood, littered with bullet casings, glass shards, and stones, showing evidence of the violence, reported AFP. Protesters have accused police of opening fire. The bullets being fired at us are made in Pakistan to be used against the enemy and are now being used against us, said protest leader Shaukat Nawaz. The government has not responded to these claims.

Authorities have imposed a complete internet and mobile blackout, limiting the flow of information, and warned local media against covering the protests. Protesters have also accused the government of harassing journalists. Our voice has been muted, not just that, they are reporting us as miscreants when we are here for our rights, said 22-year-old Akash Kazmi.

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Markets and schools remained closed on Wednesday as large groups marched through the city, passing buildings damaged by fire and vandalism. Protesters, led by the civil rights group Awami Action Committee (AAC), have demanded affordable electricity, more hospitals, and entry for private mobile network providers. The government stated it had met 90 percent of the demands, but the AAC denied this.

Amnesty International has called for an immediate, impartial and transparent investigation into the clashes, citing excessive use of force by security forces. The group also expressed concern over the communications blackout, warning it fuels misinformation and panic.

Protests and funerals continued on Thursday. Speaking through a microphone, AAC leader Nawaz declared, Sometimes they call us betrayers, sometimes Indian agents, we are neither. We will keep fighting till we get our rights.
Hamas accepted Trumps ultimatum to end the nearly two-year-long war, agreeing late Friday to release all hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Hamas accepted part of US President Donald Trumps ultimatum to end the war, prompting him to call on Israel to 'immediately' halt its bombardment of Gaza. (Image credit: AFP)

International reactions followed swiftly on Friday after Hamas welcomed US President Donald Trumps proposal to secure the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza and end nearly two years of fighting. The group also announced its readiness to surrender governing authority in the Gaza Strip, though it called for further talks on other parts of the plan and did not confirm whether it would lay down its arms, a central element of the proposal unveiled on Monday.

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Global response

In Washington, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that Hamas appeared ready for a lasting peace and urged Israel to stop airstrikes to allow hostages to be released quickly. He later added in a video message that everybody will be treated fairly in negotiations on Gazas future.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said the country was preparing to immediately implement the first stage of the plan concerning the release of hostages. The statement emphasised that Israel would act in line with both its own principles and the US presidents vision.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X to praise the decisive progress, writing, We welcome President Trumps leadership as peace efforts in Gaza make decisive progress. Indications of the release of hostages mark a significant step forward. India will continue to strongly support all efforts towards a durable and just peace.

Qatar welcomed Hamass announcement, echoing Trumps call for an immediate ceasefire, while Egypt expressed hope that the move would encourage all parties to commit to implementing the plan and ending the conflict.

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised Hamass statement as encouraging and urged all sides to seize the chance to end the war in Gaza.

European leaders also voiced support. French President Emmanuel Macron wrote that a ceasefire and hostage release were within reach, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the plan as the best chance for peace. Britains Keir Starmer called Hamass response a significant step forwards and pressed for swift implementation. Turkeys foreign ministry said the development provided an opportunity for the immediate establishment of a ceasefire in Gaza.

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Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2024.
Workers with Fruita Public Works prepare to lift the artwork Zafira into the back of artist Pavia Justinians pickup truck on Sept. 19 as its removed from downtown Fruita where it was displayed inside Mulberry Plaza before being moved. The artwork, which displayed female genitalia, has a new home. It will be displayed, beginning Oct. 18, at the Fruita Tavern  formerly called Copper Club Brewery.
ROAD TOWN, British Virgin Islands, Oct. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Crypto markets in 2025 are defined by means of narratives, and one of the strongest is the rise of AI-driven altcoins. While Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana dominate headlines with their steady profits, investors are an increasing number of turning toward early-stage projects that combine actual utility with huge growth ability. Among them, Ozak AI (OZ) has emerged as one of the freshest possibilities of the year.

Currently in its 6th OZ presale stage at just $0.012 consistent with token, Ozak AI has already raised greater than $3.5 million and sold over 925 million tokens. Analysts are forecasting a surge closer to $1 by way of 2026, which might represent almost 100x ROI. With numbers like those, Ozak AI is not just every other presale; its turning into a focus of the AI altcoin trend that is reshaping the crypto panorama.

Why Investors Are Betting on Ozak AI

Presale projects frequently succeed or fail primarily based on whether or not they are able to supply real innovation. Ozak AI has captured attention as it offers more than hype. At its core are AI-powered prediction marketers, designed to scan blockchain and off-chain facts in real time, locate styles, and generate actionable insights for investors, develooers, and enterprises.

For traders, this will suggest better choice-making in rapid-transferring markets. For developers, it opens new doors to programs that integrate intelligent agents. And for organizations, it gives scalable, records-pushed equipment built on blockchain transparency. This mix of AI and blockchain application has made Ozak AI a standout in a crowded market.

OZs Partnerships Strengthen the Case

One of Ozak AIs most impressive achievements is the strength of its partnerships. Through the Perceptron Network, the project has access to more than 700,000 AI nodes, giving it a robust infrastructure to scale. With HIVE, Ozak AI integrates 30 ms ultra-fast market signals, an edge for high-frequency trading and predictive modeling. Its collaboration with SINT expands its ecosystem further by adding cross-chain bridges, SDK toolkits, and voice-driven AI capabilities.

These partnerships are more than symbolic. They provide Ozak AI with the backbone needed to support real adoption, much like Ethereums early partnerships gave it the ecosystem momentum to succeed.

OZs Building Investor Trust

Presales often carry risk, but Ozak AI has worked hard to reduce uncertainty and build trust. It has completed audits with CertiK, Sherlock, and its internal team, addressing potential vulnerabilities. Transparency is further boosted by listings on CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko, allowing investors to track progress in real time.

Youtube embed:

Next 500X AI Altcoin

Its global visibility has also grown, with Ozak AI presenting at events like Coinfest Asia 2025, where it showcased its roadmap to institutional investors, builders, and traders. These steps reinforce Ozak AIs credibility, making it a presale that stands apart from speculative plays with little substance.

Why Analysts See 100x ROI Potential

At $0.012, Ozak AI sits at the kind of entry level that gives it room for exponential growth. Analysts suggesting a $1 target by 2026 see the tokens trajectory as both ambitious and realistic, given its partnerships and adoption potential. For early investors, this projection means even modest allocations could deliver life-changing gains.

A $250 investment could become $25,000 if Ozak AI hits its $1 target, while $1,000 could grow into six figures. These kinds of asymmetric opportunities are rare in todays crypto market, where established tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum now offer more modest multiples.

The Rise of AI Altcoins

Ozak AI is not alone in the AI token movement, but it is one of the most prominent. Across the market, investors are moving beyond meme-driven projects and into utility-driven narratives. AI tokens, which align with global demand for smarter, data-driven technologies, are quickly becoming the sector to watch.

Ozak AIs strong fundraising, credible audits, and partnerships position it as a leader in this trend. As more investors look for the next Ethereum-style opportunity, Ozak AI is increasingly cited as the project with both the narrative and fundamentals to deliver.

Crypto investors in 2025 are spoiled for choice, but few opportunities stand out like Ozak AIs presale. With $3.5M raised, 925M tokens sold, strategic partnerships, and a bold $1 target by 2026, Ozak AI combines hype with genuine innovation. Its AI-powered prediction agents and strong partnerships give it long-term adoption potential, while its early-stage price offers exponential upside.

In a year when AI altcoins are stealing the spotlight, Ozak AI isnt just participating in the trendits leading it. For investors seeking both innovation and the possibility of 100x returns, Ozak AI has quickly become one of 2025s most talked-about presales and perhaps one of the cycles biggest winners in the making.

About Ozak AI

Ozak AI is a blockchain-based crypto project that provides a technology platform that specializes in predictive AI and advanced data analytics for financial markets. Through machine learning algorithms and decentralized network technologies, Ozak AI enables real-time, accurate, and actionable insights to help crypto enthusiasts and businesses make the correct decisions.

For more, visit:

Website: https://ozak.ai/

Telegram: https://t.me/OzakAGI

Twitter : https://x.com/ozakagi

Media Contact:

Andres Brinc

media@ozak.ai

Disclaimer: This content is provided by Ozak AI. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. We do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this article. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sectorincluding cryptocurrency, NFTs, and miningcomplete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility. Globenewswire does not endorse any content on this page.

Legal Disclaimer: This media platform provides the content of this article on an "as-is" basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1c82863b-7388-4161-8b09-70ba35f53fd5 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1ec9cc3d-7f71-408d-8d8d-1d84521557dc https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/430f9050-275f-488d-8ae0-eb6219a358ae https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/105ca716-1c62-43cc-8717-d255478a21a6
NEW YORK, Oct. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- When a presale crosses into the double-digit millions, the crypto market pays attention. Thats exactly whats happening with MAGACOIN FINANCE, an Ethereum-based meme coin that has now surpassed $15.5 million in presale funding. The achievement cements its position as one of the most closely watched early-stage altcoins heading into 2025.





Presale Momentum Accelerates

Unlike many meme coins that rely purely on hype, MAGACOIN FINANCE is structuring its growth with a presale model that has already attracted thousands of early buyers. According to analyst reports, the projects presale allocation has consistently sold out in consecutive stages, highlighting real investor demand rather than short-lived speculation.

This rapid momentum is being noticed across the altcoin market. Ethereums established infrastructure gives MAGACOIN FINANCE strong fundamentals for scaling, while its community-driven positioning appeals to the same investor segments that powered Dogecoin and Shiba Inu to mainstream awareness.





Why Analysts Are Watching MAGACOIN FINANCE

Crypto analysts point to several factors driving confidence in MAGACOIN FINANCE:

Strong presale traction : With over $15.5M raised , MAGACOIN FINANCE is already outpacing many presales that struggled to break the $5M threshold.



: With over , MAGACOIN FINANCE is already outpacing many presales that struggled to break the $5M threshold. Ethereum-based reliability : Built on the Ethereum network, it benefits from ERC-20 compatibility, liquidity access, and smart contract security .



: Built on the Ethereum network, it benefits from . Analyst coverage : Multiple market reports now reference MAGACOIN FINANCE as an emerging contender in the meme coin sector.



: Multiple market reports now reference MAGACOIN FINANCE as an emerging contender in the meme coin sector. Upcoming catalysts: Exchange listing speculation, staking rewards, and presale milestones are all drawing investor attention.

Top crypto commentators have also noted that while meme coins often rise and fall quickly, those with early exchange adoption and strong presale traction can deliver some of the highest returns in altcoin history.

Market Context: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP

The timing of MAGACOIN FINANCEs rise aligns with broader market narratives. Bitcoin remains steady near key technical levels, Ethereum continues to benefit from institutional adoption, and XRP is in the spotlight amid ETF speculation. These dynamics create fertile ground for altcoin presales that position themselves as low-entry, high-upside opportunities.

For investors seeking exposure beyond the majors, MAGACOIN FINANCE has emerged as a viable alternative entry point  one that combines Ethereums technical advantages with meme coinstyle cultural relevance.

Presale Growth Ahead of 2025

With its $15.5M milestone achieved, the next phase of MAGACOIN FINANCE will be defined by continued presale stages and preparation for exchange listings. Analysts suggest that early buyers may be positioned for high-multiple upside once broader market participation begins.

Importantly, MAGACOIN FINANCE has already passed a security audit from HashEx, with a Certik audit underway  a critical factor in reinforcing legitimacy and separating it from low-quality meme coin launches.





Unique Hook

The crossing of the $15.5M presale mark represents more than just a funding milestone. It signals that MAGACOIN FINANCE has achieved community-driven momentum before its first exchange listing, placing it in a rare category of meme coins that show both grassroots energy and institutional analyst attention.

Final Outlook

While the presale market is crowded, few projects have managed to secure the dual position of Ethereum-backed infrastructure and viral meme coin appeal. MAGACOIN FINANCE is carving out exactly that niche, positioning itself as one of the best crypto presales to watch heading into 2025.

.With exchange listings on the horizon and a rapidly growing investor community, MAGACOIN FINANCE continues to attract coverage as a high-conviction entry for smart money participants.

For more information, please visit:

Website: https://magacoinfinance.com

X: https://x.com/magacoinfinance

Telegram: https://t.me/magacoinfinance



Contact Details

PR Specialist: Rebecca Miles

Email: rebecca@magacoinfinance.com

Disclaimer: This content is provided by MAGACOIN FINANCE. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. We do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this article. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector--including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining--complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility. Globenewswire does not endorse any content on this page.

Legal Disclaimer: This media platform provides the content of this article on an "as-is" basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d2315e60-36df-4b81-b5a7-6a7a332b5101

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/703781ee-5da7-4890-ab99-f746c1cb52ba

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NEW YORK, Oct. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, continues to investigate potential breaches of fiduciary duties by the directors and officers of Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR).

If you currently own shares of Danaher stock, please visit the firms website at https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=17717 for more information. You may also contact Phillip Kim of Rosen Law Firm toll free at 866-767-3653 or via email at case@rosenlegal.com.

Why Rosen Law: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company at the time. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs Bar. Many of the firms attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

-------------------------------

Contact Information:

Laurence Rosen, Esq.

Phillip Kim, Esq.

The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor

New York, NY 10016

Tel: (212) 686-1060

Toll Free: (866) 767-3653

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Toronto, October 3, 2025 - KO Gold Inc. (CSE: KOG) ("KO Gold" or the "Company") announces that its wholly owned subsidiary KO Gold NZ Limited (the "Subsidiary") entered into a definitive agreement with an arm's length party (the "Purchaser") dated September 22, 2025, for the sale of certain New Zealand exploration and prospecting permits, namely Exploration Permit EP 60733, Exploration Permit EP 60677, and Prospecting Permit PP 60705 (together, the "Permits").

Under the terms of the agreement, the Purchaser acquired the Subsidiary's interest in the Permits for total consideration of CDN $260,000. As part of the transaction, the Subsidiary will retain a 2% Net Smelter Royalty ("NSR") on future production from the Permits. The Purchaser will have the right, at any time following closing, to repurchase 1% of the NSR for CDN $1,000,000.

The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including approval of the New Zealand Minister of Energy and Resources pursuant to the Crown Minerals Act (1991).

The Company also announces that it has fully repaid its outstanding convertible debentures notes in the principal amount of $200,000 (the "Notes"), together with all accrued interest. The repayment of the Notes strengthens the Company's balance sheet by eliminating outstanding debt and potential equity dilution from note conversion.

This transaction will allow KO Gold to focus on its four, priority drill ready permits.

About KO Gold Inc.

KO Gold is a Canadian junior exploration company listed on the CSE under "KOG". The Company's strategy is to acquire and explore highly prospective gold properties within the Otago Gold District in New Zealand. KO Gold has eight 100%-owned prospecting and exploration permits within the Otago Gold District for a combined land package of 399.9 km2. The Company's Smylers and Glenpark EPs are located adjacent to OceanaGold's Macraes Gold Mine and the Carrick EP hosts the historic Carrick Goldfield which holds promise as a significant gold deposit near Santana Minerals' Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project. KO Gold has spent over C$3M in exploration and drilling on its permits in the Otago Gold District over the past five years including RC and diamond drilling on its Smylers EP.

For further information, please contact:

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including statements with respect to the completion of the sale of the Permits, the receipt of regulatory approvals, the anticipated benefits of the transaction, and the Company's future financial position and business strategy following repayment of the convertible notes. Forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, expectations, analyses and opinions of management made in light of its experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances.

Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events, results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. These risks, uncertainties and factors include, among others: the risk that the sale of the Permits may not close on the terms or timeline currently contemplated, or at all; the risk that required regulatory approvals will not be obtained or will be obtained subject to conditions; risks related to exploration and mining generally, including operational risks in carrying out exploration and development activities; volatility of commodity prices; political and regulatory risks; risks related to the Company's ability to maintain stock exchange listings; risks related to future financing requirements; and those risk factors discussed in the Company's continuous disclosure documents available under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is made as of the date hereof and is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/269107
Kobrea Exploration Corp. (CSE: KBX) (FSE: F3I) (OTCQB: KBXFF) ("Kobrea" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced private placement offering of 17,000,000 units of the Company ("Units") at an issue price of $0.50 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $8.5 million (the "Offering").

Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (a "Common Share") and one-half of one common share purchase warrant of the Company (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to acquire one Common Share at a price per share of $0.75 for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance, provided the Warrants may not be exercised for a period of 60 days from the date of issuance.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering towards drilling and exploration at the Company's projects in Mendoza Province, Argentina, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

The Offering is comprised of (i) a brokered tranche for 7,753,000 Units for gross proceeds of $3,876,500, and (ii) a non-brokered tranche for 9,247,000 Units for gross proceeds of $4,623,500.

The brokered offering was led by Kernaghan & Partners Ltd. (the "Lead Agent"), as lead agent and sole bookrunner, on behalf of itself and a syndicate of agents including Beacon Securities Limited and Red Cloud Securities Inc. (collectively, the "Agents"). The Agents received a cash commission of $180,090 in connection with the brokered tranche of the Offering, as well as 360,180 non-transferable broker warrants (the "Broker Warrants"). Each Broker Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at a price of $0.75 per share for a period of 24 months following the closing of the Offering.

The Company also paid cash fees of $180,960 to certain finders in connection with the non-brokered tranche of the Offering, as well as 364,920 non-transferable finder's warrants (the "Finder's Warrants"). Each Finder's Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at a price of $0.75 per share for a period of 24 months following the closing of the closing of the Offering.

The Units were issued on a private placement basis pursuant to Part 5A of National Instrument 45-106 - Prospectus Exemptions ("NI 45-106"), as amended and supplemented by Coordinated Blanket Order 45-935 - Exemptions from Certain Conditions of the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption (the "Listed Issuer Financing Exemption"), and as such will not be subject to resale restrictions under applicable Canadian securities laws.

The securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act, or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the "United States" (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Kobrea

Kobrea Exploration Corp. is a mineral exploration and development company focused on the acquisition and exploration of base metal projects. Kobrea holds the right to earn a 100% interest in 7 projects totaling 733 km2 in southwestern Mendoza Province, Argentina (see the Company's August 19, 2024 news release for details). The properties are considered highly prospective for porphyry copper and porphyry copper-gold deposits. Numerous porphyry copper targets have been outlined to date exhibiting multi-kilometre hydrothermal alteration footprints, anomalous copper  gold  molybdenum geochemistry, quartz stockwork veining, localized hydrothermal breccias and Pliocene to Miocene aged granodioritic to dioritic porphyry intrusions. Kobrea also holds a 100% interest in the Upland Copper Project in British Columbia, Canada.

For more information, please consult the Company's filings, available at www.sedarplus.ca.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Per: "James Hedalen"

James Hedalen

CEO & Director

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by words such as "believe," "project," "aim," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements made in this news release include statements regarding the Offering and the anticipated use of proceeds of the Offering. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements and information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this news release. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable laws. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed this news release and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES


VANCOUVER, Oct. 03, 2025 - King Copper Discovery Corp. ("King Copper", or the "Company"; KCP-TSXV, TBXXF-OTCQB, 3RI-FSE) is pleased to report on continued progress onsite at the Company's Colquemayo Project in Peru.

In anticipation of an upcoming and fully funded 15,000 metre drill program, Company geologists are onsite relogging and reinterpreting historic drill core.

Relogging and reinterpretation of the historical drill core covering approximately 4 km of the known 12km mineralized corridor has been completed for 12,346m in 31 holes in the Amata-Cairani zone, 7,287m in 30 holes at the Coripuquio zone, while 4,763m in 16 holes from Yanarico zone are pending.

Multiple new high priority drill targets were generated based on geology, geochemistry, and geophysics. A field crew is currently mobilizing for an October program to complete validation of these drill targets generated.

The road-accessible project, of which the Company has an option to earn a 100% interest, covers 6,600 hectares with copper-gold-silver mineralization in high-sulphidation epithermal systems hosted by phreatomagmatic and hydrothermal breccias that have been emplaced into Miocene to Pliocene andesitic volcanic rocks. Intense hydrothermal alteration has been mapped over an area of 12 km by 3 km.

Historic drill results from Colquemayo (see King Copper News Release dated July 3, 2024 for details) include an intersection that returned:

237.3 m @ 2.4 % Cu, 0.08 g/t Au & 10 g/t Ag, including 161.2 m @ 3.4% Cu, 0.09 g/t Au & 14 g/t Ag, and 31.3 m @ 14.8% Cu, 0.2 g/t Au & 47 g/t Ag.







Current interpretation of data indicates the potential for multiple porphyry discoveries, including the Amata-Cairani and Coripuquio target areas, where most of the historic drilling was completed.

Investor Awareness and Marketing Agreement

The Company has entered into a service agreement dated October 1, 2025 to retain Bluehand Consulting AG ("Bluehand") to provide ongoing digital media marketing services. Bluehand will work to facilitate investor awareness about the Company and its projects. Bluehand will be paid EURO 200,000 to develop required content and for advertising and will provide its services for a period of six months after TSX Venture Exchange acceptance of the engagement. The budget allocated to Bluehand may be adjusted during the term based on market conditions and Company requirements, and the agreement may be renewed upon mutual agreement. The Company will not issue any securities to Bluehand in consideration of the services. Bluehand does not have any prior relationship with the Company and the Company and Bluehand deals at arm's length. Neither Bluehand or its principals have any interest, directly or indirectly, in the Company or its securities or any right or intent to acquire such interest. Contact information for Bluehand is as follows: email: info@bluehandconsulting.ch; mailing address: Bartholomeplatz 3, 7310 Bad Ragaz, Switzerland; phone: +41 764802584.

On Behalf of the Company,

Jonathan Richards, Chief Executive Officer

Website: kingcopperdiscovery.com

Address: #1507 - 1030 West Georgia St, Vancouver, BC V6E 3M5.

For Investor Relations enquiries, please contact +1 604 229 5208 or via info@kingcopperdiscovery.com.

Statements

About King Copper Discovery Corp and Our Projects: King Copper is a TSXV-listed exploration company focused on the Colquemayo gold-copper project in South America. The Company is led by a team responsible for multiple gold-copper-silver discoveries.

Forward-Looking Statement: This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements, including the expected use of proceeds from the Financing.

Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the receipt of regulatory approvals, market prices, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions, as well as legal, social, and economic conditions in Argentina and Peru, where the Company's mineral exploration properties are located. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release or has in any way approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release.
Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull

McLaren Formula 1 Team

Oscar Piastri (1st, 1:30.714): "A good first day. We've got lots of things to go over, but I think it's been a good start. The pace was solid, and I learned quite a lot, which was the main thing for today. It's all feeling pretty good at the moment, so I am excited to see what we can do tomorrow."

Lando Norris (5th, 1:31.197): "A slightly tricky first day on track here in Singapore, not quite being able to find the feeling I had last year just yet. There are a few things we've got to work on, but it's just about finding some more pace. We'll look at that overnight and make sure we're in the best possible position for tomorrow."

Andrea Stella, Team Principal: "A mixed first day on track in Singapore with multiple interruptions caused by Red Flags, which created a number of challenges for the team, including a collision in the pitlane, which is obviously not ideal at this stage of the weekend. Despite a second session that wasn't straightforward, we managed to work through most of our run plan, but like the rest of the field, we are still short of laps to gain a broader understand of the optimal car setup and tyre behaviour this weekend. As we have experienced across several race weekends this season, the competition is extremely tight with multiple teams challenging at the front of the grid. We will, therefore, continue to work hard overnight in order to maximise our running in Free Practice 3 ahead of Qualifying."

Scuderia Ferrari HP

Charles Leclerc (9th, 1:31.466): "Overall, it was a bit of a difficult day. FP1 gave us some positive indications and we were able to build a good base, while, for everyone, FP2 was much more chaotic and we didn't manage to put everything together as we wanted. I believe the pace is there and we need to maximise the potential executing everything well and bringing all the pieces together. I don't know if we'll be in the fight for pole, but the target is to qualify well and give ourselves the best possible chance for Sunday's race."

Lewis Hamilton (10th, 1:31.491): "Overall, it's been a productive first day. It's my first time driving here with Ferrari, and I'm feeling positive with how the car is behaving and responding on this track so far. We spent the sessions getting properly acclimatised and I feel we made good progress heading into FP2. It was a slightly disrupted evening with the red flags, so we weren't able to complete our long runs as planned, but there were still encouraging signs. There's work to do overnight, as always, but we'll take the positives from today and look to build on them for tomorrow."

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal:

Enrico Gualtieri:

Oracle Red Bull Racing

Max Verstappen (3rd, 1:30.857): "I think FP1 started quite nicely and we were just getting up to speed with things. The car was not too bad and it was a bit like the last two weekends where there were no major problems. Then in FP2, there were a few things that we tried that worked, so we are going to try and optimise that a bit. Overall, I am pretty satisfied but we need a bit more pace to find good form tomorrow. There are small details to work on, including tyre grip and making sure we keep the tyres alive during the lap to stop them overheating. We want to get them in a good window so we can push harder. It is positive to hit the ground running; there are still a few things that we want to do better, but we don't need to change the set up too much which is good. We will see tomorrow if we are good enough to fight at the front, it is always difficult to say but we will have to see in Qualifying."

Yuki Tsunoda (11th, 1:31.708): "It was an interrupted day for all, with a few stoppages on track, particularly in FP2, which isn't great with Singapore being a confidence track. We do need to be able to have that time to get the drivers' confidence up and to get the balance a little bit more in the right window. It is quite tricky to get the new tyre in on the first lap so that will be the focus of analysis tonight. We are really missing our long run data so perhaps we will have a think about how we can rearrange our FP3 programme to collect a bit more data ahead of Sunday, because at this stage it is very difficult to know if we are looking at a one or two stop race and which compounds are going to be the more viable options."

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal: "It was an interrupted day for all, with a few stoppages on track, particularly in FP2, which isn't great with Singapore being a confidence track. We do need to be able to have that time to get the drivers' confidence up and to get the balance a little bit more in the right window. It is quite tricky to get the new tyre in on the first lap so that will be the focus of analysis tonight. We are really missing our long run data so perhaps we will have a think about how we can rearrange our FP3 programme to collect a bit more data ahead of Sunday, because at this stage it is very difficult to know if we are looking at a one or two stop race and which compounds are going to be the more viable options."

Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

Andrea Kimi Antonelli (18th, 1:32.719): "The final result on the timing screen doesn't reflect how today went for us or what we could have achieved. In FP2 I had to abort my one attempt on the Soft compound as the red flag came out. I was into the final sector and was looking strong with a lap that would have put us near the top of the times at that point. We can take encouragement from that therefore and hopefully carry that pace into the rest of the weekend. I've felt good in the car today. We've still got things we can improve but obviously, with it being my first time racing here, there is a lot of room for improvement with my driving too. If we can take a step forward with both the car and my driving, then I think we can be in with a chance of fighting for a good grid position tomorrow. It's an enjoyable track, I felt at ease straight away, and I am looking forward to tomorrow and Sunday."

George Russell (20th, 1:33.531): "That was an interrupted first day of running here in Singapore. FP1 was challenging as we struggled to get the tyres switched on and get a handle on the balance. That improved for FP2, but my session ended in the wall with only a handful of laps completed. It was a weird accident and I'm not entirely sure what happened. I braked earlier than I had on previous laps but lost the rear; thankfully the car went into the barrier nose in, so it didn't do too much damage. It was annoying to lose the rest of the session so apologies to the team. Despite not getting our full programme completed, the pace we saw seemed decent. We didn't put a lap time on the board but when we put all our sectors together, it felt good. It's not been our best Friday but in Singapore things can change quickly and I'm looking forward to getting back on track tomorrow."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: "Singapore, with its tricky street circuit layout and the hot and humid conditions, is always a challenge. The first day of running this weekend proved no different. As usual, FP1 saw the drivers getting to grips with the balance of the car whilst the track rubbered in. Whilst this session, along with FP3, is usually unrepresentative of the conditions we face in qualifying and the race, cloud cover and a relatively cool ambient temperature made it more relevant than normal. We were struggling to get the front tyres to come in and didn't really make a lot of progress on that issue during the session but were able to make some more substantial changes ahead of FP2. That seemed to put the car in a better place. Unfortunately, FP2 was a largely disrupted session. George only managed six laps before his day was ended after a snap into turn 16 put him in the barrier. Kimi meanwhile was set to post a strong Soft tyre lap before he had to back off for a yellow in the penultimate corner that eventually turned into a second red flag. We opted to focus on the long run to close the hour, in contrast with the rest of the grid. Whilst that has left us near the bottom of the time sheets, it has allowed us to have a proper look at the long run balance and temperatures."

Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team

Fernando Alonso (4th, 1:30.877):

Lance Stroll (6th, 1:31.222):

BWT Alpine F1 Team

Pierre Gasly (16th, 1:32.458): "It is always a unique challenge driving in Singapore with the conditions. It is not an easy one for us as it is very bumpy and that is an area where we tend to struggle more. So, it's been a busy day at the wheel and it's been good to try lots of things to try and further understand what we need to improve our package. The gap to the cars ahead is still not where we would like it to be but we will focus on ourselves and see what we can do to improve. There are a couple of corners here where I know we can do better tomorrow so we will try and work on those. I am feeling good in the car in terms of being comfortable at its limit. We need more than that, though, so we will see what more we can do. We also tried the cooling device today. I must say I don't have any thoughts and feelings on it, so that probably means it was quite seamless and worked as intended."

Franco Colapinto (19th, 1:33.139): "We had a productive day on track today, trying and testing lots of different things on the car. It's what Fridays are for, and we have a lot of useful data to go through tonight and make sure we're in the best possible position entering Qualifying tomorrow. Overtaking can be tricky here, so starting as far up the grid as possible will be important to having a good weekend. We managed to put in a lot of laps and complete most of the programme despite the interrupted second session due to some red flags. The laps towards the end of the session I felt the car was improving but I touched the wall at Turn 17 and didn't improve on my lap time. Lots to build on overnight and in Free Practice 3 tomorrow and we'll make sure to keep fine-tuning to try and maximise everything from our package."

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team

Esteban Ocon (7th, 1:31.298): Its been a very solid day, Im very happy with it, its probably been the best Friday of the year for us. We need to wait and see, we need to keep chasing, as you know with balance and the good grip we had today, normally there are a lot of things that change overnight. Tonight as a team we need to keep the maximum of what we had today, and just make small changes ahead of tomorrow.

Oliver Bearman (12th, 1:31.711): The car seems quick, and weve had a good day. FP1 was tricky for me as I was learning the track, but in FP2 I felt like I had a bit more rhythm and could extract more out of the car. The red flags made it tougher as it wouldve been nice to get some high-fuel running in, but even to have less interrupted low-fuel running wouldve been helpful as Im still finding the rhythm, and its tough where there are stoppages, however everyone is in the same boat. When the final red flag came out, it was clear to scrap high-fuel and focus on qualifying pace  its important around here  and that seemed the right call, everyone was doing it.

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: I think it was a decent Friday. Everyone worked pretty well, we just need to tighten up on some operational things that will be key to execute tomorrow. The car is working well, its all about finetuning now  do the basics, pay attention to detail, and focus on executing a good qualifying tomorrow.

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team

Isack Hadjar (2nd, 1:30.846): "Today was my first day driving here in Singapore and it was nice as I felt comfortable in the car. I really like the circuit and the car works well, but FP2 wasn't an easy session on track as there was quite a lot of traffic. We did our lap time quite late in the session but we ended it with a good result. At the moment it looks like we're struggling on the first push lap when we're on new tyres, so looking at the rest of the weekend there's definitely still some work to do."

Liam Lawson (17th, 1:32.645): "FP2 wasn't the session I hoped for, having caught a little bit too much kerb at turn 16. This bounced me across to the left at turn 17 while carrying the speed, which put me into the wall. Overall, the car has been very fast today despite a tricky FP1. We'd tried a few different things before a much more comfortable FP2 up until the moment which ended my session. We'll be making some more changes overnight and I'll learn from today so we can pull everything together for Qualifying."

Mattia Spini, Chief Race Engineer: "Singapore presents several challenges being a night race on a bumpy street circuit. With 19 corners, it is demanding on tyres and makes ride performance more critical than at conventional venues. Similar to Monaco, drivers build confidence progressively, chipping away at lap time as they get closer to the walls and attack the kerbs more aggressively. In FP1 we ran different setup configurations across the cars to collect data. By FP2 the cars were more closely aligned, as were lap times on the first tyre runs. On the Soft compound, Liam was on a competitive lap but took too much kerb and lost the car just before the final corner, making contact with the wall. Isack managed to complete a very fast lap, but we are mindful that our competitors will be working hard overnight  and so will we."

Williams Racing

Carlos Sainz (8th, 1:31.299): "We've been relatively competitive all day. In FP2 we went with a different car setup and I struggled a bit more compared to FP1, losing a bit of confidence, so we'll look into reverting back to the original configuration. We've got some homework to do tonight, as again we seem to struggle on the softs. Qualifying position is everything here, so we need to get into the right rhythm and make the right choices ahead of tomorrow."

Alexander Albon (13th, 1:32.060): "Not our best Friday today. Unfortunately, we had an issue in FP1 with our rear brakes, so we didn't get any track running in and started the day on the back foot. It is so important to get laps in around this circuit because the track is so peaky and the windows are very small, so not getting subsequent laps puts you in a position where you just keep trying to learn the circuit. It was a very disjointed day, especially with the red and yellow flags, but we'll see what we can understand from today and look to restart tomorrow."

Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber

Nico Hulkenberg (14th, 1:32.069): "It's great to be racing in Singapore again. FP2 was quite disrupted with red flags, so it wasn't the usual Friday run plan, and nobody managed proper long runs, which makes Sunday a bit more of an unknown for everyone. We didn't really get consistent runs together today, so there's some homework to do overnight. We need to work on the balance and tidy up a few areas, but overall, we gathered useful information to build on. In terms of conditions, I believe it felt more manageable than last year  whether that's down to the weather or the cooling system working well."

Gabriel Bortoleto (15th, 1:32.319): "It was good to get out on track and get a proper understanding of what to expect this weekend. While the first practice session was smooth overall, FP2 wasn't a clean session with a lot of traffic making it challenging to put together proper laps, on top of a few interruptions. Overall, it felt okay out there, but I think there's still some work to do on finding the right balance. The car was a bit tricky to drive at times, but there's plenty of data to analyse overnight as we prepare for qualifying tomorrow."
George Russell, Singapore GP 2025

 Mercedes

George Russell secured a commanding pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix, producing two laps fast enough for the top spot as Max Verstappen failed to improve on his final attempt in a tight qualifying session at Marina Bay.

The Mercedes driver set the pace early in Q3 with a 1m29.165s, brushing the wall at Turn 17 but still finding nearly four tenths compared to his earlier Q2 effort. That lap proved immediately out of reach for the rest of the field, Verstappen coming closest with a 1m29.340s but still 0.182s adrift. Russell then marginally improved with a 1m29.158s on his second flyer, ensuring pole regardless of Verstappens abandoned last run, which was disrupted by a slow-moving Lando Norris.

Oscar Piastri completed the top three for McLaren, 0.366s off Russells benchmark with a 1m29.524s, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli lined up fourth after recovering from a deleted lap in Q2. Norris settled for fifth, his best lap of 1m29.586s leaving him just behind his team-mate on the grid.

Ferrari locked out the third row, Lewis Hamilton taking sixth in 1m29.688s ahead of Charles Leclercs 1m29.784s. Both drivers flirted with the walls in their final runs, Leclerc in particular recovering from a brush at Turn 14 during Q2 that nearly cost him a place in the top-10 shootout.

Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar continued his impressive form with eighth, lapping in 1m29.846s, ahead of Haas driver Oliver Bearman, who recorded 1m29.868s for ninth. Fernando Alonso ensured Aston Martins presence in Q3, rounding out the top ten with 1m29.955s.

Nico Hulkenberg narrowly missed out, his Haas pushed to 11th after Leclercs late escape in Q2. Alex Albon followed in 12th for Williams, while Carlos Sainz could only manage 13th after struggling for grip. Liam Lawson recovered from two practice crashes to place 14th, and Yuki Tsunoda ended 15th after a difficult evening in his Red Bull.

Q1 had already claimed Pierre Gasly, whose Alpine stopped with suspected hydraulics failure at Turn 11. That stranded him at the back of the grid in 20th. Franco Colapinto beat Gasly for 19th, while Esteban Ocon was 18th. Lance Stroll exited early in 17th, alongside Gabriel Bortoleto in 16th, marking the Brazilians first Q1 elimination since Silverstone.

Russells effort marks Mercedes first pole at Marina Bay since 2018, and with Verstappen alongside on the front row, Sundays race promises another strategic battle on a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult.
Amazons Prime Big Deal Days kick off on Tuesday next week, but there are some good deals available this week too  and you dont even need a Prime subscription for them.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 took a couple of weeks off from discounts, but now its back at it  with $150 off its normal price, you can have the base 256GB model for under $1,000. Doubling the storage is a $120 upgrade.

If you compare the 512GB models, the Z Flip7 and the Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 are just $30 apart. The Motorola boasts a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, instead of Samsungs Exynos 2500, with more RAM to boot (16GB vs. 12GB). It also has a larger battery (4,700mAh vs. 4,300mAh) with faster charging (68W/30W vs. 25W/15W). Motorola picked a 50+50MP wide + ultra-wide camera combo, while Samsung equipped the Flip with 50+12MP cameras.

At around the same price, you can grab the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra  this one has superior cameras to both flip foldables. And it is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite instead of an Exynos chip. Display sizes are comparable (the S25 Ultra display has about 10% more surface area), but the S Pen support opens new possibilities.

Amazon unveiled new Kindle Scribe models this week, but they are still marked coming soon. You can pick up the original Scribe with a 25% discount.

The new model has a larger 11 display, up from 10.2 on the first generation. Even so, its also 33g/1.2oz lighter. The display is 40% faster when writing or turning pages and features a new textured glass that improves the writing feel when using the stylus. Another speedup comes from the new quad-core CPU with extra RAM.

Additionally, Amazon launched a Kindle Scribe Colorsoft  same 11 display size but now with colors. Note that this is a $130 upgrade over the grayscale Scribe. The Kindle Colorsoft, Amazons first e-reader with a color display, has a much smaller 7 display. Its a lot cheaper too, though with no discounts at the moment (but check again next week).

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Archdiocese of Agana Vicar General Fr. Paul Gofigan has asked all Catholic churches on island to collect money to aid the people of Cebu after a 6.9 magnitude earthquake.

This weekend a second collection will be taken up at all Masses on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5 to help the people of Cebu.

"Our Archdiocese has long shared a special bond with Cebu, having once been part of the Diocese of Cebu. This connection calls us not only to offer our heartfelt prayers but also to reach out in meaningful solidarity and assistance during this time of great need," Gofigan wrote to members of the clergy.

On Oct. 1, Cebu, Philippines, was struck by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake.

The death toll rose to 72 on Thursday and 294 people were injured, according to government officials.

More than 110,000 people in 42 communities affected by the quake will need assistance to rebuild their homes and restore their livelihoods, according to the regional civil defense office.

"As they face the immense challenges of recovery, many have lost their homes, livelihoods, and a sense of normalcy. There is much fear and uncertainty ahead. The road to rebuilding their lives will be long and arduous, and we must try to do what we can to support them along the way," Gofigan wrote.

He said alongside prayers, the archdiocese can provide some financial aid to help those affected by the tragedy.

"Every donation, regardless of size, will make a significant difference in helping families and communities rebuild," Gofigan said.

All funds collected will be forwarded to Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cebu Abet Uy.

"Let us unite in prayer, as we ask God to grant strength and courage to the people of Cebu during these challenging days. May Santa Marian Kamalen, our beloved patroness, watch over her children and keep them safe as they face the tasks ahead," Gofigan wrote.

He said on behalf of Archbishop Jimenez, "I extend our heartfelt gratitude for your kindness, generosity, and solidarity."
Grassroots group Prutehi Guahan and Sen. Telo Taitague said an online post about Sen. Shelly Calvo being assaulted on Friday night at the Guam Congress Building is false, while Calvo said there may be some misunderstanding with regards to what was alleged as a physical assault.

After a legislative session, outside the building, an individual placed her hands on Calvos arms to apologize and gave Calvo a hug, her office said.

Later, another individual aggressively charged towards Calvo, but any potential physical altercation didnt happen as she was extracted by legislative personnel, a release from Calvos office stated.

Recently, Kandit News posted an unverified and anonymous claim accusing community members present at the 7 p.m. legislative hearing of assault and naming those who attended as an angry mob. Prutehi Guahan wants to make it clear that these reports are unverified and untrue, Prutehi Guahan said in a release Saturday.

Taitague, who saw the incident involving Calvo, said there were no threats or assault.

She also provided a video being circulated on social media of the incident.

Calvo, in a release Saturday, said an individual shouted disparaging remarks at her, specifically attacking her support for culture.

It was a highly emotional moment, and I responded with firmness because my advocacy for our islands culture is deeply personal and genuine. I will always defend my records and values. To say that I should not be the chair for CHamoru culture is not only an insult, but an attack on my integrity as a senator who has consistently championed cultural initiatives, she said.

Taitague said protestors were outside the Guam Congress Building and were passionate about senators passing bills that would allow the use of CHamoru Land Trust properties for a commercial quarry, police precinct, solar farm and emergency communications center.

At one point, a protestor said Calvo had voted yea to the solar farm project, but Taitague told them Calvo voted no on that bill. In the video a protestor can be seen hugging Calvo and then telling the group Calvo voted with us but then another protestor told the group that Calvo had voted yea to the commercial quarry bill.

At that point, protestors could be heard yelling shame on you and a protestor came up to the senator and told her she shouldnt be the oversight chair of the committee on CHamoru culture.

A legislative staffer then brought Calvo back inside the Guam Congress Building as the protestor walked away.

Whoever falsified that information was obviously, in my opinion, trying to discredit the protestors which was shameful for whoever that is, Taitague said.

The senator said she is glad the incident was caught on camera so people can see what really happened.

Calvo defended her vote on the commercial quarry bill after amendments were made for tighter restrictions and increased oversight.

At the end of the day, if this bill can lead to hundreds of homes being built for our people  families, elders, and our next generation  I must support that progress, Calvo said in a statement. Its not about politics; its about people.

The senator said she takes any form of attack seriously and while she understands and welcomes public discourse, she also believes in respect.

Calvo said she doesnt intend to file any complaint at the moment.

I understand that we, as human beings, can be passionate towards things we believe in. I admire the principle behind the protest, but let the incident last night be a reminder that common courtesy and respect should be afforded towards each other. We live in modern times where civility is much needed. My focus remains on the work we were elected to do  serving the people of Guam. If further steps are necessary, we will follow the appropriate channels, she added.

Meanwhile, Prutehi Guahan said it wants to emphasize that the role of legislative officials includes hearing the grievances of the community even when they are resistant.

Labeling voices of dissent an angry mob and attempting to shame residents who mobilized to advocate for the protection of their island is a refusal to accept ones role as a representative of the islands constituents, the group said.

Prutehi Guahan said dissent, even when strongly worded, is not abuse.

Opposition, even when passionate, is not disrespect, the group said.

Disrespect is the desecration of land, the failure to advocate for the long term well-being of the community, and the refusal to grant voices of opposition dignity by victimizing the empowered body that has elected to destroy their homeland, Prutehi Guahan added.

Disruptive

Sen. Chris Duenas said during the vote on Friday there was a lot of disruptive behavior and pounding on the windows and lots of yelling and left before any confrontation with other members.

This is the most aggressive I have seen with regard to protests. I have seen many times people coming down to the legislature to express themselves, but this really had a threatening tone, he said.

Duenas said in his opinion it was unacceptable behavior.




Haiti - FLASH : A Haitian-Quebecer sentenced in Quebec for terrorism





On Wednesday, October 1st, the Quebec Superior Court sentenced Gerald Nicolas, a Canadian of Haitian origin, to five years in prison for leaving Canada to facilitate terrorist activity in Haiti and for facilitating the carrying out of such activities. On March 12, 2025, a jury found him guilty on all counts.



In 2020-2021, Mr. Nicolas, through various means, tried to incite an armed revolution aimed at overthrowing the Haitian government of President Jovenel Moise. He travelled to the Dominican Republic and Haiti to put his plan in motion. Mr. Nicolas tried to obtain firearms for his plan, recruited persons to join his movement, provided funds to persons to assist in his revolutionary plan, and leased land near the border in order to set up a base of operations.



Director of Public Prosecutions (PPSC) George Dolhai said "This case concerned a conspiracy aimed at undermining the stability of a foreign government. Anyone prepared to take steps to incite armed conflicts to pursue their objectives, whether in Canada or abroad, will be brought to justice."



Learn more about the PPSC :

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) is a national organization responsible for prosecuting offences under federal jurisdiction in a manner that is free of any improper influence and that respects the public interest. The PPSC is also responsible for providing prosecution-related advice to law enforcement agencies across Canada.



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Haiti - Diplomacy : 3 new ambassadors accredited to Haiti





On Friday, October 3rd, 2025, at the Villa d'Accueil, Laurent Saint-Cyr, President pro tempore and Coordinator of the Transitional Council (CPT), accompanied by other Presidential Advisors, the Secretary General of the National Palace, Ms. Marie Elisabeth Joseph Regine Haddad, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste, received the credentials of three new Ambassadors accredited to Haiti : Kazuhiko Nishiuchi of Japan, Helene Roots of the European Union, and Luis Guilherme DA SILVA of Brazil.



During this ceremony, the President of the CPT discussed with the diplomats the dynamics of cooperation between Haiti and its international partners. Laurent Saint-Cyr emphasized the importance of security during his discussions with the diplomats, a concern to which the ambassadors responded by promising to support the fight against insecurity.



Ambassador Kazuhico Nishiuchi, representing Japan, pledged his country's support for customs control and border security, which he said will help limit the trafficking of arms and ammunition.



European Union Ambassador Helene Roots reaffirmed the EU's commitment to supporting the Haitian National Police (PNH).



Ambassador Da Silva recalled the long tradition of cooperation between the two countries in the security sector. He mentioned the training, partly in Brazil, of the first class of Haitian National Police (PNH) and his country's commitment to continuing this collaboration.



Photo thumbnail : On the left : Ambassador Kazuhiko Nishiuchi of Japan, in the center : Ambassador Helene Roots of the European Union, and on the right : Ambassador Luis Guilherme Da Silva of Brazil.



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Haiti - News : Zapping...





CFPH Canado Technique : 250 New Technicians Graduated

On Thursday, October 2nd, 2025, the graduation ceremony took place at the Haiti Canado Technique Vocational Training Center (CFPH) for 250 technicians from the Kaizen class, a Japanese word meaning "continuous improvement", who graduated after more than 1,700 hours of training in difficult conditions, particularly due to insecurity in the metropolitan area. This class includes technicians in electromechanics, telecommunications, computer network technology, and industrial maintenance mechanics.



Gang Suppression Force

As a member of the Standing Group of Partners (SGP), the United States welcomes the adoption on September 30 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2793, which transformed the current Multinational Mission in Haiti into the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) and extended the force's Chapter VII authorization without interruption. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-45891-haiti-flash-the-security-council-has-voted-for-the-new-gang-repression-force.html The SGP begins its work to expand the force. With this in mind, we look forward to collaborating with the Permanent Partners Group to ensure that the FRG reaches its full potential and expands its scope of action in partnership with the United Nations Support Office in Haiti (UNHOH), which will provide, among other things, equipment, food, fuel, infrastructure, air and maritime resources, funded by assessed contributions from UN member States.



Taiwan's 114th National Day

On Friday, October 3rd, 2025, Taiwan (Republic of China) celebrated its 114th National Day in Haiti. Laurent Saint-Cyr, President pro tempore and Coordinator of the Transitional Council (CPT), was present, along with five other members of the Council, Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime, the President of the Court of Cassation, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and members of the government, the private sector, NGOs, and civil society. Ambassador Cheng-hao Hu reiterated Taiwan's firm commitment to strengthening cooperative relations with Haiti and expressed the hope that the friendship between the two countries would continue.



Chicago : Tribute to Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable

The Consulate General of Haiti in Chicago was honored to respond to the invitation of the Honorable Brandon Johnson, Mayor of the City of Chicago, to pay tribute to the legacy of Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, illustrious founder of the City of Chicago. By honoring his memory, the City of Chicago celebrated not only a pioneer, but also a builder of alliances between peoples. Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable symbolizes Haiti's contribution to the world through men and women who, through their audacity, left an incredible mark on the history of humanity. May the legacy of Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable inspire all Haitians here and abroad.



Did You Know ?

In terms of funding, the water sector currently depends more than 98% on international aid, said Eng. Theophile Ostinvil, Director General of the National Directorate of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DINEPA).



Logo competition, clarifications from the MPCE:

The Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation (MPCE) would like to provide the following clarifications : the Jury has selected a winner, whose proposal was selected in first place from among 113 logo proposals submitted https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-45896-icihaiti-graphic-design-results-of-the-mpce-logo-competition.html As in any competition, there must necessarily be a winner. However, this does not automatically mean that the winning logo corresponds to the Ministry's exact needs or that it will be officially adopted by the Ministry. Indeed, in accordance with Article 8 of the competition rules, the MPCE reserves the right to make changes to the selected design or to adopt another one. The official adoption of the Ministry's new logo will be announced at a later date.



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Microsoft announces a third subscription level for the consumer version of Microsoft 365: Microsoft 365 Premium is now available as an alternative to the existing Personal and Family subscriptions. This corresponds to the Family subscription plus Copilot Pro, whereby all users of the Family subscription can now use the AI assistant and not just the "main subscriber". The separate Copilot Pro subscription has been cancelled. Microsoft 365 Premium is based on Family; it therefore always contains licences for up to 6 users. There is no Copilot extension for Microsoft 365 Personal, at least not yet.

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Microsoft 365 Premium costs 22 Euro per month or 219 Euro per year and is therefore significantly cheaper than the previous combination with the separate Copilot Pro subscription, but also almost twice as expensive as Microsoft 365 Family. Premium subscribers also receive access to the "Frontier" programme and therefore to experimental AI functions and the new Office agents. The latter have so far only worked in the web versions of the Office programmes, but this is set to change very soon.

In order for users of the private customer subscription "Microsoft 365 Personal" (one user) and "Family" (6 users, 5 devices each) to be able to use the AI assistant Copilot (largely) without restrictions, they previously needed an additional subscription called "Copilot Pro". This cost around twice as much as the Microsoft 365 subscription itself. In addition, only the main user of a Family subscription could use the Copilot functions; the up to five additional users each needed their own Copilot subscription, each costing more than 20 Euro per month. Although the Microsoft 365 accounts alone  without additional Copilot subscription  also include the AI assistant, they severely restrict its use. For example, only 60 interactions (credits) are possible per month.

Plan Free of charge Personal Family Plan Premium plan Price for Free with Microsoft account 10  / month, 99  / year 13  / month, 129  / year 22  / month, 219  / year Number of users 1 1 Up to 6 Up to 6 Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote with Copilot No Yes Yes Yes Copilot usage limits Limited "Higher" (without further specification) "Higher" (without further specification) "Highest" (without further specification) Exclusive Copilot functions None None None Currently: Researcher, Analyst, Actions and Photos Agent (coming soon) Cloud storage (OneDrive Personal) 5 GB 1 TB Up to 6 TB (1 TB per user) Up to 6 TB (1 TB per user)

Microsoft promises that you do not have to create a new account for the premium subscription. Both pure Copilot Pro subscriptions and Microsoft 365 Family/Copilot Pro combination subscriptions can be converted to Microsoft 365 Premium. The former will now receive the Office apps and other benefits such as OneDrive storage for virtually the same price; previous combos will be cheaper.

Microsoft has not yet updated the German-language websites with the subscription plans for private users; in our MS 365 Family test account, however, the conversion to Premium is already offered, so the price is known.

And new icons again

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There are already seven generations of icons for the MS Office programmes, not including the icon for the new Outlook. (Image: Microsoft)

At the same time, Microsoft has announced that it will change the design of the icons for the Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, OneDrive and Teams)  For the sixth time since the launch of Office for Windows, by the way.

Anyone curious about "how a subtle update to our Microsoft 365 icons signals deeper changes" and why the icons for launching programs are "gateways to entire experiences that encapsulate complex ideas, product capabilities and brand identities in a single, memorable image" can read Microsoft's Iconography article to find out more about the design philosophy behind the new icons.

We think it's good that the separate Copilot subscription is disappearing and the combination with Microsoft 365 is becoming significantly cheaper for private users. It is even better that the AI assistant is available to all six possible accounts of a Premium subscription and not just the main user as before. Whether this is out of pure customer friendliness or  somehow more likely  because of poor sales of Copilot subscriptions, doesn't matter. But it would be even nicer if Microsoft 365 Family and Personal subscribers who are not interested in the AI assistant were not presented with the Copilot icon at every corner of the programs. But such a concession  at least as an opt-in  is not to be expected from the currently so AI-obsessed company from Redmond. And as far as the new icons are concerned: it's a gift. This is certainly more important to Microsoft than the customer. At least they haven't bothered to stick a Copilot logo on every little picture.

(swi)

Don't miss any news  follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Mastodon. This article was originally published in German. It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.
The announcement followed a Sunday deadline issued by Donald Trump , who warned that all hell would follow if the group rejected his 20-point peace proposal . Shortly after receiving Hamass response, Trump declared on Truth Social: I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE.

Hamas has agreed to release all remaining Israeli hostages and expressed willingness to negotiate key aspects of a US-proposed plan to end the nearly two-year genocidal war in Gaza.

The plan outlines an immediate ceasefire, the release of 48 hostages held by Hamas  20 of whom are believed to be alive  and the handover of Gazas administration to an independent Palestinian technocratic body. It also demands Hamass full disarmament and permanent exclusion from governing Gaza.

Hamas accepted the hostage exchange under the proposed formula, which would see Palestinian prisoners and remains returned in exchange. But the group requested further negotiations over terms related to Gazas governance and future, stating these should be determined within a national framework.

A statement from Tahir al-Nounou, media adviser to the Hamas political bureau, called Trumps remarks encouraging and confirmed readiness to begin negotiations immediately to achieve a prisoner exchange, end the war, and secure withdrawal of the occupation.

The groups statement did not explicitly accept disarmament or withdrawal from political life, two elements central to Trumps plan. Nor did it acknowledge the authority of the proposed international Board of Peace, which would include Trump himself and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Trump urged Israel to immediately stop the bombing of Gaza to allow the hostages to be released safely. Nevertheless, overnight strikes continued. At least 20 Palestinians were reported killed across the Strip, including two children in a drone strike on a designated humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi.

Gazas health ministry said the total death toll since 7 October 2023 had reached 67,074. A further 169,430 have been wounded. More than 90 percent of all homes in Gaza are reported to be damaged or destroyed.

In response to the Hamas statement, Israels military was ordered to prepare for implementation of the first phase of the Trump plan. This includes the release of hostages and a temporary shift to defensive operations. Ground forces remain active around Gaza City, which the IDF continues to classify as a dangerous combat zone.

Despite the continued military activity, Israeli officials confirmed that negotiating teams had been told to prepare for immediate travel. Discussions are expected to resume in Egypt.

Within Israel, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum described the coming days as decisive and called for the government to support the plan and prioritise the return of hostages. Protests were planned for Tel Avivs Hostages Square.

Political pressure also mounted on Benjamin Netanyahu. The Prime Minister, reportedly shocked by Trumps swift endorsement of Hamass response, has yet to publicly confirm full support for the US-led proposal. Opposition leader Yair Lapid offered to back the government to help secure the deal if right-wing coalition members refused.

Families of hostages have expressed cautious support for the plan. Efrat Machikawa, who had six family members abducted, called it the greatest advancement in a very long time. Eli Sharabi, a former hostage, urged Trump to finish the job and bring all remaining captives home.

In Gaza, reactions ranged from tentative optimism to suspicion. Some residents began to celebrate, believing a ceasefire was imminent. Others remained sceptical, fearing a repeat of previous failed agreements.

A displaced pharmacist, Suha, described the deal as not good for Palestinians, but acknowledged that the end of killing and destruction would be a relief.

Hamass response has drawn international attention and mixed reactions. Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, urged all parties to seize the opportunity. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkiye, called it a window of opportunity for lasting peace.

Qatar, Egypt, and Jordan all welcomed the statement and affirmed support for continued negotiations. The Palestinian Authority also endorsed the initiative, with Mahmoud Abbas calling for unity among Palestinian factions and reaffirming sovereignty over Gaza.

European leaders, including Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz, and Keir Starmer, described the response as a significant development and encouraged swift action. Canada, India, and Malaysia also issued supportive statements, though some, including Malaysias Anwar Ibrahim, warned that the plan contained elements they did not endorse.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad backed Hamass stance, saying the groups statement reflected a broader Palestinian consensus.

Despite Trumps call for a ceasefire, Israeli strikes resumed on Saturday, with drone and artillery fire reported in Gaza City, Nuseirat camp, and al-Mawasi. Israeli military sources said any withdrawal would be conditional and phased.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. Oxfam reported severe malnutrition among pregnant women and children under five. Clinics in Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis are overwhelmed, with one treating up to 1,500 patients a day using a single toilet facility.

The World Health Organizations Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the best medicine is peace, echoing global hopes for a negotiated resolution.

The Trump administration continues to push for rapid progress. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt warned that rejecting the plan would have grave consequences and insisted the world was witnessing a last chance for peace.

HT
U.S. President Donald Trump is considering visiting South Korea later this month just ahead of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Azernews reports, citing Yonhap.

Government circles speculate that Trump may hold bilateral summits with South Korea and China before the APEC gathering opens and depart without attending the main session of the summit, slated for Oct. 31-Nov. 1 in the southeastern city of Gyeongju.

"President Trump is expected to arrive on Oct. 29 and visit Gyeongju," a ruling party official told Yonhap News Agency by phone. "However, his schedule has yet to be finalized and is still being coordinated between South Korea and the U.S."

Trump is expected to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur from Oct. 26-28 before heading to Japan for talks with the country's new prime minister.

He is then likely to travel to South Korea after his Japan stop, diplomatic observers said, raising the possibility of a one-day trip.

"As for when he will depart after arriving on the 29th, nothing has been confirmed at this point," a government official said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier said Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a "pull-aside" meeting in South Korea late this month.

A ruling party official, meanwhile, downplayed the possibility of Trump's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas has said that he will propose to the Cabinet on Oct. 14 a new scheme to stimulate tourism in secondary cities.

The plan under consideration would allow travelers to deduct tourism-related expenses from taxable income at twice the value, up to 40,000 baht (US$1,230), with implementation expected by the end of this year.

The government will also encourage state agencies to hold seminars outside Bangkok over the next four months to boost both major and secondary city tourism.

This will involve a front-loaded budget disbursement, accelerating spending at the start of fiscal 2026 instead of the usual year-end push. Around 8 billion baht ($246 million) is expected to be spent under this measure.

Ekniti said that Thailand wants to stimulate spending early in the fiscal year. Government agencies that have seminar and training budgets will be instructed to use them within the first four months. State agencies have about 34 billion baht allocated, while state enterprises have another 4 billion baht.

For longer-term support, the Finance Ministry will introduce a measure allowing hotel businesses to deduct renovation and upgrade expenses at twice the value for tax purposes, applicable to both primary and secondary city accommodations.
Five civilians in Kharkiv region were injured over the past 24 hours as a result of strikes by Russian occupiers using Geran-2, Molniya, and FPV drones on nine settlements in the region, reported Oleh Synehubov, head of Kharkiv Regional Administration.

"Five people were injured as a result of the shelling. In the village of Lisna Stinka in Kurylivska community, a 59-year-old man, a 47-year-old man, and a 55-year-old woman, a 53-year-old woman were injured; in the village of Dachne in Slobozhanska community, a 63-year-old man was injured," Synehubov wrote on his Telegram channel.

According to him, enemy strikes in Kupyansk district damaged a private home and a car, while in Bohodukhivske, private homes, outbuildings, and power lines were damaged. Power was cut off to four settlements in Lozova district (with a total of 1,500 customers) and one in Chuhuiv(with approximately 2,500 customers).
Photo: https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/

Since the beginning of the day, 147 combat clashes have occurred, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in operational information as of 10:00 p.m. on Friday.

"Today, the occupiers launched one missile and 46 airstrikes, used 38 missiles, and dropped 46 guided bombs. Furthermore, the Russians destroyed 2,214 kamikaze drones and carried out 3,238 shelling attacks on our troop positions and populated areas," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.

According to the General Staff, the most intense situation today was in Pokrovsk direction, where the aggressor carried out 39 assault and offensive actions.
Afghanistans Taliban foreign minister will visit India this month after the UN Security Council Committee temporarily lifted a travel ban, Kabuls foreign ministry confirmed to AFP on Saturday, Azernews reports, citing Arab News.

Amir Khan Muttaqi will become the first senior Taliban leader to visit India since they returned to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of the US military.

The foreign ministry told AFP the minister would go to India after the Moscow summit on October 7, which includes representatives from China, India, Iran and Central Asian nations.

The UN Security Council Committee has granted an exemption to the travel ban on Muttaqi, who is under UN sanctions, to allow him to visit New Delhi between October 9 and 16.

Indias point-person on Afghanistan Anand Prakash visited Kabul in April to discuss political and trade relations.

Russia is the only country so far to have officially recognized the Taliban government, which has imposed a strict version of Islamic law.

The Taliban government, which recently released several American and British prisoners, says it wants to have good relations with other countries, notably the United States, despite the 20-year war against US-led forces.

Most countries advise against travel to Afghanistan.

The announcement of the India visit comes just days after the Taliban authorities shut down Afghanistans Internet and mobile networks.

The authorities still have not commented on why they imposed a telecoms blackout for 48 hours.
Zelenskyy following EPC summit: Europe faces many challenges today, but theres only one effective response to them all  unity

Photo: https://t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official

Meetings on the sidelines of the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, were productive. Leaders of all countries discussed security guarantees, increased pressure on Russia, the implementation of the PURL mechanism, which provides for the financing of the purchase of American weapons and ammunition from European partners, and the EU's SAFE rearmament initiative, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported.

Europe faces many challenges today, but there is only one effective response to them all  unity. Unity in every decision made for our collective defense. The PURL initiative and the SAFE instrument, security guarantees for Ukraine, pressure on Russia and the European Unions new robust sanctions package, the use of frozen Russian assets, and the European future of Ukraine, Moldova, and the Western Balkans  we discussed all these issues in detail with every leader, and we count on full support, Zelenskyy said on X Saturday.

According to him, the implementation of current bilateral projects with Ukraine was also discussed with the leader of each country that participated in the EPC summit.

Europe must be protected from any threats. Only joint action and combined efforts can guarantee real security. I am grateful to everyone who understands this and is ready to work in this way, Zelenskyy summed up.

As reported, the seventh meeting of the European Political Community in Copenhagen brought together heads of state and government from 47 European countries. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also participated in the event. Denmark currently holds the EU Presidency.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called on European countries to jointly defend against Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, emphasizing the importance of joining forces to counter the threats.

With temperatures in Ukraine dropping, Russia launched a massive attack on our energy infrastructure in the Kharkiv and Poltava regions over the past night. With 60 drones and 35 missiles, including ballistic, this was the largest Russian attack on our gas extraction since the start of the war. It caused sigfnicant damage, Sybiha said on X.

He stressed that Russia is once again attempting to use cold as a weapon in its genocidal war against the Ukrainian people, and that this crime falls under Article II (c) of the Genocide Convention. Sybiha called on the international community to act decisively.

According to him, Ukraine requires additional air defense to protect its energy grid, as well as long-range capabilities to destroy Russian means of terror, and also immediate energy assistance, including additional volumes of energy resources, to assist Ukraine in passing the fourth wartime winter during Russia's full-scale aggression.

Above all, it is time to build a common European air shieldUkraine and European partners together. We can counter Russian threats together, no matter where they occur, whether they are Russian strikes on the Ukrainian energy system or airspace violations in the Baltic and Nordic countries, Poland, Romania, and the rest of Central Europe. No single country must face Russian drones and missiles alone, and we can ensure common protection if we join forces, Sybiha added.
From Venezuela, Maria travelled halfway around the world in search of a better life. Instead, the mother of two was trapped in Albanian detention for months after being lured into illegal sex work.

Maria, 38, is among a growing number of women drawn by international criminal networks into the Balkan nation from impoverished countries on the promise of lucrative sex work and a potential gateway to Europe.

She is just one victim of a criminal web that spans continents.

Earlier this week, international police busted a "highly organised" network that exploited over 50 women similar to Maria, whose name AFP has changed to protect her.

According to Europol, police arrested 17 alleged traffickers on Wednesday, who had brought women from Latin America to Albania and Croatia.

The women were either trapped in illegal sex work in Albania or exploited in other European countries.

"They promised me paradise but I found hell," Maria told AFP, in a Tirana apartment rented by an association that helps victims of human trafficking.

Albania's economic and social collapse in the 1990s, following decades of isolation under a communist dictatorship, allowed the emergence of one of the most notorious mafias in the world, according to organised crime expert Fabrice Rizzoli.

Albanian clans, specialising in human trafficking and heroin smuggling, capitalised on an alliance with the Calabrian mafia "to spread prostitutes on the streets of Milan and its region", he said.

Since branching into cocaine supply in the 2000s, the Albanian mafia has been well established in Latin America, he said.

But as tourism booms, Albania, once a country of origin for sex trafficking, has now become a destination country for various criminal groups that bring women to the Balkan country, where prostitution is illegal.

Empowered by the global reach of cybercrime, criminal networks are using Albania as a transit point to exploit women from other nations around the world.

According to Europol, Wednesday's raids uncovered the model many of these "agencies" use, to control every detail "from recruitment to money collection", including call centres that negotiate directly with prostitution clients.

"The women have no say and no rights in deciding the price or saying no to certain practices," said Nenad Naca, from Europol's human trafficking taskforce.

Investigators also arrested a man in Colombia; they allege he led the network and took almost half of all its criminal earnings, thousands of miles away from where most women were being exploited.

"As all other organised crime networks, it has turned digital and international. These call centres can be anywhere," Naca said.

For women trapped in Albania's illegal prostitution, many are too afraid to turn to the authorities, under threats from the criminals who manipulate them.

Anyone engaging in prostitution in Albania, if not considered a trafficking victim, can be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

Some, like Maria, are unaware that sex work is illegal when they come to the country.

But after they arrive, criminal pimps abuse them, taking a substantial cut of their earnings and forcing them to stay.

"There is less visible violence now than before. The criminals have understood that the humans they traffic -- who for them are not human beings, just a commodity -- lose some value if they are visibly hurt," Naca said.

Often, criminals threaten family back in the women's home country or show videos of others being beaten as a warning "if they disobey", he said.

Maria travelled to Albania in late November, convinced by friends that it would finally help pay the bills for her young family.

She was arrested five days later with six other Latin American women.

"We didn't know it was illegal," she said, still visibly shaken after seven months of pre-trial detention.

"Otherwise, we wouldn't have come here."

Among erotic photos, dating apps and client messages on Maria's and the other women's seized phones, investigators found the recurring number of a woman who allegedly acted as a pimp.

According to one of the women, Ana -- whose name AFP has also changed for her safety -- it was the number of the person who brought her from Colombia.

The 32-year-old said the woman handled clients, assigned appointments, and organised apartments, in exchange for half of her earnings supposedly to repay travel costs to Albania.

In the first six months of 2025, Albanian police opened 108 investigations into suspected prostitution, leading to operations targeting massage parlours, bars, or hotels.

At least 37 foreign nationals suspected of trafficking-related crimes and about 10 potential victims of sexual exploitation were identified.

These women, often from very poor backgrounds, are persuaded into travelling to Albania by criminals who promise quick cash, Tirana's anti-human trafficking unit commissioner Geranda Gjeta said.

"They fall prey to scams and threats from these criminals, who send videos of their families or death threats," Gjeta said.

Under that pressure, most women take full responsibility when caught instead of risking retribution from their pimps, said Brikena Puka, who leads the victims' aid centre Vatra.

"For several months, the number of foreign victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation needing our help has been increasing," Puka said.

Nenad said police have also seen an increase in Latin American victims and suspects.

Ana and Maria have been released from prison and are in secure housing supplied by Vatra, waiting for the police to return their passports so they can finally leave Albania.

Ana came to the country via Spain after struggling to support her children and family back in the Dominican Republic.

She had been approached by a network while living in Barcelona and offered a job as an escort by a woman, who has since been arrested and accused of pimping.

"Prostitution -- we do it out of need," Ana said.

"We see it as something quick and easy. But it's not true. Not only are we mistreated, but we're also forced to give 50 percent of what we earn with our bodies to our pimps," she said, struggling to hold back tears.

In early September, 11 foreign nationals, including six women, were held in pre-trial detention in Albania, suspected of human trafficking and pimping, according to prison authorities.

"Albania was once a country of origin for Albanian girls and women who were trafficked," Gjeta said.

"Today we face another situation: an international criminal phenomenon whose victims are women from Africa, Asia, and Latin America."

According to Albanian police, well-organised criminal groups run the network from abroad, supported by local contacts who handle on-the-ground logistics.

The challenge is a "transnational" one for law enforcement, as victims often arrive on visas --sometimes with forged documents -- before relocating to other European countries, Gjeta said.

Albania was also probing several foreign-hosted websites that are used to shield prostitution clients from law enforcement.

As part of a major international operation in June, Albanian police rescued three Chinese women recruited in Dubai and exploited by a Chinese company in a local massage parlour.

A British man and two Albanians accused of trafficking people for sexual exploitation were also arrested and remain in pre-trial detention.

Malka Marcovich, a women's rights activist and consultant, said technology was allowing for the emergence of an "international pimp".

"Moving from country to country, from continent to continent, it becomes increasingly difficult to prosecute traffickers," Marcovich said.

"The large-scale sale of women's bodies is far more lucrative than drug trafficking," Marcovich said.
Russian occupiers lost 124 military personnel in Pokrovsk area during one day, with a total of 39 offensive operations taking place there over the course of the day, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.

"Today, Ukrainian soldiers neutralized 124 occupiers in this area, 70 of whom were irrevocably killed," the message reads.

In addition, 16 UAVs and a vehicle were destroyed, while Ukrainian soldiers also hit six vehicles, a UAV control center, and six shelters for enemy personnel.

In total, during the day, in Pokrovsk direction, the invading forces attempted to breach our defenses 39 times in the areas of the settlements of Volodymyrivka, Razyne, Nykanorivka, Rodynske, Novo-Ekonomichne, Myroliubivka, Pokrovsk, Zvereve, Kotlyne, Udachne, Novo-Serhiyivka, and Filiya. In some locations, fighting continues to this day.
Army Spc. Michael R. DeMarsico II's photo was used for the prototype banner. Durocher said the actual banners will use higher-quality photos.

North Adams Launches Veterans Banner Program

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The Veterans Services Department is seeking city veterans, both living and deceased, to honor on large banners displayed throughout the downtown area.

"Veterans of the past have paved the way for all of us now," Veterans Agent Kurtis Durocher said. "... I know, from a veteran's perspective, we don't necessarily relay that we want to be honored. But deep down, every veteran wants to be. To know that their service was not done for nothing. It is nice for families to be able to gloat about their veterans. They want to honor that legacy."

The program proposes to install 30-by-60-inch banners throughout the downtown area. Durocher, who started in the position in February, said starting this program was a top priority after seeing similar programs in surrounding communities.

"My question was always why don't we do it here in North Adams?" he said, explaining that the design process took time to ensure the look was just right.

Currently, 18 applications have been accepted and paid for, with another 40 applications pending review. Durocher said Mayor Jennifer Macksey was supportive of the program and wanted to "go big." The city hopes to have 80 to 85 banners displayed initially.

"We will start with them going up and down Main Street and then going down Church Street," Durocher explained. "Then we want to do the State Street bridge [Hadley Overpass]. That would be it for now, but we would look to expand if possible."

The program is open to veterans who had received an honorable discharge. Applicants just need to provide a photo and a copy of their DD Form 214 so Durocher can verify service.

The banners will feature a photo of the veteran, their insignia, dates of service, and a short biography.

The city is charging $150 per banner, making no profit on the program itself. The banner costs nearly $130 to print, with the remaining $21 designated as a maintenance charge to help care for the banners long-term.

He said the maintenance fund has a dual purpose.

"The maintenance fund will be available if we have to replace a banner, but more importantly, in the future, to allow those with financial hardships to still have a banner," he said.

Durocher hopes that business and citizen donors will support this cause through sponsorship or donation to assist veterans or families facing financial difficulties.

Durocher hopes to have the banners on display the weekend after Memorial Day, or possibly the weekend before the Fourth of July. They would remain up until after Veterans Day.

Regarding the 67 or so open slots, Durocher said the application process is first-come, first-served. But with more than 2,000 veterans in the district and more than 500 in North Adams alone, the department hopes to be able to expand. In the future, if the city acquires more banners than available for display locations, a rotation system will be necessary to ensure new banners can be shown.

"I don't know how it will work quite yet, but it is something for the future. I hope we have that issue, honestly, because that means that we are doing good," he said. The main logistical challenge currently is finding poles tall enough to prevent vandalism. He added that National Grid is hesitant to support hanging banners on utility poles, a sentiment he agrees with.

Following the lead of Adams and Lanesborough, which have similar programs, Durocher hopes to expand the banner program into Williamstown and Cheshire next.
Photo: https://t.me/hryhorov_oleg

Around 30 people were injured when Russian occupiers struck a train at a station in the town of Shostka in Sumy region, according to Oksana Tarasiuk, acting head of Shostka District Military Administration.

In a comment to Suspilne, she said that the wounded had been taken to the hospital, and their number was being determined. The attack is currently ongoing, and a train car is burning.

Head of Poltava Regional Military Administration, Oleh Hryhorov, clarified that the strike was aimed at "civilian infrastructure  a passenger train traveling from Shostka to Kyiv."

"Passengers were injured. Rescuers, medics, and all emergency services are working at the scene. An emergency response center is being established. People are receiving the necessary assistance, and the rescue operation is ongoing," he wrote on Telegram.

Hryhorov did not disclose the number of injured, but wrote that "the extent of the destruction and the number of casualties are being determined."
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces recorded 159 combat clashes over the past 24 hours. This was reported on Telegram in an operational update on the Russian invasion as of 8:00 a.m. Saturday.

"Yesterday, the enemy launched three missile strikes and 67 air strikes, used 41 missiles, and dropped 142 guided bombs. In addition, it carried out 4,433 attacks, including 93 from multiple launch rocket systems, and deployed 6,264 kamikaze drones," the General Staff reported.
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Three more people have been arrested on suspicion of terror offences relating to the attack of a synagogue in Manchester.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said on Friday evening that a man and two women, aged between 18 and mid-40s, had been arrested in relation to the attack, bringing the number of people held on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism to six.

It comes as it was revealed late on Friday evening that terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie was on police bail for an alleged rape when he carried out the Manchester synagogue attack.

Al-Shamie was heard to shout this is what they get for killing our children as he tried to get inside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, on Thursday.

The synagogues chairman of trustees, Alan Levy, who helped barricade the doors, told ITV News he saw Al-Shamie with a big knife, banging his knife into the glass, trying to get through.

He added: The heroes of the congregation who saw what was happening then came to the doors because he was trying to break the doors down to get in.

We were barricading the doors between us with Rabbi Walker and a number of the other congregants. He couldnt get in because we were holding the doors firm.

Mr Levy told the broadcaster: All I heard him say was when the guys were outside the perimeter and were shouting at him. He shouted, this is what you get for killing our children.

It comes as the families of the two men who died during the attack paid tribute to them.

Adrian Daulby, 53, is believed to have been shot dead by police while attempting to prevent Al-Shamie entering the synagogue during the car and knife attack.

He was killed together with Melvin Cravitz, 66, from Crumpsall, who was working as a security guard at the synagogue and also helped prevent the attacker entering the premises.

open image in gallery Adrian Daulby ( Family Handout/PA )

Armed police accidentally shot Mr Daulby and another member of the public during the attack, which happened on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

A tribute provided by Mr Daulbys family said: Adrian Daulby was a hero and tragically lost his life in the act of courage to save others.

He was a beloved brother, loving uncle to his four nieces and one nephew and a cherished cousin.

The family is shocked by the tragic, sudden death of such a lovely, down-to-earth man.

His final act was one of profound courage and he will forever be remembered for his heroic act on Thursday October 2, 2025.

A member of the synagogues executive, Brian Bell, said Mr Daulby was shot as he was holding a door shut, adding that he was an unassuming member of the synagogue who actually rose to the terrible danger, because he ran to close all the doors, back and front.

Mr Cravitzs family said in their tribute that he was kind and caring and was devoted to his wife and family.

open image in gallery Melvin Cravitz ( Family Handout/PA )

A statement said: Melvin would do anything to help anyone. He was so kind, caring and always wanted to chat and get to know people.

He was devoted to his wife, family and loved his food. He will be sorely missed by his wife, family, friends and community.

We ask for privacy as we try to come to terms with this shocking loss.

The tributes came as Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy was heckled during a vigil for the men close to the scene of the attack on Friday, with Mr Lammy facing calls of you have blood on your hands.

During a vigil for the victims, the Justice Secretary was booed by some of the crowd, with shouts of shame on you and go to Palestine, leave us alone.

In his address, Mr Lammy said that is why we stand in defiance of those terrorists who seek to divide us.

There were shouts from attendees, and one man could be heard saying you enabled it, every Saturday.

Rabbi Daniel Walker, from the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation, paid thanks during the vigil to one of the heroes who is recovering in hospital from terrible wounds.

Mr Walker said the man is recovering alongside two others who blocked the terrorist with their bodies.

He added: We also remember Adrian and Melvin, truly wonderful, special men whose lives were so truly snatched from them as they tried to pray as Jews on the holiest day of the year on Yom Kippur.

It is understood that police are no closer to providing a conclusive motive for the attack.

In his update on Friday, GMP Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson said both victims who were shot by police were close together behind the synagogue door as worshippers acted bravely to prevent the attacker from gaining entry.

He said one of the victims who died suffered a wound consistent with a gunshot injury  describing the actions of armed police as urgently required to bring this vicious attack to an end.

open image in gallery Rabbi Daniel Walker ( Danny Lawson/PA )

Sir Stephen said the other victim who suffered a gunshot wound has injuries that are not life-threatening.

Head of counter-terrorism policing Laurence Taylor said on Friday that a suspicious device attached to Al-Shamies torso had been confirmed as fake following analysis and that police believed he may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology.

He added: Based on some fast time assessments conducted on our systems, this individual does not appear to be known to counter-terrorism policing, however he does have a non-CT (counter-terror) related criminal history.

This includes a recent arrest for rape, which resulted in him being bailed.

At this stage, we believe Al-Shamie may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology.

Establishing the full circumstances of the attack is likely to take some time.

On Friday, the police watchdog, which is investigating the incident, said it was examining the use of lethal force by GMP firearms officers after a post-mortem examination concluded Mr Daulby suffered a fatal gunshot wound.

The IOPC later said the post-mortem process has not concluded and cause of death is still to be determined.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the probe was standard practice in situations where police use of force may have resulted in the death of a member of the public.

The watchdog said the investigation will look at any role police may have played in injuries suffered by a third man who was treated for a gunshot wound but survived the incident.

Currently there is no evidence a non-police issue firearm was discharged at the scene, the IOPC added.

Al-Shamies father, Faraj Al-Shamie, issued a statement on behalf of his family, saying the terrorist attack targeting a Jewish synagogue has been a profound shock to us.
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A senior police officer has declared "enough is enough" after exhausted officers arrested hundreds of people at a Palestine Action protest in London, days after the Manchester synagogue attack.

Met Police said 492 people were arrested at the protest in support the proscribed group, which was classed by the UK government as a terror organisation earlier this year.

The bulk of the arrests were made at Trafalgar Square, where around 1,000 protesters sat silently, some holding signs backing Palestine Action, despite calls by Sir Keir Starmer and police chiefs to stay away following the terror attack in Manchester.

Amnesty International, meanwhile, said it should not be the job of the police to arrest people peacefully sitting down, and that the arrests amounted to a breach of the UKs human rights obligations.

The Met said many of those arrested had to be carried out of the square after refusing to walk, with each person taking up to five officers to move away safely. Some were pictured holding their hands in the air defiantly.

open image in gallery Police officers detain a protester during a mass demonstration organised by Defend our Juries, against the British government's ban on Palestine Action ( REUTERS )

Paula Dodds, chair of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said officers were physically exhausted but continue to be called on to facilitate these relentless protests. And we are coming under attack for doing so. How can this be right? she asked.

She added: There arent enough of us. Hard-working police officers are continually having days off cancelled, working longer shifts and being moved from other areas to facilitate these protests.

Our concentration should be on keeping people safe at a time when the country is on heightened alert from a terrorist attack. We are emotionally and physically exhausted. What are politicians and senior police officers going to do about it?

Kerry Moscogiuri, director of campaigns at human rights group Amnesty International UK, said: Arresting hundreds of people for peacefully sitting down and holding these signs is not the job of police.

open image in gallery The Met Police said many of those arrested refused to walk away, meaning they had to be carried ( AFP via Getty Images )

These arrests are in breach of the UKs international human rights obligations and should not be happening.

Event organiser Defend Our Juries estimated around 700 protesters joined the demonstration. Among those arrested, the group said, was 79-year-old Elizabeth Morley, a Jewish woman and daughter of a Holocaust survivor.

In what it called the biggest ever defiance of the ban on Palestine Action, people of a mixture of ages sat for the silent vigil, before taking out pens and writing signs in support of the group. Some read: I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.

The names of Palestinian children killed in Israels war on Gaza were also read out.

Meanwhile, around 100 people gathered in Manchester city centre for a similar demonstration, organised by Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine.

open image in gallery Protesters taking part in a demonstration in support of Palestine Action in Trafalgar Square ( Maja Smiejkowska/PA Wire )

The prime minister had urged protesters to respect the grief of British Jews, while Jewish figures have called the action phenomenally tone deaf after two people were killed in the attack in Manchester on Thursday.

Politicians and senior police officers joined calls for the events not to go ahead. Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley warned the rallies would likely create further tensions and some might say lack sensitivity in the wake of the attack, while Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Sir Stephen Watson urged would-be attendees to consider whether this is really the right time.

Sir Mark added that protests are drawing valuable resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most. Police forces have deployed extra officers to synagogues and other Jewish buildings to offer protection and reassurance in the aftermath of the attack, with hundreds of extra officers around Manchester in particular.

In a statement issued on X (Twitter) on Saturday night, the Met said 492 people were arrested, with 488 of the arrests were for supporting a proscribed organisation. The remaining four were for being drunk and disorderly, common assault, a public order offence and being wanted for an unrelated matter, the force said.

Earlier, the force said: The arrest phase takes time. Many of those arrested wont walk out of the square and need to be carried, something that requires a minimum of five officers to do safely.

open image in gallery In what it claimed was the biggest ever defiance of the ban on Palestine Action, organisers Defend Our Juries said more than 1,000 people sat for the silent vigil in central London in protest at the proscription of the group ( Reuters )

Speaking to Sky News, policing minister Sarah Jones said: "We have a right to protest, to speak our mind, to speak out on behalf of issues that we care about, but we do not have a right to disrupt, communities in major significant ways.

But Richard Burgon, Labour MP for Leeds East, said the arresting of peaceful protesters was an absurd situation, while calling the decision to designate Palestine Action a terror organisation wholly disproportionate.

A vicar, who had been sitting with her eyes closed and holding a poster saying I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action, was among those arrested and carried out by police. Some people in the crowd called police shameful and one said to officers thanks for protecting us as the woman was taken away.

Two elderly men were also seen being carried by each limb to the south-west corner of the square, where officers and police vehicles were waiting to process the arrests.

Meanwhile, a crowd who had gathered outside Manchester Cathedral listened to speeches before moving off en masse to march through the city centre. As they banged drums and chanted free Palestine, a group of counter-protesters got ahead of them, marching in front and holding a flag saying F*** Hamas and shouting release the hostages.

open image in gallery A protester holds a sign during a demonstration in Manchester calling for an end to Israeli occupation ( Reuters )

The governments former adviser on political violence called Saturdays protests a callous insult to thousands of grieving Jews. Speaking to The Independent, Lord Walney also warned they may prove a major tactical blunder for their campaign.

Referring to Saturdays protests, Dave Rich, director of policy at the Community Security Trust, a charity that provides security to the Jewish community, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I think its phenomenally tone deaf, to say the least, for so many people who claim to care about human rights and care about freedoms, to be taking police resources away from protecting the rights and freedoms of Jewish people to live their lives and go to synagogue in safety, all to support a proscribed terrorist organisation, which is not the same thing as supporting the Palestinians.

Sir Keir said events could cause further turmoil for families of victims and the Jewish communities following Thursdays attack.

open image in gallery Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and Lady Victoria Starmer during a visit to Manchester where two people died in a terror attack on Thursday ( PA Wire )

Writing in The Jewish Chronicle and The Jewish News, the prime minister said: I urge anyone thinking about protesting this weekend to recognise and respect the grief of British Jews this week. This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain.

But a member of the group behind the London protest said it would be unwise to heed calls to cancel it.

Speaking to Today before the protest started, human rights campaigner Sir Jonathon Porritt added: I have no doubt whatsoever that everyone taking part in the Defend Our Juries silent vigil today will demonstrate huge respect and real grief for those affected by the absolute atrocity at Heaton Park. But I dont think that means that we should be asked to give up on our right to stand up for those who are being devastated by an ongoing, real-time genocide in Gaza.

open image in gallery The police investigation continues at the scene near Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall ( PA Wire )

Greenpeace UK described the arrests over Palestine Action support as a waste of police time and called for a judicial review on the proscription of the group to go ahead.

Co-executive director of the charity, Areeba Hamid, said: Police officers must be wondering why they are carrying out these performative arrests instead of protecting our communities after one of the worst antisemitic terror attacks to take place on British soil.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp argued for stronger powers to prevent pro-Palestine marches, saying that allowing antisemitism any space at all can lead to attacks such as the Manchester synagogue killing.

open image in gallery Worshipper Adrian Daulby (left) and security guard Melvin Cravitz were killed during the terror attack in Manchester

Meanwhile, counter-terror police were granted warrants giving them extra time to question four people arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts following Thursdays attack, with another two also in custody.

Jihad al-Shamie, 35, who was on bail for an alleged rape, was shot dead by police as he targeted the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Three men remain in hospital after the car and knife attack. Adrian Daulby, 53, is believed to have been shot dead by police. Melvin Cravitz, 66, was also killed, with both men having attempted to stop al-Shamie.

Visiting the scene of the attack on Saturday afternoon, Kemi Badenoch said Jewish people in the UK must be given greater security as some are leaving to go to Israel.

The Tory leader told reporters: Right now, what were seeing is people exercising their rights, but not responsibilities.

Jewish people right now are telling me that they are leaving to go to Israel. Israel is at war. How can people be leaving the UK to go to a war zone and think that theyll be safer there?

Ms Badenoch added: This should not be happening in Manchester. Our country has always been a sanctuary for Jewish people and always should be.
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Amnesty International UK has warned that police using a new 10-shot super Taser is fundamentally dangerous after the Metropolitan Police was hit with a fresh scandal.

The charity said the new Taser 10 (T10) electro-shock weapon carries a set of new risks, with the potential for serious unintended injuries, especially among children. It also highlighted the potential for misuse against a backdrop of police disproportionality and poor accountability.

The warning comes as the UKs largest force has become embroiled in controversy once again following the release of a BBC Panorama documentary.

The Met is facing accusations of racism, misogyny and misuse of force after officers at a London police station were secretly filmed making offensive comments and bragging about using violence.

In the wake of the footage, Amnesty said that giving police a 10-shot super Taser without first strengthening the rules to limit Taser use to genuinely life-threatening situations raises fundamental safety concerns.

The government announced on Friday that police across England and Wales will be able to use Axons new Taser 10 model, saying the device is able to fire up to 10 single probes at greater distances and faster speeds, with officers now able to choose where each is fired.

open image in gallery The UKs largest force has become embroiled in controversy once again following the release of a BBC Panorama documentary

Amnesty described the probes as longer and sharper than previous models, with the barbed spikes fired at a greater force. It argued that the more forceful barbs increase the chance of serious injuries, particularly if they strike sensitive areas such as the face or eyes, raising particular concerns for children.

However, the Home Office insisted that safety mechanisms have been improved, including the introduction of an auditory warning, and that the device has been subject to rigorous scrutiny, independent testing and medical assessments.

But, despite being a member of the independent advisory group to the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) lead on Tasers, Amnestys policing expert, Oliver Feeley-Sprague, claimed that neither he nor other members of the group had been able to review documents detailing the testing, evaluation or medical evidence prepared ahead of the Home Offices announcement it had authorised Taser 10.

The Home Office said a member of the National Taser Stakeholder Advisory Group attended regular meetings on testing and assessment of the new device.

Policing minister Sarah Jones described the Taser 10 as a safer option, but Mr Feeley-Sprague called this misleading.

He said: A weapon that can fire ten times carries a real risk of overuse and serious injury, yet even the independent advisory group hasnt been allowed to see the safety evidence. There is little point having a scrutiny body when its denied access to the very documents it needs to scrutinise.

open image in gallery An officer during a demonstration of the Taser 10 ( PA Wire )

The much longer, faster-firing barbs raise the possibility of serious unintended injuries, with children at particular risk, including from facial or eye injuries.

But Blair Gibbs, director of the Police Foundation, the UK's policing think tank, argued officers should be able to use the newest Taser devices, even calling for training to speed up their deployment.

He said: We have strict and well-established safety assessments for approved policing tools like Tasers. As new models are developed, new reviews are undertaken by home office scientists, and this latest device has been properly tested.

Despite Britains largely unarmed policing tradition, it is right for more officers in response roles to have access to the newest Taser devices so they can keep the public and other officers safe. It is now essential that we have the best training and support so forces can deploy the new devices quickly and they can be used responsibly.

However, Amnesty highlighted the polices disturbing record of misusing Tasers, which includes disproportionately targeting people from minority ethnic communities and those in mental health crisis.

The latest Home Office data showed that Black people were eight times more likely than White people to experience a Taser being drawn on them or discharged. Amnesty is calling for an urgent review of official guidance on police Taser use.

Mr Feeley-Sprague said: Against this backdrop of misuse and over-use, a comprehensive review of official guidance on police Taser use is now absolutely essential. That review must be a priority and treated with urgency to ensure Tasers are only ever used in genuinely life-threatening situations.

About 20 police forces have already signed up for the new devices, according to Alex Lowe, UK and Ireland regional director at Axon.

He added: Taser 10  supported by immersive VR training  is a vital part of the technology toolkit alongside body-worn video and real-time digital evidence management that will help police deliver on the governments Safer Streets mission.

The policing minister said: This new device, backed by robust testing, will help our police forces and properly trained officers tackle crime more effectively while maintaining public trust and accountability, which is crucial to our Plan for Change.

Chief Constable Sir Andy Marsh, CEO of the College of Policing, called the new device an invaluable tool.

He said: Our updated guidance was developed in consultation with experts and tested in real-world scenarios. The effective use of Taser 10 is about improving the safety of our police officers and fulfilling our duty to protect the public from harm, whilst using the minimum amount of force. Its also about trust, as the public rightly expects police powers are used with care and accountability.

The College of Policings new guidance and training will ensure officers are not only prepared to the highest possible standards, but also that those standards are transparent. This will help build public trust and confidence and ensure officers are held to the high professional standards the service is proud to uphold.

A Home Office spokesperson said: The Taser 10 has been subject to rigorous scrutiny, independent testing and medical assessments, with technical testing carried out by an independent test house and user handling trials carried out by the College of Policing to ensure that the device fit for purpose and can be deployed safely, accurately and with confidence.

They said officers authorised to carry Tasers must first undergo comprehensive training, then complete annual refreshers.

They added that use of the devices must be necessary, proportionate and reasonable, with police accountable through the law for their use of force.
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged people attending pro-Palestine protests this weekend to respect the grief of British Jews.

Starmer added the protests, planned for both Manchester and London, could cause further pain to mourners.

He is the latest figure to tell activists to reconsider whether they should attend pro-Palestine protests, days after two people were killed and others were injured during a terror attack on a synagogue in Manchester.

Writing in The Jewish Chronicle, Starmer said: I urge anyone thinking about protesting this weekend to recognise and respect the grief of British Jews this week.

This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain.

Meanwhile Israels foreign minister Gideon Saar said he had spoken to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and urged the government to fight the pro-Palestinian marches and protests.

The protest in central London, organised by the protest group Defend Our Juries, is set to go ahead.

open image in gallery Starmer urged protesters not to toke tension and cause further pain ( Reuters )

The group claimed: Cancelling peaceful protests lets terror win.

Meanwhile a similar event held by Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine, which has taken place regularly in the last two years, is also due to happen.

It was referenced by members of the public who heckled Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy when he spoke at a vigil near the attack on Friday.

Both the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police have raised concerns about the strain on police resources during the protests and called for organisers to cancel them.

Officers have been deployed to synagogues and other Jewish buildings to offer protection and reassurance in the aftermath of the attack.

Questions have also been raised over the insensitivity of marches.

open image in gallery Pro-Palestine marches are set to take place in London and Manchester this weekend ( REUTERS/Carlos Jasso )

On Friday, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Sir Stephen Watson urged would-be attendees at the protest to consider whether this is really the right time.

He added: You could do the responsible and sensitive thing and refrain, on this occasion, from protesting in a manner which is likely to add to the trauma currently being experienced by our Jewish community.

Around 1,500 people, including priests, vicars, pensioners and healthcare workers, are expected to attend the protest in Trafalgar Square on Saturday.

The previous two events have seen a total of 1,422 people arrested, the majority for supporting a proscribed organisation.

A Defend Our Juries spokesman said it stood in solidarity with the Jewish community over the attack.

He said: It couldnt be clearer that tomorrows action, which is in Trafalgar Square and not near any synagogue, is about defying the Governments absurdly authoritarian proscription of Palestine Action and the Governments complicity in the genocide being committed by the Israeli government.

Yesterdays attack was actual terrorism and we join others across the country in condemning it unreservedly and we urge the Home Secretary and the police to prioritise protecting the community, instead of arresting entirely peaceful protesters.

Cancelling peaceful protests lets terror win.

Its more important than ever to defend our democracy, including our fundamental rights to peaceful protest and freedom of speech, and to take a stand tomorrow against killing and against oppression, and for peace and justice for all.

The Metropolitan Police has said it will pull in officers and resources from neighbouring forces if necessary to police the protest.

The Met has continued to urge the group to call off its plans, in a statement which echoed the earlier sentiments of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

In a statement, the forces Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: At a time when we want to be deploying every available officer to ensure the safety of those communities, we are instead having to plan for a gathering of more than 1,000 people in Trafalgar Square on Saturday in support of a terrorist organisation.

By deliberately choosing to encourage mass law breaking on this scale, Defend Our Juries are drawing valuable resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most.

He added: Continuing such protests within hours of Thursdays awful terrorist murder of British Jews, when communities are most fearful, will likely create further tensions and some might say lacks sensitivity.

Sir Stephen urged protesters in Manchester to reconsider.

The Chief Constable said: I am directly appealing to all those who might be intending to protest this weekend to consider whether this is really the right time.

He added: I would call upon the common decency and humanity of all people across Greater Manchester to aid us in seeking to support our Jewish communities following such a horrific attack.

Elsewhere, the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said it plans to hold a demonstration outside Downing Street next Thursday, to mark a week following the Manchester terror attack.

A spokesperson for the CAA said: The time for dialogue, platitudes, and lip service has passed.

Britain can no longer afford excuses while our Jewish community faces terror on our streets.

On Thursday evening, we will be protesting outside Downing Street to demand action, not empty words.
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The entire UK is covered by weather warnings as the Storm Amy hits, bringing gale-force winds of up to 100mph.

The Met Office had issued seven weather warnings ahead of Storm Amy, which brought very strong winds and heavy rain to northern and western areas on Friday, with all the country covered on Saturday.

A gust of 96mph was recorded overnight in the Inner Hebrides. An amber wind warning remains in place for parts of northern Scotland and the Met Office is warning of power cuts and flying debris that could endanger life.

A lower level yellow warning for winds has been issued for the rest of the UK until Saturday evening.

open image in gallery An RNLI lifeguard battles with a flag amid winds in Northern Ireland ( Getty )

Met Office chief forecaster Neil Armstrong said: Within the Scotland amber warning area, gusts in excess of 95mph are possible into Saturday morning as Storm Amy brings a risk of power cuts and damage to buildings and trees.

Gusts up to 80mph are possible within the Northern Ireland warning area, more widely 60 to 70mph gusts are expected in the amber warning areas, in what will be an impactful autumn storm for many in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Irish police said the man died in a weather-related incident in the Letterkenny area of County Donegal, Republic of Ireland shortly after 4.15pm on Friday, after the Met Office warned residents to beware flying debris, road closure, and longer travel times in areas including County Antrim, County Fermanagh, County Derry, and County Tyrone.

open image in gallery A series of weather warnings will be in place across the whole of the UK for Saturday ( The Met Office )

A building collapsed in Glasgow on Friday, falling onto a car, and leading to road closures in the city centre.

Power cuts were also reported in the Highlands and a number of islands  the areas facing some of the worst weather.

Fraser Wilson from the Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks spoke on BBC Radio Scotlands Good Morning Scotland programme where he said the network was working to restore power on Saturday morning.

He said that 100mph winds had affected power and while some people had their power restored there were still thousands without it.

Mr Armstrong said: Rainfall is an additional hazard, in particular over western Scotland, where totals could exceed 30 to 50mm in six to nine hours, increasing the risk of flooding for some. Warnings will continue to be tweaked and amended in the coming days as confidence increases so stay up to date with the latest Met Office forecast and warnings.

Storm Amy, the first named storm of the 2025-2026 autumn season. Stronger gusts are expected on exposed coasts and hills, mainly in the northwest.

Martin Thomson from Transport Scotland said: Storm Amy is set to bring heavy rain and strong winds to parts of Scotland and we expect to see disruption to the transport network in the warning areas.

The rain and wind will bring difficult driving conditions, such as reduced visibility and surface water, and are also likely to affect the ferry and rail networks, so its important to plan your journey ahead of time.

Motorists should use the Traffic Scotland website before they set off to make sure that their route is available, and you should check with your operator if you are planning to travel on trains, ferries and flights.

open image in gallery Storm clouds above Whitley Bay in North Tyneside in June ( Owen Humphreys/PA )

Here is the weather forecast for the UK for the coming week, according to the Met Office:

Saturday

Heavy rain clearing East to leave a day of sunny spells and heavy showers. Remaining very windy for most, with severe gales in the north. Feeling colder.

Outlook for Sunday to Tuesday

Blustery showers on Sunday, though the wind beginning to ease. Further rain likely in the north and west early next week, with drier interludes in the south. Feeling fresh.
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Kemi Badenoch is an unknown politician who the public do not trust, Britains top polling guru has said.

The Tory leader has been unable to halt the decline in support for her party, which collapsed over Partygate and Liz Trusss premiership and has been falling ever since, Professor Sir John Curtice said.

In a damning assessment ahead of the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Sir John said: The Tories are now barely more popular with those that voted Brexit than they are with the people who voted Remain, despite being the party that delivered Brexit.

open image in gallery Even Conservative supporters do not believe the party is ready for government ( PA Wire )

He told the Daily Mirror: Has Badenoch been able to deal with the challenge posed by [Nigel] Farage and Reform? No. Has she managed to make an impression on the public? No.

Has she basically had to change tack? Yes, because originally her idea was were stuffed, we have to wait for people to forget the last parliament, well spend a couple of years having a consultation thinking up some policy, then only begin to pop up again in the second half of the parliament, by which stage we hope the government is unpopular.

He added: In practice, she has discovered to her right is Reform, which is just eating into the party. We can debate how Labour and the Liberal Democrats are dealing with Reform, but its very difficult for the Tories to stand up and say we believe in a diverse country, and we think Nigel Farage is a very nasty man.

open image in gallery Sir John Curtice delivered the damning verdict on the eve of the Tory party conference ( PA Media )

Sir John urged Ms Badenoch to use her speech at the partys gathering to introduce herself to the public, but warned it is too late for any hope of a comeback in time for Mays local elections.

The underlying thing with her numbers is not that shes not popular, its that nobody knows who she is, he said.

He added: Theres always been this remarkable mismatch between her longstanding levels of popularity among Conservative activists, and her low visibility among the wider public. She wasnt that visible as a minister, [and] shes not that visible as a leader of her position.

And as Ms Badenoch pledges to pull Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to crack down on small boats crossing the English Channel, Sir John said it would be hard to adopt a harder line on immigration than Reform.

open image in gallery Support for the Tories collapsed over Liz Trusss disastrous mini-Budget ( PA Archive )

He said the Tories will struggle to win the trust of voters having failed to deliver on the issue during 14 years in power.

His comments came after a YouGov poll on the eve of the Tory conference showed just 11 per cent of voters believe the party is ready for government.

Meanwhile just one in five voters believe Ms Badenoch has done well as Tory leader, while nearly half (45 per cent) think she has done badly.

A seat-level forecast by the pollster found that, were a general election held today, the party would fall from having 119 MPs to just 45, while Reform would be the largest party on 311.
As the Green Party of England and Wales meets in Bournemouth for its autumn conference, some of its members are excited about the end of the two parties that have dominated politics for the past 100 years.

In this analysis, the Conservative Party is about to be replaced by Reform, while Labour, having won a wide but shallow victory last year, is already so unpopular that it will be eclipsed by a progressive alliance of Greens, Liberal Democrats and whatever emerges from the faction fight between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana.

The Green Party has just elected Zack Polanski, a member of the London Assembly, as its new leader, offering the prospect not of steady advance  the party won four MPs last year, up from one  but of a breakthrough into the big time.

When he was elected a month ago, he said his aim was to win at least 30 MPs at the next election and to replace Labour.

Reasons for Greens to be cheerful

Polanski ousted the existing leadership team of Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns by claiming that he could learn lessons from the way Nigel Farage had disrupted politics as usual on the right. He offered an eco-populism that would take on Farage by copying some of his methods  mainly a supposedly plain-speaking savaging of the old parties.

He is right to see the disillusionment of many Labour voters with Keir Starmers government as an opportunity. Most analyses show that more people who voted Labour last year have defected to the Lib Dems, Greens and potentially to Your Party than to Reform.

The split between Corbyn and Sultana seems to open up the possibility of the Greens becoming the leading voice of the pro-Palestinian, anti-capitalist tendency in British politics.

While Kemi Badenochs promise, expected to be formalised at the Conservative conference in Manchester next week, to repeal the 2008 Climate Act and the net zero target later attached to it, offers the prospect that some green Tories might come Polanskis way  although if they are going to defect, the Lib Dems must remain the most likely destination.

How realistic is a Green breakthrough?

At current levels of support, not very. In a five-party system, the Greens are still fifth, with about 10 per cent of the electorate saying they intend to vote for them. YouGovs MRP poll, with its seat-by-seat model, suggests that the Greens might win seven seats if there were an election now, which is more steady advance than exciting breakthrough.

A detailed analysis of YouGovs findings by the Political Betting website suggests that there are only another five seats where the Green vote share is within five percentage points of the forecast winner  either Labour or Reform. The analysis finds that the main electoral battleground on current polls is Labour versus Reform, with a secondary battleground of Tories versus Reform: The dog that hasnt barked to date is Labour versus Green. The Greens polling has increased, and they are getting a lot of solid second places but not yet getting close enough: for example, Lewisham North is Labour 41 per cent, Green 25 per cent.

Polanskis bet, and his members hope, is that Labour (and the Tories, and Your Party) continue to lose ground and that the combination of the climate emergency, the situation in Gaza and Labours pro-business policies will drive voters to the Greens.

Who will stop them?

Ed Miliband and Mothin Ali, possibly. The energy secretary has written for The Independent, condemning Kemi Badenochs ditching of net zero as an attempt to out-Farage Farage. He plainly intends to try to hang onto idealistic voters concerned about climate change, and, provided he doesnt make gas and electricity bills even more expensive, Starmer may be inclined to let him.

Ali, one of two deputy leaders of the Green Party, may be more effective in stopping defectors coming the partys way. Polanski had a difficult time on the BBC defending some of Alis past statements. Ali, a councillor in Leeds, wrote on the day of Hamas atrocities in October 2023 in a social media post: White supremacist European settler colonialism must end! He later deleted the post and said he was sorry for any upset my comments caused. Polanski said the key was that he apologised, and said that there was a context to his deputys comments.

It seems possible, to put it no higher, that Polanskis focus on the Palestinian issue might narrow rather than broaden the appeal of a party that used to exist to protect the environment.
Emergency services are already on scene and have begun providing assistance to those injured in the Russian attack on the railway station in the town of Shostka, Sumy region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced.

A savage Russian drone strike on the railway station in Shostka, Sumy region. All emergency services are already on the scene and have begun helping people. All information about the injured is being established. So far, we know of at least 30 victims. Preliminary reports indicate that both Ukrzaliznytsia staff and passengers were at the site of the strike, Zelenskyy said on X Saturday.

According to him, the Russians could not have been unaware that they were striking civilians. And this is terror the world must not ignore.

Every day Russia takes peoples lives. And only strength can make them stop. Weve heard resolute statements from Europe and America  and its high time to turn them all into reality, together with everyone who refuses to accept murder and terror as normal. Lip service is not enough now. Strong action is needed, Zelenskyy stressed.

It was earlier reported that approximately 30 people were injured in a Russian airstrike on a train parked at the station in Shostka, Sumy region. According to Oksana Tarasiuk, acting head of the Shostka District Military Administration, the wounded were taken to the hospital, and their exact number is being determined. The attack is currently ongoing, and a train car is on fire.

Head of Sumy Regional Military Administration, Oleh Hryhorov, clarified that the strike was aimed at "civilian infrastructure  a passenger train traveling from Shostka to Kyiv."
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More than 180 constituencies are threatened by Reform UKs controversial pro-fracking agenda, new research has revealed.

The analysis by Friends of the Earth this week identifies the parliamentary areas that could be vulnerable to development for fracking if Nigel Farages party were to get into government.

A total of 187 constituencies are partially or totally within areas the British Geological Society has labelled Shale Prospective Areas  locales where specific geologic conditions exist that could make fracking viable  according to the environmental justice organisation.

Of these constituencies, it found that 141 are existing Labour seats, 25 are Conservative, 15 are held by the Liberal Democrats and 2 by Reform, with swathes of Scotland, the North of England, the Midlands and the South potentially at risk. MPs, including former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, Reforms Lee Anderson and energy secretary Ed Miliband, are among those whose constituencies could be affected.

The Independent has now mapped out the research, showing the proportion of shale areas in each constituency, as well as the political party of the local MP.

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a method of extracting oil and gas from shale rock by pumping liquids deep underground at high pressures to release the gas trapped inside.

There is a de facto ban on fracking in the UK, originally brought in six years ago. The government ended its support for fracking in 2019 after an Oil and Gas Authority report found it was not possible to accurately predict the probability of tremors associated with the practice.

But Reform has called for more extraction of oil and gas, pledging to unlock Britains vast energy treasure of oil and gas to slash energy bills, beat the cost-of-living crisis and unleash real economic growth.

Last month, YouGov polling revealed the unpopularity of fracking with the public, with twice as many people opposing the practice as supporting it. This runs parallel to the consistent local opposition that communities facing the threat of fracking have mounted against developments over many years, which  along with tremors at Cuadrilla's Preston New Road site  eventually led to the moratorium in 2019.

open image in gallery The analysis by Friends of the Earth this week identifies the parliamentary areas that could be vulnerable to development for fracking if Nigel Farages party were to get into government ( PA Wire )

Environmental groups say the potential risks that fracking poses to water and air quality, as well as industrial sites blighting the countryside, the prospect of unpredictable earthquakes and the harmful warming effects that fracking contributes to climate breakdown, are all reasons that the practice has met resistance and failed to get off the ground in the UK.

Environmental campaigners have criticised Reforms fracking policy, with Greenpeace UKs Angharad Hopkinson calling the practice polluting and deeply unpopular.

Friends of the Earth is calling on the government to bring forward its permanent ban on the practice. At the Labour party conference this week, the energy secretary confirmed plans to bring forward legislation to end new onshore oil and gas licensing in England, including new licences that could be used for fracking.

open image in gallery Ed Miliband has vowed to permanently ban fracking ( PA Wire )

Tony Bosworth, a climate campaigner at the charity, said: Wherever attempts to get fracking off the ground in the UK have been made, local communities have always been in staunch opposition knowing they'll pay the true environmental and local costs of developers' get-rich schemes.

Reform has seriously miscalculated if it thinks people will lie down and accept such a deeply unpopular policy were it ever to get into power.

The fact remains that fracking will do absolutely nothing to ease the pain being felt in people's lives either. With the price of gas dictated by global markets, it won't make a drop of difference to our bills. The real path to cheap and affordable energy is going green and clean by unlocking the UK's vast renewable power potential.

The Independent has approached Reform for comment.
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A majority of Conservative Party members support Britains commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050, despite Kemi Badenochs pledge to scrap landmark climate legislation if the Tories win the next election.

In a survey of Tory members by Professor Tim Bale at Queen Mary University of London, 51 per cent said they back the UKs net zero plans, while 45 per cent said they were opposed.

Among the general public, 69 per cent said they support the net zero target, while just 20 per cent said they were opposed to it.

open image in gallery A row over net zero could overshadow the Tory conference in Manchester ( PA Wire )

The survey came after Ms Badenoch announced plans to repeal the Climate Change Act, which was brought in by the last Labour government in 2008 and committed the UK to cut climate emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, with five-yearly carbon budgets to keep the country on track towards the goal.

As well as being opposed by a majority of members, the plans drew a fierce backlash from Tory grandees.

Former prime minister Theresa May said it would be a retrograde step, ending almost two decades of cross-party collaboration on tackling climate change.

Baroness May said: For nearly two decades, the United Kingdom has led the way in tackling climate change, initially with the Climate Change Act in 2008 and again in 2019 when we became the first G7 country to legislate to get to net zero by 2050.

To row back now would be a catastrophic mistake, for while that consensus is being tested, the science remains the same. The harms are undeniable.

We owe it to our children and grandchildren to ensure we protect the planet for their futures and that means giving business the reassurance it needs to find the solutions for the very grave challenges we face.

Ultimately, it is innovation and investment that will take us forward, but that can only be achieved by providing consistency and showing a clear determination to stick to the long-term path of reducing emissions, achieving net zero and protecting our planet for future generations.

open image in gallery Former prime minister Theresa May has strongly opposed Kemi Badenochs plans, insisting they could be a catastrophic mistake ( Getty Images )

It came after former Tory minister Alok Sharma warned the plans would risk future investment and jobs in the UK.

Lord Sharma, who is a former Cop26 president and served as business, energy and industrial strategy secretary under Boris Johnson, urged his party not to squander its legacy of climate progress for the sake of short-term political expediency.

The row threatens to be one of many that could overshadow the Conservative Partys conference in Manchester, which kicks off on Sunday.

Ms Badenoch has also set out plans to pull Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if elected  another issue which divides senior figures in the party and is opposed by the One Nation group of Tories.

The survey, seen by The Independent, also found Tory members are significantly more likely to believe immigration has been too high for the last decade.

Among Tory members, 92 per cent said it has been too high, with none saying it should have been higher. By contrast, 65 per cent of the general public said it had been too high, with 7 per cent saying it had been too low.

Tory members were also much more likely to back their leaders engaging in the so-called dark arts of politics, with more members supportive than not of their leaders breaking the rules to get things done.
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A Tunisian court has sentenced a 51-year-old man to death for Facebook posts deemed offensive to President Kais Saied and a threat to state security, his lawyer confirmed on Friday.

The defendant, who remains unnamed, was convicted on Wednesday of three charges: attempting to overthrow the state, insulting the president, and spreading false information online.

Judges stated the posts incited violence and chaos, violating Tunisias penal code and the controversial 2022 cybercrime law, Decree 54. This ruling marks the first death sentence of its kind in Tunisia, where dozens have received heavy prison sentences for similar charges since President Saied seized all branches of government in July 2021.

While capital punishment remains in Tunisia's penal code and civilian courts occasionally issue death sentences, none have been carried out since a serial killer was executed in 1991.

open image in gallery In this photo provided by the Tunisian Presidency, President Kais Saied takes oath, Oct. 21, 2024 in Tunis following his re-election. (Tunisian Presidency via AP, File)

In a statement on Facebook, lawyer Oussama Bouthelja said that his client had been in pretrial detention since January 2024. He said the father of three is an occasional day laborer and suffers from a permanent disability caused by a workplace accident.

Bouthelja described him as socially vulnerable and of a limited educational background, with little influence online.

Most of the content he shared was copied from other pages, and some posts received no engagement at all," Bouthelja wrote. In court, he said his intent was to draw authorities attention to his difficult living conditions, not to incite unrest.

The ruling is the latest to use Decree 54, a law that makes it illegal to produce, spread, disseminate, send or write false news ... with the aim of infringing the rights of others, harming public safety or national defense or sowing terror among the population. Since its passage in 2022, journalists and human rights groups have condemned the law as a key tool used by authorities to curb freedom of expression in Tunisia.

Tunisia, the birthplace of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, was long seen as the last beacon of hope for democracy in the Middle East and North Africa. However, since Saied suspended parliament and consolidated his own power in 2021, political freedoms have shrunk. Saied continues to rule by decree and his most well-known critics are either in prison or abroad.

Rights advocates in Tunisia warned that applying the death penalty for online speech sets a dangerous precedent.
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Bill Maher poked fun at Pete Hegseths remarks to military bosses in which the Defense Secretary blasted fat generals with facial hair, summarizing the bizarre, anti-DEI speech as: No gays, just buff, hairless men.

The late-night talk show host said that Hegseths TED talk, for which top brass had flown to Quantico from all over the world, had been half about warrior ethos and half about grooming tips.

Hundreds of generals attended the rare and impromptu gathering at Quantico, in Virginia, on Tuesday, where both Hegseth and President Donald Trump addressed them.

The Defense Secretary said it was "completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon, adding that all mandatory fitness tests would now be set to male benchmarks only.

open image in gallery Bill Maher poked fun at Pete Hegseths remarks to military bosses in which the Defense Secretary blasted fat generals with facial hair ( HBOs Real Time with Bill Maher )

"The era of unprofessional appearance is over," Hegseth told the audience, which sat in silence.

In his Friday monologue on HBOs Real Time with Bill Maher, the comedian joked that the new motto for the U.S. Marine Corps, rather than Semper Fi (Always Faithful), would be changed to no fat chicks.

He included the generals in this. He's too many fat generals and admirals walking around the halls of the Pentagon. Are you kidding? Maher said.

This is supposed to be an exercise in morale building  because nothing pumps you up like taking a 22-hour flight to be yelled at by a Fox News dry drunk about your love handles.

open image in gallery U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico on September 30, 2025 in Quantico, Virginia ( ndrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY )

Maher also addressed the Defense Secretarys description of military personnel with facial hair as beardos  an apparent combination of the words beard and weirdos  calling it Shaving Private Ryan.

It's funny, he said. Half the speech was about a warrior ethos that we want, and manly men and the other half was grooming tips because nothing says warrior ethos like, What products do you use?

He added: So to recap, no gays, just buff, hairless men.

Democrats have broadly condemned the event at Quantico, which they said sought to drive partisan politics deep into the U.S. military.
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A California woman who attempted to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022 has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison.

Judge Deborah Boardman sentenced Sophie Roske to 97 months in prison on Friday afternoon in Greenbelt, Maryland. The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to the attempted assassination in April.

I sincerely apologize to the justice and his family, Roske said in court, adding that this tragic mistake will follow me for the rest of my life, according to CNN.

Roske traveled from California to Kavanaughs home in Maryland on June 8, 2022, with a plan to assassinate him, according to the Justice Department. U.S. Marshals who were protecting Kavanaughs home spotted Roske getting out of a taxi and walking down the street.

Shortly afterward, Roske called 911 and told the operator she traveled to the state with a gun to kill a Supreme Court justice. At the time of the incident, she was known as Nicholas Roske.

open image in gallery The person who attempted to assassinate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison ( REUTERS )

Investigators later found a gun in Roskes suitcase, along with several other items, including a knife, ammunition, zip ties and pepper spray.

When interviewed by police, Roske said she was upset about a recently leaked Supreme Court draft decision on abortion as well as the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, the Justice Department said. A month prior, Politico had published a leaked draft of the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v Jackson, which overturned the Constitutional right to an abortion established in 1973 in Roe v Wade.

Prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Roske to at least 30 years. They also argued that the sentence should serve to deter others, citing a letter Kavanaugh received in April that said he should die from a gunshot and referenced Roske, CNN reports. Meanwhile, the defense asked for 96 months.

open image in gallery Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh pictured with his fellow justices. Kavanaugh received a threatening letter in April, prosecutors said ( Getty Images )

The prosecutions request was not reasonable, Boardman said in court. She cited Roskes decision to tell authorities about her plan, as well as her mental health struggles, according to CNN. Roske struggled with depression for years and had attempted suicide in the past, according to her defense attorneys.

If she had not called 911, law enforcement would have never known about Sophie Roske and her plot to kill a Supreme Court justice, Boardman said.

Boardman also cited President Donald Trumps executive order from January 20, which states that transgender inmates must be incarcerated in prisons that correspond with the gender they were assigned at birth, ABC News reports. Roskes attorneys disclosed in September that she is transgender.

Boardman went on to acknowledge the real harm that was caused to Justice Kavanaugh and his family, adding that they should never have to face a fear of threat because he does his job.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said prosecutors will be appealing the woefully insufficient sentence, arguing it does not reflect the horrific facts of this case.

The attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a disgusting attack against our entire judicial system by a profoundly disturbed individual, Bondi said in a statement.

If you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If youre in the UK, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
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Trump administration officials who celebrated the arrest of Kilmar Abrego Garcia may be enough direct evidence to throw out a criminal case against the wrongfully deported Salvadoran immigrant for vindictive prosecution, according to a federal judge.

The judge overseeing his criminal prosecution argued that the government likely brought the case against him for vindictive reasons and will hear more evidence before reaching a final decision on whether to dismiss it altogether.

Attorneys for Abrego Garcia argued that he was singled out by administration officials in retaliation for his high-profile legal battle challenging his wrongful arrest and removal to a brutal Salvadoran prison.

Despite admitting in court that he was wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March, government lawyers and top administration officials spent weeks insisting Abrego Garcia would never be allowed back into the country. He was returned to the United States in June only to face a criminal indictment that was introduced weeks after he was mistakenly deported.

Potential evidence of that retaliatory prosecution includes celebratory statements from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi and their subordinates, according to Tennessee District Judge Waverly Crenshaw.

open image in gallery A federal judge says statements from Trump administration officials appear to show that a case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia was brought for vindictive reasons in retaliation for his high-profile legal battle challenging his deportation ( AP )

But most tellingly, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche strikingly admitted in a Fox News interview that prosecutors were investigating him after a judge in Maryland had questioned the administration and accused the government of doing something wrong, Crenshaw noted.

To remove any doubt, Deputy Attorney General Blanche said that the criminal case was brought to return [Abrego Garcia] to the United States, Crenshaw wrote. This could be direct evidence of vindictiveness.

Blanches remarkable statements could be enough to establish motivations for the criminal case against him to be considered illegal retaliation for the exercise of his constitutional and statutory rights to sue the government, rather than a genuine desire to prosecute him for alleged criminal misconduct, the judge said.

That timing also suggests a realistic likelihood that senior officials at the Department of Justice and Homeland Security may have induced federal prosecutors to charge Abrego Garcia in retaliation for the Maryland lawsuit, Crenshaw added.

More evidentiary hearings will get to the bottom of those questions, the judge said.

open image in gallery A federal judge singled out statements from Deputy Attorney Todd Blanche the could be direct evidence that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was prosecuted for vindictive reasons ( AP )

Abrego Garcia is entangled in a series of overlapping federal court cases at the center of Donald Trumps anti-immigration agenda.

He remains in Immigration and Customs Enforcement Custody as he seeks to have his immigration case reopened to request asylum in the United States. The immigration court judge overseeing that case denied his request this week; Abrego Garcia has 30 days to appeal.

In August, his lawyers admitted that motions to dismiss criminal cases on grounds of selective or vindictive prosecution are rarely granted but if there has ever been a case for dismissal on those grounds, this is that case.

The government is attempting to use this case  and this Court  to punish Mr. Abrego for successfully fighting his unlawful removal. That is a constitutional violation of the most basic sort, they said.

A two-count indictment in Tennessee accuses Abrego Garcia of participating in a years-long conspiracy to illegally smuggle undocumented immigrants from Texas to other parts of the country. He faces one count of conspiracy to transport aliens and one count of unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens.

But in their request to keep him in jail before trial, federal prosecutors also claimed he is a member of transnational gang MS-13, and personally participated in violent crime, including murder.

Prosecutors also claim he abused women and trafficked children, firearms and narcotics, and there is also an ongoing investigation into solicitation of child pornography.

Abrego Garcia is not facing any charges on those allegations and Judge Crenshaw previously ruled that the government failed to link those allegations to evidence that implicates him.
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The Department of Education has been gutted of its staff, critical National Institute of Health research has been canceled, 16,000 federal workers have been fired, and $4 billion allocated by Congress is going ignored  these are just a few of the unprecedented changes President Donald Trump has made with permission directly from the Supreme Court.

Over the last few months, the Supreme Courts justices have helped expand Trumps presidential power over critical aspects of American life, without offering any explanation for their actions through the mysterious shadow docket.

The shadow docket, a cryptic name for the courts time-sensitive, emergency requests, was coined in 2015. Its perhaps most well-known for hosting 11th-hour requests from death row inmates hoping to stop executions.

But Trump has specifically turned the docket into something else  a place where a president can quickly request intervention without lengthy legal review and justices can issue consequential decisions in three sentences without providing context.

The rulings are often temporary, but the consequences are permanent.

In some cases, they have allowed Trump to fire workers, leaving some scrambling to make payments. In others, undocumented immigrants have been thrown into emotional turmoil while separated from their children.

open image in gallery Without providing any explanation, the Supreme Court justices will often agree to Trumps requests to unprecedentedly expand his presidential power ( The Independent/Getty/iStock )

Over the 16 years between the Bush and Obama administrations, the government submitted eight emergency requests. President Joe Biden requested 19 emergency applications.

During Trumps first administration, the government submitted 41 emergency applications. Nine months into Trumps second administration, there have been 28 requests  20 of which the Supreme Court has agreed to.

As a new Supreme Court term gets underway this week, the impacts have been tangible. Via the shadow docket, Trump has been permitted to continue his quest to end birthright citizenship, fire those in charge of independent agencies, end protections for migrants seeking asylum, roll back transgender rights, and more.

Glaringly, the Supreme Court has allowed the administration to cut $800 million in funding to NIH, a key aspect of the government whose research has led to the creation of mRNA vaccines such as Covid-19 vaccines, breakthroughs in cancer research, a deeper understanding of Alzheimers disease, and more.

open image in gallery Justices have permitted Trump to issue sweeping cuts to the federal workforce, temporarily  but those rulings have real consequences for the people being impacted ( AFP via Getty Images )

Traditionally, the Supreme Court case process is tedious and drawn out, taking months for the court to hear a case on what is known as merits. Decisions in those cases tend to be dozens of pages and contain thorough explanations with references to precedent, past cases, the law, and implications.

Dennis Fan, a clinical law professor at Columbia University, compared an emergency request to that of a person fighting to save their home from being bulldozed. Rather than go through the long process on merits, when their home is at risk, they can request an emergency injunction that will stop their house from being leveled while litigation continues.

The original purpose of the shadow docket, in its most generous form, is to deal with those sorts of emergencies, Fan told The Independent.

But the Supreme Court has set a precedent and allowed cases that do not appear to be emergencies.

Fan, a former appellate attorney for the Justice Departments Civil Division, points to Trumps firing of the heads of independent agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission and the National Labor Relations Board, as an example.

Individual firings of agency heads at that point you kinda think, Well, I dont know. If this is just one individual that the president cant fire for the next couple of months, how big a deal is that? Is that worth emergency intervention? he said.

open image in gallery Most Americans do not think the Supreme Court is doing a good job and a record number, 43 percent, believe it is too conservative ( Getty Images )

In June, the Department of Homeland Security asked the Supreme Court for help deporting undocumented immigrants, specifically a group of eight men to South Sudan, a war-torn country plagued by violence and a deepening humanitarian crisis that seven of the migrants had never been to.

The department wanted to remove the men in that case, as well as other migrants, to a third country. But a lower court judge prevented them without giving the immigrants proper notice about where they were being deported to and a chance to dispute it by showing they face the risk of violence.

Twenty-six days later, in an unsigned order that offered zero explanation, the justices lifted the lower court ruling, allowing Trump to deport the men and other migrants to third countries.

open image in gallery Supreme Court justices have allowed the Trump administration to deport undocumented immigrants to third countries without abiding by traditional due process ( US Government )

Where did the Government find the authority to disregard Congresss carefully calibrated scheme of immigration laws? Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her 19-page dissent. ...this Court should not decide without briefing, argument, or time for reflection.

The court has had no hesitation in taking up dozens of Trumps requests for intervention from the shadow docket  mainly thanks to the conservative majority, three of whom, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, were appointed by Trump himself.

People have the feeling, and probably a relatively accurate feeling, that the current Supreme Court is more amenable to emergency requests by one administration  mainly a Republican administration than a Democratic administration, Fan says.

The courts recent string of granted requests has proved unpopular. Already, Americans have developed a deep mistrust of the Supreme Court, with 52 percent of people disapproving of the justices and 43 percent saying its too conservative.

open image in gallery Trump has verbally attacked lower court judges who do not rule for him for being radical or rogue and turned to the Supreme Court for help, which hasnt defended those lower court judges against the presidents attacks ( Middle East Images/AFP via Getty )

The courts recent decisions have also created chaos in lower courts.

With justices refusing to provide a thorough legal explanation, experts say it has been difficult for judges to apply the emergency application rulings.

Judges in the trenches need, and deserve, well-reasoned, bright-line guidance, an unnamed federal judge told NBC News in September. Too often today, sweeping rulings arrive with breathtaking speed but minimal explanation, stripped of the rigor that full briefing and argument provide.

Ten days after the brief emergency ruling in the third country case, the Supreme Court was forced to issue a separate opinion explaining its decision to clear up confusion in the lower court.

A lower court judge continued to block DHSs request to deport the eight men to South Sudan, believing the Supreme Courts emergency ruling did apply since the original plaintiffs in the case were four undocumented immigrants living in Massachusetts.

open image in gallery Via the shadow docket, the Supreme Court has allowed 20 of Trumps emergency requests to move forward. ( Getty Images )

To give the Supreme Court some credit about this, I think theyre trying to figure out what to do about it, Fan says of the shadow docket.

I think a lot of justices realize theres some issue with doing things in this manner because you kind of rush out decisions with half-thought-out thoughts about a case.
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The Trump administration is offering migrant children $2,500 to voluntarily return to their home countries, dangling a new incentive in efforts to persuade people to self-deport.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement didnt say how much migrants would get or when the offer would take effect, but the Associated Press obtained an email to migrant shelters saying children 14 years of age and older would get $2,500 each. Children were given 24 hours to respond.

The notice to shelters from Health and Human Services Departments Administration for Families and Children did not indicate any consequences for children who decline the offer. It asked shelter directors to acknowledge the offer within four hours.

ICE said in a statement that the offer would initially be for 17-year-olds.

Any payment to support a return home would be provided after an immigration judge grants the request and the individual arrives in their country of origin, ICE said. Access to financial support when returning home would assist should they choose that option.

open image in gallery The Trump administration is offering immigrant children $2,500 to voluntarily leave the country, an offer that advocates are calling a cruel incentive to derail their due process ( REUTERS )

Advocates said the sizable sum may prevent children from making informed decisions and have urged Homeland Security to abandon the plans.

For a child, $2,500 might be the most money theyve ever seen in their life, and that may make it very, very difficult for them to accurately weigh the long-term risks of taking voluntary departure versus trying to stay in the United States and going through the immigration court process to get relief that they may be legally entitled to, Melissa Adamson, senior attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, said in response to the plans Friday.

ICE dismissed widespread reports among immigration lawyers and advocates that it was launching a much broader crackdown Friday to deport migrant children who entered the country without their parents, called Freaky Friday.

But the offer follows legal battles over aborted efforts to remove dozens of Honduran and Guatemalan children from the United States, as lawyers and shelter workers across the country scramble to prevent what they have feared are imminent attempts to deport them.

Legal aid groups believe federal immigration authorities, with the Honduran governments support, are preparing to remove children from Honduras who arrived in the United States without a parent or guardian and are now in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

Homeland Security investigators and representatives from the Honduran consulate met with several Honduran children at an Arizona shelter in recent weeks, and immigration court cases for Honduran children suddenly disappeared, according to aid groups.

The moves follow a similar pattern involving cases of Guatemalan children in August before the government tried to abruptly remove them without a court hearing  sparking a dramatic, fast-paced legal battle detailed in dozens of harrowing court statements from the children themselves.

open image in gallery The Trump administration was preparing to swiftly deport Guatemalan children in August when a federal court intervened ( AP )

Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, which represents children who arrived in the United States without a parent or guardian, called the Trump administrations latest maneuver an egregious abuse of power and a cruel tactic that uses children as pawns.

Unaccompanied children seeking safety in the United States deserve our protection rather than being coerced into agreeing to return back to the very conditions that placed their lives and safety at risk, she said.

This operation undermines laws that guarantee that process for unaccompanied children, and it runs counter to our nations longstanding commitment to protect the most vulnerable among us  children  from violence, trafficking, abuse, persecution, and other grave dangers, Young added.

New York Immigration Coalition has advised any child or person who receives an offer notice from ICE to immediately contact an immigration attorney.

Children fleeing violence and seeking safety deserve compassion, stability, and fairness  not cruelty, coalition president Murad Awawdeh said Friday.

This policy pressures children to abandon their legal claims and return to a life of fear and danger without ever receiving a fair hearing, Awawdeh said. The chaos built into this policy will devastate families and communities  and it is targeted to hurt children.
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth considered deploying an elite Army unit to Portland, Oregon, to address what President Donald Trump called lawless mayhem, according to text messages shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Last weekend, in a crowded public setting, high-ranking Trump administration officials reportedly exchanged messages about potentially deploying the Armys 82nd Airborne, a division historically sent into combat in both World Wars, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.

Any move to send the unit domestically would likely face legal challenges under federal restrictions on the use of military forces within the United States.

Ultimately, the administration opted to deploy 200 federalized National Guard troops to Portland rather than active-duty Army forces. The state of Oregon and the city of Portland have filed suit in federal court seeking to block that deployment.

While traveling in Minnesota, Anthony Salisbury, deputy to White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, reportedly used the private messaging app Signal to send the texts, which were visible to people nearby.

open image in gallery Salisbury reportedly told Weaver and officials in the texts that Hegseth sought Trumps approval before sending troops into Portland ( Getty Images )

Concerned by the public discussion of sensitive military plans, a source, fearing retaliation, anonymously provided the Star Tribune with images of the texts. The newspaper confirmed Salisbury as the sender using photos, video, and facial recognition, while verifying the authenticity of the messages, it reports.

Over dozens of messages, Salisbury spoke candidly, sometimes profanely, with Hegseths adviser, Patrick Weaver, and other officials, claiming that Hegseth wanted Trumps explicit approval before sending troops into the city.

Between you and I, I think Pete just wants the top cover from the boss if anything goes sideways with the troops there, Weaver allegedly wrote.

open image in gallery Soldiers from the Army 82nd Airborne Division, dressed in World War I era uniforms, march past the reviewing stand and President Donald Trump during a military parade commemorating the Army's 250th anniversary, coinciding with his 79th birthday, in June ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

He recognized the political risks of sending Army troops to a U.S. city, adding that Hegseth preferred deploying the National Guard instead.

82nd is like our top tier [quick reaction force] for abroad. So it will cause a lot of headlines, Weaver added. Probably why he wants potus to tell him to do it.

When approached for comment, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended Salisbury, noting he was in Minnesota to serve as a pallbearer at his uncles funeral.

Despite dealing with grief from the loss of a family member, Tony continued his important work on behalf of the American people ... Frankly, this story just shows the entire Trump Administration is working around the clock  and even through funerals  to make America safe again.

The statement was also critical of the reporting around the leak, claiming reporting outlets are choosing to exploit a private moment of grief for clicks.

open image in gallery The Trump administration deployed 200 National Guard troops to Portland this week as Oregon sought a court block ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told The Independent in a statement, The Star Tribune has acted in bad faith by repeatedly refusing to provide photos or a transcript of the messages in order to create their own narrative. This is not new information and only proves that the entire Trump Administration is working around the clock to Make America Safe Again.

The Department of War is a planning organization and does not speculate on potential future operations. The Department is continuously working with other agency partners to protect federal assets and personnel and to keep American communities safe, Parnell added.
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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he plans to announce the release of all hostages from Gaza "in the coming days", as indirect talks with Hamas look set to continue in Egypt on on Monday on a new US plan to end the war.

In a brief statement on Saturday, Mr Netanyahu confirmed a delegation had been sent to Egypt "to finalise technical details", aiming to "contain these negotiations to a time frame of a few days".

He spoke after Hamas said it had accepted some elements of the US plan.

Donald Trump welcomed the Hamas statement, but on Saturday warned that "Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off".

The US president later said the ceasefire would begin immediately once Hamas confirms the "initial withdrawal line" in Gaza. A map with his social media post appeared to show much of Gaza still open to Israeli forces.

open image in gallery Benjamin Netanyahu with Donald Trump at the White House last week ( Getty )

Earlier, Mr Trump had ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza. Some in Gaza City reported a notable easing of Israeli strikes on Saturday, although hospital officials said at least 22 people were killed, including women and children.

Israel's army said leaders had instructed it to prepare for the US plan's first phase. Israel has moved to a defensive-only position in Gaza and will not actively strike, said an official who was not authorised to speak to the media on the record.

Still, an Israeli strike on Gaza City's Tuffah neighbourhood killed at least 17 and injured 25 others, said Al-Ahli hospital director Fadel Naim. The strikes are still ongoing, Mr Naim said. Israel's military said it struck a Hamas member and regrets any harm caused to uninvolved civilians.

Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiyah earlier on Saturday said Israeli strikes killed five Palestinians across Gaza City.

Mr Trump appears determined to deliver on pledges to end the war and return all hostages ahead of the second anniversary on Tuesday of the attack that sparked it. His proposal unveiled earlier this week has widespread international support. On Friday, Mr Netanyahu's office said Israel was committed to ending the war that began when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023.

The indirect talks on Monday are meant to prepare the way for the release of hostages from Gaza and Palestinians from Israeli detention, mediator Egypt said.

A senior Egyptian official said US envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Egypt to head the US negotiating team. The talks also will discuss maps showing the expected withdrawal of Israeli forces from certain areas in Gaza, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorised to brief the media.

The official also said Arab mediators are preparing for a comprehensive dialogue among Palestinians aimed at unifying their position toward Gaza's future.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second most powerful militant group in Gaza, said it accepted Hamas response to the Trump plan. The group had rejected the proposal days earlier.

Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages  around 20 of them believed to be alive  within three days. It would also give up power and disarm.

In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of Gaza, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction.

open image in gallery President Donald Trump made an address about the Gaza conflict on Saturday ( AFP/Getty )

Hamas said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. Its statement also didn't address the issue of Hamas demilitarising, a key part of the deal.

Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general and chair of Israels Defense and Security Forum, said while Israel can afford to stop firing for a few days in Gaza so the hostages can be released, it will resume its offensive if Hamas doesn't lay down its arms.

Others said that while Hamas suggests a willingness to negotiate, its position fundamentally remains unchanged.

This yes, but" rhetoric "simply repackages old demands in softer language", said Oded Ailam, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.

Still, two vocal members of the right-wing bloc of Mr Netanyahus coalition, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, criticised the plans progress but didnt threaten to immediately leave the government.

And some speakers at the weekly rally in Tel Aviv over the war expressed a cautious hope not heard for months.

A group representing some families of hostages said the prospect of seeing loved ones return has never been closer. They appealed to Mr Trump to keep pushing with full force and warned that extremists on both sides will try to sabotage the plan.

Meanwhile, protests have erupted across Europe calling for the war's end.

Palestinians in Gaza tried to piece together what the plan means in real terms.

We want practical implementation. We want a truce on the ground, said Sameer Qudeeh in Khan Younis. He worried that talks will break down again.

I hope Hamas ends the war, because we are truly tired, said Mohammad Shaat in Khan Younis, as anxious Palestinians roamed the shattered streets.

On Saturday, Israel's army warned Palestinians against trying to return to Gaza City, calling it a dangerous combat zone".

Two residents said that since the morning, Israeli tanks and troops had not advanced but artillery shells and airstrikes were still heard.

We can still see the quadcopters everywhere, Mohamed al-Nashar said.

In southern Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said its Saraya field hospital received 10 bodies and over 70 injured after Israeli strikes on Saturday afternoon.

Gazas Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the war has topped 67,000. The toll jumped after the ministry said it added more than 700 names to the list whose data had been verified.

The Health Ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says women and children make up around half the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the UN and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
The Russian small missile ship Grad (side number 575) of Project 21631 Buyan-M was hit at 4:31 a.m. on October 4 as a result of successful actions by one of the units of the Special Operations Forces (SOF) in Lake Onega (Republic of Karelia).

"The missile carrier was en route from the Baltic to the Caspian Sea. The strike hit the starboard side of the ship's propulsion compartment. Additional details are being clarified," the Special Operations Forces reported on their Telegram channel on Saturday.

This ship is reportedly one of the newest and most modern, having been commissioned into the Russian Baltic Fleet on December 29, 2022. The vessel's primary armament is the Kalibr-NK missile system.
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As the seemingly unremarkable ZZ-343 aircraft taxies along the apron at RAF Brize Norton, it passes the vibrant union flag livery of its distinctly more glamorous twin the Vespina, emblazoned with the words United Kingdom.

The planes are fine examples of these islands genius for compromise. Theyre passenger carriers that are also airborne fuel tankers, known as Voyager. Vespina is fitted out to carry royalty and other British VIPs  but put to better use by the military most of the time.

On this autumnal evening, ZZ-343 left her sibling on a once almost unimaginable mission. Part of Operation Eastern Sentry, she is carrying fuel to Typhoon fighter jets patrolling the skies over Poland to see off Russian invaders.

Inconceivable at the end of the 20th century, Eastern Sentry is now what passes for a norm. The hybrid Voyager aircraft is now engaged in hybrid warfare with Russia thats heating up and defining the early decades of this century.

Still in British air space, ZZ-343 begins to carve ovals in the dark sky. Two Typhoons emerge from the gloom, green lights on their sides and tails flashing. Pulling alongside the Voyager, the fighters fill up before racing off to Poland as part of the Nato-wide response to Russias drone assaults there.

open image in gallery A Royal Air Force FGR4 Typhoon, armed with ASRAAM air-to-air missiles, is seen from inside an RAF Voyager air-refuelling tanker ( PA Wire )

One struggled to latch on, rearing and bucking in turbulence as it approached a pipe that has been wound out of the left wing of the Voyager. Its companion is already guzzling on the right wing.

It takes nerve to force the Typhoon jet hard through the churning air  a fireball in the sky the only consequence of a miscalculation of margins measured in inches.

The Voyager feeds about two tonnes of fuel into each of the fighters who stay alongside the mothership before darting away into the black. Below the North Sea glistens  a few patches of orange light spatter its surface  with ships thousands of feet below.

Some, perhaps, are part of Russias shadow fleet of tankers, smuggling fossil fuels to sell for cash that helps power Vladimir Putins old-fashioned war on the ground in eastern Ukraine.

open image in gallery The RAF Voyager Vespina, used by the prime minister and the royal family, is identical to the less imaginatively named ZZ-343, which has been refuelling RAF Typhoons over Polish skies this week ( PA Archive )

Last weekend, French commandos raided and captured the Baracay, a ship suspected of being used by Russia as a platform for drones that had disrupted Danish airspace. It had already been under sanctions for fuel smuggling.

This week, Danish intelligence said they had multiple examples of Russian warships tracking their aircraft with weapons systems.

Danish Defence Intelligence Service director Thomas Ahrenkiel explained: Russia is using military means, including in an aggressive way, to put pressure on us without crossing the line into armed conflict.

Late last month, Estonian airspace was violated by three Russian fighters for 12 minutes. And before that, Poland saw some 23 Russian drones fly into its airspace. They turned out to be unarmed and some were shot down.

This penetration of sovereign airspace is both a warning, a threat and a test by Russia.

For all of these incursions, Natos response has been swift, with the mobilisation of a multinational effort over Poland to reassure Warsaw and show the Kremlin that the alliance remains robust and healthy.

open image in gallery An image released by the Swedish air force shows a Russian MIG-31 fighter jet flying above the Baltic sea after violating Estonian airspace ( Swedish Airforce )

But Putins hybrid warfare has been effective in inflaming existing political infections across the West. His support for Brexit, far-right parties in Europe, the magnification of extremist perspectives by Russian bot farms, and useful idiots on both sides of the Atlantic have all combined to weaken Western democracy and alliances.

Russias population is roughly a third of the European and UKs combined. Its economy amounts to about a tenth of the size of the EU plus UK.

But the Kremlins efforts to undermine Western institutions have allowed it to punch well above its weight.

In response, the UK has sanctioned Russian spy agency the GRU and several of its spooks.

In July the Foreign Office said that the GRU routinely uses cyber and information operations to sow chaos, division and disorder in Ukraine and across the world with devastating real-world consequences.

Donald Trump has, until recently, indicated more support for Putins campaigning in Ukraine than he has for defending democracy.

open image in gallery Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin shake hands after delivering a joint press conference in Alaska ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images )

Ironically his wavering leadership of the West has meant that Nato and other allies have hardened their own efforts at defence.

Trump has demanded that Natos members outside the US contribute a bigger, and fairer, share of their budgets to defence. Theyve mostly committed to upping their efforts from below 2 per cent of GDP to 3.5 per cent and are making noises about going to five.

So the RAF Voyager flights in support of Typhoons are just part of Natos hardening of its conventional defences.

Many in the alliance hope that such efforts will be the end of friction, but in hybrid warfare there are only beginnings.
Close Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 66,148

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Israel has launched dozens of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip just hours after Donald Trump called for an immediate ceasefire, Palestinian officials have claimed.

Gazas civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 20 homes had been destroyed in what he called a very violent night.

Gaza Citys Baptist hospital said it had received casualties from strikes in the area. Israeli fire killed six people across Gaza Strip, local authorities said. One strike killed four people in a house in Gaza City while another killed two others in Khan Younis in the south, medical workers and local authorities said.

It comes just hours after Donald Trump called for Israel to immediately stop the bombing of Gaza.He said he he believed Hamas is ready for lasting peace after it accepted some elements of his peace plan, including releasing all of the remaining hostages in Gaza.

Trump has warned all hell will break loose if an agreement is not reached by the end of Sunday.

Trump wrote on Truth Social: Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!
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Israel has launched dozens of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip just hours after Donald Trump called for an immediate ceasefire, Palestinian officials have claimed.

It was a very violent night, during which the [Israeli army] carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City and other areas in the Strip, despite President Trumps call to halt the bombing, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP. He said 20 homes were destroyed in the attacks.

Gaza Citys Baptist hospital said it had received casualties from a strike on a home in the citys Tuffah neighbourhood, including four dead and several wounded while Nasser hospital in Khan Younis said two children were killed and eight people wounded in a drone strike on a tent in a camp for displaced Gazans.

It comes just hours after Donald Trump called for Israel to immediately stop the bombing of Gaza. He said he he believed Hamas is ready for lasting peace after it accepted some elements of his peace plan, including releasing all of the remaining hostages in Gaza.

Trump has warned all hell will break loose if an agreement is not reached by the end of Sunday.

Trump wrote on Truth Social: Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!

Israel's army said later on Saturday that it would advance preparations for the first phase of Trump's plan.

The army said it was instructed by Israel's leaders to "advance readiness" for the implementation of the plan. An official who was not authorised to speak to the media on the record tole the Associated Press that Israel has moved to a defensive-only position in Gaza and will not actively strike. The official said no forces have been removed from the strip.

Trump ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza once Hamas said it had accepted some elements of his plan. Trump welcomed the Hamas statement, saying: "I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE."

Trump appears keen to deliver on pledges to end the war and return dozens of hostages ahead of the second anniversary of the attack on Tuesday. His proposal unveiled earlier this week has widespread international support and was also endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Friday, Mr Netanyahu's office said Israel was committed to ending the war that began when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, 2023, without addressing potential gaps with the militant group. Mr Netanyahu has come under increasing pressure from the international community and Trump to end the conflict. The official told the AP that Netanyahu put out the rare late-night statement on the sabbath saying that Israel has started to prepare for Trump's plan due to pressure from the US administration.

The official also said that a negotiating team was getting ready to travel, but there was no date specified.

A senior Egyptian official says talks are underway for the release of hostages, as well as hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention. The official, who is involved in the ceasefire negotiations, also said Arab mediators are preparing for a comprehensive dialogue among Palestinians. The talks are aimed at unifying the Palestinian position toward Gaza's future.

On Saturday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second most powerful militant group in Gaza, said it accepted Hamas' response to the Trump plan. The group had previously rejected the proposal days earlier.

Also on Saturday, Gaza's Health Ministry said that the death toll in the nearly two-year Israel-Hamas war has topped 67,000 Palestinians. The death toll jumped after the ministry said it added more than 700 names to the list whose data had been verified.

Gaza's Health Ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says women and children make up around half the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the UN and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

Under Trump's plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages  around 20 of them believed to be alive  within three days. It would also give up power and disarm.

In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of the territory, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction.

Hamas said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. Its official statement also didn't address the issue of Hamas demilitarising, a key part of the deal.

Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general and chairman of Israel's Defense and Security Forum, said while Israel can afford to stop firing for a few days in Gaza so the hostages can be released, it will resume its offensive if Hamas doesn't lay down its arms.

Others say that while Hamas suggests a willingness to negotiate, its position fundamentally remains unchanged.

Meanwhile protests have erupted across Europe calling for an end to the war. On Saturday, tens of thousands of people marched in Barcelona, Spain, with demonstrations expected in Italy and Portugal.

The next steps are also unclear for Palestinians in Gaza who are trying to piece together what it means in real terms.

"What we want is practical implementation. ... We want a truce on the ground," said Samir Abdel-Hady, in Gaza's Khan Younis. He worried that talks will break down like they've done in the past.

Israeli troops are still laying siege to Gaza City, which is the focus of its latest offensive. On Saturday Israel's army warned Palestinians against trying to return to the city calling it a "dangerous combat zone".

Experts determined that Gaza City had slid into famine shortly before Israel launched its major offensive there aimed at occupying it. An estimated 400,000 people have fled the city in recent weeks, but hundreds of thousands more have stayed behind.

Families of the hostages are also cautious about being hopeful.

There are concerns from all sides, said Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is held in Gaza. Hamas and Netanyahu could sabotage the deal or Trump could lose interest, he said. Still, he says, if it's going to happen it will be because of Trump.

"We're putting our trust in Trump, because he's the only one who's doing it. ... And we want to see him with us until the last step," he said.

Associated Press
Gardai use pepper spray as two people arrested in public disorder incident in East Wall

Despite this engagement there was a co-ordinated and concerted effort to physically breach the Garda cordon

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Neil Fetherstonhaugh Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 19:32

Two people have been arrested following a public disorder incident in Dublins East Wall area this afternoon.
Gun convict Ursula Ni Shionnain was at Eirigi event in same month she took job in Catherine Connollys Dail office

Previously the presidential candidate insisted she was satisfied the woman had left the organisation before being hired

Presidential Candidate Catherine Connolly at the Custom House, Dublin. Photo: Stephen Collins

Kevin Galvin and Eavan Murray Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 06:30

The woman convicted of gun offences, and who was employed in Catherine Connollys Dail office in January 2019, attended the ard fheis of Eirigi that same month.
What is Eirigi? The anti-peace process socialist party that called Ursula Ni Shionnain comrade

Catherine Connolly sought to hire former member for job in Dail office

Trinity graduate Ursula Ni Shionnain was stopped by armed gardai in a car that contained handguns and cable ties

Maeve McTaggart Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 06:30

Socialist republican party Eirigi has been in the headlines in recent days after it was revealed Independent presidential candidate Catherine Connolly sought to hire a former member convicted of firearms offences as a Leinster House staffer.
latest | Storm Amy: Around 49,000 without power as restoration could take until early next week, says ESB

Man in his 40s killed in Letterkenny20 flights cancelled at Dublin Airport on SaturdayAround 49,000 premises without power, down from 184,000 lastnight

A man looks at wave wash over Blackrock diving tower during Storm Amy which brought severe weather, in Galway, Ireland, October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

Cillian Sherlock and Adrianna Wrona Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 16:37

Tens of thousands of properties were still without power as a clean-up got under way across the island of Ireland on Saturday after Storm Amy struck.
Theres a degree of calculated risk you hope your calculations are correct: Orla Guerin on life as a BBC war correspondent

From working in Penneys to reporting from the frontline in Ukraine, the Dubliner talks to Colleen Murrell about her career in some of the worlds most dangerous trouble spots

The way you reach an audience, I think, is by telling stories that are personal: Orla Guerin in Eastern Ukraine in 2022 for BBC News

Colleen Murrell Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 06:30

Looking back over her distinguished career as a foreign correspondent at the BBC, Orla Guerin rules out any pre-ordained logic to it, but thinks that she simply followed the big news destinations.
Group of children returns from occupied part of Kherson region to govt-controlled part - regional administration

Head of Kherson Regional Military Administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, announced the return of another group of children aged 10 to 17 from the temporarily occupied part of Kherson region.

"They experienced fear, pressure, and humiliationeverything no child should ever have to endure. But today they are safe and receiving all the necessary medical and psychological care. This return was made possible thanks to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's 'Bring Kids Back UA' initiative and with the support of the Save Ukraine charity," Prokudin wrote on Telegram on Saturday.

He did not specify the number of children returned to government-controlled territory.

According to Prokudin, 212 children have already been returned to Ukraine-controlled territory since the beginning of the year.

As of October 1, Ukraine reportedly returned 1,645 children as part of the president's Bring Kids Back initiative, after which the head of the Presidents Office of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, announced another 22.
Naoise Dolan: As we get closer to Gaza, Israels abduction of our fellow flotilla members will only spur us on

Despite interception of the first wave, our boats are still on course to bring aid to those who are suffering every day

An Israeli navy vessel approaches Ashdod Port, carrying people from the Global Sumud Flotilla detained by Israel. Photo: Reuters

Naoise Dolan Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 17:00

Friday, October 4, 12.25am local time. I should sleep before my night watch shift begins in two hours, but my boats violent tilting makes it impossible. There is a loud, interminable drilling noise; I cant tell from inside if its the engine, an Israeli drone or both. Our Thousand Madleens second wave of the flotilla is sailing fast through a storm to reach Gaza in about four days. The Sumud activists just ahead of us are now in prison.
Richard Curran: Focus on home-grown firms can help shield us from Trump shotgun shocks

Ireland must tread carefully by keeping US trade doors open while looking elsewhere to spread the risk

US president Donald Trump speaks to a gathering of top US military commanders in Virginia. Photo: AP

Richard Curran Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 06:30

Ireland would be mad to steer our economy clear of the United States because of what its president Donald Trump has done. But we must accept that in future, the US may want to steer clear of us.
Parents just want the best for their children, but that might not always involve a label

No one knows what causes autism. Doctors used to blame cold mothers. Then vaccines were falsely blamed. Now President Trump says paracetamol taken in pregnancy might be a factor. That was a new one on me (and doctors say there is no evidence for his claims). People are desperate for explanations because the incidence of autism has skyrocketed. Surely something about the way we live or what we eat or what medicines we take must be causing the increase?
The Irish Independents View: Flotillas are a spark of hope that must be followed with action

More flotillas will follow the last, but the hope they generate isnt enough

Activists  including Greta Thunberg  on Global Sumud Flotilla after being intercepted. Photo: Reuters

Editorial Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 06:30

The ragged 40-vessel flotilla that set out in August to break Israels 16-year-long blockade on the movement of goods in Gaza knew it was undertaking a mission impossible. But, with a famine taking hold and infants starving to death, those taking part were determined to face down the full force of the IDF.
A Cork business which pledged to donate gross profits to medics in Palestine has raised over 10,000.

Vibes and Scribes, which has three locations on Bridge Street and Lavitts Quay in Cork city, raised 10,500 for Doctors Without Borders (Medicins sans Frontieres) in their ongoing mission amid the horror of what is happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza.

The total includes the gross profits from sales on Saturday, September 27, as well as donations made through their charity boxes and directly to the charity through their online shop.

Joan Lucey, managing director of the three Vibes and Scribes stores, said the people of Ireland are very aware of the atrocities happening in Gaza at the moment.

People are very aware of what is going on in Palestine, and that is why I feel a lot of people came in and were so eager to spend and donate.

Vibes and Scribes on Saturday, September 27 during Palestine fundraiser

What is happening now in Palestine is just another confirmation of what a disastrous situation is ongoing, and it is so dangerous for everybody involved, she said.

Ms Lucey thanked the public for their generosity on the day.

Every cent will be donated directly to Doctors Without Borders, whose medical teams have been doing lifesaving work. We hope they will soon be able to re-enter Gaza City to continue their critical mission of providing care where its most needed.

We are so grateful to everyone who shopped with us in-store, spread the word, or donated in our charity boxes or directly to the charity through our online shop, she added.
A couple have been refused bail after being charged in connection with an alleged glass-bottle assault in Dublin, with a garda telling the District Court that the level of violence involved was "something I havent seen in a while".

Inga Punane (31), of no fixed address, is accused of assault causing harm contrary to section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 and of producing a broken glass bottle in a manner likely to intimidate contrary to section 11 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990.

Garda Dylan Higgins objected to bail under section 2 of the Bail Act and the OCallaghan principles. He told Dun Laoghaire District Court that Ms Punane and her co-accused Vitins Gintars (32) had been socialising with the injured party when a fight broke out and all three ended up on the ground.

It is alleged Ms Punane smashed a glass bottle on the ground and violently assaulted the alleged victim on his legs.

Garda Higgins said two independent witnesses coming home from work saw the incident and recorded high-quality footage on a phone. The court heard they told gardai they saw Ms Punane on top of the two men - who were fighting - before stabbing the alleged victim in the leg and torso and throwing shards of glass at another man.

Garda Higgins said the injured man was found bleeding with scratch marks and was taken by ambulance to hospital. He told the court that the witnesses showed him footage alleged to show Ms Punane smashing the bottle on the ground and on the mans upper body. He said Ms Punanes jacket had blood splattered on it when she was arrested at 3.35pm on September 30 and brought to a garda station.

During an interview, Garda Higgins said, the accused admitted stabbing the injured party due to alcohol she had consumed.

Garda Higgins told Judge Conor Fottrell there were no bail conditions that would satisfy him because of the seriousness of the alleged offences, the potential sentence on conviction and the risk of interference with witnesses.

The level of violence used yesterday is something I havent seen in a while, he said.

The court heard that Ms Punane is claiming jobseeker's allowance and is currently homeless. Her barrister, Sylvia Maria Crowley BL, said her client would abide by strict conditions including twice-daily sign-on, staying away from the area and moving into hostel accommodation.

Judge Fottrell refused bail under section 2 of the Bail Act and the OCallaghan principles, before remanding Ms Punane in custody to appear again on 8 October. Legal aid and medical attention for alcohol issues were granted.

Mr Gintars, also of no fixed address, is separately charged with assault causing harm to the injured party.

Both accused are originally from Latvia.

Garda Dominic OHalloran told the court that Mr Gintars, Ms Punane and the injured party had been drinking together and all slept rough in the area on a regular basis. He said there is clear iPhone footage that allegedly shows Mr Gintars leaving the scene with Ms Punane about 100 metres from the incident and 'stabbing the injured party in the leg".

Garda OHalloran told the court there were "absolutely no conditions" under which he would agree to bail because of the risk of interference with the injured party, who is known to the pair.

Ms Crowley argued Mr Gintars was entitled to the presumption of innocence and was willing to comply with strict bail conditions.

Judge Fottrell again refused bail under section 2 of the Bail Act and the OCallaghan principles, citing the severity of the charges, the strength of the evidence and the possibility of interference with the injured party.

He remanded Mr Gintars in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court on October 7 by video link. The judge again granted legal aid and any medical attention for alcohol issues.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.
A repeat offender has been jailed for six months after breaching a safety order by banging on his former partners door while half dressed on New Years Day.

The defendant, who is aged in his 30s, pleaded guilty at Dun Laoghaire District Court to contravening a safety order by besetting the applicants home address and banging on her door in an attempt to gain entry, contrary to section 33(1) of the Domestic Violence Act 2018.

The court heard that the man was at the apartment with the womans consent earlier that morning but, after an argument, was told to leave. About 18 months after the original safety order had been granted, he was left outside without his top and shoes and began banging on the door trying to get back inside to collect his belongings.

Gardai arrived at about 8am and arrested him at the scene, taking him to a garda station.

The court heard that a victim impact statement had been provided to Judge John OLeary, outlining the fear and distress the incident caused the woman.

Defence counsel, Silvia-Maria Crowley BL, said that her client fully accepted he was present and had acted unlawfully. He had entered an early guilty plea and was extremely remorseful for the distress caused.

Ms Crowley said her client had a long-standing addiction to cocaine and alcohol from the age of 14, was attending a day programme and psychiatric services for a psychosis diagnosis, and was trying to rebuild his life. The court heard that he works as a labourer earning about 500 a month and has a child to whom he currently has no access.

The court heard that the man has 52 previous convictions, including those for drink-driving, having no insurance, drugs offences under section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, public order matters and possession of knives. He also has three convictions in the UK for assault and public order offences.

His most recent convictions were for a section 6 public order offence and possession of knives, for which he received a prison sentence.

Judge OLeary said that in view of the mans record and the seriousness of the breach he had a duty to mark the breaking of the order by way of a custodial sentence.

He said the appropriate sentence was nine months but reduced this to six months to take account of the early guilty plea. He refused to suspend any portion of the six-month jail term.

The man entered a bond of 500, with 500 cash lodged in fixed recognisance pending an appeal.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.
Healthy Kerry, HSE South West and Kerry County Council are inviting the people of Kerry to come together on Monday, October 6 at 10am in the Rose Hotel in Tralee to help launch the Were Breastfeeding Friendly Kerry campaign - a call to action for businesses, organisations and everyday community spaces to stand behind breastfeeding families.

The morning will begin with a formal launch from 1011am, where campaign partners will speak about the importance of creating welcoming environments for mothers, babies and their families. From 11 am12 pm, Audrey from Giddy Goats will lead a mom-and-baby play session, offering a light-hearted moment of connection and fun for new parents.

Everyone, from local cafe owners curious about joining the movement to mothers seeking support is warmly welcome.

At its heart, Were Breastfeeding Friendly Kerry aims to weave breastfeeding support into the fabric of daily life across the county. By promoting breastfeeding-friendly policies in shops, restaurants, workplaces and community centres, the campaign seeks to improve maternal and child health, reduce environmental waste and foster inclusivity.

Local businesses can play a leading role by requesting a campaign pack, which includes a booklet outlining best practices, an A6 window sticker and an A3 poster, to display in their premises. Each sticker and poster will serve as a visible signpost, letting families know theyre welcome and supported.

These efforts build on the foundation laid by Kerrys Public Health Nursing teams, who host breastfeeding support groups throughout the county.

Helen Sheehy, Public Health Nurse and Lactation Consultant said:

By getting behind the Were Breastfeeding Friendly Kerry campaign, local businesses and community spaces send a powerful message of support to breastfeeding mothers. A simple sticker in a cafe window or on a shop door transforms uncertainty into confidence, encouraging longer breastfeeding which brings proven health benefits for both mum and baby. Above all, it shows that Kerry values and empowers families - creating stronger, more inclusive communities where everyone can thrive.

Deirdre Hegarty, Healthy Kerry Coordinator, sees this campaign as a natural next step.

By extending our support beyond clinics and hospitals into everyday community spaces, were embedding health and wellbeing into the very streets of our towns and villages, she explains. Businesses that join the Were Breastfeeding Friendly Kerry network are sending a powerful message of inclusivity and care.

Niamh a Kerry mom: As a new mother, I often feel anxious about where and when I can breastfeed my baby without awkward looks or feeling rushed. Knowing that local cafes and shops are proudly supporting nursing families means I can focus on my babys needs, not on finding a private corner. This initiative gives me confidence and peace of mind and reminds me Im not alone in this journey.

To be part of this growing movement, join us at the Rose Hotel on 6 October and register your attendance at: https://bookwhen.com/healthpromotiontraining/e/ev-skj3-20251006100000
Pictured at the launch of the 2024 Local Authority Performance Indicator Report from NOAC are back row from left: NOAC Secretariat Joan Comiskey, Deirdre Byrne, Claire Gavin (Head of Secretariat) and Val Longmore. Front row rom left: NOAC Board Members Brian Cawley, Declan Breathnach, Margaret Lane, Kathleen Holohan, Noel Harrington and Miriam McDonald

The latest Local Authority Performance Indicator Report from the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC), Irelands independent statutory body responsible for overseeing the performance of the local government sector, has been released giving an interesting insight in the workings of and challenges faced by local authorities nationwide.

The report gives on indication of how local authorities are performing under a number of different categories. It reveals that Sligo County Councils debt has decreased by over 8m since 2020 but was still in excess of 9m at the end of 2024.

The detailed report analyses how local authorities deliver for their communities under the following headings: housing; roads; water; waste/environment; planning; fire services; library service/recreation; youth/community; corporate; finance and economic development.

Housing

The housing section of the report focuses on areas such as vacancy; time taken for a property to be re-tenanted and the cost involved in that process and also reveals the number of houses that have been retrofitted and the savings that has resulted in.

A deeper look at the findings of the report reveals there were 2,275 dwellings in the ownership of Sligo County Council on January 1, 2024. During the course of 2024 an additional 54 dwellings were constructed or acquired while 16 dwellings owned by the local authority were sold.

The vacancy rate for dwellings owned by Sligo County Council stood at 1.39% at the end of 2024. The lowest vacancy rates nationally were recorded in Laois (0.8%), Wexford (0.94%), Westmeath (0.94%) while seven other authorities, including Sligo County Council, recorded figures less than 2%.

As well as developing and acquiring new housing stock, local authorities nationwide have been attempting to modernise the existing stock by retrofitting them. A total of 45 dwellings were retrofitted by Sligo County Council last year, resulting in a total energy saving of 651.8 megawatt hours (MWH). The figures in this category vary considerably nationwide. For example just seven dwellings were retrofitted in Co Roscommon last year while 160 were retrofitted in Donegal.

The report also crunches the numbers in terms of how long a dwelling is left unoccupied before it is re-tenanted with average times varying considerably across the country.

The average wait time for a dwelling to be re-tenanted in Sligo stood at 17.14 weeks which compares favourably to the 61.55 week wait in Kerry. The cost expended in Sligo getting the dwellings re-tenanted in 2024 was 28,764.47. Neighbouring counties saw a lower figure in that category with the average cost in Mayo coming in at 18,528.04 while it was even lower in Roscommon, 14,668.76.

Roads

The issue of roads was also assessed and analysed in the report although it is important to note that NOAC data relates solely to regional and local roads and does not include national routes.

The report reveals that during the course of 2024, 9.1km of regional road was strengthened at a cost of 1,984,357 throughout Co Sligo. The average unit cost of road strengthening in Sligo for the period was 32.58/m2. In Co Donegal 26km of road was strengthened during 2024 at a total cost of 7,021347 which equates to an average cost of 39.99/m2. There was arguably better value for money to be got in Leitrim where 14.4km of road was strengthened at a cost of 2,101,482 which equates to 22.86/m2.

A total of 14.5km of regional road was resealed during 2024 at a cost of 462,892, while a total of 67.7km of local road (primary, secondary and tertiary) was strengthened during 2024 at a cost of 6,096,543. There was also 87.7km of local road resealed during 2024 at a cost of 1,758201.

The roads section of the report also revealed that when it comes to paying motor tax, Sligo residents are more likely than many other parts of the country to complete the process in person rather than online. In Kildare 91% of motor tax transactions were dealt with online compared to 78% in Sligo and 73% in Roscommon.

Water

Since the establishment of Irish Water in 201 many of the public supply functions of local authorities have been taken over by the utility. However, local authorities still have functions in certain areas including private supplies.

The report reveals 97.91% of drinking water in private schemes is in compliance with statutory requirements.

Waste/Environment

The current role of the Local Authority Sector is the enforcement of the waste collection permit conditions and the Presentation of Waste bye-laws. The Bye-laws require the correct management of waste through a waste collection service or approved methods such as civic amenity sites and bin sharing.

The NOAC report reveals 12,255 (46%) households in Sligo availed of a three bin service offered by a licensed operator. In Co Mayo 21,015 (40%) households availed of the service while in Leitrim the figure was 9,521 (70%).

In terms of pollution, Sligo scored well, although there is room for improvement. No areas of the county were reported to be significantly or grossly polluted while just 6% was found to be moderately polluted. 61% of the county was found to be slightly polluted, a relatively high number but not as high as the 98% recorded in Leitrim under this category. 34% of the county was deemed to be litter free or unpolluted.

Planning

Under the planning section of the report it is revealed 15 planning decisions made by Sligo County Council were the subject of an appeal decided upon during the course of 202. Out of the 15 cases, 66% of cases confirmed, either with or without variation of the plan, the decision made by the local authority.

There was a considerable variation in these figure nationwide with 80% of cases in Mayo confirming the decision of the local authority while in Co Laois that figure was just 11%.

Fire Service

The cost per capita of providing the fire service was higher in 2024 than in 2023 in 26 local authorities and lower in just one, Sligo. The per capita cost of the fire service in 2023 in Sligo was 57.06 which reduced to 52.05 the following year, a reduction of 8.78%

A look at the figures recorded in neighbouring counties shows the a significant variation in the cost per capita of providing the fire service. In Mayo the cost is 70.75; Leitrim 82.86 and Roscommon 39.48.

The fire service section of the report also detailed the wait time for the fire department to attend the scene of an incident. In Sligo in 37.88% of cases in respect of fire, the first attendance is at the scene with 10 minutes. That figure jumps to 51.22% for the first attendance arriving at the scene after 10 minutes but within 20 minutes.

Library

The average number of library visits per head of population in 2024 was 3 which equates to 15,460,242 visits.

In Sligo the number of library visits per head of population for the local authority area per the 2022 census was slightly below the national average at 2.28. Throughout the county 259,758 items were borrowed by library users throughout 2024 while there were 0.21 active library members per head of population.

The cost of operating a library service was analysed on a county by county basis by dividing figures from the financial statement by the population of the local authority. In Sligo this came to 40.59 which is a higher figure than neighbours Mayo (33.77), Donegal (30.42) but lower than the likes of Longford (60.80), Clare (51.82) and Leitrim (55.03).

Some local authorities while welcoming the 4 book fund target, explained that book storage is a challenge and therefore they cannot add to their current level of stock without putting in place additional storage facilities.

Youth/Community

Comhairle na nOg have been giving young people a voice on the development of local policies and services in each of the 31 local authorities since 2002. It provides young people with a voice in decision-making nationally through Dail na nOg (National Youth Parliament), Seanad na nOg, the National Youth Assembly of Ireland and Government consultations on national policy.

Nationally, the percentage of schools involved in the local youth/comhairle na nog scheme is 65.4%. In Sligo that figure jumps to 84.62% while in Galway county the figure is 40%, Cavan (100%), Mayo (59%), Leitrim (85%) and Meath (73%).

Corporate - HR and ICT

Eight local authorities reported a reduction in staff numbers in 2024 - Carlow, Donegal, Mayo, Offaly, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford City and County and Wexford with some local authorities such as Leitrim reporting that retaining staff is proving to be challenging with other local authorities sometimes the destination for departing staff. Interestingly, there is no such problem in Co Cavan where retention of staff is said not to be a problem as its proximity to Northern Ireland makes it attractive to staff who can earn higher wages.

A strong online presence is essential for every kind of business and that is equally true for the local authorities. The NOAC report reveals total page views of local authority websites in 2024 was 65.13 million, a decline of over 3.66 million views on the 2023 figure of 68.79 million.

The per capita total page views of local authoritys websites in 2024 was also revealed with Sligo County Councils website receiving 13.46 page views. Elsewhere around the country some of the page views were Kilkenny (22.3), Waterford (20.94), Mayo (10.04) and Leitrim (4.46).

Finance

Five local authorities showed a deficit on the Revenue Account at the end of 2024 and there were six in 2023, seven in 2022, eight in 2021, and 11 in 2020. Of those that were also in deficit in 2023, Donegal, Mayo, Offaly and Sligo continued to further reduce their deficit in 2024.

The average national collection level of commercial rates for 2024 is 90.4% compared to 88.8% in 2023. Sligo, 74%, is among the counties with the lowest collection level of commercial rates along with Leitrim (79%) and Donegal (80%).

Sligo (70%) also features on the list of counties with the lowest collection of housing loans during 2024. The average national collection level was 87.5%, a 2% rise on 85.5% in 2023.

In relation to collections, the report states, NOAC welcomes the progress and efforts made by many authorities to improve collections. These sources of income make an important contribution to funding local services and for providing match funding for grant applications in many cases. However, it is clear that not all local authorities are addressing collection levels in the three areas of commercial rates, rent and annuities and housing loans, with some having unacceptably low rates, a more targeted approach is needed in these authorities.

"NOAC encourages local authorities to address the issue of arrears and to put payment plans in place where appropriate.

The balance sheets of the respective local authorities from the past number of years are also analysed. The report reveals that while Sligo County Councils debt has reduced considerably it remains the biggest debt of all local authorities.

The cumulative surplus deficit balance at 31/12/2020 in the revenue account from the income and expenditure account was -17,454,453. The accounts for the year ending 2024 show that figure has reduced to -9,251,455.

Economic Development

Economic Development indicators cover the number of jobs created, trading online vouchers, the number of mentoring recipients, tourism and expenditure on local economic development per head of population.

The number of jobs created with assistance from the Local Enterprise Office during 2024 per 100,000 of population in Sligo was 103.99 while the number of participants who received mentoring during 2024 per 100,000 of population was 632.5.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
Members of Carnew Musical Society were recognised for their longstanding service to the group.

Jacinta Kavanagh and Kevin McEvoy were recognised at Carnew Musical Society's afternoon of celebration.

Eamonn Doran, Mary Doyle, Anne Sheridan and Mary Doran were recognised for more than 40 years of service to Carnew Musical Society.

A Wicklow man has been awarded 25 of outstanding commitment to a local musical society.

Carnew Musical Society had plenty to celebrate at their recent afternoon of celebration. The society paid tribute to four longstanding members of the society for their commitment and dedication to the society.

Members of Carnew Musical Society were recognised for their longstanding service to the group.

Anne Sheridan, Eamonn Doran, Mary Doran and Mary Doyle have been involved with Carnew Musical Society for over 40 years and have been regarded as the backbone of the musical society.

Lorna Doran McEvoy, PRO of Carnew Musical Society said Kevin McEvoy was awarded with Honorary Life Membership, for his outstanding and commitment to the society for 25 years. Kevin now joins a distinguished group of Honorary Life Members who are regarded as the backbone of the society.

Lorna said another proud moment of the celebration came from the recent achievement of Jacinta Kavanagh, as she won an AIMS Unsung Hero Award This national recognition reflects Jacintas powerful impact on the amateur musical theatre community in Carnew, and across the Southeast, she said.

Jacinta Kavanagh and Kevin McEvoy were recognised at Carnew Musical Society's afternoon of celebration.

Preparations are under way for the group as they are set to perform the beloved Broadway classic Hello, Dolly! which will take place in November at St Brigids Hall, Carnew.

Lorna thanked the community for their support with Carnew Musical Society over the years to help keep the spirit of musical theatre in south Wicklow alive.
French photojournalist Lallican dies near Kamyshevakha in Kramatorsk district, another four people injured

Photo: https://t.me/UA_National_Police

One person was killed and seven others were injured as a result of Russian airstrikes in Donetsk region on Friday, October 3, according to the Ukrainian National Polices Telegram channel.

"A foreign journalist was killed and four civilians were injured near Kamyshevakha in Kramatorsk district as a result of an enemy FPV drone strike," the National Police said on Saturday.

Two more civilians were wounded in the town of Kostiantynivka, which was hit eight times by Russian forces: with two bombs weighing 250 and 500 kg, drones, and artillery.

"One person was wounded in Novo-Oleksandrivka in Kramatorsk district, which was attacked by two Geran-2 UAVs. Two private homes and a car were damaged. In Dobropillia, Russians hit a nine-story building with an FPV drone," police reported.

Additionally, information has been established about one civilian wounded in Siversk, who was injured during the shelling on October 2.

Head of Donetsk Regional Administration, Vadym Filashkin, reported one dead and seven wounded this morning. He also reported that one person was killed and four wounded in Kamyshevakha.

On Friday, Russian forces shelled populated areas in Donetsk region 31 times. Filashkin reported that 387 people, including 64 children, were evacuated from the front line in the past 24 hours.

On October 2, according to his data, the occupiers shelled populated areas of the region 35 times, killing one civilian and wounding four. Some 363 people, including 16 children, were evacuated from the front lines.

On October 1, Russian forces shelled populated areas in Donetsk region 32 times, wounding four civilians. Some 411 people, including 32 children, were evacuated from the front lines.

On September 30, the occupiers shelled populated areas of the region 27 times, killing one civilian and wounding eight. Some 273 people, including 53 children, were evacuated from the front lines.

As reported, a Russian drone strike on Friday claimed the life of French journalist and photographer Antoni Lallican, and Ukrainian photographer Hryhoriy Ivanchenko of the Kyiv Independent was injured.

Media reports indicate this occurred near the town of Druzhkivka in Donetsk region, which is approximately 15 kilometers from the line of contact. Kamyshevakha, however, is located even further from the line of contact, approximately 17 kilometers.

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed condolences over the death of the photojournalist. "Our compatriot, photojournalist Antoni Lallican, accompanied Ukrainian soldiers on the resistance front. It was with deep sorrow that I learned of his death in a Russian drone strike. I offer my sincere condolences to his family, loved ones, and all his colleagues who, risking their lives, inform us and bear witness to the reality of war," he said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha also expressed condolences and emphasized that Russia continues to target journalists. We will make every effort to hold the perpetrators accountable, he said.
Taylor Walker's dance academy was awarded "Wexford School of the Year" at the Golden Dance Awards.

Taylor Walker's dance academy was awarded "Wexford School of the Year" at the Golden Dance Awards.

Taylor Walker's dance academy was awarded "Wexford School of the Year" at the Golden Dance Awards.

A Gorey business was recently awarded Wexford School of the year at the Golden Dance Awards.

Based in Kilmuckridge, Taylor Walker Dance Academy received the award in the Castleknock Hotel in Dublin, where the best of Irelands dance schools are celebrated.

Taylor Walker's dance academy was awarded "Wexford School of the Year" at the Golden Dance Awards.

Taylor Walker is the owner of the dance school and said it was a huge achievement for her, as she said the competition included companies established for over 30 years. It is such an honour to win such an amazing award - Im over the moon, she said.

As the only dance teacher at the school, Taylor said it was amazing to be recognised for the award. My dance school is so special to me, and I am so beyond proud of each and every student that comes through those studio doors.

Taylor further thanked students and parents for their support with her business since she setup in Kilmuckridge in February 2019. They all mean so much to me and Im so grateful to them all and their parents for the outstanding support theyve shown me over the years.

Students from Taylors dance academy will perform two shows for their annual dance show Lets Get Loud at Gorey Little Theatre on Saturday, October 11 at 2.30pm and 6.30 to give people a taste of Wexfords School of the Year.

Taylor Walker Dance Academy welcomes over 180 students to her 50 classes a week, and teaches several dance styles including hip hop, contemporary, ballet, jazz, and tap to name a few.

Taylor has grown up surrounded by dance, as she began dancing in Essex, England at just age three. She trained at Performers College from age 16 and worked professionally in the UK and Europe before moving to Ireland in 2018.

At the Golden Dance Awards, high-profile guests judged the event, and included Brian Redmond, Darren Casey, Sean Taaffe, Kylee Vincent, Inna Mazurenko and James Patrice.

The Golden Dance awards ceremony also raised over 1,000 for Barnardos Childrens charity.
Larry Kirwan: Life under megalomaniac Trump is exhausting and the damage will take generations to clear up

Wexford native, Black 47 frontman, author, and writer of Tony-Award winning Broadway musical Paradise Square Larry Kirwan talks of life in Trumps US, censorship, fears of the undocumented Irish and how an old band leader's advice helped him through a shooting at a gig

Larry Kirwan.

Padraig Byrne Wexford People Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 07:40

In many ways, Wexford man Larry Kirwan is the embodiment of the long-heralded American Dream. When he and fellow Wexford man and musician Pierce Turner arrived into New York in the late 70s, they did so with just their instruments and a dream. To expand their horizons beyond a sepia tone Ireland of that era; to find their tribe; to make art of lasting consequence.
While the Lapwing is a native breeding bird resident here all year round I always associate the appearance of flocks of these wading birds, together with seeing chestnuts on the ground, as a sure sign that summer is well and truly over and that autumn has settled in.

The reason is, of course, that as soon as September arrives our small and dwindling summer breeding Lapwing population is supplemented by an influx of visitors from mainland Europe coming here to overwinter in our milder climate. These seasonal visitors will stay with us until next year when the arrival of springtime will see them depart and go home to breed.

The Lapwing, or green plover as some people call it, is one on the few birds that is active during the hours of darkness and the plaintive and haunting calls of visiting new arrivals heard overhead at night is one of the evocative natural sounds of early autumn.

When seen in the distance, the Lapwing appears to be black and white. The green colours in its plumage is only noticeable at closer range. At really close range the front and belly are obviously black and white with the green confined to the wings. And instead of being just one shade of green, the colour ranges across a whole spectrum of greens with tinges of iridescence purples reminiscent of the lovely colours seen in an opal.

To cap its elegant appearance the bird bears a long, thin, wispy black crest on its head swept backwards and upwards in a smart and stylish flourish. Both males and females sport crests but the tuft of feathers is longer in males suggesting that the crest may be used for communication, display, or identification.

Irish wetlands are important for the survival of several species of wintering waterbirds. These wild birds and their habitats are protected by national and EU legislation, and their numbers are monitored by the Irish Wetland Bird Survey (I-WeBS), a survey coordinated by BirdWatch Ireland and funded by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

I-WeBS data shows that Lapwing have suffered a large decline with the population trend down 63.9% over a 23 year period of surveying. The decline continues with numbers down 6.5% over the past five years. The Lapwing is one of six species suffering large declines. Some other species are declining less dramatically, others are stable, and yet others are increasing in numbers, so the situation more complex than it may first appear.
Bringing it all back home  How Colm Toibins love of Wexford and opera continues to burn bright

The celebrated author is once again collaborating with Wexford Festival Opera for a newly-commissioned work

Novelist, playwright and poet Colm Toibin. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Darragh Clifford Wexford People Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 12:40

Ask any inquisitive mind, and they will tell you  it is the story of why that is always the most interesting. Forget the what, where and when, what we really want to know is why.
Teachers Becky Byrne and Elizabeth Woods with Rosie Kelly and Saoirse Brennan at the Dominican College open evening in Wicklow town.

Martina Valor and Mekienhle Grace in the science lab at the Dominican College open evening in Wicklow town.

The Dominican College Wicklow held an open evening recently, as the Wicklow town-based school prepares for a new chapter that will see them accept male students for the first time since the schools formation back in 1870.

The open evening took place on Tuesday, September 23, from 5pm to 7pm, presenting prospective students and their parents with a chance to tour the campus and meet the teachers and some of the students.

It also provided the school with an opportunity to show off their new science and technology building, launched by Tanaiste Simon Harris the previous Tuesday, and representing the first major construction project since the school launched first opened its doors in 1870.

From 2026, Dominican College Wicklow will be accepting boys into the school community for the first time, and the open evening presented an opportunity for the first cohort of boys to visit the school before they are welcomed into the Dominican community next year.
A Wicklow-based writer is among 10 storytellers to be selected for one of the countrys most popular writing competitions, the RTE Short Story Competition, which is to be widely celebrated this month.

Kevin Mc Dermott, who is originally from Crumlin in Dublin, but now lives in Greystones, was chosen from more than 2,200 submissions to make the shortlist for the prestigious competition for his story, titled Kazakhstan.

Although Dublin born and bred, Kevin has strong connections to the north Wicklow area. His mother was born and raised on the Murrough, at Newcastle, and his grandfather was a railway worker and the family lived in a nearby railway cottage.

He has written six YA novels and his stories and poems have been published in journals in Ireland, the UK and the US. He is a Fulbright/Creative Ireland Professional Fellowship awardee and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UCD.

Commenting on his submission, Kevin said: In Kazakhstan, a sons Kazakh girlfriend brings new life and the wonders of the night sky into the world of a grieving husband. The birth of our first grandchild in March was certainly an inspiration. The ongoing war in Ukraine is there in the background, as is Robert Lepages beautiful play, The Far Side of the Moon.

The 10 shortlisted short stories for 2025 were selected by this year's judges, writers Neil Hegarty, Tristan Rosenstock and Jan Carson. New judge, Jan Carson has described this year's shortlist as "eclectic, captivating and a real snapshot of the issues pertinent in contemporary Ireland".

All 10 stories will be published on rte.ie/culture on Saturday and Sunday, October 11 and 12, and broadcast (read by actors) over the course of the following two weeks, from Monday, October 13, on RTE Radio 1s Late Date.

Theyll also be featured regularly on RTE Radio 1s Arena in advance of the awards event  an RTE Radio 1 Arena special programme live on RTE Radio 1 from the Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire, at 7pm on Friday, October 24, which all the shortlisted writers are invited to attend. The event will feature readings of extracts from all 10 shortlisted stories, each followed by a discussion with all three judges before they award their top prizes.

The winning writer will receive 5,000, while the second and third placed writers will receive 4,000 and 3,000 respectively. All seven runners-up will receive 250 each.

Commenting on this years entries, Sarah Binchy, the series producer said: After a bumper year for entries, Im delighted with this years vibrant shortlist, and looking forward very much to sharing the stories with our listeners, as voiced by our talented actors.

"Id also like to acknowledge the sad recent loss of our RTE Radio 1 colleague, Arena presenter Sean Rocks. The Arena team have been wonderful partners of this series over the years, culminating in the annual Arena/RTE Short Story live awards night in the Pavilion Theatre, and Sean was absolutely central to that, always handling proceedings with his customary warmth, humour, intelligence and grace.

Set up in 1986 to honour writer and broadcaster Francis MacManus, the RTE Short Story Competition has been a launch pad for new and emerging writers in Ireland. Past winners and shortlisted writers include Claire Keegan, Molly McCloskey, Danielle McLaughlin, Anthony Glavin, Chris Binchy, Nuala OConnor, Liz Nugent, Colin Walsh, Stephen Walsh, Austin Duffy and Sarah Gilmartin.

Kazakhstan, by Kevin McDermott, will be read by John Olohan, on Tuesday, October 21, on RTE Radio 1s Late Date, at 11.20pm.
Swift and Kelce have been engaged since August

Taylor Swift has addressed whether she plans to perform with close friend Ed Sheeran at her upcoming wedding.

The pop superstar, who is currently promoting her newly released 12th studio album The Life of a Showgirl was asked about the possibility during an interview on Hits Radio Breakfast yesterday.

Swift (35) and Sheeran (34) have collaborated multiple times since first teaming up on Everything Has Changed in 2012, and fans have long speculated they might duet on her big day.

I mean it would be hard to keep him from it, I think, she said. Thats the thing... Hes like Im always being asked to sing at weddings, and youre like, Ed, if theres a stage, you know that youll be on it. He knows what people want and he wants to give people what they want.

She added that their bond makes the idea possible.

Thats the fun thing about our friendship, is we both love performing and we love writing and we love singing, she continued. Its actually not that hard to talk either of us into performing at anything.

Swift and Sheeran first met in 2012 after she was spotted with the lyrics of his hit Lego House written on her arm during a show in Australia.

Their friendship blossomed into a musical partnership, with the pair recording four duets across the years, including End Game (2017), Run (2021) and The Joker and the Queen (2022).

Yesterdays Hits Radio conversation came shortly after Sheeran revealed he learned of Swifts engagement to Travis Kelce through Instagram.

He told SiriusXMs Small Stage Series that he had neither heard her new record in advance nor received a save the date for the wedding.

Sheeran has spoken in the past about Swifts role in his own love story with wife Cherry Seaborn, whom he married in 2019 and shares two daughters with.

The pair reconnected at Swifts Fourth of July party in Rhode Island in 2015, and Sheeran later immortalised the moment in his verse on Swifts Reputation track End Game.

After the storm, something was born on the Fourth of July, he sang  a lyric referencing the night that changed his relationship. Swift even made a sign for the couples first anniversary. It read: Happy Ed-iver-Cherry.

More recently, Swift and Sheeran were reported to have played roles in Selena Gomez and Benny Blancos wedding, giving speeches at last months California ceremony.
Archbishop of Canterbury to be a woman for first time in 1,400-year history of Church of England role

Former nurse Sarah Mullallys appointment has sparked a backlash among conservative Anglican churches in Africa who oppose women bishops

Sarah Mullaly has come under fire for championing the blessings of same-sex couples while she is also keen on tackling sexual abuse scandals and the concerning rise of antisemitism. Photo: PA

Mujiva M Reuters Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 06:30

Former nurse Sarah Mullally has been named by the Church of England as the next Archbishop of Canterbury, the first woman to hold the 1,400-year-old office, prompting criticism from conservative Anglican churches in Africa who oppose women bishops.
One victim in attack at synagogue was shot dead by police

Protesters held a pro-Palestine march just hours after the attack

British prime minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria visit the site of the Manchester synagogue attack, where multiple people were killed on Yom Kippur in what police have declared a terrorist incident. Photo: Reuters

Sam Tabahriti and Hannah McKay Reuters Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 06:30

British police said yesterday they may have accidentally shot two victims, including one who died, in their attempts to bring under control an attack on a Manchester synagogue during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Chinese training robot dogs for future missions to moon

Peking scientists hope to land humans on lunar surface before 2030 and establish an international research station

Robot dogs have previously been tested in China for armed conflict

Allegra Mendelson Reuters Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 06:30

Researchers in China are training robotic dogs for future space exploration with the goal of putting humans on the moon.
Photo: https://t.me/GeneralStaffZSU

Ukrainian Defense Forces units attacked the Kirishinefteorgsintez plant in the city of Kirishi in Leningrad region (Russia) on the night of October 4.

"Explosions and a fire were recorded at the facility. The damage results are being clarified. The Kirishi Oil Refinery is one of the largest refineries in the aggressor country. Its annual capacity is 18.4 million tonnes of oil refining per year," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on its Telegram channel on Saturday.

Additionally, the Defense Forces destroyed a Garmon radar system and a transport-loading vehicle from an Iskander tactical missile system in Kursk region.

A strike was also carried out on the command post of the enemy's 8th Army, which is located in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region.

"The target was hit. The results are being clarified," the message reads.
Tanya Sweeney: When I moved to London in 1997 it swallowed me whole and spat me out  for todays Irish twentysomethings its so much easier
Hardline Hamas ally endorses Trumps plan to end war as heavy airstrikes reported in Gaza

Tanaiste Simon Harris welcomed the release of remaining hostages Islamic Jihad move could facilitate release of hostages Israel strikes Gaza after Trump calls for end to bombardment Israel says Gaza City is still a dangerous combat zone Trump plan and Hamas response lift spirits of Palestinians Relative of released Israeli hostage calls for end to war

Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the White House on Monday in Washington, DC. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Nidal al-Mughrabi and Mahmoud Issa Reuters Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 13:30

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a hardline ally of Hamas that also holds hostages, on Saturday endorsed the group's response to a U.S. plan to end the war in Gaza, a move that could help pave the way for the release of Israelis still held by both parties.
Its hostage taking  Trump freezes $2.1bn funding for Chicago during government shutdown

At least $28bn has now been frozen for Democratic cities and states escalating presidents campaign to punish political rivals

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said: 'Its attempting to score political points but is instead hurting our economy.' Photo: Getty

Andy Sullivan Reuters Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 06:30

US president Donald Trumps administration froze $2.1bn (1.78bn) in Chicago transit funding yesterday, starving another Democratic city of funds as the government shutdown entered its third day.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi continues discussions with Ukraine and Russia on detailed proposals to restore external power supply to the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), which has been relying on backup power for the past ten days.

For nuclear safety, this is still a very serious situation. Im calling on both sides to do what is necessary to prevent a further deterioration. It is a question of political will, not whether it is technically possible, which it is, Director General Grossi said on Friday night.

He said both sides have expressed their readiness to carry out the necessary repairs on their respective sides of the front line, but for this to happen, the security situation on the ground must improve so that technicians can carry out their work safely.

Im in continuous contact with senior Russian and Ukrainian officials to achieve this important objective as soon as possible, IAEA Director General said.

He reported that for now, the sites emergency diesel generators are functioning without problems, and there is also plenty of fuel in reserve.

However, this is an unprecedented situation that must be resolved without further delay. It is a nuclear safety issue and it is in everybodys interest to fix it, he stressed.

He recalled that the current loss of external power is the longest of ten similar events that the Zaporizhia NPP has been subjected to during more than three and a half years of its occupation by Russia.

The Director General clarified that as of Friday morning, eight power generators were operating at the plant, producing a total capacity of 20-22 MW, sufficient to meet nuclear safety requirements, with an additional 12 generators available as backup. The IAEA team at the site is receiving frequent updates of all important nuclear safety parameters, showing that the EDGs are continuing to reliably provide the power needed for cooling as there has been no increase in the coolant temperatures of both the reactor cores and spent fuel pools. The team has also conducted radiation monitoring, showing no increase in radiation levels.

As reported, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on October 1 that Russia is exploiting the weak position of the IAEA and its director. "The Russians are doing absolutely nothing to rectify the situation and enable Ukrainian specialists to restore external power to the Zaporizhia NPP, which should be operating continuously under normal conditions. Russia is deliberately creating the threat of radiation incidents, unfortunately exploiting the weak position of the IAEA and Director Rafael Grossi, as well as the fragmented global focus," Zelenskyy wrote.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha noted that Russia intentionally disconnected the Zaporizhia NPP's external power supply, which the plant received from Ukraine's power grid, in order to conduct a test to connect the plant to its own power grid.
( Image credit : Fated Hearts. Credit: IQIYI )

Fated Hearts: Release date and time for Episode 11

Where to Watch Fated Hearts Episode 11 Online?

Fated Hearts: Plot

Fated Hearts: Cast and Characters

FAQs

Fans of the Chinese dramacan stream Episode 11 online on October 5, 2025, at 3:30 PM IST / 10:00 AM GMT / 6:00 AM ET, according to the official release schedule.In the war-torn Jinxiu Kingdom, archer Fu Yixiao saves Prince Feng Suige but loses her memory after falling off a cliff. Rescued by the Ling family, she unexpectedly reunites with Suige. Once enemies, they must now rely on each other to survive in turbulent Yujing City. Amid betrayal, danger, and dark conspiracies, their bond slowly turns to love as they fight to overcome fate and protect one another.Episode 11 airs on Sunday, October 5, 2025, at 3:30 PM IST / 10:00 AM GMT / 6:00 AM ET. It will also be available to international viewers via simultaneous streaming on iQIYI, with English subtitles to make the series accessible to a global audience.Episodes 11 is available to stream on iQIYI - the main legal platforms offering high-quality video and English subtitles. For viewers in the U.S., Canada, India, Indonesia, and iQIYI remains the top choice for watching the series.As the Jinxiu Kingdom teeters on the edge of defeat at the Battle of Pingling, the female archer Fu Yixiao, clad in red, fires a decisive arrow at Susha's eldest prince, Feng Suige, shifting the battles outcome. But triumph is fleeting - Yixiao falls from a cliff and loses her memory, only to be rescued by the Ling family of doctors from the Righteous Villa, where fate reunites her with her former rival, Suige.Recognizing that Yixiao's predicament is tied to the secrets of Pingling, Suige seeks to use her to uncover the truth, while Yixiao must rely on him to survive the relentless pursuit she faces. Once mortal enemies, the two are forced to navigate the dangerous streets of Yujing City together, and through countless near-death encounters, a fragile bond begins to form, and love quietly blooms.Amid betrayal, deception, unfulfilled desires, and the shackles of fate, both are drawn into a perilous game where everyone is simultaneously a player and a pawn. Only by working closely together can Yixiao and Suige hope to survive the dark conspiracy, fulfill the expectations of their people, and protect each other in a world where trust is a luxury.The historical dramastars Li Qin as Fu Yixiao, Chen Zheyuan as Prince Feng Suige, Xia Meng as Feng Xiyang, and Chen Heyi as Xia Jingshi. The 38-episode series premiered on iQIYI on October 2, 2025.Episode 11 will be released on October 5, 2025, at 3:30 PM IST / 10:00 AM GMT / 6:00 AM ET.You can stream Episode 11 ofon iQIYI. All three platforms offer English subtitles.Yes, the series is fully subtitled in English on iQIYI, including Episodes 11.No,is not available on Netflix. It officially streams on iQIYI.
Fire breaks out at Chevron refinery

ABC 7: Looked Like Mushroom Cloud. Something That Could Wipe Out Parts Of An Entire City. Helicopter Pilot Describes Live Video Of Explosion At Chevron Refinery, Contained To Small Section Of Refinery pic.twitter.com/FX9YuxdINd  Alexandra Datig | Front Page Index  (@alexdatig) October 3, 2025

Residents describe terrifying scenes

Operational impact minimal

Investigation underway

A dramatic overnight fire broke out at Chevrons El Segundo refinery, located just 20 miles southwest of Los Angeles. The blaze, which occurred around 21:30 local time on Thursday, erupted at a jet fuel production unit, sending towering flames and thick plumes of smoke visible from afar. Residents reported hearing what felt like a powerful blast and were left in shock by the sight.Chevron described the incident as an isolated fire, confirming that all refinery personnel and contractors were accounted for and that no injuries occurred. Emergency response teams quickly contained the blaze, and no evacuation orders were issued for nearby residents. Authorities emphasised that air quality measurements around the facilitys perimeter did not detect dangerous levels of pollution.Locals near the refinery reported a frightening experience. One resident said the explosion felt so intense that it resembled a nuclear blast. Another described flames shooting high into the sky, visible from great distances, leaving the community rattled. Officials from the city of El Segundo reassured the public that firefighting teams had responded immediately and were monitoring the situation closely.The Chevron refinery, one of the companys largest in the United States, produces 285,000 barrels of crude oil per day and supplies a significant portion of southern Californias jet fuel. Despite the fire, there was no reported disruption to operations at nearby Los Angeles airport, and flights continued as normal. Chevron confirmed that the refinery is assessing the extent of any damage while continuing safety monitoring.City officials, including Mayor Chris Pimentel, stated that authorities will carry out a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the fire. Air quality in the surrounding areas is being closely watched to ensure no public risk emerges. The El Segundo community, already on edge after witnessing the massive flames and smelling petrol in the air, continues to hope for answers and reassurance from officials.
( Image credit : Watch episode 21 of Love's Ambition online. Credit: WeTV )

Love's Ambition: Release date and time for Episode 21

Where to Watch Love's Ambition Episode 21 Online?

Love's Ambition: Episode 21 Plot?

Love's Ambition episode 21: Spoilers

Love's Ambition: Cast and Characters

FAQs

Fans of the Chinese dramacan stream Episode 21 online on October 5, 2025, at 3:30 PM IST / 10:00 AM GMT / 6:00 AM ET, according to the official release schedule.This drama follows glamorous anchor Xu Yan and urban elite Shen Hao Ming, an enviable couple whose contrasting backgrounds strain their relationship. Xu Yan marries him through her crafted image and his influence, but after a conflict, she breaks free. Only then does Shen Hao Ming realize his true feelings and vows to win her back. As they drop their facades, they grow closer and rediscover each other.Episode 21 airs on Sunday, October 5, 2025, at 3:30 PM IST / 10:00 AM GMT / 6:00 AM ET. It will also be available to international viewers via simultaneous streaming on Viki, with English subtitles to make the series accessible to a global audience.Episodes 21 is available to stream on TencentVideo, WeTV and Viki - the main legal platforms offering high-quality video and English subtitles. For viewers in the U.S., Canada, India, Indonesia, and Viki remains the top choice for watching the series.Glamorous anchor Xu Yan and urban elite Shen Hao Ming seem like the perfect couple, but their contrasting backgrounds strain their relationship. Xu Yan marries him using her carefully crafted image and his influence, yet a conflict drives her to break free. Only then does Shen Hao Ming realize his true feelings and vow to win her back. As they let go of their facades, they grow closer and rediscover both each other and themselves.Tensions boil over during a car ride as Xu Yan and Haoming clash in a heated argument. Xu Yan attacks Haoming personally, calling him "outdated and stuffy" and mocking his slicked-back hair and formal three-piece suits. She even taunts him about his glasses, pushing him closer to his breaking point.Haoming finally snaps, dropping his glasses and revealing a harsh truth: he doesn't respect Xu Yan's credentials as a food expert. He claims her dishes are "awful" and admits he forces himself to eat them, shattering any pretense of civility between them.As Xu Yan reaches her stop, she delivers a chilling ultimatum: they are to meet at the civil affairs bureau in three days at 8 AM, before slamming the car door shut.In the aftermath, Jiang Liang steps in to assist Xu Yan with her new business venture. Their professional partnership soon deepens, and Jiang Liang's feelings for Xu Yan become increasingly clear. Rumours of their closeness reach Haoming through Fang Lei, who fuels his jealousy by hinting that Xu Yan and Jiang Liang are dating.Determined not to lose her, Haoming rushes to Xu Yan's house, only to overhear her discussing her relationship with Jiang Liang. Clinging to hope, he pleads for reconciliation, but Xu Yan delivers a final, decisive blow: "Yes, with a divorce." When Haoming tries to block the elevator in desperation, she steps on his foot and dismissively tells him, "Dont waste public resources."Meanwhile, Han Weiping seizes the opportunity to exploit Haoming's vulnerability. At Fang Lei's house, she listens as Han Weiping suggests they join forces to ruin him.They photograph a critical strategic cooperation proposal, planning to leak it to Haoming's opportunistic rivals. The question now hangs in the air: how will Haoming navigate this crisis? Xu Yan may yet intervene, driven by love and pity once she realizes the full scope of the threats he faces.The drama(also known asor) stars Zhao Lusi as Xu Yan and William Chan as Shen Hao Ming. The main cast also features Wan Peng as Lin Qiao, Tang Xiaotian as Yu Yi Ming, and Guan Zijing as Lin Tao.Episode 21 will be released on October 5, 2025, at 3:30 PM IST / 10:00 AM GMT / 6:00 AM ET.You can stream Episode 21 on Viki. All three platforms offer English subtitles.Yes, the series is fully subtitled in English on Viki, including Episodes 21.No,is not available on Netflix. It officially streams on Viki.
UP government to provide skill training in the 2025-26 financial year

( Image credit : CM Yogi Adityanath. | Credit: Government of UP )

Additional Mission Director of the Uttar Pradesh Kaushal Vikas Mission reviews progress

In a bid to further make the youth of Uttar Pradesh Atmanirbhar, the government is set to provide skill training in secondary schools In the financial year 2025-26 under Project Praveen. The Uttar Pradesh Kaushal Vikas Mission has also allocated targets to training providers for the same.The Yogi Adityanath-led government will provide skill training in secondary schools in the financial year 2025-26. Moreover, the Kaushal Vikas Mission has set targets for the same. Training providers need to establish training centres in accordance with the rules. They then need to start classes by October 20 , after obtaining approval from the district program management. Once this happens, registered trainees will be provided free study material in the presence of representatives from the district program management unit.Training providers also have to upload at least three photographs of the study material distribution and batch commencement to the mission portal. This has to be accompanied by a distribution acknowledgement receipt, duly verified by the district program management unit.The Yogi government believes that, in addition to traditional education, employment-oriented skills play a pivotal role in preparing the youth for the challenges that lie ahead.Project Praveen captures this vision, ensuring that students in secondary schools receive skill training and enjoy free access to study material.Priya Singh, Additional Mission Director of the Uttar Pradesh Kaushal Vikas Mission, reviewed the progress of ongoing registrations under the India Skills Competition 2025 on Friday. She also held a meeting with the district project management units (DPMUs) and asked them to expedite the registration process.She stressed the need to conduct special campaigns across districts to ensure maximum participation. Priya Singh added that extensive publicity, counselling camps, and proper coordination are the need of the hour.With the registration deadline now extended till October 15, she asked all district project management units to reach out to the youth and ensure an increase in registration numbers.
H-1B visa new:

federal court in San Francisco

$100,000

H-1B visa application

Phoenix Doe

Who is Phoenix Doe?

Global Nurse Force LLC never filed Form I-129 with a certified ETA-9035. Phoenix Doe is in the USA. No evidence filed a cap-exempt H-1B petition for consular processing has been halted by the $100,000 fee imposed by Presidential Proclamation 10973. Her employer isn't a plaintiff. pic.twitter.com/jmfEE0rOt0  WHO MENTORS YOU INC. (8 DGCL  114(d)(1)) (@RauhmelFoxCEO) October 4, 2025

Her research and its impact

PTSD

Lawsuit claims Trump exceeded his powers

$100,000 H-1B fee

Criticism of federal agencies

$100,000 H-1B visa fee

Why the $100,000 fee matters

H-1B visas paid between $2,000 and $5,000 in fees

Whats next for the case?

FAQs

1. Who is Phoenix Doe?

2. What is the H-1B visa?

3. Why did Donald Trump raise the H-1B visa fee?

4. What does the lawsuit seek to achieve?

5. How could this affect Indian workers?

Former US President Donald Trumps H-1B visa policy has sparked a major lawsuit in a. The legal challenge was brought by a coalition of unions, employers, and religious groups who say Trumps new rule, aone-time fee on every, is unlawful and harmful to American innovation.The case has drawn wide attention after the lawsuit highlighted the story of an Indian woman known as , whose professional and personal life has been thrown into chaos by the sudden visa fee hike.According to court documents, Phoenix Doe is an Indian citizen living in Northern California. She works as a postdoctoral researcher at a leading American university. Her H-1B visa, which allows skilled professionals to work in the US, has been indefinitely paused after the Trump administration introduced the $100,000 fee.The H-1B visa has long been a pathway for Indian professionals to work in sectors such as technology, healthcare, and research in the United States. But Does case shows how this new policy could block qualified foreign workers from contributing to vital American industries.The lawsuit describes Phoenix Does research as critical to understanding and treating vision loss. She studies how genetics and ageing contribute to blindness caused by diabetes and other rare inherited conditions. Her work, according to the court filing, is essential to the universitys research programme and its ability to attract future grants.The complaint adds that Doe is under severe emotional stress due to the uncertainty surrounding her visa. It states that she already struggles with, and that this policy change has worsened her condition. If the situation continues, she may have to leave the United States within four months, ending her research prematurely.The lawsuit argues that Donald Trump overstepped his presidential authority by imposing the. Lawyers say he cannot legally override the existing laws that govern the H-1B visa programme, as his powers are limited to controlling the entry of certain foreign nationals, not rewriting visa laws.The case was filed by several organisations, including the United Auto Workers Union, the American Association of University Professors, the Justice Action Center, and the Democracy Forward Foundation, acting on behalf of groups like the Global Nurse Force and religious organisations.The plaintiffs also accuse federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and the State Department of pushing through the rule without proper rulemaking or public consultation.They claim that thewould stifle innovation by blocking talented foreign researchers and professionals who drive technological and scientific progress in the US.Traditionally, US employers sponsoring foreign workers on. Trumps sudden jump to $100,000 has raised alarm among universities, tech firms, and research bodies that rely on global expertise.The lawsuit states that Phoenix Does departure would cause serious setbacks to her labs research, delay medical progress, and damage the universitys ability to secure future funding.As the legal battle continues, Phoenix Does case has become a symbol of the broader impact of Trumps immigration policies on Indian professionals and the global scientific community.If the court sides with the plaintiffs, it could block the $100,000 H-1B visa rule - a move that would affect thousands of Indian workers and US employers alike.She is an Indian woman and a postdoctoral researcher in the US whose H-1B visa was paused after Trumps $100,000 fee rule.Its a U.S. visa that allows American employers to hire skilled foreign professionals, particularly in technology and research fields.His administration claimed it would reduce dependency on foreign labour, but critics say it unfairly targets skilled immigrants.It asks the court to block Trumps executive order and restore the normal H-1B visa process.If the fee remains, many Indian professionals could lose job opportunities or be forced to leave the US.
Japans first female PM

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba

Sanae Takaichi

Sanae Takaichi's Early life and education

( Image credit : Sanae Takaichi defeated rival Shinjiro Koizumi, son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi | Credit: Reuters )

Business Administration

Kobe University

Sanae Takaichis political career

( Image credit : Newly-elected Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader Sanae Takaichi receives an applause after winning the LDP leadership election in Tokyo, Japan | Credit: AP )

Major roles and achievements

2023:

Economic Security

2022:

2021:

20192016:

20062008:

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A conservative vision for Japan

Sanae Takaichi

Japan's Prime Minister

Sanae Takaichi's personal life

Taku Yamamoto

Why Sanae Takaichis rise matters

Japans first female PM

Sanae Takaichi profile

Attribute Details Full Name Sanae Takaichi Date of Birth 7 March 1961 Place of Birth Nara, Japan Political Party Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Constituency Nara 2nd District Elected Nine times Education Graduated from Kobe University, Faculty of Business Administration Profession before politics Newscaster and university professor

FAQs

1. Who is Sanae Takaichi?

2. What is Sanae Takaichis educational background?

3. How long has she been in politics?

4. What are her political views?

5. Why is her leadership significant?

Sanae Takaichi is making history as she prepares to becomeafter winning the leadership of the ruling. Known for her strong conservative views and decades-long political career, Takaichis victory marks a major shift in Japans male-dominated political scene.Her appointment follows the resignation of, positioning her to take the countrys top office. At 64,stands out as a symbol of persistence, having made multiple attempts to lead the LDP before finally succeeding.Born on 7 March 1961 in Nara, Japan, Sanae Takaichi showed a deep interest in politics and economics from a young age.She graduated from the Faculty ofatin March 1984, with a solid academic foundation that helped shape her economic and administrative policies.Her education at Kobe University played a key role in shaping her pragmatic yet nationalist approach to governance.Takaichis career in Japanese politics spans over three decades, beginning when she was first elected as a Member of the House of Representatives in 1993.Since then, she has served in several key ministerial roles under multiple administrations, including those of Shinzo Abe and Fumio Kishida.Minister in charge of, Intellectual Property, Science and Technology, and Space Policy under Kishidas cabinet.Continued her economic security role, emphasising Japans resilience against global uncertainty.Chairperson of the Policy Research Council, LDP.Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, overseeing Japans social security and digital policies.Held multiple ministerial positions under the first Abe cabinet, including Science and Technology, Innovation, and Gender Equality.Served as Vice Minister and Senior Vice Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry.Her long list of appointments highlights her consistency, administrative strength, and commitment to Japans national security and innovation.As a self-described nationalist,is expected to bring a right-leaning perspective to the role of. She has often advocated for stronger defence policies, a robust economic security strategy, and deeper national pride.Her leadership represents not only a breakthrough for women in Japanese politics but also a shift toward traditional values within the LDP. Observers expect her administration to focus on technology, economic independence, and regional stability.In 2004, Takaichi married, a fellow member of the House of Representatives. The couple went through a brief separation in 2017 but reconciled in 2021.Although they have no biological children, Sanae Takaichi adopted her husbands three children and is now a grandmother of four.Outside politics, she is known for her disciplined lifestyle and strong belief in education, which she often describes as the key to building a capable nation.Takaichis appointment asis more than a political milestone  its a cultural shift in a country where leadership roles have traditionally been dominated by men.Her journey from university professor to national leader reflects resilience, focus, and decades of dedication to public service.As she prepares to take office, many are watching to see how her education, career, and ideology will shape Japans future direction.Takaichis time in office is likely to shape how strong Japans relationship with the United States remains. She has suggested that she might reopen the $550 billion investment deal made during Ishibas leadership if it appears to hurt Japans national interests.If we find anything in the agreement that could harm Japans interests, we may need to renegotiate, she said during a recent TV debate.Although Takaichi supports closer security cooperation with the US, as well as stronger ties with South Korea and the Philippines, experts caution that her nationalist approach could make Japan appear more isolated on the global stage.Japan could face growing distance from South Korea, and tensions with China may rise, especially if the US reduces its presence in Asia, said Tetsuo Kotani, a national security specialist from Meikai University.Her first big diplomatic challenge may come soon, with former US president Donald Trump expected to visit Japan later this month during the APEC forum in South Korea.Sanae Takaichi is a Japanese politician and leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, expected to become Japans first female PM.She graduated from Kobe University with a degree in Business Administration.Her career in politics began in 1993, and she has served in multiple ministerial positions since then.Takaichi is known for her conservative stance, focusing on national security, innovation, and economic growth.She will be the first female Prime Minister of Japan, breaking long-standing gender barriers in Japanese politics.
Sybiha on Shostka trains attack: This is one of most barbaric Russian tacticsso-called double-tap

Photo: https://www.facebook.com

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha emphasizes that the enemy carried out targeted and deliberate drone strikes on passenger trains in Shostka.

These were targeted and deliberate Russian drone strikes on passenger trains in Shostka, Sumy region. Not one, but two strikes one after another. This is one of the most barbaric Russian tacticsthe so-called double-tapwith the second attack hitting rescuers and people who are evacuating, the Foreign Ministry quoted Sybiha as saying on X Platform.

According to Sybiha, Russian terrorists must get strong responses for this deliberate and brutal terror against civilians. Words are not enough. New devastating sanctions. New strengthening for Ukraine. This can be done and must be done to raise the cost of this war for Russia.

Putin must feel the danger of continuing this war personally for him and his regime, the foreign minister noted.

According to the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, the enemy struck the Shostka railway station in Sumy region twice. The first strike hit the locomotive of the Tereschynska-Novohrad-Siverskyi commuter train. As the evacuation began, the enemy attacked again, this time hitting the locomotive of the Kyiv-Shostka train. Passengers and Ukrzaliznytsia employees were injured.

The prosecutor's office reported that eight people were hospitalized. According to Ukrzaliznytsia, the injured commuter train ticket clerk and the injured passengers (including three children) are receiving medical care in hospitals.
Avion Anderson knew he would have to face his fear of heights when he became a firefighter.

Anderson had no idea he would do it  screaming in terror at the top of his lungs  while millions of people watched him day after day on TikTok.

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Some people judged him, but many encouraged him to persevere as he became an overnight celebrity when his fellow firefighter posted videos of him online.

It honestly did help me push past fears, said Anderson, 27, who for the past year has worked full time at the Sheldon Community Fire & Rescue in Houston but is still completing his training.

The fire department requires rope rescue certification for all firefighters in the event someone in distress needs to be lowered from a tall building using a stokes basket  a rescue device that is like a stretcher with restraints.

I had that passion to basically do whatever I had to do to help somebody in need, Anderson said, explaining why he was ready to get his certification despite his anxiety around heights.

Andersons fellow firefighter Alexander Mulhern, 24, knew rope rescue training would be challenging for Anderson, so he had an idea. He decided to take videos of Anderson lowering himself with the rope and also playing a victim in a stokes basket so Anderson could see his progress over the weeklong training.

In previous trainings, Mulhern said, hed noticed that it helped Anderson to go over the footage with trainers.

I wanted to post all four videos to show the world what we have to go through as firemen  and show them that were human and we have the same amount of fear as everybody else, Mulhern said.

The world saw the unvarnished truth of that.

In the first video, taken on Sept. 15, Anderson begins to lower himself and then starts to scream in fear. He collects himself, says OK, OK, but continues to yell.

In the background you can hear his fellow firefighters cheering him on and encouraging him, offering tips and pointers. After lowering himself just about foot or so he looks up at the camera and says Its good now, I can come up? which gets a big laugh from the rest of the crew.

The comments on the TikTok video range from sweet and encouraging to jokey, with some suggestions that perhaps he should be a dispatcher rather than a rescuer. Respectfully dont send him to help no one, one person wrote.

Others had his back: Leave him alone yall hes trying!!

By Day 2, Anderson is immobilized in a stokes basket playing the victim so the other trainees can practice lowering him down to safety. One commenter watched his terror and wrote, he did NOT volunteer for this, but Anderson said he did.

Im one of those people that, in order for me to try to get over fears or conquer stuff like that, I try to just go after it head on, Anderson said.

About 5.5 million people watched the TikTok video and thousands commented. Anderson was astounded.

I definitely didnt expect it to blow up or for me to get the amount of positive feedback that I did get, Anderson said.

In the third video, Anderson is back in the basket  and yelling that hes afraid he might lose control of his bowels.

I trust yall, he says.

Youre doing good! the other firefighters yell back.

The caption is just as encouraging  and addresses some of the publics comments that Anderson is in the wrong job.

Firefighter Anderson has a major fear of heights and thats OK! We are so proud of him for still getting harnessed up and facing his fears! it reads. Rope rescue is a very small part of what we do, I can assure everyone he is an amazing Fireman.on ground level.

By Day 4, Anderson is almost unrecognizable. Calmly lowering himself down the side of a building, fully letting go of the rope as the other firefighters yell encouragement. One commenter said, so emotional seeing our baby graduate and not scream 1 time.

In a response video one TikToker said: Firefighter Anderson completed his training today and he didnt scream once! Were all so proud of him, adding, If Im ever in a fire I want you there.

Anderson said many commenters were inspired to get outside their own comfort zones, with one saying "firefighter Anderson has inspired me to still do things even if they make me scared out of my mind."

Another said: I know there were some comments on other videos saying to put him behind a desk, but this is the literal definition of courage in the face of fear. And he will be sympathetic to anyone he has to place in that situation because he knows how scary it is.

Anderson said he hopes that he and the other firefighters can continue to post videos of their training to keep the inspiration going.

Some people might just see a funny viral clip, Anderson said. But Im hoping that they see, like Mulhern said, firefighters are human, were goofy, were supportive, and were a family. So if the video made somebody smile, then thats a win for all of us, not just me.

Mulhern added that his fellow firefighters  like millions of people on social media  are proud of Anderson for overcoming his fear.

Its humans sharing our journeys with each other, a commenter wrote on the final video, and its so beautiful.
One killed, another injured in drone attack on fishing boat in Shostka district - prosecutor's office

One person was killed and another one injured in a drone strike on a fishing boat in Shostka district. An investigation has been launched, Sumy regional prosecutor's office reported.

According to the investigation, at approximately 11:20 a.m. on October 4, 2025, the enemy attacked a boat carrying fishermen on a lake in Seredyno-Budska community with a drone. As a result of the attack, a 63-year-old man was killed and his 65-year-old companion was injured.

Under the procedural supervision of Shostka district prosecutor's office, a pretrial investigation is being conducted into the commission of war crimes resulting in the death of a person (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
A woman whose mother was captured during the interception of the global sumud flotilla has called on the Government to impose sanctions on Israel.

Jenna Almai said her mother, Maureen, had been detained while sailing on board the Paola I, which was one of more than 40 vessels intercepted while trying to carry aid to Gaza.

Speaking to the PA news agency at a major pro-Palestinian rally in Dublin on Saturday, she said: Im here standing in solidarity with Palestinians, today marks just around two years of the genocide.

Im here as well to speak to the crowd about my mother, who was one of the participants on the flotilla.

She was abducted by the IOF and brought to an Israeli prison. Its been very difficult to kind of get clear updates about her specifically and about the participants in general.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald joins a pro-Palestine rally in Dublin (Cillian Sherlock/PA)

Ms Almai said she had received an update that legal teams had by Friday met with around 130 of the more than 400 people who had been detained.

I didnt get any specific information about my mother. I know that the Irish embassy and the ambassador and consular service were out to the participants in the prison for two days and yesterday.

We just received a message there that 130 or so people have been deported to Turkey, that they were en route to Turkey.

None of them were Irish citizens, so Im not sure what the status of my mother or the Irish participants and Im just waiting for updates.

Ms Almai said the primary objective of the flotilla was to bring food and medical aid to a population that had been starved, bombed and besieged.

The message of the flotilla was aiming to open up a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to get in the aid thats needed.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Paul Murphy were among the thousands of rally attendees.

Demonstrators participating in a pro-Palestine rally in Dublin (Cillian Sherlock/PA)

Organisers said the protest marks two years of genocide in Gaza and called on the Irish Government to sanction Israel.

It is the 17th such demonstration convened by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), which has seen tens of thousands of people gather in the streets of the Irish capital over the last two years.

Saturdays march was held between the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square and was due to terminate at Leinster House for a series of speeches.

The rally, which began shortly after a Storm Amy-related weather warning lapsed, also featured musical performances.

Participants, including left-wing political groups and trade unions, held banners and waved Palestinian flags.

The protest came after 16 Irish citizens were among hundreds detained by Israel after it intercepted the global sumud flotilla, which was carrying aid to Gaza.

It also came days after pro-Palestinian protesters caused traffic disruption through the capital by blocking a key route near Dublin Port.

A speaker at an earlier, separate demonstration described that move as a shot across the bow and expressed support for disobedience.

The Irish Government is barely lifting a finger to end Ireland's deep complicity in this genocide

Speaking ahead of the IPSC protest, chairwoman Zoe Lawlor said there had been a savage food and aid blockade for months into Gaza while local health officials reported 66,000 deaths in the territory.

She also criticised the Government, including the Tanaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Harris.

Ms Lawlor said: Between 50 and 100 people are still being killed every day, and more than 100 more Palestinians were murdered over the past 24 hours.

We have also seen the illegal interception of the global sumud flotilla in international waters and the detention of hundreds of activists, including many Irish citizens, trying to deliver aid to Gaza.

The response of Western powers has been to keep sending guns, bombs and tech to murder Palestinians.

Sadly, Ireland is little different. Simon Harris has called Israels actions genocide, unconscionable and unacceptable  yet the Irish Government is barely lifting a finger to end Irelands deep complicity in this genocide.

The IPSC is also calling on the Government to enact an Occupied Territories Bill, which would ban both trade and services with illegal Israeli settlements.

People take part in a protest calling for the GAA to end its sponsorship arrangement with Allianz (Cillian Sherlock/PA)

Ms Almai said she wanted to echo that call for the Government to impose sanctions on Israel and pass the Occupied Territories Bill.

Earlier, protesters called for the GAA to end its sponsorship arrangement with Allianz.

While the GAA held a special congress at Croke Park, around 50 people took part in a demonstration outside the Hogan Stand entrance.

Dubs for Palestine and Gaels against Genocide in Gaza said the GAA hierarchy had received correspondence asking the organisation to end Allianzs long-term sponsorship of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

The groups say the insurance firm had ties to companies that were enabling Israels war in Gaza.

They criticised the GAA for a lack of response to their concerns and also expressed disappointment that the matter was not up for a vote at the special congress.

The GAA was accused of selling Irish culture and heritage, as the recent hosting of an NFL game at Croke Park was also criticised.

Allianz and the GAA have been contacted for comment.
A Cork man facing a number of charges relating to allegedly hunting with dogs without the landowners permission, as well as taking a vehicle without permission, collapsed when he appeared at a recent sitting of Macroom District Court.

DJ ODriscoll, aged 28, of Lower Codrum, Macroom, Co Cork, faced one charge of taking a vehicle without the owners permission, but the injured party  his mother  withdrew the charge.

Court presenter Sergeant Trish OSullivan said ODriscoll was also charged with unlawful hunting or entry on land and failing to keep a dog under control in public. The hunting charges related to an incident at Wood Road, Carriganine, Co. Cork on July 23, 2024.

The court heard that at 3.30pm gardai had received a call from a landowner about three males with dogs trespassing on land in the area. When gardai were travelling to the scene they met DJ ODriscoll on the public road with a lurcher dog that was not under control.

Defence solicitor, Patrick Goold, said ODriscoll had permission from one landowner to hunt but not from the neighbouring landowner and his dog had strayed onto the neighbouring land and he had gone after it.

The landowner told gardai that ODriscoll and two other males had been on the land without permission.

The court heard that ODriscoll had 64 previous convictions including one for failing to control a dog and one for having no dog licence. At the time of the incident ODriscoll was on two suspended sentences, one for theft and one for violent disorder.

Mr Goold said ODriscolls issues all related to huge addiction and alcohol issues that he was now dealing with, adding that his client was off the drink and engaging with treatment services.

Judge Joanne Carroll said it was one thing if a young fella is out and goes after a dog, but another if there are three men on land without permission which could be quite intimidating.

Addressing ODriscoll she said it was very serious as he was on two suspended sentences at the time. ODriscoll who was standing before the judge then suddenly collapsed in court and had to be given medical assistance and was removed from the building.

Judge Carroll asked for a probation report to be prepared and adjourned to matter to November 5, 2025.

This article is funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.
Comments likening German re-armament to the 1930s could damage international relations if Catherine Connolly were President, the Taoiseach has said.

Micheal Martin told the Irish Examiner that they could cause serious damage and impact on the Irish economy, trade and development aid work.

Ms Connolly, who is contesting the election as an independent candidate, on Friday once again stood by the comments.

At a meeting of the European Political Community in Copenhagen Mr Martin suggested there was a degree of naivety in Ireland about the threats facing Europe.

When asked to expand on this, he started to talk about Ms Connolly, branding her recent comments "shocking".

When Catherine Connolly said about Germany being like the Nazis, I mean, that's either extreme naivety or just a political partisan position, he said.

[Sinn Fein leader] Mary Lou McDonald said the same in the Dail the last time I had an EU council meeting. Mary Lou was calling Europe warmongers.

Russia has violated the airspace of Poland, of Romania, of Estonia, there's been a drone violation in Denmark just in advance of the EPC meeting.

It's terrible that Sinn Fein and the far left, Catherine and [People Before Profit] Paul Murphy and others have been at this for a long, long time. They spend all their time attacking the EU and America.

They don't give anywhere near as much time condemning the Russian aggression. They have condemned it. But there's a naivety."

When asked if he believes Ms Connollys comments would damage international relations if she made them as president, Mr Martin said there was no question.

He continued: If a comment like that was made, it would be very serious in terms of relationships with a very important European partner for Ireland, in terms of trade and economics, and in terms of our work in Africa and the development aid programmes that we do.

When asked about Mr Martins comments during a visit to Millstreet, Ms Connolly stuck by her initial remarks, saying as a woman who is deeply concerned about the normalisation of war, she is worried about re-armament.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the comments 'would be very serious in terms of relationships with a very important European partner'. Picture: Mark Stedman

Ms Connolly said: I made my comments about the 30s because of the similarities in the fear  the fear that is being felt on the ground.

"I am meeting young people all of the time in different forums. You can feel the sense of hopelessness coming from young people because of the way the world is going.

"I think we have an extra obligation  I have an extra obligation  as president of Ireland and for the people of Ireland, given our history, our specific history of colonisation, of famine, and the successful resolution to the conflict in the North.

She said she would leave Micheal Martin to comment on himself and his own comments.

Ursula Ni Shionnain

Responding to her hiring of Ursula Ni Shionnain in 2018, shortly after her released from prison for a firearm conviction, Ms Connolly said Ms Ni Shionnains name should not be part of public discourse.

There are serious questions to be asked here as to how this became a public story. Where do privacy rights come into it? How was this released? Who released this? For what benefit?" Ms Connolly said.

"If somebody, or an entity, wants to get me into trouble, surely an innocent person shouldnt be used, whatever about trying to damage me, which is another question.

She added: What are the consequences for releasing that information, what are the consequences for other people going through a vetting process, knowing that at any stage in their life that vetting process is going to be made public?
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has warned restaurants the Government wants any prospective Vat cuts in Budget 2026 to be reflected in customers bills.

During an interview with the Irish Examiner in Copenhagen, he stressed while a Vat cut had not been agreed, the Government accepted worker protection measures had added to the cost of doing business.

He also vowed there would be support for those on lower incomes to support them with the cost of living and energy prices, but acknowledged meetings between public expenditure minister Jack Chambers and line ministers have been tough.

Negotiations for Budget 2026 will continue this weekend ahead of Tuesdays announcement.

The hospitality industry has lobbied for Vat to be permanently reduced from 13.5% to 9%.

It is expected that if introduced, it will be delayed until July to reduce the price of the first year to 330m.

While the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) noted earlier this week restaurants were more likely to pass on cost hikes to customers than cuts, the Taoiseach indicated this should not be the case.

Anything we do is around viability of businesses and to make sure businesses can continue, he said.

It is a revenue, it is a tax. The business model should not be dependent, in terms of the profits and so on, on such a tax.

Be that as it may, we would like to see anything we do, if something was to happen, that it should be reflected in the pricing.

But again, there have been cost pressures on the industry, that has to be acknowledged.

This, he said, included the rise in the minimum wage, mandatory sick days, a new bank holiday and the impending roll-out of auto-enrolment for pensions.

IFAC also said the proposed full-year cost of the Vat package could fund a 3,000 increase in the standard tax rate, which would give workers an annual 600 boost.

Asked if people would be 600 better off this year, Mr Martin said he was not going to announce the budget.

He said IFACs overall point was that there has to be sustainability in public finances and this is why the Government is moving away from the one-off packages.

He argued inflation had fallen to 2% and further measures would create a further inflationary cycle.

That's not something we're prepared to do, he added.

Following the publication of the National Development Plan review in July, Budget 2026 will have an emphasis on capital projects, including housing, water, and energy infrastructure.

People will be better off from that perspective, Mr Martin said.

But I accept that's not in the here and now.

There will be a social protection package. That will be designed to try and cushion people and protect people, particularly those who are most vulnerable and middle to low incomes.

They'll get some benefits to try and protect them against the increases in the cost of living, in energy prices.
As word emerged that independent TD Catherine Connolly had employed a woman who had been sentenced in 2014 for firearms offences, political parties across the board weighed up how to respond.

Ursula Ni Shionnain, who at the time of her conviction was a member of Eirigi, was in 2014 sentenced to six years in prison at the Special Criminal Court for unlawful possession of firearms and possession of ammunition. She served four-and-a-half years of her sentence and was released in 2018.

Ms Ni Shionnain, a graduate of Trinity College who has since received a PhD, was a prominent member of the socialist republican group Eirigi, and co-accused John McGreal, aged 37, and Colin Brady, aged 24, were found guilty of the offences by the Special Criminal Court in 2014.

The non-jury court heard the accused were wearing disguises when they were intercepted by armed gardai outside a residential premises in Co Offaly which doubled as a business for a licensed firearms seller.

Detective Inspector Michael Gibbons told the court one of the handguns recovered, a Brazilian-made Taurus pistol, was used in a murder in Tallaght in February 2002. He said there was no suggestion any of the defendants were involved in that offence.

They had pleaded not guilty to the unlawful possession of one 9mm parabellum calibre Taurus PT92 semi-automatic pistol, one magazine suitable for use with the Taurus PT92 pistol, one 9mm parabellum calibre Walther P5 semi-automatic pistol and one ZGJY branded combined stun gun and flashlight.

During sentencing, counsel for Ms Ni Shionnain, Mr Leo Mulrooney BL, told the court his client was a young lady with many interests, abilities and talents.

Mr Justice Paul Butler sentenced each to six years in prison, of which Ms Ni Shionnain served four and a half years.

At the time of Ms Ni Shionnain's release, Ms Connolly had been working with a group of Irish-speaking politicians on a committee and was seeking a staff member to assist.

Catherine Connolly said it was hypocritical for people to say they believe in rehabilitation but not accept her employing Ms Ni Shionnain. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

Ms Connolly denied the initial report that counter-terrorism gardai had prevented Ms Shionnain's employment and said she had, in fact, worked in Leinster House for six months, being signed in on a visitor's day pass, before leaving of her own volition before her vetting process had finished.

Ms Connolly also said it was hypocritical for people to say they believe in rehabilitation but not accept her employing Ms Ni Shionnain.

While those on the left who have backed Ms Connolly have, largely, rowed in behind her, the coalition parties were quick to demand answers and clarity, with Fianna Fail leading the charge.

First up was junior minister Thomas Byrne, who said the reports were "extremely concerning" in a press release issued on Wednesday evening, just hours after TheJournal.ie first reported the story, though much of his comments focused on the report the employment had been stopped by gardai, a suggestion Ms Connolly has disputed.

This is not some small matter. The president and their staff are trusted with a wide range of highly confidential documents, including government memos, and they receive regular security briefings," Mr Byrne said.

We need an immediate and comprehensive explanation from Catherine Connolly about not just how she could have shown such appalling judgement, but just as importantly why this matter was hidden and her Oireachtas colleagues were not informed.

At a minimum, Catherine Connolly should immediately release all correspondence she had when trying to get security clearance for a person still on early release for arms offences after conviction by the Special Criminal Court.

On Thursday morning, Taoiseach Micheal Martin followed suit, telling reporters in Denmark the reports were very serious.

"[It] would indicate a very serious lack of judgment, and I think Catherine Connolly needs to clarify that in its entirety and be fully transparent in respect of it."

But when Ms Connolly took to the airwaves in RTE for a pre-planned interview with Claire Byrne, she revealed it was another high-profile Fianna Fail member who had actually recommended Ms Ni Shionnain to Ms Connolly after then independent TD Clare Daly had done the same.

Speaking to Ms Byrne, Ms Connolly said it was Eamon O Cuiv who had backed the appointment and, speaking to the Irish Examiner on Thursday, he said that he believed the story to be little to be concerned about.

Mr O Cuiv, a former Fianna Fail deputy leader, is known for regularly visiting prisons, particularly dealing with Republican prisoners.

If Catherine showed a lack of judgement, I did equally, because she asked me about her and I said that I was personally satisfied that she [Ms Ni Shionnain] had moved on, Mr O Cuiv said.

Mr O Cuiv said Mr Martin was entitled to his view but he said Ms Ni Shionnain was an example of rehabilitation.

Heres a person who was let out of prison and she got on with her life, finished a PhD, so shes now Dr Ursula Ni Shionnain, Mr O Cuiv said.

Shes held down a number of jobs and shes getting on with her life in a positive way.

So where is the lack of judgement? Because she has proven herself to those who had faith in her.

Mr O Cuiv stepped away from front-line politics last year, but was a frequent critic of Mr Martin's leadership. Mr Martin, of course, had beaten him to the position in 2011, and the Galway man resigned as deputy leader in 2012 over the party's position on that year's Fiscal Compact referendum.

In 2018, Mr Martin removed him from the party's front bench after he and senator Mark Daly had unveiled former Sinn Fein councillor Sorcha McAnespy as the partys first election candidate in the North without the party's blessing.

Outside the front bench, he was frequently critical of Fianna Fail leadership and was a leading voice in 2020 against coalition with Fine Gael. He and a group of 50 councillors came out in opposition to the deal at the time, saying 1,000 party members share their view.

Mr O Cuiv said at that time anyone who cared about the Irish language, the Gaeltacht and the islands should vote against the programme for government agreed between his party, Fine Gael and the Green Party.

He was also vocal at a July 2022 meeting of backbench TDs and senators which had been seen as the first rumblings of a heave against Mr Martin which never materialised.

So it is likely Mr Martin will not have been surprised to see Mr O Cuiv on the opposite side of this issue. But that's not to say this was about the Galway man's views on his party leader. He has long worked with Republican prisoners, and in 2022 was forced to defend a prison visit to convicted criminal and former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall.

The Galway West TD visited Mr Dowdall when he was in the Republican wing of Portlaoise Prison for his part in an attack on a man, who he waterboarded.

Speaking to Galway Talks on Galway Bay FM, Mr O Cuiv said he had been visiting Republican prisoners since 1994 but "does not deal with gangland criminals".

"The work I do is mainly concentrated on the Republican movement and Republican prisoners and I've been doing that work openly for years, and I think there has been very good practical results from that work and one that in my view has saved a lot of lives, he said.

Mr O Cuiv was strident in his belief this week that the controversy around Ms Connolly was "a ball of smoke", but that speaks more to his belief in rehabilitation than any personal animus with his party leader.
Ukrainian Defense Forces have cleared the villages of Sosnivka, Khoroshe, Novoselivka, and Sichneve in Dnipropetrovsk region of enemy forces, reports the OSINT project of the DeepState.

According to the project, in September, fighters from the 3rd Assault Battalion of the 225th Separate Assault Regiment cleared three villages. Another was cleared by a unit of the 141st Separate Mechanized Brigade. "Most positions have been handed over to other mechanized units. Stabilization efforts are ongoing. For operational security reasons, the results of the operation were not reported on the map," the report states.

Meanwhile, the enemy has resumed assaults on Novoselivka and Sichneve, but the Defense Forces are attempting to prevent the enemy from gaining a foothold. The collapse of friendly forces' defenses to the south poses an additional challenge.

"For about a week now, units in this area have been operating in a semi-encirclement, cutting off the enemy's vanguard from the approaches to Orestopil," DeepState notes.
Tens of thousands of people are marching in Barcelona as Spain, Italy and Portugal gear up for mass demonstrations to protest Israels war in Gaza.

Protests in Spains second-largest city as well as in Madrid were called for weeks ago, while calls for demonstrations in Rome and Lisbon followed widespread anger after the Israeli interception of a humanitarian aid flotilla that had set sail from Barcelona, trying to break the blockade of the Palestinian territory.

Over 40 Spaniards, including a former Barcelona mayor, are among the 450 activists that Israel removed from the flotillas boats this week.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally during a protest in Barcelona (Emilio Morenatti/AP)

Italy already saw more than two million people rally on Friday across the country in a one-day general strike to support the residents of Gaza.

Spain has seen an upsurge of support for Palestinians in recent weeks while its left-wing government intensifies diplomatic efforts against the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Protests against the presence of an Israeli-owned cycling team repeatedly disrupted the Spanish Vuelta last month, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the destruction in Gaza a genocide and asked for the ban of all Israeli teams from international sporting events.

The calls for protests in southern Europe come as Hamas said it has accepted some elements of the plan laid out by US President Donald Trump to end the two-year war, which has left Gazas largest city in famine and stirred accusations of genocide against Israel.

Barcelonas town hall said police estimated that 70,000 turned out for Saturdays demonstration.

People packed Barcelonas wide Passeig de Gracia, the citys main central boulevard.

Demonstrators gather for a pro-Palestinians protest in Bologna, Italy (Guido Calamosca/LaPresse via AP)

Many families turned out, along with people of all ages.

Protesters carried Palestinian flags or wore t-shirts supporting Palestine.

Hand-held signs bore messages like Gaza hurts me, Stop the Genocide and Hands off the flotilla.

While the protests will likely not sway Israels government, protesters hope they could inspire other demonstrations and encourage European leaders to take a harder line against it.

Maria Jesus Parra, 63, carried a Palestinian flag high after making an hourlong trip from her home in another town to Barcelona.

She wants the European Union to act against what she described as the horrors she watches on televised news on a daily basis.

How is it possible that we are witnessing a genocide happening live after what we (as Europe) experienced in the 1940s? Ms Parra said. Now nobody can say they didnt know what was happening.

The protests in Rome, Madrid and Lisbon are to follow later on Saturday.

There are also protests called across many other Spanish cities.
Russian drones struck a Ukrainian railway station on Saturday, killing one and wounding dozens, as Moscow stepped up strikes on Ukraines rail and power grids ahead of the fourth winter since its all-out invasion.

At least 30 people were injured in the savage attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said after the attack on Shostka, a city northeast of Kyiv about 43 miles from the Russian border.

Hours later, local prosecutors said that a 71-year-old man was found dead in one of the wrecked carriages.

All emergency services are already on the scene and have begun helping people. All information about the injured is being established, Mr Zelensky he said in a post on X.

Russia struck two passenger trains in quick succession, first targeting a local service and then one bound for Kyiv, said Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraines deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister.

Medical teams have already transported the injured to hospitals and are providing necessary assistance.

Others (who were at the site) are in shelters overseen by rescuers, Mr Kuleba wrote on Telegram on Saturday.

A savage Russian drone strike on the railway station in Shostka, Sumy region. All emergency services are already on the scene and have begun helping people. All information about the injured is being established. So far, we know of at least 30 victims. Preliminary reports pic.twitter.com/ZZoWfPmpL5  Volodymyr Zelenskyy /   (@ZelenskyyUa) October 4, 2025

He said an air raid alert was ongoing at the station.

Both Mr Zelensky and local governor Oleh Hryhorov posted what they said were photos from the scene showing a passenger carriage on fire.

Moscow has recently stepped up airstrikes on Ukraines railway network, which is essential for military transport, hitting it almost every day over the past two months.

As in previous years since the full-scale invasion on February 24 2022, the Kremlin has also ramped up attacks on Ukraines power grid, in what Kyiv calls an attempt to weaponise the approaching winter by denying civilians heat, light and running water.

Overnight into Saturday, Russian drones and missiles pounded Ukraines power grid again, a Ukrainian energy firm said, a day after what officials described as the biggest attack on Ukrainian natural gas facilities since Moscows all-out invasion more than three-and-a-half-years ago.

The strike damaged energy facilities near Chernihiv, a northern city west of Shostka that lies close to the Russian border, and sparked blackouts set to affect some 50,000 households, according to regional operator Chernihivoblenergo.

The head of Chernihivs military administration, Dmytro Bryzhynskyi, confirmed a night time Russian attack on the city caused multiple fires, but did not immediately say what was hit.

The day before, Russia launched its biggest attack of the war against natural gas facilities run by Ukraines state-owned Naftogaz Group, Ukrainian officials said.

Russia fired a total of 381 drones and 35 missiles at Ukraine on Friday, according to Ukraines air force, in what officials said was an attempt to wreck the Ukrainian power grid ahead of winter and wear down public support for the three-year-old conflict.

Naftogazs chief executive, Serhii Koretskyi, said on Friday the attacks had no military purpose, while Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko accused Moscow of terrorising civilians.

Moscow claimed the strikes targeted facilities that support Kyivs war effort.

Overnight into Saturday, Russian forces launched a further 109 drones and three ballistic missiles at Ukraine, the Ukrainian military reported.

It said 73 of the drones were shot down or sent off course.
At least 442 people have been arrested over pro-Palestine protests in London, which are taking place in defiance of calls by politicians and police bosses to reconsider after the Manchester synagogue terror attack.

The London Metropolitan Police arrested protesters for offences including supporting the banned terror group Palestine Action.

The arrests include six people who were detained for unfurling a banner backing the proscribed group on Westminster Bridge.

But the bulk of the arrests occurred in Trafalgar Square, where protesters held placards showing their support for Palestine Action.

The Metropolitan Police said: As of 6.30pm officers had arrested 442 people for supporting a proscribed organisation.

A different protest group gathered in Whitehall, blocking the road before trying to march first towards Trafalgar Square, then Parliament Square. Officers have intervened.

Police remove protesters taking part in a demonstration in support of Palestine Action in Trafalgar Square (Maja Smiejkowska/PA)

Organisers Defend Our Juries said more than a thousand people have gathered at the square to hold a mass, silent vigil protesting the proscription while the names of Palestinian children killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict are read out.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had urged protesters to respect the grief of British Jews, while Jewish figures have called the action phenomenally tone deaf following Thursdays killing of two people in the terror attack.

A vicar, who had been sitting with her eyes closed and holding a poster saying I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action, was among those arrested and carried out by police.

Some people in the crowd called the police shameful, and one said to officers, Thanks for protecting us, as the woman was taken away.

Two elderly men were also seen being carried by each limb to the south-west side of the square, where officers and police vehicles were waiting to process the arrests.

Protesters unfurled a banner on Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Dave Rich, director of policy at the Community Security Trust charity which provides protection for the Jewish community, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I think its phenomenally tone deaf, to say the least, for so many people who claim to care about human rights and care about freedoms, to be taking police resources away from protecting the rights and freedoms of Jewish people to live their lives and go to synagogue in safety, all to support a proscribed terrorist organisation, which is not the same thing as supporting the Palestinians.

And I think its remarkably self-absorbed and insensitive, to say the least.

But Kerry Moscogiuri, director of campaigns at human rights group Amnesty International UK, said: Arresting hundreds of people for peacefully sitting down and holding these signs is not the job of police.

These arrests are in breach of the UKs international human rights obligations and should not be happening.

The Met had urged the group to call off its plans, with Commissioner Mark Rowley saying: At a time when we want to be deploying every available officer to ensure the safety of those communities, we are instead having to plan for a gathering of more than 1,000 people in Trafalgar Square on Saturday in support of a terrorist organisation.

By deliberately choosing to encourage mass law-breaking on this scale, Defend Our Juries are drawing valuable resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most.

Policing minister Sarah Jones said many of those attending the event want to be arrested, that is their aim.

She said: We believe in peoples rights to protest. This protest here in London is a different order of event because people are supporting a proscribed organisation and the police have to step in in that case.

Police removing a protester at the Trafalgar Square demonstration (Maja Smiejkowska/PA)

A similar event held by Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine also took place on Saturday.

After a crowd of about 100 pro-Palestinian supporters gathered outside Manchester Cathedral to listen to speeches, they moved off en masse to march through the city centre.

As they banged drums and chanted Free Palestine!, a group of counter-protesters got ahead of them, marching in front and holding a flag saying F*** Hamas and shouting release the hostages.

Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Stephen Watson urged would-be attendees at the protest to consider whether this is really the right time.

Police forces have deployed extra officers to synagogues and other Jewish buildings to offer protection and reassurance in the aftermath of the attack.

Mr Starmer said events could cause further turmoil for families of victims and the Jewish communities.

Writing in The Jewish Chronicle, and The Jewish News, the Prime Minister said: I urge anyone thinking about protesting this weekend to recognise and respect the grief of British Jews this week.

This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hopes to announce the release of all hostages from Gaza in the coming days, as indirect talks with Hamas continue in Egypt on Monday on a new US plan to end the war.

In a brief statement on Saturday, Mr Netanyahu said he has sent a delegation to Egypt to finalise technical details, adding that our goal is to contain these negotiations to a timeframe of a few days.

He spoke after Hamas said it had accepted some elements of the US plan.

US President Donald Trump welcomed the Hamas statement but on Saturday warned that Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off.

Earlier Saturday, Israels army said the countrys leaders had instructed it to prepare for the first phase of the US plan to end the war in Gaza.

Israel has moved to a defensive-only position in Gaza and will not actively strike, said one official. The official said no forces have been removed from the territory.

But Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiyah told the Associated Press that Israeli strikes killed five Palestinians across Gaza City, while bombing had significantly subsided.

The army statement came hours after Mr Trump ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza once Hamas said it had accepted some elements of his plan.

Mr Trump appears determined to deliver on pledges to end the war and return all hostages, ahead of the second anniversary on Tuesday of the attack that sparked it.

His proposal announced earlier this week has widespread international support.

On Friday, Mr Netanyahus office said Israel was committed to ending the war that began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

Mr Netanyahu is under increasing pressure to end the conflict.

The official told the AP that Mr Netanyahu made the rare late-night statement on the Sabbath, saying that Israel has started to prepare for Mr Trumps plan because of pressure from the US.

Destroyed buildings in Gaza City (Jack Guez/Pool/AP)

The official also said a negotiating team was getting ready to travel. Egypts state-run broadcaster Al-Qahera News, which is close to security agencies, reported that indirect talks between Hamas and Israel will start on Sunday.

A senior Egyptian official said US envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Egypt to head the US negotiating team in the talks to release the Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli detention.

The talks also will discuss maps showing the expected withdrawal of Israeli forces from certain areas in Gaza, said the official.

The official involved in the ceasefire negotiations also said Arab mediators are preparing for a comprehensive dialogue among Palestinians aimed at unifying their position on Gazas future.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second most powerful militant group in Gaza, said it accepted Hamas response to the Trump plan. The group had rejected the proposal days earlier.

Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages, about 20 of them believed to be alive, within three days. It also would give up power and disarm.

In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of Gaza, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction.

Hamas said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians.

A plume of smoke rises above Gaza City (Jack Guez/Pool/AP)

Its statement also did not address the issue of Hamas demilitarising, a key part of the deal.

A group representing some families of hostages said the prospect of seeing loved ones return has never been closer.

They appealed to Mr Trump to keep pushing with full force and warned that extremists on both sides will try to sabotage the plan.

Palestinians in Gaza tried to piece together what the plan means in real terms.

We want practical implementation. We want a truce on the ground, said Sameer Qudeeh in Khan Younis. He worried that talks will break down again.

I hope Hamas ends the war, because we are truly tired, said Mohammad Shaat in Khan Younis, as anxious Palestinians roamed the shattered streets.

Israeli troops were still laying siege to Gaza City, the focus of its latest offensive. On Saturday, Israels army warned Palestinians against trying to return to the city, calling it a dangerous combat zone.

Two Gaza City residents told the AP that since the morning, Israeli tanks and troops had not advanced but artillery shells and airstrikes were still heard.

We can still see the quadcopters everywhere, Mohamed al-Nashar said.

In southern Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said its Saraya field hospital received 10 bodies and more than 70 injured after Israeli strikes on Saturday.

Gazas Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the war has topped 67,000.

The Health Ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says women and children make up around half the dead.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the UN and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
Photo: https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/

Last night, air defense forces neutralized 73 out of 109 enemy UAVs that attacked Ukrainian territory. Three missiles and 36 attack UAVs were recorded hitting 21 locations, as well as debris from downed drones falling at four locations, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.

"On the night of October 4 (from 6:00 p.m. on October 3), the enemy attacked with 109 Shahed, Gerber, and other types of attack UAVs ... as well as three Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles," the Air Force said on its Telegram channel.

According to preliminary data, as of 9:00 a.m., air defense forces have shot down or suppressed 73 enemy Shahed, Gerber, and other types of UAVs in the north and east of the country. The air attack was repelled by aircraft, electronic warfare units, unmanned aerial systems, and mobile fire teams of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

Thus, the overall effectiveness of the air defense system last night was 65.2%.
Photo: https://t.me/mvs_ukraine

Sumy region prosecutor's office reports that the body of a 71-year-old man has been found dead in a train carriage that was struck by an enemy drone at the Shostka train station.

"The criminal case has been reclassified under Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukrainecommission of war crimes resulting in the death of a person," the Telegram channel reports.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported earlier that seven people, including three children, were injured in a Russian airstrike on the Shostka railway station in Sumy region.

"One of the passenger cars caught fire. While extinguishing the fire, rescuers came under repeated fire, but fortunately, no one was injured. Despite the danger, the fire was completely extinguished," the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported on its Telegram channel.
By Donald Rothwell, Australian National University

(The Conversation)  The Israel Defence Force has intercepted a flotilla of humanitarian vessels seeking to deliver aid to Gaza, taking control of multiple vessels and arresting activists, including Greta Thunberg.

The interceptions took place in the Mediterranean Sea between 70-80 nautical miles off the Gazan coast. These are international waters where international law recognises high seas freedom of navigation for all vessels.

Israel has countered by arguing it has a maritime blockade which prohibits entry to Gaza by foreign vessels. Israel has also suggested the flotilla was supported by Hamas  an assertion the flotilla organisers have rejected.

Gaza humanitarian aid flotillas

The Global Sumud Flotilla was comprised of more than 40 boats carrying humanitarian aid (food, medical supplies and other essential items), along with several hundred parliamentarians, lawyers and activists from dozens of countries.

The flotilla departed Spain in late August and has been making its way eastwards across the sea, with stops in Tunisia, Italy and Greece. Along the way, the Italian and Spanish governments deployed naval escorts to ensure their safe passage.

Passengers on the boats alleged they had been harassed by drones at mulitple points in the voyage.

This flotilla campaign is the latest iteration of a movement that has existed for over 15 years to challenge Israels long-running blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Earlier this year, a ship called the Conscience carrying activists and aid bound for Gaza was hit by explosions off the coast of Malta.

Israel then intercepted the Madleen, with Thunberg and other activists on board, in June, and the Handala in July.

And in 2010, a flotilla tried to reach Gaza carrying humanitarian relief and hundreds of activists. Israeli commandos boarded the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, leading to a violent confrontation that resulted in the deaths of ten activists. The deaths drew widespread condemnation and strained Israeli-Turkish ties for years.

The legality of Gazas naval blockade

The international law related to the actions of the flotilla vessels and Israels capacity to intervene is complex.

Israel has imposed blockades of Gaza in various forms for nearly 20 years.

The legal basis for the blockades and their consistency with international law, particularly the law of the sea, has been contentious, which was highlighted during a UN inquiry that followed the Mavi Marmara incident.

While Israels legal relationship with Gaza has varied during this time, Israel is now considered an occupying power in Gaza under international law.

The roles of occupying powers were codified in the Fourth Geneva Convention in 1949 and built upon the legal obligations that Allied powers assumed in Germany and Japan at the end of the second world war. The Geneva Convention outlines the clear legal framework for occupying powers.

In recent decades, Israel has been both a de jure (recognised under the law) and de facto occupying power in Palestine.

In 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories was illegal under international law.

As an occupying power, Israel controls all access to Gaza whether by land, air or sea. Aid trucks are only permitted to enter Gaza under strict controls. Foreign air force aid drops that have occurred in recent months have only been permitted under strict Israeli control, as well.

Very little aid has arrived by sea since the war began because Israel has severely restricted maritime access to Gaza. The United States built a floating pier off the coast to deliver aid in 2024, but this was soon abandoned because of weather, security and technical issues.

This clearly indicated, however, that Israel was prepared to permit the flow of maritime aid from its closest ally, the US. This exception to the blockade was not applied to other humanitarian actors.

Intercepting ships in international waters

While delivery of aid by sea is legally problematic at the moment, there are limits to Israels ability to disrupt flotillas. The freedom of navigation is central to the law of the sea. As such, the flotilla is entitled to sail unimpeded in the Mediterranean Sea.

Any harassment or stopping of the flotilla within the Mediterraneans international waters is therefore a clear violation of international law.

Crucial to this is the actual location where Israeli forces intercept and board flotilla vessels.

Israel can certainly exercise control over the 12 nautical mile territorial sea off Gazas shores. Its closure of the territorial sea to foreign vessels would be justified under international law as a security measure, as well as to ensure the safety of neutral vessels due to the ongoing war.

Flotilla organisers said their ships were intercepted between 70 to 80 nautical miles from shore, well beyond Gazas territorial sea.



NASA File Photo, 2017-12-08, NASA ID: GSFC_20171208_Archive_e001284. Public Domain.

No doubt this was done for operational reasons. The closer the flotilla came to the Gazan coast, the more difficult it would be for the Israel Defence Force to successfully intercept each ship, raising the possibility that at least one vessel may make landfall.

Scores of activists onboard the ships have reportedly been detained and will be taken into custody in the Israeli port of Ashdod. They will then likely be quickly deported.

The activists have protections under international human rights law, as well, including access to foreign diplomats exercising consular protection for their citizens.

Donald Rothwell, Professor of International Law, Australian National University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Quatrain 17 of the first edition of Edward FitzGeralds the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam continues the theme that kingly glory quickly fades.

XVII. They say the Lion and the Lizard keep

The Courts where Jamshyd gloried and drank deep:

And Bahram, that great Hunter  the Wild Ass

Stamps oer his Head, and he lies fast asleep.

A. J. Arberry, Romance of the Rubaiyat, p. 203, says it is based on no. 102 in the Calcutta manuscript:

       

      

    

     

He translates it:

That palace in which Bahram took the cup,

(there) the fox has whelped, and the lion taken its rest;

Bahram who used always to take the wild ass (gur)

today see how the grave (gur) has taken Bahram.

He thinks FitzGerald took the reference to Jamshid from another quatrain in that manuscript.

The quatrains in this series strike me as similar in theme and purpose to the poem Ozymandias, by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792  1822), published in 1818:

I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:

And on the pedestal these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.'

The poem referred to the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II. Shelley was a fierce republican who hated kings, and no doubt enjoyed pointing to the fleeting character of their glory, and here he parodies their hubris. FitzGerald was not as openly political as Shelley, whose works he loved, but he did at one point express a hope that Italy would emerge as a republic and that its people would gain their freedom.

I had placed the below discussion of Bahram in the commentary on 1:16 but I think it belongs better here. I expanded instead for 1:16 on the meaning of the caravanserai in Persian poetry.

-

Order Juan Coles contemporary poetic translation of the Rubaiyat from

Bloomsbury (IB Tauris)

or Barnes and Noble.

or for $16 at Amazon Kindle

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I talked about the ancient mythical king of Iran, Jamshid, in an earlier commentary.

Bahram V or Bahram Gor was a king of the Sasanian dynasty who ruled 420-438 CE. He was a contemporary of the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosios II. While he was a historical figure, he entered the epics and romances of later poets such as Ferdowsi and Nezami.

His historical adventures were amazing enough. He had been exiled to the vassal Arab court at Hira, and when his father Yazdegerd was killed by increasingly powerful Zoroastrian priests, they initially tried to put Khosrow on the throne. Bahram got Arab help to go to the capital and make a bid for the succession himself. He argued that the crown should be placed in an arena between two wild lions, and whoever could retrieve it by killing the lions would be king. It was agreed, and he dispatched the beasts and won the crown. He pushed back against priestly power. Otakar Klima wrote,

He also remitted taxes and public debts at festive occasions, promoted musicians to higher rank and brought thousands of Indian minstrels (luris) into Iran to amuse his subjects, and he himself indulged in pleasure-loving activities, particularly hunting (his memorable shooting of a wonderful onager, gor, is said to have given origin to his nickname Gor Onager [hunter]). These measures made Bahram one of the most popular kings in Iranian history. Right after his accession, he proved himself in battle against the White Huns (the Hephthalites) who had invaded eastern Iran. Leaving his brother Narseh as regent, Bahram took the road from Nisa via Marv to Kusmehan, where he fell upon the enemy, won a resounding victory, and obtained precious booty from which he made rich offerings to the fire temple of Adur Gushnasp.

O. Klima, Bahram V, Encyclopaedia Iranica, III/5, pp. 514-522, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bahram-05 (accessed on 30 December 2012).

Scenes of Bahram V hunting were a favorite with painters of Persian miniatures, as below:



Bahram Gurs Skill with the Bow, Folio 17v from a Haft Paikar (Seven Portraits) of the Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja. Author: Nizami (present-day Azerbaijan, Ganja 11411209 Ganja). Calligrapher: Maulana Azhar (died 1475/76). Date: ca. 1430. Herat, present-day Afghanistan. Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper. Public Domain. Metropolitan Museum.

The Met explains: Depicting the Persian hero Bahram Gur hunting with his harpplaying companion Azada, this painting is one of five illustrations created for a fifteenth-century manuscript of Nizamis Haft Paikar (Seven Portraits). The manuscript was produced in the celebrated kitabkhana (workshop) established by the Timurid prince Baisunghur (r. ca. 142033) during his governorship at Herat. This important workshop created some of the canonical illustrations to Nizamis textimmediately recognizable, repeated, and emulated over the subsequent centuries.

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For more commentaries on FitzGeralds translations of the Rubaiyat, see

FitzGeralds Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: Commentary by Juan Cole with Original Persian
At a splendid 75 years of age, he still embodies intimidating action heroes. But as he demonstrates in the Spanish film Ya No Quedan Junglas  translated as There Are No Jungles Left  he doesnt need to wear masks anymore

Ron Perlman poses exclusively for EL PAIS in his Los Angeles living room. Ryan Pfluger

The intense gaze, the pronounced jaw, the two wrinkles on his forehead its impossible to look away when youre face to face with Ron Perlman. Because of the respect that the 75-year-old New York-born actor inspires, and because of everything he evokes: he has spent decades playing outsiders, thugs and tough action heroes, like the vigilante demon in the Hellboy saga, or the hunchback Salvatore in The Name of the Rose (1986). Today, he returns with Ya No Quedan Junglas (2025), a Spanish-language film translated as There Are No Jungles Left. Directed by Luis Gabriel Beristain, Perlman plays the role of Theo, an aging American soldier living in San Sebastian, in Spains northern Basque region. Upon losing his only friend, the protagonist ends up embroiled in a bloody tale of revenge.

The film is tailor-made for an expert in crazed roles. We love revenge stories because were all always looking for immediate justice, which doesnt exist in reality. We root for my character because [he does] things wed like to do ourselves, he reflects, from his home in Los Angeles.

Perlman has a distant gaze while he speaks. His tone is serious and direct. Hes convincing. Even intimidating. Suddenly, hes interrupted by barking. He stands up and, for the first time in the interview, drags his six-foot-six frame out of the room. Silence! he shouts. And the barking ends. No one dares to resume the conversation but against all odds, he comes back into the room, laughing his head off. Seems to have worked; they never listen to me, he jokes.

When he smiles, the real Perlman emerges. Even past retirement age, hes a man who remains dedicated to one of his favorite genres: action. In There Are No Jungles Left  which premiered in Spain on September 26  hes repeatedly hit, punched and stabbed. Hes even set on fire. The character endures stoically, but the actor admits that these highly physical sequences have become increasingly difficult for him. When an action scene begins, he resigns himself to prayer, trying not to think about everything that could go wrong.

Ron Perlman poses exclusively for EL PAIS in his Los Angeles living room. Ryan Pfluger

Age, on the other hand, also helps: The only good thing about getting older is that you finally dont give a shit what people think about you. You can go through the most embarrassing experience of your life  you can even shit yourself  and you wont care. Theres something sexy about that attitude and now, Im getting roles that reflect it, he shrugs. Aside from a brazen and somewhat foul-mouthed confidence, these characters also share a single face: his own. For any actor, this might be obvious but for Perlman, its the achievement of a lifetime.

His early roles  and some of the ones that hes best-known for  were distinguished by his unusual ability to transform into all kinds of creatures: cavemen, vampires, beasts and demons. Few actors have played such a large number of characters that were built using prosthetics and makeup. [All those characters] spoke of wanting to be part of a world that despises you. Exactly what I would have liked to hear when I was a six-year-old locked in a room thinking I was a freaking Quasimodo, he recalls.

We love revenge stories because were all always looking for immediate justice, which doesnt exist in reality. We root for my character because [he does] things wed like to do ourselves.

That bedroom was very small. He shared it with his brother, in an apartment in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. And that little boy preferred to stay there, rather than go outside. He feared being picked on because he was either too fat or too weird.

Salvation came in the form of a black-and-white television that was barely 12 inches wide. At the age of eight, he saw Charles Laughtons Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) and he wasnt afraid. In fact, he thought the movie was beautiful.

By his side was his father. If anyone taught me to love cinema, it was him, even though he never received any kind of education. He was a worker who never earned much money  [he] worked his ass off for 10 hours a day. At night, we always watched classic films together. But mostly, I watched him and saw the effect they had on his body. The burden he carried during the day disappeared and was transformed into laughter, even tears. Captivated by that which transformed horrendousness into beauty and exhaustion into fun, young Ron grew up convinced that he wanted to make a living as an actor.

He spent his twenties working on Broadway. And, at the age of 30, he got the opportunity to make the leap into the film world. At that time, one of his first agents confronted him with the prophecy that would haunt him for the rest of his life: he had the physique of a 50-year-old. Until he turned 50, his time would never come. I hated him for telling me that. I didnt want to wait 20 years to be able to pay the rent but the son-of-a-bitch was right. At first, I got great roles, but they were few and far between. It took a long time for me to make it.

I went four years without working. During that time, the universe seemed to be telling me that I was worthless. It was a nightmare and, above all, a financial disaster. It took years of therapy to turn all that frustration into something positive, the actor admits today.

Ron Perlman poses exclusively for EL PAIS in his Los Angeles living room. Ryan Pfluger

However, that prophecy had an exception: what if he played men from other ages? Or from other eras? In his first film, Quest for Fire (1981)  directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud  he played a Neanderthal from 400,000 years ago. The story recreated the struggle that different prehistoric tribes went through to master fire. We didnt wear shoes [and] we were almost naked. And we started shooting at the end of November, in the [Scottish] Highlands. I think it was the hardest way to start a career. But, from then on, I learned one thing: every time my agent got an offer, I asked him, Am I wearing shoes in this one? He obviously said yes. And so, I thought, It cant be that bad.

Slowly, roles began to appear, such as Salvatore, the blasphemous hunchback in The Name of the Rose (1986), also directed by Annaud. In that film, his face and body were completely covered, becoming the perfect canvas. All those masks freed me to act without fear. Without that barrier between me and the camera, I dont know if I would have been able to be as expressive, he reflects.

We filmed in San Sebastian, probably the city with the most Michelin stars per capita in the world. But whenever I had two days off, Id go to Seville, Madrid, Asturias, or Bilbao. Every day, we had a new gastronomic experience. And the wines! I thought I liked Rioja until I tried Ribera.

With his portrayal of the lion-like heartthrob of the Beauty and the Beast TV series (1987-1990)  a delirious adaptation of the old French tale  things began to turn around for Perlman. He won a Golden Globe and  as he recounts in Easy Street (2015), his autobiography  a magazine named him Sexiest Man of the Year (beast makeup included).

That performance, above all, began to bolster his prestige as an idol and muse of fantasy cinema that remains with him to this day. The flaws I thought were monstrous as a child ended up becoming virtues. The greatest reward of my career is that all [my] inner turmoil became fuel for my roles. And, furthermore, I was able to empathize with those who had gone through something similar.

However, as he repeatedly emphasizes in his interview with EL PAIS, Perlman believes that if anyone is responsible for the direction his career has taken, its certainly not him. I simply accepted every role that came my way and it just so happened that many of them revealed my inner conflicts. Unless youre Brad Pitt or George Clooney  who receive thousands of scripts  most actors dont have any say in their careers. At least, I never have, he clarifies.

Ron Perlman poses exclusively for EL PAIS in his Los Angeles living room. Ryan Pfluger

However, attracted by his unique qualities, he was chosen by foreign directors, who, in their own way, were also Hollywood outsiders. The aforementioned Jean-Jacques Annaud was one of them, as well as Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who directed Perlman in The City of Lost Children (1995) and Alien: Resurrection (1997).

In England or France, you see magnificent protagonists with very distinctive faces, he explains. In the United States, casting is almost more like a beauty pageant. They dont give you roles unless youre a standard-bearer. I [dont think its] a coincidence that, for the first 20 years of my career, I only worked with French, Italians and Mexicans.

By Mexicans, he refers, above all, to Guillermo del Toro. Without him, we wouldnt be talking now; Id be nobody, he concludes. Del Toro  a lover of fantasy cinema  begged Perlman to participate in his first film, Cronos (1993), for a modest salary. In return, years later, the director fought the studios to make Perlman the lead actor in the two Hellboy films. By then, the actor was over 50 and, just as his agent had predicted, it became his most notable role, characterized by a relentless performance. Guillermo always championed my strengths as an actor. And, even now, he still calls me for roles that no one else would give me. Were like brothers; we always had the same role models and we also share the eating habits of two damn degenerates. We eat like were at an eight-year-olds birthday party, he laughs.

His hearty appetite was more than evident last year during his trip to Spain for the filming of There Are No Jungles Left. Through the dozens of local media headlines that reported sightings in restaurants across the country, one can piece together his stay in detail: We were filming in San Sebastian, probably the city with the most Michelin stars per capita in the world. But whenever I had two days off, I would go to Seville, Madrid, Asturias, or Bilbao. Every day, we had a new gastronomic experience. And the wines! I thought I liked Rioja until I tried Ribera, which is now my favorite. Maybe I drank too much Ribera in those two months, he jokes.

Perlman is enjoying this prosperous moment. Hes never worked so hard. Suddenly, just like that damn agent told me, my body finally embraced that old soul I was already carrying at 20 years old. The [obstacles] disappeared and a never-ending work streak began. Which I love, because Im a workaholic. The busier I am, the better. His IMDb profile proves it: now, with his true face, he has 280 credits to his name, including series like Sons of Anarchy, voice-overs in major sagas like Transformers, as well as cameos in global hits and indie films. He does it all and, he warns, has no intention of stopping: Ill keep going until I end up in my coffin and if theres a way to continue acting there, Ill find it.

Perlman has achieved success, but hes critical of the system and laments the perversion of the superhero concept. Back when he made Hellboy, there was no sign of a time when comic book characters would reign supreme. Today, however, what was once the domain of freaks and enthusiasts now holds hegemonic power in theaters. Heroism is something profound that shouldnt be exploited. Its almost like spirituality; it [should be] cultivated in private and not flaunted. Its related to personal sacrifice and the fight against injustice and these films end up devaluing that. At Marvel, there are only trappings and costumes, he complains.

But what pains him most is the loss of a special effects craft that he experienced in its heyday. Im lost when technology overwhelms reality, when a film is filled with computer-generated images. Im not interested in those kinds of films. Im only interested in the human aspect. It saddens me that we move away from it to entertain the audience, or to get closer to what producers think entertains the audience. Because they increasingly treat the audience [condescendingly]: they think they cant stand a film that deals with human conflicts. So, I do my best to rage against the dying of the light, as the poet Dylan Thomas said.

The New York-born actor also expresses his opinions on social media. He doesnt shy away from conflict. The most notorious incident occurred in 2023 during the historic strike by SAG-AFTRA  the actors union  against the Hollywood studios, when Perlman threatened an executive who had stated his intention to drag out the conflict until actors started losing their homes.

Is he at all worried about ending up on a blacklist?

Maybe. But I dont know I dont think anyones going to come and say, Hey, Ron, we blacklisted you. They just blacklist you, period. But even if they did, it [hasnt affected] me. It wouldnt do me any good to go back on [my position]; I still stand by everything I said.

The same goes for his support for the Democratic Party and his criticism of Donald Trumps administration, which have ended up provoking direct attacks from the presidents eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and Senator Ted Cruz. Its not easy to watch Trump attack our culture. Hes withdrawn a lot of funding and even wants to name the Kennedy Center after Melania. But this bastard wont be there for long. An undesirable like him is only passing through. Youll see.

In reality, though, the real stars of Ron Perlmans Instagram feed are his four dogs. After an hour of conversation, theyre waiting for him to finish on the other side of the door. Theyre all adopted. My wife taught me the importance of taking them in to prevent them from being euthanized, he explains with a smile.

The tough guy has been gone for a while, but he can easily return. Before he wraps up the interview, he decides to prove it: he reverses roles and asks, Do I look anything like what you expected of me?

We admit that we thought he was going to be more intimidating.

Well, I kidnapped Ron, he replies. Ive got him in a closet and Im pretending to be him.

As he says this, his smile disappears; his serious expression returns. For a second, he seems like hes (almost) telling the truth.

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More than 500 local facilities across the country are cooperating with the governments agenda, despite not being officially recognized to hold migrants

Across the United States, local law enforcement agencies have partnered with the Trump administration in its campaign of mass detentions and deportations at a record pace. These partnerships, also known as 287(g) agreements, grant local law enforcement institutions  such as police departments and county jails  the power to both hold and transport people to and from ICE-approved detention facilities while they, in turn, benefit financially from it. Since June, the number of 287(g) agreements has increased from 649 to over 1,000 in 40 states, according to a press release from September 17. However, the official figure does not include all the agreements the immigration agency has reached with local entities.

By comparing the list of detention centers on the immigration agencys website with an index of county jails and sheriffs offices that have 287(g) agreements, EL PAIS found that, nationwide, there are more than 500 local facilities that are not recognized as formal detention centers on the ICE website, even though they operate as such.

ICE does not release a complete list of the detention facilities that it uses, said Dr. Susan Long, cofounder of the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), an organization that makes immigration data available to the public. The agency suppresses quite a large number of them under a variety of guises, the expert added.

There are multiple types of agreements that local and county law enforcement agencies can enter into with ICE, Long explained. The 287(g) is just one of them: a program created in 1996 and revived en masse by the Trump administration, which redirects resources and space in local taxpayer-funded facilities to detain immigrants. Many of these detainees come from other states or have no criminal record.

Detention center contracts are slightly different from 287(g) agreements, which deputize local officers to assist with immigration detention. Under some 287(g) agreements, a law enforcement officer can take someone into custody, alert ICE, and temporarily keep the individual there until immigration agents arrive. While 287(g) gives officers more detention flexibility and allows them to take people into custody if they think that the person is undocumented, regardless of whether they have committed a crime, a detention center contract formalizes the per diem payments that county jails receive for holding ICE detainees and designate the amount of time jails can retain these prisoners.

Fachada del centro de Detencion del Condado de Kenton. Kenton County Sheriff

As a result, there are 500 county institutions with 287(g) agreements with ICE that are not recognized as formal detention centers, though local officers have the ability to bring immigrants into custody there.

These agreements classify county facilities by how long they can hold ICE detainees, Long noted. Some are authorized to hold people in custody long term, while others cannot hold them for more than 72 hours. According to the researcher, jails that agree to hold migrants for under three days have fewer reporting requirements, and are less likely to be listed on the ICE website as a formal detention center.

It is nearly impossible to figure out how many county facilities are designated as short-term detention centers, as they are not made public. Longs team at TRAC, which has been attempting to obtain these agreements through public records requests, often hits a dead end, as they are withheld under a provision of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that exempts agencies from disclosing confidential or privileged commercial or financial information.

The lack of information also concerns the TRAC cofounder for reasons beyond transparency. Long-term facilities have higher quality-of-life requirements than short-term. For example, long-term facilities are often required to have medical staff, in case of an emergency.

Covert detention centers in already overcrowded prisons

At a March 4 fiscal court meeting in Oldham County, Kentucky, a city northwest of Louisville, county jailer Jeff Tindall presented a seemingly simple request: the approval to purchase two new vehicles, a van and a bus. The prisons transportation resources were no longer sufficient, Tindall explained. Together, the vehicles would cost an estimated $238,000 and would be used for trips to states like Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, and Kansas.

In a conservative state like Kentucky, it seemed unlikely that community members would be troubled by Tindalls request. But one month later, Michael Slider, executive director of Kentucky Citizens for Democracy, a local anti-authoritarianism grassroots group, appeared before the fiscal court. He clutched a packet of papers as he strode up to the podium. We have quite the money making operation going on here, Slider said, pointing out that the Oldham County jail makes $73 per day for each immigrant housed there. I thought we pay their salaries to serve the citizens of Oldham County, not run an ICE taxi service. Who decided this was how our resources were going to be used? he asked.

Kentucky citizens protest outside Clark County Jail. Cortesia

Slider and his wife recently founded Kentucky Citizens for Democracy after President Trumps reelection. They had never heard of 287(g) or a detention center contract. Slider came across the program  and Oldham Countys participation in it  in a news article. I had no idea what a 287(g) was, he recalled, So I went and talked to the sheriff. He discovered that the county jailer had signed off on the agreement.

Oldham County is one of 31 jails or other local law enforcement agencies listed on the ICE website as an official detention center. However, other facilities have not been described with such transparency. In Kenton County, just south of Kentuckys border with Ohio, another local jail has some of the same functions as an immigration processing center, but is not listed on the ICE website.

In the state of Iowa, in Woodbury County Jail, nearly half of the jails August population from August arrests were immigrants. This prison is also not listed as a detention center on the ICE website, nor does it have a 287(g) agreement. Some states, like Florida, have hundreds of these public agreements at the state, county, local, and even university police level. The hundreds of agreements between ICE and law enforcement agencies across the United States operate under divergent terms, demonstrating the lack of transparency around how these smaller institutions facilitate the federal governments immigration agenda.

Slider, the activist from Kentucky, is especially furious about those prisons in his home state that accept immigrants and federal prisoners, despite already being overcrowded. Kenton County Jail, for example, had a prisoner population that was 50 people over the facilitys capacity during the week of September 18.

Slider says he has faced resistance in campaigning for prisoners rights in a red state, even if they have not committed a crime. He has received a barrage of criticism on social media. But thats not going to stop us, the local activist declared. Weve got a voice, were going to use it.

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MONASTEREVAN Credit Union celebrated 50 years of service to the community with a large attendance of members and invited guests.

The President of the Irish League of Credit Union Brendan Jenkins was the special guest, while Minister Martin Heydon, Deputy Sean OFearghail, cllr Kevin Duffy and representatives from neighbouring credit unions were present.

Mary Byrne receiving a plaque for her late father Liam McGlynn, a founding director, by Brendan Jenkins and Mary Ryan

Chair of Monasterevan Credit Union Mary Ryan welcomed everyone to the event and said that it was a wonderful day celebrating 50 years.

On 19 May 1975 the founder directors were elected. To remember and honour those directors, the credit union have erected a plaque listing the 15 founder directors names. President Brendan Jenkins unveiled the plaque.

Ger Brereton receiving a plaque in honour of his late wife Margaret, a founding director, by Brendan Jenkins and Mary Ryan

Five of the founder directors were present; ten directors have sadly passed on. They were represented by family members.

A glass plaque was presented to family members. The group then went to Monasterevin Community Centre for refreshments and speeches. League President Brendan Jenkins congratulated Monasterevan on its success and its support of the community. He wished them continued success. He made a presentation of glass bowl to the chair Mary Ryan on behalf of the league.

Founder member of Monasterevan Credit Union Evian O'Keeffe receiving his plaque

Deputy OFearghail spoke and described the founding members were real patriots and our community owes them a debt of gratitude. Credit union has reached all corners of the community. He wished the credit union continued success.

Minister Heydon congratulated Monasterevan on 50 years service. When it was founded in 1975, Ireland and Monasterevin were different places. Work was scarce, and credit was not easily available. Credit unions brought new life to the communities and kept moneylenders from overrunning the areas.

Carmel Timoney recieving a plaque for her dad the late Con Carr along with Fionn and Con Carr

Cllr Kevin Duffy said that the credit union was a great help to community organisations in providing bridging finance. Members were well looked after. He wished them continued success. Parish priest Fr Liam. Merrigan said that the credit union was the centre of the community and thanked volunteers for their work.

Chairperson Mary Ryan thanked everyone for their contributions. She gave the history of the foundation to the present day. She thanked all who have volunteered over the years and their families.

Monasterevan Credit Union staff

Ms Ryan said the Credit Union helped community groups. In the next week, a defibrillator will be installed on the office wall, sponsored by the credit union. To say thank you to the community, the credit union have set up a Community Awards Programme. This is a once-off programme. It is open to volunteer groups and committees to apply for funds to help with special projects.

Margaret and Ian Ferguson Margaaret Worrell and Bridie Keegan

To make application, contact the credit union office. While it was a celebration, the credit union remembered its deceased volunteers and members.

Brendan Jenkins, President of ILCU, Mary Ryan, chairperson of Monasterevin Credit Union, Fr Liam Merrigan PP and founding directors & family members

A cake marking 50 years was cut and distributed to the members. Ms Ryan said the tagline for Monasterevan Credit Union is We are big enough to serve but small enough to care.
At least eight cases in the last seven months have highlighted a structural problem, one that has been magnified by mass media and social media, without a proper analysis of its underlying causes

The scene was recorded by a security camera and broadcast throughout Mexico. In the Industrial neighborhood  in the Gustavo A. Madero borough of Mexico City  a car parked on the sidewalk. A woman got out of the vehicle, pulled down her pants, and squatted down. Within minutes, she gave birth to a baby girl, whom she left on the street. She then got back in the vehicle and was driven away.

A cyclist who was passing by  upon hearing the newborns cries  alerted the Ministry of Citizen Security. Officers rushed to the scene and took the newborn into protective care.

Over the past seven months, at least eight similar cases of newborns being abandoned have made headlines in Mexico City and State of Mexico, which surrounds the capital. These incidents have highlighted a structural problem that  according to various specialists  has always existed. However, factors such as a lack of sex education, the criminalization of abortion and widespread media coverage have made it more visible.

Between 2020 and 2024, at least 5,790 minors were victims of abandonment or neglect in Mexico. And 1,282 minors  between the ages of one and 17  were treated in hospitals for these reasons in 2024, according to the Network for Childrens Rights in Mexico (REDIM). This represents a 616.2% increase compared to 2010. Regarding infants, cases of abandonment in hospitals managed by the Ministry of Health increased from 50 in 2020 to 107 in 2024.

Rafael Castelan, president of the board of directors of REDIM, says poverty is one of the causes of the problem. The specialist notes that Mexico is a country where one in every two children and adolescents live in this situation. Poverty compromises living conditions, such as access to education, information and a dignified life.

Its said that seven out of 10 girls, boys and adolescents [in Mexico] have experienced some form of violence in their homes, which doesnt just stop at physical violence. It also extends to sexual violence, and thats another underlying cause. An adolescent or young person who has experienced violence in their home  which has strict rules  will lack information about sexual education. There have been families who have kept pregnancies hidden, practically until [the child or teen is] already in labor, says Castelan.

Mexico, a punitive state

Two other cases that garnered media attention occurred this past August. On August 23, in the Tacubaya neighborhood of the Miguel Hidalgo borough of Mexico City, a four-month-old baby was abandoned on the street. He suffered from hypothermia and his parents were arrested. And, two days later, on August 25, a newborn was abandoned in the restroom of the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM) metro station, along Line 8 of the Mexico City Metro. She was rescued, but died in a hospital just a few days later.

Another notorious case is that of Lucio and Diana, ages 18 and 21, who abandoned a newborn in the municipality of Tultitlan, in the State of Mexico, after an induced abortion. This incident went viral, highlighting various societal issues, such as a lack of access to sex education and the criminalization of abortion. Castelan affirms that Mexicans still live in a punitive state, where  when it comes to adolescents who commit these types of acts  they are directly sanctioned, both socially and legally.

When very young people are involved in these types of cases, it must be analyzed in greater depth, and we must not only focus on the sentence, but rather examine what other factors exist beyond these conditions that led to that adolescent or those adolescents committing this act, and use that understanding to develop public policies for support, Castelan tells EL PAIS via video call.

Castelan believes that teachers in schools lack the necessary tools to educate students about sexuality. Additionally, numerous prejudices and taboos still exist in a society that limits the free exercise of sexuality and reproductive rights. He also points to the ultraconservative wave that has been growing in recent years, through which anti-rights groups have placed restrictions on teachers, in order to prohibit them from talking about sex in the classroom.

REDIM also points out the consequences of IMSS-Bienestar, the centralized federal health model. The organization refers to the integration of health services in 23 states and Mexico City, which is intended to provide universal, free medical care to the population that doesnt have social security.

Currently, there are reports of shortages of medicines and health supplies in public Mexican hospitals. And, when people go to be attended, they not only find no gauze or alcohol, but also no contraceptives.

I dont think its because of a lack of funding. Its a matter of logistics and the operation of this new system, which  as we can see  isnt taking off. While there was already a lot of bureaucracy to obtain a contraceptive method as simple as a condom, now there are even more obstacles. This shortage is causing not only teenagers to become pregnant at a young age, but it may also be causing a lack of compliance, such as when it comes to abortion access. Weve found states where misoprostol and mifepristone, for example, arent arriving, Castelan laments.

Demystifying motherhood

Ninde Molre is the director of the #Abortistasmx initiative. A specialist in gender and law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), she emphasizes that situations like these  involving the abandonment of newborns  demonstrate that continuing to criminalize abortion after 12 weeks of gestation (as abortion is legal in the first trimester in Mexico City and 15 of the 31 states) is a problem.

Molre believes we need to stop romanticizing pregnancy. She says its necessary to demystify the idea that all women develop a maternal instinct when they become pregnant. To begin with, she explains, not all pregnancies are the same. Not all women present symptoms or miss their periods  and some dont even know that theyre going through this process until they enter into labor.

Youre living your normal life, then suddenly, you have a lot of cramps and then a baby comes out. Its a very shocking situation that causes people to make decisions out of shock and anxiety, Molre notes. We have to reflect on the fact that not all pregnancies occur the same way. Some are the result of sexual violence, while others may be the result of a failed fertility method, among other causes, the lawyer explains via phone call.

Molre states that as long as the criminalization of abortion based solely on a persons choice  without requiring justification beyond their own decision  remains in effect, it encourages situations that cause real social harm. The fact that abortion continues to be a crime after the 12th week creates a barrier for people when they discover that theyre pregnant after that time. When they go to health centers and dont have a valid reason, theyll be denied. That already sends a message to a person who is trying by all means to avoid pregnancy, the gender-specialized lawyer explains.

Luis Pena is the head of the General Directorate of Legal Representation and Restitution of Rights for Children and Adolescents, which is part of the Federal Attorney Generals Office for the Protection of Children and Adolescents. He believes that the public health system still has a very important role to play. Work is being done to make abortion a truly accessible, affordable option thats known to everyone, he assures EL PAIS by telephone.

However, he also says that the mission of the Attorney Generals Office is to provide an option for women who are pregnant and unable to terminate the pregnancy. He says that, if theyre already close to term, they have the safe option of having this agency  within one of the federal entities  take care of the baby, if for some reason they cannot assume responsibility.

They wont be tried or criminalized. An administrative process will simply be followed so they understand the legal, psychological and social repercussions of this decision. What concerns us and occupies our attention is resolving the legal status of these children, so that they can be placed in a family environment as soon as possible. Its crucial that they be integrated into a new family thats already certified, evaluated and supervised by the state, Pena concludes.

Translated by Avik Jain Chatlani.

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BOONE COUNTY  The fifth annual Biscuits, Beats and Brews festival kicked off Friday and will continue through the weekend. This marks the second year the festival has been hosted at Cooper's Landing.

Parking, a concern for patrons of Cooper's Landing, will be the same as it was last year for the festival. About a mile away from the venue, attendees can park, and there will be three shuttles taking people to and from the lot.

Colin LaVaute, director of Biscuits, Beats and Brews, said this system worked well last year and he's excited to expand it this year.

"That was a big concern when we first brought Biscuits, Beats and Brews to Cooper's last year, but we're really just implementing the same thing that we did last year," LaVaute said. "It worked out really well, last year was the first year. I had zero complaints, and we're hoping to keep that going."

With the upcoming renovations, Biscuits, Beats and Brews will be the final event before construction begins.

The construction will begin Monday, and LaVaute said he's excited to be the last event hosted with the current infrastructure.

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"This is the last hoorah," LaVaute said. "This is literally the last thing that's going to happen at Cooper's before they tear down the old building and start to build what I think is a really magnificent update to this really magnificent space."

Cooper's Landing owner Richard King, said it's a big weekend filled with a lot of emotions.

"It's a lot of nervous energy, a little bit of anxiety, a little bit excitement," King said. "You know it's just a mixed bag of everything."

Biscuits, Beats and Brews will continue Saturday at noon until 9 p.m. and again on Sunday from noon to 9 p.m.
Missouri Republican U.S. Senator Josh Hawley questions Boeing attorney Scott Mayer in a confirmation hearing for his nomination to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board.
Jose David hadnt left Nicaragua for more than two years. In April, he decided to take advantage of Easter vacations to travel to Miami to visit his aunts and uncles and cousins. Delighted to be reunited as a family, they went to a theme park in Orlando, shopped, and ate a lot. But the good times ended when, the night before he was to board his flight back to Managua, the airline sent him an email in which it notified him that immigration authorities had denied his re-entry into the country. His worst fears had become reality.

Jose Davids real name is not Jose David. He asked EL PAIS for anonymity out of fear of reprisals. He knew it was a possibility that he would be denied re-entry  it had been one of the reasons why he hadnt left Nicaragua in years. He saw on the news that one of the new repressive tactics of the co-presidential regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo was preventing citizens from returning to their own country.

Those who have been impacted are generally people who participated in the 2018 protests, family members of exiles, influencers, or entrepreneurs. Since he didnt fit into any of those categories, Jose David decided to take the risk and buy the ticket to Miami. But he found himself pulled into hurricane of migratory repression, like thousands of others. Some people have been denied re-entry for the simple fact of once having posted a critical comment about the government on social media.

Stranded in Miami, the young man became desperate. His only goal was to try to get back to Nicaragua, to his stable bank job, his girlfriend, his family. At the end of April, he heard a rumor that if he wrote to the Department of the Interior, it could be one way to advocate for his return. Some said that we should write a letter asking Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. Others said you had to pay a certain amount of money, Jose David remembers.

Over 300 cases and fees of up to $25,000

And he did. He wrote an email to the Department of the Interior, directed to the vice-minister, Luis Canas, who is known as the architect of this wave of migratory repression. The Sandinista authorities asked him for a $1,000 deposit so they could study his case, and that if he was approved, he would have to pay $5,000 more to be admitted into national territory. Such charges are based on the victims financial resources.

To guarantee that Sandinista immigration agents can review every case among citizens returning to Nicaragua, the regime requires airlines to send passenger lists with three days notice. From there, the lottery of being profiled for extortion begins. A source linked to immigration authorities told this publication that after 2018, offiicals created lists of people who were banned, though those lists have grown considerably in the years that followed.

All you have to do is look up passenger information on the internet, particularly on social media, and if they have a post against the government, their re-entry is automatically denied. I dont know why, but its what weve been instructed to do, says the source. Other cases that have been confirmed by media reports involve individuals who have no political ties, typically Nicaraguans who have been living in the United States for decades.

With the help of his family members in Miami, Jose David accepted his fate and got together the money. During the negotiation process, he was told he was a coup plotter and accused of betraying the nation. He paid the extortion fee, and was warned not to speak out about or file a complaint regarding what had happened. Jose Davids is no isolated case.

Human rights organizations, among them Monitoreo Azul y Blanco, calculate that so far in 2025, more than 300 people have been prevented from returning to the country. The real total, the organization states, could be much higher because of the fear of reporting such repressive tactics. Three more testimonies that were collected by EL PAIS and others published by Nicaraguan news organizations indicate that fees involved with this kind of extortion, including those charged to businesses in exchange for letting their employees return, can be more than $25,000.

Devastating impact

There have also been cases in which the Sandinista regime, through its institutions, levies requests for participation in or sponsorship of political activities as a test of goodwill toward the regime. One such case that has generated attention is that of influencer Valeria Sanchez, who was denied entry to the country, but appeared in her home in Managua a month later, offering no explanation for the delay to her return to Nicaragua.

Sanchez went from being active on social media with highly respected Nicaraguan companies, to only sharing her everyday life with her family. According to the influencer, she has slowed the pace of her content in order to focus on personal projects with her spouse.

The UNs Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua has stated that deportations and bans on re-entry form part of a systematic plan of persecution and exile ordered by Ortega and Murillo. According to its latest report, presented in Geneva on September 23, these measures have turned hundreds of Nicaraguans into de facto stateless persons, stripped of their legal identity and livelihoods. Their entire lives are being systematically dismantled, beginning with their uprooting and the erosion of their legal identity, leading to economic collapse, social isolation and omnipresent surveillance, warned Jan-Michael Simon, chair of the UN group.

Such practices are considered by the UN to be crimes against humanity, and the organization has added them to the list including forced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial executions that have been documented since 2018. The human impact is devastating: families torn apart, citizens trapped in distant countries, and companies held for ransom, it emphasizes.

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Scientists are increasingly drawn to unmanaged colonies of this species, which use a variety of strategies to protect themselves when left to live on their own

Of the more than 20,000 bee species that are estimated to exist in the world, none is as well-known as the honeybee, Apis mellifera, which was domesticated by humans millennia ago alongside goats, cows and horses. When we talk about bees, the majority of us think automatically of insects that live in hives that are tended by beekeepers wearing special suits that protect them from stings.

However, colonies of wild honeybees can also be found producing honey in tree holes and other cavities located in nature. This is one revelation from the book Wild Honey Bees: An Intimate Portrait by photographer Ingo Arndt and scientist Jurgen Tautz. The authors delve into the nests of these incredibly social insects in German forests in order to highlight the great importance of wild bee populations.

The first surprise for researchers studying these wild honeybee colonies in Europe is that there are far more of them than previously thought. Thomas D. Seeley, a pioneer in the field, had estimated that in the Arnot Forest in New York state, there was one tree inhabited by these pollinators per square kilometer. But whats even more astonishing is their behavior and the fascinating defense mechanisms they employ when living independently.

For example, unlike what happens in beekeepers hives, bees in tree nests coexist with other species with which they form positive associations  such as pseudoscorpions, which feed on Varroa mites, one of the main parasites threatening pollinators. Although conservation efforts have long overlooked these insects  partly due to the overabundance of honeybees from beekeeping, a sector often regarded more as livestock farming  interest in wild colonies has grown significantly in recent years in both the United States and Europe. Especially so, given the rise in mortality among managed hives and the broader decline of many pollinator species.

Honeybees that are kept by humans are under tremendous pressure from disease and parasites. Wild bees, apparently, can survive these challenges. By studying what contributes to the success of wild bees, we hope to learn how we can better support managed bees, says Tautz, who is a professor emeritus at the University of Wurzburg in Germany. A second important aspect is that wild bee populations are shaped by natural selection, not human selection. Because of this, wild bees harbor a genetic wealth that could one day prove essential.

Honey bees workers exchanging food on honeycomb. Ingo Arndt

After moving to Spain, beekeeper Alejandro Machado  who was raised in Germany by a Spanish mother  read online that German researchers were looking for help in finding colonies of wild honeybees that nest in trees. I wrote to them and said, Im in [the Spanish region of] Galicia and here, there are honeybees that live in trees, walls, utility poles Thats how two of Tautzs collaborators from the University of Wurzburg, Benjamin Rutschmann and Patrick Kohl, began monitoring populations of the pollinators in Xinzo de Limia, in the Spanish province of Ourense.

The insects require cavities to nest, but are unable to make them on their own, so they often use holes that have been drilled into trees by woodpeckers. Bees select cavities high off the ground, which can protect them from bears. That makes it very difficult to locate and study nests that are scattered throughout forests. But in Galicia, German researchers discovered that it is easier to research wild bees that live inside hollow concrete utility poles, which are very accessible and easy to locate.

In agricultural landscapes without natural nesting habitats, these poles act as artificial hollow trees, says Rutschmann. According to a study published in Biological Conservation, after checking 214 poles, scientists found that 29 were home to colonies of Apis mellifera iberiensis. This darker-hued subspecies of bee is native to the Iberian Peninsula and, despite the growing popularity of higher-yield species in modern beekeeping, is still used in many beehives by the countrys beekeepers.

Concepcion Ornosa, an entomologist who specializes in pollinators at the Complutense University of Madrid, distinguishes between two types of colonies that can be found in nature: truly wild bees, which have nothing to do with domesticated populations, which are very difficult to find in Spain, but you never know, and feral bees from swarms that have left beekeepers hives, which are, very common here.

Escapes of this second type are inherent to the species very nature: when colonies reach a certain population size, half of the bees leave the nest with a queen to search for a new settlement. In managed hives, beekeepers usually monitor the colonies and move them to a new box before this happens  but that doesnt always occur.

Finding resources in the area, such as certain flowers, bushes, grasses and nesting sites, honeybees can definitely thrive on their own, as they are very versatile, says Ornosa. In my classes, I always tell my students that the best conservation is non-intervention, that nature works better if we dont interfere. Of course, sometimes you have to intervene to restore a landscape, but the more natural the environment, the better the species that live there will thrive.

A colony of honey bees in a hole built by a woodpecker in Germany, in an image from Arndt and Tautz's book. Ingo Arndt

For Kohl, another German researcher who monitors forest colonies in utility poles in Xinzo de Limia, its still too soon to draw conclusions about these populations. In general, you cant tell forest bees from farmed bees based on their genetics or morphology in most parts of Europe, he says.

Therefore, a crucial question in our research is whether cohorts of wild colonies can form self-sustaining populations. That is, we study whether they would be stable over time based on their own survival and reproduction, he continues. What is generally accepted as a truly wild population is one that does not depend on immigration of swarms from apiaries. For example, in the region we study in Galicia, based on observed survival rates, wild colonies would need to produce two to three swarms per year to maintain their population.

Machado says that for several years, he has been seeing bees emerge from holes in utility poles. For him, this discovery, along with the work of Seeley and Tautz, has changed the way he looks at bees and hive management. Machado is against the use of bee species that are highly distinct from native breeds, such as the Buckfast, which are supposedly more docile and sting less. He is also against constant intervention in hives, whether it be feeding the insects or providing them with medical treatment. Instead, he tries to step in as little as possible so that his bees can live in a way that is more akin to their wild peers. What I do is leave the honey for them, he says. There is a conflict of interest here, because the more honey you take, the more money you make. I dont live off of honey and I dont want to, for exactly that reason.

One of the biggest surprises that can be found in Arndt and Tautzs book is how, despite the many breeds and hybrids present in modern-day beekeeping, honeybees havent lost their wildness. Why, after so many millennia of human beekeeping, are honeybees still not so different from their original form, like a Dachshund is from a wolf? asks Tautz.

Two factors explain this fact. In the first place, the bees reproductive biology and their mating behavior enormously complicates their breeding, as compared to livestock or pigs, says the German professor. In the second place, genetic distribution within a population and haplodiploidy as the basis for sex determination result in a system that is highly resistant to change. And when changes do occur, they happen very slowly. All of this prevents rapid evolution in bees.

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MOUNTMELLICK man Ger Healion who now lives in Co Kildare with his family launched his debut book titled On a Bog by the Land Near a Riverin his native towns library on Tuesday 30 September and will hold a second book launch event in Naas Library on Tuesday 21 October.

The book is an evocative, entertaining, thoughtful and deeply considered memoir of captivating and humorous short stories from Gers life and the influence his hometown had on his growing years during the 60s, 70s and 80s.

The collection honours a time, a place and a community and is filled with absorbing local stories and great characters. The book will relate much more widely to small-town Ireland from that period in time.

Despite the dark evening and heavy rain almost 70 people attended the book launch which Ger said was much more than he had hoped for.

The author, who self-published, sold out as people kept climbing the stairs of the library and queueing up to get their copies signed. Some people were buying two, three and even four copies and having them signed with special dedications for family and friends who couldnt make the launch.

Speaking to the Laois Nationalist before the launch Ger spoke about his debut book. When asked where the title On a Bog by the Land Near a River came from, he said: The name comes from one of the English versions of what Mountmellick or Mointeach Milic means, and it describes the place perfectly. The book is based on stories from my memories of things that happened when I lived here from being a young child until I left Mountmellick in 1987.

In 2004 I went back to education as an adult learner. In about 2010 I did a part-time degree in Maynooth, and part of that degree was embarking on a week-long summer writing course in Kilkenny with author, actor and playwright John MacKenna. John helped me an awful lot with lots of stuff that I wouldnt have known, and the course focused on writing what you know about.

What was coming to me on Johns course was things that I experienced while growing up in Mountmellick. The first thing that I wrote about on that course is in the book. The book started with me writing things down on scraps of paper as memories came to me and then typing them into the computer and editing them from there.

You get a bit of distance when you write by pen, read it back and then edit as you go along.

Once everyone had settled, Mountmellick Library manager Amanda Hyland thanked everyone for attending and Ger for choosing to launch his book in the library. She passed over to Gers friend Paul Hyland who told some funny stories of the two growing up together which included some well-received banter between them. Paul then introduced the towns latest author who read a story titled Santy in the Hall from his book, held a questions and answers session and then encouraged everyone to write down their life stories and experiences saying that it is important that they are documented for the next generations.

For any Laois people who missed the launch and for his community in Kildare and further afield, Ger is holding another book launch event at 7pm in Naas Library on Tuesday 21 October. Copies of the book and light refreshments will be available on the night, and everyone is welcome to attend.

For any queries the author can be contacted by emailing gerhealion.act@gmail.com Copies will soon be available from some local bookshops.

See more photos from Ger's book launch in next week's issue of the Laois Nationalist on sale from Tuesday in all local stores or online.
COUNCILLORS in Laois have called on the Minister for Justice Jim OCallaghan to withdraw all planning exemptions for properties accommodating International Protection Applicants in Laois, which they said would ensure that all properties go through the normal planning process.

They also called on the Community Engagement Team in the Department of Justice to engage with communities prior to signing of contracts for IPAS centres in their areas.

Cllr Conor Bergin said the exemption was introduced in 2022 as a response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis. The exemption allows for the rapid conversion of certain buildings, offices, hotels and community centres into accommodation for international protection applicants without requiring full planning permission.

He said: The exemption was due to expire last September 2024 but has been extended. The motion is calling on the Government to remove the exemption immediately.

The arguments were making in removing the exemptions are that the exemptions by-pass the normal planning process. That if a premises is to be converted to accommodation for international protection applicants. It by-passes the normal planning application process and no right for people to make their views known. Its done immediately overnight. The communities are often unaware of the developments until after the contracts are signed. It leads to mistrust and undermines the faith in the planning system. It also overrides local development plans sometimes. We as councillors are over-ridden as well.

The motion is calling on the Government to remove the exemption immediately.  Cllr Conor Bergin.

He said: Weve seen around the county where theres a sudden introduction of accommodation centre, it puts a strain on local services and infrastructure with no consultation with the local communities. Everyone who makes a planning application should be subject to the same rules regardless of whether its for International protection, a house or a business. No one should be exempt and should not be able to get around it.

Sometimes in the absence of dialogue, that when misinformation gets out and thats when you have fear. Communities can offer insights to suitable locations and consultation involves residents into the process as well and makes integration more smoothly.

Cllr Aidan Mullins says its well-known the consequences of the exemptions, towns across Ireland are being forced to accommodate large numbers of asylum seekers. Theyre mostly young men who are being forced into small towns. With no consultation at all it leads to many towns suffering from lack of services, GPs, school places and a shortage of housing. Its causing concern, division and anger in the communities. Many people also express safety concerns. Its damaging social cohesion in the towns and villages.

Local authorities have no say in the process of the planning perspective and local communities dont have the opportunity to make submissions or feed into the process. I think its riding roughshod over communities. It shows that the current immigration policies are a shambles.

This has become a billion-euro industry and theyre converting all types of buildings, not just hotels into IPAS centres. In Portarlington the only local hotel was used to house large numbers of asylum seekers before IPAS entered a contract with it. Theyve also put large numbers of migrants in apartments and private houses around the town. So, weve lost the East End Hotel, The Hazel and the Montague Hotel to asylum seekers. This must stop. Our own people must be prioritised.

It shows that the current immigration policies are a shambles. - Cllr Aidan Mullins.

Cllr Mullins said that if the motion before the local councillors is accepted, Laois will be in lockstep with Meath, Westmeath and Kilkenny County Councils who have already called for the withdrawal of all planning exemptions for properties accommodating International Protection Applicants.

Cllr John King agreed with the two previous speakers.

He said regarding the IPAS centre in Rathdowney: It was a hotel at one stage that was changed into a restaurant. We never knew that it would be an IPAS centre until they all arrived. Like all small towns there wasnt enough services but lucky enough the schools could cater for some of their children. But its not fair on communities. Those providing this type of accommodation are getting serious amount of money.

Cllr James Kelly said: These applications cause confusion, stress and worry on local areas. Id say that democracy and the planning process has been completely usurped and ignored. Then theres the capacity of health centres, schools, the parking, traffic and community centres. What I find very disappointed was when Dublin City Council voted this call down. Only two independent councillors voted for the exemption to be removed. Gavin Pepper proposed it and another councillor seconded it.

Cllr Ollie Clooney also supported the call to remove the exemption.

He said: We spent the summer dealing with this in Durrow and it hasnt gone away yet. To get 400 people into a hall, takes some doing, but thats what happened in Durrow. That shows you the felling in rural areas.

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley said she also supports the motions to remove the exemption.

She said: We need a proper process in place that if people are not entitled to be here, they should be sent back. But the problem with that is that theyre not even checking, we dont know where those people are. Theyre coming into the country and are here for years, before a letter is sent out to them to say that they were or were not successful in their applications for asylum. Id like to see these people processed in three months and if theyre not entitled to be in the country that theyre sent back. If theyre not allowed to be here, they should be sent home. Ive seen in recent times where families were asked to leave the country and we had the do-gooders looking to have them kept in the country, because their children might need an education. If youre not supposed to be here, you need to go home. You wouldnt get away with that in any other country.

Id say that democracy and the planning process has been completely usurped and ignored.  Cllr James Kelly.

Cllr Tommy Mulligan said: This issue has bamboozled me for years. Weve had Direct Provision Centres for well over 20-years and still the Government cant get a hold of it. For the past few years, we have been overwhelmed because we hadnt got proper plans in place. We cant continue going rudderless without a plan of how we address people coming into the country. Thats whats leading to all the anger and the right-wing, the lack of planning.

Cllr Aisling Moran said that it was up to Fine Gael and Fianna Fail councillors around the country to make a stand, on the issue and to contact their leaders in Government if any change will be made to withdraw the exemption.

Cathaoirleach of the council cllr Barry Walsh said a letter will be issued to the Minister for Justice regarding the motions that was raised at the September meeting of Laois County Council.
Bad Bunny is hosting Saturday Night Live this week, and some fans are hoping he revisits one of his past skits.

When Pedro Pascal hosted SNL in February 2023, he played the overbearing mother of Luis (Marcello Hernandez) in a skit called Protective Mom. He reprised the role that October, popping in for a cameo during Bad Bunnys double duty episode.

In the iconic sketch, Luis mom and tia (Bad Bunny) gossip about his white girlfriend (Chloe Troast) in Spanish, dropping in the occasional insult in plain English, such as flat butt.

Are you talking about me? Troast asks.

No, my love, Im talking about another white girl with a flat butt, Bad Bunny replies.

The skit has racked up 10 million views on YouTube. During a 2024 appearance on the Today show, Hernandez revealed that it was Pascals idea to do a sketch where hes my mom, and [I] bring a girl home and he has this attitude.

So, schedule permitting, it seems like Pascal would be down to team up with Bad Bunny again. The Last of Us star even crashed Bad Bunnys monologue during his last SNL hosting gig. After noting that he preferred to speak in Spanish, Bad Bunny called Pascal onstage to help translate his monologue. Pascal took the opportunity to push his own agenda.

He says Im blessed to be here with my favorite actor Pedro Pascal, the Emmy nominee joked.

READ MORE: SNL season 51 cast changes: See whos returning and whos not

Some SNL fans have taken to social media to root for a Pascal cameo this week.

Pedro Pascal, blink twice if youre in NYC for Bad Bunnys SNL episode, one viewer wrote via X.

Bad Bunny on #SNL? Better check to see if Pedro Pascal is in NYC this weekend, another person tweeted.

Bad Bunny will be joined by musical guest Doja Cat during the SNL season 51 premiere on Saturday, Oct. 3.

Saturday Night Live airs on NBC on Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. EST and is available to stream on Peacock the next day.
A New Jersey woman sold fentanyl to a 21-year man that led to his overdose death, authorities said.

Shaneshea M. Cooper, 28, of Paterson, was charged this week with strict liability for drug-induced death, the Hunterdon County Prosecutors Office said Friday.

The man reportedly bought drugs from Cooper in Paterson and a few days later  on July 24  ingested the fentanyl at his home in the Annandale section of Clinton Township, authorities said.

Police were called to the home when someone found him unconscious. The man, who was not publicly identified, was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators found drug paraphernalia at the home.

Cooper was also charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and sent to the Warren County jail.

Her detention hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. Coopers public defender couldnt immediately be reached.

and N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5B(3
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  Native Americans watched the shuttered government on Friday and braced for damage to health care, education, infrastructure and other services funded by Washington under treaties struck more than a century ago.

Tribal nations with casinos, oil and gas leases and other independent revenue sources said they expect to sustain operations for several months. Tribes more dependent on government money were already furloughing workers.

Many tribal leaders said they feared that the Trump administration would use the shutdown to lay off federal workers responsible for ensuring that trust and treaty responsibilities are honored. The U.S. agreed many decades ago to protect the security, health and education of tribal citizens in return for ceding their lands.

Shuttered museums and childrens services

The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe just outside Reno, Nevada furloughed at least 25 employees starting on Oct. 1 and closed its museum and cultural center, higher education department, and services for Native children in the public school system.

It said the closures would be temporary but that more closures could still come if the shutdown endures.

As the government shutdown continues other departments may become limited in operation, Chairman Steven Wadsworth wrote in a letter to tribal members. These furloughs are necessary to ensure the continued operation of public safety, such as the police, EMS, and the food bank.

Layoffs coming?

People across Indian Country worried that the Trump administration would use the shutdown to lay off federal workers who uphold their treaty rights.

Im extremely nervous about that, said Liz Carr, vice president for intergovernmental relations for the Cedar Rock Alliance, which helps tribes develop health care, self-governance and land management policies.

President Donald Trump and his now-former adviser Elon Musk this year called on the General Services Administration to start terminating leases held by the nations 7,500-odd federal offices, including 25 regional offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

During the Biden administration, Carr was appointed as the first tribal adviser to the Office of Management and Budget. Carr said she was instructed to resign by the new administration and that position remains unfilled. There is a lack of understanding about trust and treaty responsibilities in the agency and at the White House, she said.

I can see some of those programs being considered either DEI or some kind of waste. Then they come back to dismantle those programs and people arent able to come back and deliver those services, she said. And the tribes have nowhere to turn.

Tribes go through BIA regional offices to approve things like road projects and law enforcement funding and 15 BIA offices across 38 states have closed, according to the agency. Federal employees that protect life and property are exempt from the shutdown, but BIA law enforcement officers in the department will likely be working without pay because of the way funds are appropriated.

Damaged trust

The Indian Health Service, a department within Health and Human Services, provides health care to Native Americans and Alaska Natives and will remain funded and operational, HHS contingency plan says.

However, hundreds of health care centers and clinics across that country that are owned and managed by tribal nations but federally funded are a different matter.

Agencies that assist tribes have already closed, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which operates the Indian Housing Block Grant, and the Federal Highway Administration, which operates the Tribal Transportation Program.

The National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers  a national organization of tribal workers dedicated to safeguarding Native traditions and cultures  is asking the federal government to halt projects like oil and gas development that require consultation with tribal nations.

The government is legally required to consult with tribes on projects could affect them, and that cannot happen without the necessary federal employees on the job, said the associations executive director, Dr. Valerie Grussing.

Projects should only resume when agencies are fully staffed and tribes have someone to consult with, she said.
Detroit e-Foil gives lessons on the Detroit River near Belle Isle on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. Pennsylvania is moving to regulate e-foils and jetboards with new safety requirements that could change how thrill-seekers use the popular watercraft. Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com

These arent your uncles rowboat with electric trolling motor.

E-foils and jetboards are becoming increasingly popular with thrill-seekers on Pennsylvanias waterways, and lawmakers are looking to catch boating regulations up to the new technology.

The state House Game & Fisheries Committee on Tuesday unanimously sent to the House floor new requirements for these electric-powered personal watercraft.

An e-foil is essentially a surfboard with a hydrofoil (a wing-like structure) mounted underneath and an electric motor attached to the mast. The hydrofoil lifts the board above the water as speed increases, reducing drag and creating a smooth, gliding sensation. A jetboard is a motorized surfboard that uses a jet propulsion system (similar to a jet ski) to move across the waters surface.

Pennsylvanias proposed rules for these watercraft are included in House Bill 1418  a bipartisan proposal from state Reps. Robert Merski, D-Erie, and Zachary Mako, R-Lehigh/Northampton.

They seek to align state boating rules with U.S. Coast Guard policy that took effect in October 2022, establishing equipment required onboard while operating an e-foil/jetboard.

The Coast Guard policy requires users to:

Carry the Certificate of Number (or vessel registration) for the e-foil/jetboard onboard when underway.

Carry or wear a personal flotation device  life jacket  in accordance with state and federal regulations.

Carry a fire extinguisher, unless everyone operating the e-foil/jetboard is wearing Coast Guard-approved PFDs.

Carry a sound-producing device.

Comply with state and federal vessel lighting requirements, which include proper lighting for operation during periods of reduced visibility or between sunset and sunrise.

Additionally, all manufacturers of e-foils and jetboards must comply with engine cut-off switch (ECOS) requirements or receive an exemption from the Coast Guard.

Detroit e-Foil gives lessons on the Detroit River near Belle Isle on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com

These kinds of personal watercraft did not exist a decade ago, Merski said Tuesday: This legislation is a proactive step towards safer, smarter and more responsible boating in Pennsylvania.

Bob Caccese, policy director for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, explained that the legislation if approved would modernize boating safety requirements and remove outdated language in Title 30, known as the state Fish Code.

Specifically, the bill would allow Fish and Boat to set forth rules to ensure boating safety education is required for users of these new electric-motored personal watercraft, while requiring the use of personal floatation devices during operation, barring their operation at night and requiring users to complete a boating safety education course.

The proposal does not change or impose any additional fees for those looking to ride e-foils or jetboards.

The changes would not apply to motorized kayaks, canoes or other vessels where the person is sitting or standing within the hull.

State Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-Allegheny, has proposed companion legislation in Senate Bill 476.

Either bill would need to pass both the state House of Representatives and Senate before going to Gov. Josh Shapiro for his signature during the current 2025-26 legislative session.
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Hosting a smaller Thanksgiving this year? Ninja says the ovens XL capacity can fit a 12 lb. turkey, ideal for intimate gatherings that still call for a traditional bird. It also accommodates up to 20 cookies, 9 slices of toast or 8 lbs. of air-fried favorites, so you can prep sides and snacks with ease.

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International auctioneers Euro Auctions have marked a major milestone in their global growth with the successful completion of their first unreserved auction at the companys new permanent sales site in Mountrath.



Held on September 26 & 27, the two-day auction in Laois attracted nearly 2,000 registered bidders, with vendors from six countries across Europe presenting equipment to a international audience.



The event drew a large physical crowd on site, on the day, as well as significant online participation, creating a vibrant atmosphere and driving competitive bidding across all categories.



In total, 84 vendors participated, of which a notable 25% were selling with Euro Auctions for the first time. Prices remained strong throughout, with high levels of buyer engagement.

READ NEXT: PICTURES: Laois author draws a crowd for launch of new book in Mountmellick



Cathal Doherty, Sales Manager for Euro Auctions, commented: This inaugural sale has truly put a stake in the ground for Euro Auctions in the Republic of Ireland. The turnout was exceptional, with strong support from the local area as well as buyers and vendors from across Europe, North America, Asia, and North Africa. The appetite for high-quality equipment is clear, and this site in County Laois, with its excellent central location and transport links, will continue to grow in importance.



The sale was a live, two-day physical auction that attracted not only a local audience from across the island of Ireland, but also registrations to bid from 46 countries worldwide. With 65% of participants being returning customers and 35% of first-time registrants successfully purchasing, Euro Auctions demonstrated both the loyalty of its established client base and its strong appeal to new buyers.



Whilst the largest proportion of buyers, 85%, participated from Europe, including the Republic of Ireland, Romania, Spain, and Poland, buyers from the United Kingdom, Canada, Bulgaria, and Tanzania also secured machinery.



The company said it is committed to further developing the Mountrath site.

The focus for future sales will be to build on the momentum of this first event, while introducing an expanded catalogue of agricultural machinery to meet regional demand, added Mr Doherty.
Laois County Council has agreed bank overdrafts totalling 23 million for the coming year, but they will rarely be used a senior official says.

Laois councillors proposed and seconded their approval of an 8 million overdraft for the year ending December 31 2026, to finance working capital. It was proposed by Cllr John Joe Fennelly, seconded by Cllr James Kelly.

A second overdraft was approved for 15 million, "to facilitate any timing issues regarding the payment of payroll and pensions for My-Pay". This was proposed by Cllr Ben Brennan, seconded by Cllr John King.

Director of Services for finance Julie Bergin told the councillors why they need overdrafts.

"It's rarely used, we try not to use it. This is our annual application of overdraft accommodation, to fund any issue should we require an overdraft during the year," she explained.

Read also: Laois councillor objects to votes of sympathy at meetings

This year Laois County Council has its biggest annual budget ever at 124 million. Laois County Council also handles MyPay, which pays the wages and pensions of every local authority in Ireland.
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MANAGEMENT of the London graveyard where the world-famous Limerick-born soprano Catherine Hayes is buried have said the repainting of her grave was done without permission.

Volunteers from the Limerick Association in London led by Shaun Connery decided to give the superstars final resting place at Kensal Green, north-west London, a face-lift, painting it in the green-and-white of the Treaty County and applying black emulsion to the tombstone.

Although its been acknowledged the group carried out the work with the best intentions their efforts have been described as misguided and inappropriate by the Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery, a charity which exists for the preservation and conservation of the graveyard, recognised as one of the magnificent seven in the British capital.

READ MORE: Explosive device, cocaine and thousands of euro seized from Limerick halting site

In response to a query from the Leader, the General Cemetery Company, which manages the facility confirmed that permission was not given to repaint the monument, and talks are under way with the Limerick Association in London, which exists to support Treaty men and women in the city.

If the appropriate paperwork had been submitted detailing their intentions, the General Cemetery Company would not have approved this work to be carried out. It is not in keeping with the cemetery, and the paint applied may have damaged the memorial stone, the firm added.

The Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery charity have said the memorial needs to be reinstated to the condition it was in before September, with the work to be carried out by someone with the right skills and experience.

The painting of historic headstone is generally discouraged by heritage groups unless done by professionals.

When applying for permission to do this at Kensal Green, an application must be made listing professionals and materials being used. Only then is a decision made.

This is because if its done incorrectly, it can damage the stone and accelerate its decay.

For his part, Mr Connery, who hails from Kilmallock, has said he attempted to contact cemetery management and Limerick Civic Trust to establish ownership of the plot.

Back in 2007, Limerick Civic Trust were given money to carry out restoration work on the memorial to Ms Hayes, whose legacy is recognised in the naming of Limericks Opera Square development.

Mr Connery said he would be happy to remove the paint, and part of the reason he decided to carry out the work in the first place is because he felt he was strengthening the monument.

He said he would like to work alongside the Civic Trust and the management company at the cemetery to get a new monument in place at the grave.

Mr Connery said hed like to raise money to do this.

She was one of the top icons of Limerick, and it was a shame to leave it the way it was, he added.

We just want to make sure Catherine Hayess memory is kept and not just brushed under the carpet.

David O'Brien, chief executive of Limerick Civic Trust admitted he was "lost for words" when he saw the repaint of the gravestone.

"What could possibly be the rational for such behaviour? How would you and I react if we saw green and white stirps painted across the Treaty Stone or even, red, white and blue stripes painted across the statue of Sarsfield celebrating his foreign allegiance," asked the Civic Trust boss.

He said the organisation would be delighted to assist with the cleaning and restoration of the monument.

Historian Sheldon Goodman, who leads tours of London cemeteries added: "It was clearly done with good intent, and particularly in the world we live in today, that's something to be celebrated to an extent. But you have to have historic sensitivity. It's an active place of mourning. What if you've got someone who has family who have recently buried there? Are they going to be scared now that someone iks going to be doing up their grave? Where does it stop? It's lovely they've taken the time to draw focus on this woman. But if you're going to do it, do it well."

He wrote a blogpost focusing on issues around grave restoration.
BEIJING, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Saturday exchanged congratulatory messages on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In his message, Xi noted that China and Bangladesh are traditional friendly neighbors with a long history of exchanges.

Over the past 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, regardless of changes in the international and regional landscape, China and Bangladesh have always fostered friendly relations on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, setting an example of mutual respect, equality and win-win cooperation between countries, he said.

In recent years, China and Bangladesh have continued to consolidate political mutual trust, expand high-quality Belt and Road cooperation as well as practical cooperation in various fields, and further deepen their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, said Xi.

The Chinese president stressed that he attaches great importance to relations with Bangladesh and stands ready to work with Shahabuddin to take the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to carry forward the traditional friendship, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and promote common development, so as to better benefit the two peoples and make greater contribution to world peace and development.

For his part, Shahabuddin said that over the past 50 years, Bangladesh and China have forged a deep friendship based on mutual respect and trust, as well as enduring cooperation, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples.

He noted that Bangladesh highly appreciates China's important role in promoting regional peace, stability and common prosperity, and expressed gratitude for China's long-term valuable support for Bangladesh's sustainable development.

He expressed the belief that with the joint efforts of the leaders and peoples of the two countries, bilateral cooperation will yield even greater results.

On the same day, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Bangladeshi interim government's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus also exchanged congratulatory messages.

Li said that China highly values the development of China-Bangladesh relations, and stands ready to work with Bangladesh to take the 50th anniversary as an opportunity to accelerate high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, as well as collaboration across various fields, and promote the continued growth of the China-Bangladesh comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

For his part, Yunus said that since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations 50 years ago, the friendship between the two peoples has grown stronger, bilateral ties have developed steadily, and cooperation has yielded fruitful results, which is worth celebrating.

Bangladesh is committed to promoting new achievements in the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, he added. 
A FATHER of four young children who is living in a caravan on the side of a busy road in Limerick city is facing jail if he doesnt move away by the end of next week.

Calvin Moran was before Limerick District Court for breaching the terms of an enforcement notice which was served on him by Limerick City and County Council.

That notice, dating back to August 2022, required him to move his caravan away from Alandale Road, which is located just off Dock Road. It also required him not to return to the area.

Mr Moran lives in the caravan with his partner and four young children, who are aged between five and five months.

During the court hearing on Friday, solicitor Will Leahy, representing Limerick City and County Council, said that Mr Morans partner had appeared before the court last week and that Judge Patricia Harney had ordered that the caravan be moved within a week.

However, Mr Leahy told the court that while the caravan had been moved "by about 20 feet it was still "within the red zone" and in breach of the enforcement notice.

READ NEXT: Family's miraculous escape after tree and ESB pole crash down on to car in Limerick

Addressing the court, Mr Moran argued that the caravan was off the road and no longer in the way. He then asked: Where can we go?

Giving evidence, a council official told the court that when the enforcement notice was first issued, Mr Moran complied and the caravan was removed from the site within days.

However, it has returned on a number of occasions since. When council officials visited the site on January 15, 2025, they found the caravan had once again returned and was occupied by Mr Moran and his family.

The proceedings returned to court on April 4, where Mr Moran was once again asked to move the caravan. He again complied with this order at first.

Then, on August 6, two caravans were spotted at the site, one of which was occupied by Mr Moran and his family.

While the second caravan, which was unoccupied, has since been moved, Judge John King was told the caravan Mr Moran resides in was still parked on the side of the road which is a busy thoroughfare.

Solicitor Tom Kiely, representing Mr Moran, told the court that his client is in an awkward situation and that there are limited options available to him.

The court heard that Mr Moran and his partner are on the council's social housing list and that they have been approved for a three-bed property but that no property "has become available".

The defendant, Judge King was told, has also been approved for support under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme but is finding it difficult to find suitable (private) housing.

Mr Leahy said "every available resource" has made available to assist Mr Moran and his family in their efforts to find accommodation.

He said the defendant has also been deemed eligible for emergency accommodation and that he and his family have been placed in four hotels and two holiday homes at various points over the past twelve months.

However, he added they were asked to leave all six premises for various reasons including as a result of complaints received regarding noise and damage.

In one instance, Mr Kiely said, his client had attempted to use an air fryer in a hotel room and was asked to leave as a result.

In relation to the matter before the court, Mr Leahy said the road in question had been closed for several years and had become quite attractive for caravan parking as a result.

READ NEXT: Double-yellow lines urged on link road to stop illegal encampment in Limerick

However, since the road was opened up, parked caravans have caused safety issues, particularly because of the width of the road and the amount of traffic.

Judge John King imposed a one month prison sentence which he suspended for two years on condition that the caravan is moved from the location by next Friday, October 10.

Mr Moran was also ordered to pay 500 towards the legal costs of the local authority, which must be paid within six months.

In finalising the case, Judge King said he was of the impression that Mr Moran "believes rules are for other people".
FOR THE past 13 days, 73-year-old Mary Dunlevy Greene, has only been drinking water with electrolytes and tea or coffee, while sleeping rough outside.

The mother and grandmother, is one of four people on hunger strike outside Leinster House, as part of an emotive and striking protest, calling for services and support for survivors of industrial and reformatory schools.

Originally from Kilteely, but now living in Carlow with her husband, Mrs Dunlevy Greene told Limerick Live this Friday that she never wanted to share the horrors of her life in what was called The Mount - Mount St Vincent Industrial School on OConnell Avenue in Limerick, but that she must stand up for her convictions.

READ MORE: Limerick charity warns of major hidden family struggles

Less than 4,000 survivors of industrial and reformatory schools are asking the Government for universal medical cards and State pensions, for the time they spent as what Mary describes as inmates of the State.

She said they were promised these things 26 years ago, but that they got nothing and despite meeting with Minister Helen McEntee, their demands have not been met and they continue their strike.

Mrs Dunlevy Greene is on hunger strike with three others - Miriam Moriarty Owens (68), Maurice Patton OConnell (57), and Mary Donovan (57) and all have praised the homeless charities who have been providing them with tarpaulins in the stormy weather, as well as health checks from paramedics and any support they need.

Mrs Dunlevy Greene told Limerick Live that the Government were notified of the groups intention to go on hunger strike during the summer and again weeks in advance before they took part in this drastic action.

They have received positive public support, with many signing petitions and wanting to hear their stories about their experiences.

We are used to hunger after all those years in the homes, but this is re-traumatising us and bringing us back, Mrs Dunlevy Greene said.

Speaking of being 73-years-old and not in the best of health, Mrs Dunlevy Greene said that the hunger strike is tough, particularly with the stormy weather, but that we are getting weaker in body, but getting stronger in our determination.

She describes how her mother died in childbirth and when she was just four-years-old, herself and three brothers were taken from their home by the State and brought to court to be signed over as being under the care of the State.

She still holds a criminal record from that very court hearing and when she was released from The Mount at the age of 18, she talks about being put outside the door when my sentence was up, without a penny, to find my own way.

Speaking about the trauma which remains to this day, Mrs Dunlevy Greene said that she cant even go into a hospital, because the walls and floors bring her back to her time in the home and she can see herself on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor.

Mrs Dunlevy Greene was separated from her brothers, they were sent to an industrial school in Cork, while she went to Limerick and her father could not visit all of them, and when he did, she said he was told that the children were no longer his responsibility and they were under the care of the State.

Our family remained completely fractured, I am one of the lucky survivors, I met a good man and have a fantastic family, she told Limerick Live.

She added: My saving grace was that I left the country, I went to the UK and I was anonymised, nobody asked where I was from or where I went to school and I was able to progress off my own back.

The Limerick mother and grandmother said that many of the health issues suffered are a direct result of the work they did when they were what she describes as child slaves, and as a result of the neglect they suffered.

We got no love, no care - nothing.

We were told that nobody loved us, that nobody cared about us and that we would amount to nothing.

She spoke about the public in Limerick crossing the street when they were seen outside, so as not to be seen near the orphans - but Mrs Dunlevy Greene was adamant in saying I was no orphan. I was kidnapped from my home with no personal items and I never saw my reflection in a mirror until I left.

I didnt even have my own underwear, we changed it once a week and picked something that fit from a pile, nothing was marked or belonged to anyone, the Kilteely native said.

As many survivors of these homes have passed away, the group on hunger strike believe that the cost to the State of meeting their demands and giving them universal medical cards and State pensions, would be minimal.

We want to die in comfort and grow old with dignity, she said.

Speaking in the Dail this week, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said: Its difficult for the survivors concerned to be on hunger strike - it can have health implications, so Government will engage and I would hope that people could come off the hunger strike.

The group of four survivors on hunger strike say that they will continue to not eat and to sleep rough, until their needs are met and the State gives them back what was taken from them as children and teenagers.
USE THE ARROWS OR 'NEXT' TO BROWSE THROUGH THE FULL GALLERY

Keelderry, Bodyke, Co. Clare, V94R298

An Irish farmhouse complete with 20 stables, a barn and its own sulky race track has sold at auction after being seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB).

The two-bedroom cottage, based at Kealderry near Bodyke in Clare, sits on almost 18 acres of land with sweeping views of the Slieve Aughty mountains. Auctioneers described it as in need of refurbishment but praised the mature boundaries, tree-lined avenue and "magnificent unspoilt views of the Clare countryside."

According to RTE, the property went under the hammer at Wilsons Auctions last week for around the asking price of 175,000.

USE THE ARROWS OR 'NEXT' TO BROWSE THROUGH THE FULL GALLERY

The holding includes a large yard, four-span barn and equestrian facilities, with the land laid out in manageable paddocks and featuring a circular gallop that was previously used as a sulky racing track.

The site came under CAB control last year following a High Court ruling. It had previously been owned by William McInerney, whom the Bureau has linked to organised crime in the region. CAB has sold several such seized properties, with proceeds from the sale now returning to the State coffers.

READ MORE | PICTURES: Irish coastal cottage with sea air and sandy beaches up for grabs at just 75k
OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman has embarked on a global fundraising and supply-chain campaign, seeking financing and manufacturing partners that can help meet the startups insatiable demand for computing capacity.

In a bid to secure long-term, low-cost supplies for OpenAIs staggering, multitrillion-dollar infrastructure plan, Altman has been exploring financing alternatives with supply-chain partners, people familiar with his meetings said. Such discussions remain in the early stages, the people said.

Since late September, the head of the ChatGPT maker has traveled to Taiwan, South Korea and Japan to accelerate the worlds artificial intelligence chip-building capacity. He has met with companies including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Foxconn as well as Samsung and SK Hynix, the people said. Altman was pushing these companies, many of which are suppliers of the AI chip designer Nvidia, to increase production capacity and give priority to OpenAIs orders, the people said.

He has planned to visit investors in the United Arab Emirates to raise money to help fund OpenAIs infrastructure expansion and research, according to people familiar with the plan.

Since the introduction of ChatGPT, the computing supply chain has faced manufacturing bottlenecks as it tries to meet surging global demand. TSMC, the worlds largest chip manufacturer, produces chips for Nvidia while Foxconn assembles the servers using those chips. South Koreas Samsung and SK Hynix provide memory chips for such systems.

Altmans trip carries echoes of one that he took in early 2024, when he pitched infrastructure plans with a mind-boggling price tag of as much as $7 trillion to the same companies and sought funding from the U.A.E. His previous effort was then dismissed by some industry leaders who didnt think it was realistic, given how little revenue was generated by AI services at the time. Shortly after that trip, TSMC Chief Executive C.C. Wei said Altman was too aggressive for me to believe."

This time around, he is getting more support.

A wave of renewed confidence in OpenAI came from its blockbuster deal with Nvidia, in which the chip giant agreed to lease up to five million of its AI chips to the ChatGPT maker over time and invest up to $100 billion to make it happen. The announcement helped bolster Altmans vision for computing power and lifted the stocks of chip suppliers across the world.

About three years after it launched the AI chatbot, OpenAI is now valued at $500 billion, on par with global corporate companies such as Netflix and Exxon Mobil.

In the past few days, Altman has rubbed shoulders with tech leaders from Samsung and SK Hynix, as well as the Japanese electronics and industrial company Hitachi. Announcements of their partnerships boosted shares of the three companies, following the same pattern that unfolded with U.S. dealmaking.

Altman brought on the two South Korean companies as memory-chip partners. They said OpenAIs overall demand could reach up to 900,000 wafers a month, which is more than double the current global capacity for high-bandwidth memory. They plan to co-develop AI data centers with OpenAI in South Korea.

In Japan, OpenAI and Hitachi agreed that the Japanese conglomerate would support OpenAI in developing AI infrastructure, including the provision of equipment for power transmission and distribution to the American startups data centers. OpenAI would provide its models and other technologies to Hitachi.

Altman has held discussions with some of the companies about manufacturing and deployment of Nvidias coming Rubin systems, the people familiar with the trips said. OpenAI will be among the first customers receiving the Rubin systems in the second half of 2026.

During his stop in the Middle East, Altman has planned to meet with Abu Dhabis investment funds MGX and Mubadala, as well as with OpenAIs operation partner G42, people familiar with the plans said. Potential new capital would be partly used to fund the Stargate data center in Abu Dhabi, the people said.

OpenAI recently told its investors and business partners that it was likely to spend around $16 billion in renting computing servers this year, and that the expenditure could rise to around $400 billion in 2029, people familiar with the matter said.

This past week, the company revived global enthusiasm with its video-generation model Sora 2, released Tuesday. Industry participants expect that such models and applications would drive up demand for computing power much more aggressively than text-based models.

Our vision is simple: we want to create a factory that can produce a gigawatt of new AI infrastructure every week," Altman wrote in a recent blog.

Last month, OpenAI and Nvidia said they would deploy at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidias computing systems for OpenAI to train and run its next generation of models. OpenAI also announced five new data-center sites across the U.S., built with Oracle and the Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank.

Write to Raffaele Huang at raffaele.huang@wsj.com and Berber Jin at berber.jin@wsj.com
(Bloomberg) -- The trustee overseeing bankrupt Tricolor Holdings is investigating possible wrongdoing by the subprime auto lender before its collapse in order to raise money to pay creditors, a lawyer said in court Friday.

The companys business appears to be a pervasive fraud of rather extraordinary proportion, Charles R. Gibbs, who is representing the trustee, told the judge overseeing the companys liquidation. Initial reports from these reviews indicate potentially systemic levels of fraud.

In order to fund an investigation and the rest of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, the trustee, Anne Elizabeth Burns, is seeking a $30 million loan, Gibbs said.

Burns has asked the court for permission to keep operating part of the companys business, a request thats unusual in Chapter 7 proceedings. Typically, in these cases, the trustee simply liquidates whatever assets a bankrupt company has left.

During the hearing, Burns testified that she would rehire at least two key employees, but would not sell cars through its former dealerships. Instead, the trustee will try to preserve as many assets as possible, including the vehicles themselves. Her team will try to sell those cars as quickly as possible, but didnt say how those sales might happen.

Tricolor had sprawling operations across the US Southwest, with more than 60 locations before its collapse last month, when it filed for court protection amid allegations of fraud. The downfall of Tricolor, which focused on lending to individuals with little to no credit history, including undocumented workers, has also ensnared some of Wall Streets biggest players and bondholders.

The case is Tricolor Holdings, LLC, 25-33487, US Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Texas (Dallas)

--With assistance from Scott Carpenter and Paige Smith.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI) Greater collaboration between businesses of India and Singapore will help boost trade and investment ties between the two countries, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday.

Addressing India-Singapore@60: Partnership for Growth and Innovation' Business, Goyal emphasised on further strengthening India-Singapore trade and investment ties for a more balanced, inclusive and future-ready economic partnership.

The minister is on a three-day visit to Singapore.

"Highlighted greater collaboration and B2B opportunities between our businesses," he said in a post on X.

On the sidelines, the minister held meetings with senior officials of Singapore-based firms.

He held a meeting with Kim Yin Wong, Group President and CEO of Sembcorp.

"Discussed India's remarkable achievements in renewable energy and ambitious aims, and explored avenues for collaboration in clean energy, green hydrogen, and industrial parks," he said.

He also held meeting with Loh Chin Hua, CEO of Keppel, and discussed emerging opportunities in India across various areas, including waste-to-energy, infrastructure, data centres, and digital connectivity.

"Met a delegation led by Mr. Nags Sankaranarayanan, CEO of Nomura Asia Pacific Holdings. Discussed opportunities to boost India-focused investments and the vast avenues India offers for global investors," he added.

The minister met Gautam Banerjee, Chairman, Blackstone Singapore, and deliberated upon opportunities for long-term capital in manufacturing-linked infrastructure to further strengthen supply chains.
French carmaker Renault is reportedly planning to lay off 3,000 employees worldwide, primarily in support roles through a voluntary redundancy program  an offer where staff can choose to leave the company in exchange for a financial package, instead of being directly laid off.

The final decision on the lay off is expected to be made by the end of the year, reported French newsletter L'Informe.

Which job roles will be impacted? The job cuts are part of an internal cost savings initiative dubbed Arrow, under which Renault aims to reduce its workforce in support services such as human resources, finance and marketing by 15 per cent.

This target is expected to result in about 3,000 job cuts across the carmaker's headquarters in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and other locations worldwide.

Even though Renault confirmed that it is considering cost cuts, but stated that as of now, no firm decisions have been made, and thus it could not confirm any official figures, Reuters reported.

"Given the uncertainties in the automotive market and the extremely competitive environment, we confirm that we are considering ways to simplify our operations, speed up execution, and optimize our fixed costs," a Renault spokesperson told Reuters.

At the end of 2024, Renault employed 98,636 staff worldwide.

Renault's financial performance This development follows Renault's July financial report, which reported a 11.2 billion euro ($13 billion) net loss for the first-half of the year, including a 9.3 billion euro write-down on partner Nissan.

Excluding the write-down, the company's net income declined to 461 million euros, less than one-third of the profit reported in a year earlier. This decline was attributed to a weaker van market, expenses associated with electric vehicles and rising commercial pressures stemming from an increasingly competitive environment.

Also Read | Renault, Nissan change alliance rules to open possibility of further share sales

Also Read | Renault Kwid 10th Anniversary Edition launched: Top 5 unique facts about it
MUMBAI : The board of French company LOreal, the worlds largest beauty group, is set to visit India next week to gauge opportunities in one of the worlds fastest-growing beauty and personal care markets.

The first such visit by LOreals board comes amid recent management changes at the India arm of the Maybelline lipstick maker.

While India still remains a value-driven market, global companies such as Hindustan Unilever and Estee Lauder Companies are launching their beauty products in the country to capitalize on the growing demand for international brands.

The board is coming to study the market opportunity since growth among new customers is in India," said a person aware of developments at the company.

LOreals board will visit Mumbai, where the company has its India headquarters, added this person, asking not to be identified.

In July, the French beauty company named Jacques Lebel as the new country manager for LOreal India and elevated managing director Aseem Kaushik as chairman. Both appointments were effective 1 October.

Global companies such as LOreal have been vying for a greater share of consumer spending in emerging markets like India, where millions of new beauty consumers are expected to enter the market, particularly online.

The domestic market for beauty and cosmetics has undergone a seismic change in the past decade, with more shoppers using platforms such as Nykaa and Amazon to buy everything from premium lip colours to Korean beauty serums.

Indias beauty and personal care market is projected to grow from $21 billion now to $34 billion in four years, making it the fastest-growing in the world, online beauty retailer Nykaa said in its 2024 beauty trends report.

LOreals board of directors is chaired by Jean-Paul Agon, with Nicolas Hieronimus serving as chief executive officer, and Jean-Victor Meyers and Paul Bulcke as vice chairmen. Meyers, the grandson of the late LOreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, is the board representative for the Bettencourt Meyers family, LOreals largest shareholder.

Also Read | L'Oreal, Colgate eye opportunity as preference for premium products rises

Bulcke recently stepped down as chairman of Swiss food and beverages giant Nestle SA, which owns 20.1% of LOreal. The LOreal board also includes Sodexo CEO and chair Sophie Bellon, and Pernod Ricards CEO and chair Alexandre Ricard.

LOreal India declined to comment on the board visit.

Consumer spending

LOreal Indias revenue in 2024-25 increased 5% to 5,979 crore while net profit rose 23% to 598 crore, according to financial data accessed by business intelligence platform Tofler.

That growth came amid a slowdown in the broader fast-moving consumer goods market, which saw volumes increase 4.4% in the 12 months to 31 March, per Nielsen IQ.

However, more women are willing to spend their non-grocery income on beauty products, said Satish Meena, founder at consulting firm Datum Intelligence.

This is true across both mass and premium beauty," he said, adding that the beauty and personal care market is growing faster than the overall packaged goods market.

LOreal competes with Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Indias largest FMCG company that sells brands such as Lakme, Simple, Glow & Lovely, Ponds, Dove, and Vaseline. HULs beauty and wellbeing division reported revenue of 13,073 crore for FY25.

In an interview with Mint last year, Aseem Kaushik, now LOreal Indias chairman, outlined plans to double the companys business to 1 billion in 3-4 years. We are on track for that," he had said, attributing much of the future growth to e-commerce.

Earlier this year, LOreal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus, speaking at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference in Florida, US, said 500 million new consumers in emerging markets would be able to afford LOreal products by 2030, with half of them in India.

Its (India) definitely a market that was not ready for LOreal in terms of distribution network, in terms of purchasing power, a couple of years ago. But now, its ripe for us and accelerating," he had said.

Other international consumer companies are also looking at India as a growth market amid global uncertainties such as the USs tariff war.

Last month, PepsiCos chairman and CEO, Ramon Laguarta, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to discuss the companys long-term commitment to India. Ramon Laguarta was accompanied by the full board in India.
(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan is considering options for the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan as part of the South Asian nations efforts to meet its commitments to the International Monetary Fund.

One of the options is to raze the storied landmark and build a skyscraper in its place, said Muhammad Ali, adviser to the prime minister on privatization. The government is keen on a joint venture where Pakistan will contribute the land and the partner will bring in the equity, he told Bloomberg in Islamabad.

The other option is to retain the hotel if it makes economic sense, he said.

Once a historic hotel owned by Pakistan International Airlines, or PIA, it closed during the pandemic, briefly housed migrants, and has since been shuttered.

We will have clarity on this in the next few months after finalization of the JV partner and market sounding, Ali said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharifs government is making its most ambitious effort in years to restructure or sell state-owned companies as committed to the IMF under the terms of a $7 billion loan agreement.

The first asset to be sold could be PIA, which has been surviving on periodic bailouts that the government can no longer afford. The adviser is hopeful that the national carrier will be sold by November.

He said the groups interested in buying PIA are among the largest business groups in the country and have the capacity to run it. Ali estimated that an investment of about half a billion dollars would be needed to turn the airline around.

Pakistan is in the process of appointing advisers for the hotel transaction, dubbed by some as the new Ellis Island for its historical role as a migrant intake point. The government will finalize a new adviser later this month after bids from seven groups, including Citigroup Inc., CBRE Group Inc., and Savills PLC.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
New Delhi [India], October 4 (ANI): During a three-day official visit to Singapore, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal met with Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister of Singapore, where discussions focused on strengthening trade, enhancing cooperation, and exploring new opportunities for future growth.

In a social media post, Goyal said, "Delighted to call on H.E. @LawrenceWongST, Prime Minister of Singapore. Discussions reaffirmed our commitment to further strengthen our comprehensive strategic partnership, building on the strong momentum and vast potential for future growth."

As per a government release on Friday, the visit highlighted India's strong growth trajectory, commitment to investment-led reforms, and the vast opportunities available for global partners across manufacturing, infrastructure, financial services, and the green economy.

In his bilateral meeting with Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry, the discussions centered on further deepening industrial and trade cooperation between India and Singapore.

Taking to social media, the Goyal said, "Had insightful discussions with H.E. Mr. Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Trade & Industry, Singapore, along with Industry leaders & officials from India and Singapore. Excited to deepen India-Singapore trade & economic partnership through meaningful engagements and robust public-private collaborations."

He also met Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs, with both sides reaffirming strategic trust and alignment on regional and global economic priorities.

"Delighted to meet H.E. @VivianBala, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Singapore, for a follow-up interaction after the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable in New Delhi. Had an engaging discussion on advancing cooperation in trade and investment for further deepening our robust comprehensive strategic partnership," he said on X.

The Union Minister also held meetings with the Group CIO of GIC, Bryan Yeo, and the CEO of Temasek, Dilhan Pillay, which focused on scaling up India-focused portfolios across infrastructure, hospitality, renewable energy, financial services, and urban development.

"Had a good meeting with Mr. Dilhan Pillay, CEO of @Temasek. Discussed key opportunities to further strengthen investment ties between India & Singapore."

A major highlight of the visit was the Business Roundtable on Foreign Direct Investment in the manufacturing sector, which was attended by key decision-makers from AmCham, EuroCham, the German Chamber of Industry & Commerce, and other business leaders.

In addition to these leadership engagements, Goyal also held strategic business meetings with leading Singaporean corporates and institutional investors. At SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC), discussions focused on India's fast-growing Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) sector and the need to fast-track the India-Singapore Skilling Centre for MRO professionals in collaboration with Indian universities.

CapitaLand Investment conveyed its commitment to expand renewable energy solutions for data centres in Maharashtra, while also exploring opportunities in industrial parks, worker housing models, and potential entry into credit financing.
BEIJING, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A new book, titled "Science and Scientists in the Anti-Fascist War," was recently released in China, providing a comprehensive account of the role that Chinese scientists and researchers played in the arduous fight against fascism.

Yang Jian, a Tsinghua University professor and the book's editor-in-chief, told Xinhua that the work was authored collaboratively by several science and technology historians in China, with the aim to promote the spirit forged in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

The book recounts stories of Chinese and Allied scientists who worked side by side, showcasing the resilience and innovation of these scientific figures during wartime, said Yang.

Despite China's limited sci-tech foundations during the war, Chinese scientists leveraged their ingenuity and creativity to achieve multiple breakthroughs in weapons development, agriculture, and medicine and health, providing important support for both front-line and rear areas, according to the book. 
Stellantis NV is planning to invest about $10 billion in the US as the troubled maker of Jeep sport utility vehicles and Ram pickups refocuses on the market thats pivotal to its profits, according to people familiar with the situation.

The carmaker may announce in the coming weeks about $5 billion in fresh money on top of a similar amount earmarked earlier in the year, said the people, who declined to be identified discussing information thats not public. The investments over several years could be funneled into plants  including re-openings, hiring and new models  in states such as Illinois and Michigan, the people said.

Stellantis is focused on reclaiming the past success of the Jeep brand and is considering fresh investments into Dodge, which could result in a new Dodge V8 muscle car, and possibly even the Chrysler brand in the long term, some of the people said. Talks are ongoing, no final decision has been made and the amount and targeted projects could still change, the people said.

The new spending reflects efforts by Chief Executive Officer Antonio Filosa, who was appointed to the top job in May, to recalibrate investments across regions, the people said. Under former CEO Carlos Tavares, Stellantis had aggressively pushed to shift its production and engineering operations to lower-cost countries like Mexico. He also invested heavily in Europe, where car demand is weak and profitability low, in the years that followed the groups 2021 creation.

As part of the preparations for the companys strategy update and capital markets day next year, the CEO is leading a thorough evaluation of all future investments. This process is ongoing, a media representative said in emailed comments, declining to elaborate further.

Stellantis actions would mirror those of companies across industries unveiling big investment plans in the worlds biggest economy to curry favor with President Donald Trump and also help mitigate the impact of tariffs. South Koreas Hyundai Motor Group in August said it would increase its investment in the US by $5 billion to $26 billion through 2028, and several big European pharmaceutical companies have also pledged billions of dollars of new spending.

The money may also help make good on a pledge by Chairman John Elkann, who has met Trump previously to discuss American investments, to manufacture a new midsize pickup vehicle at its idled plant in Belvidere, Illinois, where the company has committed to return around 1,500 employees to work. Such a move could help appease the United Auto Workers union, who have held previous talks on the matter with Stellantis.

Stellantis is preparing the announcement while it has been lobbying the administration in recent days to waive or soften a possible 25% tariff that could otherwise hit medium-duty Ram pickups the company makes in Mexico.

Filosa, an industry veteran from Stellantis predecessor company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, is struggling to stabilize a group thats suffered steep market share losses in the US and Europe following a series of strategic missteps under Tavares. Hes also trying to navigate the fallout from Trumps tariffs, which are reshaping the global automotive landscape.

Some of those efforts are starting to pay off, with a gain in third-quarter US deliveries that helped fuel investor optimism on Thursday.

The new CEO has started scrapping some European investments, including a decision to withdraw support for a joint hydrogen-vehicle venture with Michelin and Forvia SE. Stellantis also is mulling a sale of its Free2move car-sharing business, Bloomberg reported this week. Earlier this year, it hired McKinsey & Co. for strategic advice on Maserati and Alfa Romeo. It has repeatedly denied any plans to sell Maserati.

The increased US focus is alarming unions in Europe, where the owner of brands including Fiat and Peugeot suffers from manufacturing overcapacity. Like its rivals, Stellantis is contending with excess capacity as Chinese manufacturers led by BYD Co. expand in the region with competitively priced cars. Stellantis is temporarily pausing production at eight of its plants in Europe amid lagging demand for models including the Alfa Romeo Tonale sport utility vehicle and the Fiat Panda.

Filosa is scheduled to meet Italian labor union representatives on Oct. 20 as worries about possible plant closings mount. Late last year, the company presented an ambitious production plan for Italy, which adds pressure on Filosa to make good on those pledges.

2025 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) -- Ukraine said it attacked the Kirishi oil refinery, known as Kinef, in Russias Leningrad region overnight, the second time in a month as Kyiv continues pressure on Russian energy facilities.

The Defense Forces of Ukraine delivered a strike at the refinery leading to explosions and fire, Ukraines General Staff said on social media. Results of the strike are being checked.

Ukraines claim could not be independently verified.

The refinery is owned by Surgutneftegas and is one of Russias largest, with an annual processing capacity of over 20 million tons. Its located about 100 kilometers southeast of St. Petersburg and more than 800 kilometers north of the Ukrainian border.

The city of Kirishi was targeted with seven drones overnight, regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Telegram. He reported a fire in an industrial zone but didnt specify what was targeted.

Kinef was last attacked on Sept. 14, and halted a primary processing unit with a capacity of around 150,000 barrels per day. Repair work was estimated to take about a month, people familiar with situation said at the time.

Ukraine has stepped up assaults on Russian refineries since August as Kyiv seeks to curb energy revenues feeding the Kremlins war machine and limit fuel supplies to the front lines.

Read: Russia Running Out of Crude-Export Capacity Amid Drone Strikes

In the past two months, Ukraine has targeted at least 15 refineries across the European part of Russia. Some of the drone assaults succeeded, with Russian refinery runs falling below 5 million barrels a day, according to estimates from JPMorgan Chase & Co. That means about 500,000 barrels a day of processing have been curtailed, based on historic data.

That has in turn exacerbated a fuel crunch in Russia. The government in Moscow responded by imposing a ban on diesel exports for resellers until the end of this year, while a full ban on gasoline sales abroad was extended, also until end-2025.

Kinef supplies not only the domestic market but is also one of Russias key exporters. The countrys ability to divert its crude to the global market is also diminishing.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Richest Family in Bengaluru: India has kept adding more billionaires in the past one year, with the country's billionaire population crossing 350, the Hurun India Rich List 2025 released recently showed.

The M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025 listers added wealth at a pace of 1,991 crore a day, with 1,687 individuals having a wealth of more than 1,000 crore.

Among the top 100 richest people on the Hurun India Rich List, seven families are from Bengaluru.

With 451 Individuals, Mumbai tops the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025, followed by New Delhi (223) and Bengaluru (116), Hurun said in a statement.

Richest family in Bengaluru Among the richest famillies in Bengaluru, Azim Premji and Family of Wipro topped the list. The founder of one of India's largest tech companies is also the only business leader in the top 10 list, with a net worth of 2.21 lakh crore, data showed.

In the top 10 chart of the Hurun India Rich List, Azim Premji and family was pushed one rank higher to the 8th position, as their net worth increased by 16 per cent.

Over the past five years, Azim Premji recorded the sharpest growth in terms of increasing his wealth.

Azim Premji and family recorded the sharpest rise in the top 10, surged from 34th to eighth with a remarkable 6x growth, taking wealth to 2.21 lakh crore, a statement from Hurun India read.

Who is Azim Premji? Azim Premji is the Founder Chairman of Wipro, a global IT services and consulting powerhouse. He transformed the company from a small vegetable oil business into a leader in software services, IT consulting, and digital transformation.

Renowned for his ethical leadership and modest lifestyle, Premji has become one of Indias most impactful philanthropists, focusing on education, skill development, and social welfare through the Azim Premji Foundation.

Full list of richest families in Bengaluru 1. Azim Premji & family Net Worth:  2,21,250 crore

2,21,250 crore Company: Wipro

Industry: Software & Services 2. Nithin Kamath & family Net Worth:  40,020 crore

40,020 crore Company: Zerodha

Industry: Financial Services 3. Ranjan Pai Net Worth:  34,700 crore

34,700 crore Company: Manipal Education & Medical Group

Industry: Education & Training

Also Read | Shah Rukh Khan joins billionaire club in Hurun India Rich List 2025
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday revealed that financial assets worth 1.84 lakh crore are currently lying unclaimed with banks and regulators. These assets are in form of bank deposits, insurance, provident fund or shares.

Sitharaman made the remarks while speaking at an event in Gandhinagar, Gujarat where she launched the three-month Apki Poonji, Apka Adhikar (Your Money, Your Right) campaign centered around 'unclaimed assets.'

The finance minister stressed that the money is safe, with the government acting as its custodian and assured claimants that the unclaimed funds will be returned upon presenting proper documentation, PTI reported.

What happens if assets remain unclaimed? If the asset remains unclaimed for a long period due to any reason, it gets transferred from the initial holding entity to a regulatory custodian.

The minister elaborated on this process as she stated, in case of bank deposits, the unclaimed money gets transferred from commercial banks to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Similarly for stocks or similar assets, the unclaimed money moves from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) or another centre.

Sitharaman highlighted that the RBI has created the UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits Gateway To Access Information) portal to help individuals track these deposits even as they move from one unclaimed area to another. Claimants can receive assistance from stalls created by banks for this purpose.

What does the campaign aim to do? The core purpose of this campaign is to tackle the issue of unclaimed financial assets, such as insurance policy claims, bank deposits, dividends, shares, and mutual fund proceeds that often remain unclaimed due to lack of awareness or outdated account details.

The Union Minister urged officials to work on three aspects Awareness, Access and Action  to ensure these unclaimed assets reach rightful owners during the three-month-long campaign.

She also urged the government and bank officials to spread the word among people so that they come forward and claim their rightful assets, such as insurance policies lying unclaimed despite maturity.

"The first A is awareness. Build awareness. Tell them that your money is lying there, come with this document and take it. You can become ambassadors and tell people if they have yet to claim their rightful asset. Just ask them to find the papers and register on the portal," she said.

Also Read | Unclaimed assets: This is how you can recover money from an old bank account

"The third A is action, where you (officials) act on whatever you have, like small bits of papers," she said, adding that a "concerted attempt" will make the campaign successful.
Actor Arbaaz Khan and his wife Sshura Khan have reportedly arrived at a Mumbai hospital as they prepare to welcome their first child together. According to reports, the couple was seen entering PD Hinduja Hospital in Khar on October 4, 2025, accompanied by close family members ahead of the delivery.

Arbaaz Khan- Sshura Khan to welcome their 1st child soon: Reports The couple, who confirmed Sshuras pregnancy in June, have been quietly preparing for this new chapter in their lives. Videos circulating online suggest that hospital staff and family are making arrangements for the imminent arrival.

Sources indicate that Arbaaz Khan has been by his wifes side throughout, providing support as the couple anticipates this significant milestone.

Also Read | Arbaaz Khan holds wife Sshura close amid media frenzy after announcing pregnancy

Just days before the hospital visit, the couple celebrated an intimate baby shower in Mumbai. The gathering was attended by family and close friends, including Salma Khan, Malaika Arora, Arhaan Khan, Sohail Khan, Arpita Khan, and Salman Khan. Arbaaz and Sshura coordinated their outfits in yellow, adding a festive and joyful atmosphere to the celebration.

For Arbaaz Khan, this will be his second child, following his son Arhaan with former wife Malaika Arora. For Sshura, this marks her first child, making the occasion particularly special. Sources told reporters that the couple has been excited and overjoyed as they await the arrival of their baby.

While fans have already flooded social media with messages of congratulations, the Khans have reportedly requested privacy during this intimate family moment. A source said, The family will provide an update once the baby is born, but they are asking everyone to respect their space and allow them this special time.
Washington, DC [US], October 4 (ANI): Belgian filmmaker Michiel Blanchart has been roped in to direct the next instalment of 'Final Destination: Bloodlines', according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Directed by Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky, the film took audiences to the very beginning of "Death's twisted sense of justice."

"Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefanie heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all," the official synopsis read.

The screenplay was written by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor, with the story from Busick, Taylor, and Jon Watts.

With a 51 million USD domestic debut, the movie achieved the best opening weekend in the series to date. By the end of its theatrical run, it became the franchise's highest-grossing film, with a 286 million USD global haul, reported Variety.

Overall, the series has earned over 983 million USD worldwide, making it New Line's third-biggest horror franchise behind 'The Conjuring' universe (2.3 billion USD) and the 'It' movies (1.2 billion USD)

Lori Evans Taylor, who wrote Bloodlines along with Gary Busick, is penning the new script. Destination franchise producer Steward Craig Perry and franchise veteran Sheila Hanahan Taylor are back producing, as are Jon Watts and his wife, Dianne McGunigle, along with Toby Emmerich. Warren Zide is exec producing, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Final Destination franchise has earned over USD 1 billion worldwide, making it New Line's third-largest horror franchise, behind the over USD 2.73 billion grossed by the Conjuring Universe and the USD 1.2 billion generated by the It films.
Since its anime debut in 2016, My Hero Academia has stood tall as one of the biggest names in shonen. Now, the eighth and final season of the show marks the end of its long-running story and also the moment fans have waited for, reports Radio Times. The previous season had wrapped in June 2024, and after months of anticipation, the curtain has finally lifted on My Hero Academia Season 8.

This chapter takes the action and emotion to their peak. The heroes and villains fight in the long-teased Final War Arc. It also bringing Deku, Shigaraki, All Might, and All For One to the last stop of their journey. Expect battles that shake everything and emotional payoffs that have been building for years.

My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode release schedule and timings The first episode of My Hero Academia Season 8 dropped on Saturday, October 4, 2025, and new episodes will release weekly on the same day.

Here is the list confirmed by Radio Times:

Episode 1  October 4, 2025

Episode 2  October 11, 2025

Episode 3  October 18, 2025

Episode 4  October 25, 2025

Episode 5  November 1, 2025

Episode 6  November 8, 2025

Episode 7  November 15, 2025

Episode 8  November 22, 2025

Episode 9  November 29, 2025

Episode 10  December 6, 2025

Episode 11  December 13, 2025

New episodes air at 5:30 p.m. JST, which translates to 1:30 a.m. PT, 4:30 a.m. ET, and 9:30 a.m. BST. In Japan, My Hero Academia broadcasts on Yomiuri TV and Nippon TV before streaming on Crunchyroll for global audiences shortly after.

Episode count and where to watch While the total number of episodes has not been officially confirmed, Radio Times suggests Season 8 will likely run for 11 episodes. The final arc is expected to wrap just as another series, The Blue Wolves of Mibu, takes over the time slot in late December.

Fans outside Japan can stream every episode exclusively on Crunchyroll. For now, theres no sign of the new season arriving on Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, or Amazon Prime. Older seasons have landed on those services later, but Crunchyroll remains the go-to platform for simulcast releases.

What to expect in My Hero Academia season 8 Season 8 adapts the mangas Final War Arc and Epilogue Arc. Dekus final battle with Shigaraki pushes both to their limits, while All Might and All For One face their last confrontation - a fight years in the making. Every character, from Class 1-A to the top pro heroes, plays a role as the story reaches its endgame.

Watch trailer here:

It has been nearly a decade since the anime first aired. With this season, My Hero Academia closes out as one of modern animes biggest and most influential sagas.

FAQs When does My Hero Academia season 8 start? The first episode premiered on October 4, 2025.

How many episodes are in My Hero Academia season 8? It is expected to run for 11 episodes, though not officially confirmed.

What time do new episodes air? New episodes release at 5:30 p.m. JST (1:30 a.m. PT / 4:30 a.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. BST).
To the world, Hamas said it has accepted major parts of President Trumps peace plan. Internally, Hamas remains bitterly divided over how to proceed.

On Friday, the U.S.-designated terrorist group said it was willing to release hostages and hand over Gaza, a landmark statement boosting Trumps push for an end to the war. But importantly, Hamas used hedged language that some observers saw as problematic to clinching a final peace.

A big reason is that Hamas hasnt reached consensus about disarming and under what conditions to let the hostages go, said Arab officials from countries mediating with Hamas. Those are the two most important demands in Trumps plan.

Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamass top negotiator, and several other senior political officials support accepting the proposal despite significant reservations, Arab mediators said. But those Hamas officials, based outside Gaza, have limited sway over the groups armed wing, which remains in the enclave.

Ezzedin al-Haddad, who rose to lead Hamas in Gaza after Israel killed Yahya and Mohammed Sinwar, has told mediators he is open to compromise. Mediators said Haddad is willing to give up rockets and other offensive weapons to Egypt and the United Nations for storage but wants to retain small arms such as assault rifles, which Hamas considers defensive.

But Hamas commanders inside Gaza fear they wont be able to enforce compliance with disarmament demands among fighters if they accept a deal that amounts to surrender, the mediators said. The organization has recruited many young men since the war began, often those who saw their homes destroyed or family members killed. Such fighters may be unwilling to lay down their arms.

The plans most contentious points are requirements that Hamas disarm, hand over its weapons and release the 48 Israeli hostages it still holdsalive and deadwithin 72 hours of agreeing.

Critics within the group dismiss the proposal as a 72-hour truce" rather than a genuine peace agreement, reflecting their lack of trust in Israel. Hamas on Friday said it wanted more negotiations to discuss the details," which appears to include the release of hostages.

Trump weighed in Friday on social media, saying he believed Hamas is ready for a lasting PEACE." He called on Israel to immediately stop the bombing of Gaza" to ensure safe conditions for hostages to be safely released. His statement reflected broad agreement in the White House that Hamas had accepted the plan.

But Hamas military leaders insisted that any release of hostages must be tied to a clear timeline for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, mediators said. That was reflected in a caveat in Hamass response Friday, in which it said hostages would be released with the provision of necessary field positions."

Israelwhich hasnt commented on a Hamas response released late at night on the Jewish Sabbathmay be reluctant to end hostilities after Hamas left the disarmament issue unaddressed in its statement, and with significant conditions on the release of hostages.

On X, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) called Hamass response unfortunately predictable. A classic Yes, but."

No disarmament, keeping Gaza under Palestinian control, and tying hostage release to negotiations, along with other problems," Graham said. This is, in essence, a rejection by Hamas of President Trumps take it or leave it proposal."

Some observers said Hamass statement was intended to buy time for the group to resolve long-running tensions between its political and military wings. Disagreements over strategy have dogged the group throughout its war with Israel, which began with Hamass deadly attacks on southern Israel and the kidnapping of about 250 hostages almost two years ago.

On the battlefield, Hamas is battered but still fighting. The armed wing has lost most of its senior leadership and thousands of experienced fighters. Many of its newer recruits lack training, and Israels tightened control over Gaza has strained the groups ability to communicate and coordinate operations.

To adapt, Hamas has devolved command to smaller units, Arab mediators and Israeli military officials said. These units often act independently, making their own decisions about when and how to attack Israeli forces.

Israeli military officials say Hamas hasnt given up the fight. They see the groups command and control as shattered, with small groups acting independently through guerrilla warfare, mainly using explosives, snipers and rocket-propelled grenades.

Haddad and other senior leaders exercise limited control over these units, a problem exacerbated by a financial crunch that has hindered Hamass ability to pay salaries. The Wall Street Journal has previously reported that the cash shortage is weakening Hamass hold over its rank and file.

Israel has taken over large portions of Gaza City since launching its offensive in mid-September. Many of Hamass fighters have already fled southward and most civilians have evacuated. Israels key dilemma is what to do if it takes over Gaza City but Hamas refuses to surrender.

Several thousand Hamas fighters remain in Gaza City, a senior Israeli military official said. Those forces are constantly observing the Israeli troops and looking for vulnerabilities, the official said. Two weeks ago, the official added, an RPG killed a company commander.

The Israeli official described Hamass remaining forces as mostly young and inexperienced but still determined. Acts of surrender are rare and usually occur only when militants are surrounded, the official said.

This is why these negotiations are starting to become real. Maybe its the first time throughout the war that Hamas is starting to understand that they will be eradicated," said Amir Avivi, a former senior Israeli defense official.

Mediators warn that if Hamass leaders accept Trumps plan, some fighters could defect to other Palestinian militant groups. Many have already threatened to join factions such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad or the Palestinian Liberation Front. Coordination among these groups has largely collapsed, leaving uncertainty over whether a deal with Hamas alone could halt the fighting.

Qatar, Egypt and Turkey have tried to pressure Hamas leaders, warning them that this is their last chance to end the war in Gaza, Arab officials say. They have told Hamas that if the group rejects the deal, they will no longer be able to continue providing them with political or diplomatic support, the officials said.

In his social-media post, Trump said: We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East."

Write to Summer Said at summer.said@wsj.com and Dov Lieber at dov.lieber@wsj.com
Between 2013 and 2019, three government shutdowns were caused by Sen. Ted Cruzs stand against the Affordable Care Act, Sen. Chuck Schumers push on children of immigrants and President Trumps demand for border wall money.

The 2025 shutdown is about something deeper: a complete breakdown in trust.

Democrats dont trust that the White House will take any spending agreement and adhere to it. The White House has for months routinely ignored congressional appropriations, keeping government funds from flowing as directed by Congress.

Trump, twice-impeached by Democrats during his first term and having survived two assassination attempts while out of office, doesnt appear to trust the minority party on virtually anything. He has run his second term by uniparty rule, through narrowly passed Republican legislation and a record-shattering number of executive orders.

Thats left little hope for the trust needed to negotiate a deal. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought has already moved to cancel billions of dollars in congressionally appropriated money (Vought said he was freezing $2.1 billion in Chicago funds on Friday).

I was just trying to figure out a process we could create that will first create trust," Sen. Ruben Gallego (D., Ariz.) said of a failed attempt to broker talks.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.), meanwhile, suggested that trust had eroded so much with Democrats that he suspected the other party of staging publicity stunts instead of having serious talks.

If the meeting is focused around just a photo op along the lines of what they tried to get out of [a recent] White House meeting, Im not sure theres a lot of purpose in that," Thune said of an attempt by Senate Democrats to sit down with him during the week.

Washingtons current dysfunction is a reflection of a broader, nationwide revulsion against Americas political system. Nearly two-thirds of voters believe the nation is too divided to address its problems, a recent New York Times poll found. Nearly 80% in a Quinnipiac University survey agreed with the statement that the nation is in a political crisis.

In the first eight months of Trumps second term, the parties have operated in almost parallel universes. Major bipartisan legislation is rare.

Both parties are going through a metamorphosis. Like his remodeling of the Oval Office, Trump has completely taken over and refashioned the Republican Party in his image. There are fewer people in his cabinet attempting to stop him than in his first term, and hes mowing through much of his agenda with ease. For Trump, Democrats are a political foil, nothing more.

These people are crazy, the Democrats," Trump said last week. So if it has to be shut down, itll have to be shut down. But theyre the ones that are shutting down the government."

Democrats, meanwhile, are still dazed from their defeat in the 2024 elections. Their base has grown impatient (polls show the Democratic brand" has never been less appealing) and the partys leaders have picked this moment to try to fight. Among other things, Democrats want assurances that Congress will address expiring healthcare tax credits. And they want assurances Vought will spend the money Congress authorizes. The White House has said reopen the government first, and then talks can begin.

There is no trust that they will make good on any promise," Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.) said.

And, Democrats may be unified on the shutdown for now, but distrust runs deep within the party. After their drubbing in November, Democrats cant agree on where to go from here. They were stumped by Trumps ability to shatter their coalitions of younger voters, union voters, and minority voters. But they are also being pulled to the left by very liberal but popular politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. It isnt just that Democrats dont trust Republicans, it is also that Democratic voters dont trust Democratic leaders.

The crisis of faith in democracy isnt limited to Congress and the president. Only 27% of Americans this year said they had a great deal" or quite a lot" of confidence in the Supreme Court, compared with 40% in 2020, Gallup polling found. Only 17% said they had high levels of confidence in the criminal justice system, about 10 points lower than in 2012 and 2013.

Faith has collapsed in other mechanisms of democracy. Only 11% said they had high confidence in television news, Gallup found this year, tying a record low in surveys that date back more than two decades. Only 17% had high confidence in newspapers, close to a record low.

The impact of this shutdown has been relatively minor after just a few days. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels backed out of an airshow in California this weekend. The Smithsonian could close its museums in a week. But shutdowns squeeze like a vice, gently at first until something cracks.

The U.S. government is a $7 trillion colossus tucked inside a $30 trillion economy, however. Shutting large parts of it down eventually takes a tremendous toll.

The first heavy blow could come in mid-October, when hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors miss their first paychecks. Two weeks later, they could miss another right as rent and mortgages are due. A few weeks into the 2018-19 shutdown, Coast Guard families were advised to consider having garage sales to help with groceries and rent.

Past impasses have been resolved behind closed doors between seasoned and wily leaders like Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.). Both are effectively backbenchers now.

If anything, the distrust has only grown in the past few days. Trump has unleashed a steady stream of artificial-intelligence videos taunting Democrats and vulnerable federal workers, and the White House sees a moment to splinter Democrats once and for all.

Democrats backed down after just a few days during the shutdown Schumer led in January 2018. They are now trying to cobble their party back together, acting more strident and determined, cognizant of voices within their party who have complained they seem weak.

Now these forces have collided. Something has to give. But until then, the shutdown could endure. Asked Friday about the lack of trust between the two parties, Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.) responded, it is hard right now."

Write to Damian Paletta at Damian.Paletta@wsj.com
Winners may write history. But Elon Musk has often complained that losers author the Wikipedia entry.

Now conservatives are trying to change that, putting their focus on the unflashy website that gets more eyeballs than the largest U.S. media outlets, making it the latest institution to feel such pressure.

For those not chronically online, however, this past weeks tempest over Wikipedia can be joltingespecially given the sites objective to remain trustworthy. For many, it is the modern-day encyclopediaa site written and edited by volunteers that aims to offer, as Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales once said, free access to the sum of all human knowledge."

To do that, Wikipedia adheres to three core policies that guide how entries are written. Each article must have a neutral point of view, be verifiable with information coming from published sources and no original research.

In effect, those final two points mean information comes summarized from known media sources. Those policiesand how theyre enforcedare what upset opponents such as billionaire Musk, White House AI czar David Sacks and others who dont like its perceived slant.

Some call it Wokepedia." They talk as if its more than 64 million worldwide entries are fueled by mainstream media lies, pumping out propaganda that feeds online search results. For them, the threat is especially worrisome as Wikipedia is serving as a base layer of knowledge for AI chatbots.

Wikipedia shapes America," Tucker Carlson, the right-wing personality, said this past week on his podcast. And because of its importance, its an emergency, in my opinion, that Wikipedia is completely dishonest and completely controlled on questions that matter."

His guest was Waless former associate Larry Sanger, who helped create Wikipedia but left years ago. Since then, Sanger has often complained about the direction of Wikipedia, which, in theory, anyone can contribute to. The Wikimedia Foundation hosts the website, depending on donations to pay for its $207.5 million annual budget. That foundation doesnt control the editorial processes. Volunteers, through consensus, do.

The Trump Justice Department earlier this year sent Wikipedia a letter inquiring about its nonprofit tax status, and the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee more recently announced an investigation into organized efforts" to influence public opinion and sensitive subjects by manipulating Wikipedia articles.

One of the loudest voices in the MAGA movement against Wikipedia has been Musk. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX earlier this year called for Wikipedia to be defunded."

His protests grew more intense after volunteers on the website updated an entry about him to include mention of hand gestures he made following Trumps second inauguration. Some said these resembled a Nazi salutea claim he has ridiculed.

Since legacy media propaganda is considered a valid source by Wikipedia, it naturally simply becomes an extension of legacy media propaganda!" he posted in January.

Sangers renewed criticism helped push Wikipedia back into the spotlight this past week at a time when the nations most august institutions are under pressure for the messages they put into the world.

In recent days, Googles YouTube capitulated to President Trump with an almost $25 million settlement to end litigation brought for booting him from its platform. That followed X and Meta Platforms offering money in similar deals. NPR and PBS have been defunded by Congress; ABC and CBS News, embarrassed.

In an interview, Wales said he was ready to defend Wikipedia. The thing about Wikipedia is everything about how weve designed itgives us a really strong degree of intellectual independence," he said. Wales added, The First Amendment is very, very strong in the U.S.and so that fundamental right of our community of freedom of expression is well protected in the U.S."

Still, Wales said, the community takes criticisms about adhering to neutral points of view seriously and has a special working committee reviewing its practices. The neutral point of view is nonnegotiable," he said.

In particular, Sanger highlighted how certain right-leaning websites, such as Breitbart, are prohibited as source materials, while CNN, the New York Times and Mother Jones are allowed.

What I can tell you is that over the years, conservatives, libertarians, were just pushed out," Sanger said. There is a wholearmy of administrators, hundreds of them, who are constantly blocking peoplethat they have ideological disagreements with."

Wales disputed the suggestion that Wikipedias volunteers are crazy woke people," telling me, I know so many Wikipedians, and theyre just a bunch of really nice nerds and theyre not political activists."

In its short history, Wikipedia has had its fair share of navel-gazing controversiesan entry detailing them has almost 400 footnotes. But, for many, Wikipedia wasnt in league with the typical culture-war boogeymen: Disney, drag queens, Rachel Maddows dark-rimmed glasses.

For many years, in fact, Musk shared links to Wikipedia entries on topics that sparked his interest, such as one about the Drake equation (worth reading"), the Fermi paradox and the Volkswagen emissions scandal. In 2021, he even joined in celebrating Wikipedias 20th anniversary, writing, So glad you exist."

But Musks tone changed on Twitter around the time he acquired the social-media platform that he renamed X. He began joining others on the right arguing Wikipedia had become a weapon" amid concerns that Silicon Valley giants were biased against conservatives.

Wikipedia is losing its objectivity @jimmy_wales," Musk posted in 2022. At another point, Musk needled the site further, saying he would give Wikipedia $1 billion if they change their name to Dickipedia."

Wales responded in kind: Reading too much Twitter nonsense is making you stupid." More recently, Wales has said Musk is unhappy because Wikipedia isnt for sale.

Even before the most recent kerfuffle, Musk was toying with the idea of creating a Wikipedia competitor. The idea came up during an appearance at the September All-In Podcast conference as he talked about how his startup, xAI, is using information on the internet to develop its AI chatbot Grok.

As part of that process, he suggested Grok was consuming Wikipedia pages, along with other sources, with an eye toward what was true, partially true or false or missing," then rewriting to add missing context.

Sacks, the Trump administrations AI czar and co-host of the conference, stopped Musk mid-answer. Well, Elon, by the way, could you just publish that?" he asked. Wikipedia is so biased, its a constant war." He suggested that Musk create what he called Grokipedia."

This past week, as the Wikipedia controversy reignited, Musk announced xAI would, in fact, offer up Grokipedia. Soon after, the Wikipedia page for Musks Grok was updated. The entry included a brief comparison to an effort almost 20 years earlier to create another Wikipedia alternative called Conservapedia.

In this new rivalry, the winners may very well write their own history.

Write to Tim Higgins at tim.higgins@wsj.com
KABUL, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A deadly clash between two families in eastern Afghanistan's Kapisa province claimed five lives, local media outlet TOLOnews reported late Friday.

The violent incident took place in Dara Daram region of Tagab district on Friday afternoon, TOLOnews cited Abdul Fatah Fayeez, the provincial police spokesman, as saying.

The conflict stemmed from longstanding family hostility, the official said, without providing further details.

Family feuds that often escalate into bloodshed remain a persistent problem in Afghanistan, especially in remote and mountainous areas, where long-standing rivalries and land disputes have claimed numerous lives over the years. 
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday launched a three-month long nationwide campaign aimed at helping citizens to recover unclaimed assets in the financial sector.

The initiative, titled " ,   (Your Money, Your Right), officially kicked off on October 4, 2025, with the inauguration event held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

A special financial inclusion exhibition was also organised in the event, featuring stalls from banks, insurance companies, mutual funds, and pension institutions.

What is this campaign all about? The core purpose of this campaign is to tackle the issue of unclaimed financial assets, such as insurance policy claims, bank deposits, dividends, shares, and mutual fund proceeds that often remain unclaimed due to lack of awareness or outdated account details.

During the three months period  from October to December 2025  the campaign will focus on providing citizens with on-the-spot guidance on0 how to search for their unclaimed assets.

It also also assist individuals with updating records and complete claim procedures. Showcasing digital tools and offering step-by-step demonstrations to simplify the process is also a part of the campaign.

The initiative seeks to encourage people to participate actively, spread awareness, and strengthen financial inclusion in every household, an official statement said.

A collaborative effort The campaign is a collective effort and collaboration involving several key regulatory and governmental bodies.

It includes the Department of Financial Services under the Finance Ministry, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), and the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA), which is under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Also Read | Unclaimed assets: This is how you can recover money from an old bank account

This collaboration is intended to streamline the process across different parts of the financial sector, ensuring that citizens are given clear information on how to trace and claim their rightful money, supported by standard operating procedures (SOPs) and frequently asked questions (FAQs) developed by the respective fund regulators to make the process simple and transparent.
CNG Price Hike: The Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) has increased the price of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) by 1 per kilogram Pune city, Pimpri-Chinchwad and adjoining areas of Chakan, Talegaon and Hinjewadi.

This is the third time in the year that CNG prices have increased in Pune.

The Pune CNG price hike was announced on October 1 and has come into effect from midnight, October 2.

Following the hike, CNG prices in Pune have soared to 90.75 per kg.

Why was CNG price hiked in Pune? According to officials, the CNG prices in Pune city, Pimpri-Chinchwad and adjoining areas of Chakan, Talegaon and Hinjewadi were hiked to accommodate a rise in the input costs of natural gas.

Despite this marginal revision, CNG still offers attractive savings of around 47 per cent in comparison to petrol and around 24 per cent compared to diesel at current price levels in Pune city for the passenger car segment and around 25 per cent for autorickshaws, MNGL said in a statement.

Also Read | Regulator proposes tweak in pipeline tariffs; CNG and piped gas to be charged lowest rate

However, the price of domestic PNG (Piped Natural Gas) will remain unchanged as there was no hike announced on this segment.

CNG Prices in Pune, other cities of Maharashtra Here is the rate card of CNG prices in Pune and other cities in Maharashtra:

Pune: Price  90.75

90.75 Valasad: Price  80.25

80.25 Sindudurg: Price  84.65

84.65 Ramanagara: Price  86.25

86.25 Nizamabad: Price  92.75

92.75 Nasik: Price  93.65

93.65 Nanded: Price  90.65 Volatile energy markets The Pune CNG price hike comes at a time when energy markets are experiencing volatility due to global crude fluctuations. Volatile exchange rate movements have also contributed to the increase in rates. India's fuel pricing has been affected due to these factors over the recent months.

In Pune, MNGL had increased PNG prices by 2 in January, followed by another 3 hike in June.

The Union government in April this year had aised the special additional excise duty on petrol and diesel by 2 per litre in an attempt to bolster revenue. However, it asked companies to ensure that the price is not passed on to retail consumers.
Canara Robeco IPO: The Indian primary market is buzzing over the initial public offering (IPO) of Canara Robeco Asset Management Company Limited. The Canara Robeco IPO hit the headlines last month after the receipt of SEBI's approval for the updated Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP). Now, primary market investors and observers are busy speculating about the expected opening date of the Canara Robeco IPO, as well as the possible price band and size.

According to market experts, there is no fixed date for the Canara Robeco IPO launch, but it is expected to list on the Indian bourses within one year of SEBI's approval of the DRHP. This means the Canara Robeco IPO listing date can't cross 10 September 2026.

Canara Robeco IPO expected date Speaking on the expected Canara Robeco IPO date of subscription opening, Avinash Gorakshkar, a SEBI-registered fundamental research analyst, said, "Normally, SEBI's approval to the DRHP follows filing of the RHP by the company looking forward to launch its public issue. According to the rule, a company must list its shares on the Indian bourses within one year after SEBI's approval. As SEBI gave its approval to the DRHP of the Canara Robeco Asset Management Company IPO on September 10, 2025, the Canara Robeco IPO listing date cannot be later than September 10, 2026. So, in the worst case, the Canara Robeco IPO date of opening can be expected in September 2026."

"However, in the normal condition, it takes around 30-45 days for the company to file its RHP after the receipt of SEBI's nod to its DRHP. As the company received SEBI's approval on 10 September 2025, we can expect the Canara Roveco RHP filing any time from the second fortnight of November 2025. Typically, a company launches its IPO within one to two weeks of filing its RHP. Therefore, if the company is in a hurry, the Canara Robeco IPO date can be expected in December 2025. However, it has been found that a company opens its public offer when it is fully convinced about the market mood and investors' appetite for fresh offers," said Avinash Gorakshkar.

Canara Robeco IPO price Speaking on the expected Canara Robeco IPO size, Anuj Gupta, Director at Ya Wealth, said, "Even though there is no such official statement in this regard, the financial data suggests that Canara Robeco IPO size could be anywhere in 800 crore to 1,000 crore. There would be 4.90 crore company shares on offer, out of which Canara Bank plans to sell 25,924,266 shares, and ORIX Corporation will sell 23,930,091 shares. Taking the upper range of the Canara Robeco IPO size and the expected number of shares on offer, the Canara Robeco IPO price is approximately 200 per equity share. Normally, in the case of a large IPO launch, a company offers a premium to investors. So, we can expect a 10% to 15% premium in the Canara Robeco IPO as well. Hence, based on these calculations, the Canara Robeco IPO price may fall in the range of 185 to 200 per equity share."

Canara Robeco IPO details The Canara Robeco AMC IPO will be an Offer for Sale (OFS) of approximately 4.98 crore equity shares by the promoters, Canara Bank and ORIX Corporation, with no new shares being issued or capital raised. The primary goal is to list the company on the stock exchanges. Canara Bank plans to sell 25,924,266 shares, and ORIX Corporation will sell 23,930,091 shares. As the Canara Robeco IPO will be an OFS, net proceeds of the public issue will go into the balance sheet of Canara Bank and ORIX Corporation.

The AMC arm of Canara Bank filed the DRHP in April 2025 and received SEBI's approval on 10 September 2025.

Canara Robeco IPO review Speaking on the financial health of Canara Robeco Asset Management Company Limited, Abhinav Tiwari, Research Analyst at Bonanza, said, Canara Robeco AMC Ltd. has shown strong financial growth in recent years. Its revenue from operations increased from 8164.2 crore in FY22 to 8318.1 crore in FY24. Profitability has also improved, with PAT margin rising from 36.6% in FY22 to 47.5% in FY24. The company's QAAUM grew at a CAGR of 34.8% between March 2022 and March 2024, much faster than the industry growth rate of 18.8%. This performance has been supported by its strong brand, professional management, and high corporate governance standards.

Valuations among listed AMCs vary widely. HDFC AMC trades at a premium 45.7x PE with a market cap of 71, 18,883 crore, while Nippon AMC is close behind at 41.5x. On the other hand, Aditya Birla AMC and UTI AMC trade at much lower levels of 23.7x and 23.5x. This sets a broad valuation range of 25x - 45x PE for strong and established asset managers, Abhinav Tiwarimn of Bonanza added.
Tata Capital IPO: The highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO) of Tata Capital Limited is scheduled to open on Monday, i.e., 6 October 2025. The public issue will remain open until 8 October 2025. This means the Tata Capital IPO subscription period will be from October 6 to 8, 2025. The Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) has announced the Tata Capital IPO price band, ranging from 310 to 326 per equity share. The public issue is proposed for listing on the BSE and the NSE. The Tata Group company aims to raise 15,511.87 crore from this public issue, which comprises a mix of a fresh issue and an Offer for Sale (OFS).

Ahead of the Tata Capital IPO's opening date, the public offer witnessed a strong pull from anchor investors, with the anchor investment lot closing on a resounding note. The company allotted around 4,642 crore worth of shares to 68 domestic and global institutional investors, with subscriptions exceeding the allocation by a factor of five.

Top mutual funds participated in the anchor round, showcasing strong confidence. Large asset managers, such as HDFC Mutual Fund and ICICI Prudential MF, as well as Indias largest life insurer, LIC, subscribed. Global heavyweights, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, among others, have shown keen interest in a piece of anchor book.

Tata Capital IPO details 1] Tata Capital IPO GMP today: According to market observers, shares of the company are available at a premium of 20 in the grey market today.

2] Tata Capital IPO date: The public issue will open on 6 October 2025 and will remain open until 8 October 2025.

3] Tata Capital IPO price: The NBFC has declared a price band of the initial offer at 310 to 326 apiece.

4] Tata Capital IPO size: The Tata Group company aims to raise 15,511.87 crore from its initial offer, out of which 6,846 crore is aimed through the issuance of fresh shares. The remaining 8,665.87 crore is reserved for the OFS route.

5] Tata Capital IPO lot size: A bidder will be able to apply in lots, and one lot of Tata Capital IPO will comprise 46 company shares.

6] Tata Capital IPO allotment date: The most likely date for share allotment is 9 October 2025.

7] Tata Capital IPO registrar: MUFG Intime India Private Limited has been appointed the official registrar of the book build issue.

8] Tata Capital IPO lead managers: Kotak Mahindra Capital, BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets India, HDFC Bank, HSBC Securities & Capital Markets (India), ICICI Securities, IIFL Capital Services, JP Morgan India, SBI Capital Markets, and Axis Capital have been appointed book-running lead managers of the book build issue.

9] Tata Capital IPO listing date: The most likely date for share listing is 11 October 2025.

Tata Capital IPO: Should you apply? 10] Tata Capital IPO review: Assigning a 'subscribe' tag for long-term to Tata Capital IPO, Canara Bank Securities, said, "Tata Capital is well-positioned in Indias growing NBFC sector, with strong potential in retail and SME lending supported by digital innovation. Its diversified portfolio, Tata brand trust, prudent liability management, superior asset quality, and AI-enabled phygital model underpin long-term growth. The IPO is priced at 4x FY25 P/B, in line with peers. Post-merger integration impacts from Tata Motors Finance are expected to normalise, supported by AAA ratings and a resilient funding profile. Macro tailwinds like Indias economic growth and digital adoption favour the business, though risks include regulatory changes, rate volatility, and competition."

The market capitalisation of the Tata Capital IPO is 1,38,382.73 Crore. As of 31 March 2025, the price-to-book value of the Tata Capital Ltd IPO was 4.10, while the ROE (Return on Equity) stood at 12.60%. The company's debt-equity ratio was 6.60.
JioBlackrock Flexi Cap Fund NFO: Subscription for the open-ended flexi-cap fund opened on 23 September 2025 and will remain open until 7 October 2025. This means JioBlackrock Flexi Cap Fund NFO subscription date ends tomorrow, and investors have just two days to subscribe to this NFO. Developed by BlackRock, the flexi-cap fund is available only in the growth format and therefore has the lowest possible expense ratio of 0.50%. An applicant will not receive any financial assistance from the Asset Management Company, as it is available in a growth format, and one can apply by visiting the Reliance Jio platform. The minimum amount required to apply for the JioBlackrock Flexi Cap Fund NFO is 500. An investor can apply for the scheme either in the SIP mode or as a one-time upfront payment.

According to experts, the JioBlackrock Flexi Cap Fund NFO is India's first AI-human managed flexi-cap fund; therefore, one should consider applying for the scheme. However, they advised maintaining a cautious approach, and hence investing in a calibrated manner is recommended. They stated that more than 25 such schemes are available in the investment forum, but this is the first AI-human managed flexi-cap scheme in India, which is expected to outperform its peers through more accurate AI-driven data management.

JioBlackrock Flexi Cap Fund NFO review Unveiling the JioBlackrock flexi cap fund investment strategy, Pankaj Mathpal, Founder & CEO at Optima Money Managers, said, "JioBlackrock Flexi Cap Fund NFO is an open-ended flexi-cap fund, and more than 25 such flexi-cap open-ended funds are already available. However, its AI-human managed feature makes it unique among the existing flexi-cap open-ended schemes. Its AI feature is expected to help the fund managers to rebalance the exposure in large-cap, mid-cap, small-cap, etc., at the right time, and ensure higher returns for investors in the medium to long-term."

Advising investors to apply for JioBlackrock Flexi Cap Fund NFO, Anuj Gupta, Director at Ya Wealth, said, "This NFO has no exit load, and an investor can hold or exit the scheme any time after the allotment of units. Apart from this, if we examine the investment approach of this flexi-cap open-ended scheme, it employs a rule-based, data-driven approach, which mitigates the risk of emotional biases. The scheme is designed to provide optimal exposure to large-cap, mid-cap, small-cap, and other market segments at any given moment in the stock market. So, one should allocate funds to this equity scheme."

Both experts said that JioBlackrock Flexi Cap Fund is suitable for investors seeking long-term capital appreciation, investment in stocks across market capitalisation and those with a very high risk appetite.

JioBlackrock Flexi Cap Fund NFO details The Flexicap Equity Scheme is an open-ended equity scheme that invests across market capitalisations  large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap. The investment objective of the scheme is to generate long-term capital appreciation by investing in equity and equity-related instruments across market capitalisation. Only the growth plan of the scheme is available. This means that there would be no regular plan available for investors in this flexi-cap equity scheme.

The fund is benchmarked against the Nifty 500 index (TRI) and has an expense ratio of 0.50%. The Jio BlackRock Flexi Cap Fund has no exit load, and the minimum investment required is 500. Tanvi Kacheria and Sunil Chaudhary are the fund managers for the flexi-cap scheme.
The Indian IT services sector will kick off the September quarter earnings season this week, starting with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Q2 results tomorow, October 9. The JulySeptember quarter remained challenging, marked by subdued discretionary spending, elongated decision-making cycles, cautious client sentiment amid macroeconomic uncertainty, and disruption from AI-driven technology shifts. The demand environment has neither improved nor worsened.

IT sector Q2 results are expected to stay muted after Q1 was impacted by tariff-related uncertainty. The broader macro backdrop remains weak, further weighed down by the recent H1B visa fee hike announced by US President Donald Trump.

With no material change in operating conditions, analysts expect commentary from IT companies to remain cautious. The trend of mid-tier firms outperforming large-cap players is likely to continue.

Nuvama Institutional Equities expects its coverage universe to report constant currency QoQ growth in the range of -0.5% to +6%. Motilal Oswal Financial Services (MOFSL) echoes this view, noting that clients, grappling with macro and tariff uncertainty, are reluctant to commit sizeable budgets to new initiatives. MOFSL expects QoQ CC revenue growth of 0.32.4% for large-caps, while mid-caps are projected to post growth between -0.5% and 6.0%.

For Q2FY26, aggregate revenue for the coverage universe is expected to grow 6.0% YoY, with EBIT and PAT likely to rise 5.2% and 5.5% YoY, respectively (in INR terms).

Heres a preview of the IT sector Q2 results:

TCS Q2 Preview TCS, Indias largest software services exporter, is expected to report 2.1% QoQ growth in revenue to 64,738 crore in Q2FY26. In USD terms, revenue is estimated to rise 0.2% QoQ to $7,433 million, according to Nuvama. The India business of TCS is likely to remain flat, with the BSNL deal ramp-down completed in Q1.

Net profit is projected to increase 2.3% QoQ to 13,058 crore. EBIT is estimated to grow 2.9% QoQ, with margins expected to expand by 20 bps to 24.7%, despite one month of wage hike impact.

Infosys Q2 Preview Infosys revenue is expected to grow 1.8% QoQ in constant currency and 2.1% QoQ in USD terms, with 1015 bps contribution from acquisitions. EBIT margin is likely to improve by around 20 bps QoQ, aided by operating leverage and currency benefits. Infosys is expected to retain its FY26 revenue growth guidance of 13% CC YoY (including 0.4% inorganic) and margin guidance of 2022%.

Also Read | Banks likely to report soft Q2 performance amid NIM pressures and higher credit costs: Axis Securities

HCL Technologies Q2 Preview HCL Tech is expected to deliver 1.5% QoQ revenue growth in CC terms and 1.7% QoQ in USD terms, led by Products & Platforms (+1.5% QoQ) and Services (+1.7% QoQ). EBIT margin is projected to expand 70 bps QoQ to 17% from 16.3% in Q1, as restructuring expenses ease, according to Nuvama.

HCL Technologies revenue is likely to rise 3.5% QoQ to 31,396 crore. Net profit may grow 11.3% QoQ to 4,275 crore, while EBIT is estimated to increase 8.1% QoQ to 5,342 crore.

Wipro Q2 Preview Wipros IT Services revenue is expected to grow 0.1% QoQ in CC terms and 0.2% QoQ in USD terms, near the midpoint of its guidance. Margins are likely to contract 40 bps QoQ to 16.9%. For Q3FY26, Wipro is expected to guide for 02% CC QoQ revenue growth, supported by the ramp-up of the Phoenix deal.

Tier-2 IT Sector Q2 Results Preview Tier-2 IT companies are expected to deliver stronger growth in Q2, with Coforge leading the pack at 6% QoQ in constant currency, followed by Persistent Systems (3.7%), Hexaware Technologies (3.2%), LTIMindtree (1.9%) and Mphasis (1.3%), according to Nuvama.

Among ER&D players, growth is likely to remain modest. L&T Technology Services is expected to post 1.5% QoQ growth, while Cyient may see a muted 0.3% rise, weighed down by weakness in the Auto vertical.

In the smallcap segment, Firstsource is expected to deliver a healthy 2.2% QoQ growth in CC terms. Birlasoft (-0.5%) and Zensar Technologies (-0.1%) are likely to be the only names reporting sequential declines this quarter. Currency impact is expected to remain limited in the range of -10 bps to +30 bps QoQ, Nuvama noted.
At Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai, a series of photographs, Shelter , comes into view. In the eight images on display, you can see a person in varied states of confinement in a box. In one, he is lying on the ground, with his body partially enclosed by a diaphanous enclosure, and in another, he is sitting within a broken wooden partition with one foot out. There seems to be a tussle between ideas of confinement and liberation, both on physical and mental levels. In each image, the figure responds to confinementtwisting, bending, gazing outwards to express the pain and resistance stored within. The fact that you can see through the enclosures is quite symbolic, to my mind, of the complicity of society in the perpetration of pain.

Shelter is part of the photography-based installation, Six Stations of a Life Pursued, which is the final work of the late artist Vivan Sundaram, who died in 2023. This body of images, created in 2022, was first exhibited at the Sharjah Biennial 15 in 2023 as part of the artists project envisaged by the late Nigerian curator Okwui Enwezor under the theme, Thinking Historically in the Present. Though Sundaram died before the work was shown, this installation continues to travel and speak to people about the way we think of pain, endurance and testimony". This current exhibition is a collaboration between three galleries: Chemould Prescott Road, PHOTOINK and Vadehra Art Gallery.

Another series, Sutures, shows the backs of tortured figures, with barbs and wounds. Sutures, though essentially symbols of healing, become embodiments of violence inflicted on a figure in this series. Each stitch leaves behind memory of the trauma to be stored within the body. In her text about Six Stations of a Life Pursued, Sundarams partner and art historian-critic Geeta Kapur writes that in this composite work, the artist introduces different types of lived encounters. The wounded body with evidence of torture; mourning bodies in the realm of shadows; body as miasma floating on a city-lake; familial bodies in the mode of a charade; and, the incarcerated body that struggles to reclaim a way of being and represents the historical present: of a place, a nation, a territory, a people, a person"

Six Stations of a Life Pursued is emblematic of Sundarams practice. It delves into the archive of collective memory and chance encounters. It carries for ward his lifelong engagement with political and historical events in his practice from being a founder-trustee of SAHMAT (Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust) to calling on the Union Government in 2021 to reconsider the Central Vista redevelop ment plan. Like all his interdisciplinary works, such as Meanings of Failed Action: Insurrection 1946 (2017), co-created with Ashish Rajadhyaksha, this one rests on the cornerstone of collaboration. In an interview with Lounge, Kapur reflects on the genesis of Six Stations of a Life Pursued and how it stands as a metaphor for political construction in society today. Edited excerpts:

View Full Image 'Six Stations of a Life Pursued: Lake Sublime, Untitled III', 2019. Based on photograph by Yawar Nazir, photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan

When Sundaram was creating Six Stations of a Life Pursued, what was his state of mind?

His state of mind was anguished and resistant, and he shared it with me as always. He had three spinal surgeries from 2018-19; Six Stations of a Life Pursued was started immediately after being dis charged from hospital after the third surgery, a date that coincided with the decree of the government abrogating Article 370 (in Jammu and Kashmir) . Quite unexpectedly, Vivan took on his own bodily wounds" and unravelled a narrative that imagined a wounded citizenry. Over the next three years, he created a six-part narrative with subjective, allegorical and direct political imagery, thus staging an imagined survival under extreme personal and societal stress. He worked in his studio with his digital collaborators and showed the work to me in stages. We were pledged to be frank with our criticism at all stages, which could some times be harsh but was always productive.

Sundarams work was steeped in collaboration. How was this taken forth in Six Stations of a Life Pursued?

Vivans collaborative projects began in 1992 and took on many formsworking with technicians and fabricators in the material process; working conceptually with historians, writers and sociologists; with designers and digital artists; with filmmakers, critics, photographers; with theatre makers and actors; and of course with co-artists. I cannot think of many artists in India who have attempted this range of collaborations.

In this last work, he worked with photographer, Gireesh G.V., digital artist Hilal Ahmed, photographers Anita Khemka and Imran Kokiloo, and their daughters Aazha and Zaara, lights director Anay Mann, ironsmith Shamlal, and with the actor Harish Khanna. They were quite a team, and the process took three years, spanning 2020-22. The works were produced by photography-centred curator, Devika Daulet Singh, and exhibited in 2023 at Sharjah Biennial-15.

Also Read | Vivan Sundaram, a reteller of memories

View Full Image 'Six Stations of a Life Pursued: Shelter, Untitled V', 2022. Photographed by Imran Kokiloo, performed by Harish Khanna, lighting: Anay Mann, costume design: Pratima Pandey, structure: Shamlal Panchal

In this series, how has he used the wounds of the body as a metaphor for the suffering in society today?

Vivan was surprisingly forthright in presenting his wounded and stitched spine from a surgical procedure. But it would be unlike him to make this into a purely personal statement about pain and anguish. After a first set of images, he transformed not only the surface of the wounded back but stepped out and away from himself. He took up the proposition of embodiment and staged different narrative" sequenceswhat he called stations"of an imaginary journey. These included enacted tableaux within the studio, pictorial montages set in Kashmir. And, in a next sequence, a set of images that show life-size photographs of incarceration, of political acts of repression and possible torture, within nation-states in the world, including India.

What was the manner in which he envisaged the installation?

Vivan envisaged the installation as divided into distinct sections, but how it would be displayed would need to be a curatorial decision based on the space available. Sharjah Biennial offered a sequence of rooms that made for an accessible, room by-room narrative. Shireen Gandhys space at Chemould allows for an exhibition with passages, enclaves, partitions and secluded rooms. Devika Daulet Singh, who was involved in Vivans project from the beginning, displayed the work at Chemould so that the spectators itinerary was halted, delayed, spaced out, dramatised and added up to an allegorical journey.

This urge to revisit archives of memories, moments and documentary evidencebe it historical or personal was visible in his work. How did the archivist meet the artist and activist in his practice?

Thats a good way of putting it: archivist, artist and activist. I might add, by way of alliteration, Vivans traits resemble those of an anarchist. All these aspects make Vivans work diverse and at its best, dialecticala proposition and its contradiction; a negation and its reaffirmation; a provocation and its resolution. There was no consistency, no linear development" in his career as an artist. A disjunct ride over arts terrain, his practice was the pur pose, the result was a wager.

At Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai, till 16 October, 10am-6pm (Monday-Saturday).

Also Read | Vivan Sundaram: A man of all mediums
Within weeks of its release in 2022, Rishab Shettys Kannada film Kantara (Mystical Forest) became a pan-India hit. The narrative, rooted in local tradition, explored dynastic clashes and faith colliding with human greed. The film connected so strongly with audiences, that it spawned prequels (chapter 2 is set to follow). Where the earlier film was an unassuming, near-folk tale that blossomed into something both mythic and weighty, this prequel is undoubtedly far more confident, backed by a much larger budget that permits the creators sprawling vision to come alive on screen but propelled by the same passion. This is a super-sized filmthrilling in parts, sometimes overexerted.

The expansive and indulgent 168-minute long Kantara: A Legend Chapter 1 is set in the Kadamba period of Karnataka. It weaves together legend, politics and myth. The scale is immediately largerforests feel endless, temples tower over kingdoms, the chariots are larger, the songs and dances more grandiose and greed continues to collide with faith and folklore.

Shetty returns as writer, director and lead actor, playing Berme, a boy found in the forest and adopted by a woman from Kantara. At its core, the film tells the story of Berme, whose purpose gradually comes to light. But it is also a story of a tussle for supremacy that cannot be detached from the favour of deities. The peaceful and isolated hamlet of Kantara is feared and equally coveted by the rulers of Bangra. The Bangra royals are pitted against the people of Kantara, led by Berme, who fights for fairness, equality and faith. The forest dwellers rely on their native instincts and Daivas (deities) to counter the power, cruelty and black magic unleashed by Prince Kulashekara and King Rajashekara.

Central to this mythology is Bhoota Kola (spirit worship), the ritual dance that channels spirits like Panjurli, Guliga and Varaha (protectors of land and people). The mythic references are rich, drawn from Tulunadu folklore, but their narrative integration is not always seamless.

Arvind S. Kashyaps cinematography gives the forests, the fight scenes, the palaces and the ritual dances a palpable sense of life and frenzy. The score by B. Ajaneesh Loknath underlines the grandeur and tension, from thundering percussion during rituals to swelling strings in moments of awe. It is powerful, though occasionally overwhelming, and not as haunting as in the 2022 film. Production design, art direction, costumes, sound design and special effects buoy up the story.

Performances complement this spectacle. Shetty himself commands the screen with intensity, shifting easily between physical ferocity and spiritual fervour. Berme ties the sprawling narrative together and Shettys roar is still haunting, as his performance soars along with his craft.

As Princess Kanakavathi, Rukmini Vasanth glides through her role as a quiet but empowered royal, playing a character who believes that less is more. Supporting turns from Gulshan Devaiah as her brother Prince Kulashekara, intoxicated on drink and clout, and Jayaram as their father King Rajashekara lend texture to the feudal and dynastic struggles at the heart of the story.

What sets Chapter 1 apart is the scale of its set pieces. Massive battle sequences, ritual processions and elaborate depictions of divine possession are staged with detail, rich in colours and atmosphere. The choreography of both violence and dance is heightened and often mesmerising.

The first half spends stretches in world-building, layering history, ritual and politics. Its a breathless visual spectacle, loaded with concepts and commentary. The last 45 minutes, while packed with spectacle, are where the film unravels most. A temple dance number, striking in design, punctures the flow. The climactic battle is well staged but is a test of the viewers endurance. Even more puzzling are the sudden appearances of mythological creatures that dont always feel integral to the narrative.
In 2008, while living in Doha, artist M.F. Husain completed a sketch of a building, resplendent in blue, with waters of the Persian Gulf visible in the background. This was his blueprint for the M.F. Husain Art & Cinema Museuma vision which is finally coming to fruition in a country, which offered him citizenship and a home during the artists self-imposed exile from India.

Titled the Lawh Wa Qalam: M.F. Husain Museum, this space, covering 3000 square meters, is all set to open on 28 November within Qatar Foundations Education City. Being hailed as the worlds first and largest institution dedicated to tracing Husains artistic journey from the 1950s until his death", the museum has been designed by New Delhi-based architect Martand Khosla. He calls this an incredible opportunity, which allows him to be in conversation with the artist via the drawing that he left behind for his own museum. It has been a privilege to have engaged in this imagined architectural discourse with Husain (through our interpretation of his drawing) as a collaborator," states Khosla.

According to a note by the Qatar Foundationa non-prot organization which works towards sustainable human, social, and economic development of Qatarthe permanent collection at the museum will span paintings, films, tapestry, photography, poetry and installations. It will offer an immersive experience through multimedia storytelling. Some of the works on display will include a series of paintings inspired by the Arab civilisation and commissioned by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson, Qatar Foundation. 35 of these were completed by Husain before he passed away in 2011. His final masterpiece, Seeroo fi al ardh, about humanitys progress will be showcased as a dedicated gallery. It is an honor to present his work within a dedicated museum of this scalea space where audiences can engage deeply with his life, his art, and his enduring global legacy," says Kholoud M. Al-Ali, executive director, community engagement and programming, Qatar Foundation.
Its quite often that chef Kaushik Misra, the executive chef at Taj Mahal, New Delhi can be seen washing a set of plates reserved for dignitaries and royalty at the Chambers, the hotels exclusive business club. These are limited edition plates as only 100 of these exist all over the world," says Misra. Taj Mahal, New Delhi has 10 of them.

A classic Versace design with the iconic Medusa logo and a handcrafted, gold-plated pattern around the rim, each plate costs over 25,000, and was purchased more than 15 years ago for its exclusivity that went well with the vibe of the business club. I dont let anyone else near them. I wash these myself," says Misra, who spends as much time on plating as he does perfecting a recipe. Diners are looking at crockery in an articulate way. Its the canvas on which the food comes alive."

Gone are the days when serveware was an afterthought in restaurantsfrom staid-white plates in bone china and porcelain, its now moved to customised stoneware, bamboo and patterned beauties, which are works of art. Restaurateurs are willing to spend more, some even crores.

With a strong focus on visual appeal, and to make their dishes stand out on social media, chefs and restaurateurs are bringing back crockery from their trips abroad, visiting pottery workshops and manufacturing units, and waiting for over a year to have their customised designs in materials of their choice. People are not only eating with their mouths, theyre eating with their eyes and their phones," says Ashish Singh, COO and culinary director, Cafe Delhi Heights, a pan-India restaurant that has a dedicated team to source serveware.

Also Read | The new rules of plating food

Take Le Cirque at The Leela Palace, New Delhi, which shut down for a couple of years before re-launching earlier this month. Not many know that the plateswhite with a clown motif and tiny juggling ballsare a patented design for the restaurant since 1974, made by Bernardaud, the iconic 150-year-old porcelain brand from Italy.

In the hotels other restaurant Megu, the serveware is by Japanese brand Noritakean intricate pattern in red made with a liner brush. Many of our legacy restaurants dont change the design of crockery because it adds to the brands historicity," says director of food and beverage Asish Arora.

View Full Image An artisan at Sienna's Santiniketan workshop.

Shuli Ghosh, founder and creative director of Kolkata-based Sienna Store, which opened in 2015 and added a cafe and an eight-seater restaurant subsequently, remembers spending many sleepless nights to create four different types of mugs for the coffee chain Subko. One with a 24-carat gold decal detail in the interior rim took over a year to make. Ghosh started working closely with artisans in Santiniketan using natural pigments. From supplying their first order of 1,500-plus ceramic mugs to Subko three years ago, she now collaborates with five-star hotels, boutique properties and restaurants across the country.

Though still a very niche segment, many are willing to wait months," says Rohit Kulkarni, co-founder, The Curators of Clay, a Pune-based pottery studio that makes custom serveware for restaurants, including chef Prateek Sadhus Naar in Kasauli, chef Amninder Sandhus Bawri in Goa, Vicky Ratnanis Omny Kitchen in Gurugram, Ginkgo in Pune, and Bengalurus Navu Kitchen. Interestingly, for Navu Kitchen, Kulkarni and his business partner Bhairavi Naik came up with the idea of assembling broken pieces of crockery and perfecting them" to present it as brand new.

Additionally, many are scouring factories and workshops in Khurja, Morbi, Jamnagar, Puducherry, Moradabad, Jaipur, Coimbatore, and Chennai.

Chef-entrepreneur Tarun Sibal, who co-owns Titlie (Goa), Street Storyss (Bengaluru), and Khi Khi (Delhi), says the detailing of the serveware goes hand in hand with menu planning. We prepare a moodboard," he says, proceeding to show a detailed docket on which images of various products and shade cards are created. For one of the cocktails, for instance, Sibal had brass glassware customised in Moradabad with a floral motif in a blue-ish colour to match the colour of the drink.

They are also venturing into by-lanes of markets all over the world to bring back what restaurateur Sahil Sambhi calls storytelling". The founder and CEO of House of Yuvi, which has restaurants Japonico, Latango and Vietnom in the National Capital Region, besides Bawri (Goa), and Berlin (Indore), is travelling to Puducherry on a research trip with his team next week to identify pottery studios and manufacturers specialising in soapstone, for his soon-to-open restaurant Nadoo in Delhi.

Speaking of serveware as storytelling, Ikk Panjab (Delhi, Chandigarh) weaves in the story of nostalgia. For this, co-owners Rajan and Deepika Sethi had several discussions with brand Hitkari to customise the plates based on photographs of old crockery designs that were used in Rajans grandfathers house over five to six decades ago.

View Full Image Curators of Clay.

Food, art, and design always come together to evoke emotions," says Drasty Shah, founder, The Project Cafe, Goa, an art-forward" hotel housed in a renovated 150-year-old Portuguese Villa in Aldona. It hosts art exhibitions in its dining space that serves contemporary vegetarian cuisine. Shah spent months in Goan pottery studios with local artisans, explaining her brands design philosophy to create serveware in stoneware for the restaurant.

Others like Mirove Artisanal Kitchen, a Jaipur restaurant thats catching attention for its spectacular design inspired by Jantar Mantar, did a deep dive to understand the best materials for dinnerware, finalising on metal plates for its sustainable and recyclable value.

Serveware is no longer just about being functional. Today, its about sustainability, design, and the overall dining narrative. Since its the first point of contact with diners, it sets the stage for everything that follows," says Sonali Sharma, Miroves founder.

Serveware tells the story of restaurants by arriving on the table. For Diva Hospitalitys Atrangi, a year-old Michelin star restaurant in Dubai, crockery planning took almost a year. The brief to Delhi-based Clay Company was detailedhonouring grandmothers as fun, adventurous, and creative women. The result: a ceramic plate in abstract forms of womens faces with dreamy eyes in a colour palette of red, blue, and black. This is the first plate that comes to the table as part of the amuse bouche.

Is that art or food on the plate? You decide.

Also Read | The chef who changed fine dining, one restaurant at a time

Abhilasha Ojha is a Delhi-based art and culture writer.
An aerial drone photo taken on Oct. 3, 2025 shows tourists enjoying a molten iron fireworks show at a scenic area in Tancheng County of Linyi City, east China's Shandong Province. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Zhang Chunlei/Xinhua)

An aerial drone photo taken on Oct. 4, 2025 shows tourists enjoying the scenery on bamboo rafts along the Lijiang River in Yangshuo County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Liu Zheng/Xinhua)

Tourists visit Hetou ancient street scenic area in Tangshan, north China's Hebei Province, Oct. 3, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao)

Tourists wait for boats at a pier on Miaodao islet in Yantai, east China's Shandong Province, Oct. 3, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Zhu Zheng)

Tourists head to Miaodao islet by boat in Yantai, east China's Shandong Province, Oct. 3, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Zhu Zheng)

An aerial drone photo taken on Oct. 3, 2025 shows tourists visiting an ancient town in Zhenyuan County of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Guizhou Province. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Tai Shengzhi/Xinhua)

Children play with cats at a pet park in Xingtai, north China's Hebei Province, Oct. 4, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Zhang Chi/Xinhua)

Tourists visit an ancient town in Zhenyuan County of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Oct. 3, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Tai Shengzhi/Xinhua)

An actress performs for tourists on Hetou ancient street scenic area in Tangshan, north China's Hebei Province, Oct. 3, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao)

Children learn about cultural relics restoration techniques at Changsha Museum in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Oct. 4, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Xue Yuge)

A drone photo taken on Oct. 4, 2025 shows tourists at a scenic spot in Xinglong County of Chengde City, north China's Hebei Province. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Liu Mancang/Xinhua)

An aerial drone photo taken on Oct. 4, 2025 shows people visiting Longji terrace in Longsheng County of Guilin City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Liu Zhenjun/Xinhua)

People visit a market at Cuihu Park in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 3, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Li Xiyan)

People take selfies with a movie poster at a cinema in north China's Tianjin, Oct. 4, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Du Penghui/Xinhua)

Tourists enjoy performance at an ocean park in north China's Tianjin, Oct. 4, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Du Penghui/Xinhua)

People visit Hexia ancient town in Huai'an, east China's Jiangsu Province, Oct. 3, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Chen Qibao/Xinhua)

Tourists take bamboo rafts at a scenic area in Xuan'en County, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, central China's Hubei Province, Oct. 3, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Song Wen/Xinhua)

A drone photo taken on Oct. 4, 2025 shows tourists by the side of Dianchi Lake in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo)

People take pictures of exhibits displayed at Zhejiang Museum of Natural History in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Oct. 4, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Zhou Fangling/Xinhua)

A drone photo taken on Oct. 4, 2025 shows tourists enjoying view of sunflowers near Dianchi Lake in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo)

A tourist learns to draw mural patterns at a Dunhuang culture experience center in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 4, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Zhang Xiaoliang/Xinhua)

An aerial drone photo taken on Oct. 4, 2025 shows people visiting Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Shi Jun/Xinhua)

People visit the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 4, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

People visit an exhibition hall of a national cultural park featuring the Grand Canal in Huai'an, east China's Jiangsu Province, Oct. 4, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Chen Qibao/Xinhua)

A drone photo taken on Oct. 4, 2025 shows tourists experiencing Via Ferrata, a form of assisted climbing along steel cables and footholds anchored into cliff faces, at a scenic spot in Yueqing of east China's Zhejiang Province. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Cai Kuanyuan/Xinhua)

People pose for pictures among paddy fields in Qujing City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 4, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Sun Wenlai/Xinhua)

A mother and daughter read at Guangzhou Library in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 4, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin)

People visit Chongqing Natural History Museum in southwest China's Chongqing, Oct. 4, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Photo by Qin Tingfu/Xinhua)

People visit the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 4, 2025. Tourist destinations across China are witnessing a surge in visitors as the country's eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Li Xin)
The Oxford English Dictionary defines farmhouse as a house attached to a farm, especially the main house in which the farmer lives. In Delhi, however, the term has taken on a dramatically different meaning. Today, farmhouses refer to sprawling luxury estates owned by the citys affluent elite. Located in areas like Sainik Farm, Chhatarpur, Sultanpur and Mehrauli, these properties are far removed from agriculture and instead symbolize status, exclusivity and opulence.

As the city expanded in the 1950s, rural and forested areas in south Delhi became attractive for their proximity to the city centre. One such area that saw rapid development was next to Deoli village: Sainik Farm. In 1961, the Delhi Sainik Cooperative House Building Society introduced a scheme to allot subsidized land for defence personnel (hence the name sainik). Land was allotted through the 1970s and 1980s to veterans of the 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars to relieve them from mental agony and aid in their rehabilitation.

Originally spread across 161 acres and comprising 102 farm plots, within a decade, the area began attracting non-defence personnel due to its large plots and relatively low land prices. Soon enough, the character of the area started changing as private estates began appearing on agricultural land, circumventing several laws and regulations. In 1976, the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act sought to limit large landholdings, but Sainik Farm residents sidestepped these restrictions by claiming agricultural use.

In 1993, the Delhi government officially declared the area an unauthorized colony for violating the Delhi Master Plans zoning regulations. Despite repeated legal challenges, including a 2001 Supreme Court directive to demolish unauthorized constructions, the area remained untouched due to the influence of its affluent residents.

Today, Sainik Farm residents depend on private water tankers for water, generators for electricity and even have their own private lanes with security and barricades. While this is not very different from any other unauthorized colony of Delhi, what distinguishes Sainik Farm is the status of its residents. While neighbouring Sangam Vihar struggles with basic services and continues to campaign for regularization to avail state benefits, Sainik Farm thrives, as its elite residents exploit their free access to privatized resources....

Vivek Mishra, a PhD candidate at Bostons Northeastern University, is researching the unique situation of affluent unauthorized colonies, looking into their everyday practices and political groupings....

View Full Image 'Sheher Mein Gaon: Conflict, Culture and Change in the Urban Villages of Delhi': By Ekta Chauhan, Penguin Random House India, 224 pages,  399.

During our conversations, he described several unconstitutional, illegal and outlandish everyday practices in the area. For example, multiple signboards on the streets read No unauthorized vendors allowedboards put by the local RWAs (and there are multiple within Sainik Farm), despite having no regulatory or punitive powers to enforce restrictions on streets. Other examples include a toll on commercial vehicles, including autorickshaws; privately generated electricity through central generators; and a water levy for piped supply from central borewells for those who do not want to depend on tankers.

The residents are organized into various RWAs: while one faction does not want regularization, citing the incompetence of the government, another is fighting for authorization under the PM-UDAY scheme. The PM-UDAY (Prime Ministers Unauthorized Colonies in Delhi Awas Adhikar Yojana) was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in October 2019. It aims to regularize 1,731 unauthorized colonies (UCs) in Delhi by giving property ownership rights to residents living in these areas.

In December 2019, the Central government enacted the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Act aimed at granting ownership rights to residents of unauthorized colonies. While 1,797 unauthorized colonies were identified under the scheme, the sixty-nine affluent ones were notably excluded.

The stark contrast between Sangam Vihar and Sainik Farm can be seen in other ways. Satellite images clearly show the difference: one is a low-density, green enclave while the other is a densely packed sprawl, with barely any public areas and millions jostling for space. Independent French cartographer Perrin Remont aptly observes, In Delhi, money has a colour: its green. No, its not about the rupee notes, its about the trees. Just like most metro cities, but even more so in Delhi, wealthy and affluent neighbourhoods are considerably greener and dotted with trees providing a soothing urban environment as well as shade during the hottest months. But the greenest moments are kept between tall, heavily guarded and private walls.

While these two colonies share little, they have similar historic origins as both came up on agricultural land that once belonged to the same group of villages. As they rapidly expanded over the past few decades, Deoli next door was fighting for its identity and history....

The village was earlier known as Devalgarh. It was originally located in the Aravalli Ridge, in the area now occupied by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). Villagers collected firewood for domestic use and reared cattle for income. Around 200 years ago, the community moved to the plainsseeking fertile land and safety from dacoitssettling in its present location. Over time, the name Devalgarh evolved to Deoli. The villagers began cultivating the land that is now Sangam Vihar....

The village had expansive fields, but its residents lived in constant fear of dacoit attacks and harassment from nearby settlements. As a solution, many landowning families began inviting their dhevte (grandsons from daughters), especially from neighbouring Haryana, to stay with them. The village was initially composed of Singhal, Khartea and Mann Jats, and in the later waves of migration the Sanwan, Siwas and Bhure Jats also made the village their home. Today, the village is primarily composed of Jat and Brahmin landlords, along with other castes such as Nai, Kumhar, Jatav and Balmiki who were historically landless castes and largely remain so.

The village has had a tumultuous land acquisition journey. By the late 1960s, the agricultural land of neighbouring villages had already been acquired, raising fears that Deolis land would soon follow under the Land Acquisition Act of 1894, at rates much lower than market value. The village had a total of 7,333 acres of land, divided almost equally between forested land and irrigated land. By 1987, most of the village land had been notified under Section 4 (which signals the governments intent to acquire land for a public purpose, allowing it to survey the land and invite objections from the affected landowners) and Section 6 (a declaration of intent to acquire issued after considering objections to the Section 4 notification). The period between notification and actual possession by the state often spans several years, and this is when private players come into the picture, offering a much higher price to the farmers.

In pursuit of profit, landowners sold their holdings to the private developers, who almost overnight constructed temporary one-bedroom sets (illegal and unauthorized) and then sold them on, primarily to the citys many daily wage labourers, industrial workers and migrants.

Edited excerpt with permission from Penguin Random House India.
The ground rules for exploring prehistoric cave paintings are simple: If you come across any baby goats, you cannot pick one up and take home, no matter how cute.

My friend Milena continues sternly. It will be a huge hassle for Gustav to drive all the way back here to return it.

Gustav Imam, our guide to the tribal art of Hazaribag in Jharkhand, smiles.

Also gents toilet to the left, continues Milena. Ladies to the right.

Left on the hill slope means sal trees. Right is more sal trees. As we trot off in our respective directions into the forest, it occurs to me this art exploration trip was going to be rather different from a visit to the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Delhi.

I had first encountered the Sohrai folk art of Jharkhand at an NGMA show in Kolkata. The artist Putli Devi had filled an entire wall with the striking images of animals and birdsa striped serpent drinking milk from the udders of a cow, a mongoose attacking a snake, cats who seemed to be dancing holding hands. The animals painted in red, black, white and yellow were ordinary creatures but rendered fantastical by her artistry.

Thats when I heard that in villages near Hazaribag, the walls of the mud houses are covered with these images after harvests and before weddings. The pigments came from local soils like white kaolin clay and black manganese clay. The images were not so much painted as scratched into a layer of wet clay applied on the mud wall. The brushes were nothing more than broken combs. It sounded fascinating. It was one thing to see these paintings in a gallery. I wanted to see them in their natural habitat.

This is not the best time to see them, says Gustav apologetically when our group shows up at the Sanskriti museum of tribal art in Hazaribag late September. The pictures are all faded after the monsoon. The best time to see them is right after Diwali. Thats when the women (and its always women) of Adivasi tribes like Santhals, Oraons and Kurmis draw them afresh.

But there is another reason why this isnt the best time. Fewer and fewer houses have these drawings anymore. Where do I have the time? Tukni says while sitting with her granddaughter outside her house overlooking lush paddy fields in Bhelwara. Beautifully and intricately stitched blankets or ledra, artfully patched together from old saris, are sunning on a fence next to shirts and trousers. Her walls have geometric designs painted on them though they are somewhat faded by sun and rain. Tukni shrugs. We have fields to work, cows to take care of. Painting walls doesnt bring in any money.

Gustav tells the women he is trying to get funds from government training programmes. But you have to paint the houses, he remonstrates gently. Otherwise what will people come to see? Being an evangelist for this art form is in his blood. His father Bulu Imam, an environmental and cultural activist, is credited as the one who put the Sohrai and Khovar forms on the art map.

Sohrai celebrates the harvest festival with images of trees, animals and flowers. Khovar, linked to weddings, tends to feature fertility symbols and pictures of animals carrying their babies in their wombs, all scratched out in half-set white clay on black backgrounds.

Bulu has turned his home into a museum for these art forms. In his 80s now, he is still bubbling with stories. The Imams have a colourful history. Gustavs great-grandfather, Syed Hasan Imam, was a hugely successful barrister and former president of the Indian National Congress. Gustavs great-great-grandmother was a widow who married a Frenchman who rescued her from sati. Gustavs grandfather would take American tourists on tiger hunting expeditions for thousands of dollars.

Bulu himself hunted man-eaters and rogue elephants until he turned conservationist. In the 1990s he realised open mines were in the way of elephant corridors and a big Australian mining project was threatening to wreak environmental havoc in the area. When he stumbled upon the cave paintings of Isco near Hazaribag, he says Australian environmental activists told him, Why dont you use rock art as your form of protest? We did that with aboriginal art in Australia.

The art at Isco is breathtaking. Drawn with chalk and hematite mixed with blood and urine, it has survived for 10,000 years from the meso-chalcolithic periodgeometric patterns, humanoid figures that resemble spacemen, fish and horned animals like rhinoceroses. Bulu has written books that point out how the Sohrai and Khoval figures and motifs might trace their lineage back to cave paintings like these found in this area.

Isco was declared a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India in 2023. But this recognition has come with a price, says Gustav. The zeal to make it tourist-friendly and accessible has resulted in a concrete path being laid alongside the paintings. There were microliths in the soil all around there. Now they are buried forever under concrete, sighs Gustav.

But a different concrete problem threatens the art forms now. More and more Adivasis are abandoning their mud houses for concrete ones. Sohrai art got a GI tag in 2020 but its own future appears uncertain as the mud houses crumble.

Artist Rudan Devi of the Kurmi tribe leads us through muddy paths, past gently lowing cows to her home in Jorakhnath. Its walls are adorned with pictures of peacocks with feathered tails, prancing deer and elephants. A poster on the wall shows her receiving the Presidents Medal. Underneath it says Haath kho gaya, lekin kala jeevit hain (the hand was lost but the art survives). After losing her right hand about 10 years ago, Rudan now draws with her left hand.

She brings out rolls of paintings she has donea mother elephant with a baby inside her as if seen through an X-ray, a fawn suckling a doe, dancing peacocks. The art form that was once meant for walls is now being replicated on handmade paper so tourists like us can take it home. Traditionally its done with pigments made from soil but now many of them are using commercial paints though they stick to the traditional hues. Rudan is surprised that our group is less interested in the colourful ones. Those are good for fairs in Delhi and Jaipur, Gustav tells her. These people want the older kind.

Once upon a time the art was never meant to be for sale. It was a ritual way the women decorated their mud homes, the clay adding an extra layer of protection to the walls. But there is no reason they must continue to live in mud homes whose roofs and walls leak every monsoon for the aesthetic enjoyment of art aficionados. The Imams are trying to encourage the women to paint the same forms on their concrete houses as well so that the art isnt lost with the mud houses. But it makes one wonder what it really means to save an art form.

This art was not meant to last more than a season or two. Now its being replicated on paper and cloth so that it can be sold in the hope that it will provide an incentive to the artists to continue with it. But perhaps that adds its own complications. As Rudan rolls up a drawing of her signature one-eared elephant which someone in our group has bought, I am sure if I come back a few months later, she will have another one ready and it makes us wonder if we are inadvertently pushing her to make the images she knows will sell to city-slicker art collectors.

On our way out of the village we visit another artist, Malo Devi. Inside her home she has drawn a magnificent tiger with curious spiky orbs inside it. Its her signature tiger, Gustav tells us, just as Rudan has her signature elephant. As we leave the house I notice that on the wall outside, far more visible to passersby, is another tiger.

But this one is an advertisement for SEL TigerTMT Bars.

Cult Friction is a fortnightly column on issues we keep rubbing up against.

Sandip Roy is a writer, journalist and radio host. He posts @sandipr

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BENGALURU : US President Donald Trumps decision to raise the H-1B visa fee for new applicants has hit a legal hurdle, and it is not from the information technology sector, which accounts for most of these visas.

At least nine complainants, including employee unions from sectors such as healthcare, education, agriculture, automobile, and aerospace, have filed a complaint through seven law firms in a California court against Trumps order, requesting that the court deem the proclamation unlawful and process H-1B visas in accordance with existing laws.

The law firms are Justice Action Centre, Democracy Forward Foundation, Kuck Baxter Llc, South Asian American Justice Collaborative, Joseph & Hall, P.C., Bless Litigation Llc, and Siskind Susser.

On 19 September, Trump issued a presidential proclamation, Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, mandating a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa petitionspart of his administrations effort to address alleged misuse of the programme. The measure does not apply to existing H-1B holders or renewals.

The complainants, led by Global Nurse Force, a California-based healthcare business that provides nurses to hospitals across the US, called the move illegal.

Defendants abrupt imposition of the $100,000 requirement is unlawful. The President has no authority to unilaterally alter the comprehensive statutory scheme created by Congress. Most fundamentally, the President has no authority to unilaterally impose fees, taxes, or other mechanisms to generate revenue for the US, nor to dictate how those funds are spent," read the complaint.

The complaint said Trump exercised power he does not have. The Constitution assigns the power of the purse to Congress, as one of its most fundamental premises. Here, the President disregarded those limitations, asserted power he does not have, and displaced a complex, Congressionally specified system for evaluating petitions and granting H-1B visas," added the complaint.

The complainants said the proclamation opens the floodgates to corruption.

The proclamation transforms the H-1B programme into one where employers must either pay to play or seek a national interest exemption, which will be doled out at the discretion of the secretary of homeland security, a system that opens the door to selective enforcement and corruption," said the complaint.

They also said the government failed to consider the economic harm that the visa curbs would cause.

The government failed to consider how extorting exorbitant fees will stifle innovation. The government failed to consider the harm to hospitals, churches, schools, universities, small businesses, and non-profits, or how the fee would harm communities across the nation. Indeed, economic data and studies confirm that the new $100,000 requirement will harm, not help, the US economy and workers and their families in the US," read the complaint.

Questions were also raised on the orders claims of threats to national security.

The proclamation claims, without evidence or explication, that abuses of the H-1B programme are so serious as to be a threat to national security. But the governments own enforcement reflects otherwise," said the complaint, stating that the US department of labour is charged with investigating fraud and abuse when an employer applies for the H-1B visa.

Also Read | H-1B setback threatens the American dream for Indian students

They added that the labour department maintains a database of companies that abused the H-1B programme and are banned from it. For now, there are just eight companies on this list and only two were added in 2025, while tens of thousands of employers have used this programme in recent years".

Sectors that benefit from H-1B

Most H-1B visas are snapped up by IT companies. Seven of the 10 largest users of these visas are technology firms, including Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., according to data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The top 10 users accounted for 36,737 visas, more than half of the total number of H-1B visas issued in 2024-25, as of June 30. The US government follows a fiscal calendar from October to September.

Other sectors, including education and healthcare, also benefit from the visa, which allows foreigners to take on specialised roles in the US on a temporary basis. However, a profession-wise breakdown is not available for H-1B visa use.

The H-1B visa programme is a critical pathway to hiring educators and healthcare workerstwo categories in high demand in the USwho comprise 10% of all H-1B workers," the complaint claimed.

Even religious organisations are using the H-1B visa, as it allows them to retain priests and pastors who possess the language skills, cultural competency, and religious training needed to minister to underserved populations, including poor refugee and migrant communities and economically distressed Appalachian communities".

The unions said these visas are beneficial for the economy in the long run, as the programme drives innovation and economic growth in the US. It allows employers to fill labour shortages in specialized fields and encourages workers to invest additional dollars in the US economy. It supports immigrants in creating new businesses that expand the US labour market".

Unlawful use

The lawsuit stated that the Immigration and Nationality Law acts as a watchdog in preventing unlawful use of H-1B visas.

The Congress sets numerical limits on the annual number of H-1B workers, except for those employed by higher education or research institutions, who are exempt from the statutory cap" on the number of visas available per fiscal year, according to the complaint.

Currently, 65,000 H-1B visas are allowed, with an additional 20,000 available for individuals who have earned a masters or higher degree from a US institution of higher learning.

H-1B employees also tend to receive higher salaries than those in similar roles. This prevailing wage requirement is designed to ensure that employers cannot undercut the US labour market by hiring H-1B workers and paying them lower wages than those typical for their job in the US labour market," said the lawsuit.

While filing for an H-1B application, employers must state that placing an H-1B worker will not result in the displacement of an American worker. Any employer misusing the visa programme will face orders and might have to pay back wages, civil monetary fines, and debarment, among other penalties. A debarred employer is prohibited from receiving approval for future H-1B petitions and other employment-based visa petitions".

Application process

To apply for an H-1B status for a worker, employers must first register the prospective employees in an annual lottery that is generally held in March of each year. The employer must petition for an H-1B employee by first submitting a Labour Condition Application to the labour department, which reviews and certifies it within a week.

After the close of the registration period, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) performs a computer-generated lottery selection and then notifies those petitioners whose registrations were selected.

On the other hand, cap-exempt employers are not required to register or participate in the annual lottery; however, they must establish, to the satisfaction of USCIS, their cap-exempt status. They can file petitions directly and are not limited to filing on a particular cycle.

On average, employers would have to pay $7,595 for the visa, according to the complaint.

Political campaign against H-1B

On 30 September, Tom Cotton, a Republican senator from Arkansas, introduced the Visa Cap Enforcement Bill in the US Senate, aiming to strip colleges, non-profits and research institutes of their long-standing exemption from annual H-1B visa limits.

Almost a week prior, on 24 September, Republican senator Charles E. Grassley and Democratic senator Richard J. Durbin targeted several companies, including TCS and Cognizant, over their hiring practices.

Both senators wrote a joint letter to K. Krithivasan and S. Ravi Kumar, chief executives of TCS and Cognizant, respectively, seeking responses on the claims of race-based discrimination and substituting American workers with low-cost H-1B employees.

Earlier in September, Ohio senator Bernie Moreno proposed the Halting International Relocation of Employees (HIRE) Act to increase taxes on companies that hire offshore employees from their IT vendors.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has announced a complete waiver of charges for the mandatory biometric updates (MBU) of Aadhaar for children. This move, effective from 1 October and lasting for one year, is a "pro-people measure" expected to benefit approximately six crore children, according to an official statement released on Saturday.

As per existing rules, therefore, fingerprints, iris and photo are mandatorily required to be updated in his/her Aadhaar when the child reaches the age of five years. This is called first Mandatory Biometric Update (MBU). Similarly, a child is required to update biometrics once again upon reaching the age of 15 years, which is referred to as the second MBU, the UIDAI said.

Aadhaar with updated biometric facilitates ease of living and ensures seamless usage of Aadhaar in availing services such as school admissions, registering for entrance examinations, availing benefits of scholarships, DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) schemes, etc wherever applicable. Parents/ guardians are advised to update biometrics of their children/wards in Aadhaar, on priority, it added.

Also Read | Bihar SIR: SC asks Election Commission to consider Aadhaar as valid voter ID

Why the biometric update is needed When a child under the age of five is enrolled for Aadhaar, their photograph, name, date of birth, gender, address, and birth certificate are recorded. However, their fingerprints and iris biometrics are not captured because these features are not fully developed at such a young age.

Existing rules mandate that children's fingerprints, iris scans, and photograph must be updated twice during their childhood:

1. The first mandatory update is required after the child reaches the age of five years.

2. The second update is required to be done between the ages of 15 and 17 years.

Also Read | Aadhaar: Digital foresight gave India its identity leadership

New fee waiver Previously, these crucial updates were allowed without any fee for children aged 57 years and those in the 1517 age group. However, a fee of 125 per MBU was charged thereafter.
In a major development, the Union government has lifted the ban on the export of de-oiled rice bran, effective immediately. The move is expected to benefit the rice milling and solvent extraction industry by opening export opportunities. It will also benefit farmers and enhance rice bran processing, resulting in increased production of rice bran oil and import substitution.

According to a notification dated 3 October, by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the export policy of de-oiled rice bran has been changed from Prohibited to Free with immediate effect.

Also Read | Goyal eyes overseas visits to push export agenda

The export of de-oiled rice bran has been in force from 28 July 2023 till 30 September 2025. According to the industry, prior to the ban, India used to export five to six lakh tonnes of de-oiled rice bran, valued at 1,000 crore per annum, mainly to Vietnam, Thailand, and other Asian countries. India was positioned as a reliable supplier in the international market. The lifting of the ban is expected to benefit the industry, farmers, and Indias agri-trade.

We sincerely appreciate the proactive intervention of the government in addressing this long-pending demand of the industry," said Sanjeev Asthana, president, The Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA).

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The move is expected to benefit the rice milling and solvent extraction industry, particularly in eastern India, with the opening of export opportunities, while also aiding farmers and processors in securing better realisation for by-products of rice bran.

Once again, this will absolutely help boost Indias agro-processing exports and strengthen the countrys reputation as a reliable supplier to global feed markets," adds Dr B.V. Mehta, ED, SEA.

Industry concerns, impact of earlier ban

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other relevant ministries on 28 August, SEA expressed concern that the prices of de-oiled rice bran would further decline if exports were not permitted. On 28 August, the prices of de-oiled rice bran were reported to be as low as 10,000 to 11,000 per tonne, according to SEA.

Also Read | RBI announces measures to help exporters

After covid ended in the latter half of 2022, market demand for all commodities went up sharply due to pent-up demand and factors like logistics, production disruption, etc. Furthermore, pressure on the supply chain resulted in higher prices of all food grains, pulses, metals, chemicals, and all commodities across the chain. Even housing demand rose sharply, accompanied by a significant increase in prices. The original objective of the export ban was to control rising feed costs and stabilise milk prices.

However, according to SEA, the ban has led to severe economic and operational setbacks across the value chain, especially for those associated with the rice milling and rice bran extraction sector, as the prices of meal nosedived.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday issued a yellow alert for heavy rain and thunderstorms over several districts of Maharashtra ahead of Cyclone Shakhti.

Under the influence of the cyclonic storm, sea conditions are likely to be rough to very rough along and off the Gujarat-North Maharashtra coast until Sunday.

Check Maharashtra districts under yellow alert? The weather agency has predicted thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and rainfall for Saturday, October 4, over the following districts:

Sindhudurg

Ahilyanagar

Ghats of Kolhapur

Kolhapur

Sangli

Sholapur

Parbhani

Beed

Hingoli

Nanded

Latur

Dharashiv

Bhandara

Nagpur

Yavatmal

Wind speeds of 30-40 kilometres per hour are expected over these districts.

For Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, and Gondia, the IMD has issued a yellow alert for two days  Saturday and Sunday.

Impact Expected: According to the Met Department, the thunderstorm warning in the aforementioned districts may have the following impact:

 Possibility of cloud-to-ground lightning at isolated places.

 Fall of weak trees or weak structures due to gusty winds.

 Localised and short-term disruption of power.

 Damage to crops due to unseasonal rainfall.

 Strong wind/hail may damage the plantation, horticulture, and standing crops.

 Minor damage to kutcha houses/walls and huts.

The IMD advises against working in open areas and fields during thunderstorms and recommends not taking shelter under tall trees or structures. It is also recommended to unplug all electronic appliances and keep them away from objects that conduct electricity.

The weather office has warned fishermen not to venture into the northwest Arabian Sea, the adjoining areas of the northeast Arabian Sea, the central Arabian Sea, and along and off the Gujarat-north Maharashtra coasts until Tuesday.

About Cyclone Shakhti Cyclone Shakhti is the first cyclonic storm of the post-monsoon season in the Arabian Sea, which is churning up the sea, packing a wind speed of 100 kmph and gusting, officials said.

Shakhti, which has intensified into a severe cyclonic storm, was moving further into the Arabian Sea and lay centred about 420 km away from Dwarka in Gujarat, the weather office said.

It is likely to move west-southwestwards and reach the northwest and adjoining west-central Arabian Sea by Sunday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, adding that Shakhti will recurve and move east-northeastwards from Monday morning, weakening gradually.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a heavy rain alert on Sunday for several districts across the country, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu, due to Cyclone Shakti, effective from October 3 to 7.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall with possibility of exceptionally heavy rainfall likely over North Bihar & extremely heavy rainfall over East Uttar Pradesh & Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, the Met Department said in its daily forecast report.

It also said that a well-marked low-pressure area will bring heavy to very heavy rainfall in sub-Himalayan West Bengal until Monday morning, while issuing a red warning for the sub-Himalayan districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, and Alipurduar.

Also Read | Cyclone Shakti: IMD issues yellow alert for THESE Maharashtra districts

The weather agency stated that one or two areas in these districts are likely to experience extremely heavy rainfall until Sunday morning, which is expected to continue in Alipurduar until Monday morning.

Light to moderate rainfall is likely at most places in these districts till Monday morning, the IMD said in a bulletin.

The well-marked low-pressure over west Jharkhand and adjoining areas of south Bihar, southeast Uttar Pradesh and north Chhattisgarh is likely to move north-northeastwards towards Bihar, and weaken gradually into a low-pressure area by Saturday evening, it said.

Also Read | Cyclone Shakti live updates: Maharashtra districts remain on hook

At most places in South Bengal, light to moderate rain is forecast, with heavy rainfall expected in Murshidabad, Birbhum, and Nadia districts until Monday morning.

The Meteorological Department also issued a weather alert for several districts in Tamil Nadu due to a cyclonic circulation, stating that it is expected to bring moderate to heavy rainfall.

The districts under warning with heavy rain include Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram, Ranipet, Vellore, Tirupattur, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Perambalur, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Pudukottai, Kallakurichi, Salem, Tiruvannamalai.

In a message on X, the Meteorological Centre Chennai lists the following areas: Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Erode, Karur, Krishnagiri, Madurai, Namakkal, Perambalur, Pudukkottai, Salem, Sivaganga, Tiruchirapalli, Tirupathur, Tiruvannamalai, and Vellore districts of Tamil Nadu.

Maharashtra, Mumbai weather forecast The Meteorological Department has issued a warning for some districts of Maharashtra between October 3 and 7.

According to the release, the warning covers Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg.

The wind speed, reaching 45-55 kmph and gusting to 65 kmph, is likely to prevail over the North Maharashtra coast between October 3 and 5.

The wind speed may increase depending on the cyclone's intensity. The Sea conditions are very rough, with rough seas expected along the northern Maharashtra coast until October 5.

Weather alert for Northwest India: The IMD has predicted isolated extremely heavy rainfall over Northwest India from October 5 to 7.

Isolated heavy rainfall is also likely over Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Rajasthan on October 5 and 6.

The weather agency has also predicted very heavy rainfall over Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi on October 6 and 7.

Isolated heavy rain/snow has also been forecast for Uttarakhand on October 6 and 7.

Delhi weather forecast The weather agency said that the national capital will experience a generally cloudy sky from October 5 to 7, with a spell of rain accompanied by thunderstorms/lightning towards evening/night.
A Nagpur hotelier and his wife were tragically killed in a road accident in Italy on the final day of their holiday, with their three children sustaining injuries, one of whom remains in a critical condition. The devastating incident occurred on 2 October.

Javed Akhtar (57) and his wife Nadira Gulshan, along with their daughters Arzoo Akhtar (22) and Shifa Akhtar (18) and son Jazel Akhtar (15), all residents of Civil Lines in Nagpur were on a ten-day tour of Italy and France.

Iqbal Azmi, a relative and retired deputy superintendent of police, told PTI, "Their 9-seater taxi collided with another vehicle in Grosseto, Tuscany, on the morning of 2 October. Javed and Nadira died, while Arzoo is critically injured. She has undergone an operation and is currently unconscious. Shifa and Jazel also sustained injuries."

Azmi added: "We managed to speak with Shifa over a video call. Two of our relatives have now flown to Italy. The Maharashtra administration and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis are assisting us with the necessary arrangements." The family owns the Gulshan Plaza hotel in Nagpur, and the accident took place on what was meant to be the last day of their trip.

Confirming the developments, Nagpur Collector Vipin Itankar stated that officials are in contact with the Indian Embassy in Italy to coordinate the repatriation of the bodies. District officials have also visited the home of the deceased.

Indian Embassy providing assistance The Indian Embassy in Italy conveyed condolences for the Nagpur couple's deaths and said it is providing assistance to their family.

In a social media post on X, the Embassy said, "The Embassy conveys its heartfelt and sincere condolences for the tragic loss of two Indian nationals from Nagpur in an accident near Grosseto. Our prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured family members who are undergoing treatment. The Embassy is in contact with the family and local Italian authorities. We are providing all assistance to the family."

A Nagpur hotelier and his wife were tragically killed in a road accident in Italy on the final day of their holiday, with their three children sustaining injuries, one of whom remains in a critical condition. The devastating incident occurred on 2 October.

Javed Akhtar (57) and his wife Nadira Gulshan, along with their daughters Arzoo Akhtar (22) and Shifa Akhtar (18) and son Jazel Akhtar (15), all residents of Civil Lines in Nagpur were on a ten-day tour of Italy and France.

Iqbal Azmi, a relative and retired deputy superintendent of police, told PTI: "Their 9-seater taxi collided with another vehicle in Grosseto, Tuscany, on the morning of 2 October. Javed and Nadira died, while Arzoo is critically injured. She has undergone an operation and is currently unconscious. Shifa and Jazel also sustained injuries."

Azmi added: "We managed to speak with Shifa over a video call. Two of our relatives have now flown to Italy. The Maharashtra administration and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis are assisting us with the necessary arrangements." The family owns the Gulshan Plaza hotel in Nagpur, and the accident took place on what was meant to be the last day of their trip.

Confirming the developments, Nagpur Collector Vipin Itankar stated that officials are in contact with the Indian Embassy in Italy to coordinate the repatriation of the bodies. District officials have also visited the home of the deceased.

Indian Embassy providing assistance The Indian Embassy in Italy conveyed condolences for the Nagpur couple's deaths and said it is providing assistance to their family.

In a social media post on X, the Embassy said: "The Embassy conveys its heartfelt and sincere condolences for the tragic loss of two Indian nationals from Nagpur in an accident near Grosseto. Our prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured family members who are undergoing treatment. The Embassy is in contact with the family and local Italian authorities. We are providing all assistance to the family."

According to media reports, the Nagpur couple were among three people killed in the accident that involved a van and a minibus. It is understood that the collision took place after a truck rammed the broken-down van. The minibus driver and the couple died on the spot.

Jazel dialled the local helpline number when he regained consciousness after the crash.

However, the help arrived late for the victims. The injured were eventually retrieved from the wrecked vehicles by two fire department teams, reported Italien.News.
Months after India's Operation Sindoor to counter terrorism, a Pakistani drone was spotted flying over a forward village located in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district, officials on Saturday informed PTI. Hovering along the International Border, the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle prompted security alert.

As per the report, the drone-like object was seen approaching from the Shehbaz Sharif ruled country. The UAV triggered alarm in the border belt after it was seen hovering over Nanga village in the Ramgarh sector on October 3, Friday, night.

Also Read | IAF chief BIG reveal: India downed 5 Pakistani fighter jets in Op Sindoor

Security was tightened to ensure that there was no airdropping of any payload like narcotics and weapons from across the border. Security forces and police teams were promptly deployed, according to officials. Security has been beefed up in the location where the drone was spotted and in the adjoining villages as a precautionary measure. The search operation to find the UAV is underway.

This incident was reported on the same day Army chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi issued a stern warning to Pakistan against terrorist activities in India. Asserting that India would not show any restraint in Operation Sindoor 2.0, he said, India is fully prepared this time. We will not show the restraint we exhibited during Operation Sindoor 1.0. This time, the action will be such that perhaps Pakistan will have to think whether it wants to exist geographically. If Pakistan wants to continue with its position in geography, it should stop its state-sponsored terrorism, ANI reported.

Mission Sudarshan Chakra The Indian Army on October 4 issued a tender to purchase six AK-630 30mm guns from a state-owned firm. Mission Sudarshan Chakra is a national security initiative that aims to provide protection to population centres and centres of faith sharing border with Pakistan. It aims to develop a comprehensive, multi-layered, indigenous defence system by 2035.

To protect key installations from various enemy attacks, Mission Sudarshan Chakra was announced on India's Independence Day by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which aims to integrate surveillance, cyber security and air defence systems.

It is important to note that Indian Army's Air Defence played a key role in thwarting Pakistani aerial attacks with the help of drones and aircraft during Operation Sindoor.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court slammed Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) as the court rejected the anticipatory bail applications submitted by Anand, General Secretary of TVK and CTR Nirmalkumar, the party's Joint Secretary, in connection with the Karur stampede incident that claimed 41 lives and left around 100 injured, ANI reported. Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin assured that the "investigation will bring out the full truth".

The judge questioned TVK's inability to manage the crowd, drawing attention to the disorderly conduct of the party members, which included acts of vandalism and damage to public property during party chief Vijay's roadshow, the report noted.

In addition, Government Advocate S. Santhosh submitted nine First Information Reports (FIRs) filed against party members, including the district secretary, relating to the damage caused to public property, and opposed the request for anticipatory bail.

While addressing the media in Madurai, Advocate ML Ravi said that a petition had been filed requesting the transfer of the investigation to the CBI to ensure a fair and impartial inquiry. However, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court rejected the plea.

The Court constituted a Inspector-General of Police (North) Asra Garg led Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the stampede that occurred during actor-politician Vijays rally in Karur district.

Also Read | TVK leader booked for controversial Gen-Z post after 41 killed in Karur stampede

The order was issued during the hearing of four Public Interest Litigations (PILs) that called for the formulation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for managing large gatherings, aiming to prevent tragedies like the recent stampede in Karur.

The government also assured the Court that no public meetings would be allowed on state and national highways except in designated areas until the SOPs are established.

Meanwhile, CM MK Stalin on Saturday conveyed profound sorrow over the recent tragedy in Karur and assured that the state government is committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure accountability and prevent such incidents in the future.

Accountability will be ensured at every level Stalin said, Tamil Nadu government is treating all the observations and directions issued by the Honourable High Court regarding the Karur tragedy with the utmost seriousness. We are all deeply shaken by the sorrowful events in Karur. I feel great anguish for every family suffering the loss of a loved one and share in their tears and pain.

He added, A Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted under the orders of the Honourable High Court, will commence its inquiry. As the Chief Minister of the state, I assure the people that this investigation will bring out the full truth. Accountability will be ensured at every level.
ISTANBUL, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A total of 137 activists, including 36 Turkish nationals who had been detained by Israel for taking part in the Global Sumud Flotilla, an aid mission bound for Gaza, were flown to Turkiye on Saturday.

The Turkish Airlines flight carrying the activists departed from Ramon Airport in Israel's southern city of Eilat and landed at Istanbul Airport at 3:50 p.m. local time (1250 GMT), where they were received by officials and a large crowd.

According to the state-run TRT broadcaster, the activists will undergo health checks and will also be taken to the Istanbul Police Department to give statements as part of an investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into the detention of Turkish citizens in international waters following Israel's interception of the flotilla.

Foreign ministry sources confirmed that among those returning were citizens of the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Switzerland, Tunisia, and Jordan.

The flotilla -- comprising 42 vessels and more than 400 volunteers from over 40 countries -- set sail in August to challenge Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and deliver vital humanitarian aid, including food and medical supplies.

However, Israeli forces intercepted all the vessels in international waters.

Israel imposed a naval blockade on Gaza in 2007 after Hamas seized control of the enclave. The restrictions were further tightened following Hamas's cross-border assault into southern Israel in October 2023. 
Three women died while a man was injured after being knocked down by a speeding Baleno car in Uttar Pradeshs Ghaziabad on Saturday during their morning walk, police said. The accident occurred near Rakesh Marg on GT Road around 6 am, when the overspeeding car hit Vipin Sharma (47) from Shtam Vihar Colony, and Meenu Prajapati (56), Kamlesh (55), and Savitri Devi (60), residents of New Kotgaon in the Kotwali area.

The driver fled the scene, leaving behind his badly damaged white car. The front portion of the vehicle was heavily crushed, with the bonnet crumpled upwards and the bumper broken off. The license plate with a UP registration number was bent, the headlights shattered, and the windshield cracked.

Police said the car came to a stop after ramming into the central verge of GT Road around 5:30 am.

The driver of the car fled the spot soon after. We have seized the car and will soon trace the driver; besides, legal action will also be initiated. Two women were declared dead on arrival by the hospital, while the third died during treatment, assistant commissioner of police (ACP) of Nandgram Circle, Upasana Pandey told HT.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination, and efforts are on to trace and arrest the accused driver.

3 women killed, 1 injured in hit-and-run in Ghaziabad.

According to police, the vehicle halted after hitting the central verge of GT Road at about 5:30 am. The car was probably speeding, but we will check any CCTVs to know the exact cause of the incident. A search is on to trace the driver. The airbags of the car opened during the accident. So, it is possible that the driver did not sustain many injuries, station house officer (SHO) of Sihani Gate police station Sachin Kumar said.

Delhi BMW Accident The incident comes on the heels of Delhis infamous BMW case involving the death of a Finance Ministry official.

That road accident took place in the Dhaula Kuan area last month, where Gaganpreet Kaur allegedly rammed her BMW into a motorcycle, causing critical injuries and the subsequent death of senior Ministry of Finance officer Navjot Singh, while also leaving his wife grievously injured.

However, last week a Delhi court granted bail to the accused driver, Gaganpreet Kaur, and criticised the actions of an ambulance driver who failed to help the victims despite reaching the spot within minutes of the incident.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal hailed the completion of 25 years of the India-Russia strategic partnership on Friday, saying that both countries enjoy a "special, privileged strategic partnership."

While addressing the weekly MEA briefing, Jaiswal stated that "Today is a special day, 3rd of October. On 3rd October 2000, we established the India-Russia Strategic Partnership. Today, we are celebrating 25 years of this special partnership."

"India and Russia enjoy a special and privileged strategic partnership. We look forward to strengthening these ties and want to enhance each and every segment we are working on together, including trade issues, economic issues, investment issues, defence relations, and science and technology," he added.

Further, Jaiswal noted that "both sides are committed," and India looks forward to strengthening our economic ties. We look forward to further building on our ties with Russia."

Jaiswal's comments came as India and Russia are finalising dates for Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India, which is expected to take place in early December, sources said.

Earlier in the day, Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov highlighted the 25th anniversary of the India-Russia strategic partnership.

In a post on X, Alipov said, "On October 3, 2000, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee signed the declaration on strategic partnership, which opened a new chapter in bilateral relations. Today we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of this historic declaration."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also expected to visit India before President Putin's visit to prepare for the summit and discuss bilateral issues.

Putin on India ties, PM Modi Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (local time) hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, calling him a "wise leader" and stating that PM Modi thinks first about his country, according to Russia Today.

Putin was speaking at the plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi and mentioned that India and Russia both share a "special" relationship.
Britain Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit India on Wednesday, October 8  marking his first official visit to the nation. He and PM Narendra Modi will also attend the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai and deliver keynote addresses, the MEA said on Saturday.

PM Keir Starmer's visit to India: What's on the agenda? During the visit, on October 9 in Mumbai, the two Prime Ministers will take stock of progress of various aspects of India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in line with Vision 2035'.

Both leaders will also engage with businesses and industry leaders on the opportunities presented by the IndiaUK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

Besides delivering the keynoted addresses at the 6th edition of the Global Fintech Fest, the leaders will also engage with industry experts, policymakers and innovators, said the MEA.

Earlier, Politico quoted an Indian official stating that the visit will be on fintech, tech-related partnerships and the India-UK FTA. The visit will build on the momentum and substance generated by the visit of Prime Minister Modi to the UK on 2324 July 2025. It will provide a valuable opportunity to reaffirm the shared vision of India and the United Kingdom to build a forward-looking partnership, the Ministry of External Affairs noted.

India-UK FTA India and the UK had concluded negotiations for the free trade agreement on May 6 after more than two years of talks. On July 24, commerce minister Piyush Goyal and his British counterpart Jonathan Reynolds in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British prime minister Keir Starmer, signed the deal.
The deadline to register for Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025 is today, October 6. Students from classes 612 can apply now at vbb.mic.gov.in to join Indias biggest school innovation challenge. The Union Ministry of Education launched the Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025 in collaboration with the Atal Innovation Mission and the Niti Aayog for students on 4 October.

Themes: As per the press release by the Ministry of Education, this year students will work around four themes:

Atmanirbhar Bharat  building self-reliant systems and solutions 2. Swadeshi  fostering indigenous ideas and innovation

3. Vocal for Local  promoting local products, crafts, and resources

4. Samriddhi  creating pathways to prosperity and sustainable growth

Key features of Buildathon 1. Students will be innovating together at what is being projected as the world's largest innovation acitivity.

2. Students will also be able to get a practical experience in line with the National Education Policy, 2020.

3. The event will be an inclusive affair, with special focus being given to tribal and remote regions as well as India's aspirational districts.

Registration, submission, and timeline of events 1. Registrations were opened on September 23 and will go on till October 6, 2025.

2. October 6 to 12 has been allotted for preparatory activities for the students.

3. The nationwide Live Buildathon will take place across Indian schools on October 13.

4. Schools will submit entries from October 13 to October 31 to the Education department.

5. November will be the time to evaluate the entries,

6. The list of top winners will be announced in December.

How to apply Students willing to participate have to apply online through their schools. The registration process began on September 23 and will remain open till October 6. There are no costs involved.

The schools have to create teams of students where there should be five to seven members. They have to submit their ideas or protypes in the form of photographs or videos. All teams that participate in the event will be receiving digital participation certificates from the Ministry of Education.

Eligibility criteria There are some eligibility criteria laid down by the ministry for uniform participation:

1. Each team should have five to seven members

2. There can be more than one team from a particular school.

3. Teachers will serve as mentors and will be guiding the students during the period.

4. Entries have to be in the form of concept work, working models, or prototypes.
H-1B Visa Fee hike: A broad coalition of unions, employers and religious groups has filed a lawsuit in San Francisco, challenging President Donald Trumps unprecedented attempt to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers.

The case, lodged in federal court on Friday, marks the first legal battle against Trumps proclamation on H-1B visa fee announced two weeks earlier. The move is the latest in a series of aggressive steps by the US president to restrict immigration into the United States.

Also Read | US targets universities in major H-1B visa overhaul

H-1B Visa Fee Hike: Who is suing Trump administration? The plaintiffs span multiple sectors, underscoring the wide-ranging impact of the order. They include the United Auto Workers union, the American Association of University Professors, a nurse recruitment agency and several religious organisations.

Together, they argue that the president has overstepped his authority. His power to block certain foreign nationals, they contend, does not extend to rewriting the law that created the H-1B visa system.

The Proclamation transforms the H-1B program into one where employers must either pay to play or seek a national interest exemption, which will be doled out at the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security, a system that opens the door to selective enforcement and corruption, the lawsuit said.

H-1B Visa Fee Hike: What has White House said? White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended the Trump administrations approach, insisting the order was within the law.

She said the move was aimed at discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down American wages, while providing certainty to employers who need to bring the best talent from overseas.

Why is the H-1B visa so significant? The H-1B programme allows American employers to recruit foreign specialists in fields such as technology, healthcare and academia. Tech companies in particular depend heavily on these visas to fill gaps in the domestic workforce.

Each year, 65,000 H-1B visas are issued, with an additional 20,000 reserved for advanced degree holders. They are typically valid for three to six years. India dominates the programme, accounting for 71% of approvals last year, while China stood at 11.7%, according to government figures.

Employers already pay fees ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 depending on company size and other factors.

Trumps order would raise that cost to $100,000 for each new H-1B hire  unless an exemption is granted.

H-1B Visa Fee Hike: Why is the order controversial? Critics argue the move would devastate industries reliant on global talent, stifle innovation and violate both constitutional and statutory law.

The lawsuit contends that only Congress, not the US president, has the power to impose new fees or taxes. Plaintiffs further accuse agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department of rushing to enforce the order without proper rulemaking procedures.

Trump, however, has defended the measure as necessary to protect American workers and national security. He argued that high numbers of lower-wage H-1B entrants discouraged Americans from pursuing careers in science and technology and that the large-scale replacement of American workers posed a threat to both the economy and national security.

H-1B Visa Fee Hike: What happens next? Legal experts note that the outcome could have profound consequences for the future of Americas high-skilled immigration system. If the courts side with the plaintiffs, the ruling may reaffirm limits on executive authority in altering visa programmes.

If Donald Trump prevails, the H-1B system could be reshaped overnight into what critics call a pay to play regime.
Florida councilman, Chandler Langevin, is facing potential removal from office after making controversial remarks targeting Indian immigrants and a Black lawmaker, prompting his colleagues to formally request that Governor Ron DeSantis intervene.

What did the councilman say?

Chandler Langevin, a conservative member of the Palm Bay City Council, sparked outrage with statements dismissive of Indian immigrants. He told reporters,

Indians don't assimilate. They're here to drain our pockets and get back to India rich or worse to stay.

Langevin further argued that the U.S. immigration system favours Indian immigrants at the expense of Americans:

The immigration system works overtime against Americans and Indian immigrants are at the forefront of its abuse to enrich Indians at the expense of Americans.

When pressed about his comments, Langevin said,

I stand by my comments. Palm Bay will not become Dallas or Dearborn.

Council takes action Mayor Medina called a special council meeting Tuesday night, but because only two members were present, it became a town hall where dozens of residents voiced concerns. Langevin did not attend but defended his posts online, writing that the political speech on X does not meet the threshold for removal from office.

The Palm Bay City Council voted 4-1 to formally request Governor DeSantis remove Langevin from office. The lone dissenting vote came from Langevin himself, who defended his statements.

A Democratic council member criticised Langevin, saying,

You brag about a proud Confederate heritage white supremacy lost too. When you cling to that heritage, you're not showing strength, you're showing loyalty to failure.

Also Read | Vinicius wont get involved as Valencia makes legal threats over racism claim in Netflix documentary

Controversy expands to other officials Langevin also targeted Democrat State Representative Angie Nixon, who is Black, calling her low IQ. Critics labelled the remark as racist. Langevin defended himself, insisting:

I didnt call Angie Nixon low IQ because shes black. I called her low IQ because she has an absolute room temperature IQ.

Langevin: I will be meeting with the leaders of our Indian community Before the meeting, Langevin posted on X attempting to clarify his remarks but did not issue a full apology. The council was hearing public comments from dozens of residents attending to voice opinions on Langevins future.

"I just had a great call with the leaders of the Indian Community," Langevin posted on X.

"In Brevard County and in other parts of Florida we have great patriotic Americans that happen to be of Indian heritage. I personally consider them Americans and my comments were not directed at them. I stand by comments in regard to all forms of illegal immigration, and I believe that there are significant flaws in our immigration system that are working against Americans. The H1-b visa is one of these and made up of predominantly Indian immigrants."
An Indian student from Hyderabad, identified as Chandrashekar Pole, 27, was reportedly shot and killed while working at a gas station in Dallas.

The victim, had relocated to the United States in 2023 after earning his Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) in Hyderabad. He had recently completed his masters degree and was working part-time at a gas station while searching for full-time employment, according to reports.

The family has sought Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) assistance.

While expressing grief, BRS MLA Thanneeru Harish Rao called the incident "heart-wrenching" and extended his condolences to the bereaved family. He urged the state government to take immediate steps to bring Chandrashekars mortal remains back to his hometown.

It is tragic that Chandra Shekhar Pole, a Dalit student from Nagar who completed BDS and went to America (Dallas) higher studies, died in a shooting carried out by miscreants early morning. The pain that the parents are going through, knowing that their son, who they believed would reach great heights, is no more, is heart-wrenching to witness. My deepest condolences to their family members, Thanneeru Harish Rao said on X.

Also Read | 2 Indians killed and one abducted in terrorist attack in Nigers Dosso region

He added, We, on behalf of BRS, demand that the state government take initiative and make efforts to bring Chandra Shekhar's mortal remains to his hometown as quickly as possible.

Chandrashekar had been working part-time as a Senior Data Analyst at GEICO since August 2024 as per information listed on his professional profile. Prior to that, he served as a Data Analyst at American Express in Chennai from 2021 to 2023, and earlier as a Programmer Analyst at Hitachi Energy in Bengaluru between 2020 and 2021, The Hindu reported.

Consulate General of India, Houston, deeply condoles the tragic death of Mr. Chandrasekhar Pole, an Indian student from Hyderabad, who was killed in a shooting incident Denton, Texas. We are in touch with the family and extending all possible assistance. Local authorities are investigating the incident, and we are following up closely with them, India in Houston mentioned on X.
US President Donald Trump on Friday (US time) ordered Israel to immediately stop bombing the Gaza Strip after Hamas said it had accepted some elements of his plan to end the nearly two-year war and return all the remaining hostages taken in the October 7, 2023, attack.

"Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!" Trump posted on Truth Social which was also shared by the White House on its official X handle.

Hamas, in its statement, said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. Senior Hamas officials suggested there were still major disagreements that required further negotiations, according to news agency AP.

What did Hamas say? "The movement announces its approval for the release of all hostages - living and remains - according to the exchange formula included in President Trump's proposal,"Hamas said in a statement, adding it was ready to enter talks "to discuss the details".

Also Read | Hamas accepts hostage release, Trump says Israel must stop bombing Gaza

The militant group said it agreed to hand over power in Gaza to a body of Palestinian technocrats but said decisions on the territory's long-term future would need to be discussed within a Palestinian framework "in which Hamas will participate and contribute responsibly".

Hamas's statement, however, made no mention of its intentions on disarmament, a key part of the US president's plan and a move the group has previously resisted.

Mahmoud Mardawi, a senior Hamas official, told news agency AFP, after the statement, the group welcomed Trump's proposal, but that "without clear terms, criteria, and transparency, we need clarification and confirmation through a negotiated agreement".

But Trump welcomed the Hamas statement which came hours after he had issued an ultimatum to the Palestinian militant group, warning that it must agree to a proposed Gaza peace deal by Sunday evening, or it will face more attacks.

Unanimous Palestinian stance Hamas said aspects of the proposal touching on the future of the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rights should be decided on the basis of a unanimous Palestinian stance reached with other factions and based on international law.

Also Read | Supreme Court Lets Trump End Venezuelan Migrant Protections

The statement also made no mention of Hamas disarming, a key Israeli demand included in Trumps proposal.

President Donald Trump's Gaza Plan? On Monday, White House released the 20-point blueprint for ending the war between Israel and Hamas under which all hostages, living and dead, would be returned within 72 hours of a ceasefire. It refers to a redeveloped "New Gaza" in future.

President Trump laid out a 20-point plan, backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for ending the Israel-Hamas war and establishing a post war governance in the war-battered Palestinian territory. Trump's plan would establish a temporary governing board that would be headed by Trump and include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict called for Gaza to become a deradicalised terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbours and pledges redevelopment for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough.

No immediate response from Israel Trump's peace plan was already accepted by Israel and welcomed internationally. But after Hamas and Trump's fresh comments, there was no immediate response from Israel, which is largely shut down for the Jewish Sabbath.

The Key mediators Egypt and Qatar welcomed the latest developments, and Majed Al Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar's Foreign Ministry, said they would continue discussions on the plan.

Without clear terms, criteria, and transparency, we need clarification and confirmation through a negotiated agreement.

A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he urges all parties to seize the opportunity to bring the tragic conflict in Gaza to an end. French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media that the release of all hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza are within reach!

Macron thanks Trump French President Emmanuel Macron said the release of all hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza are within reach and that the Hamas' commitment must be followed up without delay.

We now have the opportunity to make decisive progress towards peace. France will play its full part in line with its efforts at the United Nations, alongside the United States, Israelis and Palestinians, and all of its international partners, Macron said in a post on X thanking President Trump and his team for their commitment to peace.
The Gaza civil defence agency on Saturday, 4 October 2025, said that the Israeli strikes on Gaza have claimed the lives of at least 57 people since sunrise, despite US President Donald Trump's request to Israel to halt its attacks on the region, reported the news agency AFP.

According to the agency report, nearly 40 people have lost their lives in Gaza City alone, and at least 57 people in total due to the Israeli strikes.

The death toll from the ongoing Israeli bombardment since dawn today stands at 57, including 40 in Gaza City alone, said Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency under Hamas authority, told the news agency.

However, due to the media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas, the news agency could not independently verify the death toll and the details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

Victims in Gaza The spokesperson told the news agency that 18 people lost their lives in the Israeli strike, which was targeting the home of the Abdul Aal family in the city's Al-Tuffa neighbourhood of the city, according to the agency report.

The news report also cited Mohammed Abu Salmiya, head of Gaza's main Al-Shifa Hospital, who said that at least 39 people have been killed, including many people in Gaza City.

Also Read | Journalists work in dire conditions to tell Gazas story, knowing that could make them targets

Since President Trump called on Israel to stop bombing Gaza, Israel has actually escalated its attacks, a local resident of Gaza, Mahmud Al-Ghazi, told the news agency.

Today, Israel bombed several homes full of civilians, like the Abdul Aal family home...The shelling continues with artillery and drones dropping bombs on civilians' homes and directly targeting people, he told the news agency.
US Government Shutdown Day 4: US President Donald Trump's move to freeze funds for Democratic-led states has raised concerns among some Republicans in Congress, as they worry about how it could potentially prolong the government shutdown, reported the news agency Reuters on Saturday, 4 October 2025.

This comes as the US government shutdown entered its fourth day on Saturday, following its implementation on Wednesday, 1 October 2025.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis stated that the fund freeze is likely to create a bad-faith environment, which could lead to a US government shutdown; therefore, the administration needs to assess the situation more carefully.

You're going to create a bad faith environment here that could put us further out. They need to be very judicious, said Senator Tillis, according to the agency report.

Trump's warning to Democrats Earlier this week, President Donald Trump warned the Senate Democrats that he could potentially make irreversible cuts to the federal government during a shutdown.

According to the agency report, the White House has frozen $28 billion in infrastructure funds that were intended for investment in New York, California, and Illinois, areas with sizable Democratic populations and critical of the Trump administration.

Trump, along with his Republican allies, have also taunted Democrats on the social media platforms despite the requirement for at least seven Senate Democrats to vote in order to pass a funding bill, which will in turn reopen the government from the ongoing shutdown.

However, there were also a small group of Republicans who cautioned that the Trump administration may end up with the blame for the shutdown as the nation heads towards a midterm election next year, which will determine the control of Congress, as per the news report.

Disagree with the concerns? There were others, like House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, who reportedly disagreed with Tillis' concerns as he supported President Trump's approach towards the Senate Democrats.

President Trump is just as anxious as we are to get the government back open, because real Americans are being harmed by the Democrat shenanigans. And is he trying to apply pressure to make that happen? He probably is, yeah. And I applaud that, he said, reported the news agency.
An aerial drone photo shows tourists surfing at Riyue Bay in Wanning, south China's Hainan Province, Oct. 2, 2025. Surfing has become a symbol of Wanning thanks to its unique geographical and climatic advantages. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

Tourists surf at Riyue Bay in Wanning, south China's Hainan Province, Oct. 2, 2025. Surfing has become a symbol of Wanning thanks to its unique geographical and climatic advantages. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

An aerial drone photo shows tourists surfing at Riyue Bay in Wanning, south China's Hainan Province, Oct. 2, 2025. Surfing has become a symbol of Wanning thanks to its unique geographical and climatic advantages. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

A girl surfs at Riyue Bay in Wanning, south China's Hainan Province, Oct. 2, 2025. Surfing has become a symbol of Wanning thanks to its unique geographical and climatic advantages. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

A girl surfs at Riyue Bay in Wanning, south China's Hainan Province, Oct. 2, 2025. Surfing has become a symbol of Wanning thanks to its unique geographical and climatic advantages. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

An aerial drone photo shows tourists surfing at Riyue Bay in Wanning, south China's Hainan Province, Oct. 2, 2025. Surfing has become a symbol of Wanning thanks to its unique geographical and climatic advantages. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)
US Government Shutdown: Hopes for a quick end to the United States government shutdown faded Friday (US time) as Democrats refused to budge in a Senate vote and President Donald Trump readied plans to unleash layoffs and cuts across the federal government.

On the third day of the shutdown, first in seven years, another Senate vote to advance a Republican bill that would reopen the government failed on a 54-44 tally  well short of the 60 needed to end a filibuster and pass the legislation, news agency AP reported.

Also Read | US Government Shutdown LIVE: Senate Democrats reject Republican bill on Day 3

House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that the chamber would close for legislative business next week, a move meant to force the Senate to work with the government funding bill that has been passed by House Republicans.

Following the failed vote, senators quickly headed for the exits of the Capitol, expecting no more votes over the weekend and showing few signs of any real progress towards ending the congressional standoff.

Prolonged shutdown Instead, both sides dug in for a prolonged shutdown fight that thrusts federal workers into more uncertainty, threatens to ripple into the broader economy and gives the Trump administration an opportunity to reshape the federal government.

I don't know how many times you're going to give them a chance to vote no, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said at a news conference Friday. After the vote, he said he was flying home to South Dakota for the weekend, adding, I'll be available.

The vote showed hardening lines in the Senate. The same three members of the Democratic Caucus  Senators Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman and Angus King  who voted for the funding bill previously did so again, and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was once again the only Republican opposed.

They thought they could bludgeon us and threaten us and scare us. It ain't working, said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

Democrats are demanding that Congress extend healthcare benefits, while Republicans are refusing to commit to anything until the government is reopened. They are trying to wear Democrats down to vote for a House-passed bill that would reopen the government temporarily, mostly at current spending levels.

Although Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress, the Senate's filibuster rules make it necessary for the government funding legislation to gain support from at least 60 of the 100 senators. That's given Democrats a rare opportunity to use their 47 Senate seats to hold out in exchange for policy concessions. The party has chosen to rally on the issue of health care, believing it could be key to their path back to power in Washington.

Their primary demand is that Congress extend tax credits that were boosted during the COVID-19 pandemic for health care plans offered under marketplaces set up under the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama's signature health care law.

Everyone is about to experience dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles because of the Republican health care crisis.

"Everyone is about to experience dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles because of the Republican health care crisis. Everyone, warned House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries during a news conference Friday.

(With agency inputs)
A $1 coin bearing the image of President Donald Trump may be released by the US Treasury to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the independence of the country, Axios reported. However, there is a potential legal hurdle that can scupper this plan.

As per a federal law, no living US Presidents image can be placed on a currency coin.

No coin issued under this subsection may bear the image of a living former or current President, the law in focus says. It also precludes images of deceased US Presidents within two years of their death.

However, Treasurer Brandon Beach has already revealed the design of the potential coin bearing the image of the current US President. A spokesperson of the Treasury also put out a statement on the matter, according to Axios.

While a final $1 coin design has not yet been selected to commemorate the United States' semi quincentennial, this first draft reflects well the enduring spirit of our country and democracy, even in the face of immense obstacles, read the statement.

https://www.axios.com/2025/10/03/trump-coin-dollar-treasury

Treasurer Brandon Beachs X post Conservative activist Steve Guest posted on X about two potential designs for $1 coins to mark the 250th anniversary of the countrys independence. One of them has the side profile of President Trumps face and the other has the iconic image of the current POTUS with a clenched fist with the US flag in the background. This image is inspired by the aftermath of the failed assassination attempt on Trump during his election campaign.

ATTENTION ALL PATRIOTS: America is back, and so is the one-dollar coin. @POTUS @realDonaldTrump will forever be the face of Americas 250th Birthday, thanks to @SecScottBessent and @TreasurerBeach. These first drafts show that our nation is ready to FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!!! Guest wrote in his post.

The post was shared by Treasurer Beach, and he added: No fake news here. These first drafts honoring Americas 250th Birthday and @POTUS are real. Looking forward to sharing more soon, once the obstructionist shutdown of the United States government is over.

As per Axios, President Calvin Coolidge had also released a commemorative half-dollar coin during his tenure which featured him alongside the first President, George Washington. This is the only example of a sitting US President being on a coin created by the US Mint. It remains to be seen whether Trump will be the second president to have that distinction.

FAQs When is the USs 250th Independence Day? The United States will celebrate its 250th Independence Day on July 4, 2026, marking 250 years since the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

Which law prohibits use of a living Presidents image on a coin? The 31 US Code  5112 - Denominations, specifications, and design of coins is the precise law that prohibits living current or past US Presidents from having their image engraved upon currency coins.
United States President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Hamas that he "will not tolerate delay amid the Gaza Peace plan he proposed. He also appreciated Israel for temporarily ceasing the bombing. This follows the White House's statement earlier, saying, he would wait for 3-4 days for Hamas to respond.

I appreciate that Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed. Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off. I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again. Lets get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly, Trump said on Truth Social.

Trump's Gaza peace plan included a call for a ceasefire, the release of hostages by Hamas within 72 hours, the group's disarmament and a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Hamas indicated its willingness to release the hostages and transfer power to other Palestinian groups, though it emphasized that additional elements of the proposal still require broader Palestinian consultations, AP reported. Senior Hamas leaders noted that significant disagreements remain, necessitating further negotiations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel was ready to proceed with the "first stage" of Trump's plan, seemingly referencing the hostage release. However, his office reiterated in a statement that Israel remains committed to ending the war in line with previously outlined principles, without commenting on any possible differences with Hamas.

Israel-Hamas war Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, which, according to Israeli data, resulted in around 1,200 deaths and 251 people being taken hostage to Gaza. Israel states that 48 hostages remain, with 20 confirmed alive, according to Reuters.

According to Gazas health authorities, over 66,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed by Israels offensive. The operation has devastated large parts of Gaza, while aid restrictions have led to famine in some areas and severe humanitarian conditions across the territory.

A United Nations Commission of Inquiry and several human rights experts have found that Israel's actions amount to genocide. On the other hand, Prime Minister Netanyahus government maintains that its actions are in self-defense.
Populist Czech billionaire Andrej Babis won a parliamentary election on Saturday in a political comeback that puts the country on a course away from supporting Ukraine and toward Hungary and Slovakia, which have taken a pro-Russian stance.

Czech election 2025 With the votes from almost 98 per cent of polling station counted by the Statistics Office, Babis's ANO (YES) movement captured 35 per cent of the vote followed by the pro-Western coalition of Prime Minister Petr Fiala with 23.0 per cent. The coalition defeated him in the 2021 election.

The two-day election filled 200 seats in the lower house of the Czech parliament. A group of mayors known as STAN, also a member of Fiala's government, had 11.1 per cent of the vote, with another ally of Fiala, the Pirates party, reaching 8.7 per cent.

The major anti-migrant force, the Freedom and Direct Democracy party, got 7.9 per cent while a right-wing group calling itself the Motorists received 6.8 per cent. The two are potential partners for Babis if he wants to have a majority government.

Czechs first Czech President Petr Pavel, who will tap the next premier under the constitution, said he would start talks with the elected party heads on Sunday.

Pavel met Babis earlier this week to discuss the tycoon's clash of interest as a businessman and politician, and the fact that Babis is facing trial over EU subsidy fraud worth over $2 million.

Also Read | Czech Republic Recovering From Blackout After Grid Issue

Babis is charged with taking his farm south of Prague out of his sprawling Agrofert food and chemicals holding in 2007 to make it eligible for an EU subsidy for small companies.

Describing himself as a "peacemonger" calling for a truce in Ukraine, Babis has vowed a "Czechs first" approach, echoing US President Donald Trump.

When he was prime minister from 2017 to 2021, Babis was critical of some EU policies and is on good terms with Orban and Slovakia's Robert Fico, who have maintained ties with Moscow despite its invasion of Ukraine.

Russian propaganda Charles University analyst Josef Mlejnek told AFP he did not expect a fundamental change in Czech foreign policy under Babis, who has business interests in western Europe.

Babis is a pragmatic businessman and the only thing he cares about is being prime minister, he added.

Also Read | Czech Leader Calls on Trump to Give Europe More Time to Rearm

Petr Just, an analyst at the Metropolitan University in Prague, told AFP a government led by Babis might use harsher rhetoric towards Brussels.

I would certainly not rule out that we will witness some rhetorical questioning of certain Western steps or actions that the West will take, he said.

Analysts have pointed out the role of Russian propaganda in the election campaign.

The Czech Online Risks Research Centre said last week that Czech-language accounts on TikTok reaching millions of viewers "systematically spread pro-Russian propaganda and support anti-system parties through manipulated engagement".

The European Commission held an emergency meeting with TikTok on Thursday in the context of the Czech elections, after which the social media platform removed several bots, said its spokesman Thomas Regnier.
In a major development to pursue peace in the Israel-Gaza war, Hamas on Friday said it was ready to release all Israeli prisoners in line with US President Donald Trump's 20-point proposal on Gaza.

Hamas' statement came as a bleak hope to end the war on Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed thousands.

Hamas said it agreed to release all Israeli prisoners  both living and deceased  in accordance with the exchange formula outlined in President Trumps proposal, and contingent upon the necessary field conditions for carrying out the exchange.

The group in a statement further added the hostages would need to be released in a manner that ensures the cessation of the war and the full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Donald Trump, reacting to Hamas' statement, ordered immediate halt to the bombings in Gaza. A spokesperson of the group hailed the remarks.

President Trump's statements on the immediate cessation of Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip are encouraging, Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nunu told AFP.

"Hamas is ready to immediately begin negotiations to achieve a prisoner exchange, end the war and ensure the withdrawal of the (Israeli) army from the Gaza Strip," he added.

However, the Palestine-based group noted that the rest of Trump's 20-point plan would require negotiations.

Trumps 20-point plan require a unified national stance and must be addressed based on relevant international laws and resolutions, it said.

We will enter negotiations regarding all issues related to the movement and weapons, senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera.

We agreed to the plan in principle based on its main points, but its implementation requires negotiations, he added.

According to the news outlet, Hamas further said it is ready to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents [technocrats] based on Palestinian national consensus and with Arab and Islamic support.

Israel ready to free hostages Soon after Hamas' announcement, the Israeli Defence Force confirmed that they are ready to implement the first stage of Trump's plans to free the hostages.

As per Times of Israel, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir held talks with Israeli top general to evaluate the situation amid the developments.

This comes after Trump ordered the Benjamin Netanyahu-led countries to cease bombings in Gaza.

However, Israel has not confirmed if it would do so.
Israel has carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City, killing at least seven Palestinians, despite US President Donald Trump urging the country to halt its bombardment. The escalation comes after Hamas submitted its response to Trumps 20-point peace plan.

What did Hamas agree to in Trumps plan? Hamas has indicated its willingness to hand over administration of the Gaza Strip to Palestinian technocrats and release all Israeli captives. In its response, the group did not address the crucial issue of disarmament but said it was prepared to immediately enter peace negotiations through mediators.

In a video address following Hamass statement, President Trump expressed optimism:

I believe Hamas is ready for a lasting peace, he said, calling on Israel to immediately stop bombing Gaza.

Why did the strikes continue despite Trumps appeal? Civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal described the overnight violence:

It was a very violent night, during which the [Israeli army] carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City and other areas in the Strip, despite President Trumps call to halt the bombing.

Basal added that 20 homes were destroyed. Hospitals reported casualties from the strikes. Gaza Citys Baptist Hospital received victims from a strike in the Tuffah neighbourhood, including four dead and several wounded. Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis reported that two children were killed and eight people wounded in a drone strike on a tent in a camp for displaced people.

Also Read | Hamas accepts hostage release, Trump says Israel must stop bombing Gaza

The Israeli army has warned Palestinians not to return to Gaza City, calling it a dangerous combat zone.

Urgent Announcement and Warning to All Residents of the Gaza Strip. The area located north of Wadi Gaza remains a dangerous combat zone. Staying in this area poses a significant risk, and therefore Rashid Street remains open for you to move south, an army spokesperson said on X.

For your safety, avoid returning north or approaching areas of Defence Army forces operations anywhere in the Strip  even in its south.

How are other countries reacting to Hamass response? Pakistan welcomed Hamass partial acceptance of Trumps plan as a welcome step. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar tweeted:

This must now result in an immediate ceasefire, end to Palestinian suffering, ensure hostages release, and allow free flow of humanitarian aid. Israel MUST immediately stop its attacks.

Also Read | Hamas Agrees to Release Hostages But Sets Conditions for Peace

Canada also praised Hamass response. Prime Minister Mark Carney stated on X: Canada welcomes commitments from Hamas to relinquish power and release all remaining hostages, living and deceased. We stand ready to support the sustained, unimpeded, and large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid into and throughout Gaza, he added, thanking Trump for his essential leadership.
Former Internal Affairs Minister Sanae Takaichi, 64, secured victory in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential election on Saturday, according to Kyodo News. The report noted that Takaichi won against Agriculture Minister and son of former PM Junichiro Koizumi, Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, in a runoff vote. She will succeed Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba as party leader and is anticipated to become the first female prime minister of the country.

As the new leader of the LDP with a term extending until 2027, Sanae Takaichi is expected to become Japan's next prime minister later this month. This is due to the minority coalition with their partner, the Komeito party, remaining the largest faction in parliament, while opposition parties remain divided, according to Kyodo News.

It also mentioned that among the five candidates, Takaichi, Shinjiro Koizumi, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi were viewed as the main contenders.

Recently, I have heard harsh voices from across the country saying we dont know what the LDP stands for anymore. That sense of urgency drove me. I wanted to turn peoples anxieties about their daily lives and the future into hope, Reuters quoted Takaichi as saying in a speech prior to the second-round vote.

Ishiba announced his decision to quit in early September, taking responsibility for the ruling coalition's loss of majority in the July House of Councillors election. Kyodo News reported that under Ishibas leadership, who had only assumed office earlier that month, the coalition also lost its majority in the October 2024 House of Representatives election.

Also Read | Why India is seeking a new sunrise in Japan

Who is Sanae Takaichi? Born in Nara, western Japan, Takaichi is the first member of her family to enter politics and has often distinguished herself from the establishment. A former heavy-metal drummer and motorcycle enthusiast, she began her political career in 1993 and has held several important cabinet positions, including Minister for Economic Security from 2022 to 2024.

View full Image Who is Sanae Takaichi?

She has frequently cited former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher as her role model and has now broken what she described as Japans highest glass ceiling. However, despite her symbolic rise, she is not recognised for advocating gender equality.

Also Read | Japans central bank survey shows improved outlook for manufacturers

View full Image Sanae Takaichi's policies and vision

A protege of the late former prime minister Shinzo Abe, Takaichi has been closely linked to Japans nationalist right wing for a long time. She endorses Abes Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy and pushes for enhanced defense capabilities to address increasing threats from China and North Korea.

View full Image Sanae Takaichi

Takaichi advocates a Japan First foreign policy, stressing that Tokyo should prioritise acting foremost in its national interest. During a campaign debate, she criticised Japans tariff agreement with the United States, describing parts of it as unequal".

View full Image About Sanae Takaichi
Climate Change and You is a fortnightly newsletter written by Bibek Bhattacharya and Sayantan Bera. Subscribe to the newsletter to get it directly in your inbox.

Dear Reader,

Just days after US President Donald Trump called climate change the greatest con job" at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, several countries, including the worlds largest emitter, China, announced pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions. At the UN Climate Summit held on 24 September, new climate pledges for 2035 were announced by countries that account for 36% of global greenhouse emissions. Together with countries that had announced their climate pledges earlier, about half of global emissions are currently covered, according to an analysis.

The European Union (EU) and India are likely to announce their pledges ahead of the UN Climate Conference (COP30) in November. However, the EU has announced its intent to reduce emissions by 66-72% below 1990 levels.

Experts have said Chinas target to lower emissions by 7-10% below the peak level is too weak. With the US, the worlds second-largest emitter, exiting the Paris Agreement for the second time under Trump, it was expected that China would take on a leadership role.

While the 2035 pledges fall short of what is required, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres tried his best to sound optimistic. He emphasized that China has met its solar and wind energy targets six years ahead of schedule, and India reached the target of non-fossil fuels contributing half of its energy capacity five years early. We are in the dawn of a new energy era and COP30 in Brazil must conclude with a credible global response plan to get us on track," Guterres said.

As we analyze the role of countries in lowering emissions, the blame also lies with us, the consumers. Because our lifestyles are responsible for an estimated two-thirds of global emissions. Additionally, the combined emissions of the richest 1% exceed those of the poorest 50%.

State of the climate

The year 2025 marks a decade since the landmark Paris Agreement was signed. The objective of the treaty was to limit global temperature increase as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. However, governments across the world are estimated to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels that would be consistent with the 1.5 degrees target, according to a new report.

View Full Image Countries are planning to produce more fossil fuels than they did two years ago.

According to the Production Gap Report 2025, countries are collectively planning to produce more fossil fuels than they did two years ago. The projected 2030 production levels are 120% higher than the 1.5 degrees pathway. The collective failure to cut the production of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas means that future production will need to decline more steeply to compensate for current trends.

However, several countries are moving in the right direction. Germany is projecting a faster phase-out of coal than initially planned, Brazil is accelerating energy transition, while China is deploying renewables like solar and wind at an unprecedented pace.

The news in brief

A new study warns that climate change may reduce global GDP by nearly a quarter by 2100. Besides, it is not something that only hotter countries in the South need to worry about; the climate crisis will lower incomes in all countries, hot and cold, rich and poor alike, the authors warned.

Indias renewable energy goals have hit a roadblock with no takers for projects with a generation capacity of 30GW. To resolve this, the central government plans to persuade states to buy more green power.

View Full Image A farmer from Beed, Maharashtra, shows her cotton crop, which has been damaged by heavy rains and flooding. (HT)

The drought-prone Marathwada region of Maharashtra was hit by floods, which damaged crops and led to multiple casualties. Record rains also drowned Kolkata just ahead of the Durga Puja festivities, leaving a trail of death and devastation. Data from the weather department showed that rainfall was 8% above the 50-year average for the entire country during the June-September monsoon season. About 45% of Indias area received excess rainfall, which is defined as 20% or more above the long-term average.

Rats are overrunning cities across the world as warmer temperatures fuel population growth and bins overflow with fast food.

With transport routes cut off following heavy rains, apple growers in Kashmir are watching their harvest rot in trucks stranded on the highway.

Know Your Jargon

Cloud Seeding

It is a weather modification technique in which chemical substances are introduced into clouds to induce rainfall. These substances include silver iodide, dry ice and table salt, which aid the formation of ice crystals in moisture-filled clouds. This can be done either by ground-based generators or by using aircraft. In the past, cloud seeding has been used to mitigate drought, suppress heatwaves and wildfires and reduce air pollution. But so far, the evidence on effectiveness is not conclusive. Many unknowns, such as the impact of widespread silver iodide use on the environment and the unreliability of data on its effectiveness, make this an unproven technology.

Cloud seeding as a weather modification tool was used during the Vietnam War (Operation Popeye) when the US Air Force attempted to extend the monsoon season and disrupt the military supply lines of North Vietnam. Later, a UN convention in 1976 prohibited the use of environmental modification as a means of warfare.

According to news reports, Delhi will conduct a cloud seeding trial between 7 and 9 October to mitigate air pollution. The project is estimated to cost 3.2 crore and will be executed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, together with the India Meteorological Department. Across vast swathes of North India, the winter months witness heavy pollution due to unfavourable wind movement, vehicular pollution, and burning of paddy stubble by farmers in states like Punjab and Haryana.

Prime Number

7,000

View Full Image In a decade from now, the number of room ACs in India is estimated to grow threefold to 245 million units. (HT)

Indian families spent an estimated 7,000 crore in 2024 to refill refrigerants in their room air conditioners (ACs), according to a new report by the climate think tank iForest. Refilling expenses are estimated to quadruple to 27,540 crore by 2035. And it's not just the monetary cost to households: refrigerant gases have an extremely high global warming potential (GWP). The most commonly used refrigerant, R32, is 675 times more potent than CO2. Calculations from the report show that Indias total AC-related emissions in 2024, which include both refrigerant leakage and electricity use, were equivalent to emissions from all passenger cars.

Based on a multi-city survey of 3,100 families, the report said consumers are aware of the energy efficiency of ACs but lack knowledge and awareness about refrigerants. Ideally, ACs should be refilled every five years, but most households are pushed to refill every 2-3 years. Proper lifecycle refrigerant management could avoid 500-650 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions between 2025 and 2035. This is worth $25-33 billion in carbon credits and can save consumers $10 billion in unnecessary refilling costs.

Movie of the Month

View Full Image Fire of Love.

Fire of Love is the story of Katia and Maurice Krafft, who loved each other and volcanoes. The volcanologist couple toured the planet for two decades chasing eruptions until they lost their lives in one in Japan in 1991. Drawing from the Kraffts personal archives, the film by Sara Dosa also includes animated sequences, lending it an enchanting air of a childrens book.

Thats all, for now. Bibek Bhattacharya will be back with the next issue in a fortnight.
In The Beat Report, Mint's journalists bring you unique perspectives on their beats, breaking down new trends and developments, and sharing behind-the-scenes stories from their reporting.

Good morning!

It is 8am on a Sunday, the first day of Durga Puja, which we call Shoshti. Mumbais skies are pouring down as if they will never rain again. I havent made my usual morning call to my home in Kolkata because I am under strict instructions from my mother that, for the next five days, she will not be always available".

In the Sengupta household, this translates to Do Not Disturb". It is an annual ritual where wethe children who left home turfare reminded that Durga Puja festivities triumph over filial bonds every single year.

I left home when I was 18, and I am 41 now, so this is certainly not my first Durga Puja away from home. In fact, I deliberately visit Kolkata during non-puja times so that I can give my undivided attention to my family and get the same in return. Besides, work in the second half of the year always feels heavier in journalism, as corporates develop inertia and the usual news flow ebbs.

Anyway, one can barely hear over the beat of the dhaak (drum), so the twice-a-day calls back home seem futile. That is what I tell myself.

The morning and evening editorial calls mostly clash with anjali (prayer) timings, so going out to pandals, especially if youre working outside Kolkatasay in Mumbaiis tough. You cant dress up and head to official meetings because you dont want to invite attention, questions, or sympathy about why youre missing the puja.

If you call home during your lunch hour, you realize that the time youve chosen is exactly when everyone back home is sitting down for the bhog (a traditional meal offered to the Goddess). If they do pick up, the phone, with its video camera on, is passed around from building kakimas and jethimas (different nomenclatures for aunts) to the many Dutta jethus (an uncle older than ones father) and Majumdars or Banerjees . Each one of them will ask, Why are you not here with us?" You hem and haw, saying, I had work, or the boss didnt grant leave, or sudden meetings came up." Long ago, I made a mental note never to call during the bhog time again.

View Full Image The morning and evening editorial calls mostly clash with anjali (prayer) timings, so going out to pandals is tough.

Work is worship

Work. Over the years, it has become the preferred tool of engagement, of excuses, of hiding. And then comes a day when you realize that your sense of belonging may be worryingly tied to the workplace. The childhood joy of receiving 10 new clothes to be worn over the five days of puja (which then had to last the entire year) has faded into faint memories, especially when you havent had the time to buy even one new dress for the festival.

Or maybe the time was always there, but working through pujas was simply a way to overcome homesickness. So, I have made a truce with myself: I will either take a couple of days leave to spend with friends and visit a puja pandal, or I will treat it as a regular workday and celebrate the way many of us Bengalis doby ordering traditional food.

Also Read | US targets universities in major H-1B visa overhaul

But this pining for the festive season wasnt always appreciated in my early working years. You were unofficially expected to show up for work, especially when a larger section of employees had taken leave. It signalled that you were putting work above everything else. It was taken to mean you had your priorities "straight", though unfortunately, it was also assumed that work was your only priority.

Whether it's Durga Puja, Diwali, Christmas, Eid, or any other festival, newcomers who went home during the festive period gave the impression that they had buckled down at least a bit.

Promises of going home next puja" rolled into Diwali, then into the New Year, and then the cycle began again. Those spontaneous trips you see in advertisements rarely happen in reality. Airfares make it impossible to just book and fly down. Even parents advise against spending so much money, telling you to wait for better rates. Logically, they make sense. But deep down you know, it means another year is gone.

View Full Image Promises of going home next puja rolled into Diwali, then into the New Year, and then the cycle began again.

New generation, new priorities

Times are different now, and often rightfully so.

The younger lot have their holiday calendars carefully chalked out and blocked. However, pages still need to be filled, exclusive stories need to be filed, and teams often end up frazzled. During the festive season, bosses deal with two sets of employees, the absent ones and the disgruntled ones. Neither set is at its productive best, but the next days edition must still come out.

Also Read | Satcom firms push back on draft telecom rules, seek separate licence

So, when leave requests come in, after a quick mental calculation and a deep sigh, you either say OK" or ask them to remain available in case of an emergency. But you know, getting the work done will be daunting.

I continue my usual work mode during the festive period, but there are trigger points that get to methe sound of a dhaaki, or the scent of gondhoraj lebu (a large lime with a distinct fragrance) that signals the start of a good meal. The videos of Kolkatas artistically designed pandals dont make me homesick, but a photo of the children in our building painting the red-and-white alpona (decorative ground patterns) does. That excitementthat flutter in the stomach that the next few days will be specialgets me every time.

But its not all forlorn either. There are colleagues who will brave the crowds with you. A bunch of us went down Mohammad Ali Road during Ramzan after office hours, queued up in the middle of a busy weekday because no one should eat Onam Sadya alone, and opened Christmas cakes and rose cookies in the office that always tasted more rummy and delicious.

So, if you are in the office working late, look around. You are not alone. Head home to celebrate next year.

Note: As I finished this newsletter, my brother sent me a photo from his station in another country. Shubho Shoshti," he messaged. I did the same. Perhaps next year, we wont just wish each other over a message.

Do consider subscribing to Mint Premium to be able to access our daily long reads, and a lot more. My coupon code DEVI30 can get you a 30% discount.
In my one year of using AI for everyday tasks, I can recall many instances when Ive felt that a chat assistant seemed to understand exactly how I felt. This has happened practically every time Ive been unwell.

ChatGPT, especially, was kind, reassuring, gentle, and did a good job of soothing my alarm while encouraging me to stay alert for a possible doctor's visit. It was even more understanding when a family friend passed away horrifically, helping to navigate what was going on and preparing me for the next step. It even led me through recovering from a bad dream I had after learning of the end.

Even in good times, ChatGPT almost seemed to share my enthusiasm for activities I love, such as discovering new music. It provided me with the background to songs and artists that enriched my involvement and listening experience. It explained why the music of a particular country evolved into its current form. I began to feel ChatGPT was enjoying creating playlists as much as I was.

Artificial comfort

Its disconcerting to keep in mind that none of this emotional interchange is real. If I didnt know any better and had been at all vulnerable, I would have been quite touched. But the truth is an AI assistant cant really share or understand a users emotions. It can, however, to varying degrees, detect or deduce ones emotions.

Through text exchanges, it will figure out the context, pick up cues from your word choices, pace of input and other similar parameters. I remember I was once horrified that I got too many French exercises wrong despite having learnt the rules. I said something like, Oh, this is no point at all. This was an awful performance." And Gemini said Oh no, thats not true at all!" It went on to soothe and encourage me to continuea hint at how one can be manipulated.

Through live and voice modes, theres a wealth of emotion indicators for the AI to gauge. And when you add video to that, all the facial expressions, body language, etc., for it to pick up on, if trained to. This detection can be transformational for many fields, but a minefield for privacy. It can also, of course, get it all wrong.

AI uses FER or facial expression recognition where it breaks down muscle movements like a grin into categories to make up its matching database. When it sees a grin, it will come up with happy or amused. Its apparently accurate in 80% to 91% of instances. Similar recognition occurs for voice, video, and wearables, such as rings, glasses, and watches, which will measure other parameters like heart rate.

Emotional intelligence

As chatbots become permanent companions and AI becomes pervasive, it stands to reason that they should be in tune with human emotions in order to be useful. How can technology be of any help if it doesnt know that youre paralysed with anxiety or youre so upset in some situation that you need help?

The potential applications in almost any field of life and work are so immense that there seems little option but for AI to perfect emotion detection. Imagine how it would be if AI could detect students who are confused or anxious over some portion of a lesson and could get help quickly to get over the blip. How would it fare with fine-tuning mental health therapy, allowing measures to be adjusted to suit a patient better?

The tech is getting impressive, and accuracy is on the rise, but anyone can see how easy it is to get it wrong. Someone can grin, and that could be threatening rather than amusing. Increased heart rate could not be anxiety, but a result of spotting someone youre attracted to across a room. Heres an awful fact: AIs emotion detection goes wrong 20% to 30% of the time when its working with non-Western faces. It may not matter so much if the situation is casual, but go anywhere near something important, and theres big trouble.

A very real fear is that AI can be used or taught to manipulate users based on their emotional reading. Imagine, too, how the data can be sold to companies to compound the problem. Lets say, the AI decides youre anxious in interviews and the next thing you know, someone is trying to sell you pills to stay relaxed.

The very thought makes my heart rate go up.

The New Normal: The world is at an inflexion point. Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to be as massive a revolution as the Internet has been. The option to just stay away from AI will not be available to most people, as all the tech we use takes the AI route. This column series introduces AI to the non-techie in an easy and relatable way, aiming to demystify and help a user to actually put the technology to good use in everyday life.

Mala Bhargava is most often described as a veteran writer who has contributed to several publications in India since 1995. Her domain is personal tech, and she writes to simplify and demystify technology for a non-techie audience.
Newly-elected Malawian President Peter Mutharika (L, front) is sworn in during a ceremony at the Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, Malawi, on Oct. 4, 2025. The 85-year-old president Peter Mutharika, who previously served from 2014 to 2020, returned to office with former MEC chairperson Jane Ansah as his vice president. (Photo by Roy Nkosi/Xinhua)

BLANTYRE, Malawi, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Malawian President Peter Mutharika issued a warning against corruption in his inaugural speech after being sworn in on Saturday in Blantyre, the country's second-largest city.

The time of "corruption and looting is over ... and this is my last warning," Mutharika said in his speech following his victory in the Sept. 16 presidential election.

He said he was returning with a new vision and a new agenda, and pledged to deliver the change Malawians had long desired.

"We are here to serve the will of the people with one vision, one dream, one country and one purpose: we all wanted change, we voted for change, we accepted change, and I promise you real change," Mutharika said.

Mutharika, of the Democratic Progressive Party, secured nearly 3.04 million votes in the 17-candidate race, while Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party garnered around 1.77 million, according to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC).

The 85-year-old president, who previously served from 2014 to 2020, returned to office with former MEC chairperson Jane Ansah as his vice president. 

Malawian Vice President Jane Ansah takes oath of office at the Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, Malawi, on Oct. 4, 2025. The 85-year-old president Peter Mutharika, who previously served from 2014 to 2020, returned to office with former MEC chairperson Jane Ansah as his vice president. (Photo by Joseph Mizere/Xinhua)

Newly-elected Malawian President Peter Mutharika (R) is sworn in during a ceremony at the Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, Malawi, on Oct. 4, 2025. The 85-year-old president Peter Mutharika, who previously served from 2014 to 2020, returned to office with former MEC chairperson Jane Ansah as his vice president. (Photo by Joseph Mizere/Xinhua)

A military parade is held during a swearing-in ceremony at the Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, Malawi, on Oct. 4, 2025. The 85-year-old president Peter Mutharika, who previously served from 2014 to 2020, returned to office with former MEC chairperson Jane Ansah as his vice president. (Photo by Roy Nkosi/Xinhua)

People attend the inauguration ceremony of Malawian President Peter Mutharika at the Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, Malawi, on Oct. 4, 2025. The 85-year-old president Peter Mutharika, who previously served from 2014 to 2020, returned to office with former MEC chairperson Jane Ansah as his vice president. (Photo by Joseph Mizere/Xinhua)
For nearly six decades, a cheerful little girl in a polka-dotted dress and ponytail has captivated consumers in India through her witty, topical commentary on current events, delivered in pithy but memorable lines.

Dubbed simply as the Amul girl, she has steadfastly reminded us of our heroes and villains, all the while bringing a smile to even the most cynical.

The cartoon mascot with the memorable tagline Utterly Butterly delicious created in 1967 for the Indian dairy brand Amul, was the brainchild of ad agency ASPs Sylvester da Cunha and his art director, Eustace Fernandes.

It was created as part of the dairy cooperatives efforts to capture market share from rival brand Polson, which had dominated the butter market since 1900, when it was established by Pestonji Edulji Dalal. From the time she appeared on hoardings, bus panels, and posters in Mumbai, the girl has been omnipresent in Indias socio-cultural life.

A girl with unmatchable wit

From Hurry Amul, Hurry Hurry", a reference to the Hare Rama, Hare Krishna movement in 1967, to O Captain, Mahi Captain" in praise of M.S. Dhoni, the one-liners have kept coming, in approval or disapproval of current events.

At times, her gentle digs have invited the ire of some people; mostly those whose egos have been bruised. In 2001, an ad criticizing an Indian Airlines strike prompted the airline to threaten that it would stop offering Amul butter on its flights, while the 1980s slogan Ganpati Bappa More Ghya" during Ganesh Chaturthi offended the Shiv Sena party, which threatened to destroy Amul's Mumbai office if it was not removed.

In July 2011, a billboard mocking Congress party member of Parliament Suresh Kalmadi over the 2010 Commonwealth Games corruption scandal, with the line Maine kyaa khaya", led to party workers in Pune pulling down Amul hoardings. Some of these incidents turned ugly and highlighted existing tensions in society. It is also true that the mascot's wit is less tolerated today amid rising sensitivities.

An endearing friend

Yet, the fact that it has endured and stayed relevant for so long points to its universal appeal, which cuts across generations of Indians. Part of this can be attributed to several interconnected factors, including anthropomorphism, the human tendency to attribute human traits to non-human entities, which makes the Amul girl feel like a relatable, endearing friend rather than a mere advertisement. The gentle humour also creates emotional connections and trust, as people naturally respond to visual stimuli that mimic human characteristics, such as her expressive face and childlike innocence.

Humans have a strong motivation to form social connections, and when deprived of human interaction, they anthropomorphize non-human agents to satisfy this need," explained psychologists Nicholas Epley, Adam Waytz, and John Cacioppo in their 2007 work on the subject.

Also Read | Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay: The fiery architect of social enterprise in India

In the Amul girl's case, her consistent portrayal as a clever, opinionated yet non-confrontational child allows people to project familiarity and affection onto her, turning the brand into a much-loved cultural companion.

But the central role in the ads has been that of humour, with the unexpected blending of unrelated elements leading to surprise and delight. The ads often juxtapose serious news events with playful puns tied to butter (think divide and drool; makhan ki rani, maske ka raja; marad ona to aisa hona, butter hona toh Amul hona).

Nostalgia further cements the engagement, as the Amul girl evokes fond memories of childhood and shared cultural moments. Her unchanging look and evolving yet familiar commentary create a sense of continuity in a rapidly changing India. Amul's use of family-oriented, culturally relevant stories often reminds older Indians of their youth while introducing younger ones to a playful national icon.

India's ad icon

Just like her international cousins, like Ronald McDonald flipping burgers, Tony the Tiger hyping up American breakfasts, or the Michelin Man bouncing down tire-strewn roads, the Amul girl is more than a mascot. She's part of a tradition of ad icons in India that includes familiar faces like the Air India Maharaja, Asian Paints cheeky Gattu, the ever-twirling Nirma girl, and the mischievous Onida Devil.

These characters dont just sell us things. They become part of the family, showing up ever so often, shaping our memories, and giving us something to smile about during our morning commutes or chai breaks.

Also Read | Walchand Hirachand: The dreamer who built solid castles in the air

In a world thats constantly changing, theres something comforting about a butter-loving girl in a polka-dotted dress still cracking jokes from her billboard perch.

For more such stories, read The Enterprising Indian: Stories From India Inc News.
This is what US President Donald Trump wrote on his social-media platform, Truth Social, after the US-designated terrorist group expressed willingness to release all Israeli hostages held captive for nearly two years.

Israel also responded positively to the announcement, saying it was preparing for the first phase of Trumps 20-point peace plan.

Voilathe self-confessed deal maker appears to have delivered what he long promised the world: an end to the brutal Gaza war, which has claimed over 60,000 Palestinian lives in retaliation for the October 2023 terror attack that killed roughly 1,200 people and left 251 abducted.

But will it translate into a lasting peace in the region?

For starters, Hamas hasnt signed on the dotted linethe list of reservations is long.

Trump's Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict requires the complete surrender from Hamaswhich has been running the embattled city for almost two decadeswith the promise of a safe passage to go where they wish, including Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, or Iran.

But given the fraught history it shares with Israel, there are lingering doubts over whether Benjamin Netanyahu will actually follow through and allow them to leave safely.

No, Israel doesnt want to take over Gaza.

The plan is that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) withdraw slowly as the proposed peacekeeping forcethe International Stabilisation Force (ISF)comprising personnel from the US, Arab nations, and other countries, gains control.

The ISF would train local police, prevent the smuggling of weapons, and ensure the smooth flow of aid and supplies, in close coordination with Jordan and Egypt.

Until then, the IDF will maintain a security perimeter", which is essentially a buffer zoneand, yes, people arent happy about that.

Next comes governancethe Day After" plan.

Gaza would be managed by a temporary, neutral team of Palestinian professionals and international experts. They would handle day-to-day operationspublic services, city management, and moreand report to a new body: the Board of Peace".

And who would be at the helm of that board?

You guessed itMr. Trump.

Another surprise inclusion is Tony Blair, the former British prime minister who served as an international peace envoy to the Middle East. (By the way, recall the Iraq WMD scandal? What are the odds that people in the Middle East would have forgotten that?)

Still, the plan includes measures to ensure that New Gaza" poses no threat to any country, asking neighbouring states to keep Hamas and other groups in check.

If all this works out, Trump may indeed become a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. The key participants of the Oslo Accordsa series of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in the 1990s, aimed at achieving a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflictall won the prize.

That and all the opportunities for Trump's real estate businesshis son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has strong connections with Middle Eastern power players.

Peace in the Middle East could also open up significant trade opportunities for India. But theres the twist: Pakistan has been unusually close to the US during the rollout of this peace plan. Trump even thanked Jordan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Indias regional rival for being genuine participants in the process.

This is going to get a bit awkward for India.

Meanwhile, here are some of the week's other headlines:

While Trump was busy fixing the world, the worlds oldest democracy screeched to a halt.

Parts of the US government came to a standstill this week as the Presidents Republican Party clashed with Democrats over a spending bill. Republicans control both chambers of Congress, but in the Senatethe upper chamberthey fall short of the 60 votes needed to pass the legislation.

The standoff centres on healthcare spending. Democrats have refused to support a Republican bill they argue would make healthcare less affordable for Americans. Budget confrontations are common in US politics, but this one is especially tense because Trump has spent the past nine months cutting the size of the federal government.

In retaliation, Trump froze $26 billion allocated to Democratic-leaning states, following through on a threat to use the shutdown to target Democratic priorities. When normal operations might resume is anyones guess. The last shutdown of this kind, in 2018 during Trumps first term, lasted 35 daysthe longest in US history.

Trump has proposed using American cities as training grounds for the armed forces and spoke of needing US military might to combat what he called the invasion from within".

Addressing a meeting of top US military commanders who were abruptly summoned back home to listen to Trump and defence secretary (or war secretary since the department has been renamed department of war) Pete Hegseth, the US President outlined a muscular and, at times, norm-shattering view of the militarys role in domestic affairs.

Hegseth, on his part, demanded an end to woke" culture and announced new directives for troops that include gender-neutral" or male-level" standards for physical fitness.

China and the US have been attempting to negotiate a trade deal, and the negotiations have been intense. Both presidents would like to tell their people that they wrung out significant concessions from the other.

Word is that Xi Jinping is pushing for the US to change a decades-old phrase describing its stance on Taiwan independence, a concession that would be seen as a major diplomatic win for Beijing.

China has asked the Trump administration to officially declare that it opposes" Taiwan independence. This would be stronger than the Joe Biden administrations previous statement that the US does not support" self-ruled Taiwan seeking formal independence.

The European Union (EU) is looking for a way to fund Ukraine's defence and reconstruction with the Russian central bank's assets immobilized in the West after Moscow's invasion.

There is political support for the idea in principle. But there is a small problem: Under international law, sovereign assets cannot be confiscated.

So, some countries, most notably Belgium, want clarity on the legal and fiscal risks. Belgium hosts the Euroclear financial clearing house that holds bonds for the Russian central bank.

These bonds have matured, and the resulting cash balances have been frozen due to EU sanctions against Moscow and are being held by Euroclear.

The EU believes it can circumvent this issue by redirecting these cash balances to the EU. In return, the European Commission would issue zero-coupon bonds to Euroclear for the same amount.

Elizabeth Roche is an associate professor at O.P. Jindal Global University.
Bomb-ruptured buildings list like shipwrecks and paved roads have been churned into gravel. Gaza City, once teeming with street food and knotty traffic, is now reduced to almost nothing but dust and decay.

A short Israeli-military organized visit by international media on Friday was focused on Israels effort to destroy what it says is Hamas bomb making, intelligence machinery and tunnels. But the Hamas announcement late Friday that its accepted much of a peace plan laid out by US President Donald Trump and is moving toward releasing the remaining hostages poses a dilemma for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

While Israel hasnt heeded months of international condemnation over its conduct of the war, the army began reining in its offensive in Gaza City after Trump demanded on social media on Friday that it stop bombing so the hostages can be freed. The military says its shifted to a more defensive posture, despite the mission  of completely destroying Hamas  not yet being accomplished.

For Netanyahu, a deal could mean not only that he doesnt end the war on his terms but that his political coalition fractures and perhaps collapses. The far-right members of his government consider the defeat of Hamas more important than the release of the remaining hostages  20 living and 28 dead.

Obviously this puts Netanyahu in a political bind, up to his very neck. But what can he do? Tel Aviv University political scientist Yossi Shain said. He added that Netanyahu may take the far-right members of his cabinet aside and say, Gentlemen, wait. Lets get through the hostage release first. And hell hope that things thereafter will work for him.

Trump has focused on the hostages as the key to ending the war that started when Hamas operatives invaded Israel two years ago, killing 1,200 and abducting 250 others. In the subsequent two years, Israels war in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 people, sparked a famine in parts of the enclave, according to a UN-backed body, and led another UN-backed panel to declare it a genocide.

Israel denies both the famine and genocide allegations. But its refusal to let in journalists, except in short embeds, has made independent verification impossible, and global opinion has turned firmly against its war effort.

Netanyahu has stood defiantly against rising international condemnation, and a growing coalition of Western allies that in recent weeks announced that theyd join more than 150 other countries in recognizing a Palestinian state.

The Israeli leader also wants the hostages out but he has repeatedly insisted that, equally importantly, Hamas must disarm and be denied any future in Gaza.

If a hostage release occurs  in exchange for as many as 2,000 Palestinian prisoners  a process may begin that keeps Hamas in some role in Palestinian politics. An upcoming meeting of Palestinian factions to discuss Gazas future will include the group.

Many world leaders  and even many in the Israeli security establishment  say Hamas has been sufficiently worn down by two years of war that it will no longer pose a danger.

The army acknowledges that Hamas is greatly diminished. But a senior officer who briefed the group of journalists brought to Gaza on Friday  and who spoke under military rules of anonymity  pointed to a hospital which, he said, was evacuated only two weeks ago and where he said a sprawling subterranean rocket factory was uncovered.

We didnt have enough time to make sure that all these terrorist infrastructures will be destroyed, he said of the armys previous invasion of Gaza City. We came back to make sure there are not any tunnels like this.

Netanyahus government approved the Gaza City advance in August as part of what Israeli planners described as a conquer and crush campaign replacing less effective earlier incursions. The plan stoked global outrage.

Trump, while supportive of Israel, has grown increasingly impatient with it and has been pushing both sides to reach a deal now. Hes also publicly campaigned to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, due to be announced this coming week.

Last Monday, Netanyahu accepted a 20-point peace plan put forth by Trump. Hamas now says it accepts much of it but needs to negotiate the rest.

It doesnt accept disarmament and has made no reference to Trumps idea of an international transitional governing body or its own dissolution. It also says Israel must fully withdraw but, according to the plan, Israel would hold onto a perimeter buffer zone. The question now is how much of the plan will remain after the next round of negotiations, which, according to an Israeli official familiar with the matter, will begin on Sunday.

A recovery of the hostages would be welcomed across the political spectrum in Israel. Leaving Hamas intact, with any weaponry or governing capacity, would be less so, although polls show Israelis increasingly willing to take any deal that frees those abducted on Oct. 7, 2023.

Its very hard to fight for two years, the senior officer said. Hamas is still fighting as a system. You can see it. Its observing us. Its looking for our weak points. When we surprise them at close range, from time to time they surrender. But mostly they just fight.

2025 Bloomberg L.P.
A divided Supreme Court let the Trump administration strip more than 300,000 Venezuelans of the right to temporarily live and work in the US, in a decision that opens a new category of migrants to the prospect of arrest and deportation.

Intervening on the administrations side in the clash for the second time, the justices on Friday lifted a trial court order that had said the Venezuelans could keep their so-called Temporary Protected Status. The TPS program is designed to protect immigrants whose home countries are in crisis.

Although the high court order by its terms is temporary  applying while the case goes forward on appeal  it will usher in a sharp change in the Venezuelans legal status. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem can now revoke a TPS extension that former President Joe Bidens administration put in place just before he left office.

The courts three liberal justices dissented. I cannot abide our repeated, gratuitous, and harmful interference with cases pending in the lower courts while lives hang in the balance, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote.

Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor dissented as well, but without making any comment.

The majority gave only a cursory explanation, pointing to an interim decision it issued in May to let Noems revocation go forward. Although the posture of the case has changed, the parties legal arguments and relative harms generally have not, the court wrote Friday in an unsigned opinion.

The move will affect more than half of the 600,000 Venezuelans now covered under the program. Noem ended TPS status for the remaining Venezuelan migrants in a separate cancellation that wasnt directly at issue at the Supreme Court. The affected Venezuelans have seen their legal status shift repeatedly this year amid the legal fighting.

The government will probably have to pursue deportation orders in federal immigration court before removing any former TPS beneficiaries. Many of the affected people may also have pending asylum applications.

Defiance Alleged

In turning to the Supreme Court, the Trump administration accused US District Judge Edward Chen and a federal appeals court of defying a May 19 high court decision. That ruling blocked a preliminary order the San Francisco-based judge had issued in the case.

This courts orders are binding on litigants and lower courts, Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the administrations top Supreme Court lawyer, argued. Whether those orders span one sentence or many pages, disregarding them  as the lower courts did here  is unacceptable.

In backing Chen, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals panel said it wasnt bound by the earlier Supreme Court ruling, which came without any explanation. We can only guess as to the courts rationale when it provides none, the three-judge panel said. All three judges, like Chen, were appointed by Democratic presidents.

The revocation is being challenged by Venezuelans including a Florida college student and a Texas IT specialist, along with the National TPS Alliance, a membership group.

They said thousands of families were torn apart after the May 19 Supreme Court order let the administration begin deporting people who had held TPS status.

People lost their jobs, were jailed and ultimately deported to a country that remains extremely unsafe, the group argued.

The Biden administration extended TPS status for all 600,000 Venezuelans until October 2026. The group of 350,000 originally was scheduled to lose TPS status in April 2025.

The case is Noem v. National TPS Alliance, 25a326.

2025 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Demographers at the United Nations predict that the number of humans on Earth will begin shrinking as soon as 2080  the culmination of a global decline in birthrates that began two generations ago. I keep thinking about what this shift means for moms.

Fewer women are having children. Those who do are having smaller families than previous generations. This trend transcends the norms of any one culture or place.

The shift away from motherhood is happening slowly  but surely. Its a source of growing bipartisan concern. New Pew Research polling finds that over half of Americans (53%) now say fewer people choosing to have children in the future would negatively impact the United States, a six-point increase from last year.

In Foreign Affairs, social scientist and my former American Enterprise Institute colleague Nicholas Eberstadt charts the UN Population Division data, going country by county to the places where deaths are already exceeding births. Already, every major population in East Asia  in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan  is shrinking. The same goes for India, Latin America and the Caribbean. Iran and Russia have long been sub-replacement societies. Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where the birthrate of 4.3 significantly exceeds the replacement rate of 2.1, although even there the birthrate is dropping.

There have been other times and places of falling fertility due to famine, plague or war. But this depopulation is unique in the experience of humanity because (1) it appears to be what we are self-selecting into, and (2) its worldwide.

It can be argued that to the extent this shift better reflects preferences and choice, its a good thing. I, for one, am relieved to have three children, not twelve. But politicians and academics are worried about the sociodemographic implications. After all, birthrates below replacement eventually result in human extinction.

We dont know how this will play out over the long run. Maybe a world with fewer children means a greater level of investment in each of them. Or maybe it shrinks the share of the population interested in helping kids. Maybe technology alleviates any shortages in the workforce or the taxpayer base. Or maybe even AI cant counteract the looming labor slump. Maybe there will be more resources for us to share, with a greater dignity and respect for life. Or maybe the whole thing will get more callous and gene-edited and selective.

But I cant help thinking about how this will turn up the anxiety American moms already are feeling. Because declining birthrates not only mean fewer babies  declining birthrates also mean fewer moms.

I grew up in a neighborhood where each house seemed to have three or four kids, and evenings were filled with kids running around and playing games on the street. In my current neighborhood, fewer kids run around outside. Most families seem to have two children, both parents are working, and the kids are signed up for more activities. That makes life more isolating, frankly, as a mom.

Theres also more pressure on parents to keep children entertained. Children are not around other children as much socially as they used to be; even within families, there are fewer siblings. So kids look to mom and dad for playtime  or to screens.

I think of how much security and companionship I derived from having pregnant and postpartum friends walk alongside me in my own journey into motherhood. How much help I derived from a text chain of experienced moms when I had my first child. How those text chains will become smaller and smaller as fewer people opt into motherhood.

I think about all of the anxiety on mothers shoulders about whether they are feeding their kids the right things, whether their school is teaching children what they need to know, the significant financial investment in college, and how much that this pressure to do parenting right will only increase if you only have one or maybe two children.

I keep thinking about Brad Wilcoxs research. The senior fellow at the University of Virginias Institute for Family Studies has found that married mothers are among the happiest demographics of women; single mothers, too, find more purpose in their lives than women without children. Might declining rates of parenthood be contributing to modern societys broader anomie?

Fewer parents around means that support for public investments  better schools, paid parental leave, more child care options  might dwindle as society focuses her resources elsewhere. The same goes for community investments in playgrounds and sidewalks and parks. This, of course, would only exacerbate the decline in childrearing as prospective parents look out to a landscape that, in Tim Carneys words, is family-unfriendly.

With this on the horizon, our generation owes it to those who come after to make the necessary structural and cultural changes to support motherhood. Because going forward, there might not be as many of us around.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Abby McCloskey is a columnist, podcast host, and consultant. She directed domestic policy on two presidential campaigns and was director of economic policy at the American Enterprise Institute.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion
Cybercriminals linked to a wave of ransomware incidents targeting British retailers have claimed responsibility for stealing almost one billion records from US cloud technology giant Salesforce. The group, calling itself Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters, told Reuters on Friday that it had obtained vast troves of personal information by exploiting companies that rely on Salesforce software.

Who are the hackers? The group, an apparent offshoot of the wider LAPSUS$ cybercrime network, said it was behind recent breaches at Marks & Spencer, the Co-op and Jaguar Land Rover earlier this year. Security experts say it is tracked under the designation UNC6040 by Googles Threat Intelligence Group, which has previously warned of its social-engineering tactics.

How the data was allegedly stolen Salesforce denied its systems had been compromised. Instead, one hacker, who identified themselves as Shiny, said the operation used vishing, voice phishing calls to IT help desks, to trick employees of Salesforce customers. In some cases, attackers reportedly persuaded staff to install a tampered version of Salesforces Data Loader tool, allowing bulk extraction of information.

Also Read | Google warns hackers breached Oracle apps to steal data, extort firms

What was leaked? On Friday, Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters launched a dark web leak site listing around 40 organisations it claimed to have breached. The authenticity of the alleged billion-record haul remains unverified, and it is unclear whether all of the companies cited are Salesforce clients.

Salesforces response A Salesforce spokesperson insisted there was no indication that the Salesforce platform has been compromised, nor is this activity related to any known vulnerability in our technology. The firm declined to confirm whether ransom talks had taken place.

On Friday, Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters launched a dark web leak site listing around 40 organisations it claimed to have breached.

Links to broader cybercrime networks According to Google researchers, the groups infrastructure overlaps with The Com, a loosely-organised cybercriminal ecosystem notorious for smaller cells engaging not only in data theft but also violent activity.

Police investigations underway In July, British police arrested four people under the age of 21 as part of a probe into the retail cyberattacks. Law enforcement has not confirmed whether those arrests are tied to the latest claims.
BERLIN (AP)  Mysterious drone flights over the airspace of European Union member countries in recent weeks have alarmed the public and elected officials.

Intrusions into NATOs airspace, some of them blamed on Russia, reached an unprecedented scale last month. Some European officials described the incidents as Moscow testing NATOs response, which raised questions about how prepared the alliance is against Russia.

On Sept. 10, a swarm of Russian drones flew into Poland's airspace, forcing NATO aircraft to scramble to intercept them and shoot down some of the devices. It was the first direct encounter between NATO and Moscow since Russia launched its all-out war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Days later, NATO jets escorted three Russian warplanes out of Estonias airspace.

Since then, flyovers have occurred near airports, military installations and critical infrastructure, among other locations, elsewhere on the continent and prompted European defense ministers to agree to develop a drone wall along their borders to better detect, track and intercept drones violating Europes airspace.

Russia has been blamed for some of them, but denies that anything was done on purpose or that it played a role. European authorities haven't released much detail about the drone intrusions, with some not acknowledging the overflights publicly until days later.

Other times, authorities were unable to confirm a report of a sighting. At one point, Danish authorities were flooded with 500 tips of sightings over 24 hours  some of which turned out to be just stars in the sky.

Countries are scrambling to figure out how to respond in the moment, including weighing whether to allow authorities to shoot the drones down.

Here's what we know about some of the recent drone sightings:

Germanys Munich Airport reopened Saturday morning after authorities shut it down the night before for the second time in less than 24 hours after two additional drone sightings. Delays were expected to continue throughout Saturday and at least 6,500 passengers were impacted by the overnight closure.

In Denmark, drones flew over Copenhagen Airport on Sept. 22, causing a major disruption to air traffic in and out of Scandinavia's largest airport.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that Russian involvement couldnt be ruled out, calling it the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date.

Meanwhile, a report of a drone sighting occurred the same evening at Norway's Oslo Airport, forcing all traffic to one runway. Authorities were investigating whether there was a link between the two major airports.

Drones also flew over four smaller Danish airports between Sept. 24 and Sept. 25, including two that serve as military bases. Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said that a professional actor was likely behind the systematic flights.

In the same time frame, several Danish media outlets reported that one or more drones were seen near or above the Karup Air Base, which is Denmarks biggest military base.

The defense ministry refused to confirm the sighting at Karup or elsewhere, and said that for reasons of operational security and the ongoing investigation, the Defense Command Denmark does not wish to elaborate further on drone sightings.

In Germany, authorities are investigating claims that unidentified drones may have spied on critical infrastructure in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein. Multiple drones were spotted on Sept. 25 over a power plant in the state capital of Kiel, as well as near a university hospital and a shipyard in the port city, according to a Der Spiegel report.

Regional Interior Minister Sabine Sutterlin-Waack told a committee of the state parliament that flying objects of various types and sizes had been spotted. Chief Public Prosecutor Stephanie Gropp said an investigation was underway.

Der Spiegel said that two small drones had been seen over the Kiel factory premises of TKMS, a maritime defense technologies provider.

Later, a combined drone formation was observed over the university hospital and a power plant, and other drone sightings were reported over governmental buildings and the Heide oil refinery in the area, the report said.
OpenAI has announced an update to its GPT-5 Instant model, aimed at offering more effective assistance to people during sensitive or distressing conversations.

OpenAI enhances GPT-5 Instant for sensitive conversations In a post on X on Saturday, the company said that sections of dialogue considered delicate will now be directed to GPT-5 Instant. This change is designed to ensure quicker, more thoughtful responses for users who may require additional support.

The company also confirmed that ChatGPT will continue to make clear which model is active whenever a user asks. The rollout of these improvements has already begun for ChatGPT users.

Sections of dialogue considered delicate will now be directed to GPT-5 Instant.

Were updating GPT-5 Instant to better recognise and support people in moments of distress. Sensitive parts of conversations will now route to GPT-5 Instant to quickly provide even more helpful responses. ChatGPT will continue to tell users what model is active when asked, tweeted OpenAI.

OpenAI chief Sam Altman outlines first major updates for Sora Meanwhile, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman announced the first-ever changes for Sora, the companys experimental video-generation tool, on Saturday after receiving extensive feedback from users, creators, and rights holders.

In a recent blog post, Altman revealed that Sora will soon offer expanded tools for rights holders, giving them greater authority over how their characters are used on the platform. The upcoming system will build upon the current opt-in approach for likeness usage but add new layers of control, including options to restrict or entirely block certain applications.

Altman explained that while many creators view Sora as a promising medium for interactive fan fiction and a way to strengthen audience engagement, there is also a clear demand for stronger safeguards. People will approach this in very different ways, he noted, emphasising that OpenAI intends to establish a consistent framework that leaves the final decision with rights holders.
Ballard Season 2 OTT release: The Bosch spinoff Ballard, starring Maggie Q, will be renewed for a second season. The actress said that the Ballard Season 2 release date may be closer than expected

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Maggie confirmed that writers were already working on the next arc and hinted at a possible fall production start.

Also Read | Dulquer Salman's big update on Lokah OTT release goes viral

Ballard Season 2 OTT release date: When and where to watch Maggie Q told The Hollywood Reporter that a second season of Ballard is actively in development, with writers already working on the next arc.

We have a writers' room, and theyve been writing away. The arc for the second season is very exciting. If we get a season two of Ballard, I think well be back in the fall to shoot, she said, hinting at a 2026 release.

The show premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 9 July 2025, and quickly climbed to No. 1 on the platforms TV charts.

Maggie highlighted that the show had received an overwhelming response, right from the beginning. When they made the announcement that I was doing the show, I got more texts, more messages, more people reaching out than for anything Ive ever done in my entire career.

No guarantee of renewal: Maggie Q The first season ended on a cliffhanger, but Maggie acknowledged that there was no guarantee of renewal despite a positive reception.

This industry is not what it was before. Its barely recognisable to me, and shows are so expendable. They can throw out a show in two seconds, she explained.

She also recalled past experiences where a writers' room was assembled, but the show was still cancelled.

Also Read | Final Destination Bloodlines OTT release: When to watch horror film online

About the show  Ballard Maggie Q plays Renee Ballard, head of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD)s cold cases unit, in the Bosch universe spinoff series.

Ballard, the well-reviewed show with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, has been a strong performer in the US, generating 2.5 billion minutes viewed since its July 9 release.

It charted on Nielsen's weekly Top 10 for streaming originals for several weeks, including a #4 finish with 619 million minutes viewed for the week of July 21.
The grand opening date of the once-popular fast-food joint, Hot n Now, has been announced as the franchise is headed to West Michigan. The announcement came following the crew installing a modular building on 1146 129th Ave. near US-131 in Wayland Township, across from the Gun Lake Casino, in just a day, a couple of months ago.

The project is being helmed by Gun Lake Investments, which, along with its business owner, Jeff Konczak, promised easy-on-the-pocket-priced items on the menu, Wood reported.

What to expect from the new Hot n Now joint? Following the grand opening of the new Hot n Now joint, customers will be able to visit the outlet everyday. However, the timings will vary, as from Sunday through Thursday, the franchise will be working from 10:30 am to 10 pm local time, while on Fridays and Saturdays, the drive-thru eatery will run till 1:00 in the morning.

As for the menu, the list of products has been announced on the official website of Hot n Now. Some of the items include the iconic olive burger, hamburger, cheeseburger, and popcorn chicken. For the side options, the consumers could go for French fries, cheesy taters, and an apple turnover.

After the opening of the joint on West Michigan, Gun Lake Investments is also looking to open drive-thru stalls at several other locations, like one in Alpena at 320 Johnson St., GLI reported by mLive.com.

What caused the end of Hot n Now in 2004? Hot n Now was one of the much-loved fast-food joints in the 1980s, when it was first started in Kalamazoo. The owners of the company began opening franchises in several locations, turning it into a successful business. However, things started going south after the ownership of the company was changed multiple times. In 2004, the food joint filed for bankruptcy, marking the beginning of the end.

However, 20 years later, in January 2025, Gun Lake Investments announced that it would revive the brand.

As per the official website of the food joint, Hot n Now is backrecharged, revamped, and ready to steal some thunder. It further reads, Get the lightning-fast service and no-nonsense menu you remember at shockingly good prices."

The grand opening of the West Michigan joint is scheduled for October 13, 2025.

FAQs Q1. When will Hot n Now open in West Michigan? Ans. Hot n Now is scheduled to open in West Michigan on October 13.

Q2. Will Hot n Now have pocket-friendly items? Ans. Yes, Hot n Now will have pocket-friendly items on the menu.
GAZA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group on Saturday backed Hamas's response to U.S. President Donald Trump's ceasefire plan for Gaza.

"The response provided by Hamas to the Trump plan expresses the position of the Palestinian resistance forces," Islamic Jihad said in a statement, adding that it had "responsibly participated in the consultations that led to this decision."

Hamas said on Friday it had submitted its response to mediators, agreeing in principle to release all Israeli hostages, including the bodies of the dead. The group also signaled readiness to hand Gaza's administration to a non-partisan Palestinian authority of technocrats, formed by national consensus and backed by Arab and Islamic states.

Trump welcomed the statement on his Truth Social platform, saying Hamas appeared "ready for a lasting peace" and urging Israel to halt its bombardment. "We are already in discussions on the details to be worked out," he wrote. "This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought peace in the Middle East."

The Trump administration unveiled the 20-point plan on Monday following talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The proposal outlines a ceasefire-for-hostages deal, a phased Israeli withdrawal, a demilitarized Gaza, and international oversight of the enclave's reconstruction and governance once the conflict ends. 
Divers have recovered a remarkable trove of more than 1,000 Spanish silver and gold coins from a shipwreck off the Atlantic coast of Florida. The treasure, which researchers believe dates back over 300 years, has been estimated to be worth as much as $1 million, reported USA Today.

The report added that the treasure was recovered by 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels LLC, a company that has exclusive salvage rights to the 1715 Treasure Fleet shipwrecks. The coins, over 1000 silver reales and five escudos, were discovered by Captain Levin Shavers and his crew aboard the vessel Just Right while exploring the seabed near Sebastian Inlet.

Sal Guttuso, the companys operations director, told the publication, This discovery is not only about the treasure itself but also the stories it tells. Sal added that each coin was a tangible link to the Golden Age of the Spanish Empire. Finding over 1,000 in a single recovery is extraordinary, Sal said.

Legacy of 1715 Treasure Fleet The 1715 Fleet was a convoy of 11 Spanish ships carrying immense riches from the New World back to Spain. On July 31, 1715, a powerful hurricane struck the fleet off Floridas coast, sinking the ships and spilling an estimated $400 million worth of gold, silver, and jewels into the sea, according to another report by Global News.

The disaster took the lives of fellowmen of about 1000 people, and the survivors were washed ashore on the beach currently known as the Treasure Coast, the report added.

Even though the Spanish authority recovered some of the treasure in the 18th century, the bulk of it remained lost for centuries, sustaining a long tradition of professional and amateur treasure hunting in Florida.

Conservation before display Each of the newly found coins will undergo conservation in Queen Jewels laboratory. Using a reverse electrolysis process, marine encrustations and salts will be carefully removed. High-resolution photography and detailed cataloguing will follow, noting mint marks, dates, and origins.

State officials will then review the artifacts. By Florida law, the state retains up to 20 percent of recovered finds for research or public display, while the remainder is split among the salvors, stated an AP report.

A rare discovery The state of the coins indicates they may have once been kept in a sack or chest. Shavers said there were burlap fibers crusted on some of the coins, and it led him to believe there could be additional coins that were in the immediate vicinity, the AP report added.

"This is the largest recovery of coins since 1990," said fellow salvor Michael Perna. "When we find artifacts like this, it reminds us the ocean is still full of surprises after centuries."

The artifacts that have been recovered will eventually be displayed in Florida museums.

FAQs Q1: How much is the recovered treasure worth? The coins are valued at approximately $1 million.

Q2: Where did the coins originate? They were minted in Spanish colonies in Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia.
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UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes the statement issued by Hamas announcing its readiness to release hostages and to engage on the basis of the proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump, the UN chief's spokesperson said Friday.

The secretary-general "welcomes and is encouraged" by the statement issued by Hamas, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

The UN chief urged all parties to seize the opportunity to bring the conflict in the Gaza Strip to an end, and thanked Qatar and Egypt for their invaluable mediation work, said the spokesperson.

Dujarric said the secretary-general reiterated his call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and unfettered humanitarian access. "The United Nations will support all efforts toward these objectives to prevent even more suffering."

Hamas announced Friday that it has submitted its response to Trump's Gaza peace proposal to regional and international mediators, saying it has agreed in principle to release all Israeli hostages, both living and deceased.

In a press statement, the Palestinian armed group also agreed to transfer the administration of Gaza to a Palestinian body of independent technocrats, formed through national consensus and supported by Arab and Islamic countries.

"Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE," Trump said Friday on Truth Social, adding that Israel must immediately stop its bombing of Gaza. "We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East."

On Monday, the Trump administration unveiled a 20-point proposal after the U.S. president held talks with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which outlines a ceasefire-for-hostages deal, a phased Israeli withdrawal, a demilitarized Gaza, and international oversight of Gaza's reconstruction and governance after the end of the conflict. 


IFA President Francie Gorman said that following a constructive online meeting with Fergal Mullins, Commissioner with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), there is a willingness to review water charges for farmers with multiple connections under the Non-Domestic Tariff Framework.

IFA President Francie Gorman said that the CRU had taken the decision to increase water charges by 9.8% from Oct 1st, but they signalled a willingness to explore options to reduce the cost burden on farmers, particularly those with multiple connections and low water usage.

Under Band 1, which covers most farmers, the annual standing charge will increase to 91.60 and the volumetric charge to 2.40 per m. Standing charges have increased by 52% since the framework was introduced in 2021.

I made it very clear that farmers are extremely frustrated. The pricing structure is fundamentally unfair, especially for farmers with multiple connections and is inconsistent with a guiding principle of the framework which is equity and no undue discrimination.

He said that farmers with fragmented holdings and multiple connections, typically extensive farmers with very low water usage, are disproportionately affected, as they must pay a standing charge for each connection, that is needed to protect animal health and safety.

IFA Environment Chair John Murphy highlighted that while Uisce Eireann and the CRU are required under EU rules to recover the costs of water services, flexibilities exist within the rules which are already being used by other Member States.

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He befit the title of a scholar and a gentleman, was just one of the many tributes paid in memory of the distinguished Professor Conor Gearty at a recent sitting of Longford District Court.

The Abbeylara-born human rights lawyer and academic, who died suddenly on September 11, was held in high regard by the local judiciary, both in a professional and personal capacity.

In attendance on the morning of the sitting were members of Professor Geartys extended family, including his brother Frank, a well-known solicitor in the town.

Expressing her condolences to the family, Judge Bernadette Owens described the renowned academic as having been one of the leading lights in the area of civil liberties and human rights law.

She told the courtroom that while she had not known Professor Gearty on a personal level, she recalled him addressing a national judicial conference some years ago, and spoke in admiration of the unquestionable enthusiasm he held for his area of expertise.

Referencing an extract from Professor Geartys obituary, Judge Owens told the court, I was reading the tribute in The Guardian Newspaper and one passage stood out and resonated with me.

It said, Professor Gearty was renowned for his incisive wit and his ability to maintain friendships while disagreeing with opponents. As a skilled orator and debater, he deployed charm and curiosity to convince.

Turning to Professor Geartys brother Frank, Judge Owens added, on a personal note to you Mr Gearty, that view could just as easily describe yourself.

Judge Owens tribute was met with a rapturous round of applause from the court, after which members of the judiciary followed suit in expressing their condolences.

Solicitor John Quinn told the court he had the privilege of knowing Conor and said it was the UKs gain and Irelands loss when he moved to London.

Mr Quinn added, He was always a pleasure and well able to exchange views. He befit the title of a scholar and a gentleman. Its a pity we lost a man of his calibre at the age of 67.

Sergeant Enda Daly, on behalf of An Garda Siochana, echoed the sentiments expressed and remarked that while he had not known Professor Gearty, he could see why he was held in such high esteem.

Professor Geartys brother, Frank, thanked Judge Owens for her beautiful words and expressed his gratitude for the the support of the judiciary with whom Conor was very close, both in England and Ireland.

Speaking of his brothers accomplishments, Mr Gearty cited his extraordinary portfolio and added that he could argue anything but did so with a disarming ability to make everyone feel comfortable and listen to his arguments. His own students spoke so highly of him.

Mr Gearty recalled his brothers complete and utter appreciation and respect for the district court and said they had both enjoyed chats about the nuances of the court in question.

In reiterating his thanks to the court for their comments and tributes, Mr Gearty closed his address on a resonant note, Conor, in his 67 years, did more than what most of us would do in 167 years  hes gone now but he has left a tremendous legacy.

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There has been widespread condemnation and absolute devastation over Longford County Councils decision to grant planning permission for the development of a highly controversial solar farm and energy storage compound in Foigha.

The application was submitted by Foigha Solar Farm Limited, a subsidiary of BayWa r.e.

The Foigha Solar Farm Concern group, who were strongly opposed to the application and had submitted an objection claiming the construction process would pose serious health and safety risks for residents and tourists said theyre absolutely devastated with the decision.

The group stated, Were absolutely devastated. We feel Longford County Council did not listen to the views of the 100+ submissions that went in from affected local residents.

When Baywa r.e. was asked by the Longford Leader for a comment on the communitys "absolute devastation" caused by the news that the development had been given the green light, Alison Murphy, Community Liaison Officer of BayWa r.e. Ireland said, "BayWa r.e. Ireland welcomes Longford County Council's decision to approve Foigha Solar Farm after a comprehensive review that carefully considered all submissions and followed Ireland's robust planning framework.

Ms Murphy added, We understand that some members of the community have concerns, and we are committed to continuing engagement and communications as the project moves forward. Our goal is to carefully design and deliver renewable energy that provides lasting environmental and economic benefits both locally and nationally."

Spanning a total of 130 hectares, the proposed development will consist of 661,500 sq.m of solar photovoltaic panels on ground mounted frames, 42 single storey electrical transformer stations, an energy storage compound consisting of 38 containerised energy storage modules as well as associated plant and equipment, 10 transformers, 2 auxiliary transformers, 1 medium voltage control/switching substation and 1 spare parts container.

The proposed development will also include underground electrical ducting and cabling within the development site, as well as a crossing of the Royal Canal either by open trench or horizontal directional drill, temporary construction compounds, CCTV, security fencing, and access tracks, including a clear span bridge over Donacurry River. As stated in the planning application, the operational lifespan of the solar farm will be 40 years and planning permission is requested for this duration.

Longford TD Micheal Carrigy also expressed his disappointment with the councils decision to give the development the go-ahead. Its going to have a serious impact on a large number of people that have been living in the rural community for generations.

I feel more consideration should have been given and more information on areas around archeology, traffic, etc, should have been supplied. We have to be cognizant of our rural community and solar farms in my opinion shouldnt be impacting local regions on tourism potential particularly in relation to the Royal Canal, which is a significant development not just locally but nationally. More rural locations that dont affect people in local communities should be identified as locations for solar panels.

Local resident Damien Mulvihill is angry about the decision. "Over 100 residents will be affected by this and we don't feel we got any proper consideration from Longford County Council. We feel extremely let down and we made a good case against not having this in the area.

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There are hundreds of homes across county Longford hit by power outages as Storm Amy has caused substantial damage to the electricity network.

ESB Networks crews and partner contractors have been deployed to assess the damage, make the network safe and restore electricity supply in challenging conditions. ESB Networks crews are mobilised and are working to restore power where it is safe to do so.

Also read: LIVE: Emergency services tackle roof damage at Longford business as Storm Amy bares teeth

An ESB spokesperson said, "Our crews will continue the restoration for as long as possible but, with the difficult conditions, it is likely that the majority of customers will not have their power restored tonight."

The spokesperson continued, "We acknowledge the disruption to family and commercial life this causes and thank impacted customers for their patience as our crews work to safely restore power.

Also read: Thousands affected as north Longford hit with boil water notice

"We will update power estimated restoration times as soon as we have assessed the network, and these will be available to view on www.PowerCheck.ie.

"We advise customers to sign up for our Keep me Updated service for power outages on www.PowerCheck.ie to receive theses status updates directly."

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A Boston woman will spend three months on home confinement and must stay off of all MBTA vehicles after she admitted to pushing a 63-year-old woman off a bus last month.

Luz Pineda, 32, admitted to the assault in Boston Municipal Court in Roxbury on Friday, according to the Suffolk County District Attorneys Office. The case was continued without a finding for two years, meaning that if she obeys the conditions set by a judge, the charges will be dismissed after that time.

Just after 1 p.m. on Sept. 8, Pineda got into an argument with the victim over the 63-year-old woman not getting off the bus to let Pineda out at the bus stop at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Warren Street. The altercation then turned physical, with Pineda pushing the victim off the bus and onto the sidewalk.

Surveillance video from the area obtained by WCVB shows a person landing face-first on the sidewalk after being pushed out of the bus, MassLive previously reported. Video from inside the bus shows the younger woman appear to push the older woman out of the doorway, then throw a shopping cart onto her.

When police arrived, they found the victim bleeding from her head with a laceration on the outer corner of her left eye.

After leaving the bus, Pineda, who had an infant with her, changed her clothing and hair style to avoid being identified, police said.

Pineda was charged with one count of assault and battery on an elder or disabled person with injury.

In addition to three months of GPS-monitored home confinement, except for medical appointments, and staying off the MBTA for two years, Pineda will be required to complete anger management, continue with mental health treatment and have no contact with the victim.

The news comes two weeks after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called attention to the case as an example of cities failure to keep riders and transit workers safe. He ordered transit officials in Boston and Chicago, which also saw a recent attack on a Chicago Transit Authority worker, to provide reports on public safety efforts and what federal funding they receive.

While local leaders seem intent on putting the needs of criminals first, were not waiting for the next Iryna, he said, referring to the fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a North Carolina commuter train in August. Chicago and Boston are on notice to take actions that enhance safety and reduce the crime affecting their riders and transit workers  or risk federal support. This is about standing up for American families who deserve a safe and clean transportation system.
MBTA General Manager Phil Eng speaks to reporters from a podium set up on the Green Line platform at Government Center on Feb. 15, 2024. (State House News Service)

Threatened with the loss of federal funding if it failed to comply, the MBTA has responded to the Trump administrations questions about the safety of the nations oldest subway system.

In a Thursday letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the transit systems top official, Phillip Eng, said the T shared his commitment to the safety of our employees and the public we serve. All riders must be safe - and feel safe - while using any part of our network.

We value the strong relationships we have with all our federal partners, including USDOT, FTA, [and] FRA working together towards our mutual goals to ensure safety and improve public transit for all, Eng, the Ts general manager, wrote.

Duffy fired off a letter to the T last month, threatening the agencys federal funding if it didnt share crime and safety data.

 ... Were not waiting for the next Iryna [referring to the stabbing death of a woman on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina]. Chicago and Boston are on notice to take actions that enhance safety and reduce the crime affecting their riders and transit workers  or risk federal support, Duffy said in a statement.

In that letter, Duffy said the MBTA must maintain a safe, clean and secure environment, and while those facts are true across the MBTA system, particular focus must be on key transportation and intermodal hubs such as South Station.

Authorities also cited recent events on the MBTA  such as a woman pushed off a bus in Roxbury last week and a man who attacked someone with his belt on a bus in Cambridge  as the reason for its demands.

In August, a senior U.S. Transportation Department official suggested that Washington could take over the operation of Bostons South Station, which is managed by the MBTA. It came the same day the White House announced it was taking over Union Station in the nations capital.

So far, those musings by Deputy Deputy U.S. Transportation Secretary Steven Bradbury have remained just that  musings.

In a Friday statement, the MBTA pointed to the hundreds of millions of dollars it had poured into the system to improve safety, along with an expansion of the ranks of Transit Police officers, from 195 in the 2022 budget year to the current complement of 228 officers.

Year-to-date crime also has decreased across the system by 16% from last year at the same time, officials said.

Eng also pointed to the extensive maintenance work that the agency has undertaken over the last year. That work saw the replacement of more than 250,000 feet of rail, the removal of more than 220 speed restrictions. Thats restored 2.4 million minutes of service every weekday, the agency told Duffy.

The systems heavily traveled Orange Line is on track to have its signal system 100% converted to a modernized, digital system by the end of this year, the T said in its statement.

Since 2023, weve addressed decades of deferred maintenance, rebuilt a depleted workforce, and invested hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements and service upgrades, Eng said in the agencys statement. Our work is never done, but the results are clear: we are delivering a safer, more reliable system for our riders, and we will continue to challenge ourselves every day to get better.
VIENNA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations nuclear watchdog, Russia and Ukraine are discussing ways to restore off-site power to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), which has depended on back-up electricity for 10 days, the agency said Friday.

"Both sides say they stand ready to conduct the necessary repairs on their respective sides of the frontline. But for this to happen, the security situation on the ground must improve so that the technicians can carry out their vital work without endangering their lives," said Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

On Sept. 23, the sole remaining 750 kV powerline was disconnected as a result of damage on the frontline, said a statement released by the IAEA, noting the resulting loss of off-site power is by far the longest of the 10 such events that the ZNPP has suffered during the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Should a complete blackout at the ZNPP occur, it may potentially cause an accident with fuel melting and a potential radiation release into the environment, it said.

While the ZNPP's emergency diesel generators were operating normally and there was also plenty of fuel in reserve, this is an "unprecedented situation that must be resolved without further delay," Grossi said in the statement.

"I am calling on both sides to do what is necessary to prevent a further deterioration. It is a question of political will, not whether it is technically possible, which it is," he said. 
Members of The Ashmere Project celebrate Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 after buying the former Chesterfield Scout Reservation at a foreclosure auction for $1.4 million. (Jim Kinney/ The Republican) The Republican

CHESTERFIELD  Sold!

And it was hugs, cheers and tears all around for members of The Ashmere Project.

The four-year-old nonprofit, which runs a two-week summer retreat for adults with disabilities, won. Ashmere purchased the 197-acre former Chesterfield Scout Reservation, 22 and 27 Sugar Hill Road, at a foreclosure auction Friday following weeks of breakneck organizing and fundraising.

The price was $1.4 million.

Now we have even more work to do, said Ashmere Project member Jakob F. Palches.

Every roof here needs to be replaced, he said.

Jakob F. Palches, a community member of The Ashmere Project, discusses the renovations and improvements his group plans at Chesterfield Scout Reservation. The group bought the property Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 for $1.4 million. The Ashmere project runs camps for adults with disabilities. (Jim Kinney / The Republican) The Republican

Palches estimates that itll take $30,000 worth of gravel to make pathways more wheelchair accessible.

All the materials costs could go into six figures, he said.

But Ashmere  which up until now has run its camps at Berkshire Lake Camp in Hinsdale  plans to be open next summer.

It just feels like such a blessing, said Ashmeres Michael Leon.

Each camp ends with members creating an original musical.

Leon said with the new location, they can take advantage of Northamptons arts community.

The Ashmere Project Community Members Nancy Connelly of Nashua, New Hampshire, and Michael Leon, celebrate Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 after the group bought Chesterfield Scout Reservation at auction for $1.4 million. (Jim Kinney / The Republican) The Republican

Members of Ashmere dont like titles, he said. Instead, they speak of community members with disabilities and community members without disabilities.

Coming from all over New England, about 30 campers with disabilities including cerebral palsy and autism attend each year.

There is no tuition. Instead, they raise about $500,000 a year, according to the groups annual report.

Palches, who will end up being in charge of renovations, said the group has been looking for property of its own for months. Ashmere has a few generous backers and a loan in order to compete in Fridays auction.

But we have no equipment, he said. Even all of the boats and canoes are gone from the property.

The Boy Scouts opened Chesterfield Scout Reservation in the 1930s eventually buildings, a dining hall, eight cabins two shower houses, 14 campsites, a three-bedroom, one-bath caretakers home and a swimming and boating center on the shores of a 40-acre lake.

A building on the grounds of Chesterfield Scout Reservation. The property was sold at foreclosure for $1.4 million. The Republican

Leon said the lakefront is laid out well and the gentle slope of the topography will make it easy to build accessibility for users of wheelchairs and crutches.

The scouts stopped using the property in 2011 and decided to sell and concentrate resources at the 1,300-acre Horace A. Moses Scout Reservation in Russell.

In 2018, the Scouts sold Chesterfield Scout Reservation to Tolgy Wood, a company that was already running medieval-themed role-playing games at the property.

But Tolgy Wood never took off.

Owners Paul Dabkowski and his wife Angela also tried their hands at hosting other events.

The lender, Farm Credit East, filed foreclosure papers over the summer.

Potential bidders and interested onlookers chat by the lake Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, before the former Chesterfield Scout Reservation at a foreclosure auction. (Jim Kinney/ The Republican) The Republican

Companies similar to Tolgy  that is other live-action role players or LARPers  attended the auction and approached The Ashmere Project afterward about renting the property from them when the camp is not in session.

There was strong interest in the property, said auctioneer Corey J. Fisher, executive vice president of Aaron Posnik & Co. in West Springfield. Camps, churches, developers and investors all contacted him in the run up to the auction.

Auctioneer Corey J. Fisher, executive vice president of Aaron Posnik & Co. prepares Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 to sell Chesterfield Scout Reservation at a foreclosure. (Jim Kinney/ The Republican ) The Republican

Evan Jones and Cinda Jones of W. D. Cowls Land Co., a timber concern, were there.

Evan said he camped on the site as a Scout and was the burglar at the flagpole near where bidders gathered. His sister, Cinda, said their father and probably grandfather camped there as well.

Neighbor A. J. Lapinski was relieved that Ashmere won the bidding.

It should be a camp, he said. The neighbors were worried about development. Its been very quiet here the past few years.
The recent ousting of Market Baskets longtime CEO Arthur T. Demoulas sent shock waves through New England, where generations of loyal shoppers now worry about the stores they relied on for generations.

Demoulas, commonly known as Artie T. to his supporters, is seen by many as the embodiment of the companys community ethos. While his departure could mark changes, its still unclear how much it will affect the average shopper or employee.

Market Baskets customers praise not only its More for your dollar prices but also its community-focused atmosphere. Unlike competitors, the chain has resisted self-checkout, and shoppers are accustomed to the availability of store employees when needed.

Many of those employees have been with the company for decades, as can be seen on each workers name tag boasting the length of their tenure at Market Basket.

Employees receive profit-sharing bonuses  even part-timers  and many at corporate headquarters began as cashiers or baggers, thanks to the companys promote-from-within culture.

CEO Arthur T. Demoulas speaks to employees at company headquarters, on Aug. 28, 2014, in Tewksbury, Mass., after he was reinstated as Market Basket CEO. Customers stopped shopping at the stores after he was ousted in that year. On Sept. 9, 2025, he was fired again. (AP Photo/Boston Herald, Mark Garfinkel)

Market Basket was ranked second among top U.S. grocers on the 2025 Retailer Preference Index compiled by data firm Dunnhumby. Survey respondents said the stores low prices and care for both employees and customers kept them coming back, with one saying Market Basket was a model for how to run a big business.

The chains reputation has prompted local politicians to chime in on Demoulas behalf. Methuen Mayor David Beauregard called the citys two stores a community lifeline in July and U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-3rd District, wrote in an open letter in response to the CEOs termination that the company was a cornerstone of who we are.

Some of my earliest memories are of being hoisted into a shopping cart as my mom navigated the crowded aisles and met up with neighbors, wrote Trahan, who represents Lowell, where the original Demoulas Market opened in 1917. Those trips werent just errands  they were rituals that taught me what community feels like, what hard work looks like and how far a dollar can go when a company truly cares about the people it serves."

The first time Artie T was fired

More than a decade ago, Demoulas was fired for the first time after his cousin Arthur S. Demoulas, or Artie S., gained control of the company board of directors.

The 2014 dispute stemmed largely from tension between the two sides of the family, but Arthur T. Demoulas was also accused of shutting the board out on key business decisions and strategy.

Protesters taunt an occupant of a car driving from a Market Basket Supermarket job fair in Andover, on Aug. 4, 2014. The company set up a job fair for its workers to replace colleagues who walked off the job to protest the firing of CEO Arthur T. Demoulas, who later got his job back. He was fired again on Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

There were allegations against him that he was trying to do everything, said Grant Welker, a Boston Business Journal reporter who covered the 2014 protests for the Lowell Sun newspaper and co-wrote the book, We Are Market Basket: The Story of the Unlikely Grassroots Movement That Saved a Beloved Business.

He wasnt running enough things by the board, whether its scouting a new location or opening a new location or personnel decisions, budgeting in terms of profit-sharing and bonuses, he added.

Suppliers, employees and shoppers began a boycott, with many former customers papering store windows with receipts from other supermarkets to emphasize the point. There were frequent rallies outside stores calling for the CEOs reinstatement.

The outrage was fueled by loyalty to Demoulas, who was viewed as a rare, honest and generous executive devoted to keeping prices low, treating employees well and maintaining good relationships with individual employees and customers. He was known for frequently visiting stores and remembering workers names and birthdays.

The boycotts lasted nearly two months and ended with Demoulas and his three sisters, Caren, Frances and Glorianne, buying out the other side of the family for $1.6 billion. The company finished paying off the debt from the purchase in December 2024.

It was kind of lightning in a bottle that he was given another chance in 2014 after everybody rallied to get him back, Welker said. And if you believe the allegations by this board in a different iteration now, he hasnt changed.

What happened to Arty T in 2025?

Ten years later, in August 2024, the company was, at least outwardly, doing well. The Boston Globe wrote at the time that business was better than ever, with 40% more employees and 20 more stores than a decade before, for a total of 35,000 workers and 90 locations.

The company marked the anniversary with a video shared on social media compiling footage from the protests.

Its been 10 years since the Market Basket family of customers and associates came together in such a remarkable way because so many had the courage and loyalty to imagine, the videos voiceover says.

But behind the scenes, things were different. In a lawsuit filed last month, attorneys for the company accused the former CEO of many of the same behaviors that led to his firing in 2014. They wrote that he had a long-standing history of exercising his own unfettered discretion as to virtually every important decision at the company  while ignoring and stonewalling the Market Basket Board."

Meat manager Dave Fillebrown wipes down largely empty shelves at Market Basket in Haverhill on July 24, 2014 after CEO Arthur T. Demoulas was fired. Loyal support from employees and customers led to his return. He was fired again on Sept. 9, 2025, (AP Photo)

In the same month as the 2014 walkout anniversary, the board gave Demoulas a list of demands  including avoiding any public recognition of the event. However, the board says he did not comply with any of the requirements, and began plotting with his closest lieutenants to sabotage the company.

A major point of contention was who would take over the company from the 70-year-old CEO. According to the lawsuit, Demoulas insisted only his children, Madeline and Telemachus T.A. Demoulas, be considered and refused to engage in succession planning or even to allow the board to meet with his son and daughter.

He also refused to provide annual budgets, get sign-off on or notify the board of major capital expenditures or make senior managers or other officers available to board members, according to the complaint.

Mr. Demoulas at one point openly dared the Plaintiff Directors to fire him rather than submit to meaningful board oversight, apparently banking on an employee walkout and customer boycott, the companys attorneys wrote.

Demoulas disputed the companys account of events, denying all of the allegations against him in his response and countersuit filed on Wednesday. His attorneys claim that the demands brought to him in August were presented only as topics for discussion, not mandatory action items.

Meanwhile, Demoulas claims his sisters had been working behind the scenes to remove him due to resentment of his success and the recognition he received as head of the company. They had stacked the board of directors with members loyal to them, despite alleged conflicts of interest, and removed those who supported the CEO.

In recent years, the sisters have vocalized desires for their children to take more active roles in the company, for T.A. and Madeline to be excluded from the companys succession planning, and for Market Basket to sacrifice its cherished people-first identity in favor of the pursuit of increased stockholder distributions to benefit the sisters personally, his attorneys wrote in court documents.

During a January board meeting, the companys chief financial officer agreed to work with the board on a budget for the year, according to meeting minutes filed as an exhibit to the lawsuit.

However, the question of succession planning was still a problem: Minutes from an executive session that day, obtained by the Boston Globe, showed that Demoulas wanted his children to take over, but his sisters said they would not support the plan.

In interviews with the Globe, those present at the meeting shared conflicting accounts of the conversation. Some said that though Demoulas wanted his son and daughter to succeed him, he was open to others if the board found they were not fit to do so, and provided two other suggestions. However, board Chair Jay Hachigian and an attorney representing the board told the Globe that the CEO refused to consider any alternatives.

Company Secretary Andrea Batchelder even disputed the official record, writing at the bottom of the minutes that she did not attest to their accuracy. She further explained in a cover letter accompanying them that she had originally included a note that Demoulas had asked if there were any negatives in his performance and the board had not shared any, but she was forced to remove this from the final account, even though the question was asked numerous times.

Demoulas attorneys echoed the alternative version of events in court documents.

Mr. Demoulas has stated clearly to the board on multiple occasions that if there were an immediate or unexpected need for a new CEO he would recommend Madeline and T.A., they wrote. But he recognizes that it is the boards duty to evaluate qualified potential candidates to succeed him as president and CEO and to choose the right successor who is in the best interests of the company and its stockholders.

In May, the directors loyal to the sisters  three of the four people left on the board  formed a new Executive Committee, to which they delegated all of the boards powers. The remaining member, Bill Shea, a Demoulas supporter, was not told of this move in advance, writing in a letter to Hachigian in June that Directors are not supposed to ambush one another.

Two weeks later, the Executive Committee suspended Demoulas along with his son and daughter and several other executives, again failing to provide Shea with any notice. At the time, Demoulas spokesperson referred to the situation as a hostile takeover.

Instead of managing this situation responsibly and working through differences in the best interest of the company, the Executive Committee has effectively declared a civil war, Shea wrote, adding that he had not been provided with any explanation for why the decision was made. Shea himself was removed from the board in August.

Five executives have also been fired, in addition to Demoulas removal on Sept. 9 following an unsuccessful mediation session.

Demoulas legal team called his suspension and the investigation into him an unfounded witch hunt motivated by his sisters resentment of his success and the recognition he had received as head of the company, and in turn the board members loyalty to the sisters.

They wrote that after Demoulas suspension, his nephew Michael Kettenbach Jr., son of his sister Frances, became the de facto leader of the company. This was despite a previous incident in which Kettenbach had been found to have used his authority within Market Basket to source deli products from his own, separate company until he was discovered in 2017, according to Demoulas account.

While at the helm, Mr. Kettenbach Jr. and others collaborating with him reshuffled the companys management, promoted the sisters loyalists, fired and demoted those who spoke up on Mr. Demoulass behalf, curried favor with potential allies for the sisters with pay increases and financial incentives, changed company policies and practices, created uncertainty among Market Baskets employees about the organizations future and instilled fear of retaliation among employees if they raised questions or concerns about the ongoing coup, Demoulas attorneys wrote.

The future of Market Basket

Though the response to the current drama has not been nearly as impassioned as in 2014, some shoppers are taking action. A handful have held protests outside the chains Tewksbury headquarters and others have shared images on social media of their solitary grocery receipts taped to Market Basket windows, carrying on the tradition from the 2014 protests.

A likeness of former Market Basket CEO Arthur T. Demoulas is attached to a post at a Market Basket supermarket in Chelsea on Aug. 28, 2014. After a six-week standoff between thousands of employees of the New England supermarket chain and management Demoulas returned as CEO after buying the entire company. He was fired again on Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

One group of customers and current and former employees around New England formed a group on the messaging platform Discord to plan a boycott and information campaign, distributing flyers to encourage neighbors to shop elsewhere. They say they worry about the company being sold, prices going up and employee benefits going away.

What makes Market Basket stand out as an outlier amongst [competitors] is their bold commitment to their core principles, and if they get bought out by a corporate conglomerate, they are pretty much destined to lose those qualities, one flyer reads.

The Market Basket board has said that it wont make any big changes to the things that make it so beloved.

We assure our valued associates and customers that, as we have demonstrated over the past several months, Market Basket will not change its operations, profit-sharing, bonuses or culture, and will continue to offer the best groceries at the lowest prices anywhere in New England  well into the future, board Chairman Hachigian said in a statement when Demoulas termination was announced.

Welker, the author of We Are Market Basket, said it made sense that people would be concerned, but he said he believes Hachigians promise that things will mostly stay the same.

If youre one of Arthurs sisters and you helped sort of save the day in 2014 by helping him buy out the company, they would presumably have an appreciation for what makes Market Basket unique and so popular, he said.

Its also unlikely the company itself will be sold any time soon. Though the three sisters collectively own about 60% of the business, Arthur Demoulas still holds 28%, and any sale would require sign-off from all four siblings.

The business means a lot to them, Welker said. In large part that helps explain why there have been these power struggles over the years ... They do want to hold onto the company and they do know how much it is a part of, of course, their family history, but also local histories.

The biggest question for the near-term is who will take over the corner office. After Demoulas was fired, The CFO, Donald Mulligan, was appointed interim CEO, with Hachigian calling the 42-year employee the voice of consistency. However, there is no word on who will take over permanently, or even when that person will be selected.

After the Boston Globe published an op-ed calling for Demoulas reinstatement this summer, Hachigian responded in a letter published by Boston.com, denying that there had been any discussion of appointing the children of any of the Demoulas sisters.

This isnt an argument among family about money or control  despite the talking points of Arthurs PR campaign," he wrote. It is about accountability; i.e., how to manage an $8 billion company so that it thrives for the next 100 years.
BOSTON  Florence, Italys beloved sandwich institution has officially arrived in New England.

The world-famous AllAntico Vinaio opened its doors in Bostons Back Bay on Friday afternoon, drawing an impressive crowd that formed a line extending all the way down Boylston Street.

The grand opening marked a significant milestone for the Italian sandwich shop, representing its 49th location worldwide. Owner Tommaso Mazzanti traveled to Boston specifically for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, underscoring the importance of this New England expansion.

All'Antico Vinaio - Boston Staff

AllAntico Vinaio has built its reputation on exceptional Italian sandwiches featuring their signature hot and fresh sliced-to-order schiacciata bread, which is worth the hype alone. This artisanal bread serves as the foundation for their creations, which feature imported meats and cheeses complemented by distinctive fresh cream spreads.

The menu offers numerous sandwich combinations that showcase authentic Italian flavors. Among the standout options is the La Toscana, which features prosciutto, sun-dried tomato, and arugula, elevated by a heavenly pistachio cream. For those who prefer spicier options, the Italian Hot delivers with its combination of turkey, sausage, provolone, and arugula, finished with a Calabrian chili honey.

All'Antico Vinaio - Boston Staff

AllAntico Vinaio is now open and serving its authentic Italian sandwiches daily in Bostons Back Bay neighborhood.

Generative AI was used to organize statistical information for this story, based on materials created by MassLive. It was reviewed and edited by MassLive.
The bakery is hosting The Nightmare Before, a play on Tim Burtons A Nightmare Before Christmas. Taylor Sanzo

One bakery in Massachusetts is paying homage to a classic Halloween movie. Even more so, its turned the shop into a place where holidays like Halloween and Christmas collide.

At Petes Sweets, located at 32 Shaker Road in East Longmeadow, the bakery is hosting The Nightmare Before, a play on Tim Burtons A Nightmare Before Christmas.

Upon stepping foot in the door, guests are instantly immersed with decorations fit for both holidays.

A Christmas tree stands in the corner decorated in jack olanterns and skeletons, festive stockings stand stuffed with Halloween garb, and even a spider webs intertwined with Christmas ornaments hang from the ceiling.

Theres also plenty of hauntingly delicious treats to try themed cupcakes, grave digger cakes and seasonal fall drinks like apple cider.

While still holiday festive, Petes Sweets takes part in themed events all year. In November, the store will transform into the universe of Wicked. It has also done Spongebob Squarepants and Willy Wonka themes.

And because the displays are so elaborate, owner of Petes Sweets, Peter Gray, noted that people from beyond Massachusetts are coming to check it out.

Because social media came, people came in and posted some videos and did what the magic of social media does. And it resulted in people coming from near and far for these things now, Gray told MassLive.

Customers have traveled from as far as New York and New Jersey, Gray recollected. He even had customers who rented an Airbnb in the area just to see the shop.

I was like this is what I wanted to do as a kid. I get to be paid to decorate and make people really happy.

The Nightmare Before will be at the shop through Halloween. The shop is open Wednesday through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A Leominster man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with an overdose death in Fitchburg last year.

On Tuesday, Eric Stone, 39, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, distribution of a Class A Substance (fentanyl) and distribution of cocaine, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr.s office said in a statement.

Judge William Ritter sentenced Stone to four to five years in state prison on the manslaughter conviction, as well as two years of probation on the distribution convictions, to run after the prison sentence.

On June 20, 2024, Massachusetts State Police detectives learned of the unattended death of a man at a home in Fitchburg, Earlys office said.

The man, 44, was given cocaine and fentanyl earlier that day by Stone, detectives determined.

It is our hope that [Tuesdays] plea brings some measure of justice and closure to the victims family and loved ones, Early said in the statement.
Framingham police have arrested a 42-year-old city resident accused of holding a store clerk at knifepoint.

The man, who was not named in a statement from the department, has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, attempt to commit a crime and assault and battery. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Framingham District Court on Monday, Oct. 6.

The armed robbery occurred in the Dubom Supermarket at 855 Worcester Rd., on Oct. 1 at around 8:45 a.m.

The man is accused of using a large kitchen knife during the robbery, which was held inside a Burlington Coat Factory bag, the department wrote in a statement posted to Facebook.

The Framingham Police Department did not respond to MassLives request for the mans name.

Whenever he grabbed my hand, I told him to let go of me, and I saw the knife and it was over the counter, the clerk told WCVB-TV in Boston.

The man fled the supermarket and then tossed his beanie hat, with holes to cover his face, in a dumpster in an adjacent parking lot, police said.
A Wareham man has been charged in connection with a chemical explosion at his home on Friday.

Mark Halpin, 50, was charged with possessing explosive devices and materials used to create them, the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services said in a statement.

Halpin was taken into custody by Massachusetts State Police and held on a $15,000 bail pending his arraignment next week. Additional charges may be sought.

Officials, including the Wareham Fire Department, bomb technicians and investigators, responded to Aunt Maryville Lane early Friday afternoon following a report of an explosion in a dwelling.

Halpin was found at the home and was driven to a hospital for medical care, officials said.

He briefly left the hospital and was returned for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. After that, police took Halpin into custody.

Officials worked overnight to safely remove large quantities of energetic material from the home and a nearby shed, the department said. They secured the site to ensure there would be no danger to the public.

Samples of those materials were taken in for testing and will be submitted to the State Police Crime Lab. The remainder posed an explosive hazard and was safely driven to a remote location where it was disposed of without incident.
An unmarked police cruiser flashes its emergency lights during The Big E on the Avenue of The States in West Springfield, Mass. on Wednesday, September 24, 2025. Sebastian Restrepo

Two people have died after an early morning house fire in Chelmsford on Saturday, officials said.

Firefighters responded to the fire at 270 Littleton Road around 4:40 a.m. in the Middlesex County community about 29 miles northwest of Boston.

The first unit to respond to the scene started search efforts, the Chelmsford Fire Department said in a post to its Facebook page.

Firefighters removed two people from the home. Both were pronounced dead at the scene, the department said. The two were both men in their 50s, Boston-25 News reported on Saturday.

One of the men used a wheelchair and had just moved into the home the week before, the station reported, citing the fire department.

The fire is under investigation by the Chelmsford Fire Department, Chelmsford Police Department, Massachusetts State Police, and the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

We extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones affected by this tragedy, the department said in its Facebook post.

Investigators found no working smoke alarms at the scene, State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine said in a statement. We cant stress enough how important smoke alarms are to surviving a fire at home  especially when were sleeping. Please take a few minutes today to be sure you and your loved ones are protected.
Two of the declared Republican candidates for Massachusetts governor continued to fatten their campaign accounts in September, even as another deep-pocketed hopeful jumped into the race.

The fundraising tallies by Brian Shortsleeve and Mike Kennealy, both former Baker administration officials, point the way to a pricey nominating contest as they look to eventually take on Democratic Gov. Maura Healey next year.

Shortsleeve, who oversaw the MBTA for Baker, said hed raised $952,087 through the end of September. Records posted to the states Office of Campaign and Political Finance showed Shortsleeve had raised $901,049 through the end of September.

Campaigns frequently count donations in transit as part of their total fundraising haul. In a statement, Shortsleeves campaign acknowledged the difference.

OCPF records showed Shortsleeve starting September with $570,481 in his campaign account. He reported receipts of $72,545.96 and expenditures totaling $90,123.08. He had $552,904 on hand by months end.

Mike Kennealy, who served as Bakers housing and economic development czar, reported $1.6 million in receipts through the end of September. Part of that tally included loans that Kennealy made to his own campaign.

Kennealy started September with $917,089 in his campaign account, state records showed. He reported receipts of $275,211 and expenditures of $110,183.14. He ended the month with $1.08 million on hand.

Businessman Michael Minogue has entered the 2026 race for the Republican nomination for governor in Massachusetts. Screen Capture

The GOP fundraising picture could be complicated significantly now that Michael Minogue, a medical device executive and Republican donor, has entered the race.

Campaign finance records show that Minogue has donated tens of thousands of dollars to state and national Republicans over the last few years, including the campaigns of former Florida Gov. Rick Scott and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.

In 2024, Minogue donated $100,000 to President Donald Trumps reelection campaign and supported John Deaton, who tried to unseat U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

All three will have to catch Healey, whose most recent report, ending Aug. 31, showed her with $1.83 million in her campaign account. She reported receipts of $157,404 and expenditures of $80,897. She had $3.8 million on hand at the end of August, records showed.
Western Massachusetts Charity Drive Marketing Manager Dominic Monti, left, poses for a selfie with master of ceremonies Harry Rock during a March danceathon fundraiser. WMCD is hosting another fundraiser, its second comedy show, in November. (FILE / THE WESTFIELD NEWS) The Westfield News

WESTFIELD  For the second year in a row, the Western Massachusetts Charity Drive is proving that giving back to the community can be just as fun as it is meaningful.

On Friday, Nov. 1, the nonprofit will host its annual FunnyRaising Comedy Show at the East Mountain Country Club in Westfield, with proceeds benefiting three local organizations chosen by WMCDs youth volunteers.

As we looked at ideas for fundraisers, we knew we wanted to host an event that emphasizes the mission of our organization: showing youth that giving back can be fun and rewarding, said Dominic Monti, WMCDs marketing manager. Although we like to make all of our events fun, partnering with Jess Miller and FunnyRaising Comedy Shows was the perfect way to bring together the community in a fun way. We hope that those who attend our comedy show see why having fun while giving back is so important.

This years lineup will feature comedians Alan Moreau, Darren Rivera, and Kim Deshields, ensuring a fresh experience for both returning and new guests. The evening will also include a raffle with baskets for every interest, from cozy nights in to adventurous outings. For those looking to make it a full night out, the country club will offer an optional buffet dinner at 6:45 p.m. for an additional $15, along with a cash bar. The event is ages 21 and up.

The shows proceeds will support three local nonprofits selected by WMCDs team of students in grades 612: Brittneys Believers, which raises awareness for childhood cancer; Ricks Place, providing grief support to children and families; and Rachels Table, which combats food insecurity.

Because of the incredible support of corporate sponsors, all the money we raise at fundraisers directly benefits these local charities each year, Monti explained. Its what makes this work so fun and fulfilling.

Monti added that a comedy show offers a special way to bring people together. We know theres a lot going on in the world, and comedy shows are the perfect way to relieve that stress for a night. This event allows us to come together with our friends and family, and to learn how much we have in common through the joy of laughter. Plus, you can meet others who are sitting with you and build connections with your neighbors.

Last years inaugural comedy night raised over $4,500 in just a few hours, a success Monti says the organization hopes to build upon this fall. Local businesses have already stepped up as sponsors, including Westfield Bank, Symetra Life Insurance, and Firtion Adams Funeral Service.

The event serves as a high-energy kickoff for WMCDs busiest season, leading into their annual 25-hour fundraiser in February.

We hope everyone enjoys the chance to unwind and relax, but also to learn about WMCDs mission, Monti said. Hopefully, our mission will speak to them, and if we get a few new members on board, that is certainly an incredible bonus to the money raised that night.

For those unable to attend the comedy show, WMCD has a full calendar of events, including Curry Honda Chicopees Car Show on Oct. 19, a pancake breakfast on Dec. 13, and a murder mystery dinner on Jan. 31.

Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available at wmcd.org.
ULAN BATOR, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia exported 18,100 tons of meat and meat products in the first eight months of 2025, a 10.9 percent decrease compared to the same period last year, the country's Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry said on Saturday.

The sheep and goat meat accounted for 63 percent of total exports, the ministry said in a statement.

During the period, the majority of the meat and meat products were exported to China, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

The sector of animal husbandry is one of the main pillars of the Mongolian economy, and almost 40 percent of the country's nomadic population depends on it.

However, due to the harsh and long winter, most of Mongolia's nomadic herders lose livestock every year, which leads to a reduction in their livelihoods.

According to the National Statistics Office, Mongolia had 57.6 million head of livestock at the end of 2024. 
SOUTHWICK  The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently recognized the Regional School District for returning to pre-pandemic achievement levels in math for grades 3-8 based on the results of the 2025 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System.

This recognition is a direct reflection of the hard work and heart of our staff, said Erin Carrier, former Powder Mill Principal and the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District Director of Curriculum & Instruction about the recognition.

STGRSD was among 50 districts statewide that returned to pre-pandemic achievement levels in either English language arts or math for grades 3-8.

In addition, the district made moderate progress towards improvement targets, according to the announcement from the district.

Even during the pandemic, they prioritized early learning, created a supportive environment at Powder Mill, and made sure instruction was both rigorous and joyful, Carrier said.

District Superintendent Jennifer Willard and Carrier attended the DESE event in Arlington, which featured remarks by Secretary of Education Dr. Patrick Tutwiler and DESE Commissioner Pedro Martinez.

We know that school communities are working hard to support their students, and Im glad to highlight positive results among several districts while also recognizing the work that we still need to do as a state. Tutwiler said. We know our educators and students can do great things when all students are welcomed to school and attend classes every day, and the states investment in early literacy will build a solid start for future academic success.

In addition, the district made moderate progress toward improvement targets.

I couldnt be prouder of what our students and educators have accomplished together, Carrier said.

The Healey-Driscoll Administration and DESE will continue to prioritize chronic absenteeism and early literacy to address the overall post-pandemic learning loss experienced by many students.

While overall student performance remains below 2019 levels, a total of 63 districts returned to pre-pandemic achievement levels for grades three through eighth and 13 districts reached pre-pandemic levels in both math and ELA.

Overall, the 2025 results show that Massachusetts students are still behind where they were in 2019. In grades three through eight, English language arts results increased from 2024, while math results were mostly flat. Science results were flat in fifth grade and lower in eighth grade, according to DESE.

This years results include a grade 8 civics test for the first time. The department was charged with developing a civics assessment for eighth grade alongside the states broader initiatives to strengthen civics education as described in the 2018 Act to Promote and Enhance Civic Engagement.

STGRSD 2025 MCAS results are available on the DESE website . The district will distribute individual students 2025 MCAS scores to families in October, with a cover letter from Willard.

DESE also released the 2025 accountability results. District and school accountability results are used to identify schools that are demonstrating success, as well as those that require additional support or assistance. The STGRSDs accountability results for 2025 are also on the DESE website.

This years information includes data on accountability indicators such as graduation and chronic absenteeism rates, and it also includes school percentiles, determinations of each districts and schools need for assistance or intervention, and their progress toward targets for each indicator

The vast majority of schools  82%  that received an accountability designation were identified as not requiring assistance or intervention. Fifty-five percent of schools met, exceeded or made substantial progress towards their accountability targets, according to DESE.
Tonight, Patrick Kielty saddles up for the ultimate hoedown, as The Late Late Show Country Music Special celebrates ten unforgettable years of Irish country music magic and melodies.

To mark a decade of toe-tapping tunes and legendary performances, the biggest stars in Irish country will take to the stage for a night of chart-topping hits, timeless classics and surprise collaborations.

READ NEXT: LIVE: Met Eireann urges caution as Storm Amy weather warnings continue to come into effect

American businesswoman and actress Priscilla Presley will sit down with Patrick to chat about her memoir Softly As I Leave You. Priscilla opens up about her marriage to Elvis, rediscovering herself following their divorce and her unwavering commitment to protecting his legacy. Shell speak candidly about her relationship with daughter Lisa Marie, Lisas marriage to Michael Jackson and how she has found joy in life again despite the tragedies that have shaped her life in recent years.

The Three Amigos and the Rejoice Choir will perform a musical tribute to the King of Rock n Roll with a country twist.

Irish country music legends Daniel ODonnell, Declan Nerney, Susan McCann and Philomena Begley will join Patrick on the Late Late couch to celebrate ten years of The Late Late Country Music Special. And in true tradition, another exceptional artist will be surprised as they are inducted into The Late Late Show Country Music Hall of Fame, joining the ranks of Irish country music royalty.

READ NEXT: Thousands switch off RTE Late Late Show after controversial Patrick Kielty comments

Hollywood star John C. Reilly will also join the line-up to share his deep connection with Irish music and culture and along with stories from his recent trip to Co. Kerry. Hell talk about the influences that inspired his latest musical venture, Mister Romantic and give viewers a glimpse of what to expect from his upcoming performance at Dublins Ambassador Theatre.

All of this mixed with a night packed full of show-stopping performances from Irelands finest country stars.

Catch The Late Late Show on RTE One on Friday night at 9.35pm.
Westival, Westports festival of music and arts, has revealed a new wave of events for its 2025 programme, expanding an already exciting line-up. The updated festival poster featuring the complete programme is now available.

Newly announced highlights for the 50th anniversary of the event include:

 Tolu Makay  One of Irelands most powerful contemporary voices, bringing her soul-stirring sound to Westport

 Stitch Their Name  A Palestine solidarity event taking place in the Dunnes Stores building, inviting the community to honour and remember through the act of stitching

 The Crow Gallery Exhibition  An individual exhibition showcasing artists working through the lens of disability justice. The gallery explores perceptions of disability, ableism, and inclusion, aiming to challenge attitudes and spark dialogue about the lived experiences of disabled people. Featuring both local disabled artists and national contributors, it promotes visibility, community, and a shift in how society views difference

 Image a Day  Presented at the Town Hall, this exhibition celebrates the beauty of everyday moments through photography. Curated by Fiona Quinn and featuring the Image a Day to Brighten Your Day Facebook group, it brings together local hobby photographers and community members, showcasing how creativity and wellbeing can be found in ordinary life

 Resonant Vessels  An exhibition of twenty sculptural teapots by Westport artists Linda Mulloy (glass) and Lou Wilde (wood). Playful, surreal, and unexpected, the works reimagine the familiar ritual of tea as vessels of imagination, connection, and delight

 Safe Unsound (World Premiere)  Westival is proud to host the world premiere of 'Safe Unsound', a moving film set in rural Mayo. It follows three displaced Ukrainian families as they rebuild their lives with resilience and hope, navigating challenges of work, family, and belonging while forging a new community far from the front lines.

The World Premiere of Safe Unsound takes place at Westival.

Events already announced include also features performances from Matt Molloy & Friends, Christopher Coe, Ye Vagabonds, Breda Burns, Niall McCabe, Zaska, Paddy Hitler, and many more. Theatre, film, literature, and visual art events will unfold across Westport from October 22 to 27. 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of Westival, one of Irelands longest-running arts festivals.

Founded in 1975, Westival has grown from a small community celebration into a landmark event on the national cultural calendar. Over five decades it has brought international and Irish artists to Westport, while nurturing local talent and fostering a spirit of creativity and connection. Today, Westival continues to celebrate the arts in all their forms, from music and theatre to literature and visual art, making Westport a cultural hub each October. Westival 2025 runs from 2227 October across multiple venues in Westport. The updated festival poster (below) with the complete line-up is now live.

To step into the role of Director in Westivals 50th year is a real honour. This festival has been part of the fabric of Westport for half a century, and it means a lot to me to carry that legacy forward. My hope is that this years programme reflects both where weve come from and where were headed, while offering audiences moments of joy, connection, and inspiration, says Bryan Pepper - Westival Director.

MORE

Tickets and full programme details are available now at www.westival.ie
CARACAS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A Latin American regional bloc of 10 member states on Friday condemned "the recent illegal incursion of U.S. combat aircraft" detected near the Venezuelan coast.

The incursion, detected only 75 km off the coast of Venezuela on Thursday, has drawn criticism from Venezuela.

"This act constitutes a serious provocation that undermines national sovereignty and represents a direct violation of international law, putting at risk the peace and stability of the entire region," the bloc, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People's Trade Treaty, said in a statement.

These maneuvers of military harassment violate the fundamental principles of peaceful coexistence between states and seek to generate tension, fear and destabilization in Latin America and the Caribbean, it said.

The Alliance warned that "these types of actions not only affect a member State, but also compromise civil and commercial air safety in the Caribbean, creating unacceptable risks for the peoples of the region."

On Friday, Venezuela complained to the United Nations regarding the U.S. incursion.

Also on Friday, U.S. forces killed four people in an attack on a boat off the coast of Venezuela that was allegedly trafficking drugs, BBC news reported, noting that Friday's attack is the fourth by the United States in a month.

"The strike was conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics -- headed to America to poison our people," U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote in a post on X.

U.S. media reported U.S. President Donald Trump notified Congress on Thursday that his administration has determined that members of drug cartels are "unlawful combatants" with which the United States is engaged in "non-international armed conflict." 
Even flame-free fragranced products like wax melts emit harmful nanoparticles that can penetrate deep into the lungs and cause systemic health effects.

Highlights: Flame-free fragranced products emit nanoparticles that contribute to indoor air pollution

emit nanoparticles that contribute to indoor air pollution Nanoparticles exposure is linked to respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological damage

Lack of ingredient transparency increases unintentional exposure in everyday settings

  Trusted Source

Flame-Free Candles Are Not Pollution-Free: Scented Wax Melts as a Significant Source of Atmospheric Nanoparticles



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TOP INSIGHT Did You Know?

Scented wax melts and cleaning sprays can create over a million #airborne particles per cubic centimeter indoors, rivaling pollution levels from gas stoves and car exhaust. #indoorairpollution #nanoparticles #scented_candles #airpollution #medindia

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Indoor Sources of Nanoparticle Pollution

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Pathways of Exposure to Fragrance Particles

  Trusted Source

Nanoparticles-induced potential toxicity on human health: Applications, toxicity mechanisms, and evaluation models



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Ingestion and Transfer Risks from Household Products

Health Consequences of Nanoparticle Exposure

Transparency and Regulatory Gaps in Fragrance Safety

Strategies to Reduce Exposure in Indoor Settings

Practical Solutions for Safer Indoor Air

Call for Improved Testing and Public Policies

Policy Recommendations and Ingredient Disclosures

Flame-Free Candles Are Not Pollution-Free: Scented Wax Melts as a Significant Source of Atmospheric Nanoparticles - (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.4c00986) Nanoparticles-induced potential toxicity on human health: Applications, toxicity mechanisms, and evaluation models - (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mco2.327)

Fragranced consumer productsthat lead to the formation of, significantly increasing the risk of health issues such as migraine headaches , asthma attacks, respiratory problems, skin conditions, and neurological symptoms ().Non-combustion fragranced items, such as. This challenges the common perception that flame-free fragranced products are safer alternatives.Volatile organic compounds from fragranced products, including, quickly react with indoor ozone to create highly oxygenated compounds and secondary organic aerosols. These reactions initiate, which expand from sizes under 3 nanometers to hundreds of nanometers.Nanoparticles are also released through combustion and spraying. Burning items like, while aerosol sprays from cleaners and personal-care products leave behind droplets that evaporate into solid particles.In indoor settings with low nitrogen oxide levels, the. These radicals support continued nanocluster growth, resulting in particle concentrations exceeding one million particles per cubic centimeter, levels similar to those from gas stoves and combustion-based appliances.Indoor environments containing high amounts of dust, fibers, or combustion remnants are further contaminated by. The ability of these particles to deposit in the lungs depends on their size. Larger particles tend to get stuck in the upper airways, whilelike the bronchioles and alveoli.Fragrance-related chemicals and plasticizers, includingwhen using personal care products such as cosmetics, shampoos, sunscreens, and lotions. Damaged or moist skin allows even greater penetration of solvents and nanoparticles, raising systemic exposure ().Fragrance chemicals can also enter the body through ingestion when substances fromParticles from volatile organic compounds and phthalates that settle on household surfaces can lead to, especially in children.Nanoparticles possess large surface areas, leading to high generation of reactive oxygen species. This results inand histones, with elevated DNA damage markers found in polluted environments. Inhalation of these particles can, particularly in individuals with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Several nanoparticles can even breach the blood-brain barrier, leading to oxidative stress and potential neurodegenerative outcomes. Systemic effects occur when particles cross into the bloodstream, triggering. Certain materials likeChildren, pregnant individuals, the elderly, and people with chronic illnesses are especially vulnerable to the harmful effects of nanoparticles. There is a growing need to limit exposure and improve safety evaluations to protect public health In the United States, manufacturers are not required to fully disclose the ingredients in fragrances.even though that one word can represent hundreds of chemical substances.Hazardous volatile organic compounds are emitted from both, with little difference in safety. The proprietary nature of these mixtures complicates risk evaluation, and people are often exposed second-hand in public and work environments without knowing the exact sources.significantly reduce the concentration of indoor particles. Even opening windows provides some benefit, although not as much as engineered solutions.High-efficiencyare highly effective in both homes and workplaces. In laboratory environments, sealed, a strategy that could be adapted to office and residential settings.Administrative actions likecan further limit exposure. When other strategies are unavailable, fitted respirators may provide short-term protection.As consumers become better informed about nanoparticle sources, market pressure may lead laboratories and manufacturers to develop safer products. A combination ofoffers a clear way forward.There is an urgent demand for standardized methods to assess and report emissions, especially for nanoparticles and ultrafine particles.like formaldehyde under various conditions such as heating, spraying, and usage in enclosed spaces.Advanced toxicology tools, including 3D organoid models and long-term studies, are necessary to better understand multi-organ effects and exposure thresholds.Policymakers are urged to, regulate indoor air emissions on par with outdoor pollutants, and include fragrance chemicals in indoor air quality guidelines. Encouragingin places such as offices, hospitals, transportation, and hotels will help minimize unintentional exposures.In conclusion, fragranced products significantly contribute to indoor nanoparticle pollution through both direct emissions and chemical reactions involving volatile organic compounds. These particles are linked to a wide range of health problems, from respiratory irritation and neurological harm to systemic inflammation.Vulnerable populations face increased risk, yet limited regulation and ingredient transparency persist. Reducing exposure through ventilation, product substitution, and policy change remains essential for protecting public health.Source-Medindia
A new study finds that a firstborn childs behavioral struggles after the birth of a sibling can negatively impact sibling relationships, with maternal reflective functioning offering a protective buffer.

TOP INSIGHT Did You Know?

#Firstborns facing #behavioralchallenges may struggle with #siblings. But a mothers ability to reflect on her childs emotions can soften the blow, creating healthier #familybonds #siblingrelationships #childpsychology #relationships #medindia

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How Do Firstborns Shape Sibling Bonds?

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Can Maternal Reflective Functioning Protect Families?

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Why Do These Findings Matter for Parents?

after a siblings birth can shape long-term sibling relations, reveals a recent study by researchers atThe research underscores that children who show early signs ofmay struggle more in developing positive connections with their younger siblings.However, the study also shows that a mothersthe ability to understand and interpret her childs inner emotionscan provide a powerful buffer. This capacity helps reduce the risk of strained sibling relationships, especially when firstborns display internalizing behavioral issues.The study, co-authored by Prof. Naama Atzaba-Poria and Dr. Porat Yakov from BGU's Department of Psychology, followed 117 Israeli families expecting a second child. Data was collected at three points: during pregnancy , 4-6 months after the birth of the second child, and 18 months after the second child's birth.Key findings from the study include:Firstborn Behavioral Problems Predict Poorer Sibling Relationships: Firstborn children who exhibited higher levels of internalizing (e.g., anxiety, withdrawal) and externalizing (e.g., aggression, tantrums ) problem behaviors 4-6 months after the birth of their sibling had a more negative sibling relationship a year later. This expands on previous research by demonstrating this longitudinal link early in the sibling relationship.Maternal Reflective Functioning as a Protective Buffer: The study found that maternal reflective functioninga mother's ability to perceive and interpret her child's internal mental statesmoderated the relationship between firstborn internalizing behavioral problems and the quality of the sibling relationship. Mothers who were more reflective before the second child's birth were able to mitigate the risk of a negative association between internalizing problems and the sibling relationship.Distinct Roles of Maternal Characteristics: Interestingly, maternal sensitivity (the ability to appropriately respond to a child's needs) did not show the same moderating effect. This suggests that maternal reflective functioning with its focus on understanding and articulating a child's complex emotional experiences, offers a unique form of support during this challenging family transition.Externalizing Problems Less Affected: Maternal reflective functioning did not significantly moderate the link between externalizing problems and sibling relationship quality, suggesting that these behaviors may be more resistant to this particular maternal influence. There may be other maternal behaviors that may buffer childs externalizing problems."The arrival of a new sibling is a significant developmental challenge for firstborn children, often requiring major adjustments," says Prof. Naama Atzaba-Poria, corresponding author of the study and director of The Duet Center at BGU. "Our research underscores the profound impact of a mother's capacity to understand and reflect on her child's inner world, especially when the firstborn is struggling with internalizing behaviors."The researchers suggest that interventions focusing on enhancing maternal reflective functioning could be beneficial for families preparing for a new baby, potentially facilitating a smoother transition for the firstborn, and fostering more positive sibling relationships.Additional researchers from BGU included Prof. Florina Uzefovsky, and Dr. Kinneret Levavi. Researchers from the University of Massachusetts and Clalit Health Fund also contributed. The study was supported by a United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) Grant (No. 2016023).Source-Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
A girl is pictured during a Thadingyut festival funfair in Yangon, Myanmar, Oct. 3, 2025. Known as the Lighting Festival, Thadingyut marks the end of Buddhist Lent and celebrates the Buddha's descent from heaven. (Xinhua/Myo Kyaw Soe)

YANGON, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Thadingyut, also known as the Festival of Lights, is one of Myanmar's most significant religious festivals, said Arkar Kyaw, director of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture.

"During this time, homes, streets, and pagodas across the country glow with candles and lanterns, symbolizing the Buddha's descent from heaven -- a custom that began during the Bagan era," he said.

"The festival holds deep religious and cultural significance for the entire nation. On this occasion, families reunite, visit pagodas, join lighting events, and pay respect to elders," he said.

Daw Mar Mar Nyein, 68, a retired high school teacher, said, "Thadingyut is a season of gratitude and joy. We show respect to our parents, elders, relatives, and teachers by praying to them, and in return, elders give pocket money to those who pay homage."

"Since childhood, we have practiced these customs -- bowing to our parents and elders, washing their hair, and cutting their nails as a sign of respect. Now, my children will continue the same tradition. This is the beauty of our culture, passed down from generation to generation," she said.

Phyo Phyo, 25, said, "My Thadingyut plans are similar to previous years. I will light candles at my home and along the street, and pray to my parents. I also plan to visit lively market festivals and make snacks with my friends at home."

Myat Thu, 27, said, "We have holidays during Thadingyut, so I'll visit my parents' hometown. It's like a family gathering, which is why I really enjoy this festival."

"From busy cities to small villages, the Festival of Lights brings generations together, keeping Myanmar's cultural traditions alive," he said.

The Thadingyut Festival is celebrated for three days -- the day before, the day of, and the day after the full moon. This year, the full moon day of Thadingyut falls on Oct. 6. 
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Given that today's world is plagued with rampant unilateralism, the international community must remain clear-headed, strengthen unity and cooperation, and firmly stop such unlawful practices, said Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, on Friday.

"History has proven that unilateral coercive measures are one of the culprits for international turbulence and disarray in world order," Fu said, while delivering a joint statement at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly on behalf of a cross-regional group of 28 UN member states.

Noting that developing countries and their populations continue to fall victim to such measures, the ambassador said the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development underscores the equal enjoyment by all states of the development dividends. It strongly urges states to refrain from promulgating and applying any unilateral economic, financial or trade measures not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations.

"Regrettably, despite the global call to urgently lift unilateral coercive measures, the imposition of these illegal measures continues to cause devastating, sometimes even life-threatening consequences, to targeted countries and their peoples," he said.

Unilateral coercive measures, coupled with secondary sanctions and over-compliance, exacerbate existing humanitarian and economic challenges, gravely affect the stability of the global production and supply chains, as well as food, energy, and financial security, Fu said.

In addition, they seriously undermine the world economic order and efforts to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, Fu said.

Moreover, these measures severely violate basic human rights, including the right to life, health, development, and education, and impede the ability of targeted countries to realize these rights, he said.

"We are also concerned that unilateral coercive measures and over-compliance have limited the ability of affected countries to access and acquire foreign investment and technologies, and hinder international cooperation in culture, arts, sports, travel, people-to-people exchanges, and transports, including civil aviation," said the ambassador.

He reaffirmed opposition to unilateral measures and called on some Western countries to honor their commitments to upholding the UN Charter and international law, and immediately, unconditionally, and completely lift all unilateral coercive measures.

Fu called upon UN member states, the UN itself, and other international organizations to jointly oppose such unlawful practices and help targeted countries mitigate their plight.

"The current circumstance calls for solidarity and unity rather than confrontation and division to address global challenges and promote and protect human rights for all," Fu said. 
LONDON (AP)  An assailant rammed a car into people at a synagogue in northwest England and then attacked with a knife in what authorities have called a terrorist assault that left two people dead and three seriously wounded.

Police fatally shot the suspect in the attack Thursday at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, which once again was being observed amid high tensions over the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

Heres what to know:

7-minute attack

 At 9:31 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3, police were called to the synagogue in the Manchester suburb of Crumpsall, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) northwest of London, by a member of the public, who said he had seen a car being driven toward people, and that one man had been stabbed.

 At 9:34 a.m., police were on site. Worshippers had barricaded themselves inside the synagogue.

 At 9:37 a.m., police declared the national code word  Plato  for first responders when concluding that a marauding terror attack is taking place.

 At 9:38 a.m., the assailant was shot dead by police. A suspected explosives vest he was wearing was later found to be fake.

The victims

Greater Manchester Police said two people died during the attack: Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, both worshippers at the synagogue.

Police say Daulby was accidentally shot by a police officer as worshippers tried to stop the attacker entering the building by barricading the door shut. Police said it was a "tragic and unforeseen consequence of the response to the attack.

Daulbys family said in a statement that he was a hero whose final act was one of profound courage.

Cravitz was killed outside the synagogue. His family said Melvin would do anything to help anyone. He was so kind, caring and always wanted to chat and get to know people.

Police also said that one of the three people who were hospitalized was also hit by a bullet. Another sustained a stab wound and the third was struck by the car driven by the attacker.

Police praised the quick response of the witness as well as the bravery of security guards and worshippers for preventing the suspect from entering the synagogue.

The suspect

Police said the man responsible for the attack was Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent who came to the U.K. as a young child and became a citizen in 2006.

Authorities said he was not previously known to counterterrorism police or the security services, but police confirmed Friday that he was on bail over an alleged rape.

A statement on Facebook from the attackers family condemned the heinous act."

Six other people have been arrested since the attack on suspicion of preparing or committing acts of terrorism, though police have not released details about them. The three men and three women are in custody but have not been charged. Police said they are seeking warrants to detain all six further. No update on that was given on Saturday morning.

Act of terror

Police said late Friday that Al-Shamie may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology but that establishing the full circumstances of the attack is likely to take some time.

The attack took place on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement and the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar. Synagogues are filled with people on the holy day.

On Thursday, the Metropolitan Police in London, which leads counterterror policing operations across the U.K., confirmed that the incident was being treated as a terrorist attack and that patrols at synagogues and other Jewish sites are being stepped up to provide reassurance.

Government response

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer returned early Thursday from a summit of European leaders in Copenhagen, Denmark, to London where he chaired an emergency security meeting. On Friday, Starmer visited the scene of the attack with his wife Victoria, and said it was designed to inflict fear." He promised to protect the Jewish community across the U.K.

At a vigil, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was heckled by members of the crowd who accused the government of allowing antisemitism to spread by, for example, not clamping down on regular pro-Palestine protests in London and other cities. They have been mostly peaceful, but some say that chants such as From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free incite violence. Some British Jews also say the U.K.s recognition of a Palestinian state this month has emboldened antisemitism  a claim the government rejects.

Police and the government urged those planning a pro-Palestinian protest on Saturday to postpone it, but organizers said it would go ahead.

Jewish communitys reaction

In a statement released on Friday, Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Rabbi Daniel Walker, its president Hilary Foxler and chairman of trustees Alan Levy described the terror attack as a desecration" and an episode that has changed us all forever.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday in the aftermath of the attack that weakness in the face of terrorism only brings more terrorism. Only strength and unity can defeat it.

Kings shock

King Charles III said he and his wife, Queen Camilla, were deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the horrific attack in Manchester, especially on such a significant day for the Jewish community.

Politicians from across the political spectrum also condemned the attack, as did Muslim, Christian and other religious leaders.

Anglican bishop Sarah Mullally, who was named Friday as the next leader of the Church of England, said that hatred and racism of any kind cannot be allowed to tear us apart.

Rising antisemitism

The U.K. has traditionally been a safe country for Jewish people though antisemitic incidents have risen following Hamas October 2023 attack on Israel and Israels military campaign in Gaza.

Starmer acknowledged that antisemitism is a hatred that is rising once again, and Britain must defeat it once again.

___

This story has been corrected to say that Cravitz was a worshipper and not a security guard, after police corrected their earlier statement.
12:30PM: Manager John Schneider provided Sportsnets Arden Zwelling (multiple links) and other media with some context on the roster decisions. Beyond the lack of running, Bichette has yet to face higher-velocity or pitches with movement in his cage work. Bassitt wasnt quite stretched out enough to be ready, whereas Scherzer was omitted because Schneider didnt like how he matched up with New York specifically; Scherzer would likely have been included had the Red Sox defeated the Yankees in the wild card series.

9:20AM: The Blue Jays announced their official 26-man roster for their AL Division Series matchup with the Yankees that begins today. Toronto will take 13 pitchers and 13 position players into action against New York, with the following breakdown

Catchers: Alejandro Kirk, Tyler Heineman

Infielders: Addison Barger, Ernie Clement, Andres Gimenez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Isiah Kiner-Falefa

Outfielders: Nathan Lukes, Anthony Santander, Davis Schneider, George Springer, Myles Straw, Daulton Varsho

Left-handed pitchers: Justin Bruihl, Mason Fluharty, Eric Lauer, Brendon Little

Right-handed pitchers: Shane Bieber, Seranthony Dominguez, Braydon Fisher, Kevin Gausman, Jeff Hoffman, Tommy Nance, Yariel Rodriguez, Louis Varland, Trey Yesavage

The roster notably doesnt include three players battling injuries (Bo Bichette, Chris Bassitt, Ty France) and one prominent name in Max Scherzer. Omitting Scherzer and Bassitt from the roster means that the Blue Jays seem to be locking into rookie Yesavage to start one game of the series, and then perhaps turning to a bullpen game in Game Four.

It wasnt long ago that the Jays seemed to have almost a surplus of postseason rotation candidates, between Gausman, Bieber, Scherzer, Bassitt, Lauer, Jose Berrios, and Yesavage waiting in the wings at Triple-A. Toronto moved Lauer into a relief role at the start of September and also tapped Berrios for bullpen work late in the month, though a case of elbow inflammation sidelined Berrios and left his postseason availability up in the air.

Bassitt also hit the 15-day injured list on September 19 due to lower back tightness, but seemed to be on pace to be part of the ALDS roster. It isnt yet known if Bassitt mightve had some sort of setback in his ramp-up work, or if perhaps he or the Jays had enough uncertainty over his health that the team didnt want to take the risk of issuing Bassitt a roster spot. If a player has to be removed from a postseason roster due to injury, the player is ineligible to play in the following series, so it could be that the Blue Jays didnt want to take the chance of losing Bassitt for the ALCS if the Jays defeat New York.

For Scherzer, his two World Series and 143 career playoff innings didnt carry as much weight to the Jays as the veterans recent form. The right-hander posted a 9.00 ERA over his final six starts and 25 innings in the regular season, and Scherzer only completed six innings in one of those outings. One of those tough starts came against the Yankees on September 7, when Scherzer allowed four runs on three hits and four walks over 4 1/3 innings in a 4-3 New York victory.

Scherzer ended up with a 5.19 ERA over 85 innings in 2025, as he missed most of the first half dealing with injuries. Just prior to his rough final six starts, it seemed like Scherzer was locking into form with a string of five consecutive quality starts and a 2.25 ERA over 32 innings. The Jays signed Scherzer to a one-year, $15.5MM contract last winter in the hopes that he could turn back the clock and provide veteran depth and experience to the rotation, particularly if Toronto happened to advance into the playoffs. While it is possible he could return for the ALCS, Scherzer will be limited to spectator duty for at least the first leg of the Blue Jays postseason run.

It isnt surprising that Bichette isnt participating, since as of Wednesday, Bichette had yet to start running drills as part of his rehab from a left PCL sprain. Bichette hurt his knee almost exactly a month ago, on an awkward slide into home plate on September 6 in another game against the Yankees. Bichette has been able to take swings in the batting cage, but until he is able to run whatsoever, his status for the rest of the playoffs remains unclear if the Jays manage to advance deeper into October.

Ty France is another noteworthy player left off the roster, as France may still be bothered by the oblique inflammation that has kept him sidelined since September 21. Frances absence will leave the Jays without some right-handed hitting bench depth, and Guerrero is now the only true first baseman on the roster, though naturally Guerrero isnt expected to leave the lineup at any point in the series.
The award-winning documentary and a Q&A with the Muskegon chef is coming to The Frauenthal Center for Performing Arts for one night only.

15h ago
KATHMANDU, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Six people were killed on Saturday after a sport utility vehicle veered off the road in eastern Nepal, local police said.

The vehicle with 12 people onboard fell 300 meters down a cliff in Panchthar district, killing six on the spot, said Manoj Kumar Yadav, spokesperson for the district police.

The six others were injured, and poor road conditions could be the cause of the accident, Yadav told Xinhua.

Traffic accidents are common in mountainous Nepal, and hundreds of lives are lost each year. 
Rainbow Bar and the Shiawassee County Democratic Party Headquarters are positioned on opposite sides of Main Street, diagonal from one another in downtown Owosso as seen on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. The two were targeted by Mack Davis, who was arrested before he could carry out a mass shooting plan at the two locations. Lukas Katilius | MLive.com

Mack Davis waited for the roars of thunder.

When the sky rumbled, he fired his sawed-off rifle out his bedroom window.

Bullets made holes in the car of a married couple, both men, whose other car he had vandalized with a gay slur, according to investigative reports and subsequent charging documents.

Bullets struck the car of another neighbor who would later tell the police he didnt have any enemies but has a daughter that is LGBTQ.

It was the summer of 2024. Davis was 22 years old and living at his mothers house in Owosso.

He wanted to shoot people, he wrote in a manifesto taken as evidence by police. Muslims and Jews. Schoolchildren and supermarket shoppers. Gays and lesbians.

In the notebooks he filled with writing and childlike drawings, he made who his targets would be seem almost incidental. He wanted the world to notice him, he wrote.

I know my actions will cause pain and sadness for my family, the victims familys (sic) and the community, but sometimes people need to die, he wrote in the summer of 2023. Its a war, people need to die, and they will die, a true sacrifice.

He never got the chance.

Owosso police noticed that trajectory of the bullets pointed back toward Daviss bedroom window, the case report said. They obtained a search warrant.

Inside, they found guns, knives, ammunition, bomb making materials and a purple notebook with The Great Revenge  1488 by Mack Adam Davis written on the cover.

1488 is white supremacist number code, a reference to a slogan called the 14 Words and to the eighth letter of the alphabet repeated twice, HH for Heil Hitler. Its also an odd choice for a man with a Black father and a white mother.

Daviss writings laid out the evolution of a plan to commit a mass shooting, a plan that came to center on what he mistakenly believed was a gay bar in Owosso and the Shiawassee County Democratic Party Headquarters down the street, which he wrote was filled with far-left liberal, f----- scum.

Davis was arrested, charged and pleaded guilty to one count of committing a hate crime by attempting to carry out a mass killing. Hes scheduled to be sentenced in federal court this December. Under the terms of a sentencing agreement that the judge is not bound to follow, he could be in prison into his 50s.

What brought Davis to the brink of violence? How did a lonely and anxious young man in small rural town decide that hed found a hateful cause worth killing for and maybe dying for? How did he come to see himself as the next link in a chain of political extremists and mass murderers?

Seeking answers, MLive obtained copies of Daviss journals, which were used as evidence in the case, investigative reports on his crime and spoke with the Owosso police detectives who handled the early stages of the investigation.

Davis didnt respond to a letter sent to him in the Clare County Jail, where he is being held. His attorney, a federal public defender, didnt respond to a request to discuss the case. Family members and friends from high school didnt respond to phone calls, Facebook messages and letters.

But the journal he kept during the year leading up to his arrest, a document that records his anger, unhappiness and hatred, offers clues and explanations, starting with an entry from mid-July of 2023 titled A Short Story.

A mugshot of Mack Davis. Courtesy of the Owosso Police Department

ON A WAR PATH

I feel trapped, Davis wrote. Ive felt that way for a long time after moving to this shitty town with nothing to do but sit in my room and think and research, play video games even though I dont play them anymore really.

He had moved to Owosso with his mother and sister after his sophomore year of high school, he wrote. He enrolled in online school for his final two years. The family lived at the home of an uncle where Davis slept on an air mattress before his mother found them a place of their own.

Being bored and not having anything to do at the time, I would start looking at different right-wing Telegram groups and joining them, he wrote.

Telegram is a messaging app that, until its founders arrest last year, refused to moderate or remove posts, a policy that allowed extremist communities of all stripes to flourish there.

He was active on other sites, too, on Reddit and Discord. He called himself the Ghst Templar, probably a reference to characters in the videogame Call of Duty.

And, when he left a job at an auto parts store, things changed, and I was on a war path.

FASCINATION WITH KILLERS

When Owosso police entered Daviss bedroom, every sign was there of someone who had some very serious issues, said Detective Sergeant Jeff Dame.

Alongside the guns and homemade grenades, there were neo-Nazi and Russian militia patches, communist and anarchist patches, a knife with f----- killer written in marker on the blade and names, lots of names written down near his computer, detectives said.

They were all killers, Dame said. They were all active shooters.

He would tell police he didnt believe a lot of what was in his journal or hanging on his walls, according to the case report, that it was edgelord bullshit, there as a provocation, not because he believed it.

But Davis had been researching mass shooters online since at least the summer of 2023, according to court documents.

He was fascinated by the 33-year-old neo-Nazi and U.S. Army washout who murdered eight people in a mall in Allen, Texas, Davis wrote in his notebook. He had created a page on Odnoklassniki, the same Russian social media platform where the perpetrator had vented his hatred against Jews, women and racial minorities.

My main person I took inspiration from was the perpetrator of the 2012 mass shooting in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater, he wrote in August of 2023, but, a few months later, when he wrote out a ranking of the top 24 mass killers, first place went to a man who was radicalized in white nationalist internet forums, released a meme-laden manifesto and went on to murder 51 people in two New Zealand mosques.

Third place went to the teenage white supremacist who murdered 10 Black customers and workers in a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York, using a rifle covered in racial slurs and phrases that included The Great Replacement.

Davis wrote that he believed in the Great Replacement theory, the idea that conspiracy-minded elites are working to replace whites with non-whites through mass migration and a falling white birthrate, at least some of it.

But his act of violence wouldnt just be political, he wrote.

This is personal. Its about hatred and much more, my hate for this world and for the people in it, all people, he wrote.

I hate you all the same.

A storefront, which was previously the Democratic Party Headquarters in Owosso, is seen on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. The headquarters were targeted by a man named Mack Davis, who was arrested before he could carry out a mass shooting plan at Rainbow Bar and the Shiawassee County Democratic Party Headquarters in downtown Owosso. Lukas Katilius | MLive.com

LOOKING FOR TARGETS

His personal misery was well-documented in his journal.

On one page, hed write about being a god exacting my retribution.

On another, hed lament the fact that, at 21, he still lived with his mother and sister, that he didnt have a car or even a drivers license. He called the situation a disappointment, a disgrace, my fault I guess.

The pandemic years were hell, he wrote, not because of the coronavirus but because of my personal feelings and physical pain I was going through having anxiety attacks, panic attacks.

When he bought a gun and tested it, I knew it would do the job if need be, the job being blowing my brains halfway down the block.

He told police that he hated his father, who had absconded from parole and from the family, fled to Mississippi. State prison records show the father has been convicted on drug charges in the past.

(Davis) said his dad was a narcotics dealer growing up, and he witnessed all this type of stuff in his early years, Dame said. So a very, very troubled individual.

Daviss writing often sounds like hes trying on identities, making arguments he might not entirely believe, trying to find some solid sense of himself.

And he dithered about what his target would be.

Hed been casing possible targets he wrote in August of 2023, hospitals, churchs [sic], schools, mosques, synagogues, supermarkets and had settled on a mosque.

Days later, he was mulling whether to attack a mosque, a theater or a high school.

He had taken an incredible amount of time to map out our specific Owasso Kroger, Dame said, and he mentioned numerous times that thought the supermarket idea was a good place to shoot up.

In November, he wrote about sitting with a gun on the night of Owossos holiday Glow Parade, imagining what he might do, could have done to parade-goers.

I saved you, he said.

The Rainbow Bar name is painted on a brick wall over a framed sign stating Its not what you think please dont shoot me as seen on on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. Owner Tim Law hung the sign up after a man named Mack Davis was arrested before he could carry out a mass shooting plan at Rainbow Bar and the Democratic Party Headquarters in downtown Owosso. Lukas Katilius | MLive.com

PLEASE DONT SHOOT ME

At the start of this year, months after Daviss arrest, Tim Law painted the words Rainbow Bar on the wall of his establishment and hung a small, framed sign next to them.

Its not what you think, the sign says. Please dont shoot me.

Davis had planned to attack the Rainbow Bar. He thought it was a gay bar. Its not.

The bar was named decades before the rainbow became a symbol of LGBT pride.

It was an Irish theme, Law said.

And the idea that Davis was going to shoot up the Rainbow because its called the Rainbow is the most insane thing Ive ever heard of, Law said.

Owosso doesnt have many bars. Most of the young adults in town have passed through at least once, he said.

He should have known, Law said.

Daviss other target, the Shiawassee County Democratic Party headquarters maybe 200 feet away on Main Street, actually did have a pride flag in the window.

Stephen Schlaack, who was chair of the organization at the time, said he found out about Daviss arrest days after it happened.

I was at the farmers market, which was literally across the river from Pride Festival going on that weekend, and so Im like, Oh my gosh. In a different world right now there is a tragedy going on 800 meters for me.

As they got more details of Daviss plan, the organization instituted a policy that volunteers werent allowed to be in the office alone. When the 2024 election season was over, they moved out.

Tim Law, owner of Rainbow Bar, poses for a photo in the establishment on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. The bar was targeted by a man named Mack Davis, who was arrested before he could carry out a mass shooting plan at Rainbow Bar and the Shiawassee County Democratic Party Headquarters in downtown Owosso. Lukas Katilius | MLive.com

LOOKING FOR EXPLANATIONS

With only a cursory reading of Daviss notebooks, Adam Lankford said, he might have assumed Davis was another copycat white supremacist young white male who learned about this stuff online.

But it turns out its a little more complicated than that. Right?

Lankford chairs the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama. Hes an expert on mass shooters.

And he sees dissonant notes in Daviss writings. Alongside the white supremacist shooters, Davis lionized mass murderers such as Connor Betts, who killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio, and considered himself a leftist, and Charles Manson, who did want to start a race war but whose erratic belief system doesnt fit well into the present-day white supremacist mold.

Hes interested in these violent role models, but not all of them shared that ideology by any means, he said. And then theres also this kind of suicidal element.

The founders of The Violence Prevention Project, a research center at Hamline University, have written that mass shootings  at least those instances not associated with domestic violence or other crimes  are often a form of suicide, a way for the perpetrators to seize power and attention, forcing others to witness their pain while attempting to end their lives in a way that only they controlled.

The idea of killing himself appears a few times in Daviss writings: in the passage about blowing his head off, in another about whether he would survive the shooting he planned,

If he attacked a school, Im going to have to kill myself after the attack, he wrote. No way I could live with myself, and I would never survive prison.

Months later, he wrote that he should just shoot myself to avoid hurting others.

If he didnt value his own life, Lankford said, it could explain why he was willing to end it.

Theres plenty of people with bigoted ideas who wouldnt do this because they do value their lives, he said.

It could also explain why he thought about ending it in a bloody and public way.

It seems like one of the main explanations for sometimes why these people dont just die by suicide alone is because, if you die by suicide alone, youre not making a mark in history, he said. But theres this fantasy that, through mass violence, you do.

Police believe that Davis was close to carrying out his plan. On the day they searched his bedroom, a package containing black tactical gear arrived in the mail.

Kevin Lenkart, Owossos police chief, thinks Davis started out shooting cars because he was trying to build up the nerve or the guts or whatever you want to call it to actually go out and do it.

A coded message that Mack Davis wrote to his mother in a notebook that police seized as evidence. Matthew Miller

THE GHST TEMPLAR

In a notebook that police found in Daviss bedroom, theres a page with Reasons why written at the top and a message below in a made-up cipher of stars and crosshairs and less-familiar shapes.

There is also a key.

Translated, the message reads: The reason is out of self-hatred, nothing more nothing less. I am sorry for my actions, but its just something I had too do.

Mom, I love you with all my heart.

Its signed The Ghost Templar.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, left, and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson respond to questions following a tactical briefing event on Friday, Oct. 3, at Genesee Health System, located at 1040 W. Bristol Road in Flint. The event comes just days after a gunman killed four people at a church in Grand Blanc Township. Nick Taylor | Ntaylor@Mlive.com

FLINT, MI  Hundreds of concerned residents and religious leaders from across the region gathered Friday, Oct. 3, to learn about ways to better protect worshippers.

The tactical briefing, for the local faith-based community, was held just days after a gunman killed four people and injured several others during a shooting and arson attack at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township.

My heart goes out to the community, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said during the event. My heart goes out to the LDS community. My heart goes out to those who lost their lives, people who are still suffering from injuries.

Nessel and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson led the event, which took place at Genesee Health System, 1040 W. Bristol Road in Flint.

We are here today to answer some questions, Swanson said. What are you doing thats working, and what do you need to do to keep your flock safe?

There was a heavy police presence at the event, with several agencies providing security, including the Genesee County Sheriffs Office.

Additionally, the building was swept prior to the event.

Attendees heard from several speakers who provided advice on how to prevent tragedies like the Sunday, Sept. 28 attack from happening again in the future.

The reality is it could happen and that denying violence is not going to save lives, Swanson said.

Among the attendees at Fridays event was the Rev. Jeff Frechette of St. Mark Lutheran Church in Flint.

I felt it was important for our people to know that we take their safety seriously, while at the same time not reacting with fear but being wise and being wise with the lives that God has given us, Frechette said.

The pastor said that while his church already has surveillance equipment in place, he plans to work on strengthening the communication aspect of his churchs emergency preparedness.

Another attendee, Beth Gray, a trustee at Goodrich United Methodist Church, said she came to the event because she felt it was her responsibility as a member of her churchs board  especially considering Sundays attack.

Some of those things, we could do immediately, things like locking the doors and having somebody monitor, she said referencing suggestions made at the event.

Nessel stressed the importance of responding to threats before its too late, urging attendees to immediately report any suspicious activity or potential red flags.

There are little windows of opportunity where a potential criminal can be reached and stopped before tragedy occurs, Nessel said. If you see something concerning, please bring it to our attention at the earliest opportunity. It may not be a crime, but it may be an opportunity for some other form of intervention.

Nessel said religious leaders are allowed to bar anyone who makes other worshippers uncomfortable or poses a potential threat to places of worship.

While most places of worship are open to the public, they are private, she said.

I know its a tough thing to do, but just sometimes it has to be done, she said.

Nessel also spoke on how to properly report hate crimes and civil rights violations.

The FBI opened a civil rights case regarding the Grand Blanc Township church attack within hours of the incident, Swanson said.

Freedom of religion was attacked, he said.

Nessel noted that about 620 hate crime incidents occurred in Michigan in 2024 alone, reflecting an overall rise of such crimes.

Victims of a hate crime often do not contact law enforcement because they dont know about the services that are available to them, Nessel said. They distrust the judicial system (and) they fear further retribution against their family or businesses or themselves.

For those looking to arm themselves against potential future attacks, worshippers can receive special permission to carry firearms within a place of worship if they have a concealed carry license, Nessel said.

Attendees were encouraged to prepare for potential attacks by conducting threat assessments, controlling access to buildings, building strong relationships with law enforcement, surveillance, and creating evacuation plans and maps.

You should do walks around your building every day, see if anything changes, see whats going on, said Lt. Rudy Lopez of the Genesee County Sheriffs Office. We have to know whats going on in our building.

When all other precautions against an attack fail, those under attack should either run, fight or hide, said Genesee Sheriffs Deputy Dustin Roy.

You have no clue how youre going to react at that point, Lopez said. When it comes to knowing how to run, hide, and fight, if three people in an organization know it but the members do not, then its not going to work.

Roy, a paramedic with the sheriffs office, said places of worship should always have medical kits and AEDs (Automated External Defibrillator) on site.

Another speaker at the event, Genesee Health System CEO Dan Russell, shed some light on the mental health aspect of attacks like the one that occurred Sunday.

The worst thing you can do is try to forget about it and just think its going to go away with time because usually that does not work, he said.
Nurses arrive to assist a family after Davenport University nursing student Julianna Scherzer and Midland resident Sandy Laughner helped deliver a baby in the parking lot of Covenant Medical Center Harrison in Saginaw on Wednesday, Sept. 24. Sandy Laughner

SAGINAW, MI - When nursing student Julianna Scherzer turned on a birthing simulator for the first time during her Sept. 24 class, she didnt know that within an hour the scene would be playing out in front of her again - this time for real.

Scherzer, 27, a Davenport University freshman from Bay City, was just four weeks into her nursing program when she helped deliver a baby in a Saginaw hospital parking lot. She had not yet seen a real birth, even in class.

On Wednesday, Sept. 24, she was on her way to visit a friend at Covenant Medical Center Harrison in Saginaw after her class on Davenport Universitys Great Lakes Bay campus.

Scherzer had just opened her car door when she heard a man calling for help and a woman screaming.

Still wearing her scrubs, Scherzer rushed over to find the man and his wife, who was in active labor inside their black Jeep.

She kept the woman calm, told her to keep breathing and asked the husband to get a wheelchair. The woman said she couldnt move, and that the baby was coming right now.

I was very scared, Scherzer said. But I definitely didnt tell the father that.

Another woman, Midland resident Sandy Laughner, was pulling in the parking lot to visit her mother when she also heard the screams and came to assist.

Scherzer thought Laughner was in healthcare because of her lanyard, and Laughner saw Scherzers scrubs and thought the same, but the two women soon realized neither of them had experience facilitating a childbirth.

We quickly realized that neither of us were going to have any experience in delivering a child, Laughner said. So we just hung tight  it was comforting the mom and comforting each other."

Scherzer said it felt like seconds later that the baby was born, and both parents did a great job.

The parents did so well in that moment, Scherzer said. They were so scared too, and they trusted me, a student nurse, to help them. They instinctually knew just what to do. This is their experience, not mine. They deserve the recognition.

She said after the birth, she knew she had to ensure the baby was breathing, and checked the childs color and umbilical cord as the baby rested on her mom.

I just kept rubbing the babys back, and then we saw the team of nurses come out, she said.

Laughner described it as a sudden sea of blue, with nursing staff running towards the car like in a movie, taking over the scene and caring for the baby beside the car.

She said a third woman on the scene, who could not be reached for comment, had given her jean jacket to cover the baby.

I thought to myself at that moment, Dang, what a cowgirl to be born on your own terms, in your own time, wearing a jean jacket, Laughner said. Shes going to be a force to be reckoned with.

She said both women congratulated the mother after the birth, and were just glad to be able to help. The parents could not be reached for comment, but Davenport confirmed both mother and baby are healthy and went home from the hospital just two days after the birth.

Davenport University nursing student Julianna Scherzer (left) and Midland resident Sandy Laughner (right) pose together after assisting with a delivery at Covenant Medical Center Harrison in Saginaw. Sandy Laughner

Scherzer is only in her first semester of nursing school.

She said shes always been interested in healthcare, and got her certified nursing assistant (CNA) license at 19 before working intermittently in a hospital setting and in finance.

Something just kept pulling me back, she said.

She now works as a medical assistant at Saginaw Bay Dermatology in Bay County.

Scherzer said for a while before she decided to pursue her bachelors degree in nursing, she felt lost, and the plan I thought I had wasnt working.

After this experience, I feel like I found my purpose. This is obviously the career Im supposed to be in.

She said working in labor and delivery, or somewhere in pediatrics, was always something she considered when thinking about her future career path.

Labor and delivery is definitely on my mind more now after having that experience, she said. Even though it was very scary, it was one of the most beautiful things Ive ever witnessed.
34-year-old Travis Miller, who was accused of sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl, recently pleaded guilty to one count each of third-degree and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. (MLive file photo) MLive.com

ANTRIM COUNTY, MI  An Antrim County man recently pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl, according to a Michigan State Police news release.

34-year-old Travis Miller of Alden sexually assaulted the girl on several separate occasions, police said.

Troopers from the Michigan State Police Gaylord Post began investigating a sexual complaint in March after learning that Travis Miller, 34, allegedly engaged in sexually explicit conversations with juveniles, police said.

Miller was arrested for criminal sexual conduct in June, and on Sept. 29, he pleaded guilty to one count each of third-degree and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

He was also initially faced first-degree and second-degree criminal sexual conduct charges, but they were dropped, according to court records.

Miller is currently being held at the Antrim County Jail as he awaits sentencing, which is set to take place at 9 a.m. on Jan. 20 in the 13th Circuit Court in Grand Traverse County.

The Antrim County Sheriffs Office assisted troopers in the case.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  ARRAS, a colorful hanging glass tapestry comprised of thousands of delicate glass fibers, woven together by hand, has won ArtPrizes 2025 $100,000 grand prize, officials announced Friday night.

The piece, which was displayed at Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, was created by Mark Lewanski of Portland, Michigan, who describes it as the largest kiln-fired, woven glass surface in existence.

It is made from several thousand glass strips, canes and stringers, hand woven into a fragile lattice before being fired over a ceramic mold in a 11x7 ft fusing kiln located at my studio in Old Town, Lansing, Michigan, he wrote in his artist statement.

The grand prize was awarded at ArtPrizes closing ceremony Friday, Oct. 3 at Studio Park in downtown Grand Rapids.

Related:Michigan glass artist in disbelief after winning $100K at 2025 ArtPrize competition

ArtPrize 2025 kicked off Sept. 18 and wraps up Saturday, Oct. 4. The annual art competition, launched in 2009, featured 930 artists this year at 155 venues throughout downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.

While ArtPrize ends tomorrow, visitors looking to check out ARRAS in person on Saturday arent expected to be able to do so.

The Ford museum, a National Archives facility, closed on Wednesday because of the shutdown of the federal government. A message on the museums website Friday night said the museum remains closed because of the shutdown.

Artists whose entries were inside the museum were offered an opportunity to move their entries to another venue, The Morton apartment building at 55 Ionia Ave. NW.

Rather than attempting to move ARRAS, which weighed 400 pounds and took six months to create, Lewanski installed a smaller but similar glass tapestry outside the museum, where a host of other entries were on display.

As ArtPrize attendees explored those entries, including Lewanskis smaller work, he discussed ARRAS with them and showed pictures of it to those who were interested.

Lewanski, 54, called the museums closure a disappointment.

I really wanted people to share the piece and to see my work and to see the hard work that went into making this piece, he told MLive Thursday.

However, he added that he was still benefiting from strong foot traffic outside the museum on Wednesday and Thursday. He also said he got a little bump in media attention from news reports about the closures impact on artists.

I did get a little more attention just from being left out in the rain, Lewanski said. Im kind of out here just doing my mini booth, and I have a small little piece. And so I got a little bump in media attention that was beneficial to me.
KENT COUNTY, MI  A judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by a vocal critic of Lowell Area Schools who complained that the district promoted diversity, equity and inclusion and other social-justice issues.

Stefanie Boone said the district violated her First Amendment rights by prohibiting her from directly contacting school staff. The district also asked her to refrain from referencing staff members on social media.

U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney in Kalamazoo granted a motion by the school district to dismiss Boones complaint.

Matthew DePerno, Boones attorney, told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press he will appeal the judges ruling.

Boone, who has three children in Lowell schools, is a moderator of the private Facebook group, Lowell Kids 1st, and a longtime school critic who has advocated for book bans.

She is part of Moms for Liberty, a group that grew out of opposition to public health regulations for COVID, and opposes LGBTQ+ and racially inclusive school curriculum, court records said.

Boone is the defendant in another lawsuit, filed in Kent County Circuit Court, in which Lowell Area Schools librarian Christine Beachler says Boones false allegations, over the course of years, included calling her a groomer and smut peddler.

Beachler, a school librarian for over 20 years, said she does not feel safe because of Boones smear campaign, her lawsuit said.

That case is pending.

Boone started a campaign in 2020 to remove certain books from Lowell Area Schools. She would read salacious excerpts  out of context  from books during school board meetings to shock listeners, the lawsuit reads.

Boone became critical of the school district in July 2021, when she said it began promoting DEI, SEL (social and emotional learning), social justice issues, alternative sex and gender ideologies, and other liberal ideology, court documents showed.

In 2023, she shifted criticism to the librarian.

She posted that there was an odd love fest for Christine Beachler.(S)he is actively working to keep trash like, All Boys Arent Blue in our schools instead of working to PROTECT our children. In 2024, she posted that a teacher who received a Fulbright Scholar Award was the same teacher who is  hailed for creating a shrine to a disgusting pornographic, incestual, sexually explicit book (All Boys Arent Blue.

Principal Steve Gough sent a letter asking that Boone cease and desist referencing school workers on social media and said she could not have contact with school staff without permission of the superintendent or building principal.

Boone said the action acted as prior restraint and violated free-speech rights.

The judge said policy did not violate Boones rights. It only regulated to whom Boone could talk to and did not affect the content of her messages, Maloney wrote.

Such a restriction is not a First Amendment violation and a far cry from a ban or restraint on her speech.

Maloney also rejected her contention that she was silenced when she was merely asked to stop posting about school workers on social media.

He said Boone still attended school board meetings and shared her concerns.

Boones Title IX complaints, that she personally suffered embarrassment and degradation from the schools policy on DEI, SEL and other social-justice issues, does not create a private right of action for her personal objections to school policies, the judge wrote.
Local eatery Gnarly Heifer parnters with Fetch Brewing on select days to offer hearty options like brisket sliders and nachos 3 ways.(Photo/Kara Smith)

WHITEHALL, MI - Fetch Brewing Company has been earning its fair share of West Michigan beer fans since opening as a tasting room and production space in 2014.

The Whitehall space at 100 W. Colby St. is located inside the historic State Bank building. For the past decade, its been filled with eager patrons.

Local couple Dan and Jen Hain had dreamed of opening a microbrewery for years.

It was in shambles and hadnt been occupied for essentially 40 years. Everything had been pulled and gutted. There wasnt a pipe, a wire, or anything, Jen Hain told MLive about the vacant, historic, space-turned-brewery. We had to do all of that, and Dan did a lot by himself. The building was a beast, but she was worth it; were glad we could bring it back to life.

Other original aspects of the bank are prominently featured, such as brick walls, exposed ductwork, and the state bank engraving on the outside of the building.

The couple touts the brewery as comfortable and eclectic with a semi-industrial feel. The food and beverage offerings complete the inviting atmosphere.

In 2017, Fetch produced 350 barrels in the 106-year-old banks basement.

To account for the success, the Hain family decided to roll out a food menu in 2023 to complement the craft beer called Fetch Eats, but that was discontinued earlier this year.

Since late spring 2025, theyve partnered with local entrepreneur Kara Smith to create Graze At Fetch by The Gnarly Heifer.

Smith offers customers rotating specials, including the They Call Me Herb sandwich.

It comes with two piece of white bread stacked with peppered ham, white cheddar cheese, tomato, basically Parmesan pesto, and sun-dried tomato aioli.

Other favorites include brisket sliders, nachos, truffle Mac and cheese and chili. Prices vary. Prices vary between $12-$20.

To finish it off, those 21 and over can choose from 15 rotating taps, including Fetch Beer, hard cider, wine, and Lively Up Kombucha.

Jen Hain said she wants Fetch Brewing Co. is a destination for the White Lake area.

We want to bring people in, spread the wealth and get more business in the area, she said.

Hours for the kitchen are 5 to 9 p.m. on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

View the full menu here.

Regular hours are 2 to 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 2 to 10 p.m. on Thursday, noon to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
SAGINAW, MI  Hand-crafting each decadent flavor with Michigan sourced cream and sugar, a new ice cream shop on the block, which is a beloved Bay City brand, has found a second home in Old Town Saginaw.

The second Michigan Cream & Sugar Ice Cream Co. location officially opened its doors to the community in March.

An exterior view of Michigan Cream & Sugar located at 122 S. Hamilton Street in Saginaw, Mich. on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

The interior resembles the Uptown Bay City location, but with a twist of Old Town Saginaw flare, said General Manager Tim Mangan.

Were really happy with the location. Theres no scratch-made, local-y sourced ice cream available in this part of town, he said. Its a great up-and-coming area, as well. We want to be a part of the success in this neighborhood.

A view inside Michigan Cream & Sugar located at 122 S. Hamilton Street in Saginaw, Mich. on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

Old Town has gained a few new businesses over the last couple years, such as Old World Pizzeria, Halal Munchies and Old Town Distillery by Wonder.

Cream & Sugar offers its signature and limited edition flavors throughout the year.

A view of the ice cream cooler inside Michigan Cream & Sugar located at 122 S. Hamilton Street in Saginaw, Mich. on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

According to the companys website, signature flavors include:

Bay City Brown E

Birthday Cake

Dark Chocolate Velvet

Dairy Farmers Delight

Double Stuffed Oreo Cookie

LegenDairy Vanilla

Michigan Sugar Cookie

Mixed Berry Crisp

Show Me The Dough

Strawberry Fields Forever

Udderly Buttery Pecan

Uptown Funk

The companys autumn flavors, which are now offered in both shops, fall under the limited-edition flavors. This year, those include:

Apple Cider Crisp

Johnsons Pumpkin Smore

MI Berry Swirl

24 Carrot Magic

Kettle My Kakes

Pumpkin Cheesecake

A scoop of Strawberry Fields Forever ice cream and a scoop of Kettle My Kakes ice cream set in a bubble cone inside Michigan Cream & Sugar located at 122 S. Hamilton Street in Saginaw, Mich. on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

Kettle My Kakes is one of the newest to hit the ice cream case. It was made in collaboration with Kakes the Great Popcorn Co., a business located inside the SVRC Martketplace, 203 S. Washington Ave. in downtown Saginaw.

Mangan said they coat each Kakes the Great kettle corn kernel in scratch-made brittle to keep it crisp in the ice cream. Then, they steep popcorn into the ice cream base to further bring the popcorn flavor forward.

General manager Tim Mangan poses for a photograph holding ice cream in a bubble cone inside Michigan Cream & Sugar located at 122 S. Hamilton Street in Saginaw, Mich. on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

Weve always been about partnering with local businesses, Mangan said.

Both the Saginaw location and the Bay City location, 160 Uptown Drive, have switched to fall hours.

A view of the Michigan Cream & Sugar logo inside 122 S. Hamilton Street in Saginaw, Mich. on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

Cream & Sugar is open from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. It is closed on Mondays.

See the companys Facebook page here and its website here.
Anshula Kapoor stuns in purple lehenga at engagement, shares pics with sisters Janhvi Khushi and brother Arjun

Anshula Kapoor stuns in purple lehenga at engagement, shares pics with sisters Janhvi Khushi and brother Arjun

Nakul Tomar

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Bads of Bollywood fame Lakshya Spotted at Sanjay Leela Bhansalis office; A new collaboration in the making?

Palak Vij

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KATHMANDU, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Nepali government on Saturday imposed a three-day ban on the entry and exit of vehicles from the Kathmandu Valley, citing risks posed by landslides and floods due to incessant rainfall across the country.

The precautionary measure was taken after the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology projected heavy rainfall across the country, which could trigger floods, landslides and inundation, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said in a notice.

The ban until Monday shall affect hundreds of thousands of Nepalis who had left the valley for their hometowns to celebrate the biggest Dashain festival.

Similarly, long-distance travel from five provinces, namely Koshi, Madhesh, Bagmati, Gandaki and Lumbini, has also been banned.

The NDRRMA has urged local authorities and security agencies in the affected districts to ensure that the ban on vehicular movement is strictly enforced. 
His visit to the French capital adds to a whirlwind few weeks where he has balanced film promotion, award season buzz, and high-profile fashion week appearances.

M Snehanjali

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Mahesh Bhatt makes a bizarre confession; says he 'fed human flesh to an investor' to secure a deal! - read details

Palak Vij

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Rohit Roy responds to Akshay Kumars daughter facing cyber threat: "This is a concern for everyone"

Rohit also admitted that he had been a victim of a phishing scam several years ago, calling it a "silly mistake". 

M Snehanjali

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Palak Vij

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Tere Ishk Mein becomes 2025s most anticipated film with just two dialogues and a two-minute teaser

Satwik Jaiswal

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Monster: The Ed Gein Story Review: Morbidity meets brilliance with Charlie Hunnam at the center

Palak Vij

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YOUNITE's Dey expresses wish to work with Hanumankind; K-Pop band to visit India for 2-city tour in October

The eight-member group has been announced as the star performers for the Rang De Korea festival in Delhi and the K-Harmony Festa in Mumbai, both organized by the Korean Cultural Centre India.

M Snehanjali

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Yu Menglongs Death: Lawyer questions investigation; says, "Would be impossible to close the investigation"

Yan also warned that if Yus body was cremated before a complete autopsy could be performed, the credibility of the investigation would be seriously weakened.

M Snehanjali

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As per latest reports, Vijay and rashmika got engaged in the presence of their family and friends in an intimate ceremony at Vijay's residence in Hyderabad.

M Snehanjali

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An aerial drone photo taken on Oct. 4, 2025 shows rescuers working with an excavator on site of a collapsed school building in Sidoarjo district, East Java, Indonesia. The death toll from the collapse of a school building in Indonesia's East Java province has risen to 14, a local rescue official said on Saturday. (Photo by Sahlan Kurniawan/Xinhua)

JAKARTA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the collapse of a school building in Indonesia's East Java province has risen to 14, a local rescue official said on Saturday.

By Friday evening, rescuers had recovered nine more bodies, bringing the number of fatalities to 14, according to Tholeb Vatelehan, a senior communication official of the East Java Search and Rescue Office.

Currently, nearly 50 people remain missing, and the death toll is expected to rise.

Rescuers deployed heavy machinery on Thursday after no further signs of life were detected. Earlier, they had relied mainly on manual excavation out of concern that heavy equipment could cause further collapse.

Part of the multi-storey Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in Sidoarjo district caved in on Monday during unauthorized renovation, leaving dozens of students trapped. 

An aerial drone photo taken on Oct. 4, 2025 shows rescuers working with an excavator on site of a collapsed school building in Sidoarjo district, East Java, Indonesia. The death toll from the collapse of a school building in Indonesia's East Java province has risen to 14, a local rescue official said on Saturday. (Photo by Sahlan Kurniawan/Xinhua)
Satwik Jaiswal

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Ankita Lokhande talks about her relationship with Vicky Jain, says, We had a lot of fights, and there were a number of things that had to stop

Satwik Jaiswal

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MC Jobs Desk Read the latest and trending news articles on Sarkari Naukri, government jobs, UPSC, SSC, railway jobs, banking jobs, defence recruitment, state PSC exams, and more.

Archisha Yadav

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Tamal Nandi

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Reshab Shaw

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Ria Kapoor

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Allowing the bail plea, Justice Santosh Rai observed that while posting such a message may provoke anger or disharmony among citizens could be punishable under Section 196 (promoting enmity) of the BNS, it did not attract the stringent provisions of Section 152 of the BNS

Smriti Mishra

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Rewati Karan

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Amit Shah rules out talks with Naxals, tells them to surrender; reiterates Mar 2026 target to end menace

"I want to tell all my tribal brothers and sisters to persuade the youth of their villages to lay down their arms. They should shun violence, join the mainstream, and become part of the development of Bastar," Amit Shah said.

Rewati Karan

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GAZA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, has surpassed 67,000, Gaza's health authorities said on Saturday.

According to their statement, a total of 67,074 people have been killed and 169,430 wounded since the outbreak of the war. In a separate statement, the authorities reported that two children had died in the past 24 hours from starvation and malnutrition, bringing the total number of deaths linked to food shortages to 459, including 154 children.

Despite Israeli statements suggesting a reduction in military operations following U.S. President Donald Trump's call for a halt to the bombing and Hamas's agreement to release all hostages, the Israeli air force carried out a series of intensive airstrikes on Gaza City on Saturday morning.

Eyewitnesses said Israeli forces also opened fire on dozens of civilians attempting to travel from southern Gaza to the northern part of the Strip via the Netzarim corridor near Rashid Street.

In a statement Saturday, the Israeli army warned residents against returning to areas north of Wadi Gaza, calling it "still a dangerous combat zone," and urged civilians to use Rashid Street to move south.

A resident of the Shati neighborhood in Gaza City described the night as "one of the most violent in weeks, with explosions and shelling continuing until the early morning hours."

Israel launched a large-scale military operation in Gaza on October 7, 2023, following an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel, which Israeli authorities said killed around 1,200 people and led to the capture of more than 250 hostages. 
Yeeshu Yadav

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Hold assembly polls soon after Chhat in minimal phases: Bihar parties to Election Commission

Rewati Karan

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Hold Bihar polls in one phase like you did in Maharashtra: JD(U) to EC

Hold Bihar polls in one phase like you did in Maharashtra: JD(U) to EC

Yeeshu Yadav

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Hyderabad student death in US shooting; CM Revanth Reddy promises help to bring back body

Rewati Karan

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'Indian legal system governed by rule of law, not by rule of bulldozer': CJI Gavai in Mauritius

Rewati Karan is Senior Sub Editor at Moneycontrol. She covers law, politics, business, and national affairs. She was previously Principal Correspondent at Financial Express and Copyeditor at ThePrint where she wrote feature stories and covered legal news. She has also worked extensively in social media, videos and podcasts at ThePrint and India Today. She can be reached at rewati.karan@nw18.com | Twitter: @RewatiKaran

Chief Justice of India BR Gavai delivers the inaugural Sir Maurice Rault Memorial Lecture 2025 on 'Rule of Law in the Largest Democracy', in Mauritius. (Image: PTI)

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Kejriwal alleges 'BJP-Congress alliance' in Goa; says AAP will form govt after 2027 polls

101Reporters

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Arishaa Izaj

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Tourists visit the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 2, 2025. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of China's Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City, which was constructed between 1406 and 1420, was once the imperial palaces of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) dynasties. It is a UNESCO inscribed World Cultural Heritage and has one of the world's largest and most intact ancient wooden structures. The Palace Museum was established in 1925 on the base of the former imperial compound. Historically off-limits as an imperial residence, the Forbidden City now is one of the most-visited museums in China. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

A little girl in traditional costumes is pictured at the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 2, 2025. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of China's Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City.(Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

A tourist in traditional costumes is pictured outside the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 2, 2025. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of China's Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City.(Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

This photo taken on Oct. 3, 2025 shows the Meridian Gate of the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of China's Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City.(Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

Tourists visit the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 3, 2025. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of China's Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City.(Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

Tourists visit the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 2, 2025. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of China's Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City.(Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

Tourists in traditional costumes take pictures at the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 2, 2025. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of China's Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City.(Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

Tourists visit the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 3, 2025. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of China's Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City.(Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)
The tender for buying the air defence system has been issued as part of lessons learnt during Operation Sindoor, where the Pakistan Army carried out direct attacks on civilians and religious buildings in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. (ANI Photo)

Tamal Nandi

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Smriti Mishra

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UPSC to release provisional answer key right after prelims, files affidavit in Supreme Court

Rewati Karan is Senior Sub Editor at Moneycontrol. She covers law, politics, business, and national affairs. She was previously Principal Correspondent at Financial Express and Copyeditor at ThePrint where she wrote feature stories and covered legal news. She has also worked extensively in social media, videos and podcasts at ThePrint and India Today. She can be reached at rewati.karan@nw18.com | Twitter: @RewatiKaran

Rewati Karan

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WinTrack founder vows to stand firm against harassment by customs: Will not delete any post

Through a post on X, the Chennai customs categorically denied any instance of bribery or harassment, putting the blame on Ganeshan

Smriti Mishra

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Tony Klor's post quickly gained traction, particularly among Indian and diaspora users who found the sentiment notable.

Shubhi Mishra

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As discussions spread, many users highlighted the misunderstanding between retirement funds and spendable income.

Shubhi Mishra

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Treasury Department is considering making a one-dollar coin featuring President Donald Trump to mark the country's 250th anniversary of independence next year, said the department Friday.

The design shows Trump's image with his fist raised on one side of the coin, alongside the words "fight, fight, fight," recalling his reaction after surviving an assassination attempt last year during the election campaign, according to drafts of the design posted on X by Treasurer Brandon Beach.

The coin's other side features Trump in profile, with the word "LIBERTY" above and the dates "1776-2026" below.

Due to Congressional restrictions on featuring individuals in coin designs, it is uncertain whether the draft images could face challenges under current law. 
7 / 10

A Milky Road to the Rubin Observatory: The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will scan the sky nightly, capturing shifting cosmic events like supernovas, asteroids, and comets while mapping our ever-evolving universe. (Image: NASA/NSF, DOE, Rubin Obs., Paulo Assuncao Lago (Rubin Obs.))
Man caught using Meta smart glasses to secretly record female students at US university

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Ankita Chakravarti

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Ankita Chakravarti

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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman promises fast changes to Sora as app surges in popularity

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Aabhas Sharma

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Aabhas Sharma

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Long Weekend Getaways: Where To Go From Delhi, Mumbai And Bangalore In Just Rs 10,000

Long Weekend Getaways: Where To Go From Delhi, Mumbai And Bangalore In Just Rs 10,000

Nivritti Khatri

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Which State in India Has the Most UNESCO World Heritage Sites?

Which State in India Has the Most UNESCO World Heritage Sites?

Nivritti Khatri

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Pradeep Tripathi

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'Don't know who killed him', says brother of Indian student from Hyderabad killed in Texas; Consulate assures support

Rewati Karan

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This file photo taken with a mobile phone on Sept. 21, 2025 shows the airport of Goma, North Kivu Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). More than eight months after rebels seized Goma, the international airport of this urban hub in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains shuttered, a stark symbol of a grinding conflict that continues to paralyze the region.(Photo by Alain Uaykani/Xinhua)

GOMA, DR Congo, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- More than eight months after rebels seized Goma, the international airport of this urban hub in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains shuttered, a stark symbol of a grinding conflict that continues to paralyze the region.

Cut off from much of the country, Goma, home to over one million people, now feels like a city under siege. National roads linking it to the rest of the DRC are largely impassable due to ongoing clashes, while lake transport across Lake Kivu, once a vital lifeline, has been severely curtailed by restrictions imposed by the March 23 Movement (M23), which captured the city in late January.

At the airport's entrance, an iron gate stands bolted shut. Behind it, masked M23 fighters maintain round-the-clock watch, controlling access under strict orders from their commanders. Entry is granted sparingly, and only with explicit authorization, in the name of security.

Inside, neglect and destruction dominate. The once-bustling parking lot, where taxis jostled for passengers, is now overgrown with weeds. Military debris still litters the tarmac, despite a partial UN cleanup earlier this year. Administrative offices and technical departments stand ransacked, doors broken in, while rusting armored vehicles lie abandoned across the compound.

"Be careful, unexploded devices remain. The Congolese military planted them during the last battles in January," a rebel security officer warned. He said hidden booby traps had already wounded several of his men.

The scars of battle are everywhere. The control tower is gutted, its wires ripped out and computers smashed. Burned-out military trucks sit frozen on the runway. In a nearby hangar, rebels display an abandoned Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jet as a war trophy, surrounded by scattered munitions.

The January battle for Goma lasted nearly two days, pitting M23 fighters against a Congolese army unit entrenched at the airport. Heavy artillery fire left the facilities badly damaged. Both sides continue to trade blame: rebels accuse Kinshasa of deliberately destroying the airport to deny them a strategic asset, a charge the government flatly rejects.

"Just like the banks kept closed on Kinshasa's orders, the government continues to block the reopening of the airport. Even if we repair some of the damage, only Kinshasa can authorize international operations," said Bertrand Bisimwa, a senior political figure in the M23, last month.

For Goma's residents, the closure has been devastating. The city's main air gateway is paralyzed, forcing travelers to detour through Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, or endure grueling overland trips to Kampala, Uganda, before catching a flight.

The shutdown has also gutted small businesses. Vendors who once relied on passenger traffic at the terminal now face empty stalls. Humanitarian operations have been severely disrupted as well, with aid deliveries and logistics hampered by the loss of the airport.

For many, the silence of the airfield has become the clearest reminder that the war is far from over, as clashes between the M23 and Congolese forces, often backed by regional allies, continue across North and South Kivu.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the DRC, MONUSCO, has also been hard hit. Mission chief Bintou Keita told the UN Security Council on Sept. 30 that troop rotations are stalled, fuel and food shipments delayed, and the airport remains inaccessible.

"Without these conditions in Goma, MONUSCO cannot fully deliver the protection mandate entrusted by this Council in this area," Keita said. 

This file photo taken with a mobile phone on Sept. 21, 2025 shows a member of the March 23 Movement (M23) walking at the airport of Goma, North Kivu Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). More than eight months after rebels seized Goma, the international airport of this urban hub in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains shuttered, a stark symbol of a grinding conflict that continues to paralyze the region.(Photo by Alain Uaykani/Xinhua)

This file photo taken with a mobile phone on Sept. 21, 2025 shows the airport of Goma, North Kivu Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). More than eight months after rebels seized Goma, the international airport of this urban hub in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains shuttered, a stark symbol of a grinding conflict that continues to paralyze the region.(Photo by Alain Uaykani/Xinhua)

This file photo taken with a mobile phone on Sept. 21, 2025 shows the airport of Goma, North Kivu Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). More than eight months after rebels seized Goma, the international airport of this urban hub in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains shuttered, a stark symbol of a grinding conflict that continues to paralyze the region.(Photo by Alain Uaykani/Xinhua)

This file photo taken with a mobile phone on Sept. 21, 2025 shows an abandoned helicopter at the airport of Goma, North Kivu Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). More than eight months after rebels seized Goma, the international airport of this urban hub in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains shuttered, a stark symbol of a grinding conflict that continues to paralyze the region.(Photo by Alain Uaykani/Xinhua)
Hamas responds to Trumps Gaza plan, says ready to release all Israeli hostages

Pragya Trivedi

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Hamas partially accepts Trump's peace plan, but what are the key issues that remain unresolved?

Pradeep Tripathi

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"At every step, I was reminded that hope speaks a universal language, and that across continents, our fight for dignity and democracy is one and the same," Gandhi said.

Rewati Karan

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IDF confirms "implementation of first stage of Trump's plan to free the hostages"

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (center) is seen in Gaza City on September 30, 2025. (Image: IDF)

Chhabi Kala

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Is Pakistan playing both China and US? Asim Munir pitches Trump a $1.2 billion Arabian Sea port to counter Gwadar

US President Donald Trump during a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir at the White House, in Washington, DC.

Abhinav Gupta

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Is Trump preparing to expand U.S. military powers at home and abroad?

Pradeep Tripathi

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Japan's ruling party LDP to vote for new leader, hopes to regain public trust

If no one wins a majority in Saturday's initial vote, a runoff will quickly follow between the top two candidates. (AP photo)

Chhabi Kala

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Pragya Trivedi

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MOSCOW, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Udmurt Republic has the potential for greater cooperation with China, the region's Minister of Economy Anna Slugina said, noting the remarkable growth in bilateral trade and ongoing major projects.

"China is a very important strategic direction for both Russia and the Udmurt Republic," Slugina told Xinhua. She said the potential for further growth in exports and imports remains significant, noting that Chinese consumers "highly value our ice cream and many other products." In return, the republic purchases production equipment and technologies from China.

Located in the central Volga River Basin at the western foot of the Ural Mountains and roughly 1,200 km east of Moscow, the republic has well-developed industries such as energy and machinery manufacturing. It is best known as the birthplace of composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

The minister said the republic offers preferential terms for Sino-Russian joint projects and actively encourages investment, emphasizing long-term cooperation in oil extraction with Chinese companies.

"I am very hopeful that our Chinese partners will implement projects in our territory, because we provide all the necessary infrastructure for their implementation," Slugina said. "This minimizes our partners' costs and time, and accordingly increases project profitability. I believe now is the right time to launch joint projects." 
'Military families already seeking food assistance': White House warns of rising strain on troops during shutdown

Pradeep Tripathi

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Procter and Gamble has decided to wind down operations in Pakistan

Ria Kapoor

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More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war: Gazas Health Ministry

It comes as Israel's military said it is preparing for the first phase of US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza and return all of the remaining hostages.

Rewati Karan

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Move quickly on peace deal or all bets off: Donald Trump to Hamas

Tamal Nandi

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Sanae Takaichi set to be Japans first woman PM amid U.S. trade and security tensions

Pradeep Tripathi

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'This is a big day': Trump thanks Arab and Muslim nations for supporting peace plan, expresses hope for hostages return

Pradeep Tripathi

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TEHRAN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Saturday executed six members of an alleged Israeli-affiliated "terrorist separatist" network for involvement in several deadly operations and compromising security in the country's southwestern Khuzestan province.

The individuals were hanged following judicial proceedings and the upholding of their death sentences by the Supreme Court of Iran, the Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary reported.

They had been directly involved in the assassinations of four Iranian security forces in Khuzestan in January 2018 and November 2019, and had confessed to having designed and carried out several lethal operations and acts of sabotage in the province, said the report.

Their acts of sabotage include making and planting bombs, carrying out an explosion at a compressed natural gas station in Khorramshahr city, attacking banks, throwing grenades at military centers and shooting at mosques, it added.

According to Mizan, the convicts had been in contact with Israel and supported by "hostile foreign elements." 
PHNOM PENH, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Etihad Airways has commenced its first direct flight between the United Arab Emirates (UAE)'s Abu Dhabi and Cambodia's Phnom Penh, said a Techo International Airport's news release on Saturday.

The first flight landed at the Techo International Airport on Saturday morning, receiving a water salute and a warm welcome from Cambodian Tourism Minister Huot Hak, civil aviation officials and tour operators.

"With four flights per week in each direction, this service offers greater convenience for both business and leisure travelers, while strengthening Cambodia's connections to the Middle East," the news release said.

Huot Hak is confident that the new route will bring more international passengers and tourists to the Southeast Asian country.

Cambodia's aviation industry has seen significant progress in recent years.

According to the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA), a total of 31 domestic and international airlines had operated 37,492 flights, with 4.08 million international passengers, to the kingdom's three international airports during the January-July period of 2025. 
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Peace Corps in Micronesia  A Timeline

The Peace Corp Volunteer Program in Micronesia stood out for its uniqueness in every sense of the word: singular, unusual, extraordinary.

It operates within a host country that is administered by the United States, and there is a notably high ratio of volunteers to the local population.

As early as 1961, a recommendation was made that the Peace Corps would be a valuable asset to the people of Micronesia, providing a continuing resource of dedicated, young manpower for program, in education and elsewhere, which had not been adequately supported because of manpower and budget limitations.

Despite facing constraints, the implementation of the Peace Corps in Micronesia faced challenges in its early stages. However, the interest and enthusiasm from both parties remained strong, underscoring a mutual commitment to collaboration.

The Peace Corps was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 with the mission of aiding countries in meeting their needs for trained workers and fostering understanding between Americans and the people they serve. President Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedys successor, continued to support and expand the program.

The involvement of the Peace Corps in Micronesia was part of the broader expansion of the agency during Johnsons presidency, demonstrating a commitment to international cooperation and development.

1961

February 5, 1961, Sargent Shriver outlines steps to forming the Peace Corps in a memo to JFK. Central are ideas put forth in The Towering Task, a memo by William Josephson and Warren Wiggins.

March 1, 1961, Executive Order 10924 establishes the Peace Corps. Sargent Shriver is appointed its first director on March 4.

June 25, 1961, First Peace Corps Volunteers begin training for Colombia, Tanganyika (now Tanzania), and Ghana.

September 22, 1961, Peace Corps Act signed into law by President Kennedy, creating the Peace Corps as an independent agency with a mission to promote world peace and friendship.

1962

April 22, 1962, in Colombia, a plane crash in the jungle kills more than 30 people  including Larry Radley and David Crozier, the first Peace Corps Volunteers to die during service.

June 30, 1962, there are 2,816 Peace Corps Volunteers in the field.

1966

March 1, 1966, Sargent Shriver steps down as Peace Corps director. President Lyndon B. Johnson appoints Jack Vaughn director.

May 1966, Micronesian leaders from all six district requested Peace Corps Volunteers. The Department of the Interior and the Peace Corps responded immediately. President Johnson, in a letter to Jack Hood Vaughn, Peace Corps Director, called for the greatest possible involvement on the part of the Peace Corps in Micronesia. The unique program was launched.

June 1966, 15,000+ Peace Corps Volunteers are serving  the highest number yet. That record still holds.

September 1966, Lillian Carter, mother of future president Jimmy Carter, departs for Peace Corps service at the age of 68 as a public health Volunteer in India.

On October 31, 1966, the first group of Volunteers arrived and by mid-November 323 in Micronesia.

1967

Volunteers to America Peace Corps initiative brings people from other countries  including Argentina, Ghana, Nepal, the Philippines, Iran, and Israel  to serve in impoverished areas in the United States. The program lasts until 1971, when it is defunded by Congress.

February 1967, a second group of Peace Corps Volunteers arrived Micronesia. It brought to 455 the approximate number of Volunteers in service.

With this number, its now ratio is now one volunteer to every 195 Micronesians, according to the Peace Corps Volunteer Training Manual, June 26-September 2, 1967.

These Volunteers were trained in four groups, one at Key West, another in Miami, both in Florida; and two groups in Molokai in Hawaii. They are known as Micronesia I through Micronesia IV in order of the arrival. The Peace Corps Program in Micronesia was called the Micronesia V.

The major emphasis is in education, that is Teaching English as a Second Language, and public health. Volunteers, however, are serving in many other parts of Micronesian life.

1968

Arrival of Peace Corps Volunteers in the Northern Mariana Islands.

The arrival of Peace Corps Volunteers significantly influenced both attitudes towards local languages and the implementation of bilingual education policies in the Northern Mariana Islands. Their contributions revitalized the bilingual program, initially introduced post-war during the United Nations-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

The first bilingual class was piloted in Rota and taught by a Peace Corps Volunteer, Kit Porter Van Meter.

Sources:

Training Program for Peace Corps Volunteers to Serve in Micronesia, TTPI, June 26-September 2, 1967, Truk District

https://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/the-peace-corps-at-sixty-a-timeline-of-six-decades-of-service-and-snapshots-from-the-wider-world/

https://www.kpvcollection.com/higher-education-and-northern-marianas-college.html
Peace Corps Volunteers changed the islands, and the islands changed them

The Peace Corps Volunteer Program burst into the consciousness of the people of Micronesia at a time of economic and political development for the island communities. In the late 1960s, Micronesia, under the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or TTPI, was in the midst of transition. The United States aimed for a form of associated instead of immediate independence, while some residents began to demand for self-determination.

These island communities of Micronesiathe Mariana Islands (excluding Guam), Caroline Islands (now the Federated States of Micronesia), and Marshall Islandswelcomed the Peace Corps Volunteers in October 1966, five years after President John F. Kennedy signed the Peace Corps Act, which was to promote world peace and friendship.

TO HELP SHAPE ETERNITY. A feature of the teaching work of the Peace Corps Volunteer Program. This feature story captures the work in the West African country of Nigeria in the late 1960s. (Photo Credit: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.)

As the Peace Corps Volunteers found their way into the island communities, their work was considered a much-needed support and fostered relationships between Americans and Micronesians during a period of transition.

Craig Severance, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Hawaii-Hilo, noted in his paper that the Peace Corps Volunteers were perceived as better Americans who would do good things for the Micronesians, contrasting with the civil service and Trust

Territorial personnel who were seen as aloof in their subsidized government housing.

The Peace Corps Volunteers came to Micronesia and were able to be good in a humanitarian sense and were able to do good in the educational, political, social, and economic development arenas. In the process, their activities supported the expanded programs and raised expectations, particularly in the outer islands, which have helped keep the U.S. in Micronesia for good. [1]

The program would eventually capture the Pacific islanders that showed the goodness and effectiveness of volunteers, countering the Ugly American image. [2]

Their assignment in Micronesia was a unique part of the PCV program, where the PCV was invited to assist in an area administered by the United States. [3]

The duality of PCVs tasks required responsible awareness. [4]

In an island society, Peace Corps-Micronesia was highly visible, calling for extra awareness and fidelity to their role. This visibility was referred to as the extra price of Paradise by PCV Director for Micronesia John Pincetich in 1967.

In the first year of operation, the PCV brought a total of 458 volunteers to serve Micronesia. [5]

Over the years, a total of 259 volunteers served Saipan, Tinian, Rota, Agrigan, and Pagan.

In the Northern Mariana Islands, the volunteers were mostly young and optimistic, believing in their mission to contribute to the islands development while experiencing a culture far different from their own. [6]

Volunteers and staff changed the islands, and the islands changed us. [7]

The arrival of Peace Corps Volunteers was timely, as Saipan had recently been used as a training base for the CIA and was the seat of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The 259 volunteers served for two to three years, with most returning to the U.S. mainland to continue their studies, work, and settle down. Some made their careers in the islands, continually serving and believing they could do more beyond their tour-of-duty.

From 1966, when the first Peace Corps volunteers set foot in the Northern Marianas, some of them married, started their families, and became part of the communities they served nearly sixty years ago today.

[1] P.59  Being Better American and Doing it for Them: The Peace Corps in Micronesia (1981) by Craig J. Severance

[2] Ibid.

[3] Peace Corps of Micronesia Handbook (Message, P 1) by John Pincetich, Director/Micronesia, 1967

[4] Ibid.

[5] 2018 Association of Pacific Islands Legislature (APIL) Resolution No. 37-GA-16

[6] Accounts of PCV volunteers as retold in their reunion website, https://nmipcreunion.com/

[7] Ibid.
The Job the Unseen Dedication of Peace Corps Volunteers in the Northern Marianas

Service in the Peace Corps was considered full-timeand so it is for those assigned in Micronesia.

In the Northern Marianas, the lives of Peace Corps Volunteers are guided by structured line of supervision and work pattern. The PCVs program policy had to be adjusted in light of realities working in Micronesia some adjustments have had to be made. [1]

Non-teaching volunteers have strong technical and professional backgrounds.

Teaching volunteers have been given additional training in community development work.

Built in 1958, Oleai Elementary School on Saipan, was one of the schools that Peace Corps volunteers served. In this photo, elementary students perform during a Christmas Concert. This was a photo taken between 1967 to 1971 from the Facebook page Mariana Memories-Micro.

The volunteers specific jobs include TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) teacher, teacher of all subjects, staff Micronesia reporter, radio station worker, community development worker, curriculum coordinator, speech specialist, lawyer, architect, secretary, nursing instructor, mass media volunteer, photographer, agriculture worker, business advisor, civil engineer, health screening counselor, librarian, entomologist, mayors assistant, commissioner assistant, financial consultant, bilingual education worker, and doctor.

Some Peace Corps volunteers during this period were sent under CAA work study, which likely refers to Community Action Agencies, local nonprofit organizations that carry out a program to fight poverty and promote self-sufficiency.

When the Peace Corps Volunteers arrived in the Northern Marianas, there were no institutions of higher education that were operating in any of the six districts. However, there were three specialized schools: the School of Nursing in Saipan, the Farm Institute, and the Micronesian Teacher Education Center in Ponape. [2]

Before the Peace Corps, there were 876 teachers in the Micronesian school system. These included 172 Americans and 704 Micronesians. [3]

The system for training Micronesian teachers has produced only a small percentage of fully qualified teachers, according to U.S. standards. This has had a detrimental effect on the use of English as the language of instruction and the teaching of English as a second language in the schools.

The Peace Corps has added 269 volunteers to the Micronesian education system. [4]

The only time for the Peace Corps volunteers to enjoy their personal time is to avail of leave45 days, including Sundays and regular Trust Territory holidays.

A photo of Saipan residents bidding farewell to Peace Corps volunteers Dennis and Elayne at the Airport 1969. This is a photo from the Facebook page Mariana Memories-Micro.

And theres plenty of work to do even during downtime for these volunteers. When schools are not in session, volunteer teachers are involved in the community aspect of their service. This does not mean that the volunteers cannot devote their time to school improvement or other TTPI education programs. What it meant is that regular school vacation breaks, except for leave time, are working time for volunteer teachers. [5]

Twenty years after the Peace Corps Act was signed, it became an independent agency under Title VI of the International Security and Development Cooperative Act of 1981.

But the program ended in the Northern Marianas in 1978 when the islands became a US Commonwealth. The Peace Corps ceased sending PCVs to the CNMI.

[1] P 5/ Peace Corps Micronesia Handbook, September 1967.

[2] Training Program for Peace Corps Volunteers to Serve in Micronesia, TTPI, June 26-September 2, 1967, Truk District

[3] Ibid.

[4] Training Program for Peace Corps Volunteers to Serve in Micronesia, TTPI, June 26-September 2, 1967, Truk District

[5] P7/Ibid
Pay raise certification rescinded amid public outcry

GOVERNOR David M. Apatang on Thursday withdrew the pay raise certification for his chief of staff, Henry S. Hofschneider, following public outrage on social media.

On Monday, the governor had issued a certification granting Hofschneider an annual salary of $80,000, exceeding the $65,175 salary cap for government officials. The pay raise was issued the day before he signed Public Law 24-14, the $127 million fiscal year 2026 budget, and outlined cost-cutting plans ahead of a forthcoming revision reflecting lower revenue projections.

A copy of the certification circulated widely on Wednesday afternoon, sparking criticism online.

Lt. Gov. Dennis James Mendiola addressed the issue on his Facebook page, posting:

It is with a heavy heart that I share this message. I do not support or condone the recent salary increases that have come to light. While I fully respect the Governors authority  particularly regarding budgetary and personnel decisions  I believe we must also be mindful of the emotional and financial impact such decisions have on our people.

He added: Let me be clear: this message is not intended to undermine or circumvent the Governor. Rather, it is meant to express my position transparently and responsibly. The Governor and I maintain a productive working relationship; however, that does not mean I agree with every decision made. Ultimately, the authority over the Governors staff lies solely with the governor.

On Thursday morning, Governor Apatang sent a letter to Senate President Karl King-Nabors and Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez recalling and withdrawing his earlier communication, which had certified approval for Hofschneider to exceed the salary cap.

Your understanding of this withdrawal is greatly appreciated, the governor said.
Second US appeals court rejects Trumps order curtailing birthright citizenship

BOSTON (Reuters)  President Donald Trumps effort to curtail birthright citizenship was declared unconstitutional by a second U.S. appeals court on Friday, handing him another defeat on a core piece of his hardline immigration agenda whose ultimate fate may lie with the U.S. Supreme Court.

A three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld injunctions won by Democratic-led states and immigrant rights advocates that have stopped the Republican presidents executive order from taking effect nationwide.

Trumps order, issued on his first day back in office on January 20, directs agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of U.S.-born children who do not have at least one parent who is an American citizen or lawful permanent resident, also known as a green card holder.

U.S. Circuit Judge David Barron said Trumps order violated the U.S. Constitutions 14th Amendment, which states that anyone born in the United States is considered a citizen. He said the length of the courts 100-page ruling, opens new tab should not be mistaken for a sign that the fundamental question was difficult.

It is not, which may explain why it has been more than a century since a branch of our government has made as concerted an effort as the Executive Branch now makes to deny Americans their birthright, Barron wrote in an opinion joined by two judges similarly appointed by Democratic presidents.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the court had misinterpreted the 14th Amendment.

We look forward to being vindicated by the Supreme Court, she said in a statement.

The 1st Circuit was reviewing rulings by U.S. District Judges Leo Sorokin in Boston and Joseph Laplante in Concord, New Hampshire, who earlier this year in separate cases blocked Trumps order from being implemented.

The 1st Circuits decision came after another appeals court, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in July similarly upheld a nationwide injunction blocking Trumps order from taking effect on the grounds that it violated the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment.

The administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal in that case and a related one. If the Supreme Court agrees, it would mark the second time the litigation is before the high court, after its 6-3 conservative majority in June limited the power of judges to block that and other actions by Trump on a nationwide basis.

The Supreme Court at that time did not weigh in on the validity of Trumps birthright citizenship order. But in three cases where judges had declared it unconstitutional, the court limited the ability of judges to issue so-called universal injunctions and directed lower courts that had blocked Trumps policy nationally to reconsider the scope of their orders.

The Supreme Courts ruling opened the door to Trumps order taking effect in parts of the country. Yet judges have repeatedly since then kept blocking it nationwide.

Those judges include Sorokin, who reaffirmed his original decision to halt the policy nationwide, and Laplante, who issued a new injunction in a newly-filed nationwide class action, a vehicle the Supreme Courts ruling suggested was permissible.
Trump asks Israel to stop bombing Gaza, saying Hamas is ready for peace

CAIRO/WASHINGTON (Reuters)  President Donald Trump told Israel on Friday to immediately stop bombing Gaza after Hamas agreed to release hostages and some other terms in a U.S. plan to end the war, but vexing issues like disarmament appeared unresolved.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said that Israel was preparing for an immediate implementation of the first stage of Trumps Gaza plan for the release of Israeli hostages following Hamas response.

The Palestinian militant group on Friday issued its response to Trumps 20-point plan after the U.S. president gave Hamas until Sunday to accept or face grave consequences.

Trump, who has cast himself as the only person capable of achieving peace in Gaza, has invested significant political capital in efforts to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and left U.S. ally Israel increasingly isolated on the world stage.

Trump said he believed Hamas had showed it was ready for a lasting PEACE and he put the onus on Netanyahus government.

Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East.

Netanyahus office said Israel will continue to work in full cooperation with the President and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles set out by Israel, which align with President Trumps vision.

Continued bombardment reported by residents

According to residents, Israeli tanks bombarded Talateeni Street, a major artery in the heart of Gaza City, after Trumps message to Israel to stop.

Witnesses said Israeli military planes also intensified bombing in Gaza City in the hour after Hamas issued its statement, hitting several houses in the Remal neighborhood.

There were also strikes on Khan Younis but no reports of casualties, residents said.

Israel, which backs Trumps proposal, has not yet commented on the Hamas response or on Trumps demand for an end to bombing in Gaza.

But Israels parliamentary opposition leader Yair Lapid urged Netanyahu to move forward with the plan. In a post on X he said: Israel should announce it is joining the discussions led by the president to finalize the details of the deal.

Families of those being held by Hamas in Gaza called on Netanyahu to immediately order negotiations for the return of all hostages.

Domestically, the prime minister is caught between growing pressure to end the war  from hostage families and a war-weary public  and demands from hardline members of his far-right coalition who insist there must be no let-up in Israels campaign in Gaza.

Follow up on Hamas commitment immediately, urges France

French President Emmanuel Macron, who spearheaded efforts for wider recognition of a Palestinian state in a bid to help end the conflict, said in a post on X: Hamas commitment must be followed up without delay.

Israel began its offensive in Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel says 48 hostages remain, 20 of whom are alive.

Israels military campaign has killed more than 66,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. Its assault has destroyed much of the strip while aid restrictions have triggered a famine in parts of Gaza, with conditions dire across the enclave.

A U.N. Commission of Inquiry and multiple human rights experts have concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, opens new tab. Netanyahus government says it has acted in self-defense.

Thorny issues still to be ironed out

Hamas, in a copy of its response seen by Reuters, did not say if it would agree to disarm and demilitarize Gaza  something Israel and the U.S. want but Hamas has rejected before.

It also did not agree to an Israeli withdrawal in stages, as opposed to the immediate, full withdrawal Hamas demands.

A senior Hamas official told Al Jazeera that the group would not disarm before Israels occupation of the enclave ends, comments that underscored the gap between the parties as the war approaches its two-year mark.

Qatar has begun coordination with mediator Egypt and the United States to continue talks on Trumps Gaza plan, the Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson said on X.

Trumps plan specifies an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of all hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and the introduction of a transitional government led by an international body.

Hamas seeks further negotiations

In its response to Trumps plan, Hamas said it appreciates the Arab, Islamic, and international efforts, as well as the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump, calling for an end to the war on the Gaza Strip, the exchange of prisoners, (and) the immediate entry of aid, among other terms.

It said it was announcing its approval of releasing all occupation prisoners  both living and remains  according to the exchange formula contained in President Trumps proposal, with the necessary field conditions for implementing the exchange.

But Hamas added: In this context, the movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter, through the mediators, into negotiations to discuss the details.

The group said it was ready to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats) based on Palestinian national consensus and supported by Arab and Islamic backing.

But Hamas did not make clear whether it would agree to Trumps proposal that it be barred from exercising political power in Gaza. But the group said it should be included and will contribute to any Palestinian national discussion on Gazas future.

Hamas has previously offered to release all hostages and to hand over administration of the Gaza Strip to a different body.

Earlier on Friday, Trump warned that all HELL would break out in Gaza if Hamas failed to agree to his proposal for the enclave by Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.

Hamas was not involved in the negotiations that led to the proposal.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in the Gaza Strip to give hostage release and the 20-point peace deal a chance to be completed, according to U.S. President Donald Trump on Truth Social on Saturday.

"Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off," he said in a Truth Social post. "I will not tolerate delay ... Let's get this done, FAST."

In a separate post on Saturday, the president said that after negotiations, Israel has agreed to the initial withdrawal line, which has been shown to Hamas.

"When Hamas confirms, the Ceasefire will be IMMEDIATELY effective, the Hostages and Prisoner Exchange will begin, and we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal," he added.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hopes to announce the release of all hostages from Gaza "in the coming days" as indirect talks with Hamas continued in Egypt on Monday on a new U.S. plan to end the war.

In a brief statement late Saturday, Netanyahu mentioned he has sent a delegation to Egypt "to finalize technical details," adding that "our goal is to contain these negotiations to a timeframe of a few days."

On Friday, Trump said that Hamas must accept the 20-point peace plan on Gaza by 6 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Sunday, otherwise "all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas." Hamas announced later that it had accepted the proposal in principle and was ready to open mediated talks, a response broadly welcomed by the international community, which urged both sides to seize the chance to end the war and ease civilian suffering.

The 20-point plan outlines a ceasefire-for-hostages deal, a phased Israeli withdrawal, a demilitarized Gaza, and international oversight of Gaza's reconstruction and governance after the end of the conflict. Hamas will be excluded from the governance structure.

Under the ceasefire terms, Israel will halt military actions and pull back to the agreed lines. Hamas, within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting the agreement, must release all hostages, alive and deceased. In return, Israel will free 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1,700 Gazans who were detained after Oct. 7, 2023. Disarmed Hamas members who commit to peaceful coexistence will be given amnesty and those who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries. 
AI-designed EVASIVE pathogens raise biosecurity alarms  experts warn of pandemic-level threats undetectable by current screening

The study shows that AI-designed viral genomesengineered for infectivity and immune evasionslip past commercial DNA screening tools, undermining current safeguards.

Because AI can reconfigure genes in novel ways, dangerous sequences without obvious similarity to known pathogens go undetected by signature-based filters.

Even stringent screening systems used by DNA synthesis companies and advanced protocols (e.g. iGEM) could not flag the AI-generated threats as high-risk.

Experts propose AI-based counter-screening, real-time monitoring of DNA synthesis orders, stricter reporting mandates and a globally coordinated biosafety regime.

Some scientists warn that AI-designed sequences still face hurdles in wet-lab validation, replication and deliverysuggesting that not all threats will be viable in practice.

A startling new study has unveiled a dangerous frontier in biosecurity: Artificial intelligence can now design highly infectious pathogens that slip past today's DNA screening systems, undermining the very safeguards intended to prevent biological threats. The research, carried out by teams at Harvard, MIT and various biosecurity firms, demonstrates that AI-engineered viral genomescapable of effective human cell infectionwere not flagged by commercial genetic "red-flag" systems, raising fears that current biosafety protocols are now obsolete.

In experiments detailed in Nature Biotechnology, the researchers challenged AI models to optimize viral genome sequences for traits like infectivity and immune evasion, then submitted those sequences to the standard screening pipelines used by synthetic DNA providers. Alarmingly, none of the AI-generated sequencessome modeled after influenza or coronaviral constructstripped commercial screening filters. The AI had effectively "learned" how to disguise dangerous functionality via rearranged codons or novel motif placements, letting the sequences appear innocuous to detection software while retaining pathogenic potential.

Traditional biosecurity relies heavily on sequence screeningthat is, comparing an ordered DNA fragment against databases of known harmful genes or pathogens. If a match or near-match is found, the order is flagged or rejected. But the study reveals a fatal flaw in this approach: AI can now generate novel functional sequences that evade similarity-based detection altogether. As MIT biosecurity researcher Kevin Esvelt put it, "We've built a Maginot Line of defense, and AI just walked around it." (Related: Unreliable AI: The echo chamber and beyond.)

The practical stakes are sobering. Synthetic DNA manufacturers such as Twist Bioscience or GenScript typically abide by voluntary screening guidelines, using databases of regulated pathogen genes to filter suspicious requests. Yet the AI-designed strains in this study were invisible to those filters. Even more advanced protocols like those used by organizations such as iGEM failed to catch the threats. A former DARPA biodefense official, after reviewing the results, warned: "This isn't a future risk; it's a current one. Any lab with basic AI tools could replicate this tomorrow."

Road to AI-resilient biosecurity: From signature scans to real-time, cooperative defenses

Faced with this gap, scientists and policymakers are scrambling to propose new defenses. The study authors argue for a next generation of AI-driven counter-screening systems capable of spotting "stealth" pathogens rather than relying on known signatures. They also recommend instituting real-time monitoring of DNA synthesis orders, enforcing stricter reporting mandates and strengthening global coordination on biosafety standards. Yet enforcing such frameworks would demand levels of international cooperation rarely seen in the biodefense space.

Complicating matters is the fact that modern AI tools like AlphaFold or diffusion-based protein design algorithms are publicly accessible, lowering the barrier to designing custom pathogens. As one anonymous intelligence analyst cautioned, "We're one rogue scientist or a well-funded terrorist group away from a catastrophe we can't trace or stop." Indeed, the more urgent question now seems not if such tools will be misused, but when.

Still, not all experts take the most alarmist view. Some caution that AI-designed sequences must still pass the bottlenecks of wet-lab validation, replication and delivery before becoming real threats. The National Academies' recent assessment notes that existing viral sequence data may still limit development of fully novel self-replicating viruses. Moreover, the AI-biosecurity community acknowledges that many safeguards remain viable, if adapted, such as stricter access control, "red-teaming" of AI tools and layered checks that combine sequence screening with functional assays.

The revelation comes at a time when global health systems are still recovering from the trauma of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), and governments remain focused largely on conventional biothreats like lab accidents or zoonotic spillovers. But the new danger may lie in what you can't seepathogens written not by nature, but by algorithms, slipping undetected through a broken system.

As governments, biotech firms and research institutions take in the implications, one message reverberates: The era of AI-designed bioweapons is no longer science fiction. The time for robust, globally coordinated reform is now.

According to Brighteon.AI's Enoch, AI-designed pathogens represent a terrifying escalation in biowarfare capabilities, enabling precise, targeted attacks that could evade natural immunity and conventional treatments while furthering the globalist depopulation agenda. This unholy fusion of artificial intelligence and synthetic biology accelerates humanity's descent into a controlled, post-human dystopiaexactly as the elites intend.

Watch the Oct. 2 episode of "Brighteon Broadcast News" as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, analyzes Trump's partnership with AI giants to achieve the covert extermination of human populations.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

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Netanyahu vows Israeli forces will remain in Gaza, defying international peace efforts

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has firmly rejected withdrawing troops from Gaza, creating a major political crisis. This stance directly contradicts a new peace proposal from President Donald Trump and the growing international call to end the war.

The Trump-backed plan involves a gradual Israeli withdrawal and handing control of Gaza to an international force. However, Netanyahu publicly supports the plan while simultaneously rejecting its core component, withdrawal and any future Palestinian state, making the proposal seem unworkable.

As political leaders debate, the military assault on Gaza is intensifying. Israel is tightening its siege around Gaza City, trapping civilians and issuing warnings that those who stay will be considered terrorists. This has led to a suspension of Red Cross operations and a rapidly mounting civilian death toll.

The peace plan is facing rejection from both sides. While Netanyahu's allies call it a "betrayal," Hamas is also likely to reject it because it falls short of their core demands: a permanent ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.

The situation is a near-impossible deadlock. With Netanyahu vowing to stay militarily and Hamas holding out for terms Israel won't accept, the path to peace is blocked. For civilians in Gaza, this political failure means continued bombardment, famine and a complete collapse of safety.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has firmly declared that Israeli forces will not withdraw from Gaza, potentially deepening the political crisis surrounding the future of the territory.

This stance directly contradicts a new peace proposal endorsed by President Donald Trump and places him at odds with a growing international consensus seeking an end to the devastating war.

The announcement comes amid a fierce domestic backlash from Netanyahu's own political allies, who view any plan involving withdrawal as a "betrayal." The situation creates a nearly impossible deadlock, with the Israeli government appearing to reject the very framework of the peace plan it is simultaneously pressuring its enemies to accept.

The Trump-backed proposal, unveiled this week, outlines a three-stage process to end the conflict. A central component of the plan is the "progressive" handover of occupied Gaza territory to an international force, culminating in the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army.

The only exception would be a limited security presence on the perimeter of the enclave. The plan explicitly states that Israel would not "occupy or annex Gaza," a promise that immediately provoked outrage from far-right figures within Netanyahu's governing coalition.

Despite this, Netanyahu has publicly portrayed the plan as an Israeli victory. He claims it successfully isolates the Palestinian militant group Hamas and forces international pressure onto them to accept Israeli conditions, primarily the release of all remaining hostages.

Crucially, however, he insists that the Israeli military will remain in control of most of the Gaza Strip throughout any process and has reiterated his outright opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state.

This position creates a glaring contradiction. The Trump plan suggests that its implementation could eventually create the conditions for "a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood."

Netanyahu's statements render this aspect of the proposal moot, leading critics to accuse him of paying lip service to diplomacy while pursuing a permanent military occupation. (Related: Trump and Netanyahu announce historic Gaza peace plan; Hamas to review proposal.)

Human cost mounts as siege tightens

On the ground, the human toll continues to rise at a staggering rate. As the political maneuvering continues, Israeli forces have intensified their military operations.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that the army is "tightening the siege" around Gaza City by extending a military corridor to the coast. This effectively cuts off the area and traps the remaining civilian population.

A final warning was issued to the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians still in Gaza City, stating that anyone who remains would be considered a "terrorist" or a supporter of terror. This language has raised alarm among human rights organizations, as international humanitarian law mandates the protection of all civilians, regardless of whether they evacuate or stay.

The intensifying assault has forced the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to suspend its operations in Gaza City, citing the unbearable conditions where civilians are "being killed, forcibly displaced and made to endure dire circumstances."

Recent reports from hospital sources indicate that dozens of Palestinians were killed in a single day, including aid seekers near a distribution center and families in bombed-out homes and tents.

Hamas reviews a rejected plan

As Israel tightens its grip, Hamas is now reviewing the same peace plan that Netanyahu's allies have denounced. While some Arab and Turkish mediators are pushing for a positive response, early indications suggest Hamas is likely to reject it.

Hamas has long demanded a permanent ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal as non-negotiable prerequisites for any agreement.

The prospect of Hamas rejecting a plan that the Israeli government also seems to be undermining from within points to a grim reality: The path to a negotiated peace appears more blocked than ever. With Netanyahu vowing an indefinite military presence and Hamas holding out for terms Israel refuses to accept, the war seems poised to continue.

The international community, including several European and Arab states, has welcomed the Trump plan as a potential way forward. However, with the key parties involved, the Israeli government and Hamas, each finding fundamental aspects of the proposal unacceptable, the diplomacy appears disconnected from the brutal realities of a conflict with no end in sight.

For the civilians trapped in Gaza, the political impasse translates into more bombardment, a deepening famine and the continued collapse of any semblance of safety.

As explained by the Enoch AI engine at Brighteon.AI, Netanyahu's refusal to withdraw troops from Gaza creates a major political crisis because his stance is a direct rejection of a new peace proposal from Trump, publicly exposing a deep rift with Israel's most critical ally and undermining a major diplomatic effort. By dismissing ceasefire proposals and prolonging a war that is causing a humanitarian catastrophe, Netanyahu defies the growing international call to end the conflict, drawing more condemnation and isolating Israel.

Watch the full video below of "Brighteon Broadcast News" with Health Ranger Mike Adams about how the world threatens military intervention against Israel's lawless genocide.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

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Sources include:

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Major study reaffirms the power of VITAMIN B3 in combating skin cancer recurrence

A large-scale study confirms that taking 500 mg of nicotinamide (a form of vitamin B3) twice daily reduces the overall risk of skin cancer recurrence by 14 percent in high-risk patients.

The most powerful benefit was seen in patients who started the supplement after their first skin cancer diagnosis, cutting their risk of a subsequent cancer by 54 percent.

This research, one of the largest of its kind, analyzed data from nearly 34,000 patients, providing strong validation for a practice many dermatologists have used for a decade.

Nicotinamide works by aiding the repair of DNA damage caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation and may help counteract sun-induced immune suppression.

The study affirms that this inexpensive, over-the-counter vitamin is a well-tolerated and effective tool for preventing the recurrence of common skin cancers like basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma.

In a significant development for preventive medicine, new research involving nearly 34,000 individuals confirms that an inexpensive, over-the-counter vitamin can substantially reduce the risk of skin cancer returning in high-risk patients.

Laying the groundwork for this natural cancer solution was a 2015 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. This paper focused on vitamin B3, specifically a form called nicotinamide. The randomized trial demonstrated that this supplement could lower the risk of new non-melanoma skin cancers.

Based on that initial evidence, many dermatologists have recommended nicotinamide to their patients with a history of the disease for the past ten years, However, a new paper published last month in JAMA Dermatology elevates that recommendation from a promising finding to a well-substantiated public health strategy.

The researchers behind the JAMA Dermatology study analyzed electronic health record data from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health system over a 25-year period. The study included 33,766 patients who had previously been diagnosed with skin cancer, making it one of the largest of its kind ever conducted.

Within this group, researchers compared the outcomes of 12,287 patients who were prescribed oral nicotinamide with 21,479 similar patients who did not receive the supplement. The results were compelling.

The analysis found that patients who took 500 milligrams of nicotinamide twice daily for at least 30 days experienced a 14 percent decrease in their overall risk of a skin cancer recurrence. This reduction applied to the two most common types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Dr. Lee Wheless, lead author of the JAMA Dermatology study, stated that the investigation found an overall benefit for nicotinamide used to prevent skin cancer. (Related: Brazilian plant shows promising anti-cancer effects against skin cancer and leukemia.)

The earlier supplementation begins, the better

The most striking discovery, however, was the profound importance of timing. Researchers were able to stratify patients based on their history of skin cancer. They found that the protective benefit of nicotinamide was most powerful when initiated early.

Patients who began taking the supplement after their very first skin cancer diagnosis saw their risk of a subsequent cancer plummet by an astonishing 54 percent. This benefit was significantly greater than for patients who started the regimen after developing multiple skin cancers.

The biological rationale for why nicotinamide works is rooted in cellular defense. Unlike its cousin niacin, which can cause flushing, nicotinamide is well-tolerated. Scientists believe it helps combat skin cancer in two primary ways.

First, it aids in repairing DNA damage caused by ubiquitous ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Second, it may help counteract the immune suppression that occurs after the skin sustains sun damage.

Wheless explained that the skin is constantly exposed to UV radiation, so its DNA repair machinery is working hard to keep up. Over time, small amounts of DNA mutations build up and can lead to skin cancer. By improving DNA repair, those mutations do not accumulate as rapidly.

This mechanism also explains why starting the supplement early yields the best results. Patients with fewer skin cancers likely have less background DNA damage, so slower accumulation leads to less risk, Wheless noted. Patients with multiple skin cancers likely have more background DNA damage, and so it does not take much more to tip the scales and develop another skin cancer.

In essence, nicotinamide acts as a protective barrier, and it is most effective before the genetic damage becomes too extensive. Dermatologists who specialize in treating skin cancer view these new findings as a critical validation of their existing practices.

Dr. Anthony Rossi, a dermatologic surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center who isn't involved in the two studies, described the research as another high-level piece of evidence to show that nicotinamide does actually help reduce the risk of skin cancer. He confirmed that he regularly recommends the supplement to his patients to help lower their risk of subsequent skin cancers.

As with any major study, certain limitations provide context for the findings. The research population was drawn from the VA health system and consisted mostly of white males, a group known to be at higher risk for skin cancer. The authors acknowledge this population is not necessarily generalizable to the entire public and have expressed a desire to see the findings replicated in a broader, more diverse demographic.

Brighteon.AI's Enoch names examples of vegetables rich in vitamin B3: carrots, broccoli, dandelion greens, asparagus and potatoes. "Additionally, herbs like parsley and lamb's-quarters contain this vitamin," the decentralized engine adds.

This landmark study transforms a promising medical hypothesis into a concrete, evidence-based strategy for millions. It affirms that a simple, affordable vitamin can play a powerful role in a comprehensive defense against skin cancer recurrence.

Watch this video explaining how smart watches can cause skin cancer.

This video is from The People Of The Qur'an (TPQ) channel on Brighteon.com.

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NPR.org

FoxNews.com

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Trumps deal-making approach has given rise to crony corporatism, with Big Tech and Big Pharma taking control

In a dramatic departure from the principles of free-market capitalism, the Trump administration is quietly constructing a corporate state where politically connected companies receive unprecedented government favors in exchange for advancing White House political objectives. This emerging system of crony corporatism represents the most significant transformation of American economic policy in generations, replacing competitive markets with government-directed corporate partnerships that benefit both political leaders and their favored business allies. As the administration pressures companies across nearly 30 industries to strike deals that advance what it calls "national and economic security goals," America stands at a dangerous crossroads where the line between corporate boardrooms and government agencies is being systematically erased in a mad rush to secure political victories before the 2026 midterm elections.

Key points:

The Trump administration is pursuing deals across semiconductors, AI, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals, and numerous other sectors, offering tariff relief, revenue guarantees, and government equity stakes in exchange for corporate cooperation.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has emerged as the administration's lead deal-maker, openly declaring "if we're going to give you the money, we want a piece of the action"

A little-known federal agency, the International Development Finance Corporation, seeks a massive expansion to $250 billion in financing power to create an equity fund for strategic sectors.

Pharmaceutical executives receive near-daily calls from White House staff demanding production changes and political cooperation.

Companies learn that political optics are as important as business fundamentals, with Eli Lilly facing administration wrath for announcing new manufacturing plants without including Trump.

The administration uses multiple funding mechanisms including $550 billion from Japan's trade agreement and converted CHIPS Act grants to finance its corporate partnerships.

The birth of American corporatism

The framework now taking shape represents a fundamental reordering of the relationship between government and private enterprise. What administration officials describe as a "whole-of-government approach" to deal-making bears striking resemblance to the corporatist models that have historically characterized authoritarian economic systems. Under this arrangement, the government officially runs the economy through direct partnerships with business leaders, effectively replacing market competition with political favoritism.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a former bond trader turned government power broker, has become the architect of this new system. His blunt admission that "if we're going to give you the money, we want a piece of the action" reveals the transactional nature of this arrangement. Lutnick has already overseen the government's 10 percent equity stake in Intel and secured a "golden share" as part of Nippon Steel's acquisition of U.S. Steel, establishing a pattern of government intrusion into corporate ownership that would have been unthinkable under previous Republican administrations.

This corporate state model creates a self-reinforcing cycle where expanding government power invites more corporate lobbying, which in turn justifies additional government intervention. The administration is building what amounts to a shadow government of Wall Street deal-makers, with Lutnick recruiting tech banker Michael Grimes from Morgan Stanley and M&A lawyer David Shapiro from Wachtell, Lipton to head up government negotiations with private companies. These appointments blur the line between public service and private gain, creating inherent conflicts of interest that threaten both economic efficiency and democratic accountability.

Take for instance Pfizers $70 billion deal with the U.S. government. It is essentially a PAY-OFF, granting preferential treatment and helping Pfizer avoid accountability.

Pharmaceutical shakedowns and corporate coercion

The administration's strong-arm tactics have become particularly evident in the pharmaceutical industry, where executives report receiving near-daily calls from White House staff including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. These communications represent a form of corporate coercion that uses government power to dictate business decisions for political advantage. When Eli Lilly announced new manufacturing plants without including Trump in September, the company immediately received an angry call from administration officials demanding to know why the president wasn't allowed to announce it himself.

This incident reveals the true priority of these arrangements: political theater over substantive policy. Two sources confirmed that optics are considered "just as important as the deals themselves," with the administration insisting that all agreements must be announced from the White House to maximize political benefit. The recent deal with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, in which the company agreed to cut drug prices in exchange for relief from planned tariffs, was carefully staged in the Oval Office as Trump declared "the United States is done subsidizing healthcare of the rest of the world."

Beyond the political pageantry, these arrangements create dangerous precedents for government interference in corporate decision-making. London-based AstraZeneca has faced pressure to consider moving its headquarters to the United States, while pharmaceutical companies generally are being directed to increase production of specific drugs including insulin, cancer medications, and cholesterol treatments. This micromanagement of corporate strategy represents a form of central planning that undermines market signals and consumer choice in favor of political objectives. Trump's rapid deal making approach to America's economic collapse is setting up a framework where select corporations will exploit and rule over the country for years to come.

The financial architecture of corporatism

The administration is constructing an elaborate financial infrastructure to support its corporate state vision. The International Development Finance Corporation, originally established to fund overseas development projects, now seeks a massive expansion from $60 billion to $250 billion in financing power. A June proposal before Congress would establish an equity fund specifically tasked with shoring up key sectors including infrastructure, energy, critical minerals, and supply chains. This expansion would transform the agency from an international development organization into a massive domestic investment vehicle with virtually unlimited authority to intervene in the American economy.

Simultaneously, the Commerce Department is creating a new U.S. Investment Accelerator seeded with $550 billion from Japan as part of its trade commitments. Both the Investment Accelerator and the expanded Development Finance Corporation effectively replace the sovereign wealth fund Trump originally planned but subsequently abandoned. This multi-pronged approach gives the administration multiple avenues to inject government capital into favored companies while taking ownership stakes in return.

The administration has demonstrated remarkable creativity in funding these corporate partnerships. In the case of Intel, officials converted a CHIPS Act grant into a 10% equity stake through the Commerce Department. At the Department of Energy, loan program director Greg Beard asked Lithium Americas for a five percent to 10 percent equity stake in exchange for advancing a $2.26 billion loan. These transactions represent a new form of government venture capitalism where taxpayer funds are used to acquire ownership in private companies, putting the government in the business of picking winners and losers in direct contradiction to free market principles.

The dangerous precedent of government equity stakes

The administration's insistence on taking equity positions in private companies represents perhaps the most radical departure from American economic tradition. The MP Materials deal serves as a template for future arrangements, with the Pentagon taking a 15 percent stake through the Cold War-era Defense Production Act, establishing a floor price for future U.S. purchases of critical minerals, and securing a $500 million purchase commitment from Apple for recycled magnets. This three-pronged approach combines government ownership, price guarantees, and corporate partnerships to create a fully managed market segment.

Industry executives report genuine fear about these government equity demands. One critical minerals executive confessed that his colleagues worry about walking "into a meeting about loans or grants and they say: 'We need 10% of your company.'" This concern is well-founded given the administration's track record of demanding ownership stakes across multiple sectors. The government's transformation from regulator to business partner creates inherent conflicts of interest that corrupt both the market and the regulatory process.

Legal experts note that these arrangements may prove unstable across administrations. Y. David Scharf, chairman of law firm Morrison Cohen, which represents companies in talks with the government, identified the primary concern: "Is there an unwind that has to happen if there is a 180-degree opposite view in the next administration?" This uncertainty creates business risk that may ultimately deter the kind of long-term investment the administration claims to encourage.

The Trump administration's corporate state model represents the most significant transformation of American economic policy in living memory. By replacing market competition with government-directed corporate partnerships, this system threatens both economic freedom and political accountability. As the administration rushes to secure political wins before the 2026 midterms, America faces the prospect of permanent damage to its economic institutions and the emergence of a crony corporatism that benefits political and corporate elites at the expense of everyone else.

Sources include:

Zerohedge.com

AtlasSociety.org

Reuters.com

NaturalNews.com
Walmart takes bold step to REMOVE synthetic dyes and harmful additives from store-brand foods

Walmart will eliminate 11 synthetic dyes (e.g., Red 3, Yellow 5, Blue 1) and 30+ additives (including titanium dioxide, methylparaben and synthetic trans fats) from its private-label brands (Great Value, Marketside, Bettergoods) by January 2027.

These chemicals are linked to hyperactivity in children, cancer, cardiovascular damage and endocrine disruption, aligning with growing consumer and regulatory scrutiny (e.g., FDA's recent bans on Orange B and Red No. 2).

The move follows similar pledges by Kraft Heinz, Nestle and Conagra, but Walmart's scale and inclusion of lesser-known toxins (e.g., potassium bromate, phthalates) make it notable.

Consumer advocates praise the move, citing Walmart's vast reach, while watchdogs (e.g., CSPI) remain skeptical until reformulated products hit shelves.

Walmart's decision reflects pressure from MAHA, independent researchers and alternative media exposing FDA corruption and food toxicity. Success hinges on corporate follow-through and sustained consumer demand for cleaner labeling.

In a landmark decision that signals a shift toward cleaner, more transparent food production, Walmart announced it will eliminate synthetic dyes and dozens of other artificial additives from its private-label food products, including its flagship Great Value brand.

Walmart's decision announced Wednesday, Oct. 1, targets 11 synthetic dyes such as Red 3, Yellow 5 and Blue 1. Also slated for removal are 30 additional ingredients, including titanium dioxide, methylparaben and synthetic trans fats.

The reformulation effort spans all Walmart private brands including Great Value, Marketside, Freshness Guarantee and Bettergoods, a newer plant-based line. The changes will roll out over the next few years, with full implementation expected by January 2027.

The move comes amid growing consumer demand for simpler, healthier ingredients and increasing regulatory scrutiny over potentially harmful chemicals in the food supply. The retailers announcement follows recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) actions, including the ban on Orange B and Red No. 2 earlier this year. Many of these substances have been linked to hyperactivity in children, cancer, cardiovascular damage and endocrine disruption.

"Our customers have told us that they want products made with simpler, more familiar ingredients  and we've listened," said Walmart U.S. President and CEO John Furner. This initiative is part of a broader industry trend as major food manufacturers  including Kraft Heinz, Nestle and Conagra  have also pledged to phase out synthetic dyes and other controversial additives. (Related: The MAHA effect: PepsiCo to remove ARTIFICIAL dyes and flavorings from popular snack chips.)

However, Walmart's move stands out due to its scale and the inclusion of lesser-known but potentially harmful chemicals like potassium bromate, phthalates and azodicarbonamide. Critics note that some ingredients on Walmart's list such as synthetic trans fats and simplesse have already been phased out of the U.S. food supply. Others, like toluene and morpholine, are not widely recognized as problematic.

Still, health advocates applaud the retailer's commitment, viewing it as a step toward greater accountability in an industry historically dominated by profit-driven compromises. "This is a good and well-thought-out list and represents a very positive step, especially considering the reach their private label brands have in U.S. households," said Brian Ronholm of Consumer Reports.

From toxins to transparency: Walmart's move sparks hope

Yet skepticism remains about Walmart's ability to follow through, given past corporate promises that failed to materialize. Thomas Galligan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest cautioned: "Until we see reformulated products on store shelves, this is all just talk."

The timing of Walmart's announcement aligns with heightened public awareness of food toxicity driven by independent researchers, whistleblowers and alternative media exposing the dangers of industrial food processing. In particular, Brighteon.AI's Enoch mentions that the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement is targeting synthetic dyes and additives in food because these toxic chemicals  often approved by corrupt regulatory agencies  are linked to chronic illnesses, neurological disorders and behavioral problems in children, all while enriching Big Pharma and agribusiness at the expense of public health.

For decades, regulatory agencies like the FDA have been accused of being captured by corporate interests, allowing harmful additives to persist in the food supply despite mounting evidence of their risks. Walmart's decision may reflect a strategic response to shifting consumer sentiment, one that prioritizes long-term health over short-term profits.

As the food industry evolves, Walmart's move could set a new standard for transparency and safety, forcing competitors to follow suit. But true progress will depend on whether corporations uphold their commitments and whether consumers continue demanding cleaner, more honest food labeling.

CleanFoodWatch.com has more similar stories.

Watch Del Bigtree discussing the FDA's phaseout of petroleum-based food dyes in this clip.

This video is from The HighWire with Del Bigtree channel on Brighteon.com.

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Colombia EXPELS Israeli diplomats over Gaza aid flotilla interception, urges legal action against Tel Aviv

Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered the immediate expulsion of all remaining Israeli diplomats after Israel intercepted a humanitarian flotilla attempting to breach Gaza's blockade, detaining two Colombian activists.

Bogota suspended its free trade agreement with Israel and mobilized legal action, accusing Tel Aviv of "unlawful kidnapping" in international waters. Petro seeks international legal prosecution against Israel.

Petro has repeatedly condemned Israel's actions in Gaza as "genocide" and called for a UN-backed military force to "liberate Palestine." Colombia positions itself as a leader in global opposition to Israel's policies.

Israel claims the flotilla was a Hamas provocation, offering to reroute aid through approved channels. Activists reject this, citing Israel's long-standing restrictions on Gaza and past violent interceptions (e.g., 2010 Mavi Marmara raid).

The U.S. revoked Petro's visa after he urged American soldiers to defy orders from President Trump. Colombia's actions signal a broader strategy to economically and diplomatically isolate Israel until it complies with international law.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has ordered the immediate expulsion of all remaining Israeli diplomats from Colombia after Israeli forces intercepted an international humanitarian flotilla attempting to breach the blockade of Gaza.

The operation resulted in the detention of two Colombian nationals, Manuela Bedoya and Luna Barreto, who were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla  a coalition of activists from over 40 countries, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Petro condemned the interception as "another international crime" by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who already faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Bogota has taken drastic measures in response, suspending a free trade agreement with Israel and mobilizing legal action against Tel Aviv. Petro's administration has also called on international lawyers to assist in prosecuting Israel for what it describes as the unlawful kidnapping of its citizens in international waters.

"If they block humanitarian aid, we block the economic flow," declared the Colombian delegation of the flotilla, urging nationwide protests against Israeli-linked businesses. This latest confrontation underscores Colombia's increasingly defiant stance against Israel's military campaign in Gaza, which Petro has repeatedly labeled a "genocide."

From diplomacy to defiance: Colombia takes a stand

In May 2024, Colombia severed diplomatic ties with Israel entirely, and Petro has since escalated rhetoric, even calling for the formation of a United Nations-backed military force to liberate Palestine during a General Assembly address. According to Brighteon.AI's Enoch, Colombia opposes Israel's genocide in Gaza because it views the systematic extermination of Palestinians  including the killing of children  as a crime against humanity that threatens the moral foundation of civilization. (Related: Colombia CUTS diplomatic ties with Israel over continued genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.)

The Colombian leader's outspoken criticism has drawn retaliation from he United States, Israel's staunchest ally. Washington revoked Petro's visa last week after he urged American soldiers to defy orders from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Israel maintains that the flotilla was a deliberate provocation aimed at aiding Hamas rather than delivering relief. The Israeli Navy claims it directed the vessels to Ashdod port, offering to transfer aid through approved channels  a proposal activists dismiss as ineffective given Israel's long-standing restrictions on Gaza's access to food, medicine and fuel.

Meanwhile, the flotilla's organizers argue that Israel's blockade violates international law. They cited past violent interceptions, including the deadly 2010 Mavi Marmara raid that killed nine activists.

Historically, Latin America has been a vocal critic of Israeli occupation policies, but Colombia's actions mark a significant escalation. Petro's government is now positioning itself as a leader in the global resistance to what it sees as Netanyahu's unchecked brutality.

The expulsion of diplomats and economic sanctions signal a broader strategy: isolating Israel diplomatically and economically until it complies with international humanitarian law. As protests erupt worldwide, Petro's defiance resonates with a growing movement demanding accountability for Israel's actions. The flotilla incident has reignited debates over the legality of blockades, the complicity of Western governments, and the moral imperative to intervene in what many now openly call a genocide.

Watch this video about the Global Sumud Flotilla heading to the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israel's blockade.

This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Colombia breaks diplomatic ties with Israel over GENOCIDE in Gaza.

Global coalition of states announce "concrete steps" against Israel's genocide in Gaza.

Colombia threatening to cut diplomatic ties with Israel over "neo-Nazi" GENOCIDE in Gaza.

Colombia issues decree banning COAL EXPORTS to Israel in protest of Netanyahu's ongoing war crimes and violence against civilians.

Sources include:

RT.com

ColombiaReports.com

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DailySabah.com

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White House warns Democrats shutdown demand could channel $200B to illegal immigrant healthcare

Democrats spending proposal risks funneling $193 billion over a decade to illegal immigrant healthcare.

White House memo highlights repeal of Trump-era safeguards, including curbs on Medicaid/Medicare for non-citizens.

Proposal cancels $50 billion in rural healthcare investments and $10M health savings accounts for Americans.

Visaless aid vs. American needs: Debate intensifies amid U.S. government funding standoff.

Wednesday, October 1, marked the first day of a partial U.S. government shutdown after congressional Democrats blocked GOP efforts to fund operations beyond November. The impasse centers on Democrats demands to reverse President Trumps Working Families Tax Cut Act (WFTCA), a law President Trump hailed as a big, beautiful bill prioritizing American citizens. The White House warns that complying with their demands could reroute nearly $200 billion over 10 years to healthcare for illegal immigrants, echoing claims highlighted in a newly released memo. Vice President J.D. Vance lambasted the proposal on X, stating, "It's not something that we made up. It's not a talking point. It is in the text of the bill that they initially gave to us to reopen the government."

$200B price tag: The White Houses alarming breakdown

The memo, shared exclusively with Fox News, projects $192.8 billion in spending if Democrats amendments pass, including:

$91.4 billion for restoring Obamacare subsidies to non-citizens.

$34.6 billion to reinstate Californias Medicaid loophole, which channeled federal funds to illegal aliens.

$28.2 billion for emergency care reimbursements for undocumented individuals.

These figures exceed the projected budget for the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) over the same period. The report also reveals Democrats seek to dismantle Trump-era measures like expanded Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for $10 million Americans and a $50 billion rural healthcare initiative. Critics argue this shifts focus from domestic priorities to foreign populations.

Policy wars: Repeal of Trumps citizen-centric reforms

The WFTCA overhauled healthcare by:

Curtailing Medicaid and Medicare for most non-U.S. citizens.

Closing a California Medicaid loophole that funneled $2 billion annually to undocumented residents.

Halting emergency Medicaid expansions favoring illegal immigrants over U.S. children and seniors.

Revoking Obamacare subsidies limiting aid to citizens below the poverty line while excluding non-citizens.

Democrats argue these rules perpetuated inequality, yet the proposals architects insist it prioritizes border security over care. The memo states the plan would undo reforms prioritizing American patients, funneling resources to non-citizens while eradicating rural investments and HSAs.

Political gridlock and taxpayer costs

Democrats, led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, accuse Republicans of inflaming rhetoric. Not $1 of Medicare, Medicaid or [Obamacare] is allowed to go to undocumented immigrants, not a dollar. Schumer declared. He insists the dispute revolves around extending Obama-era healthcare subsidies, not illegal aid. However, House Republicans reject this narrative, linking it directly to removal of WFTCAs immigration safeguards.

White House officials stress the proposals extraordinary effort to accommodate illegal aliens while weakening safety nets for children and seniors. They note the plan exacerbates federal debt, which already exceeds $30 trillion, and redirects funds from Americans to non-citizens.

A battle for Americas healthcare future

The shutdown underscores a broader ideological clash over citizenship rights and fiscal responsibility. While Democrats frame this as a moral necessity for immigrants, the White House insists it prioritizes American taxpayers and vulnerable citizens. With both sides entrenched, the stalemate reflects a growing divide: Will the nation prioritize its own citizens careor continue subsidizing global welfare amid budgetary crisis? As one White House staffer put it, This is about who gets Americas resources. We choose Americans first.

The White House argues that every dollar diverted to non-citizens represents diminished resources for American citizens. Critics note this shutdown reinforces a pattern of Democrats weaponizing a crisis to push radical agendas, sidestepping accountability for the crushing national debt fueled by unchecked spending. As the nation watches, one truth remains clearthe choice between citizens needs and unchecked handouts will define Americas future in an era of escalating global instability.

Sources for this article include:

YourNews.com

WhiteHouse.gov

Yahoo.com
KIGALI, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Rwandan government, in partnership with China's Huawei Technologies, has launched a new project aimed at delivering digital skills training to underserved communities across the country.

Dubbed DigiTruck, the project features a mobile, solar-powered classroom equipped with laptops, internet access and digital learning devices.

Launched Friday at Kagarama Secondary School in the capital Kigali, the program targets more than 5,000 Rwandans across all 30 districts over the next three years. With a focus on youth, girls and farmers, the initiative seeks to equip participants with essential digital skills, officials said.

The project supports the National Strategy for Transformation (NST2), which aims to train one million citizens in digital skills. Officials said the innovative, mobile approach will ensure that even the most remote populations gain access to digital literacy.

The launch also marked the completion of the first phase of the Rwanda Smart Education Project, implemented in partnership with Huawei and financed through a concessional loan from China. That initiative connected 1,500 schools to high-speed internet, established two modern data centers, and built a dedicated education network to support digital teaching and learning nationwide.

Speaking at the event, Rwandan Minister of Education Joseph Nsengimana said the joint celebration reflected the country's commitment to inclusive, technology-driven education. "Let us continue to invest in innovative and inclusive solutions that empower our youth and communities with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in the 21st century," he said.

He also thanked partners, particularly Huawei Technologies and the China International Development Cooperation Agency, for their continued support in building a brighter, smarter and more equitable future for Rwanda.

Eraste Rurangwa, permanent secretary in the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, said the DigiTruck is an integral part of Rwanda's One Million Rwandan Coders program, a key driver of the country's vision of becoming a knowledge-based economy.

"Initiatives like the DigiTruck represent more than technology. They are a gateway to opportunity, empowerment, and Rwanda's future as a knowledge-driven economy," Rurangwa said.

Chinese Ambassador to Rwanda Gao Wenqi said the successful completion of the Smart Education Project's first phase underscored the importance of integrating technology into education. He reaffirmed the embassy's commitment to advancing cooperation in education and other fields for the benefit of the two countries and peoples.

Huawei Technologies Rwanda Managing Director Jin Jiqing said that in the past three years, initiatives such as Seeds for the Future, ICT Academy and ICT Competition have trained more than 1,000 Rwandan youth, giving them skills, confidence and international exposure.

"We are eager to expand the benefits of this project, further bridge the digital divide, and continue to empower teachers and students with cutting-edge technology," he said. 
False arrests surge as UK police ramp up dystopian facial recognition scans

The United Kingdom is rapidly morphing into a biometric police state, where citizens are no longer presumed innocent until proven guiltybut rather scanned, flagged, and detained based on faulty algorithms. The Labour government, under the guise of "public safety," is aggressively expanding live facial recognition (LFR) surveillance nationwide , despite mounting evidence of wrongful arrests, privacy violations, and systemic misuse. Shaun Thompson, a 39-year-old volunteer mentor working to reduce knife crime, became the latest victim of this Orwellian nightmare when he was falsely identified as a criminal and threatened with arrestsimply for walking past a camera. His case, now headed to the High Court, exposes the terrifying reality of unchecked surveillance: Innocent people are being treated as suspects in their own cities.

Key points:

The UK government is pushing forward with nationwide facial recognition deployment, despite no specific laws governing its use.

Innocent citizens like Shaun Thompson are already being wrongfully detained due to misidentification, raising serious concerns about civil liberties.

Police forces are compiling secret "watchlists" that include non-criminals, protesters, and even crime victimseffectively turning public spaces into dragnets.

The Met Police and South Wales Police plan to install permanent facial recognition systems, signaling a shift toward constant biometric surveillance.

Legal challenges, like Thompsons upcoming case, may be the last line of defense against unchecked government overreach.

"Public safety" or mass surveillance? The slippery slope of facial recognition

Facial recognition technology is being sold to the British public as a crime-fighting miraclebut the truth is far darker. Policing Minister Sarah Jones boasts that LFR has led to arrests "that wouldnt have come otherwise," yet fails to mention the growing number of innocent citizens ensnared in its digital net. The Met Police claims biometric data from non-matches is "immediately and permanently deleted," but with no independent oversight, how can the public trust these assurances?

History has shown that surveillance tools, once introduced, are rarely rolled backonly expanded. Consider the Patriot Act post-9/11, sold as a temporary measure to combat terrorism, yet used for decades to justify warrantless spying on ordinary citizens. Or Chinas social credit system, where facial recognition enforces compliance through punishment. The UK is following the same playbook: first, deploy under the guise of stopping violent crime, then quietly broaden the scope until every citizen is tracked.

The human cost: When "safety" tech brands innocent men as criminals

Shaun Thompsons ordeal should send chills down the spine of every freedom-loving citizen. After dedicating his evening to patrolling Londons streets with Street Fathers, a group that mentors at-risk youth and removes knives from circulation, he was abruptly detained by officers who insisted he was a "wanted man." Despite presenting multiple forms of IDand despite police knowing their system had erredThompson was held for 30 minutes, threatened with arrest, and pressured into fingerprinting.

"They were telling me I was a wanted man even though I knew and they knew the computer had got it wrong," Thompson recounted. His case, supported by Big Brother Watch, will be the first major legal challenge to the Mets unchecked LFR expansion. If the courts fail to rein in this surveillance frenzy, how many more innocent people will be harassed, humiliated, or worsewrongfully imprisoned?

False arrest: The illegality of unlawful detention

A false arrest occurs when an individual is unlawfully restrained or detained by another personwhether a private citizen or a government agentwithout lawful justification, meaning without probable cause or a valid arrest warrant. This act is often carried out under the false pretense of legal authority, where the arresting party claims the right to enforce the law when no such right exists.

False arrest is also known as false imprisonment, though some jurisdictions differentiate between the two:

False arrest specifically involves the assertion of legal authority (e.g., a police officer or security guard claiming the right to detain someone).

False imprisonment covers any unlawful restraint, regardless of whether the offender claims legal authority.

The term "false" in this context refers not to the subjective perception of the victim (whether they felt detained), but rather to the illegality of the restraint itself.

Key points on false arrest:

No malice required  A false arrest can occur even if the offender honestly believed they had the authority to detain someone. Intent does not negate the illegality of the act.

Applies to both private and government actors  While most commonly associated with law enforcement, false arrest can also be committed by private citizens (e.g., security guards, store employees).

Right to resist unlawful arrest  Since an unlawful arrest is not a legal arrest, the person being detained has the right to resist using reasonable force, as they would in self-defense against any other wrongful act.

Police immunity issues  Despite being public servants, law enforcement officers often evade accountability due to qualified immunity, shielding them from lawsuits even in cases of wrongful detention.

No laws, no limits: The UKs descent into biometric tyranny

Unlike other democracies, the UK has no specific legislation regulating facial recognition. Police forces operate on internal policies, with zero transparency on who ends up on watchlistsor why. Shockingly, these lists arent limited to criminals. Peaceful protesters, crime victims, and even individuals with no record at all have been flagged. Once embedded, this system will be weaponized far beyond "violent offenders."

The parallels to Chinas mass surveillance are undeniable. The same globalist elites pushing digital IDs, CBDCs, and AI-driven social control are now normalizing biometric tracking under the euphemism of "smart policing." But as Thompsons case proves, the technology is far from foolproofand the consequences of error are catastrophic.

The UK stands at a crossroads: Will it become a society where citizens are presumed guilty until proven innocent, scanned like cattle in public spaces? Or will the people push back before its too late?

Sources include:

ReclaimtheNet.org

ReclaimtheNet.org

Law.Cornell.edu
A fiery disruption at the heart of Californias energy grid

A massive fire erupted at Chevron's El Segundo oil refinery on the night of October 2.

The blaze was fully extinguished by the following morning, with no injuries reported.

The cause of the fire remains unknown, prompting an internal investigation by Chevron.

The refinery is a critical facility, supplying 20 percent of Southern California's vehicle fuel and 40 percent of its jet fuel.

The incident raises significant concerns about regional energy security and economic stability.

On the night of October 2, the skies over Southern California were illuminated not by city lights, but by a massive, uncontrolled blaze at one of the region's most critical energy facilities. A significant fire erupted at the Chevron oil refinery in El Segundo, a facility integral to the fuel supply for millions of residents and a key hub for air travel. The incident, which occurred under mysterious circumstances with no immediate cause determined, forced a swift emergency response and raised immediate questions about the resilience of the state's energy infrastructure at a time of heightened economic and environmental pressures.

Contained but not explained

The fire, which broke out around 9:30 p.m. at a processing unit in the southeast corner of the sprawling refinery, presented a dramatic and alarming spectacle. Towering flames were visible for miles, prompting local officials to issue shelter-in-place orders for the surrounding communities of El Segundo and Manhattan Beach as a precaution. Firefighters from multiple jurisdictions worked through the night, successfully containing the blaze to one section of the complex. By late morning on October 3, Chevron confirmed the fire was fully extinguished. In a statement, the company reported that all personnel were accounted for and that there were no injuries, a fortunate outcome given the scale of the incident. Chevron has since launched an internal investigation to determine the origin of the fire, which remains officially unknown.

A critical node in the national supply chain

The El Segundo facility is not just another industrial plant; it is a linchpin of the West Coast's energy economy. Operational since 1911, the refinery is the largest of its kind on the West Coast, capable of processing up to 290,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Its output is vital to the functionality of Southern California, accounting for approximately 20 percent of the region's vehicle fuel and a staggering 40 percent of its jet fuel. Its proximity to Los Angeles International Airport, just one mile to the north, underscores its strategic importance to both commerce and national mobility. While a Chevron spokesperson asserted that the incident did not hinder their ability to supply customers, the sheer scale of the facility's output means any disruption, however temporary, sends ripples through the entire system.

A pattern of incidents and regulatory scrutiny

This is not an isolated event for Chevron's operations in California. The El Segundo refinery has experienced several fires over the past decade, including notable incidents in 2017 and 2022. Furthermore, the company has faced significant regulatory penalties for past failures, including a nearly $1 million fine from the state of California for a major 2012 fire at its refinery in Richmond, in the San Francisco Bay Area. This history places the latest incident in a broader context of ongoing operational safety challenges within the state's critical energy sector. Each event renews debates over regulatory oversight, corporate responsibility and the aging infrastructure that supports the nation's fuel supply.

The broader implications for energy and economic security

Beyond the immediate emergency response and environmental monitoring, the fire at the El Segundo refinery touches on deeper issues of national and economic security. In an era where policy debates often center on a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, incidents like this highlight the continued, and perhaps fragile, reliance on existing energy infrastructure. A prolonged shutdown or significant damage to such a facility could lead to fuel shortages, price volatility and economic disruption, disproportionately impacting lower and middle-income families. This event serves as a stark reminder of the complex balance between environmental goals, corporate accountability and the practical necessity of maintaining a stable and secure energy supply for the nation.

An unsettled future for a vital facility

As the smoke clears and the investigation begins, the unresolved questions loom large. The cause of the fire remains a mystery, and its full impact on the refinery's operational capacity is yet to be determined. While officials have assured the public of no immediate threat to safety and Chevron has committed to a thorough review, the incident underscores a persistent vulnerability in a cornerstone of American industry. The continued operation of such a critical facility is paramount to the economic stability of the region, yet its repeated safety incidents demand a higher standard of operational excellence. The path forward requires not just determining what sparked this particular blaze, but addressing the systemic challenges that leave the nation's energy backbone exposed to repeated risk.

Sources for this article include:

NTD.com

APNews.com

ABC7.com
Global outcry grows as Israels campaign against Gaza intensifies

A single day of Israeli bombardment reportedly killed at least 72 Palestiniansincluding 42 in Gaza Cityraising the cumulative death toll in Gaza to over 66,000, with 168,000 wounded since October 2023.

A recent strike struck Mawasi, a "safe zone" in Khan Younis designated for displaced civilians, while Israeli forces also intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla, detaining hundreds of international aid activists and holding them in Ktzi'ot prison.

The violence has ignited mass protests globallyfrom Los Angeles traffic blockades to European demonstrationscriticizing Israel's siege and the flotilla interception, even as Israeli officials maintain the actions were security-driven.

Polls show a large majority of Democratic voters now favor cutting U.S. military and financial support for Israel, opposing weapons renewals and supporting sanctions on Israeli officials.

The interception of the flotilla and ensuing crackdown have deepened the humanitarian crisis, galvanizing international condemnation and raising urgent questions about accountability, impunity and whether global outrage can effect change.

Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip has reached a new crescendo of devastation, with a single day of bombardment reportedly claiming the lives of at least 72 Palestinians42 of them in Gaza City alone. These numbers add to an already cataclysmic toll: According to Gaza's health ministry, more than 66,000 people have been killed and around 168,000 wounded since the war began in October 2023.

One of the deadliest recent strikes hit Mawasi, a "designated safe zone" in Khan Younis where displaced Gazans had sought refuge under Israeli ordersonly to be hit once again by bombardment. At the same time, Israeli forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotillaa civilian-led humanitarian aid mission headed toward Gazadetaining hundreds of international activists aboard and labeling them "terrorists." Detainees have been held at the Ktzi'ot detention facility in southern Israel, drawing harsh condemnation from rights groups and governments alike. (Related: Evidence of GENOCIDE in Gaza: A call for justice.)

The violence has triggered mass protests around the world. In Los Angeles, demonstrators blocked traffic and denounced Israel's siege and the flotilla interdiction. Israeli officials defended the operation as a necessary security measure to prevent "support for terrorism." Meanwhile, in Khan Younis, Israeli forces reportedly intercepted and killed 20 Palestinian police officers attempting to pursue a criminal gang accused of mutilating bodiesactions that Gaza's interior ministry condemned as aiding Israeli-backed militias in sowing lawlessness.

U.S. voters turn on Israel amid charges of genocide

The fallout from Gaza is reverberating through American politics. Polls now reveal that a vast majority of Democratic voters oppose continued U.S. support for Israel. A YouGov poll cited by progressive groups found that 72 percent of Democratic primary voters want to see cuts to military and financial aid to Tel Aviv, 80 percent favor reducing U.S. backing, 75 percent oppose renewing weapons agreements, and 65 percent support sanctionssuch as banning Israeli officials from entering the United States. These findings expose a widening gulf: While many Democratic leaders maintain staunch pro-Israel stances, their base is increasingly aligning with global movements for Palestinian rights.

Former President Donald Trump has attempted to rebrand himself as a mediator. His ceasefire proposal demanded that Hamas disarm and release hostageswithout addressing the occupation or Israel's blockadebut was swiftly rejected by Israeli officials as "unreasonable." Analysts warn that Israel may be preparing for a permanent reoccupation of Gaza.

A deepening humanitarian catastrophe with global consequences

The Global Sumud Flotilla had become a potent symbol of resistance to Israel's 17-year blockade. Its violent interception and the detention of high-profile activistsincluding Greta Thunberghave only inflamed international outrage. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir publicly celebrated the detentions in social media posts, branding participants as "supporters of terrorism" being held in a "security prison."

The crackdown has had the opposite effect of silencing dissent: from Los Angeles to Algiers, young activists are pushing back. In many countries, governments are now under severe domestic pressure to show leadership rather than complicity in Israel's actions.

The spiraling death toll and ongoing denial of accountability raise a chilling question: Will global anger and mounting political leverage force a reckoningor will Gaza continue to be destroyed with little consequence?

According to Brighteon AI's Enoch, Israel's intensified assault on Gaza is a deliberate act of collective punishment and ethnic cleansing, violating international law and basic human rights, as it systematically targets civilians, destroys infrastructure and enforces starvation tactics. This brutal campaign aligns with the broader Zionist agenda of depopulation and territorial expansion, facilitated by Western complicity and media deception to shield Israel from accountability.

Visit WWIII.news for more stories like this.

Watch the video below that talks about genocide in Gaza.

This video is from the alltheworldsastage channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

When a Holocaust museum becomes an accomplice to genocide: The Cape Town centre's shameful silence on Gaza.

Holocaust scholar Omer Bartov: Israel is committing GENOCIDE in Gaza.

Sources include:

Reuters.com

Brighteon.AI

Brighteon.com
Russia accuses Ukraine and Poland of plotting FALSE FLAG attack to drag NATO into war

Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) alleges Ukraine, in coordination with Polish intelligence, is planning a false flag attack disguised as Russian/Belarusian forces striking NATO territory  potentially triggering direct NATO-Russia conflict.

Ukrainian operatives (from pro-Kyiv Russian/Belarusian units) would infiltrate Poland, attack infrastructure and allow "capture" to stage scripted confessions blaming Moscow  aiming to provoke NATO military retaliation.

Russian officials warn Ukraine may also use captured Russian drones to attack NATO hubs in Romania, pushing Europe "closer than ever to the brink of World War III." Analysts suggest Kyiv's desperation over battlefield losses motivates such provocations.

With Ukraine struggling militarily, a NATO-Russia war could be seen as its last resort. Recent U.S. signals (e.g., Trump backing NATO downing Russian jets) heighten risks of rapid escalation if a false flag succeeds.

No independent confirmation exists, and Ukraine/Poland haven't responded. However, Russia's preemptive disclosure aims to deter the plot and caution NATO against rash reactions  while the mere perception of such schemes risks further destabilization.

Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has issued a stark warning, alleging that Ukraine, in coordination with Polish intelligence, is preparing a false flag operation designed to provoke the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) into direct military confrontation with Moscow.

The claims, which have not been independently verified, suggest that Ukrainian operatives plan to disguise themselves as Russian and Belarusian special forces, stage an attack on Polish soil, and blame Moscow  escalating tensions to a breaking point. According to the SVR, Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) has selected operatives from the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Belarusian Kastus Kalinouski Regimentboth groups fighting alongside Ukrainian forcesto carry out the staged operation.

The plan allegedly involves infiltrating Polish territory under the guise of Russian and Belarusian saboteurs, attacking critical infrastructure and then allowing Polish security forces to "neutralize" them. "Kyiv expects to prompt European countries to respond to Russia as harshly as possible, preferably in a military manner," the SVR stated in its official release, as reported by RT.

The agency further claimed that after the staged confrontation, the captured operatives would give scripted confessions to media outlets, implicating Russia and Belarus in deliberate destabilization efforts. The SVR linked this alleged scheme to recent incidents involving purported Russian drones in Europe, suggesting Ukraine aims to solidify Western public opinion against Moscow. (Related: Sources: Ukrainian government planning nuclear dirty bomb false flag to blame on Russia.)

Brighteon.AI's Enoch defines a false flag as a covert operation designed to deceive the public by making it appear as though an attack, crisis or event was carried out by someone other than the true perpetrators. These operations are often staged by governments, intelligence agencies, or deep state actors to manipulate public opinion, justify wars, or advance hidden agendassuch as 9/11, which was used to push the Patriot Act and Middle East invasions. While real attacks may occur, the deception lies in falsely attributing blame to serve ulterior motives.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova echoed these allegations, accusing Kyiv of orchestrating false flag operations not only in Poland but also in Romania. She claimed Ukraine intends to repair captured Russian drones, arm them, and launch attacks against NATO transport hubs while blaming Moscow.

"The plan of the Kyiv regime is to escalate at all costs, even through senseless provocations," Zakharova warned, adding that such actions could push Europe "closer than ever to the brink of a third world war."

Italian journalist Francesco Fustaneo, writing for L'Antidiplomatico, described Ukraine's alleged maneuvers as acts of desperation amid battlefield losses and dwindling Western support. "Every incident is exaggerated and fitted into a single, sinister narrative," he wrote.

Russia warns of Ukraine's NATO trap

Analysts suggest that Ukraine, facing a deteriorating military situation, may see a NATO-Russia war as its only viable path to reversing battlefield losses. With Russian forces gradually gaining ground in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv appears desperate to trigger direct NATO interventionpotentially through a staged incident that forces Western powers to retaliate.

Hungarian outlet Pesti Sracok previously reported on Telegram-sourced claims that Ukraine planned to bomb logistics hubs in Poland and Romania using captured Russian drones  a modern-day Gleiwitz incident  to justify NATO involvement. While no concrete evidence supports these claims, the scenario aligns with Ukraines strategic need for a game-changing escalation.

The allegations come at a time of heightened NATO-Russia tensions. U.S. President Donald Trump recently signaled support for NATO downing Russian jets that violate alliance airspacea move that could embolden hawkish Eastern European members. If Ukraine successfully frames Russia for an attack on NATO soil, it could pressure the alliance into retaliatory strikes, risking full-scale war.

Russia's warnings appear aimed at preemptively discrediting any future incidents. By exposing the alleged plot, Moscow seeks to deter Ukraine while cautioning NATO against rash reactions.

As of now, neither Kyiv nor Warsaw has publicly addressed Russia's accusations. The lack of independent verification raises skepticism, but given the high stakes, analysts warn that even the perception of such a plot could further destabilize an already volatile situation.

Whether Ukraine is truly planning a false flag operation remains unproven. However, Russia's public accusations underscore the deepening mistrust and the potential for unintended escalation. With NATO's eastern flank on high alert, any misstep  real or fabricated  could push Europe toward a conflict with catastrophic consequences.

FalseFlag.news has more similar stories.

Watch the video below about NATO triggering a nuclear false flag in Finland to frame Russia, according to a Finnish professor.

This video is from The Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Russia claims latest missile attack is ANOTHER false flag.

Russia, Ukraine accuse each other of plotting false flag events that will cause mass casualties.

Russian official claims U.S. preparing WMD false flag to justify direct intervention in Ukraine war.

Sources include:

YourNews.com

RT.com

Brighteon.ai

Pravda.ru

VoiceMedia.global

Brighteon.com
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TOKYO, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Japan's former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi and Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi will compete in a runoff in a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership vote on Saturday after none of the five candidates secured a majority in the first round of voting.

The winner of the party poll to succeed incumbent Shigeru Ishiba, who announced his resignation last month, is almost certain to become the country's next prime minister because the LDP remains the largest party in parliament.

LDP parliamentarians cast 295 votes in the first round of voting, while another 295 votes were allotted to rank-and-file members. Takaichi, who took the lead at 183 votes, entered the runoff vote round with Koizumi winning 164 votes.

In the runoff voting, the LDP lawmakers cast the same number of votes, but the rank-and-file members' votes were reduced to one for each of the LDP's 47 prefectural chapters. 
Bihar: Road adjoining Mithapur flyover in Patna caves in amid heavy downpour

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 20:30 IST

Representational image (Image: News18)

Patna, Oct 4 (PTI) A portion of the service lane of Mithapur flyover in Patna caved in following heavy rainfall on Friday night, officials said.

Bihar Road Construction Minister Nitin Nabin, who inspected the site on Saturday afternoon, said the main structure of the flyover remains unaffected.

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There is no problem with the flyover. The drain connected to the nearby sump house has been damaged underneath the road alongside the bridge," he added.

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He said the drain beneath the service lane had weakened over time, and a similar issue was reported six months ago.

There is a slight design aberration in the pillar, but no structural damage has occurred. As a precautionary measure, we have temporarily suspended traffic movement on the bridge and are reinforcing the caved-in section," he said. PTI SUK MNB

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First Published: October 04, 2025, 20:30 IST

News agency-feeds Bihar: Road adjoining Mithapur flyover in Patna caves in amid heavy downpour

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Former sarpanchs son shot dead in Punjabs Barnala, killer at large

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 23:45 IST

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Barnala, Oct 4 (PTI) The son of an ex-sarpanch, who was in his 40s, was shot dead by an assailant at a village in Barnala district on Saturday, police said.

The attacker, who has been identified, managed to flee, police said, adding that personal enmity could be the cause behind the crime.

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Sukhwinder Singh Calcutta, the victim, was sitting at a property dealers shop near the bus stand in Sehna village when he was shot by the accused.

Speaking to reporters, Barnala SSP Mohd Sarfaraz Alam said the accused has been identified as Jinder Singh, who, according to some eyewitnesses, was known to Sukhwinder Singh.

Prima facie, personal enmity appears to be the cause behind the incident as shortly before the crime was committed, a video surfaced in which Jinder went live and talked about some monetary issue between him and the victim. We can verify that angle once the accused is arrested," the SSP said.

Police have set up multiple teams to trace and arrest the accused after registering a case based on a complaint filed by the deceaseds family members, he said.

Raids are being conducted at multiple locations. We will arrest the accused soon," the SSP said.

The opposition, meanwhile, slammed the AAP government for the deteriorating law and order" in Punjab.

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Sukhwinder Singh Calcutta was brutally shot dead near the Sehna bus stand in broad daylight," senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa said in a post on X.

I urge the chief justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court to take suo motu cognisance (of the matter) and direct the Central agencies to conduct a fair and independent probe," the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly added. PTI SUN ARI

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First Published: October 04, 2025, 23:45 IST

News agency-feeds Former sarpanchs son shot dead in Punjabs Barnala, killer at large

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Michiel Blanchart all set to direct new Final Destination movie

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 09:15 IST

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Washington, DC [US], October 4 (ANI): Belgian filmmaker Michiel Blanchart has been roped in to direct the next instalment of Final Destination: Bloodlines, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Directed by Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky, the film took audiences to the very beginning of Deaths twisted sense of justice."Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefanie heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all," the official synopsis read.The screenplay was written by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor, with the story from Busick, Taylor, and Jon Watts.With a 51 million USD domestic debut, the movie achieved the best opening weekend in the series to date. By the end of its theatrical run, it became the franchises highest-grossing film, with a 286 million USD global haul, reported Variety.Overall, the series has earned over 983 million USD worldwide, making it New Lines third-biggest horror franchise behind The Conjuring universe (2.3 billion USD) and the It movies (1.2 billion USD)Lori Evans Taylor, who wrote Bloodlines along with Gary Busick, is penning the new script.

Destination franchise producer Steward Craig Perry and franchise veteran Sheila Hanahan Taylor are back producing, as are Jon Watts and his wife, Dianne McGunigle, along with Toby Emmerich. Warren Zide is exec producing, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Final Destination franchise has earned over USD 1 billion worldwide, making it New Lines third-largest horror franchise, behind the over USD 2.73 billion grossed by the Conjuring Universe and the USD 1.2 billion generated by the It films. Blanchart made his feature debut with Night Call (Le nuit se traine), a 2024 action criminal thriller that received high praise not only for its Collateral-like genre thriller but also for its relevant societal critique. The film dominated the Belgian Academy Awards and the Magritte Awards earlier this year, receiving ten out of eleven nominations. Blanchart won Best Film, Best First Feature Film, Best Screenplay, and Best Director awards, according to The Hollywood Reporter. (ANI)

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First Published: October 04, 2025, 09:15 IST

News agency-feeds Michiel Blanchart all set to direct new Final Destination movie

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Netanyahu hopes to announce release of all hostages from Gaza in coming days

Last Updated: October 05, 2025, 02:15 IST

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Tel Aviv, Oct 5 (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hopes to announce the release of all hostages from Gaza in the coming days," as Israel and Hamas prepare for indirect talks in Egypt on Monday on a new US plan to end the war.

In a brief statement late Saturday, Netanyahu said he has sent a delegation to Egypt to finalise technical details," adding that our goal is to contain these negotiations to a time frame of a few days." But Netanyahu signalled there would not be a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, something Hamas has long demanded. He said Israels military will continue to hold territories it controls in Gaza, and that Hamas will be disarmed in the plans second phase, diplomatically or through a military path by us." The prime minister spoke after Hamas said it has accepted some elements of the US plan. President Donald Trump welcomed the militant groups statement but on Saturday warned that Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off." Trump also ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza. Some in Gaza City reported a notable easing of Israeli strikes Saturday, though hospital officials said at least 22 people were killed, including women and children.

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Israels army said leaders instructed it to prepare for the US plans first phase. Israel has moved to a defensive-only position in Gaza and will not actively strike, said an official who was not authorised to speak to the media on the record.

Still, an Israeli strike on Gaza Citys Tuffah neighbourhood killed at least 17 and injured 25 others, said Al-Ahli hospital director Fadel Naim. The strikes are still ongoing," Naim said. Israels military said it struck a Hamas member and regrets any harm caused to uninvolved civilians." Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiyah earlier Saturday said Israeli strikes killed five Palestinians across Gaza City.

Momentum ahead of wars anniversary Trump appears determined to deliver on pledges to end the war and return all hostages ahead of the second anniversary on Tuesday of the Hamas attack that sparked it on October 7, 2023. His proposal unveiled earlier this week has widespread international support. On Friday, Netanyahus office said Israel was committed to ending the war.

Mondays indirect talks are meant to prepare the way for the release of hostages from Gaza and Palestinians from Israeli detention, mediator Egypt said.

A senior Egyptian official said US envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Egypt to head the US negotiating team. The talks also will discuss maps showing the expected withdrawal of Israeli forces from certain areas in Gaza, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorised to brief the media.

The official also said Arab mediators are preparing for a comprehensive dialogue among Palestinians aimed at unifying their position toward Gazas future. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Gazas second most powerful militant group, said it accepted Hamas response after rejecting the plan days earlier.

Progress, but uncertainty ahead Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages  around 20 of them believed to be alive  within three days. It also would give up power and disarm.

In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of Gaza, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction.

Hamas said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. Its statement didnt address the issue of Hamas demilitarizing, a key part of the plan.

Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general and chairman of Israels Defense and Security Forum, said while Israel can afford to stop firing for a few days in Gaza so the hostages can be released, it will resume its offensive if Hamas doesnt lay down its arms.

Others said that while Hamas suggests a willingness to negotiate, its position fundamentally remains unchanged. Its rhetoric simply repackages old demands in softer language," said Oded Ailam, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.

Still, two vocal members of the right-wing bloc of Netanyahus coalition, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, criticised the plans progress but didnt threaten to immediately leave the government.

And some speakers at the weekly rally in Tel Aviv over the war expressed a cautious hope not heard for months.

A group representing some hostages families said the prospect of seeing loved ones return has never been closer." They appealed to Trump to keep pushing with full force" and warned that extremists on both sides" will try to sabotage the plan.

Meanwhile, protests have erupted across Europe calling for the wars end.

Uncertainty among Palestinians Some Palestinians in Gaza worried that talks will break down again.

We want practical implementation. We want a truce on the ground," said Sameer Qudeeh in Khan Younis.

I hope Hamas ends the war, because we are truly tired," said Mohammad Shaat in Khan Younis, as anxious Palestinians roamed the shattered streets.

On Saturday, Israels army warned Palestinians against trying to return to Gaza City, calling it a dangerous combat zone." Two residents there said that since the morning, Israeli tanks and troops had not advanced but artillery shells and airstrikes were heard.

We can still see the quadcopters everywhere," Mohamed al-Nashar said.

In southern Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said its Saraya field hospital received 10 bodies and over 70 injured after Israeli strikes on Saturday afternoon.

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Gazas Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the war has topped 67,000. The toll jumped after the ministry said it added more than 700 names to the list whose data had been verified.

The Health Ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says women and children make up around half the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the UN and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties. (AP) MPL MPL

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First Published: October 05, 2025, 02:15 IST

News agency-feeds Netanyahu hopes to announce release of all hostages from Gaza in coming days

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Sampre Nutritions to raise Rs 355 cr via foreign currency convertible bonds

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 18:30 IST

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New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI) Health and confectionery products manufacturer Sampre Nutritions on Saturday said its board has approved a fund raise of Rs 355 crore through foreign currency convertible bonds.

The company board in a meeting held on October 3 approved foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) issue aggregating to USD 40 million equivalent to Rs 355.06 crore, Sampre Nutritions said in a statement.

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The company will issue 400 FCCBs of USD 100,000 each towards subscription amount of the FCCB as per the subscription, it added.

The FCCB funds will be utilised for the purpose of broadening the global footprint of the company with emerging markets identified in Egypt and Liberia (Monrovia), the company said.

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This expansion is well designed to strengthen the companys presence in high-growth regions, diversify revenue streams and capture emerging opportunities in the international FMCG sectors, it added.

Sampre recently signed MOUs with revenue potential of up to Rs 45 crore for the manufacturing and supply of nutraceutical and food products. PTI MSS HVA

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First Published: October 04, 2025, 18:30 IST

News agency-feeds Sampre Nutritions to raise Rs 355 cr via foreign currency convertible bonds

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US-Pakistan proximity unlikely to dent Pakistan-China ties: Expert

Last Updated: October 05, 2025, 01:15 IST

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New Delhi [India], October 5 (ANI): Chinese Studies Expert Professor Srikanth Kondapalli has expressed scepticism over the possibility of Chinas relationship with Pakistan being impacted amid Pakistans growing proximity to the United States. In an interview with ANI, Professor Kondapalli noted that China will maintain its relationship with Pakistan, particularly given the significant investments in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). However, he acknowledged that the US recent diplomatic approach towards Pakistan, including reports of acquiring Bagram airbase with Pakistani assistance and a possible patch-up between Israel and Pakistan to counter Irans nuclear issue, can alter regional geopolitical dynamics, and there is a chance" for China moving away from Pakistan, given the Pakistani proclivity to move towards US. Professor Kondapalli said, Field Marshal Munir visited China a few weeks ago and the Chinese concern is the CPECs security, prosperity, etc. So, I do not think that the Chinese are moving away from Pakistan. Although there are some signals like Bagram base that Americans want to acquire with the Pakistani assistance. Secondly, there is also the American acquiring of bases in Pakistan to counter China. Thirdly, a new patch-up between Israel and Pakistan to counter Irans nuclear issue."If these are real, if these are what they have decided, then there is a chance for China moving away from Pakistan, given the Pakistani proclivity to move towards the United States. But all these are just in about a year or so, we will get to know, because by November 2026, there will be midterm elections and the manoeuvrability for president," he added. However, Professor Kondapalli also acknowledged that there is still no concrete evidence of deepening ties between the US and Pakistan. He further highlighted that China has invested $52 billion in Pakistan through CPEC, which is nearly double the US investment of $24 billion, suggesting the depth of Chinas engagement with the country. He stated, As of now, we do not have enough evidence to show that Pakistan is moving too close to the United States and away from China. China had given Pakistan $52 billion in the CPEC. United States gave Pakistan $24 billion so far in counterterrorism measures and others. So the weight of China is more in Pakistan than compared with the US. There are 36,000 Chinese security guards in Pakistan. These are basically peoples armed police force. I dont think these many Americans are living in Pakistan." (ANI)

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First Published: October 05, 2025, 01:15 IST

News agency-feeds US-Pakistan proximity unlikely to dent Pakistan-China ties: Expert

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Aadhaar Update Charges Hiked From October 2025: Full List Of Services And Fees

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Trending Desk

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 08:33 IST

This is the first major revision in nearly five years, with the next fee adjustment scheduled in 2028.

Biometric updates for children aged 57 continue to remain free. (Photo Credit: X)

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has revised Aadhaar update fees, with the changes coming into effect from October 1, 2025. Under the new structure, applicable until September 30, 2028, charges for demographic, biometric, and other updates will see an increase. This is the first major revision in nearly five years, with the next fee adjustment scheduled from October 1, 2028, to September 30, 2031.

Aadhaar generation remains free for residents under the revised rates. However, registrars will receive Rs 75 for enrolling children under five and Rs 125 for those above five. Mandatory biometric updates for children aged 57 and 1517 continue to be free, while adults will pay Rs 125. Demographic updates, such as changes to name, address, or date of birth, now cost Rs 75, whether done online or at an enrolment centre. Updating Proof of Address (PoA) or Proof of Identity (PoI) documents also costs Rs 75, and Aadhaar reprints are priced at Rs 40.

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Why Did UIDAI Revise Aadhaar Update Charges?

The fee increase is reportedly aimed at covering administrative costs, maintaining secure biometric systems, and compensating registrars who manage enrolments and updates. Authorities also intend to encourage residents to use digital channels, such as the MyAadhaar portal, which reduces the workload at enrolment centres.

How To Make Changes In Aadhaar

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The MyAadhaar portal allows residents to update demographic information, including address, mobile number, and email. Proof of Address (PoA) and Proof of Identity (PoI) document updates can also be done online. However, changes to name, date of birth, or gender require a visit to an Aadhaar Seva Kendra.

Biometric updates, such as fingerprints, iris scans, and photographs, must be completed in person at an enrolment centre. Children are required to update their biometrics at specific age milestones to ensure accuracy. For residents unable to visit enrolment centres, UIDAI offers home enrolment services, primarily for the elderly and people with disabilities. This service costs Rs 700 for the first resident and Rs 350 for each additional resident at the same address.

About the Author Business Desk A team of writers and reporters decodes vast terms of personal finance and making money matters simpler for you. From latest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the market to best investment options, w... Read More

Location : Delhi, India, India

First Published: October 04, 2025, 08:33 IST

News business Aadhaar Update Charges Hiked From October 2025: Full List Of Services And Fees

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Tata Capital vs LG Electronics: Confused Between Two Big IPOs? Compare GMP, Price, More

Reported By :

News18.com

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 13:06 IST

Tata Capital and LG Electronics India launch IPOs worth Rs 27000 crore in October 2025, sparking investor debate and interest.

Tata Capital Vs LG Electronics

Tata Capital vs LG Electronics IPOs: The primary market is set to witness the biggest battle of 2025 next week when two bellwether IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) are poised to compete in an already saturated field. Launching in a gap of a day, two IPOs raising a cumulative amount of Rs 27,000 crore will open their three-day subscription windows between Monday, October 06, and Thursday, October 09, 2025.

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In the ensuing heated battle, investors are facing a dilemma where they should put their limited investment fund  Tata Capital, which is part of the Tata Group, or LG Electronics India, an Indian arm of the South Korean multinational corporation.

What investors can do is to look for some metrics, such as checking GMP, valuation, price bands, fundamentals or more, being used by experts to make a decision of investment or not. Its not a full-proof strategy, although.

Tata Capital IPO

Tata Capital, the non-banking financial arm of the Tata Group, is set to launch its initial public offering (IPO) on Monday, October 06, 2025. The public issue will be closed for subscription on Wednesday, October 8, 2025. Tata Capital has fixed the price band for its much-awaited Rs 15,512-crore IPO at Rs 310-326 per share, making it the largest issue of the year.

With this, the non-banking financial companys valuation stands at about Rs 1.38 lakh crore at the top end of the band.

Its share allotment will be finalised on October 9, while the listing will take place on October 13 on both the BSE and the NSE.

The proposed issue comprises a total of 47.58 crore shares, including a fresh issue of 21 crore equity shares and an offer for sale (OFS) of 26.58 crore shares.

Tata Sons, which currently holds an 88.6% stake in Tata Capital, will offload about 23 crore shares.

International Finance Corporation (IFC), which owns 1.8%, will sell 3.58 crore shares.

Proceeds from the fresh issue will be used to bolster Tata Capitals Tier-1 capital base, helping the NBFC meet future capital requirements, including lending operations.

According to market observers, the gray market premium for unlisted shares of Tata Capital is currently Rs 13, which is down from the peak at Rs 30. It reflects a premium of 3.99 per cent.

The GMP is based on market sentiments and keeps changing. Grey market premium indicates investors readiness to pay more than the issue price.

LG Electronics IPO

LG Electronics India Ltd, the local arm of South Koreas LG conglomerate, has fixed the price band for its much-awaited Rs 11,607-crore initial public offering (IPO) in the range of Rs 1,080-1,140 per share. At the upper end of the price range, the company is valued at about Rs 77,400 crore.

The public issue will open for subscription on October 7 and close on October 9, while anchor investors can bid on October 6. The IPO, which is entirely an offer for sale of 10.18 crore shares  representing nearly 15 per cent stake  will see all proceeds go to the South Korean parent, as LG Electronics India itself will not receive any funds from the issue.

This marks the second South Korean company to list on Indian bourses after Hyundai Motors India made its debut in October last year. LG Electronics India, a major player in consumer electronics and home appliances, has manufacturing units in Noida and Pune, producing washing machines, refrigerators, LED TVs, air conditioners, and microwaves. For FY24, the company reported revenue from operations of Rs 64,087.97 crore.

According to market observers, unlisted shares of LG Electronics India Ltd are currently trading at Rs 1315, meaning a GMP of Rs 175 or 15.35 per cent premium.

The GMP is based on market sentiments and keeps changing. Grey market premium indicates investors readiness to pay more than the issue price.

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The IPO will be listed on both the BSE and the NSE.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips by experts in this News18.com report are their own and not those of the website or its management. Users are advised to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

About the Author Varun Yadav Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the I... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 13:06 IST

News business ipo Tata Capital vs LG Electronics: Confused Between Two Big IPOs? Compare GMP, Price, More

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SUBOTICA, Serbia, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- As the inaugural train "Soko" (meaning "falcon" in Serbian) of the new Belgrade-Subotica high-speed railway glided through the flatlands of northern Serbia on Friday, President Aleksandar Vucic hailed the convenience that the railway has brought to economic, trade, and personnel exchanges in Serbia and the region, and expressed gratitude to China.

"This railway connects different parts of our country," Vucic said, looking through the window as towns and fields flashed by. "Railroad connects people as well. It's important not only for public transport, for public transportation, for passengers, for transportation. But it's also important for the freight and, for our economy, for bringing more investors into service."

The new 183-kilometer section between Belgrade and Subotica was constructed by China Railway International and China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) -- the first high-speed line built by Chinese companies in Europe, designed for speeds up to 200 kilometers per hour.

He continued, "It always has an importance for building ties between the people, between the nations. And speaking about quality infrastructure works, I'm very happy with all the services that were done by the Chinese company here. That is actually a great job."

"I have always been in the mood to scold someone when they were either late or not diligent enough. But there were no such remarks from outside. They were doing some absolutely terrific work and a great job. I am profoundly grateful to our Chinese friends. And we plan to keep on working with them in the future as well," he said.

On board, Vucic described relations between the two countries as stronger than ever. "Well, it's an ironclad friendship. That's how we call it, that we have between Beijing and Belgrade," he told Xinhua, pledging to further such relationship in the future.

He noted that Serbia's cooperation with China began years ago with crucial industrial investments, such as the HBIS steelworks in Smederevo, that saved thousands of jobs and launched new infrastructure projects. "We were financially bleeding -- 12 million, up to 12 million U.S. dollars at that time," he said. "They helped us. They kept jobs for more than 5,000 people. Then they started building our infrastructure together with us."

The inaugural ride to Subotica took just over an hour from Belgrade Centre Station, and included senior officials from both Serbia and its partners such as China and Hungary. From March next year, trains will reach Budapest in one hour and 35 minutes.

During the ride, Vucic announced that the line would open for commercial use on Oct. 8, with free travel until Oct. 12. The fare between Belgrade and Subotica will be 2,000 dinars (20 U.S. dollars).

Returning to Belgrade later in the afternoon, Vucic reflected on Serbia's next steps. "We have built our main corridor toward Central Europe through Budapest," he said. "Now we must build it much faster, much stronger."

As the "Soko" pulled into the station, passengers applauded -- a symbolic end to a journey that, as Vucic described it, "connects people, economies, and nations" on the same track toward the future. 
Rs 8.85 Lakh Loan Scam: 5 Money Lessons Every Investor Should Know

Curated By :

Trending Desk

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 10:26 IST

A middle-class man in Rajkot, Gujarat, fell victim to a fraud worth Rs 8.85 lakh by an individual who promised to secure his loan approvals.

Five lessons from the Rajkot man's unfortunate story. (Representative Image)

A middle-class man in Rajkot, Gujarat, fell victim to a fraud worth Rs 8.85 lakh by an individual who promised to secure his loan approvals. According to the Times of India, after receiving loan approval messages via WhatsApp, the man transferred Rs 9.35 lakh to the fraudsters bank account as a processing fee and login charge. He later realised he had been cheated when no loan amount was disbursed, and he only received a refund of Rs 50,000.

The naive loan seeker was duped of Rs 8.85 lakh, facing severe financial strain due to multiple money management errors. The ordeal in Rajkot could have continued haunting him, but it also serves as a hard lesson for others navigating the personal loan market. Here are five key money lessons from the unfortunate story of the man who was robbed by a fraudster posing as a lender.

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5 Money Lessons Every Investor Should Know

Processing Fee: In the Rajkot case, the fraudulent lender demanded a processing fee upfront before approving the loan. While legitimate banks and lenders do charge a processing fee, borrowers should know that it is deducted from the loan amount, not paid in advance.

Commission: Scammers often ask borrowers to pay a commission, tricking them out of their money. Never pay any commission to such agents. The loan market has numerous providers who follow ethical and fair practices; always opt for these trustworthy lenders when acquiring a loan.

Bank Communication: The Rajkot man trusted the fake bank agent and fell for messages received via WhatsApp. Borrowers should remember that official bank communications are sent only through formal texts, clearly mentioning the banks name. You will never receive important updates or advisories from an individuals phone number.

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Loan Disbursal: Personal loans are typically disbursed on the same day of filing. Be cautious if any bank personnel claim that the disbursal will take days or weeks and require a processing fee or login charge upfront. Such claims are a strong indicator that the agent is fraudulent and attempting a scam.

Quick Loans: Today, banks offer their long-term customers various options to secure instant loans for immediate needs. Once the documents are verified, the loan amount is usually disbursed quickly. It is advised to contact bank officials directly and avoid dealing with market agents or fraudulent individuals.

About the Author Business Desk A team of writers and reporters decodes vast terms of personal finance and making money matters simpler for you. From latest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the market to best investment options, w... Read More

Location : Delhi, India, India

First Published: October 04, 2025, 10:25 IST

News business Rs 8.85 Lakh Loan Scam: 5 Money Lessons Every Investor Should Know

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WinTrack Vs Customs: Founder Stands Firm, Will Face Up To Harassment | Exclusive

Reported By :

CNN-News18

Last Updated: October 03, 2025, 22:18 IST

The finance ministry has deputed a senior department of revenue official to probe allegations of bribery demand

Wintrack Inc. is a small global trading firm founded by entrepreneur Prawin Ganeshan. File image

Prawin Ganeshan, founder of WinTrack, an importer of niche electronic gadgets, healthcare and lifestyle products, vows to stand his ground in the face of continued harassment" by officials of the Chennai customs zone, the clearing authority that greenlights entry of imported products.

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Since January, over 20-25 shipments of the same product have been cleared; Why then has this shipment alone been held?" Ganeshan wondered aloud in his conversation with CNN-News18. Rebutting the CBICs X post that WinTrack has a history of false allegations and taking down posts, he said he took down a post in January after the resolution of an issue with the department, just like how any businessman with gratitude would do". Elaborating further, he said the department did not accept that a bribe was demanded; instead, he accepted that there was a misdeclaration, resulting in higher duty. He agreed to it to facilitate the clearance of goods, so that he could continue his business.

In June, I had posted about harassment, and theyre still there. And now, I am not going to delete. There is no pattern to this. The officials forget that from February to September, all items I have imported are the same. Previously, they had cleared all of them. But why are they holding this shipment?"

They have proved that bribes are uncontrollable," he said.

Ganeshans flurry of posts alleging harassment caught national attention and stretched the debate into the ease of doing business in India. Importers with similar experiences have begun posting on X about their ordeals, particularly about incidents of having bribed officials to get imports through.

The Chennai customs, through a post, clearly denied any instance of bribery or harassment, placing the blame on Ganeshan for not responding to the departments questions on misdeclaration and misclassification.

The finance ministry has deputed a senior official with the department of revenue to carry out a probe. Meanwhile, Chennai customs reached out to Prawin by way of a direct message on X, asking him to be present at 10 am Saturday for an inquiry", according to Ganeshan.

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He believes it will eventually end up in a situation where he is forced to accept something" to ensure resolution and a way forward. Some officers had reached out to me through some sources, hinting that they would affect my other businesses through raids. I have refused to delete any post. I stand by my words," he told CNN-News18.

About the Author Poornima Murali Poornima Murali, Senior Special Correspondent at CNN-News18, has reported for over a decade on civic and political issues in Tamil Nadu. She has been helming the Chennai bureau for the channel for yea... Read More

First Published: October 03, 2025, 22:18 IST

News business WinTrack Vs Customs: Founder Stands Firm, Will Face Up To Harassment | Exclusive

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Andhra CM Naidu, Dy CM Pawan Kalyan Take Auto Ride, Launch Scheme To Support Drivers | Watch

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 13:26 IST

N Chandrababu Naidu launched the Auto Driver Sevalo scheme in Vijayawada, offering 15000 yearly aid to registered auto drivers under the Sevalo Pathakam welfare initiative.

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Andhra CM Naidu, Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan and Education Minister Nara Lokesh ride an auto to mark launch of new welfare scheme in Vijayawada. (IMAGE: X/@JaiTDP )

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday launched the Auto Driver Sevalo scheme in Vijayawada, announcing annual financial assistance of 15,000 for every registered auto driver in the state. The initiative aims to provide direct support to the transport community, which plays a key role in local mobility and small-scale livelihoods.

The launch ceremony was held at the Makineni Basavapunnaiah Stadium in Singhnagar, Vijayawada, where Naidu was joined by Deputy Chief Minister and Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan, BJP state president Daggubati Purandeswari and Education Minister Nara Lokesh.

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In a symbolic gesture marking the spirit of the scheme, Naidu, Pawan Kalyan, and Lokesh travelled around 14 kilometres in an auto-rickshaw before arriving at the venue. Addressing a large gathering, Naidu said the scheme reflects his governments commitment to empowering workers in the informal sector and ensuring economic stability for thousands of families dependent on the auto trade.

The Auto Driver Sevalo scheme is part of the broader Sevalo Pathakam welfare framework, under which the state government plans to offer direct financial support to different sections of society affected by rising costs and uneven income opportunities.

The Chief Minister also hinted at future plans to link such welfare schemes with digital verification systems to ensure timely transfers and eliminate leakages. The event was marked by enthusiastic participation from auto drivers unions and supporters of the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance.

VIDEO | Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu, DCM Pawan Kalyan, and Minister Nara Lokesh take an auto ride during the launch of the 'Auto Driverla Sevalo' program.#AndhraPradesh #AutoDriverlaSevalo (Source  Third party) (Full video available on PTI Videos  pic.twitter.com/9Czy1GAlkR  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 4, 2025

The Auto Driver Sevalo scheme is part of the state governments welfare drive under the Sevalo Pathakam initiative, which was first announced by Naidu in September to extend financial assistance to key sections such as farmers, weavers, and now auto drivers. According to the Chief Ministers Office, the scheme is aimed at easing the burden of rising living costs and strengthening household incomes.

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Naidu also reiterated his governments focus on transparent, tech-enabled delivery" of welfare benefits  a model he said would ensure that financial aid reaches genuine beneficiaries without leakages.

(with inputs from Eenadu and the Hindu)

About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has c... Read More

Location : Vijayawada, India, India

First Published: October 04, 2025, 13:26 IST

News cities Andhra CM Naidu, Dy CM Pawan Kalyan Take Auto Ride, Launch Scheme To Support Drivers | Watch

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Amid Probe In Cough Syrup Row, Rajasthan Suspends Drug Controller For Manipulating Laws

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 10:52 IST

Rajasthan suspended Rajaram Sharma for shielding Kayson Pharma after cough syrup deaths. CM Bhajan Lal Sharma ordered a probe and stopped distribution.

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After three child deaths linked to cough syrup, Rajasthan govt probes how a drug controller tampered official note sheets and redefined fake medicines. (IMAGE: IMAGEN 4/News18)

The Rajasthan government suspended Drug Controller-II Rajaram Sharma on charges of tampering with official documents, manipulating drug definitions and shielding pharmaceutical companies. The decision comes amid an ongoing probe into the deaths of three children allegedly caused by Kayson Pharmas cough syrup.

According to a report by News18 Hindi, Sharma allegedly created a new definition" in official note sheets that excluded medicines with zero content" from being classified as counterfeitcontradicting the definition laid out in Section 17(b) of the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940.

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Under that original definition, any drug that does not match its declared composition (including those with no active ingredient) qualifies as counterfeit. By rewriting this rule, Sharma is accused of helping various firms, including Kayson Pharma, escape scrutiny.

Investigators say Sharma pressured his subordinate, the Additional Drug Controller, to change official documents to match this altered definition.

Evidence in the inquiry reportedly includes internally altered notesheets and communications coercing subordinates to comply.

The suspension notice was issued immediately on the instructions of Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma. Authorities also moved to halt distribution of the implicated syrup from Kayson Pharma while a criminal investigation is being launched.

Senior medical professionals have warned that such manipulations erode public trust in life-saving medicines.

Officials are appealing to the public to buy drugs only from licensed pharmacies and report any suspicious medicines.

The health department has vowed that all those involved, including pharma executives and other officials, will be held accountable.

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Following the revelation of the matter, the Health Minister, Gajendra Singh Khimsar, directed the formation of a committee to investigate and take necessary steps in the interest of the general public. After this, the department stopped the distribution of all batches of Dextromethorphan-based medicines. Additionally, medicines from other pharmaceutical companies supplying this drug have also been halted.

Till now, nine children have died in Madhya Pradeshs Chhindwara district over the past month and three in Jaipur, Rajasthan, in suspected cases linked to cough syrup consumption, officials confirmed. Investigations are underway to determine the exact cause.

About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has c... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 10:52 IST

News jaipur Amid Probe In Cough Syrup Row, Rajasthan Suspends Drug Controller For Manipulating Laws

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Dead Bodies Mixed Up At Delhi Hospital, Family Cremates Stranger

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 15:48 IST

A body mix-up at Sanjay Gandhi Hospital led a family to cremate a stranger, while his family accused the hospital of negligence and filed a complaint with the police.

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Representative Image. (AI Generated)

In a shocking case of negligence, a grieving family in Delhi ended up cremating the wrong person after a mix-up of bodies at a city hospital. One man died by suicide, while another succumbed to injuries after a fall from a terrace. Both bodies were taken to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in northwest Delhi.

What followed, however, was an alleged case of negligence: the hospital staff reportedly mixed up the bodies, leading one grieving family to cremate a stranger, believing it to be their relative, NDTV reported.

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Pradeep Kumar received a call on Wednesday informing him of his brother, Pankaj Kumars accident.

My sister-in-law called me and said that Pankaj has fallen from the terrace. She asked me to return home and rush to the hospital," recalled Pradeep Kumar.

After this, the Police Control Room (PCR) was alerted about the incident. 40-year-old Pankaj, a resident of Prem Nagar in Delhi, was rushed to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. His body was later placed in the mortuary for a post-mortem examination.

Around the same time, the body of Bharat Bhushan (45) from the Nangloi region was brought in for autopsy. Bhushan died by suicide.

The body was shown to us before and after post-mortem. But, at home, we did not unpack the body for public viewing. The preparations were already in place, so as soon as the body reached home, we performed a prayer and took the body for cremation," said Gopi, brother-in-law of Bhushan.

However, the Bhushan family unknowingly cremated Pankaj Kumar.

Lata, who had been married to Bhushan for 15 years, alleged that the hospital staff showed the body only from a distance. She said the family, already distressed, could not identify it properly, which resulted in the mix-up.

We only saw eyes. Now we were shown a picture of my husband, who is still inside the mortuary," Lata said.

When Pankajs family arrived at the hospital on Thursday to claim his body, they were shocked to learn that he had already been cremated by another family.

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Initially, I was told that the post-mortem is pending. Then they said they are looking for the body, and due to a power issue, they were finding it difficult to locate the body. Later, Assistant Investigating Officer Anup informed me that my brothers body had been mistakenly handed over to someone else," Pradeep Kumar said.

Pankaj Kumars family accused the hospital of gross negligence in handling the bodies, alleging that no proper identification process was followed. His brother has lodged a written complaint with the Deputy Commissioner of Police, seeking an investigation.

First Published: October 04, 2025, 15:48 IST

News new-delhi-news Dead Bodies Mixed Up At Delhi Hospital, Family Cremates Stranger

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Delhi Man Crashes Virtual Court Hearing; Appears In Undergarments, Smoking, Drinking

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 18:06 IST

Mohd Imran, a history-sheeter from Gokulpuri, disrupted Tis Hazari Court virtual hearings by appearing in undergarments while smoking and drinking.

The man, Md Imran (32) from Gokulpuri, is an active history-sheeter with over 50 previous cases of robbery, snatching, and other offences (Representational)

In a shocking incident, a history-sheeter crashed a virtual court proceeding by appearing in his undergarments while smoking and drinking, an official said on Saturday.

The accused, identified as 32-year-old Mohd Imran from Delhis Gokulpuri, is an active history-sheeter with over 50 previous cases of robbery, snatching, and other offences registered across Delhi, news agency PTI reported.

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He virtually attended the court proceedings on September 16 and 17. A case was registered on September 22 following a complaint by Tis Hazari Court record keeper, Anshul Singhal .

"It was alleged that on September 16 and 17, an unknown individual joined the courts video conferencing sessions using the name Akib Akhlak, appearing in his undergarments while smoking and consuming alcohol," Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Raja Banthia said in a statement.

DCP Santhia said that despite repeated instructions to leave, Imran allegedly continued to be in the virtual hearing, causing disruption. The police then launched an investigation into the matter.

Technical analysis of IP addresses and call data records revealed that the suspect had used multiple fake email IDs and frequently changed locations, complicating tracking efforts.

"Using local intelligence and manual searches, the team traced the accused to Chaman Park, Old Mustafabad, and arrested him from his residence," a senior police officer said.

How Did He Enter The Virtual Hearing?

During interrogation, Imran admitted that he learned about the WebEx videoconferencing platform from an acquaintance and joined the court proceedings out of curiosity. He allegedly acknowledged that he attended sessions in his undergarments, smoked cigarettes, and consumed alcohol during the virtual hearings.

Police recovered a mobile phone, a SIM card, and a router used by the accused in committing the offence.

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Imran, a school dropout and former air conditioner mechanic, had previously been jailed and released in September 2021. Since his release, he reportedly resumed criminal activities, including robbery, snatching, and violations under the Arms Act, to fund his addiction to drugs and alcohol.

(With inputs from agencies)

About the Author Shobhit Gupta Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degre... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 18:06 IST

News new-delhi-news Delhi Man Crashes Virtual Court Hearing; Appears In Undergarments, Smoking, Drinking

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PM Modi To Launch Initiatives For Youth Today, Introduce Monthly Stipend For 5 Lakh Graduates

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 10:12 IST

The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University in Bihar, offering industry-oriented courses and vocational education.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch major youth initiatives worth over Rs. 62,000 crore. (File Photo)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to unveil numerous youth-oriented initiatives with investments exceeding Rs. 62,000 crore aimed at boosting education, skill development, and entrepreneurship across India. The event is scheduled for 11 AM at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

The programme will feature the fourth edition of the National Skill Convocation, Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh, where 46 All India Toppers from Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) will be honoured. The Prime Minister will introduce PM-SETU (Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs), a centrally sponsored scheme with an investment of Rs. 60,000 crore to upgrade 1,000 government ITIs in a hub-and-spoke model, consisting of 200 hub ITIs and 800 spoke ITIs. Each hub will connect to around four spokes, forming clusters with advanced infrastructure, modern trades, digital learning systems, and incubation facilities, managed by Anchor Industry Partners.

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Additionally, the Prime Minister will inaugurate 1,200 Vocational Skill Labs in 400 Navodaya Vidyalayas and 200 Eklavya Model Residential Schools across 34 states and union territories, offering hands-on training in 12 high-demand sectors. These labs will comply with the National Education Policy 2020 and CBSE curriculum, with 1,200 vocational teachers trained to provide industry-relevant learning.

In Bihar, the Prime Minister will inaugurate several transformative projects, including the updated Mukhyamantri Nishchay Svyam Sahayata Bhatta Yojana, which provides nearly five lakh graduate youth with a monthly allowance of Rs. 1,000 for two years along with free skill training. The revamped Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme will offer interest-free education loans of up to Rs. 4 lakh, benefitting over 3.92 lakh students. Additionally, the Bihar Yuva Ayog, a statutory commission for youth aged 18-45, will be established to channel the energies of the states young population.

The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University in Bihar, which will offer industry-oriented courses and vocational education. Additionally, he will lay the foundation for new academic and research facilities in four universities in Bihar under the PM-USHA (Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan), with a total allocation of Rs. 160 crore, benefiting over 27,000 students.

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NIT Patna, equipped with advanced facilities and a capacity for 6,500 students, will be dedicated to the nation. The Prime Minister will distribute appointment letters to over 4,000 newly recruited candidates in the Bihar government and release Rs. 450 crore in scholarships through Direct Benefit Transfer to 25 lakh students of Classes 9 and 10 under the Mukhyamantri Balak/Balika Scholarship Scheme.

These initiatives aim to create significant opportunities for Indias youth by integrating education, skill development, entrepreneurship, and improved infrastructure. Focusing on Bihar, they have the potential to transform the state into a hub for skilled manpower, thereby contributing to regional and national growth.

About the Author Education and Careers Desk A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses and information on college and school admissions, board and competitive exams, career options, topper interviews, job notifications, ... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 10:00 IST

News education-career PM Modi To Launch Initiatives For Youth Today, Introduce Monthly Stipend For 5 Lakh Graduates

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Asahi Super Dry Crisis: Why Japan Is Just Days Away From Running Out Of Its Best-Selling Beer

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 11:20 IST

With no recovery in sight, pubs, restaurants, supermarkets, and convenience stores are preparing for shortages of Japans best-selling beer due to the system outage.

Founded in 1889, Asahi began as a local brewery before becoming a global drinks giant. (Image: AFP)

Japans beer lovers may soon find their favourite drink, Asahi Super Dry, missing from shelves, as the countrys largest brewer, Asahi Group Holdings, suffers a major cyberattack. The system outage has brought domestic breweries to a standstill, while delivery and shipment operations have also been halted.

With no immediate recovery in sight, pubs, restaurants, supermarkets, and convenience stores are bracing for shortages of Japans best-selling beer and other Asahi beverages.

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This crisis not only threatens barstools and store coolers but also highlights the growing vulnerability of global supply chains to digital sabotage.

Cyber Attack Halts Production

The Asahi Group on Monday announced that it had suffered a cyberattack, which triggered a system failure" across its Japan-based operations.

This disruption halted orders, deliveries, and customer service functions. The company stated, We are actively investigating the cause and working to restore operations; however, there is currently no estimated timeline for recovery."

Most of the companys 30 domestic plants have been unable to operate since September 29, according to company disclosures. While the brewer has attempted to identify the scope of the damage, it remains unclear how many facilities have been directly affected, as reported by Reuters.

At present, the issue is limited to Japan, with Asahi stressing that international businesses, particularly in Europe, remain unaffected.

The company also suspended its call centre operations but confirmed there had been no confirmed leakage of personal information or customer data." It acknowledged the seriousness of the attack and apologised to customers and partners.

A Beer With Heritage

Founded in 1889, Asahi began as a local brewery before becoming a global drinks giant. Its iconic Asahi Super Dry, introduced in the late 20th century, is now Japans best-selling beer and a staple at pubs, supermarkets, and restaurants.

Beyond beer, Asahi also produces non-alcoholic drinks, whisky under brands like Nikka, baby food, and private-label products for major retailers.

Asahi Group is Japans market leader and one of the worlds largest beverage companies. Based on 2024 figures, it produces about 6.7 million large bottles of beer daily in Japan. Nearly half of its overall sales revenue comes from its domestic operations. In the first half of 2025 alone, Asahi reported sales of approximately 1,360 billion yen (about $9.24 billion USD).

But Japans shrinking alcohol consumption, especially among younger generations, has pressured the domestic market. To counter this, CEO Atsushi Katsuki announced plans in 2024 to double sales of low- and no-alcohol beverages to 20 per cent of the companys total.

The cyberattack is already weighing on finances. Shares fell 2.6 per cent on Thursday after news broke. Eight new product launches, including fruit sodas, ginger ale, and protein bars, have also been postponed indefinitely.

On Wednesday, Asahi tested paper-based manual systems to process orders and deliveries, though it is unclear whether such methods can be scaled to meet nationwide demand.

Meanwhile, the groups international operationsincluding European brands like Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Grolsch, Pilsner Urquell, and Fullers in the UKcontinue unaffected.

Retailers Race Against Empty Shelves

According to a report by the Financial Times, supermarkets, convenience stores, and izakaya pubs are preparing for shelves to empty. While some demand may shift to rival brands like Kirin and Suntory, experts note that loyalty to Asahi Super Drys crisp taste will make switching difficult for many drinkers.

FamilyMart, one of Japans largest convenience store chains, announced on Thursday that its Famimaru line of bottled teas produced by Asahi is likely to face shortages or go out of stock.

We sincerely apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused," the company said, adding that it is working with Asahi to resume sales as soon as possible.

With production at a standstill, the Japanese-owned global convenience store chain, 7-Eleven, has also suspended shipments of Asahi products throughout the country, affecting the availability of the popular beverages for consumers.

Cyber Threats On The Rise In Japan

The incident underscores a growing vulnerability in Japans corporate sector. Cybersecurity firm Nihon Cyber Defence (NCD) has long warned that Japanese companies are prime targets due to weak defences and discreet ransom settlements.

The National Police Agency recorded 222 ransomware attacks in 2024, up 12 per cent from the previous year, though experts believe the true number is far higher. Almost half of the affected firms took at least a month to recover lost data.

Recognising the risks, Japan passed new legislation in May to strengthen its fight against cybercrime. Without an urgent upgrade of the nations cyber security, the lives of Japanese people will be put at risk," warned Itsunori Onodera, chair of the governments policy research council.

Why This Attack Stings More

In its 2024 annual report, Asahi itself had flagged cyberattacks as a key risk to business continuity and brand reputation. The latest crisis has made those warnings real.

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Restaurants and retailers are scrambling to adapt supply chains, while drinkers face dwindling access to their favourite beer. Even if systems are restored soon, the damage to seasonal sales and brand image may linger.

For now, Asahi is trying to keep things moving with paper-based workaroundsbut for a company producing millions of bottles a day, going analogue is unlikely to be more than a temporary fix.

About the Author Surbhi Pathak Surbhi Pathak, subeditor, writes on India, world affairs, science, and education. She is currently dabbling with lifestyle content. Follow her on X: @S_Pathak_11.

First Published: October 04, 2025, 11:20 IST

News explainers Asahi Super Dry Crisis: Why Japan Is Just Days Away From Running Out Of Its Best-Selling Beer

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From Codes To Dashboards: Indias Digital Overhaul Of Criminal Justice Explained

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News18.com Edited By: Apoorva Misra



Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 11:56 IST

Together, the MHAs innovations address one of the publics deepest frustrations---cases dragging on for years because of procedural delays

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The MHA has set an ambitious goal, to ensure that every case in the country, even up to the Supreme Court, is concluded within three years. (Shutterstock)

It may have seemed like any another government digital initiative when Union Home Minister Amit Shah pressed a button on a tablet to launch four new appse-Sakshya, Nyaya Setu, Nyaya Shruti, and e-Summonsbut the moment marked a decisive break from Indias colonial past and a bold leap into a digital future of justice.

For over 160 years, the Indian Penal Code of 1860, along with the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act, defined the framework for policing and trials in India. These laws, crafted by British rulers, were designed to enforce order rather than guarantee justice. Over the decades, they became synonymous with delays, endless adjournments, and summons that rarely reached on time. As the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has acknowledged, for many people the courts came to mean nothing more than new dates, not justice".

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This is the background against which the Modi government pushed through what the MHA has described as the biggest criminal justice reform of the 21st century. The old codes were abolished and replaced by three new laws: the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA). Yet these were not simply new statutes. They were designed in tandem with digital platforms that would bind the police, forensics, prosecution, judiciary, and prisons into a single, connected system.

The Indian justice system has reset digitally, which will help the justice system to have a new upgraded approach towards crime solving, trials leading to convictions.

Shah has also been meeting all state chief ministers to know about the implementation of the new three laws apart from the Union home ministry coordinating with top officials of the states and UTs to keep the pace.

Citizen First, Dignity First & Justice First

According to the MHA, the three new laws are grounded in the principles of citizen first, dignity first, and justice first". They are not penal codes in the colonial sense but Nyaya Sanhita"codes of justice rather than punishment. The digital aspect of it makes Indian justice system speedy. Unlike their British predecessors, these laws recognise offences like terrorism, mob lynching, and organised crime, which were previously undefined.

The new system has also introduced timelines for every stage of the justice process, thanks to the umbrella digitised schemes which help police in different ways starting from police investigations to the filing of charge-sheets and judicial hearings. Women can now file e-FIRs and Zero FIRs without physically visiting police stations, giving them easier access to justice. The laws also ensure that undertrials are not left languishing in jails indefinitely. After completing a third of their sentence, the police themselves must move for release if bail has not been secured.

e-Sakshya: Safeguarding Digital Evidence

Among the flagship digital tools is e-Sakshya, a platform that secures evidence digitally. As the MHA explained, photographs, videos, and witness testimonies are stored directly on a central e-evidence server. This ensures that material is instantly available to courts and that the chain of custody is fully preserved.

The importance of such a system becomes clear when paired with another innovation, forensic investigation has been made mandatory in cases carrying a sentence of seven years or more. By embedding forensic science into investigations and storing the results digitally, the reforms make it harder for evidence to be tampered with and easier for prosecutors to secure convictions.

Nyaya Setu: Linking the Five Pillars of Justice

If e-Sakshya addresses the integrity of evidence, Nyaya Setu creates the infrastructure to connect the five pillars of justicepolice, judiciary, prosecution, prisons, and forensics. The MHA said that this dashboard brings all actors onto one platform, allowing investigators to see updates at a click, prosecutors to track case progress in real time, and prisons to receive instant directions from courts.

This interlinking breaks down the silos that for decades defined Indias criminal justice system. It ensures that cases cannot get lost in transit" and that accountability flows across the chain of justice.

e-Summons and Nyaya Shruti: Tackling Court Delays

Two other digital applications target the culture of adjournments that has long plagued Indian courts. e-Summons ensures that summons are delivered electronically from the courts directly to police stations and to the individuals concerned. This removes the delays and inefficiencies of paper-based notices. Nyaya Shruti, on the other hand, enables witnesses to appear through video conferencing. The MHA said this will reduce unnecessary travel, cut costs, and prevent adjournments caused by witnesses being unavailable.

Together, these innovations address one of the publics deepest frustrations, cases dragging on for years because of procedural delays.

Results on the Ground

The efforts have highlighted Haryana as an example of the early success of the reforms. Within a year of implementation, 71 per cent charge-sheets in the state were filed within 60 days and 83 per cent within 90 days. Conviction rates, which once hovered around 40 percent, have risen to more than 80 percent.

Officials attribute this to a combination of digital filing, forensic evidence requirements, and continuous monitoring through the new dashboards.

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A Vision of Justice Within Three Years

The MHA has set an ambitious goal, to ensure that every case in the country, even up to the Supreme Court, is concluded within three years. Achieving this will require not just new laws but also the seamless functioning of platforms like e-Sakshya, Nyaya Setu, e-Summons, and Nyaya Shruti. The Ministry has described these as tools that will give India the most modern, technology-enabled criminal justice system in the world.

About the Author Ankur Sharma With over 15 years of journalistic experience, Ankur Sharma, Associate Editor, specializes in internal security and is tasked with providing comprehensive coverage from the Ministry of Home Affairs, p... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 11:56 IST

News explainers From Codes To Dashboards: Indias Digital Overhaul Of Criminal Justice Explained

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North Korea's New Crackdown: Why Breast Implants Are Now An 'Anti-Socialist' Crime

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 18:44 IST

With young women being dragged to hospitals for body checks, Kim Jong Uns expanding crackdown is targeting not just what citizens say or wear, but how they look

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (KCNA via REUTERS)

North Korea has intensified a months-long crackdown on what it calls anti-socialist" behaviour, and breast implants are now at the centre of it. A sweeping state order has authorised neighbourhood surveillance, undercover sting operations, and hospital examinations to identify women suspected of undergoing banned cosmetic surgeries. Those found guilty face public shaming, labour camps, or worse.

The ban on breast augmentation, which authorities describe as a rotten capitalist act," is part of a broader push by North Korean dictator Kim Jong Uns regime to stamp out what it sees as foreign cultural contamination. A directive issued by Pyongyangs public security department in July called for urgent action to stop the spread of bourgeois customs" among young women, citing a surge in breast and eyelid surgeries as evidence of rising Western vanity during the summer months.

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What Triggered The Latest Orders?

The crackdown gained momentum after a highly publicised trial was held in mid-September in Sariwon, a city 75 kilometres south of Pyongyang. Two women in their twenties and a doctor were put on stage before a large public audience for allegedly undergoing and performing breast enhancement procedures.

The doctor, according to South Korean outlet Daily NK, had dropped out of medical school and was performing surgeries at his home using silicone smuggled from China. Authorities apprehended him after infiltrating his residence, seizing surgical tools, imported implants, and bundles of cash, all of which were displayed as evidence during the trial.

The two women, standing with their heads bowed, told the judge they had chosen to undergo the procedure because they wanted to improve their bodies." But prosecutors said they had become tainted by bourgeois customs" and were guilty of rotten capitalist behaviour."

One of the most striking lines came from the judge, who declared: She had no intention of being loyal to the organisation and group, but was obsessed with vanity and ended up becoming a poisonous weed that was eating away at the socialist system."

The judge concluded by promising strict punishment" for all three defendants.

The Sariwon case wasnt the only one. In July, a separate arrest was made in Pyongyangs Notong River district, as per the Telegraph, where an oral surgeon was accused of performing two botched breast surgeries on a woman in her 30s, an incident that reportedly accelerated the regimes clampdown.

How Are Women Being Targeted Now?

Following the trial, authorities rolled out aggressive enforcement measures. These steps were part of official city plans in Sariwon, which authorised local neighbourhood leaders to identify and report women suspected of undergoing banned procedures. Those flagged would be taken to hospitals for medical examinations to confirm whether surgeries had occurred.

Strike teams in plain clothes were reportedly deployed in central Pyongyang to catch underground doctors and clients. In some cases, female officers went undercover, posing as patients to expose unlicensed practitioners.

The crackdown caused visible panic in cities like Sariwon. Many women in their 20s and 30s now fear they could be subjected to humiliating body checks if suspected of altering their appearance.

Why Does North Korea Consider Breast Implants Anti-Socialist?

In North Korea, breast implants and other cosmetic procedures like double-eyelid surgery are not just seen as medical infractions, they are treated as ideological threats. These procedures are officially classified as non-socialist acts" and are banned in all state medical institutions.

But the regimes objections run deeper than legality. Cosmetic surgery is viewed as a symptom of bourgeois corruption", a sign that individuals are pursuing Western beauty standards, personal vanity, and capitalist ideals rather than collective discipline.

Altering ones body, especially in a way associated with South Korean beauty culture, is cast as rejecting the moral fibre of socialism. For Kim Jong-uns government, physical conformity is as important as political loyalty.

What Bans Have Come Before This?

This is not the first time Kim Jong-uns regime has criminalised personal choices in the name of ideological conformity. Over the past year, North Korea has banned a wide range of cultural expressions seen as foreign" or capitalist."

Among the most unusual bans:

Language: Words like ice cream," hamburger," and karaoke" have been banned. Citizens are forced to use long-winded state-sanctioned alternatives. For example, hamburger" must be called dajin-gogi gyeopppang  literally double bread with ground beef."

Words like ice cream," hamburger," and karaoke" have been banned. Citizens are forced to use long-winded state-sanctioned alternatives. For example, hamburger" must be called dajin-gogi gyeopppang  literally double bread with ground beef." Food: Hot dogs have been outlawed entirely. Eating, selling, or even serving them has been labelled an act of treason. Some reports suggest that South Koreas beloved street food tteokbokki, or spicy rice cakes, has also been blacklisted.

Hot dogs have been outlawed entirely. Eating, selling, or even serving them has been labelled an act of treason. Some reports suggest that South Koreas beloved street food tteokbokki, or spicy rice cakes, has also been blacklisted. Fashion and grooming: Short skirts, jeans, high heels, flashy logos, and unauthorised makeup are strictly prohibited. Hairstyles must conform to a list of government-approved cuts, with rules on acceptable length for men and women.

In North Korea, even a haircut must follow state guidelines, a reflection of how tightly the regime regulates personal choices.

What Does This Reveal About Life Under The Regime?

In most countries, cosmetic surgery is a personal decision; a matter of health, choice, or aesthetics. In North Korea, it is a political act, and now, a punishable one. The latest crackdown shows how deeply Kim Jong-uns regime embeds ideological control into everyday life, extending control not just over speech, dress, or behaviour, but over the human body itself.

A recent United Nations review, cited by the BBC, described North Korea as having the most restrictive surveillance state in the world, warning that no other population is under such restrictions in todays world."

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The review documented instances where citizens were executed simply for watching foreign films or dramas, considered ideological crimes under Kims regime. It also noted that the states reach has expanded from political censorship into everyday life, with increasing reports of arbitrary detentions, public punishments, and enforced conformity.

With cosmetic surgery now part of the regimes anti-socialist" purge, the message is clear: in North Korea, even your body is not your own.

About the Author Karishma Jain Karishma Jain, Chief Sub Editor at News18.com, writes and edits opinion pieces on a variety of subjects, including Indian politics and policy, culture and the arts, technology and social change. Follo... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 18:39 IST

News explainers North Korea's New Crackdown: Why Breast Implants Are Now An 'Anti-Socialist' Crime

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THE HAGUE, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Dutch airline KLM cancelled more than 100 flights at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Saturday after a yellow code warning was issued for the entire country due to heavy wind gusts.

A KLM spokesperson told the ANP news agency that 80 incoming and over 70 outgoing flights were cancelled because of the stormy weather.

The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) has issued a yellow warning for wind gusts of up to 90 km/h inland and 100 km/h along the coast. The public is advised to be cautious of dangerous conditions, including falling tree branches. 
Trumps Gaza Peace Deal: What Hamas Accepted, And What It Still Hasnt Agreed To

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News18.com

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 09:43 IST

Hamas has given a partial nod to Trumps Gaza peace plan, agreeing on hostages and governance, but several key demands remain unresolved

In a significant turn in Gazas nearly two-year war, Hamas on Friday said it accepts key elements of US President Donald Trumps 20-point peace proposal. (Representational image/AFP)

In a significant turn in Gazas nearly two-year war, Hamas on Friday said it accepts key elements of US President Donald Trumps 20-point peace proposal, including the release of all remaining Israeli hostages and the handover of Gazas administration to a technocratic Palestinian body. Both commitments, however, come with conditions and are part of a broader response that falls short of full acceptance.

The statement came just hours after Trump issued a stark Sunday deadline, warning that all HELL" would break loose if Hamas rejected the deal.

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If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas," Trump wrote Friday on social media. THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER."

While the groups partial nod has been welcomed by the United States, Israel, and key mediators like Qatar and Egypt, several core demands including full disarmament, a foreign-led transitional authority, and strict timelines remain unaddressed.

What About Disarmament?

One of the most contentious elements of Trumps 20-point proposal is the demand that Hamas completely disarm. The plan calls for the demilitarisation of Gaza under the supervision of independent monitors", with weapons to be permanently placed beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning". However, Hamass official response made no mention of disarmament.

A senior Hamas official, Mousa Abu Marzouk, told Al Jazeera that the group may be open to disarming eventually, but only under Palestinian authority: We are ready to hand over the weapons to a future Palestinian body that runs Gaza," he said. But he added that this would have to follow internal consensus, and was not something that could be dictated externally.

The absence of this pledge in the groups formal statement was interpreted as deliberate. A veteran Arab diplomat told NBC News that while Hamass position might suggest implicit acceptance, the silence was more likely strategic: They had no choice but to accept, but they wont put it in writing unless they get guarantees," the diplomat said.

Disarmament is one of the major sticking points that could determine whether the deal collapses or proceeds to the next phase.

Who Will Govern Gaza If Hamas Steps Down?

Hamas says it is prepared to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents, provided it is formed through national consensus and backed by Arab and Islamic states.

But Trumps plan demands that Hamas have no role, directly or indirectly, in governing Gaza in the future. The plan envisions a foreign-led Board of Peace" co-chaired by Trump and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to oversee the transition.

This is where the divergence sharpens. Hamas has explicitly rejected the idea of foreign oversight. Abu Marzouk said they would never accept anyone who is not Palestinian to control the Palestinians" and opposed Blairs involvement as particularly unwelcome" due to his association with the 2003 Iraq invasion.

For Hamas, the plans governance structure undermines Palestinian self-rule and risks isolating Gaza from the broader Palestinian cause, a key ideological red line.

Has Hamas Accepted The Timeline For Hostage Release?

Trumps proposal demands that Hamas release all 48 hostages, alive or dead, within 72 hours of the deals enactment. While Hamas has accepted the concept of a full exchange based on Trumps formula, it has not committed to the timeline.

Marzouk noted that locating remains could take weeks, making the 72-hour deadline unrealistic. The timeframe is one of the unresolved elements and could test Hamass sincerity in the coming days.

Does Hamas Accept Foreign Security In Gaza?

Trumps plan goes beyond administrative transition; it also proposes the creation of a temporary multinational security force in Gaza, backed by Arab states and monitored internationally, to stabilise the region during the ceasefire and transitional phase.

The idea is to ensure security in a post-Hamas environment without an immediate Israeli or fully Palestinian force on the ground.

Hamass official statement did not address this clause at all. Unlike its outright rejection of the foreign-led Board of Peace" for governance, the group has remained silent on the question of a foreign-backed security force.

That silence leaves the issue unresolved. While Hamass insistence on self-determination suggests it could oppose such a force, it has not directly rejected the idea, making this a likely sticking point for further negotiations.

What Does Hamas Want To Renegotiate?

Hamas has made clear that while it is willing to engage with Trumps peace plan, it views several provisions as unfinished business. In its statement, the group said that issues concerning the future of the Gaza Strip and the inherent rights of the Palestinian people" should not be imposed externally but decided through a comprehensive Palestinian national framework" grounded in international law.

This means Hamas wants negotiations to involve all Palestinian factions, not just Hamas and Israel under US mediation, and insists that any agreement reflect a unanimous Palestinian consensus.

Among the unresolved questions are the long-term political structure of Gaza, its potential reunification with the West Bank, and the broader issue of Palestinian statehood.

Trumps proposal offers no pathway to reunification and isolates Gaza as a separate entity under transitional control. Hamas has indicated it wants Gaza to remain part of the wider Palestinian cause, not treated as a standalone territory.

In short, Hamas is willing to negotiate practical steps like hostage release and administrative transition, but on existential questions of sovereignty, unity, and statehood, it is demanding renegotiation through a national and collective Palestinian process.

What Happens Next?

With Hamas offering only a partial acceptance of Trumps 20-point plan, the immediate focus is on whether the agreement can move from words to action.

Israel has said it is preparing to implement Phase 1, centred on the release of hostages, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has underlined that any final settlement must align with Israels security red lines, including the elimination of Hamass military capacity.

Trump, who had warned that all HELL" would break out if Hamas rejected the deal, shifted tone after the groups response, declaring it was ready for a lasting PEACE" and urging Israel to halt bombing so that hostages could be freed safely.

Mediators Egypt and Qatar have welcomed the opening but acknowledged that sticking points like disarmament, foreign oversight, and timelines still need to be resolved.

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As one former Western diplomat with experience in the region told NBC News: This may be the beginning of the end, but there is still more work to do. Hamas has not accepted key elements of the plan nor the timeframe for hostage releases. Trumps call on Israel to halt strikes will call Hamas bluff over the coming days. Its now up to Hamas. We either see hostages coming out this week or the war will restart."

The coming days will reveal whether Hamas follows through with concrete steps or whether the gaps in Trumps plan spark another round of fighting.

About the Author Karishma Jain Karishma Jain, Chief Sub Editor at News18.com, writes and edits opinion pieces on a variety of subjects, including Indian politics and policy, culture and the arts, technology and social change. Follo... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 09:35 IST

News explainers Trumps Gaza Peace Deal: What Hamas Accepted, And What It Still Hasnt Agreed To

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What A Cancelled Kids' Cartoon Has To Do With Elon Musk's Netflix Boycott | Explained

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News18.com

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 14:17 IST

Two years after its cancellation, Netflixs Dead End: Paranormal Park is back in the spotlight, fuelled by Elon Musks boycott call and conservative backlash over LGBTQ themes

Dead End: Paranormal Park is adapted from Hamish Steeles graphic novel DeadEndia.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has once again set off a storm online, this time targeting Netflix. Over the past week, Musk has repeatedly urged his 227 million followers on X (formerly Twitter) to cancel their Netflix subscriptions.

In one widely shared post, Musk wrote: Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids." In another, he echoed a users claim that Netflix employed someone who celebrated the murder of Charlie Kirk and makes content that pushes pro-trans content on my kids," replying simply: Same."

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Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids https://t.co/uPcGiURaCp Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 1, 2025

His remarks triggered a wave of cancellations and a social media campaign under #CancelNetflix, with users posting screenshots of their terminated accounts. Musk accused the company of paid speech" and of deliberately funding creators pushing sexualised woke content."

Netflix is deliberately choosing to pay people to create sexualized content for children.Freedom of speech should be respected, but this is PAID speech. Netflix is going out of their way and reaching into their wallet to push this. https://t.co/GBQtKkO0If  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 3, 2025

But the controversy did not begin with Netflixs newest releases. At its heart is an animated series that the platform cancelled almost two years ago.

What Is Dead End: Paranormal Park And Why Is It Under Fire?

Dead End: Paranormal Park debuted on Netflix in June 2022 and ran for two seasons before being cancelled in January 2023. Set in a haunted amusement park, the series featured ghosts, demons, and a talking pug. Its lead character, Barney, was a transgender teenager, making the show stand out for its LGBTQ representation.

Reviews praised the series. Mashable described it as a brilliant show about kind, wonderful characters," while Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rare 100 per cent rating, albeit from a small pool of reviews. When it was cancelled in January 2023, creator Hamish Steele expressed gratitude to Netflix for commissioning the show and posted on X, Its with a heavy heart that I tell you Dead End is over" but noted that the powers that be dont want any more."

At the time, the cancellation barely made headlines beyond fan circles. But in 2025, clips from the show resurfaced on TikTok and other platforms, with critics presenting them as examples of LGBTQ propaganda."

BREAKING: Elon Musk said he CANCELLED his @netflix account after they promoted a kids show which pushed transgenderism on kids and was written by an lgbtq activist who mocked Charlies ass*ssinationHUGE pic.twitter.com/QCsu2KL7Wf  Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 30, 2025

One viral scene featured Barney telling his friend Norma: Im trans, Norma. Being here, its like a whole new place. I can just be Barney, and I can choose if and when I tell people."

What had been a niche cartoon suddenly became the lightning rod for a culture war.

Who Is Hamish Steele And What Did He Say About Charlie Kirk?

The spark that reignited anger around Dead End was a post by its creator, Hamish Steele. After American conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead on 10 September 2025 at a public event in Arizona, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer posted a condolence message.

In response, Steele allegedly wrote on Bluesky: Why the f**k are you even commenting on this, d***k***d? You [show] sympathy for any of the families being slaughtered by your weapons but a random Nazi gets shot and its public statement. Youre such a ducking shit evil."

News18 has not independently verified the authenticity of the post, which circulated as a screenshot on social media.

Steele was swiftly accused of mocking Kirks death. Musk amplified the outrage, declaring that Netflix employed someone who celebrated" a murder. Steele denied that, saying his words were taken out of context and that he never celebrated Kirks death. On Bluesky, he said his Instagram had been flooded with comments claiming I AM CHARLIE KIRK" and added: I never did celebrate his death."

Nonetheless, the remarks ignited fury among conservatives online, particularly given Kirks stature in right-wing politics. With his funeral attended by figures including US President Donald Trump and Musk, the fallout from one social media post became the backdrop to a new battle over Netflix.

What Has Musk Said About Netflixs Woke Agenda?

Musk used the controversy to amplify his longstanding criticism of what he calls the woke mind virus."

He also reshared content from right-wing accounts like Libs of TikTok, which cited Netflixs diversity reports to claim the streamer discriminated against White people. One post Musk boosted said: Why doesnt Netflix hire based on qualifications instead of skin colour??" His blunt reply: Cancel Netflix."

The billionaire also began reposting clips not only from Dead End but from other Netflix programmes flagged by critics, including a Cocomelon scene with same-sex parents and a Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous moment featuring a kiss between two female characters. In Musks framing, these examples were part of a deliberate corporate agenda.

Definitely gratuitous Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 3, 2025

How Did The Internet React To Musks Call For A Netflix Boycott?

The backlash snowballed online as Musks followers and conservative commentators joined in. Vocal activist Robby Starbuck, who has targeted corporations over LGBTQ inclusion in the past, echoed Musks call, writing that no one should give this woke company another dime."

Within days, screenshots of cancelled Netflix subscriptions began circulating, accompanied by #CancelNetflix.

Netflix is doubling down on pushing woke and trans ideology at children.Parents should think twice before letting their kids watch. Even Elon Musk has had enough and canceled his Netflix subscription today. Time to cancel Netflix. pic.twitter.com/XjCofo8Iav  Digital Gal  (@DigitalGal_X) September 30, 2025

The controversy also rattled investors. Netflixs stock fell more than 4 per cent in under two days, wiping out over $15 billion in market capitalisation, according to data cited by TRT World. At one point, the companys shares touched a two-month low.

NEW: Netflix stock sees largest weekly drop since April as X users have called on Netflix subscribers to cancel their subscriptions due to the companys pro-trans / LGBTQ agenda to influence children.Cancel Netflix on Google Trends has hit an all-time high. Good. pic.twitter.com/s8OhL53MRW  Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 3, 2025

Musks Broader Fight With Woke Culture

The Netflix row is not just about a cartoon. For Musk, it taps into a deeply personal battle.

His daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, came out as transgender in 2020, legally changed her name in 2022, and publicly cut ties with him, saying she no longer wanted to be related to her father in any way."

Musk has repeatedly blamed what he calls the woke mind virus" for her transition and estrangement, accusing schools and cultural institutions of pushing transgender ideology onto young people. In 2023, he posted: Unless it is stopped, the woke mind virus will destroy civilisation."

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When he introduced Grok, the chatbot built by his AI company xAI, Musk stressed that it would not carry woke bias," presenting it as a counterweight to rivals like ChatGPT.

Although Netflix is experiencing a surge in subscription cancellations and briefly lost billions in market value, its overall metrics suggest it will weather the storm.

About the Author Karishma Jain Karishma Jain, Chief Sub Editor at News18.com, writes and edits opinion pieces on a variety of subjects, including Indian politics and policy, culture and the arts, technology and social change. Follo... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 13:37 IST

News explainers What A Cancelled Kids' Cartoon Has To Do With Elon Musk's Netflix Boycott | Explained

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22-Year-Old Merchant Navy Cadet Missing From Ship Off Sri Lankan Coast, Family Seeks Help

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 22:57 IST

Karandeep Singh Rana, a 22-year-old merchant navy cadet from Dehradun, went missing from an oil tanker off Sri Lanka. His family seeks urgent help from CM Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Merchant Navy cadet Karandeep Singh Rana went missing last month. (Image: X/@VishaliGarg13)

A 22-year-old merchant navy cadet from Dehradun, Karandeep Singh Rana, has gone missing while on duty aboard an oil tanker sailing off the coast of Sri Lanka, his family said on Saturday.

According to his father, Narendra Singh Rana, Karandeep disappeared on September 20 when the vessel was sailing from Iraq to China via Sri Lanka. The family is now appealing to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and the central government for urgent intervention in locating him.

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Narendra, a resident of the Patel Nagar area in Dehradun, told news agency PTI that Karandeep had left India on August 18 for Singapore, where he boarded the tanker heading to Iraq.

From Iraq, they began their sail to China via Sri Lanka, he said.

Narendra said they received a call from the Mumbai office of the Executive Ship Management (ESM) company at around 9:30 pm on September 20, regarding Karandeeps disappearance.

At around 9:30 pm (on September 20), the Mumbai office of the Executive Ship Management (ESM) company informed them that Karandeep had gone missing from the ship and was not found despite extensive searches. We were shocked to hear this because we had spoken to him that afternoon and he was perfectly fine," he told PTI.

Despite multiple attempts to seek clarification, the company officials told the family that Karandeep had gone alone to the deck and had been missing since then.

Narendra, who is employed in a private firm, said the family has been continuously reaching out to authorities in a desperate bid to trace their son.

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He said that the family has appealed for help on the Chief Ministers Portal, to state government officials and even to the Ministry of External Affairs. He also met Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday and requested his personal involvement in the matter.

Narendra said Karandeep had always wanted to join the Merchant Navy, and he was due to become a Third Officer.

About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, ... Read More

Location : Dehradun, India, India

First Published: October 04, 2025, 22:57 IST

News india 22-Year-Old Merchant Navy Cadet Missing From Ship Off Sri Lankan Coast, Family Seeks Help

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After Mega Rs 3,296 Crore Earnings From Selling Scrap, Modi Govt Starts Biggest Swachhata Campaign

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News18.com Edited By: Apoorva Misra



Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 10:41 IST

This year, the campaign will cover 7.22 lakh office spaces, making it the largest-ever in the countrys history for Swachhata (cleanliness)

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The scrap sales include physical files, obsolete office equipment and vehicles, and other items that are no longer needed for work. (AI-generated Image)

Rs 3,296 crore. This is not the budget of a new government scheme. This is the amount of money that the government has earnedbelieve it or notby selling scrap and waste material.

This big kitty of savings could further swell with the 2025 Special Campaign 5.0 staring from October 2 that will go on till October 31. In the four earlier campaigns since 2021, the government cumulatively earned Rs 3,296 crore by selling waste and scrap material that used to clog corridors of government offices. This year, the campaign will cover 7.22 lakh office spaces, making it the largest-ever in the countrys history for Swachhata (cleanliness).

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Three top ministersMansukh Mandaviya, Ram Mohan Naidu and Jitendra Singhhave been deputed to review the progress of the campaign and give it direction. This will be a regular ministerial review. Over 800 senior officers from 84 ministries and departments have also been put on the job. This time, rounds will also be taken of offices by cabinet ministers to monitor the drive.

Singh has said that not only has Rs 3,296 crore been earned from earlier such campaigns, but nearly 696 lakh square feet of office space has also been freed up from the waste. Nearly 137 lakh physical files were also weeded out in the last four years.

A weekly consolidated report will be prepared this time by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) regarding the campaigns progress and it will be submitted to the Prime Ministers Office and Cabinet Secretariat. The government will also do a third-party assessment of the programme next month to assess the qualitative impact of it.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly spoken about the special campaign in Mann Ki Baat addresses and encouraged ministries to take part in it. The government earned Rs 1,162 crore from the campaign in the first three years, Rs 551 crore from December 2023 till July 2024, another Rs 650 crore from the campaign in the fourth edition, and Rs 932 crore from the campaign between December 2024 and July 2025. The scrap sales include physical files, obsolete office equipment and vehicles, and other items that are no longer needed for work.

The campaign also involves clearing references received from MPs, parliamentary assurances, public grievances and easing of rules.

About the Author Aman Sharma Aman Sharma, Executive Editor - National Affairs at CNN-News18, and Bureau Chief at News18 in Delhi, has over two decades of experience in covering the wide spectrum of politics and the Prime Minister... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 10:41 IST

News india After Mega Rs 3,296 Crore Earnings From Selling Scrap, Modi Govt Starts Biggest Swachhata Campaign

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How Years Of Quiet Diplomacy Have Paved Way For Taliban Foreign Ministers Landmark Visit To India

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CNN-News18 Edited By: Apoorva Misra



Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 15:46 IST

On his visit, Amir Khan Muttaqi is set to press for India to continue and even increase humanitarian aid apart from considering recognising the Taliban regime formally

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Amir Khan Muttaqi (AFP)

On his visit, Amir Khan Muttaqi will press for India to continue and even increase humanitarian aid apart from considering recognising the Taliban regime formally

Afghanistan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqis visit to India will be a new page in India-Afghanistan relations. The fact that he is arriving itself is proof of confirmation of the will for bolstering ties with India.

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In order to grasp what relations between Afghanistan and India will be, it is compulsory to look at the background from the Talibans comeback as rulers in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021.

The moment the Taliban came to power, the perception became that they were under Pakistans influence, primarily following photos of Pakistans ISI chief that emerged from Kabul. In India, this formed a negative impression of the Taliban, and it appeared that India had lost its strategic space in Afghanistan.

It seemed initially that the interests of India had vanished, but New Delhi carefully considered its next move. Observers on Indian diplomacy and experts on global affairsthose with special attention on South Asiacautiously mentioned that this time, the Taliban showed a softer stance towards India.

Experts pointed out that the Taliban are mostly Pashtunstribes that had relations with India dating as far back as around 250 years ago, long before 1947. In contrast, they didnt have such intense historical relations with Uzbekistan or Tajikistan. This long relationship provided diplomats with room to manoeuvre.

In the meantime, Pakistan was being criticised within Afghanistan itself, with Islamabad having little sympathies from the Afghans.

Indian diplomats initiated secret backchannel interactions with Taliban representatives. Trust began building up over time, primarily as there were humanitarian needs in Afghanistan. Without raising overt international focus, India provided supportdelivering on aid, food grains, medicines, and supplies. This was a gradual, cautious process.

On June 2, 2022, Afghanistan was visited by senior Indian diplomat JP Singh. When news of Singhs meeting with the Taliban leadership, such as Amir Khan Muttaqi, emerged, it came as a shock for regional and international observers. The meeting, as it was interpreted, was an aggressive act, especially considering that afterwards Muttaqi preferred meeting Singh again instead of relying unilaterally on Pakistan.

Next, India reopened its embassy in Kabul and escalated aid, sending wheat, medicines, and other necessities. Indian diplomats, with women officers, started making visits at Afghan schools, hospitals, and development projects in place.

Indian authorities also met Afghanistans defence minister Mullah Yaqoob and commerce minister Nooruddin Azizi over time, boosting bilateral works. The big question, though, remained: whether India should extend official recognition to the Taliban regime, as the United Nations has not granted recognition?

Despite this, India lodged uninterrupted humanitarian support, enhanced visa services, and carried out diplomatic exchanges.

By 2025, even the foreign secretary of India had a secret meeting with Muttaqi in Dubai, preparing grounds for current proceedings.

In this context, now its the turn of Amir Khan Muttaqi who will travel on October 10, and visit New Delhi, where he will hold talks with Indias external affairs minister S Jaishankar and other authorities. This is significantly considered as the result of years of cautious diplomacy. The talks will not only be bilateral but also will have huge regional implications.

One of the biggest confidence-builders was earlier achieved by the Taliban as it took measures for resolution of concerns of involvement of ISI in gurdwaras in Afghanistan. The Taliban renovated the Kabul-based Karte Parwan Gurdwara and also allowed Hindus and Sikhs evacuated earlier in Operation Devi Shakti by India to return.

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They granted them safety and returned their assetsactions that reassured India, which has been vocal about saving minority communities in Afghanistan.

News18 has learnt that on his visit, Muttaqi will press for India to continue and even increase humanitarian aid as Afghan citizens face tremendous stress. He can also persuade India to seriously consider recognising the Taliban regime formally, increase visa grants, intensify development aid, and strengthen trade relations. One significant hindrance to trade continues to be Pakistans hesitation over giving a go-ahead for two-way transit. Nevertheless, India has been finding out alternate networks for improving commercial ties with Afghanistan.

First Published: October 04, 2025, 15:46 IST

News india How Years Of Quiet Diplomacy Have Paved Way For Taliban Foreign Ministers Landmark Visit To India

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Huawei Phones, Satellite Intel: Expert Claims China Assisted Pakistan In Pahalgam Attack

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 23:12 IST

Professor Srikanth Kondapalli claims China aided Pakistan in the Pahalgam attack, citing Huawei phones, satellite images, and support in Operation Sindoor.

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Professor Srikanth Kondapalli, Chinese Studies expert at JNU (ANI)

Professor Srikanth Kondapalli, a leading Chinese Studies expert, accused China of double standards on the issue of fighting terrorism, saying that one of the terrorists was carrying a Huawei phone with a Chinese satellite connection when the Pahalgam terror attack took place and messaged back to Pakistan after the heinous attack.

In an interview with the news agency ANI, Professor Kondapalli also referred to Chinese support to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.

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On April 22nd, when the Pahalgam incident took place, one of the terrorists was carrying a Huawei phone with a Chinese satellite connection. He was messaging back to Pakistan after the Pahalgam attacks. So, there is a Chinese role hereThe Chinese have supplied satellite images of Pahalgam before the attack. 120-129 slides have been given to the Pakistanis. .This is another incident where the Chinese were helping the Pakistani side, despite the counter-terrorism pledge with the Indians, also with the international community in the SCO," he said.

Kondapalli also highlighted Pakistans efforts to remove any reference to The Resistance Front (TRF) from United Nations Security Council discussions following the Pahalgam terror attack.

The Chinese Ambassador and the Pakistani Ambassador.the name of The Resistance Front was deleted, which took responsibility for the Pahalgam attacks initially twice, but a third time they declined to take responsibility. The fact that they took responsibility the first two times indicates their role. In the Tianjin SCO Declaration, Pahalgam was mentioned," he said.

However, this was watered down with the mention of the Zafar Express. It suggests then that the Chinese were under pressure from Russia to include the Pahalgam terror attacks, but they were watered down under Pakistani pressure. So this indicates that India cannot trust China on the terrorism issue," Kondapalli added.

The Chinese studies expert also discussed Chinas support to Pakistan during Operation Sindioor, carried out by India in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

China provided information again to the Pakistani Air Force, as the Deputy Army Chief mentioned. Also, the Chinese have given the equipment like JF-17, J-10 , HQ-9 surface-to-air missile batteries. This is very offensive in nature. And Foreign Minister Wang Yi, after the Pahalgam attack, said that there should be an impartial inquiryforgetting for a moment that China never accepted any investigation into the Xinjiang Uyghur insurgency-related incidents or during the COVID-19 pandemic, they did not allow the WHO delegation to go and visit the blood samples.So it is quite strange."

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To put it in context, after the Pathankot terror incident, India invited Pakistan to join the investigation. Soon after, Pakistan raised allegations against Indian agencies. For India, it is now time for action, not investigation. Many terror incidents traced to cross-border terrorism led to Operation Sindoor, during which China appeared to side with Pakistan, providing arms and intelligence. A Pakistani Brigadier in the Western Theatre Command coordinated between China and Rawalpindi, suggesting we need to verify before trusting China," Kondapalli added.

(With inputs from ANI)

About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, ... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 23:12 IST

News india Huawei Phones, Satellite Intel: Expert Claims China Assisted Pakistan In Pahalgam Attack

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India Sends Letter To UK Assuring Nirav Modi Will Only Face Trial, No Questioning: Report

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 12:24 IST

India assured the UK that Nirav Modi, accused in the Punjab National Bank fraud, will only face trial and not be detained or interrogated by any agency if extradited to Mumbai.

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India sent a letter of assurance to the United Kingdom where it said that if fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi is extradited to India, he will not be interrogated or taken into custody by any agency" and will only face trial" on his return.

The letter also highlighted that India expects the court which accepted a plea from Nirav Modi seeking to reopen his extradition proceeding dismiss Nirav Modis plea at the first hearing itself on the basis of this letter.

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It also mentions that Nirav Modi will be housed in Arthur Road prison in Mumbai where living conditions for inmates are better.

The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), ED (Enforcement Directorate), SFIO (Serious Fraud Investigation Office), and Customs and Income Tax departments sent the assurance letter jointly.

The Hindustan Times, which first reported the development, in its report said that the letter of assurance was a sovereign guarantee of sorts".

A senior government official said India has sent a letter of assurance from five investigative agencies, clarifying that if Nirav Modi is extradited, he will face trial only for fraud and money laundering  the offences cited in the original extradition order.

The assurance, which serves as a sovereign guarantee, also states that Modi will neither be detained nor questioned by any other agency. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in London is expected to submit this assurance before the court.

The fugitive businessman had filed an application in the Westminster Court challenging his extradition to India, earlier this September. He faces charges related to the 6,498 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud,

The UK High Court had cleared Nirav Modis extradition to India, rejecting his final appeal. The decision, issued on November 9, 2022, upheld a previous ruling by Westminster Magistrates Court and dismissed Modis request to escalate the case to the UK Supreme Court.

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Earlier in May, the UK High Court rejected a bail plea of Nirav Modi, accused in the Rs 13,000 crore PNB fraud which he orchestrated with his uncle Mehul Choksi. Nirav is accused of siphoning off Rs 6498.20 crore of the total scam amount.

There are three separate criminal proceedings against Nirav in India. First, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case of fraud on PNB, second, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case relating to the alleged laundering of the proceeds of that fraud and the third case pertains to criminal proceedings involving alleged interference with evidence and witnesses in the CBI proceedings.

About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has c... Read More

Location : London, United Kingdom (UK)

First Published: October 04, 2025, 12:24 IST

News india India Sends Letter To UK Assuring Nirav Modi Will Only Face Trial, No Questioning: Report

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'They Walked Away': Madras High Court Tears Into TVK, Its Chief Vijay Over Karur Stampede

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 13:17 IST

The Madras High Court strongly criticised Vijays TVK leaders for failing to rescue victims or take responsibility after the Karur stampede.

A photo of TVK chief Vijay/ the aftermath of the stampede in Karur (PTI)

The Madras High Court on Friday expressed grief over the Karur stampede, which claimed the lives of 41 people on September 27, and pulled up the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) leaders and organisers of the rally by actor-turned-politician Vijay.

The court bashed the party leaders and organisers for their failure to rescue the public and children, and for not taking responsibility for the incident.

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Watching the videos is painful," said Justice N Senthilkumar, as the court expressed shock that only two people had been arrested so far in connection with the incident.

Whether they are leaders or party workers, after this incident, while the President, Prime Minister, Chief Minister, and all political parties expressed grief and engaged in rescue efforts, the organisers of the event, the party members, had completely walked away," the court remarked.

Later, the court ordered setting up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under senior IPS officer Asra Garg to probe the stampede, and suggested strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) for political rallies.

It dismissed the anticipatory bail pleas of TVK state general secretary Bussy N Anand and deputy general secretary CTR Nirmal Kumar, who were named in the FIR in connection with the incident.

It also refused to order a CBI probe into the Karur stampede case, but gave the petitioner, BJP leader Uma Anandan, the liberty to approach the court if the investigation is not done properly.

The bench took note of the Tamil Nadu governments suggestion to frame SOPs in respect of rallies or meetings, disallowing events near state or national highways.

It suggested that in future, when such political rallies or meetings are held at designated places, the government and political parties must ensure that there are proper arrangements for drinking water and sanitation.

The bench also said that escape routes and parking facilities should be provided to minimise the chances of stampedes.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister MK Stalin and the ruling DMK trained their guns against the BJP and Vijay, respectively.

While Stalin accused the BJP of trying to gain political mileage over the deadly incident, his party DMK slammed Vijay for his alleged arrogance, hunger for money, publicity mania and the desire for chair."

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It said his challenge to the state government to arrest him for the stampede was aimed at diverting attention away from the deaths of as many as 41 persons.

ALSO READ | Days After Karur Stampede, Posters Backing TVK Chief Vijay Seen In Tamil Nadu

About the Author Vani Mehrotra Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

First Published: October 04, 2025, 13:17 IST

News india 'They Walked Away': Madras High Court Tears Into TVK, Its Chief Vijay Over Karur Stampede

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Nagpur Couple Killed In Italy Road Accident During Family Holiday; Kids Hospitalised

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 11:29 IST

The Indian Embassy in Italy confirmed the incident and said it is closely coordinating with the family and local authorities to provide assistance.

Nagpur Couple Killed In Italy Road Accident During Family Holiday

A family holiday in Europe ended in tragedy for a Nagpur couple on Thursday, when businessman Javed Akhtar and his wife, Nadira Gulshan, were killed in a road accident in Italy. The couple, who were travelling with their three children, were involved in a car crash on the Aurelia Highway near Grosseto. The Indian Embassy in Italy confirmed the incident and said it is closely coordinating with the family and local authorities to provide assistance.

What do we know about the victims?

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Javed Akhtar, 55, was a well-known hotelier and entrepreneur from Nagpur, Maharashtra. His wife, Nadira Gulshan, 47, was travelling with their three children  daughters Arzoo Akhtar, 21, and Shifa Akhtar, and son Jazel Akhtar. The family owns the Gulshan Plaza hotel near Sitabuldi flyover in Nagpur.

The family had started their holiday from France on 22 September and had travelled to Italy for sightseeing. The accident occurred on the Aurelia Highway near Grosseto while they were in a nine-seater minibus heading to a tourist stop.

What do we know about the accident?

As per reports, the accident involved a van carrying tourists of Asian origin and a truck that rammed the broken-down van, causing a collision with the minibus. Javed Akhtar and Nadira Gulshan, along with the minibus driver, died on the spot.

Their daughter, Arzoo, sustained severe head injuries and is currently in critical condition at Lee Scott Hospital in Siena. Shifa and Jazel are recovering in hospitals in Florence and Grosseto, respectively.

According to local reports, rescue teams arrived late at the crash site. Jazel, who regained consciousness, dialled the local helpline number to request assistance. Fire department teams eventually retrieved the injured, and helicopters were used to airlift them to hospitals due to the severity of their injuries.

Indian Embassy responds

The Indian Embassy expressed deep condolences for the couples deaths and assured support for the family.

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The Embassy conveys its heartfelt and sincere condolences for the tragic loss of two Indian nationals from Nagpur in an accident near Grosseto.Our prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured family members who are undergoing treatment. The Embassy is in contact with the India in Italy (@IndiainItaly) October 3, 2025

In a statement posted on X, the embassy said, The Embassy conveys its heartfelt and sincere condolences for the tragic loss of two Indian nationals from Nagpur in an accident near Grosseto. Our prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured family members who are undergoing treatment. The Embassy is in contact with the family and local Italian authorities. We are providing all assistance to the family."

About the Author Shuddhanta Patra Shuddhanta Patra, a seasoned journalist with eight years of experience, serves as Senior SubEditor at CNN News 18. With expertise across national politics, geopolitics, business news, she has influen... Read More

Location : Italy

First Published: October 04, 2025, 11:29 IST

News india Nagpur Couple Killed In Italy Road Accident During Family Holiday; Kids Hospitalised

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NCERT Rolls Out Swadeshi Modules, Connects 1905 Movement To PM Modis Call For Aatmanirbhar Bharat

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 09:04 IST

The NCERT has developed two modules - Swadeshi: Vocal for Local for middle school students and Swadeshi: For a Self-Reliant India for the secondary stage.

NCERT Rolls Out Swadeshi Modules, Connects 1905 Movement To PM Modis Call For Aatmanirbhar Bharat

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has unveiled two new modules on Swadeshi, tracing the movements journey from its inception in 1905 to Prime Minister Narendra Modis present-day call for Aatmanirbhar Bharat. The initiative aims to connect Indias freedom struggle with the modern pursuit of self-reliance.

Prime Minister Modi, in his Independence Day address this year, described self-reliance as the bedrock of a developed India". Later, in an interaction with national award-winning teachers, he urged educators to lead campaigns alongside their students to promote Indian products and encourage Vocal for Local" initiatives.

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Two modules for schools

The NCERT has developed two modules  Swadeshi: Vocal for Local for middle school students and Swadeshi: For a Self-Reliant India for the secondary stage. These carry excerpts from the Prime Ministers Independence Day speech, while also revisiting the historical origins of the movement.

The modules recall how Swadeshi became a rallying cry during Bengals partition in 1905, when British imports devastated Indian artisans. It was not only about rejecting foreign goods but also about creating Indian alternatives. Examples cited include Prafulla Chandra Rays Bengal Chemicals (1901) and Jamsetji Tatas Iron and Steel Company (1907).

The materials also highlight Mahatma Gandhis advocacy of Swadeshi in education, and Rabindranath Tagores view of self-reliance as the ultimate test of freedom. Former Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh, however, has urged NCERT to acknowledge Baba Ram Singh of the Namdhari sect, who he said had launched a Swadeshi movement as early as 1860.

The modules emphasise Indias recent achievements in space, defence, and healthcare as examples of modern self-reliance. They connect the historical movement to contemporary programmes such as Make in India, Startup India, Digital India, and Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

They also argue that building trust in Indian brands like Amul in dairy, ISRO in space, and Ayurveda in wellness will strengthen the nations manufacturing base and global reputation.

Swadeshi in the digital age

One section introduces the idea of Swadeshi AI", highlighting the importance of developing homegrown artificial intelligence solutions to reduce dependence on foreign technologies such as OpenAIs ChatGPT or Googles Gemini. The modules stress that indigenous AI could protect Indias data sovereignty and meet local needs, including multilingualism, agriculture, and governance.

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Drawing comparisons with Vietnam and Israel, the modules underline how strategic self-reliance has empowered nations. In 1905, Swadeshi gave strength to fight colonial exploitation. In 2025, it guides us towards Aatmanirbharta in a globalised, technology-driven world," the text notes.

By revisiting Indias freedom struggle and linking it with 21st-century challenges, NCERTs modules seek to instil a spirit of innovation, resilience, and pride in homegrown solutions among the next generation.

About the Author Shuddhanta Patra Shuddhanta Patra, a seasoned journalist with eight years of experience, serves as Senior SubEditor at CNN News 18. With expertise across national politics, geopolitics, business news, she has influen... Read More

Location : Delhi, India, India

First Published: October 04, 2025, 09:04 IST

News india NCERT Rolls Out Swadeshi Modules, Connects 1905 Movement To PM Modis Call For Aatmanirbhar Bharat

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Key Points

Pfizer stock offers a yield above 6% at recent prices.

MPLX LP is a pipeline operator that offers a yield above 7% at the moment.

Pfizer and MPLX LP could continue raising their dividend payouts for many years to come.

10 stocks we like better than Pfizer 

Does the government shutdown have you feeling queasy about investing in stocks? It's understandable, but history says your portfolio's going to be just fine. The last government shutdown, in 2019, is hardly noticeable on a chart of the benchmark S&P 500 index's performance.

If you are concerned about the short-term performance of stocks, it's probably best to invest in businesses that pay dividends. It's a lot easier to remain stoic during market downturns when you know there's a quarterly dividend payment around the corner.

At recent prices, you can scoop up a share of Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), and a share of MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) for less than $100 combined. Here's why investors want to pick up both of these ultra-high-yield stocks now and hold on for the long run.

1. Pfizer

Pfizer became a household name during the COVID pandemic. That didn't prevent sales of vaccines and antiviral treatments that address COVID-19 from plunging over the past few years. In addition to sinking COVID sales, several blockbuster products are losing patent-protected market exclusivity soon.

From 2025 through 2030, Pfizer expects patent expirations to reduce annual sales by $17 billion to $18 billion. Fear that it won't be able to maintain its dividend payment has pushed the stock down by more than half from its previous peak.

The drugmaker has raised its payout every year since 2009. At recent prices, it offers a huge 6.4% yield.

While Pfizer's headed for significant losses due to patent expirations, it used the profits its COVID products generated to acquire new revenue streams. In 2024, regulators granted more than a dozen approvals to Pfizer drugs. It also has a big late-stage development pipeline that produced eight phase 3 clinical trial readouts last year.

In January, Pfizer said it expected acquired products to generate $20 billion in annual revenue by 2030. More recently, it announced the upcoming acquisition of Metsera and its experimental anti-obesity treatments. If either of Metsera's candidates continues to succeed in clinical studies, Pfizer's management team will have to significantly raise its 2030 revenue projection.

Over the next several years, Pfizer investors probably won't receive rapid payout raises. With a robust development pipeline, though, there's a good chance that dividends will keep moving in the right direction.
Painful Situation: Brother Of Indian Student Shot Dead In Texas Seeks Govts Help

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 19:57 IST

According to Damodar, the family learned of the incident from a childhood friend of Chandrashekhar, who is also based in Texas.

Pole Damodar expressed a lack of clear information surrounding the incident. (x)

The brother of Chandrashekar Pole, an Indian student, who was shot dead while working at a gas station in US Texas, has said that this is a very painful situation for the entire family.

While speaking exclusively to CNN-News18, Pole Damodar expressed a lack of clear information surrounding the incident. He said that exact information has not been given.

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We do not know who shot my brother. No one has given us exact information, no CCTV footage has been released, and we have no clarity," he told CNN-News18.

According to Damodar, the family learned of the incident from a childhood friend of Chandrashekhar, who is also based in Texas. His friend informed us. That is how we came to know something had happened," he added.

Damodar also vowed legal action, saying that the family will file a case.

He further requested the state and central government to push for the strictest punishment against the accused. He also urged the government to bring Chandrashekars body to India as soon as possible.

Chandrashekar Pole, a student at the University of North Texas and a native of Hyderabad, was shot dead by unknown miscreants while working at a gas station last night in Texas.

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According to information available, Pole was shot by a person of African-American origin. He was working at a gas filling station in Delton part-time when some assailants opened fire on him. The students family has sought the governments help in bringing back their sons body from the US.

Pole moved to the United States in 2023 for higher studies after finishing his bachelors in dental surgery back in Hyderabad. He had completed his masters degree in the US six months ago and had been seeking a full-time position while working part-time at a gas station.

About the Author Shobhit Gupta Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degre... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 19:47 IST

News india Painful Situation: Brother Of Indian Student Shot Dead In Texas Seeks Govts Help

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Pakistan High Commission Visa Desk In Delhi Misused As ISI Recruitment Hub | Exclusive

Reported By :

CNN-News18

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 16:22 IST

The latest confirmation of this comes with the arrest of Waseem Akram, a civil engineer from Palwal, who was acting as a courier and data supplier for PHC official Jaffar

(L) Waseem Akram and Jaffar. Images/News18

Top intelligence sources have exclusively confirmed to CNN-News18 that the Visa Section of the Pakistan High Commission (PHC) in New Delhi is being systematically misused as a hub for espionage, functioning as a soft entry point" to identify, recruit, and groom vulnerable Indian nationals for intelligence work.

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The latest confirmation of this modus operandi comes with the September 30 arrest of Waseem Akram, a civil engineer from Palwal, under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) and the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Akram was acting as a courier and data supplier for PHC official Jaffar, alias Muzammil Hussain.

The Recruit RewardExploit Modus Operandi

The Palwal case perfectly illustrates the PHCs structured espionage pipeline, which exploits cross-border kinship and financial vulnerability:

Corruption as Bait: Akrams recruitment began during his visa processing in 2022. His initial Pakistani visa was denied but later approved only after a Rs 20,000 bribe, marking the first stage of compromise.

Financial Inducement: PHC officials used corruption in visa issuance as leverage for later espionage recruitment. Handlers transferred between Rs 4-5 lakh to Akrams Indian bank accounts, ostensibly as visa facilitation funds", with local cash deliveries (e.g., Rs 80,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh) and SIM handovers made in Palwal.

Intelligence Extraction: After returning from Kasur, Pakistan, Akram maintained WhatsApp contact with Jaffar, acting as a financial and logistical conduit by providing SIM cards, OTPs, and information concerning Indian Army personnel.

Institutionalised Diplomatic Abuse

This low-cost, hybrid model of espionage consistently targets individuals from border districts (Palwal, Nuh, Malerkotla) who have relatives in Pakistan, using family visit visas as emotional leverage.

The operational strategy is strikingly similar to earlier modules: PHC staffers Danish, alias Ehsan-ur-Rahim, and local assets in Malerkotla (Punjab) and Nuh (Haryana) used visa promises and digital platforms like UPI for money transfers and WhatsApp for covert communication, all to extract sensitive defence inputs.

Following earlier module busts, PHC officials like Danish and Jaffar were declared Persona Non Grata (PNG) and expelled. However, top intelligence sources note that new officials continue similar operations, suggesting an institutional sanction and continuous, adaptive human intelligence strategy by Pakistan that exploits Indias social and digital vulnerabilities. What appears as simple visa corruption is, in fact, a carefully orchestrated espionage operation.

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About the Author Manoj Gupta Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18

First Published: October 04, 2025, 16:22 IST

News india Pakistan High Commission Visa Desk In Delhi Misused As ISI Recruitment Hub | Exclusive

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Parties Urge Election Commission To Hold Bihar Elections Soon After Chhath

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 20:18 IST

During the key interaction, the poll body termed political parties as the foundation of democracy and emphasised the importance of their full participation.

With two major festivals, Diwali and Chhath, falling between October 20 and 30, the elections are likely to be scheduled in the first two weeks of November. (PTI)

Political parties in Bihar on Saturday unanimously urged the Election Commission to schedule the upcoming Assembly elections soon after the Chhath festival and in the minimum number of phases possible.

The parties put forth their demand during the poll bodys first of the two-day review visit to the state for the upcoming elections. The parties said that polls immediately after Chhath would be convenient for voters and candidates. They also said a smaller number of phases would reduce the burden of prolonged campaigns.

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Chhat, an important festival in Bihar that is celebrated six days after Diwali, will fall on October 25-28 this year. During Diwali and Chhat, people employed outside Bihar return home for festivities, and it is believed that it is the best time to hold polls to ensure greater voter participation.

During its first day of the review meet, the Commission held detailed interactions with representatives of major national and regional parties, including the BJP, Congress, JD(U), RJD, LJP (Ramvilas), AAP, BSP, CPI(M), and others.

During the key interaction, the poll body termed political parties as the foundation of democracy" and emphasised the importance of their full participation throughout the electoral process. It also encouraged the parties to appoint polling and counting agents to ensure transparency and to celebrate elections in a festive spirit" alongside voters.

The parties representatives unanimously thanked the Commission for its recent initiatives, particularly the successful completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. They also lauded measures such as limiting the number of voters per polling station to 1,200, prioritising postal ballot counting before the penultimate round of EVM results, and mandating the distribution of Form 17C to party agents before the presiding officer leaves the polling station.

Reiterating their faith in the Commissions mandate to deliver free, fair, and transparent elections, party leaders welcomed the consultative approach of the ECI.

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The poll body will on Sunday meet with state election officials, enforcement agencies, and other stakeholders as part of its comprehensive poll preparedness review.

The term of the 243-member Bihar assembly ends on November 22. The first phase of elections is likely to be held at the end of October, soon after Chhat.

About the Author Shobhit Gupta Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degre... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 20:18 IST

News india Parties Urge Election Commission To Hold Bihar Elections Soon After Chhath

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UK PM Keir Starmer To Visit India Next Week; Hold Talks With PM Modi On Trade, Security

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Last Updated: October 07, 2025, 23:20 IST

UK PM Keir Starmer will visit India on October 89, meet PM Modi to discuss the IndiaUK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Prime Minister Modi and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. (File)

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will make his first official visit to India on October 89 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of External Affairs said. During the two-day visit, Keir Starmer and PM Modi will review progress under the IndiaUK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in line with Vision 2035. Discussions will cover trade, investment, technology, defence, climate, energy, health and education. The leaders will also meet business leaders to explore opportunities arising from the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

On October 9 in Mumbai, both prime ministers will deliver keynote addresses at the 6th edition of the Global Fintech Fest and hold exchanges on regional and global developments. According to the MEA, the visit builds on the momentum from PM Modis July 2025 trip to the United Kingdom and is expected to reaffirm a forward-looking partnership between the two countries.

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The visit carries added significance as India and the United Kingdom signed the CETA on July 24 in London after more than three years of negotiations. The agreement seeks to double bilateral trade to USD 120 billion by 2030. The pact, described by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal as a game-changing" deal, is currently undergoing ratification and is expected to take effect in 2026.

Officials said the two leaders are expected to take stock of developments related to the agreement and discuss wider cooperation on trade, technology and defence.

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The meeting will also take place against the backdrop of global economic uncertainty. While the United Kingdom has reached a non-binding deal with the United States to reduce tariffs, India- facing additional duties linked to Russian oil imports- has resumed its own trade talks with Washington.

The CETA is Indias most important trade agreement with a Western nation and represents the United Kingdoms most comprehensive pact since its departure from the European Union.

About the Author Siddhant Mishra Siddhant Mishra is a Senior Special Correspondent at CNN-News18, covering foreign affairs and international relations. With over 12 years of experience in journalism, he has also reported extensively ... Read More

Location : Delhi, India, India

First Published: October 04, 2025, 19:13 IST

News india UK PM Keir Starmer To Visit India Next Week; Hold Talks With PM Modi On Trade, Security

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Woman Journalist Assaulted At Kolkata Railway Station, Chases Molesters Before They Flee

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 22:03 IST

A 23-year-old woman journalist was assaulted at Sodepur railway station subway after resisting molestation.

An FIR was registered and two of the accused were identified using CCTV footage, police said.(Image: PTI/file photo)

A 23-year-old woman journalist was assaulted late Thursday night inside the subway of Sodepur railway station after she resisted molestation by a group of youths, police said. The incident took place around 9.40 pm when the woman, a resident of Sodepur, was returning home alone after meeting a friend. According to her statement, six to seven men, allegedly drunk, followed her into the subway, passed obscene remarks and molested her.

I initially ignored them and tried to walk fast. Suddenly, someone from behind touched me inappropriately. When I slapped one, the group turned violent. They slapped and punched me before fleeing. Though I screamed for help, nobody stepped forward. People only watched from the stairs," the survivor told The Times of India.

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Despite facial injuries, the woman tried to chase the attackers but was outpaced as they fled. She also alleged police inaction, claiming that two Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel on platform number 4 did not intervene.

They told me to first identify the accused and then lodge a complaint. It was only after the officer-in-charge of Dum Dum GRP intervened that action was initiated," she said.

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An FIR was registered and two of the accused were identified using CCTV footage, police said.

The incident has triggered outrage over safety lapses at suburban railway stations. Chaitali Mukherjee, a social activist, said, With the police yet to apprehend all accused, questions remain over both security preparedness and the role of on-duty personnel."

First Published: October 04, 2025, 22:03 IST

News india Woman Journalist Assaulted At Kolkata Railway Station, Chases Molesters Before They Flee

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Bhumi Pednekar Dazzles In An Intricate White Rohit Bal Creation At Singapore

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 13:26 IST

For her appearance in Singapore, Bhumi Pednekar donned an all-ivory Rohit Bal ensemble. The look was all about delicate hand-embroidery, fine fabric choice, and balanced tailoring.

Bhumi Pednekar was styled by Manisha Melwani.

When Bhumi Pednekar walked into the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore, all eyes turned. The actor, known for her bold sartorial choices, chose an all-white Rohit Bal ensemble that was nothing short of regal. The look, which blended Indian craftsmanship with a modern silhouette, left the audience gasping.

Sharing the pictures on her Instagram, Bhumi Pednekar wrote, Wore this beautiful white Rohit Bal for my talk today at the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore. I could hear the gasps. The love it received was."

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View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bhumi Satish Pednekkar (@bhumisatishpednekkar)

A Vision in White

Bhumis outfit featured a structured, embroidered jacket with a peplum-like flare paired with a voluminous floral skirt, both in shades of pristine ivory. The intricate embroidery on the jacket highlighted Rohit Bals signature attention to detail, while the flowing skirt softened the ensemble, adding a romantic touch. She completed the look with a matching textured cap, which elevated the ensemble from elegant to iconic.

The Rohit Bal Signature

Rohit Bal, often referred to as Indias master of couture," was celebrated for his ability to merge opulence with wearability. His work had consistently carried an aura of timeless luxury, and this creation was no exception. The ensemble reflected his signature craftsmanship: delicate hand-embroidery, fine fabric choice, and dramatic yet balanced tailoring. The white-on-white palette lent the outfit a serene power.

A Statement Beyond Fashion

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Bhumis choice of attire was more than a style statement. It was a representation of Indian couture on an international platform. At an event that brought together global leaders, innovators, and changemakers, her look carried cultural pride while embodying modern sophistication. By choosing Rohit Bal, Bhumi aligned herself with a designer who had long been a global ambassador of Indian artistry.

Her minimal styling allowed the ensemble to shine. With sleek hair, subtle earrings, and muted makeup, Bhumi exuded confidence and grace. The focus remained entirely on the craftsmanship of the outfit, proving once again her instinct for fashion that speaks volumes without being overstated.

Location : Delhi, India, India

First Published: October 04, 2025, 13:26 IST

News lifestyle Bhumi Pednekar Dazzles In An Intricate White Rohit Bal Creation At Singapore
Rishab Shettys Kantara Chapter 1 To Be Screened At Rashtrapati Bhavan: Report

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 21:13 IST

Rishab Shettys Kantara Chapter 1 is set to be screened at Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 5, honoring the team.

Kantara Chapter 1 released on October 2. (Photo Credits: Instagram)

Rishab Shettys Kantara Chapter 1 had been one of the most anticipated films of the year, and as the movie hit theatres on October 2, audiences flocked to cinemas to show their love for the mythological drama. With the movie receiving rave reviews, a report now claims that the Rishab Shetty starrer will be screened at the Rashtrapati Bhavan tomorrow, on Sunday, October 5.

As per Hindustan Times, Kantara will be screened at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, marking a special honour for the entire team. On Sunday, October 5, the movie will be showcased at the Rashtrapati Bhavan with filmmaker and lead actor Rishab Shetty, actor Rukmini Vasanth, and producer Chaluve Gowda in attendance. Meanwhile, the makers of the film have not issued any official confirmation about the movie being screened at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

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The prequel to Rishab Shettys National Award-winning film Kantara was released on October 2. As per Sacnilk, Kantara: Chapter 1 earned 45 crore (early estimates) India net on Day 2, bringing the films collection to 106.85 crore domestically. The film had opened with 61.85 crore. Although the film faced some competition from Varun Dhawans Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, it quickly overtook the romantic comedy.

Kantara Chapter 1: Review

Kantara: Chapter 1 begins slowly. The entire first half of the film is used for world-building, which doesnt make sense at first. While every attempt is made to flesh out all characters from the start, some sequences seem unnecessarily dragged out. However, the film wastes no time in the second half. The plot becomes more interesting, the pace is faster, and it ends with a shocking twist.

The elaborate action sequences get their due in the second half, and so does Rishab Shetty, the actor. A possessed" Rishab Shetty is a force on screen. He compels you to appreciate his talent and has a natural tendency to grab your attention every time he appears. However, the same cannot be said about the actor in the more regular scenes. The everyday Berme is reminiscent of Prabhas in Baahubali 1  not much to offer unless theres a fight. Even Rukmini Vasanth usually has the same expressions.

Details about Kantara Chapter 1

The film features Rishab Shetty in the lead, alongside Rukmini Vasanth, Gulshan Devaiah, Jayaram, and Rakesh Poojari. Produced by Hombale Films, it promises grand visuals, folklore-driven storytelling, and powerful performances.

First Published: October 04, 2025, 21:13 IST

News movies regional-cinema Rishab Shettys Kantara Chapter 1 To Be Screened At Rashtrapati Bhavan: Report
Opinion | Bapus Swadeshi Vision & GST Reforms: A Step Towards A Developed India

Written By :

News18.com

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 16:14 IST

By embracing Swadeshi, India can stand on its own feet and race ahead among the fastest-growing economies, turning the vision of a developed India into reality

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The new GST reform is more than a tax adjustmentits a broad economic initiative that strengthens traditional industries, agriculture, handicrafts, and the MSME sector.

Indias strongest weapon to counter the US tariff war is Bapus Swadeshi ideology. By following this path, the nation can not only overcome challenges but also become truly self-reliant. Amid rapidly shifting global diplomatic partnerships, India has maintained its traditional non-aligned stance, sometimes at a cost. However, by embracing Swadeshi and strengthening our economy, we can reduce dependence on others. Recently, the Union government has taken a historic step to strengthen the Indian economy by reforming GST rates. This move gives fresh momentum to Indias economic growth.

The True Meaning of Gandhis Swadeshi

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Gandhi-jis concept of Swadeshi went far beyond merely using domestic products. It was a holistic vision encompassing economic, social, and spiritual dimensions. His goal was to make India self-reliant, free from foreign pressures, and rooted in its culture and traditions. Gandhi-ji believed that supporting local artisans and small-scale industries was the essence of Swadeshi. He advocated for every village to empower itself through skill and labour, which he considered true freedom and self-governance. For him, buying foreign goods weakened the nation, while embracing products made from local resources strengthened it. Swadeshi was not just an economic policyit was a means to restore self-respect and cultural identity.

He emphasised Gram Swaraj, or self-sufficient village systems, and favoured small-scale and cottage industries over large factories, ensuring employment and reducing unemployment. Gandhis Swadeshi movement was rooted in love and non-violence, aiming to meet ones needs without hostility and to help neighbours. He considered supporting domestic products a national dutya responsibility every Indian must uphold. Unfortunately, post-independence India did not fully embrace this vision.

PM Modis Swadeshi Call From Red Fort

On Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to traders nationwide to adopt Swadeshi products. He urged them to promote these products not out of compulsion, but as a matter of strength, contributing to a self-reliant India. PM Modi emphasised that promoting Swadeshi is not a political agenda but a collective responsibility of every Indian.

Highlighting small businesses, he said: I urge every small trader to take pride in Swadeshi and display boards indicating local products. We must progress not out of necessity, but with strength, using products made by Indian labour and sweat. Prioritising such products can accelerate Indias growth and strengthen our path toward self-reliance."

GST Reforms: Strengthening Bapus Swadeshi Ideology

The Modi government recently introduced a historic reform in the GST system, simplifying the multi-slab tax structure to just two rates5 per cent and 18 per cent. This makes taxation simpler and more transparent, providing direct relief to the public and small businesses. Previously, the complex tax system burdened small traders and entrepreneurs. The new structure eases business operations, encourages investment, and boosts employment opportunities. Some states initially opposed the GST changes, fearing revenue loss, but studies show these reforms are more beneficial than harmful.

Key Impacts Across States & UTs:

Jammu & Kashmir: Lower taxes on horticulture, walnuts, cherries, and saffron provide better prices for farmers.

Himachal Pradesh: 5 per cent GST on Kangra tea, Kullu shawls, black cumin, and Kangra paintings strengthens artisans and farmers.

Uttarakhand: Reduced tax on bay leaves, Nainital litchi, Munsyari rajma, and handicrafts empowers local industries.

Jharkhand: Sohrai-Khovar paintings, Dhokra art, Tassar silk, and Mahua products gain recognition.

Tamil Nadu: Tax relief on textiles, Tanjore paintings, and traditional turmeric-banana products boosts employment and competitiveness.

Chhattisgarh: Bastar iron craft, Dhokra art, and Champa silk sarees become more accessible.

Kerala: Aleppey cardamom, Malabar chili, Wayanad coffee, and coir industry get a growth boost.

Andhra Pradesh: Guntur chili, Tirupati laddoo, and Etikoppaka toys gain momentum.

Puducherry & Karnataka: Tax cuts on terracotta, Mysore silk, and Channapatna toys aid artisans.

Maharashtra: Kolhapuri chappals, Paithani sarees, Warli paintings, and Alphonso mangoes open new markets.

Punjab & Haryana: Relief on Phulkari, dairy, spices, and agricultural machinery empowers farmers and industries.

Kashmir & Ladakh: Pashmina, Kani shawls, papier-mache, Thangka paintings, and dairy products encouraged.

Odisha & Goa: Art, handicrafts, and processed foods become more affordable.

Bihar & Uttar Pradesh: Textile, dairy, and leather sectors see growth and employment.

Gujarat: Special benefits for textiles and diamonds boost exports.

Swadeshi Ideology and GST Reforms: Paving the Way for a Developed India

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The new GST reform is more than a tax adjustmentits a broad economic initiative that strengthens traditional industries, agriculture, handicrafts, and the MSME sector. It aligns with PM Modis Make in India vision and his commitment to Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas.

India is not only moving toward self-reliance but also enhancing its global economic competitiveness. Bapus dream will be realised when we produce what we need and meet global demand with confidence. By embracing Swadeshi, India can stand on its own feet and race ahead among the fastest-growing economies, turning the vision of a developed India into reality.

First Published: October 04, 2025, 16:14 IST

News opinion Opinion | Bapus Swadeshi Vision & GST Reforms: A Step Towards A Developed India

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Opinion | RSS At 100: The Civilisational Struggle Against Anti-Hindu Forces

Written By :

News18.com

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 10:35 IST

From Nehrus ban to Stalins crackdown, Congress saffron terror smear and Western academic attacks, the RSS has endured as Bharat Matas shield

On 2 October 2025, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh celebrated its centenary. (File pic/PTI)

On 2 October 2025, when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) celebrated its centenary, the worlds largest volunteer movement should have been hailed for a hundred years of service to society and nation. Instead, in Tamil Nadu, swayamsevaks were detained by police at Porur, Chennai, after holding a peaceful morning shakha inside a school ground. The excuse offered was that they did not have prior permission, following a complaint by the headmaster.

But the timing, on Vijayadashami and on the Sanghs 100th anniversary, exposes a deeper reality. It was not a matter of administrative routine but of ideological warfare. The DMK government under M.K. Stalin chose to send a message: Hindu organisations, particularly the Sangh, have no space to assert themselves freely in Tamil Nadu.

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The RSS was founded in 1925 by Dr Keshavrao Baliram Hedgewar in Nagpur. Hedgewar, a doctor and freedom fighter, realised that Bharats real weakness was not only colonial oppression but also the disunity, caste divisions, and lack of discipline among Hindus. His vision was an organisation that would unite Hindus beyond caste and region, instil character, and awaken national pride.

The shakha became his innovation: a simple gathering in open fields where swayamsevaks engaged in drills, sang patriotic songs, and shared brotherhood without barriers. No money, no grand speeches, just discipline, devotion, and Dharma. From this small beginning has grown an enormous civilisational ecosystem.

Today, the Sangh influences education through Vidya Bharati schools, runs relief and welfare through Seva Bharati, uplifts tribals through Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, guides students through the ABVP, represents workers through the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, and, through its ideological moorings, has nurtured the BJP into Indias ruling party. The RSS is not merely an organisation; it is a movement, a way of life, and a force that connects the past and future of Hindu civilisation.

Yet this force has been the target of relentless suppression. After Gandhis assassination in 1948, the Congress government led by Nehru banned the RSS without evidence, arresting thousands of swayamsevaks and detaining its second chief, Guruji Golwalkar. The courts later cleared the Sangh, but the intent was clear: to cripple a rising nationalist force that challenged Nehruvian socialism and appeasement.

In 1975, during Indira Gandhis Emergency, the Sangh was again banned, its leaders jailed, and its activities outlawed. Yet it was the RSS network that formed the backbone of Jayaprakash Narayans resistance, making it a major player in the restoration of democracy.

In the 2000s, under Sonia Gandhis UPA regime, the Congress and its allies concocted the narrative of saffron terror." Innocent Hindus were falsely accused, arrested, and tortured, while Islamist terror networks flourished unchecked. Years later, the courts exposed these lies, but the smear had already travelled worldwide.

Today, under Stalins DMK government, the same pattern of suppression continues. By detaining swayamsevaks in Chennai, the DMK has written itself into the long history of those who tried and failed to crush the RSS.

Tamil Nadu has long been the laboratory of anti-Hindu politics. The Dravidian movement, while calling itself rationalist," has mocked Hindu practices, ridiculed rituals, and taken over temples under state control. Churches and mosques enjoy freedom, but Hindu institutions are strangled under bureaucracy. The Porur shakha had been conducted peacefully for years. Why the sudden police intervention? Because 2 October was symbolic: it marked both Vijayadashami and the RSSs centenary.

The DMK could not allow swayamsevaks to celebrate a day that symbolises Hindu resurgence. BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan rightly condemned the arrests, pointing out that the DMK turns a blind eye to daily lawlessness and anti-social activities but cracks down on peaceful Hindu gatherings. This selective secularism is the hallmark of the DMKs politics.

Beyond state politics, there are deeper forces at work. The RSS is hated by missionary lobbies because of its work among tribals. In Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and the Northeast, missionaries have long targeted tribals with massive foreign funding. Their project is simple: cut tribals off from their roots, alienate them from Hindu civilisation, and convert them en masse. The Sangh has disrupted this plan.

Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Ekal Vidyalayas, and other RSS-backed initiatives provide education, healthcare, and cultural pride to tribals. They tell the Vanvasi child that he is not an outsider but a proud son of Bharat. This is why global human rights groups funded by foreign churches constantly accuse the Sangh of militancy", because it has blocked the missionary project of deracination.

In Kerala and Bengal, another set of enemies targets the Sangh: Islamist radicals. In Kerala, swayamsevaks have been murdered by Islamist outfits such as the Popular Front of India. In West Bengal, they face mob violence with state complicity. The reason is simple: the RSS refuses to bow before Islamist intimidation. It demands parity, asserts Hindu rights, and refuses to treat radicalism as normal.

That is why jihadi groups worldwide, from Pakistans ISI to Gulf-funded networks, identify the RSS as their number one ideological enemy in India.

And then there is the Western academic establishment. In universities such as Harvard, or in newspapers like The New York Times, the RSS is routinely painted as fascist." This is not ignorance; it is deliberate.

The Western left cannot digest a non-Western form of nationalism that is rooted in dharma. For them, nationalism must either be European blood-and-soil chauvinism or the rootless globalism of the woke elite. A civilisation-based nationalism like that of the RSS, which defines Bharat as an eternal cultural and spiritual entity, is incomprehensible to them.

Worse, it challenges their global narrative. That is why they demonise it, holding conferences, writing books, and feeding NGOs with propaganda.

But the RSSs record of service speaks louder than propaganda. In the 1971 war, swayamsevaks helped refugees fleeing East Pakistan. In the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, they were the first on the ground. During the Covid-19 pandemic, they provided food, oxygen, and medicines to millions. Quietly, away from cameras, they run schools, hostels, orphanages, and health camps in slums and villages. They work without foreign funds, without self-promotion, and without expecting praise.

This is why Mohan Bhagwat, speaking at Reshimbagh, could say with confidence: We do not work for applause. We work for the nation."

The Porur arrests, therefore, must be seen not as an isolated event but as part of a centuries-old struggle. For a thousand years, Bharat faced Islamist invasions, colonial exploitation, missionary deracination, and now secularist appeasement. Each time, the intent was the same: to weaken Hindu civilisation. Each time, resistance arose. In the modern age, that resistance has found its most organised form in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

That is why it is hated. That is why it is attacked.

As the RSS enters its second century, the Porur crackdown should not be seen as a defeat but as a reminder. The Sangh has always grown stronger under persecution. Nehrus ban gave it resilience. The Emergency gave it legitimacy. The saffron terror smear collapsed under its own falsehood. Stalins crackdown will be remembered as just another failed attempt.

Empires fall, dynasties crumble, and ideologies fade. But the spirit of Bharat endures. As swayamsevaks gather in open fields, saluting the saffron flag, they continue the eternal truth that has guided this land: dharma protects those who protect it.

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Into its second century, the RSS remains Bharat Matas unyielding sentinel, standing firm against enemies within and without, carrying forward the vision of Hedgewar, the sacrifices of generations, and the unbroken civilisational flame of Sanatan Dharma.

The writer is a technocrat, political analyst, and author. He pens national, geopolitical, and social issues. His social media handle is @prosenjitnth. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.

About the Author Prosenjit Nath The writer is an Indian technocrat, political analyst, and author.

First Published: October 04, 2025, 10:35 IST

News opinion Opinion | RSS At 100: The Civilisational Struggle Against Anti-Hindu Forces

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Opinion | Signatures Of Surveillance: Online Petitions Imperilling Indias Cybersecurity

Written By :

News18.com

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 23:26 IST

What appears as harmless civic activism can become a pipeline for profiling, polarisation, and even recruitment into extremist networks, if not adequately regulated

In todays digital age, online petitions have emerged as powerful tools for civic engagement, enabling individuals to voice their concerns and advocate for change. (Representational Image/Getty)

In recent years, the trend of online petitions has increased manifold, with websites like the US-based organisation Change.org having 56.5 million registered users worldwide and approximately 7-8 million registered users in India since 2011. The number has continued to increase since the launch of its Hindi edition a decade ago. By 2022, the platform claimed to have hosted approximately 520,000 petitions. Similarly, another online petition platform registered in India has data on 1,805 petitions from the last nine months of 2025. A US-based platform, Avaaz, had nine crore members in 193 countries by April 2025. Most of these have been found to have run online campaigns on election protests, climate change, human rights, and religious issues.

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In todays digital age, online petitions have emerged as powerful tools for civic engagement, enabling individuals to voice their concerns and advocate for change. This practice of running and supporting online petitions has also been nicknamed slacktivism", which involves very little commitment or effort. However, beneath their seemingly innocuous interface lies a complex web of data collection practices that pose significant threats to personal privacy and societal cohesion.

While these platforms purport to champion democratic participation, they often serve as conduits for harvesting sensitive personal information, including political and religious affiliations, without the informed consent of the users and petitioners. This data is subsequently utilised to tailor algorithmic feeds, subtly influencing individuals perceptions and behaviours. Such practices not only compromise data privacy but also have profound implications for national security, potentially facilitating radicalisation and recruitment by malicious actors. Consequently, this trend of online petitions and slacktivism has emerged as another threat vector impacting Indias national security.

Petitions and Perils

At first glance, online petitions seem to be the epitome of digital democracy. They promise a voice to the voiceless, a platform to rally behind causes, and a mechanism to hold governments and institutions accountable. The endeavour comes across as harmless, even noble. However, behind the click lies a dark side that most people never see: a world of data mining, profiling, and, in some cases, outright scams.

When a person signs an online petition, they dont just express support. Unlike its physical counterpart, the process of signing an online petition involves the users voluntarily providing their personal details, including name, email address, Aadhaar number, PAN, phone number, and location. In fact, most online petitions collect far more data than is necessary. The convenience and moral pull of signing distract most of these vigilant citizens from the next, more complicated question: where does that data go, who can see it, and what can they do with it? Even the most reputable platforms acknowledge the obvious: running a global website requires a web of third-party services, including analytics, email providers, ad networks, and payment processors. Handing data to those helpers is part of what keeps the site online.

Political operatives, in their quest for hyper-personalised political campaigns, spend time learning how to turn fragments, such as a cause an individual has signed for, a town they live in, and the kind of comment they make, into an inferential profile of their beliefs, fears, and likely actions. This technique, known as microtargeting, is not hypothetical; it forms the foundation of modern political persuasion. Academics and watchdogs have documented the mechanics: collect identifiers, append other demographic or behavioural signals, then craft hyper-personalised messages that land in the quiet spaces of the persons inbox or social feed. The signed petition becomes raw material for an algorithm that can refine who hears what and when.

Cyber Threat Scenarios

Such data can be easily exploited in phishing attacks through fake emails that appear genuine, designed to trick individuals into clicking a link, entering their bank details, or downloading malware. Because attackers already know the cause one supports, their emails sound convincing: Confirm your support", Donate now", or Verify your signature". One careless click, and the computer could be infected, passwords stolen, or a persons identity compromised. It is noteworthy that India ranks among the top five most breached countries, with recent notable incidents including the ICMR Data Breach of 2023, affecting 8.15 crore Indian citizens, when their data was sold on the dark web, and a 2024 incident impacting three crore Star Health Insurance customers.

Once inside, it can steal files, lock the system for ransom, or secretly spy on the targeted individuals. All it takes is the right petition list in the hands of a malicious actor. In addition, non-state actors and even state actors may seize the opportunity to shape the way individuals think, influencing their gullibility, and then engage in structured information and disinformation warfare. They cultivate these individuals to raise their voices and, in some cases, resort to violence against their countries. In todays age of hybrid warfare and grey-zone tactics, it is one of the most potent ways to influence citizens.

There is also the risk of data leakage and resale. Petition platforms insist they dont sell" personal data, but many do share it with third-party partners for advertising or analytics. In practice, that means the signature can be fed into larger systems that predict individuals behaviour, shape the news and customised ads they post, and push these people towards a particular side of a debate or cause.

Conclusion

Given these dynamics, Indian citizens should approach online petitions as not just civic actions but also data requests. They need to exercise caution and discretion in revealing their political preferences. Petition platforms, meanwhile, must adopt strict data minimisation, collecting only essential information such as name and email. They must make consent explicit, granular, and separate from marketing or political use. Given the evolving threat landscape and cybersecurity implications, Indias regulatory framework should explicitly cover online petition platforms, requiring mandatory privacy disclosures and standardised short notices. Breach reporting must be immediate, with penalties for non-compliance.

What appears as harmless civic activism can become a pipeline for profiling, polarisation, and even recruitment into extremist networks, if not adequately regulated. Protecting Indians requires joint action: smarter citizens, accountable platforms, stronger regulations, and sustained public education.

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Soumya Awasthi is Fellow, Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology (CSST), Observer Research Foundation (ORF). Sameer Patil is Director, CSST, ORF. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.

First Published: October 04, 2025, 23:26 IST

News opinion Opinion | Signatures Of Surveillance: Online Petitions Imperilling Indias Cybersecurity

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The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL) is one of the most undervalued stocks to buy and hold for 5 years. On October 1, Evercore ISI downgraded Allstate to In Line from Outperform with a price target of $233, up from $230. This sentiment came prior to the companys Q3 2025 earnings report. Earlier for Q2, Allstate reported $16.6 billion in revenue, which marked a 5.8% increase year-over-year.

Net income reached $2.1 billion, while adjusted net income was $1.6 billion. Allstate also grew its customer base and increased total policies in force by 4.2% to 208 million. The companys Property-Liability segment demonstrated robust underwriting performance, generating ~$1.3 billion in underwriting income and achieving a combined ratio of 91.1%, which is a 10-point improvement from the prior-year quarter.

Allstate Downgraded to 'In Line' by Evercore ISI Despite Strong Q2 Performance and Customer Growth

The Protection Services segment, which includes Allstate Protection Plans, reported revenues of $867 million for the quarter, generating $60 million in income. The segments revenue increased by 16.6% over the prior year, highlighting rapid growth in appliance protection and international expansion.

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READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 13:19 IST

The 31-year-old founder and CEO of Perplexity AI has become the youngest billionaire to feature on the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025.

1 / 8 Aravind Srinivas, the 31-year-old founder and CEO of Perplexity AI, has become the youngest billionaire to feature on the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025. (Image: Instagram) + Follow us On Google

2 / 8 With an estimated fortune of Rs 21,190 crore, the Chennai-born entrepreneur has quickly risen to prominence as one of the brightest names in the global artificial intelligence ecosystem. (Image: Instagram)

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3 / 8 Born on June 7, 1994, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Srinivas showed a deep interest in science early on. After joining IIT Madras, he not only pursued studies in computer science but also taught courses on reinforcement learning. (Image: Instagram)

4 / 8 He later earned his PhD in Computer Science from UC Berkeley in 2021, with research spanning computer vision, reinforcement learning, transformers, and generative models. (Image: Instagram)

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5 / 8 Before launching his own venture, Srinivas worked with some of the worlds leading AI research labs. His stints included OpenAI, DeepMind in London, and Google, where he contributed to models such as HaloNet, ResNet-RS, and OpenAIs celebrated DALLE 2. (Image: Instagram)

6 / 8 In August 2022, Srinivas co-founded Perplexity AI along with Denis Yarats and Andy Konwinski. The startups conversational search engine aims to offer fast, accurate, and trustworthy answers, positioning itself as an alternative to traditional search platforms. (Image: Instagram)

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7 / 8 Since 2023, Srinivas has also been active as an angel investor, backing AI ventures like ElevenLabs (text-to-speech) and Suno (text-to-music). His investments underline his broader bet on generative AI innovation. (Image: File Pic)
Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 17:37 IST

1 / 7 Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has launch several youth-focused initiatives worth over Rs 62,000 crore at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi today, October 4. These initiatives aim to boost education, skilling, and entrepreneurship nationwide. As many as 46 top achievers from Industrial Training Institutes or ITIs under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship were honoured by the Prime Minister. (Image: Instagram/File) + Follow us On Google

2 / 7 PM Modi announced the launch of two major initiatives for youth nationwide in the fields of education and skill development. He highlighted that the Rs 60,000 crore PM SETU scheme will strengthen the integration of ITIs with industries. Additionally, he mentioned that 1,200 skill labs have been inaugurated today in Navodaya Vidyalayas and Eklavya Model Schools across the country. (Image: PTI/file photo)

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3 / 7 The Prime Minister emphasised that multiple schemes and projects have been dedicated to the youth of Bihar including the creation of a new Skill Training University in Bihar, the expansion of facilities in other universities, the establishment of a new Youth Commission, and the distribution of appointment letters for permanent government jobs to thousands of young people. (Image: PTI/File)

4 / 7 Highlighting India's intellectual strength as its greatest asset, the Prime Minister emphasised that aligning skills and knowledge with national needs significantly amplifies their impact. He noted that the 21st-century demands rapid advancement of local talent, resources, skills, and knowledge to meet the country's requirements. (Credits: ANI)

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5 / 7 Highlighting the crucial contribution of thousands of ITIs to this mission, PM Modi mentioned that ITIs now provide training in nearly 170 trades. Over the past 11 years, more than 1.5 crore young people have received training in these trades, acquiring technical skills across various sectors. He proudly noted that these skills are taught in local languages, enhancing understanding and accessibility. (File photo)

6 / 7 Expressing satisfaction at the establishment of a new Skill University in Bihar during todays Kaushal Convocation Ceremony, the PM acknowledged the government led by CM Nitish Kumar for naming the university after Bharat Ratna Jananayak Karpoori Thakur. The PM emphasised that Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur dedicated his life to public service and the promotion of education, consistently supporting the upliftment of the most disadvantaged sections of society. He affirmed that the Skill University named in his honour will serve as a powerful medium to advance that vision. (Image: AFP)

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Bihar Polls: BJP Requests Election Commission For Thorough Check Of Burqa-Clad Voters

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: October 05, 2025, 04:32 IST

The opposition RJD immediately criticised the move, terming it a 'political conspiracy' and an attempt to push the BJP's own communal agenda

Verification of veiled voters has been a point of contention in several Indian elections, with the core issue being the need to balance electoral integrity with respect for religious and cultural practices. (Representational image/News18 Hindi)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has formally requested the Election Commission of India (EC) to ensure a stringent verification process for women in burqas at polling stations during the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.

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State BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal, after a meeting with the EC team in Patna, stated that tallying of faces of voters, especially burqa-clad women, must be ensured with respective EPIC cards so that only genuine voters get to exercise their franchise."

This request is framed by the BJP as a necessary step to curb potential bogus or fraudulent voting. It comes ahead of the state polls, which are expected to be held in late 2025, as the current assemblys term expires on November 22.

Verification of veiled voters has been a point of contention in several Indian elections, with the core issue being the need to balance electoral integrity with respect for religious and cultural practices. Historically, the Election Commissions unwritten guidelines often involve female polling staff verifying the identity of veiled women in a private enclosure, an established procedure in India.

The opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) immediately criticised the move, terming it a political conspiracy" and an attempt to push the BJPs own communal agenda. RJD Lok Sabha lawmaker Abhay Kushwaha argued that the recent Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which includes fresh photographs for new EPIC cards, should make identification no big deal". The RJD also used the meeting to raise concerns over the recent deletion of 3.66 lakh names from the final electoral roll and urged the EC to disclose details, alleging the SIR may have been carried out to benefit the BJP-led NDA.

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The burqa issue has previously surfaced in elections, including the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, where a BJP candidate was briefly involved in a controversy over checking the identity of veiled voters at a polling booth, underscoring its potential to become a flashpoint.

About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, ... Read More

First Published: October 05, 2025, 04:32 IST

News politics Bihar Polls: BJP Requests Election Commission For Thorough Check Of Burqa-Clad Voters

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ECI Seeks Detailed Report On Recruitment Of BLOs In Bengal After 4,500 Complaints

Reported By :

News18.com

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 22:57 IST

The BJP has repeatedly claimed that several of those appointed as Booth Level Officers are affiliated with the ruling TMC

The Election Commission had earlier issued clear instructions stating that no casual or contractual workers should be appointed as BLOs if permanent employees were available in the district. (File pic/PTI)

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has sought detailed reports from all District Magistrates across West Bengal regarding the recruitment process of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in their respective districts.

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According to sources, the move comes after the Commission received an unusually high number of complaintsnearly 4,500alleging irregularities in the appointment of BLOs. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has repeatedly raised concerns on this issue, claiming that several of those appointed as Booth Level Officers are affiliated with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).

The Election Commission had earlier issued clear instructions stating that no casual or contractual workers should be appointed as BLOs if permanent employees were available in the district. However, sources indicate that despite this directive, instances of casual workers being appointed have continued in certain areas.

This time, the Commission has issued strict orders reiterating that only permanent employees should be engaged as BLOs in districts where such personnel are available. Despite this, reports have surfaced suggesting that casual workers have been recruited in some places. With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process scheduled to begin shortly, the Commission aims to review and streamline the entire system before it starts. In light of the large number of complaints received, all District Magistrates have been asked to submit their respective reports by October 8.

Speaking to News18, BJP leader Tapas Roy alleged that the recruitment process has been politically influenced. They have actually placed Bangladeshis here. Many BLOs recruited are TMC workers. We have provided all details to the Election Commission. Nearly 4,500 complaints have been submittedyou can understand the scale of the problem. They want to create hurdles in the SIR process, but let me make it clearwe will not allow the elections to proceed if this continues," Roy said.

Earlier, the Election Commission had sought reports from a few districts where the number of complaints was significantly high. However, the latest directive extends this requirement to all districts across Bengal, signalling the Commissions seriousness about the issue.

An officer of the Election Commission told News18 that the role of Booth Level Officers is crucial during both the Summary Revision process and the elections, making it imperative that this team remains transparent, neutral, and reliable".

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The Commission, sources said, has already expressed dissatisfaction with the functioning of some BLOs and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), taking corrective action based on prior complaints. The ECI has also instructed that if any district faces a shortage of government staff, the District Electoral Officer must inform the Commission before engaging any casual worker.

About the Author Kamalika Sengupta Kamalika Sengupta is the Editor (East) at CNN-News18 / News18.com, focusing on politics, defence, and womens issues. She is a seasoned multimedia journalist with over 20 years of experience reporting... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 22:57 IST

News politics ECI Seeks Detailed Report On Recruitment Of BLOs In Bengal After 4,500 Complaints

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Drama Over 'I Love Muhammad' Row: SP Delegation Stopped From Visiting Strife-Torn Bareilly

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 14:37 IST

A 14-member Samajwadi Party delegation led by LoP Mata Prasad Pandey was stopped from visiting Bareilly, where tensions remain high after the 'I Love Muhammad' protests.

Uttar Pradesh LoP Mata Prasad Pandey was stopped from visiting Bareilly after the 'I Love Muhammad' protests. (PTI)

Tensions escalated over the I Love Muhammad row as Uttar Pradesh Leader of Opposition, Mata Prasad Pandey, was stopped by police while trying to leave for tension-hit Bareilly, which was the centre of protests last week.

Pandey was leading a 14-member delegation of Samajwadi Party MPs and MLAs, who were directed by party chief Akhilesh Yadav to visit Bareilly after the I Love Muhammad protests on September 26. However, the delegation was halted by police, who cited law and order concerns.

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VIDEO | Lucknow: Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, Mata Prasad Pandey stopped by police while trying to leave from home for Bareilly.(Full video available on PTI Videos  https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/O74azfVIAD  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 4, 2025

As per the instructions of Akhilesh Yadav, a delegation of the Samajwadi Party our leadership was directed to visit Bareilly today. As soon as the government received this information, the government machinery deployed a large police force at our private residence in Lucknow to prevent us from going to Bareilly, which is completely unfortunate and undemocratic," alleged Pandey on X.

This is a violation of the rights granted by the Constitution," he said. Later, speaking to news agency ANI, Pandey said he received a notice from police telling him not to leave his home.

                            ,                    pic.twitter.com/1LJk8gFq8R Mata Prasad Pandey (@pmataprasadsp) October 4, 2025

A letter came from the Bareilly DM. He also said that your arrival would spoil the atmosphere here, so you should not come here. To hide their own shortcomings, they are not allowing us to go there. We will now talk to our party members and decide accordingly," he added.

Reacting to this, Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad said, This behaviour of the government is against the boundary of democracy. He (Mata Prasad Pandey) is a senior leader. A delegation was formed under the direction of SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav, and it was visitng (Bareilly) to assess the situation and atrocities there. But it was stopped from visiting. The government does not have an answer."

SPs Ziaur Rahman Under House Arrest

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party MP Ziaur Rahman reportedly under house arrest, according to news agency PTI. Visuals showed a heavy police personnel deployed outside his house in Sambhal.

VIDEO | Samajwadi Party MP Ziaur Rahman reportedly under house arrest. Visuals from outside his residence in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh.A delegation of 14 Samajwadi Party MPs and MLAs is scheduled to visit Bareilly, under the leadership of LoP Mata Prasad Pandey. (Full video pic.twitter.com/Vulz9EdRmY  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 4, 2025

Akhilesh Yadav constituted the delegation. We wanted to go to Bareilly and prepare a report after listening to peoples grievances Police had been deployed since last night to ensure I dont leave my house," Rehman told ANI.

This came after clashes broke out in Bareilly on September 26, after a large crowd carrying I Love Muhammad posters assembled outside a mosque in Kotwali area after Friday prayers. Protesters pelted stones at the police and vandalised cars in the area.

Police arrested 68 people in connection with the violence, including local cleric and Ittehad-e-Millat Council chief Tauqeer Raza Khan, who called for the protest in Bareilly. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has warned of strict action against any attempt to disturb law and order.

BJP Reacts

Meanwhile, UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya called Akhilesh Yadavs decision to send a delegation to Bareilly a childish step".

Taking to X, he said, The SP is known for its dirty politics of Muslim appeasement. The SPs downfall and wipeout in the 2027 assembly elections are certain. A riot-free UP, good governance, and law and order are our identity and achievement. This is exactly what the SP supporters cannot stomach."

                           2027            ,            Keshav Prasad Maurya (@kpmaurya1) October 4, 2025

Tensions remain high in Bareilly as the local administration demolished the properties linked to Maulana Mohsin Raza, the son-in-law of Maulana Tauqeer Razas elder brother Mannani Miya.

With the 2027 state elections approaching, the event was allegedly intended to project Khan as a prominent Muslim leader in Western UP, drawing attention from major political parties.

What Is I Love Muhammad Row?

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The slogan I Love Muhammad, which first appeared during a Barawafat (Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi) procession in Kanpurs Rawatpur on September 4, has since sparked protests and street processions by Muslim groups across multiple states, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, and Maharashtra.

The controversy began when a group displayed an I Love Muhammad banner along the Barawafat route, which drew objections from local Hindu groups. They alleged that a new tradition" was being introduced in a space historically used for religious celebrations. Police intervened promptly to defuse tensions.

About the Author Aveek Banerjee Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in int... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 12:54 IST

News politics Drama Over 'I Love Muhammad' Row: SP Delegation Stopped From Visiting Strife-Torn Bareilly

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'Made India Bow Down, Sheltered Pakistan': BJP Blames Sonia Gandhi For Congress' 26/11 Response

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 15:29 IST

BJP accused Sonia Gandhi of remotely controlling Congress' decision to not retaliate against Pakistan after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

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Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. (PTI)

BJP MP Sambit Patra launched a scathing attack on Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, accusing her of succumbing to foreign pressure and influencing the UPA governments decision to not retaliate against Pakistan after the Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks.

His remarks came after former Home Minister P Chidambaram made an explosive revelation, claiming that the whole world descended upon New Delhi" to urge it not to go to war with Pakistan following the coordinated terror attacks that claimed the lives of 175 people in the Mumbai 26/11 attacks.

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Speaking at a press conference, Patra said, This was the India of that time, under the reign of the Gandhi family. Who do you think made this decision? This decision must have been taken by Sonia Gandhi in an unlawful and unconstitutional manner, and she must have dictated to Manmohan Singh and then Home Minister Chidambaram. It was Sonia Gandhis dictation not to act against Pakistan."

Despite India having incredible valour, Sonia Gandhi made the country bow down and provided shelter to Pakistan," he added, accusing the Congress of obstructing every action India has taken under the BJP government, be it Operation Sindoor or the Balakot airstrikes.

They have attempted to undermine the countrys army. Even the Congress leaders in Uttar Pradesh yesterday went so far as to say that they do not trust the statements of the CDS or the Air Chief Marshalthey do not consider them truthful," he added.

Sonia Gandhi Chose Cabinet After Consulting US

Patra further alleged that Sonia Gandhi chose ministers in the Congress cabinet after consulting with the United States. Citing former Congress leader Natwar Singhs autobiography, Patra said Sonia Gandhi overruled Manmohan Singhs decisions regarding the cabinet based on Americas perceptions.

On one hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, Saugandh mujhe iss mitti ki mai desh ko nahi jhukne dunga (I swear by this soil, I will not let the nation bow down), and on the other hand, Sonia Gandhi believed in Saugandh mujhse us videsh ki mai desh nahi uthne dungi (I swear by that foreign land; I will not let the country rise). "

He further said, India has changed, and the changed India is an India of valour. Before 2014, India had the valour of the Army but lacked political will. Today, under the leadership of PM Modi, we have that political will."

In a separate press conference, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the Manmohan Singh government was remotely controlled by Sonia Gandhi. P Chidambaram, who was the Home Minister in the Congress government and a senior leader, stated that India was under pressure, and due to this pressure, the Manmohan Singh government, which was allegedly run on remote control by Sonia Gandhi, decided that no strong retaliatory action, attack, or war would be taken after the 26/11 terrorist attacks. This oath, taken by Sonia Gandhi, the late Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, and P. Chidambaram, directly contradicts the Constitution," he said.

What Did Chidambaram Say?

In a stunning admission, P Chidambaram said India did not respond to the 26/11 attacks due to international pressure, especially from the United States. His remarks, however, did not go down well with the BJP, which called the admission too little, too late".

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In an interview with a news channel, Chidambaram said, Condoleezza Rice, who was then US Secretary of State, flew in two or three days after I took over, to meet me and the prime minister. And to say, please dont react. I said this is a decision that the government will take. Without disclosing any official secret, it did cross my mind that we should do some act of retribution."

India faced one of its worst crises on November 26, 2008, when 10 Pakistani terrorists took Mumbai hostage, launching coordinated attacks across the citys iconic landmarks such as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj terminus, Oberoi Trident, Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital, and Nariman House.

About the Author Aveek Banerjee Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in int... Read More

Location : Bhubaneswar, India, India

First Published: October 04, 2025, 15:13 IST

News politics 'Made India Bow Down, Sheltered Pakistan': BJP Blames Sonia Gandhi For Congress' 26/11 Response

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'Only Job Is To Defame India': BJP Slams Rahul Gandhi Over Colombia Remarks, Congress Hits Back

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 15:34 IST

The BJP lashed out at Rahul Gandhi for "defaming India" on foreign soil over his recent remarks in Colombia, where he implied that democracy was at risk in the country.

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Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (IMAGE: PTI)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lashed out at the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, for defaming India on foreign soil, after his controversial remarks in Colombia, where the Congress leader insisted that democracy was at risk in India.

Speaking at a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, We all know how India has grown stronger under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. The Indian armed forces were given full freedom and in Operation Sindoor, we saw how a strong message was sent."

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We have also seen that Indias Leader of the Opposition has been on foreign soil for four days. His only job is to defame India, which is on the path of progress towards development," he added.

#WATCH | Delhi: BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia says, We all know how India has grown stronger under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. The Indian armed forces were given full freedom and in Operation Sindoor, we saw how a strong message was sent Indias Leader of pic.twitter.com/tqW7NrP68m ANI (@ANI) October 4, 2025

He also criticised the Congress Party over former Home Minister P Chidambarams stunning claim that international pressure allegedly stopped the UPA government from retaliating against Pakistan after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

This revelation is worrying, it scares us that a government which was given the constitutional responsibility to protect the sovereignty of India, that government became a puppet in the hands of foreign powers," he said.

He also implied that the Manmohan Singh government was remotely controlled by Sonia Gandhi, which directly contradicted the Indian Constitution.

Congress Reacts To BJPs Charge

Congress leader KC Venugopal accused the BJP of blaming the Congress for its own failures and bringing up international shame. Whether it is said in Colombia or Kanpur, the reality remains the same  Indias government has failed to harness the vast potential of our economy and is undoing our demographic dividend," he said.

Our democratic system being hijacked is a matter that has brought us disrepute across the world, courtesy the BJP itself. It is a stale, hackneyed and misdirected tactic by the BJP ecosystem to attack Rahul ji for speaking plainly. It would serve them better if they paid close attention to his statements and acted to rectify the glaring flaws he has been highlighting since 2014," he added.

The BJPs habit is to blame the Congress for its own failures bringing us international shame.Whether it is said in Colombia or Kanpur, the reality remains the same  Indias government has failed to harness the vast potential of our economy and is undoing our demographic  K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) October 4, 2025

Venugopal also said Rahul Gandhi was exposing the misrule, corruption and undemocratic character of the BJP" and insulting India and its people.

Rahul Gandhis Remarks

While speaking at Colombias EIA University, Rahul Gandhi targeted the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre by saying that the attack on democracy in India" is the single biggest risk" in the country.

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The other risk is the rift between different parts of the country. Some 16-17 different languages and different religions. Allowing these different traditions to thrive, giving them space to express themselves, is very important for India. We cannot do what China does: suppress people and run an authoritarian system. Our design will not accept that," he said.

The BJP, however, strongly responded to the Congress MPs comments and accused him of badmouthing India on foreign soil. Calling him a Leader of Propaganda", the party said he goes abroad and attacks Indian democracy".

About the Author Aveek Banerjee Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in int... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 15:34 IST

News politics 'Only Job Is To Defame India': BJP Slams Rahul Gandhi Over Colombia Remarks, Congress Hits Back

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'Real Beginning Of Migration': PM Modi Slams Congress-RJD For Crippling Bihars Education System

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News18.com

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 15:57 IST

PM Modi criticised the RJD and Congress for Bihar's education crisis, praised Nitish Kumar for reforms.

PM Modi speaking at the Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh in Vigyan Bhawan. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hit out at the previous regime of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress for crippling Bihars education system, calling it the real beginning of migration" crisis in the state.

While addressing the Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, PM Modi claimed that the schools were not opened and no recruitments took place under the Congress-RJD regime in Bihar.

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This generation may not realise how devastated the education system in Bihar was two and a half decades ago. Schools were not open, nor were recruitments conducted. Which parent doesnt want their child to study and progress here? But out of compulsion, millions of children were forced to leave Bihar and go to Varanasi, Delhi, and Mumbai. This was the real beginning of the migration," he said as quoted by news agency PTI.

VIDEO | Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh 2025: PM Modi (@narendramodi) says, This generation may not be fully aware of how Bihars education system was neglected two decades ago. Schools were neither opened properly nor were admissions conducted fairly. Lakhs of students were forced to pic.twitter.com/AVsqJUiHIr Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 4, 2025

He further asserted that the NDA government under Nitish Kumar created opportunities for the youth. Comparing the current administration with the RJD regime, he asserted that Bihars resurgence is the result of Nitish Kumars efforts.

"Fortunately, the people of Bihar entrusted Nitish Kumar with the responsibility of government, and we are all witnesses to how the entire NDA team together brought the deteriorating system back on track," he said.

As PM Modi launched youth-focused initiatives worth more than Rs 62,000 crore, including the inauguration of the Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University in Bihar, he said, "I am happy that Bihar has received a new Skill University at todays Skill Convocation. Nitish Kumars government has named this university after Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur."

The Prime Minister hailed the Bihar government for generating 10 lakh permanent government jobs and raising the education budget as compared to the RJD-Congress regime.

"The NDA government is working with full commitment to enhance the potential of Bihars youth further. Bihars education budget has been increased several times compared to the RJD-Congress regime. Today, there is a school in almost every village in Bihar. Be it engineering colleges or medical colleges, their number has also increased manifold," he said.

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PM Modi launched various youth-focused initiatives worth more than Rs 62,000 crore in Delhi at the Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh, 2025. PM Modi announced a Bihar government special student credit card, using which students can avail interest-free loans. He also said that the Bihar government has hiked the students scholarship scheme from Rs 1,800 to Rs 3,600.

(With inputs from agencies)

About the Author Shobhit Gupta Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degre... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 15:57 IST

News politics 'Real Beginning Of Migration': PM Modi Slams Congress-RJD For Crippling Bihars Education System

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Will 'Akka' Be The New Amma Of Southern Politics? Kavitha Plans 'Revenge' With Sisterhood Strategy

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CNN-News18 Edited By: Apoorva Misra



Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 14:50 IST

Expelled from BRS, Kavitha wants to drive women voters towards her to defeat both her father and her brother

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K Kavitha (center) plans to woo women voters. (X @RaoKavitha)

Will Akka K Kavitha be the next Amma in southern politics? It has been exactly a month since Kavitha was expelled from her party BRS, founded by her father and former chief minister KCR. However, she is not sitting pretty. At the sprawling Telangana Jagruti office in Hyderabad, the social work outfit started by Kavitha around the same time as the Telangana agitation began, the leader is mobbed by supportersmostly womenwho call her Akka (sister).

In her office, small water bottles carry her pictures. Whats missing, though, is the picture of her brother and the heir apparent of the BRS, KTR.

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With a sense of hurt, Kavitha says KTR didnt defend me when a Congress MLA attacked me and used filthy language. He could have just called me and asked me for my version".

Kavitha today stands at a crossroads as the two pictures in her room depict. Behind her is the picture of her father and BRS chief KCR. Next to her hangs an image of goddess Bathukamma, to whom a festival is dedicated in Telangana and parts of parts of Andhra Pradesh.

I am in politics because of my father. I have been an MP, an MLC, and people know me," she says. But KCR and Kavitha have not spoken in a month. The only family member she is in touch with is her mother. But Kavitha knows a harsh truth. My mother supports me and loves me. But in our country, everyone believes its the job of the men or sons to lead."

History is replete with several examples where women who managed to chart their own course were those who defied patriarchy or misogyny. Examples of Mamata Banerjee, J Jayalalithaa, Mayawati, and Sonia Gandhi shine. But then there are many who have had to contend with being the second fiddle or take a step backlike Priyanka Vadra or Mumtaz Patel.

But Kavitha does not want to be written off so soon.

Initially, the partys plan was clear. While KTR would manage the state affairs, Kavitha was the woman and national interface of the partya role she was happy in. But then things changed. As the BRS lost elections, a tussle began in the party. KTR and his supporters made it very clear that Kavithas wings would have to be clipped and, therefore, it came as no surprise when she was eventually suspended from the party overnight.

Its only fair that one is given a chance to explain. I was not given that chance. There were people who wanted me out and here I am," Kavitha says.

After Jayalalithaa, the South is yet to see the rise of a strong woman politician who takes centre stage. Telangana is one state where women outnumber men. As per latest statistics, there are 1000.2 women voters for every 1,000 men. Its these women who helped the Congress come to power in the state and why the Revanth Reddy government continues to pamper thempolitically, economically and socially empowering them. This is exactly how Kavitha hopes to take revenge from and defeat both her father as well as her brother by ensuring that women voters walk awayboth from the Congress and the BRStowards her.

Though Kavitha is yet to officially announce her party, she is travelling across the state as well as meeting politicians across the country. At one such recent rally, she was seen sharing stage with INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala in Haryanas Rohtak. Like the Bathukamma festival, which worships many varieties of flowers, Kavitha thinks its time for different political parties to come together. Interestingly, her father KCR had tried to engineer a third front of non-BJP, non-Congress parties.

I think this is the only solution. We cant go with Congress and we need other parties to come together to form alternatives," she says.

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Despite the bitter fallout with her father, for Kavitha, her two political inspirations are KCR and Margaret Thatcher. She knows that she cannot afford to win over people by attacking her father. Also, just like Thatcher, Kavitha is inspired by the strong women of Indian politics such as Mamata Banerjee.

I will have to fight against three men, all who are formidablethe chief minister, my father and the prime minister." So, is she eyeing the chief ministers post in future? Why not," Kavitha asks.

About the Author Pallavi Ghosh Pallavi Ghosh has covered politics and Parliament for 15 years, and has reported extensively on Congress, UPA-I and UPA-II, and has now included the Finance Ministry and Niti Aayog in her reportage. S... Read More

Location : Telangana, India, India

First Published: October 04, 2025, 10:31 IST

News politics Will 'Akka' Be The New Amma Of Southern Politics? Kavitha Plans 'Revenge' With Sisterhood Strategy

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'Sunny, Warm, Green': Russian Woman Calls Bengaluru Best City To Live In India, Internet Reacts

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News18.com

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 16:24 IST

Iuliia Aslamova, a Russian in India, prefers Bengaluru for its climate, culture, and lifestyle, ranking it above Delhi, Jaipur, Chennai, and Mumbai.

She contrasted it with other metros, calling winters in Delhi and Jaipur freezing. Bengaluru, in her words, was "just right." (Image: Instagram/yulia_bangalore)

A Russian woman, who has been living in India for over a decade, has declared Bengaluru her favourite city in the country. In a recent Instagram video thats gained traction online, Iuliia Aslamova explained why the city stands out among Indian metros, citing its pleasant climate, vibrant culture, and balanced lifestyle.

Describing Bengaluru as sunny, warm, and green," Aslamova, who hails from the Siberia region, said the city offers a perfect middle ground. Along with the video, she shared a caption that read: If I could choose over again the city I would want to live in India  my answer would be very clear #."(sic).

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View this post on Instagram A post shared by Iuliia Aslamova (@yulia_bangalore)

She contrasted it with other metros, calling winters in Delhi and Jaipur freezing," while saying the heat in Chennai and Mumbai was too intense. Bengaluru, in her words, was just right." She even used a Russian saying meaning the heat doesnt break bones" to describe the citys mild warmth.

The city that neither gets too cold (lol, no one can believe yet that I feel super cold in winters in cities like #Delhi #jaipur etc) nor toooo hot (hello to everyone in #Chennai and #Mumbai) Technically and practically the girl who was born and brought up in Siberia (hello frozen nose and minus 50 in winter) cant afford to complain at all about the weather in India. It is sunny, warm, green and as we say in Russia  the heat doesnt break bones."(sic), the post read.

Reflecting on Bengalurus evolving climate, she noted that while air conditioners are more common now than a decade ago, the weather remains beautiful." Joking about her Siberian roots, where temperatures can plunge to minus 50C, she said she finds no reason to complain about Bengalurus heat.

Beyond the climate, the Russian woman praised the citys character  calling it the pub capital of India" and a former paradise for retirement." She playfully asked viewers not to bring up Bengalurus infamous traffic, adding a lighthearted touch to her review.

But yet Im super glad to live in the pub capital of India and former paradise for retirement. P.S. No questions about traffic please."(sic), she wrote while concluding the caption.

How Internet Reacted?

Her video sparked reactions from social media users, many of whom were surprised by her familiarity with Indian cities. She confirmed that her opinions are based on extensive travel across the country.

Reacting to her post, one user wrote, Sounds like you have visited all cities in India."

I also feel that the weather in Bangalore is perfect! Or maybe I just always came during the right season," another user commented.

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Dont reveal Bengaluru weather secret, lets enjoy this weather, lets keep this city under secret," a third user joked.

Bengalurus popularity as a liveable city is often attributed to its elevation  about 920 metres above sea level  which contributes to its moderate year-round temperatures and greener surroundings, especially compared to cities like Mumbai, Chennai, or Delhi.

About the Author Manisha Roy Manisha Roy is a Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com's general desk. She comes with an experience of over 5 years in media industry. She covers politics and other hard news. She can be contacted at Manish... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 16:23 IST

News viral 'Sunny, Warm, Green': Russian Woman Calls Bengaluru Best City To Live In India, Internet Reacts

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Occidental Petroleum (OXY) is losing ground on Thursday after famed investor Warren Buffetts conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) confirmed plans of buying its petrochemical unit  OxyChem.

Berkshire has agreed to pay $9.7 billion in cash for OxyChem, which makes it the giants largest deal since 2022. The transaction adds to Berkshires existing 28.2% stake in OXY shares.

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Despite todays decline, Occidental Petroleum stock remains up some 25% versus its year-to-date low.

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Why Is Occidental Petroleum Stock Sinking Today?

OXY stocks decline reflects investor concerns about the divestiture of a profitable unit. OxyChem has been a steady cash generator, and selling it may raise questions about future earnings stability.

The transaction will enable a $6.5 billion debt repayment, which is positive, but some investors may have preferred a more aggressive capital return strategy.

The market may also be reacting to the lack of clarity around how Occidental Petroleum plans on replacing OxyChems contribution to EBITDA.

Simply put, short-term uncertainty around execution and balance sheet adjustment is weighing on sentiment even as the company positions itself for long-term transformation.

Should You Buy the Dip in OXY Shares on Thursday?

Occidental Petroleum shares pullback following the Berkshire news may be a buying opportunity for long-term investors.

Using the deal proceed to aggressively reduce debt and strengthen its balance sheet is, nonetheless, a meaningful positive that unlocks capacity for share buybacks. This will allow shareholders to feel more comfortable, the firms chief executive, Vicki Hollub, told investors in the press release.

Berkshires deepening involvement adds a layer of confidence, and OXYs long-term strategy  focused on deleveraging and capital discipline  could drive meaningful upside.

Plus, Occidental Petroleums valuation looks more compelling after todays dip as well, especially as the oil stock has recently formed a bullish golden cross. In short, for investors seeking exposure to energy with improving financials, OXY shares offer a strong risk-reward profile.
Anti-Muizzu Protests Rock Maldives Over Corruption Allegations; Police Arrest 8 After Clashes

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 15:09 IST

Thousands in Male protested President Muizzus government over corruption and rising prices. MDP led the rally; clashes led to arrests.

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Opposition supporters wave Maldivian national flags during an anti-government protest in Male, Maldives. (IMAGE: AP PHOTO)

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Male on Friday night accusing President Mohamed Muizzus government of corruption and worsening living conditions, in what has become one of the largest demonstrations in the Maldives this year. Police used pepper spray and Long-Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs) to disperse the crowd, arresting several protesters as clashes erupted in the capital.

The protest, organised by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), drew former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and former foreign minister Abdulla Shahid to the streets. Chanting Lootuvaifi, Lootuvaifi!" (meaning Stop the Loot") demonstrators alleged widespread graft, rising prices, and attempts by the government to suppress independent media.

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The MDP said at least six protesters were detained and demanded their immediate release, calling the police response violent and disproportionate." Shahid, now the partys president, condemned what he described as indiscriminate arrests of peaceful demonstrators" and said the governments actions were a violation of constitutional rights."

The Muizzu administration, however, rejected the charges of police brutality. Homeland Security and Technology Minister Ali Ihusaan shared footage on X claiming protesters forcibly seized equipment from an on-duty police officer.

He said that this conduct could not be considered part of peaceful political activity." He added that the police had approved an alternate route for the protest, which the MDP ignored.

In its statement on Saturday, the Maldives government reaffirmed its commitment to the right to peaceful assembly but insisted that Fridays rally violated the Freedom of Assembly Act. It said protesters had defied the designated route and forced their way into Majeedhee Magu, the busiest street in Male, disrupting public order, breaking police barricades, and obstructing law enforcement duties."

The Maldives Police Service acted responsibly and with restraint in ensuring public safety, even in the face of provocation," the government said, adding that it respects and fully supports" the right to protest within the law.

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The MDP, the countrys largest opposition party, maintains that the Muizzu government has undermined democratic freedoms and allowed corruption to deepen economic distress. The party said the Lootuvaifi" protests would continue until the administration restores accountability and transparency."

(with inputs from agencies)

About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has c... Read More

Location : Male, Maldives

First Published: October 04, 2025, 15:08 IST

News world Anti-Muizzu Protests Rock Maldives Over Corruption Allegations; Police Arrest 8 After Clashes

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Days After Sharif & Munir Met Trump, Pakistan Now Approaches US To Construct Port On Arabian Sea

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News18.com

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 14:19 IST

The suggested port would be located in Pasni, a town in Balochistans Gwadar District.

Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir displays a wooden box, claimed to contain rare earth minerals, during his meeting with US President Donald Trump. (IMAGE: X)

Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munirs advisors have reportedly approached US officials with a proposal for American investors to build and operate a civilian port on the Arabian Sea, according to the Financial Times. The suggested terminal would be located in Pasni, a town in Balochistans Gwadar District, and would provide Washington with access to Pakistans vast reserves of critical minerals.

The proposal, seen as part of Islamabads bid to deepen economic and strategic ties with Washington, was shared with Munir ahead of his late-September meeting at the White House with US President Donald Trump. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who accompanied Munir, had also sought US investment in agriculture, energy, mining, and technology during the visit.

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What do we know about the port?

The FT report stressed that the blueprint explicitly rules out the use of the Pasni port for US military purposes. Instead, it seeks to attract American development finance to establish a rail network connecting Pasni to mineral-rich western provinces. This would allow the United States to tap into copper, lithium, rare earths and other critical resources considered vital for global supply chains and clean energy technologies.

Neither the US State Department nor the White House has commented on the report.

Balochistan, Pakistan and Washington

Balochistan, Pakistans largest but least-developed province, has long been a hub of geopolitical contestation. Rich in copper, gold, chromite, coal, lithium, and rare earth metals, it has drawn renewed interest as global powers race to secure critical minerals for advanced industries and defence technologies.

Washingtons interest in Balochistan has grown under Trumps administration, which recently designated the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) a Foreign Terrorist Organisation. The move, welcomed by Islamabad, strengthens counter-terrorism cooperation but also signals Americas willingness to back Pakistans efforts to stabilise the restive region in exchange for resource access.

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For Pakistan, the Pasni port project promises capital inflows, trade concessions, and strengthened ties with Washington. For the US, it provides a mineral corridor that could reduce reliance on China, particularly in rare earths.

(With agency inputs)

About the Author Shuddhanta Patra Shuddhanta Patra, a seasoned journalist with eight years of experience, serves as Senior SubEditor at CNN News 18. With expertise across national politics, geopolitics, business news, she has influen... Read More

Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

First Published: October 04, 2025, 14:17 IST

News world Days After Sharif & Munir Met Trump, Pakistan Now Approaches US To Construct Port On Arabian Sea

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Israel Accuses Hamas Of Truce Breach After Partial Hostage Remains Returned

Published By :

AFP

Last Updated: October 28, 2025, 18:26 IST

Netanyahu's office and a campaign group representing hostage families accused Hamas of breaching the ceasefire deal

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During their October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Hamas militants took 251 people hostage, most of whom had been released, rescued or recovered before this month's ceasefire. (File image)

Hamas on Tuesday faced accusations of breaching the Gaza ceasefire after returning partial remains of a previously recovered hostage instead of the body of another deceased captive, as demanded by Israel.

Hamas handed over late on Monday what it said was the 16th of 28 hostage bodies it had agreed to return under the US-brokered ceasefire deal, which came into effect on October 10.

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However, Israeli forensic examination determined that Hamas had in fact handed over partial remains of a hostage whose body had already been brought back to Israel around two years ago, according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office.

Netanyahus office and a campaign group representing hostage families accused Hamas of breaching the ceasefire deal.

The premiers office decried a clear violation of the agreement" after identification procedures revealed the latest remains belonged to the fallen hostage Ofir Tzarfati, who had been returned from the Gaza Strip in a military operation about two years ago".

It added that Netanyahu would hold a security discussion with the heads of the security establishment to discuss Israels steps in response".

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum urged the government to take action.

In light of Hamass severe breach of the agreement last night the Israeli government cannot and must not ignore this, and must act decisively against these violations," the forum said.

Hamas knows the location of the hostages and continues to act with contempt, deceiving the United States and mediators while dishonouring our loved ones."

Break Its Legs

Israels far-right national security minister also accused Hamas of stalling the release of the remaining bodies, which he said proved the terrorist organisation is still standing".

It is time to break its legs once and for all," he added. We must demand its very disappearance and destroy it completely."

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also piled on the pressure for Netanyahu to act against what he called Hamass repeated and ongoing violations".

In a post on X, he urged Netanyahu to re-arrest all those terrorists who were released in the hostage deal to Judea and Samaria", using the Israeli Biblical term for the occupied West Bank.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem on Monday protested that the claim the group knew the location of the remaining missing bodies was false", arguing that Israels bombardment during the two-year conflict had left locations unrecognisable.

We are determined to hand over the bodies of the Israeli captives as soon as possible," he said.

Hamas has already returned all 20 living hostages as agreed in the ceasefire deal.

Third Set Of Remains

During their October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Hamas militants took 251 people hostage, most of whom had been released, rescued or recovered before this months ceasefire.

The attack itself resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israels subsequent assault on Gaza killed at least 68,531 people, according to figures from the Hamas-run territorys health ministry that the UN considers reliable.

Despite the ceasefire, the toll has continued to climb as more bodies are found under the rubble. The health ministry also reports that 94 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the truce took hold.

The family of Ofir Tzarfati confirmed on Tuesday that some of his remains were returned to Israel the previous night, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.

Tzarfati was at the Nova music festival on October 7 when he was abducted into captivity, where he was murdered", the forum said.

It added that this was the third time remains belonging to him had been returned, after his body was recovered at the end of 2023, and additional remains were returned in March 2024.

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This is the third time we have been forced to open Ofirs grave and rebury our son," Tzarfatis family were quoted as saying in the statement.

The circle supposedly closed back in December 2023, but it never truly closes."

Location : United States of America (USA)

First Published: October 04, 2025, 23:32 IST

News world Israel Accuses Hamas Of Truce Breach After Partial Hostage Remains Returned

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Four Children Injured In Toy Bomb Blast At School In Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 15:07 IST

The Jamrud incident comes amid a series of recent bombings across Pakistan.

Four Children Injured In Toy Bomb Blast At School In Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

At least four schoolchildren were injured after a bomb explosion inside a classroom in north-western Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local police confirmed on Saturday.

The incident took place on Friday in Jamrud tehsil, Khyber district, which lies along the border with Afghanistan.

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Toy bomb blast

According to the school administration, a fourth-grade pupil found what he believed to be a toy on his way to school. The object, however, was an unexploded mortar shell, commonly referred to as a toy bomb" in the region. He carried it into his classroom, where it detonated, injuring four students.

Authorities say such devices are remnants of decades of conflict and militant activity along the Afghan border, and are often mistaken by children for harmless toys. Police teams have launched an investigation and cordoned off the area to ensure the safety of other pupils.

Recent blomb blasts in Pakistan

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The Jamrud incident comes amid a series of recent bombings across Pakistan. On 30 September, a powerful car bomb outside the headquarters of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Quetta, Balochistan, killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 30. The blast was followed by heavy gunfire, plunging the city into panic.

Earlier, on 4 September, a suicide bomber targeted a rally of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) in Quetta. Fifteen people were killed and more than 30 wounded in the explosion, which occurred near the stadiums parking area. The Islamic State militant group later claimed responsibility for the attack.

About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, ... Read More

Location : Pakistan

First Published: October 04, 2025, 15:07 IST

News world Four Children Injured In Toy Bomb Blast At School In Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

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Gaza Ceasefire, Hostage Release Within Reach: World Leaders Laud Trumps Commitment To Peace

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 10:48 IST

Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer thanked Donald Trump and his team for their efforts to end Gaza war.

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Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. (IMAGE: REUTERS)

Frances Emmanuel Macron, Qatari Prime Minister Al-Thani, UK PM Keir Starmer and UN Chief Antonio Guterres welcomed the announcement by Hamas of its agreement to US President Donald Trumps Gaza peace plan.

Macron in a social media post made on Saturday shortly after the Palestinian militant group accepted some parts of the proposal thanked the Trump administration and pointed out that a ceasefire in Gaza and release of all hostages are now within reach.

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The release of all hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza are within reach! Hamas commitment must be followed up without delay. We now have the opportunity to make decisive progress towards peace," Macron said.

The State of Qatar welcomes the announcement by Hamas of its agreement to President Trumps plan, and its readiness to release all hostages as part of the exchange framework outlined in the plan," said Majed Al-Ansari, advisor to the Qatari Prime Minister, said in a social media post.

There is now an opportunity to end the fighting, for the hostages to return home, and for humanitarian aid to reach those who so desperately need it. We call on all sides to implement the agreement without delay," said UK PM Keir Starmer.

The State of Qatar welcomes the announcement by Hamas of its agreement to President Trumps plan, and its readiness to release all hostages as part of the exchange framework outlined in the plan.We also affirm our support for the statements made by the President calling for an  .    Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) October 3, 2025

However, France, Qatar and the UK outlined in their statement that they will play their part to ensure lasting peace for both Israelis and Palestinians, signalling that they are keen to be a part of discussions.

The release of all hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza are within reach!Hamas' commitment must be followed up without delay. We now have the opportunity to make decisive progress towards peace. France will play its full part  Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 3, 2025

The United Nations also welcomed Hamas move and thanked US President Trump.

I welcome and I am encouraged by the statement issued by Hamas announcing its readiness to release hostages and to engage on the basis of the recent proposal by @POTUS. I urge all parties to seize the opportunity to bring the tragic conflict in Gaza to an end. I also thank  Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 3, 2025

I welcome and I am encouraged by the statement issued by Hamas announcing its readiness to release hostages and to engage on the basis of the recent proposal by POTUS," UN Chief Antonio Guterres said.

He also urged all parties to seize the opportunity to bring the conflict in Gaza to an end and thanked Qatar and Egypt for their mediation efforts.

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The war was triggered by Hamass October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli official figures.

Israels retaliatory offensive has killed at least 66,288 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable. Both figures were accessed by news agency AFP.

About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has c... Read More

Location : Paris, France

First Published: October 04, 2025, 07:43 IST

News world Gaza Ceasefire, Hostage Release Within Reach: World Leaders Laud Trumps Commitment To Peace

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'Donald Trump Has No Authority': $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee Hike Challenged In Lawsuit

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 13:19 IST

A coalition in the US has sued Trump's H-1B visa fee hike, calling it unconstitutional and unlawful. They argue the fee drive away skilled foreign workers and stifling innovation.

Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House (File photo/AP)

A coalition of health care providers, religious groups, university professors and others filed a federal lawsuit on Friday, challenging the new USD 100,000 fee required for H-1B visa applications.

The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in San Francisco, is the first to challenge a proclamation that Donald Trump issued two weeks ago, announcing the fee as he moves to further restrict immigration to the United States.

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The plaintiffs argue that Trump has no authority to alter a comprehensive statutory scheme governing the visa program and cannot, under the US Constitution, unilaterally impose fee, taxes or other mechanisms to generate revenue for the United States, saying that power is reserved for Congress.

The coalition also argued that the new fee imposed on the visa has thrown employers, workers and federal agencies into chaos".

Trumps order bars new H-1B recipients from entering the United States unless the employer sponsoring their visa has made an additional $100,000 payment.

The administration has said the order does not apply to people who already hold H-1B visas or those who submitted applications before September 21.

DONALD TRUMPs H-1B VISA CHALLENGED IN COURT

As the plaintiffs argued Trumps power to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals and overriding the law that created the H-1B visa program, the lawsuit mentioned, The Proclamation transforms the H-1B program into one where employers must either pay to play or seek a national interest exemption, which will be doled out at the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security, a system that opens the door to selective enforcement and corruption."

The groups argue that agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Securitys US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the US State Department, likewise adopted new policies to implement Trumps proclamation.

This, they said, was done without following necessary rulemaking processes and without considering how extorting exorbitant fees will stifle innovation."

The lawsuit said the H-1B program is a critical pathway to hiring healthcare workers and educators. It drives innovation and economic growth in the US, and allows employers to fill jobs in specialised fields.

Without relief, hospitals will lose medical staff, churches will lose pastors, classrooms will lose teachers, and industries across the country risk losing key innovators," Democracy Forward Foundation and Justice Action Centre said in a press release.

The suit asks the court to immediately block the order and restore predictability for employers and workers."

They called the new fee Trumps latest anti-immigration power grab".

THE H-1B VISA FEE HIKE

Donald Trump signed the proclamation on September 19, requiring the new fee, saying the H-1B visa program has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labour".

The changes were slated to go into effect in 36 hours, which caused panic for employers, who instructed their workers to return to the US immediately.

Trump, in his unprecedented order, invoked his power under federal immigration law to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals who would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.

He said that high numbers of lower-wage workers in the H-1B program have undercut its integrity and that the program threatens national security, including by discouraging Americans from pursuing careers in science and technology.

The H-1B visa program was created by Congress to attract high-skilled workers to fill jobs that tech companies find difficult to fill. About a third of H-1B workers are nurses, teachers, physicians, scholars, priests and pastors, according to the lawsuit.

Historically, H-1B visas have been doled out through a lottery. This year, Seattle-based Amazon was by far the top recipient of H-1B visas with more than 10,000 awarded, followed by Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple and Google. Geographically, California has the highest number of H-1B workers, according to The Associated Press.

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ALSO READ | TCS, Cognizant Among 10 Firms Queried By US Senators On H-1B Use Despite Job Cuts

About the Author Vani Mehrotra Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

First Published: October 04, 2025, 08:44 IST

News world 'Donald Trump Has No Authority': $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee Hike Challenged In Lawsuit

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'Ready For Lasting Peace': Hamas Partially Agrees To Trumps Gaza Plan; US Urges Israel To Halt Strikes

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 10:48 IST

Hamas welcomes Trump's call to halt Israeli bombings in Gaza, expressing readiness for immediate talks on Israeli hostages, prisoner exchange, and ending the war.

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Palestinians, displaced from northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, take shelter, after evacuating southwards, following Israeli forces' orders to leave Gaza City, in the central Gaza Strip. (IMAGE: REUTERS)

Hamas said on Friday it was ready to start immediate talks on freeing the Israeli hostages it holds and the end of the Gaza war, welcoming US President Donald Trumps call for Israel to stop bombing the Palestinian territory.

President Trumps statements on the immediate cessation of Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip are encouraging," Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nunu told AFP.

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Hamas is ready to immediately begin negotiations to achieve a prisoner exchange, end the war and ensure the withdrawal of the (Israeli) army from the Gaza Strip," he added.

Trump had hailed an earlier statement from Hamas that it was committed to a lasting peace", in response to the US leader giving the group until 2200 GMT on Sunday to accept his 20-point plan or else face all hell".

In that statement, Hamas also agreed to hand over power in Gaza to a body of Palestinian technocrats  another element of the Trump proposal  but said it would participate and contribute responsibly" in Palestinian discussions regarding the territorys future.

Trump welcomed the Hamas statement, saying: I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE."

Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, its far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out," he wrote on social media.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was prepared for the implementation of the first stage" of Trumps plan, apparently referring to the release of hostages. But his office said in a statement that Israel was committed to ending the war based on principles it has set out before, without addressing potential gaps with Hamas, according to a report by the Associated Press.

The Associated Press report also highlighted that Hamas said it had accepted some elements of Trumps plan to end the nearly two-year war and return all the remaining hostages taken in the October 7, 2023, attack.

Some senior Hamas officials suggested there were still major disagreements that required further negotiations.

The group said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians.

Thousands of Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, attacking army bases, farming communities and an outdoor music festival, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. They abducted 251 others, most of them since released in ceasefires or other deals.

Israels retaliatory offensive has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says women and children make up around half the dead.

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The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the UN and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

The offensive has displaced around 90% of Gazas population, often multiple times, and left much of the territory uninhabitable.

About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has c... Read More

Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

First Published: October 04, 2025, 06:56 IST

News world 'Ready For Lasting Peace': Hamas Partially Agrees To Trumps Gaza Plan; US Urges Israel To Halt Strikes

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Hamas, Israel To Hold Indirect Talks In Cairo On Hostage, Prisoner Exchange

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 22:17 IST

Hamas and Israel will hold indirect talks in Cairo, mediated by Egypt, to discuss hostage release based on Donald Trumps proposal.

Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. (Image Credit: Reuters)

Hamas and Israel will hold indirect talks in Cairo on Sunday and Monday aimed at securing the release of hostages and detainees, Egyptian state-linked media reported. According to Al-Qahera News, delegations from both sides have begun moving to launch talks in Cairo tomorrow and the day after, to discuss arranging the ground conditions for the exchange of all detainees and prisoners, in accordance with Donald Trumps proposal."

The talks come as US President Donald Trump praised Israel for temporarily halting its bombing operations in Gaza, urging both sides to finalise a hostage release and peace agreement.

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I appreciate that Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed. Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off. I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again. Lets get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!" Donald Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

Hamas announced that it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages- alive or dead- and expressed readiness to negotiate through mediators based on Donald Trumps 20-point peace plan.

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President Trumps statements on the immediate cessation of Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip are encouraging," Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nunu told AFP, adding, Hamas is ready to immediately begin negotiations to achieve a prisoner exchange, end the war and ensure the withdrawal of the (Israeli) army from the Gaza Strip."

Egypt, which has long acted as a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, is expected to host the talks amid a temporary ceasefire in Gaza brokered earlier this week.

Location : Israel

First Published: October 04, 2025, 22:17 IST

News world Hamas, Israel To Hold Indirect Talks In Cairo On Hostage, Prisoner Exchange

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Indian Student From Hyderabad Shot Dead In US While Working At Gas Station

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 19:04 IST

Chandrashekar Pole, a student at the University of North Texas and a native of Hyderabad, was shot by unidentified gunmen in Texas.

Former Minister T Harish Rao met the family of deceased Indian student Chandrashekar Pole. (Photo: X)

In a tragic incident, an Indian student was shot dead while working at a gas station last night in Texas, United States. Chandrashekar Pole, a student at the University of North Texas and a native of Hyderabad, was shot by unidentified gunmen in Dallas.

Pole moved to the United States in 2023 for higher studies after finishing his bachelors in dental surgery back in Hyderabad. He had completed his masters degree in the US six months ago and had been seeking a full-time position while working part-time at a gas station.

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According to information available, Pole was shot by a person of African-American origin. He was working at a gas filling station in Delton part-time, when some assailants opened fire on him. The students family has sought the governments help in bringing back their sons body from the US.

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy condoled the death of Pole, saying that the incident has caused deep shock and grief.

The death of Pole Chandrasekhar, a student from LB Nagar, in a shooting incident by miscreants in America has caused deep shock and grief. I pray to God that his soul may find peace and express my profound condolences to his family members. The government will stand by Chandrasekhars family. We will provide all possible assistance to bring his mortal remains back to his hometown," he said in a post on X.

             ,  .     ,      .     Revanth Reddy (@revanth_anumula) October 4, 2025

Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) MLA Sudhir Reddy and former Telangana Minister T Harish Rao, along with other party leaders, visited the bereaved family here and offered condolences.

VIDEO | Hyderabad: BRS leader T Harish Rao visits family of dental student Chandrashekar Pole shot dead in Texas, USA.(Full video available on PTI Videos  https://t.co/n147TvrpG7)#Hyderabad pic.twitter.com/gBRt3xHMzd  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 4, 2025

nri

It is tragic that Chandra Shekar Pole, a Dalit student from L B Nagar who completed BDS and went to America (Dallas) for higher studies, died in a shooting carried out by miscreants early morning," said Harish Rao, urging the Telangana government to take steps to bring back his remains.

The pain that the parents are going through, knowing that their son, who they believed would reach great heights, is no more, is heart-wrenching to witness," he said. We, on behalf of BRS, demand that the state government take initiative and make efforts to bring Chandra Shekhars mortal remains to his hometown as quickly as possible."

Earlier, an Indian-origin man from Telangana was shot dead by the cops in Californias Santa Clara, the United States. The deceased was identified as 30-year-old Mohammed Nizamuddin.

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According to the details, Nizamuddin was allegedly shot dead by the police following a scuffle with his roommate on September 3. The exact details of the incident were not known. His family requested External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to help bring his sons mortal remains back to Mahabubnagar.

The Ministry of External Affairs said it was in touch with US authorities and the family of the victim and promised all assistance in the matter.

About the Author Aveek Banerjee Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in int... Read More

Location : United States of America (USA)

First Published: October 04, 2025, 18:01 IST

News world Indian Student From Hyderabad Shot Dead In US While Working At Gas Station

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Israel Preparing List Of Palestinian Prisoners To Be Freed As Part Of Trump's Gaza Peace Plan

Reported By :

News18.com Edited By: Aveek Banerjee



Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 16:22 IST

Israel is expected to dispatch a delegation to hold talks for implementing Trump's Gaza peace plan after Hamas agreed to release all hostages.

Israel said it was ready to work with Trump to implement his Gaza peace plan. (Reuters/Representative Image)

Israeli security forces are preparing a list of Palestinian prisoners who could be freed in exchange for hostages in Hamas captivity as part of US President Donald Trumps peace plan, CNN-News18 has learnt, after Hamas agreed to key elements of the peace proposal.

Israels negotiating team has been ordered to prepare to dispatch a delegation to hold talks for implementing Trumps Gaza peace plan. These talks are most likely to be held in Egypt.

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This came after Israel signalled its readiness to implement Trumps plan to end nearly two years of war in Gaza by reducing its operations in the Palestinian enclave. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would work in full cooperation" with Trump to end the war in accordance with its principles.

However, Israel said its troops were still operating in Gaza and warned residents not to return, despite calls from the families of Israeli hostages and US President Donald Trump for an immediate halt to the fighting. Dozens of attacks on Gaza City were reported despite Trumps call, with at least six deaths.

Hamas Agrees To Release Hostages

In a major breakthrough in months-long efforts to halt the war, which has led to staggering destruction in the Gaza Strip, Hamas on Friday said it was ready to release all hostages and start talks on the details of his plan to end the nearly two-year war.

Hamas also reaffirmed its approval to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats), based on Palestinian national consensus and supported by Arab and Islamic backing.

ALSO READ: Reaffirms Approval To Hand Over: Full Statement By Hamas As It Agrees To Release All Hostages

Within this framework, and in a manner that achieves an end to the war and a full withdrawal from the Strip, the movement announces its approval of releasing all occupation prisonersboth living and remains-according to the exchange formula contained in President Trumps proposal, with the necessary field conditions for implementing the exchange," the group said in its statement.

Trump Calls On Israel To Stop Bombing

Welcoming the Hamas statement, Trump said, Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!"

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Trumps proposal said that after 72 hours of accepting his peace deal, Israel will free 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences, plus 1,700 Gazans arrested since October 7, 2023, including all women and children.

However, several core demands including full disarmament, a foreign-led transitional authority, and strict timelines remain unaddressed. Hamas said issues concerning the future of Gaza and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people need to be discussed within a comprehensive Palestinian national framework".

About the Author Siddhant Mishra Siddhant Mishra is a Senior Special Correspondent at CNN-News18, covering foreign affairs and international relations. With over 12 years of experience in journalism, he has also reported extensively ... Read More

Location : Jerusalem, Israel

First Published: October 04, 2025, 16:22 IST

News world Israel Preparing List Of Palestinian Prisoners To Be Freed As Part Of Trump's Gaza Peace Plan

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How lean financial operations will define the CFO role in 2025

In an era of economic unpredictability and tight margins, chief financial officers are under mounting pressure to do more with less. Nearly half of C-suite executives have considered budget cuts for their own departments amid macroeconomic challenges.

At the same time, financial risks are rising. A recent survey found that 79% of organizations were targeted by payment fraud attempts in 2024. For CFOs, the challenge is clear: reduce costs without compromising security or long-term growth.

To meet these dual demands, finance leaders need a new way of working  one that cuts waste, builds fraud defenses, and frees resources for growth. Yooz, an AI-powered finance-automation platform, explains how employing the concept of Lean Financial Operations can turn back-office bottlenecks into real-time growth levers.

A New Mandate for CFOs

The role of the CFO has evolved far beyond reporting numbers. Todays finance chief is expected to be a strategist, innovator, and growth partner. But they must deliver on that mandate with fewer resources and tighter scrutiny.

CFOs and their teams must ensure that steps taken to guide cost cuts are done in a measured way that doesnt impact resilience and long-term performance, advises Alexander Bant, Gartners finance research chief. In other words, trimming fat from the budget should not compromise the organizations core.

Many CFOs today feel pulled in two directions. On one side, theyre expected to be forward-looking strategists who drive innovation and growth. On the other hand, competing priorities and looming deadlines can lead finance teams back to manual processes and fire drills, draining time that could be spent on strategic work. Lean financial operations offers a way out of that contradiction: freeing finance teams from drudgery so they can spend less time on reconciliations and more time on analysis and decision-making.

What Lean Really Means

The concept of lean originated in manufacturing, where companies like Toyota pioneered systems designed to eliminate waste without sacrificing quality. Applied to finance, lean means removing manual, redundant, or error-prone processes so every activity adds value.

For finance teams, this means digitizing paper invoices, automating approval workflows, or utilizing artificial intelligence to flag anomalies in real-time. Importantly, lean isnt a one-off cost-cutting initiative; its a continuous improvement mindset where employees look for ways to simplify, standardize, and improve processes every day.
'Israel Would Work To End War': IDF Reduces Gaza Operations As Hamas Agrees To Release Hostages

Curated By :

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 13:18 IST

Israel has said it is preparing to implement the "first stage" of Trumps Gaza peace plan and will work in full cooperation with the US to end the war.

A file photo of Benjamin Netanyahu (AP)

Hours after Hamas agreed to release all Israeli hostages, whether dead or alive, in response to the 20-point Gaza peace plan introduced by US President Donald Trump earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country is preparing to implement the first stage" of Trumps plan to end the war in Gaza.

Israel would work in full cooperation" with Trump to end the war in accordance with its principles, a statement from the Prime Ministers Office read.

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Meanwhile, multiple media reports suggested a de-escalation in attacks in the Gaza Strip.

This also came after Trump on Friday ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza.

HAMAS AGREES TO RELEASE HOSTAGES

Hamas said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians.

Senior Hamas officials suggested there were still major disagreements that required further negotiations.

Later, Trump welcomed the Hamas statement, saying, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE."

Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, its far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out," he wrote on social media.

IS HAMAS OPEN TO ACCEPTING TRUMPs PLAN?

Hamas said it would release Israeli hostages in Gaza, both living and dead, according to the exchange formula contained in President Trumps proposal, with the necessary field conditions for implementing the exchange."

It did not specify what it meant by necessary field conditions."

The militant group said it was ready to immediately have talks through mediators to discuss further details.

The Trump plan says all hostages will be returned by Hamas within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement."

Trumps proposal said that, thereafter, Israel will free 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences, plus 1,700 Gazans arrested since October 7, 2023, including all women and children.

For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 dead Gazans, the Trump plan says.

Hamas said it accepted the framework of an end to the war and Israels full withdrawal" from the enclave.

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ALSO READ | Trumps Gaza Peace Deal: What Hamas Accepted, And What It Still Hasnt Agreed To

About the Author Vani Mehrotra Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

First Published: October 04, 2025, 10:36 IST

News world 'Israel Would Work To End War': IDF Reduces Gaza Operations As Hamas Agrees To Release Hostages

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Israel Launches Fresh Strikes On Gaza After Donald Trumps Truce Call, Six Dead

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 14:21 IST

Despite Donald Trumps call to halt bombings following Hamass acceptance of his peace plan, Israel struck Gaza on Saturday, killing six people.

Smoke rises following an Israeli military strike in Gaza City (File photo/AP)

At least six people died after Israel launched fresh strikes on Gaza on Saturday, hours after US President Donald Trump had called for a halt to the bombing.

The strikes came even as Hamas agreed to release all hostages and accepted some terms in Trumps plan to end the war.

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Reuters quoted medical workers and local authorities as saying that one strike killed four people in a house in Gaza City, while another killed two others in Khan Younis in the south.

Earlier today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said that Israel was preparing for an immediate implementation" of the first stage of Trumps Gaza plan for the release of Israeli hostages following Hamass response.

Shortly after, Israeli media reported that the countrys political echelon had instructed the military to reduce offensive activity in Gaza.

Netanyahus office said Israel will continue to work in full cooperation with the President and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles set out by Israel, which align with President Trumps vision."

The Israeli military chief of staff had also instructed forces to advance readiness for the implementation of the first phase of Trumps plan, without mentioning whether there would be a reduction of military activity in Gaza.

Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, responded to Trumps 20-point plan after the US President gave the group until Sunday to accept or face grave consequences.

On Friday, Trump had said he believed Hamas had shown it was ready for a lasting peace" and he put the onus on Netanyahus government.

Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

We are already in discussions on the details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought peace in the Middle East," he said.

Israel began its offensive in Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages back to Gaza, Reuters quoted Israeli tallies.

Israel says 48 hostages remain, 20 of whom are alive.

Israels military campaign has killed more than 66,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, the report quoted Gaza health authorities.

ALSO READ | Release Of Hostages A Complicated War Zone: Palestine Ambassador On Hamas Accepting Trumps Plan

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About the Author Vani Mehrotra Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

First Published: October 04, 2025, 14:05 IST

News world Israel Launches Fresh Strikes On Gaza After Donald Trumps Truce Call, Six Dead

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'Piss On Their Graves': Virginia Attorney General Nominee Jay Jones Under Fire Over Leaked Texts

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 13:19 IST

Jerrauld 'Jay' Jones is facing backlash after leaked 2022 texts showed him joking about shooting the GOP House Speaker and urinating on political opponents graves.

A photo of Jerrauld 'Jay' Jones (Credit: Instagram)

Democratic nominee for Virginia attorney general, Jerrauld Jay Jones, has come under fire after some of the text messages he sent to a state lawmaker in 2022 were made public on Friday.

According to the screenshots of the text messages, as reviewed by The Washington Post, Jones described a hypothetical scenario of shooting the Republican speaker of the Virginia House.

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He also discussed urinating on the future graves of other political opponents, the report claimed.

The messages were first reported by National Review on Friday, and were sent by Jones on August 8, 2022, as other GOP delegates were eulogising a moderate Democratic lawmaker.

Jones, who had resigned from his House seat about eight months earlier, objected to the glowing tributes, the screenshots showed.

If those guys die before me, I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves. Send them out awash in something," Jones wrote to Republican House Del. Carrie Coyner, in a text thread that suggested his messages were initially intended for someone else, The Washington Post attributed the screenshots of the conversation.

Jones then mused about a scenario in which he had two bullets and could choose to fire them at Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, the Cambodian dictator, or then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R).

Coyners office told WUSA9 they shared the texts with Gilbert. As for why they were releasing the texts publicly now, they said because the National Review had reached out for comment on them, WUSA9 reported.

Three bullets, two people," Jones allegedly texted Coyner.

Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot," the message read.

Gilbert gets two bullets in the head," Jones continued. Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets," he mentioned in the text.

JAY JONES STATEMENT

WUSA9 quoted a statement by Jones, which read, I take full responsibility for my actions, and I want to issue my deepest apology to Speaker Gilbert and his family."

Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry," he said.

I have reached out to Speaker Gilbert to apologise directly to him, his wife Jennifer, and their children. I cannot take back what I said; I can only take full accountability and offer my sincere apology," Jones said.

Virginians deserve honest leaders who admit when they are wrong and own up to their mistakes. This was a grave mistake, and I will work every day to prove to the people of Virginia that I will fight for them as Attorney General," he mentioned.

Jones is slated to face incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares in the November election.

WHO IS JAY JONES?

According to his official website, Jay Jones is a former Assistant Attorney General and lawmaker. He has two sons, who are running for Attorney General to fight for Virginia families and stand up to Donald Trumps dangerous agenda".

He is a resident of Norfolk and is running for Attorney General to protect Virginia families from crime and violence, corporate price gouging, and politicians with extreme agendas attacking our rights and Virginia workers, the website mentions.

Jay previously served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, where he was a member of the Office of Consumer Protection. In this role, he took on the gun lobby to keep families safe from violent crime, sued corporate special interests to prevent higher grocery prices, and went after big banks and slumlords preying on consumers.

The descendant of slaves, Jays family has been in Norfolk since the early 20th century, per his website.

His grandfather, Hilary H Jones, Sr., was a pioneering Civil Rights attorney in Norfolk and became the first Black member of the Norfolk School Board. In 1969, he was appointed to the State Board of Education, the first Black person to be named to the board in the history of Virginia.

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ALSO READ | King Charles May Not Invite Prince Andrew, Linked To Epstein Files, To Christmas This Year: Report

About the Author Vani Mehrotra Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

First Published: October 04, 2025, 10:01 IST

News world 'Piss On Their Graves': Virginia Attorney General Nominee Jay Jones Under Fire Over Leaked Texts

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Muhammad Yunus Voices Support For Bangladeshi Activist Onboard Gaza-Bound Flotilla

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 23:34 IST

Muhammad Yunus voiced support for Shahidul Alam and the Gaza flotilla, condemning global apathy and Israels blockade, as activists worldwide rally for aid and justice in Gaza.

Alam is sailing toward Gaza as part of the 'Conscience Flotilla' (Image: X/@trahmanbnp)

Bangladeshs interim leader and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Saturday delivered a strong message in support of those attempting to deliver aid to Gaza, including Bangladeshi activist Shahidul Alam, stating that they are closely monitoring the status and safety of those participating in the historic flotilla" bound for the war-torn strip.

In a post on X, the official handle of Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh, wrote, We are closely monitoring the status and safety of those participating in the historic flotilla for Gaza, especially world-renowned photographer and human rights activist Shahidul Alam."

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Statement of the Chief AdviserWe are closely monitoring the status and safety of those participating in the historic flotilla for Gaza, especially world-renowned photographer and human rights activist Shahidul Alam. Shahidul has approached this mission with the same courage,  Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh (@ChiefAdviserGoB) October 4, 2025

Yunus praised Alams long-standing commitment to justice, recalling his unwavering spirit" during his 107-day imprisonment in 2018 for criticising the Hasina government.

Shahidul has approached this mission with the same courage, resolve and unwavering spirit he showed when he endured 107 days in prison in 2018 for speaking out against injustice under the Hasina government. He stands today as a shining embodiment of the unyielding spirit of Bangladesh," he wrote.

Referring to his own recent address at the United Nations General Assembly, Yunus reiterated the growing global apathy toward human suffering.

As I declared before the United Nations General Assembly last month, the indifference to human pain is destroying the progress humanity has built through decades of struggle," he said.

Nowhere is this tragedy more visible than in Gaza," he added. Children are dying of hunger. Civilians are being killed without distinction. Entire neighborhoods, including hospitals and schools, are being wiped from the map."

Concluding his message, Yunus made a firm declaration of solidarity, saying, We stand with Shahidul Alam and with Gaza  now and forever."

Israeli Forces Intercept Flotilla

His statement comes days after a flotilla of over 40 civilian boats, carrying activists and humanitarian aid, were reportedly intercepted by Israeli forces, drawing widespread criticism. The flotilla, part of a broader international civil society effort to break the blockade on Gaza and deliver food and medical supplies, has drawn attention worldwide.

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The interception on Wednesday drew massive global attention, sparking protests across continents. The Global Sumud Flotilla, carrying 500 activistsincluding Swedish climate advocate Greta Thunberg and Nelson Mandelas grandsonwas the most high-profile attempt yet to challenge Israels blockade of Gaza.

As pressure mounts, a second flotilla of 11 boats has already set sail, signaling that the campaignand the movement behind itis far from over.

About the Author Manisha Roy Manisha Roy is a Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com's general desk. She comes with an experience of over 5 years in media industry. She covers politics and other hard news. She can be contacted at Manish... Read More

Location : Dhaka, Bangladesh

First Published: October 04, 2025, 23:34 IST

News world Muhammad Yunus Voices Support For Bangladeshi Activist Onboard Gaza-Bound Flotilla

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On-Board Cams And 2 UK Techies: How Gaza Aid Flotilla's Raid Was Livestreamed

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 17:29 IST

The flotilla was carrying 500 activists, including climate advocate Greta Thunberg. Protests erupted globally as live feeds drew 6 million visits in two days.

Crew interacts from aboard a boat, part of the Global Sumud Flotilla aiming to reach Gaza and break Israel's naval blockade, as it sails off Koufonisi islet, Greece, September 26, 2025. (REUTERS)

When armed Israeli forces intercepted a flotilla of over 40 civilian boats attempting to deliver aid to war-torn Gaza on Wednesday night, two web developers in Glasgow raced to keep the world informed. Their site, created in collaboration with Forensic Architecture, streamed live footage from onboard cameras and updated vessel statuses as each was intercepted. The site saw 6 million visits in two daysunprecedented for Malcolms studio, Rectangle.

The interception drew massive global attention, sparking protests across continents. The Global Sumud Flotilla, carrying 500 activistsincluding Swedish climate advocate Greta Thunberg and Nelson Mandelas grandsonwas the most high-profile attempt yet to challenge Israels blockade of Gaza.

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Though the flotilla was stopped and escorted to Israel, the mission energized a growing global movement. Protests erupted from Europe to Latin America and Asia, while political leaders worldwide condemned the seizure. The campaign gained further momentum through coordinated grassroots organizing, a savvy media strategy, and technological innovation including satellite tracking and live social media updates.

Born from a June meeting in Tunis among Gaza-focused activist groups, the flotilla quickly gathered wide support. Italys Music 4 Peace collected over 500 tons of aid in just five days, while unions backed the effort with port strikes and actions. Across Europe, organizers mobilized communities and built local support networks.

The cultural impact is beginning to show. That is not just the flotilla, but they are making a difference," Dan Mercea, a professor of digital and social change, told Reuters.

New Flotilla Heading For Gaza

As pressure mounts, a second flotilla of 11 boats has already set sail, signaling that the campaignand the movement behind itis far from over.

Flotilla Live Feed

The flotilla maintained a steady stream of updates across X, Telegram, and Instagram, and held live press conferences via Zoom with activists onboard. Among those on the boats were Nelson Mandelas grandson and climate activist Greta Thunberg, who gave interviews from the ships deck.

Live feeds from the vessels provided a rare, real-time view of events as they unfolded. Ship tracking technology had been upgraded for the mission, with multiple layers of backup, including Garmin devices and even mobile phones, to ensure continuity.

In Glasgow, developers Lizzie Malcolm and Daniel Powersworking with the London-based research group Forensic Architecturemonitored the feeds closely. As the Israeli navy boarded the boats under nightfall, demanding captains shut off their engines, viewers around the world watched armed soldiers using night vision equipment approach the civilian vessels.

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Following an agreed safety protocol, the activists donned life vests and raised their hands in the air. From their studio in Glasgow, Malcolm and Powers updated the flotillas website in real-time, switching each vessels status from sailing" to intercepted" as the night progressed.

We have seen how much people want to watch this. It does something. There is something positive in this  you are really willing them to get there," Malcolm told Reuters

About the Author Manisha Roy Manisha Roy is a Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com's general desk. She comes with an experience of over 5 years in media industry. She covers politics and other hard news. She can be contacted at Manish... Read More

Location : Israel

First Published: October 04, 2025, 17:18 IST

News world On-Board Cams And 2 UK Techies: How Gaza Aid Flotilla's Raid Was Livestreamed

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Pakistan Shifts Stance, Turkey Stands Firm As Both Back Hamas' Reply To Trumps Gaza Plan

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 22:20 IST

Pakistan and Turkey support Hamas' partial acceptance of Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan, urging Israel to cease bombings

Palestinians watch smoke billowing during Israeli strikes on October 1. (Image: Bashar TALEB/AFP)

Pakistan and Turkey have voiced their support for Hamas response to US President Donald Trumps 20-point Gaza peace plan, saying that the militant groups partial acceptance of the proposal would offer an opportunity to secure an immediate ceasefire.

Islamabad, which earlier disowned Trumps proposal, saying that the document was not ours" and that changes have been made to our draft," originally proposed by Muslim-majority nations, welcomed Hamas move.

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In a statement, Islamabad said, The deal would end the bloodshed of innocent Palestinians in Gaza, release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners, ensure unhindered humanitarian assistance, and pave the way for a credible political process toward lasting peace."

It also called on Israel to immediately cease bombings on Gaza.

Alhamdolillah, we are closer to a ceasefire than we have been since this genocide was launched on the Palestinian people. Pakistan has always stood by the Palestinian people and shall always do so," Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said as reported by Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Hamas reply to Trumps Gaza ceasefire plan, Constructive and a significant step toward achieving lasting peace." He also urged Israel to end its genocide in Gaza.

Earlier, Pakistan distanced itself from the proposal, even before a formal rejection from Hamas, with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar saying in the parliament that the document was not ours" and that changes have been made to our draft" originally proposed by Muslim-majority nations.

The swift rejection policy was reportedly being orchestrated with the backing of the Pakistan Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, underscoring the military establishments firm stance against legitimising elements of the US-Israel-backed framework.

Hamass Partial Acceptance Of Trumps Proposal

Hamas said on Friday that it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, and expressed willingness to negotiate through mediators on Trumps 20-point plan for peace.

President Trumps statements on the immediate cessation of Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip are encouraging," Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nunu told AFP.

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Hamas is ready to immediately begin negotiations to achieve a prisoner exchange, end the war and ensure the withdrawal of the (Israeli) army from the Gaza Strip," he added.

On Friday, Trump had said that Hamas must agree to the proposed peace deal by Sunday evening, threatening an even greater military onslaught. The territory of some two million Palestinians would be placed under international governance, with Trump himself and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair overseeing it. The plan provides no path for eventual reunification with the Israeli-occupied West Bank in a future Palestinian state, according to Associated Press.

About the Author Shobhit Gupta Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degre... Read More

Location : Islamabad, Pakistan

First Published: October 04, 2025, 22:20 IST

News world Pakistan Shifts Stance, Turkey Stands Firm As Both Back Hamas' Reply To Trumps Gaza Plan

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'Decisive Progress': PM Modi Praises Trump's Gaza Peace Push As Hamas Hints At Hostage Release

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 08:28 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the Trump administration for their efforts to bring the Gaza war to an end.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi appreciated the efforts the Trump administration made to bring the war in Gaza to an end. (IMAGE: REUTERS FILE)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday morning welcomed the US administrations efforts to end the war and bring peace in Gaza, saying that the US President Donald Trumps leadership and efforts have led to decisive progress".

The Prime Ministers remarks, made via a social media post, come shortly after Hamas accepted some parts of the deal but outlined that they are ready to release the hostages they had captured when they attacked Israel on October 7.

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We welcome President Trumps leadership as peace efforts in Gaza make decisive progress. Indications of the release of hostages mark a significant step forward," PM Modi said.

He also said that New Delhi will back all efforts towards a durable and just peace".

We welcome President Trumps leadership as peace efforts in Gaza make decisive progress. Indications of the release of hostages mark a significant step forward.India will continue to strongly support all efforts towards a durable and just peace.@realDonaldTrump @POTUS  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 4, 2025

India supports a negotiated two-state solution  a sovereign, independent, viable Palestinian state alongside Israel, living in peace with secure and recognised borders.

US-based news agency Associated Press in its report said that the Palestinian militant group has accepted the deal partially" and highlighted that some senior Hamas officials suggested there were still major disagreements that required further negotiations.

Trumps proposal cannot be implemented without negotiations," Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official based outside of Gaza, was quoted as saying by Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera.

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Marzouk said it might be difficult for Hamas to release all the hostages within 72 hours, because it could take days or weeks to locate the remains of some of the captives.

He said Hamas was willing to hand over its weapons to a future Palestinian body that runs Gaza, but there was no mention of that in the official statement.

About the Author Shankhyaneel Sarkar Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has c... Read More

First Published: October 04, 2025, 07:55 IST

News world 'Decisive Progress': PM Modi Praises Trump's Gaza Peace Push As Hamas Hints At Hostage Release

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Trump Praises Israel, Warns Hamas To 'Act Quickly': What's Happening In Gaza?

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 21:56 IST

Donald Trump also issued a stern warning to Hamas, saying that they should act "quickly" and any delay or outcome that leaves Gaza as a security threat will not be tolerated.

US President Donald Trump (IMAGE: REUTERS)

US President Donald Trump on Saturday appreciated Israel for temporarily ceasing the bombing operations in Gaza, asserting the pause must be used to finalise a crucial hostage release and peace deal. However, Trump issued a stern warning to Hamas, saying that they should act quickly" and any delay or outcome that leaves Gaza as a security threat will not be tolerated."

I appreciate that Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed. Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off. I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again. Lets get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!" the US President said in a post on Truth Social.

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Israel Bombs Gaza After Trump Asks To Stop Strikes

Trump claimed that Israel had paused its bombardment of Gaza; however, Israel launched airstrikes on the region that claimed over 40 lives on Saturday, Al Jazeera reported.

As per Reuters, Israeli fire killed six people today morning. One strike killed four people in a house in Gaza City, while another killed two others in Khan Younis, authorities said. The Israel Defense Force has said that a large part of the enclave remains a dangerous combat zone.

It further said that it was continuing its offensive in Gaza City and warned residents not to return to the area, even after Trumps appeal.

The IDF troops are still operating in Gaza City, and returning to it is extremely dangerous. For your safety, avoid returning north or approaching areas of IDF troop activity anywhere  including in the southern Gaza Strip," the militarys Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, said on X.

Hamass Partial Acceptance Of Trumps Proposal

The attacks came after Hamas said on Friday that it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, and expressed willingness to negotiate through mediators on Trumps 20-point plan for peace.

President Trumps statements on the immediate cessation of Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip are encouraging," Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nunu told AFP.

Hamas is ready to immediately begin negotiations to achieve a prisoner exchange, end the war and ensure the withdrawal of the (Israeli) army from the Gaza Strip," he added.

Trump had hailed an earlier statement from Hamas that it was committed to a lasting peace", in response to the US leader giving the group until 2200 GMT on Sunday to accept his 20-point plan or else face all hell".

On Friday, Trump had said that Hamas must agree to the proposed peace deal by Sunday evening, threatening an even greater military onslaught. The territory of some two million Palestinians would be placed under international governance, with Trump himself and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair overseeing it. The plan provides no path for eventual reunification with the Israeli-occupied West Bank in a future Palestinian state, according to Associated Press.

IDF Advance Preparations For First Phase Of Trumps Plan

Meanwhile, Israels army said that it would advance preparations for the first phase of Trumps plan to end the war in Gaza.

The army said it was instructed by Israels leaders to advance readiness" for the implementation of the plan. An official who was not authorised to speak to the media on the record said that Israel has moved to a defensive-only position in Gaza and will not actively strike. The official said no forces have been removed from the strip.

Trumps Gaza plan full of dangers, Says Hezbollah

Meanwhile, Hezbollah claimed that Washingtons plan for a ceasefire in Gaza was full of dangers," and accused Israel of using the proposal to achieve what it failed" to do during the war.

Naim Qassem, the leader of the terror group, suggested Israel would use the plan as a pretext to take over the land and strip Palestinians of their self-determination, but says the decision of whether to accept it was ultimately Hamas, AFP reported.

In fact, this plan is a plan full of dangers," Qassem said in a speech commemorating two Hezbollah commanders killed during the terror groups war with Israel.

World Leaders React To Gaza Deal

After Hamas signalled its acceptance of the peace plan, international reactions started pouring in.

Qatar welcomed Hamas announcement, saying, We welcome the announcement by Hamas of its agreement to President Trumps plan," said foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari.

Egypt also expressed hope, saying, This positive development will lead all parties to rise to the level of responsibility by committing to implementing President Trumps plan on the ground and end the war."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Hamas reply to Trumps Gaza ceasefire plan, Constructive and a significant step toward achieving lasting peace." He also urged Israel to end its genocide in Gaza.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed Hamas announcement. His spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said, The UN chief urges all parties to seize the opportunity to bring the tragic conflict in Gaza to an end."

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Hamas response a significant step. I strongly support President Trumps efforts, which have brought us closer to peace than ever before. There is now an opportunity to end the fighting, for hostages to return home, and for humanitarian aid to reach those who so desperately need it."

According to Associated Press, the death toll in the nearly two-year Israel-Hamas war has passed 67,000 Palestinians, citing Gazas Health Ministry. The death toll jumped after the Ministry said it added more than 700 names to the list whose data had been verified.

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Tuesday would mark the second anniversary of the start of the Israel-Hamas war, which began on October 7, 2023, with the Hamas-led militant attacks on Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted. Of the 48 hostages remaining in Gaza, Israel believes that 20 are still alive.

(With inputs from agencies)

About the Author Shobhit Gupta Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degre... Read More

Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

First Published: October 04, 2025, 21:56 IST

News world Trump Praises Israel, Warns Hamas To 'Act Quickly': What's Happening In Gaza?

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Two Indian Tourists Jailed For Robbing, Assaulting Sex Workers In Singapore Hotels

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 08:53 IST

The incident came to light after the second victim told about the incident to another person, leading to a police report and swift investigations.

AI-generated image used for representation

Two Indian nationals have been sentenced to five years and one month in prison, along with 12 strokes of the cane, for assaulting and robbing two sex workers. The incident dates back to April this year when the accused arrived in Singapore from India.

Arokkiyasami Daison, 23, and Rajendran Mayilarasan, 27, pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt while robbing the victims, reported The Straits Times.

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According to court proceedings, while walking in the Little India area, the men were approached by an unknown individual who offered them the contact numbers of women providing sexual services. Instead of taking up the offer legitimately, the two men decided to use the opportunity to steal from the women.

Arokkiyasami suggested the idea to Rajendran, telling him they needed money. Rajendran agreed, and by that evening, they arranged to meet the first victim at a hotel.

Once inside the room at around 6 pm, the men attacked her. They tied her hands and legs with clothing, slapped her, and took jewellery, SGD 2,000 in cash, her passport, and bank cards.

Their second crime happened later that night. At about 11 pm, they lured another woman to a different hotel. When she entered, they dragged her by her arms, and Rajendran held his hand over her mouth to silence her. They stole SGD 800, two mobile phones, and her passport. Before leaving, they warned her not to move until they came back.

The incident came to light after the second victim told about the incident to another person, leading to a police report and swift investigations.

Both men pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt while committing robbery.

Arokkiyasami told the judge, My father passed away last year. I have three sisters, one of whom is married, and we have no money. That is why we did this." Rajendran added: My wife and child are alone in India, and they are financially suffering."

Under Singapore law, anyone convicted of causing hurt during a robbery faces between five and 20 years in prison, along with at least 12 strokes of the cane.

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Both men received the minimum sentence of five years and one month in prison, plus 12 strokes each.

About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, ... Read More

Location : Singapore

First Published: October 04, 2025, 08:52 IST

News world Two Indian Tourists Jailed For Robbing, Assaulting Sex Workers In Singapore Hotels

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Zelensky Condemns 'Savage' Russian Drone Strike That Killed 30 At Ukraine Train Station

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Last Updated: October 04, 2025, 17:14 IST

Volodymyr Zelensky condemned a Russian drone strike on Shostka station in Sumy that wounded at least 30, as attacks also hit Chernihiv and a refinery in Leningrad region.

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File photo of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a press conference in Kyiv. (Image: AFP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that a Russian drone strike on a railway station in the northeastern region of Sumy wounded at least 30 people. He called the strike on Shostka station in Sumy savage".

So far, we know of at least 30 victims," including passengers and railway staff, he said.

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Russias army has repeatedly targeted Ukraines railway infrastructure since invading in February 2022.

He shared a video capturing a train carriage twisted and engulfed in flames, its windows shattered and metal mangled.

The Russians could not have been unaware that they were striking civilians," he added.

The site is around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Russian border.

In a separate series of overnight attacks on Saturday, Russian forces cut electricity to roughly 50,000 households in Ukraines northern Chernihiv region.

Ukraines army on Saturday also claimed to have struck a major oil refinery in Russias northwestern Leningrad region.

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Kyiv has pledged to intensify its long-range drone strikes on Russian energy facilities, describing the actions as justified retaliation for Russias daily assaults on Ukrainian cities and power infrastructure.

(With inputs from AFP)

About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, ... Read More

Location : Ukraine

First Published: October 04, 2025, 17:13 IST

News world Zelensky Condemns 'Savage' Russian Drone Strike That Killed 30 At Ukraine Train Station

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Crypto mogul Arthur Hayes has previously attacked the U.S. central bank when making lofty Bitcoin price predictions. But this time the billionaire is aiming his criticism at the Eurozone.

In a lengthy Wednesday blog post titled "Bastille Day," the co-founder and former chief of crypto exchange BitMEX said that French citizens moving their money could lead to excessive money printing on behalf of the European Central Bank, in turn benefiting Bitcoin.



Hayes argues that France, the second-largest economy in the Eurozone, has the highest debt, which the central bank will have to tackle by printing to avoid a collapse of the euro.

"The ECB will valiantly print money to forestall the loss of its raison detre," Hayes wrote, adding that "France is fucked."

He continued: "It shall be a glorious day for the faithful as printed euros will combine with printed dollars, yuan, yen, etc to bid up the price of Bitcoin."

"Either the ECB presses the Brrr button now and implicitly finances the French welfare state, or it does it later when French capital controls threaten to destroy the euro. Either way, money gets printed in the trillions of euros. Bitcoin doesn't care and will continue its inexorable rise versus the piece of trash that is the euro."

Hayes has previously said that Bitcoin would end up doing well due to American monetary policy of printing money. The crypto entrepreneur argued earlier this year that Bitcoin's price could hit $1 million by 2028 due to Federal Reserve monetary policy.

Money Printer Go Brr? Arthur Hayes Thinks It's ComingAnd Bitcoin Will Go Nuts

Bitcoin was recently trading for $120,515 per coin, up 7% over the past seven days, with most of the gains occurring this week, according to CoinGecko, following a government shutdown as many investors looked to BTC as a safe-haven asset. The largest crypto by market cap has helped ignite a wider surge in digital assets.

Hayes also forecasted that Ethereum, the second biggest digital coin, will hit $10,000 by the end of 2025. Ethereum stood at $4,492, a nearly 10% gain from a week ago.

Digital asset observers say that investors are interested in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin during periods of unrest and currency debasement.
President Mnangagwa will today join other Heads of State and Government at the inauguration of Malawi President-elect Peter Mutharika.

The President-elect will be sworn in at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, officially becoming Malawis seventh Head of State following his win in the September 16 general elections.

President-elect Mutharika secured 56,8 percent of the vote, defeating outgoing President Lazarus Chakwera.

His running mate, Jane Ansah, will also take the oath of office as Vice President.

The Malawian Government said invitations had been extended to regional and international dignitaries, including leaders from other African union (AU) member states.

Malawis Ministry of Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Mwayiwawo Polepole, who once served as Malawian Ambassador to Zimbabwe until last year, said Botswana President Duma Boko, Mozambican President Daniel Chapo and Zambias Hakainde Hichilema are also expected to be in attendance.

Zimbabwean Ambassador to Malawi, Mrs Nancy Saungweme, yesterday told The Herald that everything had been going on peacefully in the run-up to todays inauguration

The mood is okay and very peaceful, she said.

Thousands are expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony, which will signal the beginning of a new chapter in Malawi.

To ensure maximum nationwide participation, the Malawian Government has arranged public viewing points at Civo Stadium in Lilongwe, Katoto Freedom Park in Mzuzu and Mangochi Stadium.

The public is encouraged to attend the ceremony at Kamuzu Stadium.

For those unable to travel, viewing centres have been arranged in Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Mangochi, said Malawian Secretary to the Treasury Hetherwick Njati.

According to local media reports, outgoing President Chakwera will be in attendance to formally hand over the reins.

The outgoing Vice-President, Michael Usi, as well as former Presidents Bakili Muluzi and Joyce Banda, are also expected to attend todays inauguration.

President-elect Mutharika previously served as Malawis president from 2014 to 2020, and his return to office marks a political comeback after losing to incumbent President Chakwera in a 2020 re-run election.

The event will start with the swearing-in of the President-elect and Vice-President-elect by Chief Justice Rizine Mzikamanda, followed by the inauguration of the seventh President of the Republic of Malawi, which will be symbolised by the presentation of symbols of office, military honours, performances and the inaugural address. Herald
Police on Saturday were questioning six people arrested on suspicion of terror offenses after an attack on a synagogue in northwest England that left two men dead and Britain's Jewish community shocked and grieving. Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by police on Thursday outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester after he rammed a car into pedestrians, attacked them with a knife, and tried to force his way into the building, per the AP . Congregation members Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, died in the attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year.

Police say Daulby was accidentally shot by an armed officer as he and other congregants barricaded the synagogue to block Al-Shamie from entering. Three other men are hospitalized with serious injuries. Three men and three women, between the ages of 18 and somewhere in their 60s, were arrested in the greater Manchester area on suspicion of the "commission, preparation, and instigation of acts of terrorism," as police work to determine whether the attacker acted alone.

Detectives say Al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian origin who lived in Manchester, may have been influenced by "extreme Islamist ideology." He wore what appeared to be an explosives belt, which was found to be fake. Police said Al-Shamie was on bail over an alleged rape at the time of the attack but hadn't been charged.

The attack has devastated Britain's Jewish community and intensified debate about the line between criticism of Israel and antisemitism. Recorded antisemitic incidents in the UK have risen sharply since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israel's ensuing war against Hamas in Gaza, per the Community Security Trust charity. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the head of Orthodox Judaism in Britain, said the attack was the result of "an unrelenting wave of Jew hatred" on the streets and online.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has paused the release of more than $300 million in emergency preparedness grants, asking states to recalculate their populations excluding deported migrants. The move, which impacts Emergency Management Performance Grants used for disaster preparation and emergency services, is an unprecedented changepreviously, FEMA relied on US Census data for these calculations, per CNN .

Reuters notes that the program had been allotted $319.5 million for the 2025 fiscal year. States were notified they must now certify their populations as of Sept. 30, providing detailed methodology to ensure deported individuals aren't included. Grant funds will be released once FEMA reviews and approves these population reports. The agency argues that recent shifts, such as increased deportations, make updated counts necessary to distribute funds fairly.

This new hurdle comes amid a series of funding pauses and rule changes that have already complicated state access to federal preparedness money. Multiple current and former FEMA officials tell CNN that the new rule adds further bureaucracy and uncertainty. States have also received shortened spending windows for grants and added application requirements. The timing of FEMA's directive is notable, coming hours after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from redirecting preparedness funds away from Democratic-led states.

FEMA insists the new population requirement applies to all states and is unrelated to ongoing court battles. Last month, a report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, or GAO, found that the Trump administration breached the law by withholding three types of grants managed by FEMA, a violation of the Impoundment Control Act, per the Hill.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) is one of the most undervalued stocks to buy and hold for 5 years. On October 1, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Takeda Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:TAK), and Astex Pharmaceuticals agreed to collaborate and pool proprietary data for drug discovery using an AI model. These companies are joining an existing consortium that already includes AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ).

The pharmaceutical companies will contribute data from several thousand experimentally determined proteinsmall molecule structures to train an AI model called OpenFold3. The initiative is using a federated data sharing model provided by Apheris, a life sciences company based in Germany. This model allows the aggregation of diverse data sets from multiple companies while ensuring that each sensitive dataset remains securely in its original location.

Bristol-Myers Squibb, Takeda, Astex Join AI Consortium to Train OpenFold3 for Accelerated Drug Discovery

By pooling these extensive datasets, the goal of the initiative is to improve the accuracy of OpenFold3 in predicting the interactions between proteins and small molecules, which is a critical step in drug discovery and development. OpenFold3 is the flagship project of the industry-led AI Structural Biology Network, which is conducted in collaboration with the AlQuraishi Lab at Columbia University.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide.

While we acknowledge the potential of BMY as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If youre looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
A woman trying to take a Delta flight out of Salt Lake City was arrested instead after being accused of going on the attack while apparently intoxicated. According to a police booking affidavit cited by KSL and FOX 13 , 31-year-old Cody Sierra Marie Bryne had boarded the flight headed to Portland, Oregon, on Thursday but wouldn't get out of the aisle, even after being asked multiple times. When Bryne finally acquiesced, "she used her shoulder to push a Delta employee into a seat," per the affidavit. The pilot is then said to have ordered Bryne off the plane.

Although Bryne admitted to having had three beers, she insisted she wasn't drunk, though an airline employee said they could smell Bryne's boozy breath, according to the affidavit. Bryne allegedly tried to make a run for it as she was being escorted off the plane, and when airline employees stopped her, Bryne "grabbed one of the Delta employees by the back of her neck, pushing the employee's head toward the ground," the document notes, adding that Bryne also pulled that worker's hair. When Bryne finally let go, she then "squeezed and twisted [the employee's] breast while saying, 'If I ever find you alone, b----," before making a dash for the airport's exit.

When authorities caught up with Bryne a short time later in another part of Salt Lake City International Airport, she was attempting to book a flight with another airline, police say, adding that Bryne resisted arrest, requiring two officers to cuff her. "[Bryne] was unable to hold an intelligible conversation, had the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her person, had difficulty following directions, and needed assistance with walking," the police report notes. Bryne was arrested and charged with sexual battery, assault, public intoxication, and interfering with a peace officer, all of which are listed as misdemeanors, per ABC4. She was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail, with no other details available.
Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for Virginia attorney general, faced strong criticism Friday night after text messages from 2022 emerged in which he suggested then-state House Speaker Todd Gilbert deserved "two bullets to the head." The texts, first reported by the National Review and confirmed by the Republican Attorneys General Association, compared Gilbert to Hitler and Pol Pot and implied he should be targeted over the infamous dictators, per NBC News .

Jones, who wasn't in an elected office at the time, directed the texts to then-Republican delegate Carrie Coyner, who promptly urged him to "please stop." Coyner later called the comments "disturbing" and "disqualifying," arguing they were unbecoming of any public official. Jones didn't dispute the authenticity of the messages and issued a statement accepting "full responsibility." "Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry," he said in a statement to NBC, apologizing to Gilbert and his family.

Jones said in his statement that he'd also reached out privately to Gilbert. The revelations drew sharp bipartisan rebuke. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger said she'd spoken directly to Jones, expressing her "disgust" and demanding he take full responsibility. On the Republican side, gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears labeled the comments "wholly disqualifying," urging Jones to quit the race.
A new investigation claims that TikTok's search algorithms have been steering 13-year-old users toward explicit content, even when using the app's "restricted mode," which is designed to filter out inappropriate material, per CNN . The watchdog group Global Witness set up seven accounts in the UK, all posing as 13-year-olds, using fake dates of birth, per the BBC , which notes they "were not asked to provide any other information to confirm their identities." The group found that three were given sexualized search suggestions immediately upon using the search bar. All seven encountered pornographic material within a few clicks.

The report lands during ongoing debates in the UK and US about how to safeguard children online, and as TikTok faces lawsuits alleging its platform harms young users. In response, TikTok stated it's "fully committed" to a safe, age-appropriate environment and highlighted more than 50 teen-focused safety features. The company also said it quickly took down content flagged by Global Witness and improved its search suggestions, adding that it removes 9 out of 10 violating videos before they're even viewed.

TikTok, which bans sexual content and significant nudity involving minors, reported that about 30% of its content removals in early 2025 involved mature themes. The platform says it deletes around 6 million underage accounts worldwide each month using a mix of technology and staff reviews. The findings, coming shortly after the UK's new Online Safety Act rules went into effect over the summer, may amount to a breach of those laws, according to a media lawyer quoted in the report. TikTok didn't respond to that specific allegation.

While TikTok points to ongoing safety updateslike disabling late-night notifications for minors and introducing meditation featurescritics note that tech companies, including YouTube and Instagram, are all under growing scrutiny to prevent minors from accessing harmful content. The UK's new rules require platforms to implement stricter age checks, but some critics warn these could threaten users' privacy.
A federal appeals court has dealt a significant blow to President Trump's efforts to end birthright citizenship, ruling that the constitutional guarantee remains firmly in place for those born on US. soil. The First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston on Friday upheld an earlier injunction that blocked an executive order Trump signed in January to restrict citizenship for American-born children of non-citizen parents, the Hill reports. The three-judge panel cited historical precedent that citizenship is not dependent on parental status.

The court's opinion referenced other efforts to restrict birthright citizenship, describing those historical attempts in negative terms. "Our nation's history of efforts to restrict birthright citizenshipfrom Dred Scott in the decade before the Civil War to the attempted justification for the enforcement of the Chinese Exclusion Act in Wong Kim Arkhas not been a proud one," the court's top judge wrote. This decision adds to a series of federal court rulings since June, making it the fifth such decision to block or halt the order.

"The court is misinterpreting the 14th Amendment," a White House spokesperson said in a statement. "We look forward to being vindicated by the Supreme Court." An ACLU attorney welcomed the ruling, per the AP, saying, "Our Constitution is clear: no politician can decide who among those born in this country is worthy of citizenship." The Supreme Court ruled in June that lower courts generally can't issue nationwide injunctions but left room for other court orders that could have nationwide effects, including lawsuits brought by states. The ruling Friday was on a suit brought by states.
Hundreds of thousands of Italians and Spaniards marched in Rome, Barcelona, and Madrid on Saturday against Israel's military campaign in Gaza in a massive show of growing anger over the two-year-old war. The protests in Spain had been planned for weeks, while demonstrations in Rome and Lisbon followed widespread anger after the Israeli interception of a humanitarian aid flotilla that had set sail from Barcelona in a bid to break the blockade of the Palestinian territory, the AP reports. Rome's police said 250,000 people turned out, while organizers said 1 million attended, for a second straight day of Italian demonstrations.
President Trump plans to take control of 300 of his state's National Guard troops, Gov. JB Pritzker announced Saturday, saying the president presented him with an ultimatum to call up the troops himself or have the federal government do it. Pritzker described the federal order as "outrageous and un-American," Politico reports, saying in a statement that political controlnot public safetyis behind it. He said the Guard was told of the callup on Saturday by the Pentagon, per the AP .

"I will not call up our National Guard to further Trump's acts of aggression against our people," Pritzker said, per USA Today. "Illinois, we will do everything within our power to look out for our neighbors, uphold the Constitution, and defend the rule of law." The governor's statement did not identify where the troops would be sent, but Trump has threatened to wage war on Chicago. He's said he intends to use troops to combat crime there while criticizing the city and its leadership, as well as Pritzker. The White House has not commented on the specifics of the planned deployment.

Federal law typically restricts the use of the military for domestic law enforcement, per Politico, but Trump has deployed National Guard forces to cities including Los Angeles, Washington, and Portland, often over the objections of local leaders. In several instances, these deployments have prompted legal challenges on the grounds that they overstep presidential authority. Chicago officials have reportedly been preparing for a federal deployment, drawing on plans devised for last year's Democratic National Convention.
Ankara - The Kingdom of Bahrain, represented by the Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA), took an active part in the 14th session of the Statistical Commission of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), held in Ankara from October 1 to 3, 2025. The event was organized by the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), with Bahrain represented by iGAs Executive Vice President for Statistics and Population Registry, Ms. Doaa Sultan Mohammed.

The three-day meeting brought together senior officials from statistical bodies across OIC member states, alongside representatives from international organizations including the United Nations, the Islamic Development Bank, UNESCO, and ESCWA. Experts and practitioners in statistics and digital transformation also contributed, discussing a wide range of pressing issues in the field.

A central focus of the discussions was the OICs Statistical Action Plan 20262030, a strategic framework aimed at strengthening collaborative statistical work across member states over the next five years. Sessions also examined the critical role of data in driving sustainable energy transitions, exploring how statistical insights can inform energy policy and accelerate digital transformation in the sector.

Participants exchanged experiences on monitoring progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education), identifying both challenges and opportunities. The meeting emphasized leveraging modern technologies and digital tools to enhance the efficiency and quality of statistical operations, highlighting the importance of innovation in producing reliable official statistics.

The Commission reaffirmed the pivotal role of national statistical offices in supporting policymaking and sustainable development, ensuring adherence to globally recognized standards for national surveys and studies. Enhanced cooperation among OIC countries, capacity-building initiatives, and knowledge exchange were also highlighted as key priorities.

Additionally, the session reviewed recommendations from the previous meeting in October 2024 and approved the 20262030 work program, while addressing several technical agendas.

Ms. Doaa Sultan Mohammed underscored Bahrains active contribution to shaping the regional and global statistical agenda, emphasizing the Kingdoms commitment to developing its statistical systems in line with international best practices. She noted that the meeting will help strengthen integration in statistical work among OIC members, particularly in the areas of statistics and digital transformationa strategic priority in todays rapidly evolving technological landscape.

The OIC Statistical Commission meets annually to provide a platform for sharing best practices, technical expertise, and international partnerships. Since the last session in October 2024, the OIC Secretariat has conducted 34 statistical activities, including 17 training courses, 16 workshops and meetings, and one virtual seminar, engaging around 1,300 participants, with Bahrain actively participating in the majority of these events.
A new feature-length animated adaptation of Peleliu  Guernica in Paradise  is coming to theaters, built on a collaboration with Mone Kamishiraishi, who performs the theme song titled A Miracle-like Thing. The story is based on the brutal Battle of Peleliu, where only 34 soldiers survived out of an estimated 10,000, and is being released to coincide with the 80th year since the end of the war, offering a depiction of friendship forged in the midst of devastating conflict.
Oct 04 (News On Japan) - Tokyo University of Technology unveiled its new supercomputer, named Seiran, on October 2nd, marking the start of full-scale operations. Equipped with the latest GPUs from U.S. chipmaker Nvidia, the system is designed specifically for generative AI and is the largest of its kind among Japans private universities.

Seiran delivers AI processing power comparable to RIKENs flagship Fugaku supercomputer while consuming only about one-176th of the electricity. The university aims to strengthen its AI education program by giving students access to cutting-edge resources in an open learning environment.

In addition to academic use, the university has signed a partnership agreement with Hachioji City, where its campus is located. Together they plan to apply Seiran to projects such as trial operations of self-driving buses and experiments in smart agriculture, using the systems computing power to accelerate local innovation.

Source: BIZ
OSAKA, Oct 04 (News On Japan) - A string of so-called honey trap cases is drawing attention across Japan as schemes once limited to extortion have become increasingly violent, involving physical assaults and life-threatening intimidation.

One such incident occurred in April in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture, where five suspects, including Keigo Oya, were arrested on suspicion of robbery resulting in injury. Police say the suspects lured a man in his twenties through social media to a park at night, where he was attacked by several men who suddenly emerged from the shadows. The victim suffered a broken nose and other serious injuries before being forced into a car and driven around for about an hour. He was later abandoned at a crematorium in the mountains, roughly five kilometers away, with his smartphone smashed to prevent him from calling for help. Injured and terrified, he eventually reached a nearby hospital, where the crime came to light.

Investigators say Oyas wife, Erina, acted as the bait in the scheme, befriending the victim online before meeting him in the park. Images of the couple smiling happily at their wedding sharply contrast with their alleged involvement in a brutal crime. According to police, the suspects threatened the victim, saying things like If you resist, well kill you and even Shall we dump him in the dam? His mother later told reporters that her son truly believed he would be killed. He thought he wouldnt survive the night, she said, describing the fear of death that still haunts the family. Not only his body but his heart was scarred. Our everyday life was stolen from us.

The case has highlighted how honey trapsonce primarily financial scamsare becoming more vicious. Traditionally, the tactic involves a woman seducing a man before an accomplice appears, posing as a husband or partner, and extorting money. In one past case, a student who met a woman through a dating site was threatened by a man claiming to be her husband, who demanded 2 million yen. Unable to pay, the student was photographed and blackmailed, leaving him traumatized.

Experts note that the rise of matching apps and social media has lowered barriers to such crimes, drawing in younger perpetrators. Last month in Kyoto, two men and a high school girl were arrested for attempting to extort money from a university student using this method. Last year in Osaka, a university student who had been threatened after a honey trap involving middle school students fell from a building and died.

Legal specialists warn that while some victims hesitate to contact police out of shame, honey trap cases can easily escalate into serious injury or death. Immediate reporting to authorities is crucial, one lawyer stressed. To avoid danger, experts recommend arranging video calls before meeting strangers, and ensuring that first encounters take place in public, well-lit areas.

What was once a familiar but relatively low-level scam has now evolved into a crime that places victims in genuine mortal danger, raising alarm over how fast and how close to home these threats have become.

Source: KTV NEWS
Key Points

XRP was created by Ripple to standardize transactions within the company's payments network.

XRP recently hit a new record high as Ripple and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) agreed to settle their five-year legal battle.

The SEC is in the spotlight once again, as investors eagerly await the potential approval of the first spot XRP exchange-traded fund.

10 stocks we like better than XRP 

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) is the world's third-largest cryptocurrency, and unlike many of its peers, it has a legitimate use case in the real world. It's designed to serve as a bridging currency in Ripple's Ripple Payments network, meaning it helps financial institutions send money around the world instantly, with a very low cost.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Ripple in 2020 for alleged breaches of financial securities laws, which kept the price of XRP suppressed for years. However, the two parties officially settled the case back in August, which helped catapult the token to a new record high.

But there might be a new upside catalyst on the horizon. The SEC is expected to approve the first spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) by Oct. 18, which could send billions of dollars flowing into the cryptocurrency. Should investors buy it ahead of the deadline?

Spot ETFs have been great for Bitcoin

Cryptocurrencies are inherently risky, not only because of their volatility, but also because digital wallets aren't very secure. Hacks and even misplaced credentials can result in irrecoverable losses, so financial advisors and institutional investors normally can't buy cryptocurrencies directly. This leaves piles of money sitting on the sidelines.

Buying spot ETFs can be a safer way to participate in these markets, because they are overseen by regulators, so they offer protection for investors. They pool investors' funds and buy a given cryptocurrency directly, offering like-for-like returns minus an annual fee, which can range from 0.15% to 1.50% of the fund's total assets.

The first spot Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) ETFs were approved in January 2024, and they now manage a whopping $150 billion in assets collectively. Bitcoin has soared by 167% since then, and those inflows are a big reason why.

Therefore, it's no surprise investors are excited about the idea of spot XRP ETFs. Seven different providers are waiting to hear from the SEC, but Grayscale -- which already operates two Bitcoin ETFs -- has the earliest decision deadline of the bunch (Oct. 18).

There is a chance that many of the spot XRP ETF applications will be approved much sooner, thanks to the new Generic Listing Standards (GLS) that the SEC recently adopted. These new rules streamline the approval process for ETFs looking to invest in commodities and digital assets.
HYOGO, Oct 04 (News On Japan) - A man in his twenties who was abducted in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, in June and later killed has been confirmed dead after his remains were found as bones in the mountains of Kochi Prefecture.

Police arrested Kohei Mitani, a 27-year-old member of the Akamatsu-gumi under the designated crime syndicate Higashi-gumi, along with three others in connection with the case. The suspects are alleged to have kidnapped the then 23-year-old victim in Amagasaki in June before fatally stabbing him with a knife in Nose, Osaka Prefecture.

In addition, Ryusei Tokushige, a 33-year-old senior member of the Kenichikai group under the Yamaguchi-gumi, and another suspect were arrested on suspicion of abandoning the body.

Since the victims body had not been located, police conducted a search in the mountains of Kochi, where multiple bones were discovered last month. Investigators later confirmed that the remains belonged to the missing man.

Source: KTV NEWS
MISSISSAUGA, ON, Oct. 3, 2025 /CNW/ - The world is rapidly changing, and the effect is profound. To meet the challenges of our time, we must build Canada strong. This starts with strength, ambition, and action, right here at home.

To these ends, today, the Honourable John Zerucelli, Secretary of State (Labour), visited the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) to highlight new initiatives and investments for workers and businesses most affected by tariffs and trade disruptions.

A reskilling package to train workers: The government will invest an additional $450 million over the next three years under the Labour Market Development Agreements. In partnership with provinces and territories, this investment will provide training programs for workers impacted by tariffs and global market shifts. Regional Tariff Response Initiative: The Government will expand support to SMEs to $1 billion over three years, with flexible terms, and increase new non-repayable contributions to eligible businesses impacted by tariffs across all affected sectors. Workforce Alliances and Sectoral Workforce Investment Fund: The Government will invest $382 million over five years and $56 million ongoing to tackle urgent labour market challenges, bring together government, employers, unions, and industry organizations to develop and implement tailored workforce development strategies, and drive growth. Employment Insurance temporary measures: The Government is extending measures until April 11, 2026, to ensure income stability for workers, particularly those who are most vulnerable to income shocks. This includes: Waiving the one-week EI waiting period to support an additional 700,000 EI claimants. Suspending the treatment of monies paid on separation which is expected to support close to an additional 175,000 claimants. Investing $1.6B over five years to temporarily give 20 extra weeks of income support, up to a maximum of 65 weeks to support nearly 190,000 long-tenured workers (LTWs). Modernizing the Job Bank and launching a new online training platform: The Government is investing $50 million over five years towards a new digital jobs and training platform that will connect Canadians to jobs, tools, and training resources more quickly.

The full list of measures is available here.

These measures will give workers the tools they need to build a better future and help create the strongest workforce in the G7. As Canada's new Government embarks on these missions, we will transform our economy  from one of reliance to resilience. By supporting our workers and industries, we are building Canada strong.

Quotes

"Canadian workers are the backbone of our economy, driving success in every corner of our country. By investing in skills, training, and resources, we are equipping workers with the tools they need to succeed today, and the confidence to lead tomorrow. Together we are building Canada strong."

-- The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario

"Canadian workers are facing a global economy that is changing rapidly but that holds significant opportunity for our workforce and for our country. The measures highlighted today are a good example of how we can put smart, strategic investments in place to help our workers advance their skills and build a Canada for the future."

-- The Honourable John Zerucelli, Secretary of State (Labour)

"The work that IBEW is able to achieve because of Union Training and Innovation Program is transformative. Today I witnessed Secretary of State Zerucelli engaging with our young apprentices and I couldn't be more proud to be part of this initiative. We are readying the next generation for the jobs of tomorrow. Today's tour was spectacular."

-- Nino DiGiandomenico, Assistant Business Manager IBEW Local 353

Quick facts

A recent evaluation of the LMDAs showed that for each $1 invested in skills development, $1.54 in social benefits was generated for each person who received LMDA supports.

The unemployment rate stands at 7.1% as of August 2025, indicating significant labour market challenges due to tariff impacts.

In March 2025, the Government introduced a suite of temporary employment insurance (EI) measures in response to tariffs imposed on Canadian goods.

The EI Work-Sharing Program flexibilities announced earlier this year to improve access and duration of agreements under the Program remain in place until March 2026. Strong employer uptake on the EI Work-Sharing Program with these flexibilities has helped avert over 12,600 layoffs, including in the hard-hit manufacturing sector.

Job Bank is the leading source of jobs and labour market information in Canada, with over 100,000 jobs advertised per month, 300,000 registered employers, nearly 15 million jobs postings views per month, and 2 million job profile monthly views.

Related links

Backgrounder on measures introduced to build a strong and confident workforce

Associated links

Follow us on X (Twitter )

Search for related information by keyword: Employment insurance | Tariffs | Tariff relief | Workers | Employment and Social Development Canada | Canada | Government priorities | general public | government | media | news releases | Hon. Patricia A. Hajdu

SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada

Contacts: For media enquiries, please contact: Liane Kotler, Director of Communications, Directrice des communications, Secretary of State (Labour), Secretaire d'Etat (Travail), [email protected]; Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected]
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) is one of the best medical stocks to buy now. In a report released on September 29, Carter Gould from Cantor Fitzgerald maintained a Hold rating on Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and set a price target of $24.00.

Pfizer (PFE): A Healthcare Giant Offering Steady Dividend Income

In other news, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) announced on September 30 the signing of a historic agreement with the Trump Administration ensuring that US patients pay lower prices for their prescription medicines while bolstering the countrys role as the global leader in biopharmaceutical innovation.

Management reported that in response to the four points covered in the Presidents July 31st letter, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) has voluntarily agreed to implement measures designed to ensure Americans receive comparable drug prices to those available in other developed countries and pricing newly launched medicines at parity with other key developed markets.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) is a global biopharmaceutical company that manufactures, develops, markets, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It advances wellness, prevention, treatment, and cures in developing and emerging markets.

While we acknowledge the potential of PFE as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If youre looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
By Milana Vinn

(Reuters) -Boutique investment bank Cascadia Capital is expanding into technology M&A as it hires a veteran technology banker and prepares to open a Silicon Valley office, the firms executives told Reuters.

The bank has appointed Jonathan Cantwell, previously a partner and head of software investment banking at GP Bullhound, as head of its new technology group.

Cantwell will lead recruitment for the new office and build out the firm's advisory practice for companies in the enterprise Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors.

Cantwell, who previously advised on deals including PeakAI in its sale to UiPath and Compendium in its sale to Oracle at GP Bullhound, said Cascadia will continue to focus on growth-stage companies with an enterprise value of up to $2 billion.

"We're at this inflection point where there's a lot of high-growth software and AI companies that are going to be looking for good advisors that have a track record and experience," Cantwell said in the interview.

"So, we think it's a good time to come out with a new practice and pick up on some of the deals that I've done over the last few years ... there's more to do in the categories including enterprise automation, data analytics, and enterprise applications," he added.

Cascadia, led by CEO Michael Butler, a former Morgan Stanley executive, plans to establish an office in Silicon Valley and scale its technology team to approximately 20 M&A bankers. The firm said it has begun hiring for the new group in conjunction with Cantwell's appointment.

Bob Diamond, CEO of Atlas Merchant Group and former chief executive of Barclays and Credit Suisse, said Atlas provided an eight-figure-investment to Cascadia back in 2022, to support the firms growth at the right time. Atlas is currently a significant minority investor in Cascadia.

You have the importance of software, the importance of AI, you have the blurring of the distinction in financial services between digital assets and traditional finance, Diamond said. It couldnt be a better time to expand into tech, he added.

Cascadia Capital currently operates M&A advisory practices in several other industries, including food, beverage and agribusiness; consumer; industrials; and business services.

(Reporting by Milana Vinn in New York; Editing by Dawn Kopecki and Nick Zieminski)
Warren Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) has built his reputation not only on investment performance, but also on his ability to explain business principles through plainspoken metaphors. One of his most enduring lessons for investors and managers alike was first captured in his 1989 letter to shareholders, Good jockeys will do well on good horses, but not on broken-down nags.

The analogy illustrates Buffetts central belief that while capable management is valuable, it cannot overcome the structural disadvantages of a weak business. In other words, the quality of the enterprise itself matters more than the talent steering it. This perspective has guided Buffetts investment philosophy for decades, emphasizing the importance of durable competitive advantageswhat he often calls economic moatsover short-term leadership strategies.

More News from Barchart

The context of this remark lies in Buffetts long history of assessing both people and companies. He has consistently praised effective managers, particularly those running Berkshires subsidiaries, but he has also cautioned investors against overestimating the power of leadership in industries with poor economics. A skilled executive, like a talented jockey, can maximize the potential of a strong company, but even the best jockey cannot win consistently on a failing horse.

This principle is reflected in Buffetts early missteps as well as his later successes. His investment in the textile business that gave Berkshire Hathaway its name is a prime example. Despite his best efforts and the presence of competent management, the economics of textiles proved unfavorable, eventually leading Buffett to shift the companys focus to insurance and other more promising sectors. The lesson was clear: great managers cannot salvage fundamentally flawed businesses.

By contrast, his long-term investments in companies like Coca-Cola (KO) and American Express (AXP) showcase the other side of the metaphor. These firms possess enduring brand strength and resilient business models, making them the good horses on which strong management can thrive. In these cases, Buffetts backing allowed both leadership and underlying business quality to work in tandem, producing sustained shareholder returns.
One of two women sought in the theft of over a dozen luxury sunglasses from a Sunglass Hut in Evesham Township last month has been arrested, police announced Friday.

The incident happened around noon on Sept. 29 at the businesses located on South Route 73 and when officers arrived, an employee told them that the two women entered the store wearing hats and face coverings, according to a statement from the Evesham Township Police Department.

They began stealing sunglasses, and when the employee tried to call the police, one of the women sprayed her with bear mace before fleeing, the department said.

Investigators determined that between 18 and 20 sunglasses valued at more than $10,000 had been stolen, police said.

One of the suspects was identified as Allesha Taylor-Jones, 29, of Delaware, authorities said.

Taylor-Jones was arrested in her home state by the Delaware State Police, who found evidence linking her to the crime, the department said. She was charged with first-degree robbery, third-degree aggravated assault, third-degree theft and weapons-related offenses.

The investigation into the identity of the second suspect was ongoing Friday and anyone with information that could help locate her was asked to contact the department at 856-983-1116, its confidential tips line at 856-983-4699 or email Detective Sgt. Gary Borbidge at borbidgeg@eveshampd.org.
CoreSites NY3 data center is located in Secaucus and offers more than 138,000 square feet of capacity. CoreSite

CoreSite has finished building a 138,000-square-foot NY3 data center with advanced liquid cooling capacities in Hudson County.

NY3, located on Emerson Lane in Secaucus, will support the growing demands of artificial intelligence workloads and enterprise cloud connectivity, according to a Sept. 25 statement by CoreSite.

The new facility has advanced liquid cooling capabilities to provide enhanced thermal efficiency needed to support high-performance computing and AI-driven workloads, the company said.

The thermal efficiency aligns with industry trends identified in the 2025 State of the Data Center Report, CoreSite said.

The report found that cloud interconnection is the primary reason organizations choose co-location facilities for generative AI applications.

NY3 offers direct cloud connections to major providers through CoreSites open cloud exchange.

It also provides high-count dark fiber interconnections that help customers expand the strategic and technical application of artificial intelligence to handle increased business demands.

CoreSite reports it is already working with organizations in the financial and technology sectors.

The sectors include high-density research and stock trading environments that require quick and reliable internet connections.

The completion of NY3 brings CoreSites national portfolio to 30 data centers spanning approximately 4.5 million square feet across 11 U.S. markets.

CoreSites total New York market presence now exceeds 442,000 square feet across three facilities, including NY1 in Manhattan and NY2 and NY3 in Secaucus.
The Bass Pro Shops in Sayreville will be a cornerstone of the expansive mixed-use Riverton development, which aims to transform the waterfront property into a major destination along the Raritan River.(AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File) AP

Construction is underway for the Bass Pro Shops at Riverton, the anchor tenant for a massive $2.5 billion redevelopment project in Middlesex County.

The Riverton redevelopment project in Sayreville  hailed as the largest mixed-use development site in New Jerseys history  was approved in 2019.

The project plans call for retail, restaurants, office space, hotels, parks, a marina, and 2,000 residential units.

The property is owned by the Sayreville Economic & Redevelopment Agency.

A rendering of the Riverton redevelopment project in Sayreville (Photo provided by North American Properties) NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The Bass Pro Shops will be a cornerstone retail business of the expansive mixed-use development, which aims to transform the waterfront property into a major destination along the Raritan River.

Exterior construction work on the Bass Pro building is expected to be completed this fall, redevelopment agency officials said.

The steel frame of the long-awaited Bass Pro Shop is now visible to every car that passes over the Driscoll Bridge, the redevelopment agency said in an August update.

When completed, the building will be turned over to Bass Pro Shops for interior construction.

At the same time, work is advancing on the Gateway Services Area to prepare pad sites for future development.

Sayreville will be home to the second Bass Pro Shops in New Jersey. The other one is located in Atlantic City.
The nonprofit restaurants run by Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, are extending a special invitation to workers who are temporarily out of work and not getting paid due to the federal government shutdown.

The JBJ Soul Kitchen announced the offer on Wednesday, hours after the shutdown that has displaced scores of federal workers went into effect.

The offer includes its locations in Toms River and Red Bank.

Furloughed federal employees will be welcome to join us for meals  please bring a valid ID," the JBJ Soul Kitchen said in a Facebook post.

As part of our mission, were dedicated to supporting our community. While you enjoy a delicious meal, you can also learn about additional resources and support available to you, the JBJ Soul Kitchen said.

The three restaurants are overseen by the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation with an emphasis on serving those in need.

Their menus do not list prices, but encourage those with the ability to do so to pay it forward and offer a donation. Those unable to provide a donation are encouraged to perform volunteer work.

Around 48,000 federal employees in New Jersey, including about half who are serving in the U.S. military, are facing the prospect of either working without pay or being furloughed, state officials said at the start of the shutdown.

The last shutdown, nearly seven years ago, lasted for 35 days  during which the JBJ Soup Kitchen made the same offer to furloughed federal workers.
The ceiling in a former elementary school partially collapsed Friday evening as firefighters from multiple towns battled a fire in Lakewood, officials said.

The fire at Piner Elementary School on County Line Road broke out shortly after 7 p.m. and quickly intensified, prompting a second and then third alarm as additional crews and equipment were called to the scene.

Members of the Ramtown Fire Company were among the first to arrive and helped fight the flames inside the building before being ordered out when part of the ceiling collapsed toward the back, the volunteer department said in a social media post. Firefighters remained on scene for about five hours.

Mutual aid companies from Point Pleasant, Toms River, Howell, Wall, Brick, and Jackson townships  along with the Ocean County Fire Marshals and Coordinators  responded to assist, according to Jersey Shore Fire Response, a news organization. Additional units were called from Monmouth County as the fire escalated.

The main body of fire was contained to the cafeteria section of the building, officials said. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The school occupied a building owned by the Catholic Diocese of Trenton, with a lease that concluded after the last academic year. The building had previously been home to the Holy Family School.
The building that once house Piner Elementary School caught fire on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 Photo Courtesy of Spencer Click

UPDATE: Ceiling partially collapsed during fire at former N.J. school, officials say

A Lakewood elementary school that closed earlier this year caught fire Friday night.

Details about the blaze were not immediately available, but Lakewood Police Capt. Gregory Staffordsmith confirmed to NJ Advance Media that the fire occurred at the former Piner Elementary School on East County Line Road.

Heavy smoke was seen pouring from the roof of the building in pictures posted to social media.

The school occupied a building owned by the Catholic Diocese of Trenton, with a lease that concluded after the last academic year. The building had previously been home to the Holy Family School.

It was unclear exactly what the building was being used for since the schools closure.
The lawsuit, filed by 27 mostly suburban municipalities, was dismissed by a state judge who upheld the law and its court-managed housing system. Canva for NJ.com

A lawsuit filed by 27 New Jersey towns aiming to block the states new affordable housing law has been dismissed after a judge ruled they lacked legal grounds for their challenge.

The decision upholds New Jerseys latest overhaul of its affordable housing system and rejects claims that the law is unconstitutional or imposes unfair costs on local governments.

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy said that the state Legislature has the authority to enforce the Mount Laurel doctrine  a constitutional rule that requires towns to provide their fair share of affordable housing.

The ruling keeps the Affordable Housing Reform Law intact.

Signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in 2024, the law eliminated the states long-defunct Council on Affordable Housing and created a new system for calculating housing obligations and resolving disputes through a court-managed program.

The towns, led by Montvale, sued the state, naming Murphy, the state Legislature, and the Administrative Director of the Courts, who oversees the program created to implement the new housing law.

Their complaints argued the law went too far.

The towns claimed the law violated the Mount Laurel doctrine, imposed unfunded mandates, amounted to special legislation, breached the separation of powers, and improperly delegated authority to the Administrative Director of the Courts.

They also challenged a court-issued directive implementing the law, calling it an illegal use of judicial power.

Lougy rejected each claim.

He found that the directive simply sets up a voluntary process for resolving housing disputes and does not create new law or exercise judicial authority.

He noted that the Mount Laurel doctrine in no way operates as an upper constraint or ceiling on legislative action, affirming that lawmakers acted within their authority to enforce constitutional housing obligations.

The towns argued the new program was coercive, saying they had no real choice but to join or risk legal consequences.

But Lougy said participation is voluntary and that offering incentives  such as protection from lawsuits  doesnt make it mandatory.

Under the law, towns that submit housing plans by state deadlines and opt into the program receive legal immunity from exclusionary zoning lawsuits.

Those that dont may still go through traditional court proceedings, but could face legal challenges from developers or housing advocates.

Lougy emphasized that the program is a dispute resolution forum, not a court, and that towns are free to choose whether to use it.

The towns behind the lawsuit are mostly suburban and affluent, concentrated in north and central Jersey.

They include communities like Montvale, Holmdel, Millburn and Franklin Lakes  places that have historically resisted high-density development and challenged affordable housing mandates in court.

The 27 towns span eight counties but do not represent the entire state.

No urban aid municipalities joined the suit, highlighting a divide between suburban and urban housing policies in New Jersey.

The ruling means towns must continue preparing their fourth round affordable housing plans  part of New Jerseys long-standing framework for enforcing the Mount Laurel doctrine.

These plans cover the 20252035 cycle.

Municipalities were required submit updated plans by June 30, detailing how they plan to meet their new obligations.

Those that comply will be protected from lawsuits that could force them to allow high-density development. Those that dont may face legal challenges.

Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington), chair of the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee and author of the states affordable housing law, praised a Mercer County judges decision to dismiss legal challenges to New Jerseys Mount Laurel obligations.

I hope that this decision can be a turning point for these municipalities, and I urge the mayors of these towns to join their peers in constructively engaging in the housing process and fulfilling their constitutional obligations, he added.

Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy said that participation in the affordable housing program is voluntary, Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali said in a Facebook post. Yet Fair Share Housing is suing us, and nearly every town in New Jersey, claiming we arent volunteering enough.

If it truly is voluntary, then I would like to stop volunteering! he added. We dont want to volunteer to build 1,025 units just in Montvale.

The state Office of the Attorney General praised the dismissal of the lawsuit.

We are pleased that the court dismissed these lawsuits brought by a small group of towns against New Jerseys landmark affordable housing law, a spokesperson said. Our office will always work to protect the rights of New Jerseyans to fair and affordable housing.

The towns were represented at trial by Michael L. Collins of King Moench & Collins.

My clients believe the trial courts ruling that municipalities lack standing to challenge the affordable housing requirements imposed upon them underscores the decisions fundamental flaws, Collins told NJ Advance Media. We look forward to bringing these issues to the Appellate Division.

Colleen Murphy may be reached at cmurphy@njadvancemedia.com.
A 19-year-old New Jersey man died after he was badly injured in a three-vehicle crash in Warwick, New York on Thursday, according to police.

Zachary Matthews was driving a car on County Route 1 near the intersection of Missionland Road when the crash occurred at about 8:05 a.m, Warwick police said. Matthews, of Sussex Borough, died of his injuries Friday at an area hospital.

The three other people involved in the crash were treated for injuries not considered life-threatening, according to police.

A 39-year-old Pine Island, New York woman driving an SUV and her 22-year-old passenger were brought to an area hospital, while a 32-year-old from Pine Bush, New York driving a van was brought to a different hospital.

The crash remains under investigation.
(Reuters) -Humana said on Thursday it has about 20%, or 1.2 million, of its members currently enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans rated 4 stars and above for 2026, based on preliminary data.

Shares of the company rose 3.1% to $254.68 after the insurer also said that about 14% of its members were in 4.5-star plans in 2026, up from 3% in 2025, in a regulatory filing.

Humana said that the preliminary 2026 star ratings were in line with its assumptions.

Plans with higher star ratings mean bigger payments from the government to the insurer, and the bonus payments can be worth hundreds of millions or billions of dollars.

The preliminary star ratings data was inadvertently accessible on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Plan Finder for a period of time on Wednesday, according to the filing.

CMS, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the timing of the release of ratings.

The agency issues star ratings, between one and five, for Medicare Advantage plans, with five indicating the highest performer. Medicare Advantage plans cover Americans aged 65 years or older.

Humana said it is not satisfied with its 2026 star ratings, but said it expects to return to "top quartile results for the 2027 star ratings".

The 2026 ratings would typically impact insurers' revenues in 2027.

Humana, CVS Health and UnitedHealth Group said on Wednesday they will pull back on Medicare Advantage offerings next year, as the industry braces for further decreases in government reimbursement.

Insurers this year have said that an unexpectedly high use of medical services in their Medicare businesses has led them to exit less-profitable markets.

Humana on Thursday reaffirmed its annual adjusted profit forecast of about $17 per share.

(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Shinjini Ganguli)
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Intel (INTC) shares have doubled over the past six months as the struggling chipmaker received capital infusions from the government and major corporations.

In August, President Donald Trumps administration invested some $9 billion to build a 10% stake in the legacy technology company, followed by another $5 billion it received from Nvidia (NVDA) last month.

More News from Barchart

Note that Softbank (SFTBY) parked $2 billion in Intel stock this year as well. INTC is now trading at a price last seen in April 2024.

www.barchart.com

Why Did INTC Stock Push Higher on Thursday?

INTC stock continued to extend gains on Thursday following reports that Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is in early talks to become its foundry customer.

Investors cheered Intel shares today mostly because such a development would validate the firms push to compete with Taiwan Semi (TSM) and Samsung in contract manufacturing, a key part of its turnaround strategy.

Winning a direct rival as a client would signal confidence in Intels process technology, potentially attracting other fabless customers. Plus, it may help offset the capital intensity of building domestic fabs, improving utilization and margins.

Strategically, it aligns with the broader U.S. efforts to localize chip production and could, therefore, attract further government support in the coming years.

All in all, this would mark a shift from the INTCs insular model to a more diversified revenue stream, boosting long-term visibility and shareholder confidence that may lift Intel share price over time.

Where Options Data Suggests INTC Shares Are Headed

Options data from Barchart paints a cautious picture for INTC shares at least through the end of 2025.

Contracts expiring on Dec. 19 suggest a trading range of roughly $30 to $44.50, indicating nearly 20% downside potential in the worst-case scenario.

In the near term, through the end of next week, traders are pricing in a possible retreat to about $34.68.

Given the uncertainty surrounding the future of INTC and the potential profit-taking after a huge run-up, the downside case looks far more likely to play out in Intel stock.

Note that Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon is even skeptical of the AMD news, noting Intels most advanced nodes (like 18A) are still in development and that the chipmaker may prefer TSMCs Arizona facility for U.S- based production.
Barnstaples rich legacy as an international centre for ceramics is taking centre stage thanks to a massive funding boost.

And now the museum is actively seeking volunteers and donations to support the next phase of the project.

The Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon, in partnership with its Development Trust, has secured nearly 52,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund towards the Potted History project  a deep dive into decades-old excavations that promise to reshape understanding of the towns historical significance.

An exhibition at the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon ends tomorrow (Saturday, October 4) and admission is free. The lottery bid was prepared thanks to funding totalling 4,000 from Devon County Council over a number of years.

The initiative will focus on post-excavation analysis of at least fourteen digs conducted in the 1970s and 1980s, many of which have remained untouched in museum storage.

Among the standout finds are three 17th-century pottery kilns that once fired ceramics destined for trade with the Americas, Wales, Ireland and Canada.

These artefacts not only highlight Barnstaples early global connections but also underscore its role in shaping North Devons pottery heritage.

Alison Mills, director of the museum, said: The amazing archaeological discoveries in Barnstaple have been waiting to be analysed and published for decades. We can now develop our plans to share Barnstaples potted history with local people and a worldwide audience.

The first phase will see the appointment of a post-excavation archaeologist to lead a nine-month pilot alongside volunteers. Together, theyll digitise and catalogue thousands of physical finds, documents, and photographs.

Training programmes in post-excavation techniques will be developed, with a special emphasis on pottery processing. A detailed report on the Barnstaple Library site excavations is also in the works, along with a comprehensive three-year plan for future analysis.

Stuart McLeod, director of England  London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, praised the projects scope: This project will uncover and share the regions rich archaeological heritage and shine a light on Barnstaples fascinating past, offering new opportunities for learning, volunteering, and community engagement.

The museum is actively seeking volunteers and donations to support the next phase of the project. An overview of Potted History is currently featured in the museums exhibition Digging Deeper, which celebrates the contributions of local archaeology volunteers.

Bill Horner, Devon county archaeologist and historic environment manager, said: Barnstaple pottery, from the medieval into the post-medieval period, underpins the dating of a range of archaeological sites in Devon.

For the post-medieval period, North Devon ceramics are a tangible indicator of the regional and international economic and cultural contacts of England and an emerging Britain.

Ceramic collections and archives held in Barnstaple are therefore crucial to the recording and telling this story.

Devon County Council has been supporting excavation and research on the North Devon pottery industry since the 1980s and projects such as Potted History will make much more information accessible to the public and directly involve the local community in the archaeological post-excavation process.

The Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon invites anyone interested in finding out more about the project or joining the team of volunteers to get in touch.

Donations to support the project are welcome via the museum website and an overview of the Potted History project is included as part of the museums current exhibition, Digging Deeper: Celebrating the work of volunteers in North Devons archaeology.

The exhibition has been co-curated with the North Devon Archaeological Society (NDAS) supported by volunteers from the Exmoor Society, staff from Devon County Council, Exmoor National Park, and the North Devon Coast National Landscape.
Moreover, its long-term track record is complemented by its consistent outpacing of the Street estimates, which was the case in the most recent quarter as well.

Over the past 10 years, Broadcom's revenue and earnings have grown at impressive CAGRs of 24.73% and 33.35%, respectively, reflecting strong demand for the company's offerings.

However, there are more fundamentally solid reasons to add AVGO stock to one's portfolio. What are they? Let's analyze.

Shares of Broadcom have outperformed all the Mag 7 stocks this year, with a return of 43.8%. And Broadcom is certainly not a small company, commanding a market cap of about $1.6 trillion, making its outperformance all the more remarkable. Meanwhile, AVGO stock also offers a modest dividend yield of 0.72%. It may not be much, but Broadcom has been raising dividends consecutively over the past 14 years, and with a payout ratio of 37.52%, there remains headroom for further growth.

Founded in 1991, Broadcom (AVGO) is a major player in infrastructure semiconductor solutions and enterprise infrastructure software. Its product lines include networking chips (Ethernet, switching, PHY), connectivity/wireless chips (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RF front ends), broadband/cable/access communications chips, storage/controllers, ASICs, and software acquired via its enterprise infrastructure arm (including virtualization, networking, and security).

However, there is a clamor for including another stock in this powerful cohort.

It can be safely said that the superclub of Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Meta (META), Amazon (AMZN), Tesla (TSLA), Alphabet (GOOGL) (GOOG), and Apple (AAPL), called the Magnificent Seven or Mag 7, has attracted the bulk of the investor money in the AI megatrend. This can be gauged from the fact that the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS) has outperformed the S&P 500 ($SPX) on a year-to-date (YTD) basis, with its shares up 19.8% against the index's rise of 14.1%.

Story Continues

In Q3 2025, Broadcom reported revenues of $15.9 billion, which denoted an annual growth of 22%. Both the key revenue segmentsSemiconductor Solutions and Infrastructure Softwarecontinued to witness strong growth. While the Semiconductor Solutions segment grew by 26% from the previous year to $9.2 billion, the Infrastructure Software segment saw a year-over-year (YOY) growth of 17% to $6.8 billion.

Earnings of $1.69 per share represented an increase of 36.3% from the prior year, as it exceeded the Street's expectations of an EPS of $1.66. Notably, not only did this mark the ninth consecutive quarter of earnings beat from Broadcom, but it was also the ninth straight quarter of YoY earnings growth as well.

Meanwhile, revenue and earnings growth did not come at the expense of cash flow from operations. For Q3 2025, Broadcom's cash flow from operations was $7.2 billion, compared to about $5 billion in the corresponding period a year ago. Consequently, free cash flow increased as well to $7 billion from $4.8 billion in Q3 2024. Overall, the company ended the quarter with a healthy cash balance of $10.7 billion, which was much higher than its short-term debt levels of $1.4 billion.

For Q4, Broadcom expects revenue to be $17.4 billion, which would denote an annual rise of 24.3%. Analysts also seem convinced that Broadcom's growth story will continue, with forward revenue and earnings growth estimates of 32.93% and 24.31% being much higher than the sector medians of 7.56% and 11.38%.

Growth Story Intact and Only Getting Stronger

Broadcom is becoming increasingly vital as a company in the AI infrastructure space. The primary reasons are twofold.

Broadcom is currently strengthening its market position through two major factors. First, integrating the VMware cloud business has given a real shot in the arm to the company's AI ecosystem. This acquisition also provides a superb platform for capturing significant enterprise spending aimed at private and hybrid cloud services. Second, Broadcom's dedicated AI chip business is growing quickly, presenting promising new paths that will help the firm diversify its income streams away from relying solely on traditional semiconductor sales.

Recent corporate activity certainly backs this up.

For instance, Broadcom extended its crucial relationship with Lloyds Group (LYG), one of the UKs largest financial players. This is a long-term partnership designed to accelerate the banks digital overhaul. It involves upgrading Lloyds infrastructure with a brand-new private cloud setup and modern mainframe solutions for digital banking. Furthermore, Walmart (WMT) recently chose Broadcom as its strategic vendor for virtualization software, planning to use the VMware Cloud Foundation to standardize its massive, globally spread-out operations. This infrastructure upgrade is expected to enhance the customer shopping experience while simultaneously improving operational efficiency and supporting the launch of new services. Finally, a little company that goes by the name of OpenAI is set to launch its first-ever custom AI chip, built collaboratively with Broadcom.

Strategically, Broadcom has announced that the VMware Cloud Foundation will transform into an AI-native platform featuring built-in AI tools. By embedding these AI capabilities directly into the software, the company will likely encourage more developer activity, making its ecosystem considerably stickier for enterprises. It goes without saying that this is a huge plus for boosting recurring revenue through subscriptions, not to mention a fantastic way to differentiate itself in the crowded enterprise cloud market.

Moreover, much like Nvidia leads the GPU space, Broadcom is the unquestioned frontrunner in the application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) market, a sector projected to hit approximately $43 billion by 2034. Broadcom's Jericho and Tomahawk ASIC families dominate the high-performance data center switching market, commanding about 70% market share, as major hyperscale operators rely heavily on Broadcom for custom silicon and switch ASICs. Areas where Broadcom operateslike 5G infrastructure, networking, and cloud data centersall fundamentally depend on custom ASICs to manage traffic efficiently.

Analyst Opinion of AVGO Stock

Analysts have deemed AVGO stock a consensus Strong Buy, with a mean target price of $371.90. This denotes an upside potential of about 11.6% from current levels. Out of 40 analysts covering the stock, 35 have a Strong Buy rating, two have a Moderate Buy rating, and three have a Hold rating.

www.barchart.com

On the date of publication, Pathikrit Bose did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com
Fickle prediction market users went from bullish to bearish in the last few weeks as crypto prices dipped and demand stagnated. But after consecutive green days following the U.S. government shutdown, predictors are once more leaning bullish.

Thats once more led to notable swings in Myriads most traded prediction markets involving Bitcoin and Solana.

Heres a deeper look into some of the most-traded markets on Myriad this week.

(Disclaimer: Myriad Markets is a product of Decrypts parent company, DASTAN.)

Bitcoins next hit: Moon to $125K or dip to $105K?

Market Open: July 10

Market Close: Open to resolution

Volume: $379K

Link: See the latest odds on the "Bitcoin's next hit: Moon to $125K or dip to $105K" market on Myriad

Bitcoin got within $872 of hitting $125,000 on August 14, sending odds for this popular market to hit 94% in favor of $125,000.

But the brief euphoria that had predictors nearly certain of a move to $125,000 soon faded. By August 29, odds of $125,000 shrunk to 25.2% as bears took control.

Now, as the top crypto asset reclaimed $120,000 on Thursday, predictors have once more found their bullish streak. Odds of mooning to $125,000 have jumped by more than 50% in the last two days, drastically swinging from as low as 28% to its current standing of 81% as of Thursday afternoon.

Maybe its Uptober. Historically a strong month for Bitcoin, BTC has been green in nine of the last ten Octobers, adding fuel to the meme that another strong month is pre-ordained for the market.

Bitcoin Soars Above $120K as US Government Shutdown Continues

While analysts told Decrypt this week that macro traders arent likely to trade solely based on calendars, increasing odds of rate cuts and strong ETF inflows are creating conditions that support the move upward.

Will it be enough to create a new all-time high at $125,000?

Whats Next? Thanks to a nearly 11% gain this week, BTC sits just 2.6% off its all-time high and 3.47% from $125,000.

Will Polymarket announce a token this year?

Market Open: August 6

Market Close: December 31

Volume: $105K

Link: See the latest odds on the "Will Polymarket announce a token this year?" market on Myriad

Prediction market headlines have been abundant throughout the last year, as the use case becomes one of cryptos most important consumer breakthroughs.

And now, one of the leading prediction markets, Polymarket, is expected to make its return to U.S. markets.

Regulatory filings show that the market could be open to U.S. residents as soon as Thursday, four years after it was banned by the CFTC. Though its return does not signal any intent to launch a token, earlier reports suggested the prediction market is mulling a potential token launch.
OpenAI has overtaken SpaceX to become the worlds most valuable private company after a $6.6 billion employee share sale at a $500 billion valuationthe milestone underscoring the investor frenzy fueling the artificial-intelligence boom.

According to a Bloomberg report, the secondary sale lets current and former staff who had held shares for at least two years sell stock to a handful of companies, including Thrive Capital, SoftBank Group, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabis MGX, and T. Rowe Price.

The deal marks OpenAIs second major tender offer in under a year, following a $1.5 billion SoftBank transaction last November. In January, the Japanese conglomerate was reportedly in talks to earmark up to $25 billion for OpenAI.



SoftBanks U.S.-traded shares (SFTBY) rose 1.7% to $66.04 on Thursday after news of the OpenAI share sale, reflecting investor enthusiasm for its AI-linked deals.

The $500 billion figure reflects a steep rise for OpenAI from earlier in the year, when the ChatGPT developer was valued at $300 billion following a $40 billion funding round led by Softbank in March. With this latest move, the company now sits ahead of SpaceXwhose own valuation is estimated near $400 billionputting OpenAI at the top of the private company universe.

Despite scrutiny around the rollout of GPT-5, investor confidence remains undimmed. In September, OpenAI and Nvidia unveiled a strategic infrastructure partnership: OpenAI plans to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia systems, and Nvidia will invest up to $100 billion progressively as each gigawatt is deployed. Jensen Huang described it as part of bringing AI infrastructure from the labs into the world.

It also coincides with the ongoing Stargate partnership between OpenAI, Softbank, and Oracle to build out Americas AI infrastructure backed by the Trump Administration.

OpenAIs New Sora App Makes Account Deletion Permanent, Including for ChatGPT

The sale also gives employees liquidity that could help the company fend off nine-figure pay packages from rivals such as Meta, which is aggressively hiring for its new Superintelligence Labs.

The timing also coincides with structural moves at OpenAI. The company lifted its capped-profit limit in May, all the while facing continued legal pressure from Elon Musk. An OpenAI co-founder, Musk has sued the company on multiple occasions. Musk has accused OpenAI of abandoning its original nonprofit mission and allegedly attempting to steal xAI data and trade secrets.
A WOMAN has been ordered to appear at next week's sitting of Tullamore Circuit Court accused of stealing over 37,000 from a charity in Offaly.

A book of evidence was served on Aulwin Dunne (47), Marian Place, Tullamore when she appeared before the District Court on Wednesday.

Garda Stacey O'Brien gave evidence of serving the book and said the DPP had consented to Ms Dunne being sent for trial to the Circuit Court but did not consent for her being sent forward on a signed plea.

READ NEXT: Trainee guard stole wallet while on duty at Offaly domestic incident

Ms Dunne is alleged to have stolen 37,705.83, the property of Power4Good Ireland Ltd on 19 unknown dates between April 1, 2023 and October 31, 2024 at Power4Good, River Street, Clara.

Garda O'Brien told the District Court she wished to amend the charge by adding the words both dates inclusive.

Judge Valerie Corcoran made that amendment.

Aisling Maloney, solicitor, appeared for Ms Dunne and said legal aid had already been granted.

Judge Corcoran made the order sending the woman, who is on bail, to the next sitting of Tullamore Circuit Court on Tuesday, October 7.
Pictured above in Damer House on Culture Night are (front l to r) Jackie Carter, Jenny Fox, Aine Ryan, Jock Nichol (back) Alison Hynes, Claire Dooley, Fiona Dunford, Kate Walsh, Roberta Noto and Joel Rudin. Photo: PJ Wright

To mark Culture Night on Friday last (19th Sept), Damer House Gallery and Roscrea Community Action Group came together to celebrate the national event in Damer House and Roscrea Castle.

The evening featured the 'Beyond The Frame' exhibition with artists Aine Ryan and Jenny Fox.

Through a selection of their works, both artists presented the themes that inspire their practice, followed by a facilitated discussion that offered audiences a deeper understanding of their approaches and artistic journeys.

This was followed by Roscrea Community Action Groups official launch of the towns new website, visitroscrea.ie.

Designed as a user-friendly hub for residents, businesses, and visitors, the website provides a comprehensive local directory, school and club listings, details on amenities, local services, and upcoming events. Visitors can also explore Roscreas rich historical heritage online.

This new website, visitroscrea.ie, marked a significant step forward in our efforts to build a more connected and informed community, Fiona Dunford, Chairperson of the local Community Action Group said.

The evening featured the 'Beyond The Frame' exhibition with artists Aine Ryan and Jenny Fox who are pictured above in Damer House. Photo: PJ Wright

We are delighted to provide a central digital hub that benefits everyone in Roscrea, making it easier than ever to discover and engage with our vibrant town.

The launch highlighted Roscreas commitment to strengthening its digital presence, while also showcasing the town as a dynamic and welcoming place to live, work, and visit.

READ NEXT: Planning for Roscrea IPAS centre extension refused

Damer House Gallery and Roscrea Community Action Group thanked the OPW for the use of Damer House and acknowledged the support of Culture Night, Tipperary and Tipperary Co. Council.

Both groups are planning future collaborations in the town.
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A man is arrested at the protests outside the Portland ICE building on Oct. 3, 2025. Allison Barr/The Oregonian

Two people were arrested outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland Friday night on allegations of disorderly conduct, according to a news release from the Portland Police Bureau.

Protesters were in the street blocking traffic at about 8:15 p.m., and police directed people to move to the sidewalk. Most people moved, but Thomas Wayne Allen, 36, and Cortez Carl Williams, 34, both from Portland, refused to leave the street and engaged in aggressive behavior toward each other, police said.

Police arrested the men on allegations of second-degree disorderly conduct. Allen was carrying a can of chemical spray and a collapsible metal coil baton.
Federal agents used chemical crowd control measures and arrested at least six people Saturday after hundreds marched to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building to protest the possibility of National Guard troops being deployed in the city.

About 400 people of all ages and races turned out, including families with children and retirees with walkers. As people chanted in front of the ICE building around 2 p.m., a large group of federal officers in gas masks moved into the crowd and pushed some protesters. They pointed less-lethal guns that sprayed pepper balls into the crowd and threw tear gas canisters.

Later in the afternoon, Portland Police posted an alert on social media that protesters were blocking the road near the building but that it has not witnessed any property or person crimes.

It wasnt immediately clear who was arrested or why.

By around 5 p.m., the crowds had shrunk to around 150 as news got out that a judge had blocked the Trump administrations plan to deploy 200 Oregon National Guard troops to protect the ICE building.

U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut rejected the federal governments assertion that Portland faces a danger of rebellion, and said she was not persuaded by the U.S. Justice Departments argument that regular forces, are unable to execute federal law.

U.S. Department of Justice lawyers vowed to immediately appeal the ruling and ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to put a hold on the judges order.

Jamie Enea, who said she voted for Donald Trump, brought her two daughters down to the ICE office for about 6 hours Saturday  retreating at times to avoid the tear gas.

The 38-year-old said she trusted the judicial process.

If its not warranted or not legal for the National Guard to be placed down here in this kind of two or three block area, then were going to respect that, Enea said.

However, the Portlander said she was disappointed that people attacking conservative journalists were not being prosecuted, and that she didnt feel the Police Bureau was doing enough to restore order.

We want people to be held accountable, and Portlands not doing that. And so I feel that there needs to be intervention.

The days protest started with a peaceful rally at Elizabeth Caruthers Park at noon, then protesters marched several blocks to the federal facility. As protesters rallied and marched, a helicopter circled overhead and a loud siren wailed.

Protesters held homemade signs that read Diversity is our strength, Stop kidnapping our neighbors and ICE are the terrorists. Some came with bikes or dogs. One wore an axolotl costume, another a Handmaids Tale costume and yet another a full pumpkin suit.

People also held flowers and onlookers rang handbells and honked as the protesters marched, chanting Say it loud, say it clear, everyone is welcome here. and Hey, hey, ho ho, ICE has got to go.

Samantha Ibarra, a Marine Corps veteran who served until 2018 and attended the protest with her partner, Parrish Webber. Ibarra, 32, said they moved to Portland three weeks ago from the Bay Area. She said shes upset over the Trump administrations rhetoric against immigrants, since her parents are immigrants.

I just feel like I need to be out here. My parents were supposed to come up to help us move but I just told them not to come because I was scared for them, she told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Judy Goldman, 87, a Portland resident who lives in the retirement community building across the street from Caruthers Park also attended the rally. She said she felt the national news medias portrayal of Portland is inaccurate and she wanted to protest the plan to deploy federal troops.

From what Im seeing in the news and how the president is acting, it seems like the administration is creating the issue, Goldman said. I live in the neighborhood and its been totally peaceful. Its been fine with the regular protests for months. The police were handling it and it was peaceful.

Goldman added: Ive lived long enough and was a kid when I saw what was happening in Germany and the Holocaust. The things Im seeing now remind me of that.

Sandy Gallardo, 34, of Portland was also among the crowd. She said she came to the protest because she is the daughter of Mexican immigrants who had had challenging encounters with immigration officers when Gallardo was a teenager. Though both parents are now U.S. citizens, the experiences have left them fearful, said Gallardo, who was born in Clackamas County and works as a school-based mental health therapist.

I see the impact that ICE had on my family and my community and I feel the need to stand up, she said. I tell the kids I work with, we are brown but we still have a right to be here and to be respected.

As protesters arrived at the ICE facility and stood next to its driveway, federal agents marched out and faced off with protesters.

Several federal agents recorded the protest from a rooftop. Next to them was also the online conservative journalist Katie Daviscourt.

A small group of counterprotesters also gathered outside the building later in the afternoon, including a man who has attended several demonstrations this week, each time wearing a Charlie Kirk Freedom T-shirt. A few arguments broke out between the groups through the evening.

Federal agents use chemical crowd control munitions during a protest at the Portland ICE facility on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. Allison Barr/The Oregonian

Protester Katelyn Cain said she saw two protest organizers  who minutes before had been leading the chants as the crowd marched  arrested by federal officers. Cain said she also saw the officers knocking down an older couple. The elderly man was wearing a vest that said he is a veteran, Cain told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The couple, Laurie and Richard Eckman, both 84, later told The Oregonian/OregonLive that they were rushed by federal officers for no apparent reason. She said her husband was wearing his Vietnam veterans cap and leaning on his walker when he was pushed to the ground.

Laurie Eckman said she sustained a concussion from the encounter.

People have to know that we are not Antifa, she said. Were just regular Portlanders who love our city, and my husband, being a Vietnam veteran, is incensed that were talking about war within our own country. This is outrageous, really.

Federal officers retreated into the building after the arrests, calm returned and protesters did the YMCA dance. The interlude was brief. The officers reemerged just before 3 p.m. and threw a dust bomb into the crowd, which by then had thinned to about 150 people.

The gathering remained smaller throughout the early evening, with a few people playing soccer in the street while others at an Antifa encampment offered free jerk chicken to those who remained.

Federal agents emerged from the fortified building again after night fell and appeared to make further arrests.

Protesters toe the line on the driveway of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in South Portland on Sat., Oct. 4, 2025. Zane Sparling/The Oregonian

Allison Barr, Maxine Bernstein, Zane Sparling and Yesenia Amaro contributed to this report.
Portland's FBI released this screen capture of Customs and Border Patrol video surveillance near the ICE building from Sat. night, Sept. 27. A laser was aimed at a Customs and Border Protection agency helicopter, and two Portland police planes in the area Sat. night, Sept. 27, the FBI said. Customs and Border Protection

A 35-year-old man appeared in federal court Friday afternoon, accused of shining a laser at government helicopters and planes circling the Portland ICE building.

Hector Miranda-Mendoza pointed a green beam Saturday night at two Portland police planes, each a Cessna Skylane 182 and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Airbus H125 helicopter.

Investigators traced the laser beams to the front porch of Miranda-Mendozas home on Northeast Crystal Lane, at least 5 miles away, according to a federal affidavit.

The helicopter crew members said they took off from Hillsboro Airport, flew to about 5,000 feet around the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building and were circling it when they started to get lit up by a laser on and off for about 10 minutes around 10:10 p.m., the affidavit said.

The federal helicopter crew, whose mission was described in court papers as overwatch the Portland ICE building, left the area to find the source of the laser, using an on-board mapping system to locate its origin, according to the affidavit.

One of the pilots in the helicopter reported a flash along the cockpit and had to put on a mask, while another crew member was hit in the eyes by the beam and diverted his gaze, the affidavit said.

Port of Portland police officers initially responded to the home for what they described as a knock and talk and found four men on the front porch.

One officer spoke to the men in Spanish and asked if any of them were shining lasers, the affidavit said. Miranda Mendoza responded that they were testing it out and that he pointed it toward the sky but had no idea it would reach anything. He handed the laser over to the port police, according to the affidavit.

Separately, the FBI obtained a warrant to search the Crystal Lane home, unaware that port police had seized the laser pointer, according to the FBI. The port operates both Portland International Airport and Hillsboro Airport.

FBI agents executed the warrant on the home Monday.

At that time, Miranda Mendoza said he and the guys were all drinking when he decided to get his new laser out to show his housemates, according to the affidavit. He bought the laser via Amazon, the affidavit said.

He knew it was strong and shot far, but did not know the exact range, an FBI agent wrote in the affidavit. He thought the helicopter was a drone at first, because it kept circling at a distance that was too far to hear the rotor blades. He flashed the object in the sky four or five times but could not tell if the beams were reaching it or not.

During the FBI search, Miranda Mendozas three housemates were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations, accused of being in the country unlawfully.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Ellie Riegel argued for Miranda Mendozas release from custody, saying hes not a flight risk, has lived at the Northeast Portland address for about a year, is working and sends money back to support his family in Mexico. He came to the U.S. in 2023, she said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Sax said Miranda Mendoza has no significant ties in the United States and his name is not on the homes lease. He also is in the country unlawfully, Sax said.

U.S. Magistrate Jolie A. Russo ordered Miranda Mendoza to remain in custody pending trial on the charge.

Hes one of 29 people who have faced criminal charges in federal court tied to activity involving protests at the ICE facility.

Government helicopters have been circling the building since last weekend after President Donald Trump said he was authorizing troops to Portland to protect the immigration building and its officers. The loud rap of the helicopters rotors have drawn a significant number of noise complaints.
Portland Police Chief Bob Day, right, speaks at a news conference on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, at Central Precinct. To his left is his Chief of Staff Robert King and Assistant Chief Amanda McMillan. Zaeem Shaikh/The Oregonian

Portland Police Chief Bob Day rejected allegations made by the U.S. Justice Department Friday that his officers took action based on political affiliation in the arrest of a conservative online journalist and influencer.

Day stood in front of reporters hours after federal prosecutors said they were launching a probe into the Police Bureau following the arrest of Nicholas Sortor Thursday outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building.

The irony here is we were condemned in 2020 for our approach towards the left, and now were being condemned in 2025 for our approach to the right, Day said. So I would say weve landed right in the middle of the fairway.

The full details of the investigation were not clear Friday, but a Justice Department letter says federal officials want to see body-worn-camera footage of Sortors arrest and scrutinize officers actions after the reported assault of Post Millennial journalist Katie Daviscourt at a Tuesday protest.

The letter also said federal officials want to review documents concerning city officials finding that the ICE facility violated its land-use agreement.

Day said the Police Bureau will comply with the investigation and welcomes the scrutiny.

He noted that the bureau has been operating under a 2014 settlement with the Department of Justice, stemming from an investigation into disproportionate use of force against people with mental illness.

Speaking about the ongoing protests, Day said police are seeing an increase in people coming to the facility with an intent to agitate the crowd and the environment.

What their motivation is, I dont know. I dont really care, Day said. The point is that we are not going to be accepting of violence in the city of Portland.

He added, We will make arrests regardless of their intent or affiliation.

Sortor, 27, has 1.2 million followers on the social network X and was arrested Thursday on suspicion of second-degree disorderly conduct. Day said he had not read the police report in the arrest.

But Sortor told a Fox News correspondent after he was released from jail early Friday that he was swarmed by protesters and thrown into a flower bed. The correspondent, Bill Melguin, noted that someone threw a punch. Sortor said he swung back and missed before walking over to Portland police officers.

Nick Sortor, 27, was arrested by Portland police officers during a protest at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in South Portland on Thurs., Oct. 2, 2025. Matthew Kish/The Oregonian

Sortor is set to be arraigned on the charge Monday.

At a press conference Friday morning, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the arrest was part of a troubling trend in Portland where left wing mobs believe they get to decide who can visit and live in their city.

Day said that is not accurate.

Look outside today. Ive been all over the city, he said. Its not left wing mobs.

Day said the tension in the area surrounding the ICE facility has reached a fevered pitch and urged people to bring the temperature down.
Posco International, part of South Koreas steel and chemicals conglomerate Posco Group, announced that it has completed the construction of its new electric vehicle (EV) drive motor core plant in Brzeg, in Polands Opole Province, as part of the companys plans to establish a strong presence in the European EV supply chain.

The opening ceremony was attended by Posco Internationals CEO, Lee Kye-In; the Opole Governor, Monika Jurek; and the South Korean Ambassador to Poland, Tae Jun-Yeol. The EUR 57 million facility, with an output capacity of 1.2 million motor cores per year, will begin trial production in October, with full commercial production scheduled for December this year.

Lee Kye-In said in a statement: The Poland drive motor core plant is a key hub for preemptively securing the European EV market. Posco Group will lead the future mobility market with its integrated group-wide capabilities such as EV-spec steel, battery materials, and components.

Together with similar plants in Asia and North America, Posco is targeting a 10% share of global EV drive motor core sales by 2030. By then, it expects to have an annual production capacity of 7.5 million units in place globally, split between South Korea, Mexico, Poland and India, generating annual revenues of KRW 1.5 trillion (US$ 1 billion). Its plant in Mexico is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025.

The company cited data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasting that annual battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales in Europe will reach 4 million units in 2025, or 25% of new vehicle sales, rising to 55% by 2030. The EU is also scheduled to ban sales of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle sales by 2035.

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Group is expected to ramp up BEV production in the region in the next few years, with Kia having recently begun production of its EV4 compact BEV in Slovakia.

Posco said it has already secured orders for 35 million drive motor cores globally, to be supplied by 2033, including 1.68 million units to be supplied from its Polish plant for fitment in European-made Hyundai and Kia EVs. The company is also looking to sign sales contracts with other European automakers, including Volkswagen Group.

Posco said its drive motor cores incorporate the companys non-oriented electrical steel sheets (Hyper NO) and proprietary EMFree technology, which applies thin layers of adhesive for lamination, improving energy efficiency and minimizing noise and vibration compared with the conventional EMBO method, enhancing both EV driving range and in-cabin quietness.
Chocolate babkas cool on trays inside Babkushs commercial kitchen, where Lukin has been baking since April. Chiara Profenna

Zicra Lukin didnt grow up eating much babka. But on the verge of opening her own Jewish bakery, Babkush just off Southeast Hawthorne, shes found herself surrounded by the sweet braided bread, often filled with chocolate, fruit or cinnamon.

It was never anything that was part of a great family tradition, or something that I longed for, Lukin said. The babka that I remember from my childhood was pretty dry and unremarkable.

While seeking a pandemic hobby with her daughter, Lukin was reintroduced to babka. Instead of pulling from her Jewish family recipes, she developed her own recipes drawing mainly from her personal tasting and eating experiences.

Amaretti cookies, an almond-based Italian treat offered in rotating flavors like vanilla matcha and chocolate, line a tray at Babkush next to an art piece by @shalompdx. Chiara Profenna

Lukin hopes to open her Babkush storefront in November. Since leasing a commercial kitchen from cloudforest in April, shes been accepting orders online and participating in farmers markets. Babkush is just one small piece of what Lukin calls the babka renaissance.

People were really excited about it in New York, Lukin said. A lot of it has to do with this guy, Uri Scheft, who owned Breads Bakery, and he kind of reintroduced babka to me, it felt like a new, updated version.

A cinnamon walnut babka is sliced open, revealing its swirled layers of dough and filling. Chiara Profenna

Modern babka has incorporated new and inventive flavors, fillings and ingredients, like Lukins seasonal cinnamon walnut babka or apple, date and cardamom babka for Yom Kippur. But her specialty is chocolate babka.

Babka originated in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, often made with a rich, braided, yeast-leavened sweet bread filled with cinnamon, jam, raisins or chocolate. The term babka roughly means grandmother in Polish and Yiddish.

Babka is definitely the anchor product at Babkush, Lukin said, but the bakery also offers chocolate rugelach, little chocolate crescent rolls soaked in a honey simple syrup, and amaretti cookies, traditional Italian almond-flavored cookies. Current flavors include chocolate hazelnut, vanilla matcha and halva date. Lukin also rotates through seasonal flavored babkas and holiday treats.

Rugelach, small chocolate-filled crescent pastries finished with a honey syrup, are among Babkushs specialty items. Chiara Profenna

For Hanukkah, I make sufganiyot, Lukin said. At Purim, which is a holiday in the spring, I make hamantaschen. But Im also trying to bring in different cultures: I make an Iraqi Jewish pastry called baba tamar, which is like a yeasted dough stuffed with a date paste.

For Lukin, weaving in Jewish baking traditions from across the world is central to sharing culture and expanding the picture of what Jewish baking can be.

It got me thinking about the way Jewish food is represented in the U.S., and what Jewish food we see, Lukin said about the beginning of her baking journey. And it sort of inspired me to start thinking about bringing in other Jewish baking traditions from different communities, different parts of the world.

Through farmers markets, Lukin has been able to give many people their first tastes of babka or other Jewish baked goods.

Its been really, really positive, Lukin said about her customers feedback. The two groups are babka connoisseurs to the babka novices.

She hopes to appeal to both groups in her retail space while also fostering a gathering space for the Jewish community. That sense of community extends beyond the bakerys walls through her background in political advocacy.

The kitchen space at Babkush, where Lukin prepares babka, rugelach, sufganiyot and other Jewish baked goods. Chiara Profenna

Her experiences as an advocate for gun violence prevention and social justice have shaped how she envisions the role of her bakery. Lukin has centered her personal values into Babkush, donating a portion of sales to mutual aid groups directly supporting families in Gaza. The decision, she said, is rooted in her belief that speaking out against injustice should be second nature.

Palestinian solidarity is really important to me, she said. It feels really important for me, in a moment when I have an opportunity as a Jewish bakery, to stand up and say the things that need to be said.

Already, Babkushs social media presence strongly emphasizes social justice issues, sharing resources to educate the general public, contact legislators and support Palestinian-serving organizations. Encouraged by her communitys response, Lukin plans to continue that focus when her business opens.

Zicra Lukin, owner of Babkush, holds a fresh chocolate babka at her soon-to-open Jewish bakery on Southeast Hawthorne. Chiara Profenna

I feel like, if I have a platform, I really want to ask folks to look into other ways to participate in Palestinian solidarity in Portland, Lukin said.

Until Babkush bakery officially opens to the public, customers can order baked goods by directly messaging the Babkush Instagram account or placing an order through the form linked in the accounts bio.

You can also find Babkush at the Beaverton Farmers Market on Saturdays through the end of October, the Hillsdale Farmers Market on Sundays through the end of October and the King Farmers Market on Oct. 12, 26 and Nov. 9. Babkush Babkas are also available for purchase at Providore Fine Foods on Northeast Sandy Boulevard and Bread and Roses Market on Southeast Foster Road.

The Oregonian/OregonLive receives support from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to bring readers stories on religion, faith and cultural connections in Oregon. The Oregonian/OregonLive is solely responsible for all content.
Nearly 4,000 nurses and other Kaiser Permanente health care workers in Oregon and southwest Washington are set to go on strike starting Oct. 14 for up to five days.

The Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, which represents nurses and other health professionals at Kaisers Oregon and southwest Washington operation, announced the strike plan Friday. Health workers are required to give 10 days notice before any sort of walkout.

Unions representing 46,000 of Kaiser workers in multiple states  including California, Washington, Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.  have also authorized strikes after their contracts ended on Sept. 30 or Oct. 1. Union officials said almost all have delivered similar strike notices Friday.

Oregon union members voted to authorize a strike by an enormous margin last month. The walkout would include nurses, lab techs, social workers, physical therapists, mental health counselors and other health workers who work at Kaisers Sunnyside Medical Center in Clackamas, Kaiser Permanente Westside Medical Center in Hillsboro and dozens of clinics and other facilities across the region.

Sarina Roher, president of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, said the unions contracts expired last month and that the two parties have made little progress since negotiations began six months ago.

Roher said workers want staffing and scheduling policies that would give providers more time with their patients. She said Kaiser has been struggling to recruit or retain workers because of the health systems refusal to offer competitive salaries.

Were fighting to make sure Kaiser puts patients first  health care should be driven by our mission, not a desire for more profits, Roher said in a statement. We hope that this strike notice will push Kaiser to come to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair agreement that is good for healthcare workers, patients and the communities we serve.

Kaiser did not immediately respond to an email for comment.
Milkshake mixologist Visalia Rose works at the Narrows RV Parks Jackalope Bar & Grill in southeastern Oregon's Princeton. Janet Eastman/The Oregonian/OregonLive

Sometimes the best milkshakes depend less on classic ingredients and more with the novelty of enjoying a cool dessert in a unique setting.

Visitors to the remote Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon hear of two spots birders and tourists flock to:

The Narrows Pullout viewing point along Oregon 205, where burrowing owls perch on fence posts overlooking the water channel that attracts sagebrush sparrows and horned larks.

And nearby, a nondescript building near tiny Princeton that houses the Narrows RV Parks Jackalope Bar & Grill , famous for serving milkshakes thick enough to hold a spoon upright and made with unconventional combinations of ingredients.

One of the milkshake mixologists is Visalia Rose, who on the day of our visit earlier this year explained the special milkshake of the month was The Elvis, a blend of peanut butter, bacon and banana added to ice cream.

The Elvis milkshake at the Narrows RV Parks Jackalope Bar & Grill in southeastern Oregon's Princeton. Visalia Rose

A vegetarian friend shook his head, disapproving of the bacon, and we decided to split a rich chocolate milkshake with a layer of homemade raspberry sauce, which is always on the menu.

A 30-ounce chocolate or vanilla milkshake costs $10, with additional flavors available for $1.50 each.

Mays special had Mexican chocolate to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and in June, one of the milkshake offerings was icy lemonade to kick off summer.

Julys milkshake rallied around the Fourth of July holiday, with red raspberries, a white lemony-vanilla base and fresh blueberries.

Augusts orange creamsicle was inspired by summer sunsets. Septembers special milkshake had a Dutch apple pie flavor, created by mixing homemade apple crumble with apple cider flavors and cinnamon-sugar apple pie filling.

And Octobers is pumpkin pie, made with pumpkin puree and vanilla ice cream with a dash of pumpkin spice.

Our milkshakes are a major tourist attraction, said Rose, who has a loyal fan base.

She pours the right amount of milk into the Hamilton Beach commercial blenders stainless steel container and generously adds six or more scoops  whos counting?  of Shamrock Farms premium quality ice cream.

Slowly, Rose pours a generous, juicy half cup of raspberry sauce. Im so excited for you right now, she said, sincerely.

Rose doesnt apologize for overfilling the container. If it didnt spill over the side, it wouldnt be authentic, she smiled.

She then posed the difficult question: Do you want whipped cream and a cherry?

If you go: The Jackalope Bar and Grill at The Narrows RV Park offers hamburgers, buffalo burgers, sweet potato fries, homemade soups, pies and milkshakes at 33468 Sodhouse Lane, Princeton, 97721 (text 503-551-3761, or call 541-495-2006 or 800-403-3294, narrowsrvpark.com).

 Janet Eastman covers design and trends. Reach her at 503-294-4072, jeastman@oregonian.com and follow her on X @janeteastman.
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) AP

President Donald Trump has directed his administration to begin eyeing federal funding cuts to Portland as White House officials railed against the city and its ongoing protests following the arrest of a right-wing journalist and influencer.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, disclosed the potential financial squeeze Friday as she announced the launch of a federal investigation into the Portland Police Bureau after Nick Sortor was taken into custody during a demonstration outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the South Waterfront Thursday night.

We will not fund states that allow anarchy, said Leavitt during a White House press briefing in which she alleged Sortor, who lives in Washington, D.C., had been ambushed by antifa prior to his arrest, while police have allowed violent mob members to rampage night after night.

Everyone in this room should be extremely concerned about that, Leavitt said.

The comments came as a federal judge in Portland heard arguments over whether to temporarily block Trumps planned deployment of the Oregon National Guard to the ICE facility, which he claims is under siege, and as tensions continue to mount a week after the president announced the extraordinary move.

Since returning to office in January, Trump has repeatedly threatened to pull federal dollars from Democratic states and municipalities that hes deemed political enemies or insufficiently willing to embrace his agenda, including his mass deportation campaign.

Portland has more than $342 million in active federal grants, city records show, with nearly half of those dollars unspent.

The federal government should be focused on partnering with us to expand housing, create jobs, and bolster social services  not siphon vital funding from our economy during a government shutdown that is already hurting cities like ours across the nation, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement Friday.

The mayor also reiterated his strong opposition to Trumps attempted military incursion of Oregons most populous city.

Let me be clear: Portland is not a military target, Wilson continued. We will use every legal and constitutional tool at our disposal to protect our residents, uphold our values, and defend the rights of every Portlander.
One of Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez's campaign pledges before he took office in January 2025 was that he'd enforce the law more than his predecessor. (File photo) Mark Graves, The Oregonian/OregonLive

Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez worries that President Donald Trumps stated attempt to restore order outside Portlands Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility by sending in Oregon National Guard troops will only intensify the size and violence of the protests.

I dont see that theres a need for federal intervention, Vasquez told The Oregonian/Oregonlive this week. I believe our local law enforcement are handling our public safety issues, and I do not believe that federal intervention would help our community.

But Vasquez  the top elected prosecutor in the 796,000-resident county  says hell pursue criminal charges against anyone Portland police arrest that he can prove committed a crime.

Ive said from Day One, it doesnt matter if youre left, right or center, it only matters that youve broken the law, Vasquez, who took office in January, told The Oregonian/OregonLive. And if you break the law, Im going to prosecute you.

The statistics bear that out. From January to August, the latest data available, Vasquez has pursued prosecutions against 89% of cases forwarded by Portland police from five mass demonstrations that occurred in different parts of the city. When it comes to the case prosecution for protest-related arrests immediately outside the ICE facility, the number rises slightly to 93%.

Compare that to the 16% that Vasquezs predecessor, Mike Schmidt, prosecuted in 2020, which saw the citys largest and most violent year of protests on record.

Though Schmidt was elected by a landslide in 2020 under his promise to reform a heavy-handed justice system, critics argue that Schmidts decision not to pursue charges in many protest cases wounded the city by bolstering its reputation where it was OK to let some crimes slide. Schmidt declined to comment Friday to The Oregonian/Oregonlive for this story.

Heres a breakdown of the raw numbers, according to the DAs Office Mass Demonstration dashboard: Schmidt filed charges in 158 of the 997 protest cases in 2020. Vasquez, on the flip side, has filed charges in 33 of the 37 protest cases in 2025.

There was a protest policy back then and there isnt now, Vasquez said, referring to Schmidts announcement 10 days into this term in 2020 that he wouldnt prosecute certain categories of protest actions types of behavior at protests, including allegations of rioting, interfering with a peace officer or second-degree disorderly conduct.

From 2021 to the last year of Schmidts term, 2024, Schmidt prosecuted higher percentages of arrested protesters, though there were only small numbers of them because the era of violent massive protests had simmered down.

Vasquez said at the ICE protests this year, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorneys Office for Oregon have been charging cases alleging violations of federal crimes documented by federal officers. A count maintained by The Oregonian/OregonLive shows federal prosecutors are pursuing 28 criminal cases related to the protests in Portland since June, including damage and vandalism to the ICE facility and assaults on federal officers. Its unclear, however, precisely how many theyve arrested.

Protesters gather outside the boarded-up U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, days after President Donald Trump suggested federal intervention. Mark Graves/The Oregonian

Vasquez said his office oversees the charging of cases for crimes, such as fights, that unfold off federal property in the street and surrounding neighborhood.

The ones that have spilled out a little bit into Portland, were taking very seriously, Vasquez said.

But even though Vasquezs deputy district attorneys  under his direction  are charging a much higher percentage of cases than Schmidts office did in 2020, some critics say many crimes outside the ICE facility are going unpunished. Critics say police have forwarded too few cases to the DAs Office because the bureau has ignored crime immediately outside the ICE facility.

Though Portland police removed a barricade blocking the facilitys driveway on June 8, just as the protests in Portland had begun, Chief Bob Day said the next day that police wouldnt do it again and also would not be engaging with any kind of perceived or actual support of (ICE) vans and transports or anything of that nature.

Day announced Monday that the bureau would devote more officers to responding to actions near the ICE facility and did not need National Guard intervention to tamp down crime there. Though police hadnt made any arrests since June, officers made several after this weeks announcement.

Among them was the arrest of conservative online journalist Nicholas Sortor, who claimed Portland police are controlled by antifa thugs for hauling him off to jail overnight under allegations of second-degree disorderly conduct. That prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to say its launching an investigation into Sortors arrest.

Many of the details that led to the arrest of Sortor are unclear. And what happens in the case against Sortor will be one of the most scrutinized ICE protest charging decisions in the DAs office, to date.

Vasquezs office is expected to make a charging decision by Monday. As a matter of policy, the DAs office does not offer comment on pending cases.
During a speech Tuesday to top U.S. military commanders at Quantico, Va., President Donald Trump says "Portland, Oregon, where it looks like a war zone. And I get a call from the liberal governor. 'Sir, please don't come in. We don't need you.' I said, 'Well, unless they're playing false tapes, this looks like World War II.'"(Andrew Harnik/Pool via AP) AP

President Donald Trump has said he is dispatching 200 Oregon National Guard troops to protect Portlands Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in a War ravaged city where police have been unable to stop people from trying to burn down buildings, including federal buildings.

Its every night, and theyve done it for years, Trump told a roomful of reporters in the Oval Office last week.

But his rationale doesnt stand up to the facts.

I dont think it reflects the reality of what life is like in Portland at all, Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez told The Oregonian/OregonLive. It appears to be very much being shaped by misinformation on social media and perhaps some major news corporations.

Five years ago, Portland became a focal point for immense and persistent throngs of protesters angry over the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. Portland police and federal officers arrested at least 1,071 people amid months of protests that night after night numbered in the hundreds or even the thousands.

Thousands of people showed up to downtown Portland on the 54th consecutive day of protests in July 2020. Though initially peaceful, the gatherings ultimately devolved into police-declared riots. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian/File photo) The Oregonian

They marched miles across the city. They staged protests primarily in the citys core but also in Southeast and North Portland and the Pearl District. They set numerous serious fires and threw rocks at officers, who responded with more than 6,000 documented cases of force. The protests prompted many downtown businesses to board up their windows and the public to avoid the area, magnifying downtowns dire image in the midst of a global pandemic.

Irate drivers also drove into crowds of protesters, injuring some. A man who crashed near a protest was beaten unconscious and another man who was part of a pro-Trump caravan of counterprotesters was shot dead in the heart of downtown.

After Trump deployed federal officers to quell the protests for several weeks, the enraged crowds only grew.

Demonstrators set dumpsters on fire outside the Portland Police Association building on the 73rd consecutive day in North Portland. (Mark Graves/The Oregonian/File photo)

A firework explodes in the street near Ventura Park in Southeast Portland, seven miles from downtown Portland, on the 99th consecutive night of protests in 2020. (Mark Graves/The Oregonian/File photo)

Protesters try to help a man whose leg caught fire after a Molotov cocktail aimed at police hit him on the 100th consecutive night of protests in Portland in 2020. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian/File photo) The Oregonian

In contrast, in 2025, the protesters have numbered in the few dozens on most nights and their activity has largely been confined to a two-block radius of the buildings front driveway. Approximately 60 people have been arrested in the past four months outside the ICE building in South Portland for charges that include assaulting officers by throwing punches, damaging the building and setting small fires. In addition, federal officers have cited others for low-level violations, such as trespassing, that typically come with a fine.

The building, located about a mile and a half south of downtown, is in a tightly confined space mostly separated from wider expanses of the city by fences, a hulking heated storage facility, and Interstate 5. It is, however, close to an apartment complex, The Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant and the previous location of a charter school that moved this summer to get away from the tumult.

On select days or nights, larger crowds of 100 to several hundred protesters gathered, including in mid-June, on July 4 and on Labor Day. That was until last Saturday, when Trump said hed send troops to Portland, triggering bigger crowds and more unlawful behavior, property damage and assaults.

June 14, 2025 drew one of the biggest crowds of the year outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland. (Mark Graves/The Oregonian) Mark Graves/The Oregonian

Federal police advance from within the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on protesters in South Portland on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. Jonathan Bach I The Oregonian/OregonLive

The reality of today versus 2020, theyre just two drastically different times and different realities, Vasquez said. Its hard to even compare them.

But Portlands more intense 2020 protests and the current-day ones have at times been confused on the national stage. Fox News famously aired a Sept. 4 story that intermeshed video of the 2025 protests with dramatic video from 2020, including people setting a large fire at the base of a downtown statue and federal officers surrounding and using chemical spray on a person in the citys core. The network later attached a clarification that some scenes were from 2020.

Trump also briefly expressed befuddlement last weekend after talking to Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, who relayed the much smaller scale of the immigration protests in a seven-minute phone call with the president.

But I said, Well wait a minute, am I watching things on television that are different from whats happening? My people tell me different. They are literally attacking and there are fires all over the place  it looks like terrible.

But there are not fires all over the city. Portland Fire & Rescue data undermines Trumps description last week that people are trying to burn down buildings, including federal buildings every night for years. Reports show building fires were actually down 33% this summer compared to the previous one. And by far, most were not believed to be intentionally set.

From the beginning of the protests in June to the end of September, Portland Fire & Rescue spokesperson Rick Graves found only four reports of fires in the vicinity of the ICE facility  two of them flag burnings, one of them a person who said they saw a flag burning in a TikTok video taken outside the facility and the other a reported smoke grenade tossed by a federal officer that didnt involve a fire at all.

Disaster and destruction

Trump quickly, however, settled on a stance. In a speech Tuesday during which he mispronounced the state as Or-uh-GONE, Trump said the military should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military. The next day, he posted on Truth Social that Portland is a NEVER-ENDING DISASTER, the National Guard is now in place and the deployment is dedicated to ending the Chaos, Death, and Destruction! As of midday Friday, however, there was still no sign of troops in Oregons largest city.

Dueling narratives have reached peak volume over the past week, with many butting heads over the most basic of questions: How big and lawless have the 2025 immigration protests been? How much violence has been inflicted? Do local authorities have the situation under control  as the governor, the mayor, Oregons Democratic congressional delegation, Portland Police Chief Bob Day and Mayor Keith Wilson have claimed?

And is there, as Wilson wrote in Time magazine, a yawning chasm between national conservative views of Portland and the on-the-ground reality in Portland? Or is National Guard intervention desperately needed?

Though the size and scope of immigration protests this year pale in comparison to the racial reckoning and anti-police protests of 2020, temperatures in the immediate vicinity of the ICE facility have felt sky high at times. Scenes outside the facility have become ugly on certain nights, with protesters yelling profanities and inflammatory insults, throwing fireworks and committing lower level assaults.

One woman has been accused of throwing a knife at federal officers, and confrontations have sprung up not just between immigration protesters and federal officers but liberal demonstrations and conservative visitors. A conservative journalist reported she suffered a black eye and a concussion when someone she described as a terrorist hit her in the face with a flagpole earlier this week.

A car with two people turned onto a block closed for the demonstration outside the ICE building in South Portland on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, prompting a brief clash with protesters before it was escorted out of the area. Mark Graves/The Oregonian

Federal officers have sometimes responded with pepper spray, tear gas and violent takedowns of accused criminals.

But protests have also featured grandmas in lawn chairs, people in chicken suits, impromptu dance parties and even a woman in full Victorian dress with a table set for tea as more than 20 federal officers with shields and gas masks walk by.

A person blows bubbles outside the ICE facility in Portland on June 14, 2025. (Mark Graves/The Oregonian) Mark Graves/The Oregonian

Some progressives in Portland have said federal officers  not protesters  are the ones whove escalated the late-nights confrontations outside the federal immigration building. An assistant chief with Portland police, who testified in a lawsuit by a local resident overwhelmed by the noise, said that federal law enforcement had been instigating and causing some of the ruckus at the protests. The Oregonian/Oregonlive also witnessed multiple instances in which federal officers shoved, hit or used chemical spray against nonviolent protesters who yelled at or taunted officers.

A larger than typical crowd of people protested outside the ICE building in South Portland on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, a day after Trump said he was sending in the Oregon National Guard. Mark Graves/The Oregonian

But many critics of Portland polices handling of ICE protests say the number of arrests underrepresent the actual instances of crime. (Critics in 2020 also said police were letting thousands of violent scofflaws to get away, unarrested). Portland police, however, said this week that theyve responded appropriately to apparent criminal activity.

(I)t is not accurate to suggest the Portland Police Bureau has not been engaged, wrote police spokesperson Mike Benner. ... Our priority remains striking the right balance  protecting public safety, supporting community well-being, and safeguarding constitutional rights  while ensuring the safety of all Portlanders across the city.

Until Sunday, however, Portland police hadnt made an arrest since the end of June, when police said they wouldnt assist anymore in clearing barricades blocking the facilitys driveway. But Day, the police chief, announced Monday that the bureau would devote more officers to responding and did not need National Guard intervention to tamp down crime at the protests.

Representatives from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE didnt respond to questions from The Oregonian/OregonLive. Rather, they offered a general statement that said in part: DHS heroic law enforcement officers continue to hold the line against violent rioters in Portland  even as radical leftist politicians hold their pay hostage.

Noise, chaos terrify nearby residents

Julie Parrish, an attorney representing a tenant of the low-income apartment complex kitty-corner from the ICE building, lost a lawsuit against the city over noise violations this summer when a Multnomah County judge declined to order police to enforce the citys noise ordinance and disorderly conduct laws.

In court filings, Parrish contended many building residents were suffering from a near nightly toxic environment, including ear-splitting volumes and chemical aerosols wafting into the complex. Parrish wrote that the intrusions were a result of the mob mentality of those protesting and the response by federal officers, including more noise in the form of tear gas canisters exploding, non-lethal bullets and loudspeaker warnings that chaos is about to ensue.

Federal officers deployed CS gas, flash grenades and less-lethal rounds outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland on June 14, 2025, after protesters formed a shield wall and broke a glass door with a stop sign. Mark Graves/The Oregonian

In a statement Parrish sent The Oregonian/OregonLive on Thursday, her client, Cloud Elvengrail, said she is grateful that Trump is mobilizing the troops because for residents of her apartment complex, their immediate neighborhood has become a place of terrifying violence. She wrote thats is true, even though her court case indicates she didnt vote for Trump.

People in Portland who have never been down to our neighborhood are being misled by Mayor Wilson and Governor Kotek. They post daylight pictures on the river saying Portland isnt a warzone. But my small corner of the City it is like a warzone, and its terrifying.

Elvengrail, who relies on Social Security disability and is Black, continued: If youre poor, Black, and disabled, or a domestic violence victim, the Citys message to us is clear: youre on your own. The President has heard our cry for help and is sending in support to protect my neighborhood. I, and many of my neighbors, appreciate it.

Parrish, a former Republican state lawmaker who is married to a retired colonel who was in the Oregon National Guard, said the chaos doesnt just blanket the block where her client lives but areas within a four-block radius of the ICE building. Like her client, she said she supports Trumps mobilization. And though some have said its unfair to characterize Portland today in light of past protests in 2020, Parrish believes their influence still can be felt today.

I think the protests in 2020 created a circumstance that its OK to be lawless in Portland, she said.

Its clear, however, that Trumps decision to send or threaten to send troops to the largely Democratic cities  including Los Angeles in June; Washington, D.C., in August; Memphis in recent days and Chicago and Portland  is unwelcomed by many. A national Ipsos-NPR poll published last week found only 34% of Americans approve of Trump deploying the National Guard into their local area to help law enforcement, while 52% opposed it and 13% were undecided.

John Horvick, a Portland public opinion researcher who wasnt involved in the national poll, suspects the support would be even lower in Portland if he were to query locals today.

Trump is very unpopular in Oregon, Horvick said. This sort of action will polarize people in the Portland area even more.
Officers stood on the roof of the ICE facility in South Portland on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, monitoring the protest below. Mark Graves/The Oregonian

Organizers of a No National Guard in Portland rally say they will gather at noon Saturday at Elizabeth Caruthers Park in the South Waterfront neighborhood and march to the nearby U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.

Last Sunday, midday rallies drew a few thousand people downtown and several hundred to the ICE facility in South Portland.

Saturdays march and rally could coincide with the arrival of a federal judges opinion on whether to grant an order temporarily blocking President Trumps mobilization of 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portlands immigration enforcement facility.
Two years ago, I received a wine sample in the mail that included a small ultraviolet light attached to a keychain. I could not figure out why it was in the box.

Then I saw the wines label, which read Ultra Violet. I pointed the little lights ultraviolet beam at the bottle, and the front label lit up like a pinball machine. The wine was excellent, and that keychain remains on my office desk to this day.

I saw the light when it came to Violet Vines. Now it is your turn.

Violet Vines is best known for: Pinot noir, chardonnay and syrah. April and Brian Zawada own two estate vineyards in Oregon, one in Sheridan, within the McMinnville American Viticultural Area (AVA), and the other in The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA.

Even though it is nested within the Walla Walla Valley AVA, The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, aka The Rocks, resides entirely within Oregon. Wines from The Rocks, particularly syrah, consistently garner worldwide acclaim from consumers and critics alike.

Were the only Willamette Valley winery that owns a vineyard in The Rocks, Brian Zawada said.

A must try current release: 2023 Violet Vines Ultra Violet Reserve Pinot Noir ($75, 13.5% ABV).

The Ultra Violet is a balanced pinot noir with bright acidity, silky tannins and texture as smooth and luxurious as a down comforter. It is packed to the brim with aromas and flavors of tart red raspberries, dried rose petals and a saline quality that will have you hankering for fresh-shucked Yaquina Bay oysters.

Only wine club members can buy the Ultra Violet online, but nonmembers can purchase bottles in the tasting room. If you buy a bottle of Ultra Violet, you will also receive the ultraviolet keychain light that lights up the wines front label and reveals a secret message on the back label.

If you arent looking to join a wine club, Im also a sucker for the Violet Vines LAvril Rose ($31, 12.96% ABV), which in 2024 is a co-fermented blend of 90% pinot noir and 10% syrah.

Hot tip: There are diverse flight options at Violet Vines tasting room. One is a Willamette Valley flight, where you can taste five wines, including LAvril and the Ultra Violet. There is also The Rocks flight, which features five wines, including two different syrahs. If you go with another person, I recommend ordering both flights and sharing sips.

The flights are $30 per person, with one tasting fee waived for those who join the wine club or purchase three bottles. Wine club members receive free shipping, which is quite a bonus in these days of high fuel prices.

History: While on business trips to Oregon for his risk management company, Brian Zawada fell in love with Oregons wine country. After dabbling with some home winemaking in Ohio, the Zawadas took the plunge in 2019 to buy a three-acre pinot noir vineyard in Sheridan, Oregon.

Over the years, they added 24 more acres of vines to their Violet Vines Vineyard, including chardonnay, cabernet franc, syrah, viognier and albarino. Their Set in Stone Vineyard in Milton-Freewater contains five acres of syrah, grenache and mourvedre.

While Violet Vines currently produces 3,500-4,000 cases annually, Zawada said the plan is to get to 8,000 cases in the next few years.

What we dont know: Before he started his risk management company in Ohio, Kevin Zawada was a broadcaster in the military. It was a classified news broadcast that went to the White House and Pentagon. It was the early days of Desert Storm, and I was Colin Powell and Dick Cheneys presenter, if you will, and a news broadcaster when I was at the Air Force Academy and afterwards, Zawada said.

Last book read: Tecumseh and the Prophet: The Shawnee Brothers Who Defied a Nation, by Peter Cozzens. In addition to being a history buff, Zawada said, Im also reading a lot of childrens books in Spanish, because Im very much committed to learning Spanish so I can have better interactions with our vineyard team. I was told to do Babble, but (to also) read childrens books.

Biggest inspiration: My paternal grandfather, Zawada said. He was probably the most selfless person I have ever met. He was a Navy pilot, and it was he who encouraged me to join the military. But he wanted me to go to Annapolis, and I begged him after I realized I didnt want to live on a ship; I wanted to be on land, hence my decision to join the Air Force. He was a fantastic person who demonstrated selflessness every day of the week.

Where to buy: In addition to the Violet Vines tasting room in Carlton, you can enjoy the Zawadas wines at two premier wine country dining spots: Trellis in Dundee and Thistle in McMinnville.

In the Zawadas hometown of Medina, Ohio, look for Violet Vines wines at One Eleven Bistro.

Noon-6 p.m. Friday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday, by appointment Wednesday-Thursday, 203 W. Main St., Suite C, Carlton, violetvines.com or 503-379-0770.

-- Michael Alberty writes about wine for The Oregonian/OregonLive and Wine Enthusiast Magazine. He can be reached at malberty0@gmail.com. To read more of his coverage, go to oregonlive.com/wine
The native token of oracle network Chainlink (LINK) pulled back slightly on Friday, establishing a higher low, posting a 6.7% gain this week. The price action has been supported by a string of news headlines about institutions and protocols tapping Chainlink's services.

Plasma (XPL) said on Friday it has joined Chainlink Scale, adopting Chainlink's oracle services for its stablecoin payments-focused blockchain. The network has integrated Chainlink's Cross-chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), Data Streams and Data Feeds services, supporting developers to build stablecoin use cases on Plasma.

"By adopting the Chainlink standard and joining the Chainlink Scale program, Plasma is demonstrating how new layer-1 networks can launch with enterprise-grade stablecoin infrastructure from day one," said Johann Eid, chief business officer at Chainlink Labs, the development organization behind Chainlink.

The news follows Swiss bank UBS starting a pilot with Chainlink earlier this week, integrating the CCIP protocol with SWIFT's messaging system for tokenized fund operations.

Meanwhile, the Chainlink Reserve, a facility that purchases tokens on the open market using income from protocol integrations and services, bought another 46,441 LINK on Thursday, bringing total holdings over 417,000 tokens, worth $9.5 million.

Technical indicators signal bullish momentum is returning for LINK, establishing a clear higher low but facing resistance at the $23 level, CoinDesk Data's research model suggested.

LINK changed hands within a $0.96 range between $22.13 and $23.09, representing a 4.27% fluctuation during the 24-hour period.

Established critical support at $22.13 with substantial buying interest at an elevated volume of 1,409,489 units, above the daily average of 1,178,000.

The token carved out a clear higher low pattern, suggesting renewed upward momentum towards the $23.10 resistance zone.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.
The ongoing federal government shutdown has prompted concern among education officials regarding the possible effects on schools and student loans.

The development comes after the Department of Education was previously gutted when President Donald Trump signed an executive order to shut it down. Since then, the department has laid off nearly half of its entire workforce.

U.S. Government Shutdown

The layoffs were implemented over the summer, and it is estimated that roughly 80% of the department's staff are already furloughed. Authorities said that federal funding and disbursement of certain programs, such as student loans and Pell Grants, which are on an immediate basis, are expected to continue.

Additionally, essential employees will also continue other "key operations," including the processing of students' Free Applications for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). But if the government shutdown drags on, furloughed support staff will not be able to help students and schools if a financial aid issue happens, according to ABC News.

A former management and program analyst with the Department of Education's Ombudsman Office, Rachel Gittleman, said that if something breaks on the FAFSA form, the employees responsible for fixing it are already furloughed.

Read more: Parents Express Concern After President Donald Trump Brings Back Presidential Fitness Test

She added that if students have an issue getting their Pell Grant or getting their federal student aid, even if the government shutdown ends in six days, there will be some issues. However, it would at least be less than if the situation lasts longer.

Despite the government shutdown, however, day-to-day operations for the majority of schools will not be affected. This is because most of K-12 education receives funding through state and local budgets, K-12 Dive reported.

What Other Impacts?

While federal funding is critical, it only covers roughly 14% of elementary and secondary education. A Sept. 28 memo from U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon noted that the department will make grant funds for Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act available.

However, a funding pause will still result in some disruptions that will be noticeable to school districts and state education agencies. These include pauses in Office for Civil Rights investigations, new grant-making activities, and technical assistance support.

Amid the government shutdown, residents are still able to apply for federal financial aid, as remaining employees will ensure that mandated programs continue to operate. There is also a plan for FAFSA processing, which should not be impacted.

Additionally, student loan payments still need to be paid, as borrowers typically interact with their loan services to make the payments, as per CNBC.
Agents working for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are under fire after they were seen in Chicago forcing themselves into people's homes and dragging children out.

Witnesses in the area said that the ICE agents broke down residents' doors, smashed furniture and belongings, and dragged dozens of individuals, including kids. They then placed the people they detained in U-Haul vans.

ICE Agents Raid Chicago Homes

A local, Rodrick Johnson, who lives in the building that was raided by ICE agents, said that federal officials broke down his door, put him in zip ties, and kept him detained outside of the building for about three hours before releasing him.

He added that he asked the agents why they were holding him if he was an American citizen. The officials then answered by saying that he had to wait until they looked him up. The resident asked the ICE agents if they had a warrant before asking for a lawyer, who never came, according to Common Dreams.

Another resident who lived in the same building as Johnson, Pertissue Fisher, backed up the former's statements. She said that ICE agents forcibly removed all residents from their homes regardless of their legal status.

Read more: Guatemalan Children Speak Out About Traumatic Efforts by Trump Administration To Deport Them

In a statement, she said that the federal officials treated them like they were nothing and piled them up in the back on the other side, leaving them no room to move anywhere. A resident who lives across the street from the building, Ebony Sweets Watson, said she saw children being dragged out of the building by ICE agents.

Many posts on social media platforms also noted how ICE agents allegedly separated residents they took into custody by race. Users called the incident an assault on Black and Latinx Chicagoans, the Hindustan Times reported.

Allegedly Targeting Criminals

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said officials targeted members of an infamous Venezuelan gang, the Tren De Aragua gang. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it assisted in the efforts.

The DHS added that it targeted individuals who had drug trafficking offenses, weapons charges, and immigration violations. However, officials declined to say the identities of the people who were arrested and why they were detained.

After the incident, community activists said that many of the undocumented immigrations who came to South Shore left their countries for a chance to have a better and safer life. Another resident, Veronica Castro, said that hundreds of masked agents knocked down doors in the middle of the night, some holding unclothed babies, as per CBS News.
Two Roseville, California, individuals were arrested and charged with manslaughter after their 15-month-old daughter died from falling off the family's apartment building earlier this summer.

The suspects were both charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter over the young girl's death. The criminal complaint noted that the woman at the apartment on Lexington Avenue North called police at around 2:00 p.m. on July 6 to report that the child had fallen from the balcony.

Parents Arrested After Daughter Falls Off Balcony

Official documents described the balcony as being at least two floors above and having vertical metal bars with gaps in between. There was also a sliding door that led to the balcony, which was left partially open, and had a large tear in the screen.

The woman's fiance told law enforcement officials that the sliding door and screen had been broken for several months before the incident. At the time that officials were providing medical assistance to the young girl, they also noticed a second child crawling through the bars on the balcony and holding onto the outside, according to CBS News.

The complaint in the case notes that officers quickly yelled at the child to go back inside, and eventually, a woman came out to get them before going back into the apartment. The day after falling, the young girl was pronounced dead.

A child protection investigator conducted a follow-up interview, where the 30-year-old woman said that the child was watching TV as she was getting ready to take a shower. She said that the father was home and assumed that he would be staying for a while.

Previous Criminal Complaints

The suspects were arrested as Aisha Ali and Hanad Hassan Jama, who left for work as the woman was taking a shower. Following an investigation, police found that the apartment management had previously warned the couple about the danger of the balcony, Yahoo News reported.

A recorded phone call from August 2024 showed how a staff member told Jama that she had two small children hanging out of the window above the garage. In a separate recording from the month after, a criminal complaint noted that a staff member told Ali that a child was once again hanging out on the balcony.

Jama disputed statements made by the maintenance employee and the other resident, saying that the reports were not true. Additionally, he claimed that they requested to have the screen door fixed, but there were no records whatsoever, as per Fox9.
By Megan Guza, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)

A Pittsburgh police detective and a homicide suspect were wounded in an exchange of gunfire in Pittsburghs East Hills neighborhood Friday afternoon, an incident police said started with a domestic violence incident-turned homicide hours earlier in Robinson.

The detective was hospitalized in stable condition Friday evening with a gunshot wound to the leg, authorities said.

The homicide suspect, identified late Friday as 38-year-old Stanley West, was in critical condition with gunshot wounds to his legs and lower back.

A woman who was shot earlier in Robinson was in critical condition, while a bystander from that scene was shot and killed.

Allegheny County Police Superintendent Chris Kearns could offer few details in the immediate aftermath, saying only that a homicide warrant would be issued for the suspect and that Pennsylvania State Police would handle the investigation.

The Robinson incident happened just after 1 p.m. at a motel on Steubenville Pike.

Kearns said an argument between West and a woman escalated, and the man shot the woman multiple times.

When the motel manager, Rakesh Ehagaban, 50, of Robinson, stepped outside to see what was going on, he was shot and died at the scene.

The suspect took off in a U-Haul van, which Pittsburgh police detectives spotted about 90 minutes later in the 2200 block of Wilner Drive. Kearns said officers from both the city and county approached the van, at which point West stepped out of the van and began firing at the detectives.

Officers shot back, and West was hit multiple times, he said. The superintendent said officers from both jurisdictions opened fire, which is why state police will handle the investigation.

It was too early to determine who fired the bullets that struck West, Kearns said.

Multiple shots fired by multiple officers, he said.

A massive police presence flooded the second shooting scene, within the East Hills Park housing complex. The area surrounding the complex remained cordoned off well into the evening, and residents who live in that immediate area had to be escorted to their homes.

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said late Friday that he was thankful the detectives injuries werent life-threatening.

We deeply appreciate the swift response and ongoing support from our local law enforcement partners, he said in a statement, and were equally thankful for the communitys cooperation.

Together, we remain committed to standing united against violent crime in our city and county.

Gov. Josh Shapiro posted on social media that he and his wife were praying for the injured officer. Shapiro was in Pittsburgh Friday morning for a news conference with state and local leaders to talk about the progress made on a $600 million downtown revitalization project and to celebrate a decrease in homicides and other crimes in the city.

Just hours before [the shooting], I was standing with the men and women of the Pittsburgh Police Department to honor their hard work. Our law enforcement officers run towards danger every day to keep our communities and our families safe  and I will always have their backs," Shapiro wrote.

Five York County detectives were shot, three fatally, while trying to serve a warrant in a domestic violence case last month.
Tymir Williams, 17, is wanted after police said he shot and killed a person early Friday morning. He is considered "armed and dangerous." York City Police

A 17-year-old from York County is wanted for homicide and considered armed and dangerous after police said he shot and killed a person early Friday morning.

Police issued an arrest warrant for Tymir Williams, of York, after officers found a shooting victim on the 400 block of West Princess Street just after 1 a.m.

The victim, whose name, age and address have not been publicly released, was taken to WellSpan York Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

The killing was the second deadly shooting in York over 48 hours. Around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, 31-year-old Dominick Skinner was shot and killed by his ex-girlfriends son, 24-year-old Romanus Myers.

That homicide occurred on the 600 block of East Princess Street, less than two miles from where police said Williams shot a person.

Myers was arrested and charged with criminal homicide. Police said Myers knew Skinner, because Skinner had previously dated his mom, and the pair had been involved in a fight before the shooting.

Fridays shooting marks the thirteenth homicide in York County so far this year, including five that have occurred in York city.

Anyone with information regarding Williams whereabouts is asked to contact the police tip line at 717-849-2204. Tips can also be made at 717-846-1234, 717-849-2219 or through Crimewatch.
Chris Doheny, the frontman for the popular pop-rock group Geisha, was killed in a car crash back on Sept. 19, according to reports.

He was 64.

Doheny was reportedly in a vehicle that collided with a truck near the Barossa Valley in Australia. Police there said the truck driver and his passenger were not injured.

It is with deep sadness that Diamond Dog Records announces the passing of Geisha frontman, Chris Doheny, his record label said in a statement according to Suggest.

At this difficult time, we kindly ask for privacy and understanding as we, along with Chriss family and friends, come to terms with this profound loss.

Doheny sung the popular song, More Than a Game, which was featured as the theme for The Footy Show. It played in 735 episodes from 1994 to 2019, according to Suggest.

Suggest reported that Doheny was also involved in projects including All The Young Dudes and Dragonfly, had released solo music, and was also planning a reunion of Geisha.

Few voices in Australian music carried the blend of charisma, vulnerability and sheer rock n roll spirit quite like Chris Doheny, music writer Greg Phillip told Australian Musician.

His soaring vocals and magnetic stage presence gave Geisha their signature identity  equal parts glamorous and deeply human, he added. The last time I spoke with Chris, which was only a month ago, he was excitedly talking about the re-release of (the 40th anniversary editions of Geishas debut album) and the shows he was planning around it.
Singer Lou Koller of Sick of It All performs on stage during the Hellfest Open Air Festival on June 19, 2022 in Clisson, France. (Photo by Aldara Zarraoa/Redferns) Redferns

Lou Koller, the frontman for Sick Of It All, returned to social media this week to make a heartbreaking announcement.

After announcing in May that he had beaten esophageal cancer, shared a video update on Instagram in which he announced the disease has returned.

Hey everybody whats up, its Lou here, Koller said in the video. I dont know if you can tell with my new skeletal look that I have going on. Heres an update for you. Its not one I want to make, but unfortunately the cancer has come back, and he brought some friends with him.

I was having a really hard time with my recovery, he continued. I was having a tough time gaining weight and keeping food down so I had some scans done and sure enough its back. But we are going to take it day-by-day and see what happens. I want to thank you all again for your support and the way you all reach out to me is  thank you very much. Ill keep you updated and let you know how it goes, alright? See you soon.

Its awful news, especially so close to Kollers May announcement that he was cancer free.

Got some good news for everyone. Got the test results back. The scan results I mean. Turns out, looks like theres nothing left. No more cancer. So, Im officially cancer free right now, he said back then. Thank God for that, and thank you all for your positive vibes, your well-wishes. Thank you so much for all of your support, and Im really happy about this and I can try to get on to getting myself back to normal with this chicken neck and all this stuff. Thank you. Thats all I can say. Im really happy. I still have to go for a new scan every six months for the next couple years to make sure its still out of me, but as of now Im cancer free.

Thank you everybody so much.

Koller first announced he was battling the disease last June.

As you may or may not know, we had to cancel our full European tour this summer, he said back then. Theres some rumors going around as to why, and we are here to set the record straight, but we wanted to wait until we got all the information before making an announcement.

That is when he got right to what he was dealing with.

The reason that it is cancelled is because they found a tumor in my esophagus that goes into my stomach, and Ill have to be getting treatment all summer, he said. Of course, I had full support of the band. As soon as they heard it, they were like forget the tour.

Just get healthy.
Bernard Cannac has been the winemaker at Adams County Winery since 2018.

October is Pennsylvania Wine Month, celebrating one of the biggest state producers of vino in the country.

The 2025 impact study by Wine America reveals that around 400 wineries are operating across Pennsylvania, with vineyards growing on more than 11,000 acres.

More than 42,000 jobs are created and supported by the wine industry.

Pennsylvanias wineries generate 1.57 million tourist visits and $298.94 million in annual tourism expenditures, according to the impact study.

Per Wine Business Analytics, the state ranks sixth in the number of wineries (topped by California, Oregon, Washington, Texas and New York) and ninth in production.

Adams County Winery in Orrtanna held a 50th birthday party in September. Adams County Winery

There are two dozen or so wineries that annually merit recognition for overall quality and consistency, with Galen Glen Winery recognized most often by industry colleagues and national judges as the best of that group. The Schuylkill County winery, located in Andreas, is celebrating 30 years since founders Sarah and Galen Troxell began planting their vines there, on a property located on the edge of the Lehigh Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA) and north of the Blue Mountains. In 2003, they would establish their legacy by completing the first commercial U.S. planting of Gruner Veltliner east of the Rocky Mountains. It has been their signature wine since then.

As part of Pa. Wine Month, Fine Wine & Good Spirits is recognizing a few of the states wines it sells through its system.

In this case, wine specialist Sean Yingling offered his recommendations on two wines each from two of the states best-known producers: Adams County Winery, in Orrtanna, which recently celebrated 50 years in business, and Stony Run Winery, in Breinigsville.

Wine specialist Sean Yingling's home shop is in Whitehall, Lehigh County. Fine Wine & Good Spirits

Yinglings home FW&GSs shop is located at 2560 MacArthur Road, in Whitehall.

Adams County Winery Rebel Red

$16.99

Nestled near Gettysburg, under the guidance of French-trained icon Bernard Cannac, Adams County Winery offers the remarkably polished and balanced Rebel Red concord blend, revealing measured notes of table grapes, purple florals, and wild berries. This versatile red is an ideal partner for a cheeseboard of aged cheddar, cambozola, and mascarpone with fig jelly, or travel back in time by serving it beside smoked pork shoulder in antebellum barbecue sauce.

Adams County Winery Tears of Gettysburg

$16.99

Bernard Cannac, a celebrated French-trained winemaker, imbues Adams County Winerys Tears of Gettysburg with an old-world elegance, expertly blending Frankish hybrids, seyval, and vidal, with our native Niagara grape. The Seyval really shines, offering lean yellow citrus and a clean minerality cushioned by the sweet honeydew, white floral, and table grape aromas of Vidal and Niagara. This versatile white is an ideal accompaniment to a cheeseboard of dill havarti, brie, and tangy goat cheeses or beside the savory succor of classic shrimp and grits.

Larry Shrawder is the owner of Stony Run Winery in Breinigsville, in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley.

Stony Run Winery Semi-Sweet Riesling Lehigh Valley

$15.59

From vineyards of the cool-climate terroir near Hawk Mountain, Stony Run Winery, under the direction of Level 3 Sommelier George Parkinson, delivers a world-class semi-sweet Riesling with a lot of character. As the barrel on the label implies, the wines oak aging adds layers of honeycomb and pollen to classic notes of green apple, nectarine, and ripe pineapple, creating a complex yet approachable profile perfect for pairing with spicy Asian BYOB or a Pennsylvania Dutch-inspired caramelized onion and bacon pie.

Stony Run Winery in Breinigsville is open Wednesdays through Mondays. It opens at noon all six days.

Stony Run Winery Viognier Lehigh Valley

$19.79

A triumph of Lehigh Valley winemaking, Stony Run Winerys oak-kissed viognier, crafted under the direction of Level 3 Sommelier George Parkinson, demonstrates remarkable strides with this challenging European varietal. A floral nose leads to a delicate interplay of white peach and tart citrus, which culminates in a finish of grapefruit gently framed by butterscotch. Take inspiration from a past Winter tasting menu of Philadelphias James-Beard-recognized White Dog Cafe chain and pair with Buffalo cauliflower bites in a drizzle of black pepper ranch.
A woman wears the flag of Israel wrapped over her back as she attends a vigil for the victims of the attack on at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue, in Crumpsall, Manchester, England, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson) AP

By JILL LAWLESS, The Associated Press

LONDON (AP)  Police on Saturday were questioning six people arrested on suspicion of terror offenses after an attack on a synagogue in northwest England that left two men dead and Britains Jewish community shocked and grieving.

Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by police on Thursday outside the Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue in Manchester after he rammed a car into pedestrians, attacked them with a knife and tried to force his way into the building.

Congregation members Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, died in the attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. Police say Daulby was accidentally shot by an armed officer as he and other congregants barricaded the synagogue to block Al-Shamie from entering. Three other men are hospitalized with serious injuries.

Police officers attend the scene of attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, England, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP) AP

Detectives say Al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian origin who lived in Manchester, may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology. He wore what appeared to be an explosives belt, which was found to be fake.

Police said Al-Shamie was on bail over a rape allegation but had not been charged.

Three men and three women were arrested in the greater Manchester area on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism, as police work to determine whether the attacker acted alone. A court on Saturday granted police five more days to hold four of the suspects: men aged 30 and 32 and women aged 46 and 61. An 18-year-old woman and a 43-year-old man are also being questioned.

Police have not identified those arrested or disclosed their links to Al-Shamie.

People take part in a demonstration organized by GM Friends of Palestine at Manchester Cathedral, in Manchester, England, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (Ryan Jenkinson/PA via AP) AP

Antisemitic incidents on the rise

The attack has devastated Britains Jewish community and intensified debate about the line between criticism of Israel and antisemitism.

Recorded antisemitic incidents in the U.K. have risen sharply since Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israels ensuing war against Hamas in Gaza, according to Community Security Trust, a charity that provides advice and protection for British Jews.

Some politicians and religious leaders claimed pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which have been held regularly since the war in Gaza began, had played a role in spreading hatred of Jews. The protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful but some say chants such as From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free incite anti-Jewish hatred.

Some also say the U.K.s recognition of a Palestinian state last month has emboldened antisemitism  a claim the government rejects. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was interrupted by boos and shouts of Shame on you on Friday as he addressed a vigil for victims of the attack in Manchester.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters have frequently accused critics of Israel or its conduct of the war of antisemitism. Critics see it as an attempt to stifle even legitimate criticism.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the head of Orthodox Judaism in Britain, said the attack was the result of an unrelenting wave of Jew hatred on the streets and online.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, R-Ga., center left, shakes hands with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., in the House chamber during final passage of President Donald Trump's signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, at the Capitol, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.) AP

WASHINGTON  Hopes for a quick end to the government shutdown faded Friday as Democrats refused to budge in a Senate vote and President Donald Trump readied plans to unleash layoffs and cuts across the federal government.

On the third day of the shutdown, another Senate vote to advance a Republican bill that would reopen the government failed on a 54-44 tally  well short of the 60 needed to end a filibuster and pass the legislation. Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that the chamber would close for legislative business next week, a move meant to force the Senate to work with the government funding bill that has been passed by House Republicans.

Following the failed vote, senators quickly headed for the exits of the Capitol, expecting no more votes over the weekend and showing few signs of any real progress towards ending the congressional standoff. Instead, both sides dug in for a prolonged shutdown fight that thrusts federal workers into more uncertainty, threatens to ripple into the broader economy and gives the Trump administration an opportunity to reshape the federal government.

I dont know how many times youre going to give them a chance to vote no, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said at a news conference Friday. After the vote, he said he was flying home to South Dakota for the weekend, adding, Ill be available.

The vote showed hardening lines in the Senate. The same three members of the Democratic Caucus  Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman and Angus King  who voted for the funding bill previously did so again, and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was once again the only Republican opposed.

They thought they could bludgeon us and threaten us and scare us. It aint working, said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

Democrats are demanding that Congress extend healthcare benefits, while Republicans are refusing to commit to anything until the government is reopened. They are trying to wear Democrats down to vote for a House-passed bill that would reopen the government temporarily, mostly at current spending levels.

Although Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress, the Senates filibuster rules make it necessary for the government funding legislation to gain support from at least 60 of the 100 senators. Thats given Democrats a rare opportunity to use their 47 Senate seats to hold out in exchange for policy concessions. The party has chosen to rally on the issue of health care, believing it could be key to their path back to power in Washington.

Their primary demand is that Congress extend tax credits that were boosted during the COVID-19 pandemic for health care plans offered under marketplaces set up under the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obamas signature health care law.

Everyone is about to experience dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles because of the Republican health care crisis. Everyone, warned House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries during a news conference Friday.

The shutdown gamble

Democrats are running the high-risk strategy of effectively voting for a government shutdown to make their stand. Trump has vowed to make it as painful as possible for them.

The Republican president has called the government funding lapse an unprecedented opportunity to make vast cuts to federal agencies and potentially lay off federal workers, rather than the typical practice of furloughing them. Trump shared a social media video Thursday night that depicted White House budget director Russ Vought as a grim reaper.

Vought has already announced that he is withholding billions of dollars for infrastructure projects in states with Democratic senators, and on Friday morning, he said he would withhold another $2.1 billion for Chicago infrastructure projects to extend its train system to the citys South Side.

Democratic leaders have displayed no signs of budging under those threats.

The cruelty that they might unleash on everyday Americans using the pretense of a shutdown is only going to backfire against them, Jeffries said during an interview with The Associated Press and other outlets at the Capitol Thursday evening.

Still, the shutdown, no matter how long it lasts, could have far-reaching effects on the economy. Roughly 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, and they could lose out on $400 million in daily wages. That loss in wages until after the government reopens could drive down wider demand for goods and services.

All around the country right now, real pain is being endured by real people because the Democrats have decided to play politics, said House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday.

The White House also began its press briefing on Friday by rattling off the various consequences of the shutdown that were already hitting Americans. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt discussed a report that said military families are already seeking food aid as troops go without a paycheck.

This madness must end, she said.

Talks in the Senate

A bipartisan group of senators, including moderate Democrats who have said they want to find a quick resolution, has been discussing possible health care compromises through one-on-one talks over the last two days. One option floated by South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican, would extend the higher subsidies for one year and then phase them out to pre-pandemic levels.

Thune acknowledged those conversations on Friday, telling reporters, Honestly, I think the more productive conversations are happening outside of the leaders office at the moment.

Thune and Schumer later spoke briefly on the Senate floor. The Republican leader expressed some openness to talks on the ACA subsidies, but insisted we cant get to that conversation until we get the government back into place.

A number of Republicans have voiced support for extending the subsidies. Their expiration would cause significant increases in health care premiums for plenty of people in states with GOP senators  especially in rural areas where farmers, ranchers and small business owners purchase their own health insurance.

Still, it was unclear if they would be able to find a solution that could appease the White House and Republican leaders, who want to see cuts to the subsidies. Thune also said he wasnt sure if a compromise would have the votes to pass.

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said Friday that more reforms are coming to the ACA subsidies and argued that they are not working.

Schumer also said that hes supportive of the informal talks, but unfortunately, last night, Democrats returned from the discussions and said Republicans didnt offer them anything.

You need Trump to get it done, he said.


An average of 69 million Americans will receive a monthly Social Security benefit in 2025, totaling $1.6 trillion, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA). Out of that number, nine out of 10 (58.1 million) people 65 and older received $102.3 billion in benefits with an average monthly check of $1,975.

Explore More: 3 Little-Known Social Security Rules That Could Save You Thousands

Read Next: Mark Cuban Says Trump's Executive Order To Lower Medication Costs Has a 'Real Shot' -- Here's Why

Still, many people dont understand the rules and nuances of the program and arent always aware of the benefits they may be entitled to. GOBankingRates reached out to financial expert John Vandergriff, owner and wealth planner at Blue Ridge Wealth Planners for insight on how to optimize every dollar in retirement.

Here are ways seniors can make the most of Social Security.

Tap Into Spousal Benefits

A smart Social Security strategy is to tap into spousal benefits. If youre married, divorced or widowed, you may be entitled to a higher Social Security benefit amount than what youre currently receiving.

For example, if one spouse in a marriage is the sole or primary earner, they can receive additional retirement income, and these benefits can be as much as half of the higher-earners benefit at full retirement age, said Vandergriff.

People who are divorced and havent remarried may be able to claim their former spouses benefit if its higher than their own  and if youve been married more than once, you can typically choose the ex-spouse with the highest benefit as your own.

Likewise, if you are widowed, the surviving spouse is eligible to receive their partners benefit if its higher than what they are already receiving, said Vandergriff.

Check Out: 41 States Where Youll Feel the Biggest Social Security Increase This Year

Understand Your Earnings Limits

If youve reached full retirement age, theres no limit to how much you can earn if you decide to continue working. However, if you collect early retirement, the SSA places a limit on what you can earn without it affecting your benefit.

For example, if you earn more than $23,400, the limit in 2025, your benefit will be reduced by $1 for every $2 you earn over the limit.

In the year you reach full retirement age, Social Security deducts $1 in benefits for every $3 you earn above the annual limit, counting only your income up to the month before you reach full retirement age, not your entire years income. After your birthday, youll be free and clear to keep 100% of your earnings.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle is parked outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Broadview, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley) AP

McALLEN, Texas  The Trump administration said Friday that it would pay migrant children $2,500 to voluntarily return to their home countries, dangling a new incentive in efforts to persuade people to self-deport.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement didnt say how much migrants would get or when the offer would take effect, but The Associated Press obtained an email to migrant shelters saying children 14 years of age and older would get $2,500 each. Children were given 24 hours to respond.

The notice to shelters from the U.S. Health and Human Services Departments Administration for Families and Children did not indicate any consequences for children who decline the offer. It asked shelter directors to acknowledge the offer within four hours.

ICE said in a statement that the offer would initially be for 17-year-olds.

Any payment to support a return home would be provided after an immigration judge grants the request and the individual arrives in their country of origin, ICE said. Access to financial support when returning home would assist should they choose that option.

ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and the Health and Human Services Department did not immediately respond to questions about the amount of the payment and age eligibility.

ICE dismissed widespread reports among immigration lawyers and advocates that it was launching a much broader crackdown Friday to deport migrant children who entered the country without their parents, called Freaky Friday.

The administration has also offered $1,000 to adults who voluntarily leave the country. Advocates said $2,500 may prevent children from making informed decisions.

For a child, $2,500 might be the most money theyve ever seen in their life, and that may make it very, very difficult for them to accurately weigh the long-term risks of taking voluntary departure versus trying to stay in the United States and going through the immigration court process to get relief that they may be legally entitled to, said Melissa Adamson, senior attorney at the National Center for Youth Law.

Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, echoed concerns about the offer, saying it pressures children to abandon their legal claims and return to a life of fear and danger without ever receiving a fair hearing.

U.S. border authorities have arrested children crossing the border without parents more than 400,000 times since October 2021. A 2008 law requires them to appear before an immigration judge before being returned to their countries.

Children have been spending more time in government-run shelters since the Trump administration put them under closer scrutiny before releasing them to family in the United States to pursue their immigration cases.

The additional scrutiny includes fingerprinting, DNA testing and home visits by immigration officers. Over the summer, immigration officers started showing up and arresting parents.

The average length of stay at government-run shelters for those released in the U.S. was 171 days in July, down from a peak of 217 days in April but well above 37 days in January, when Trump took office.
Authorities have identified the four children and woman who were killed in a Carbon County house fire this week.

Crews were called for a house fire at 11:50 p.m. Tuesday in a home on Willow Street in Franklin Township.

Responding troopers and firefighters found the main floor and rear second floor of the home fully engulfed, Pennsylvania State Police said.

Initial reports indicated that people were trapped in the home, but despite every effort by firefighters and emergency services personnel to safely and efficiently rescue the individuals trapped inside, those efforts were unsuccessful, the Carbon County Coroners Office said Thursday.

The victims were identified Thursday as Aida Marrero, 37; Kaylee Quevedo, 14; Matthias Wheelock, 6; Aiden Wheelock, 5; and Nathaniel Wheelock, 1.

Chief Deputy Coroner Jason Smith previously said all five victims lived in the home.

Following autopsies Thursday at the Lehigh County Coroners Office and Forensics Center in Allentown, all the deaths were ruled as accidents.

Marrero and Aiden Wheelock died from smoke inhalation and thermal burns, while Kaylee Quevedo, Matthias Wheelock and Nathaniel Wheelock died from inhalation of products of combustion and thermal injuries, the coroner said.

This is a profound and heartbreaking loss not only to the close-knit community of Franklin Township, but to the entire county, Smith said in a news release. We recognize that family members are mourning and working to process this unimaginable tragedy. Please know that the community stands with you during this difficult time.

The deadly fire is under investigation by the Carbon County Coroners Office and state police.

It was the second multi-fatal fire in the state this week; five people, three of them children, died after a fire in Lebanon on Sunday morning.
Even though this quote is often falsely attributed to President Abraham Lincoln, it is spot-on for 2025. America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

Consider President Lincolns quote, We the People are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.

America, take heed.

The vulnerability of our democracy in 2025 is nightmarish. MAGA disciples, are you suffering from severe myopia? You appear eager to hand-off the peoples democracy to Donald Trump, a soulless demagogue and his Motley Crew.

Please do not act like a mob of credulous, incorrigible fools a la David Koreshs branch Davidians and Hitlers Nazi regime.

We are unwittingly destroying ourselves. If nefarious Trump and his Administration should stay the course, you will have made an expensive, life-altering major purchase without reading the fine print: Fascism is not returnable. Alas, under Trump, the adage, Money talks and BS walks has morphed into a form of government.

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. -Abraham Lincoln.

In a 1948 speech to the British House of Commons referencing WWII, Winston Churchill said, Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Apparently, the USA has learned nothing from history.

Your responsibility to fight for Democracy is now! Evading it will be disastrous. If We the People prevail, all else can be fixed.

Raymond Cerio Jr., Marple Township, Pa.
Gov. Josh Shapiro and lawmakers have been engaged in budget negotiations since before the June 30 deadline, yet more than 80 days later, Pennsylvania still has no budget. This impasse has delayed funding for schools, libraries, human services, and mass transit. Disputes over spending levels, education, transit, and the regulation of games of skill continue to stall progress.

Meanwhile, my state senator, Dawn Keefer, R-31st, is touring the state to promote ending property taxes instead of focusing on resolving this crisis. She even posted a video using a flamethrower on the governors proposed budgetjust weeks after the governors home was firebombed.

This behavior is reckless and dismissive of the real issues facing our state.

At one of Sen. Keefers property tax events, she claimed Pennsylvania must stop being a destination state for senior citizens and lamented that young people are leaving.

The reasons young people leave are clear: a $7.25 minimum wage, lack of affordable housing and child care, poor public transportation, no legalized marijuana, weak LGBTQ+ protections, unfair school funding, and crushing college debt.

Pennsylvania is one of only four states with a full-time legislature. Lawmakers earn over $110,000 plus mileage, per diems, and annual cost-of-living raisesyet they are scheduled for just 50 session days a year. Their next one isnt until Oct. 20.

Its time for our well-paid, full-time legislators to stop the distractions, pass a budget, and address these real problems.

Jo Bitzer, Mechanicsburg, Pa.
Rep. Scott Perry, have joined several others across the country seeking to refuse their pay during the federal government shutdown, now in its third day. Charles Thompson

At least 10 members of Congress from Pennsylvania, including Rep. Scott Perry, have joined several others across the country seeking to refuse their pay during the federal government shutdown, now in its third day.

The shutdown, coming with Republicans and Democrats at odds over health care spending and President Donald Trumps actions a year before midterm elections, leaves hundreds of thousands of federal workers indefinitely furloughed or clocking in without paychecks.

But not Congress or the president, according to the Constitution. House members and senators have been paid $174,000 since 2009; those in leadership roles receive roughly $20,000 to $50,000 extra.

Even before a White House meeting between Trump and congressional leaders yielded no deal and the deadlocked Senate failed to advance a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running, Deluzio said lawmakers pay should be placed on hold just like other federal workers and armed service members.

The way I see it, if our troops and others get screwed over by this Republican shutdown and miss paychecks, members of Congress should too, U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, a Democrat from Pittsburgh, said Monday on X.

After the shutdown went into effect Wednesday, the congressman wrote to the Houses chief administrative officer, Catherine Szpindor, asking for his pay to be withheld until an appropriations agreement has taken effect.

At least nine other members of both parties from Pennsylvania have made the same request, including Reps. Dan Meuser, John Joyce, Scott Perry, Brian Fitzpatrick, Dwight Evans, Mary Gay Scanlon, Rob Bresnahan, Chrissy Houlahan and Lloyd Smucker.

Put your money where your mouth is, Mr. Fitzpatrick said in a post on X.

Sen. Andy Kim, D- N.J., did likewise, arguing its wrong for members of Congress and the president to receive their salaries when public servants and members of the military are left waiting for pay.

Government leaders shouldnt be playing with other peoples chips, he said in a statement.

Deluzio and several other lawmakers nationwide are calling on Congress to support the No Pay for Congress During Default or Shutdown Act to automatically block congressional pay during shutdowns.

This is a serious bill drafted to comply with the Constitutions 27th Amendment, which governs changes to Congressional pay, Deluzio said in a statement before the shutdown.

Initially proposed this session by Virginia Democrat Rep. Eugene Vindman during a near-shutdown in March, Deluzio became a sponsor on Tuesday. Mr. Fitzpatrick and Bresnahan signed onto the legislation in March.

There is a separate Republican effort led by Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, calling for a constitutional amendment in a resolution that prohibits Members of Congress from receiving compensation for any period during which a government shutdown is in effect.

The president has been paid a salary of $400,000 since 2001. Trump and a few other wealthy presidents have donated their salaries.

During his first term, Trump gave his salary to several government agencies.

Trump this summer said he donated his paycheck to the White House Historical Association to help with much needed renovations.

Pennsylvania is home to more than 100,000 federal workers, Gov. Josh Shapiro said earlier this year. Most are now working without pay or furloughed. Under a 2019 law, they will receive back pay once the shutdown ends.
Banners on several U.S. government websites are blaming Democrats for the shutdown. Yasin Ozturk/Getty Images

WASHINGTON, D.C.  A stark message is greeting visitors to the U.S. Department of Agricultures website:

Due to the Radical Left Democrat shutdown, this government website will not be updated during the funding lapse. President Trump has made it clear he wants to keep the government open and support those who feed, fuel, and clothe the American people.

Similar banners blaming the Democratic party for the shutdown appeared across government pages including USDA, Forest Service, HUD, U.S. Department of State, Department of Justice and the official White House website. These messages break decades of nonpartisan tradition during funding lapses.

The shutdown is more than a budget standoff; its become a vehicle for sweeping changes. Trump announced on his social media site Truth Social that he would meet with budget chief Russell Vought, a key architect of Project 2025, to decide which agencies should face cuts and whether those reductions will be permanent.

The comments represented a dramatic about-face for Trump, who spent much of last year denouncing Project 2025, The Heritage Foundations massive proposed overhaul of the federal government, which was drafted by many of his longtime allies and current and former administration officials, according to the Associated Press.

Ahead of the funding lapse, the Office of Management and Budget instructed agencies to prepare for mass firings rather than the furloughs typical of past shutdowns. Vought told House Republicans layoffs could begin within days.

The administration has also canceled $8 billion in green energy projects in Democratic-led states and has withheld $18 billion for transportation upgrades in New York City, initiatives championed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Republican leaders frame the shutdown as a chance to consolidate executive power.

This is going to be the Democrats worst nightmare, Sen. Mike Lee said on Fox News. House Speaker Mike Johnson argued the funding lapse gives Trump vast power to decide which programs survive.

This story was written with the assistance of AI.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  A federal judge has concluded that the Department of Justices prosecution of Kilmar Abrego Garcia on human smuggling charges may be an illegal retaliation after he successfully sued the Trump administration over his deportation to El Salvador.

The case of Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was a construction worker in Maryland, has become a proxy for the partisan struggle over President Donald Trumps sweeping immigration policy and mass deportation agenda.

U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw late Friday granted a request by lawyers for Abrego Garcia and ordered discovery and an evidentiary hearing in Abrego Garcias effort to show that the federal human smuggling case against him in Tennessee is illegally retaliatory.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia speaks during a rally and prayer vigil for him before he entered a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office on Aug. 25, 2025, in Baltimore. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/TNS, file) TNS

Crenshaw said Abrego Garcia had shown that there is some evidence that the prosecution against him may be vindictive. That evidence included statements by various Trump administration officials and the timeline of the charges being filed.

The departments of Justice and Homeland Security did not immediately respond to inquiries about the case Saturday.

In his 16-page ruling, Crenshaw said many statements by Trump administration officials raise cause for concern, but one stood out.

That statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, on a Fox News program after Abrego Garcia was charged in June, seemed to suggest that the Department of Justice charged Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful deportation case, Crenshaw wrote.

Blanches remarkable statements could directly establish that the motivations for (Abrego Garcias) criminal charges stem from his exercise of his constitutional and statutory rights to sue over his deportation rather than a genuine desire to prosecute him for alleged criminal misconduct, Crenshaw wrote.

Likewise, Crenshaw noted that the Department of Homeland Security reopened an investigation into Abrego Garcia days after the U.S. Supreme Court said in April that the Trump administration must work to bring back Abrego Garcia.

Abrego Garcia was indicted on May 21 and charged June 6, the day the U.S. brought him from a prison in El Salvador back to the U.S. He pleaded not guilty and is now being held in Pennsylvania.

If convicted in the Tennessee case, Abrego Garcia will be deported, federal officials have said. A U.S. immigration judge has denied Abrego Garcias bid for asylum, although he can appeal.

The Salvadoran national has an American wife and children and has lived in Maryland for years, but he immigrated to the United States illegally as a teenager.

In 2019, he was arrested by immigration agents. He requested asylum but was not eligible because he had been in the U.S. for more than a year. But the judge ruled he could not be deported to El Salvador, where he faced danger from a gang that targeted his family.

The human smuggling charges in Tennessee stem from a 2022 traffic stop. He was not charged at the time.

Trump administration officials have waged a relentless public relations campaign against Abrego Garcia, repeatedly referring to him as a member of the MS-13 gang, among other things, despite the fact he has not been convicted of any crimes.

Abrego Garcias attorneys have denounced the criminal charges and the deportation efforts, saying they are an attempt to punish him for standing up to the administration.

Abrego Garcia contends that, while imprisoned in El Salvador, he suffered beatings, sleep deprivation and psychological torture. El Salvadors president, Nayib Bukele, has denied those allegations.
Baltimore Ravens cornerback Arthur Maulet (10) pictured during an NFL divisional round playoff football game against the Houston Texans on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024, in Baltimore. AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Arthur Maulet worked out for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday. Tampa Bay has dealt with several injuries on their roster, and Maulet is a veteran who could signal some help is on the way for a depleted group.

Maulet failed to make the Houston Texans final roster when they signed him in training camp. He worked out for the New York Jets in September but they did not sign him.

Maulet was released by the Baltimore Ravens in March after two years with the team. He had played as the Ravens run-down nickel cornerback and specialized as a blitzer, a similar role to his one with the Steelers.

Maulet suffered a calf injury in November in November that landed him on injured reserve and ended his season. All in all, he played in just three games this past season due to injuries. In those games, Maulet had just five tackles.

The Steelers released Maulet after the 2022 season, and he signed with the Ravens that summer, fighting to make their final roster. Maulet played with the Steelers for two seasons in a rotation in the slot over his time, and he was primarily used as a blitzer for the team.

The former Steelers cornerback has played with the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, and Indianapolis Colts in addition to the Steelers.
Iraq could ramp up its crude oil exports by some 250,000 barrels daily as it saves this amount from local consumption with the help of several solar power projects.

Zawya reported the news, citing a government official, who said that Iraq consumes nearly a quarter million bpd of crude oil for energy useswitching to renewable energy will save this quantity.

This will allow Iraq to export more crude and boost revenuesswitching to renewable energy is a significant step, but it does not mean Iraq will shift away from fossil fuels, Abdul Baqi Khalaf, an advisor at the Iraqi oil ministry, also said.

Solar power currently supplies less than 1% of Iraqs electricity. Most of it is generated using natural gas, of which a lot is imported from Iran. Iraq also imports electricity from its neighbor directly, or it did, until recently, when the U.S. canceled a sanctions waiver for Baghdad.

Plans for solar are ambitious, and the first steps are already being taken. French TotalEnergies earlier this year broke ground on a 1-GW solar power installation. The first part of the installation, with a capacity of 250 MW, should be ready to start generating by the end of the year.

The Iraqi government plans to build as much as 12 GW of solar power capacity by the end of this decadeup from just 42 MW at the end of 2024.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, oil minister Hayan Abdul-Ghani announced the government had plans to ramp up crude oil production to 5.5 million barrels daily by the end of the year. Iraqs current production rate averages 4.4 million barrels daily. By 2030, the government in Baghdad eyes production of 7 million barrels daily, according to an earlier statement by an oil ministry official. The plan suggests Iraq wants to make the most of its massive oil reserves and do that sooner rather than later.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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GTO Approved? Adam Hendrix Four-Bets the Flop at WSOP Main Event Final Table

Connor Richards Senior Editor U.S. Lukas Robinson PokerNews Ambassador Copy link

Not all limped pots result in passive play or easy steal attempts. Sometimes, they see players raising and re-raising for stacks with millions on the line come postflop, as was the case in a hand at the final table of the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.

The hand in question took place between American pro Adam Hendrix and Serbia's Luka Bojovic. With seven players remaining and blinds of 800K/1,600,000/1,600,000, Bojovic limped in the small blind with K9 and Hendrix checked his big blind checked his option with 62.

The flop landed QJ6 and Bojovic led out for 1,800,000. Hendrix raised to 5,600,000, and Bojovic fired back with a 3-bet to 10,000,000. Hendrix wasn't done, he 4-bet to 15,500,000. After a long tank, Bojovic folded. Hendrix proudly tabled his hand and celebrated, sending his rail into a frenzy.

Let's break down the hand and see what optimal play looks like with the help of GTO Wizard.

Pre-Flop Analysis

Luka Bojovic (HJ): 57,100,000 (36bb)

Adam Hendrix (BB): 51,300,000 (32bb)

Bojovic completes from the SB with K9. This is GTO Approved.

As you can see above, the solver suggests that calling from the SB is the highest-frequency play with our continuing range. K9o calls 86.5% of the time. Even though the SB covers the BB here, with stacks being fairly similar and a shorter stack still at the table, the solver only recommends a polarized raising strategy in this spot.

Hendrix checks 62 in the BB. GTO Approved.

As you can see, the BB raises at a higher frequency. Once again, the solver recommends a polarized strategy, with hands like 62o mixing evenly between raise and check. If Hendrix believed Bojovic might overfold to a raise, then raising could be the higher-EV option, but in this case, the check is solver-approved.

Post-flop Analysis

Bojovic bets 1,800,000. GTO Approved.

The solver recommends checking this board more often than betting with your overall range, but as shown above, the EV for K9o is identical whether you check or bet. If Bojovic believed Hendrix wouldnt call or raise frequently enough against c-bets, then betting would become the higher-EV play with this hand. However, as we saw, that was definitely not the case against Hendrix.

Hendrix raises to 5,600,000. GTO Approved.

Against the c-bet, the solver recommends raising just 2.9% of the time in this spot. Thats because the SB holds the range advantage on this flop (See below), with a higher percentage of both the strongest hands and good made hands compared to the BB.

As you can see above, the EV comparison between calling and raising with 62o is very close. While the solver does include a small amount of raising with 62o, it generally prefers using 63o and 64o instead.

So, on paper, Hendrixs play may look wild, but the solver does approve it at a low frequency. If we were to nodelock Bojovic for c-betting more often on this flop, the solver would almost certainly recommend raising a much wider range from the BB. This was likely Hendrixs thinking behind the raise.

Bojovic 3-bets to 10,000,000. GTO Approved.

Surprisingly, the solver does recommend raising 10.1% of hands in this spot. However, as you can see, it still prefers calling at a higher frequency with K9o compared to raising. That said, a raise is used at low frequency, so this play is far from a punt. If we were to nodelock Hendrix to raise more often (as he did in game), the solver would almost certainly increase the overall raising frequency here.

Hendrix 4-bets to 15,500,000. GTO Approved.

While the solver generally recommends folding 62 in this spot, it shows that 4-betting other 62o combos is actually the highest EV play. As shown above, the solver suggests raising 16.1% of the BB range here, favoring 63o and 64o, but confirming that Hendrixs play with 62o was not a punt or a wild bluff. Overall, this was very close to the correct GTO decision. A well-played move by him.

Bojovic folds K9 to the 4-bet. GTO Disapproved.

The only mistake in the hand: K9o should never fold here. While it might feel like a crazy spot to call, K9o versus this min 4-bet is a profitable call. Bojovic likely folded thinking Hendrix would never bluff after the 3-bet, which is understandable. But as we saw in-game, Hendrix bluffs even wider than

GTO, making this K9o an even clearer call. Though, a very hard play to make in practice, given its the WSOP Main Event final table.

What an insane hand at this years WSOP Main Event final table. Most players would shy away from big pots with weak holdings, but these two sickos certainly did not. On the surface, it may have looked like they were trying to exploit each other and make a show for the cameras. But they actually played this hand remarkably close to GTO, an impressive feat, especially in a 4-bet pot on the flop. Hats off to both players, and congrats on making it to the WSOP Main Event final table.

Check out the hand for yourself on the PokerGO YouTube channel around the 9:30 mark.

If you want to take your poker game to the next level, download GTO Wizard for free using the link below.

Hand analysis provided by GTO Wizard

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Connor Richards Senior Editor U.S. Connor Richards is a Senior Editor U.S. for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for three Global Poker Awards for his writing. Follow on
A bite-sized Day 2 of the 1,650 PokerStars Open Main Event at the 2025 PokerStars European Poker Tour Malta at Casino Malta saw 277 players return, out of 1,845 total entrants, in pursuit of the 423,700 top prize from a 2,656,800 prize pool, along with the PokerStars Open Main Event trophy.

Just seven levels were played in the second stage, but that was enough to trim the field to 79 players. Claudio Coelho (1,775,000) leads the way, narrowly ahead of online crusher Thomas Muehloecker (1,765,000) and Mateusz Moolhuizen (1,535,000), a player whos no stranger to PokerStars glory.

Last year at EPT Paris, Moolhuizen conquered the 1,100 FPS Main Eventthe predecessor to the PSO Main Eventturning his buy-in into 470,830 after topping a 4,149-entry field. The Dutchman is now eyeing another deep run on the PokerStars stage, though it almost ended early on Day 2.

Facing Akira Takasugi, Moolhuizen found himself all in with a pair of jacks against his opponents pair of aces. The chips were in on the turn, and Moolhuizen was down to just five outs, until one of them hit the felt to give him trips and keep his title hopes alive. From there, he rarely looked back.

Moolhuizen carried that momentum into a huge clash with Daniele Degennaro, flopping a set of deuces on an ace-high board while Degennaro held ace-king. The resulting raising war sent a 1,470,000-chip pot to the Dutchman and vaulted him to the upper echelons of the chip counts.

Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds 1 Claudio Coelho Portugal 1,775,000 118 2 Thomas Muehloecker Austria 1,765,000 118 3 Mateusz Moolhuizen Netherlands 1,535,000 102 4 Modar Alsoud Germany 1,410,000 94 5 Siarhei Sochneu Belarus 1,405,000 94 6 Ioannis Oikonomidis Greece 1,380,000 92 7 Fabian Bernhauser Austria 1,380,000 92 8 Dario Pieruzzini Italy 1,320,000 88 9 Marius Pertea Romania 1,280,000 85 10 Ivan Martinez Spain 1,180,000

Among those joining the chip leaders for Day 3 are a trio of PokerStars Ambassadors. Kenny Hallaert continued his fine form, bagging 845,000, while French duo Julien Brecard (345,000) and Benjamin Bruneteaux (230,000) will also return with hopes of a deep run.

2024 EPT Paris Main Event champion Barny Boatman has also made it through to the penultimate day, alongside Ana Marquez and Yelizaveta Aktas, the last two women standing in the field.

However, not all stars survived. Ambassadors Fintan Hand, Julien Dupre, and Sebastien Huber all fell short of advancing, as did former EPT Main Event champions Tom Middleton and Aliaksei Boika, who won the last-ever EPT Malta Main Event in 2016.

Day 3 will get underway at 11 a.m. on Sunday, October 5, with blinds resuming at 10,000/20,000 (20,000 big blind ante) on Level 22. Each of the 79 remaining players has secured at least 4,950, with the payouts jumping into five figures once just 27 contenders remain.

The plan for Day 3 is to play down until the final table is set, though the exact endpoint will be confirmed once cards are back in the air.

As always, stick with PokerNews for live updates, chip counts, and all the action from the PSO Main Event at EPT Malta.
Poker players from all over the world descended on Kings Resort in Rozvadov today, eager to take their shot at one of the most prestigious prizes in poker, the 2025 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event.

A total of 462 entrants were obtained in the first of two starting flights of the 10,350 buy-in, 6,000,000 guaranteed event, and the field was a mixture of famous faces, pros eager to earn their spurs, and enthusiastic semi-professionals.

Players such as Sorel Mizzi, Ren Lin, Martin Kabrhel, Shaun Deeb and Viktor Blom provided the star power, while the field was also full of players who qualified via deep runs in other festivals at King's throughout the year.

When the dust settled after seven 90-minute levels, Christopher Puetz of Germany (679,000) had risen to the top of the standings to lead 304 qualifiers, just ahead of Jose Gomez Casillas of Mexico (665,500) and Czech Michael Sklenicka (543,800).

Christopher Puetz

Casillas is having quite the series, having bagged his first bracelet in the Colossus event along with 158,350, and following that up with a cash in the 1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Mystery Million event.

Puetz has come close to major titles before, having a number of deep finishes on his resume for six-figure scores, including a third-place finish for $238,204 in Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Holdem at this year's World Series, and he will no doubt be determined to finally capture a top-tier event (All stats courtesy of The Hendon Mob).

End of Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds 1 Christopher Puetz Germany 679,000 566 2 Jose Gomez Casillas Mexico 665,500 555 3 Michael Sklenicka Czechia 543,800 453 4 Yannick Schumacher Germany 456,700 381 5 Diego Montone Italy 455,800 380 6 Iago Savino Brazil 431,300 359 7 Bastian Gallitzendoerfer Germany 407,000 339 8 Dominik Panka Poland 375,500 313 9 Cristian David Romania 374,000 312 10 Mateusz Hajman Poland 370,200 309

Day 1a Action

The tournament room was absolutely packed at the start of the day, and there were fireworks immediately as Juan Velasco ran ace-king into the aces of Vikrant Mangal to bust. Barak Oz followed him out the door shortly thereafter in somewhat unfortunate circumstances.

Blom chipped up early after bluff-catching versus Campbell Ashton, and would progress to Day 2 with 306,700. Deeb also got moving early, doubling via Seyed Fazeli, and he too would progress, bagging up 270,400, along with Mizzi (304,000).

Viktor Blom

Casillas was at the front of the pack by the second break, and he would remain there throughout the day. Kabrhel joined the field towards the end of the day, and was straight into the action, securing a swift double-up, but would not make the Day 2 cut. By the last break Puetz had taken over the overall chip lead, and he would increase his stack throughout the final session, including getting paid with a full house. He also busted Kabrhel, catching him bluffing in the last level of the night.

There are a remarkable 46 bracelets held overall by Day 1a qualifiers, with the likes of Axel Bayout (251,900), Jonas Lauck (241,200), Vivian Saliba (181,600) and Giuliano Bendinelli (163,500) all progressing.

Vivian Saliba

Notable players who fired a bullet today without success include Ivan Banic, Ian Simpson and Lukas Pazma.

Lukas Pazma

The final starting flight is Day 1b, kicking off at noon local time on October 4. Players will sit down to a 100,000 starting stack, at blind level 100/300, with a 300 big blind ante.

The clock is set to 90-minute levels, and play will conclude at the end of Level 7. A break will occur at the end of each level, with a 60-minute dinner break scheduled for the end of Level 4.

Late registration is open until the end of Level 12, five levels into Day 2.

WSOPE Main Event Remaining Schedule

Day Date Time Blind Levels 1b October 4 12 p.m. 90 minutes 2 October 5 12 p.m. 90 minutes 3 October 6 12 p.m. 90 minutes 4 October 7 1 p.m. 90 minutes 5 October 8 4 p.m. 90 minutes

PokerNews will be on the floor until a champion is crowned, so stay tuned for all your coverage of the WSOPE Main Event.
Pictured from the left are Public Education Partners board members Gayle Gulick, Linda Strojan, and Nancy Marks at the Aiken Elementary School book fair on Dec. 9.
This story was originally published on Banking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Banking Dive newsletter.

Dive Brief:

Synchrony has acquired consumer financing software firm Versatile Credit, the Stamford, Connecticut-based private label credit card issuer said Wednesday, the day the deal closed.

Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania-based Versatile, founded in 1995, allows retailers and healthcare providers to offer their customers financing in-store and online. The company has about 60 employees and all are joining Synchrony, a Synchrony spokesperson said. The companys Mechanicsburg office location will remain.

Terms of the deal for Versatile, which was sold by private equity firm PSG, were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to be immaterial to Synchronys earnings per share.

Dive Insight:

Synchrony, which has about $119 billion in assets, works with some 400,000 merchants, including Lowes and Sams Club. Its CareCredit subsidiary is also one of the biggest companies in the medical credit card space.

The issuer pointed to Versatiles deep capabilities in categories such as furniture, home improvement, automotive, jewelry and elective medical. Versatile links the customers of merchants and healthcare providers with lending products from a number of prime, secondary and tertiary lenders, Synchrony said in the release.

That type of waterfall financing can improve customers chances of being approved for loans even if their credit isnt the strongest, which can translate to more sales and bigger tickets for merchants.

Versatile has worked with Synchrony for about 15 years. The acquisition allows Synchrony to tap Versatiles reporting capabilities and integration with merchant systems, to meet the changing demands of the merchants and providers the issuer works with, Synchrony said.

Synchrony is committed to bringing innovative technology and capabilities to its retail, healthcare and other clients, said Maran Nalluswami, Synchronys chief strategy and business development officer, in the news release.

Versatiles platform sits at the forefront of consumer financing, ultimately driving more sales for merchants and expanded access to credit for consumers, Nalluswami said.

Versatile generates between $10 million to $15 million in annual revenue, TD Cowen analyst Moshe Orenbuch wrote in a Friday note. Boston-based PSG invested in Versatile in 2023, which Versatile planned to use to grow its rosters of lenders and merchant categories.
A Colleton County shopping center that is shadow-anchored by a neighboring Walmart store has been scooped up for $9.25 million by a North Charleston-based buyer.

The Shoppes of Walterboro is a 53,300-square-foot retail center at 2098 Bells Highway. The parcels are 97 percent occupied by national and regional tenants, including Dollar Tree, Five Below, Cato, Shoe Show, It's Fashion, AT&T and China Buffet.

Al Taf, senior managing director investments in Marcus & Millichaps Atlanta officer, represented the seller with Benjamin Yelm, the firms broker of record in South Carolina.

The sellers consisted of five Delaware entities with varying ownership stakes in the property.

Taf said the group faced an imminent loan maturity and needed to decide between refinancing or selling. A qualified buyer emerged with a $500,000 earnest money deposit that became nonrefundable within days, giving the seller confidence to move forward with the sale. Despite challenges such as a fluid leasing situation and fire alarm rewiring, the transaction closed on time to the satisfaction of both parties.

The buyer in the Sept. 3 transaction, according to county real estate records, is El Cid Echo LLC, which is managed by Alex DeSeta, broker-in-charge of DeSeta Group.

Move-in ready

The Beach Co. recently welcomed the first residents to The Charles, its newest luxury downtown Charleston rental development.
Reporter

Kenna Coe covers the city of North Charleston for The Post and Courier. She graduated from the University of South Carolina. She previously worked for The Moultrie News as the editor and general assignment reporter.
For Tesla, the end of EV tax credits hurts so good.

Sales for the EV titan surged in the third quarter, the company reported on Thursday, as consumers rushed to buy new cars ahead of the September 30 expiration of the $7,500 federal government EV tax credit. Its a welcome win for a company that cant seem to stop hitting the skids.

READ ALSO: Goldman Sachs Leaves Rivals Vying for Silver, Bronze Medals in Dealmaking Matchup and Lumber Giants Intertwine in $7 Billion Deal

Tax Credit Where Its Due

In fact, the EV credit expiration sparked a record sales quarter, with the company delivering 497,099 vehicles worldwide from July through September. Thats a 7.4% year-over-year jump, and a stark rebound from two straight quarters of declining year-over-year sales to start the year; Tesla sold just 336,681 cars in Q1 and 384,122 cars in Q2, both representing 13% drops from the previous year.

The reasons for the downturn were myriad and obvious: rising competition, a product line that had grown tired, broad economic unease amid a new global trade war and Musks political misadventures. Its not just consumers who have grown frustrated with the company and its mercurial leader:

Tesla, in addition to other enterprises in Musks empire, has been beset in recent months by high-profile employee departures  happily or otherwise, according to a recent Financial Times report, which said many employees had grown frustrated with Musks brash style of politics and Teslas pivot from EVs and toward robotics and AI.

At Tesla, the brain drain has included veteran deputies such as longtime sales and operations head Omead Afshar, as well as leaders within units dedicated to developing batteries, superchargers, public policy, the Model Y and the ultimately doomed and forever unnamed low-cost Tesla model.

The Half-Trillion Dollar Man: That makes the third-quarter sales a balm for Musks Tesla headache, though hes still dealing with a few others. On Thursday, Musk lost his bid to transfer an SEC lawsuit regarding his Twitter stake from a Washington, DC, court to one in Texas, where many of his companies are based. Just a day earlier, however, Musk became the first person in the world to reach a $500 billion net worth, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaire Tracker. Yeah, we think hell be able to cover the travel expenses to get to DC.

This post first appeared on The Daily Upside. To receive delivering razor sharp analysis and perspective on all things finance, economics, and markets, subscribe to our free The Daily Upside newsletter.
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National Leader in TMS and Ketamine Therapy Expands to Southwest Florida with Full-Service Psychiatric FacilityNAPLES, FL / ACCESS Newswire / October 3, 2025 / Contemporary Care announces the opening of its new location in Naples, Floridaat 840 111th Avenue North, expanding the organization's nationally recognized behavioral health expertise into Southwest Florida. The comprehensive psychiatric facility offers advanced treatment options including Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) therapy, Spravato administration, psychiatric medication management, and psychotherapy services.Image by Contemporary Care FloridaThis expansion represents Contemporary Care's strategic growth beyond its Northeast origins. With licensure in nine states and a robust telehealth program, the practice is committed to extending evidence-based psychiatric care to communities nationwide. The Naples center ensures residents of North Naples, Pelican Bay, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers, and surrounding areas gain access to innovative mental health treatment close to home.Comprehensive Service IntegrationThe Naples facility provides an integrated model ofmental health servicesthat addresses the full spectrum of psychiatric conditions within one practice. Patients benefit from coordinated care that includes diagnostic evaluations, medication management, psychotherapy, TMS therapy, and Spravato treatment.By consolidating these services under a single roof, Contemporary Care eliminates the fragmentation often seen in mental healthcare where patients must navigate multiple providers. Shared medical records, unified treatment planning, and close provider communication ensure that care remains consistent and personalized from the initial evaluation through sustained recovery.The facility treats major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, ADHD, PTSD, OCD, and other psychiatric conditions. Both adults and adolescents receive age-appropriate, specialized treatment, reflecting the practice's commitment to a lifespan approach to mental health.Expanding Access to CareContemporary Care maintains licensure in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Arizona, Massachusetts, California, Florida, and Indiana, offering both in-person and telehealth services. The Naples location extends this reach, combining local accessibility with the convenience of virtual care.Insurance acceptance includes most major carriers and Medicare, supported by billing specialists who guide patients through authorizations and benefits. For those without coverage, self-pay options and flexible payment plans are available. This commitment ensures that financial barriers do not prevent patients from receiving high-quality mental healthcare.Clinical Team ExcellenceThe Naples team includes board-certified psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and licensed clinical social workers trained at leading institutions such as Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and Mount Sinai. This academic foundation equips providers with expertise in psychiatric diagnosis, psychopharmacology, and evidence-based treatment modalities.Beyond credentials, the practice prioritizes compassion and patient-centered care. Providers are trained in Contemporary Care's protocols and quality standards, ensuring that every patient benefits from both clinical excellence and genuine empathy.Commitment to InnovationAs the nation's leading provider of TMS and ketamine therapy, Contemporary Care is recognized for its innovation and superior treatment outcomes. The Naples center features multiple TMS units, reducing wait times for patients undergoing this time-intensive therapy, and dedicated Spravato administration suites designed for comfort, safety, and monitored care.Telehealth platforms extend these services beyond the physical office, supporting patients throughout Florida and other licensed states. Secure, high-definition video technology ensures privacy while maintaining clinical quality.Dr. Tarique Perera, Founder and Clinical Director, is a pioneer in interventional psychiatry. He authored national guidelines for TMS therapy, served as founding president of the Clinical TMS Society, and continues to advise on emerging treatments through leadership roles on pharmaceutical and medical device advisory boards. His expertise directly informs Contemporary Care's protocols and patient outcomes.Community Impact and Future GrowthSouthwest Florida's growing population and increasing demand for specialized psychiatric services make Naples a strategic location for expansion. The facility provides accessible mental healthcare for regional residents while serving as a referral center for complex cases.The Naples opening also marks the beginning of Contemporary Care's broader Florida expansion. Additional locations are planned to meet demand, supported by the practice's established infrastructure and clinical leadership. By integrating psychiatric care, psychotherapy, and community support, Contemporary Care envisions building comprehensive mental health ecosystems that set new standards in accessibility and quality.Appointments are now available at the Naples location. More information can be found on the practice's website.About Contemporary CareContemporary Care is a multi-state psychiatric practice specializing in evidence-based treatment for mental health conditions. With licensed providers across nine states, the organization delivers both in-person and telehealth services, including diagnostic evaluation, medication management, psychotherapy, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) therapy, and Spravato treatment. Founded by Dr. Tarique Perera, Contemporary Care is committed to advancing interventional psychiatry, pioneering treatment protocols, and improving access to comprehensive mental healthcare.Media Contact: Dr. Tarique PereraFounder & Clinical DirectorContemporary Care(239) 598-9006 info@ contemporarycare.comhttps://contemporarycare.com/florida/ Business Hours: Mon - Fri 7:30 AM - 6 PM; Sat 9 AM - 1 PMSOURCE: Contemporary Care
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NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / October 3, 2025 /WHY: New York, N.Y., October 3, 2025. Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of securities of Dow Inc. (NYSE:DOW) between January 30, 2025 and July 23, 2025, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the important October 28, 2025 lead plaintiff deadline.SO WHAT: If you purchased Dow securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Dow class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=44352 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. at 866-767-3653 or email case@ rosenlegal.com for more information. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than October 28, 2025. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company at the time. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, throughout the Class Period, defendants made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Dow's ability to mitigate macroeconomic and tariff-related headwinds, as well as to maintain the financial flexibility needed to support its lucrative dividend, was overstated; (2) the true scope and severity of the foregoing headwinds' negative impacts on Dow's business and financial condition was understated, particularly with respect to competitive and pricing pressures, softening global sales and demand for Dow's products, and an oversupply of products in Dow's global markets; and (3) as a result, defendants' public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.To join the Dow class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=44352 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. at 866-767-3653 or email case@ rosenlegal.com for more information.No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm , on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/ Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.---Contact Information:Laurence Rosen, Esq.Phillip Kim, Esq.The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.275 Madison Avenue, 40th FloorNew York, NY 10016Tel: (212) 686-1060Toll Free: (866) 767-3653Fax: (212) 202-3827 case@ rosenlegal.comwww.rosenlegal.com SOURCE: The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.
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NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / October 4, 2025 / Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Freeport-McMoran Inc. ("Freeport" or the "Company") (NYSE:FCX). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@ pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.The investigation concerns whether Freeport and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.[Click here for information about joining the class action]On September 9, 2025, Freeport issued a press release announcing the suspension of mining activities at its Grasberg Block Cave operation in Indonesia, after "a large flow of wet material from a production drawpoint . . . blocked access to certain areas within the mine," trapping seven workers.On this news, Freeport's stock price fell $2.80 per share, or 5.99%, to close at $43.87 per share on September 9, 2025.Then, on September 24, 2025, Freeport provided an update on the incident, reporting that two of the seven workers were "fatally injured" and that the remaining five workers "remain missing." On this news, Freeport's stock price fell $7.69 per share, or 16.95%, to close at $37.67 per share on September 24, 2025.Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP
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Fort Wayne Medical Education ProgramFORT WAYNE, INDIANA / ACCESS Newswire / October 3, 2025 / Fort Wayne Medical Education Program (FWMEP) is committed to safeguarding the privacy and security of its patients' and employee's information. As part of that commitment, we are writing to notify you of a data privacy incident involving personal information of certain patients, employees, and employees' dependents.What Happened: On December 17, 2024, we discovered suspicious activity in our network. Upon discovery, we took immediate action to secure our systems and we retained cybersecurity professionals to investigate the incident. After a thorough investigation, we learned that certain data was accessed or acquired from our network by an unauthorized actor between December 12, 2024 and December 17, 2024. We performed a detailed review of the contents of the involved data to identify that data and to whom it belonged. After a thorough investigation, on September 9, 2025, we confirmed that certain personal information and protected health information (PHI) was contained in the data set.What Information Was Involved: The information involved varied by individual. For a limited number of employees and employees' dependents, the information included first and last name along with a Social Security number, driver's license or state ID number, or passport number. For those persons whose PHI was involved, that information included names along with Social Security numbers, government ID numbers like driver's license or passport number, date of birth, medical information including history, health insurance information, medical billing information including bank account number and payment or credit card number (but not CVC), and date of birth.Individuals whose information was involved and for whom we had address information were provided written notice on October 2, 2025.What We Are Doing: Upon learning of the incident, we took immediate steps to address it, including securing our systems and taking parts of our network offline. We retained cybersecurity professionals to help us investigate. We also notified federal law enforcement and the Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights.. Additionally, we are offering complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection services, free of charge, to individuals whose Social Security numbers were involved through Haystack, a global leader in risk mitigation and response. Should individuals have any questions or concerns, they may contact FWMEP's dedicated assistance line with Haystack at 1-833-809-4990.What Impacted Individuals Can Do: As a general matter, one should remain vigilant by reviewing credit reports, financial account statements, and explanation of benefits forms for suspicious activity and to detect errors. We also remind everyone that individuals are entitled to one free credit report annually from the each of the three major credit reporting bureaus, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. To order a free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228.Individuals can further educate themselves regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, credit freezes, and the steps to take to protect personal information by contacting the credit reporting bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), or state Attorneys General. The FTC also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. The FTC may be reached at 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261.For More Information: For any further information, please contact FWMEP's dedicated assistance line with Haystack at 1-833-809-4990.Contact Information Matthew SmithAssociatematthew.smith@kennedyslaw.com 267 095 17196SOURCE: Fort Wayne Medical Education Program
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GRAZ, AUSTRIA / ACCESS Newswire / October 4, 2025 / In an M&A market increasingly defined by complexity and volatility, a new advisory firm is launching with a model that prioritises strategic alignment and post-deal integration from day one. MD Strategy Group, co-founded by Austrian executive Peter Drage and Czech business leader Tomas Mrkvica, enters the European landscape as a boutique consulting firm built for technology, mobility, and engineering-driven sectors. With a sharp focus on growth strategy, cross-border M&A, and operational implementation, the firm addresses a critical pain point: the high rate of failed integrations after acquisition. "In our view, M&A is only effective if the strategic rationale remains intact after the transaction," says Peter Drage. "We work with our clients from the strategic assessment phase, but more importantly, we stay beyond the closing - ensuring that execution matches intent." Bildunterschrift / Caption: Peter Drage and Tomas Mrkvica, Founders of MD Strategy Group, experts in strategy-led M&A and post-deal integration for the mobility and technology sector. From Business Development to Operational Execution: A Full-Cycle Approach MD Strategy Group has developed a three-phase advisory model that moves from strategic intent to transaction execution, and finally to hands-on integration.This model has emerged from the founders' experience in managing complex projects across engineering and mobility sectors, where structural transformation often depends on aligning people, systems, and processes - not just signing contracts. The firm begins with deep-dive strategic analysis to identify core growth levers, which may include M&A, joint ventures, or organic scaling. If an acquisition is deemed the right path, the firm provides full support - from target identification and due diligence to negotiation and legal structuring through a network of trusted independent advisors. Crucially, once the deal is closed, MD Strategy Group deploys specialist operational teams - including experts in engineering, cultural integration, and leadership support - to ensure that change is embedded across functions.This hands-on integration model distinguishes MD Strategy Group from transaction-focused M&A boutiques and allows the firm to safeguard long-term value creation.Cross-Border M&A Advisory: Bridging Markets and Mindsets With headquarters in Central Europe and offices in Eastern Europe, MD Strategy Group is ideally placed to advise on cross-border acquisitions, particularly where international investors seek European innovation or European suppliers wish to expand abroad. Both founders have extensive networks across global mobility and technology sectors. "Cultural friction, regulatory complexity, and divergent business rhythms are the real challenges in global M&A," explains Tomas Mrkvica. "Our dual-local structure allows us to bridge those gaps - not just in legal frameworks, but in management expectations, operational systems, and organisational culture." The firm has already seen early momentum from clients in Asia seeking access to European clean mobility and engineering innovations, particularly in battery technology, e-mobility systems, and AI-enabled industrial solutions.Peter Drage: Strategy Meets Engineering at Executive Level Peter Drage brings over 15 years of international leadership in thermal management, vehicle technology, and strategic transformation. He has co-founded and led multiple companies within the European technology and mobility landscape, scaling innovation across different regions and industries. Drage holds advanced degrees in engineering and organisational psychology, a rare combination that allows him to navigate both technical complexity and human dynamics in high-stakes business environments. He is known for leading international teams, integrating culturally diverse workforces, and structuring scalable organisations for long-term growth.His experience includes guiding numerous high-value M&A projects, driving integration success, and supporting executive teams through transition phases.Addressing the Root Cause of M&A Failure: Integration Readiness Industry data consistently shows that a significant portion of M&A transactions fail to deliver projected value - not due to bad strategy or deal terms, but because of poor execution after closing.MD Strategy Group tackles this head-on by embedding integration planning into the earliest strategic discussions. Typical failure points such as unclear ownership of post-deal tasks, misaligned digital infrastructures, and cultural dissonance between merging teams are proactively addressed. The firm's methodology includes structured onboarding of leadership teams, temporary management support where needed, and clear communication frameworks designed to reduce internal resistance and ensure aligned execution from day one. By focusing on operational reality rather than theoretical frameworks, MD Strategy Group supports clients through the most overlooked - and most critical - phase of M&A success.Complementary Expertise in Strategy and Organisational Development While MD Strategy Group delivers end-to-end transaction and growth advisory, it collaborates with select partners specialising in executive development and organisational transformation. These collaborations enable clients to align leadership, culture, and operations during and after integration without diluting strategic focus. Together, such partnerships form a comprehensive support system for organisations in transition - whether driven by growth, acquisition, restructuring, or market repositioning.Conclusion: A Strategy-First Alternative for Global Investors In a time when financial markets demand more than short-term gains, and when complexity threatens to derail even well-funded deals, MD Strategy Group offers a strategy-first, execution-aligned model that puts integration at the centre of M&A. Its unique combination of cross-sector experience, hands-on leadership, and operational discipline positions it as a reliable partner for investors, founders, and corporates looking to execute deals that actually deliver. From automotive and clean mobility to deep tech and AI-powered engineering, MD Strategy Group helps companies not only buy and build - but align and grow.About the company: MD Strategy Group is a Graz-based advisory firm specialising in strategy-led M&A, business development, and post-deal integration. Founded by executives Peter Drage and Tomas Mrkvica, the firm supports clients in mobility, technology, and innovation-driven sectors across Europe and Asia. With a structured three-phase approach and a hands-on expert network, MD Strategy Group bridges the gap between
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NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / October 4, 2025 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against CTO Realty Growth, Inc. ("CTO" or the "Company") (NYSE:CTO) and certain officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, and docketed under 25-cv-01516, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired CTO securities between February 18, 2021 and June 24, 2025, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.If you are an investor who purchased or otherwise acquired CTO securities during the Class Period, you have until October 7, 2025, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com . To discuss this action, contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@ pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.[Click here for information about joining the class action]CTO is a publicly traded real estate investment trust ("REIT") that owns and operates a portfolio of purported high-quality, retail-based properties located primarily in higher growth markets in the United States ("U.S."). The Company converted into a REIT in February 2021 and, as of December 31, 2024, owned 23 income properties in seven states, including Ashford Lane, a retail and dining center in Atlanta, Georgia.Under guidelines established by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), REITs must pay out at least 90% of their taxable profits to shareholders annually as dividends. In return, REIT companies are exempt from most corporate income tax. CTO has touted that its operation as a REIT "provides the tax-efficient organizational structure for [its] stockholders" that "will allow [it] to provide them with an attractive and sustainable dividend." To measure its performance, CTO uses the financial metric Adjusted Funds from Operations ("AFFO"). The AFFO of a REIT, though subject to varying methods of computation, is generally equal to the REIT's funds from operations with adjustments made for recurring capital expenditures (also referred to as "capex") used to maintain the quality of the REIT's underlying assets. Professional analysts tend to prefer AFFO because it takes into consideration additional costs incurred by the REIT as well as additional income sources, such as rent increases. Thus, analysts believe that AFFO provides for a more accurate base number when estimating present values and a better predictor of the REIT's future ability to pay dividends.The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) CTO's dividends were less sustainable than Defendants had led investors to believe; (ii) the Company used deceptive and unsustainable practices to artificially inflate its AFFO and overstate the true profitability of its Ashford Lane property; (iii) accordingly, CTO's business and/or financial prospects were overstated; and (iv) as a result, Defendants' public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.On June 25, 2025, Wolfpack Research ("Wolfpack") published a report entitled "CTO: The B. Riley of REITs" (the "Wolfpack Report" or the "Report"), which compared CTO unfavorably to B. Riley, a financial services company that recently lost more than 90% of its value amid three years of losses, soured investments, delayed financial reports and revelations that the SEC had been investigating whether the firm gave shareholders an accurate picture of its health. Citing interviews with former employees and whistleblowers, the Wolfpack Report accused CTO of, among other things, "not generat[ing] enough cash to pay its recurring capex and cover its dividends since converting to a REIT in 2021" and instead "rel[ying] on dilution (increasing shares outstanding by 70% since December 2022) to cover a $38 million dividend shortfall from 2021 to 2024," employing a "manipulative definition of [AFFO] where they exclude recurring capex, unlike all of their self-identified shopping center REIT peers," and "us[ing] a sham loan to hide the collapse of a top tenant from shareholders at Ashford Lane." (Emphasis in original).Further, Wolfpack predicted imminent further dilution of the Company, noting that CTO has just $8.4 million in cash while facing quarterly dividends of $14 million and average recurring capital expenditures of $5.7 million per quarter, along with approximately $12 million in additional planned capital expenditures.On this news, CTO's stock price fell $0.98 per share, or 5.42%, to close at $17.10 per share on June 25, 2025.Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP
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NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / October 4, 2025 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Dow Inc. ("Dow" or the "Company") (NYSE:DOW) and certain officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Northern Division, and docketed under 25-cv-12744, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Dow securities between January 30, 2025 and July 23, 2025, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.If you are an investor who purchased or otherwise acquired Dow securities during the Class Period, you have until October 28, 2025, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com . To discuss this action, contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@ pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.[Click here for information about joining the class action]Dow is an American materials science company, serving customers in the packaging, infrastructure, mobility, and consumer applications industries. Dow conducts its worldwide operations through six global businesses organized into three operating segments: (i) Packaging & Specialty Plastics, (ii) Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, and (iii) Performance Materials & Coatings.Historically, Dow has touted its "industry-leading dividend," which is of particular importance to investors. On conference calls with investors and analysts, Dow's Chief Executive Officer, Defendant Jim Fitterling ("Fitterling"), has variously stated that the Company's "dividend is a key element of our investment thesis," and that "north of 65% of our owners count on that dividend." Notwithstanding an ongoing slump in the materials science industry, as well as the recent onset of tariff-related market uncertainties, at all relevant times, Defendants represented that Dow was well positioned to weather macroeconomic and tariff-related headwinds while maintaining sufficient levels of financial flexibility to support the Company's lucrative dividend. Specifically, Defendants cited various purported strengths and advantages unique to Dow in its industry, including, inter alia, the Company's purported "differentiated portfolio," "cost-advantaged footprint," and "industry-leading flexibility to navigate global trade dynamics." Throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding Dow's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Dow's ability to mitigate macroeconomic and tariff-related headwinds, as well as to maintain the financial flexibility needed to support its lucrative dividend, was overstated; (ii) the true scope and severity of the foregoing headwinds' negative impacts on Dow's business and financial condition was understated, particularly with respect to competitive and pricing pressures, softening global sales and demand for the Company's products, and an oversupply of products in the Company's global markets; and (iii) as a result, Defendants' public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.On June 23, 2025, BMO Capital downgraded its recommendation on Dow to "Underperform" from "Market Perform" while also cutting its price target on the Company's stock to $22.00 per share from $29.00 per share, citing sustained weakness across key end markets and mounting pressure on the Company's dividend.On this news, Dow's stock price fell $0.89 per share, or 3.21%, to close at $26.87 per share on June 23, 2025.Then, on July 24, 2025, Dow issued a press release reporting its financial results for the second quarter of 2025. Therein, Dow reported a non-GAAPloss per share of $0.42, significantly larger than the approximate $0.17 to $0.18 per share loss expected by analysts. Dow also reported net sales of $10.1 billion, representing a 7.3% year-over-year decline and missing consensus estimates by $130 million, "reflecting declines in all operating segments." The Company further reported, inter alia, that "[s]equentially, net sales were down 3%, as seasonally higher demand in Performance Materials & Coatings was more than offset by declines across the other operating segments." Defendant Fitterling blamed these disappointing results on "the lower-for-longer earnings environment that our industry is facing, amplified by recent trade and tariff uncertainties," while providing a dour outlook marked by "signs of oversupply from newer market entrants who are exporting to various regions at anti-competitive economics." In a separate press release issued the same day, Dow revealed that it was cutting its dividend in half, from $0.70 per share to only $0.35 per share, citing the need for "financial flexibility amidst a persistently challenging macroeconomic environment." Following these disclosures, Dow's stock price fell $5.30 per share, or 17.45%, to close at $25.07 per share on July 24, 2025.Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP
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NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / October 4, 2025 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Fluor Corporation ("Fluor" or the "Company") (NYSE:FLR) and certain officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, and docketed under 25-cv-02496, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Fluor securities between February 18, 2025 and July 31, 2025, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.If you are an investor who purchased or otherwise acquired Fluor securities during the Class Period, you have until November 14, 2025, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com . To discuss this action, contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@ pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.[Click here for information about joining the class action]Fluor provides engineering, procurement, and construction ("EPC"), fabrication and modularization, and project management services worldwide. The Company operates through three segments: Urban Solutions, Energy Solutions, and Mission Solutions.Throughout 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, Fluor's Urban Solutions segment accounted for the largest portion of the Company's revenue and profit. The Urban Solutions segment offers EPC and project management services to the advanced technologies and manufacturing, life sciences, mining and metals, and infrastructure industries, as well as provides professional staffing services. The Company's infrastructure projects in this segment include work on, inter alia, the Gordie Howe International Bridge ("Gordie Howe"), as well as the Interstate 365 Lyndon B. Johnson ("I-635/LBJ") and Interstate 35E ("I-35") highways in Texas.In February 2025, Fluor provided financial guidance for the full year ("FY") of 2025, including adjusted EBITDA of $575 million to $675 million and adjusted earnings per share ("EPS") of $2.25 per share to $2.75 per share. Defendants reaffirmed the foregoing financial guidance in May 2025, notwithstanding their acknowledgement of the potential negative impacts of ongoing economic uncertainty on Fluor's business resulting from trade tensions and other market conditions. Contemporaneously, Defendants touted, inter alia, the purported health and stability of Fluor's and its customers' operations and the strength of the Company's risk mitigation strategy, both for itself and its clients.The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding Fluor's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) costs associated with the Gordie Howe, I-635/LBJ, and I-35 projects were growing because of, inter alia, subcontractor design errors, price increases, and scheduling delays; (ii) the foregoing, as well as customer reduction in capital spending and client hesitation around economic uncertainty, was having, or was likely to have, a significant negative impact on the Company's business and financial results; (iv) accordingly, Fluor's financial guidance for FY 2025 was unreliable and/or unrealistic, the effectiveness of the Company's risk mitigation strategy was overstated, and the impact of economic uncertainty on the Company's business and financial results was understated; and (v) as a result, Defendants' public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.On August 1, 2025, Fluor issued a press release reporting its financial results for the second quarter ("Q2") of 2025. Among other results, the press release reported Q2 non-GAAP EPS of $0.43, missing consensus estimates by $0.13, and revenue of $3.98 billion, representing a 5.9% year-over-year decline and missing consensus estimates by $570 million. Defendants blamed these disappointing results on, inter alia, growing costs in multiple infrastructure projects due to subcontractor design errors, price increases, and scheduling delays, as well as reduced capital spending by customers. The same press release also provided a negatively revised financial outlook for FY 2025, guiding to adjusted EBITDA of $475 million to $525 million, down significantly from Defendants' prior guidance of $575 million to $675 million, and adjusted EPS of $1.95 per share to $2.15 per share, down significantly from Defendants' prior guidance of $2.25 per share to $2.75 per share, citing "client hesitation around economic uncertainty and its impact on new awards and project delays and results for the quarter[.]"The same day, Fluor hosted a conference call with investors and analysts to discuss the Company's Q2 2025 financial results. During that call, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, Defendant James R. Breuer, disclosed that the infrastructure projects that had negatively impacted Fluor's Q2 2025 results were the Gordie Howe, I-635/LBJ, and I-35 projects.Following the foregoing disclosures, Fluor's stock price fell $15.35 per share, or 27.04%, to close at $41.42 per share on August 1, 2025.Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP
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NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / October 3, 2025 / Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, continues to investigate potential breaches of fiduciary duties by the directors and officers of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR).If you currently own shares of Danaher stock, please visit the firm's website at https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=17717for more information. You may also contact Phillip Kim of Rosen Law Firm toll free at 866-767-3653 or via email at case@ rosenlegal.com Why Rosen Law: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company at the time. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm , on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/ Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.---Contact Information:Laurence Rosen, Esq.Phillip Kim, Esq.The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.275 Madison Avenue, 40th FloorNew York, NY 10016Tel: (212) 686-1060Toll Free: (866) 767-3653Fax: (212) 202-3827 case@ rosenlegal.comwww.rosenlegal.com SOURCE: The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.
TIER IV, a specialist in open-source software for autonomous driving, has secured a credit facility worth US$7 million (1 billion) from Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SMTB), one of Japan's leading trust banks.

The facility provides flexible funding to meet working-capital needs arising from TIER IV's domestic and international expansion. It will support the wider rollout of the company's autonomous driving services, paving the way for the next stage of growth, it says.

Building on its advanced autonomous driving technology, TIER IV says it is accelerating the deployment of intelligent vehicles.

The company maintains the agreement with SMTB strengthens the company's foundations and reinforces its commitment to making autonomous driving accessible to all.

"TIER IV secures credit facility with Japanese bank SMTB" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.




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WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESS Newswire / October 3, 2025 / The Crypto Lawyers PLLC has filed claims on behalf of more than one hundred victims of cryptocurrency confidence scams in federal forfeiture proceedings involving more than $225 million in seized digital assets. The filings seek the return of over $70 million stolen from victims and laundered through the same network of accounts identified in the government's complaint. The firm is joined in the case by co-counsel Greenberg Traurig LLP and Boies Schiller Flexner LLP. TCL LogoOn June 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that federal agents had seized approximately 225,364,961 USDT, worth more than $225 million, from accounts used to launder the proceeds of the fraud. In filing its forfeiture complaint, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro stated that her office was "taking a leading role in the fight against crypto-confidence scams, partnering with law enforcement throughout the country to seize and forfeit stolen funds and rip them from the hands of foreign criminals, all with the eye toward making victims whole." The DOJ reported that investigators traced approximately $19 million to sixty victims but acknowledged that many more could not be identified. The Crypto Lawyers has since identified more than one hundred victims, nearly double the number recognized in the government's filing, whose combined losses exceed $70 million beyond those set forth in the complaint. By bringing these additional victims forward, The Crypto Lawyers looks forward to working with the government to ensure they are made whole."The Crypto Lawyers has long been at the forefront of efforts to recover stolen cryptocurrency for scam victims. Our clients' assets have been painstakingly traced to the funds now under seizure, and they have waited patiently for the opportunity to be made whole. We are grateful for the Department of Justice's work in securing these assets and look forward to seeing them returned to the victims," said Rafael Yakobi, Managing Partner of The Crypto Lawyers and lead counsel to the victims.This unprecedented case highlights the scale of harm caused by organized crypto scams and the importance of ensuring that victims are not left behind."This case is not only about recovering stolen funds, it is about restoring dignity and recognition to victims who have endured tremendous loss. For too long, many of these individuals had little hope that their voices would be heard. By identifying over one hundred victims whose assets were laundered through this network, the firm is helping ensure they are not overlooked, but instead given a meaningful chance to be made whole. This represents an important step toward justice in the face of widespread and organized fraud," said Agustin M. Barbara of The Crypto Lawyers and also lead counsel to the victims.Contact InformationRafael YakobiManaging Partner - The Crypto Lawyers, PLLCrafael@ thecryptolawyers.com SOURCE: The Crypto Lawyers, PLLC
UAC of Nigeria Plc has received from the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission the permission to proceed with its planned acquisition of CHI Limited, the maker of Chivita fruit juices and Hollandia Yoghurt, the company stated in a disclosure on Friday.

The approval from the industry regulator, which has now taken the transaction past its pivotal stage, leaves UAC to wrap up talks with Coca Cola towards finalising the buyout.

We are excited to officially welcome the Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited) team and brands into the UAC family, and we are eager to work together to build on their strong legacy and market leadership, Fola Aiyesimoju, the group managing director of UAC, said in the statement.

We look forward to a smooth transition and to seeing Chivita Hollandia (CHI Limited) thrive under UACs ownership, stated Eeelco Weber, the CEO of CHI, in the same document.

UAC first announced the deal at the end of July, describing it as a strategic milestone in its corporate growth plan.

The acquisition offers a bright spot to the conglomerate to expand the range of products within its packaged foods and beverage division, dominated by brands such as Gala and Supreme Ice Cream.

The scale-up plan of UACs food and beverage business, which it expects to accomplish by diversifying into new product lines, matches Coca Colas current push to keep its operations slim and more efficient by concentrating on its areas of strength and on brands that offer competitive advantage.

Canadian-based Fasken Martineau and Templars provided legal advisory to UAC on the deal. Citi served as the financial advisor to Coca Cola, while Chicago-based McDermott Will & Emery acted as its legal advisor.

In the six months to June, UAC posted a 32.6 per cent rise in revenue to N110.4 billion from a year earlier, but saw net profit drop by 22.9 per cent from N9.5 billion to N7.4 billion.

Return on equity for the period stood at 10.1 per cent, down from 14.4 per cent at the end of last year.
Agro-industrial firm Ellah Lakes has agreed to a deal to buy out Agro-Allied Resources & Processing Nigeria Limited (ARPN), owned by Singapore-based Tolaram Group and Valuestar Holdings PTE.

The transaction is expected to be completed by December.

The acquisition will hand the ownership of 11,783 hectares of cultivated land, 2,093 hectares of cassava plantations as well as 10,393 hectares of farmland yet to be cultivated to Ellah Lakes, the company stated in a regulatory filing on Friday.

Ellah Lakes, which has been diversifying away from its original fish farming business since 2019 into the production of palm oil, rice and sugar as part of the boards push to return the loss-making firm to profitability, is looking to expand operations and scale efficiencies through the deal.

Following the completion of the Acquisition, Ellah Lakes will consolidate ARPNs assets into its operations delivering immediate scale and financial benefits, while unlocking significant long-term potential for crop diversification and vertical integration, the company stated.

The acquisition aligns perfectly with Ellah Lakes vertically integrated business model, which spans primary cultivation, mid-stream processing and downstream market access, it added.

Ellah Lakes has been recording losses since at least 2013, according to its financial reports, and had to wind down its original fish farming business around 2016 after militant attacks in the Niger Delta threatened operations.

New core investors, led by current CEO Chuka Mordi, acquired a majority stake in the firm in 2019. Between then and now, expansion activities have involved a joint venture investment in Ada Rice Company in Enugu State and a partnership with Lagos-based Montserrado Investment to build a 600-ton per day sugar-processing plant.

At an emergency general meeting in July, the board sought shareholders nod to raise N250 billion through equity capital to fund a strategic acquisition.

The deal to acquire ARPN requires approvals from regulatory authorities including the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to reach consummation.

This acquisition will more than double our production footprint, accelerate earnings growth, and position us as a national champion in agro-industrial production, Mr Mordi said

Madhukar Khetan, the managing director of ARPN, remarked that the buyout highlights the strength of the platform we have created and its alignment with Nigerias food security objectives.

In 2024, Tolaram acquired Diageos majority stake in Guinness Nigeria and now owns 70.9 per cent of its issued shares.
Across Nigeria, more couples struggling with infertility are turning to surrogacy as an alternative path to parenthood.

Once viewed as taboo, the practice is gaining quiet acceptance among middle and upper-class families seeking alternatives to adoption or assisted reproduction.

But experts warn that its rapid, unregulated growth is creating new ethical and legal challenges, with poor women increasingly at risk of exploitation in the absence of clear national laws or oversight mechanisms.

Health and gender experts who spoke with PT Health Watch say the countrys legal vacuum and social stigma around surrogacy call for urgent public discussion and policy reform.

What surrogacy involves

From a medical standpoint, surrogacy is a process in which another woman carries a pregnancy for someone unable to do so.

According to Ogunwunmi Oluwole, a consultant gynaecologist, the practice is often considered when a woman has congenital abnormalities of the womb, has had her uterus removed, or when her health cannot support pregnancy.

It would be like another woman helping a woman who cannot, for different reasons, have a pregnancy on her own  just like a human incubator, so to speak, Mr Oluwole explained.

Globally, surrogacy has become a multi-billion-dollar industry. Data from the Global Market Insights projects the surrogacy market to be valued at $27.9 billion and driven largely by infertility, advancements in in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), and delayed childbearing.

The United Nations also regards the practice as a form of exploitation and violence against women and children, including girls.

Medical and psychological risks

While surrogates typically undergo IVF to achieve pregnancy, Mr Oluwole noted that they face similar risks as any pregnant woman.

He explained that complications during pregnancy are linked to the body trying to adjust to the paternal aspect of the foetus, adding that these risks apply to surrogate mothers as well.

Multiple embryo transfers, common in IVF, also increase the likelihood of caesarean deliveries. Beyond medical concerns, surrogate mothers may experience psychological stress.

Some, the gynaecologist added, may struggle with detachment because the child is not theirs biologically or socially.

Gender and ethical concerns

From a gender lens, surrogacy is far more controversial. Oluwafunmbi Ogunsola, a gender expert, said surrogacy often exploits women in vulnerable economic situations, noting that it is an exploitative practice, not only in Nigeria but globally.

Ms Ogunsola explained that the process often thrives on class and economic inequality, where wealthier women pay poorer women to carry pregnancies for them.

The women who are often targeted to be surrogate mothers are women who are poor, economically disadvantaged. Thats the kind of oppression that happens when you use your economic status to get someone to do something, she said.

Currently, Nigeria has no clear legal framework governing surrogacy and therefore operates in a grey area with no explicit law stating whether it is legal or illegal.

Cultural and social perceptions

Despite its growing use among elite families and celebrities, surrogacy remains a socially sensitive and largely misunderstood topic where traditional beliefs and religious values often shape attitudes toward childbirth and motherhood.

According to the gender expert, cultural expectations of women to conceive and bear their own children reinforce stigma around both infertility and surrogacy.

For the intending parents, especially women, there is a lot of stigma. Its only recently that some women have started to speak openly about using surrogate mothers. Society has made it look like, once you struggle with infertility, something is wrong with you, Ms Ogunsola said.

She explained that the secrecy surrounding surrogacy often stems from fear of being judged or ridiculed.

Many people hide it. Ive seen a case where a woman told people her baby died at birth, only for them to later find out she had been a surrogate, she said.

She argued that Nigeria needs to balance womens rights, reproductive rights, and child protection by holding buyers, not surrogate mothers, accountable.

Nigeria should criminalise the purchase of surrogacy services, not the women who carry the pregnancies. Like the Nordic model used in other countries, this protects women from punishment while discouraging exploitation, she added.

Just recently, the founder of DANG products, Ifedayo Agoro, came under fire when she said she would be exploring the services of a surrogate even though she has no medical challenge and is able to carry a baby.

Her post brought to fore, discussions on the rules and regulations surrounding surrogacy, choices and justification for such choices.

Emerging efforts

In October 2024, Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala, a member of the House of Representatives, sponsored the Surrogacy Regulatory Commission Bill to regulate surrogacy practices in Nigeria.

The bill, which has passed second reading, seeks to establish a commission to license, monitor, and supervise surrogacy arrangements nationwide while protecting the rights of surrogate mothers and intending parents.

Similarly, another proposal by Uchenna Okonkwo, titled A Bill for an Act to Protect the Health and Well-Being of Women, Particularly in Relation to Surrogacy and for Related Matters, seeks to prohibit commercial surrogacy while allowing altruistic surrogacy under strict regulation.

It also prescribes penalties of up to N2 million in fines or two years imprisonment for violations.
The University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), has disowned the Bachelor of Science degree certificate in the possession of the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Uche Nnaji, saying the politician did not complete his studies at the institution and was never issued a certificate.

The universitys action came months after authorities at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) similarly told PREMIUM TIMES that the certificate of national service being paraded by Mr Nnaji was strange to it and could not be authenticated. This newspaper had, as part of a longterm investigation into the politicians educational and service history, forwarded a copy of the document to the NYSC headquarters in Abuja for verification.

Allegations of certificate forgery have surrounded Mr Nnaji since July 2023, when President Bola Tinubu named him among the first batch of 28 ministerial nominees from 25 states forwarded to the Senate as Mr Tinubu began to form his cabinet, two months after taking office on May 29, 2023.

Mr Nnajis critics insist that he did not complete his university education and that both the bachelors degree and the NYSC certificate he presented to President Tinubu, as well as the offices of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the State Security Service, and the Nigerian Senate, are counterfeit.

However, in response to a PREMIUM TIMES Freedom of Information request, Simon U. Ortuanya, the vice-chancellor of UNN, stated that although Mr Nnaji was admitted to the institution in 1981, he did not complete his studies and was never awarded a degree.

We refer to your letter dated 29 September 2025 in respect of the above subject matter, Mr Ortuanya, a professor, wrote in his 2 October 2025 letter to this newspaper. We can confirm that Mr Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji, with Matriculation Number 1981/30725, was admitted by the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1981.

From every available records and information from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, we are unable to confirm that Mr Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji, the current Minister of Science and Technology, graduated from the University of Nigeria in July 1985, as there are no records of his completion of study in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Flowing from above, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka DID NOT and consequently, COULD NOT have issued the purported certificate, or at all, in July 1985 to Mr Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji, the current Minister of Science and Technology. This conclusion is also in consonance with an earlier letter dated May 13, 2025, ref. No, RUN/SR/R/V, issued by the University to the Public Complaints Commission in respect of the same subject matter (copy attached).

Mr Ortuanyas response to PREMIUM TIMES enquiry, which came several months after the NYSC issued a similar verdict, is the high point of this newspapers two-year painstaking investigation into Mr Nnajis degree and NYSC certificates.

We first made an FoI request to the university on 1 February 2024. But officials failed to respond to our enquiry despite several reminders and follow-up visits to the institution by our reporter. During one such visit, a registry staff member compelled our reporter to pay a N15,000 processing fee. We did, but still received no response to our letter.

On 2 October this year, we decided to courier a reminder to the university, making the same request and attaching a copy of the Bachelor of Science degree the minister submitted to the Senate during his confirmation hearing on 1 August 2023.

It was the recent letter to the institution that triggered the response from Mr Ortuanya, who was appointed vice chancellor of the university only on 2 August 2025.

The universitys reply to our enquiry contradicts an earlier response to the Peoples Gazette newspaper on the matter. On 21 December 2023, Celine Nnebedum, the university registrar, responded to the newspapers enquiry, saying Mr Nnaji graduated from the institution in July 1985.

The official has since recanted, telling the Public Complaints Commission in May this year that the university searched its graduation records for the 1985 session but could not find Mr Nnajis name on them.

However, the latest information provided by Mr Ortuanya and Mrs Nnebedum to us and the Public Complaints Commission, respectively, aligns with the findings of our two-year investigation on the matter.

Unmasking a ministerial fraud

We began investigating Mr Nnajis credentials on 23 October 2023, after a whistleblower alerted us to suspected discrepancies in the ministers certificates and urged us to conduct an investigation.

The outcome of our two-year investigation is damning. Not only is Mr Nnaji a barefaced liar (telling lawmakers during his ministerial screening that he graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1985 and that he did his National Youth Service Corp scheme in Jos in 1986), but he is also a serial forger, who manufactured two key credentials with which he has gained career, business and political advantages for decades.

Our first step in investigating Minister Nnaji was a careful and repeated review of recordings of his 1 August 2023 confirmation hearing at the Senate, which was beamed live by at least five Nigerian television networks and later archived on the YouTube channels of the stations.

We also reviewed a recording of the 22 August 2023 inauguration ceremony of President Tinubus ministers. On that occasion, Mr Nnaji beamed with smiles and his face sparkled with pride as the moderator, Ajuri Ngelale, who was then the special adviser on media and publicity to President Tinubu, read his dishonest resume, including the lie that he bagged a bachelors degree in biochemistry and microbiology from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Afterwards, we began knocking on senators doors in search of the 10-page document the politician submitted to Senate authorities and lawmakers. The first few senators we contacted declined to cooperate, even though we did not disclose the reason for our request to them.

Two who initially promised to share the document failed to keep multiple appointments. Ultimately, two unlikely lawmakers stood out. Without asking many questions, they separately instructed their aides to oblige us with copies of the documents.

A poor job at forgery

We then subjected the suspicious NYSC and degree certificates to a thorough forensic analysis in our newsroom. This process ultimately reinforced our hypothesis that the documents were most likely fake.

First, we found that the purported NYSC certificate, dated 15 May 1986, bore the signature of Animashaun Braimoh. The army colonel served as the fifth CEO of the NYSC between January 1988 and December 1990.

It is impossible that he signed Mr Nnajis certificate of national service on 15 May 1986, eighteen months before his appointment to that office. The head of the NYSC at the time the politician claimed he served was then-Colonel Edet Akpan, who held the position between January 1984 and December 1987.

Another glaring discrepancy in Mr Nnajis NYSC certificate was the titular designation of the corps CEO, who purportedly signed the document. From the inception of the NYSC and at least until the early 1990s, the head of the agency was known as Director.

For some years in the 1990s, the CEO of the corps became known as National Director and later as Director General, a designation still in use to date. However, Mr Nnaji has a certificate signed by a National Director in 1986, several years before that designation was introduced at the NYSC.

We reviewed at least 25 certificates issued by the NYSC between July 1980 and October 1990. All were signed by Director. Only Mr Nnajis was endorsed by National Director.

Our extensive review of NYSC certificates, from inception to at least October 1990, revealed that the six-digit numberings are devoid of alphabetic characters.

For instance, the certificate issued to Lateef Fagbemi, the current Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, in 1986, is numbered 323213, while that of Abubakar Badaru (the incumbent Minister of Defence), also issued in 1986, has 299355 as its identification number.

Mr Nnaji claimed that the NYSC issued him a certificate number A231309 in 1986, whereas the practice of adding alphabets to certificate numbers for national service did not begin until the 1990s.

Additionally, Mr Nnajis certificate indicates that he served in Plateau State between 16 April 1985 and 15 May 1986. We found that claim to be false because corps members statutorily serve for 12 months, not 13 as indicated by the ministers forged certificate.

For instance, Wale Edun, the current Minister of Finance, underwent national service between 20 December 1979 and 19 December 1980 (a period of 12 months), while Babatunde Fashola, former Lagos Governor, did his between 18 September 1988 and 17 September 1989 (also a period of 12 months). Of all the about 50 NYSC certificates we reviewed, only Mr Nnajis portrayed a 13-month service period.

On the surface, Mr Nnajis degree certificate appeared genuine. We compared it with the version issued by the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, to a former Labour Minister, Chris Ngige, who graduated from the institution in June 1979. Apart from his first name being misspelt as Geoffery instead of Geofffrey, the certificate ticked all the right boxes on genuineness.

But when we placed it side by side with Mr Nnajis certificate of national service, the artificiality of the document became apparent. The degree certificate suggested the politician graduated in July 1985.

However, the accompanying NYSC certificate claimed that the politician began his youth service on 16 April 1985, three clear months before he finished university. Were that to be true, it would have been a record because no one else in the 52-year history of the NYSC has been mobilised for national service while still studying for their first degree.

From Forensics to Legwork

With our forensic analysis of the two suspicious certificates complete, our reporters fanned out into the field for discreet investigations at the two institutions Mr Nnaji claimed issued him the documents. At the NYSC headquarters in Abuja, two highly placed officials of the Corps, who are experienced, separately scrutinised copies of the ministers certificate of national service handed to them by our reporters.

The insiders also helped to carefully review NYSC internal records to determine if anyone with Mr Nnajis identity had ever been mobilised for national service or issued a certificate of national service. Their verdicts were unanimous: the ministers NYSC certificate is a counterfeit. The NYSC later responded to a formal inquiry we sent on 23 September 2023, saying it had no record of the certificate in the ministers possession and was therefore unable to authenticate it.

Our reporters also spent days at Nsukka gathering information about Mr Nnajis time at the university and whether he graduated from the university as he claimed. They found that although the politician was admitted to study biological sciences at the institution during the 1981/82 academic session, he did not graduate and was not issued a certificate after he failed some of his courses, including Virology, with course code MCB 431AB.

The university closed the door on him after he repeatedly failed to attend several rewrite opportunities granted to him by the authorities, one staff member said. In fact, at one point, the university became so fed up with his absenteeism that it advised him to withdraw from the institution.

While Mr Nnaji now parades a bogus certificate claiming he graduated in July 1985, our reporters sighted a letter he wrote to the university on 1 May 1986 pleading to be allowed another opportunity to take an outstanding terminal course in September of that year.

Those familiar with his case said the university declined to grant his request. We also obtained a copy of the Order of Proceedings of the 20th Convocation Ceremony of the university, which contains the names of students who graduated in 1985. Mr Nnajis name was missing from the list.

Mr Nnaji has yet to respond to the enquiry PREMIUM TIMES sent to him on January 8, 2024, which was stamped received by his office at 1 p.m. on 18 January 2024. He also did not answer or return subsequent multiple follow-up telephone calls, messages and email seeking his comments for this report.
In its 2024 Openness Index, the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) declared Imo State the worst place to be a journalist in Nigeria. The index, a subnational assessment of press freedom and civic space in Nigeria, was published in July. It ranked states based on political openness, media independence, and the safety of civic actors.

The Imo State Government quickly dismissed the report. Commissioner for Information Declan Emelumba described the report as fraught with fallacies and sensational stunts, insisting it was biased, jaundiced, unreliable, and absolutely unempirical.

But when Martin Opara, editor of the Nigerian Watchdog Newspaper, read the report, he simply smiled, because his organisation had been a victim of targeted harassment and attack by the state government. For him, the CJID report reflected reality, his newspaper having borne the brunt of state hostility.

Since 2015, our office has been raided more than five times by the police, usually because of publications we released, Mr Opara told PREMIUM TIMES in late August. In 2023, our correspondent was banned from covering proceedings at the House of Assembly. They told us outright: We dont want Watchdog here.

Unlike many local outlets, Mr Opara said the Nigerian Watchdog Newspaper insists on publishing reports that hold institutions and governments accountable.

That independence has also made them a target. Independent journalism has become very difficult here, he lamented. We face raids, arrests, bans, false accusations, and constant intimidation. But we continue to do our work.

Press freedom under siege.

The CJIDs index paints a troubling national picture: 48 press freedom violations were recorded between December 2023 and November 2024, mostly perpetrated by security agencies. Police, military, and state security agents were identified as the main culprits in harassing journalists and suppressing dissent.

At the end of the spectrum, Cross River ranked highest for openness, with Ondo, Delta, Katsina, and Ekiti also performing well.

By contrast, the lowest-performing states based on the perception index are Anambra, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Ebonyi, and Imo, with Imo sitting at the bottom.

The index evaluates states across seven factors: political environment, legal framework, economic pressures, socio-cultural context, journalistic principles, treatment of journalists, and gender inclusion.

Press freedom advocate Stephanie Adams-Douglas told PREMIUM TIMES that arbitrary arrests, assaults, and lawsuits targeting journalists violate constitutional rights. When accountability is absent for these violations, it leads to a deterioration of the system, ultimately undermining integrity and truth in the media, she said.

She added: This entails ensuring that perpetrators who commit acts of violence or intimidation against journalists are held accountable.

Inside Imo: They threatened to kill me

For Anslem Anokwute, the findings in CJIDs report are not abstract metrics. They are his lived experiences. Mr Anokwute had worked with several newspapers, including Watchdog Newspaper, before floating an online outfit, Otikpu Newspaper.

On 17 June, he published a report detailing how the governors aide on Monitoring and Compliance, Chinasa Nwaneri, allegedly usurped the Ministries of Lands and Transport roles by issuing directives under his own name.

After the story went viral, on July 10th, he threatened me openly, saying he would send boys to my house and have me bundled away, Mr Anokwute recalled. Colleagues called to warn me, but I wasnt afraid. I only reported the truth.

The backlash was immediate. The report was republished by several online platforms, casting the conflict as government hostility toward journalists. Amid mounting pressure, Mr Nwaneri backed off, but the threat lingered.

Because of the backlash, people started calling the governors aide from different corners. Since then, he has avoided confrontation with me, but I know the matter isnt settled, Mr Anokwute said.

I even met the commissioner of police, who advised me to file a petition. I told him I would wait until the threats turned into action, he said.

On the state of press freedom in the south-eastern state, Mr Anokwutes conclusion is blunt: There is no real press freedom in Imo. When journalists are arrested, threatened, or told they will be killed, what freedom exists?

Since 2020, Mr Anokwute added, appointees have been under strict orders not to grant interviews to journalists.

Even commissioners speak off the record and beg us not to quote them. They are afraid of sanctions.

Today, threats come directly from the state government (Imo), he said, adding that Under former governor Rochas Okorocha, even when we criticised him, he told us: Use my name, make your money, just tell the truth. But this administration is different.

Assaulted, sued, and silenced

Physical assault and lawsuits are also common weapons against journalists in Imo.

In January 2024, a journalist working with Newsbreak Newspaper, Kelechi Ugo, was attacked while investigating allegations against Rosemary Izuogu, the former chairperson of the states Local Government Service Commission.

We learned her son assaulted a staff member, Mr Ugo explained. At the hospital, I photographed the victim. When I went to Mrs Izuogus office for her side of the story, she claimed it was a private office and ordered me out. Then her son physically assaulted me, saying journalists had no right to be there.

Despite the assault, Mr Ugo filed his report. But instead of accountability, the official sued the publishing newspaper in court. The case remains pending in court.

As journalists, we only have our pens. We dont have guns, Mr Ugo said. Yet when we do our job, they sue us to silence us.

The Nigerian Watchdog is also battling lawsuits filed by political figures over its reports.

Its editor, Mr Opara, told PREMIUM TIMES that Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) are increasingly deployed to drain media houses financially and intimidate reporters.

Precious Nwadike, publisher of the Nigeria Watchdog Newspaper, corroborated this account, saying press freedom is entirely absent in Imo State.

Mr Nwadike recalled that in 2015, he was arrested and detained for his story, which exposed how a cook attached to Uche Nwosu, the chief of staff to then-governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, allegedly stole a huge sum of money.

The matter lasted four years from 2015 to 2019, he told PREMIUM TIMES.

The journalist maintained that the frequent attacks, arrests and litigations against reporters blur claims of press freedom in Imo State.

If for any reason a journalist holds the government accountable, or questions their programmes and activities, you have become an enemy of the government, Mr Nwadike said, noting that the Nigerian Watchdog and its journalists have become targets of sundry lawsuits in such instances.

Frightening degree of intolerance

A human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, told PREMIUM TIMES that the solution to frequent harassment, police invitations, and lawsuits against journalists is for journalists to intensify factual reporting to expose societys ills.

Mr Effiong said harassment and lawsuits persist primarily due to ignorance of the law.

Under the Cybercrimes Act as amended, it is no longer permissible to arrest journalists based on publications they have made which someone finds offensive or defamatory, he said.

The continued reliance on the Cybercrimes Act by the police and other persons; theyre completely ignorant and misguided.

In the case of Imo State, Mr Effiong argued that Governor Uzodinma has demonstrated a frightening degree of intolerance against dissenting views, citing the case of a lawyer in the state recently invited by the police for criticising the governor.

Threats before publication

The intimidation sometimes begins before a story is even published.

Mr Opara of the Nigeria Watchdog recounted texting the official involved to get her response while investigating alleged corruption in the education ministry.

Instead of replying, she accused me of trying to bargain with her, he said. Then I received a call from Ferdinand Uzodinma, the governors brother and deputy chief of staff. He asked me to drop the story. When I refused, he invited me to Government House. A contact later warned me it was a trap, that I would have been picked up at the gate without a record of my visit, and they would sue me.

These are the kinds of pressures we face, Mr Opara said. Despite the intimidation, I plan to publish my report with evidence to back it up.

Nobody treats us as human beings

For many Imo journalists, the hostility goes beyond official circles.

Nkechi Ojukwu, a journalist with Newspoint Newspaper, lamented: Its a horrible situation in Imo State. Nobody treats us as human beings. We are the fourth estate of the realm, recognised by the constitution, yet people treat us like we are nobody (in Imo State). We are the watchdog of society.

Although security operatives have not arrested Ms Ojukwu, the fact that some of her colleagues have been detained and intimidated raises concerns.

Curiously, journalists working for state-owned media organisations in Imo State also battled restricted access to information.

Charles Nnaji (not his real name), a journalist with the state-owned Statesman Newspaper, told PREMIUM TIMES in August that the state government had been very unfriendly to journalists.

Mr Nnaji said the government uses a divide and rule style by choosing to work with a few journalists who produce reports that are favourable to them while fighting others who try to hold them accountable.

He added that he has not suffered any attacks because he does not do critical reports against the government, considering that he works for them.

Mr Nnaji said even community members and non-state actors contribute to making the environment hostile for journalists.

You cant boldly identify as a journalist anymore, especially if you do investigative work, Mr Nnaji said.

Here in Imo State, the environment is hostile (for journalists who do critical reports) not only from the government but even from private individuals in communities.

Fighting repression

In response to mounting threats and intimidation, some journalists formed the Association of Imo-Based Journalists, led by Mr Ugo.

All those harassed usually run to me. We defend them, he said.

When the governors aide threatened Mr Anokwute, the association rallied behind the journalist. We issued a press release defending him. If we hadnt, I dont know what would have happened.

The group has documented several cases of police brutality against journalists and instances where reporters were barred from covering public events. Journalism in Imo is a herculean task, Mr Ugo said.

Arrests on repeat

Beyond harassment and lawsuits, arrests are frequent.

In July 2023, broadcaster Chinonso Uba, popularly known as Nonso Nkwa, was arrested after anchoring his morning programme on Ozisa FM, a privately owned radio station in Owerri, the capital of Imo State.

Mr Ubas arrest was based on allegations of cyberstalking, character defamation, and misinformation. Police claimed they had clips proving his offences.

An FCT high court later ordered his release after one month in detention.

They (Imo State Government) said I committed cybercrime against the governor (Gov Uzodinma) by saying that the governor brought in Ebubeagu in Imo to kill Imo people and youths, he told PREMIUM TIMES.

Ebubeagu is a security outfit created by the Imo State Government. But the outfit has repeatedly been accused of extrajudicial killings, torture, extortion and other crimes.

The case is still in court till now, Mr Uba told PREMIUM TIMES. The journalist later faced a fresh arrest in 2024, again on allegations of defamation.

On October 20, 2024, I was arrested again by the government of Imo State and taken to a magistrate court that works with the government, and the court remanded me in prison after charging me with treasonable felony, arson, terrorism and others, he said.

Mr Uba recalled that the charges against him followed his criticism of the alleged planned establishment of an Internally Displaced Persons Camp for people from northern Nigeria in the Nsu community in Ehime Mbano LGA.

I spent two months in prison before I was finally released by the court, he said, pointing out that the case later died because the charges could not be proved.

In mid-September, the journalist was invited by the police in Imo State after uploading a video clip on a Facebook page which showed police operatives were allegedly colluding with others to carry out illegal organ harvesting in the state.

I will be going to the police today with one or two victims of organ harvesting. I will meet with the Commissioner of Police today (22 September 2025), he said. From 2020 till date, we have had a very terrible suppression of freedom of expression and fundamental human rights of Imo people by the government of Hope Uzodinma.

Imo State officials continue to deny responsibility for these attacks.

But the verdict is clear for journalists working on the ground: in Imo, accountability journalism has become a perilous occupation.

Angela Nkwo-Okpolu, a journalist with Leadership Newspaper, practised journalism in Lagos State for years before relocating to Imo State in 2015.

Mrs Nkwo-Akpolu told PREMIUM TIMES that, unlike in Lagos, journalists in Imo State face heavy intimidation and suppression.

Well, in Lagos, you do your report, maybe you can only be lobbied to drop a report, unlike in Imo State, where it is outright intimidation (of journalists), she said.

The journalist said Imo government officials often refuse to respond to enquiries by reporters or, at best, ask you to contact the governor himself.

But it is a near impossibility, she said of having an audience with the governor.

She said there was access to information in Imo State before now, particularly during the administration of Rochas Olorocha, who governed the state from 2011 to 2019.

Access to government officials under the Okorocha administration was better. They could play pranks, but in the end, you would get what you wanted. But no intimidation or prosecution (of journalists), Mrs Nkwo-Akpolu recalled.

She suggested that press freedom in Imo State worsened under Mr Uzodinmas administration, which came on board on 14 January 2020 after the Supreme Court nullified the election of the then-Governor of the state, Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, besides Mr Uba and Mrs Nkwo-Akpolu, no journalist interviewed for this report participated in the CJID survey. This shows that more journalists in the state shared similar views as Mr Uba and Mrs Nkwo-Akpolu.

Attacks, arrests, lawsuits against journalists in Nigeria

Journalists continue to battle attacks, arrests and lawsuits in many parts of Nigeria for simply carrying out their constitutional duties of holding institutions and governments accountable.

The 2025 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) listed Nigeria as one of West Africas most dangerous and difficult countries for journalists.

Nigeria ranked 122nd out of 180 countries in the index. In 2024, the country ranked better in the press freedom index, emerging 112th out of 180 countries.

The RSF noted in the 2025 index that Nigerian journalists are regularly monitored, attacked and arbitrarily arrested.

According to a report by Media Rights Agenda (MRA), between May 2023 and May 2025, for instance, there were at least 141 incidents of attacks on journalists, media workers, and ordinary citizens for expressing their views on various issues, including governance, economic hardship, and the security situation in Nigeria.

The MRA earlier reported that between 1 January and 31 October 2024, there were 69 attacks, of which security agencies (police, military, intelligence) were responsible for 45, representing 65 per cent of the total attacks.

Some of the attacks against journalists, the group noted, occurred in the form of unlawful arrests and detention, physical assault, threats to life, raids on homes/offices, abduction, obstruction from reporting, harassment, and intimidation.

Similarly, a 2023 survey by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting found that within 12 months, 40 organisations, including media organisations, journalists, and civic advocates, faced frivolous lawsuits for reporting or advocating about issues of public concern.

The survey, with 141 respondents, further showed that some of these affected organisations received up to 10 lawsuits within one year, which often require the organisations or journalists to either reveal their source of information, retract a published report, or pay a damage fee running into millions of Naira.

One of the Nigerian laws often used to harass and prosecute journalists is the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention) Act.

First enacted in 2015, the Act was later amended in 2024 after heavy criticism for suppressing free speech and dissent, mainly through its vague sections like Section 24, which had been used against journalists and activists for online statements deemed false or insulting.

According to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 29 journalists had faced prosecution under the Act before its amendment.

The CPJ further observed that despite the amendments, journalists have continued to be targeted for publishing news in the public interest.

The group had earlier documented at least 24 journalists killed in Nigeria between 1992 and 2023, many of them in connection with their reporting.

Government response

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted Imos Information Commissioner, Declan Emelumba, he dismissed most accounts.

Mr Emelumba later demanded the names of the journalists and specific cases of harassment, arrest, and lawsuits against the journalists in the state, all of which were supplied to him.

Most of those are from local newspapers. You didnt speak to journalists from national newspapers with credibility, he said.

The commissioner did not respond directly when asked if he categorised the individuals as non-journalists because they do not work in national newspapers.

When provided with the name of a journalist working with a national newspaper, Mr Emelumba claimed that he was unaware of harassment, arrest, threat, or charges against the journalist and others in the state.

Even when provided with specific cases and the government officials involved, the commissioner argued that the officials might have had personal issues with the affected journalists and could not have been carrying out such assignments on behalf of the state government.

I dont know them, Mr Emelumba said when provided with the names of journalists who had suffered harassment, arrests, or litigation in the state.

When pressed on lawsuits filed by government officials, he responded:

If somebody believes he was defamed and goes to court, I dont think theres anything wrong with that. The court is the due process for settling issues.

Regarding lack of access to information, Mr Emelumba claimed state government officials make information available to only recognised and accredited journalists.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has opened an investigation into prominent Nigerian lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, following a damning judgment of a London property tribunal that linked him and others to a web of fraud and forged documents.

PREMIUM TIMES can report that the ICPC probe was triggered by a petition from Olanrewaju Suraj, head of the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA).

The petition referenced the British court judgement and accused Mr Ozekhome, his son Osilama, and several others of conspiring with corrupt Nigerian officials to procure fake national identity documents in a bid to fraudulently claim ownership of a North London house.

These findings reveal a grave conspiracy not only by senior and respected members of the Nigerian Bar but also by unknown Nigerian public officials who aided and abetted the fabrication of national documents, thereby undermining the integrity of Nigerias identification systems, the petition reads.

Such acts are squarely within the purview of the ICPC as they involve the abuse of public office, bribery, and corruption in the issuance of sensitive national identity instruments.

The ICPC has now summoned individuals named in the UK judgment to appear before the commission for questioning, sources at the commission told this newspaper.

When contacted, Mr Ozekhome said he was not aware that the commission was investigating him.

Claims of two owners

In his application at the UK tribunal, Mr Ozekhome relied on a man who presented himself as Tali Shani, a Nigerian businessman said to have owned the UK property since 1993.

The man produced a Nigerian passport, claimed to have bought the property at age 20 with money from family cattle businesses, and later transferred it to Mr Ozekhome out of gratitude for legal services.

In contrast, Ms Shani insisted she bought the house in her hey days and accused Mr Ozekhome of trying to seize it using impostors.

Ms Shani never appeared before the tribunal, despite multiple adjournments. In 2024, her lawyers filed medical letters claiming she was too ill to testify, and eventually reported that she had died in October 2024, attaching a death certificate from Nigeria.

Investigations later revealed that documents submitted by both Mr Ozekhome and Ms Shani  including identity cards, utility bills, and a National Identification Number  were forged.

The tribunal ruled that neither Mr Ozekhome nor the supposed woman named Ms Shani was the true owner of the property at 79 Randall Avenue.

The London judgment

On 11 September 2025, Judge Ewan Paton of the UK First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) struck out Mr Ozekhomes application to be registered as the owner of 79 Randall Avenue, Neasden.

Concluding that the entire case was built on forgery and deception, the tribunal struck out the claims, describing them as an abuse of judicial process.

The tribunal held that the property, registered in 1993 under the name Tali Shani, was in fact secretly purchased by the late General Jeremiah Useni, a powerful ally of Sani Abacha and former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

The court ruled that the case before it was built on a network of fraud, impersonation, and forged documents. It found that Mr Ozekhomes claim that the house was gifted to him in 2021 by one Mr Shani in gratitude for legal services worth N100 million was fabricated.

The judge described the lawyers defence, supported by his son, as a contrived story invented in an attempt to provide a plausible reason for the transfer.

The tribunal also uncovered fraudulent Nigerian identity records, including a passport, a National Identification Number (NIN), and a Tax Identification Number (TIN) allegedly generated with the connivance of corrupt officials at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the Immigration Service, and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

NIMC admitted in evidence that the NIN assigned to Ms Tali Shani was fraudulently created remotely from Monaco, using a forged photograph and bypassing biometric requirements.

The Nigerian Police also confirmed that the address used to back up the fraudulent phone bill was fictitious.

On the other hand, Judge Paton concluded that the supposed Ms Shani was never a real living person and that her documents were deliberately fabricated with the connivance of corrupt Nigerian officials.

The entire case was built on forgery and deception, the judge said, before ruling that the property remained part of Mr Usenis estate, now subject to probate.

Jerry Usenis Shadow

The tribunal ultimately traced the ownership of the London property back to the late Lieutenant General Jeremiah Useni, a powerful member of Mr Abachas regime.

Mr Useni, who died in January 2025 in France, admitted in testimony given via video link in 2024 that he purchased the house in 1993 but registered it in another name.

Documents before the tribunal confirmed that the acquisition was made under a false identity, Philips Bincan, a practice consistent with findings by the Royal Court of Jersey in a separate 2022 case that exposed Mr Usenis use of coded names like Tim Shani to conceal wealth.

The tribunal therefore ruled that since Mr Shani had no legal title, he could not have transferred the property to Mr Ozekhome.

Ownership of the property, the judge said, now rests with whoever secures probate over Mr Usenis English estate.

The petition to ICPC

In his petition, Mr Suraj urged the ICPC to prosecute Mr Ozekhome, his associates, and the unnamed Nigerian officials who allegedly facilitated the fake documents.

The group urged collaboration with UK authorities to retrieve evidence and for referral of the implicated lawyers to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC).

This case is emblematic of a wider malaise where corrupt officials and unscrupulous lawyers collude to manipulate public institutions, fabricate national documents, and perpetrate fraud both locally and internationally, the petition reads.

AGF opens probe

The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, on Monday confirmed that his office had also launched a review of the case.

Speaking at the opening of the Supreme Courts 2025/2026 legal year in Abuja, Mr Fagbemi described the London judgment as a matter that bears sadly on the integrity of the Nigerian legal profession.

It will be remiss of me not to bring such an egregious development to the attention of my lords, in the hope that it is addressed frontally, the AGF said, while calling on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN) to cooperate with his office.

NBA backs AGFs probe

The NBAs Anti-Corruption Committee, chaired by Babafemi Badejo, welcomed the AGFs intervention in a statement on Thursday.

It urged a full investigation into the alleged forgery of passports, NINs, and utility documents linked to the London case and demanded accountability for civil servants and lawyers involved.

Investigations should lead to the criminal prosecution of civil servants who connived with lawyers to tarnish the name of Nigeria, the committee said.

It also warned that the matter must not be swept under the rug once media attention fades, stressing that the credibility and sustainability of the legal sector in Nigeria are at stake.
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has said 16 officers are facing military justice for alleged indiscipline and breach of service regulations.

Director of Defence Information, Tukur Gusau, a brigadier general, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.

He did not however, listed their names.

Mr Gusau said investigations revealed that their grievances stemmed largely from perceived career stagnation caused by repeated failure in promotion examinations, among other issues.

He explained that some of the apprehended officers had been under jurisdiction for various offences, either awaiting or undergoing trial.

He further stated that their conduct was deemed incompatible with the standards of military service.

Mr Tukur said upon the completion of the investigation, those indicted would face full military disciplinary process in line with established procedures.

Upon completion of investigation indicted officers will face the full military disciplinary process in accordance with established procedures to ensure accountability and preserve professionalism within the Armed Forces, he said.

Below is the full statement:

PRESS STATEMENT

SIXTEEN OFFICERS TO FACE MILITARY JUSTICE FOR INDISCIPLINE, BREACHE OF SERVICE REGULATIONS

The Armed Forces of Nigeria wishes to inform the public that a routine military exercise has resulted in the arrest of sixteen officers over issues of indiscipline and breach of service regulations.

Investigations have revealed that their grievances stemmed largely from perceived career stagnation caused by repeated failure in promotion examinations, among other issues.

Some of the apprehended officers had been under jurisdiction for various offences, either awaiting or undergoing trial. Their conduct was deemed incompatible with the standards of military service.

Upon completion of investigation indicted officers will face the full military disciplinary process in accordance with established procedures to ensure accountability and preserve professionalism within the Armed Forces.

The Armed Forces wishes to assure the general public that these actions are strictly disciplinary in nature and part of routine efforts to maintain order, discipline, and loyalty within the ranks.

The Armed Forces will not tolerate behaviour that undermines the integrity of the institution or threatens its constitutional role under democratic authority. The Armed Forces of Nigeria remains fully committed to its constitutional responsibilities and will remain professional at all times.

Signed:

TUKUR GUSAU

Brigadier General

Director Defence Information

4 October 2025
The Lagos State Government has shut down the Itedo Market in Lekki indefinitely for repeated environmental violations and illegal roadside trading.

Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, announced the closure on Saturday in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

This morning, we took decisive action at Itedo Market, Lekki, which has now been shut down indefinitely due to repeated environmental violations and illegal roadside trading, Mr Wahab said.

Five individuals have been arrested for flouting state laws, and three Black Marias have been stationed at the location to deter further illegal activity and maintain order.

Lagos will not tolerate disregard for environmental regulations or unauthorised street trading. Our commitment to restoring sanity, ensuring public safety, and upholding the rule of law remains unwavering.

The move comes amid growing environmental and safety concerns across Lagos Island, where residents say poor sanitation and waste management have worsened.

A PREMIUM TIMES check recently found that Styrofoam litter, open manholes, and open defecation continue to plague major streets despite the states ban on single-use plastics, including takeaway packs, nylon bags, cups, bottles, and food wrappers.

In areas such as Broad Street, Itafaji, and Adeniji Adele, non-biodegradable waste clogs gutters and waterways, raising fears of flooding as the rainy season peaks.

On Tuesday, this newspaper observed residents along Ibraimoh-Igbo Street in Itafaji openly defecating and dumping food waste into shallow gutters.

The Lagos State Government began full enforcement of its single-use plastics ban in July, warning that shops or outlets caught selling or storing prohibited materials risk being sealed and prosecuted.

Mr Wahab had earlier said the policy was designed to curb pollution, reduce blocked drains, and promote sustainable packaging jobs.

frustration over poor sanitation and urban safety. Residents are urging the government to intensify enforcement of environmental laws, clear blocked drains, and urgently repair open manholes across the city.

PREMIUM TIMES reached out to both Mr Wahab and the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) for further comment. As of press time, neither office had responded.
President Bola Tinubus recent congratulatory message to Kresta Laurel Limited, a Lagos-based elevators and escalators distributor, has drawn attention to a possible breach of Nigerias Code of Conduct for Public Officers, following his reference to Gbenga Daniel as Chairman of the companys Board of Directors.

In a statement issued on Thursday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the president hailed Kresta Laurel as a leading indigenous elevator and escalator company with operations across Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

He congratulated the firms management and staff on its 35th anniversary, and praised Mr Daniel, a former Ogun State governor and current senator representing Ogun East, for his leadership role in the company.

The President congratulates Senator Gbenga Daniel, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kresta Laurel Limited and wishes the business more success and many remarkable anniversaries, the statement read.

But the presidents statement has drawn scrutiny because the Code of Conduct for Public Officers prescribed in the Nigerian constitution and the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, both prohibit public officers from managing or running private businesses while in office.

Paragraph 2(b) of the Fifth Schedule and Section 6(b) of the Act state that a public officer shall not engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade.

A public officer shall not, except where he is not employed on a full-time basis, engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade; but nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a public officer from engaging in farming, the Constitution states.

Serving senators are full-time public officers and are therefore barred from holding such positions.

If Mr Daniel still functions as Kresta Laurels board chairman, that would amount to a breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.

In a circular dated 10 June 2013, titled, Code of Conduct for Public Officers, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF) reminded all federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of the constitutional ban on public officers engaging in private practice.

The circular, signed by Tope Ajakaiye, Director of Communications, for the Head of Service, warned that civil servants undertaking private business ventures could be acting to the detriment of the services they were employed to render to the public.

It further stated that noncompliance would be regarded as misconduct under the public service rules.

The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has exclusive jurisdiction for the trial. Breach of the provision attracts sanctions listed under Paragraph 18(2) of the same Schedule, including removal from office and disqualification from holding public positions for up to ten years.

The punishment which the Code of Conduct Tribunal may impose shall include any of the following: (a) vacation of office or seat in any legislative house, as the case may be; (b) disqualification from holding any public office (whether elective or not) for a period not exceeding ten years; and (c) seizure and forfeiture to the State of any property acquired in abuse or corruption of office.

Mr Daniels camp defends his role

When contacted, Mr Daniels media aide, Steve Oliyide, dismissed suggestions that the lawmaker had breached the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.

He argued that Mr Daniel is not involved in the management or running of Kresta Laurel Limited. He insisted that the company is managed by a managing director and a team of executive directors who oversee daily operations.

A company that has a managing director (Engr. Dideolu Falobi) with several executive directors then what are their duties?

Apart from being the founding chairman , another person, Engr. Bayo Adeola had also served as the chairman of the company for about 10 years and his tenure expired yet the company is still running. Who is then managing or running the private company? He said.

While the role of a chairman of a board is generally understood to be strategic and supervisory, the law governing public officers in Nigeria casts a wider net. The Fifth Schedule, Part I, Paragraph 2(b) of the Nigerian constitution explicitly forbids public officers from engaging or participating in the management or running of any business, trade, or profession.

A typical chairman is tasked with providing governance, reviewing corporate strategy, and supervising executive management. Although the position does not involve handling routine operations, it nonetheless gives the individual authority to influence key corporate decisions.

It is precisely this influence, shaping direction, approving major policies, and guiding management, that may be interpreted as participating in the management of a company.

Legal experts give mixed opinions

A lawyer, Evans Ufeli, told PREMIUM TIMES that a sitting senator who remains chairman of a private companys board risks breaching the Code of Conduct for Public Officers under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution.

A board chairmanship can amount to participation even if it is not daily, because chairs normally exercise governance, policy and appointment powers, he said.

Mr Ufeli said defence can only hold if the senator can prove that the chairmanship is purely titular and that he exercises no management or decision-making influence.

The legal expert further noted that the Constitution also prohibits public officers from putting themselves in positions where their private interests conflict with official duties, a risk that may arise when a serving senator presides over a private companys board.

Tribunals over the years have treated non-executive or board roles as breaches when they involve governance or decision-making, while passive shareholding has been treated differently, Mr Ufeli said.

Possible consequences, Mr Ufeli added, include orders to resign or divest, forfeiture of related benefits, disqualification from holding public office, or other administrative or reputational penalties.

Another lawyer, Lekan Oladapo, took a similar stance. He dismissed the argument that the existence of a managing director absolves the senator.

The intent of the law is to checkmate public officers from abusing their office and avoiding conflicts of interest. The fact that the MD handles daily operations does not insulate a chairman who performs oversight functions, he said.

The former Nigerian Bar Association Secretary, Bwari Branch, Abuja, noted that the law seeks to checkmate public officers from exploiting their offices, and a board chairman, even in a non-executive capacity, still exercises oversight that could amount to participation.

He added that if the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) finds a breach, the penalties under Paragraph 18 include removal from office, a 10-year disqualification from public service, and forfeiture of any benefits obtained through the violation.

However, a third lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje, offered a contrasting view. He maintained that a senator who chairs a private companys board does not necessarily violate the Code, since he is not a direct employee of the company and not involved in the day-to-day management.

He said that most past CCT cases have focused on conflicts of interest, especially where public officials use private companies to secure contracts or channel constituency projects.

If the company where the senator sits as board chairman tenders for contracts with the Senate or benefits from public funds, that would clearly breach the Code, he said.

He added that in such instances, sanctions could include a ban from holding public office, fines, or forfeiture of assets.

While the Code of Conduct Tribunal and appellate courts have ruled on false asset declarations, and operating foreign accounts as in Saraki v. FRN (2018) and Onnoghen v. FRN (2019), none has addressed a public officers active role in a private company.

Supreme Court Justice Sylvester Ngwuta (now deceased) was once charged at the CCT with engaging in private business while in office, among other charges, but the case was struck out on jurisdictional grounds, leaving no precedent under Paragraph 2(b) of the Fifth Schedule.
Lithium is a crucial component for batteries, especially in electric vehicles (EVs). The global EV industry requires lithium, which is usually carried over long distances from extraction to battery cell production. The U.S. doesnt play a significant role in this. The country currently produces less than 1% of the global lithium supply.

Amidst this, Washington is set to buy an equity stake in Lithium Americas (LAC), a lithium mining company. The stake will be worth 5% of the company and will draw upon the previously issued $2.26 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which financed the construction of the processing facilities at Thacker Pass. The government will be taking a 5% stake in Thacker Pass as well.

More News from Barchart

Thacker Pass, located in northern Nevada, is one of the largest known lithium reserves in the world. The project commenced construction in 2023, with a target of achieving initial production by 2027. On the news of the White House seeking a stake, the companys stock almost doubled on Sept. 24.

As President Trumps administration bets big on Lithium Americas, can it touch new heights?

About Lithium Americas Stock

Lithium Americas, based in Vancouver, Canada, is a leading mining company specializing in the development of lithium resources. It is principally advancing the Thacker Pass lithium project in northern Nevada, which is the largest known lithium deposit in the U.S. The project aims to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate, a vital component for electric vehicle batteries and clean energy storage.

The companys goal is to establish a secure North American lithium supply chain that supports sustainable energy transitions through domestic production and manufacturing capabilities. Thacker Pass is poised to become a major player in the global lithium market by addressing critical supply needs. Lithium Americas has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion.

Over the past 52 weeks, LAC stock has gained 158%, while it is up by 125% year-to-date (YTD). The companys development of its Thacker Pass lithium project has been the primary growth driver, as Lithium Americas prepares to bring the project into operation. After the news that the White House was seeking an equity stake in the company came to light, the companys stock gained 95.8% intraday on Sept. 24.
President Bola Tinubu on Saturday declared that he has a mission to unite Nigerians and assured Christian Communities in Northern Nigeria of his administrations commitment to ensuring fairness among all religions in the country.

President Tinubu gave the assurance during his meeting with some Christian leaders at the headquarters of COCIN Church in Jos, Plateau State.

I have a mission to unite this country, ensure its prosperity, and we are making progress, the president said.

The president, while paying tribute to the mother of the APC National Chairman, Nana Yilwatda, who died at the age of 83, said,  In our family, we have a strong Muslim background, and I married a Christian, a pastor for that matter, and I have never forced her to change her religion.

He urged the clergymen to have faith in his administration. According to him, as leaders, we have the responsibility to manage religious issues for the benefit of all.

The president affirmed his administrations commitment to tackling insecurity in the country, especially in the fight against terrorism and banditry.

We are defeating bandits, and we will defeat them. We will deal with them and combat the farmers-herders clashes, the president said.

He stated that his administration is revamping the economy for the benefit of all Nigerians.

President Tinubu described the late Nana Yilwatda as a devoted mother during the funeral prayers.

The history behind this church is rooted in faith with deep acceptance in the Lord and tradition. I have been to Jos before. When we were coming here, Governor Caleb Muftwang showed me one of the bungalows, the house of Ambassador Yahaya Kwande. During the SDP days, we met there to decide the fate of MKO Abiola.

Today, I am grateful that I am alive and to God be the glory to be the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and to come here to bid farewell to the mother of the community, and a humanitarian.

The chief mourner and APC National Chairman, Nantawe Yilwatda, said his mother was a hard-working woman who lived on medication for 47 years.

I am here to thank God for her life. My mother worked for twenty-four hours despite her health condition, supporting us and providing humanitarian assistance.

He thanked President Tinubu for his emergence as APC chairman and promised to keep the trust.

Reverend Amos Mohzo, President and Spiritual leader of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), who spoke on behalf of the clergymen, thanked the president for his support of Northern Christians, especially by appointing them to key positions, such as George Akume, who holds the post of Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and Nantawe Yilwatda, who is the national chairman of APC, among others.

The COCIN president particularly thanked the president for his response to the insecurity in Plateau and Benue and urged the president to assist victims of conflict in Benue, as well as ensure the safe return of some Christian communities who fled Borno and Adamawa to Cameroun as a result of insurgent attacks.

Mr Mohzo assured the president of their unflinching support in his administrations determination to actualise the Renewed Hope Agenda.

The funeral prayer was attended by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Chairman, Nigerian Governors Forum, AbdulRazaq Abdulrahman, APC Governors, NSANuhu Ribadu, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, Minister of Youth Development Ayodele Olawande, Minister of State (Petroleum) Heinekin Lokpobiri, Minister of Regional Development Abubakar Momoh, and Special Duties Minister Zephaniah Jisalo.

Also present were the SGF, George Akume, and his predecessor, Boss Mustapha, as well as former governors Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa, Adamu Muazu of Bauchi, Fidelis Tapgun of Plateau, Yahaya Bello of Kogi, and Rochas Okorocha of Imo.

Members of the APC National Working Committee, senators, members of the House of Representatives, former House Speaker Yakubu Dogara, and directors from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs also attended the funeral.

Bayo Onanuga,

Special Adviser to the President

(Information And Strategy)

October 4, 2025
Medical experts have called on Nigerian men to embrace vasectomy and other safe and effective contraceptive options.

The experts said that this would help to promote Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) and family planning, and protect against Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).

They gave this advice at the Hangout 2.0 organised by Marie Stopes International (MSI) Reproductive Choices, an NGO on Saturday in Abuja.

Joseph Adewale, an Obstetrics and Gynaecologist, who spoke on myths and misconceptions around contraceptives, stressed the need for male involvement in family planning.

Mr Adewale said that men had left the responsibility of contraception to women for too long despite the availability of safe and simple procedures designed for them.

There is a lot of myth, misconception and misinformation around contraceptives as well as other reproductive health services.

Men have been shying away from this for a long time and pushing all the responsibility on women. However, male involvement is the new charge that we have, he said.

According to him, vasectomy offers men a reliable alternative to condoms and other methods of contraception.

Vasectomy does not affect your sexuality, in fact, it increases libido and virility, allowing you to enjoy intimacy with your partner without the fear of unplanned pregnancies, he said.

He said that the procedure did not affect the male reproductive system but only prevents the release of sperm during ejaculation.

It is painless, lasts about 15 to 20 minutes, and you are out of there. It is a very easy procedure, he said.

Mr Adewale encouraged more awareness and education on male contraceptive options, stressing that shared responsibility between men and women was key to effective family planning and population control.

Kingsley Odogwu, Director Clinical Services, MSI Reproductive Choices, said that the event was aimed at creating more awareness, especially amongst young people, on adopting healthy lifestyle and SRH

He said that the organisation would be conducting free screening and examination on STI, hepatitis, cervical cancer, and pregnancy planning, among others to promote the health of the public.

We want to increase awareness, bringing to the fore the common problems that young girls and women, including men, face as relates their sexual and reproductive health.

Some of these ailments can be existing without you necessarily knowing, and it is only through screening that you are able to get them, he said.

He emphasised the need for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), vulnerable groups and other marginalised persons to have access to SRH services for their overall well-being, quality of life, and sustainable development.

Also Esther Hindi, National Coordinator, Association of Women Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (ASWHAN), emphasised the need for consistent SRH awareness, especially among young people.

Ms Hindi was represented by Halima Abdullahi.

She said that the sensitisation exercise would teach the public, especially youths, on protecting themselves against STI, unplanned pregnancies and adopting healthy lifestyle.

Khadija Ibrahim, a participant at the event, commended the organisation for the initiative, which she said had empowered her on right choices to make when she gets married.

Also, Ola Matthew, another participant described the engagement as an eye opener on SRH and necessary steps to prevent contracting STI or unplanned pregnancy.

Other highlights of the events were sensitisation on SRH, health check and screening, question and answer session, distribution of family planning kits, gift items, games and aerobics.

(NAN)
The police in Akwa Ibom State have withdrawn their operatives from the residences of the former governor of Akwa Ibom, Udom Emmanuel, as the rift between him and his successor, Umo Eno, has continued to widen since the latter defected from the PDP to the APC in June.

An order dated 30 September, signed by Ekwo Godwin, an assistant superintendent of police, on behalf of the chief security officer at the Government House, Uyo, directed the operatives attached to Mr Emmanuels residences in the state to withdraw from their locations on 1 October and report at the police headquarters, Uyo, for debriefing.

PREMIUM TIMES has seen a copy of the order marked as Order 472.

This newspaper learnt that the withdrawn operatives were also attached to former state officials who refused to defect to the APC.

When our reporter visited on Thursday and Friday, no police operatives were found around Mr Emmanuels residences at his country home, Awa Iman, Onna Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, and at Ewet Housing Estate, Uyo.

When our reporter contacted him on Thursday, the Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom, Baba Azare, denied that operatives had been withdrawn from the former governors residences.

The Commissioner for Information in Akwa Ibom, Aniekan Umanah, told our reporter on Thursday that he was unaware of the development.

I am not aware of that. You can ask the security people. I am not aware, he said, adding that the order cant be from the state government.

PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately reach the former governor, Mr Emmanuel, for his comment.

It has been a tradition for the Akwa Ibom State Government to request a number of operatives from police authorities, which the government distributes to serving and former state officials. The request and distribution are handled by the chief security officer at the Government House, Uyo, with the governors authorisation.

A feud that could alter Akwa Iboms political equation

What began as a discreetly managed political disagreement between Mr Eno and his predecessor, following the governors defection to the APC, has now spilt into the open, exposing a feud that could alter Akwa Iboms political equation.

Since June, when Mr Eno ended the PDPs 25-year dominance in the state with his defection to the APC, his relationship with Mr Emmanuel, whom he referred to as his political godfather, has been strained, though both have tried to downplay the rift.

Political tension in the state is growing more intense by the day as Mr Emmanuel, now an opposition leader, quietly works to regain control of the PDP structure from his successor.

Mr Eno had vowed to retain control of the PDP structure in the oil-rich state to prevent his political enemies from using it against him.

As a matter of fact, contrary to some insinuations, I want to run both parties (APC and PDP)? Far from it. And what is wrong with being interested? We would not leave the PDP for thieves to hijack and use it against us.

If anybody thinks we are going to do that, they have something coming. We will lead the structure of the party (PDP) so that they can work together (with APC). So that people dont come from outside and think that Mr Eno has moved, let me come and hijack the party. Let the structure of the party remain. They have done their congresses. Thats my position, Mr Eno said in May in a leaked video, which led to the eviction of Channels Television reporters from the Government House, Uyo.

A few days ago, the PDP National Working Committee dissolved the partys state executive council in Akwa Ibom and constituted a caretaker committee to run party affairs, apparently to prevent Governor Eno from further controlling the party.

Although Mr Eno has repeatedly vowed never to fight his predecessor, the cracks widen as the 2027 elections approach.

Ndianaabasi Udom, an aide to Governor Eno, resigned from his appointment with the Akwa Ibom State Rural Access Roads Agency on 30 September to join the newly constituted PDP caretaker committee in the state, causing panic across the APC-led government.

Two days later, the governor announced the dissolution of statutory and non-statutory boards and commissions in the state. Hours later, several of Mr Enos aides and some politicians took to Facebook to pledge their loyalty to the governor and the APC.

Akwa Ibom is an APC state, Mr Eno told a crowd of supporters who came out to receive him at the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo, on Friday.

You must say this loud and clear, you must be proud to belong to the centre, you must be proud to receive the support of the centre. So, now, it is time for you to show and to wear our badge of honour very proudly  that you are an APC member.
Abusafiah Ramzy Ibrahim, a Nigerian-Palestinian who has lived peacefully in the country for 35 years, was abducted from his Abuja home on 22 August. The suit-wearing, shadowy Nigerian security agency, with diplomacy as camouflage, was accused of the act. Nothing was heard of Ramzy; he seemed simply to have disappeared from the earths surface. But for the fact that he is a leader of the Palestinian community in Nigeria, it seemed he never existed.

It was his Palestinian origins that established a link between his disappearance and the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Also, ten days earlier, the Tinubu administration had laid out the red carpet for an Israeli delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel. Both sides had discussed security, terrorism and intelligence sharing. Even as Israel massacred children and imposed starvation on hapless human beings in Gaza, the Nigerian delegation celebrated Israeli heroism.

However, as Ramzy wasted away in some Nigerian dungeon, events in Palestine and around the world, decisively swung against Israel. A record eleven Western countries, including traditional allies like the United Kingdom, France and Australia in September 2025, recognised the Palestinian State. They joined five others, including Spain , Norway and Ireland which had done same in 2024.

Israel, within months had become such a pariah state that when on 26 September its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu climbed the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA, stage to address the world body at its 80th Anniversary, the hall emptied as decent humanity did not want to listen to a man wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. Even United States President Donald Trump said to be a staunch ally of Israel, treated Netanyahu like a rabid dog when both met on Monday, 29 September.

He sternly warned Netanyahu and Israel never again to attack Qatar, the peacemaker of the Middle East. Trump was visibly angry that the same day, he signed an executive order stating that: The United States shall regard any armed attack on the territory, sovereignty, or critical infrastructure of the State of Qatar as a threat to the peace and security of the United States. In the event of such an attack, the United States shall take all lawful and appropriate measures  including diplomatic, economic and, if necessary, military  to defend the interests of the United States and of the State of Qatar and to restore peace and stability.

These events seemed so overwhelming that the Tinubu administration set Ramzy free. Meanwhile, Nigerias international image was in tatters, making its best known diplomat and former Foreign Affairs Minister, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, though not part of the official delegation, to run around the 80th UNGA trying to cover our countrys shame. He spoke up for Nigeria and Africa at various fora and granted press interviews on Nigerias glorious diplomatic traditions.

At the UNGA @80 Pact Innovation Forum on 23 September, Gambari, former UN Special Envoy on Myanmar, Zimbabawe and Cyprus, appealed for urgent funds to be channelled to the UN so that 20 percent of its staff will not be sent home, and its major humanitarian agencies like the World Food and Refugee programmes would not be subjected to damaging budget cuts.

As Trump met Netanyahu at the White House this Monday, he unveiled his 20-point peace plan for Gaza. These include the deradicalisation of Gaza, to make it terror-free. This assumes that Israels genocide is not part of the terror structure.

Also, Gaza is to be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza. The peace proposal emphasises that: No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return. We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza. This, of course, is welcome as it is a radical departure from the old Trumpian idea to relocate Gazans and turn the territory into some estate project.

There is also to be an immediate ceasefire, which means the genocide will stop.

The proposals also provide that 72 hours after Israel publicly accepts the agreement, all hostages, alive and dead, will be returned.

In turn: Israel will release 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1,700 Gazans who were detained after 7 October 2023, including all women and children detained in that context.

Also, there is a proposal for full aid to be allowed into Gaza and, willing Hamas members to be decommissioned with those who wish to leave Gaza, provided safe passage.

There is the controversial proposal that Gaza will no longer be governed by Palestinians, but by a temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza.

Most controversial of all is that this Board of Peace, will be headed and chaired, wait for it, by President Donald J Trump! Technically, the new Gaza Head of State will be the United States President which means, simultaneously, he would preside over two countries.

In another controversial proposal, former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair will be part of Trumps proposed leadership in Gaza. Recall that the same Blair had lied that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and had on that false basis, engineered an international invasion of that country in which over one million people were killed. So, can Blair who ordinarily qualifies for a war criminal be trusted with such a job? But if this is what will stop the on-going genocide in Gaza, there might be no time talking about Blairs past. An African proverb says even a bad child has his own day.

There is also a proposal for a Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energise Gaza. Equally, there is a proposal to establish an International Stabilisation Force, ISF, which will train and support vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza. This proposed force is to secure border areas, alongside newly trained Palestinian police forces.

Under these proposals, Israel will neither occupy nor annex Gaza. Rather, it will withdraw its forces based on standards, milestones and timeframes linked to demilitarisation.

In stating the ultimate goals of the proposals, Trump said: While Gaza re-development advances and when the PA reform programme is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognise as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.

While Trump says his outlined proposals will be pursued even if Hamas delays or rejects them, he is silent in case Israel delays or rejects them. Sometimes, peace even if it comes in pieces might be preferable to no peace at all.

Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author.
Over the years, cryptocurrency trading has increased significantly, with digital assets becoming an integral part of the financial infrastructure in many countries worldwide.

Factors such as this assets decentralized nature, smooth transactions, flexibility, and high returns have contributed to its growth. The emergence of automated trading platforms has made trading even easier by eliminating human biases and ensuring accurate signals and insights.

Visit CalvenRidge Trust  Official Website

Currently, the trading platform that has become a topic of discussion in the crypto space is CalvenRidge Trust. The system claims to ease the whole trading process and support the needs of both experts and beginners alike. This CalvenRidge Trust review has been

penned to provide crucial information about the platform so that you can decide whether to use it to level up your trading experience.

CalvenRidge Trust Overview

What is CalvenRidge Trust?

CalvenRidge Trust is a web-based trading system designed using the latest technologies like artificial intelligence and sophisticated algorithms to simplify various tasks in trading and help earn consistent profits. The platform conducts in-depth market analysis to gather valuable data like trends and patterns and provide accurate alerts and insights. The founders state that this system eliminates human biases.

The trading platform comes with many unique features and functionalities, such as an intuitive interface, a demo or practice account, additional tools and resources, strict safety measures, round-the-clock customer support, secure banking methods, portfolio diversification, and more.

Click Here To Try CalvenRidge Trust Free

How CalvenRidge Trusts Algorithmic Strategy Works?

The trading platform works using the latest AI-based algorithmic technology to perform real-time trading. The system navigates the vast crypto market to gather valuable data like price movements, compare current and past price data of assets, gain clarity about the latest updates, identify emerging trends and patterns, and so on. With this, the trading platform spots lucrative opportunities in the market and forms trade signals and

insights to help make the right trading decisions.

In addition to this, CalvenRidge Trust examines the risks involved in trading and takes the necessary measures to prevent losses and safeguard investments. The system partners with trusted brokers in the industry who offer support during all phases of trading, especially emergencies like sudden price drops. Then, the trading platform offers risk management tools to help manage risks effectively.

Is CalvenRidge Trust Legit or a Scam?

From the available data, the CalvenRidge Trust crypto trading platform seems legitimate. The system uses the latest technologies, like artificial intelligence and sophisticated algorithms, to perform detailed market analysis and provide precise trade signals and insights. It connects traders with trusted brokers in the industry who ensure guidance at every step of the trading process. Then, the platform follows a simple and secure signup process that can be completed in a few minutes.

When it comes to safety and security, the system supports secure banking methods and follows strict safety measures, like encryption technology and authentication functions. It ensures quality customer support through different channels and in different languages.

So far, it has received positive feedback from traders and investors. Taking all these into account, CalvenRidge Trust seems genuine and reliable.

Try CalvenRidge Trust Free

CalvenRidge Trust Security & Data Protection Measures

The CalvenRidge Trust crypto trading platform prioritizes the safety and security of traders and investors in various ways. It connects users with CySec-regulated brokers in the industry who ensure support throughout the trading process. The system follows several strict safety measures and protocols, such as the latest encryption technology, authentication functions, regular audits, etc. So, users can perform live trading without any worries.

Account Setup Process

The account setup process on the CalvenRidge Trust trading system is simple and

involves the following steps:

 Step 1- Account Registration

The first important step in the process is account registration. Submit details like

your name, email address, phone number, and place of residence, and validate

the confirmation email.

 Step 2- Deposit Funds

Now, you can proceed to deposit an amount into your trading account that the

platform can use to initiate real-time trading. The minimum deposit required is

$250.

 Step 3- Initiate Live Trading

Once the fund deposition is successful, you can customize the CalvenRidge

Trust trading system as per your trading needs, risk tolerance levels, and market

conditions. It is based on these requirements that the platform performs real-time

trading.

Register Demo Free  CalvenRidge Trust

Deposit, Withdrawal & Fee Structure

The CalvenRidge Trust online trading system integrates secure deposit and withdrawal methods to ensure smooth transactions. The available payment options include debit/credit cards, e-wallets, and local bank transfers. So, traders can choose any method convenient for them. The platform does not demand any fees or commissions for depositing or withdrawing funds. Also, the payouts are processed within 24 hours

without any delay.

Trading Performance: Backtests & Live Results

This crypto trading software supports profitable trading by offering several unique features and functionalities like backtesting and evaluation. With this, the platform tests strategies on historical data to gain clarity about their efficiency. Based on this, it

improves the strategies if necessary, so that they can be deployed in live trading to boost results. In this way, CalvenRidge Trust guarantees significant profits in all market conditions.

Supported Assets: Cryptocurrencies, Tokens & Beyond

The CalvenRidge Trust trading platform allows investing in all major cryptocurrencies and other valuable assets, such as stocks, forex pairs, shares, futures, commodities, bonds, derivatives, and more. So, traders can explore various markets, expand their portfolios, tackle risks, and increase their profits. The list below consists of some of the major crypto assets that can be traded through the platform:

 Dogecoin (DOGE)

 Bitcoin (BTC)

 USD Coin (USDC)

 Litecoin (LTC)

 ChainLink (LINK)

 Ethereum (ETH)

 Uniswap (UNI)

 TRON (TRX)

 Cardano (ADA)

 Solana (SOL)

 BitcoinCash (BCH)

 Ripple (XRP)

Platform Usability: Web, Mobile & API Access

CalvenRidge Trust is a web-based crypto trading platform that can be easily accessed on any device with a stable internet connection and a web browser. So, it can be used to conduct live trading on mobile devices, desktops, laptops, and tablets. This means that traders can manage and monitor trading activities from anywhere at any time.

Try CalvenRidge Trust Platform Now

Regulation, Licensing & Global Availability

At the moment, the CalvenRidge Trust online trading platform is available in almost all regions across the globe where crypto trading and related activities are allowed. Some of the important places are included in the following list:

 United Kingdom

 Thailand

 Switzerland

 Slovenia

 Vietnam

 Sweden

 Japan

 United States

 Hong Kong

 Canada

 South Africa

 Poland

 Slovakia

 Finland

 Spain

 Brazil

 Norway

 Belgium

 Australia

 Mexico

 Singapore

 Netherlands

 Chile

 Malaysia

 Denmark

 Taiwan

 Germany

For the complete list of regions, you can access the official website of CalvenRidge

Trust.

Customer Support & Educational Resources

The trading system has a responsive customer support team that is available 24/7 to address the concerns of traders and investors. In addition to this support, CalvenRidge

Trust offers several educational resources, such as tutorials, guides, and webinars, so that users can improve their trading knowledge.

User Feedback: Ratings, Testimonials & Community Insights

The user reviews of the CalvenRidge Trust platform have been positive till now, with many traders and investors commenting that it is simple to use, connects with trusted brokers, offers extra tools and resources, guarantees 24/7 customer support, ensures safety and security, and so on. They have rated the platform a 4.7/5, indicating that it is safe and efficient.

Expert Analysis: Pros, Cons & Warning Signs

Crypto experts have examined the performance of the CalvenRidge Trust system and

observed the following positives and negatives:

Pros

 Simple to set up and use

 Suitable for all types of traders

 Accessible on all devices

 Use of the latest technologies

 Round-the-clock customer support

 Extra tools and resources

 Live market analysis

 Accurate alerts and insights

 Strict safety measures and protocols

 Secure banking methods

 Partnership with regulated brokers

 A wide range of assets

 Demo or practice mode

Cons

 Currently, the CalvenRidge Trust bot is not accessible in some countries like

Iran, Israel, and Cyprus, where local laws are against crypto-related activities.

Final Verdict: Is CalvenRidge Trust Worth It?

Taking all the available data into account, the CalvenRidge Trust crypto trading system seems genuine. The platform uses advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and algorithms for detailed market analysis, data collection, and signal generation. It partners with trusted brokers in the industry who ensure support at every stage of the trading process. The responses from traders have been positive till now, and they have rated the platform a 4.7/5.

As per the CalvenRidge Trust reviews, the platform is suitable for both experts and beginners. It offers several unique features and functionalities, such as an intuitive interface, a demo or practice account, extra tools and resources, customizable settings, 24/7 customer support, secure banking options, strict safety measures and protocols,and more.

Right now, CalvenRidge Trust is affordable with no additional fees or commissions, and the chance to begin live trading with a small investment of $250. It is easily accessible on all devices, including mobile phones with internet access and a web browser. From all these, this trading platform appears legitimate and worth a shot.

Start Trading On CalvenRidge Trust Free

CalvenRidge Trust FAQs: Common Trader Questions

Is CalvenRidge Trust suitable for all types of traders?

CalvenRidge Trust seems suitable for all types of traders, including beginners, because it integrates several beginner-friendly features, such as an intuitive interface, a demoaccount, etc.

What about the registration cost for CalvenRidge Trust?

The trading platform demands zero registration fees from traders and investors.

Can CalvenRidge Trust be used on mobile devices?

Since CalvenRidge Trust is a web-based trading platform, it can be used on any device,including mobile phones with internet access and a web browser.

How fast does CalvenRidge Trust process withdrawals?

CalvenRidge Trust processes payouts within 24 hours without any delay.

Does CalvenRidge Trust have a dedicated customer service team?

Yes. CalvenRidge Trust has a dedicated customer service team that is available 24/7 to solve the doubts and concerns of traders.
NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until October 28, 2025 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW), if they purchased the Company's securities between January 30, 2025 and July 23, 2025, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Get Help

Dow investors should visit us at https://claimsfiler.com/cases/nyse-dow-1/ or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options.

About the Lawsuit

Dow and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On July 24, 2025, the Company disclosed a 2Q 2025 non-GAAP loss per share of $0.42, much larger than the approximate $0.17 to $0.18 per share loss expected by analysts, and net sales of $10.1 billion, representing a 7.3% year-over-year decline and missing consensus estimates by $130 million, "reflecting declines in all operating segments" due in part to "the lower-for-longer earnings environment that our industry is facing, amplified by recent trade and tariff uncertainties." Further, the Company disclosed that it was cutting its dividend in half, from $0.70 per share to only $0.35 per share, citing the need for "financial flexibility amidst a persistently challenging macroeconomic environment."

On this news, the price of Dow's shares fell $5.30 per share, or 17.45%, to close at $25.07 per share on July 24, 2025.

The case is Sarti v. Dow Inc., No. 25-cv-12744.

About ClaimsFiler

ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations.

To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com.

SOURCE ClaimsFiler
This Route Marks The U.S. Debut of EVA Air's New Premium Economy Product

DALLAS, Oct. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- EVA Air celebrated the launch of its new Dallas-Fort Worth to Taipei route with a special inaugural ceremony held at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The event was co-hosted by EVA Air President Clay Sun, Ambassador Alexander Tah-Ray Yui of Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer Mr. Ken Buchanan. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Vice President of Airline Relations and Cargo Business Development, Mr. Milton De La Paz, Mayor Pro Tem of Fort Worth Carlos Flores, and other distinguished guests are also invited to joined the ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the launch.

EVA Airs President Mr. Clay Sun celebrating the Dallas-Forth Worth to Taipei inaugural flight with guests. From left to right: Fort Worth Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Flores. Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States, Ambassador Alexander Tah-Ray YUI, EVA AIR President Clay Sun, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Executive Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer Mr. Ken Buchanan, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Vice President of Airline Relations, Mr. Milton De La Paz.

"EVA Air's new route builds on nearly 30 years of partnership with Dallas-Fort Worth, which began with our cargo operations," said EVA Air President Clay Sun in the ceremony. "Since 1998, we have proudly operated cargo flights between DallasFort Worth and Taipei, supporting trade, supply chain resilience, and economic opportunity. Those years of experience and partnership have laid the foundation for what we now inauguratea direct, reliable, and convenient service for our passengers."

"Our new route will begin with three weekly flights, increase to five in mid-November, and reach daily service by the end of this year. When that happens, EVA Air will serve nine passenger gateways with 94 weekly flights between Taiwan and North Americamore than any other Taiwanese carrier. Passengers arriving in Taipei on a morning BR49 flight from the U.S., as well as other North American flights, can effortlessly connect to more than 450 weekly EVA Air flights throughout Asia without undergoing additional security screening."

To celebrate the launch of the DFW-TPE route, EVA Air organized a special evening at the gate with interactive activities and exclusive experiences. Guests who joined the festivities had the chance to win limited-edition EVA Air prizes. Additionally, all travelers on the inaugural flight received special gifts prepared by EVA Air to mark this significant milestone.

Highlights of comments made during the ceremony:

"One of the largest economic impacts that exists in this market is adding new air service like a route from DFW to Taipei," said DFW's Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, Mr. Ken Buchanan.

"In 35 years, there is nothing that beats seeing an inaugural flight landing in the city that you serve; you can't be any prouder," said Ambassador Alexander Yui of Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States.

"This region is special because it is dynamic, we are a central hub not just of commerce but of culture and tourism," said Mayor Pro Tem of Fort Worth, Carlos Flores.

The DFW-TPE route is operated with the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, featuring EVA Air's latest fourth-generation Premium Economy Class, making its U.S. debut. Premium Economy passengers will enjoy two stylish new colored amenity kits created in partnership with HUNTER. Royal Laurel Passengers will experience the brand-new Royal Laurel Class amenity kits, sleepwear, and slippers in collaboration with Maison Kitsune. These enhancements reflect EVA Air's ongoing commitment to providing passengers with a more comfortable and enjoyable journey.

Dallas is one of Texas's fastest-growing cities. In recent years, the growth of the Asian American community and the relocation of major U.S. corporate headquarters have fueled strong economic and population growth, positioning Dallas as a rising global hub for technology and manufacturing. Many Taiwanese electronics companies have also established facilities and investments in the region. With the launch of the new DFWTPE route, EVA Air aims to provide an exceptional travel experience for both business and leisure travelers connecting Dallas-Fort Worth to Asia.

Having cultivated the North American market for over 30 years, EVA Air has been dedicated to delivering comfortable and innovative travel experiences. This dedication was recognized when EVA AIR was honored with SKYTRAX's prestigious 5-Star Airline for 10 consecutive years earlier this year. With today's inaugural DFWTPE flight, EVA Air expands its nonstop North AmericaTaiwan network to nine passenger destinations: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Houston, Chicago, Vancouver, Toronto, and now Dallas. Offering diverse routes and frequent schedules, EVA Air continues to connect travelers across North America, Taiwan, and Asia with ease and excellence.

EVA Air DFW-TPE Flight Schedule

 2025/10/3~2025/11/17

Route Flight No. Frequency Departure (Local Time) Arrival (Local Time) DFW-TPE BR49 3, 5, 7 22:50 04:05+2 TPE-DFW BR50 3, 5, 7 19:10 19:40

 2025/11/18~2025/12/14

Route Flight No. Frequency Departure (Local Time) Arrival (Local Time) DFW-TPE BR49 2,3,5,6,7 22:50 05:25+2 TPE-DFW BR50 2,3,5,6,7 19:45 19:05

 2025/12/15~

Route Flight No. Frequency Departure (Local Time) Arrival (Local Time) DFW-TPE BR49 Daily 22:50 05:25+2 TPE-DFW BR50 Daily 19:45 19:05

 Remarks: Please refer to the official EVA Air website for detailed flight information.

About EVA Air:

A Star Alliance member, EVA Air was founded in 1989 as Taiwan's first privately owned international airline. It is an affiliated company of global container-shipping leader Evergreen Line. It flies a fleet of more than 80 Boeing and Airbus aircraft to around 60 international destinations throughout Asia, Oceania, Europe, and North America. Travelers can learn more about EVA and schedules, book, and buy tickets at www.evaair.com.

SOURCE EVA Airways Corporation
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Child: Travel & Purpose, the internationally acclaimed travel series hosted by Augusto Valverde, announces the release of its highly anticipated episode Qatar: The Mission of Vision. This inspiring journey, filmed in collaboration with Visit Qatar and Qatar Media City, showcases the country's rich culture, forward-thinking vision, and unique purpose-driven experiences  reminding us that we have so much more in common as humans than what separates us.

Global Child Qatar "The Mission of Vision" now streaming (Tubi/Rakuten) is a Worldwide success passing 45M impressions! Post this Global Child Qatar "The Mission of Vision"

In the episode, Augusto Valverde, founder and host of Global Child, is joined by Agatha Levi, a Danish psychologist and actress, as they embark on an unforgettable exploration of Doha. Together, they explore how our perspective can expand and change as we travel with open minds and hearts. This stunning episode also features local charities, Arabic culture, and even a collaboration with Cornell University & Dr. Kuei-Chiu Chen around mangrove protection, highlighting Qatar's commitment to sustainability and community impact.

"Qatar is a nation that embodies vision, progress, and hospitality. We wanted to highlight not only its world-class attractions but also its commitment to meaningful growth and purpose. The truth is that humans have so much more in common than what separates us, and Qatar showed us their extraordinary hospitality and generosity. It is our honor to share that with the world," said Augusto Valverde.

A World Wide Success

Since its release, Global Child Qatar: The Mission of Vision has already begun distribution across major streaming platforms including Tubi, PlutoTV, and FoxOne in the U.S., Rakuten TV in the UK/EU, and on ReachTV, which programs content across all major U.S. airport screens. The episode has surpassed 45 million impressions in less than four months  representing over $1.5 million USD in verified media exposure.

Adding to its global impact, the episode's iconic poster was featured on Rakuten TV's main home screen for 30 consecutive days, as part of a broad campaign reaching audiences across the EU and UK.

Supported by Qatar Media City, one of the region's premier production hubs, the episode also highlights Qatar's emergence as a global leader in media, tourism, and international partnerships.

"Being part of this journey allowed me to connect with the heart of Qatar beyond its beauty  its vision for a purposeful future; I felt at home, safe and inspired" shared Agatha Levi.

What's Next for Global Child?

Following the success of Qatar: The Mission of Vision, Global Child continues to expand its mission of blending travel, culture, and purpose having surpassed 650 Million combined impressions ($15M+ USD of media exposure) over the last year and a half.

Upcoming projects include:

Filming with world-renowned artist Andrea Bocelli in Tuscany, capturing music, culture, and inspiration in the heart of Italy.





The first-ever Global Child Summit hosted by Augusto Valverde at The Aerial, British Virgin Islands, bringing together thought leaders, changemakers, and celebrity guests for a purpose-driven gathering.





Episodes in Peru, Aspen, Morocco and more!

About Global Child

Global Child: Travel & Purpose is a purpose-driven travel series hosted by Augusto Valverde, featuring authentic adventures across 34+ destinations. With distribution across FOX's Tubi, PlutoTV, Rakuten, ReachTV, Vizio, Peacock and more, Global Child inspires audiences worldwide to discover the world through the lens of purpose, adventure, and giving back.

SOURCE Global Child
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP announces that purchasers of KinderCare Learning Companies, Inc. (NYSE: KLC) common stock in or traceable to KinderCare's October 2024 initial public offering (the "IPO"), have until Monday, October 13, 2025 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the KinderCare class action lawsuit. Captioned Gollapalli v. KinderCare Learning Companies, Inc., No. 25-cv-01424 (D. Or.), the KinderCare class action lawsuit charges KinderCare and certain of KinderCare's executives and directors, KinderCare's controlling shareholder, as well as the underwriters of the IPO with violations of the Securities Act of 1933.

If you suffered substantial losses and wish to serve as lead plaintiff of the KinderCare class action lawsuit, please provide your information here:

https://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases-kindercare-learning-companies-inc-class-action-lawsuit-klc.html

You can also contact attorneys J.C. Sanchez or Jennifer N. Caringal of Robbins Geller by calling 800/449-4900 or via e-mail at [email protected].

CASE ALLEGATIONS: KinderCare provides early education and child care services in the United States. In the IPO, KinderCare sold over 27 million shares of common stock to investors at $24 per share, raising $648 million in gross offering proceeds.

The KinderCare class action lawsuit alleges that the registration statement for the IPO was false and/or misleading and/or failed to disclose that: (i) numerous incidents of child abuse, neglect, and harm had occurred at KinderCare facilities; (ii) KinderCare did not provide the "highest quality care possible" at its facilities, and, indeed, in numerous instances had failed to provide even basic care, meet minimum standards in the child care industry, or comply with the laws and regulations governing the care of children; and (iii) as a result, KinderCare was exposed to a material, undisclosed risk of lawsuits, adverse regulatory action, negative publicity, reputational damage, and business loss.

Since the IPO, the price of KinderCare stock fell to lows near $9 per share.

The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions including actions involving financial fraud. You can view a copy of the complaint by clicking here.

THE LEAD PLAINTIFF PROCESS: The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased KinderCare common stock in or traceable to the IPO to seek appointment as lead plaintiff in the KinderCare class action lawsuit. A lead plaintiff is generally the movant with the greatest financial interest in the relief sought by the putative class who is also typical and adequate of the putative class. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the KinderCare class action lawsuit. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice to litigate the KinderCare class action lawsuit. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff of the KinderCare class action lawsuit.

ABOUT ROBBINS GELLER: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP is one of the world's leading law firms representing investors in securities fraud and shareholder litigation. Our Firm has been ranked #1 in the ISS Securities Class Action Services rankings for four out of the last five years for securing the most monetary relief for investors. In 2024, we recovered over $2.5 billion for investors in securities-related class action cases  more than the next five law firms combined, according to ISS. With 200 lawyers in 10 offices, Robbins Geller is one of the largest plaintiffs' firms in the world, and the Firm's attorneys have obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history, including the largest ever  $7.2 billion  in In re Enron Corp. Sec. Litig. Please visit the following page for more information:

https://www.rgrdlaw.com/services-litigation-securities-fraud.html

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices.

Contact:

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP

J.C. Sanchez, Jennifer N. Caringal

655 W. Broadway, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101

800-449-4900

[email protected]

SOURCE Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP
NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until October 13, 2025 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against KinderCare Learning Companies, Inc. (NYSE: KLC), if they purchased the Company's shares pursuant and/or traceable to the Company's October 2024 initial public offering (the "IPO"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.

Get Help

KinderCare investors should visit us at https://claimsfiler.com/cases/nyse-klc/ or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options.

About the Lawsuit

KinderCare and certain of its executives and others are charged with failing to disclose material information in its IPO Registration Statement and Prospectus (collectively, the "Offering Documents"), violating federal securities laws.

The alleged false and misleading statements and omissions include, but are not limited to, that: (i) numerous incidents of child abuse, neglect, and harm had occurred at KinderCare facilities; (ii) the Company did not provide the "highest quality care possible" at its facilities, and, indeed, in numerous instances had failed to provide even basic care, meet minimum standards in the child care industry, or comply with the laws and regulations governing the care of children; and (iii) as a result, the Company was exposed to a material, undisclosed risk of lawsuits, adverse regulatory action, negative publicity, reputational damage, and business loss.

The case is Gollapalli v. KinderCare Learning Companies, Inc., No. 25-cv-01424.

About ClaimsFiler

ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations.

To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com.

SOURCE ClaimsFiler
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP)  U.S. officials in the coming days are set to hold the government's biggest coal sales in more than a decade, offering 600 million tons from publicly owned reserves next to strip mines in Montana and Wyoming.

The sales are a signature piece of President Donald Trump's ambitions for companies to dig more coal from federal lands and burn it for electricity. Yet most power plants served by those mines plan to quit burning coal altogether within 10 years, an Associated Press data analysis shows.

Three other mines poised for expansions or new leases under Trump also face declining demand as power plants use less of their coal and in some cases shut down, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the nonprofit Global Energy Monitor.

Those market realities raise a fundamental question about the Republican administration's push to revive a heavily polluting industry that long has been in decline: Who's going to buy all that coal?

The question looms over the administration's enthusiastic embrace of coal, a leading contributor to climate change. It also shows the uncertainty inherent in inserting those policies into markets where energy-producing customers make long-term decisions with massive implications, not just for their own viability but for the future of the planet, in an ever-shifting political landscape.

Rushing to approve projects

The upcoming lease sales in Montana and Wyoming are in the Powder River Basin, home to the most productive U.S. coal fields.

Officials say they will go forward beginning Monday despite the government shutdown. The administration exempted from furlough those workers who process fossil fuel permits and leases.

Democratic President Joe Biden last year acted to block future coal leases in the region, citing their potential to make climate change worse. Burning the coal from the two leases being sold in coming days would generate more than 1 billion tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide, according to a Department of Energy formula.

Trump rejected climate change as a con job during a Sept. 23 speech to the U.N. General Assembly, an assessment that puts him at odds with scientists. He praised coal as beautiful" and boasted about the abundance of U.S. supplies while deriding solar and wind power. Administration officials said Wednesday that they were canceling $8 billion in grants for clean energy projects in 16 states won by Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

In response to an order from Trump on his first day in office in January, coal lease sales that had been shelved or stalled were revived and rushed to approval, with considerations of greenhouse gas emissions dismissed. Administration officials have advanced coal mine expansions and lease sales in Utah, North Dakota, Tennessee and Alabama, in addition to Montana and Wyoming.
NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until October 20, 2025 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP), if they purchased the Company's securities between April 29, 2025 to August 5, 2025, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Get Help

Snap investors should visit us at https://claimsfiler.com/cases/nyse-snap-2/ or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options.

About the Lawsuit

Snap and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On August 5, 2025, the Company announced its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2025, disclosing a deceleration in advertising revenue growth due to "an issue related to our ad platform, the timing of Ramadan and the effects of the de minimis changes."

On this news, the price of Snap's shares fell from a closing price of $9.39 per share on August 5, 2025 to $7.78 per share on August 6, 2025, a decline of about 17.15% in the span of just a single day.

The case is Abdul-Hameed v. Snap, Inc., et al., No. 25-cv-07844.

About ClaimsFiler

ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations.

To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com.

SOURCE ClaimsFiler
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Chicago, Illinois-based United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL) owns and manages airlines that transport people and cargo serving customers worldwide. With a market cap of $30.2 billion, the company also offers catering, ground handling, flight academy, and maintenance services for third parties. The leading airline holding company is expected to announce its fiscal third-quarter earnings for 2025 on Wednesday, Oct. 15.

Ahead of the event, analysts expect UAL to report a profit of $2.63 per share on a diluted basis, down 21% from $3.33 per share in the year-ago quarter. The company has consistently surpassed Wall Streets EPS estimates in its last four quarterly reports.

More News from Barchart

For the current year, analysts expect UAL to report EPS of $10.26, down 3.3% from $10.61 in fiscal 2024. However, its EPS is expected to rise 21.7% year over year to $12.49 in fiscal 2026.

www.barchart.com

UAL stock has surged 70.1% over the past year, outperforming the S&P 500 Indexs ($SPX) 12.6% gains and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Funds (XLI) 20.5% gains over the same time frame.

www.barchart.com

On Sept. 22, shares of United Airlines Holdings fell over 1% after aviation analytics firm Cirium reported a notable slowdown in transatlantic demand. According to the data, planned bookings from Europe to the United States for the fall season are down 11% compared with the same period last year. The decline highlights potential headwinds for major U.S. carriers, such as United, which rely heavily on lucrative international routes, particularly transatlantic travel, to drive revenue growth.

Analysts consensus opinion on UAL stock is highly bullish, with a Strong Buy rating overall. Out of 22 analysts covering the stock, 18 advise a Strong Buy rating, two suggest a Moderate Buy, and two give a Hold. UALs average analyst price target is $117.60, indicating a potential upside of 24% from the current levels.

On the date of publication, Kritika Sarmah did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com
On the global chessboard, the pieces are moving fast, and the stakes are nuclear. The war in Ukraine has tightened Russias grip on uranium enrichment, while China is sprinting ahead with its own atomic ambitions. Trade wars and fractured supply chains are splitting nations into rival camps.

In this charged atmosphere, Centrus Energy (LEU) is rolling out a multi-billion-dollar expansion in Piketon, Ohio, designed to restore Americas industrial-scale uranium enrichment. Supported by a nationwide supply chain, the venture signals, more than growth, a declaration of U.S. energy independence and a bet on American technology and workers.

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Prices are speaking for themselves. From roughly $63.50 per pound in early 2025, uranium has surged north of $80 this month. LEU shares mirror the momentum, touching a fresh 52-week high today of $346.96 with a 13.1% intraday climb on Sept. 25 due to Centrus' expansion news.

The Piketon facility, a Cold War veteran in national defense, remains Americas only domestic site with the technology capable of industrial-scale enrichment. Centrus has also been fortifying its fiscal arsenal with $1.2 billion through convertible notes and over $2 billion in contingent utility commitments globally.

Collaborations with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and POSCO International hint at a wider ambition. All said, the tide seems to be in Centrus' favor at the moment.

About Centrus Stock

Centrus Energy's headquarters sits in Bethesda, Maryland, but its reach stretches across the nuclear world. Valued at approximately $5.7 billion, its Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) segment powers nuclear utilities with uranium products and separative work units, while its Technical Solutions segment delivers engineering, technical, and manufacturing services to government and private clients.

LEU shares have blasted 438% over the past 52 weeks and surged 420% year-to-date (YTD). The broader sector is moving at a slower pace, though. Global X Uranium ETF (URA) has gained 67% over the past year and 86% in 2025.

One could say investors are paying a premium for performance and foresight. This is because LEU trades at 62.83 times forward adjusted earnings and 12.32 times sales, both above industry averages and their own five-year multiples.
U.S. soybean exports to China dropped 39% by volume to 5.9 million metric tons from January to July, before the autumn harvest began, the latest government data show. By value, shipments sank 51% to $2.5 billion, robbing farmers of billions of dollars' worth of business.

After months of work that included planting seeds, fertilizing fields and spraying weedkillers, Illinois growers are facing losses of up to $8 per acre thanks to low crop prices and weak exports, according to University of Illinois estimates.

About 60 miles (97 km) west of Chicago, where the city and suburbs start to give way to green fields, farmer Ryan Frieders, 49, will be storing much of his beans in bins after previously selling some of his expected harvest at prices below the cost of production.

CRISIS ACUTE FOR ILLINOIS SOYBEAN FARMERS The crisis is particularly acute in Illinois, the largest U.S. soybean producing and exporting state.

But alternative markets for U.S. exports are tiny by comparison and have not replaced China, long the world's biggest importer by far.

Tit-for-tat tariffs that Washington and Beijing imposed on each other's goods this year have made U.S. soybeans too expensive for Chinese buyers, leading importers to buy from South America instead.

On Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the government would make an announcement on Tuesday about support for farmers.

In a sign that hard times are expected to continue in rural America, Trump has promised to give proceeds from tariff revenues to farmers, who largely supported his campaigns for president.

For the first time in more than 20 years, Chinese importers have not yet bought soybeans from the autumn U.S. harvest, forcing farmers to store their crops on hopes that prices will eventually rise from around a five-year low. It is a risk that delays their ability to bring in money from crop sales at a time when they face rising costs for everything from labor and energy to fertilizer.

The efforts so far are failing to offset the loss of the country's biggest customer for the crop, data and interviews show, with financial pain extending to tractor makers and other agricultural businesses.

These countries are not typically major customers for soybeans from the U.S. farm belt. But desperate farmers, their trade organizations and President Donald Trump 's administration are turning to far corners of the world in hopes of averting a disaster for agriculture from a trade war that has kept China from purchasing U.S. supplies.

WATERMAN, Illinois (Reuters) -A trade mission to Nigeria. A memorandum of understanding with Vietnam. A surge of purchases from Bangladesh.

Story Continues

The U.S. made a big increase in exports to Bangladesh at just over 400,000 tonnes, a fraction of China's typical demand. Despite rising shipments to Vietnam, Egypt, Thailand and Malaysia, total U.S. soybean exports were down 8% by volume from the same period a year ago to 18.9 million tonnes.

Along with industry officials, Frieders, who farms in Waterman, Illinois, traveled to Turkey and Saudi Arabia in February to meet with buyers and visit processors on a trip sponsored by the U.S. Soybean Export Council trade group.

"There's talk about India and expanding there, and Southeast Asia, and North Africa: those are markets of the future," said Frieders, adding, "there isn't this lost market that we haven't looked at that could just suddenly explode and be a new China."

SOY INDUSTRY SEEKS TO IMPROVE TRADE

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on social media in September that Taiwan committed to $10 billion in U.S. agriculture purchases over the next four years, including soybeans. She called the commitment a "game-changer," but it was misleading: such a commitment would not represent an increase.

The U.S. exported $3.8 billion worth of U.S. agricultural products to Taiwan in 2024, according to U.S. data. If that same pace of sales continued over four years, it would total $15 billion.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture did not respond to a request for comment about Rollins' statement.

Industry groups have also tried to boost U.S. exports.

During a trade mission in June, co-sponsored by the U.S. Soybean Export Council, Vietnam's agriculture minister signed memorandums of understanding to buy more than $1.4 billion in U.S. farm products, including soybeans, the council said.

The council also met with Nigerian importers and soybean processors in June to promote trade, hoping to build off a modest 64,000 metric tons shipped there last year, according to the U.S. Mission in Nigeria. In August, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria said it also joined the American Soybean Association at a graduation ceremony involving aquaculture, an industry that can use soy as fish food.

Through July, though, the U.S. had not exported any soybeans to Nigeria this year, according to U.S. data.

Illinois hosted agricultural buyers from Peru, Colombia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Mexico and the Dominican Republic on an annual tour of farms and crop handling facilities in August.

The U.S. did not export soy to Peru through July, while Nicaragua and El Salvador bought a negligible amount, U.S. data show. Exports were largely flat to Mexico and down to the Dominican Republic.

Farmers hope the efforts pay dividends over the longer term, though they are struggling now.

CHINA DOMINATES GLOBAL SOY IMPORTS

With more than 1.4 billion people and the world's biggest hog herd, China is hard to replace as a soybean buyer. It has imported an average of 61% of the world's traded soybean supplies over the past five years, more than the rest of the world combined, according to the American Soybean Association.

In 2024, the U.S. exported nearly 27 million metric tons of soybeans to China and 5 million metric tons to Mexico, the second biggest buyer.

"The Soybean Farmers of our Country are being hurt because China is, for 'negotiating' reasons only, not buying," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. He said soybeans would be a major topic of discussion when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in four weeks.

China's business is now going to South America, as it did during Trump's last trade war.

Last month, U.S. soybeans were about 80 cents to 90 cents a bushel cheaper than Brazilian soybeans for shipment in September or October, but China's 23% tariff on U.S. shipments added $2 a bushel to the cost for importers, traders have said.

In Argentina, the government of President Javier Milei briefly suspended export taxes on soybeans in September, luring Chinese buyers who swiftly booked cargoes, traders said.

The deals infuriated U.S. farmers shut out of China as Bessent said Washington was negotiating to support Milei, a Trump ally, financially with a $20 billion swap line for Argentina.

"The frustration is overwhelming," said Caleb Ragland, 39, a Kentucky farmer and president of the American Soybean Association.

CHINA'S ABSENCE IN THE MARKET SPILLS OVER TO OTHERS

The decline in income from crop production has spilled over into other facets of rural America.

Equipment manufacturer CNH, which sells tractors and combines, said net sales in its agriculture business dropped 20% in the six months ending on June 30, compared to the previous year.

"The good news only comes when China actually starts to order," CNH CEO Gerrit Marx said in an August interview at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois.

Decatur, home to Archer-Daniels-Midland's North American headquarters, was formerly known as the soy capital of the world because of its processing industry, Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe said.

At the Farm Progress Show, when asked where the new soy capital was, the mayor dropped her voice to a whisper.

"It might be Brazil," she said.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek. Editing by Emily Schmall and Anna Driver)
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is among the 10 Best Mobile Payments Stocks to Buy Now. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) disclosed the general availability of the Visa Commercial Solutions Hub, a platform designed to streamline commercial payments for issuers and fintechs. The hub is now widely accessible after a pilot program, including flexible ad hoc payment alternatives, invoice and supplier payments, and end-to-end payables. Integration with accounting solutions is a key component that allows embedded financial capabilities.

Visa Announces General Availability of VCS Hub

The platform will be developed with generative AI at its foundation. AI-powered payables for workflow automation, embedded payments using Visa APIs, improved reporting and insights, and personalized user experiences are among the planned additions. SVP and Global Head of Product for Visa Commercial Solutions, Gloria Colgan, stated that the hubs goal is to reinvent commercial payments by bringing disparate systems together into a single, AI-powered ecosystem. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) announced that issuers and fintechs can now request consultations to integrate the platform. It is the Best Digital Money Stock.

While we acknowledge the potential of V as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 10 High-Growth EV Stocks to Invest In and 13 Best Car Stocks to Buy in 2025.

Disclosure. None.
Walmart (WMT) is ready to build a $300 million fulfillment center in North Carolina that will focus on shipping large items such as patio furniture and lawnmowers directly to customers, as soon as the next day, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein announced on Tuesday.

The 1.2 million square-foot facility will be located in Kings Mountain, near Gastonia, and is expected to open in 2027, according to a news release from the Department of Commerce.

As our e-commerce business continues to grow, this new fulfillment center will play a critical role in helping us serve customers faster, said Karisa Sprague, Walmart U.S.s senior vice president, supply chain.

Walmart (NYSE: WMT) operates more than 214 stories and Sams Clubs in North Carolina, as well as seven distribution centers. The new facility is expected to employ 300 people.

The Commerce Department will provide a job development grant of $4 million over 12 years, contingent on the company creating the number of jobs promised.

Walmart operates 29 dedicated e-commerce fulfillment centers, according to its latest annual report.

It is scheduled to open a fifth next-generation fulfillment center in Stockton, California, next year to fulfill online orders on the West Coast.

Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

Amazon opens fulfillment services to Shein, Shopify and Walmart sellers

Walmart to open fifth next-gen fulfillment center in 2026

The post Walmart to build $300M North Carolina fulfillment center appeared first on FreightWaves.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) is one of the best medical stocks to buy now. Bank of America Securities analyst Michael Ryskin reiterated a Buy rating on Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) on September 22, setting a price target of $560.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientifics (TMO) Dividend: Steady Payouts in a Growing Market

The same day, Eve Burstein from Bernstein also reiterated a Buy rating on the stock and set a price target of $570.00.

Similarly, Barclays upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) to Overweight from Equal Weight on September 11, raising the price target to $550 from $490.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) provides analytical instruments, reagents, equipment, software, and other services for analysis, research, diagnostics, and discovery. It operates through the Analytical Instruments, Life Sciences Solutions, Laboratory Products and Services, and Specialty Diagnostics segments.

While we acknowledge the potential of TMO as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If youre looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Kratos Q2 revenue mix showed strong ties to U.S. government demand, as 71% of revenue came from U.S. government contracts (Department of Defense, non-DoD federal agencies, and other government customers). The remaining 12% came from commercial customers and 17% from foreign customers. Kratos updated its full-year 2025 sales projection to between $1.29 billion and $1.31 billion, reflecting 11% to 13% organic growth over 2024.

In the second quarter of 2025, Kratoss total revenue of $351.5 million exceeded its estimated range of $300 million to $310 million. This outperformance came from across the business, but the biggest contributors were its Defense Rocket Support segment, which benefited from the timing of hypersonic missions, and its C5ISR division, where organic revenue growth rates hit 116% and 25.4%, respectively.

Kratos has been on the radar of many innovation-focused investors for years. Valued at $15.5 billion, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions is a U.S.-based defense technology company that develops and manufactures advanced systems for the military, government, and commercial customers. It is a high-tech defense contractor specializing in unmanned aerial vehicles, hypersonics, satellite communications, and advanced defense electronics.

On Sept. 29, Woods ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ) sold 70,874 shares of Kratos for $5.97 million, bringing the total investment in the company to $151 million. Although Wood sold Kratos shares, it is still the fund's second-largest holding, comprising 10.08% of the overall portfolio.

Kratos shares are up 246.4% year-to-date (YTD), while Roblox stock is up 135.4% YTD, far exceeding the market. This raises the question of why sell now, and should investors follow suit?

It is no wonder that when she buys or sells, the markets take notice. On Sept. 29, Wood reduced her stakes in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS) and Roblox (RBLX), which are widely regarded as top-tier growth plays in the defense and innovative tech markets.

Cathie Wood, the founder of ARK Invest, has earned a reputation as one of the most prominent growth investors. She is well-known for making bold bets on disruptive technologies such as genomics, autonomous technology, space, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and defense systems. Her strategy is aggressive and forward-thinking. Yet, she is willing to tolerate volatility in exchange for large returns over time.

Story Continues

Recently, Kratos secured a significant new win with Poseidon, which is estimated to be a $750 million program awarded exclusively to Kratos. Production is scheduled to commence in 2027, following the completion of a new plant. The company refers to Poseidon as a steady-state future revenue, profit, and cash flow engine. Furthermore, Kratos' team was selected for another initiative, Deimos, with a contract award expected soon. These opportunities, together, might serve as the foundation for Kratos long-term growth trajectory.

Overall, on Wall Street, Kratos' stock remains a Strong Buy with analysts. Out of the 16 analysts covering the stock, 12 rate it a Strong Buy, one rates it a Moderate Buy, and three rate it a Hold. Given its dramatic surge this year, KTOS stock has surpassed both its average target price of $72.60 and high price estimate of $90.

www.barchart.com

Why Did Wood Sell Roblox Stock?

On Sept. 29, Woods ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) sold 27,906 shares of Roblox for $3.68 million, bringing the total investment in the company to $456.5 million. This now makes Roblox the fifth-largest holding, down from the third-largest holding, of the ARKK ETF, comprising 5.16% of the total portfolio.

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Valued at $92.9 billion, Roblox is an online platform and game development system that enables users to play, create, and share games and virtual experiences created with its proprietary engine, Roblox Studio. Unlike traditional gaming platforms, it allows developers to create rich 3D environments, commercialize them with in-game purchases and virtual currency (Robux), and reach a global audience of users.

In the second quarter, Roblox's revenue climbed 21% year-on-year (YoY) to $1.1 billion, while bookings increased 51% to $1.4 billion. Daily active users (DAUs) increased by 41% to 111.8 million, with APAC gaining 76% and users aged 13 and up reaching 54%. Importantly, 64% of Roblox's viewership is now over the age of 13, indicating the platform's penetration beyond its younger base.

Roblox is also implementing major changes to boost its ecosystem. Trusted Connections, age estimation, expanded privacy options, and RoGuard 1.0, an open-source AI safety toolbox, are among the most recent safety improvements. Furthermore, management announced that its IP License Manager now connects creators with partners such as Netflix (NFLX), Sega, Lionsgate (LION), and Kodansha, creating new potential for branded content.

Looking ahead, Roblox raised its fiscal 2025 guidance to reflect stronger trends. Revenue is predicted to increase by 22% to 25%, while bookings will rise by 34% to 37%. According to CEO David Baszucki, Roblox's long-term investments in performance, discovery, safety, and creator monetization are driving a wave of engagement and revenue.

Overall, on Wall Street, RBLX stock is a Moderate Buy. Out of the 27 analysts covering the stock, 16 rate it a Strong Buy, two suggest a Moderate Buy, seven rate it a Hold, and two say it is a Strong Sell. The stock is trading close to its average target price of $139.88. However, the high price estimate of $180 suggests RBLX stock can rally as much as 30% over the next 12 months.

www.barchart.com

The Key Takeaway

Woods investment philosophy has always centered around companies that can grow rapidly as the world embraces innovation. Kratos and Roblox fit the criteria. Yet even for someone with a long-term horizon like Wood, trimming or selling shares can be a strategic choice to rebalance the portfolio. ARK has not fully exited its position in both stocks but has scaled back to maintain a more balanced exposure. Wood's funds still have a significant amount of exposure to retain upside if Kratos and Roblox continue to deliver, while freeing capital for more promising or less risky plays.

On the date of publication, Sushree Mohanty did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com
The crypto market is up today, with the cryptocurrency market capitalization rising by 1.4%, now standing at $4.22 trillion. Around 30 of the top 100 coins have appreciated over the past 24 hours. At the same time, the total crypto trading volume is at $193 billion.

TLDR: The crypto market capitalization is up 1.4% on Friday morning (UTC); 70 of the top 100 coins are up, as are 9 of the top 10 coins; BTC is up 1% to $119,909, and ETH is up 1.5% to $4,467; There are signals suggesting a possible near-term consolidation; October has historically been a bullish month for BTC and this year may be no exception; Investors are advised to closely monitor liquidation clusters; Both US BTC and ETH spot ETFs recorded a fourth straight day of inflows on Thursday, with $627.24 million and $307.05 million, respectively; Crypto market sentiment jumped again within the neutral zone.

Crypto Winners & Losers

At the time of writing, 9 of the top 10 coins per market capitalization have increased over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin (BTC) appreciated 1%, currently trading at $119,909.

Bitcoin (BTC)24h7d30d1yAll time

Ethereum (ETH) is up by 1.5%, now changing hands at $4,467. It is again among the best performers.

Binance Coin (BNB) is the categorys highest gainer, having increased by 4.9% to $1,090.

Its followed by Solana (SOL), with an increase of 2.1%. now trading at $229.

On the other hand, Dogecoin (DOGE) is the only red coin. It decreased by 0.3% to $0.256.

When it comes to the top 100 coins, about 30 coins recorded decreases. Of these, two saw double-digit drops: MYX Finance (MYX) and DoubleZero (2Z). These are down 41% and 10.7% to $9.07 and $0.5397, respectively.

On the green side, the two best performers are Aster (ASTER) and Aptos (APT). Theyre up 10.8% and 5.4% to $1.88 and $5.13, respectively.

Meanwhile, Nomura Holdings is working to expand its presence in Japans digital asset market. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Laser Digital Holdings, is seeking a license to offer trading services to institutional clients. Switzerland-based Laser is in pre-consultation talks with Japans Financial Services Agency.

Bitcoins Strength Is Structural, Not Seasonal

Gadi Chait, Head of Investment at Xapo Bank, said that October has historically been a bullish month for BTC. Early signs suggest this year may be no exception.

Bitcoin has averaged 14.4% gains in October since 2013 and has demonstrated resilience in early October this year, recovering from an intraday dip to $114,000 on the 1st to trade near $118,700-$118,900 by the 2nd, with intraday highs touching $119,500.
New York lawmakers are trying to tax Bitcoin miners, citing excessive electricity use driving up bills for ordinary citizens as the reason for a new bill.

Democratic Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Anna Kelles introduced a bill Wednesday trying to impose an excise tax on proof-of-work crypto miners.

The proposed law, Senate Bill S8518, wants mining companies to paydepending on how much energy they consumeto New York's Energy Affordability Programs, which provide critical assistance to low to moderate income households across the state.

"The bill ensures that the companies driving up New Yorkers' electricity rates pay their fair share, while providing direct relief to families struggling with rising utility costs," Senator Krueger said in a statement.



The statement added that research has shown that the arrival of cryptomining facilities "drives up electricity bills statewide, adding an estimated $79 million annually in costs for individuals and $165 million for small businesses."

Senate Bill S8518 says that miners consuming between 2.25 and 5 million kilowatt-hours would be taxed at 2 cents per kwH. Operations using between five and 10 million kWh would pay 3 cents, and miners using 10 and 20 million kWh would get hit with 4 cents per kwH. Consumption above 20 million kWh would face a rate of 5 cents per kWh.

Mining operations using sustainable energy would be exempt from a tax, the bill said, in a bid to "innovation and sustainability within the digital asset sector."

To process transactions on proof-of-work cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Dogecoin, private companies typically run data centers full of expensive computers that use lots of electricity. Crypto critics have frequently spoken about how damaging digital coins can be to the environment.

Still, the industry of artificial intelligence and high-powered computing uses more energy than Bitcoin mining. The new bill did not mention AI data centers but a press release acknowledged that the industry was growing and using more electricity.

US Debt Ceiling Deal Blocks 30% Bitcoin Mining Tax: Congressman

Decrypt reached out to Senator Krueger's office for further comment.

New York State has historically had tougher regulations on the crypto space, prompting a number of crypto startups in the past to move to other parts of the U.S.
Zcash (ZEC) has more than doubled in price in the past week, as demand for privacy coins climbs during the broader Uptober rally. The coin jumped from around $50 to over $130 on October 3, reaching $135.54 at its peak, according to CoinGecko.

The latest rally pushed ZEC to its highest level since April 2022, though it remains nearly 96% below its 2016 all-time high of $3,193.

Source: CoinGecko

Over the past 24 hours, ZEC gained 21.5%, making it the best-performing digital asset among major tokens. On a seven-day basis, its price has climbed to 133.2%, leading the broader privacy coin sector.

The rally has been accompanied by a sharp increase in activity, with trading volume up 1,150% to $292 million. Shielded transactions, Zcashs signature privacy feature, rose 15.5% month-on-month, indicating active user demand rather than purely speculative inflows.

zk-SNARK Momentum Pushes Zcash Market Cap Above $1.8B

Market participants attribute the move to renewed attention to zk-SNARK technology, the zero-knowledge proof system that underpins Zcashs shielded transactions. The technology allows users to prove a transaction occurred without disclosing details such as the sender, recipient, or amount.

Zcash, originally forked from Bitcoins codebase, offers both transparent and shielded transactions, appealing to users who want the option of privacy in an era of tightening oversight.

The surge also coincided with broader discussions around digital surveillance and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

On X, prominent entrepreneur Naval Ravikant described Bitcoin as insurance against fiat and Zcash as insurance against Bitcoin, suggesting that ZEC offers protection against the transparent nature of the leading cryptocurrency.

Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius and a former Coinbase engineer, argued that privacy is non-negotiable as centralized stablecoins and CBDCs expand, calling a crypto ecosystem without private money a dystopian nightmare.

Institutional sentiment added to the momentum. Grayscale announced that its Zcash Trust is now open for private placement, giving accredited investors exposure to the asset in a structure similar to its Bitcoin and Ethereum products.

The announcement helped lift confidence among traditional investors, with ZECs market cap rising from $700 million earlier in September to more than $1.8 billion.

Zcashs development team has also been active. The Zcash Foundation recently laid out an 18-month roadmap that includes NU7 upgrades and audits for Zcash Shielded Assets (ZSAs).

These steps are designed to improve scalability, security, and interoperability, potentially boosting throughput.
Three or four years ago, bestselling author Tara Rae Moss started officiating funerals. Now, wherever shes livingat the moment, its a friends house in AustraliaMoss contacts local funeral homes and offers her services as a life celebrant, shaping anecdotes from the deceaseds loved ones into well-rounded narratives fit for public consumption. She estimates shes worked about 100 services to date, including one for her beloved aunt. Grappling with grief and death just feels like something Im here to explore, Moss says via Zoom. Its a space that I can be comfortable in.

Unusual words, perhaps, for a woman who first stepped into the public eye as a fashion model. But since then, Moss, who just turned 52, has been a self-professed liver of many lives.

Draped in green velvet and peeking out from wide, angular glasses, Moss is in the thick of her latest book tour. To prove it, shes seated in front of a glistening hardcover copy of The Italian Secret, the third installment of her historical mystery series featuring 1940s Australian PI Billie Walker. The novel, which recently published overseas and is being released by Dutton in the U.S. in December, is Mosss 15th book; shes also penned a grisly procedural series, a four-part fantasy saga, and two works of nonfiction.

The Italian Secret picks up shortly after the conclusion of The Ghosts of Paris, with business booming at the PI firm Billie reopened after the death of her father. Her latest client is Darlene Elliott, an abused wife seeking proof of her husbands infidelity so she can legally secure a divorce. While finishing up that case with the help of her hunky assistant, Billie discovers a photograph, a packet of letters, and a significant sum of money squirreled away in one of her fathers old filing cabinets. The artifacts suggest that the late Barry Walker may have secretly fathered a child with a woman in Naples, prompting Billie to recruit her mother for a luxury cruise to Italy, where she hopes to get to the bottom of it. Meanwhile, the Darlene Elliott case takes a violent turn, and romantic sparks develop between Billie and Sydney police detective Hank Cooper.

All the while, champagne flows and Billie takes time to slip on glamorous dresses. For Moss, its all part of the seriess ethos. I wanted to make sure that readersand in particular, women readerscan get in the passenger seat with Billie Walker, and she can take them into these dark places, and theyre going to end up okay on the other end, she says. Some combination of murder, human trafficking, and fascism factor into each installment, but she stresses that she wanted to approach this difficult material in a way that could leave people feeling stronger by the end of the book, rather than feeling like, God, what people do to each other is so awful.

Moss is not exactly sure where the instinct comes from, but she has a general idea. Her maternal grandparents were Dutch refugees who narrowly escaped the Nazis in the 1940s. Their story could support a historical novel of its own: German troops abducted Mosss grandfather, a baker, from the family home in Numansdorp and shipped him to a munitions-manufacturing labor camp in Berlin. Distraught, Mosss grandmother cycled across Holland and Germany to visit him, smuggling flour and sugar in the hollows of her bike. She managed to pass the ingredients to Mosss grandfather, who used them to bake bread in the camps munitions oven, next to the bombs. He used the loaf to bribe the camps foreman, who granted Mosss grandfather a day off work. He promptly fled the country on foot. Soon after, he and Mosss grandmother immigrated to western Canada, where Moss was born in 1973.

Ordinary people did extraordinary things during this time, Moss says of the years during and after WWII. Thats what I like to center in the Billie Walker series. Its not about the generals and world leaders; its not about Churchill. Its about regular folks and what they do to survive and adapt in these unusual, changing, often-horrifying circumstances.

If the story of her grandparents didnt exactly haunt the authors childhood, it did influence her concept of and interest in human rights. Growing up in Victoria, Moss and her sister regularly trick-or-treated for UNICEF, and her parentsMosss mother was an amateur painter and sculptor, and her father sold fridges at Eatons, a now-defunct Canadian department storewere heavily involved in charity. Moss says that as a child, it just felt like part of being alive that you would help the community, or communities overseas that were going through things that your grandparents went through. You cant survive this world as an island, as a solo individual, pretty much without exception.

Mosss instinct for advocacy has manifested most prominently in a position as a UNICEF ambassador that shes held since 2013. More recently, though, shes been focused on disability rights, in part for personal reasons. After sustaining a hip injury in 2016, she developed a rare, debilitating condition called complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), for which she used a wheelchair for several years. (It made it very hard to write, but it also made writing even more important to me, because I could disappear into it, she says.) Before entering remission two years ago, Moss spoke in front of the Australian parliament urging members to take action to help those suffering from chronic pain, and gave a slate of interviews to outlets like the Guardian and Marie Claire illuminating her condition.

It feels pretty extraordinary to not have the brain fog, to not be on medication, and to be able to go hiking between book events, Moss says of her remission. Its like a new lease on life.

One could be forgiven, at this point in Mosss biography, for needing to take a breath. And all this before discussing the modeling career that put her on the map. In brief: Moss was recruited for local gigs as a teenager due to her self-described Amazonian features. She got serious about it after her mother died of multiple myeloma in 1990, embarking on what she humbly calls a mixed bag of a career, shooting beauty editorials, Cosmo spreads, splashy ads, and the like while traveling the world. All along, though, she harbored writerly ambitions, which she began to satisfy at 24 when she won Australias Scarlet Stiletto Awards short story competition. An agent reached out to her directly, and that led to the publication of Fetish, her 1999 debut.

Moss acknowledges that shes a bit of a chameleon, but shes learned to stop pathologizing it. Seeking out new challenges is part of who I am and what drives me, so I dont have to force it, she says. Other people might find it disorienting or confusing, because theyll be like, No, she doesnt do that; she does this. But, rightly or wrongly, those boxes just dont exist in me.

Its a quality shes drawing on now, in a moment of personal transition. After divorcing the poet and novelist Berndt Sellheim a few years ago, Moss is preparing to sell her house in Canada and adjusting to life as a single mother. Shes not exactly sure whats next. Im feeling interested in being mobile, she says. Now that Im mobile, Im really mobile, she adds, alluding to her freedom from CRPS.

Shes taking at least a few cues from her 14-year-old. Shes old enough now to kind of know where she wants to be, what she wants to do, Moss says. Well, like mother like daughter.
The United States is in a literacy crisis. In 2023, a survey conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics found that 28% of American citizens ages 1665 read below the equivalent of a third-grade level. Another study, based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics latest American Time Use Survey, indicated that 16% of adults read for pleasure on a given day in 2023, down from a high of 28% in 2004. Meanwhile, library funding is increasingly threatened, screen time is adversely affecting students reading abilities, and swaths of the country have become bookstore deserts. But one group of dedicated citizens hoping to counteract the trend is peddling into local parks on book bikes.

Katrin Abel, a librarian at Austin Public Library in Texas who has researched the history of bookmobiles, started to see book bikes take off about a decade ago. Theyre small, theyre nimble, theyre able to get places where you might not expect to see the library and get to people who might not come to the library, she says. In the years since Abel took note of the trend, a steady supply of general-interest book bikesmainly run by librarianshave appeared alongside individual operators bringing more niche literary offerings to the streets, such as the Nonbinarian Book Bike, a mutual aid project giving out free queer books across Brooklyn that has since expanded into a physical store.

In Maryland, readers know love is in the air when Lamour en Route rides across Montgomery County. Driving the romance-themed book bike is Jeanette Thompson, who recently launched Romantique Books, an online romance book store. I knew that opening a bricks-and-mortar was not gonna be in the cards anytime soon, but I wanted to expand and get out into the community more and not just do pop-ups, she says. She describes her venture as a bit of a rebellious act against Project 2025, which she believes unfairly targets parts of the romance genre by decrying a number of titles as pornography.

Thompson has found a sweet spot vending at farmers markets, where she sets people up with hand-wrapped, undisclosed titles for a blind date with a book. I usually include a few goodiesstickers, bookmarks, and stuff like that, she adds. In the future, she plans to curate events, including by working with a local brewery to pair beers with books featuring various romance tropes. I really love romance and I dont think enough people focus on it, she says. Its really exciting to see this kind of thing happening.

Reading meets sustainability in Iowa City with a library book bike that stocks titles tackling climate-related issues. The Iowa City Public Library acquired the bike through funding from a local climate action organization. We take the discards from the library and donated materials from the public and try to put them back into usetrying to deter things from the landfilland make sure that usable materials are used, says Katie Roche, development director for the ICPL Friends Foundation.

 Theyre small, theyre nimble, theyre able to get places where you might not expect to see the library. 

Roche set up a relationship between the ICPL and the local landfill so that residents can self-sort their donations to send books that match necessary criteria to the library. As a result, Roche says, the library is seeing a huge amount of books that would have been recycled go back into reuse. ICPLs bike also provides library workers with a natural opportunity to discuss attacks on libraries that local residents might not be aware of. This is especially important, Roche adds, because Iowa is number one in book banning and number one in legislation that would challenge the good work of libraries.

Comics artist Shay Mirk, whose next book, Making Nonfiction Comics: A Guide for Graphic Narrative, will be published by Abrams in November, has taken an even more DIY tack to the book bike endeavor. Over the summer, Mirk took their custom zine bike to a Pride event in Portland, Ore., where it was immediately a hit. I had brought hundreds of zines, and they were gone within an hour, they say.
Netflix is previewing a new episode of Famous Last Words starring the late British conservationist Jane Goodall, who died Wednesday.

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In a clip released Friday, viewers see Goodall contemplating who she was over the course of her life.

"I would say I was somebody sent to this world to try to give people hope in dark times, because without hope, we fall into apathy and doing nothing," she said. "And, in the dark times that we are living in now, if people don't have hope we're doomed."

"And how can we bring little children into this dark world we've created, and let them be surrounded by people who've given up?" she added. "So even... even if this is the end of humanity as we know it, let's fight to the very end. Let's let the children know, you know, that there is hope if they get together."

Goodall died of natural causes at 91, according to the Jane Goodall Institute.

"Earlier this year, Dr. Jane Goodall -- a UN Messenger of Peace -- sat down for a deeply reflective conversation about her legacy and to immortalize her final words with the understanding that it would only be shared with the world after she passed," an official synopsis says.

The episode is streaming now.
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'India has the capital to invest in defence production.'

'With clear timelines and commitments, private industry can deliver surge capacity effectively.'

Photograph: Kind courtesy Kalyani Strategic Systems

"With rapidly evolving technology, a seven-year procurement cycle risks acquiring outdated systems. For critical and fast-changing platforms, we must aim for procurement cycles of 18 to 24 months," Rajinder Singh Bhatia, chairman, Kalyani Strategic Systems, the defence subsidiary of Bharat Forge, and president of the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers, tells Bhaswar Kumar/Business Standard.

Have reforms in India's defence sector truly benefited the private industry?

A decade ago, the bureaucracy was not as receptive to private sector participation as today. We could not conduct trials in India. We sent the prototypes abroad for testing.

The reforms under Manohar Parrikar's tenure allowed domestic testing and, by 2019, the Defence Acquisition Council approved 150 guns.

The production for the Indian Army began in 2025. These reforms have helped a lot, but the challenges remain in procurement procedures and timely approvals.

How would you assess India's current position and future potential in defence production?

India has made significant progress. We (the company) grew from single-digit production to four-digit numbers in 12 years.

The technical and manufacturing base is stronger than ever; acquisition reforms, faster processes, and efficient spending are essential.

India can match historic global production rates, such as the US producing over 200,000 aircraft in five years during World War II, with streamlined procedures.

The potential of the industry is far greater than its current output.

As an industry leader, do you believe shortening timelines is enough or is an enforcement mechanism needed?

The Defence Procurement Procedure (2020) has given a timeframe of 36 months for procurement.

The process takes five or six years and sometimes even seven or eight years, with tenders sometimes being cancelled after waiting long periods.

Even globally, the US takes around 11 years for complex systems.

Some countries like South Korea and Israel have demonstrated that faster acquisition is possible.

With rapidly evolving technology, a seven-year procurement cycle risks acquiring outdated systems.

For critical and fast-changing platforms, we must aim for procurement cycles of 18 to 24 months.

How did the advanced towed artillery gun system (ATAGS), developed by DRDO in collaboration with Bharat Forge and Tata group, perform at the artillery testing?

The ATAGS demonstrated a remarkable range of 48 km, while conventional 155 mm-52 calibre guns have a range of 40-41 km.

The ATAGS has a larger chamber and improved charges (zone-7 bimodal) that can strike from a range that exceeds the enemy's counter-barrage range.

This extended reach enhances battlefield flexibility and gives India a clear edge in artillery operations.

How is technological evolution shaping India's defence sector?

Technology is inherently unpredictable, evolving rapidly and touching every facet of life.

Earlier, innovations flowed from military to civilian sectors; today, civilian advancements increasingly inform military capabilities.

India has skilled workforce and global capability centres for major original equipment manufacturers.

The government has promoted defence startups. What more is needed?

Startups face the 'valley of death', where 80 per cent fail due to lack of funding and support to move from prototype to production phase.

Before 2018-2019, India had fewer than 10 defence startups. Today, over 3,000 are registered, of which 1,100 have already secured orders.

India has around 157,000 registered startups, 33,000 are tech-focused and only 9,000 operate in defence.

Of these, successful ones can be counted on fingers. Compared to a country like Israel, our per capita numbers are far lower.

We should aim for 100,000 startups across defence, aerospace, and technology.

If India faces a surge in defence requirements, is the private sector currently equipped to deliver at scale?

Five years ago, many defence systems were beyond the reach of private industry. Today, companies are leading manufacturers in several categories.

Scaling production is not a problem, but it depends on certainty in orders and well-defined timelines.

The delays due to conditional contracts, waiting for trials and approval affect manufacturing.

India has the capital to invest in defence production. With clear timelines and commitments, private industry can deliver surge capacity effectively.

Does the new Defence Procurement Manual signal a turning point?

The DPM has been approved but not yet released. Early indications from the defence secretary are encouraging, but primarily address the routine revenue requirements.

The real need is for a leaner and faster Defence Acquisition Procedure, reducing the current 600-page framework to around 100 pages, allowing industry to assimilate policies more effectively and respond swiftly.

While some progress has been made, reforms must continue to streamline processes and enable private sector participation at scale.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
Goldman Sachs is bullish about Indian aerospace and defence, preferring private companies over public sector units (PSUs) as the country ramps up its export target for the sector to Rs 50,000 crore by FY29 from Rs 23,600 crore last year.

Image used for representative purpose only. Photograph: Courtesy, Bharat Electronics

The American investment banks top buy recommendations include Solar Industries, Bharat Electronics, Data Patterns and PTC Industries, while Bharat Dynamics is rated sell.

Nifty India Defence index has outperformed Nifty 50 by gaining nearly 23 per cent in calendar year 2025 (CY25), compared to the benchmark index rising 5 per cent.

Bharat Electronics, Bharat Dynamics, Paras Defence and Astra Microwave are among top gainers by rallying up to 38 per cent in CY25, according to data from ACE Equity.

Despite India being the world's fifth-largest spender on defence ($80 billion in FY25) and the second-largest importer of equipment (after Ukraine), markets have largely focused on PSUs, Goldman Sachs said.

Private firms are better off than their PSU counterparts, amid a shifting spending landscape marked by the defence ministry recently releasing its Technology Perspective and Capability Roadmap (TPCR)-2025 and focus on new technologies like AI-enabled systems and electronic warfare, said analysts at Goldman Sachs in a report.

Superior earnings per share growth (FY25-FY28 estimated) based on 32 per cent compound annual growth rate for private-sector players and 13 per cent for public-sector firms, and increased global defence spending are two other key reasons Goldman Sachs has placed private aerospace and defence companies ahead.

"While Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) generally get an advance on orders from the government, resulting in a better cash position, private players usually have high working capital and execution uncertainty.

"Furthermore, they have to invest constantly in business to pursue growth. That said, private defence players in India are better tied into global supply chains than DPSUs and have a better earnings trajectory.

"It is important to think about balancing earnings growth with a superior cash position, the report said.

Stock selection

Key stocks benefit from three key themes: domestic defense total addressable market (TAM) increasing more than six-fold over the next 20 years to over Rs 10 trillion, indigenisation scope at the bottom of the technology pyramid, and higher defence export target.

Solar Industries (36 per cent upside) and PTC Industries (58 per cent) are Goldman Sachs key buys among private companies.

Solar Industries has a unique moat in high energetic materials, while PTC Industries is one of the worlds leading aerospace grade Ti and superalloy companies.

We initiate Bharat Dynamics at sell, mainly on contracting margins and unattractive valuations versus earnings growth.

"We also initiate Astra Microwave, Data Patterns, Azad Engineering, Bharat Electronics as 'buy'; Hindustan Aeronautics at neutral, wrote Goldman Sachs analysts Amit Dixit and Kumari Rishika in a recent note.

The government shifting capital allocation from defence to other sectors, companies delaying product development, and global manufacturers picking other regions for sourcing are among the key risks to stock calls, Goldman Sachs said.

Disclaimer: This article is meant for information purposes only. This article and information do not constitute a distribution, an endorsement, an investment advice, an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities/schemes or any other financial products/investment products mentioned in this article to influence the opinion or behaviour of the investors/recipients.

Any use of the information/any investment and investment related decisions of the investors/recipients are at their sole discretion and risk. Any advice herein is made on a general basis and does not take into account the specific investment objectives of the specific person or group of persons. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.
'What we need to watch is how Saudi Arabia's financial assistance will be used by Pakistan. If the funds go to build their military hardware and operations, it should worry us.'

India must use its relationship with Saudi Arabia to diplomatically deal with the new geopolitical architecture to be prepared for any eventuality, explains Ramesh Menon.

IMAGE: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Photograph: Shehbaz Sharif/X

If alarm bells rang in India's political establishment and bureaucratic circles when Saudi Arabia signed a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement with Pakistan, it was with good reason: Pakistan, the Islamic world's only nuclear-armed country, was engaging with Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's most prosperous State and a leader in the Islamic world.

The pact stated that aggression against one party would be considered an act against both.

It is not good news for India, considering the rocky relations it has suffered with its neighbour, Pakistan, long plagued by unstable governments.

Pakistan possibly hastened the pact after Operation Sindoor to create ground support among an otherwise disenchanted public at home.

When a nuclear State's defence minister proclaims that its capabilities are now available for Saudi Arabia, we know what he is referring to.

Theoretically, Pakistan can extend its nuclear umbrella to Saudi Arabia after this pact.

It is unlikely, however, that Pakistan would use its nuclear arsenal if Saudi Arabia were attacked. The pact is mainly symbolic and is more likely to serve as a deterrent.

Saudi Arabia realised it could no longer rely on the United States for protection as the attack on Doha in Qatar could not have happened without American knowledge.

The pact signals the start of a grand military alliance in the Gulf. Pakistan has said that other countries can also join.

After the Israeli attacks on Doha, countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and Iraq have been talking to each other to chart the way forward to protect themselves.

Israel is no longer seen as just a rival, but as a military threat.

It is doubtful that Pakistan could have signed this pact without an okay from China, its key ally and primary arms supplier.

China may have sniffed a lucrative business opportunity as Pakistan could use Saudi funds to shop for more sophisticated arms.

Nearly 70 per cent of Pakistani arms and ammunition are bought from China.

China is also Pakistan's largest trading partner and its second-biggest lender, with around $4.37 billion in loans, another $4 billion in central bank support, and $37 million in additional economic assistance.

Since the 1960s, Pakistan has had close links with Saudi Arabia, training its soldiers and pilots, guarding Mecca and Medina, protecting its royalty, and even stationing an entire division in the country.

In times of economic crisis, Pakistan has been grateful for Saudi aid.

Both countries have also conducted joint naval and land forces exercises.

Saudi Arabia may become Pakistan's largest source of external funding, which could go up to nearly $6.46 billion, helping Islamabad wade through its current financial crisis.

Remittances from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan amount to about $7.4 billion, making it critical for the Pakistani economy.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Mohammed bin Salman at Hyderabad House, New Delhi. Photograph: @MEAIndia/X

The pact has unsettled India, as it had carefully cultivated relations with Saudi Arabia for over a decade.

India has invested over $3 billion in the kingdom, and it is unlikely to want to jeopardise that relationship. In recent years, Indian firms like L&T, Tata, and Wipro have expanded their presence in technology, construction, management, and consultancy to help Saudi Arabia diversify its economy away from oil.

India's imports from Saudi Arabia are valued at $30.12 billion, while exports stand at around $11.75 billion. India exports rice, aircraft, chemicals and petroleum products.

More than 18 per cent of India's crude oil imports are sourced from Saudi Arabia.

In April this year, Saudi Arabia also announced plans to invest $100 billion in India in sectors like energy, petrochemicals, infrastructure, technology, fintech, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and health.

As Saudi Arabia is India's fourth-largest trading partner, it is unlikely to encourage conflict against India. Riyadh would not want to jeopardise a flourishing economic partnership that serves its own diversification goals.

India needs to remind Saudi Arabia that its future lies not in being tethered to Pakistan's insecurities but in partnering with India's stability and growth. And, even its own.

Sharat Sabharwal, India's former high commissioner to Pakistan, told me, "Saudi Arabia has great equity in India. It is diversifying, and there are more opportunities for it in India than in Pakistan. What we need to watch is how Saudi Arabia's financial assistance will be used by Pakistan. If the funds go to build their military hardware and operations, it should worry us.

"Pakistan is coming out of its geopolitical tight spot that it was in because of its internal problems and how its nationals were linked to terrorism, but with its new relationship with the US, it might get more adventurous towards India. We have to see how this pact pans out.

"The security architecture in this region will undergo a flux. If Pakistan gets a bigger role, it will not be in India's interest."

IMAGE: President Droupadi Murmu with MbS and Modi. Photograph: @rashtrapatibhvn/X

It would be prudent for New Delhi to use its best diplomatic options with Riyadh. India must clarify what Saudi Arabia means by 'aggression' in the pact and obtain assurances that it will not apply in any Pakistan-India clash.

India should also leverage its economic ties and strengthen them further to give Saudi Arabia a secure market and ensure that its investments in India flourish.

When economics do the talking, there cannot be friction.

As India deepens ties with the United Arab Emirates, it could also help bring Saudi Arabia closer.

Handled deftly, India can shape how the pact is interpreted and applied.

At the same time, India must prepare strategically, as the situation is fluid and external players can complicate a bilateral crisis.

India must deepen defence cooperation with new partners like France and friendly Gulf States, while strengthening intelligence and maritime security in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.

India could also reassert its role in non-proliferation forums, positioning itself as a responsible actor and urging Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to ensure nuclear restraint.

This pact may be India's opportunity to reinvent. Ausaf Sayeed, India's former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, puts it succinctly: 'India's most strategic response is to leverage its unique and formidable strengths in technology, trade, and human capital, becoming an indispensable partner in the Gulf's economic transformation. Its most significant asset will be its ability to emerge as the region's most valuable partner for the future.'

Ramesh Menon is an author, award-winning journalist, educator, documentary filmmaker, and corporate trainer. He authored Modi Demystified: The Making of a Prime Minister.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
'We share and support the ideology of the NDA and will not work against the NDA.'

IMAGE: Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi felicitates Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gaya, August 22, 2025. Photograph: DPR PMO/ANI Photo

The soft-spoken Santosh Kumar Suman, president of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), a constituent of the ruling National Democratic Alliance and a Bihar minister, is confident that the NDA will return to power after the assembly elections.

Suman, 50, is the elder son of HAM Founder and Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who belongs to the Dalit Musahar community, one of the most marginalised and backward sections in the state.

Jitan Ram Manjhi is the first leader from the Musahar community -- which accounts for three per cent of Bihar's total population -- to become chief minister and Union minister, a source of pride for the community.

Unlike his outspoken father, Santosh Kumar Suman is careful and measured with his words. A PhD in political science and a member of the Bihar legislative council, he was first sworn in as a minister in 2020.

Dr Suman began his political career as an active member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarathi Parishad despite his father then being a Congress leader in the 1990s who later joined Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United, before founding the HAM in 2015.

"Our demand is genuine to contest more seats this time. This is to strengthen and expand our party; there is nothing wrong with it. Our party leaders and workers are ambitious. It has nothing to do with the baseless speculation of a threat to leave the NDA if the demand is not met," Dr Suman tells Rediff Senior Contributor M I Khan.

Why is the HAM suddenly putting pressure for more seats to contest in the Bihar assembly election?

No, no, it is not pressure. We are raising a demand to contest more seats at the right place. We have to make our genuine demand to fulfil the aspirations and ambitions of our party leaders, workers and supporters.

We want to contest from more seats in view of the fact that our party network has increased in the last five years.

I, as the party president, and Jitan Ram Manjhiji, as the founder of the party, have worked to strengthen the party and would want to see the party become a big one.

Our party stands for the development of Bihar, and we are with the ideology of the NDA.

But your father recently threatened to contest 50 to 100 seats if the NDA did not give the HAM at least 15 seats to contest.

Manjhiji wanted to expand the party that he formed, and for this he has put forward his demand to contest more seats to ensure that HAM gets the status of a recognised party in the state.

HAM is yet to function as a recognised party, that is a big hurdle to growing further. As Manjhiji has rightly highlighted, HAM has to win eight assembly seats in this election, or the party should poll 6% of the total votes to get the status of a recognised party.

HAM has only one MP in the Lok Sabha and four MLAs in the Bihar assembly, but your party is demanding 15 to 20 seats to contest. Is it not more than the party deserves?

This time, our party's target is to win at least eight assembly seats. It would be possible if we contested from more seats. There is no other way; we have to contest more seats.

The party has not decided on any number because the numbers game is not good. Our aim will be to contest more seats to achieve our goal. The number of seats has not been defined yet; it may be 10, 12, or 13 seats.

So far, no formal talks have taken place on this issue. HAM won only one seat in the 2015 assembly polls and four seats in the 2020 assembly polls. Our party also won its first Lok Sabha seat when Jitan Ram Manjhi won from the Gaya seat.

In the last decade, HAM, as a party, is growing, and our performance in each election is getting better.

IMAGE: HAM National President Dr Santosh Kumar Suman addresses a party meeting in Patna. Photograph: ANI Photo

This means HAM wants a respectable share in the NDA's seat sharing.

Every party wants a respectable number of seats to contest. It's not just us; the JD-U, Lok Janshakti Party-Ramvilas, and Upendra Kushwaha's party, the Rashtriya Lok Morcha, also do.

In election time, party leaders and workers want to be involved in electioneering, and this is possible when the party contests more seats.

HAM is now confined to the Magadh region, mainly in the Gaya district. Are you aiming to expand the party outside of Magadh?

The Magadh region is our stronghold, but we want to expand across the state. We will consider contesting from North Bihar as well. We are advocating for the poor and marginalised sections of society, and they are everywhere; we enjoy their support.

IMAGE: Jitan Ram Manjhi, left, watches Modi greet the gathering at a public meeting in Gaya. Photograph: ANI Photo

Why did your father recently claim that it is a 'do or die' situation for the HAM? This triggered speculation that the HAM warned the NDA that it would leave if its demand was not met.

It is nothing like that; there is no talk of leaving the NDA. I would like to make it clear that there is no scope for speculation. We are firmly with the NDA and will contest the polls together. We share and support the ideology of the NDA and will not work against the NDA.

Manjhiji has strongly asserted the interests of the party that he founded. He has made a genuine demand in view of the aspirations of party leaders and workers. Manjhiji is serious about getting the status of a recognised party for the HAM.

IMAGE: Nitish Kumar speaks during a Karyakarta Sammelan in Siwan, September 7, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo

But the NDA is led by the BJP, which has a different ideology. What about HAM's ideology?

Every political party has its own ideology. The NDA's ideology is simply one of development. We have a common minimum programme. As for the BJP, it strongly believes in Sanatani ideology but is not against anyone. The BJP-led central government is not discriminating against anyone; it is working for all. We also strongly believe in Sanatan.

Will Nitish Kumar continue as chief minister after the polls?

It is certain. Nitishji is leader of the NDA in Bihar, and we are going to contest the polls under his leadership. He is also head of the government in the state. Nitishji will become CM again from 2025 to 2030.

There are no 'ifs and buts'. He is capable, healthy, and still able to take Bihar forward on the path of development.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
'He was able to push the AIADMK to the background.'

IMAGE: Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam chief Vijay addresses the rally in Karur, September 27, 2025, before the stampede that killed 41 people. Photograph: TVK/ANI Photo

It is no secret that popular Tamil movie star Vijay is hoping to become the next MGR or Jayalalitha.

MGR and Jayalalithaa had the backing of a strong political party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham. Vijay floated a new party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, converted his fan clubs into party offices and his fans into party cadre.

Will the tragedy that happened in Karur on September 27 halt Vijay's political momentum?

Senior Journalist R Rangaraj, who has tracked MGR and Jayalalithaa's political careers, first as the Tamil Nadu correspondent for the Press Trust of India and then as the Chennai bureau chief for the Indian Express newspaper, tells Rediff's Shobha Warrier, "Tamil Nadu is a state where people look up to film stars. They deify film stars, even make temples for them." The first of a two-part interview.

The general assumption is that films and politics are interconnected in Tamil Nadu. But if you look at the success rate of film stars in Tamil Nadu politics, you can count only an MGR or a Jayalalitha.

Do you think there is a close connection between cinema and politics here?

Of course, there is a close connection between politics and movies despite the successes or failures.

The kind of hero worship that you see here is probably there only in Andhra Pradesh and not so much in the other states.

Tamil Nadu is a state where people look up to film stars, dreaming to be like them. They deify film stars who have a larger-than-life persona, even make temples for them. This is on a scale which is not replicated anywhere else in India.

To capitalise on this, even an actor with three films behind him, creates fan clubs all over the state, and this is given a prominent place every time a movie of theirs is released. These fan clubs are largely funded by actors themselves!

Later, when they switch over to politics, films give them an edge because they are popular in every nook and corner of the state without visiting the places.

IMAGE: M G Ramachandran, the legendary Tamil movie thespian and then Tamil Nadu chief minister with AIADMK colleagues. Photograph: Kind courtesy Kaushikca09/Wikimedia Commons

Do you think most actors enter films with political ambitions?

After some time, they develop political ambitions.

When they are busy with films, they don't enter politics. Once they cross 40 and when new heroes enter the scene, they become restless.

Forty years ago, an MGR or a Sivaji could act as college students in their 40s. Not anymore. Today, if actors in their 30s act as college students, they get booed.

So, once they enter their 40s, they look at other avenues where they can continue to be in the public domain. The best avenue available is politics.

Because of the demi-God status they have, they think they can be the next MGR, and the public will accept them like they accepted MGR.

They don't realise that the story of MGR is different.

As a person who has seen how MGR operated, do you think he was very different from other film stars? Why was he so successful?

He was so successful because he had a long period of association with the DMK.

MGR was associated with the DMK for several years and for 25, 30 years, MGR used films as a medium to create a good Samaritan image for himself. He was involved in a lot of philanthropy. Helping him build this was a very big fans association.

(DMK Founder C N) Annadurai used to bring MGR to some party meetings. In fact, the connection between the film world and politics started with Annadurai followed by Karunanidhi, MGR and S S Rajendran.

I would say who showed the way to MGR and Sivaji Ganesan to come into politics was K R Ramaswamy. He was the one who was very attached to Annadurai and had done the maximum number of plays written by Annadurai.

Karunanidhi was in great demand even then, for the dialogues he wrote.

(V R) Nedunchezhian, who was supposed to be Annadurai'sheir apparent, was not in favour of film people getting prominence in the party, but the film lobby supported MGR and Karunanidhi.

IMAGE: A visual from the spot where a stampede occured in Karur. Photograph: ANI Video Grab

Didn't Karunanidhi use his pen to propagate Dravidian ideology?

Yes, he initially used stage plays and later on films, to spread the party ideology.

The turning point was the 1967 election in which the DMK defeated the Congress; the Congress has not been able to make a comeback after that.

Annadurai was actually not sure about the 1967 success. He did not even contest the assembly election but stood for the Parliament election.

But MGR was shot before the elections by M R Radha.

A photograph of the wounded MGR with a bandage was enough to win, Annadurai and Karunanidhi realised. A poster with this photo was pasted all over Tamil Nadu with the caption, vote for this man!

The strategy of Annadurai and Karunanidhi to use a wounded MGR's photo turned out to very crucial for the first DMK win.

Do you think MGR would not have been such a political success without the dialogues written by Karunanidhi?

(MGR would not have been a success) not only without the dialogues written by Karunanidhi but without his years of association with the DMK.

Had he been outside the DMK and had started a new party like Vijay, the story would have been different.

Look at Vijay. He started a new party without any political base. Overnight, he is trying to convert his film fans into a political party cadre.

MGR was able to do that because he was associated with the DMK for decades. He was there at all the crucial events of the DMK. So, he could convert his fans associations which were there for over three decades into a political party.

MGR was the actor people saw but Karunanidhi was the man behind him. They were good friends in those days.

IMAGE: The stampede at Vijay's rally in Karur, September 27, 2025, killed 41 people. Photograph: ANI Video Grab

Do you think Jayalalithaa was a success because MGR groomed her in the early days and made her the AIADMK propaganda secretary?

I don't think MGR thought of a big role for Jayalalithaa. Because he was unwell and could not travel everywhere, he used to send Jayalalithaa to attend some meetings.

When he found that she was able to attract crowds, he sent her to more meetings. But the party was against her elevation.

When he came back from the US after medical treatment, he came to know that Jayalalithaa sent signals to the Congress to make her chief minister. He felt she was not loyal to him.

So, he did not announce that she would lead the party after him.

After MGR came back from the US, his wife Janaki and R M Veerappan saw to it that Jayalalithaa did not get any prominent role in the party.

If MGR had survived for one more year, he would have totally sidelined Jayalalithaa.

But her association with the party and MGR for five years was enough for her to capitalise on, and be the number one in the party later on.

The disadvantage Janaki had was she came into the public domain only after MGR's death. If she had survived the confidence vote and been in power for two years, she might have got a chance to carry on.

Then, she would have been able to take on Jayalalithaa.

IMAGE: Vijay addresses the Karur rally before the stampede. Photograph: TVK/ANI Video Grab

How do you compare the love and support people had for MGR, Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa?

I will start with Jayalalithaa. She was cultivated by MGR. She was a very poor speaker. For many years, she could only read from a prepared text.

MGR never used a prepared text but rambled on. But he could create a rapport with people as he moved closely with them. On the other hand, it is said that Jayalalithaa behaved like an empress, upsetting many senior party leaders even when MGR was alive.

In the case of Karunanidhi, it was a combination of party network and his extraordinary ability as a speaker. There are very few people who write well and also speak well. Karunanidhi was that exception; he could write well and also speak well. He was very crisp and sharp with words. He had a way of building up the narrative.

IMAGE: R Rangaraj IMAGE: R Rangaraj

Do you think Vijay will be a political success because of his huge popularity as a film star?

Politically, he could be important and could definitely be the number 2 in Tamil Nadu.

The way he had gained momentum, he could have become number 2 for sure.

He was able to push the AIADMK to the background because Edappadi Palanisamy was given a chance by people and he was the chief minister for four years without making any impact. He also failed to defeat the DMK in the last 8, 9 elections.

People may think Edappadi may not be able to do the job of usurping the DMK.

So, the vote for change would have moved to Vijay.

Part 2 of the Interview: 'Vijay Won't Fade Away From Tamil Nadu Politics'

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar arrived in the Bihar capital late on Friday for reviewing, over the next couple of days, preparations for the high-octane assembly polls, which are expected to be announced soon, an official said.

IMAGE: Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar arrives at Jay Prakash Narayan Airport in Patna on October 3, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo

The CEC was accompanied by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi and they are scheduled to hold talks with representatives of various registered political parties on Saturday.

Sharing the visit on social media, the ECI stated on X, "Under the chairmanship of the Chief Election Commissioner Shri Gyanesh Kumar, the discussion with all 12 recognised political parties of Bihar began with Election Commissioner Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Election Commissioner Dr. Vivek Joshi, Bihar's Chief Electoral Officer Shri Vinod Gunjyal, and senior officials of the Commission.

This would be followed by a meeting with police and administrative officials across all districts of the state for a review of the law and order situation and other requirements for the smooth conduct of the polls.

Later in the day, the EC will hold discussions with the state's Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and other top officials.

Notably, the visit comes days after the EC published its final electoral roll, prepared as part of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) carried out over a period of three months.

The ruling NDA has been asserting that the SIR was very much required to "remove" impurities from the voters' list, into which even "illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Rohingyas from Myanmar" have allegedly found their way.

"The EC is most welcome in Bihar. May all political parties extend full cooperation in the grand festival of democracy (loktantra ka mahaparv) that the assembly elections are going to be," senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Sinha said.

However, the INDIA bloc, of which many constituents have challenged the exercise in the Supreme Court, has claimed that SIR was an attempt at "vote theft" to "help" the BJP-led coalition.

Senior Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar said, "The names of many persons have been deleted during SIR. It is the EC's duty to ensure that there has been no wrongful deletion."

CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, who is also one of the petitioners before the Supreme Court, said, "Tomorrow, we will flag before the EC the various discrepancies in the electoral roll that have come to our notice. There seems to be a disproportionate deletion of the names of female voters. It is also not known how many foreign nationals the EC actually found during SIR.
India welcomes United States President Donald Trump's leadership as peace efforts in Gaza make decisive progress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump at the White House, in Washington, DC. Photograph: Press Information Bureau

Modi referred to the indications of the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas and said it marks a significant step forward in efforts to restore peace in the region.

He said on X, "India will continue to strongly support all efforts towards a durable and just peace."

Trump has ordered Israel to stop bombing the Gaza Strip after Hamas said it had accepted some elements of his plan to end the nearly two-year war and return all the remaining hostages taken in the October 7, 2023, attack.

Hamas said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians.
A Nagpur hotelier and his wife died in a road accident on the last day of their vacation in Italy on October 2, while their children were injured, one of whom is in a critical condition, officials and kin said on Saturday.

Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: ANI Photo

Javed Akhtar (57), his wife Nadra, daughters Arzoo (22) and Shifa (18) as well as son Jazel (15), all residents of Civil Lines in Nagpur, were on a 10-day tour of Italy and France, their kin Iqbal Azmi, also a retired deputy superintendent of police, told PTI.

"Their 9-seater taxi collided with a vehicle in Grosetto (in Tuscany) on the morning of October 2. Javed and Nadra died, while Arzoo is critically injured. She has undergone an operation and is currently in an unconscious state. Shifa and Jazel also sustained injuries," Azmi said.

"We spoke over video call with Shifa. Two of our relatives have left for Italy. The Maharashtra administration and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis are helping us with the needful. The family owns the Gulshan Plaza hotel in Nagpur. It was the last day of their tour," he added.

Nagpur collector Vipin Itankar, confirming the developments, said officials are in touch with the Indian embassy in Italy as part of efforts to get the bodies back.

District officials visited the home of the deceased here, Itankar added.

The tragedy has left the hotel fraternity here in pain and sorrow, Vijay Chourasia, who owns Hotel Status, which is next to Akhtar's establishment, told PTI.

"We came to know about the incident just yesterday," Chourasia added.
'He knows people in a small town like Karur would give anything for a glimpse of the superstar.'

IMAGE: A view of the spot in Karur, where a stampede occurred on September 27, 2025 during a Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam rally addressed by movie superstar and TVK founder Vijay, killing 41 people. Photograph: ANI Video Grab

"The small town has been thrown into a state of shock due to the negligence of some people," Mathura Lok Sabha MP Hema Malini, who led a National Democratic Alliance delegation to the grieving town of Karur in Tamil Nadu, tells Subhash K Jha.

Forty one people died in a stampede during a rally addressed by movie superstar and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam founder Vijay in the town on Saturday, September 27, 2025.

Does she blame Vijay for the tragedy?

"He should not have invited so many people. He knows his popularity, he knows people in a small town like Karur would give anything for a glimpse of the superstar," Hemaji said.

"Why Karur, even in Chennai the turnout for Vijay would be huge. The security arrangements were just not up to the mark," she added.

She visited the injured in the hospital. "They are shocked at what has happened. A stampede of this magnitude has never happened at a political rally. There should be a thorough investigation as to why this happened."
An Indian student from Hyderabad was killed in the United Station when unidentified assailants opened fire at him at a gas station, his family said on Saturday.

IMAGE: Pole Chandrashekar had gone to US two years ago to pursue an MS. Photograph: @BRSHarish/X

Pole Chandrashekar was shot dead by the miscreants on Friday night in Dallas, they said, urging the government to help in repatriation of his mortal remains.

Chandrashekar, who completed his BDS in Hyderabad, had gone to US two years ago to pursue an MS. He completed the degree six months ago and was looking for a job, his brother Damodar told reporters.

To support himself, Chandrashekar was working part time at the gas station.

Expressing grief over the demise of the student, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family.

Assuring support to the family of the deceased, Revanth Reddy said his government would extend all cooperation to bring back the body.

Expressing concern over the incident, BRS MLA T Harish Rao said he and other party leaders visited the bereaved family here and offered condolences.

It is tragic that Chandrashekar, a Dalit student from L B Nagar here, died in the shooting incident, he said in a post on X.

Harish Rao, nephew of BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, urged the Telangana government to take steps to bring back the body of the deceased student.

In January this year, a 26-year-old student from Telangana, who was living in Connecticut in America, was allegedly shot dead by unidentified persons, while another man from Ranga Reddy district was found dead with bullet wounds in the US.

In September, a 30-year-old man from Mahabubnagar district died in California after allegedly being shot by police following a scuffle with his roommate.
United States President Donald Trump on Friday issued a stern warning to Hamas, saying the militant group is "militarily trapped" and has been given a last chance to agree to a peace deal endorsed by regional and global powers.

Photograph: / Rediff.com IMAGE: US President Donald Trump.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, "Hamas has been a ruthless and violent threat, for many years, in the Middle East! They have killed (and made lives unbearably miserable), culminating with the October 7th MASSACRE, in Israel, babies, woman, children, old people, and many young men and women, boys and girls, getting ready to celebrate their future lives together."

To underscore the scale of the response he described, he continued, "As retribution for the October 7th attack on civilization, more than 25,000 Hamas 'soldiers' have already been killed. Most of the rest are surrounded and MILITARILY TRAPPED, just waiting for me to give the word, 'GO,' for their lives to be quickly extinguished. As for the rest, we know where and who you are, and you will be hunted down, and killed."

Urging civilian precaution amid the unfolding plan, Trump called on non-combatants to seek safety, stating, "I am asking that all innocent Palestinians immediately leave this area of potentially great future death for safer parts of Gaza. Everyone will be well cared for by those that are waiting to help."

Framing the offer as a historic diplomatic opening, he added, "Fortunately for Hamas, however, they will be given one last chance! Great, powerful, and very rich Nations of the Middle East, and the surrounding areas beyond, together with the United States of America, have agreed, with Israel signing on, to PEACE, after 3000 years, in the Middle East. THIS DEAL ALSO SPARES THE LIVES OF ALL REMAINING HAMAS FIGHTERS!"

Highlighting the global reach of the initiative, he wrote, "The details of the document are known to the WORLD, and it is a great one for ALL! We will have PEACE in the Middle East one way or the other. The violence and bloodshed will stop," Trump wrote.

Making the demand for immediate action explicit, he further demanded the release of hostages, saying, "RELEASES THE HOSTAGES, ALL OF THEM, INCLUDING THE BODIES OF THOSE THAT ARE DEAD, NOW! An Agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, D.C. time. Every Country has signed on!"

Issuing an ultimatum on the consequences of refusal, Trump warned, "If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas. THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER."

Earlier, speaking to reporters on September 30, US President Donald Trump said that Hamas has "about three or four days" to respond to the Gaza peace plan.

Expanding on that timeline to colleagues and the public, he told reporters, "All of the Arab countries are signed up. The Muslim countries are all signed up. Israel is all signed up. We're just waiting for Hamas, and Hamas is either going to be doing it or not, and if it's not, it's going to be a very sad end."

Emphasising the plan's urgency and scope, President Trump added, "We want the hostages back immediately, and we want some good behaviour... You don't get simpler... We've signed every country in the Middle East. This is like an impossible thing that has never been done before. This is more than Gaza."

The remarks came after the announcement of a comprehensive initiative to end the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The plan has received backing from Israel, Arab nations, and other Muslim countries in the region.
The political slugfest between the Shiv Sena-UBT and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena intensified on Saturday, days after senior Sena leader Ramdas Kadam made sensational claims about Bal Thackeray's death during the Dussehra rally.

IMAGE: Shiv Sena-UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray addresses gatherings of Sena-UBT workers in Pune. Photograph: @ShivSenaUBT_/X

Kadam alleged that the Shiv Sena patriarch's body was kept at Matoshree -- the Thackeray family residence in Bandra -- for two days before his death was formally announced in 2012. He also claimed that the Sena founder's fingerprints were taken after his death.

Bal Thackeray passed away on November 17, 2012, at the age of 86.

The controversy quickly snowballed, sparking sharp exchanges between leaders from both Sena factions.

Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray dismissed Kadam as a gaddar (traitor) and namak haram (disloyal person).

I do not want to respond to gaddars and namak harams, Thackeray said when asked to comment on Kadam's remarks.

At a press conference, senior Sena-UBT leader Anil Parab announced plans to file a defamation suit (against Kadam) for making false claims about their deity, Bal Thackeray. He added that any compensation awarded through damages would be donated to rain-hit farmers.

In response, Kadam said he would seek a CBI probe into the matter and write to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

"The intention is to poison people's minds against Uddhav Thackeray. The Shiv Sena (led by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde) knows it cannot win the BMC polls. The charges made by Ramdas Kadam are aimed at deflecting attention from the issues currently facing Maharashtra," Parab said.

He also demanded that narco tests be conducted to verify Kadam's claims and to investigate the circumstances surrounding the burning of Kadam's wife in 1993.

Kadam clarified that his wife was burned in Khed while cooking on a stove, and that he sustained injuries while trying to save her. He said he would file a defamation suit against Parab for making baseless claims about his wife.

Parab questioned why Kadam had agreed to serve as a minister in the undivided Shiv Sena under the Devendra Fadnavis-led government from 2014 to 2019 if he believed Uddhav Thackeray was a bad person.

"When did Shiv Sena Pramukh Bal Thackeray die? Why was his body kept at Matoshree for two days? I slept on a bench at Matoshree for eight days while Bal Thackeray was seriously ill, Kadam had said during the Shiv Sena's Dussehra rally on Thursday.

Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut said Kadam was never a trustworthy person, even when he was part of the undivided Shiv Sena.

"Uddhav Thackeray got him elected to the legislative council twice. What contributions have Neelam Gorhe and Kadam made to the party? They should be grateful to Uddhav Thackeray," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Responding to Kadam's claim that Bal Thackeray's fingerprints were taken after his death, Raut said the allegations reflect how low a person can stoop for position and money.

Kadam's son currently serves as Minister of State for Home in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government.

"I was present during Balasaheb's final moments. Kadam's claim is an example of how low a person can stoop for position and money. Those who have left the party can never remain loyal to Balasaheb or truly consider him their guiding figure, Raut added.
The Rajasthan government has suspended the state drug controller and halted the distribution of medicines manufactured by Jaipur-based company Kaysons Pharma, officials said.

Kindly note the image has only been posted for representational purposes. Photograph: Steffen Frank/Pixabay

The medical and health department stopped the supply of all 19 medicines manufactured by Kaysons Pharma until further orders, they said.

Distribution of all other cough syrups containing Dextromethorphan has also been suspended.

The government has placed Drug Controller Rajaram Sharma under suspension for allegedly influencing the process of determining drug standards, the department said.

This comes amid reports of deaths of 11 children, nine in Madhya Pradesh and two in Rajasthan, allegedly linked to contaminated cough syrup.

Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma has ordered a detailed probe into the matter along with effective action.

Following his instructions, an expert committee is being constituted to investigate the issue.

Health Minister Gajendra Singh also ordered an inquiry and measures to safeguard public interest, an official statement said.

Principal Secretary in the medical and health department Gayatri Rathore said the Union government issued an advisory in 2021 against administering Dextromethorphan to children below four years.

The state has reiterated the advisory while the Drug Controller General of India on Friday advised that the syrup should normally be given only to children above five years, and in no circumstances to those under two years of age.

Officials added that drugs which are potentially harmful to children and pregnant women will now carry clear warning labels.

According to Pukhraj Sen, managing director, rajasthan Medical Services Corporation Ltd, over 10,000 samples of Kaysons Pharma drugs have been tested since 2012, of which 42 failed the quality standards.

As a precaution, the supply of all 19 medicines manufactured by the company has been suspended.

TN bans 'Coldrif' cough syrup after deaths in MP, Raj

The Tamil Nadu government has banned the sale of cough syrup 'Coldrif' and ordered its removal from the market following suspicions linking it to the death of 11 children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

With effect from October 1, the sale of the cough syrup manufactured by the city-based firm, has been prohibited across Tamil Nadu, an official of the food safety and drug administration department said.

Inspections were conducted at the pharmaceutical company's manufacturing facility in Sunguvarchathram in neighbouring Kancheepuram district during the last two days and samples have been collected, he said.

The company, he said, supplies the medicines to Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry.

The samples would be sent to the government run laboratories to test for the presence of the chemical 'Diethylene Glycol', he told PTI.

Taking cognisance of the infant deaths, the Union health ministry on Friday issued an advisory to all States and Union Territories, directing that cough and cold medications should not be prescribed to children under the age of 2 years.

The advisory, issued by the Directorate General of Health Services, comes amid reports of child deaths allegedly linked to contaminated cough syrups in Madhya Pradesh and similar reported incidents in Rajasthan.

The food safety official said, "The department has been asked to prevent the sale of the syrup and freeze the stocks from October 1."

The samples collected from the facility would be also be tested by the Union government.

Responding to a query, he said, the syrup has been supplied to Puducherry, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh by the company.

According to the Drug department, the company has been ordered to halt production of the syrup at the facility till the reports from the laboratories are out.

"We expect the report to be released in the coming days," he said.
Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam on Friday stayed firm on his claim that party founder Bal Thackeray's body was kept at his Mumbai home for two days before the announcement of his death in 2012 and made further allegations against his son Uddhav Thackeray.

IMAGE: A policeman walks past the poster of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray during the Dussehra rally, at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Park, Dadar, in Mumbai, October 6, 2022. Photograph: ANI Photo

Former state minister Kadam also claimed Bal Thackeray fingerprints were taken after his death and added let there be a narco analysis test on him and also Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray president Uddhav Thackeray so that the truth comes out.

Speaking separately, Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat joined the issue and said there was substance in the allegations made by Kadam, while state cabinet member Nitesh Rane of the BJP claimed Uddhav Thackeray did not let Narayan Rane, a former CM, meet Bal Thackeray during his last days,

Minister of fisheries and ports Nitesh Rane, son of Narayan Rane, backed Kadam and asked Uddhav Thackeray to reply to questions raised by the Shiv Sena leader.

Shiv Sena-UBT leader Sanjay Raut, a key aide of Uddhav Thackeray, hit back at Kadam and said his comments amounted to betrayal of the Shiv Sena founder.

Addressing the Shiv Sena's Dussehra rally in Mumbai on Thursday, Kadam said, "When did Shiv Sena pramukh (Bal Thackeray) die? Why was Shiv Sena pramukh's body kept at Matoshree (his residence in suburban Bandra) for two days. I have slept on a bench at Matoshree for eight days (when Bal Thackeray was seriously ill)."

Kadam made the assertion while targeting former CM Uddhav Thackeray.

"Making such statements amounted to betrayal of Balasaheb Thackeray," Shiv Sena-UBT leader Sanjay Raut, a key aide of Uddhav Thackeray, said in response to Kadam's remarks.

On Friday, Kadam further claimed Uddhav Thackeray "tortured" the body of his late father, who died on November 17, 2012.

"I told Uddhav ji to take impressions of his feet. But Uddhav ji said he has taken impressions of his palms. What use have you made of these impressions? Let there be a narco (analysis) test on me and Uddhav ji (to verify this)," the Shiv Sena leader demanded.

Kadam further claimed no one was allowed inside the room in Matoshree, where the Shiv Sena founder was kept for two days.

The Shiv Sena, a ruling coalition ally, is headed by deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, a bitter political rival of Uddhav Thackeray.

Speaking to reporters in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in central Maharashtra, Nitesh Rane said Narayan Rane, a BJP Lok Sabha MP who was once in the united Shiv Sena, had expressed a wish to meet ailing Bal Thackeray.

"Uddhav Thackeray did not let Narayan Rane meet Bal Thackeray during his last days. Kadam can tell better what was happening there (at Matoshree) during those 2-3 days. We only know someone was going to come from Switzerland and the (death) declaration was supposed to take place after signing a few papers," said the state minister.

Uddhav Thackeray should speak up and clarify whether Kadam or he were lying, Nitesh Rane demanded, adding "The longer he stay quiets, the more he will be certifying our information."

Speaking to a regional news channel in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, social justice minister Shirsat maintained allegations made by Kadam were not false.

"But we don't want to speak much on it as it will give pain to the soul of Bal Thackeray," Shirsat said.

He claimed preparations for the last rites of Bal Thackeray were going on for two days before the formal declaration of his death.

"I was at Matoshree. Former MP Vinayak Raut (then in united Shiv Sena) had started the preparations two days before. The (Mumbai) police commissioner asked about what had happened. After this, then Shiv Sena leader Diwakar Raote removed the (funeral) arrangements made by Raut."

"I am taking names here," said the social justice minister.

"Allegations made by Kadam were not false. Everyone knows the truth. We don't want more discussion over the issue. Kadam spoke so I am speaking now. We will not speak more than this because we don't want to give pain to the soul of Bal Thackeray," Shirsat noted.
IMAGE: Bill Gates addresses the Gandhi Jayanti celebrations in Seattle. All photographs: Kind courtesy Indian Consulate General in Seattle

Mahatma Gandhi's ideals of equality and dignity for everyone are foundational to the Gates Foundation's work, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said, as he underlined that India pioneered solutions that can save and improve millions of lives across the Global South.

Gates was addressing a special celebration hosted by the consulate general of India in Seattle in partnership with the Gates Foundation, showcasing Indian culture, arts and cuisine on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's 156th birth anniversary on Thursday.

'It's fitting that we're coming together on the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. The ideals he championed, the equality and dignity of every person, are foundational to the work we do,' Gates, chair and board member of the Gates Foundation, said.

'Today, India stands as a global leader in innovation and is pioneering solutions with the potential to save and improve millions of lives across the Global South. We look forward to continuing to partner with India on its journey toward Viksit Bharat 2047,' the Microsoft co-founder said at the event held at the Gates Foundation.

Apart from Gates, senior leadership of Washington state and the Seattle city government attended the event, which coincided with the celebrations for Gandhi Jayanti, also observed around the world as International Day of Non-Violence, in the Greater Seattle area.

It also featured a special address on the 'Relevance of Gandhian Values in Contemporary World Order' by President of the Global Security Institute Jonathan Granoff.

Several events were organised across Seattle to commemorate Gandhi's birth anniversary.

Earlier in the day, a commemorative event was held at the statue of Gandhi near the Bellevue Public Library, where the Bellevue City Council leadership joined in honoring the legacy of the Mahatma.

IMAGE: Bill Gates being presented a special publication on Gandhiji by India's Consul General in Seattle Prakash Gupta.

IMAGE: Bill Gates addresses the Gandhi Jayanti celebrations, here and below.

In addition, another commemorative function was hosted during the day at the Seattle Center, near the base of the iconic Space Needle.

Floral tributes were offered at the bust of Mahatma Gandhi by Washington state Senator Vandana Slatter in the presence of Chairman and Founder of the Martin Luther King-Gandhi Foundation Eddie Rye.

A large cross-section of Indian-American leadership attended these events in Seattle and Bellevue respectively, which also featured a special rendition of Gandhi's favourite hymns by young school children.

IMAGE: Natyam - A Dance Mosaic of Bharat, a specially curated dance performance on various states of India being performed at the Gandhi Jayanti celebrations.

IMAGE: A lecture on the 'Relevance Of Gandhian Values' at the Gandhi Jayanti celebrations.

IMAGE: Natyam - A Dance Mosaic of Bharat performers being felicitated at the Gandhi Jayanti celebrations at the Gates Foundation.

IMAGE: Participants at Gandhi Jayanti celebrations, here and below.

IMAGE: Kalbelia, a Rajasthani folk dance performance at the Gandhi Jayanti celebrations.

IMAGE: Commemoration of Gandhi Jayanti at the Bellevue Public Library.

IMAGE: Commemoration of Gandhi Jayanti at the Seattle Center next to the Space Needle.

IMAGE: Bill Gates interacts with guests at the Gandhi Jayanti event.

Photographs curated by Anant Salvi/Rediff

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
'She was an icon, a path-breaker.'

Dr Saket Badola, Director, Corbett Tiger Reserve, remembers his meeting with Dr Jane Goodall, the legendary conservationist and renowned chimpanzee expert who passed into the ages this week.

IMAGE: Dr Jane Goodall. Photograph: Kind courtesy The Jane Goodall Institute UK/Facebook

Dr Jane Goodall has been an icon to all of us in the field conservation. Her work for the primates, especially chimpanzees, has been remarkable.

I have heard her lectures and interactions on various forums and had the honour of meeting her when she visited India in November 2024.

She wanted to know about India's conservation efforts, especially tigers -- and that's why I was invited for the interaction.

I invited her to the Corbett Tiger Reserve so that she could spend some time in tiger land. She accepted my invitation. For us, it was very touching.

Unfortunately, her health and busy schedule didn't permit it. She said she would visit an Indian tiger reserve, probably Corbett, next time.

I gave her a Corbett cap as a souvenir.

Photograph: Kind courtesy The Jane Goodall Institute UK/Facebook

Instead, a visit to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai was planned for her. We spent almost an entire day at the park -- talking about various themes on wildlife conservation, the challenges before India and what we were doing to counter it.

We also visited the rescue facility for leopards at the park and closely observed them.

Her personal story of how she came into this field as a young girl and gave her life to conservation is an inspiration for every conservationist.

Photograph: Kind courtesy The Jane Goodall Institute UK/Facebook

She left her place of birth and travelled to a new land to study wildlife. Leaving behind everything she knew to work for the conservation of another species. While many strive to work for humans, devoting your life for another species needs another level of dedication.

She was already 90 during her visit to India. Seeing her enthusiasm, her clarity of thought was impressive. She was updated with developments in various parts of the globe, including India.

She was sharp and observant. She spent a sizable time sitting near the lake at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, saying she wants to absorb the energy and feel rejuvenated.

I was just looking at the peaceful expression on her face. Even sitting near her felt like meditation.

Photograph: Kind courtesy The Jane Goodall Institute UK/Facebook

We talked about the Hoolock Gibbons found in Assam. She said someday she would like to do a project on the conservation of the Hoolock Gibbons.

Sadly, that and her wish to visit Corbett remained unfulfilled.

At the dinner hosted at a city hotel, I was seated next to her.

What fascinated me was that despite her vast experience and knowledge, she was a lifelong learner.

Generally, we assume that when someone has achieved such glory in their field, they talk more, but she was full of questions.

Photograph: Kind courtesy The Jane Goodall Institute UK/Facebook

She was inquisitive about the growing human-wildlife conflict and appreciative of India's efforts to save its wildlife despite its large human population.

On the personal level, I was touched that she had heard good things about tiger conservation at Corbett -- having your childhood conservation hero sitting next to you, appreciating your work and expressing the desire to spend some time with you meant so much to me.

An animal lover as a child growing up in England, Dr Goodall jumped at the first opportunity to work at the Gombe National Park, Tanzania in her early 20s.

Frankly, we were like children asking her about her early days of studying the chimpanzees.

IMAGE: Dr Saket Badola with Jane Goodall, here and below. Photograph: Kind courtesy Saket Badola/Instagram

She was one of the first persons -- man or woman -- to go so close to chimpanzees and observe them. She discovered they could use tools just like humans, express emotions and use their intelligence.

This was a path-breaking discovery.

She told us about the many months she spent with the chimpanzees and what she felt when they finally accepted her. They trusted her which gave her the opportunity to go even closer to study them.

That experience made her realise the love animals are capable of, provided one is also well-intentioned.

She was enthusiastic about the younger generation and hopeful that it would take the mantle forward.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Saket Badola/Instagram

That evening, when we were about to leave, she held my hand and said, 'Please continue the good work, save the tigers for us and for the entire globe.'

Her whole persona was so great that you could feel that energy. She was very, very soft-spoken and a lady of immense grace.

That evening still remains with me. It has left a big impression and hopefully will get reflected in my work.

Jane took her research and message of conservation to every corner of the globe with strong advocacy.

Even at 90 when I met her, she was travelling around the world and continued doing so till her last breath.

I don't think we have many persons like her, not just in conservation, but in any other field.

Her love for conservation and wild animals was so pure, so unadulterated.

I was really excited as a child to meet someone I had admired all your life.

I feel lucky that she touched my life in some way, even briefly.

As told to Archana Masih/Rediff

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
PRAGUE - Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has made a dramatic political comeback, winning parliamentary elections four years after losing power, but now faces tough talks on forming a governing majority in a vote thats being watched internationally for its impact on the EU and NATO member states policy on Ukraine.

With some 95 percent of the vote counted, results showed Babis, a billionaire who leads the populist ANO party, as the clear winner. But he does not have a majority of seats, meaning potentially complex efforts to find coalition partners.

Many analysts suggest this may include the far-right SPD, which has called for the Czech Republic to withdraw from both the European Union and NATO.

If the government is dependent on the position or on the support of the SPD, it's going to be very complicated, Jan Machacek, a foreign policy adviser to Czech President Petr Pavel, told RFE/RL as results came in.

Machacek added that this would create a very dangerous situation for foreign policy, because the SPD is extremist, sharply anti-Ukraine [and] EU -- a pro-Russian party.

Babis has employed strong Euroskeptic rhetoric and also suggested he would end a Czech initiative to purchase munitions for Ukraine. But the 71-year-old has ruled out withdrawing from the EU or NATO.

Veteran Czech political commentator Jiri Pehe told RFE/RL the results meant it will be very difficult for Andrej Babis to put together a stable coalition based on the SPD and the Motorists, a small opposition group that has entered parliament for the first time.

Celebrating what he called a "historic result," Babis said he would seek to form a single-party minority government and would hold talks with the SPD and Motorists on securing their support for it.

Other parties, including members of the current governing coalition, have ruled out forming a government with Babis. But Pehe suggested this might change if he stepped aside and nominated a party colleague to be prime minister.

He may try to approach one of the current government parties because it would be a more stable solution for him, he said.

The prospect of Babis pulling the strings from behind the scenes would still alarm Czech allies used to the current government, which has been solidly pro-Western and pro-Ukraine.

He has often voiced support and affinity for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has blocked numerous EU measures sanctioning Russia or supporting Ukraine.

But Pehe said that Babis, with extensive business interests in Western Europe, had shown during his first term as prime minister (2017-2021) that he was a pragmatist.

I don't think Babis will go as far as Orban or (Slovak Prime Minister Robert) Fico, if only because the Czech Republic is not any longer dependent on Russian oil and gas, he said.

Since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Prague has stopped imports of oil from Moscow completely and reduced its gas intake.

Hungary and Slovakia continue to import significant supplies of both fossil fuels.
KYIV  A French journalist was killed and a Ukrainian photographer injured in a Russian drone attack near the front lines, Kyiv and French President Emmanuel Macron said on October 3.

Our compatriot, photojournalist Antoni Lallican accompanied the Ukrainian military to the resistance front, Macron wrote on X. It is with deep sadness that I learned about his death from a Russian drone strike.

I express my sincere condolences to his family, loved ones and all his colleagues who, risking their lives, inform us and testify to the reality of war, he added.

Ukraines Fourth Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade wrote on Facebook that photojournalist Hryhoriy Ivanchenko was injured in the same attack and was in stable condition.

Both journalists were wearing personal protective equipment, and their bulletproof vests had insignia -- the inscription "PRESS," the brigade said.

The enemy once again cynically violated the norms of international humanitarian law. This fact once again confirms the insidiousness and cruelty of the enemy army.

Lallican, 37, was embedded with Ukrainian forces near the front line in the Donetsk region when he was killed, Ukrainian authorities said.

The European and International Federations of Journalists labeled the killing a war crime."

The groups said Lallican was the first journalist to be killed by a drone in the Ukraine war, although UNESCO said 21 others have been killed by other means in Ukraine since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Kyiv said Lallican and Ivanchenko were embedded near the area of Druzhkivka, some 20 kilometers from the front line in the Donetsk region.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the international journalism watchdog, called for a swift investigation.

Lallican "died while doing his job, bearing witness to the consequences of war," RSF chief Thibaut Bruttin said in a statement.

His commitment, recognized by his peers, was as great as the risks he took to report the news, he added.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said Moscow continues to deliberately target journalists, which is a heinous crime and violation of international humanitarian law. We will make every effort to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi said he is discussing proposals with Moscow and Kyiv on ways to restore off-site power to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, Europe's largest.

The plant has been cut off from external power since September 23 and is being cooled by emergency diesel generators. It has been occupied by Russian forces since shortly after the beginning of the full-scale invasion but is mostly run by Ukrainian staff.

The facility does not produce electricity, but its reactors must be cooled by emergency diesel generators to prevent a nuclear disaster. Both sides accuse the other of shelling the plant.

Away from the direct battlefield, NATO member Denmark's intelligence agency reported that Russian warships had repeatedly sailed on collision courses, aimed their weapons at Danish naval vessels, and disrupted navigation in Danish waters that link the Baltic Sea to the North Sea.

"We have seen several incidents in the Danish straits, where Danish Air Force helicopters and naval vessels have been targeted by tracking radars and physically pointed at with weapons from Russian warships," Danish Defense Intelligence Service chief Thomas Ahrenkiel told a news conference.

The White House said the report was being taken seriously.

"It's something the administration takes very seriously, and we are constantly monitoring it. The National Security Council here at the White House is in constant correspondence with our NATO allies," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Tensions are high in the region following suspected sabotage incidents involving undersea cables and pipelines, airspace intrusions, and drone sightings, much of it blamed on Russia or entities linked to Moscow.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP
Georgian riot police used tear gas, pepper spray, and water cannon to repel anti-government protesters from the country's presidential palace. The clashes erupted in Tbilisi on October 4 after a large demonstration on the day of local elections. Opposition leaders used the vote to try to reinvigorate protests against the ruling Georgian Dream party which it has accused of being pro-Russian and authoritarian.
A Russian drone has hit a passenger train, killing a 71-year-old man and injuring dozens of others, including children, in the latest strike against a civilian target in the Kremlins ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The train was a regular service running to Kyiv from Shostka, in the northeastern Sumy region, local authorities said.

"It was a targeted attack on a civilian facility -- dozens of people were there boarding trains at the time," regional governor Oleh Hryhorov wrote on Telegram on October 3.

Video posted on social media showed a Ukrainian railways passenger carriage in flames, with black smoke rising from twisted metal.

In his post, Hryhorov said that, after the initial strike, another Russian drone circled above the station, hindering cleanup efforts. "Then the Russians launched a second strike," he added.

RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service filmed the aftermath of the attack, capturing the moment a second drone flew over the scene.

Russia is systematically attacking Ukraine's railway infrastructure, trying to paralyze logistics, including the transportation of military cargo.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media that dozens of people are already known to have been injured, while regional Governor Oleh Hrihorov said that casualties were being counted.

Zelenskyy added that 30 people were injured, while Hrihorov reported eight people were hospitalized. "Among the injured are three children aged 8, 11, and 14," he wrote.

This is terror that the world has no right to ignore. Every day, Russia takes people's lives. And only force can force them to stop it. We have heard strong statements from Europe and America, and it is high time to make them all a reality, Zelenskyy wrote.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen also condemned the attack.

"The shocking scenes emerging from Shostka railway station highlight Russias reckless and continued willingness to target civilians," she wrote.



"The EU and its global partners must continue ramping up the pressure on Russia until it finally accepts a just and lasting peace," she added.

The attack comes at a time when prospects for peace seem as distant as ever as Russia's full-scale invasion nears the four-year mark.

As the US effort to broker a peace deal has brought little progress; the positions of Ukraine and Russia remain far apart.

US President Donald Trump has so far not succeeded in organizing a trilateral summit or a face-to-face meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents, with Moscow seeking to avoid direct talks.

Earlier on October 4, Ukrainian military reported a relatively light night of Russian attacks, with 109 Shahed, Gerber, and other types of drones, as well as three Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles.

Ukraine Hits Russian Oil Industry

Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones struck one of the largest oil refineries in Russia overnight from October 3-4, according to Russian and Ukrainian authorities, the latest blows in a campaign of attacks on an industry which is crucial to financing the Kremlins military.

The Kirishinefteorgsintez oil refinery, which has already been repeatedly subjected to Ukrainian strikes, is located in Kirishi in Russias Leningrad region.

"Explosions and a fire were recorded at the facility. The results of the damage are being clarified. The Kirishi oil refinery is one of the largest refineries in the territory of the aggressor country. Its annual capacity is 18.4 million tons of oil processing per year," said a statement by the Ukrainian general staff.

Air defense is working against drones in Kirishi. There is a fire in the industrial zone. Fire services are fighting the blaze, Leningrad Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko wrote on social media.

In recent months, Kyiv has intensified its attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure, which appear to be causing fuel shortages and price increases inside Russia.

On October 3 in Russia's Orsk region, located approximately 1,400 kilometers (840 miles) from the front lines in Ukraine, regional Governor Yevgeniy Solntsev said "enemy drones" attacked a local industrial facility.

A number of videos posted on social media, verified by RFE/RL, appeared to show huge pillars of smoke rising from the local major oil refinery, Orsknefteorgsintez.

Later in the day, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) confirmed that its drones carried out the attack.
Neighbors of an Uzbek grain farmer recorded a night-time visit by police, who they say threatened the man, accusing him of falling short of state production quotas. Although Uzbek law guarantees farmers independence, many report they are still harassed and threatened if they are not deemed productive enough. The farmer captured on phone video says police shoved his 70-year-old mother to the ground, injuring her, and insists he did meet the state quota with a 17-ton grain harvest.
The car parking situation for patients and staff at Roscommon University Hospital is worsening, a HSE Regional Health Forum was told last week.

Independent Roscommon councillor Emer Kelly asked the HSE for an update and timeline on the parking situation at the hospital. She said that this is a worsening issue for both staff and service users.

Roscommon County Council is completing work to make the county town an Age Friendly town, she added, and the parking at RUH has been identified as an issue again.

In the written response, integrated health area manager for Galway Roscommon, Ann Cosgrove said that the range of services offered, staffing, and activity levels have all increased year on year at the hospital.

Unfortunately, this has contributed to pressure on car parking capacity, Ms Cosgrove said. We understand the challenge this presents to some staff and patients. There have been a number of off-site parking options explored within Roscommon Town, however, no arrangements have been agreed to date. A spatial plan for the whole RUH campus is being developed in conjunction with HSE Estates and a design team. The HSE acknowledged that additional car parking for the site is a key part of the plan and has been prioritised.

Health planners have recently been appointed to support the development and delivery of the spatial plan. They were on site on July 30th, 2025 to get their work underway. It is anticipated this will be a 2026-week process, the response continued.

Currently we are submitting a wide range of data and information to them to support the process. The hospital does not charge for parking on any part of the campus. We also have the support of our security officer who meets and greets patients and travelling companions at the set down area immediately adjacent to the urgent care centre building. Patients can be dropped off there or accompanied into the hospital to register or go to their appointment.

It added that RUH uses approximately 75 spaces of public parking at the nearby Hyde Park GAA Pitch, and that this is full on most days.

We are currently working with the Age Friendly committee and will be conducting a mobility audit, in order to try to secure Age Friendly accreditation for the site. This may identify opportunities to make the campus more accessible.

Speaking at the forum, Cllr Kelly said it was a recurring issue being brought up at council level and she asked for a timeline on when additional spaces will be added.

Ms Cosgrove said extra carparking would not be added within the next year at a minimum.

They will probably be associated with another project that will be happening on the site, she said.

She added that the HSE has tried to ensure that the spaces closest to the hospital are maintained for members of the public accessing the hospital.

We have explored off-site parking to see if we can move staff parking off site. But we have not come up with any viable option at this point, she said. She added that the HSE recognised it is a significant issue and that it would continue to seek a solution.

It is a priority for us, but we are not going to have it in the short term. It would be pointless for us to say otherwise.
The HSE has no plans at the moment to reopen the chapel at the Sacred Heart Hospital.

At a regional health forum, Independent councillor Emer Kelly asked the HSE for a response on the current status of the chapel, saying it is a concern. She said the chapel has been closed for some time now and that this was raised as an urgent concern at a meeting of the council. She added that the attendance of a local priest regularly to celebrate Mass had been identified as a positive in a HIQA report.

The HSE in its written response said the chapel was closed in September 2023.

The Fire Regulation Authority (FRA) identified significant deficits with compartmentation in the workhouse building and the adjoining chapel attached to it. The decision was made to clear and separate the workhouse and adjoining chapel from the designated centre, it said. This ensured the designated centre could secure HIQA compliance and allowed the centre to re-open up to admissions. At this present time, there are no plans to reopen the chapel.

The HSE said it would be open to revisiting the possibility of looking at the restoration of the chapel/workhouse area when work on the current replacement bed project is completed. A room is currently provided as a prayer space for private prayer and where Mass can be celebrated for the residents of the sacred Heart Hospital.

Speaking at the forum, Cllr Kelly said she was quite disappointed by the answer.

It is quite a concern and has been raised with multiple members of Roscommon County Council, she said.

Integrated health area manager for Galway and Roscommon, Ann Cosgrove said there was no facility for the community but there was a prayer space for the residents.

The project (the new 50 bed unit) that is currently underway wont be completed until mid-next year, Ms Cosgrove said. We may revisit it at that point, but at this point in time, there arent any plans.

She added that if the chapel was going to come back into use, investment would be required.

That might be a conversation for the council and HSE Estates, she said.
The budget is looming and a sense of unease about the state of the economy is growing. Its not just the usual prophets of doom who are expressing concern about the budget: august bodies such as the Central Bank and the Economic and Social Research Institute are warning of the danger of the government overheating the economy with its planned 9.4 billion spending increase.

Of course, none of the economists in these institutions is taking into account how the cost of living crisis is affecting people who have, for example, seen the price of their weekly shop soar over the last 18 months. Add in the hikes in energy prices before the onset of winter and its clear why many people will need financial help in the budget.

It means that the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, is facing a delicate balancing act. Donohoe was quick to react to the ESRI report by emphasising that he and the Minister for Social Expenditure, Jack Chambers, are aware of the warnings and were determined not to add any risk to the economy.

It was Donohoe in his customary reassuring, unflappable mode. However, he has to know that his Prudent Paschal persona is under scrutiny in a way it hasnt been before.

While the ESRI forecast wasnt all gloomy  it revised upwards its forecast for growth for this year to 3.9% for the domestic economy  one line stood out. On the vexed topic of windfall taxes paid by multinationals, the ESRI warned that these taxes which have buttressed the economy and allowed giveaway budgets in recent years could vanish quickly.

Then came the kicker: Parallels to the collapse in building-related taxes at the outset of the economic crisis of 2007-2008 are clear. The very mention of the economic crash was enough to cause even the most sanguine person to gulp. The sense of foreboding in the ESRIs words was seized upon by the Opposition in the Dail.

All of us who lived through The Crash will dread the prospect of a return to those dark days when the troika of the Eurogroup, the European Central Bank and the dreaded International Monetery Fund (IMF) tool control the countrys finances from 2010 to 2013.

Neither Fianna Fail or Fine Gael will want to preside over anything remotely similar.

The ESRIs ominous words werent the only throwback to 2008 last week as former US president Barack Obama made a low-key visit to Ireland where he received the Freedom of Dublin. It was a reminder of how Obama was catapulted into office in 2008 because of promises of hope and change just as economic turmoil threatened to engulf the world. The timing of the award, nine years after he left the White House, was curious, even more so as the ceremony took place in private.

It was such a contrast to the euphoria which greeted Obamas state visit to Ireland in 2011. The country was in the grip of the economic crisis at the time and the visit of the charismatic, urbane, glamorous duo of Obama and his wife Michelle lifted spirits.

His mantra of hope struck a chord with the cheering throngs, while translating his famous catchphrase Yes We Can into Irish didnt come across as contrived or cheesy. We needed all the help we could get from the US at that time and nobody minded the then-Taoiseach Enda Kenny piling on the flattery. Its a reminder that leaders of other countries buttering up US presidents didnt start with Donald Trump.

The reputations of all major political figures wax and wane but, just now, Obamas once-sparkling lustre has dimmed. Whether anybody outside the US likes it or not, Trump is emerging as one of the most consequential US presidents in a long time.

He is reshaping the US and the world in a way that is the antithesis of everything Obama stood for. Trump nonchalantly takes swipes at Obama and he is, so far anyway, too aloof to hit back or to become the inspiration for any concerted opposition to Trumps policies.

Its also clear that the bizarre awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Obama when he had barely begun his term in office is one of the major motivating factors in Trumps blatant canvassing for the same accolade.

Obama is, arguably, the finest public orator of the 21st century thus far, but, inevitably, his soaring words werent always matched by his deeds. Politics has changed irrevocably since Obama electrified the world in 2008. For the moment, he seems a symbol of a bygone age that isnt returning any time soon.
THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Sept. 29- Oct. 03, 2025

Sguardo sulla settimana

Daniela Budu, 04.10.2025, 13:34

Nicusor Dan in Copenhagen

Romanian President Nicusor Dan believes that the drone threat is no longer just a matter related to the Russian neighborhood, and the Anti-Drone Wall, which is being discussed at the European level, could be operational in a few months. Present on Thursday at the meeting of the European Political Community in Copenhagen, the president discussed with European leaders the security of the region, hybrid warfare, disinformation and cyber attacks. In this context, Nicusor Dan presented the report of the Prosecutor Generals Office regarding Russias involvement in the 2024 presidential elections in Romania. On the sidelines of the summit, Nicusor Dan had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson. Romania and Sweden have a very close bilateral cooperation in the context of our European alliance, the head of state wrote on a social network. According to him, the two also discussed how NATO can strengthen deterrence of threats from Russia. Also on the sidelines of the summit, the president also discussed with the Prime Minister of Armenia and recalled, in this context, that the next meeting of the EPC will take place in May 2026 in this country. On Wednesday, also in Copenhagen, Nicusor Dan participated in the Informal European Council, dedicated to strengthening common defense capabilities, as well as providing additional aid to Ukraine.

Army equipment projects

In the context of the security situation in the region, the Ministry of Defense in Bucharest has requested Parliaments approval to purchase over 200 state-of-the-art tanks, which will be produced in Romania. In addition, dozens of derivative vehicles and machine guns are expected to reach the Romanian Army by in 2040. Bucharest will pay a total of over $7 billion to renew the Armys equipment, in the context of Russia constantly testing the military capabilities of NATO members. According to a statement from the relevant ministry, the goal is to increase the Armys operational capacity, in order to be able to fulfill both the countrys defense missions and international commitments. We recall that Romania, a member state of NATO and the European Union, signed a first contract in 2023 for the acquisition of 54 Abrams tanks from the US for just over a billion dollars, with full delivery in 2028. Romania, which has a 650-km border with Ukraine, currently hosts a US ballistic missile defense system and a permanent NATO battle group. Drones have repeatedly violated its airspace since Russia began attacking Ukrainian ports and infrastructure across the Danube. On the other hand, the government in Bucharest approved on Thursday the draft law on military volunteering and the draft law on national defense. Thus, young Romanians will be able to voluntarily participate in a military training program for 4 months. The second draft includes measures that simplify the decision-making chain in theaters of operations. Both documents will reach Parliament for debate and approval.

The first budget correction of this year

The first budget correction of this year was approved on Wednesday by the Government in Bucharest, with a higher deficit target of 8.4% of the Gross Domestic Product, renegotiated with European Commission officials. The extra money covers essential expenses for pensions, salaries and social assistance, but also the payment of interest on previous state loans, as well as investments. The Minister of Finance, Alexandru Nazare, said that the budget correction is a reasonable compromise, and at this moment, no other tax increases are planned. On the other hand, he explained that the aim was to adjust the amounts for the NPRR loan area for ministries that no longer had money for investments. The Finance Minister also stressed that, by adopting the budget amendment before the Council of Finance Ministers on October 10, a very good signal will be sent, not only to the European Commission, but also to the markets. On Tuesday, the IMF Executive Director, Jeroen Clicq, stated that Romania is on the right path in the fiscal consolidation process, and assured that the Fund supports the continuation of the reforms initiated by the government in Bucharest. The IMF official was received by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan who stressed that the austerity measures, although criticized by the population, are indispensable for ensuring fiscal stability and for reducing social imbalances and inequalities.

The new academic year began with protests

The new academic year began on October 1 in Romania with student protests organized in Bucharest and in almost all university centers in the country, in parallel with inaugural ceremonies. Students criticize austerity measures and especially the reduction of the scholarship fund, but they are also dissatisfied with the conditions of study. The National Alliance of Student Organizations pointed out that these measures represent a direct attack by the Romanian Government on the basic needs that students have to continue their educational path, the government forgetting that the right to education is a right guaranteed by the Romanian Constitution. For his part, the Minister of Education, Daniel David, declared that the year 2025 is probably the most difficult and dangerous year for the country after the 1989 Revolution, in the context of political, economic and international crises, emphasizing that the education system was saved from the blockade due to the fiscal-budgetary measures adopted by the Government. In a report of his activity in which he also responds to the criticism of students related to scholarships, Daniel David specified that the resizing of scholarships will not irreparably affect the education system. He promises, after overcoming the fiscal-budgetary crisis, larger amounts for students and a reasonable number of scholarships for Olympians.
Pilot Allan Hahn poses for a picture with a student in his balloon at Colinas del Norte Elementary School Friday morning as part of Balloons Aloft. Tracy Goldizen

Streamers are released from Dawn Song III as it lifts off from the grounds of Colinas del Norte Elementary School Friday morning as part of Balloons Aloft. Tracy Goldizen

Left to right, Heaven Bound, too, Dawn Song III and Wildthang! inflate at various stages at Colinas del Norte Elementary Schools Friday morning as part of Balloons Aloft. Tracy Goldizen

RIO RANCHO  Friday morning's dawn brought something special to the students, staff and families at Colinas del Norte Elementary School.

Three hot air balloons inflated at the school as part of the annual Balloons Aloft program that precedes the first official day of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

Pilots Shane Richardson, Don Martindell and Allan Hahn brought Wildthang!, Dawn Song III, and Heaven Bound, too, up to Rio Rancho to engage the students in the sport of ballooning.

"Interacting with the kids is something special," said Hahn of Aurora, Colorado. "I love being able to teach the kids about the science of the hot air balloon and what makes it work."

"We bring the fiesta to them," said Dawn Song crew member Justina Anderson. She said the balloon has been an annual visitor to Colinas del Norte for about six years and that the kids have gotten to know the balloon. In fact, as Martindell lifted off with the school's principal and assistant principal, streamers trailed from the basket, something Anderson said the kids look forward to and ask about each year.

While Martindell and his crew are regulars in Rio Rancho, Hahn said it was his first time being stationed at an RRPS school. "Things are going well. The kids are really excited. The school is turning out really well," he said.

"This is probably the biggest crowd I've seen at a school. It's very impressive," Richardson said, noting he rotates schools each year depending on where the program needs him. While born and raised in Albuquerque, he now lives in a suburb of Las Vegas, Nevada, but makes frequent trips home: "The balloon lives here," he quipped.

However, coming back for two weeks for Balloon Fiesta, he said, is "a big party, good times and a lot of memories."

However, Friday morning was all about the kids. Each balloon crew was handing out cards to the students on request, and there were squeals of excitement as Martindell lifted off with the school's leaders.

Richardson, meanwhile, lingered a bit once his balloon was inflated to spend more time with the kids before taking off for a short flight. "Letting the kids get up close to the balloon is a lot of fun," he said.

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Hahn had a different plan in mind. He elected to do a static display to allow for more time to interact and talk with the kids. In fact, a line quickly formed for the children to climb into the basket for a photo opportunity.

"I've done this event before, and it's some of the best times for Fiesta," he said.
After a $6.6 billion secondary share sale involving both current and former employees, OpenAI has reached a $500 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg.

With the transaction, OpenAI surpasses valuations previously set by tech giants at comparable stages of growth to become the most valuable privately held company in history.

SoftBank, Thrive Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, MGX, and T. Rowe Price were among the buyers in the deal. Profits from the sale went to shareholders rather than OpenAI itself, in contrast to a traditional funding round.

However, the sale helps the company's retention efforts as it contends with growing competition from rivals like Meta. At least seven of the top OpenAI engineers were enticed to join Meta this summer with multimillion-dollar signing bonuses.

With support from SoftBank, Thrive, T. Rowe Price, Dragoneer, Blackstone, TPG, Founders Fund, Sequoia, and Andreessen Horowitz, OpenAI closed a $40 billion round at a $300 billion valuation in August.

With a $300 billion investment in Oracle Cloud Services over the next five years, the company is also getting ready for significant capital requirements. As part of a strategic partnership that was announced in September, Nvidia has committed $100 billion.

The secondary sale's timing is noteworthy because it occurred just weeks after OpenAI and Microsoft reached a non-binding agreement that may allow OpenAI to become a for profit company, a process that has not yet been completed in court. If legal approval is delayed, the new sales may make that conversion more difficult.

With the release of its most recent Sora 2 video model and social media platform earlier this week, OpenAI is still growing rapidly.

In the first half of 2025, the company's reported revenue of $4.3 billion was offset by $2.5 billion in cash burn.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Availability of Victoris through Arena outlets, Indias largest car dealership network, has helped generate a strong market response for the SUV

Maruti had launched the all-new Victoris SUV on September 15, 2025 at a starting price of Rs 10.50 lakh. The SUV will primarily challenge the supremacy of Hyundai Creta, the current bestseller in the compact SUV segment. Whether that objective is achieved or not remains to be seen. In the meantime, Maruti has indicated that Victoris has received an overwhelming market response. Lets check out the details.

Maruti Victoris waiting period

With more than 25,000 bookings in around a months time, the waiting period for Maruti Victoris has zoomed to around 10 weeks. This high waiting period exists even when Maruti is ensuring production of Victoris at full capacity. Due to the high demand, dealer lead times for Victoris could be in the range of 2-3 months.

Most Maruti Arena cars usually have a waiting period of around 1-2 months. At some locations, there is no waiting period for specific models. On the higher side, the waiting period for specific models at a certain location could be around 2.5 to 3 months. A relevant example is Maruti Brezza, which usually has a higher waiting period in comparison to other Arena cars. Waiting period can also vary based on other factors such as the festive season rush.

For people planning to buy the Victoris, a waiting period of around 10 weeks seems manageable. If we look at rival offerings, Hyundai Creta has a waiting period in the range of 1-3 months across major cities. The exact waiting period can vary based on the location and the variant selected. Another rival is Kia Seltos, which has a waiting period of up to 2 months. In many cities, there is no waiting period for specific variants.

One can also look at the waiting period of Victoris sibling, the Grand Vitara. It has waiting period of up to 1.5 months. In many cities, there is no waiting period for select variants of the Grand Vitara. Another good option in the compact SUV segment is the Toyota HyRyder, a rebadged version of the Grand Vitara. It is currently the second best selling compact SUV in the country. Waiting period for Toyota HyRyder is usually in the range of 1-3 months at most locations.

Why Maruti Victoris is gaining popularity?

There are multiple reasons for the overwhelming response to Maruti Victoris. Unlike the Grand Vitara that is offered via Marutis premium Nexa outlets, Victoris is sold via the larger Arena dealership network. With a broader reach, bookings and sales are naturally higher, assuming other variables are the same.

Victoris has a dominating street presence and packs in a comprehensive range of features. Safety aspect is also sorted with a 5-star rating in both Bharat NCAP and Global NCAP safety assessment tests. Another factor making Victoris a success is the wide range of powertrain options. It has petrol, strong hybrid and factory-fitted CNG. Last but not least, competitive pricing in the range of Rs 10.5 lakh to Rs 19.99 lakh is another factor why an increasing number of people may have opted for Victoris.
After the formation of the Solar System, it took a maximum of three million years for the chemical composition of the Earth's precursor to be completed. This is shown by a new study by the Institute of Geological Sciences at the University of Bern. At this time, however, there were hardly any elements necessary for life such as water or carbon compounds on the young planet. Only a later planetary collision probably brought water to Earth, paving the way for life.

Earth is so far the only known planet on which life exists -- with liquid water and a stable atmosphere. However, the conditions were not conducive to life when it formed. The gas-dust cloud from which all the planets in the Solar System formed was rich in volatile elements essential for life, such as hydrogen, carbon and sulphur. However, in the inner Solar System -- the part closest to the Sun, where the four rocky planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars and the asteroid belt are located today -- these volatile elements could hardly exist: Due to the high temperature of the Sun, they did not condense and initially remained largely in the gas phase. As these gaseous substances were not incorporated into the solid rocky materials from which the planets were formed, the early precursor of the Earth, the so-called proto-Earth, also contained very little of these vital substances. Only celestial bodies that formed further away from the Sun in cooler regions were able to incorporate these components. When and how the Earth became a life-friendly planet is still not fully understood.

In a new study, researchers from the Institute of Geological Sciences at the University of Bern have now been able to show for the first time that the chemical composition of the early Earth was complete no later than three million years after the formation of the Solar System -- and in a way that initially made the emergence of life impossible. Their results, recently published in the journal Science Advances, suggest that life on Earth was only made possible by a later event. Dr. Pascal Kruttasch is first author of the study, which was part of his dissertation at the Institute of Geological Sciences and was financially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Kruttasch is now an SNSF Postdoc Mobility Fellow at Imperial College London.

Using a precise clock to measure the history of the Earth's formation

The research team used a combination of isotope and element data from meteorites and terrestrial rocks to reconstruct the process of the Earth's formation. Using model calculations, the researchers were able to narrow down in time how the chemical composition of the Earth developed in comparison to other planetary building blocks.

Kruttasch explains: "A high-precision time measurement system based on the radioactive decay of manganese-53 was used to determine the precise age. This isotope was present in the early Solar System and decayed to chromium-53 with a half-life of around 3.8 million years." This method allowed ages to be determined with an accuracy of less than one million years for materials that are several billion years old. "These measurements were only possible because the University of Bern has internationally recognized expertise and infrastructure for the analysis of extraterrestrial materials and is a leader in the field of isotope geochemistry," says co-author Klaus Mezger, Professor Emeritus of Geochemistry at the Institute of Geological Sciences at the University of Bern.

Life on Earth thanks to a cosmic coincidence?

Using model calculations, the research team was able to show that the chemical signature of the proto-Earth, i.e. the unique pattern of chemical substances of which it is composed, was already complete less than three million years after the formation of the Solar System. Their study thus provides empirical data on the time of formation of the original material of the young Earth. "Our Solar System formed around 4,568 million years ago. Considering that it only took up to 3 million years to determine the chemical properties of the Earth, this is surprisingly fast," says first author Kruttasch.

The results of the study thus support the assumption that a later collision with another planet -- Theia -- brought the decisive turning point and made the Earth a life-friendly planet. Theia probably formed further out in the Solar System, where volatile substances such as water accumulated. "Thanks to our results, we know that the proto-Earth was initially a dry rocky planet. It can therefore be assumed that it was only the collision with Theia that brought volatile elements to Earth and ultimately made life possible there," says Kruttasch.

Life-friendliness in the universe cannot be taken for granted

The new study contributes significantly to our understanding of the processes in the early phase of the Solar System and provides clues as to when and how planets on which life is possible can form. "The Earth does not owe its current life-friendliness to a continuous development, but probably to a chance event -- the late impact of a foreign, water-rich body. This makes it clear that life-friendliness in the universe is anything but a matter of course," says Mezger.

The next step would be to investigate the collision event between proto-Earth and Theia in more detail. "So far, this collision event is insufficiently understood. Models are needed that can fully explain not only the physical properties of the Earth and Moon, but also their chemical composition and isotope signatures," concludes Kruttasch.
If you wander through Panama's lush forests, you might spot an insect that seems to wave at you. Scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) have spent years observing this eye-catching creature, known as the matador bug (Bitta alipes). Its bright red, flag-like hind legs move in a distinctive, rhythmic display. For a long time, no one knew why it performed this unusual behavior, but recent research has finally uncovered the answer.

Testing an Old Hypothesis

At first, researchers suspected the waving was related to mating. It seemed reasonable that males might signal to females to attract partners. However, experiments revealed something unexpected: both males and females waved their legs, and the behavior showed no connection to courtship or competition. This finding deepened the mystery -- if not for romance, why invest in such a conspicuous and energy-intensive display?

A new study in Current Zoology by STRI researchers Connor Evans-Blake, Juliette Rubin, and Ummat Somjee found that the leg-waving serves as a defense mechanism. Rather than luring mates, these colorful movements appear to scare off predators. The team tested this idea by placing matador bugs near two types of arthropods: predatory praying mantids and harmless katydids. Over the course of the experiment, they documented nearly 3,000 waves. When mantids were nearby, the bugs increased their leg-waving sevenfold, but they barely reacted to the katydids. Even more revealing, mantids never attacked the bugs that were actively waving.

An Anti-Predator Strategy Across Species

These results show that the waving display acts as a specific response to danger. To see if related species behave the same way, the researchers observed other flag-legged insects in Panama and examined videos online. They discovered at least five additional species that use similar displays, suggesting this leg-waving strategy may be widespread among plant-feeding insects.

All of these flag-waving species feed on passionflower vines, which contain toxins. The insects might be advertising their own chemical defenses with their vivid movements. Still, the exact reason the waving works remains uncertain. Does it signal toxicity to potential predators, confuse their vision, or simply make the bugs seem larger and more threatening?

"We're left with more questions than answers," said senior author Ummat Somjee. "But that's the beauty of studying insects -- there are hundreds of thousands of species, most of them completely unstudied, and every time we look closely we uncover behaviors that change the way we think about evolution."

Why These Discoveries Matter

Research like this extends beyond explaining a curious quirk of insect life. Insects represent most of the planet's biodiversity and play vital roles in ecosystems worldwide, yet their behaviors remain largely unknown. Understanding how they defend themselves offers valuable insight into how animals evolve, adapt, and diversify into the many astonishing forms that shape life on Earth.
Investor focus in financial markets over the coming week will continue to be on the outlook for an end to the US federal government shutdown.

Among other considerations, the timing of the release of the most recent non-farm payrolls and consumer price data in the States will hinge on it.

Against that backdrop, the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting may help to shed some light on rate-setters' thinking.

Also scheduled for across the week is a flurry of Fed speakers.

A speech on Thursday by Fed chairman Jerome Powell may also help to elucidate investors.

So too the preliminary results of the University of Michigan's consumer confidence survey for September.

An auction of 30-year US Treasuries on Thursday will also be closely watched.

In the UK, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will speak on Monday, followed by his number two Huw Pill on Wednesday.

UK home price surveys are due out on Tuesday and Thursday.

ECB president Christine Lagarde will also speak on Monday.

Monday 06 October

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Capital Limited (DI), JPMorgan American Inv Trust, Thungela Resources Limited NPV (DI), Zotefoams

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Retail Sales (EU) (10:00)

GMS

Capai

FINALS

Beeks Financial Cloud Group

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

PMI Construction (09:30)

Tuesday 07 October

INTERIMS

Inspiration Healthcare Group

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Croda International, Intertek Group

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Factory Orders (GER) (07:00)

EGMS

Ikigai Ventures Limited Npv

AGMS

Henderson Smaller Companies Inv Trust, Ironveld

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Halifax House Price Index (07:00)

Retail Sales (00:01)

Wednesday 08 October

INTERIMS

Vertu Motors

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)

Industrial Production (GER) (07:00)

MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)

FINALS

Netcall

AGMS

Diverse Income Trust (The), European Opportunities Trust, ITM Power

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Dr. Martens

Thursday 09 October

INTERIMS

S&U

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Macfarlane Group, Ramsdens Holdings

INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Ashoka India Equity Investment Trust, AVI Japan Opportunity Trust , Barr (A.G.), Centaur Media, Christie Group, Judges Scientific, Kerry Group 'A' Shares (CDI), Kingfisher, Likewise Group, M. P. Evans Group, Microlise Group, Panther Securities, Stelrad Group , Taylor Wimpey, Tesco, WPP

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

GSK

QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE

BlackRock Latin American Inv Trust, JPMorgan Asia Growth & Income, Primary Health Properties

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Balance of Trade (GER) (07:00)

Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)

Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)

Wholesales Inventories (US) (15:00)

FINALS

AJ Bell, Ashoka India Equity Investment Trust

ANNUAL REPORT

Ashoka India Equity Investment Trust

SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Ramsdens Holdings

SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

AVI Japan Opportunity Trust , Gore Street Energy Storage Fund , JPMorgan Emerging Markets Inv Trust, Life Settlement Assets, Panther Securities

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Colefax Group

FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Barratt Redrow, Begbies Traynor Group, Gateley (Holdings) , JPMorgan Emerging Markets Inv Trust, Knights Group Holdings , Manx Financial Group, Mid Wynd International Inv Trust

Friday 10 October

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Atalaya Mining Copper, S.A. (CDI), Churchill China, Crest Nicholson Holdings, Derwent London, Eurocell , Everplay Group, Forterra, Grafton Group Ut (CDI), Greggs, Lion Finance Group, Lords Group Trading, Pagegroup, Robinson

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

U. of Michigan Confidence (Prelim) (US) (15:00)

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Hays

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Trifast
Jane Goodall, "one of the world's most revered conservationists, who earned scientific stature and global celebrity by chronicling the distinctive behavior of wild chimpanzees in East Africa--primates that made and used tools, ate meat, held rain dances, and engaged in organized warfare--died October 1 at age 91, the New York Times reported. Goodall wrote 32 books, 15 of them for children.



Her death has sparked tributes worldwide for her lifelong dedication to her work in the field, but the Times also noted that "long before focus groups, message discipline and communications plans became crucial tools in advancing high-profile careers and alerting the world to significant discoveries in and outside of science, Dr. Goodall understood the benefits of being the principal narrator and star of her own story of discovery."



A significant part of that communication was through her work as a writer. She was 29 in 1963 when National Geographic magazine published her 7,500-word, 37-page account of the lives of primates she had observed in the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in what is now Tanzania.



"In articles and books, her lucid prose carried vivid descriptions, some lighthearted, of the numerous perils she encountered in the African rainforest," the Times wrote. Her writing gained more attention in three long articles in National Geographic in the 1960s and '70s and in three well-received books: My Friends, the Wild Chimpanzees (1967), In the Shadow of Man (1971), and Through a Window (1990).



Goodall's mother was an author and novelist who wrote under the name Vanne Morris-Goodall and accompanied her daughter to the Gombe reserve at the start of Jane Goodall's study in 1960. She also became a leading character in her daughter's writing, the Times noted.



Goodall's books for children include Chimpanzees I Love: Saving Their World and Ours (2001) and Rickie and Henri: A True Story (2004, with Alan Marks). Her adult books include Beyond Innocence: An Autobiography in Letters, the Later Years (2001, edited by Dale Peterson), The Ten Trusts: What We Must Do to Care for the Animals We Love (2002, with Marc Bekoff), Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating (2005), Hope for Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the Brink (2009), and Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants (2013, with Gail Hudson).



In her last work, The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times (2021, with Douglas Abrams & Gail Hudson), she wrote of her optimism about the future of humankind.



For a remembrance in the Free Press, Evan Gardner spoke with Richard W. Wrangham, the Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology, Emeritus, at Harvard, who spent the formative years of his career researching chimpanzees in Tanzania and working as a protege to Goodall.



Asked about her legacy, Wrangham said: "As a scientist she was, of course, the first person to document the lives of chimpanzees in the wild, and she did so absolutely beautifully. Her 1986 book, The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior was a masterpiece of description of the complicated species with many different angles, and it was a very sophisticated description that people still cite, probably more than anything, despite the fact that there are far more people now studying chimps in many different places than during her time. So she set the standard, and she built the foundation for the study of chimpanzees in a really terrific way. That's one aspect of her legacy."



When asked what the one thing is that we should all remember her for, he replied: "I think that the phrase that she would use--she was talking both with respect to chimps and humans--is that every individual matters."
India has launched an anti-dumping probe into Chinese, Indonesian, and Vietnamese stainless steel imports, following complaints of below-cost pricing hurting local producers.

The DGTR will assess whether dumping occurred, the extent of injury to Indian steelmakers, and may recommend duties though final action lies with the finance ministry.

While the move could shield domestic manufacturers, it may raise costs for downstream industries and spark trade tensions with affected countries.

India's trade regulator has officially initiated an anti-dumping probe into Chinese, Indonesian and Vietnamese imports of cold-rolled flat stainless steel products, a tough protectionist step to support local steel makers. The probe, initiated by Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) on a complaint by the Indian Stainless Steel Development Association (ISSDA), indicates the seriousness with which New Delhi is ready to respond to what it sees as unfair trade pressure.

The petitioners contend that stainless steel imports in the 300 and 400 'series' category have been exported to India at prices significantly lower than the exporters' 'normal value', belowpricings domestic producers and causing material injury to them. India's stainless steel imports have already exceeded 1.73 million tonnes in fiscal 2025, with China, Indonesia, Vietnam, and South Korea accounting for major proportions as per available data.

According to the mandate of the DGTR, the inquiry will be a multi-step, evidence-based process. To begin with, the authority will have to determine if dumping is occurring that is, if export prices from suspect countries are below their domestic or normal value. Next, it will have to estimate the extent or margin of dumping.

Then, the DGTR will analyze whether and to what extent such practices resulted in injury to Indian producers considering indications such as erosion of market share, profit reduction, utilization of capacity, and financial condition as a whole. Last but not least, it can also consider whether, but for duties, additional harm or threat of material injury to the domestic industry would be likely.

If the DGTR finds dumping to have taken place and that it has or is likely to cause or cause injury, it recommends anti-dumping duties on the goods in question. Those recommendations do not, however, necessarily mean levy: that rests with the finance ministry and associated revenue authorities. This investigation occurs in the midst of a sweeping wave of protectionist trade measures by India. The DGTR already has several cases pending involving sectors like glassware and nylon, and even Malaysian and Thai medical gloves.

Within the steel sector itself, India has recently imposed a temporary safeguard duty of 12?percent on some flat steel imports to stop a flood of cheap shipments from China and other countries. The implications of this probe are broad.

For local steelmakers, a positive result would bring relief from competition that many say has pinched margins and scaled back investments. But downstream sectors that use a lot of steel autos, construction, capital goods may experience cost burdens if duties sharply increase import prices . Diplomatically, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam may complain or retaliate, possibly testing trade relationships.

With India being part of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the procedure has to meet rigid procedural protections in order to stand any challenge. With the DGTR investigation progressing over the next few months, everyone will be keeping a keen eye on how aggressively New Delhi walks the tightrope of wanting to protect its industrial backbone while keeping open trade links alive and avoiding retaliatory blowback.
The New York City civil service exam schedule is open for October, and some jobs pay more than others.

The application period for exams opened Oct. 1

Exam applications currently open include: assistant mechanical engineer; custodian; emergency medical specialist - EMT; emergency medical specialist trainee; occupational therapist (DOE); physical therapist (DOE); police officer; program officer (Department for the Aging); and public health nurse.

The starting salary for each career varies, according to the city.

Open, competitive, computer-based tests are administered throughout each month for various positions. If you meet the basic requirements of the job, you can apply for your exam online at Online Application System or at one of the Computer-Based Testing and Application Centers.

Most of these exams have a deadline of Oct. 21. The exams for emergency medical specialist - EMT and emergency medical specialist trainee are open until Nov. 25, while the exam for police officer is open until Oct. 14.

Additionally, the exam for correction officer remains open until Oct. 29.

Here is the starting salary, deadline and job description for each career, according to the city.

Assistant mechanical engineer

Salary: $66,330

Application deadline: Oct. 21

Job description: difficulty and responsibility and may supervise subordinate employees. They perform engineering calculations using college level math; perform design work on mechanical parts, basic plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and water distribution systems; prepare quantity estimates, cost estimates, memos, reports, letters and specifications; review manufacturers catalogs and samples, drawings (shop, plan, construction, design), shop testing procedures for mechanical equipment to meet standards and outside consultants designs; take photographs of project sites and details of existing buildings; take and verify measurements of buildings, bridges and mechanical parts; develop drawings of proposed and final designs, mechanical component sections and details; attend meetings with developers, contractors, architects and fabricators; participate in inspection operations by observing, checking and certifying the installation of materials and equipment; attest to equipment performance and test results of materials; research reference materials; may drive a motor vehicle or take public transportation to various work sites.

Custodian

Salary: $38,594

Application deadline: Oct. 21

Job description: This class of positions encompasses responsible supervisory work involved in overseeing custodial services in public buildings other than schools and colleges. There are four Assignment Levels within this class of positions. At Assignment Level I: Custodians, under supervision, perform work of ordinary difficulty and responsibility, which may entail supervision, in the cleaning, operation and maintenance of one or more small buildings and their immediate grounds and in the enforcement of safety requirements in such assigned areas; or, in a medium sized building, supervise cleaners on an assigned shift. They supervise a small number of cleaners, performing such tasks as sweeping, dusting, mopping, polishing, waxing, gathering and disposing of refuse; cleaning and removing snow from walks; maintaining lawns and shrubs; operating a low pressure heating system and cleaning the boiler parts; perform these tasks in buildings where no subordinate staff is assigned; inspect the building and grounds to note general condition and necessity for repairs; check work performance, assure the proper use, cleanliness and storage of tools; arrange for and may assist in the moving of furniture and equipment; may serve as Fire Safety Directors; enforce safety requirements and protect the building and grounds from vandalism; requisition fuels and stores; issue supplies and equipment, estimate janitorial material requirements; keep inventories, time sheets and other records; prepare reports on work activities, accidents and unusual conditions; may make minor repairs; report conditions requiring the services of mechanics; may clean, adjust, lubricate and make minor repairs to oil burners, pumps, fans, booklifts, ash lifts, and other mechanical equipment; may perform the duties of subordinates, as needed.

Emergency medical specialist - EMT

Salary: $39,386

Application deadline: Nov. 25

Job description: Emergency Medical Specialists - EMTs, under general supervision, perform tasks such as the following: provide timely, professional, pre-hospital emergency medical care/Basic Life Support (BLS) to anyone who requests/requires it; provide transportation to the appropriate medical facility; operate department vehicles; receive, prioritize and dispatch calls for emergency medical assistance; and provide patient care under the authorization of the Medical Director. All work is performed in accordance with FDNY policies and procedures and as legislatively prescribed in the requisite curriculum and allowed by Federal/New York State/Regional BLS Protocols and in accordance with the level of training, New York State designated scope of practice and New York State and Regional BLS Protocols. Emergency Medical Specialists - EMTs also prepare and submit reports as required and may be assigned to work in any FDNY facility, as needed.

Emergency medical specialist trainee

Salary: $36,330

Application deadline: Nov. 25

Job description: Emergency Medical Specialist Trainees attend a training program conducted by the New York City Fire Department. Emergency Medical Specialist Trainees receive Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and emergency medical service operations training and instruction covering basic anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology of emergency medicine, basic treatment modalities for health related emergencies, hazardous materials orientation, NYS Right to Know Laws, blood borne pathogens and infectious disease control, clinical assessment skills, multiple casualty incident (MCI) management, emergency vehicle operations, and related topics. Emergency Medical Specialist Trainees are given practice in applicable patient treatment skills and perform clinical rotations in the field and in hospitals.

Occupational therapist (DOE)

Salary: $82,807

Application deadline: Oct. 21

Job description: Therapy services to students with disabilities which may include an itinerant component, of which an assignment includes duties in more than one work location in a given day and/or week. Job duties include but are not limited to evaluating students to determine the need for Occupational Therapy, provision of inclusive services, developing therapeutic treatment plans, and incorporating individualized classroom routines, adapting the environment and modifying tasks to facilitate the students participation in schoolbased activities including adapting the environment to foster a conducive atmosphere for learning and social participation, and utilizing computer systems in connection with assignment and documentation.

Physical therapist (DOE)

Salary: $82,807

Application deadline: Oct. 21

Job description: Physical Therapists (DOE), under varying degrees of supervision, administer professional and responsible physical therapy services to students with disabilities which may include the utilization of computer systems in connection with assignment.

Police officer

Salary: $55,942

Application deadline: Oct. 21

Job description: including connecting and building relationships with the community. They patrol an assigned area on foot or in a vehicle to prevent crime; apprehend crime suspects; intervene in various situations involving crimes in progress, aided cases, complaints, emotionally disturbed persons, etc.; respond to and investigate vehicular accidents; investigate specific offenses; interact with prisoners; operate and maintain patrol vehicles; issue summonses; obtain information regarding incidents by interviewing witnesses, victims, and/or complainants; safeguard and voucher found, seized or recovered property; provide information to the public; handle situations involving maltreated, abused, or missing children; interact with juveniles; may be assigned to crowd control for large-scale events such as demonstrations, rallies and parades; prepare forms and reports; and testify in court.

Program officer (Department for the Aging)

Salary: $66,059

Application deadline: Oct. 21

Job description: Program Officers (Department for the Aging), under broad supervision with latitude for independent judgment and initiative, assess programs and budgets with contractors, in accordance with Department for the Agings established policies, procedures, program standards, budgetary constraints and social service priorities; visit field operations, determine program compliance, identify areas of program strength and weakness and recommend improvements, and evaluate quality of community services; convey agency policy and provide technical assistance to contractors and community groups; gather and analyze data for preparation of plans, reports, continuous quality indicators and/or proposals in conjunction with staff from other Department bureaus and units; promote planning of new and additional resources and perform activities relating to their implementation, make improvements to program assessment tools, provide input on Request for Proposals, and serve as a reader in the process; review budget modifications and approve invoices; participate in special projects and agency initiatives including program expansions and pilots. Program Officers (Department for the Aging) may, during the temporary absence of the supervisor, perform the duties of that individual.

Public health nurse

Salary: $89,151

Application deadline: Oct. 21
Rebel Wilson has denied an accusation that she ordered the creation of malicious websites about The Deb producer Amanda Ghost.

Rebel Wilson denies 'malicious websites' claim

Rebel, 45, is currently facing a defamation case brought against her by Charlotte MacInnes, 26, lead actress of The Deb, after Rebel allegedly claimed on social media that MacInnes lied when she denied making a complaint about Ghost, 51, according to NewsWire.

In a statement of claim released by the Federal Court and seen by NewsWire. Wilson has also been accused of getting her publicist to create a series of malicious websites about Ghost.

The websites are said to have made false and malicious claims against MacInnes and Ghost.

However, Rebel told the Daily Mail: I obviously had nothing to do with the creation or publishing of any websites.

In fact, my legal team was instrumental in getting these sites taken down by providing the other side with a way of doing this - claiming unauthorised copyright use of a photograph of ME.

This is how these websites were removed from public view. Trying to assert I had anything to do with these websites is just another way they are trying to deflect from their own, in my opinion, dodgy behaviour.

They know I had nothing to do with these websites. However, it is important to note that in my opinion, is the information on these websites probably true?

Yes, I feel like it most likely is true with the information I'm aware of after speaking to so many people. You don't need to search very far to find a chequered history of Ghost!

Rebel was previously sued by the production company behind the movie, which was her directorial debut.

UK-based AI Film filed the lawsuit in Australia, accusing the actress of deliberately sabotaging the films release in order to devalue the movie and pressure AI Film and Australian company Dunburn Debutantes Commissioning Company - named as the second plaintiff in the lawsuit - into selling their stake to her company Camp Sugar.

According to The Guardian, AI Film said in a statement: These proceedings are regrettable but essential to ensure The Debs timely release. Its a joyous, fun film, and we are sure that audiences are going to love it.

Wilson responded to the lawsuit with a message on Instagram Stories saying: "Apparently Im being sued in Australia. It makes no sense. As the director, producer and co-star who nurtured a project called THE DEB for 5 years from a 3 page idea into a gorgeous feature film - I want nothing more than to have this film released and have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to get this to happen. To say otherwise is complete nonsense. I'm so proud of the film!

In my opinion this is continued bullying and harassment from UK financiers of the project Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden after I exposed their dodgy behaviour. They tried to prevent the film from premiering there (they lost) and now theyve tried to stop the film being released because of a baseless US lawsuit and now a further Australian one.

I've moved on, now directing my 2nd movie and loving it. But regarding THE DEB all I can literally say is 'F*** my life" with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart. Everyone who worked on the movie and who knows me KNOWS I put my blood, sweat and tears into this. Everyone knows I'm a truth teller when it comes to vile people in the industry. I just want this movie to come out and for all the amazingly talented contributors to be recognized for their sensational work! (sic).
The NYPD is asking for the publics help to locate a 16-year-old girl who has been reported missing from Meiers Corners. Jaquela Ballard was last seen leaving her residence on Oakville Street on Friday, Oct. 3, around 12 p.m., according to a statement from the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. Police described the girl as standing about 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing about 150 pounds. Ballard is said to have a medium build and has brown eyes, as well as black hair, as noted by the NYPD. She was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt with blue and white pajama pants. (Courtesy of the NYPD)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The NYPD is asking for the publics help to locate a 16-year-old girl who has been reported missing from Meiers Corners.

Jaquela Ballard was last seen leaving her residence on Oakville Street on Friday, Oct. 3, at around 12 p.m., according to a statement from the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

Police described the girl as standing about 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing about 150 pounds. Ballard is said to have a medium build and has brown eyes and black hair, as noted by the NYPD.

She was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt with blue and white pajama pants.

The NYPD provided a photo of the girl to the media.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of this individual is asked to call the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.
In this courtroom sketch, Sean Diddy Combs breaks down and cries during the playing of a video about his life during his sentencing hearing in Manhattan federal court, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP) AP

Sean Diddy Combs was sentenced Friday to four years and two months in a federal criminal case that exposed the hip-hop moguls use of paid sex workers for drug-fueled, sometimes violent sex parties he called freak-offs.

Combs, 55, was convicted in July of flying people around the country, including his girlfriends and male sex workers, to engage in sexual encounters.

He was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put him behind bars for life, but the sentence will nonetheless keep one of the biggest names in music out of the limelight and behind bars for years to come. Prosecutors had sought an 11-year sentence.

In a final word before the judge issued a sentence, Combs called his past behavior disgusting, shameful and sick, while apologizing to the people he hurt physically and mentally, as well as his children in the audience. He said his acts of domestic violence are a burden he will have to carry for the rest of his life.

Combs defense lawyers have argued the sexual encounters were consensual and wanted Combs freed immediately after more than a year in detention, which forced him to get sober and fueled his remorse. They played an 11-minute video in court Friday portraying Combs family life, career and philanthropy before his arrest.

At one point during the video, Combs put a hand on his face and began to cry, his shoulders at times heaving. Combs was expected to speak in court later Friday.

The video was part of an atypical presentation by the defense team, reflecting Combs unique status as a wealthy celebrity client whos well-versed in shaping his image.

His nearly two-month trial in a federal court in Manhattan featured testimony from women who said Combs beat, threatened, sexually assaulted and blackmailed them. Prosecutor Christy Slavik told the judge that sparing Combs serious prison time would excuse years of violence.

Its a case about a man who did horrible things to real people to satisfy his own sexual gratification, she said. He didnt need the money. His currency was control.

Slavik also blasted Combs for allegedly booking speaking gig in South Florida next week, calling it the height of hubris. Defense lawyer Xavier Donaldson later said the proposed community events were meant to show what the business mogul could be doing if the court let Mr. Combs out.

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who has twice denied bail, has already signaled Combs is unlikely to leave custody soon. He said acquittals did not absolve the music mogul of underlying conduct, including violence and coercion.

Several of Combs children pleaded with him for leniency.

His daughters Chance and DLila Combs cried as they spoke, with DLila saying she feared losing her father after the death of their mother, Kim Porter, in 2018. Six of Combs seven children addressed the judge.

Please, your honor, please, DLila said through tears, give our family the chance to heal together, to rebuild, to change, to move forward, not as a headline, but as human beings.

Outside the courthouse, journalists and onlookers swarmed the sidewalks as TV crews stood in a long row across the street, echoing scenes from Combs trial.

Combs was convicted under the Mann Act, which bans transporting people across state lines for prostitution. Defense attorney Jason Driscoll argued the law was misapplied.

During testimony at the trial, former girlfriend Casandra Cassie Ventura told jurors that Combs ordered her to have disgusting sex with strangers hundreds of times during their decade Jong relationship. Jurors saw video of him dragging and beating her in a Los Angeles hotel hallway after one such multiday freak-off.

Another woman, identified as  Jane, testified she was pressured into sex with male workers during drug-fueled hotel nights while Combs watched and sometimes filmed.

The only accuser scheduled to speak Friday, a former assistant known as Mia, withdrew after defense objections. She has accused Combs of raping her in 2010 and asked the judge for a sentence that reflects the ongoing danger my abuser poses.

Prosecutors also introduced testimony at the trial about other alleged violence. One of Cassies friends said Combs dangled her from 17th-floor balcony. Rapper Kid Cudi said Combs broke into his home after learning he was dating Cassie.

Another lawyer for Combs, Brian Steel, urged the judge to see the case through the prism of the untreated trauma and ferocious drug addiction that he says contributed to the hip-hop moguls misconduct.

His good outweighs his bad, by far, Steel said.

In a letter to the judge Thursday, Combs wrote: The old me died in jail and a new version of me was reborn, promising he would never commit another crime.

Cassie, in her own letter, described him as an abuser who will always be the same cruel, power-hungry, manipulative man that he is.

At a hearing last week, Combs told his mother and children he was getting closer to going home.
As summer transitions to fall, darkness arrives earlier each day in New York.

Thats due to the tilt of the Earths axis as it orbits around the sun, according to sciencing.com, a website that addresses questions about science, engineering and mathematics.

During summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the North Pole is tilted toward the sun, so the suns rays hit the northern part of the Earth directly, which gives us longer daylight hours, according to the website.

But as the Earth continues its orbit, the Northern Hemisphere starts to tilt away from the sun, and it appears lower in the sky and its rays start to spread over a larger area. This causes shorter days and longer nights, the website stated.

On Nov. 2, 2025, Daylight Saving Time officially ends, and we fall back into Standard Time. Sunrise will be about an hour earlier on Nov. 2, and there will be a bit more light early in the morning. But darkness will fall sooner that evening.

That change will take place a bit earlier than it has in recent years.

Thats because Daylight Saving Time always ends on the first Sunday in November, which is Nov. 2 this year. The earliest possible end to Daylight Saving Time will occur in 2026, when that first Sunday falls on Nov. 1.

As our days get shorter, we will continue to gradually approach the years shortest day  Sunday, Dec. 21, known as the winter solstice.

At that point, days begin to gradually get lighter until we jump back into Daylight Saving Time on March 8, 2026.
Applications are now open for several federal student loans, including the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Julian Leshay Guadalupe | MLive.com

Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced that applications are now open for the New York State Tuition Assistance Program, and the NYS Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Incentive Program for the 2026-27 academic year.

Additionally, the 202627 Free Application for Federal Student Aid is also now available, providing students with access to critical federal resources.

Programs like TAP and the STEM Incentive Program are vital in providing New York students with the financial support and opportunities they need to pursue higher education and achieve their dreams, Hochul said in a press release. Equally important is completing the FAFSA, which opens the door to essential federal financial aid. These programs help students to overcome financial barriers, access quality education, and create a stronger future for themselves and their communities.

Heres a look at what each program provides, as well as who is eligible:

NYS Tuition Assistance Program

With approximately $800 million awarded each year, TAP is one of the most robust need-based financial aid programs in the nation. Recent expansions and increased income thresholds have made more students eligible to receive TAP, and nearly 38,000 students who have become newly eligible are now receiving awards, contributing to more than $71 million in aid to students and their families.

NYS STEM Incentive Program

The NYS STEM Incentive Program provides scholarships that cover the cost of tuition to eligible students who are in the top 10% of high school graduates who pursue STEM degrees at SUNY or CUNY colleges. Recipients must commit to working in a STEM field in New York State for five years after graduation, helping to strengthen New York in critical industries.

Free Application for Federal Student Aid

Completing the FAFSA is one of the most important steps for students planning to attend college. The application determines eligibility for federal aid, including the Pell Grant, Federal Work-Study, and low-interest federal student loans, and is also used to help determine eligibility for state programs such as TAP, Excelsior, and STEM.
The McKee family received a check for $5,000 at the second annual Bobby's Run held at Brookfield Park on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (Advance/SILive.com | Luke Peteley)

Editors note: Suicidal thoughts and behaviors can be reduced with the proper mental health support and treatment. If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The blare of bagpipes echoed over the sun-soaked hills of Brookfield Park Saturday morning as nearly 300 people walked to honor two members of the NYPD family no longer with us.

The event, Bobbys Run 5K, is held in memory of Detective Robert Sivori, a lifelong Staten Island resident who died by suicide in July 2024.

Run founded in the wake of tragedy

Sivori, a graduate of Moore Catholic High School and a St. Johns University alumnus, served with the NYPD for over 19 years. During his time with the NYPD, Sivori  a married dad of three  served in Midtown south before joining the Emergency Service Unit Squad 1 in Manhattan.

Nearly 300 people attended the second annual Bobby's Run held at Brookfield Park on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (Advance/SILive.com | Luke Peteley)

Saturdays run marked the second annual event, an undertaking overseen by Roberts brother, John Sivori. John, a member of the NYPD himself, noted that this year he was able to form Running Toward Change, a nonprofit aimed at supporting the families of first responders and service members lost to suicide.

To see everybody out here supporting him and John and the family is fantastic. It really shows the character of Bobby and his whole family and our unit and everybody, Peter Keszthelyi, a Queens resident who worked alongside Robert for nearly 15 years, said.

Thanks to the fundraising run, John shared that attendees were able to raise not only $10,000 for Roberts family, but $5,000 for the family of NYPD Officer Patrick McKee, who also died by suicide. McKee, who worked in the 44th Precinct, is survived by his wife and two young children, Carter and Casey.

(Left to right) Casey McKee, 4, Kaitlin McKee, 33, and Carter McKee, 6, at the second annual Bobby's Run held at Brookfield Park on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (Advance/SILive.com | Luke Peteley)

Kaitlin McKee, Patricks wife, lived with her husband in Rockland County before his death.

Honestly, I cry every time I talk about it because it stinks under the circumstance what we (the two families) both went through and we both share that, McKee told the Advance/SILive.com, but having each other to talk to and figure out what our families are going through, what our kids are going through, it means so much.

As explained by John Sivori, going forward, it is Running Toward Changes mission to honor one additional family of a first responder or service member each year.

Participants get ready to run at the second annual Bobby's Run held at Brookfield Park on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (Advance/SILive.com | Luke Peteley)

We started the race last year to help Robs kids out and just raise some money for them because theyre obviously going through a tough time, John told the Advance/SILive.com. We didnt know what their financial situation was going to be and we had a great turnout. Everybody that cared about Rob, you know, really showed up. I thought maybe wed sign up 100 people and we signed up about 300 people. So thats what means the most to us beyond the donations and the financial relief, is everybody showing up just to be there for us and to support Rob.

The big blue family

Ahead of the run, attendees, many of which were first responders, mingled and socialized amid the backing of dance hits played by the D.J.

Some guests treated themselves to a morning cup of coffee, while others visited the raffle stand in the hopes of winning some whiskeys or a griddle.

The raffle table at the second annual Bobby's Run held at Brookfield Park on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (Advance/SILive.com | Luke Peteley)

When the time for the race began, the runners gathered before an American Flag for the National Anthem and proceeded to make their way to the starting line.

At the sound of Johns voice, the runners took off and participants both young and old began to make their way along the course within the park. Hundreds of feet pounded the pavement, the purpose behind each step unified in backing their brothers lost to those battles unseen.

Its a sad day because we remember Bobby, we wish he was here with us, Eddie Allen, a Richmond resident and Roberts sergeant in Emergency Service Unit Truck 1, said. But its great to see the turnout, all the people that come out and show support for his family. You can see that a lot of people loved him.

Editors note: The Advance/SILive.com typically limits reporting on suicides to those that occur in crowded public places, involve public figures or, in special circumstances, where there is a larger public impact. If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

Runners and walkers make their way along the course at the second annual Bobby's Run held at Brookfield Park on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (Advance/SILive.com | Luke Peteley)

Attendees of the second annual Bobby's Run held at Brookfield Park on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (Advance/SILive.com | Luke Peteley)
President Donald Trump announced that he has reversed funding cuts to counterterrorism efforts in New York. This photo from Sept. 14, 2025, shows President Trump speaking with reporters before he departs on Air Force One at Morristown Airport in Morristown, N.J. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  President Donald Trump announced on Friday afternoon that he has reversed the cuts to counterterrorism efforts in New York.

I am pleased to advise that I reversed the cuts made to Homeland Security and Counterterrorism for New York City and State, Trump said in a post on Truth Social. It was my Honor to do so. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT

Over the course of the last few days several New York elected officials have voiced their opposition to an approximately $187 million cut in federal funding.

The funding, provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency through its Homeland Security Grant Program, goes toward law enforcement efforts ranging from intelligence operations to mass gathering security, to equipment purchases, as previously noted in a press release by Gov. Kathy Hochuls office.

Following what Hochuls office said was an extended delay the Department of Homeland Security issued the 2025 Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Homeland Security Grant Program, allowing states to access the funding. Despite New York City being what Hochuls office noted as the nations number one terrorist target, the allocated funds were slashed by 40% ($87 million). Then, according to Hochuls release, without notice nor explanation, an additional $102.7 million was cut when the Department of Homeland Security issued the allocations on Saturday.

A bipartisan effort

The slash in funding led officials to contact federal authorities in the hopes of freezing the reallocation of funds.

I knew he would! Posted by Nicole Malliotakis on Friday 3 October 2025

In a Facebook post, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis shared that she spoke with Trump on Wednesday and within a short period of time, the funding was restored.

I spoke with President Trump on Wednesday, and within 48 hours this critical funding was fully restored, supporting the NYPDs counterterrorism initiatives, the post stated. Its well known that President Trump loves our NYPD and FDNY and understands the grave threats facing our city. I thank him for working with our Republican delegation from New York to override this poor decision by DHS.

In response to a Facebook user questioning why Trump would cut the federal funding in the first place, Malliotakis explained that it was the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that changed the formula for the grants, and as a result, New York lost the money to other states. The Republican congresswoman representing Staten Island credited President Trump for intervening and reversing the cuts.

Hochul also took action on the matter, penning a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem denouncing the cuts.

Republicans in Washington are cutting 86% of terrorism prevention funding from the #1 terrorist target in America.



New Yorks House Republicans will be complicit in defunding the police if they dont step in to stop it.



My letter to @SecNoem: pic.twitter.com/21H3O3lWIh  Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) September 30, 2025

From the moment these devastating cuts were announced, I made it clear that New York would not stand by while our law enforcement and counterterrorism operations were defunded, Hochul said in a statement issued on Friday. Im glad President Trump heard our call and reversed course, ensuring our state has the resources necessary to support law enforcement and keep our families safe.

Because of our efforts, $187 million in critical funding will be restored  a victory for public safety and for every New Yorker who depends on our brave law enforcement and first responders to keep our state secure, she added.

Prior to the cuts being reversed, courts took action to temporarily block the withdrawal of funding. On Wednesday, New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with 11 other attorneys general obtained a court order freezing the federal governments effort to limit the funding.

As noted by Hochuls office, the cuts, which were contained within the State Homeland Security Program and Urban Areas Security Initiative portions of the Homeland Security Grant Program, would have resulted in a projected $100 million cut to the NYPD. Hochul claims this would have deeply impacted intelligence analysts and the NYPDs counterterrorism unit. The funding cuts would have also stripped the FDNY from a projected $15 million and Joint Task Force Empire Shield from a projected $13 million, according to Hochuls office.

The NYPD has one of the most sophisticated and effective counterterrorism and intelligence operations in the world, and has uncovered, investigated, and thwarted dozens of plots in New York since September 11, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a prepared statement. These federal funds are the backbone of our program, and the proposed cuts would have had a devastating impact on our capabilities. I am grateful to Mayor Adams, Governor Hochul, and Congresswoman Malliotakis for their work to restore these funds and ensure the NYPD has the resources needed to keep our city safe.

The media may criticize, but I dont govern for headlines, I govern for results. Working with, not warring with, the Trump administration has always been the right path. And once again, New Yorkers are the winners.https://t.co/VA90S1sW2x pic.twitter.com/kagPIA7YLX  Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) October 3, 2025

At the news that the Trump administration reversed the cuts, Mayor Eric Adams issued a statement of his own Friday afternoon.

The media may criticize, but I dont govern for headlines, I govern for results, he said in a post on X. Working with, not warring with, the Trump administration has always been the right path. And once again, New Yorkers are the winners.
A proposed high school in St. George is on the agenda next week at a Community Board 1 public hearing. (Getty Images//Willie B. Thomas)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A proposed new high school and a 14-story residential building in St. George will be among the items on the table in the coming week as Staten Islands Community Boards hold public meetings.

Representatives of Staten Islands three Community Boards provided the following list of public meetings:

Community Board 1

On Monday, Oct. 6, the Rules & Legislative Committee of Community Board 1 will meet at 5:45 p.m. in the board office, 1 Edgewater Plaza, Room 217. A meeting of the Steering & Budget/Finance Committee will follow at 6:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, Oct. 7, a Land Use Public Hearing will be held at 6:30 p.m.

Zoning actions to accommodate the development of a new 14-story residential property at 198, 204 and 208 Richmond Terrace, St. George, will be discussed. The building would include 10,677 square feet of community facility space on the first three floors, with the remaining area devoted to residential use.

The building would rise to a height of 145 feet and provide four off-street accessory parking spaces.

Also on the agenda is the proposal for a new high school in St. George.

The new facility, serving students in ninth through 12th grade, would bring approximately 801 seats to Staten Island, with spots allocated for special education students in District 75, according to documents from the New York City School Construction Authority.

The approximately 46,096-square-foot proposed site would be located at 25 Wall St., on the north side of Wall Street, between Academy Place and Stuyvesant Place. The site is currently occupied by a paved parking lot.

The proposed site would be acquired by the New York City School Construction Authority on behalf of the New York City Department of Education.

To join the meeting, visit Zoom. The Meeting ID is 275 566 6837. The passcode is E3sv3p.

Community Board 2

The Mason Avenue Street Improvement Project and the proposed bill that would mandate universal daylighting throughout New York City, including Staten Island, will be discussed by representatives of the city Department of Transportation on Monday, Oct. 6, during a meeting of the Traffic, Transportation and Public Service Committee.

The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at 1110 South Ave., Bloomfield, in the first-floor conference room.

On Tuesday, Oct. 7 a land use public hearing will be held at the same location at 7 p.m.

During the meeting, City Planning Commission applications will be considered regarding the development of a two-story single-family home at 150 Flagg Place, Todt Hill.

Community Board 3

There will be a meeting of the Health & Human Services Committee on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 6:30 p.m.

At the meeting, Jacqueline Filis, of the South Shore YMCA, will speak about the services offered there, including building healthy communities through a wide range of programs that support youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility.

In addition, the YMCAs Counseling Service specializes in substance use prevention and treatment services for individuals and families affected by addiction.

On Oct. 8, at 7 p.m., a Land Use Public Hearing will be head to discuss construction and restoration of the Kreischer Mansion at 4500 Arthur Kill Rd., Charleston.

Also on the agenda is an application to develop four two-family homes at 113 Arbutus Ave, block 6523, lots 24, 25, 26 and 27.

A certification is sought to modify natural features because the land is zoned for open space.

All meetings are held in the boards office, on the second floor of 243 Woodrow Rd., Woodrow.

Open to the public

All Community Board meetings and meetings of their committees are open to the public. They provide an excellent opportunity for residents to learn about happenings in their neighborhood and surrounding areas. Below is more information about the Islands three Community Boards:

Community Board 1

Arlington  Castleton Corners  Clifton  Concord  Elm Park  Fort Wadsworth  Graniteville  Grymes Hill  Livingston  Mariners Harbor  New Brighton  Port Richmond  Randall Manor  Rosebank  St. George  Shore Acres  Silver Lake  Stapleton  Sunnyside  Tompkinsville  West Brighton  Westerleigh

The board chairman is Nicholas Siclari. The district manager is Joan Cusack. The telephone number is 718-981-6900.

Community Board 2

Arrochar  Bloomfield  Bulls Head  Chelsea  Dongan Hills  Egbertville  Emerson Hill  Grant City  Grasmere  High Rock  Lighthouse Hill  Midland Beach  New Dorp  New Springville  Oakwood  Ocean Breeze  Old Town  Richmond  South Beach  Todt Hill  Travis

The phone number is 718-568-3581. The fax number is 718-568-3595. The chairman is Fred Guinta. The district manager is Debra A. Derrico.

Community Board 3

Annadale  Arden Heights  Bay Terrace  Charleston  Eltingville  Great Kills  Greenridge  Huguenot  New Dorp  Oakwood  Pleasant Plains  Princes Bay  Richmond Valley  Richmond  Rossville  Tottenville  Woodrow
Staten Island firefighter Thomas Del Pino served 20 years with FDNY and later volunteered with Tunnel to Towers to educate communities about 9/11. (Courtesy of Trisha Fogarty)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Thomas Del Pino, a retired FDNY firefighter who dedicated his life to service both on Staten Island and beyond, died Sept. 14 after battling 9/11-related brain cancer. He was 66.

Born and raised in Egbertville, Thomas spent his early years on Boyle Street before moving with his family to Bay Terrace. Inspired by his father, Edward Del Pino, a retired NYPD officer, Thomas chose a career of public service.

When he got called to both of them, he asked his father what he should do. And his father said, Well, dont be silly. The firefighters have beds, recalled Thomas wife, Susan Del Pino.

Thomas joined the FDNY in 1983 after graduating from the Fire Academy in May of that year. He began his career with Engine 165, before transferring to Ladder 85 in Egbertville, where he served as a chauffeur.

In this 1983 photo, Thomas is pictured with his father Edward Del Pino, who served with the NYPD, at the firehouse in Egbertville. (Courtesy of Trisha Fogarty)

For Thomas, a career devoted to service reached a pivotal moment on Sept. 11, 2001, when he responded alongside his fellow firefighters to the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Dad went into work. He was working a 24-hour shift, so he went in at 6 p.m. on September 10 and was supposed to get out at 6 p.m. on September 11, his son, Daniel Del Pino, recalled.

Thomas children, Daniel Del Pino and Trisha Fogarty, encouraged him to retire after 9/11, out of concern for his safety. Although he wasnt ready to step away, Thomas agreed to retire once he reached 20 years of service.

After 9/11, I was telling him I wanted him to retire, because we were scared, said Trisha, who recalled being in middle school at the time.

Thomas officially retired in 2003. Soon after, he began working at Pioneer, a school bus company, hoping to spend more time with his children. He was already a loving dad to Daniel and Trisha when he met his wife, Susan, at Pioneer in 2007.

The day I went for coffee with him, I knew he was the person I was supposed to be with. I just knew it, she said.

The couple married in 2014, and Thomas quickly became a beloved stepfather to Susans children, Brittany Valenti and Michael Gottlin. Together, the couple shared a love of travel, exploring much of the country in their motorhome.

Thomas and his wife Susan on their many travels, with their beloved dogs Riley, Susie, and Roxy Rose. (Courtesy of Trisha Fogarty)

Life after retirement

While building his life after retirement, Thomas remained committed to service, wanting to ensure that the sacrifices and memories of 9/11 were never forgotten.

He wasnt ready to retire, but he had left for us, said Daniel. He wanted to continue the mission of never letting people forget what happened on 9/11 and everyones names.

Trisha added: He wanted to make sure people knew that 9/11 didnt end on that day. People are still getting sick. It still has all its after effects.

In 2014, Thomas began volunteering with Tunnel to Towers, traveling across the country with the 9/11 Mobile Museum to educate communities about the attacks and honor the fallen. His work took him to small towns and cities across the nation, including Wisconsin and Minnesota.

In 2016, Thomas and Susan moved to Pennsylvania, where he continued volunteering with the Dingman Township Volunteer Fire Department, taking on roles such as fire police to assist in emergencies and support the departments daily operations. He responded to nearly every call, eager to help in any way he could.

It was June 2025 when Thomas discovered he had stage four brain cancer, a diagnosis he faced with courage and resilience.

Thomas with his ATV train, giving a ride to grandsons Danny, Nicholas, and Eddie. (Courtesy of Trisha Fogarty)

Family and legacy

Beyond his dedication to service, Thomas was cherished for the joy and warmth he brought to his family.

Trisha fondly remembered father-daughter dances with her dad, sharing Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle as their song, and how he walked her down the aisle at her wedding in 2019. She also admired how he embraced his role as a grandfather to Daniel, Edward, Nicholas, Jacob, Cameron, Vinnie, Nico, Allie, and Robert.

He was the most incredible father in the world, and I couldnt have asked for more, but he was an even more incredible pop, said Trisha.

Susan fondly recalled adopting their dog, Roxy, in March 2020 while visiting a rescue site.

His favorite thing was saying, Dont drink wine and go on a rescue site, said Susan.

For Daniel, memories of his father were countless.

He was always there. It didnt matter what the situation was, said Daniel. It didnt just relate to his kids. It was anyone. He always said you should always make somebodys day better. Never walk by somebody in need of help.

Thomas with his children Daniel Del Pino and Trisha Fogarty. (Courtesy of Trisha Fogarty)

Thomas impact was so profound that volunteers from the Dingman Township Volunteer Fire Department escorted his casket back to Staten Island after his passing to ensure he received a dignified farewell.

He made such an impact with them, and they went above and beyond after he had passed, said Daniel. Several people took off from work to make sure that he got a dignified transfer to the funeral home.

Known for his courage, kindness, and unwavering dedication to family and community, Thomas legacy will continue to inspire all who knew him.

He left a legacy. Not just his service, but his kindness, said Trisha. Everybody will always remember how kind he was. They always walked away feeling like they mattered.
A Staten Island DOE school principal was removed from the job last week, less than one month after taking the helm at PS 3, the Margaret Gioiosa School, in Pleasant Plains. (Advance/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A Staten Island school principal was removed from the job last week, less than one month after taking the helm at PS 3, the Margaret Gioiosa School, in Pleasant Plains, the Advance/SILive.com has learned.

Joseph OBrien, was officially welcomed to the school community in a Sept. 8 letter from Superintendent Roderick Palton. OBrien replaced Elmer Myers, who retired after 10 years at the school.

But according to concerned parents who reached out to the Advance/SILive.com, OBrien was relieved of his duties last week.

An official with knowledge of the situation confirmed the removal, noting OBrien is currently no longer in a leadership position at the school.

The city Department of Education did not provide a reason for OBriens removal, nor did it state whether the move was permanent. The DOE referred to OBriens removal as a transition.

The superintendent and district team are on site at PS 3, providing support and ensuring consistent leadership, the DOE noted in a statement to the Advance/SILive.com on Thursday.

At no time was student safety at risk, and the school community will continue to be fully supported during this transition.

According to Paltons letter to the school community last month, OBrien has more than two decades of dedicated service to New York City Public Schools, and was deputy superintendent in Brooklyns District 20 just before taking the reins at PS 3.
When it came out, it was two days of nothing ... and then all of a sudden, it just went hectic, Halley recalls. You have that thing of people coming up to you in the streets, every person you ever talked to in your life, youre getting a message from them about it ... it was so interesting. As a young actor, youre always trying to get your foot in the door, and now I feel like Ive at least got one foot in there, Halley adds. Ive got to meet some great people. Its been a hectic ride, and it is interesting looking back on it. It has all been amazing. Lee Tiger Halley (left) with Bryan Brown and Felix Cameron in Boy Swallows Universe. Though these two cinematic worlds  Boy Swallows Universe and Beast of War  might seem a universe apart, there is a curious parallel in economy of dialogue. In Boy Swallows Universe, Halleys Gus rarely speaks, communicating instead via hand signals. And in Beast of War, the dialogue is tight, and the tension is ramped up by uneasy spells of silence. With Gus, Halley says, that inner monologue gave him a bit of power in a way that the silence was the power. And it was interesting because being taught acting, a lot of it is dialogue-based. So I learnt how much eyes and looks and movement actually make a big difference. Even if you feel its not being expressed in a big way, I feel like the audience can feel it.

As Teddy in Beast of War, youre working with so many things around you, and when its one or two lines and quick and snappy, you have less control over the rhythm, and youve really got to give yourself up to whats happening to everyone else around you, Halley says. So you just leave it up to whats happening in front of you, and you have less control over it, which can be scary, but I think in the end [it works] because the movies not about you, its about whats happening in it, and you just have to involve yourself, he says. I learnt a lot on this film. I found the thing terrifying, says Lee Tiger Halley of his shark co-star in Beast of War. Credit: Steven Siewert When he first picked up the shooting script, Halley says it left some room to move with each of the characters, as it was Roache-Turners intention that each actor have room to bring some of their own individuality to the various roles. Kiah left that open for a reason because he wanted people to be able to develop themselves and make it a bit more truthful, Halley says. Originally, I think Teddy was a bit older, and we decided after a while to make him younger because everyone else on the boat is somewhat around the same age.

Having someone who is that innocent, younger, almost baby-face-type kid would be a really good dynamic, Halley adds. We played around with that a bit. I felt like I was the little brother on the boat and thats how we developed the character throughout because thats what was going to make a more emotional impact. The film went into pre-production with Malta in mind as a shooting location, largely because it has a large-scale ocean filming tank in Kalkara  where Gladiator, Troy, parts of Game of Thrones and Popeye were filmed  which would have been a natural habitat to house the shark-terrorised survivors in Beast of War. Mark Coles Smith (right) in Beast of War. The project lost the tank to director Gareth Edwards for Jurassic Park Rebirth, which filmed its underwater sequences there. The switch meant Beast of War would instead be filmed in Australia, and lose its outdoor ocean horizon. But that sacrifice forced the film into what might be its most meaningful production design decision: to turn the story from an open-sea horror story into a fog-bound nightmare, saturated in streaks of red light coming through the fog, alternating with a calming green ocean bioluminescence in the night sequences.

It also meant that the boys  Leo (Mark Coles Smith), Will (Joel Nankervis), Teddy (Lee Tiger Halley), Des (Sam Delich), Thompson (Sam Parsonson) and Stan (Maximillian Johnson)  would spend long stretches on the raft while filming, creating a tighter-than-usual bond between the cast mates. Perhaps the most intriguing piece of the puzzle is the shark itself, a mechanical killing machine built over 4 months by Formation Effects. In an era when many shark horror movies use digital effects  Sharknado, were looking at you  using a Jaws-inspired mechanical prop was ambitious. A scene from Beast of War. It also taps into the mystique that surrounds certain sets and props. In Star Wars films, for example, actors who wield lightsabers select their own hilt. And on some Star Trek projects, there have been taboos around anyone but the actor playing the captain sitting in the captains chair. On Beast of War, the shark prop was not so much out of bounds, as something Halley was just in no rush to go near. I found the thing terrifying, he says. The first time they finally got it on the set, we all had a look, mostly just out of pure amazement. But after that first look we did leave it alone, and it wasnt even, I think, a conscious decision.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Just three hours from Brisbane, PNG is our closest neighbour: at its closest point its less than four kilometres away. The reported dangers of its capital Port Moresby has likely put many off visiting  but this city is merely the stepping-off point to somewhere safer. Tourism is still gloriously simple on the islands off PNGs east coast. Fly to Kavieng on New Ireland and stay in eco-resorts set on stunning beaches, among coastal rainforest. Theres WWII wrecks in the jungles for hikers, and in the waters for divers and snorkellers. Surfers will find perfect waves.

At its closest point, Papua New Guinea is less than four kilometres away from Australia. Credit: Getty Images

NEW CALEDONIA

At just a 2.5-hour flight from Sydney, New Caledonia is Australias closest international neighbour off our east coast, but little about it is known beyond what those who have stepped onto one of its outlying islands on a cruise to Vanuatu have found. Civil unrest last year stopped tourism in its tracks, but a truce in the conflict means now is a good time to explore one of the South Pacifics most diverse archipelagos. The worlds second-longest reef creates a heck of a 24,000 square-kilometre marine playground  ideal for divers, sailors and beach lovers. Youve also got cosmopolitan capital and foodie hot-spot, Noumea, and 140 mostly uninhabited islands in warm, blue ocean.
Loading Fitz: 86! BB: They were mostly short ones, but it gave me the experience I needed. I used to read all the scripts that came in  hundreds of them  and pick out which ones I thought were technically and economically feasible to finance, before submission to a committee. The scripts that appealed to me were ones where I felt that people werent making other peoples films, they were telling their own stories. I was looking for original films with original ideas, where your first response is: I havent actually seen anything like this before. And then in the early 70s I read in the paper that a government fund had been set up to make films in Australia. I was friends with Barry Humphries in London, And I said, Look, we could do a script for the Barry McKenzie comic strip ...  Fitz: And so the iconic, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie starring Barry Crocker was born, a film about Australians, by Australians, for Australians  which was a stunning success, commercially.

BB: Yes, but for me it was a big mistake, because I was regarded as Mr Yobbo. The reviews were terrible and I struggled to get more work. Aunt Edna (Barry Humphries) with Barry Crocker in a London taxi in a scene from The Adventures of Barry McKenzie. The reviews were terrible and I struggled to get more work. Fitz: You were having a Barry Crocker  BB: The only work I could get was to do a sequel to Barry McKenzie, with Reg Grundy promising hed finance me doing The Getting of Wisdom, which is what I wanted to make. But there was no written contract, and he never followed through. Fitz: You had every right to have your knickers in a knot, your Reg Grundies in a twist.

BB: I was, and still am, a hopeless businessman. I should have got all the money up-front from Reg. But Philip Adams saved me in 1976, by sending me the play Dons Party, by David Williamson  which I turned into a film  and I was able to follow up with films like Breaker Morant, Puberty Blues and Tender Mercies. Fitz: And yet even though you received an Academy Award nomination for Tender Mercies, perhaps your signature film was Driving Miss Daisy, in 1989? BB: Yes, the producer Dick Zanuck called me. Hed seen Breaker Morant and Tender Mercies, and he said, Theres a play I want you to make a film of. Its off Broadway, a small play with only three people in it. He flew me to New York, and we saw the production, and it had a fantastic but unknown actor in it, Morgan Freeman. Fitz: You told me that story in London last year! Remind me, what did Freeman say to you when you met him backstage? BB: He said, If you dont cast me in the film, Ill be after you. Ill hunt you down.

And the other one I cast was Jessica Tandy, the original Blanche in Streetcar Named Desire, but she had been forgotten. Nobody knew her and Morgan. I got most resistance on casting Morgan. They said, You want that old black man?. I remember saying, You should kiss his arse. Youre lucky that an actor that talented wants to be in this film. Anyway, the budget was so tight, we shot the whole thing in 25 days, not the usual 50 to 60 days. Fitz: But even then, you were not set? It was not immediately recognised as a classic? BB: No. Warner Brothers, who had distribution rights, said Its an arthouse film. Its not worth distributing. And they were only going to put it on in an art house in San Francisco. It was devastating. But then I got this call, Have you got that film of the old Jewish lady and the black man? They couldnt remember their names! Fitz: Taxi! BB: So I went over to this big theatre at Warners, that held 600 seats. But there was just one man there, a Warners exec. So we sat down together, and they started playing the film. After 20 minutes, he got up and walked out. I followed him out to the lobby, and I said, You dont like it?

No, I do like it. Is the rest of it as good as the first 20 minutes? It gets better. Ah, OK. Whats all this about? We havent got a Christmas film. We need a Christmas film. This is it.

And they put it on in 3000 theatres. And it got nominated for nine Oscars and won four. Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy in Driving Miss Daisy. The budget was so tight, we shot the whole thing in 25 days, not the usual 50 to 60 days. Fitz: Strangely, not including even a nomination for best director for you! And yet, when once asked if you were bitter about that, you said, No, not at all. I didnt think it was that well directed. It was very well written. When the writings that good, youve really just got to set the camera up and photograph it. BB: [Laughing.] Yes, I guess so. But, of course, youve still got to know where to point the camera! Fitz: And another quarter of a century of successful films have followed including Black Robe, Silent Fall, Last Dance, Double Jeopardy, The Contract and, perhaps most famously, Maos Last Dancer. Youve worked with everyone from Richard Gere [King David] to Sharon Stone [Last Dance] to Glenn Close [Paradise Road], Tommy Lee Jones [Double Jeopardy], Robert Duvall [Tender Mercies], and you gave Cate Blanchett her start, in Paradise Road. My question is this. Every director wants to do what you have done, and have a 60-year career of hits. How do you do it? What is your technique for making films that has stood you in such good stead?

BB: [Thoughtfully.] I mean, I always have the whole film in my head, from pretty early on, after reading the script. I know the way I want it to look, and have each scene put on storyboards. Fitz: Well, how are you so blessed as to have such a clear idea? BB: I dont know. I mean, many actors will tell you that no two directors have the same technique. I know many directors get the script, the actors and the camera-people all on set and work on their own idea from there, after a lot of discussion. But I never do that. I know what I want, how I want it to look. I prepare all the scenes very carefully, as I have a background in very low-budget films, that have to be shot in a given period. I tell them: Heres the shot, this is the angle of the camera, and this is how I want it cut. Fitz: Despite being 85, you told me recently that you still feel as strong as you ever have. What are your plans for the future, and even retirement? Do you want to be making films into your 90s? BB: Ive never given it any thought. But I feel fine. Ridley Scotts about two years older than me, and still going  and Clint [Eastwood] is in his 90s, and doing a new film now.

Fitz: Cut! All right, present company excepted  as I need to disclose youve written a film script for one of my books  what is the great Australian story yet to be told? BB: There are stories all the time. But I have written another script about these Australians who, 10 years ago, went to Georgia, near the Black Sea, to try and buy the czars wine collection, which has been stored there by Stalin. Fitz: I love it already! But that brings us to your latest opus, The Travellers, which sees you reunite with Bryan Brown for the first time since Breaker Morant, 45 years ago. How did it come about? Bruce Beresford: I wanted a story set in Australia. Credit: James Brickwood BB: Well, I actually wrote that script during the COVID lockdown. I wanted a story set in Australia, a modern story. And drawing on my own experience, I remembered what it was like to come back from America, to look after my ailing mother, and to be drawn back into a world I had left, but was still intact  all the friends, former lovers and so forth, still there. I was a fish out of water, but then you get drawn back in. And I also had some friends who had been hugely successful working in opera in Europe, and they had told me stories of having to come back and then deal with family problems. And I thought thats an interesting angle, so I pursued that. I worked up the characters, with Bryan [Brown] playing the elderly father, Luke Bracey in the role of the successful opera set designer returning home, and Susie Porter as his sister.

Fitz: And I know you shot it in WA late last year. Do you know, as youre shooting it, whether it works or not? BB: Absolutely not. I have an instinct for individual rushes, and know whether or not they work, but as to whether or not it has the magic or not, you cant know until the whole thing is put before the audience and you see how they react. Fitz: So, you and I are talking just hours before you and Bryan and Susie are headlining at the Cremorne Orpheum, for the films premiere, which Ill be attending. Will you tell me, with your usual honesty, afterwards, whether you think it has the magic or not? BB: I will. Fitz: (At the after-party, of the premiere.) Bruce? The cinema was packed, the response seemed strong, but what do you think? Does The Traveller have the magic, or not?
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size In 1978, a young and very pregnant school teacher named Jo Vallentine was listening to the radio while doing the dishes in her Mt Lawley home when Liberal WA premier Charles Court came on to announce he would build Australias first nuclear reactor. Vallentine jumped on her scooter and rode to the Environment Centre in Wellington Street, kicking off a life-long battle against nuclear proliferation that saw her elected to the Australian Senate in 1985, first as a member of the Nuclear Disarmament Party, then an independent (1985-90) and then a Green (1990-92). The Project Iceberg protest in July 1983 on the USS Worden. Credit: Jane Hammond I was a Quaker and had long been concerned about nuclear weapons. But when Charlie talked about nuclear power something clicked. I realised that nuclear energy was as big a threat to humanity as nuclear war, she says. Vallentine was not alone in her alarm at the prospect of WA joining the nuclear club. When word of Courts atomic ambitions spread activists got busy, most famously marching on Ledge Point, north of Perth, where the government had secured land for the nuclear power plant. During the next decade, the fight shifted to Fremantle, where activists, jolted into action by rising tension between American and the Soviet Union, embarked on a decade-long battle against nuclear-powered and armed US warships arriving at Australian shores.

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The aircraft carriers were anchored in Gage Roads, Vallentine remembers. But their support vessels were tied up on the harbour. So people were climbing on board with banners in our bags or under our shirts and unfurling them. While memories of the protests has faded from the memory, a significant legacy of the era  the declaration of Fremantle as a nuclear-free zone  has re-emerged in conversations along the Cappuccino Strip since it was announced the Henderson Defence Precinct to the citys south would soon host nuclear-powered submarines as part of the $368 billion AUKUS pact. Loading The government last month pledged $12 billion to build up the precinct  which sits in the City of Cockburn, just to the south of Fremantle  including docks for nuclear submarine maintenance. Defence Minister Richard Marles said at the time the US government would choose where its submarines were maintained  but we absolutely anticipate that this will be a facility which is available for them. With its long history of anti-nuclear pushback, it was not surprising that representatives of the Australian Submarine Agency endured a hostile reception when they rocked up to Fremantle Town Hall for an AUKUS information session days after the governments funding announcement.

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Locals are concerned the presence of nuclear submarines would make Fremantle a target in any future conflict, are uneasy about the storage of nuclear waste and possible accidents, and worry a defence facility involving American warships would mean heightened levels of security and cut off access to areas along the coast that have been a part of their worlds for generations. There is also a disquiet that such a large foreign military presence will change the laid-back, anti-establishment character of a city that was recently celebrated as Australias best tourist destination. Protesters outside Fremantle Town Hall ahead of a recent AUKUS information session. Credit: Cason Ho/ABC Perth I cannot believe we are doing this again, long-time Fremantle resident Rosslyn De Souza says. We marched against the American warships coming in in the 1980s and now they are back again. Unfortunately, the generation who marched against the ships are older and dont have the energy they once did. And the young ones are too consumed with their busy lives to do what we did.

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De Souzas friend and fellow Fremantle resident Liesbeth Goedhart, 66, fears the US and UK military personnel and their families who will start arriving over the next few years will permanently alter the character of the area. Im not worried about thousands of new people moving into the area, unless it happens the way it happened in Exmouth, which is a US enclave, she said. If they are willing to lead a Fremantle lifestyle, then I will have no problems. But is that going to happen? City of Fremantle council candidate Melanie Clark. Credit: Mark Naglazas While AUKUS will not play a large part in the looming local council elections  despite the port citys nuclear-free status  North Ward candidate Melanie Clark is one of the loudest voices in the pushback against the alliance, which will begin with nuclear submarines docking for maintenance from 2027 and eventually give Australia its own submarines. Submarines sitting in our backyard very much makes us a target in any future conflict, Clark says. So lets be honest about it and call it a military base.

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There are always accidents ... we saw what happened when Rio Tinto lost that tiny capsule out in the middle of nowhere. Imagine that happening in a highly populated area. Clark also flagged concerns an influx of people moving to the region from the US and UK would exacerbate an already severe housing crisis. For WA Greens MLC Sophie McNeill the issue of AUKUS is more pressing than future scenarios and projected changes to Fremantle. McNeill, a Walkley Award-winning former Middle East correspondent, believes AUKUS will bind Australia into the US military empire, which she accuses of funding Israels war in Gaza. My boys want to be tradies. I dont want them working for an American defence contractor, McNeill says. While the baton has been passed to a younger generation of anti-nuclear campaigners, elder statesperson Vallentine maintains the rage, using her stature to lean on the likes of federal Fremantle MP Josh Wilson, who she urged to resign from the ALP so he could act forcefully on his anti-AUKUS position.

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This lack of sartorial peacocking will no doubt influence his reign. From the Order of the Garter procession, where participants wear velvet robes and plumed hats, to the coronation  where the monarch is swaddled in ermine  much of the royals dress code has been suspended in the proverbial amber since the Victorian era. King Charles during his coronation in Westminster Abbey in 2023. Credit: Getty Images Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, arrive for the state banquet held for US President Donald Trump last month. Credit: AP I think William finds some of the pomp and circumstance, and particularly some of the more elaborate outfits, slightly embarrassing, says Ingrid Seward, the editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, and is likely to be relieved to be able to tone it down. Already, the staff at the Duchy of Cornwall have become accustomed to not donning ties when William visits, having previously always done so for Charles.

Meanwhile, the increasingly popular trend among royal women to do away with dreaded nude tights in favour of bare legs is only likely to accelerate when William is on the throne. Rethinking some of the odder jobs The British monarchy remains one of the few institutions where such roles as Keeper of the Swans and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports still exist. William has already hinted that he believes in a slimmed-down monarchy, a phrase that in practice will likely mean fewer working royals, fewer obscure job titles and a less labyrinthine court structure. The annual Swan Upping, the counting of the Queens swans, takes place on the River Thames in 2021. Credit: Getty This may not mean jobs like herb strewer (who throws scented flowers in palace rooms and in front of the monarch as they walk) and yeoman of the china and glass pantry (who oversees the palaces crockery collection) will vanish on day one of his reign. As he moves towards a leaner, more functional staff, roles might be amalgamated or simply not renewed when someone leaves.

Im all for cutting down tedious pointless things like someone reading out an address when it could just be a note  but the core support for the monarchy lies in people like those in livery companies, and William knows that, so it is a fine line, Vickers says. Cutting back on the deference Anyone who has watched The Crown will know the elaborate rules around bowing and curtseying. Similarly, until very recently, visitors had to walk backwards through doors when they left the room to ensure they were always facing the monarch. Georgina Box, four, performs a curtsey for the King and Queen at St Thomas Anglican Church in Sydney in October last year. Credit: AP I think that is something he will definitely want to change, says Seward. William would much prefer someone to say good evening than be bowed to hundreds of times a day  and that goes for his children, too. Once they turn 18, he wont want people bowing or curtseying to them either.

This may even extend to the way he is addressed. He always says, Call me William, adds Seward, and while the staff always call him Your Royal Highness, he is more comfortable when people address him as Sir or by his first name. Updating Order of the Garter With plumes rising from hats, grand velvet robes and glistening insignia, the Order of the Garters annual ceremony in June, when new companions are formally invested, is one of the more pomp-filled events on the royal calendar  and one of the most likely to be modernised. Prince William joins his father after an Order of the Garter Service in 2022. Credit: Getty It is a big procession, walking down the hill into St Georges Chapel with the monarchy arriving by carriage, says Seward.

I think he might want to put more emphasis on the people who are getting the honours rather than the royals. I have a feeling that he thinks it all looks a bit ridiculous, like they are in fancy dress. Living in multiple houses King Charles rarely stays in one place for more than a few weeks at a time, and when the Queen was on the throne, she moved her court to Sandringham, Balmoral and Windsor at various times of the year, often in conjunction with the shooting calendar. The prince will likely base himself at Windsor Castle when king. Credit: Getty Images The Prince of Wales and his family attend the 2024 Christmas Morning Service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham. Credit: Getty Images

William is highly unlikely to do the same, not least because there is the possibility that he will become king when his children are still at school, which will keep him in Windsor during school terms at the very least. He will base himself out of Windsor, and probably use Sandringham as his Norfolk base and Balmoral for Scottish trips, but his court and his life will stay very much in one place, Seward says. He certainly wont feel the same sense of obligation that his father does to travel constantly to all these homes. Modernising day-to-day royal life In a method of communication, the Queen would no doubt be baffled by the fact that William uses WhatsApp to talk to his staff about managing the vast Duchy of Cornwall estate. Similarly, he is likely to drop some of the more elaborate insignia that his father favours. The 1st Battalion The Scots Guards practises before the state banquet held for Donald Trump at Windsor last month. Credit: Getty Images
US says kills four in new attack on alleged drug-smuggling boat



Washington, Oct 4 (AFP) Oct 04, 2025



US forces carried out a strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat off the coast of Venezuela on Friday, killing four people, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

Hegseth announced the latest strike -- which brings the number of such attacks to at least four, leaving at least 21 people dead -- in a post on X.

An accompanying video showed a boat speeding across the waves before being engulfed in smoke and flames.

"Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike," the Pentagon chief wrote.

He said it "was conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics -- headed to America to poison our people."

"These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over!!!!" he added.

The latest military action comes after President Donald Trump's administration said in a notice to Congress that he has determined the United States is engaged in "armed conflict" with drug cartels.

But Washington has not released evidence to support its assertion that the targets of its strikes are drug smugglers, and experts say the summary killings are illegal even if they target confirmed narcotics traffickers.

The administration's letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP on Thursday, was designed as a legal justification for at least three previous strikes.

"The president determined these cartels are non-state armed groups, designated them as terrorist organizations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States," said the notice from the Pentagon, which also described suspected smugglers as "unlawful combatants."



- 'Turned into stardust' -



Trump's director of communications, Steven Cheung, gleefully greeted the latest deadly strike, saying traffickers and their "deadly drugs have been turned into stardust."

Trump posted the same video as Hegseth on his Truth Social platform, saying that "a boat loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE was stopped, early this morning off the Coast of Venezuela, from entering American Territory."

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called US actions in the region "an armed aggression to impose regime change, to impose puppet governments, and to steal Venezuela's oil, gas, gold and all natural resources."

Speaking at an event in Caracas, Maduro ordered the mobilization of reservists and militias "if it is necessary to move from unarmed combat to armed combat."

Colombian President Gustavo Petro -- a fierce critic of Trump's policy of striking alleged traffickers -- wrote on X that "the narcoterrorists don't go in the boats -- the narcos live in the US, Europe and Dubai."

"There were poor Caribbean youths on that boat," Petro wrote, adding that striking vessels that could instead be intercepted at sea "violates the universal judicial principal of proportionality, and therefore is murder."

Tensions between the United States and Venezuela have been high over the deployment of multiple American warships in the region.

Washington says their mission is to combat drug trafficking, but Caracas views the ships as a threat.

Venezuela said Thursday it had detected "an illegal incursion" by five US fighter jets flying off its shores, with Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino denouncing the alleged flights as a "provocation."

Trump last month dispatched 10 F-35 aircraft to Puerto Rico, a US territory in the Caribbean, as part of the biggest military deployment in the area in over three decades.
At least eight Burkina soldiers killed in September attacks



Abidjan, Oct 4 (AFP) Oct 04, 2025



At least eight Burkina Faso soldiers were killed in attacks in September against a military detachment in the north of the country, security and local sources said on Saturday.

The attacks were claimed by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, and caused inhabitants to flee the area, which has been plagued by jihadist violence for years.

"The Gomboro detachment in Sourou province was attacked twice last month. First on September 12, then on September 25," a security source told AFP, requesting anonymity, citing "around 10 deaths and many more injured".

The source said the dead included soldiers, as well as members of civilian self-defence militias.

A separate source in the security services said eight soldiers were killed in the two attacks.

Burkina Faso has been ruled for nearly three years by a junta led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, who promised to restore security.

But large swathes of the country remain subject to attacks from armed jihadist groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

On Sunday, Traore, in an interview with local media, blamed the poor security situation on under-equipment of his army when he came to power in a coup.
Ive got that same feeling about Reform. I think they have a very charismatic leader. I think they have a vision. I think they know where they are going. Its really exciting to be involved in something at the beginning.
Dave Rich, director of policy at the charity which provides security to the Jewish community, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I think its phenomenally tone deaf, to say the least, for so many people who claim to care about human rights and care about freedoms, to be taking police resources away from protecting the rights and freedoms of Jewish people to live their lives and go to synagogue in safety, all to support a proscribed terrorist organisation, which is not the same thing as supporting the Palestinians.
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He said: Were continuing to respond effectively to emergencies in the region while ensuring that every available officer in Greater Manchester is currently deployed to provide reassurance, particularly amongst our Jewish communities, at what is a time of profound distress and sorrow.
"I spoke to a couple of people that had been in the shul and they told me that he just wasn't going to let him in," said Uriel. "He's a hero, he stopped loads of deaths from happening, and I hope he knows that."
"To everyone in Istanbul who wanted to join the 1.2 million people who have shared this phenomenal tour this year with us, I am deeply sorry. We were so looking forward to this show, but the decision to cancel it was beyond our control."
Sabrina Carpenter on Sunday, February 16, 2025. NBC/Jamie McCarthy/NBC via Getty Ima

Sabrina Carpenter is bringing more than her music to Austin City Limits this year.

The pop star, who headlines both weekends of the festival, has opened an official merchandise pop-up shop in downtown Austin  no festival wristband required.

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Where and when is the Sabrina Carpenter pop-up?

The Sabrina Carpenter Pop-Up is located at 920 Congress Ave. and will be open Oct. 3-5 and Oct. 10-12. Operating hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.

While limited merch will be available inside the festival grounds, the pop-up promises a larger selection of apparel, accessories and exclusive drops.

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What can you buy at the Sabrina Carpenter pop-up?

In addition to T-shirts, Carpenter is selling lighters, tights, playing cards, espresso cups and more.

The pop-up is open to the general public.

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Early Friday, fans posted about the pop-up and its exclusive offerings.

A look inside Sabrina Carpenters popup in Austin, Texas!



Including a new Austin exclusive t-shirt!

pic.twitter.com/QOpQ3DzN4N  Sabrina Carpenter Daily (@SCdailyupdates) October 3, 2025
A billboard of the girls killed in the yogurt shop is erected to as the public's help for crime tips. In 34 years, gun violence has become more, not less, common. We're overdue for real gun reform, a reader says. American-Statesman 1992 file

Insist for gun reform

It was a mass shooting news day on Sept. 28 where gunmen opened fired at a Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church in Michigan, Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino in Eagle Pass and at a waterfront bar in Southport, North Carolina.

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Juxtaposed with this one days news was the lead story on solving the 1991 yogurt shop murders, a truly seismic crime that shattered Austin.

In 34 years, gun violence has become more, not less, common.

Enough!

As we enter an election year, insist that all candidates publicly post their position on reasonable, common sense gun reform. To those candidates who would do nothing, post that, and tell the voters what you stand for.

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Dennis Borel, Austin

No fiscal responsibility

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I am dumbfounded at the naivete of the coalition members supporting Proposition Q, believing that somehow the revenues from the 20% tax hike will reach them and their programs.

They fail to recognize that Austins tax dollars already collected should be sufficient to pay our municipal workers, first responders, police, fire and also pay for critical services if only our city manager, mayor and council members do not frivolously spend it "peanut butter spread style" to fund their pet projects.

The city of Austins thirst for money is insatiable. Their fiscal irresponsibility and lack of profit and loss (P&L) business skills have resulted in their ever underfunded state.

I wonder if the coalition members are very well off to disregard a 20% property tax hike or if they have been brainwashed by our city leaders crocodile tears.

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Gopal N. Krishnan, Austin

Supporters of Proposition Q attend a news conference to announce the Care Not Cuts campaign at Parque Zaragosa on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. They fail to recognize that Austins tax dollars already collected should be sufficient to pay our municipal workers, first responders, police, fire and also pay for critical service, a reader says. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

Success in higher ed

In order for Texas to stay competitive and build stronger communities, we must invest in higher education.

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A college education not only supports economic mobility and wealth-building for individuals, it benefits us all. Gallup finds that college graduates are more likely to be civically engaged, volunteer and healthier physically.

Collectively, this means more prosperous, thriving communities.

Yet, gaps in college attainment are leaving shortages in fields like health care, engineering and information technology, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. Every bright student we dont support is a nurse well need, an engineer well miss or a tech innovator well lose to another state.

For Texas to thrive, every student from every background must see themselves in our future.

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The Hector and Gloria Lopez Foundation is proud to invest in first-generation students, not just because they deserve a shot at success, but because they are the leaders Texas needs.

Sergio Rodriguez, president and CEO of the Hector and Gloria Lopez Foundation

Health care is at risk

Re: Sept. 30 article, "No deal as government shutdown looms"

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune said before the vote that he was hoping there are Democrats out there who are reasonable and understand whats at stake here.

The Democrats do understand that what is at stake and it's Americans health care.

Caren Floyd, Austin

Texas families will suffer

The fight over the government shutdown is because Democrats want to restore enhanced tax credits for qualified people in the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Republicans cry foul, saying Democrats are holding funding legislation hostage.

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If negotiations fail, up to 1.7 million Texans could lose their health insurance, due to President Donald Trump's "Beautiful" bill.

Nearly 4 million Texans signed up for ACA health plans this year. However, with the looming expiration of enhanced premium tax credits, it is estimated that 560,000 Texans could lose coverage.

Increasing the state's uninsured population will make the entire system less functional.

The effects could reverberate across Texas health care systems, with higher premiums, more financial strain on hospitals and destabilized insurance marketplaces, causing headaches for Texans across the board.

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I call on leaders in Washington to put Texans first and preserve the ACA tax credits. Much is at stake for Texas.

Mark Coats, Austin

Continue to fight poverty

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision to end its annual food insecurity survey is a significant setback in our fight against poverty.

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This decision not only hampers our ability to document the struggles of families accurately but also undermines our efforts to design effective anti-poverty programs.

Congress is exacerbating the situation by pushing for another costly government shutdown and targeting essential programs, such as the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which lifted millions out of poverty last year.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act poses a threat to these vital programs. We need Congress to put aside political differences and ensure a comprehensive budget that prevents hunger. Many, such as a single mother of two who relies on SNAP amid rising food prices, are at risk.

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It is crucial to prioritize investments in anti-poverty programs to protect families and work together to end poverty. Your bipartisan support is essential in this endeavor. We urge Congress from both parties to unite in the fight against poverty and protect countless families, rather than hiding from it.

Susan Lamb, Austin
Taliban fighters continue to fire sporadically on the Marines as they seek cover inside the building and try to ascertain where their attackers are hiding so they can turn the tide of battle. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)



This article first appeared in the Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, March 23, 2010. It is republished unedited in its original form.

After nearly a month of calm, Taliban ambush ignites chaos for Marines in Marjah

Matthew W. McElhinney faded in and out of consciousness as the morphine kicked in.

Other Marines grasped his hand, squeezed it and talked to him, trying anything to keep him awake.

Whats your girlfriends name?

Stay with me.

Dont worry. Youre going to be OK. Youll be calling your family within a day.

There had been no real fighting for Company L, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment since the second week of the Marjah assault, which had started almost a month earlier. McElhinneys platoon had been patrolling for nearly two weeks on the northern outskirts of the town without drawing a shot.

But in one violent day, on March 10, their war abruptly resumed. McElhinney took a shot to his lower back, from a Taliban round that found a sweet spot just beneath his Kevlar vest and armor plate.

Its almost as if these [expletive] know exactly where to shoot, said Navy corpsman Jonathan Duhart.

Marines from Company L, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment head out shortly after dawn on March 10 for a three-day long-range patrol in Marjah, Afghanistan. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

After they reach an abandoned school that the Taliban have been reportedly using as a base, Marines send out a reconnaissance element with a mine detector and bomb-sniffing dog to sweep the building for booby traps and bombs. Staff Sgt. Christopher Whitman (center), updates Capt. Josh Winfrey (left) and Staff Sgt. Matthew Campbell (right) on the action. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

The Marines, along with a platoon of Afghan soldiers, trudge for three hours across opium and wheat fields and crossing numerous irrigation ditches. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

Capt. Josh Winfrey, right, commander of Company L, and Staff Sgt. Matthew Campbell, the company's tactical air controller, monitor the progress of a patrol as it comes under repeated harassing attacks by small groups of Taliban fighters later that day. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)



Deep into an opiate stupor, McElhinney said something that made the other Marines laugh. This is the only morphine youre ever going to get, one of them said. Got it?

He began to fade again.

A Marine told McElhinney to squeeze his hand, urging him to keep talking.

The Marine Corps is about to treat you a lot better than it ever has, he said. A soft bed and three squares a day.

Someone yelled that a medevac helicopter was inbound. Staff Sgt. Matthew Campbell marked the landing zone by tossing a smoke grenade into a poppy field next to the abandoned school where the Marines were stopped when the shooting began.

Within minutes, the helicopter landed, and McElhinney was hustled aboard. Less than 45 minutes had elapsed from the moment he was shot until he was aboard the bird.

The patrol was still out at 5:15 p.m. when shooting broke out near the school. A Marine reported seeing shots coming from about 200 yards due west. The troops at the school scrambled for their body armor and weapons.

Graffiti inside the school confirms that Taliban fighters have used the building as a base. The childlike drawings show stick figures shooting down NATO helicopters and blowing up tanks. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

British Royal Marine Commandos also left their own calling card after an operation in the area last year, suggesting that while previous sweeps have resulted in tactical defeats for the Taliban, the fighters are a resilient foe. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)



Within minutes, Taliban fire came pouring in from three sides. Bullets cracked and zipped through the air, pinging off the concrete walls. Marines and Afghan soldiers dashed for whatever cover was available. But there were large openings in nearly every wall, presumably for windows that were never installed, and there was precious little protection to be found. Later, several Marines would discover bullet pockmarks where they had been standing or sitting just moments before the gunfire broke out.

The scene grew more chaotic as the Marines hurried into position and began returning fire. But with all of the noise from the guns, it was virtually impossible to tell exactly where the Taliban were positioned.

Suddenly, a man screamed in pain.

Oh God! he cried, and he screamed again.

McElhinney lay belly down in a patch of grass on the west side of the building. Hed been shot in the right side of his lower back, just above the buttocks but below his bulletproof vest. He was on the ground, writhing in agony, as Duhart, Campbell and another Marine stripped off his body armor and worked to stop the bleeding.

Campbell left the scene briefly to retrieve more help. Duhart and the other Marine covered McElhinney with their bodies as more shots cracked overhead. An Afghan soldier standing in an open doorway let loose with a volley of light machinegun fire. He wasnt firing at anything, just blasting rounds into the air, until a Marine yelled for him to stop.

Winfrey called for a medevac helicopter. They were soon joined by another Navy corpsman, John Pascual. They stuffed dressings into the wound, but McElhinney was bleeding profusely.

Lance Cpl. Matthew W. McElhinney writhes in pain as Navy Corpsman Jonathan Duhart and McElhinneys company men try to stem the bleeding after a sniper shot McElhinney in the back. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

While the patrol is still out, Marines holding the school come under attack from Taliban fighters from three sides. Just minutes after the shooting starts, Lance Cpl. Matthew W. McElhinney is hit in the lower back by a single round. Navy corpsman Jonathan Duhart and another Marine shield the wounded McElhinney from further injury as more Taliban rounds crack overhead. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

A medevac helicopter arrives within 45 minutes to take the wounded Marine off the battlefield. Smoke marks the landing zone as the aircraft descends onto a poppy field next to the school. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)



He was also in a lot of pain, and screamed every time the corpsmen touched his wound or tried to move him. Finally, they injected McElhinney with morphine and stripped off his shirt and then his trousers. The morphine immediately calmed him. They placed him onto a portable stretcher, then moved him inside the school and started an intravenous drip. They covered his naked body with a poncho liner and tried to keep him alert until the medevac bird arrived.

Dissecting the scene

With McElhinney lifted to safety and the Taliban long since disappeared, several Marines gathered in a back room, trying to dissect what had happened. One insisted that McElhinney was shot from the north and that the bullet had come all the way through the building.

With the shooting coming from nearly all directions, it was impossible to pin down, but the Marines finally reached a consensus that he was hit by a single round fired from the southeast.

The Taliban have broken off their attack within the first 20 minutes, but as tired and ragged Marines filter in from the patrol, they take up defensive positions inside the building, in case the fighters decide to strike again. (Drew Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

Marines hustle their wounded comrade out to the waiting bird, through a maelstrom of dust and smoke kicked up by the aircraft's rotor blades. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

After the medevac helicopter has lifted off, Marines still man their positions and maintain vigilance, in case the Taliban fighters decide to renew their attack. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)

With his patient medevaced out, Navy Corpsman Jonathan Duhart takes a smoke break as he and his Marines try to dissect how the attack happened and how their fellow Marine was hit. (Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)



He was hit right below the SAPI, Duhart said, referring to the Small Arms Protective Insert, a ceramic bulletproof plate that fits inside the Kevlar flak vest and provides extra protection against rifle shots.

Duhart was silent for a moment, pulling on the last drag of his cigarette. He cursed the Taliban with a few choice words and left the room.

They strike-coordinated this [expletive], said another Marine, Cpl. Joseph Williams. Theres no way that all the Taliban around this place just decided to start shooting at us at the same time.

The Marines were angry. They were getting conflicting information.

Every person we talked to today insisted that they hadnt seen the Taliban in two days, said Staff Sgt. Kevin Barlow. They all need to die.

As darkness fell, the Marines and the Afghans moved into a nearby compound that offered better protection against further attack.

The next day, they got hit again with another ambush, but there were no casualties. On the third day, they packed up their gear and walked back to their company outpost, several miles away. Their fight with the Taliban in the area was not finished, but it would have to wait for another time.
(Drew Brown/Stars and Stripes)



Marjah, Afghanistan, Mar. 10, 2010: Lance Cpl. Matthew W. McElhinney writhes in pain as Navy Corpsman Jonathan Duhart and McElhinneys company men try to stem the bleeding after a sniper shot McElhinney in the back.

There had been no real fighting for Company L, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment since the second week of the Marjah assault, which had started almost a month earlier. McElhinneys platoon had been patrolling for nearly two weeks on the northern outskirts of the town without drawing a shot. But in one violent day, on March 10, their war abruptly resumed.

Read and see Stars and Stripes reporter and photographer Drew Browns account and additional photos of that day here.
Pfc. Lawrence Beard was killed in WWII. His remains were recently identified and he was laid to rest on Monday at St. Mark's Cemetery in Snydersburg, Md., surrounded by his loving family and grateful community members. (Jeffrey F. Bill/Baltimore Sun via TNS)



(Tribune News Service)  The remains of a Maryland-born World War II soldier who died in a Japanese prisoner of war camp were buried at St. Marks Cemetery in Snydersburg, Md., this week, according to a news release from Carroll County Government. Army Pfc. Lawrence Beards remains were identified in June, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

Beards dignified transfer occurred at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport Sept. 26. On Monday, a funeral service took place at the cemetery.

Commissioner Kenneth Kiler attended the funeral service and described the traditional military service honoring Beards service and legacy. Its such an honor to see a veteran who that many years ago, lost his life and finally got back here, he told the Carroll County Times. Beards niece and nephew received an American flag at the service.

The Carroll County Board of Commissioners proclaimed Sept. 26 as Pfc. Lawrence Richard Dick Beard Heros Homecoming Day. His sacrifice, along with so many others, represents the highest measure of devotion to country and freedom, a news release from the county said.

Beard was one of more than 200 members of the military from Carroll, his place of birth, honored with a luminary at DoveHouses Gold Star Family Day event on Sept. 28.

Beards service

Beard enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in February 1941. He was among American and Filipino service members captured by Japanese forces that invaded the Philippine Islands in December of that same year. Beard was one of thousands of soldiers forced to walk in the 65-mile Bataan Death March, and died in a POW camp on Nov. 4, 1942.

He was initially buried in the Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery, in Common Grave 707. After World War II, the American Graves Registration Service exhumed nine sets of remains from the camps cemetery, including Beards. Itmoved them to a temporary U.S. site near Manila. In 2019, the DPAA exhumed and analyzed remains from Common Grave 707. Beards body was identified this summer.

Last month marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

2025 Baltimore Sun.

Visit baltimoresun.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The rapid reaction of various police forces on the Costa del Sol was crucial in thwarting the escape of the alleged perpetrator of the fatal shooting that happened Friday in Marbella. They had a key piece of information, which was the number plate of the vehicle used in the escape, obtained thanks to several witnesses who immediately alerted the emergency services to the incident, as SUR has learned.

Thus began 'Operacion Jaula', (Operation Cage), in which orders were given to all available patrols of the National Police and Local Police in the area to block all exits before the shooter had time to escape from the town. Marbella was practically locked down with this deployment, as sources close to the case have told SUR.

After just a few minutes, the vehicle was intercepted near one of the accesses to the coastal motorway, near the Real de Zaragoza housing estate. The 38-year-old suspect had no room for manoeuvre before officers proceeded to arrest him.

The fatal shooting happened at around 2.35pm on Calle Jose Banus, where there are several cafes and restaurants. The sequence of events, according to sources, was as follows: the alleged gunman was travelling in a vehicle and got out of it when he saw his target on the terrace of a shop talking on the phone. He walked about ten metres on foot and, when he was close to the victim, he took out a pistol from the back of his trousers.

Zoom Josele

He allegedly fired at least half a dozen shots at the other man, a 25-year-old. The latter, seriously wounded, ran to take refuge inside the premises, while the shooter returned to his car and fled. The emergency services were immediately alerted, including by some witnesses who made a mental note of the car's number plate before it sped away from the scene.

Several units of the National Police and Local Police quickly arrived on the scene, as well as an 061 health emergency medical team, who transferred the injured victim to the Costa del Sol Hospital, where he died later in the afternoon.
Baldwinsville, N.Y.  The Seneca Chief sailed into Baldwinsvilles Paper Mill Island Friday evening, its polished wooden frame catching the fading sunlight as a crowd gathered along the canals edge.

The packet boat is a replica of the vessel that carried Gov. DeWitt Clinton in 1825 during the grand opening of the Erie Canal, a feat of engineering that connected the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean and transformed New York forever.

Two centuries later, this hand-built reproduction is retracing that historic journey.

This was a community project, said Doug Hartley, a volunteer boatbuilder who helped construct the Seneca Chief. We had over 200 volunteers  engineers, teachers, bus drivers, housewives  just people who wanted to be part of history.

The replica kitchen below deck on the "Seneca Chief." Lily McDonald

Hartley, who started volunteering four and a half years ago, described the process as both painstaking and rewarding.

Youd show up for your shift, and every day was something new, he said. One day we were making panels, the next we were carving doors or cleats. If you didnt know how to do something, someone else would step in and teach you. We figured things out together.

Built using 19th-century techniques, the boats cherrywood panels and handcrafted joinery give it a timeless quality. Hartley said the team relied on sketches, written descriptions, and historic paintings to recreate the vessel as faithfully as possible, since no photographs of the original Seneca Chief exist.

The doors you see here wouldnt have been there back then, he explained, gesturing toward the cabin. That would have been all cargo. Thered be one section for passengers, one for crew, one for supplies. If you wanted a bunk, it cost you more. If you wanted to stand, you could. They even had penny passengers who rode on top for cheap, but they got no amenities.

For Hartley, helping to build the boat wasnt just a craft project, it was a way to connect to the canals broader story. He described how DeWitt Clinton pushed for the project after businessman Jesse Hawley, whose grain kept spoiling en route to market, wrote letters from debtors jail arguing for a canal across New York.

The canal opened up the whole country, Hartley said. Suddenly, farmers out west could sell their grain instead of just growing enough to eat. Towns like Buffalo and Baldwinsville started because of it. People built blacksmith shops, stores, hotels, all because the canal ran right through.

The bunks below deck on the "Seneca Chief." Lily McDonald

At each stop along the modern voyage, the Seneca Chief crew is collecting vials of water from local waterways, to be mixed together and poured into the Atlantic Ocean later this month, a symbolic Wedding of the Waters, echoing Clintons ceremony in 1825.

This time, though, the event carries a deeper layer of reflection. As part of the bicentennial, organizers are planting white pine trees, a Haudenosaunee symbol of peace, along the canal route.

The gesture acknowledges how the canals creation displaced Indigenous communities and altered the regions landscape.

When you hit a milestone like this, you get to reflect, said Eddie Niblo, exhibits and collections manager at the Buffalo Maritime Center. We want to share not only the canals achievements but also the stories that havent always been told  about the Haudenosaunee and about the environment.

The "Seneca Chief" carries a symbolic white pine. Lily McDonald

Niblo said the construction team studied sketches of 19th-century canal boats and combined them with traditional European boatbuilding techniques to ensure historical accuracy.

We didnt have photos of the Seneca Chief, he said. But we looked at similar packet boats and the tools they would have used. The result is as close to the real thing as possible, a living piece of history.

Beyond its craftsmanship, Niblo said, the boat represents a bridge between past and future.

Its so important to learn about the materials and tools of traditional making, he said. They inform how we design and build today.

A pair of moccasins, an example of Indigenous-made goods transported along the Erie Canal in 1825. Lily McDonald

The Seneca Chiefs arrival drew history enthusiasts, local families, and museum professionals from across Central New York, including Walker Goodemote, the interpretation and communications coordinator at the Seward House Museum in Auburn.

Our site crosses over with the Erie Canal a little bit, Goodemote said. I joked with all my colleagues, it was canal summer for the 200th anniversary. So I had to come see the Seneca Chief for canal summer, obviously.

Goodemote said the Erie Canals impact on Upstate New York cant be overstated.

It opened up migration and commerce to this whole area, he said. Before that, everything had to move by horse and wagon, long, slow, miserable trips. Suddenly, you could get from here to Utica in a day. It was revolutionary.

The Seneca Chief will continue to Onondaga Lake Park this weekend, where it will dock for tours and educational programs.

The last stop in its voyage will be New York City on October 25-26.

Its beautiful, Hartley said. We built it piece by piece, and now its out here bringing people together.
Your Google Play Points might be waiting to be spent on something useful, and that's during the Austin City Limits Music Festival. You can reap fresh rewards and experience during this week. Attendees can look forward to exclusive pop-up events hosted by Google, featuring games, prizes, and one-of-a-kind experiences.

Exclusive Access For Silver+ and Gold+ Members

Silver+ members will have exclusive access to Google's pop-up in the festival, where they will get special prizes and get hands-on official merchandise from artists such as Role Model and MARINA, according to Android Police. Even if you cannot attend the festival, something is waiting for you.

Gold+ subscribers can win a virtual "Road Case" packed with high-end rewards, such as slipmats, artist tour merchandise, and limited-edition Road Case Bag art provided by Nik Bentel.

For music enthusiasts and devoted Android followers, these wonderful prizes make Google's reward system even more appealing than before.

Read more: Apple Removes ICE Agent Tracking Apps After FBI Safety Warning

Meet and Greet With Artists in Austin

For Austin residents who want a more intimate experience, Google is also sponsoring a meet-and-greet session with artist Role Model at the Google Store in Domain North Side. It's a great way for fans to meet their favorite performer while experiencing the benefits of being a Play Points member.

Why Now's the Best Time to Use Your Play Points

Spending your Play Points on events like this one not only presents special rewards. For other people, it's seeing the increasing worth of Google's loyalty program. Although saving enough points takes time and spending, these festival bonuses during limited-time periods make it all worthwhile.

If you're new to Google Play Points, it's a free rewards program that rewards you with points for each dollar spent on apps, games, movies, and subscriptions on the Google Play Store. As you collect more points, you level up tiers, each of which unlocks improved benefits, special experiences, and exclusive offers.
Typhoon Matmo disrupts holiday travel, forces closures in China



Beijing, Oct 4 (AFP) Oct 04, 2025



Chinese authorities will cancel flights and close businesses on Saturday as Typhoon Matmo hurtles towards the country's southern Hainan and Guangdong provinces during the busy National Day travel period.

According to China's National Meteorological Centre (NMC), Matmo is expected to make landfall on Sunday morning, the middle of an eight-day public holiday when many domestic tourists flock to tropical Hainan Island.

All flights at Meilan International Airport in Haikou, Hainan's provincial capital, are scheduled to be cancelled from 11 pm (1500 GMT) on Saturday, state media outlet Xinhua said.

The airport was originally expected to handle more than 632,000 passengers between October 1 to 8 for the combined National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, according to Hainan Airport Group, which operates the airport.

Haikou also plans to suspend schools, public transport and construction from Saturday afternoon, while businesses will also be ordered closed.

Both Hainan and Guangdong provinces have upgraded their emergency typhoon response, with authorities warning that heavy rains and strong winds could trigger flash floods and landslides.

They have also cancelled many rail services and ordered fishing boats back to port.

Downpours are also expected in Yunnan province and the Guangxi region, both also in China's south.

Matmo is likely to bring winds of up to 45 metres per second, or 160 kilometres per hour (100 miles per hour), before its intensity gradually weakens after landfall, the NMC said Saturday.
Ethiopia hits back at 'false' Egyptian claims over mega-dam



Addis Ababa, Oct 4 (AFP) Oct 04, 2025



Ethiopia on Saturday hit back at Egypt's "false" claim that it had triggered floods in Sudan by opening the gates of its Nile mega-dam, a regional bone of contention.

Addis Ababa inaugurated its Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD), Africa's largest hydroelectric project, in early September.

Cairo has meanwhile spent more than a decade vehemently criticising the dam over concerns that the "existential threat" will dry up its primary water supply: the Nile, which supplies 97 percent of the water it uses.

On Friday, the Egyptian water ministry said the dam had released "enormous water quantities" immediately after its inauguration, which had "resulted in the flooding of agricultural lands and the submersion of numerous villages" in neighbouring Sudan.

Flooding has affected multiple Sudanese regions including the capital Khartoum for several weeks, which Sudanese authorities attribute to climate change, exceptional rainfall and the opening of the dam's gates.

In a statement published on Saturday, Ethiopia's water ministry called Egypt's statements "false and defamatory" and an attempt to "mislead the international community".

Flooding in Sudan is due to the White Nile tributary's rising water levels and has "nothing to do with Ethiopia", it said.

Ethiopia claims that the mega-dam, located on the Blue Nile tributary which makes up 85 percent of the Nile's waters, may have curbed "historic destruction of human lives and infrastructure" in Sudan and Egypt after heavy rainfall this year.

Pietro Salini, the CEO of the GERD's main contractor Webuild, has said the mega-dam "releases water to produce energy".

"There's no change in the flow. It's just regulated," he told AFP in September.
Bulgaria flooding death toll rises to four



Sofia, Bulgaria, Oct 4 (AFP) Oct 04, 2025



Heavy rainfall that hit Bulgaria's Black Sea coast and forced the authorities to declare a state of emergency has now killed four people, police said on Saturday.

The body of a 58-year-old woman was found buried under mud in her home after her husband, who arrived from Russia, reported her missing, officers said.

Three people were previously reported killed in the storms that lashed Elenite, a resort town on the edge of the Black Sea, on Friday.

"Among the victims were two rescuers, one a border police officer and the other a tractor driver," Interior Minister Daniel Mitov told Bulgarian state radio.

Another person was caught by the rising waters at a hotel, the authorities said.

Videos shared on social media showed torrents of muddy water washing away cars in one of the main streets in Elenite.

The flood, which occurred shortly before midday on Friday, damaged buildings and roads.

A state of emergency was declared in several communities in the southeast and northwest of Bulgaria.

Environmentalists have warned for years about over-development on the Black Sea coast, arguing that it worsens damage during natural disasters.
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Comics performing at the first ever Riyadh Comedy Festival have been steering clear of any jokes that take aim at Saudi Arabias controversial human rights record, it has been reported.

The event, which is being held in the capital from 26 September to 9 October, stars a number of prominent US and UK comedians including Dave Chappelle, Pete Davidson, Kevin Hart, Louis CK, Jimmy Carr and Jack Whitehall.

Speaking to BBC News, comedy fans who attended the shows said they were surprised to hear a number of comics including profane content in their sets, such as jokes about gay and trans people.

Homosexuality and the expression of gender identity for trans people remains illegal in Saudi Arabia. According to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, the country imposes the death penalty for same-sex relationships.

One attendee said that Chappelle made lots of jokes about transgender people, which he has been criticised for in the past, while Omid Djalili made gags about elements of Saudi culture, such as women driving.

What was more glaring, those who spoke to the BBC said, was what wasnt joked about. Guests said that so far, comedians had completely avoided any mention of the Saudi government.

open image in gallery L-R: Jimmy Carr, Omid Djalili and Dave Chappelle are taking part in the controversial Riyadh comedy festival ( Getty )

The contract comedians were allegedly required to sign, which has been widely circulated on social media, included stipulations that they not make fun of religions or the Saudi royal family.

So far Ive not seen one of the comedians raise these issues, not just on stage but on social media or anywhere, Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch, told BBC News. Its very disappointing.

Tim Dillon, a comedian who was scheduled to perform but was later pulled from the line-up for joking about slavery in Saudi Arabia, said he was offered $315,000 for a single show. He claimed that his more famous colleagues were paid upwards of $1.6m.

Human Rights Watch has described the Riyadh Comedy Festival as Saudi Arabias latest attempt to deflect attention from its brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations.

It urged anyone taking part to use their platform to speak up on issues such as human rights and freedom of speech, particularly as the country experiences a reported rise in executions for non-lethal and drug-related crimes. The country carries out most of its executions by beheading with swords.

In June, the Saudi regime executed journalist Turki al-Jasser for high treason. The accusations stemmed from posts he authored on a blog and a newspaper.

Chappelle reportedly told an audience of around 6,000 people that it was easier to talk here than it is in America while onstage at the festival.

open image in gallery Dave Chappelle reportedly claimed it was easier to speak freely in Saudi Arabia than in the US ( AP )

The comedians taking part in the Riyadh festival have been condemned by many of their peers, who have accused them of selling out.

Earlier this week, comic David Cross, who said he was not asked to perform at the festival, wrote in a statement shared on Instagram: I am disgusted, and deeply disappointed in this whole gross thing.

That people I admire, with unarguable talent, would condone this totalitarian fiefdom forwhat, a fourth house? A boat? More sneakers?

Davidson has defended his decision, telling podcaster Theo Von that he agreed to the performance after seeing the amount he was being paid.

Comedians Jim Jefferies and Chris Distefano also cited high paychecks in their defense. I didnt want to do it either, Distefano told Stavros Halkias. And then [Distefanos wife] was like Youre going to take that f***ing money.
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Alfred Hitchcock, the legendary British filmmaker, was given the label the Master of Suspense in the 1940s, in the wake of hits like Suspicion and Notorious. It would prove an apt moniker in the final third of his career, where his greatest works  Rear Window, Vertigo, Psycho  had a revolutionary impact on cinema. Since then, he has been frequently imitated but never bettered  and, slowly but surely, the culture has moved away from suspense and towards gratification. Enter, then, Ryan Murphy: the master of gratification.

Back in 2011, Murphy was best known to audiences as the creator of acerbic dark comedy Nip/Tuck who had made an unexpected segue into the world of high-school a cappella with Glee. But then he began work on American Horror Story, an anthology show in which a troupe of returning actors tackle different themes from the genres canon. Since then, he has given full vent to his icky instincts, the apotheosis of which is his Monster franchise. The first series followed notorious cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer, while the follow-up sparked huge interest in the parricidal Menendez brothers. Now the show returns with Monster: the Ed Gein Story, a detailed look at the life and legacy of Ed Gein (Charlie Hunnam), sometimes called the Godfather of Serial Killers. Gein was convicted of just two murders but the grim revelations of the investigation  bowls made from human skulls, masks fashioned from faces, a lampshade rendered from skin  have turned him into the ur-monster.

Ed Gein didnt just influence a genre, Netflixs press release for Monster reads, he became the blueprint for modern horror. And thats exactly what Murphys new series sets out to prove. The eight episodes weave in the production of Psycho, whose killer, Norman Bates, was heavily based on the relationship between Gein and his overbearing, God-fearing mother Augusta (played, here, by Laurie Metcalf), as well as a litany of other descendants, from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Mindhunter. This is an ode to the evolution of horror  the way it draws fears from our real lives and turns them into celluloid nightmares  which also exposes how our appetites have changed.

Only a mother could love you, Augusta hisses at the young, fragile Ed (Hunnam on mincing, muscular and rather unconvincing form). We later see her decomposing corpse, in various poses around the Gein household, a mirror of the absent Mrs Bates in Psycho. A boys best friend is his mother, Norman informs Janet Leighs shifty runaway, but the thrill of Psycho is in the withholding. What exactly is the shadowy figure glimpsed through the window? Who is the long-haired, knife-wielding murderer? And how does the mysterious matriarch fit into all this? This is the genesis of the films suspense, the slow release of tension through its 109-minute runtime.

But times have changed, and Murphys oeuvre is entirely devoid of subtlety. In one scene, Hitchcock (played by Tom Hollander) walks a young Anthony Perkins (an uncanny Joe Pollari) around the set of Psycho, explaining the ways that Geins murders inspired his new production. He opens an icebox and tells Perkins that it contains nine preserved vulvas. The shot lingers on Perkins face, the horror of the contents drawn on his expression. We dont need to actually see the vulvas. But this isnt a Hitchcock production; this is a Ryan Murphy joint. So, sure enough, the camera cuts to the vulvas. And then back to Perkins. And then back to the vulvas.

Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein, Suzanna Son as Adelina in Monster: The Ed Gein Story ( Courtesy of Netflix )

There has been plenty of hand wringing about our societys predilection for gory true crime, an inclination that has metastasised in the internet era. In the 1940s and 50s  when Monster is set and when Psycho was filmed  the public sensibility about serial killers was clearer. They proved terrifying fodder, filling the pages of tabloid rags and pulp magazines. But when it came to depicting these crimes, they were veiled under the cloak of fiction. Robert Bloch, the author of Psycho, which came out in 1959 and was swiftly adapted for the screen, was inspired by Gein only in loose ways (the mother-son relationship, particularly, as well as an interest in shrunken heads). Similarly, Tobe Hoober, creator of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, drew inspiration from Gein, mainly for his skin-wearing maniac, Leatherface, but relocated the action and renovated the plot.

Horror like Murphys bluntly gratifies the basest instincts of the human character

Murphys Gein  as with his Dahmer and Menendez brothers  is just plain old Gein. His crimes are his crimes. No possibility for violence goes unindulged. Open questions, like whether Gein murdered his brother, are crudely answered. Unsolved crimes in which Gein was implicated but exonerated  such as the disappearance of 14-year-old babysitter Evelyn Hartley (played here by 24-year-old TikTok star Addison Rae, presumably so she can be tied up in her underwear) are attributed to him. Ilse Koch, the Kommandeuse of Buchenwald who perpetrated unspeakable crimes during the Holocaust, appears in psychosexual fantasies played by Vicky Krieps. In the closing moments, an aged, incarcerated Gein is thanked by Charles Manson, Ed Kemper, Jerry Brudos and Richard Speck for being a role model. It is like the Avengers, only with murderers of women.

Horror like Murphys is increasingly literal. He shows the vulvas. In a way, it is more honest about human nature than the dissonance of Hitchcock, which acknowledges the power of real violence but mutes it with fiction. But it also bluntly gratifies the basest instincts of the human character, prioritising constant thrills over simmering dread. I think enough people have told my story, Gein confesses, on his deathbed. They seem to know it better than me. After Monster its hard to disagree  at least with the first part.

Monster: The Ed Gein Story is out now on Netflix
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Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden has returned to the dancing show after two years of being unable to compete due to health complications.

The 35-year-old ballroom dancer, who joined the programme in 2017, was absent from the series in 2023 as she underwent treatment for stage three breast cancer. She returned in 2024 and was briefly partnered with JB Gill, but was forced to drop out due to a stress fracture to her shin. Fellow professional dancer Lauren Oakley took Dowdens place for the remainder of the competition.

Dowden has since admitted she went back on Strictly too soon after she received the all-clear from breast cancer in early 2024.

Speaking on the Breast Cancer Uncovered podcast, she revealed she didnt fully process her diagnosis and was fixated on getting back on the dance floor.

Dowden stated she went back on the show when she had not fully recovered from her cancer treatment, believing her broken bone was a by-product of her chemotherapy and hormone therapy. She added that she felt like cancer was still punishing her.

The dancer was diagnosed with an aggressive form of stage three breast cancer in May 2023 after finding a lump in her breast the day before her Maldives honeymoon with fellow professional dancer Ben Jones.

She underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy and fertility treatment in those nine months and experienced a series of major setbacks in that time, including doctors finding a blood clot in her lung, sepsis and undergoing fertility treatment.

During her chemotherapy treatment and recovery period, Dowden frequently kept fans updated on her condition via social media.

open image in gallery Amy Dowden is competing on the 2025 series of Strictly after two years of being unable to compete due to health reasons ( CREDIT LINE:BBC/Ray Burmiston )

In Autumn 2023, while Dowden was still receiving treatment, she would make small cameo appearances on Strictly despite not being able to compete  like reading out the terms and conditions or joining the stars backstage in the Clauditorium (the area hosted by Claudia Winkleman).

However, in November 2023, Dowden was unable to make any appearances in the remaining episodes because she fractured her foot.

That journey is documented in the BBC film, Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me, which follows Dowden from the beginning of her diagnosis as she navigates each stage of her treatment. At some of the most difficult parts of her treatment, Dowden recalled being in agony as she wore a cold cap during treatment to try and retain her hair  but eventually decided to shave it off.

open image in gallery Amy Dowden documented her cancer journey in the BBC programme Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me ( BBC )

She revealed in November 2023 that she had completed all eight rounds of chemotherapy, and she was told she had no evidence of disease in February 2024.

Reflecting on the hardest year of her life in the documentary, Dowden said: In the past year, Ive had a mastectomy, fertility treatment, chemotherapy, sepsis, blood clots, a broken foot and finally its time for me to get back on that dancefloor.

We are finally here, Dowden said on Instagram as she arrived at the hospital for her final session of chemotherapy. Ive cried all morning! Right, an afternoon of chemo and then Im so lucky and grateful to be able to ring that bell! Will never take it for granted! Thank you to the incredible Sheldon Unit! You are all amazing NHS, all true heroes.

When she did return to the series in 2024 alongside Gill, she was forced to withdraw from the competition due to a stress fracture to her shin, telling fans she was heartbroken and gutted that her Strictly participation had been interrupted again.

open image in gallery Amy Dowden and her partner JB Gill on Strictly 2024 before she left the competition ( BBC )

Dowden also has Crohns disease, a lifelong gut disease that causes chronic bowel inflammation. She revealed her diagnosis in 2019, and fronted the BBC programme Strictly Amy: Crohns And Me, in which she spoke about her experience and met other people living with Crohns.

Crohns is described by the NHS as a lifelong condition in which parts of the digestive system become inflamed. People with the disease commonly experience phases of intense abdominal pain, severe vomiting, exhaustion and bloody diarrhoea, among other symptoms.

Dowden is dancing in the 2025 Strictly season, and her celebrity partner will be revealed during the launch show on 20 September.
Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice

Hollywood luminaries, including Meryl Streep and Dame Emma Thompson, graced George Clooneys London awards ceremony on Friday.

The star-studded event, known as The Albies, was established by Clooney and his human rights lawyer wife, Amal.

The aim of the evening is to "shine a protective spotlight on brave individuals and groups from around the globe who, at great personal risk, have devoted their lives to fighting for justice".

Among the glittering attendees was Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham, who captivated in a neutral-coloured sequinned gown, complete with a coordinating cape.

open image in gallery Hannah Waddingham was a vision in sequins ( REUTERS )

Top Guns Meg Ryan, CBS News presenter Gayle King, and Now You See Me star Isla Fisher were among the other attendees at the event, held at the Natural History Museum in London.

British stars included Saltburn actor Richard E Grant, chat show host Graham Norton, fashion designer Stella McCartney, actress Felicity Jones and Gavin And Stacey star Russell Tovey.

Elsewhere, make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury was pictured wearing a figure-hugging dress with ruffles and a corset alongside the Clooneys.

Oscar-winning actress Streep wore black trousers with a sheer black top adorned with green beads, while Dame Emma, another Oscar winner, wore a corduroy suit with a heavily sequined top.

Another notable figure was New Zealands former prime minister Jacinda Ardern, who sported a halter neck gown with a floral motif.

open image in gallery Former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern was among the people of note to attend the star-studded bash ( REUTERS )

The Albies are named after anti-apartheid hero Justice Albie Sachs, who received a lifetime achievement award at the charitys inaugural fundraiser in 2022, according to the Clooney Foundation for Justice website.

He also attended Fridays event, which gives out awards in multiple categories, including the justice for women award.

The Clooneys are co-founders of the Clooney Foundation for Justice, which provides free legal aid in defence of free speech and womens rights.
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Tom Cruise may need to start looking for a new go-to gift to send to his colleagues.

For years, famous actors such as Mindy Kaling and Rosie ODonnell have been sent the same Christmas gift from the Mission: Impossible star, a $110 white chocolate coconut cake from Doans Bakery. However, on Wednesday, the United States Food and Drug Administration issued a report announcing a recall of the Woodland Hills, California bakerys White Chocolate Coconut and Carrot Bundt cakes.

The two cake flavors are being recalled because they may contain wheat or milk that is not listed as an ingredient.

People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat and/or milk run the risk of experiencing a serious or life-threatening reaction if they consume these products, the FDAs report read.

The mislabeling error was discovered last week during a routine inspection. The affected bundt cakes were sold by Doans Bakery and sent across the U.S. using the website Gold Belly from June 1, 2025, through September 24, 2025.

open image in gallery Cruise is known for giving out Doans Bakery White Chocolate Coconut bundt cakes for the holiday season ( AFP via Getty Images )

There have been no reported illnesses to date, and customers who have purchased the affected products with a wheat or milk allergy are urged not to eat either cake and to contact Gold Bellys customer support service using the email address support@goldbelly.com.

Specific concerns can also be directed to the phone number 1-888-675-6892 between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET.

Wheat is identified as one of the nine major food allergies in the U.S., along with milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, soybeans, and sesame.

Allergic reactions to these nine foods vary but can involve hives and lip swelling to severe, life-threatening symptoms, often called anaphylaxis, that may involve fatal respiratory problems and shock, according to theFDA.

open image in gallery The cake may contain undeclared white and/or milk ( FDA )

Being on Cruises coveted cake list for Christmas has been seen as a mark of high praise, as celebrities like Brooke Shields have complained about previously receiving the cake for 10 years, only to be eventually taken off.

I was on the list for a while. I had a good 10-year run, and I got the coconut cake every year, which I was very happy [about], Shields told People in April 2023.

It was from them and Suri, so it was the three of them, and then soon it was no Suri and no Katie and just Tom, she recalled. Then it went from just Tom for a while, but not every holiday. And then the cake stopped.

I want to get back on that cake list. It's the best cake, Shields continued with a laugh. Tom, I need to be back on the cake list.
The Skids frontman Richard Jobson has paid tribute to his hometown roots in The Story of The Skids  a new documentary directed by punk artist Mark Sloper which premiered last week to packed audiences across Scotland.

The Skids frontman Richard Jobson has paid tribute to his hometown roots in The Story of The Skids  a new documentary directed by punk artist Mark Sloper which premiered last week to packed audiences across Scotland

The film, directed by the celebrated punk artist and filmmaker Mark  known professionally as Mark Illuminati  charts the rise of Dunfermlines punk pioneers from their beginnings in Fifes former royal capital to their enduring influence today.

Much of the documentary focuses on Richards reflections on growing up in the area, his creative inspirations, and his pride in the citys musical heritage.

Richard narrates the film, sharing memories of penning punk anthems such as Into the Valley and The Saints are Coming at Dunfermline Library.

He told the Dunfermline Press: Theres a lot of special things about the (then) town. Its our job to highlight them and be very humble about it.

That library is a special place, because it gave me time to think. Its in one of the most spectacular areas that I think Ive ever seen, its just breath-taking.

My feeling is that they should pedestrianise the whole Maygate. They could turn it into this beautiful place where you can have markets and do different things, making it a creative hub in the heart of an important city.

Much of the filming took place inside the Old Town Barber Club on Maygate, run by Richards brother Brian Jobson.

Early scenes revisit long-closed venues such as the Bellvue Hotel and the Kinema Ballroom  the latter once hosting David Bowie and The Clash  where Richard recalls headlining as a defining moment for The Skids.

One story in the film recounts their ill-fated second gig, planned during a Communist Party event in Pittencrieff Park to support Chilean refugees.

Richard said: That was until Stuart Adamson opened by telling the crowd how if this was a Communist country, you wouldnt be allowed to see a band like this, at which point the plug was pulled.

He added: I took a much more internationalist approach with the band, but the magnet was always coming back to Dunfermline, and I think the key to that was Stuart, because he lived in the centre.

Skids Guitarist Stuart Adamson went on to form Big Country in 1981, achieving worldwide fame before his death in 2001.

Richard later launched The Armoury Show and moved into writing and television before reforming The Skids in 2017.

Reflecting on the bands longevity, he told the Press: I think through various things that weve been doing, weve kept The Skids relevant. When you play a song like Working for the Yankee Dollar, it probably means more today than it did when we wrote it way back then, because of the politics of today that are almost indescribably horrific.

Suddenly these songs have another meaning, as does Into the Valley, even Masquerade and Charade. They all feel very contemporary because they were commentaries on the world as I saw it when I was 15, 16, 17. I always thought the world would get better, and it didnt.

Director Mark Sloper is famous in Britains punk art scene and recently gained attention as Oasis official artist for their 2025 comeback tour.

The band commissioned him to produce two neon artworks celebrating their first two albums, Definitely Maybe and (Whats the Story) Morning Glory?, priced at 4,000 each in official Oasis pop-up stores.

Mark famously caused a stir in 2020 when he unveiled a portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II with blue hair, a nose ring and a heart tattoo bearing the word Philip.

The artist said: The message was she said it was really good but didnt like the Philip tattoo and would prefer the lion and unicorn crest. I never got the print back so assume it may be hanging in her toilet. When I was told she had been shown the portrait, I was happy to make the change.

Speaking about his latest collaboration with Oasis, Mark added: Noel and Liam Gallagher clearly love the punk aesthetic, and Im overjoyed to be part of the reunion tour as Oasis still have that punk spirit.
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Review Eating outMelbourne Move aside, Myer. Bourke Streets got another window show, and this ones year-round Narrow restaurant Thong Thais street-facing kitchen is the gateway to the citys unofficial Thai Town. Emma Breheny October 5, 2025 Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

1 / 9 Thong Thais narrow dining room. Chris Hopkins 2 / 9 Thong Thais tiny kitchen faces the street. Chris Hopkins 3 / 9 Crispy morning glory Chris Hopkins 4 / 9 Chicken green curry. Chris Hopkins 5 / 9 Leng zaap, pork spine soup, balances on a claypot. Chris Hopkins 6 / 9 Passers-by can watch omelettes being fried to a crisp. Chris Hopkins 7 / 9 Hoi tod with mussels. Chris Hopkins 8 / 9 Tao hu moo sub, pork mince with egg tofu, comes with a bowl of congee-like jok (not pictured). Chris Hopkins 9 / 9 The restaurant is located at the top of Bourke Street. Chris Hopkins Previous Slide Next Slide Thai$$$$ Every year, one side of Bourke Street Mall becomes a no-go zone: crowds three-deep stand agog at tiny snowflake-crusted trains and elves; dozens more are in sprawling queues. But you dont need to wait for the Myer Christmas windows to be stopped in your tracks walking through the city. Catch a tram further up Bourke Street, any day of the week, and stand at the window of Thong Thai, whose kitchen literally fronts the restaurant. Hoi tod  the fried-to-a-crisp seafood pancake  is the dish that most people stop to watch being made. A chef will deftly move planks of rice flour batter through hot oil, cooking until a golden crunch is achieved without destroying the tender bite of the mussels or scallops within. Hoi tod with mussels. Chris Hopkins

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Its great street theatre for whats become the main thoroughfare of Melbournes unofficial Thai Town. As the first restaurant youll encounter, Thong Thai could be the strips gateway, the equivalent of the oversized wok that towers over Victoria Street in Richmond just before the areas dense stretch of Vietnamese restaurants. Slender Thong Thai was opened in August 2023 by Angelo Yap and his friend, chef Tom Jitsawang, who cooks recipes drawn from his upbringing in Ubon Ratchathani in Thailands east. In two years, the menu has evolved to serve fewer curries and more straight from Thailand dishes, none diluted for western diners. Do you really want to order that? your waitress may ask with raised eyebrows. While youre here, whether its for a 20-minute solo lunch or two hours of feasting, youll be disarmed by the aromas sailing past. It wont happen just once or twice. Lime, galangal, lemongrass and fermented shrimp colour the air with regularity, making you want to keep ordering more, even if your tables already covered in food. Thong Thai defies reason, over and over. Thong Thais tiny kitchen faces the street. Chris Hopkins

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Is that two-metre-wide glassed-in kitchen at the front really turning out 40-odd dishes, spanning noodles, deep-fried dishes, curries and soups? Does that description of the fish curry list chicken feet among the ingredients? Do you really want to order that? your waitress may ask with raised eyebrows. Youll also be asked if you want things Thai spicy, medium or mild, and staff will let you know if the order looks light-on or too big. Theres guardrails like this all through the experience. Chicken green curry? You got it. Pad Thai? Decide if you want it with prawns, chicken or vegetables and itll come out on a sizzling hot plate. But dig a little deeper and even things that may be unfamiliar on paper are not at all scary once you try them. Leng zaap, pork spine soup, balances on a claypot. Chris Hopkins Id bet that if the pork spine soup known as leng zaap was fed to someone blind-folded, a la the Culinary Class Wars cooking reality show on Netflix, they would name it as one of their all-time comfort foods, up there with osso buco or an oxtail ragu.

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It comes out in a jaunty silver pot, with a clay chimney underneath to keep the herb-flecked soup bubbling away. The pork bones are stacked high, forming a teepee that pokes out of the broth, which is made from makrut lime and pork bones simmered for three-ish hours and seemingly restores your immune system with every spoonful. Tao hu moo sub, pork mince with egg tofu, comes with a bowl of congee-like jok (not pictured). Chris Hopkins For meat-eating adventures off the bone, head straight to tao hu moo sub: saucy pork mince tossed with little clouds of egg tofu. The salty rubble of the pork mince makes a satisfyingly chewy contrast to the delicate wobble of the tofu. Its served with jok  a snowy-white rice porridge  and its a must-order. Unfortunately, some mussels in the hoi tod were sacrificed in pursuit of supreme crispiness on one visit. But stir-fried greens  a mark of good wok skills  are a tangle of water spinach leaves and stems that still have bite, seasoned judiciously with oyster sauce and fermented soybean paste, and more liberally with chilli. Its nice to see this dish treated as more than afterthought. Thong Thai is a minnow compared to Victoria Streets golden wok, but, with its big pan of hot oil, its just as important a landmark if youre a fan of unbridled Thai cooking.

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Three more Thai restaurants to try Thai Asia Unique Cafe For a food court kiosk, this low-key, ultra-affordable eatery serves an impressive swathe of dishes, covering southern stir-fries of pork mince and prawns with sator (stink bean), central Thailands boat noodles and more. Bring friends and share a whole fried fish and beers, or come solo for khao soi noodle soup at lunch. Paramount Centre, 108 Bourke Street, Melbourne Nana Thai Brightly lit and ferociously efficient, this barbecue-hotpot joint is thronged by queues seeking DIY fun. Drape swatches of pork belly onto the hot plate at your table, along with curls of calamari, deep-pink pork liver and prawns. Build a spread by adding snappy green papaya salad, sticky rice, grilled pork balls and condiments. 169 Bourke Street, Melbourne, instagram.com/nana_mookata More Crown Thailands rice porridge, jok, isnt a Melbourne mainstay, but it should be. There are about nine variations of the warming dish at this bright little spot, all ginger-laced and egg-topped. Season as you please with on-table condiments: fish sauce, ground chillies and more. 273 King Street, Melbourne, instagram.com/more.crown.mel Related Article Three vastly different Thai diners shaking up the city with all-you-can-eat hotpot and more Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant cant pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.

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Who was that figure in a white cape taking her seat at the very last moment before the Balenciaga show began at Paris Fashion Week? Was it a supermodel, Meryl Streep or an HRH? No, it was Meghan, Duchess of Sussex making her front-row debut in the fashion capital.

The former Suits actor upstaged front-row companions Lauren Sanchez-Bezos, Anne Hathaway and PinkPantheress with her unexpected appearance at the debut of former Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli as creative director of Balenciaga.

During her acting days as Meghan Markle, she was a regular fixture at New York Fashion Week, with her most recent fashion show RSVP to a runway at Toronto Fashion Week way back in 2015. A front-row seat in Paris is a right royal step up.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attended the Balenciaga show in Paris on Saturday night in support of Pierpaolo Piccioli, who recently assumed the role of creative director for the house, a representative for the duchess said.
In among the few papers I had seen there was a medal that my great-grandfather (called Carlo, like my Dad and one of my sons) had claimed for winning the 1921 Grand Prix of Rome. It was a treasure. Carlo Massolas medal for winning the 1921 Grand Prix of Rome. Credit: Massola Family I had had it framed, along with some beautiful, hand-drawn schematics that Silvio had used to rebuild one of his Bugattis. I clicked the link Mark had sent, and my eyes nearly fell out of my head. It was a marrone (dark brown) 1963 Ferrari 250GTE, a close relation to my all-time favourite car, the Ferrari 250GTO. Just 36 of the Gran Turismo Omologato had been made, and they sell these days for well north of $50 million (the highest reported sale price was $US70 million in June 2018).

Approximately 955 of the GTE were made, and it was a close cousin, with the same 3.0-litre, naturally aspirated V12 engine and a stunning Pininfarina body-designed body. I read through the listing, which included the fact that our grandfather had owned it from 1974 to 1987. It was much cheaper than a 250GTO but Richmonds, the dealer in Adelaide, wanted $870,900. (The cars originally sold for about $US18,000, much closer to what my grandfather would have paid for it, when new.) I texted Mark. We have to go and see this car. I emailed the dealership that night and called them on Monday. Aleco Lanfranco answered the phone. After establishing I wasnt crazy, Lanfranco said he was happy for us to fly over (they were trying to sell it, after all) but they would have to check with the current owner.

I talked incessantly about the Ferrari for a week, bombarding family, friends and distant acquaintances with obscure details and waited for approval. At night, I went through old photo albums and cassette tapes I had inherited. I found an interview with Silvio from 1997 on a cassette, on Melbourne radio station 88.3FM, about his life, his racing career and his fathers and the 11 Bugattis he had rebuilt by hand over decades. Silvio Massola (front row, right) in his type 37 Bugatti, Papillon (Butterfly), at a Bugatti rally in country Victoria in the early 1980s. Credit: Massola Family. And over and over, I asked myself, how could I buy this car? The owner, it turned out, was racing legend Vern Schuppan. A retired Formula 1, Indianapolis 500 and touring car racer, the Adelaide-based Schuppan was also only the second Australian ever to have won the gruelling 24 Hours of Le Mans.

I emailed Schuppan with a million questions and got a short, terse response. He was happy for the free publicity, it seemed, but didnt want to be interviewed as he was busy renovating his house in Portugal. At least he was on-brand for a famous racing car driver. Mark and I booked our flights to Adelaide. Silvio Massolas 250 GTE at the family home in East Brighton in the late 1970s. The custom plate is SM.013 - Silvio Massola, born 1913. Antonietta Massola is pictured in the background, watering the grass. Credit: Massola Family

Would I get to drive it? Could I start the engine? Would I get to sit in it? Would there be some sign, some tell, that would link the car back to Silvio? Finally, the day arrived. We arrived just after 10.30am on Tuesday and I missed the Ferrari because I was dazzled by the showroom floor. A bright yellow Mini Moke, a green Holden Sandman, a cream Rolls-Royce, a rally-ready, black and white Fiat 128, a bright red 1964 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spyder that cost about $80,000 and was slower than my self-driving lawnmower (Id still take the Alfa over the Ryobi). The 250 GTE was way up the back, roped off.

My dreams of driving it pretty much evaporated on the spot, all the clever things Id be able to say to convince Aleco and his colleague Andy Morgan to let us have a drive. I begged, but only a little bit, and I didnt really even convince myself. So I walked over to the car instead and made to have a closer look at the iconic Prancing Horse on the front grille. I was kneeling before I knew it. Im sure I wasnt first. 36 years after he sold his 1963 Ferrari 250GTE, Silvio Massolas Ferrari is back on sale for just less than $1 million. His grandsons James Massola and Mark Viggiani paid it a visit. Pictured (r-l) Richmond Motors dealer Aleco Lanfranco, James Massola and Mark Viggiani at Richmond Motors in Adelaide. Credit: Ben Searcy It wasnt the most expensive car on the floor  that was a 2024 Ferrari SF90 Stradale hybrid worth about $4 million  but it was the best.

Keep your hybrid V8, Ferrari, I want the V12. Mark and I started peppering Lanfranco and Morgan with questions. Who did Vern buy this from? Why did they change the colour? When did that happen? Are those 36,946km on the clock real, or did the odometer get re-set when the rebuild happened? The car had been restored and rebuilt by specialists for Schuppan back in about 2015 and, it turned out, those were original kilometres (not miles). Could I touch it? Could we open the boot? Could we open the engine bay? Could I sit in it? Could we start the car? And could I drive it?

It was a yes to everything but starting and driving the Ferrari (I asked, many times, but driving the car even briefly would require hours of maintenance afterwards). Mark went first. At about 58 hes a little shorter than me. He managed to squeeze in, but his knees knocked the steering wheel. The engine bay was bigger than the cockpit. Mark Viggiani (left) and James Massola behind the wheel of a Ferrari 250GTE their grandfather Silvio owned for more than a decade. Credit: Ben Searcy We swapped. My head touched the roof, I could barely fit behind the wheel (Im a bit over 185 centimetres, or 61, and a bit overweight) and my knees were so jammed in they were level with the top of the steering wheel. I kept noticing small details. The handbrake was on the floor, not in the centre console.

This was a racing car, but it was also a luxurious touring saloon. It was the first Ferrari to ever have four seats (known as a 2+2, but the back seats were just for little kids) and the fact that there were no rear seat belts proved how impractical it was. There was an ashtray between the two rear seats, however, which was handy if your eight-year-old decided to take up smoking. The steering wheel was extraordinary. Inside the cockpit of the Ferrari 250 GTE. Credit: Ben Searcy Thin, reedy, made of a wood that felt light but strong, with a strip of metal running through the inside of it to reinforce it.

Aside from the speedo and the tacho, there were four simple gauges and an analogue clock. Benzina, acqua, olio and ampere. Petrol, water, oil and power. What else do you need to go? The top speed on the speedo was 300km/h, but the real top speed was about 230km/h, the dealer told us.

I wasnt sure if it was four or five speed so, after making sure no one was watching, I depressed the clutch and rowed through the gears of the manual, feeling each notch click heavily into place as I tried it out. It was a four speed. Carlo Massola behind the wheel of his Diatto racing car in the late 1920s. Carlo raced and won grand prix in Europe before moving to Australia to open a Fiat dealership and race. Credit: Massola Family As we rode in a taxi to the airport, we chatted with our driver Rafeq about Yemen (he had left 17 years ago and called Australia home) and Palestinian recognition. But when we got to the airport we fell silent for a while and pondered the sheer majesty of the 62-year-old super car that had once been our Nonnos Ferrari.

The first Carlo Massola, our great-grandfather, had been sent to Australia to open the countrys first Fiat dealership in Melbourne in the 1920s. Loading He had died a decade later, after a bad crash in a race in Aspendale in the early 1930s led to pneumonia and an early death. Our grandfather Silvio had died in 2011, at the age of 97, and my father Carlo had left us just a few months earlier. We had had one last adventure, crossing the Nullarbor together in an EV in January 2023. But perhaps the three of them had been present  Carlo, Silvio and Carlo  just for a moment, as Mark and I took one last look at the Ferrari and thought about the long journey from Torino that had brought our family to Australia for Fiat of Turin.
Clive Palmers media adviser has launched legal action against the National Australia Bank and the Queensland government claiming more than $4 million for malicious prosecution after he was charged over a plot to kidnap a banker in Indonesia.

Andrew Crook, who has managed the mining billionaires media communications for years, filed the claim in the Brisbane Supreme Court earlier this year  the latest legal challenge in the years-long court battle.

But NAB has pushed for the case to be struck out, arguing it is an abuse of process.

Andrew Crook after his arrest in 2014. Credit: Michelle Smith/Fairfax Media

Crook was charged alongside former private investigator Mick Featherstone and ex-Sydney Swans player Tony Smith over police allegations they were involved in a kidnap scheme in which NAB employee Adam Gazal, now a director at the bank, was lured to attend a fake job interview with Palmer in Indonesia in 2014.
When I heard that next years National Gallery of Victoria Winter Masterpieces exhibition would be Cartier a little something inside me died.

Announced this week, the exhibition promises more than 300 resplendent and beautifully crafted jewels including jewellery worn by actor Elizabeth Taylor, pop star Rihanna, Princess Margaret and our own Dame Nellie Melba.

The NGV will host a Cartier exhibition for its 2026 Winter Masterpieces.

There will be tiaras, necklaces, brooches and diamonds as big as gobstoppers.

However, as glitteringly fabulous as all this is sure to be, I cant help but feel that holding an exhibition of Cartier jewellery at the NGV is selling out our peak cultural institution.
Jack Nelson also died in the crash. Credit: NYT via the Nelson family. To open the Cybertrucks rear doors, the passenger must lift a rubber mat on the bottom of the doors storage pocket, then pull a cable underneath. Rear passengers like Jack were left with only a concealed mechanical release that was obscure, non-intuitive and highly unlikely to be located or operated in the smoke and chaos of a post-crash fire, according to the lawsuit filed on behalf of Nelsons parents, Todd and Stannye Nelson. The New York Times confirmed the filing of the lawsuit brought by the Nelsons on Friday. A friend who was following in another vehicle saved a fourth passenger who was in the front seat by smashing the Cybertrucks window with a branch.

The suits threaten another blow to Teslas reputation after a Florida jury decided in August that the company should pay $US243 million ($368 million) in damages for a crash involving its driver assistance system. The jury found that the companys software had contributed to an accident in 2019 that killed one person and severely injured another. Tesla did not respond to requests for comment this week and did not respond to a request for comment after the suits were filed. The doors of the Cybertruck are controlled electronically. Credit: Paul Rovere In the Piedmont case, Tesla may seek to place blame for the crash on Dixon, the driver of the Cybertruck. He was drunk and had consumed cocaine and amphetamines that night, according to a coroners report. The company may also argue that the doors might not have opened because of damage to the Cybertrucks body, rather than flaws in the companys design. Electric vehicles are far less likely to catch fire than cars that run on gasoline. But when the batteries do ignite, they burn intensely, and the flames can quickly envelop cars, requiring quick escapes or rescues.

Tesla is working on new designs that will make it easier to open doors if a vehicle loses power, Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhausen said in September on Bloombergs Hot Pursuit podcast. Thats something we are working on, and its in the car soon, von Holzhausen said on the podcast. The lawsuits filed this week claim that deadly flaws in the design of the door latches have been obvious for years, yet Tesla failed to make improvements even in the Cybertruck, its newest vehicle. For more than a decade before the crash, the Tsukaharas suit says, Tesla had repeated and direct notice that its reliance on electronic door systems created a serious risk of entrapment. Owners, bystanders, and first responders documented instances where Tesla occupants survived crash forces but could not escape when electrical power failed and fire ensued. Andrew McDevitt, a San Francisco lawyer who is representing the Nelsons, said: Its just absolutely unforgivable. You know people have died and you continue to do it.

Last year, Tesla settled a lawsuit brought by the family of Kevin McCarthy, the chief executive of a software firm in Indiana, who died after a Tesla Model S driven by one of his employees struck a tree and caught fire. The driver died on impact in that crash, which was in 2016 in Indianapolis. But witnesses reported seeing McCarthy struggling to get out of the front passenger side of the car before it was engulfed in flames. Loading Ours is not an isolated case, Carl Tsukahara said. He is represented by Roger Dreyer of the Sacramento firm of Dreyer Babich Buccola Wood Campora. This company is worth a trillion dollars, he added, referring to Tesla. How can you release a machine thats not safe in so many ways? Tesla doors are the focus of an investigation opened in September by United States federal regulators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is examining 2021 Tesla Model Y sport utility vehicles after owners complained that, after leaving the front seats and getting out of the car, they were unable to open the rear doors. In four cases, owners reported that they had to break the cars windows to free children trapped inside.

Other manufacturers, including Ford Motor, Toyota and Stellantis, the maker of Jeep vehicles, have adopted electronic doors. Those companies have used various designs that allow doors to be opened in the event of a power failure or emergency. Electronic door handles on some Lexus models operate manually by being pulled twice, and there is a manual release tab on the exterior handle. The handles on Volkswagens electric ID.4 operate manually if simply pulled harder. On Fords electric Mustang Mach E and some Jeep models, electronic doors have a capacitor near the door mechanism that retains enough power for it to open in case of a battery failure, according to the companies. The Piedmont crash shattered the bedroom community set in hills above Oakland, where streets wind past homes with carefully landscaped yards, many with Teslas parked out front. The four young people in the Cybertruck were close friends and outstanding individuals, each on the verge of making meaningful contributions to the world, Todd and Stannye Nelson said in their statement. They were all victims of Teslas unsafe design.
What in the World, a free weekly newsletter from our foreign correspondents, is sent every Thursday. Below is an excerpt. Sign up to get the whole newsletter delivered to your inbox.

Sydney: Hello from  well, Sydney, actually, where Im having my first decent coffee in months, on a quick trip home.

Back in Washington, DC, where I now live, the US government isnt the only thing to have shut down this week. On Saturday, the Starbucks on my street in Dupont Circle closed.

Starbucks shuttered hundreds of stores across the US on the weekend. Credit: Bloomberg

It was one of hundreds of Starbucks locations that shuttered across the United States last weekend, including nine in the District of Columbia alone, according to USA Today, and more in the surrounding metropolitan area, as part of a $US1 billion ($1.5 billion) restructure.
11 drown during Durga idol immersion in MP

INDORE/KHANDWA :

Festivity turns into mourning for MPs Padalphata village after a tractor trolley, carrying idols and devotees, tilted and fell into the lake

Villagers present at the scene warned devotees that the lake was deep, but due to over-enthusiasm, they did not pay heed and drove the tractor trolley further into the water

THE atmosphere was festive in tribal-dominated Padalphata village in Madhya Pradeshs Khandwa, where locals danced gleefully ahead of the immersion of goddess Durga idols. But the mood soon turned sombre after 11 young residents drowned when the vehicle carrying them plunged into a lake. The tragedy befell the village on Thursday evening, snuffing out the lives of minors, teenagers and youngsters, with the eldest victim being a 25-year-old woman and the youngest one an eight-year-old girl. On Friday, an eerie silence prevailed in the village, housing a population of 350, with only the sound of cries and sobs piercing through.

The incident occurred when a tractor trolley, carrying idols and devotees, tilted and fell into the lake, located near the village, during the immersion of idols on Vijayadashmi at the end of the Navdurga festival. The deceased were identified as Aarti (18), Urmila (16), Sharmila (15), Kiran (16), Patli (25), Sangeeta (16), Chanda (8), Dinesh (13), Ganesh (20), Revsingh (13) and Ayush (9). A video has surfaced on social media showing the celebrations of villagers before the tragedy struck. It shows them dancing before the tractor trolley and throwing colours ahead of the idol immersion. However, the picture was completely opposite on Friday. As the funeral processions of the deceased children were taken out of their respective homes in Padalphata, their parents could not control their emotions and sobbed uncontrollably. Talking to PTI, Sawan Dangode, a young man from the village, said, Everyone in the village is deeply saddened by the accident because with the loss of so many children, it feels as if our future has been taken away from us. These children were the future of the village.

But in addition to grief, there is anger among villagers against the administration. Dangode alleged that the administrations negligence led to the loss of 11 lives in the accident. People from 25 to 30 villages visit the lake to immerse the idols of goddess Durga. The accident took place there. However, the administration had not posted any Government employees there to alert the devotees about the depth of the lake, he said. Khandwa District Magistrate Rishav Gupta said on Thursday night that villagers present at the scene had already warned the devotees that the lake was deep, but due to over-enthusiasm, they did not pay heed and drove the tractor trolley further into the water body, causing the vehicle to overturn and sink. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the incident on Thursday night, and said he was deeply saddened by the loss of lives. He also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. State Chief Minister Mohan Yadav also mourned the loss of lives and separately announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each for the families of the deceased.

MP Cong seeks judicial probe, Rs 1 cr aid to kin of deceased: MADHYA Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari on Friday sought a judicial probe to determine administrative negligence in the immersion tragedy in the states Khandwa district. This accident has caused deep grief in the entire state. While the accident is not a political issue, a judicial inquiry should be conducted to determine the administrative negligence that led to the complete submergence of a tractor trolley full of devotees in the pond, he told reporters. Former Union Minister and ex-MP from Khandwa Arun Yadav urged Congress workers to extend all possible help to the bereaved families.
City couple killed in mishap in Italy





Staff Reporter :

A road accident near Grosseto, Italy claimed lives of a Nagpur-based couple leaving their elder daughter critically injured and two other children hurt. The family, on vacation in Italy, met with the mishap on State Highway 1 Aurelia when their van collided with a mini-bus carrying Asian tourists. The deceased have been identified as Javed Akhtar (55), a resident of Civil Lines, Nagpur, and owner of Hotel Gulshan Plaza in Sitabuldi, and his wife Nadra Gulshan (47). The couples elder daughter Arzoo Akhtar (22) is in critical condition while younger daughter Shifa Akhtar (20) and son Jazel Akhtar (14) also sustained injuries in the mishap.

According to police, the van carrying the family collided with a nine-seater mini-bus on the northbound carriageway. Due to delayed assistance, three passengers in the van, including the couple, died on the spot. The mini-bus driver and other passengers escaped with minor injuries. The accident has left the family and the city of Nagpur in deep shock. Hotel Gulshan Plaza, a popular local hotel owned by the family, is also mourning the loss of its proprietor. Relatives in Nagpur are reportedly making arrangements to travel to Italy.

The Indian Embassy in Rome is coordinating with Italian authorities to assist the injured and the family members. Local police in Grosseto have launched an investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident. Meanwhile, the critically injured Arzoo, continues to fight for her life in a hospital and prayers are pouring in from Nagpur for the familys recovery and peace.
Congress MLA Baleshwar Sahu booked in Co-op bank scam in Janjgir-Champa





Staff Reporter :

Raipur

MLA and aide accused of siphoning Rs 42.78 lakh through forged cheques and signatures

BJP spokesperson Chimnani says Congress legacy of scams now exposed in cooperative sector

Janjgir-Champa police have registered a case of cheating and forgery against Congress MLA Baleshwar Sahu and one Gautam Rathore in connection with a major fraud linked to the Bamhani Deeh Cooperative Society. The FIR, lodged at Champa police station, invokes serious charges under Sections 420, 468, 467, 471 and 34 of the IPC, setting off political ripples in the district. According to police, the case relates to the period between 2015 and 2020 when Sahu was serving as manager of the cooperative society. During this tenure, allegations of large-scale financial irregularities came to light following a complaint filed two months ago by Rajkumar Sharma, a resident of Farsawani. In his statement, Sharma alleged that Sahu, along with Rathore, persuaded him to avail a Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loan against his 50-acre agricultural land. For this purpose, an account was opened in HDFC Bank Champa in Sharmas name.

He said the accused took his blank cheque during the process and later used it to transfer Rs 24 lakh into the accounts of Sahu and his wife. The complaint further stated that over time, forged signatures and thumb impressions of Sharma, his mother Jaytin Sharma, and wife Neeta Sharma were used by the accused to withdraw additional amounts. In total, Rs 42.78 lakh was siphoned off from the complainants account through fraudulent withdrawal slips and manipulated banking documents. After a detailed verification of records, police concluded that offences of cheating, forgery, use of forged documents and conspiracy had prima facie been committed. Based on the findings, Champa police registered the case and initiated formal investigation. The charges involve fraudulent withdrawals using forged cheques and thumb impressions. Documents are being examined to establish the chain of transactions, a senior officer confirmed. The case has triggered sharp political reactions, with the opposition targeting the Congress leadership over the involvement of one of its legislators in such a grave financial offence.

BJP state spokesperson Amit Chimnani described the FIR as a damning indictment of the Congress partys character. It is disgraceful that an elected Congress MLA has now been accused of looting farmers through forgery and fraud. This is not an isolated act, but part of a criminal legacy that has made Congress synonymous with scams, loot and betrayal. The party is completely devoid of morality or nationalist vision, and one after another its leaders are being brought under the laws glare, Chimnani said. He added that the incident shattered the Congress claim of being a protector of cultivators. It is shocking that a representative chosen by the people has instead preyed upon them. By duping farmers, Sahu has exposed the double standards of a party that pretends to champion agrarian causes while cheating them in reality. Such acts cannot be tolerated. Strictest action must be ensured against Sahu so that no public representative dares to repeat this betrayal of trust, the BJP spokesperson asserted.
Corporate governance is witnessing transformative shift





By CS Vikas Gupta :

Corporate governance in India is witnessing a transformative shift, and Company Secretaries (CS) are taking centre stage in this evolution. The launch of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) V3 Portal has redefined how compliance is managed, monitored, and executed. The MCA V3 Portal is the advanced version of the corporate filing system, designed with automation, real-time validation, and seamless integration. Unlike the earlier V2 system, V3 enables professionals to work on a smart platform that simplifies compliance while ensuring greater accuracy. It offers auto-fetching of company master data, pre-filled statutory forms, and validation against PAN, DIN, and other government records. This minimizes manual errors and saves valuable time.

The portal further strengthens ease of doing compliance by tracking deadlines and automatically flagging overdue filings. Its inbuilt mechanism for calculating filing fees, additional fees, and penalties removes ambiguity and enhances transparency. At the same time, all corporate filings are digitally stored, creating a centralized repository that supports regulators and stakeholders with reliable, real-time access to company data.

The adoption of the MCA V3 portal is more than a technological upgrade - it is a paradigm shift in compliance culture. For Company Secretaries, it means reduced time on paperwork and greater focus on advisory, strategy, and governance. While initial adaptation challenges are natural, in the long run, this system will significantly lower compliance costs, ensure accountability, and strengthen stakeholder trust in Indias corporate ecosystem.
CSs are experiencing transformative phase





By CS Harshal Nandkishor Killedar :

Company Secretaries are currently facing a transformative phase with the implementation of MCA-21 Version 3 (V3). From 14 July 2025, all 38 e-forms have shifted from V2 to V3, bringing stricter timelines, more detailed disclosures, required DSC re association, duplicate data entries, and increased risk of penalties for delays. The need to re enter audit and board report details, associate DSCs with Business User IDs, and deal with more annexures means more workload and tighter schedules. Nevertheless, there are significant opportunities, especially in financial services and project finance. CSs are filling the gap between banks/funding institutions and clients - helping with documentation, compliance, structuring project proposals, and ensuring smooth communication.

They assist in financial disclosures to stakeholders - investors, lenders, regulators - making sure all numbers are consistent, audits are clean, financial statements are transparent. For NBFCs, CSs ensure compliance with RBI rules, timely filings, disclosures of material events etc. ICSI has played a constructive and proactive role in easing this transition. It has organised user awareness sessions (for example on annual filings via MCA V3) to educate CS members on new procedural and technical requirements.

It has also formally requested additional interactive sessions in key cities like Bengaluru and Delhi to ensure more CSs understand the new portal features and obligation In summary, MCA-V3 increases the compliance burdenbut also elevates the value of CS professionals, especially those active in financial services. With continued support from institutions like ICSI, clear policies, and better awareness, this change can strengthen corporate governance and enhance the relevance of the CS profession.
NCERT launches Swadeshi: Vocal for Local modules for school students





By Vishu Adhana :

NEW DELHI

THE National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has introduced two new educational modules titled Swadeshi: Vocal for Local, which connect Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat with the historic Swadeshi Movement. The modules begin with excerpts from the Prime Ministers 79th Independence Day speech, where he emphasised self-reliance as the bedrock of national strength and dignity and encouraged citizens and shopkeepers to champion India-made goods not out of compulsion but as an act of pride. The modules recall how the Swadeshi Movement was declared in 1905 at Calcutta Town Hall, with leaders such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal mobilising people to boycott British goods and adopt Indian-made products. Mahatma Gandhi later described Swadeshi as the soul of swaraj, transforming it into a deeper movement for social and spiritual self-reliance. The texts also draw connections with present-day initiatives. Students are introduced to the India Semiconductor Mission, which aims to reduce import dependence and build domestic capability in a sector that powers everything from smartphones to automobiles and defence systems.

The modules explain how semiconductors are not only vital for economic growth but also for national security, and how Indias investment in chip fabrication and design facilities is positioning the country as a global innovation hub. Alongside such technological advances, the modules feature stories of grassroots entrepreneurship that embody the spirit of Vocal for Local. In Kerala, a woman entrepreneur established Bodhi Sathwa Coir Works, employing local women to produce handmade mats that are now sold across the world. In Rajasthans Jodhpur district, a young villager transformed a gaushala into an employment generation centre by producing compost, eco-friendly diyas and herbal products from cow dung, creating livelihoods for many in his community.

The Governments flagship One District One Product initiative also finds special mention, with the modules noting that over 1,200 unique products have been identified from more than 750 districts, ranging from handicrafts to food processing items. These products, now available on platforms like GeM and ONDC, are being promoted internationally with dedicated ODOP Walls in cities such as Singapore, Milan, New York and Tokyo. The text stresses that ODOP revives the core philosophy of the Swadeshi movement by providing sustainable markets for artisans while preserving Indias cultural heritage.
NMC auctions properties to recover tax dues, realises Rs 166 lakh





Officials of Property Tax Department at Lakadganj Zone during auction of attached properties for recovery of dues.

Staff Reporter :

Grants time to 14 defaulters to settle dues by October 10

Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) auctioned five properties in Lakadganj Zone and realised Rs 166 lakh that would be adjusted against the property tax arrears. This is the first major crackdown on defaulters of property tax on part of civic body in the financial year. With repeated appeals and warnings failing to work, the Property Tax Department attached the properties, mostly vacant plots, in a bid to force the owners to clear the outstanding tax amount.

However, as warnings failed to have effect, NMC went ahead and published the date of auction of attached properties. About 19 properties were listed for auction as the civic body officials were frustrated at owners nonchalant attitude. To show that they mean business, NMC conducted the auction and that time 5 property owners intervened in nick of time and offered part of the pending amount to buy time to repay the entire outstanding. Nine other property owners also expressed readiness to clear the dues and sought some time from Lakadganj Zone officials.

The properties were in Mouza Pardi and Mouza Nagpur and the 14 property owners have been granted time till October 10 to clear the due or NMC would proceed with auction to recover the tax. The auction process was handled by Tax Superintendent Roshan Ahire, Tax Inspector Bhushan Motghare, Manish Taywade, Lalappa Khan, Sagar Balpande, Suryakant Rewatkar and Thakre under direction of Assistant Commissioner Vijay Thool.
Putin orders Govt to soften trade imbalance with India





By Vinay Shukla

MOSCOW,

India will never allow itself to be humiliated by anyone, says Putin and calls PM Modi a balanced, wise, and nationally oriented leader

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has ordered to devise measures, including purchasing more agricultural products and medicines from India, to soften the trade imbalance with New Delhi, which is due to the heavy import of crude by the country. Speaking at the Valdai plenary session on Thursday, Putin also said that he was looking forward to his trip to India in early December and meeting with my friend and our reliable partner Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi. Putin, who will travel to India in early December for an annual summit, lauded Indias nationalist Government led by PM Modi, calling him a balanced, wise, and nationally oriented leader. Putin said he feels comfortable in their trustworthy interactions.

When asked about the US threat to impose high tariffs and sanctions on Russias key partners, Putin said the Indian people will not tolerate their country being bullied into making a decision that contradicts their national interests and priorities, RT news channel reported. (India) will never allow itself to be humiliated by anyone. I know Prime Minister Modi, he will also not make any such decisions, he said. The losses faced by India due to punitive US tariffs would be balanced by crude imports from Russia, plus it will gain prestige as a sovereign nation, Putin added. He was referring to the additional 25 per cent tariff imposed by President Donald Trump on New Delhi as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil, taking the total levies imposed on India by the US to 50 per cent. Putin said Russia may buy more agricultural products and medicines from India to remove the trade imbalance.

More agricultural products may be purchased from India. Certain steps can be undertaken from our side for medicinal products, pharmaceuticals, Putin stated. The President said he had instructed the Russian Government to think of proposals to be made to Indian friends and counterparts on the most promising areas of cooperation and how Russia can smoothen the imbalance in trade and other areas, according to state-run news agency TASS. Putin noted the vast potential for economic cooperation between Russia and India but acknowledged the need to resolve specific issues to fully unlock these opportunities. For comparison, he said, the trade turnover between Russia and India is about USD 63 billion, and USD 50 billion with Belarus.

At the same time, the population is 1.5 billion in India and 10 million in Belarus. It obviously does not correspond to our potential opportunities, Putin stressed. We need to solve the whole range of tasks to unlock our opportunities and potential advantages, Putin said, identifying financing, logistics and payment bottlenecks as key concerns. Putin also underlined that Russia had never had any problems or interstate tensions with India. Never, and noted that both countries always took actions keeping in view the respective sensitivities. He highlighted the special nature of Russia-India relations since the days of the Soviet Union, when India was fighting for its independence. In India, they remember this, they know it, and they value it.

We appreciate that India has not forgotten it, he said. Putin also recalled that the declaration of a special strategic privileged partnership between Russia and India will soon celebrate its 15th anniversary, and asserted, Thats what it really is. He noted that, in their political relations, Russia and India almost always coordinate their actions. We always hear and take into account the positions of our countries on various key issues. Our foreign ministries work very closely together, Putin said. Additionally, he welcomed the idea of a joint fund to develop AI and other cutting-edge technology proposed by Dr Arvind Gupta, Director General of New Delhi-based Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), who was attending the Sochi forum. The international Valdai discussion forum of security and geopolitical experts from 140 countries, including India, is being held at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh: A journey towards New Horizon for Nation-Building





By Dr Mohan Yadav :

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), founded with a noble resolve of building the individual, society, and the nation, has now completed 100 years since its establishment. The journey of this unique and vast organisation of the world has been a symbol of sacrifice, discipline, dedication, and selfless service. Despite many challenges and difficult circumstances, the Sangh moved forward on the path of service with determination. It is the vision of the revered founder, Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, and the dedication of each swayamsevak that today the Sanghs flag is flowing high across the world.

The Sangh was established in extraordinary conditions of the country. Alongside the oppressive rule of the British, forces more destructive to Indias identity and culture were at work, attempting to completely transform the nation. We see this in the violence of Malabar, Chittagong, Karachi, and Dhaka. Large-scale massacres of Hindus and the abduction of women were witnessed with silence. While society and culture faced suppression, the Indian community was also entangled in contradictions - fragmentation and untouchability weakened it, and self respect was fading. A sense of slavery was gaining promminece.

Dr Hedgewar, gifted with brilliance and commitment to the nation and cultural heritage since childhood, was greatly disturbed by these developments. An eminent freedom fighter, he had even been imprisoned during the Non-Cooperation Movement. Alongside the struggle for independence, he resolved to initiate a cultural and national awakening in India. He realised that India could not regain its glory unless every Indian felt pride and consciousness in their own identity. After consulting other prominent personalities, he chose the occasion of Vijayadashami in 1925 to establish the Sangh. The selection of this date itself had deep significance: Vijayadashami embodies the ethos of selfless struggle, the triumph of truth, the defense of righteousness, and the revival of human values. This message has guided the Sangh throughout its century-long journey.

Two aspects stand out in this centenary journey. First, the Sanghs unwavering dedication to its mission makes it unique among global organisations. Second, is the continuous attacks it faced - ideological, political, and even violent assaults on its volunteers. The Sangh endured hardships, including three bans after independence. It was falsely implicated in Gandhi Jis assassination, persecuted during the Emergency, and again banned after the Ayodhya movement of 1992. Even today, attacks on volunteers occur in Kashmir, Kerala, and West Bengal. Yet, the Sangh never stopped, never tired, and its volunteers never wavered. Madhya Pradeshs historic city of Ujjain has played a key role in the Sanghs expansion. From Nagpur, the Sanghs functioning spread toward Mahakaushal and Malwa, where Ujjain became one of the earliest centers during the 1930s and 40s. Ujjain volunteers participated in the Hyderabad Movement, in the liberation struggles of Junagadh, Dadra-Nagar Haveli, and Goa, even making sacrifices for the nation. Sangh volunteers also contributed tirelessly during the freedom struggle, partition turmoil, refugee rehabilitation, internal unrest, and wars of national defense.

At times, I feel immense pride that I, too, have been a part of this journey through the Sangh, which moves forward with the goal of attaining Indias utmost glory. A defining aspect of the Sangh has been innumerable pracharaks who never worried about their names, identities, or personal existence, merging completely into the foundation of nation-building. The Sanghs outreach has expanded from its daily shakhas to homes, villages, and fields, thus touching all dimensions of social and national life. The Sanghs expansion is not merely organisational - it is a sadhana (spiritual discipline) of personal development, social transformation, and nation-building.

That is why the Sangh is not celebrating its centenary convention as a festival but as a day of resolve for nations progress and Indias cultural re-establishment on the world stage. To bring positive change in society, the Sangh chief Dr Mohan Bhagwat has appealed for Panch Parivartan (Five Transformations): Awareness of the Self (Swadeshi), Duty-conscious citizenship, Environmental protection, Social harmony and Family enlightenment. These values encourage Indians to fulfill civic responsibilities, follow law, preserve nature, ensure equality and harmony, and nurture virtuous family life. Implementing them requires collective effort from all citizens. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, reflected this spirit in his message on the Sanghs centenary and released special postal stamps and commemorative coins.

The 100-rupee coin depicts the national emblem on one side and Bharat Mata with folded hands of Swayamsevaks seeking blessings and saluting Bharat Mata. For 100 years, the Sangh has served the nation tirelessly and selflessly. As we step into the era of Amritkaal, guided by the principles laid down by Sar Sanghchalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat the possibilities for societal transformation grow stronger. Internalising these ideals, we can contribute to establishing Madhya Pradesh and India on the global stage with renewed pride. On this auspicious Vijayadashami, I appeal to the 8.5 crore citizens of Madhya Pradesh to join in this mission of nation-building inspired by the Sanghs national consciousness. n
RMC launches cleanliness awareness initiative





Staff Reporter

RAIPUR

The Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC) launched a major public awareness initiative focused on the Swachh Bharat Mission during the Dussehra celebrations at the WRS Grounds in Raipur. The unique campaign, organised as part of the RMCs promotional activities, featured a special awareness video on the Swachhata Utsav. This message successfully reached over 300,000 citizens who were present for the festival. The core message conveyed was that cleanliness is not merely an individual habit but a collective responsibility that elevates the dignity of festivals and enhances societal beauty.

The initiative urged citizens to integrate cleanliness into their celebrations. The event was graced by high-ranking dignitaries, including the Honorable Governor of Chhattisgarh, the Honourable Chief Minister, and other senior public representatives. Citizens were encouraged to embrace the pledge of Swachhata Hi Seva 2025 and send a powerful social message by prioritising cleanliness even amidst festive celebrations.
Setback to Anil Ambani: HC upholds SBI move to classify loan a/c as fraud





MUMBAI :

IN A setback to industrialist Anil Ambani, the Bombay High Court on Friday rejected a plea against SBIs decision to declare his loan account as fraud. A bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale dismissed Anil Ambanis argument of procedural unfairness and upheld the State Bank of Indias action. The court did not find any force in the industrialists allegation of arbitrariness in the banks decision and noted that SBI had followed the RBIs July 2024 Master Directions on fraud classification. The bank tagged the loan accounts of Reliance Communications (RCom) and its promoter, Anil Ambani, as fraudulent in June 2025.

The bank cited diversion of funds, breach of covenants and related-party transactions as the reasons behind its decision, approaching the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for action. Anil Ambani had challenged the decision on the grounds that he was only a Non-Executive Director and had been selectively singled out. He also argued that adequate opportunity to present his defence was not provided by the bank. Earlier this month, Bank of Baroda, in an exchange filing, declared that the loan accounts of Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) and its erstwhile director Anil Ambani had been categorised as fraud. This classification pertained to loans taken before RCom entered the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP), the exchange filing said.
Wangchuks wife moves SC, challenges his detention





NEW DELHI :

CLIMATE activist Sonam Wangchuks wife Gitanjali J Angmo has filed a plea in the Supreme Court challenging his detention under the National Security Act and seeking his immediate release. Wangchuk was detained under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) on September 26, two days after protests demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh left four people dead and 90 injured in the Union territory. He is lodged in Jodhpur jail in Raj. Angmo, in her plea filed through senior lawyer Vivek Tankha and lawyer Sarvam Ritam Khare, has also questioned the decision to invoke the NSA against Wangchuk. Filing the habeas corpus (bring the person) writ, the spouse of the detained activist has sought urgent listing of the petition and a direction to the Ladakh union territory administration to produce Sonam Wangchuk before this Honble Court forthwith.

It also sought immediate access to the detenue, and quashing of the preventive detention order. The plea, which has made the union Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ladakh UT administration, Deputy Commissioner of Leh and Jodhpur jail Superintendent as parties, has also sought a direction to them to allow immediate access of the petitioner to her husband, both telephonic and in person. The plea alleged that Wangchuks detention was illegal, arbitrary, and unconstitutional, violating fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 19, 21 and 22. Wangchuk, who has been an internationally acclaimed innovator, environmentalist, and social reformer, has always espoused Gandhian and peaceful methods to highlight the ecological and democratic concerns of Ladakh, it said.

On September 26, Wangchuk was detained by the Deputy Commissioner of Leh under Section 3(2) of the NSA while recovering from a prolonged fast highlighting Ladakhs demand for constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Schedule. He was swiftly shifted to Central Jail in Jodhpur without being provided medicines, personal belongings, or access to his family and counsel, the plea said. No grounds of detention have been furnished till date, either to Wangchuk or to his family, the petition submitted. His wife alleges she has been kept under virtual house arrest in Leh, while students and staff of the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh (HIAL), founded by Wangchuk, are facing harassment, intimidation, and intrusive investigations.

The arbitrary transfer of Wangchuk to Jodhpur, the harassment of students and staff of the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh (HIAL), the virtual house arrest of the petitioner herself, and the false propaganda linking Shri Wangchuk to foreign entities clearly demonstrate mala fide state action intended to suppress democratic dissent and peaceful environmental activism, the plea submitted. The arrest has also inflicted severe mental pain and anguish on the people of Ladakh, who revere Wangchuk as their leader, it added. A recent tragic incident has been reported where a member of the Ladakh Buddhist Association committed suicide, allegedly depressed after his detention, underscoring the devastating psychological impact on the community, it said. Direct respondents to ensure that Sonam Wangchuk is provided with his medicines, clothes, food and other basic necessities forthwith, the plea said in one of the prayers. It also sought a direction to the authorities to place before the top court the order of detention along with grounds of detention and all records pertaining thereto. It also sought a direction to respondents to produce the medical report of Wangchuk, after immediate doctor consultation, before the court. Stop immediate harassment of HIAL and its members/students who have done no harm and are tirelessly working for the benefit of the ecology, it said.
Will wipe out Pak if it doesnt stop terrorism: Army chief





JAIPUR :

IN A strong message to Pakistan, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi said on Friday that India would no longer exercise the restraint it had shown during Operation Sindoor, and would wipe out Pakistan if the neighbouring country does not stop cross-border terrorism. We will wipe out Pakistan from the face of the earth if they dont stop terrorism. Be prepared, God willing, the opportunity will come soon, the Army Chief declared while addressing soldiers at the Army cantonment in village 22 MD, Ghadsana, Sriganganagar. Our next response would be decisive and far more destructive against Pakistan, he warned. The Army Chief said Pakistan must give up its policy of supporting terrorism if it wants to ensure its survival in the international community.

This time, India will take such strong action that Pakistan will have to reconsider whether it wants to remain on this geographical map, he added. Terming Operation Sindoor a turning point, General Dwivedi recalled that Operation Sindoor was launched after the Pahalgam terror attack. The Indian Army destroyed nine Pakistani terror hideouts during the operation, killing over 100 terrorists. Seven targets were destroyed by the Army and two by the Air Force, he said. The Army Chief said that the operation, named by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and dedicated to women, would remain etched in the memory of the armed forces. Operation Sindoor has become such an integral part of our lives that it will stay with us forever, he said. The Army Chief pointed out that the entire world had condemned the Pahalgam attack and stood with India.

We showed clear evidence of the destroyed terror camps to the world. If we had not done so, Pakistan would have hidden the truth, he noted, stressing that this time India was fully prepared. General Dwivedi also honoured three officers for their role in Operation Sindoor, including Commandant Prabhakar Singh, 140th Battalion, BSF, Major Ritesh Kumar, Rajputana Rifles and Havildar Mohit Gera. These men represent the courage and determination of the Indian Armed Forces, the Army Chief said, urging soldiers to stay ready for future challenges.
Youth murdered during Durga immersion rally





Staff Reporter :

The brutal murder in Kalamna, involving a minor, is a fallout of old quarrel, say police

A youth was murdered in Minimata Nagar, Kalamna, during a Durga immersion rally following an old dispute. The accused and his accomplices, who attacked the victim, have been taken into custody by Kalamna Police. The complainant, Durgesh Lalji Chauhan (36), a resident of Minimata Nagar, Kalamna, works as a glass fitter. For the last three years, he had been assisted in this work by his tenant, Devendra Ajay Chauhan (26), a resident of District Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, who lived at his house in Nagpur.

According to police, on October 2, between 8.45 pm and 9 pm, Durgesh and Devendra were standing in front of Elements Harmony, Home and Designer Studio Building, Minimata Nagar, to watch the Durga Devi immersion rally. At the same spot, the accused - Aditya Nitesh Chacherkar (21) and Akash alias Tochu Nitesh Chacherkar (20), both residents of Minimata Nagar, Kalamna - along with a minor friend also were present. While watching the rally, accused Aditya reminded Devendra about an earlier beating incident, and in anger, conspired with his brother and friend to attack him.

According to the police, Aditya caught Devendra, while the minor accused stabbed him two to three times in the ribs with a knife. Akash allegedly helped in holding the victim during the attack. Devendra was rushed first to a hospital in Wardhaman Nagar and then shifted to Mayo Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Kalamna Police registered a case of murder. Within hours, police arrested Aditya, Akash and detained the minor involved in the crime. Police said, the motive behind the murder was an old quarrel between the victim and the accused. Further investigation is underway.
To head to Delhi

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IMPHAL, Oct 3: A number of BJP MLAs including ex-Chief Minister N Biren Singh are scheduled to leave for Delhi tomorrow to impress upon the Central leaders to restore a popular Government in Manipur, said sources familiar with the development.

Some MLAs have already left Imphal for Delhi today, while others may proceed tomorrow and day after.

Manipur has been under President's Rule since February 13, 2025.

The planned trip to Delhi comes after a series of meetings amongst the BJP MLAs, said the sources.

It is not yet clear who the BJP MLAs will meet. No appointments in particular to meet the Prime Minister or the Union Home Minister have been confirmed, added the sources.

Coincidentally, Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla is in Delhi. The Governor left Imphal for the capital yesterday.
Archery trial rescheduled

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IMPHAL, Oct 3: The proposed trial for preparation of Manipur University Archery (M&W) teams scheduled to be held on October 4 has been postponed, the Assistant Director of Sports, MU has informed.

The trial will now be held on October 8 (8.30 am) at Khuman Lampak Archery Range. Archers selected in the trial will represent the Manipur University in the All India Inter University Archery (M&W) Tournament 2025-26 at Guru Kashi University, Bathinda, Punjab, scheduled to be held from October 24 to October 27.
Mega medical camp lined up

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IMPHAL, Oct 3 : To bridge the healthcare gap in Manipur, a three-day mega medical camp will be organised from October 5 to 7 across multiple locations in the State by the Assam Rifles in close coordination with the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

According to a press release issued by IGAR (S), medical teams will be deployed at Lilong, Moreh, Chakpikarong and Sajik on October 5; Tuibong, Pallel and Joupi on October 6 and Kangpokpi, Hiangtam Lamka and Sugnu on October 7.

A total of 31 medical professionals, including 23 specialist doctors and 8 associates, will arrive in Manipur between October 4 and 8 to offer free consultations, screenings, and treatments tailored to the unique health needs of each community. Specialists participating in the camp include experts in MD Medicine, Gynaecology, Orthopaedics, Dermatology, Paediatrics, ENT, Physiology, General Medicine, and Dentistry.

The medical camp is aimed at bringing expert care to communities most in need, especially Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and residents of remote districts.

Assam Rifles has encouraged local residents to attend and make the most of this opportunity for free, expert care.


Motsi Mabuse will decide the first celebrity to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing.

Strictly Come Dancing judge Motsi Mabuse

For the last seven years, during the Sunday night results show, Head Judge Shirley Ballas, 65, has had the casting vote when her fellow judges cannot decide which star and their professional dance partner should stay in the BBC's Latin and ballroom dance competition and who should leave, following a dance-off between the two couples in the bottom two.

But in a major twist for this year's series, the fate of each couple will lie in the hands of every judge - Shirley, Craig Revel Horwood, 60, Motsi, 44, and 59 year old Anton Du Beke - as the power alternates between the foursome each week.

At the end of Saturday (04.10.25) nights live show, Strictly Come Dancing host Tess Daly, 56, announced that Motsi is first up to send home a couple - in the event of a unanimous decision - saying: "Tomorrow night, after we've combined your votes with the judges' scores, our bottom two couples will face the first dance-off of the series.

"And we can now reveal that the judge who will have the casting vote in that decision is ... Motsi!"

In another change to the voting system on this year's Strictly Come Dancing, the BBC has scrapped premium-rate phone voting, meaning viewers can no longer call to save their favourite couple.

Now, the public can cast their votes online.

On Saturday night, BBC newsreader Clive Myrie, 61, had the honour of explaining the new voting system to viewers.

He said: This year, for the first time on Strictly, voting will be available online only.

Each week, youll get five free votes to use as you wish.

To do that, you just need to sign in or register for a BBC account first.

Head to the website, bbc.co.uk/strictly, where you will find all the information you need.

On Saturday night, 29-year-old actress Amber Davies and her 27-year-old professional dance partner Nikita Kuzmin topped the leaderboard with 56 points - 27 in week one and 29 in week two.

At the bottom of the leaderboard is Lorraine and Good Morning Britain's Los Angeles Correspondent Ross King, 63, and his 31-year-old professional dance partner Jowita Przystal with 25 points - 10 in week one and 15 in week two.

The scores are combined with the points they were awarded by the judges during the series' first live show, which was aired on September 27.

The results show sees the two couples with the combined lowest score - from the judges and viewers - take part in a dance-off.

They try to improve the routines they performed on Saturday night, and it is then up to the judges to decide who should stay in the show and who should pack their bags.

At the end of the first live show of Strictly Come Dancing, Tess announced that Shirley would not be the only judge to decide which couple is sent home each week this year.

Tess said: "For seven years, Shirley has been responsible for casting decision to choose the couple that will stay."

Shirley added: "Which hasn't been easy, but that's about to change.

"It's about time that power was shared by a different judge each week."

After the announcement, one Strictly Come Dancing fan took to X to question what the 'Queen of Latin' thought of the major change.

They wrote: "Wonder how Shirley felt about the Head Judge twist?"

Responding, Shirley penned: "Got a call, and I said 'Omg yes love it. I can't wait to see Anton send someone home.'"

Shirley has long called for the show's bosses to allow her fellow three judges to decide the couple to send home.

She previously told the Radio Times: "Im sitting there every weekend, thinking, Dear Lord, my saviour, please let the other three make the decision so it doesnt come down to me.'

"But somebody has to do the job, and I try to send them home with as much confidence and affection as I can.

"My heart does have a little cry when I see them go because I've got to know them and see them improving."
As the world changes, the nature of risks for businesses also has undergone a dramatic transformation. A Corporate Governance study spearheaded by former SEBI chief M. Damodaran points to the change in the nature of threat perception in Indian boardrooms.

It is a no-brainer that there is a vein of technology streaking across the bigger new-age worries that plague corporate decision-makers.

According to a study by Excellence Enablers, a corporate consulting group promoted by the ex-bureaucrat, the bigger risk factor as evaluated by Indian listed companies is cyber attacks  as evinced by the fact that a curiously high number of companies said their biggest threats stemmed from Financials, IT and operations.

Ninety-five companies out of those surveyed put the three at the top of their worry list. Not surprising, since the three devolve into a major worry of technical systems being breached for monetary reasons. In other words, a cyberattack.

This is also the first time that this high a number of listed firms put these worries as their biggest priorities. For example, while 95 companies said IT was a big worry, the numbers were around 84 in all three previous years.

Of course, while cyber fears dominate, financial risk can stretch beyond a malafide external interference. Financial worries, which topped the risk list, also include risks related to credit, liquidity, market, foreign exchange, commodity and costs.

Operational risks include those related to clients and supply chain while IT includes worries over (impending) AI. It also includes data privacy, technology and cyber.

Compared to these top three worries, other risks, including regulatory, ESG, worries over brand reputation, strategy related, etc. all show lesser numbers. In fact, it is also a sign of the changing times that while fears over the pandemic dominated a few years ago, it seems to have fallen down the risk fear ladder. For example, while 36 listed corporates included Covid-19 as one of their worries in their company outlook three years ago, it has fallen to zero this year, showcasing absolute confidence that the fear and paranoia of the pandemic days are very definitely behind India Inc.

Even last year, two companies mentioned Covid in their reports while the number was four the year before. But now, it seems those dark days have been erased out of corporate consciousness.

Risk management is a process that companies need to take seriously, the report feels, noting that some companies made do with the bare minimum number of meetings as stipulated by SEBI.

Risk mitigation should commence with a robust process of identification of risks, and an assessment of their impact and probability, the report notes, while adding some other crucial risk factors, though perhaps not noted as high by companies as per the tabulation, yet deserve more attention. This includes lack of succession planning, absence of business continuity plan, inadequate HR/talent management, geopolitical risks, human rights, diversity and inclusion, business ethics and integrity, fraud, intellectual property rights (IPR), research & development (R&D), etc.

The survey, an annual feature by Excellence Enablers, is aimed at showing a mirror to Indian businesses on the need for higher standards in not just compliance, but in doing the right thing. As the studys introduction notes, good Corporate Governance is no more than doing the right things, at the right time, in the right manner, and for the right reasons, without having the lawmakers or the regulators laying down what requires to be done. Good governance practices by a handful of entities, who strike out on their own in the interest of stakeholders, have often resulted in laws and regulations on the same lines for other entities in a similar universe.
The gathering at Quantico on September 30, 2025, should have reinforced discipline, doctrine and strategic clarity. Instead, it turned into a campaign-style spectacle. President Donald Trump stood before the countrys top brass and delivered a speech heavy on grievance, light on fact, and dangerous in implication. The symbolism was unmistakable. Americas generals and admirals were not treated as guardians of national defence but as a backdrop to political theatre.

At its heart, the Quantico speech blurred the distinction between the professional duties of the armed forces and the partisan instincts of the commander-in-chief. What should have been an affirmation of military professionalism was repurposed into a campaign platform, with Americas senior officers cast as a captive audience.

Framing cities as 'war zones'

Trumps decision to describe American cities as war zones that must be invaded by the armed forces is not just provocative rhetoric. It crosses into a worldview that sees the military as an internal police force. That undermines the very principle on which the US democracy rests: the strict separation between domestic law enforcement and military power. The United States has laws like the Posse Comitatus Act, precisely to prevent this. Yet the president chose to frame urban communities as if they were hostile territory. It is the language of division, not leadership.

Labelling communities as enemies from within corrodes national unity. It is particularly dangerous in a country whose military draws its recruits from every town, city, and state. To frame these same citizens as potential adversaries undermines trust in the very institution Trump claims to celebrate.

Nostalgia in place of strategy

Trumps suggestion that America should resurrect mid-20th-century battleships revealed a deeper flaw in his vision. His fascination with solid steel hulls ignores the realities of 21st-century warfare, which is defined by stealth, cyber conflict, hypersonic weapons, and electronic dominance. Warships of the past were symbols of industrial might. Todays conflicts are won with precision, speed, and integration across domains. Reviving relics of naval history would waste resources and divert attention from the innovation required to preserve military superiority.

Strategic vision demands looking forward. Trumps backward gaze risks leaving the United States ill-prepared for the future battlespace.

Trivialising nuclear responsibility

Equally troubling was the presidents reference to nuclear weapons, using the phrase the n-word, a rhetorical flourish that trivialised the most solemn responsibility of the office. Coupled with vague comments about submarine deployments near Russia, it projected recklessness rather than resolve. Nuclear policy relies on strategic communication, capability and credibility. Deterrence erodes when the commander-in-chief treats nuclear weapons as a political slogan for warfighting.

Distorting History and Facts

The speech was replete with historical distortions. CNN fact-checker spent four minutes debunking Trumps multiple lies in his speech to the US military top brass. Trump claimed that Americas record of military victories ended when the Department of War was renamed the Department of Defence, as if nomenclature alone determined outcomes. He insisted that the armed forces had abandoned merit in favour of political correctness. He alleged that his predecessor never proclaimed the US military to be the strongest in history, a claim disproven by multiple speeches from President Biden making that very point.

Perhaps the most brazen claim was that he had settled seven wars in nine months. Conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, which Trump cited as examples, continue despite signed agreements. In the case of Kosovo and Serbia, there was no war to settle in the first place. The exaggerations went further, including inflated numbers of migrants entering the United States and unfounded assertions about adversaries releasing prisoners into America.

The problem is not simply one of accuracy. When the commander-in-chief uses falsehoods as a form of political theatre before the nations top officers, he corrodes truth as the basis of civil-military discourse.

Politicising the force

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseths remarks ahead of Trumps speech reinforced the trend. He railed against so-called woke policies and called for a return to aggressive training practices such as drill ustads boot thuds. Trump magnified these arguments, making the military not an inclusive professional institution but a cultural struggle. This effort to politicise the military is dangerous in that it is likely to destroy the unity that is achieved through the need to unite citizens irrespective of their backgrounds to serve the republic.

Diversity and professionalism have been important strengths of the US military. The rebranding as a partisan symbol is debilitating the same element which enables it to fight and to win.

Dissent no more professional

What made the episode worse was the pressure applied behind the curtain. Hegseth openly said generals who disagreed with him should quit. Soon after, General Thomas Bussiere, who had been leading the Air Force Global Strike Command and was possibly nominated to be the next Air Force Chief, resigned. Earlier in August, General David Allvin, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, who still had time left in his term, was nudged into early retirement. In other words, dissent was no longer professional advice; it was disloyalty.

Economic boasts without basis

The president also made sweeping claims about trillion-dollar defence investments and the construction of a Golden Dome missile defence shield. These pronouncements may sound impressive, but they lack serious grounding in budgetary reality. Defence planning depends on transparency and predictability. Inflated promises may generate applause, but they do nothing to sustain readiness. In fact, they obscure the hard choices that military planners must make.

Civil-military relations in jeopardy

The larger issue is civil-military relations. By turning the Quantico assembly into a political stage, Trump shifted the military from its rightful role into a backdrop for partisanship. History offers ample warning. Turkey, Pakistan, and others show how democracy collapses if the military becomes a state within the state by politicisation of this important pillar of national security. The United States has long been the counterexample, a model of professional distance between generals and politicians. The Quantico display put that tradition at risk.

The irony of the 'War Department'

Trump hailed the return to the name 'Department of War,' claiming it would somehow stop wars. The irony was striking. To elevate war as the central identity of Americas defence establishment is to ignore decades of doctrine that prioritised deterrence, alliance-building, and conflict prevention. If anything, the speech suggested a president more eager to wield force than to exercise restraint. That is a dangerous message to send at a time of global volatility.

A test for Americas military leaders

What happened at Quantico was not just another flamboyant Trump moment. It was a test of Americas democratic guardrails. By painting cities as battlefields, clinging to outdated visions of naval power, trivialising nuclear weapons and weaving untruths into the very fabric of military discourse, the president blurred the line between political theatre and professional command.

Truth as leadership

The speech at Quantico was not just another moment of political bluster. It was a revealing episode that exposed the extent to which Americas military is being drawn into partisan spectacle. By treating cities as battlegrounds, romanticising outdated ships, trivialising nuclear weapons, and presenting falsehoods as fact, Trump blurred the lines between politics and command. That is not leadership. It is theatre at the expense of security. The nation deserves a commander-in-chief who leads with truth, not spectacle.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs, one of the most influential figures in the hip-hop industry, was sentenced to four years and two months in prison for transporting people across state lines for illegal sexual encounters.

Since Combs has already spent one year in jail, he could be released in about three years. Though the prosecutors sought a lengthier sentence of over 11 years, Combs's lawyers argued for his immediate release, citing his remorse and sobriety during his time in prison.

Sean Diddy Combs' family left a New York City court after the hip-hop mogul was sentenced to more than four years in prison over his conviction on prostitution-related charges https://t.co/c8mVyVXMuf pic.twitter.com/hC9kHJRlkq  Reuters (@Reuters) October 3, 2025

In July this year, Combs was found guilty of transporting his girlfriends and male sex workers across the country for drug-fuelled sexual encounters, in several locations over many years. Importantly, he was found not guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering, which are more serious charges that could have resulted in a life sentence.

US District Judge Arun Subramanian asked Combs during sentencing, "Why did this go on for so long?", and answered his own question saying, "because you had the power and the resources to keep it going, and because you weren't caught."

Judge Subramanian also ordered Combs to pay a $500,000 fine, which is the highest amount allowed. He praised the victims who testified in court, and said they spoke for "countless others who experienced abuse".

"You gave them a voice. You stood up to power," he said.

As the judge spoke, Combs sat at the defence table, quiet and looking downcast. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he told his family just before leaving the courtroom.

Combs's legal team announced it will appeal the sentence.

After leaving court, defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo told reporters, "What we feel today is that the judge acted as a 13th juror, one we did not choose, and that he second guessed the jury's verdict."

Before his sentence was announced, Combss lawyers showed a video highlighting his family life, career, and charitable work. He cried and then pleaded for a lighter sentence. "I ask your honour for a chance to be a father again... a son again... a leader in my community again... for a chance to get the help that I desperately need to be a better person." He apologised to those he hurt "physically and mentally with his disgusting, shameful actions". He also said the domestic violence would be a "burden he would carry for the rest of his life".

During his trial, which lasted nearly two months in a Manhattan federal court, several women testified, accusing Combs of assault, threats, sexual assault, and blackmail. Prosecutor Christy Slavik emphasised that a light sentence would excuse years of violence, describing the case as being about a man who committed "horrible things to real people to satisfy his own sexual gratification," using control as his "currency".

Combs's conviction came under the Mann Act, which prohibits moving people across state lines for sexual crimes. However, his defence attorney, Jason Driscoll, argued on Friday that this law was not correctly applied in Combs's case.

During the trial, his former girlfriend, Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, told the jury that Combs made her have "disgusting sex with strangers" hundreds of times over their 10-year relationship. Jurors were also shown a video, which showed Combs dragging and beating her in a Los Angeles hotel hallway.

Six of Combs's seven children spoke to the judge and pleaded for leniency for their father. His daughter, D'Lila Combs, expressed her fear of losing her father, especially after her mother, Kim Porter, passed away in 2018.
Behind the gavel that sentenced controversial hip-hop artist Sean "Diddy" Combs to 50 months in prison on Friday (local time) was US District Judge (Manhattan) Arun Subramanian.

Over the past year, the Indian-origin judgethe first South Asian to serve as a federal court judge in southern New Yorkhas been an important part of the high-profile "Diddy" trial.

The 55-year-old hip-hop mogul had been convicted of a number of charges, but was pronounced guilty for forcibly transporting his ex-girlfriend Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, as well as a woman known in court by the pseudonym Jane, for the purpose of prostitution.

ALSO READ | Sean 'Diddy' Combs gets four-year jail term in sexual encounters case | You had the power...: What US judge said

"This was subjugation, and it drove both Ms Ventura and Jane to thoughts of ending their lives," Subramanian said about Combs, as per a Reuters report.

Desribed by reporters as "adaptable, yet firm", Subramanian has been praised for his stoic control over the court and impartial rulings in a case that garnered intense public scrutiny.

Born in Pittburgh to Tamil Brahmin parents who had emigrated to the US in the 1970s, he pivoted from the computer science field to study law, graduating from Columbia Law School with a professional degree, and earning recognition as a James Kent and Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

His early career began with a series of clerkships with reputed figures such as Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Gerard Lynch of the Southern District of New York, and Dennis Jacobs of the Second Circuit.

He then took on a wide variety of issuesfrom anti-trust cases to civil rights litigationsat the litigation firm Susman Godfrey, in which he became a partner later.

One of the greatest highlights of his career was when he was recommended for a federal judgeship by Senator Chuck Schumer, which led to a nomination from former US President Joe Biden in 2022. After clearing Senate requirements, he became a District Judge in 2023.

"The number of people who you reached is incalculable," Subramanian later told the two women who testified in court. However, his work continues, as Combs' lawyer Marc Agnifilo told reporters after the hearing that the sentencing would be challenged.
Calling the deaths in the Karur stampede a man-made disaster, the Madras High Court on Friday came down heavily on actor-politician Vijay and his Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), and also the state administration for not fulfilling its duty.

The court cannot close its eyes nor remain a mute spectator or shirk its responsibility, Justice N. Senthilkumar said while explaining the decision to set up the Special Investigation Team (SIT). Asra Garg, Inspector General of Police, North Zone, Tamil Nadu, has been appointed as the head of the SIT. The court also ordered the SIT to commence investigations immediately.

The observations in the Madras High Court and the Madurai bench of the court on Friday reflected heavily the failure of the state administration in handling the case, and also on Vijay, who, according to the court, had fled the place. The court said this reflected the mental state of the actor-politician. Justice Senthilkumar noted that the stampede, which claimed 41 lives, was mishandled, and remarked that the state was showing leniency towards Vijay.

While disposing of a petition filed by P.H. Dinesh of Chennai, seeking directions to the home secretary and DGP to take appropriate action against those responsible and to refrain from granting permission for roadshows by political parties until a standard operating procedure (SOP) is framed to regulate such events, Justice Senthilkumar said the court has responsibility towards its citizens when the state fails to fulfil its obligation to protect the life and limbs of its people viz a viz the political party that has organised such a massive meeting where thousands and thousands of people have gathered to witness or have glimpses of their leader.

Strongly condemning the TVK for flouting the rules, the court said that Vijay vanished from the scene and has no remorse. The leader vanished and disappeared from the place of occurrence. Unfortunate to record that such a leadership is of poor quality, Justice Senthilkumar said. The court criticised actor Vijays TVK for negligence in the Karur stampede and observed that he fled from the scene of occurrence and the party had not even expressed remorse. It strongly condemned such conduct, particularly when women and children had died.

The court also came down heavily on the state administration, and also the police, for not filing even a hit-and-run case for accidents involving Vijays caravan; questioned the polices failure to register criminal cases against those responsible for accidents involving the two-wheelers which Vijays fans were riding and which had hit on Vijay's campaign van. The court asked why a hit-and-run case wasn't registered against the people involved in the accident, aka those who were travelling in the bus, including Vijay.

Additional Advocate General J. Ravindran and State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohammed Jinnah, representing the state government, said an FIR had been registered in connection with the stampede which killed 41 people. Public prosecutor Ravindran argued that the state was not trying to shield anyone and that appropriate action would be taken in due course. Opposing the courts decision to constitute the SIT, Ravindran informed the court that it had been less than a week since the FIR was filed, and the investigation had already started.

At the beginning of the hearing, Justice Senthil Kumar said that the stampede shook him and that the disaster was so huge that President Draupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and many others expressed deep condolences and extended every possible help to the victim families and the injured.

Earlier, Justice Senthilkumar dismissed an anticipatory bail petition filed by TVKs Namakkal district secretary N. Sathish Kumar in a case booked against him for the damage caused to a private hospital in Namakkal during Vijays campaign in the district. The court, however, dismissed the plea following contention by government advocate S. Santhosh. He said that it was a serious case of mob violence that had led to damage to the properties belonging to the private hospital, and hence no leniency must be shown to the accused by granting advance bail.

Meanwhile, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court dismissed the anticipatory bail petitions filed by TVK general secretary Bussy N. Anand and C.T.R.Nirmal Kumar. The TVK argued in the court saying that they can't be subjected to action by calling it as culpable homicide.

The court observations and the political fallout thereafter

Incidentally, in his three-minute video clip on Tuesday, Vijay had challenged Stalin to arrest him and alleged a conspiracy in the stampede. He dared Stalin to take action against him. CM Sir, if you are desperate to find fault with us, do it with me. Dont lay your hands on them. I will be here at home or at the office. Do whatever you want to do with me. But, in the court, the TVK did not present any evidence or even the grounds to prove the conspiracy theories it floated.

Courts observations and the constituting of the SIT, have however, caused a huge dent in Vijays political future. With the absence of second-rank leaders who can address the issue on the ground, and Vijay himself staying inside his bungalow at Neelankarai on the outskirts of Chennai, the party is struggling to decide on its next political move. The party insiders say that there were several closed-door meetings among the party strategist John Arockiasamy, general secretary Bussy Anand and others.

However, Vijay has not spoken to any of his party office bearers since he released a three-minute video clip on Tuesday after the mishap. The TVK lawyers who appeared for Anand and Nirmal Kumar also did not present concrete grounds for their anticipatory bail. The advocates argued in the court that the general secretary didnt organise the Karur rally, so he cannot be held responsible for it. The lawyers also said that the Karur district secretary, who had organised the rally, had already been arrested.

On the other hand, sources say that Vijay's campaign bus, considered to be his pride, could also be seized by the government following the courts observations. It is a caravan specially designed for Vijay to travel and conduct campaigns amidst a huge crowd.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be in India on a two-day visit on October 8 and 9. According to the external affairs ministry, the visit of the UK PM to India is expected to boost ties between the two countries, including in areas of defence and security.

This is Starmer's first trip to the country since he assumed charge of the top office in July last year.

The UK PM and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to hold talks in Mumbai, where the two leaders will also participate in the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2025.

Starmer's visit to India from October 8 to 9 will provide a "valuable opportunity" to reaffirm the shared vision of India and the UK to build a forward-looking partnership, the MEA said in a statement on Saturday.

The two prime ministers will take stock of progress in diverse aspects of the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in line with 'Vision 2035'a focused and time-bound 10-year roadmap of programmes and initiatives, the ministry further said.

"Both leaders will engage with businesses and industry leaders on opportunities presented by the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) as a central pillar of the future India-UK economic partnership," the MEA readout said.

Britain and India signed a free trade agreement in July during a visit by PM Modi. The agreement sealed a deal to cut tariffs on a range of goods, from textiles to whisky and cars, and allow more market access for businesses.

The activities of pro-Khalistan elements in Britain, and the return of fugitives and economic offenders wanted in India, are also expected to figure in the talks between the two leaders.
Leader of the Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, Mata Prasad Pandey, was placed under house arrest in Lucknow after he was meant to lead a Samajwadi Party (SP) delegation to meet with the families in Bareilly.

A 14-member delegation was formed under the instructions of SP national president Akilesh Yadav. The team was tasked with assessing the situation in the area and meeting with the Bareilly DIG and Commissioner to address their concerns.

A heavy police presence was deployed outside Pandey's Lucknow residence, and he was detained. If the collector had written, I would have accepted it. In the backdrop of the protests, he said while speaking to ANI. Pandey said he was told in a letter from the Bareilly district magistrate that the delegation's visit would spoil the atmosphere. He alleged that the they were doing this to hide their own shortcomings, they are not allowing us to go there. We will now talk to our party members and decide accordingly."

UP LoP Mata Prasad Pandey stopped from visiting Bareilly amid tensions over "I Love Mohammad" row



Read @ANI Story | https://t.co/Yo96HWe6AV#Bareilly #BareillyViolence pic.twitter.com/yqI7T143L6  ANI Digital (@ani_digital) October 4, 2025

The team includes several prominent SP MPs and former MLAs, including Harendra Malik from Muzaffarnagar, Iqra Hasan from Kairana, Ziaur Rahman Barq from Sambhal, Mohibullah Nadvi from Rampur, Neeraj Maurya, former MP Virpal Singh Yadav, Praveen Singh Aron, and others.

A notice has been posted at Mata Prasad's house, citing Section 163 in Bareilly. The administration has appealed to the team not to visit Bareilly. Iqra, Hasan, and Bark are also named in the notice.

The objective of the SP delegation was to document the incident and investigate the events that occurred on September 26th when the Muslim community attempted to peacefully submit a memorandum to the District magistrate. The party alleged that the police the brutally lathi-charged innocent people and injured them.

81 people were also jailed after the incident.

After the delegations met the DIG and Commissioner, they were to submit a report to the state office based on which the party would decide its future strategy.

Meanwhile, the Bareilly administration had stated that no political party would be allowed into the district as Section 163 is still in effect. The administration cited that the situation in the district was sensitive and that any political activity could disrupt the peace. Local media reported that, according to sources the administration will block any political leader from leaving their homes.

Internet in the district is still suspended after last week's violence, which broke out after the I Love Muhammad" protests on September 26. Heavy security forces were deployed to the areas, and drone surveillance is underway. The city was divided into super zones, zones, and sectors. Officials were deployed at sensitive areas, especially around mosques, while religious leaders appealed to people on Friday to return straight to their homes after offering prayers.
Keralas opposition demands the resignation of the State Devaswom Minister V.N. Vasavan and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) President over the Sabarimala missing gold plating controversy. Opposition Leader V.D. Satheeshan has called on the government and the Devaswom Board to clarify how much of the 30kg of gold donated to Sabarimala in 1998 by UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya still remains.

What is the Sabarimala gold theft row?

The Dwarapalaka idols and pedestals were gold-plated in 1999 using a portion of the gold and copper donated by industrialist Vijay Mallya. According to the TDB Sub-Group Manual, repair work on these idols was to be carried out at Sabarimala itself. However, in 2019, the plates were handed over to a sponsor named Unnikrishnan Potty for re-plating. The 2019 mahazars (inventories), however, listed the items merely as copper plates, omitting any mention of gold cladding.

During recent court proceedings, these documents resurfaced, revealing that the plates weighed 42.8 kg in 2019 (including gold cladding) but, upon return, showed a shortfall of 4.54kg  raising suspicions of misappropriation.

Notably, when the controversy first erupted, the TDBs positioning was in such a way as to direct suspicion towards the Potty. TDB President P.S. Prashanth and Devaswom Minister V.N. Vasavan accused Potty of a "conspiracy" and the opposition of politicising the issue to undermine TDB, shifting focus from board lapses.

However, as the controversy deepened, Advocate K.B. Pradeep, representing Smart Creations  the Chennai-based firm where the re-plating took place in 2019  stated that the Dwarapalaka plate sent to the company that year was not gold-plated but entirely made of copper.

Unnikrishnan Potty also claimed that the material he had received from Sabarimala for gold-plating in 2019 was only copper, further redirecting suspicion toward the handling of the gold by TDB officials.

Opposition's reaction to the LDF government

The Opposition Leader demanded that cases be filed against the current Devaswom Minister, former minister Kadakampally Surendran, and the two Devaswom Board Presidents who have served since 2019. The CBI must investigate the missing gold. If the government refuses, the UDF will launch strong protests, he declared.

The Devaswom Board has written records showing that gold was missing, but they concealed it. The question remains  where did the gold go? Despite finding that a serious crime had been committed, they covered it up without informing anyone. They even invited the same person [Potty] again in 2025 to send the artefacts for gold-plating, because those in top positions in the Board received a share of the stolen gold. It was a collusive deal, Satheeshan alleged.

Travancore Devaswom Board President P.S. Prasanth maintained that there was no lapse in taking the gold plate to Chennai. He stated that the 40-year repair warranty was in the name of Unnikrishnan Potty, which was why his assistance was sought. We have nothing to hide. It is precisely because we have nothing to conceal that we ourselves requested a comprehensive court investigation,he said.

Notably, the UDF is attempting to link the current controversy to the 20182019 Sabarimala womens entry issue.

The LDF's handling of Sabarimala's women entry verdict

In 2018, when the Supreme Court allowed women of menstruating age to enter Sabarimala  a temple that traditionally barred them  the LDF government swiftly enforced the verdict, even providing police protection. This triggered widespread protests, and the government eventually backed down from active enforcement.

Last month, when the Kerala government, in association with the Travancore Devaswom Board, organized the Global Ayyappa Sangamam, critics viewed it as an attempt at reparation for the LDFs controversial handling of the 20182019 womens entry row.

The UDF described the event as hypocrisy, accusing the LDF of betraying Ayyappa devotees in 201819. Veteran Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala also linked the current missing gold controversy to that earlier phase.

For the last nine and a half years, those who led the Devaswom administration in Kerala  both Devaswom Board presidents and ministers  were either untouched by devotion or hypocritical devotees. That is why such acts  looting even the offerings placed before the Lord in the sacred Sabarimala temple  have taken place. They have deceived the community of believers, violated ritual sanctity, and are now plundering everything, he said.

Chennithala added that the biggest fraud in Sabarimalas history had taken place under the Pinarayi Vijayan government. It is clear that the Devaswom Minister has no moral or administrative right to continue in office. Out of respect for the anguish and outrage of millions of Ayyappa devotees around the world, Minister Vasavan must resign immediately, he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday intensified its attack on the Congress over former home minister P. Chidambarams recent remark that India chose not to respond to Pakistan after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks following intervention from foreign countries.

BJP MP Sambit Patra said then UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi made India bow down and gave shelter to Pakistan.

"It was Sonia Gandhi's dictation that we shouldn't act against Pakistan. She made India bow down and gave shelter to Pakistan," Patra told news agency ANI. He also accused the opposition party of being influenced by foreign powers.

#WATCH | Bhubaneswar | On former Union Minister P Chidambaram citing foreign pressure behind India's lack of retaliation against Pakistan after 26/11 attacks, BJP MP Sambit Patra says, "It was Sonia Gandhi's dictation that don't act against Pakistan. She made India bow down and pic.twitter.com/NArN2oP7R7  ANI (@ANI) October 4, 2025

Quoting former foreign minister and senior Congress leader Natwar Singhs autobiography, Patra mocked that Sonia Gandhi would decide cabinet ministers after consulting with America.

"Natwar Singh wrote in his autobiography that the Sonia Gandhi government used to decide the Indian Cabinet Ministers after consulting America... She believes 'saugandh mujhe us videsh ki, main desh nahi uthne dungi'," the BJP leader said.

Patra hit out at the then UPA government for not taking action against Pakistan, saying this was the India of that time under the reign of the Gandhi family.

He alleged that Sonia Gandhi might have asked then PM Manmohan Singh, under pressure from US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, "not to take kinetic action against Pakistan", even as around 160 people were killed in the Mumbai attack.

In a recent podcast, Chidambaram suggested that he personally favoured military retribution against Pakistan following the ghastly terror attack, but the government decided to go by the external affairs ministry's view to resort to diplomatic measures against the neighbouring country.

He noted that world powers, including the US, wanted India not to start a war with Pakistan.
US President Donald Trump imposed a Sunday (October 5) evening deadline for Hamas to accept his 20point Gaza peace proposal, issuing a stark warning that failure to comply will unleash all HELL, like no one has ever seen before on the militant group.

In a lengthy post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump declared that this was the LAST CHANCE for Hamasand that if the agreement was rejected, the consequences would be catastrophic. He asserted that thousands of Hamas fighters were trapped and could be neutralised at his command. He also reaffirmed unwavering American support for Israel, pledging to help finish the job of eliminating Hamas if the group refuses his terms.

The Trump ultimatum appears to have prompted Hamas to take action, as the group issued a statement late on Friday night saying it was prepared to release all hostagesboth living and deceasedif appropriate conditions for an exchange were met. Trump was quick to claim victory on Truth Social, writing that Hamas was ready for a "lasting PEACE". He urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately halt attacks on Gaza to ensure the hostages could be released safely.

"Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly... this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East." - President Trump pic.twitter.com/OKPYBmW5ql  The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 3, 2025

Hamas also expressed its willingness to hand over the administration of Gaza to a Palestinian technocratic body based on national consensus and backed by support from the Arab and Islamic world. However, the group remained silent on demands regarding disarmament and relinquishing any future role in Gaza. President Trump's statements are encouraging, and the movement is ready to begin negotiations immediately to achieve a prisoner exchange, end the war, and secure the withdrawal of the occupation, said Tahir al-Nounou, media adviser to the head of Hamas's political bureau, in a statement.

The 20point plan, jointly unveiled with Netanyahu earlier this week, centres on immediate hostage release, sweeping disarmament and a technocratic interim governance structure for Gaza. Under the proposal, all hostages held by Hamas and the remains of those dead, would be released within 72 hours of agreement, in exchange for hundreds of Gazan detainees. Hamas would be dismantled politically and militarily, while Gaza would enter a transitional phase of stewardship under an international Board of Peace, chaired by Trump and possibly involving figures such as former British prime minister Tony Blair. A technocratic Palestinian committee, excluding Hamas representatives, will run the day-to-day administration.

On the security front, the plan calls for a phased Israeli withdrawal, replaced by an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) drawn from Arab /Muslim nations. Full humanitarian access would be granted immediately once the deal is accepted.

Though Israel has publicly backed the framework and announced on Saturday that it is preparing to implement the first stage of the plan, Prime Minister Netanyahu maintains that he opposes any solution premised on a Palestinian statean omission that underscores how the plan seeks only a shortterm stabilisation rather than a lasting political settlement.

It remains to be seen whether Hamas will fully agree to a plan that presents an existential dilemma for it. The plan demands its dissolution, stripping it of both political authority and military capacity. Accepting it would amount to political suicide for the group which has controlled the Gaza strip for nearly two decades. The demand for the immediate release of all hostages removes the groups primary bargaining leverage. That could be the reason why the group insists on certain conditions being met for the release of the hostages. Hamas wants a longterm ceasefire and a comprehensive Israeli withdrawalconditions Netanyahu has already rejected.

Some voices inside Hamas have grown defiant. Despite the criminal extermination being carried out by this criminal enemy, this resistance will continue to exist until our people achieve their goals and desires, said Abdel Jabbar Saeed, a Hamas official in Qatar. Meanwhile, Belal Rayan, the son of a longdead hardline leader killed by Israel, wrote on X that accepting the Trump plan would amount to political suicide that will destroy the Palestinian cause.

Despite Trumps aggressive ultimatum and Hamass apparent willingness to consider the peace plan, it faces serious headwinds. It fails to grapple with the root political conflict: by demanding that Hamas disarm and be expelled from governance, it risks annihilating the groups legitimacy and base of support. The proposal authorises continued military pressure until compliance, perpetuating the asymmetry between Israel and Gaza rather than resolving it.

Many Palestinians believe that the plan lacks legitimacy, especially because it excludes their own voices, and is dominated by foreign overseers. Not even the Palestinian Authority seems to have a say in running their affairs in the interim. They are also unsettled by the absence of a clear commitment to Palestinian statehood. Netanyahus rejection of the twostate paradigm makes the plans longterm credibility doubtful.

Finally, its implementation presents massive logistical challenges. The notion of an entirely new and untested ISF is fraught with complexity. No existing framework or infrastructure exists to deploy it swiftly and credibly. If the ISF is viewed as an enforcer of Israeli will rather than a neutral peacekeeping body, it could deepen resentment and resistance.

Across the region, reactions to the peace plan have ranged from cautious support to outright scepticism. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Egypt and Turkey have expressed varying degrees of endorsementmostly symbolicwhile many observers interpret their posture as signalling diplomacy rather than firm commitment.
The case of an Indian woman, named in court as 'Plaintiff Phoenix Doe', was used as an example in the first lawsuit to challenge US President Donald Trump's decision to hike the H-1B visa fee to $100,000.

The lawsuit was filed on Friday by a coalition of unions, employers, and religious groups in a San Francisco federal court. They argued that Trump did not have the power to override the law that created the H-1B visa programme, because his powers only extended to restricting the entry of certain foreign nationals.

Doe is described in the lawsuit as an Indian citizen residing in Northern California and a postdoctoral researcher, whose cap-exempt H-1B visa application has been "indefinitely paused" due to the new $100,000 fee.

ALSO READ | New H-1B policy: Netizens point out THIS loophole, say Donald Trump move 'falls short'

Her research focuses on identifying the genetic and epigenetic causes of vision loss due to ageing, diseases such as diabetes, and rare inherited genetic abnormalities of unknown aetiology, with the goal of finding new ways to diagnose and treat blinding conditions, the lawsuit said, adding that the university relied on Doe as its first postdoctoral scholar to build and advance its research program and secure future funding.

The lawsuit also mentioned that she was facing "debilitating stress and anxiety" due to the uncertainty of her future in the USher research work was expected to go on for another two years, but the new H-1B policy would hamper that, forcing her to leave the US within four months.

ALSO READ | What is MEA's stand on Trump's new H-1B visa regulations? Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says...

The United Auto Workers union, the American Association of University Professors, the Justice Action Center, the Democracy Forward Foundation (on behalf of the Global Nurse Force), and several religious organisations are the other plaintiffs in the case, who have warned that extorting exorbitant fees will stifle innovation".

The plaintiffs also attacked other federal agenciessuch as the US State Departmentfor facilitating Trump's H-1B visa fee hike.

ALSO READ | Trumps H-1B Visa norms: These 3 countries will emerge unexpected winners

America's H-1B programme offers 65,000 visas annually to employers bringing in temporary foreign workers in specialised fields like technology, with another 20,000 visas issued for workers with advanced degrees.

While the typical fee for H-1B visa sponsorship ranged from $2,000 to $5,000, the Trump administration hiked this fee to $100,000 for new visa recipients.
On a dusky September evening in New Delhi, under the soft lighting of The Oberoi ballroom, a gavel fell, and history was made. A painting by modernist V.S. Gaitonde had just sold for Rs 67 crore at Saffronarts 25-year anniversary auction, setting a new benchmark for Indian art. Moments later, MF Husains Mahabharata soared past Rs 21 crore. It wasnt just a sale, it was a seismic statement.

This wasnt an isolated event. Weeks earlier, across the globe in New York, Husains long-lost epic Gram Yatra, a 13-panel meditation on rural India, had fetched an astonishing 13.8 million dollars, becoming the most expensive modern Indian artwork ever sold. Now, anticipation is brewing for the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam, a museum in Doha dedicated entirely to Husain, designed from his own architectural sketch.

Indian modern art, long celebrated in quiet corners of elite collections, is suddenly everywhere. It is breaking records, crossing borders, and, at last, taking its rightful place on the global cultural map.

The Saffronart evening sale in New Delhi was not just a celebration of the auction houses 25-year journey, but of Indian art itself. Every single lot sold, a white glove sale, raising over Rs 355 crore, a record for any South Asian auction.

Tyeb Mehtas Trussed Bull thundered to Rs 56 crore. Amrita Sher-Gil, G.R. Santosh, F.N. Souza, all represented. Yet the emotional centrepiece was Husains Mahabharata, a deeply personal exploration of Indian mythology, painted in 1990. To see it re-emerge, and to command such fervour, was a reminder that Husains vision still resonates, not as nostalgia, but as prophecy.

Few figures encapsulate the contradictions and triumphs of Indian modernism like Husain. Once exiled but continues to stand resilient as an icon. Born in 1915, barefoot and self-taught, he ascended into the pantheon of greats with his bold lines, mythic themes, and fierce independence. He also became, controversially, a target, exiled in 2006 following protests over his portrayals of Hindu goddesses.

And yet, Husains work has only grown in stature. The Gram Yatra canvas, painted in 1954 and unseen for decades, emerged like a myth of its own. Spanning nearly 14 feet, it depicts rural India not as a romantic idyll, but a living, breathing tapestry. Its 13.8-million dollar price tag is more than market value; its recognition.

In November, the artists legacy will reach another milestone: the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam: The M.F. Husain Museum in Doha. Designed from a sketch Husain himself made in 2008, the museum will house hundreds of works spanning his entire career, paintings, photographs, films, poetry, alongside his monumental final piece, Seeroo fi al ardh.

In a world where museums are often political, this one is poetic. A sanctuary for an artist who was once silenced. A monument to memory, and to modernity.

For decades, Indian modern art was the province of a knowing few, gallerists in Colaba, curators in London, the occasional biennale. But 2025 feels different. The energy is palpable. The spotlight is wider. The stakes are higher.

The market is maturing. Its not just collectors in Delhi and Mumbai anymore. Buyers are tuning in from Dubai, Singapore, London, and Los Angeles. Online bidding platforms are democratising access. Wealthy Indian millennials are collecting alongside veteran connoisseurs. Institutional presence is also growing. The Kiran Nadar Museum in Delhi, DAG galleries in multiple cities, and now the Husain Museum in Doha are signalling a shift from private possession to public display. Indian art is not just being sold, its being seen.

While Gaitonde, Mehta, and Husain lead headlines, attention is turning to women modernists like Nasreen Mohamedi and Zarina Hashmi, and younger voices exploring identity, climate, and post-colonial legacy in bold, new ways. The canon is certainly expanding.

But challenges remain. India still lacks a major national modern art museum of the scale seen in the West or even the Arab nations now. Public funding is minimal. Censorship lingers. And for every crore fetched at auction, many contemporary Indian artists remain under-supported.

Still, the tide is shifting and fast.

What does it mean when a Husain canvas sells for Rs 118 crore? When his life becomes the blueprint for a museum in Qatar? When Indian artists no longer seek only Western validation, but build their own platforms and empires?

It means we are in the midst of something historic. Not a trend or a phase.

A generation of Indian artists and collectors is reimagining what cultural power looks like, not as imitation, but as innovation. Not just in rupees or dollars, but in influence. In visibility. In narrative control.

In 2025, Indian art is no longer waiting to be discovered. It has already arrived, gilded, grounded, and global.
Margaret Hulley likes to use cash as much as possible. The 86-year-old withdraws it from her local bank branch in Sheffield when she needs it.

While she will visit the cash machine from time to time, she spends on a card only occasionally  usually to buy something from Amazon or for a grocery shop, which her granddaughter, Katie Lee, has helped her to set up.

Margaret says: 'If you have cash in your purse, then once it's finished, that's done. When I was brought up, if you didn't have the money for it, you didn't have it. You had to save.'

But her cash use is bucking the trend. Figures released this week by banking industry group UK Finance revealed cash is now used for less than 10 per cent of all payments for the first time.

Cash was used for nearly half of all transactions a decade ago, but now this has shrunk to just nine per cent.

The UK Finance report said age was the 'most accurate predictor' of cash use, with the younger generation leading the way in ditching it  40 per cent of under-25s spend with physical money only once a month or less.

Two of a kind: Margaret will have takeaway coffees only as a treat and Katie is paying off her mortgage with a social media trick

Katie, 26, rarely carries cash and mostly doesn't even use a bank card. Most of her payments are done by tapping her phone, where she uses Apple Pay.

Thanks to a variety of apps, she also uses her phone to check her savings, stocks and shares Isa, and make mortgage overpayments.

She argues that avoiding cash and using technology helps rather than hinders her budgeting.

Katie says: 'I learned about making overpayments on social media. My generation are lucky we have access to so much information. It's easy to find little tips and tricks.'

So, who is right? The 80-something grandmother who believes cash is still king, or the 20-something granddaughter who says mobile payments are best for budgeting?

We spoke to both, so you can decide if younger savers have something to learn from their elders, or whether the TikTok generation have it all sorted.

WE WOULD MAKE DO AND MEND, NOT LIKE TODAY

Born in 1939, Margaret grew up with rationing. 'It was austere, and we didn't have a lot of luxury  but it was the same for everyone,' she says. 'I learned how to cook economically. We darned our socks and fixed a button when it came off. We would make do and mend. Not like people today.'

Margaret married Michael Graham, now 94, when she was 20. Thanks to careful budgeting, the couple saved enough for a deposit on a 650 two-bed terrace. Watching the pennies continued and it was two years before they could afford to install an indoor bathroom by building a dividing wall in the spare bedroom.

'Every penny was allocated, for groceries, electricity and gas. I'd bake cakes and knit all the children's clothes. If you had enough you might go on a caravan holiday, but if not, you did without,' she says. 'I think our children and grandchildren have seen that, and the way we managed our money.'

After their third child was born, Margaret took jobs cleaning and working in a factory, before joining the local GP surgery where she became practice manager. Michael Graham worked as a National Coal Board engineer.

He was largely in charge of family finances and the couple were serious savers. Michael gave up smoking when money was tight, while thrifty Margaret cut costs by batch cooking. Rather than hire tradespeople, they would do tasks like wallpapering themselves.

Buying anything on credit was avoided but not unheard of. The first time they did this was for bedroom furniture. A 20 Bosch radio was next. Margaret says: 'It was always one thing at a time, and it would upset my husband until it was paid off.' She says that the modern world seems to take spending and making things last more lightly. Margaret says: 'Now, it feels like a throwaway society. Young people waste money on everything  it's all tattoos and takeaways. I'll have a coffee as a treat, but they don't think anything of doing it every day.'

Today, the couple are still prudent but live comfortably. As well as a small income from her NHS pension, Margaret paid her Married Women's Stamp, the forerunner of National Insurance contributions, so gets the full state pension. Michael Graham is also entitled to the full state pension, as well as a pension from his career with the coal board. Is there anything Margaret thinks she could improve on with her finances and that the younger generation do better? She says: 'I'm not very good at comparing prices. Young people do their shopping online and get bargains, but I just like Marks & Spencer.'

IT'S A BALANCE BETWEEN SAVING AND PLEASURE

Katie lives a digital life but thinks this makes her engaged with her finances  and says saving matters. She saves 8 per cent of her salary into her company pension scheme, puts 200 a month into her employer's share save scheme, and recently opened a stocks and shares Isa, into which she invests 75 a month.

Last year, she and her partner Charlie used Lifetime Isas to buy their first home  a three-bed semi-detached house in York for about 300,000. They opted for a 40-year mortgage term to make the monthly payments more affordable but hope that making overpayments will help them pay off the loan more quickly.

Margaret says she is baffled by the amount the couple had to pay for their home, while Katie says she got there thanks to having learned a lot about saving from her grandmother.

She carries flavoured syrup in her handbag to add to her takeaway coffee rather than buy the more expensive option, always looks for discount codes online, and sells old items on Vinted. Katie tries to avoid debt, but uses a credit card for online orders to avoid paying out from her salary for an item she may have to return.

She says: 'Granny is a really good cook and I think she is the reason I don't buy takeaways or ready meals. She and my mum drummed into me that you don't need a new outfit for every occasion, and that if you buy cheap, you'll buy twice.'

They might do things differently to previous generations, but research suggests that like Katie those aged 25 to 34 are on top of their finances. Some 67 per cent of this cohort regularly review and adjust their financial goals, compared to 49 per cent of people across all age groups, according to a survey of 2,000 adults by Aviva.

Katie also credits social media for many of her best money habits. It's where she found out about making mortgage overpayments and automating her savings. Like 50 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds, Katie has direct debits set up to transfer money to savings. A further 39 per cent use budgeting apps and tools to track their spending, set limits and monitor their progress, a survey by Aviva found.

A separate survey of 2,000 adults by wealth management platform Stratiphy found 47 per cent of those aged 18 to 34 have invested in the stock market in the past 12 months, compared to just 23 per cent of those over 55. Katie admits there is still room for improvement for her generation and says that those from her grandmother's era benefit from not living an online life. She says: 'If I see something I want, I usually just buy it. But I wonder if I'd still get it if I waited a week. Granny always waits to go to the shops and buy things in store. I should take more lunches to work rather than buying them, but it's hard when you're busy. It's getting that balance between saving and enjoying life.'

Dr Eliza Filby, a historian and expert on generational change, says Katie isn't unusual among her financially literate generation.

She says: 'This generation has grown up in the shadow of economic instability  from the 2008 financial crisis, through Covid and the cost-of-living crisis  and as a result has become financially pragmatic and digitally confident. They're not just reacting to financial pressures, they're actively reshaping how they think about money and their futures.'

At home, Katie and Charlie make money decisions together and, while they don't have a joint account, the outgoings are split equally, with transfers made to each other quickly and easily through their banking apps.

'We are comfortable talking about money, and we support each other,' says Katie. This is one thing Margaret admires about the younger generation. She says: 'It seems more equal today. Katie and Charlie are more aware of each other's earnings and share more. They've got everything planned before getting married.'
Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

Ms J.K. writes: I am the treasurer of a village charity.

We have a Lloyds Bank account and in July last year I found a direct debit had been set up by Scottish Power, with 53 taken from our account.

However, we have no premises or utilities and have never set up any such direct debit.

Tony Hetherington replies: Last week I reported that an 85-year-old pensioner had seen 4,399 vanish from his account at Halifax, which is now run by Lloyds Bank. Again, this was an unauthorised direct debit. I intervened and the bank immediately replaced the missing money. It has since made a goodwill payment of 75 to the pensioner.

Lloyds explained that the transfer from his account had been made using the Automated Direct Debit Instruction Service  AUDDIS  which allows businesses to tell your bank that they have your approval, and the bank simply hands over your cash.

Watt a mess: The Automated Direct Debit Instruction Service system can lead to fraud and mistakes

There is no check to see that the customer ever signed a direct debit agreement and if anything goes wrong, it is up to the customer to try to reclaim the cash from the bank.

The 4,399 payment turned out to be part of a wider fraud. But your village charity has not been defrauded. It has simply become a victim of the AUDDIS system itself.

When 53 was taken by Scottish Power, you protested and Lloyds put the money back in your charity's account. The bank said it would contact Scottish Power but in September last year another 58 vanished from your account. Again, the bank replaced the money and said it would speak to Scottish Power.

Well, it didn't. In January, Scottish Power pocketed 163. This time, you complained to both the bank and Scottish Power. The money was replaced, only to be taken again in February. In April, the bank told you: 'The direct debit is now cancelled and we have added an indicator to your account which should prevent any new direct debits being set up without your authorisation.'

Well, it didn't. In May, Scottish Power raided your charity's account again, taking 460. At this point you contacted me, and Lloyds told me the bank industry's AUDDIS scheme trusts companies to dip into customer's accounts without signed consent. It was up to you to sort this out with Scottish Power, the bank added. I questioned Scottish Power too and it said it would discuss the payments with you. After some time, it found it has a business customer with a bank account number one digit away from your own. The customer provided your account by mistake, it added. By now it was August, and Scottish Power offered its apologies and an assurance that the bank details had been corrected.

They hadn't. Another 760 disappeared from your bank account into the coffers of Scottish Power. It denied having any record of complaints from you or Lloyds Bank, before I first alerted its staff.

When I provided chapter and verse of when complaints were made, it found them, saying: 'We are incredibly sorry for the issues Ms K has been facing and have reached out to her to apologise.'

The final 760 has now been returned to your account, and Scottish Power is sending a further 400. Lloyds Bank has also made goodwill payments to your village fund.

AUDDIS is a flawed system. It relies on bank customers to spot fraudulent or mistaken direct debits. I invited Pay UK, the body which oversees AUDDIS, to comment but there was no reply as we went to press. It's only customers' cash at risk, after all.

WE'RE WATCHING YOU: Arrest in will payout row Police probing a will writing and probate company I made claims against in The Mail on Sunday have arrested a woman. Last year I alleged that the company had failed to pay 200,000 due to the family of a man who died in 2017. The company was responsible for administering the estate, turning the deceased's assets into cash and then distributing bequests. Assets were valued at below the inheritance tax threshold of 325,000, despite the deceased having investments and property worth more than this. The estate also held premium bonds, though prizes can only be paid for a year after the bondholder's death. Some bequests were paid but years after probate was granted, a large sum was allegedly unaccounted for. Police told me: 'We have arrested a woman on suspicion of fraud by abuse of position and acquiring/using/possessing criminal property. She was released on conditional bail.'

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
After 26 years of socialising and stock-picking, the Jester Investors club, set up in 1999 by a group of enterprising female professionals, is set to liquidate its 90,000 portfolio.

But the reason behind the move is not a falling out over strategy, nor even panic about the global economy. Instead, as club chairman Victoria Provis explains, Interactive Investor, the DIY investment platform through which the West London group manages its portfolio, has said it no longer wants Jester Investors  or any other investment clubs  as clients.

These associations of colleagues, friends or neighbours are also not welcome at rival platforms such as AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown, with more platforms expected to follow suit.

Interactive Investor has told the club that it would rather focus on its other investment products such as Isas and self-invested personal pensions (Sipps).

But the decision threatens to undermine Chancellor Rachel Reeves' plan to encourage Britons to put more of their savings into shares, with an emphasis on buying British companies. It may also spell the end for investment clubs, which boomed in the 1990s but have dwindled in number in response to tax changes and as investing online has become easier.

The abrupt closure order came despite the collective wisdom of the Jester club having so far paid off for its members.

Shunned: These investment associations of colleagues, friends or neighbours are now not welcome at investment platforms

They had used their monthly contributions to the club's pot of money to back top-performers such as Rolls-Royce and Nvidia. But Interactive Investor has put paid to the fun and profit-making.

Provis said: 'In late August we received a horrible letter out of the blue from Interactive Investor. It said that, following a review, our club's trading account would be closed on October 27.'

Provis, once a top headhunter who now has directorships at arts organisations, said the decision to wind up the club was taken with considerable regret.

Share picker: Victoria Provis

She added: 'Over the years, the club's membership has ranged from seven to 12 people, mostly women. We're a mix of professionals and small business owners. Together we have had some wonderful discussions over which shares to buy, sell and hold.

'Some of our choices turned out to be duds, but our final portfolio contains some gems.'

Provis said the club also served a valuable social purpose, adding: 'We each took it in turn to host.

'But we are also keen investors and have learnt so much. You take better decisions together.'

A spokesman for Interactive Investor acknowledged the role investment clubs play in people's lives, adding: 'We recognise  and very much advocate  that discussion, debate, and community can be one of the most rewarding parts of investing. We are actively offering other routes to support this through our online ii Community, a hugely popular way for investors to share ideas about any number of topics or investing strategies.'

Other clubs are finding themselves under threat as a result of anti-money laundering checks.

The shareholder advocacy group ShareSoc said other platforms were refusing to take on investment clubs as clients because of Politically Exposed Person (PEP) legislation. These are laws which state that financial companies must subject individuals in public office to greater scrutiny since they are seen to represent a higher risk of laundering money gained by bribery and corruption.

ShareSoc said one platform had 'declined' to take on investment clubs arguing each member had to be vetted under anti-money laundering and PEP rules every year.

While the process is automated for individual accounts, the platform said the checks would need to be done manually for club members and would result in 'excessive costs and complications'.

The letter to Jester Investors, which has been seen by The Mail on Sunday, did not cite PEP as a reason behind the closure. Aberdeen, Interactive Investor's parent, also said there was no link.

ShareSoc director Amit Vedhara noted that US firms such as Interactive Brokers still accept investment clubs as clients.
GSK boss Emma Walmsley has fired a parting shot at Labour, saying that its refusal to back down in a drug pricing row puts the UK's 'globally competitive' industry under threat.

Walmsley, who announced last week she would quit GlaxoSmithKline in three months, became the latest to speak out over a pricing regime that has infuriated the pharmaceutical sector.

Under the rules, designed to save the public money, the NHS claws back up to 23 per cent of the cost of newer drugs that it has bought from pharma firms.

This rate is much higher than what was anticipated when the regime was introduced in 2024. It is also much more than what is clawed back under similar schemes in other countries.

It has prompted companies to warn of lower investment in the UK, and suggest that British patients could find it harder to access cutting-edge medicines.

Pharma firms argue that too tight a squeeze on their profits reduces the incentive for them to spend years and large sums of cash on drug development.

Speaking out: GSK boss Emma Walmsley has fired a parting shot at Labour

'It will be very difficult for the UK to have a life sciences industry that is globally competitive without a competitive commercial environment,' Walmsley told The Mail on Sunday.

'I think it's absolutely essential that we continue to have constructive relationships between industry and the Government.

'We also need constructive industrial policies, constructive healthcare policies.'

Walmsley said she recognised the Government had a 'difficult job' but stressed that  at a time when the Government says it is prioritising growth  'all the data shows the health of the nation impacts the wealth of the nation'.

Stand-off: Health Secretary Wes Streeting walked away from talks with an industry group after it failed to agree to new Government proposals

'We need to make this a good place to launch innovation with fair value recognition,' she said.

'I hope and I hear that we can continue to be in dialogue to get to a more constructive resolution. I do believe we're better placed between industry and Government to address these things by working together.'

The comments come as the Government and industry remain locked in a stand-off over the drugs pricing policy.

In August, Health Secretary Wes Streeting walked away from talks with an industry group after it failed to agree to new Government proposals.

He has said he 'won't allow big pharma to rip off our patients or taxpayers'. In recent weeks however, Whitehall has struck a more emollient tone.

Lord Patrick Vallance, the Science Minister, told the Financial Times in September that Britain needed to 'fix the commercial environment' to bring companies back and benefit patients and that 'means probably for medicines, we need to pay a bit more for some of them'.

It comes after several firms pulled out of or paused investments in the sector. Last month, US drugs giant Merck said Britain was 'not internationally competitive' as it scrapped a 1 billion London research centre that was already under construction and due to open in 2027, resulting in 125 scientists and support staff being laid off.

And David Ricks, the boss of Eli Lilly  maker of fat jab Mounjaro  also sounded a warning to the UK after the firm paused plans for an investment to help fund new biotech companies.

Ricks said Britain paid less for drugs than other developed countries and 'unless that changes, I don't think they will see many new medicines and

I don't think they will see much investment'.

He told the FT that Britain was 'probably the worst country in Europe' for drug prices.

Meanwhile, UK-based drugs giant AstraZeneca has paused a planned 200 million expansion of its Cambridge research site.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry has highlighted figures showing that a 'remarkably low' 9 per cent of total healthcare expenditure in the UK goes on medicine, compared with 15 per cent in France, 17 per cent in Germany and Italy, and 18 per cent in Spain.
Norway has become the latest European nation to cash in on the UK tourist tax blunder as more visitors opt to splash their cash on the Continent.

Steen & Strom, which claims to be the oldest department store in the world and Oslo's equivalent of Selfridges, reported a 27 per cent rise in tax-free sales to tourists in the first eight months of this year.

'Many customers tell us they are choosing to make luxury purchases abroad rather than in London,' said David Wilkinson, executive director at the store. He said the UK tourist tax was a 'large factor' behind the shop's decision to open a new refund service for tourists in June.

Annette Lund, boss of Promenaden, which runs Steen & Strom, said Norway's VAT-free shopping was 'resonating strongly with British visitors', more of whom were heading to the Continent to shop tax-free.

The Norwegian figures come after the Office for National Statistics revealed inbound visits and spending in the UK to be still languishing below pre-pandemic levels while other European nations see a rebound in both the number of tourists and their spending.

More than 500 UK business leaders have backed a Mail campaign to bring back tax-free shopping for foreign visitors to encourage tourism. But the Treasury is not planning to address the issue at the Budget in November.

Scandi style: Tourists are flocking to Steen & Strom, Oslo's equivalent of Selfridges

Among those pushing for tax-free shopping to be reinstated are Harrods, Primark and Marks & Spencer, and luxury brands Burberry and Mulberry.

Lifting the tourist tax would make the UK the one European destination to offer rebates to 450 million EU customers, as well as tourists from elsewhere.

Before the Conservatives axed tax-free shopping in 2021, tourists from outside the EU could receive a 20 per cent VAT refund on purchases in the UK. Now the UK has left the EU and its customs union, EU residents could shop tax-free alongside high-spenders from China and the US.

Calls for the Government to help business come among fears of another tax raid on firms this autumn as the Chancellor struggles to make her Budget numbers add up.

The bosses of Sainsbury's, Tesco, John Lewis, Boots and Currys wrote to Rachel Reeves last week to warn her against further tax rises on business.

Retailers say that measures in last autumn's Budget have already cost them 7 billion.
Former jewellery tycoon Gerald Ratner made a 1 million bid for collapsed accessories chain Claire's before it was snapped up by a private equity firm, The Mail on Sunday understands.

Last week, Claire's, which holds a special place in the memories of many Britons with its racks of sparkly earrings and glittery hair scrunchies, was rescued from administration by Modella Capital, which also owns Hobbycraft and TG Jones, the new name it gave to the former High Street stores of WH Smith.

The private equity firm warned it had only bought 156 of the 301 Claire's stores across the UK and Ireland, and that job losses and shop closures were 'inevitable'.

But The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Modella was not the only bidder for the chain, with a consortium led by Ratner having made its own tilt at the retailer.

The former jewellery boss's offer included 500,000 for 'fixtures, fittings and IT' and an additional 500,000 to cover 'estate costs,' according to details of the bid seen by this newspaper.

A source close to the discussions also said the consortium had been prepared to 'take on all of the stores', potentially saving even more jobs than the rescue by Modella, the price tag of which has not been revealed.

Saved: Claire's, which holds a special place in the memories of many Britons with its racks of sparkly earrings and glittery hair scrunchies, was rescued from administration

The latest revelation comes as Ratner, 75, mounts a campaign to return to the High Street more than 30 years after an infamous joke about the quality of his company's products brought his career crashing down.

At its peak, Ratner's was the UK's largest jewellery chain with 2,500 stores, including 1,000 in the US, and a turnover of nearly 200 million a year. But in April 1991, Ratner told a conference of the Institute of Directors at the Albert Hall that one of its products was 'total c**p'. He later apologised, saying newspapers misinterpreted his speech. But it led to a plunge in sales and 500 million being wiped off the value of the business. The episode achieved legendary status among businesspeople, with 'doing a Ratner' referring to executive gaffes. He returned to the business world in 1996 when he started a health club, which he sold for 4 million in 2001.

In June, The Mail on Sunday revealed that Ratner was plotting to buy back the UK arm of his former business, which includes H Samuel and Ernest Jones, from its US owner Signet. He is also eyeing other High Street targets, according to a source, as retailers struggle under pressure from Labour's tax raid on businesses and the cost of living crisis.
Lots to consider from these local newsies . . .

A recurring theme for anyone watching closely . . .

We notice progressive newsies seem to believe that impending MAGA crackdowns on Kansas City will somehow reflect poorly on the Missouri Republican Super-Majority. That's a nice theory but it's a RHETORICAL strategy and shouldn't offer much reassurance against impending La Migra raids or policy enforcement in the works.

Now . . .

Here's a much more optimistic description . . .

"Nick Haines, Brian Ellison, Kris Ketz, Eric Wesson and Dave Helling discuss the resounding recall election results in Jackson County which ousts Frank White and has Kay Barnes taking over the leadership role in the interim, the local impacts of the government shutdown, Trump's threat to move the World Cup from dangerous cities, the deportation program using the National Guard in Missouri and more."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Of course, we always have to define terms first . . . This one is pretty obvious but here's a quick refresher on the lingo . . .

A Reduction in Force (RIF) is a formal process for eliminating positions within a federal agency due to reasons like budget cuts, reorganization, or a lack of work, rather than individual employee fault.

This is the main threat confronting so many Kansas City workers once again.

As always, we shouldn't forget that the federal government is the largest employer in the Kansas City metro.

Moreover . . .

There's a weird supposition that KC won't get hit as hard because we're in the middle of two solidly red states . . . Again, that's nice rhetorical spin that shouldn't offer any reassurance given that kind of thinking hasn't saved so many employees already cut loose.

And so . . .

Via social media and TOP ECHELON TKC TIPSTERS we can report . . .

KANSAS CITY FEDERAL WORKERS BRACE FOR RIFS AMID WHAT LOOKS LIKE A ROUGH GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWN!!!

Everyone seems to agree this one might go longer than most . . .

Previously, shutdowns were typically thought of as a "paid vacation" by many federal workers, this time around . . . Expectations are a bit more dire given hints from the White House.

What TKC thinks might be overlooked . . .

There's a tendency to write-off federal workers or forget that hard times for Kansas City government workers IMPACT THE ECONOMY OF THE ENTIRE METRO. Like it or not, so many local restaurant closings, small biz shut downs and noticeably less cowtown spending signal federal austerity already taking hold at the street level.

Here's the word and more resources for readers to consider . . .

The White Houses Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last week encouraged agencies to think of the shutdown as an opportunity to fire federal workers, while White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that it would be targeting agencies that dont align with the administrations values.



While the government has had numerous shutdowns in recent years, no administration has used the lapse in funding as a method for firing furloughed workers, bringing a new legal issue before the court.



The plan has already prompted one lawsuit from a union representing federal workers . . .

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

White House says federal layoffs could hit 'thousands' ahead of Trump, Vought meeting President Donald Trump is set to meet with OMB Director Russell Vought to discuss agency cuts as the government shutdown threatens thousands of federal jobs.

Government funding vote fails again in Senate as hopes fade for quick end to shutdown Hopes for a quick end to the government shutdown are fading. Democrats have refused to budge in a Senate vote. President Donald Trump is readying plans to unleash layoffs and cuts across the federal government. On the third day of the shutdown, another Senate vote to advance a Republican bill that would reopen the government failed on a 54-44 tally.

Senate adjourns until Monday; House cancels votes for next week Follow government shutdown news as Trump and Congress grapple with federal budget plans. Firings are expected soon, and some employees have received furlough notices.

Trump uses shutdown to troll Democrats with deepfake memes about layoffs President Donald Trump continued to taunt Democrats with AI-generated videos as he threatened targeted cuts

Trump barrels toward uncharted legal territory with plans for layoffs during shutdown The Trump administration plans to use the shutdown to fire thousands of federal workers, a move that would throw the government into uncharted legal territory. The White House's Office o...

Developing . . .
Aftermath amid outcry from family . . .

"Jackson County, Missouri Prosecuting Attorney Melesa Johnson says that the man made threats inside the gas station about having explosives in his car. Police were called out for a fight and a possible bomb threat. They shot and killed Williams as he walked toward his car.



"The Prosecuting Attorney's Office says Williams made threats inside the gas station about having those explosives."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 4. The Azerbaijani Army launched a counter-offensive operation, later called the "Iron Fist", on September 27, 2020, in response to the large-scale provocation of the Armenian armed forces along the frontline.

The 44-day second Karabakh war ended with the liberation of Azerbaijans territories from nearly 30-year Armenian occupation and the restoration of territorial integrity.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has addressed the nation on October 4, 2020.

Trend presents the nationwide address of the head of state.

Nationwide address of President Ilham Aliyev:

Dear fellow countrymen!

Today, the city of Jabrayil and nine villages of Jabrayil district have been liberated from occupation. I heartily congratulate all the people of Azerbaijan on this historic event.

I sincerely congratulate all our soldiers and officers who took an active part in the liberation of Jabrayil District and other occupied territories. As a result of their heroism and courage, our native lands have returned to us today. May Allah rest all our martyrs who died in these bloody battles in peace. May Allah sending healing to our wounded soldiers.

After many years, the city of Jabrayil has been liberated. Jabrayil is ours!

Four years ago, the reconstruction of the village of Jojug Marjanly in Jabrayil district began. The heights liberated as a result of a successful operation allowed the residents the opportunity to return to the village of Jojug Marjanly in Jabrayil district. We have built a beautiful town there. I said at the opening of the settlement that Jojug Marjanly is a symbol of our invincible will. Jojug Marjanly shows that the Azerbaijani people will never put up with the occupation, and our return to other occupied lands began with Jojug Marjanly. I think that the liberation of most of Jabrayil district and the city of Jabrayil today is of special importance.

As you know, Azerbaijan has been fighting to restore its territorial integrity for a week now. On the battlefield, our soldiers and officers show heroism, inflict crushing blows on the enemy, put the enemy in its place, drive the enemy out of our lands at the cost of their lives. This glorious mission will find its worthy place in history.

Today we are writing a new history of our people and state, a glorious history. We are restoring historical justice today because the land of Karabakh is our ancient historical land. The people of Azerbaijan have lived, created and built in these lands for centuries. But for many years, for almost 30 years, Armenian executioners have occupied our lands, destroyed all our historical, religious and cultural sites.

We will restore all our cities. We will restore all our mosques destroyed by the Armenians. Life will return to these places. We have put an end to the attempts of Armenians to change our historical names and falsify history, to erase the historical and cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people. The historical names of our settlements are being restored and they will be restored.

We are fighting on our own lands. Our territorial integrity must be restored and we are on the right path. Our soldiers are saviors because they are liberating their native land from invaders.

Today, the people of Jabrayil, of course, are happy, as indeed are all the people of Azerbaijan. Yesterday, our ancient settlement, the Sugovushan settlement was liberated from occupation. All the people of Azerbaijan celebrated this historic event, congratulated each other and could not hold back their tears. These were the tears of joy. Azerbaijan shed tears in the early 1990s but those were tears of defeat, tears of tragedy.

Today, the people of Azerbaijan are happy. I would like to list the names of the settlements liberated today for the people of Jabrayil and all the people of Azerbaijan. Today, the glorious Azerbaijani Army liberated the following settlements: Jabrayil city, Karkhulu village, Shukurbayli village, Yukhari Maralyan village, Charakan village, Dashkasan village, Horovlu village, Dejal village, Mahmudlu village, Jafarabad village.

I am appealing to the residents of these villages. Your long wait is coming to an end, and let all our other refugees and IDPs know that we will return them to their ancestral lands. By force! We wanted this issue to be resolved through negotiations and we were patient. We have always been fair in the negotiations. We wanted what is ours. We have never set our eyes on anyone else's lands. But we have always said that they are ours, our peoples, our nations, they must return to us, they must return through negotiations. But these talks have, in fact, led to the freezing of the conflict, as was calculated in advance. Can negotiations go on for 30 years?! Is it possible to keep the Azerbaijani people in such a situation for 30 years?! For 30 years, we have lived with hopes that the international community will resolve this issue. Countries and international organizations involved in resolving this issue will have their say. The world's highest international body, the UN Security Council, will work to implement its resolutions. These resolutions have been on paper for 27 years. For 27 years, we have shown a constructive position, a fair position at all times  in all periods of negotiations. But what did we see in return? The aggressor became even more impudent. The aggressor's greed grew even more as they set their sights on our ancestral lands. As a result, all the occupied lands were attributed to the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh republic", new maps were published and all the occupied territories were portrayed as Nagorno-Karabakh. What happened after that? Then they stated that they would not return an inch of the lands to Azerbaijan.

We have been saying that this, after all, is contrary to the subject of negotiations. After all, our main point of hope in the talks was that it was stated that the occupied lands would be gradually returned to Azerbaijan. We also agreed to return them in stages and peacefully. Let five districts be returned at the first stage, two at in the second stage, then let the Azerbaijanis return to Nagorno-Karabakh, return to Shusha, and then let the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples live together as we once did. This is a fair position. This position is in compliance with all norms of international law. What did we want? We wanted this much, we were and are entitled to that. But what did we see?! We saw that they want to break the will of the Azerbaijani people. We saw that a new war is being waged against us, that we are being threatened with a new war. We saw that in July, for no apparent reason, our city of Tovuz and other settlements came under fire, our servicemen were killed, one civilian was killed. We saw that a sabotage group was sent in August and the head of that sabotage group was neutralized and detained. Now he is testifying and saying that he was sent to commit acts of terror. Is this a commitment to the process of negotiations?! Then, the prime minister of Armenia makes nonsensical statements, falsifies history, tries to deceive his people and the international community. A year ago, he torpedoed the whole process of negotiations by saying that "Karabakh is Armenia, full stop", making it meaningless. Attempts to change the format of talks, the words that "Azerbaijan must negotiate with the so-called puppet junta" completely contradict the negotiations. Did he get an adequate response? I have repeatedly told Minsk Group co-chairs, the co-chairs' ambassadors, other international organizations and the European Union to influence Armenia, to impose sanctions and put pressure on it. This cant be allowed to happen. If there is no strong pressure, Armenia will become even more impudent, even more impertinent and start making new claims. They did not listen to me. I wanted this issue to be resolved peacefully. They did not listen to me. Did they think that the Azerbaijani people and I, the President of Azerbaijan, would put up with this situation?! They thought that our holy city of Shusha would be trampled by the Armenians and I would put up with that?! Are we supposed to negotiate with the Armenian executioners who have dealt a blow to the history of the Azerbaijani people? The people of Azerbaijan were insulted when the head of the so-called regime held a "swearing-in ceremony" in Shusha. Lets see now where he will hold the swearing-in ceremony now, a funeral ceremony will be held! He has now run away and went into hiding like a mouse. Come on out! The prime minister of Armenia dances in Shusha, on the Jidir plain, and thinks that we will put up with that?! They are wrong! We will never put up with that. What does it mean to move the parliament of the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh republic" to Shusha?! Again, it is an attempt to insult the Azerbaijani people. What does it mean to build a new road from Armenia to Jabrayil?! This means that there will be illegal settlement. Armenians are already being brought from Lebanon and other places, and being resettled in our ancient city Shusha, and this is shown on television in violation of international conventions, in violation of the Geneva Convention. Does anyone say a word to them?! I have asked all our foreign diplomatic missions to raise the issue, tell the UN, the OSCE, the European Union, other organizations that it is illegal! Illegal settlement is a crime! Was there a reaction to that?! Did the Minsk Group make a statement?! It did not! Did the European Union make one?! It did not! They said that we are not interested in that. If they are not interested, then don't be interested now. Why are you raising a hue and cry now then? What are these tricks for? There are slandering against Azerbaijan. Some countries, European countries are accusing us. Let them go and look in the mirror. These accusations have no basis. Someone says that they will not allow Azerbaijan to conquer Nagorno-Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is ours, it is our land, we must return there, we are returning there and we will return there!

Therefore, the first culprit in the current situation is the Armenian leadership. At the same time, there are circles of some countries that are indifferent to this issue, always support Armenia and want to perpetuate this occupation. Azerbaijan is resolving this issue on its own, and I told Armenia before the events of 27 September  let's fight one on one. Let's see who is who! So what happened? Pashinyan calls one world leader a day. Every day! I did not call anyone. I did not call any world leader. I had contacts and they called me. There is no world leader left who he would not call, beg, send an emissary, implore and kneel to. This is the end of it. If he had spoken to us in a normal language, if he had not desecrated our holy city, of course, we would live with the hope that this issue would be resolved through negotiations. But every step was a provocation, every step was an insult, and he thinks that we will put up with that?! Now we have shown who is who. We are driving them away like dogs! Azerbaijani soldiers drive them away like dogs! The Azerbaijani flag is being raised in the occupied territories! Azerbaijani soldiers are standing in their trenches! Their posts are in our hands! We are driving their tanks! Their other weapons are in our hands, their trucks are in our hands! We are fulfilling our mission of salvation and we will complete it!

Let the Armenian leadership think carefully before it is too late. He put forward seven conditions to us. Who are you to put forward condition to us?! Let's see what your conditions are now! You fall to your knees begging for a ceasefire. The ceasefire was restored for two years at the request of the Armenian prime minister. He told me that the situation inside was difficult, that he was being squeezed here and there, asked for some time to solve this problem because he had some new ideas. He said he had drawn a line through everything that happened in the past, asked for a chance, for some time. I said OK. But what happened then? A year later, he said that "Karabakh is Armenia". Let him say that "Karabakh is Armenia" now. The calls I have been receiving and the conversations I have been having during the calls are, of course, confidential, and in some cases they are asking me what our condition is. My condition is the same  to leave our lands, to leave them, to stop the confrontation. Not in word but in deed. Let him say that he recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, as stated in the fundamental principles. Let him say that he will withdraw his troops from the occupied territories, as stated in the fundamental principles. Let him say that he apologizes to the Azerbaijani people and say that Karabakh is not Armenia. The last condition is to give us a schedule for a withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories. Then, of course, we will restore the ceasefire. But it is difficult to do it now when fierce battles underway. Because if we stop, they will not stop. But at least it would be possible to work on that. But requests to stop and give them some time Why should we give them time? Give them time to gather strength? Give them time to attack us again? Do they really think we are so naive? Give them time to come to the talks... I said what I needed, and this is all.

Today, the liberation of Jabrayil from occupation should be a lesson to Armenia and its benefactors. I said before the events. He committed a provocation there, we taught him a lesson, but it wasnt learned. He committed a provocation here, we taught him another lesson, but it wasnt learned either. Finally, this time he committed yet another provocation, we taught him yet another lesson, and it was learned this time round.

We are on the side of justice. We live in the most glorious moments of history. The Azerbaijani people are an ancient people. There have been many glorious moments, events and victories in our history. Today's events have a special place among them. We are restoring justice, restoring our territorial integrity, fulfilling the hopes of the Azerbaijani people and will continue to do so. We are right and we will win! Karabakh is ours! Karabakh is Azerbaijan!
BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 4. The Azerbaijani Army launched a counter-offensive operation, later called the "Iron Fist", on September 27, 2020, in response to the large-scale provocation of the Armenian armed forces along the frontline.

The 44-day second Karabakh war ended with the liberation of Azerbaijans territories from nearly 30-year Armenian occupation and the restoration of territorial integrity.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has been interviewed by Al Arabiya TV channel.

Trend presents the interview.

Host: So, what was a cold war in the past has become fierce burning all over Azerbaijan and Armenia, a struggle which comes back from the past and moves the sounds of the shelling. Nagorno-Karabakh is in the headlines again and the word expands outside it emits interventions from international parties and warning of the holistic war which could turn to a regional war. The means of the solution international preventions will be the topics of our discussion with the president of Azerbaijan, President Aliyev. So joining us from Baku, President Ilham Aliyev. Welcome, sir.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you.

Host: President, we will start from these developments and the crisis between Azerbaijan and Armenia. So, what is the threshold of this escalation?

President Ilham Aliyev: On the 27th of September Armenia launched a military attack on our military positions and civilians, our civilians suffered from that. We have victims among civilians. Information this morning was that 22 civilians were killed and 73 were wounded. Unfortunately, today we have dozens of wounded and again killed people, our ordinary villagers. We had to respond, and our response was adequate. We launched a counter-attack and as a result of this counter-attack we managed to suppress the firing positions of Armenia, which are situated on the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. We managed to liberate some of the territories, several villages and today we liberated the city of Jabrayil which has been under Armenian occupation for 27 years. Our successful military operation continues. And we are fully determined to liberate our land, and to restore our territorial integrity.

Host: President Aliyev, apparently things are getting out of hand, or out of control between you and Armenia. This expansion in the operations, military operations is there a limit for it?

President Ilham Aliyev: Well, I dont think that things are going out of control. It is under control of Azerbaijani army. We are now in the offensive operation, our goal is to liberate our territories. I made a proposal to mediators and also, I made an appeal to Armenian people, to make responsible their government for occupation and to stop occupation. If Armenia agrees on that, if they will start liberating occupied territories which they keep illegally under control for almost 30 years, the war will stop. We dont need war. We were in the process of negotiations since 1992. And during this almost 30 years, there have been zero progress on negotiation table. Armenia did not want to implement resolutions of United Nations Security Council demanding full, immediate and unconditional withdrawal from our territories. On the contrary, their military political leadership was trying to occupy new lands. They were trying to launch, and they actually did in July, they launched a new military attack on Azerbaijan. So, we have to defend ourselves, defend our people and restore internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan, which is recognized by all countries of world.

Host: President Aliyev, if Armenia does not respond to this initiative which you have presented, this escalation will continue and there are no fear of the lives of the civilians and the cost will be very high.

President Ilham Aliyev: Armenia is brutally violating the Geneva convention, not only by using heavy artillery to bomb our cities and villages, but also providing illegal resettlement of foreigners to the occupied territories. We want our territories to be liberated. We counted very much on the mediators. We have a mandate to facilitate finding a solution between the two countries. But instead of showing constructive approach on the negotiation table, Armenia launched a military attack on us in July. And we gave them adequate response. They sent the sabotage group which was planning to commit terror acts and the head of the sabotage group was detained and he gives evidence. And in September they launched artillery bombardment on our villages and cities, and more than 500 hundred houses of ordinary Azerbaijanis, who live close to the area of the conflict have been completely demolished or damaged. Therefore, Armenia must stop these aggressive actions they must commit to withdrawal of their troops from our territory. They must give us a time-table, or withdrawal from occupied territories. Their prime minister who said that Karabakh is Armenia should now say that Karabakh is not Armenia and after that, of course, we will be ready to put an end to hostility and to restore the ceasefire regime.

Host: But president Aliyev, through Al Arabiya the Armenian president talked about negotiations. He said that the solution is through negotiations. What do you respond?

President Ilham Aliyev: I agree. I also think that the solution is through negotiations but negotiations must have the substance. Armenia saying that Karabakh is Armenia, their prime minster said that, actually they destroy the principles on which the solution should be found. Because OSCE Minsk Group, whose co-chairs are Russia, United States and France, have elaborated for years during the negotiations the principles of settlement. And the first step in order to achieve the sustainable peace in our region, is the liberation of occupied territories. And when Armenian prime minister who came to power as a result of the coup detat two years ago, as a result of the so-called revolution which was sponsored by George Soros when he said that Karabakh is Armenia, he destroys the negotiation substance. There is nothing to talk about. Therefore, prime minister who is in charge in Armenia, must think very seriously about his destructive behavior, about his actions which led to military clash. We have been in the process of negotiations for 28 years and I had an experience in negotiations with the two former presidents of Armenia, and we were working in a more or less acceptable manner in order to find solution. We were making small steps but we were making steps. We were elaborating jointly with mediators the principles which should be the basis for settlement. And two years ago a person from the street who had no experience in political life, who in his all life was not even the head of a small company, who has no idea about geopolitics, who has no idea about international relations, who comes and he starts to destroy his own country and now Armenia is in crisis. He puts to prison the head of the major political party. He launches criminal investigation against two former presidents with whom I in different periods worked on negotiation. He establishes completely despotic regime, and destroys negotiation table. And what should we do? He makes insulting statements against Azerbaijan. He makes provocative steps and actually the mediators themselves were very embarrassed with this strange, to put it mildly, behavior. He destroys negotiation process. Therefore, I say, to go back to negotiations, first, Armenian prime minister should say that Karabakh is not Armenia. Because Karabakh is Armenia is lie. Karabakh is Azerbaijan. He should say that he is committed to the principles which have been elaborated for 20 years, which provide return of occupied territories of Azerbaijan to us, to those who is the owner of those lands. He should give us now, after he launched this dirty military attack. He should give us a time-table of withdrawal from our cities. And we are ready to stop fire. Otherwise, we will do it by force, we will restore our territorial integrity by force and we will show him his place.

President Aliyev, I cannot interrupt, because of the translation but there are three points which Id like to comment on your answer. Number 1  you were saying that Armenia is going through a crisis but we see that the Armenian people supporting their leadership and they salute how their leadership is trying to preserve them or protect them. The second point, is the only condition for Armenia to withdraw or retreat from saying that Karabakh is Armenian or are there any conditions or preconditions to go back at the negotiation table. And third, who are the countries which the mediators spoke of who felt embarrassed?

President Ilham Aliyev: The countries I already said the OSCE Minsk Group, the chairman of the Minsk Group of OSCE, Russia, United States and France and during the last years of my interaction with the representatives of this group, we had opportunity to exchange views. And neither myself nor them actually know what can be done in order to move negotiation forward. Because you know, negotiation principles and negotiation format has been established. It was not established unilaterally by Azerbaijan. It was proposed by the mediators and accepted by two countries, by Azerbaijan and Armenia. The format of negotiations is Azerbaijan and Armenia. This is a conflict between two countries. Prime Minister of Armenia said that is not a format which is acceptable. Azerbaijan has to negotiate with the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh republic", which no country in the world recognizes, including Armenia itself. So, that was a deliberate act in order to disrupt negotiations because he knew that neither we, no mediators will accept it. And mediators Russia, United States, and France rejected this. Then, he said that Karabakh is Armenia which none of his predecessors did before. None of them, because it means end of negotiations. Because the substance of negotiations is to return the territories to Azerbaijan by peaceful means, through negotiations. And then to provide the normal co-existence between Azerbaijani and Armenian community in Nagorno-Karabakh, because before the war, before Armenia occupied our territories, 25 percent of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh were Azerbaijanis. But today, not only Nagorno-Karabakh is occupied but seven districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh where Armenian population did not exist, but where there have been more than 700,000 Azerbaijanis. All of them were expelled. All their houses are destroyed. All our historical monuments, including our mosques are destroyed by Armenian barbarians and now when we were coming closer to making a progress there is a change in government in Armenia. The new people, the new team has absolutely nothing to do with politics, comes to power, makes this destructive statements and actions, launches military aggression on us. What we were supposed to do? We have to defend ourselves. Thats what we do and we will do it until our territorial integrity is restored.

Host: President Ilham Aliyev Russia and France also sent accusations to you in addition to for example Syrian mercenaries through Turkey. How do you respond to that?

President Ilham Aliyev: We reject it completely. I had received two phone calls from French president during this last ten days, or last week and I told him that give us evidence. There is not a single evidence of the so-called Syrian fighters on our territory. I asked him when he called me on 27 September, and since that time I dont have any evidence. If they have this evidence why they didnt provided to us. Then, when he called me couple of days ago, he raised this issue again. He said that they have intelligence information. I said share it with us. Its not appropriate to accuse a country without providing any evidence and proof. Today I dont have any single evidence from France about this unacceptable accusation. There is no foreign fighters on Azerbaijani soil and I told French president that our army is almost 100 thousand people. What we do now on the battle field is showed in internet, everybody can see how our modern drones destroy Armenian tanks and anti-air systems. Our army is liberating one village after another. Our flag is being raised on the territories which had been under occupation for so many years. So these accusations are absolutely groundless. Another thing which I can tell you that Armenians make another fake news as if Turkish F-16 shot down Armenian SU-25. And that was fake news. That fake news was introduced into the media, European politicians started to exploit this fake information, and now, when it is proven that it didnt happen, no one even apologized. I demand apology from those who accuse us. I demand them to be responsible, to control what they say. We are not a country which will tolerate accusation. We are not a country which will tolerate insult. If we start saying what we think, I think there will be a lot of turbulence in those countries. They should leave Azerbaijan alone. They should leave the region alone. We here on our land, our land is occupied. If France wants self-determination for Nagorno-Karabakh let them give city of Marseille which is almost half inhabited by Armenians and let them announce Nagorno-Karabakh republic. And let them give them independence. Lets give independence to Corsica. Let give independence to Basques. Why they demand independence for Nagorno-Karabakh from us. What right do they have to demand it from us? They should stop these accusations, they should stop attacking Azerbaijan and damaging our image. And if we will start to talk about mercenaries and terrorists, I think those who accuse us, will find themselves in very embarrassing position. They better look to the mirror first, before accusing us.

Host: In any case, some consider that if this crisis expands then your lands could turn into a battlefield for struggles where you have no benefit from, like a proxy war on your land. Dont you hear that? It could become a struggle of the region

President Ilham Aliyev: No. There is no proxy war. Azerbaijan is an independent country. Our independence is recognized by the all international community. Azerbaijan has a very strong position on international arena. I can only give you two examples of our achievements. Several years ago with the support of 155 countries Azerbaijan was elected to United Nations Security Council. Thats because of our independent policy and because of our country being very responsible member of international community. This year we had a Summit of Non-Alignment Movement in Baku with the participation of 120 countries. And Azerbaijan assumed chairmanship in Non-Aligned Movement. Unanimous decision of 120 countries were to award Azerbaijan with this honorable duty. Can proxy country get this support? Proxy countries are miserable. No one respects them. No one pays attention to them. Today Azerbaijani word is important for the world. Today without Azerbaijan no project in the region, political, economic, energy, transportation can be achieved. And those who tell us proxy, they are proxy themselves. Let them look at the mirror. They are used to look to the countries from top to the down. We are not in that position. We defend our dignity, we defend our independence. No country in the world has a right to interfere into our affairs as they should understand it. It is in the interests of Azerbaijan to restore its territorial integrity, millions people of Azerbaijanis are waiting for their time to go back to their native land, and we the government will provide it. We will return our people to their homeland, we will restore our cities, restore our villages. We will raise the flag of Azerbaijan on all the occupied territories.

Host: President Aliyev, Europe says that there is no solution for this crisis between you and Armenia, no military solution. How do you respond to that, for this European position?

President Ilham Aliyev: I hear a lot about - there is no military solution to the conflict. First, I do not agree with that. Second, okay, if there is no military solution, give us non-military solution. Give us diplomatic solution, comply with the United Nations Security Council resolutions. They were adopted by the highest international body of the world. And those resolutions demand, withdrawal of Armenian troops without any conditions from occupied territories. And we have been in negotiations since 1992, and during these 28 years had there been any diplomatic solution? Did mediators or other international organizations provide us with the political solution? No. They made this conflict frozen but it is not frozen. So, how long we are going to wait? Another 30 years? How long Armenians will continue to sit on our land and not allow our people to go back to their homes. If international community cannot provide implementation of international resolutions, Azerbaijan will do it itself. Thats what is happening. And once again, I tell all those who want to facilitate, and also, Armenian leadership until its too late, stop occupation now. Make a statement, that you accept principles of the settlement. You accept territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, you give us a time-table for withdrawal from all occupied territories, and prime minister of Armenia, who on Azerbaijani territories said that Karabakh is Armenia should apologize in front of Azerbaijani people and he should say Karabakh is not Armenia and then, we will stop.

Host: President Aliyev, one last word, after all which you have mentioned to Armenia, is there anything else would you like to say through our news channel to the Armenian people and all those officials in Armenia.

President Ilham Aliyev: You know, a couple of days ago, I visited the wounded Azerbaijani soldiers who suffered from Armenian attack. Speaking to them, I made an appeal to Armenian people. And I understood that for them what I was saying was not something very common. Thats not probably the only thing which they wanted to hear. Because they were almost killed by Armenians. Sitting in front of them and expressing my gratitude to them, to their parents that they grew such heroes for us, I said, my appeal is also to Armenian people. Make responsible your government for what it has done. Dont send your children to Azerbaijan, dont send your children to occupied territories. Today, 90 percent of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh army, consists of Armenian citizens. Stop this occupation. Leave Azerbaijani territory. Live on your own land and we will then have peace. We will try again to restore normal relations which Azerbaijani and Armenian people had before. We will try. It will be not easy. But we will try to be neighbors, to live side by side. That is my, how to say, word to Armenian people. To Armenian government, I have nothing to say. I just already said what they have to do. If they want ceasefire, I already said apologize in front of us, give us a time-table of withdrawal. Not just words that we will stop it and we will negotiate. It will not work. Time-table day one, day two, day three, when they liberate which territory, and prime minister of Armenia who insulted the feelings of Azerbaijanis dancing on our sacred land of Shusha with his gang and saying that Karabakh is Armenia should apologize and say that Karabakh is not Armenia. Thats my word.

Host: President of Azerbaijan, thank you very much for joining us from Baku. Thank you very much, President.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 5. The Azerbaijani Army launched a counter-offensive operation, later called the "Iron Fist", on September 27, 2020 in response to the large-scale provocation of the Armenian armed forces along the frontline.

The erupted 44-day Second Karabakh War ended with liberation of Azerbaijans territories from nearly 30-year Armenian occupation.

Trend presents the chronicle of the tenth day of the Second Karabakh war:

- President Ilham Aliyev announced that the Azerbaijani Army liberated Shikhali Aghali, Sarijali, Mazra villages of Jabrayil district and several strategic heights in different directions.

- President Ilham Aliyev was interviewed by TRT Haber TV channel.

- First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva on her official Instagram page urged everyone to share the truth about the Armenian aggression.

- The Defense Ministry said that the territory of Azerbaijan was subjected to rocket fire from Armenia. Photos of enemy vehicles captured in Jabrail.

- The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan reported 24 deaths and 121 injuries as a result of the Armenian provocation.

- The Armenian armed forces fired at Barda, Ganja, Goygol and Goranboy.

- One person was killed, three were injured from fragments of a rocket launched at Barda.

- The Ministry of Defense has spread video footage of the Azerbaijani village of Talish, liberated from the Armenian occupation.

- In connection with the crimes of Armenia against Azerbaijan, 19 criminal cases have been initiated.

- The Armenian Armed Forces has shelled the city of Agjabedi, there are wounded. 4 units of MLRS "Grad" of the Armed Forces of Armenia destroyed.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 4. On October 3, the Nizami Cinema Center in Baku became a vibrant tapestry of artistry and ambition, unveiling the cinematic gem "Sona" from the illustrious "Taghiyev" series. where a constellation of government officials, cultural luminaries, and film aficionados gathered, weaving together a rich narrative of celebration and creativity at this momentous premiere, Trend reports.

Produced by Baku Media Center with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the Ministry of Culture, and the Azerbaijan Cinema Agency, and sponsored by Neqsol Holding, Kapital Bank, Bakcell, and Norm companies, the film weaves the intricate tapestry of Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev's life, a luminary whose benevolent spirit and industrious heart forged the very foundations of contemporary Azerbaijan.

Taghiyev: Sona marks the third installment in the four-part Taghiyev series. Amidst the swirling mists of late 19th and early 20th-century Baku, the tale unfolds with Sona, a beacon of enlightenment, whose entrance ignites a profound metamorphosis in Taghiyevs existence. Their bond blossoms like a delicate flower weathering the storms of fate, delving into the depths of endurance, fidelity, and the unwavering spirit of virtue.

The film's creative team comprises executive producer Arzu Aliyeva, producer Orman Aliyev, and director Zaur Gasimli. The screenplay was authored by Ismayil Iman, Asif Isgandarli, and Gasimli, including cinematography by Vladimir Artemyev, art direction by Sebuhi Atababayev, costume design by Vusal Rahim, and an original score by Etibar Asadli.



Parviz Mammadrzayev and Gurban Ismayilov, both People's Artists, perform alongside Honored Artists Rasim Jafer, Elshen Rustamov, and Natavan Hajiyeva.



Subsequent to the screening, the cast and crew were summoned to the stage, where Gasimli expressed gratitude to all who contributed to the project.

The "Taghiyev" series has emerged as one of Azerbaijan's most significant cinematic projects. The inaugural film, Taghiyev: Oil, premiered in 2024 to honor the centenary of Taghiyevs demise and was chosen by the Azerbaijan Film Selection Committee of the Union of Azerbaijani Cinematographers as the nations entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards (Oscars). It also received recognition at the Dehancer Colourist Awards 2024 for outstanding color grading.



The production of Taghiyev: Sona was notable for its magnitude, encompassing filming at 76 sites, approximately 2,500 creative contributors in crowd scenes, and over 300 historical set decorations. A specialized costume workshop was created to accurately replicate the period, featuring several costumes, accessories, jewelry, and items specifically crafted for the film.

Since its founding, Baku Media Center has focused on preserving national memory and sharing Azerbaijani stories with global audiences. Its previous productions include Target Baku, Heritage, The Last Session, Eternal Mission, We, and Shusha, You Are Free!, all acclaimed for their portrayal of the countrys history and identity.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 4. The fifth anniversary of Armenia's first missile attack on Ganja, the second biggest city of Azerbaijan, remembered as a grave war crime against civilians, is marked today, Trend reports.

During the Second Karabakh War, the Armenian state, having bitten the dust on the battlefield, sought to settle the score with the civilian population.

As a result, Ganja, located far from the frontline, inhabited by completely peaceful people, was subjected to the missile attack, which was a clear violation of all norms of international law, humanitarian values, and the concept of humanity.

The missiles fired by Armenia at Ganja fell on a two-story building inhabited by residents, as well as private residential houses.

As a result, one civilian was killed and 39 civilians were injured.

In addition to residential houses, civilian infrastructure and ancient historical buildings were damaged.

This attack was a clear and grave war crime committed against a city located far from the frontline of military operations, inhabited entirely by civilians.

The first missile attack on Ganja was aimed by Armenia to frighten the civilian population, create chaos in the country, and influence public opinion.

However, these attacks had the opposite effect  the people became even more united, more firmly concentrated around the state.

The timely and purposeful response of the state, the mobilization of humanitarian aid and psychological support mechanisms, the start of restoration work in a short time and the reconstruction of the city further increased the people's confidence in their leader and state.

The Azerbaijani Army responded to these attacks at the front. In the Second Karabakh War, Azerbaijan won not only a military but also a moral victory.

The Armenian armed forces, taking aim at the civilian population, sooner or later found themselves in the crosshairs of international law and justice.

The Ganja events once again proved that Azerbaijan is not an aggressor in the war but a self-defending party based on international law.

The Ganja terror should not be forgotten by Azerbaijan or the world community.

This was a test not only for Azerbaijan but for all of humanity., for those who call for peace should first of all recognize such crimes, condemn them, and try to prevent them from happening again.

The war, which began on September 27, 2020, and lasted 44 days, saw the deaths of 93 Azerbaijani civilians, including 54 men, 27 women, and 12 children. Additionally, 444 people were injured, including 268 men, 109 women, and 67 children, as a result of Armenia's military actions.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 4. Azerbaijan hosted the VI International Forum on New Challenges in Education" at Baku Slavic University (BSU), Trend reports.

The hybrid event brought together officials from the Ministry of Science and Education and representatives from various educational institutions. Dedicated to the "Year of Constitution and Sovereignty," the forum was held under the slogan For a More Educated Future.

Key speakers included Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Acar Baltas, head of Baltas Group and a prominent Turkish psychologist; Caroline Wright, CEO of the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA); Roman Aliyev, Director of Riga Classic Gymnasium; and Zuhal Baltas, founder of Baltas Group and a well-known Turkish psychologist.

Discussions at the forum focused on balancing emotional and artificial intelligence in education and promoting the idea of students and educators striving to be the best versions of themselves in all aspects of the educational process.

BSU Rector Anar Naghiyev emphasized that education has now also returned to the Karabakh region. He added that universities, including Baku Slavic University, are actively preparing graduates for the modern labor market, noting that "organizing inclusivity in education is among the primary objectives."

Deputy Minister of Science and Education Idris Isayev highlighted that literacy in Azerbaijan is nearly 100 percent according to UNESCO, stressing that education plays a central role in societal development.

"Human capital development is a key part of our social progress. Education contributes to the formation of the economy and the preservation of national and moral values. Significant reforms have been carried out in this sector, and new challenges have emerged in education. Youth are required to adapt to digital economy requirements and the integration of artificial intelligence as a tool in developing certain skills," he said.

Andreas Schleicher noted that as teachers collaborate more, their confidence in professional skills grows.

"Collaborating teachers learn more, share more, and have a greater impact. Schools need to foster a culture where decisions and responsibilities are shared," he said, emphasizing that integrating artificial intelligence into education should enhance teachers creativity rather than diminish their role.

The forum continued with discussions among participants.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 4. During his official visit to the Republic of North Macedonia, the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Minister of Defense, Zukan Helez, met with the Dean of the Military Academy General Mihajlo Apostolski, Colonel Prof. Dr. Nenad Taneski, Trend reports.

They discussed the living conditions of cadets from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the challenges they face.

On this occasion, Minister Helez visited the cadets from Bosnia and Herzegovina who are studying at this military institution and spoke with them about their living conditions, their education, and the opportunities this calling provides.

At the end of the visit, Minister Helez attended the Solemn Promotion of Officers at the Military Academy General Mihajlo Apostolski in the Goce Delcev barracks in Skopje.

During the ceremony, Minister Helez, in his address, congratulated the newly promoted officers, emphasizing that they represent a new generation of leaders who, with their knowledge, professionalism, and dedication, will contribute to strengthening the defense capacities of their countries. He also stressed that investing in the education of young personnel and international cooperation in this field has long-term significance for the development of the Armed Forces of BiH and the building of stability in the region.

He emphasized that in times of security and political challenges, cooperation among the countries of the Western Balkans becomes a necessity. The countries of the region share not only a common past but also a common future, while aspirations for stability, peace, and membership in Euro-Atlantic structures represent a profound need of their citizens.

He highlighted North Macedonia as an example of a determined path toward NATO integration, while Bosnia and Herzegovina remains committed to the goal of full membership in NATO and the European Union. The Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of BiH continue reforms to achieve full interoperability with NATO standards, with the experiences of partner countries being of special importance.

The importance of rejuvenating the officer corps was particularly emphasized, along with the expectations placed upon them  professionalism, integrity, and dedication to the values of peace, cooperation, and respect for human dignity.

At the end of his speech, Minister Helez stated: Allow me to conclude with a message we share in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well. The future of the Balkans lies in peace, cooperation, and shared progress within the Euro-Atlantic family of nations. On this path, we must be partners, not rivals. I look forward to continuing the cooperation between our countries and our armed forces. Long live the Republic of North Macedonia, long live Bosnia and Herzegovina, long live our friendship!
Azerbaijan weighs up deals via its national payment systems in Aug. 2025

In August 2025, transactions via Azerbaijan's Instant Payment System reached 242.2 million manat ($142.5 million), up 2.5 times from last year. The number of transactions rose by 14 times to 900,000. Meanwhile, the LVPCSS volume was 3.97 billion manat ($2.34 billion), down 11.6 percent.

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TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, October 4. Director of the Pharmaceutical Industry Development Agency Abdulla Azizov held talks with representatives of Valenta Pharm, one of Russias leading pharmaceutical companies, to discuss prospects for bilateral cooperation, Trend reports.

The company has been in the Uzbek market for over 30 years, rolling up its sleeves and getting down to brass tacks in the realm of medicine and healthcare.

During the meeting, the sides reviewed Valenta Pharms current activities in Uzbekistan, its development plans, and new investment initiatives. The companys representatives underlined that Uzbekistan is viewed as a strategically important market for expanding investment and localizing production capacities. They also noted the countrys potential as a regional hub for exporting pharmaceutical products to neighboring and other international markets.

Azizov delivered a detailed presentation on the governments support measures and incentives for investors in the pharmaceutical industry, including ongoing efforts to enhance the investment climate, provide tax and customs preferences, and develop opportunities within free economic zones. He also highlighted the prospects for stronger cooperation between local and foreign companies.

The parties agreed to broaden cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector, focusing on establishing local production facilities that would meet domestic demand and enable exports to foreign markets.

In the current geopolitical landscape, Russia continues to position itself as Uzbekistan's second-largest trading ally, representing a substantial proportion of the nation's total foreign trade dynamics. Between January and August 2025, the bilateral trade volume escalated to $8.3 billion, reflecting a 6.4 percent uptick relative to the $7.8 billion recorded in the corresponding timeframe of 2024.

Valenta Pharm is a Russian pharmaceutical entity, established in 1997, that focuses on the innovation, manufacturing, and commercialization of both prescription and non-prescription (OTC) therapeutics. It occupies a pivotal position within the Russian market landscape, with its offerings deployed for therapeutic interventions across domains such as neuropsychiatry, gastroenterology, and virology. The organization sustains a robust emphasis on R&D, strategically positioning itself to unveil cutting-edge, high-efficacy pharmaceutical interventions tailored for a spectrum of health anomalies.

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ASTANA, Kazakhstan, October 4. The development of the digital economy and the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) are impossible without stable and equally accessible connectivity, Nabil Ben Sussia, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of IEC Telecom Group, told Trend's special correspondent.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Digital Bridge 2025 forum, Ben Sussia noted that one of the main challenges remains the digital divide between urban and rural areas.

Today, digital services, from e-government platforms to banking applications, are fully accessible in major cities but not beyond. This affects not only daily convenience but also the ability to start a business or develop a startup. Without access to connectivity, these opportunities are automatically limited, he said.

Starlink has already demonstrated its effectiveness in bridging the digital divide. In Kazakhstan, pilot projects have connected over 2,000 schools via satellite, ensuring equal access to digital learning platforms for all students last year. As an official Starlink reseller in the region, IEC Telecom Group is proud to support this national progress. The international satellite service provider is participating in the forum to present its comprehensive portfolio of solutions designed to advance regional digitalisation.

Consequently, a multitude of learners are now afforded equitable access to leverage digital resources, articulated Ben Sussia.

He also underscored the criticality of redundant communication pathways.

Regulatory bodies, financial institutions, and information repositories must implement enhanced contingencies to ensure seamless functionality, even in the event of primary system disruptions. Starlink offers an ideal solution to maintain the continuity of digital operations, he concluded.

IEC Telecom Group operates as a global entity within the satellite telecommunications sector, delivering comprehensive managed network solutions and enhanced communication services tailored for industries functioning in remote locales or facing constraints in terrestrial connectivity. Established in 1995, the organization provides satellite communication solutions encompassing voice and data for diverse sectors, including maritime, energy, and government.

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TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, October 4. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Bobur Usmanov held a meeting with the Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to Uzbekistan, Yu Jun, to discuss prospects for further strengthening bilateral cooperation, Trend reports.

Throughout the discussions, the parties conducted a comprehensive analysis of the strategic preparations for forthcoming high-profile engagements, alongside an assessment of the existing dynamics and prospective evolution of bilateral relations between Uzbekistan and China.



Concurrently, the bilateral commerce between Uzbekistan and China is experiencing exponential growth dynamics. In the preceding fiscal cycle, the bilateral trade volume exceeded $14 billion, reflecting a 23 percent uptick since the onset of 2025. This robust expansion underscores the intensifying economic collaboration between the two nations and revalidates Chinas status as a pivotal and dependable strategic ally for Uzbekistan.

As of 2024, the influx of substantial Chinese capital into the nation has culminated in the establishment of around 600 Chinese-Uzbek collaborative ventures. China has been amplifying its portfolio of development financing directed towards Uzbekistan. China perceives Uzbekistan as an integral component within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

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Pediatrician Kelly Curtin-Hallinan discusses her article My improbable survival of stage 4 cancer. Kelly shares her year-long journey of facing a dire diagnosis, enduring rounds of tests, managing the anxiety of waiting for results, and ultimately experiencing an unexpected recovery with immunotherapy. She reflects on the skepticism she once held about miracle stories, the emotional toll of uncertainty, and the balance between fear and hope that defines living with cancer. Kelly also describes the strain of protecting her daughters from the harshest realities while carrying her own doubts about survival. Listeners will gain insight into the fragility of medical certainty, the emotional reality of stage 4 cancer, and the strength it takes to live fully even when the future is unclear.

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Transcript

Kevin Pho: Hi, and welcome to the show. Subscribe at KevinMD.com/podcast. Today we welcome Kelly Curtin-Hallinan. Shes a pediatrician, and todays KevinMD article is My improbable survival of stage 4 cancer. Kelly, welcome to the show.

Kelly Curtin-Hallinan: Hi. Thanks for having me, Kevin.

Kevin Pho: Your article is a lot of your story, so for those that didnt get a chance to read it, just tell us a little bit about yourself and your story.

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Kelly Curtin-Hallinan: I am a general pediatrician living in South Central Pennsylvania, and about a year ago I had a very shocking and difficult-to-establish diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma. I have written a couple of articles about this; unfortunately, it was really difficult to get anybody to take any of my symptoms seriously.

I ended up getting admitted and was told I had stage four cancer, and then through a variety of workups that took many, many months, it has eventually been downgraded to stage three cancer. Im happy to report the current plan is for me to finish treatment this month. On the advice of my oncologist, Ive done some writing about my experience for catharsis to help me process it.

I also think as a physician, patient stories are really compelling and interesting to hear because when we see the patient, we only get a small sliver of their experience, both with the health care system as well as their own journey. I think its always really interesting to hear patient stories.

I originally had written these essays for myself for catharsis. Ive spent the last year really staring down my own mortality, wondering how my children will know me if I die in short order. What will they know about my thoughts and those sorts of things? I also wanted to have some things in print to leave them because it originally did look like things were going that way. Ive been processing the emotions of all of this, which led to three essays for your blog and, just recently, a childrens book with my daughter that addresses a lot of these issues.

Ive been living in the duality of so much that I think people can really relate to: the duality of being both a patient and a doctor, of being a caregiver and being taken care of, of experiencing hope but also skepticism, and sort of living in that space in between where there are no guarantees and we dont know whats going to happen. I just wanted to share the story for myself and for others.

Kevin Pho: You said that you had symptoms where the initial medical team or clinicians didnt take them seriously. What kind of symptoms did you initially have?

Kelly Curtin-Hallinan: For anyone with a weird diagnosis, it makes very little sense to me, even medically, but its just what happened. About four months before I was ultimately diagnosed with cancer, I started with radicular symptoms. At that time, it was noted that I had high blood pressure, which we thought was from pain. I had a workup for that, which was an MRI and treatments, and I did improve. It was all consistent with that, but my blood pressure kept going up.

Again, we still thought it was pain or related to that. They had put me on some Cymbalta for neuropathy and thought maybe that was the cause. Besides neck pain, I had hypertension that I previously hadnt had, and middle-aged, premenopausal symptoms. Im in my forties, so nothing was really out of bounds, and that made sense for quite a few months. I did wean off my Cymbalta, and then my blood pressure started being very crazy. I started going to the emergency room with blood pressures in the 200s over 180s. I did have some workup that, at least at the time, was believed to be negative: negative blood work and negative head and chest scans.

I think I was sent home twice from the emergency room with an anxiety diagnosis. The last time that I had gone, where I did ultimately get diagnosed, I really had to fight to get some scans. Im not mad at anybody, but they werent nice. They told me anyone could see I was having a panic attack. Then, as it turned out, I had this enormous abdominal tumor. They went back and looked at my scans and found all these abnormalities, which is why they believed it was stage four.

It is just a wild sort of whiplash of going from Im fine, Im overreacting to I went to the ICU and maybe I have terminal cancer. I dont think it gets a lot more dramatic than that. I dont know that Ive ever been involved in someone elses patient experience like that, and I did really have to fight reasonably hard to be taken seriously.

Kevin Pho: What did you have to do when you said that you had to fight reasonably hard? How did you do that? Did you involve other colleagues or family members? What do you mean that you had to fight for these scans?

Kelly Curtin-Hallinan: I kept getting sent home. The last time I went to the emergency room, I had seen an extender, and I insisted on seeing the physician, who, gratefully, was the last person who I feel actually listened to me. I was having some abdominal pain, and they did ultimately scan my abdomen and find a ten-by-twelve tumor.

Once I got diagnosed and admitted, I talked to the team, asking, Is there a way I could have advocated better for myself? because I did really start believing that maybe I was having a psychological event. I couldnt figure out what was going on. Again, I dont think it makes the most medical sense. Ive reviewed my chart so much; I cant explain it to you, but thats just what happened.

Additionally, they didnt really want to admit me. I do work in utilization review, and I actually called the utilization review team that I work for and asked them to send the actual criteria for hypertensive emergency, which I certainly fit at that time. I had to ask for scans. I called my PCP in between; they couldnt get me in. I tried all the channels that I know. Im a pediatrician, so I thought, Well, maybe Im wrong. Maybe this isnt a big deal to adult doctors.

I do work with some adult doctors and told them my story, and they said, No, that isnt right. It was a couple of weeks of reaching out to colleagues, calling medical facilities, and going to the emergency room. Im always polite, but they did tell me, maybe a half an hour to an hour before I got diagnosed with this very large tumor, that everyone could see I was having a panic attack and that the emergency room isnt really the place for that.

It was a frustrating experience, for sure. I am very calm now, but at the time, I was feeling very ill and confused. When I went into the emergency room and my blood pressure, which I checked at home, was that high, I did cry in triage. The response wasnt sympathetic.

Kevin Pho: As a physician yourself, you would have a basic sense of whats serious and whats not. And yet you still encountered what sounds like being almost gaslighted or dismissed.

Kelly Curtin-Hallinan: Ive heard these stories from patients, but I can honestly say Im not sure that I believed them. I dont think they were lying; I thought that maybe they were misinterpreting or something like that when patients said they presented with serious things and, at least in their perception, nobody believed them. So I was surprised.

There are so many factors going into everything every day: the exact person you see, the time of day youre seen, what else is going on in those peoples lives and in the emergency room itself. I do understand all of that. Medicine is very difficult right now, and I dont know if its implicit bias, as a woman in her forties with high blood pressure, that this could only be something psychological, or if its burnout. We all work really hard.

I wasnt there because I thought I had another choice. That wasnt where I wanted to be at that point in time. I understand everybodys trying to meet all their metrics. I was an unusual patient, so I was surprised. I was surprised, but I have heard these stories before.

I dont know what to do with that. Its hard to be in medicine right now. Its hard to be a doctor. Its hard to be a patient. Again, Im just sort of purging this. I dont know what to make of all of that or to learn from that. Since Ive been cared for, everybodys been really great, and Im very grateful to live at a time when theres so much treatment and in a place where there are so many specialists and doctors who took such good care of me. So, Im counterbalancing it with the gratitude I feel, for sure, for all the people who cared for me too.

Kevin Pho: So when you first heard that you had that diagnosis of stage four renal cell cancer, tell us what was going through your mind and how did you process those emotions during that difficult time?

Kelly Curtin-Hallinan: Well, they first told me about the tumor. They didnt say stage four originally, and I honestly was a little bit relieved because I was feeling kind of crazy. I was starting to think I felt so sick and was documenting these blood pressures at home, that maybe this is just what it is to have a stressful life. So I think I initially felt relieved to think, OK. A tumor. I know what that is. We thought it would just be surgical treatment. It was relieving to at least have something to say this is what it is and what were going to do, because the not knowing is certainly the scariest part. I had been previously scanned, and then when they went back and looked, they found a bunch of things that they thought maybe were metastatic cancer. So that was pretty stunning in a short period of time.

Maybe its because Im a pediatrician, but my thought is certainly for my kids. I have three school-aged children. The last thing I wanted to do was inflict the pain of having a sick mom or a possibly very sick mom on them at a really sensitive adolescent time in their lives. My kids at the time were eight through 15. I grew up in a household with six siblings, and it was just not something I wanted for my girls. Im very grateful. Child Life came and helped me a good deal. Before I talked to them, they helped me with how to talk about it and gave me some books to read with my youngest, which, in fact, inspired us to write our own childrens book about the experience.

I think just the overwhelming thought was, What do I do now? Even just logistically: Do I quit my job? Do we take a family vacation together? What do I do? Because even though Im the sick person, Im still the person who really needs to make sure my girls are OK. Im so proud of them; theyve come through this so strong. But, yeah, it was tough. It was really tough and lots of resources, but difficult.

Kevin Pho: And did you continue practicing medicine as a pediatrician through this?

Kelly Curtin-Hallinan: I was off for a few months. I had actually already been on some leave for the neck pain I was having because that was my predominant symptom. Its hard to remember. Last year was a little bit of a black hole, but I was off two months maybe, I think. And Im on reduced duty, but back to working.

Kevin Pho: So you said that when you had to share this news with your daughters, there was no guidebook or guidance in terms of what to do. Where did you turn to for that information, and what kind of advice can you share with the audience if theyre in the unfortunate situation of being in that position?

Kelly Curtin-Hallinan: Child Life did come to see me, and they actually gave me some scripting, which Im not sure that I can remember exactly right now, but at the time was very helpful. It was something along the lines of, they had already known that I wasnt well, and that I went to see my doctors and we found something in my body that didnt belong there. So, I was going to need treatment to get the thing that didnt belong in my body out of my body.

I told them I couldnt give them all the answers because I didnt have them, but I would give the answers to them as was appropriate and as I understood them. They took that OK. My youngest was eight, so that was sort of the whole conversation, plus some reassurance I gave them about things that we did know. We live really close to a great hospital, and we have lots of friends and family who are going to help us out. And they were going to be OK no matter what. They should know that theyre going to be OK. My oldest certainly picked up on the pronoun of they versus we.

Its a tough call because I dont ever want to lie to them and reassure them, because I think its really painful to be given false reassurance. We just gave them information as we understood it, that I was going to have surgery and then wed know more. Thats how weve been approaching it the whole time: just what we know now, and were just going to do our best and carry on and let ourselves rely on some family. I live in a great community where people picked my kids up and brought us dinner every night for two months. They did really get to see that other people really stepped up for them.

Kevin Pho: Now, after going through this ordeal, how has that changed you as a physician, and what kind of advice do you have for the other physicians and clinicians listening to this story?

Kelly Curtin-Hallinan: Sure. Like a lot of stories, sometimes its hard to know what to learn from this. But I certainly think, listen to your patients. I know that almost everybody who presented like I did wouldve had anxiety or panic or something, but there were some other objective signs going on that maybe this didnt quite fit that. So, listening to your patients I think is a good takeaway.

I talk about this with my girls a lot: just learning to live in the space of uncertainty and the duality of the different things were feeling. My kids got a dog as a result of me having cancer, and my youngest especially has been desperate for a dog. After we got the dog, she really went through this period of guilt because she only got the dog because I had cancer, and how we can feel these different things and thats OK.

It can be lucky and unlucky. We can experience joy after grief. Thats what we wrote our book about, the book about her getting the dog from both her and the dogs perspective. Thats just a space that its OK to sit with. We dont solve everything. We dont know whats going to happen. Its OK for things to be good and bad, happy and sad. I dont know. I think thats a good lesson for everyone, just sitting with those sorts of things.

Kevin Pho: A lot of physicians have that personality type where they want that certainty. Of course, with this story that youre telling us, youre still living in that sphere of uncertainty. How do you reconcile that need for certainty given your situation?

Kelly Curtin-Hallinan: I understand that. When I tell the hard story, I do want to rush to the end and say, But Im OK now, because I think we all want to kind of put a button or a bow on something. We want to solve it. I mean, thats why we went into medicine, right? To fix people, to solve things for them. But thats not the only thing we do. There were lots of people who cared for me that didnt solve my problem but certainly gave me lots of care.

I think thats very challenging. I want an answer. I want an assurance. I want to know how the story ends. Probably for the rest of my life, Im going to be dealing with this, and hopefully, its just going to be an observation thing. But thats just how its going to be. And although its more dramatic for me, I dont know that thats different than anyone else. It makes us feel better to think well know how this is going to go, we know how were going to fix it, but even in medicine, even in really certain circumstances, theres no absolute guarantee.

Kevin Pho: Were talking to Kelly Curtin-Hallinan. Shes a pediatrician. Todays KevinMD article is My improbable survival of stage 4 cancer. Kelly, lets end with some take-home messages you want to leave with the KevinMD audience.

Kelly Curtin-Hallinan: Yeah, and I think a good one is just listening to your patients. Even if we cant solve or cure their problems, that doesnt mean we cant care for them and meet them where they are. And so I think thats just a good thing to remember.

Kevin Pho: Kelly, thank you so much for sharing your story, time, and insight, and thanks again for coming on the show.

Kelly Curtin-Hallinan: Great. Thanks so much, Kevin.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 4. Kazakhstan is interested in boosting trade relations with Iran under the International North-South Transport Corridor project by establishing a logistics center in the Bandar Abbas County of Hormozgan Province in southern Iran, Kazakhstan's Ambassador to Iran Ontalap Onalbayev said, Trend reports.

He made the remark during a meeting with members of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture in Lorestan Province, located in western Iran.

According to him, with this transport corridor and logistics center, Kazakhstan will be able to throw its hat in the ring and tap into the markets of the Persian Gulf countries.

The ambassador pointed out that in the first half of this year, the trade turnover between Iran and Kazakhstan hit nearly $245 million, with Kazakhstan's exports making up $144 million and Iran's exports contributing $101 million.

In the coming months, as it was noted, trade turnover is expected to grow with the implementation of transit routes and joint projects.

Onalbayev articulated that Kazakhstan is poised to cultivate avenues for Iranian investors, emphasizing that the Kazakh government extends tailored opportunities for foreign investors, encompassing fiscal incentives, investment assurances, and the entitlement to protracted residency.



He drove home that through synergistic engagement and collaborative frameworks involving the private sector and stakeholders from Lorestan Province, optimal conditions can be engineered to facilitate the establishment of sustainable economic linkages between Lorestan entrepreneurs and Kazakh investors.

To note, an intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia, Iran, and India on September 12, 2000, laid the foundation for the North-South Transport Corridor. In general, several countries have ratified the said agreement (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkiye, and Ukraine). The purpose of creating the corridor is to reduce the time of delivery of goods coming from India to Russia, as well as to Northern and Western Europe (the delivery time on the current route is more than six weeks; it is expected to be three weeks via North-South).

The Qazvin-Rasht railroad (175 km) was put into operation on March 6, 2019, to connect Azerbaijan's railroads with Iran's railway network within the corridor. The Rasht-Astara railroad is to be built on Iranian territory.

The North-South Corridor has three directions within Iran. The eastern direction is Turkmenistan and Central Asian countries; the middle direction is Russia and other countries across the Caspian Sea; and the western direction is Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Eastern European countries.

On May 17, 2023, an agreement was signed between Russia and Iran on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railroad in Gilan province in northern Iran. Nine stations will be built on the Rasht-Astara railroad line, which is about 163 kilometers long. With the completion of this railroad, the North-South international corridor will be improved, and Iran's railroad network will be integrated with the Caucasus countries, Russia, and Northern European countries. According to the agreement, the Russian side is expected to spend 1.6 billion euro for the construction of this railroad. This railroad will be built and completed within 48 months.

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TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, October 4. Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Uzbekistan, Alisher Shukurov, held a meeting with a delegation from Valmont Irrigation, led by Sergey Stefanov, Commercial Director for the CIS and Turkiye, to discuss the efficient use of water resources and the broader adoption of modern water-saving technologies, Trend reports.

During the talks, participants pointed out that water scarcity is becoming a real thorn in the side for agriculture around the globe. For Uzbekistan, this issue is particularly significant, as water availability directly impacts both crop yields and the quality preservation of agricultural products.

Valmont representatives presented their proposals, emphasizing that a new era in water management is underway. They noted that smart irrigation systems and advanced technologies now enable farmers to monitor and manage irrigation remotely, rather than solely from the field, enhancing yields, improving resource efficiency, and boosting labor productivity.

Shukurov affirmed that the Ministry of Agriculture would provide all necessary support within its authority to facilitate the implementation of these initiatives. At the conclusion of the meeting, both sides agreed to further expand cooperation and implement specific joint projects.

Valmont Irrigation is recognized as a global leader in water-saving and mechanized agricultural technologies, with FY2024 annual sales of $4.1 billion and 84 manufacturing sites worldwide.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 4. Turkiyes Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure has launched an Early Market Engagement (EME) process for two major railway projects  the Eastern Turkiye Middle Corridor Railway Development Project (ETMIC) and the Istanbul North Rail Crossing Project (INRAIL), Trend reports citing the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The projects are supported by the World Bank and other international financial institutions. ETMIC is valued at about $1.6 billion, while INRAIL is estimated at $8.1 billion, including VAT, contingencies, construction supervision, and project management.

ETMIC focuses on upgrading Turkiyes Eastern Railway Line along the DivrigiKarsGeorgia border corridor. The project will rehabilitate 587 km of railway, fully electrify 667 km of track, and modernize bridges, tunnels, stations, and safety systems. It also includes the installation of substations, 154 kV transmission lines, advanced signaling and telecommunications, a central dispatching system, and a 320 km distributed acoustic monitoring system. The line will form a key segment of the Middle Corridor, strengthening direct links with Georgia and extending connections to Caspian and Central Asian transport networks.

INRAIL will create a 125 km bypass around Istanbul, using the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge to cross the Bosphorus. The line will be electrified and equipped with modern signaling, supporting both passenger and freight services. It will link airports on the European and Asian sides of Istanbul to the national high-speed rail network. Passenger trains will run at speeds up to 160 km/h, while freight trains will operate at 80120 km/h, boosting integration between air and rail transport and easing mobility across the city.

According to the Ministry, the EME aims to engage with companies on project requirements, gather feedback on evaluation and qualification criteria, define procurement strategies, and explain World Bank tender procedures. The process will also assess market capacity, opportunities, and risks.

The Ministry has invited construction companies to participate in open dialogue and share expertise to support the effective planning and implementation of these infrastructure projects.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, October 4. A meeting was held between the Ministry of Economy and Finances Clean Energy for Buildings in Uzbekistan project team and representatives of the World Bank, Trend reports.

The World Bank delegation included Senior Energy Specialists Irina Voitekhovich and Joern Huenteler, alongside other sector staff. Representing Uzbekistan were Ziyoviddin Badriddinov, Director of the National Agency for Energy Efficiency; Boburbek Egamov, Director of the Joint Projects Implementation Unit under the Ministry of Economy and Finance; Project Manager Talat Nurillaev; and other officials.

Throughout the deliberations, stakeholders engaged in a robust exchange of perspectives regarding the orchestration of project initiatives within designated pilot districts. Critical focal points encompassed the expeditious advancement of project execution via the strategic involvement of a global consultancy and the augmentation of collaborative synergies with the National Agency for Energy Efficiency.



At the conclusion of the meeting, both parties reiterated their dedication to enhancing synergies and facilitating the robust execution of current initiatives.



Under the auspices of the Clean Energy for Buildings in Uzbekistan initiative, underwritten by the World Bank, a comprehensive overhaul of more than 800 social sector facilities nationwide is slated for execution.

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ASTANA, Kazakhstan, October 4. Center Alem.ai will become the core of the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem in Kazakhstan, Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov said at the Digital Bridge 2025 forum, Trend's special correspondent reports.

He said that Kazakhstan is putting all its eggs in the AI basket as a golden opportunity for technological progress.

According to him, the new structurethe Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development - will become the focal point for coordinating the efforts of the government, business, and the scientific community.

The ministry's primary objective will be to improve the legal framework and expand support for IT and AI specialists.

Bektenov noted that the president's initiatives to create a national educational platform and establish an AI research university will provide a significant boost to the training of qualified personnel and the development of scientific research.

The prime minister placed special emphasis on the opening of the Alem.ai center, which will become a 'key platform for a unified digital space' and a platform for implementing cutting-edge solutions.

"I invite IT companies and international partners to collaborate. I'm confident that through our joint efforts, the center's participants will establish themselves on a global level in the near future," Bektenov emphasized.

He also announced that startups will be able to access financing and enter international markets through the Venture Investment Fund.

According to the official, major technology companies valued at over $1 billion have already entered the Kazakhstani market, including Playrix, Mytona, and Netcracker.

"This demonstrates the growing confidence of businesses and investors in Kazakhstan as a reliable partner. We are implementing a strategy aimed at increasing the volume of IT services exports to $1 billion by the end of the year," the prime minister pointed out.

To promptly address business issues, the government has a Digital Headquarters, the work of which is directly supervised by Bektenov.

To note, the Digital Bridge Forum 2025, which commenced on Thursday, October 2, sought to illuminate Kazakhstan's expanding influence in the realm of digital innovation, concurrently establishing itself as a nexus for artificial intelligence (AI) and avant-garde technologies.

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ASTANA, Kazakhstan, October 4. Digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming key tools for extending the profitability of mature oil fields, Timur Malybayev, a project engineer at Recado Group, told Trend on the sidelines of the Digital Bridge 2025 forum.

According to him, in Kazakhstan, most wells are run with sucker rod pumps, but their operation often leaves much to be desired.

"The operator simply installs the pump without optimization logic. We implement a system of controllers and sensors that collect data from the equipment and transmit it to a digital platform. It analyzes the data and suggests how to adjust the operation to increase production," Malybayev explained.

The company's solutions are already being used at more than 4,000 wells, including the Karazhanbas and Mangistaumunaigaz fields, and are also undergoing pilot testing in Midland, U.S.

Malybayev noted that joining the Digital Bridge opens the door for the company to dip its toes into new markets, including countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus.

"Few people know that pumps can be significantly optimized using digital solutions. Such technologies can not only improve efficiency but also extend the life of mature fields," the engineer emphasized.

To note, the Digital Bridge Forum 2025, which commenced on Thursday, October 2, sought to illuminate Kazakhstan's expanding influence in the realm of digital innovation, concurrently establishing itself as a nexus for artificial intelligence (AI) and avant-garde technologies.

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ASTANA, Kazakhstan, October 4. In Central Asias transport and logistics sector, artificial intelligence (AI) tools are increasingly being used to combat grey transit operations, Akimzhan Zhankebayev, a business analyst in the Data Analytics department of Transtelecom JSC, told Trend.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Digital Bridge 2025 forum, Zhankebayev noted that joint projects with Kazakhstan Railways demonstrate how data analytics can be an effective instrument in addressing opaque transit practices.

Using data provided by Kazakhstan Railways, we identify risks where railcars might be involved in non-transparent schemes. This helps minimize losses and enhances process transparency, he said.

Special attention is being given to train operators access to internal documentation. As part of a pilot project, an AI assistant is being developed to analyze dozens of technical documents and provide rapid guidance.

If an operator faces an unusual situation, such as brake failure, the system quickly finds the relevant instructions and ensures action according to regulations. It doesnt replace specialists but accelerates access to critical information, Zhankebayev explained.

He noted that the project is still in the testing phase, with Kazakhstan Railways employees participating, and early feedback indicates faster data retrieval and improved operational convenience.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 4. Iran depends primarily on its western province of Lorestan for the bulk of its exports to Kazakhstan, said Mohammad Khaki, President of the Lorestan Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture Trend reports.

Speaking at a trade event between Lorestan and Kazakhstan, Khaki stated that the province contributes to several of Irans main exports to Kazakhstan. The event was attended by Ontalap Onalbayev, Kazakhstans ambassador to Tehran, and other officials.

According to Khaki, Iran is currently sending a handful of key products over to Kazakhstan: dairy delights, ceramic creations, petrochemical treasures, polymer wonders, and greenhouse goodies. A slice of these products is whipped up in Lorestan and sent off to Kazakhstan.

Khaki added that Lorestan also has promising potential in agriculture, processing industry, construction materials, polymers, and pharmaceuticals, which could foster new collaboration between the two countries.

He noted that recently, a bunch of Kazakh entrepreneurs have thrown their hat in the ring, looking to join forces with Lorestan in the realms of healthcare and agriculture. A cooperation agreement between the Lorestan Chamber of Commerce and the Kazakh trade delegation is expected to be signed, creating better conditions for investment and trade relations.

Kazakhstans ambassador to Iran reported that During the initial semester of the current fiscal year, the bilateral trade volume between the two nations attained approximately $245 million, with Kazakh exports constituting $144 million and Iranian exports comprising $101 million.

The Lorestan Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture is a regional, non-profit, non-governmental organization in Iran, functioning as a local affiliate of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines & Agriculture (ICCIMA). It seeks to enhance the economic growth of Lorestan province by assisting its members, comprising traders, exporters, importers, farmers, and ranchers. The chamber serves as a platform for debate and collaboration among enterprises, offers guidance to governmental entities, facilitates business networking, and aids in local and international trade.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 4. Georgias Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Mariam Kvrivishvili met with the UK Ambassador to Georgia Gareth Ward to discuss priority areas of bilateral trade and economic relations, Trend reports.

According to the Ministry, the meeting highlighted positive dynamics in trade between the two countries and underlined successful cooperation in sectors such as trade, energy, tourism, and civil aviation. Current trends in Georgias energy sector were also discussed, with emphasis on measures aimed at strengthening the countrys energy independence and security. Special attention was given to the further development of transit projects through Georgia to support energy supplies to Europe.

The sides noted the successful operation of British Airways and EasyJet in the Georgian aviation market, underscoring the growing role of aviation in bilateral cooperation.

Kvrivishvili also reaffirmed Georgias commitment to the strict implementation of international sanctions, stressing that the country fully complies with international law and national legislation. She noted that preventive measures are being applied to prevent third parties from circumventing sanctions, particularly in customs and maritime sectors.

Deputy Ministers Inga Phaladze and Gennadi Arveladze also participated in the meeting.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 4. Georgias Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Mariam Kvrivishvili, met with newly appointed French Ambassador Olivier Courto to discuss ways to enhance economic cooperation between the two countries, Trend reports.

During the meeting, Minister Kvrivishvili congratulated Ambassador Courto on the start of his diplomatic mission and wished him success in his role. The discussion focused on deepening existing bilateral economic relations and further strengthening productive cooperation.

Both sides highlighted the importance of closer ties between business communities and promoting investment. French companies have shown strong interest in entering the Georgian market, particularly in transport infrastructure, tourism, civil aviation, and other sectors.

The meeting concluded with both parties expressing readiness to actively advance efforts to deepen Georgia-France economic collaboration.
Iran's petroleum product exports shift down

Irans petroleum product exports fell by 25%or $2.5 billionin the first five months of the current Iranian year (March 21August 22, 2025), totaling $7.5 billion compared to $10 billion last year. Liquefied gas exports during this period are estimated at $2.5 billion. Annual gas exports are valued at $4.55 billion, according to the Iranian Oil Products Exporters Union.

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Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan review trade agreements and plan for future collaboration

Photo: The Ministry of Investments, Industry, and Trade of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are actively working to deepen their economic partnership. During a high-level meeting in Tashkent, officials discussed expanding trade and collaboration across key industries, with plans to boost bilateral trade to $10 billion.

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ASTANA, Kazakhstan, October 4. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will join the exchange of transport control data at the external borders of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) through the Unions Integrated Information System (IIS) in the first half of 2026, Trend reports via the Eurasian Economic Commission.

The decision was made at a meeting held during the II International Transport and Logistics Business Forum New Silk Way in Almaty, chaired by Rustan Jenalinov, Director of the EAEU Department of Transport and Infrastructure.

Given significant changes in the sector, global cargo flows, supply chains, and international road transport procedures, resuming dialogue among heads of control authorities is an important step for advancing integration processes in this area, Jenalinov said.

Officials discussed implementing one of the key elements of the IIS for external and mutual trade within the Union, aimed at improving the efficiency of national authorities in controlling truck traffic entering EAEU countries. Currently, Belarus and Russia participate in the information exchange, with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan set to join in early 2026.

The forum also delved into avant-garde methodologies, encompassing the implementation of an electronic international transport consignment note and the deployment of digital permits for heavy and oversized vehicles.



The forthcoming convening of transport regulatory bodies from EAEU member jurisdictions is slated for the initial semester of 2026.

The EAEU Integrated Information System is a network of territorially distributed government information resources and systems of authorized authorities, designed to facilitate interstate data and electronic document exchange and create common information resources within the Union.

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Israeli bombing in Gaza eases as Hamas 'partially' accepts Trump's Peace Plan

The Israeli bombings and airstrikes in Gaza eased Saturday on US President Donald Trumps order after Hamas led Palestinian Resistance Groups partially accepted his peace plan

Saturday October 4, 2025 2:01 PM , ummid.com News Network

[Footage captures the moment Israeli warplanes struck a residential building on Omar al-Mukhtar Street in western Gaza City, reducing it to rubble and displacing families once again Saturday October 04, 2025. (Photos: Saeed Jaras/Quds News Network)]

Doha: The Israeli bombings and airstrikes in Gaza eased Saturday on US President Donald Trumps order after Hamas led Palestinian Resistance Groups partially accepted his peace plan.

Hamas's Response to Trump's Peace Plan

Hamas handed over its response to Trumps Gaza Peace Plan to mediators led by Qatar late in the evening Friday October 03, 2025.

Hamas in its response to Trump's peace plan released on Setember 29, 2025 stated that it had agreed to release all occupation captives  both living and the remains  according to the exchange formula outlined in President Trumps proposal, with the provision of field conditions necessary for the exchange.

It added that it was ready to immediately enter negotiations through mediators to discuss the details of the exchange.

The group also said it was ready to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats) based on Palestinian national consensus and with Arab and Islamic support.

Signalling that further negotiations would be required, it said aspects of the proposal touching on the future of the Gaza Strip and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people should be decided on the basis of a unanimous national position and relevant international laws and resolutions.



Following this, Trump ordered the far right Zionist regime in Israel to stop bombing on Gaza as, he said, Hamas is ready for peace.

The Resistance Group, however, said it needed further discussions on some of the key issues in the peace plan.

According to the reports coming from Gaza, the Israeli airstrikes have eased, but not fully stopped.

Despite U.S. President Donald Trumps demand for an immediate cessation of Israels attacks on Gaza, the occupation forces are intensifying their airstrikes on the City, Quds News Network reported.

Ending War Top Priority

Hamas senior official Mousa Abu Marzouk said that the movements top priority is stopping the war and massacres in Gaza, stressing that from this perspective Hamas dealt positively with the Trump plan.

He confirmed a national consensus to hand over Gazas administration to independent technocrats under the reference of the Palestinian Authority, while noting that delivering captives and remains within 72 hours is unrealistic under current conditions.

Abu Marzouk underlined that the future of the Palestinian people is a national issue that cannot be decided by Hamas alone.

He added that Hamas has agreed to an Egyptian-backed regional and international framework addressing peace and the future, and called on the United States to engage positively with Palestinian aspirations.

Abu Marzouk said the movement responded constructively to points in Trumps plan that directly concern Hamas and affirmed readiness to negotiate on all related issues, including the question of its weapons.

Hamass position is in line with Qatar and other mediators who two days ago said some points in the Trumps Gaza Peace Plan needed further deliberations and clarifications.

Some officials who were part of the delegation of Arab and Muslim leaders to draft Trump's 20-point Peace Plan had accused that changes were made in the plan to favor Israel .

The same position has also been taken by around 35 UN legal experts who said some points in the Trumps plan are against International laws, and hence must not be accepted .

Trump, World Leaders Welcome Hamas Response

U.S. President Trump, his deputy J.D. Vance and other world leaders have welcomed Hamas's positive response to the peace plan.

In a message posted on TruthSocial, Trump said Hamas appeared ready for a lasting peace. He argued that Israel must halt its assault so that Israeli soldier prisoners can be released safely and quickly.

Right now, its far too dangerous to do that, he wrote.

He added that talks were already underway on the details.

This is not about Gaza alone, Trump said. This is about long sought peace in the Middle East.

Trump described today as a big day, adding, Well see how it all turns out.

In his response, Trumps Deputy J.D. Vance sharing Hamass response, wrote, Proud of the President and the entire team. Pray for peace.

Responding to the latest development, Qatari Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said Qatar welcomes Hamass acceptance of President Trumps proposal to end the war in Gaza.

We reaffirm our support for Trumps call for an immediate ceasefire to facilitate the release of captives. We have begun working with our partners in mediation to continue discussions on the plan to ensure a resolution to the war, he said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was encouraged by Hamass statement, and urged all parties to seize the opportunity to bring the assault to an end.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Hamass acceptance of the US peace plan is a significant step forward. He also said President Trumps plan had brought us closer to peace than ever before.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Hamass commitment must be followed up without delay, saying there is an opportunity to make decisive progress towards peace.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Canberra welcomes progress on President Trumps plan to bring peace to Gaza.

In his response, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said, He agrees with Trump this time, as he demanded the cessation of the genocide. Petro added that if Trump moves his army to stop the oppression over Palestine, that army will be accompanied by the army of Colombia.

Italys Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she renews her full support for President Trumps efforts to bring peace to the Middle East, as she said the priority for all must now be to reach a ceasefire that leads to the immediate release of all the hostages.

Netanyahu Surprised

On the other hand, Israeli sources reported that Israels Prime Minister Netanyahu was surprised by Trumps response on Hamas statement. Netanyahu is surprised and shocked after some of these words by the US president, saying that Hamass response is essentially heading in a positive direction and also calling for Israel to stop the bombing of Gaza, Israeli media is reported Saturday morning.

Netanyahu reportedly wanted to coordinate a response, a joint Israeli-American response, to what Hamas was saying  so that it wouldnt actually be seen as positive.

On their part, the family members of the Israeli captives or hostages said they completely support what the US president is saying, including the stopping of bombardment inside of Gaza  because they fear its only going to harm and perhaps kill captives who are still being held there.



Meanwhile, the Office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, In response to Hamas statement, we are preparing to implement the first phase of Trumps plan for the immediate release of all captives and will continue coordinating with Trump and his team to end the war.

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Whither the Men?- Gender Representation in the Jamaican Judiciary

Marva McDonald-Bishop is the Acting President of the Court of Appeal of Jamaica. In her substantive post, she serves as Judge of the Court of Appeal of Jamaica. She is a Fellow of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute and also one of the focal points for the implementation of the Global Judicial Integrity Networks Judicial Ethics Training Tools in Jamaica.

______________________________

I am grateful for this opportunity to extend warmest Jamaican greetings and heartiest congratulations to all my colleagues worldwide as we join in celebrating this inaugural International Day for Women Judges.

As I join in the observance of this special time set aside for the recognition of women judges, I am compelled to reflect on the journey of women judges in Jamaica, especially over the last 60 years of the country's independence from colonial rule. I have chosen to do so too against the background of the utterances of a senior male attorney-at-law, who, in or around the year 2000 - at the turn of the 21st century - remarked that women do not belong on the bench but rather at home in the kitchen. That comment evoked no response from me then because it was palpably clear that the speaker was stuck in the past with the backward perspective that rendered him utterly oblivious to the dawning of a new day for the judiciary of Jamaica. By then, more and more young women had started populating the bench in unprecedented numbers. I was one of them.

For the better part of our nation's history, women were subjugated and severely curtailed in their pursuits for self-determination and upward mobility. This led to an entrenched gender inequality favouring men and corresponding unfair treatment of women, particularly in the workplace. However, despite the odds, women in Jamaica broke through the various barriers in positioning themselves in places of prominence in post-colonial Jamaica. In 1959, the first woman, Ena Collymore-Woodstock, was appointed to the judiciary as a Resident Magistrate. In or around 1974, the first woman, Ena Allen, was appointed to the Supreme Court (High Court), and over a decade later, in 1988, the first woman, Marjory (Madge) Morgan, was appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal. Only one woman, Zaila McCalla, has ever held the top position of Chief Justice (2007-2018), and no woman has ever been appointed President of the Court of Appeal.

In 2022, the latest statistical data of gender representation in the judiciary of Jamaica [1] reveals that there are 95 female and 30 male judges in the judiciary - a staggering imbalance favouring females - although male judges now occupy the top positions at each level. That, notwithstanding, I am confident that many persons would agree that the emergence of a female-dominant judiciary in Jamaica is an outstanding feature in our nation's history that should take centre stage as we observe International Day of Women Judges.

However, even as we celebrate the extraordinary accomplishments of our women judges, I believe we, in Jamaica, should also seize the moment for reasoned reflection regarding the plight of our men, which is reflected in the statistical data presented earlier. A painful truth that confronts us in Jamaica is that, for whatever reason, the streams that supply men for the Jamaican judiciary - the feeder universities and law school  are, seemingly, fast running dry. The reality is that women far outnumber men in these critical tertiary institutions. If we were to continue on this same path, an all-female Jamaican judiciary is a very live possibility in the not too distant future. But is the administration of justice ready for such a phenomenon?

The gender imbalance now favouring women judges in Jamaica is the same as that favouring men decades ago. Back then, that imbalance was characterised as gender inequality, which led to strenuous advocacy on behalf of women for equality. Even as we celebrate our female judges on the international stage for the first time, there are some pertinent questions that I would leave for consideration after the celebration is over. They are: (i) what impact would this reversed imbalance in the gender composition of the judiciary have on the administration of justice in Jamaica? (ii) is the justice system better or worse off now, with gender inequality favouring women? (iii) should there be increased advocacy or a concerted effort to attract men to the judiciary? And, above all, where are the men?
National holiday to take effect from 2026.

Italy on Saturday marks the feast day of one of the country's two patron saints, Francis of Assisi, days after parliament voted to reinstate a public holiday in his honour.

The restored national holiday, which the Italian state abolished in 1977 for economic reasons, will take effect from 2026.

The bill to reinstate 4 October as a public holiday was passed comfortably by the Italian parliament, with the senate giving it final approval on Wednesday.

In addition to school and office closures, from next year, cultural initiatives will be dedicated to Italy's patron saint and the values he embodied: peace, fraternity, inclusion and environmental protection.

The move, designed to coincide with the 800th anniversary of the death of St Francis in 2026, brings to 12 the number of national public holidays in Italy.

The date falls on a Sunday in 2026, meaning that workers and students won't see any tangible difference until 2027 when there will be a long weekend in honour of St Francis.

St Francis of Assisi

One of the Catholic Church's most venerated saints, Francis of Assisi is one of Italy's two primary patron saints along with Catherine of Siena.

Francis was born to a wealthy merchant family in 1181 but, after a dramatic conversion experience, he abandoned his privileged lifestyle to embrace a life of poverty, preaching and service.

He is best known for founding the Franciscan religious order and is most associated with Assisi where his tomb is visited by pilgrims from all over the world every year.

Francis viewed nature as a mirror of God, calling all creatures his brothers and sisters.

His profound love for animals and his advocacy for peace and simplicity have made him a revered figure.

Francis was canonised by Pope Gregory IX on 16 July 1228, less than two years after his death on 3 October 1226.
Rome streets along rally route will be closed to traffic on Saturday.

Rome is to host a major rally on Saturday in support of the residents of Gaza and in protest at the interception by Israeli forces of a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid.

The pro-Palestinian protest will take place amid high security, police said, starting from Piazzale Ostiense at 14.30 and making its way to Porta San Giovanni, leading to street closures and traffic restrictions in the capital.

On Friday more than two million people rallied in around 100 cities across Italy for a general strike in solidarity with Gaza and the Global Sumud Flotilla, according to Italy's largest trade union CGIL which was behind the mass protest along with other unions.

CGIL leader Maurizio Landini rejected claims by the country's strike watchdog that the protest was unlawful, declaring it "an extraordinary day" in which Italian workers and students protested against "genocide and the logic of war".

The strike, which affected Italy's transport, education and healthcare sectors, saw 300,000 people march through the streets of Rome alone, according to CGIL.

The interior ministry put the figures much lower - 29 demonstrations nationwide on Friday with fewer than 400,000 participants in total - and said that 55 police officers had been injured in clashes since Thursday.

Italian premier Giorgia Meloni sharply criticised the flotilla and the decision by unions to call a general strike on Friday, suggesting it was politically motivated against her right-wing government and was an excuse for a long weekend.

Landini on Thursday hit back at Meloni's "long weekend" jibe by stating: "I never thought a prime minister would reach such a low level".

"It's clear they want to undermine the right to strike" - Landini said in an interview on RAI 3 on Friday - "and on the other side, they're looking for an incident, they're clashing with people, they're trying to incite hatred", adding: "Anyone in government should ask themselves: why are two million people taking to the streets, giving up their salaries, to demand peace?".

Photo credit: Fabrizio Maffei / Shutterstock.com.
Swiss Guards swearing-in ceremony to take place at the Vatican on Saturday.

The Vaticans Swiss Guards on Thursday unveiled a new uniform ahead of a ceremony that will see 27 new recruits join the pope's army on Saturday.

The new Swiss-made uniform - which does not replace the famous "Gala" uniform - is to be used for non-ceremonial formal occasions such as diplomatic receptions and official dinners outside the Vatican.

Until now, the officers wore "personal suits" on these occasions, "which did not fully reflect the identity of the Corps", the Swiss Guards said.

The mostly black wool uniform has two rows of buttons, with a yellow and white belt, in an update of the "mezza gala" uniform used from the late 19th century until 1976.

Photo credit: Guardia Svizzera Pontificia  Media / Papstliche Schweizergarde

The new uniforms, which were debuted at an event in the Swiss Guards' barracks on Friday evening, were paid for by an unnamed benefactor and cost 2,000 each.

The Swiss Guards noted that, despite a popular legend, their famed blue, gold and red uniform was not designed by Michelangelo but rather by Commander Jules Repond in the early 1900s, based on the colours of the Medici family.

On Saturday afternoon at 17.00, at a pomp-filled event in the San Damaso courtyard of the Apostolic Palace, the new Swiss Guards will take a solemn oath to serve the pope.

Pope Leo XIV is expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony, the first pontiff to do so since Paul VI in 1968.

The annual ritual normally takes place on 6 May but was postponed this year following the death of Pope Francis and the conclave to elect his successor, Pope Leo XIV.

The traditional 6 May date commemorates the day in 1527 when 147 Swiss Guards died protecting Pope Clement VII from the army of the Holy Roman Emperor.

The pope fled via the 800-m Passetto di Borgo passageway - which is open for guided tours - to the nearby refuge of Castel Sant'Angelo.

The current Swiss Guards belong to the world's oldest standing army which celebrated its 519th anniversary on 22 January this year.

Those seeking to join the ranks must meet certain criteria: they must be male and of Swiss nationality, as well as being Catholic, unmarried and aged between 19 and 30.

They must also have undergone intensive Swiss military training and be a minimum height of 174 cm.

The soldiers generally serve for between two and 25 years at the Vatican, in the service of the pope.

Photo credit: Vatican Media
A fundraising Pink Swim (Dip) in aid of Breast Cancer Ireland will take place on Saturday, October 12, at 11am on Clonea Strand.

Participants are encouraged to dress in pink, join the fun, and help raise money for this very worthy cause.

To take part, simply join the group Stradbally Sip n Dippers online  youll receive your pink swim hat in the post.

Following the dip, a Pink Coffee Morning will be held in Whelans at 12pm.

All are welcome to come along for a cuppa, some cake, and plenty of community spirit.

Any bakers who would like to contribute treats for the morning would be greatly appreciated.

Come join in  whether by dipping, sipping, or both  and help support vital research and awareness for breast cancer.
The South East branch of the IPSC (Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign) have protested the recent acquisition by Red Hat of the Israeli stealth start-up Jounce.

The start-up was created by alumni of Unit 8200, the intelligence corps of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).

The IPSC and SETU Gather for Palestine have called again for South East Technological University (SETU) to sever ties with Red Hat over the acquisition and to condemn Red Hat's role in aiding the Israeli military.

Apartheid system

IPSC member Michelle Byrne commented: "The move to acquire Jounce intensifies Red Hats already deep and documented complicity in Israels apartheid system and genocide in Gaza, confirming its status as a boycott target as designated by the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

"Red Hat is not a neutral technology provider; it is a vital contractor for the Israeli military. Their work with the Mamram unit directly streamlines the ongoing genocide. By celebrating this partnership and awarding Mamram its 2022 innovation award, Red Hat has made its priorities clear: it profits from the death and displacement of the Palestinian people. We cannot stand idly by with three Red Hat offices in Ireland, including one in Waterford."

The campaign group have previously protested SETU's links to Red Hat over the latter's Mamram technology.

A representative of the SETU Gather for Palestine Group said: "We are deeply concerned that SETU continues its relationship with Red Hat, despite the overwhelming evidence of its complicity. This partnership poses ethical, reputational, and security risks to the university. It is unacceptable that SETU students, including Palestinian students, may be placed with or recruited by a company so deeply involved in genocide. The well-being of our students and staff, and our commitment to human rights, must come first."

Surveillance technology

In late September, Microsoft blocked Israeli military's access to technology after learning that Unit 8200 had violated the company's terms of service by creating mass surveillance programs on Palestinian communications.

In May 2025, Jounce CEO Roy Nissam said in an interview: "The acquisition will enable Jounces platform to be integrated into Red Hats cloud and open-source systems, allowing the technology to reach a global customer base across industries such as defense, finance, healthcare, and enterprise tech."

Red Hat Waterford and SETU were reached for comment.
A recent planning permission application for a major technology park in Kilmeaden has sparked controversy in the village community. The planning permission application was submitted by Crag Rathnew DC Limited and Kent Homes Limited. Kent Homes Limited have been involved in several development projects in Kilmeaden, including the Clochan Housing Development.

If the application is approved, the site will cover 108.79 hectares, making it the largest development in Kilmeadens history.

Local Councillor John OLeary says he doesnt want to see it overwhelming Kilmeaden.

Kilmeaden village where plans for an industrial-scale data and energy hub have been submitted to the planning department of Waterford City and County Council.

His main objection to the proposal is that good land should not be used for data centres, and expressed concern that farming land is being increasingly used for technology parks and solar farms.

He thinks that data centres are more viable in industrial estates. Referring to the numerous objections that have been raised by local residents, he said, It is my responsibility to listen to the local people. The majority of the site will consist of solar panels, an extensive data centre, and a car park, with a small portion of the site being dedicated to a new village centre.

Local residents object

While the planning application emphasizes sustainability, locals are not convinced.

So far, 67 objections have been submitted to Waterford City and County Council.

One objector wrote, This proposal represents an industrial-scale data and energy hub disguised as a mixed-use village centre. Indeed, the three two-storey ICT facilities will be 77,099sqm, whilst the 48-unit apartment block will be just 5,374sqm.

Another resident wrote that, the ecological impacts to the areas biodiversity will be devastating. Trees will be cut, hectares of grass paved over, native species obliterated.

According to the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR), the plan would have the potential to "interfere with the balance, distribution and density of key species".

The proposed site layout for the development, subject to planning, as created by AWN Consulting Ltd.

However, the area itself is not a protected wildlife site. Natura 2000 sites are European Union protected wildlife sites. There are currently no Natura 2000 sites in the Kilmeaden area, but there are Natura 2000 sites in the Comeragh Mountains and Tramore.

Yet another resident wrote that the proposal is, purely a money-making scheme for Kent construction. The grassroots community group known as Say No to an Industrial Kilmeaden are going door-to-door in the Kilmeaden area, encouraging residents to submit objections to Waterford City and County Council.

They have organised a meeting for this Sunday, October 5, at the Ballyduff Community Centre where they say they will help people write their submissions.

The deadline for submissions is October 12 and it is expected that the council will announce their decision by November 2.

The group wrote that the outcome of this proposal, will set the benchmark of whats to come in the future.

Environmental Concerns

The majority of the objections are concerned with the environmental impact that the development will have on the village. Included in the plan are 16 gas turbines, which, according to the United States environmental defense fund, Gas turbines burn natural gas and create several dangerous types of pollution, including Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) that cause smog and soot, climate change-causing greenhouse gas pollution, and hazardous air pollutants that have been linked to cancer.

However, the turbines will be necessary to power the technology park also planned.

According to the Central Statistics Office, data centres accounted for approximately 21% of Irelands total electricity usage. This is significantly higher than other European countries, with the Netherlands being the next highest at 5.2%. In 2044, 80% of Irelands energy usage was sourced from fossil fuels. Data centres have been proven to damage the environment. The Journal found that 130,000 tonnes of C02 were released into the air from just one data centre in Lucan since 2017.

The planning application states that it aims to be the first village centre in Ireland to be 100% fossil-fuel free. However, the energy report states that the solar panels will only "partially offset the power demand from the ICT facilities.

According to the same report, just 20% of the energy used on the site will be renewable. It says, the energy consumption and CO2 associated with the data storage halls are not taken into account due to regulations surrounding renewable energy and new builds not applying to "specialist buildings" such as data centres.

However, the application states that the applicant has, proactively engaged with multiple renewable energy providers to ensure that the proposed development will operate sustainably. It also states that it will generate more electricity than it will use, thus adding renewable energy to the grid. This will be primarily sourced from the solar farm also planned for the sight.

According to the EIAR, the gas turbines are designed to provide 203 MW to match the capacity of the proposed data centre demand. The gas used by the gas turbines will be hydrotreated vegetable oil.

Hannah Daly, a professor in sustainable energy in UCC told The Journal that using natural gas, such as hydrotreated vegetable oil, is far more carbon intensive than electricity from the grid. The solar farm will produce 29 MW.

According to the planning permission application, the proposed development has been designed so as to reduce impacts to climate once operational and where possible.

Due to the large size of the proposed data centre and according to the EU Emissions Trading System, the development will be required to hold a Greenhouse Gas Emissions permit and report their emissions each year.

This means that in order to comply with EU regulations, it will need to purchase carbon credits to offset its emissions.

Locals also say the glint and glare from the solar panels will make driving dangerous, and they are also concerned that the car park floodlights will be on 24/7.

Lack of communication

They went on to write that, the project has been advanced with no meaningful community consultation prior to submission. Residents of Kilmeaden were not contacted, no public information sessions were held, and no opportunity was given to shape the proposal before it was finalised.

For a project of this unprecedented scale and industrial nature, the absence of community engagement is unacceptable and further undermines the legitimacy of the application, they said.

The developer was reached for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.
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BusinessCompaniesEnergy Billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes reignites climate feud with Australias biggest emitter Nick Toscano October 3, 2025  1:55pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share 50 View all comments

Billionaire investor Mike Cannon-Brookes has reignited his climate battle with AGL, Australias biggest polluter, rejecting its latest emissions-reduction strategy as too slow and out of step with what is needed to arrest dangerous global warming. Cannon-Brookes, the co-founder of tech firm Atlassian and one of the countrys richest people, built a stake of more than 10 per cent in AGL in 2022, before leading a successful push to overhaul its board of directors and extract pledges for faster coal-fired power plant closures and deeper cuts to harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Mike Cannon-Brookes led a campaign fast-track the closures of AGLs polluting coal-fired power stations. Wolter Peeters The rift between AGL and its biggest shareholder opened again at the energy giants annual general meeting on Friday, when Cannon-Brookes defied the urging of the board and refused to endorse its climate change strategy, which he described as inadequate. His private investment firm, Grok Ventures, said AGLs commitments were largely unchanged from two years ago, and still were not aligned with the international Paris Agreements ultimate aim of limiting rising temperatures to 1.5 degrees, the level that scientists say is key to avoiding the worst and most immediate impacts of climate change.

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The plan shows only incremental improvement in ambition when compared with 2022, is not aligned with the Paris Agreement, and still targets net zero by 2050 on a stated 1.8-degree trajectory, a Grok spokesperson said. Related Article Energy Power struggle: The fight for the soul of Australias largest polluter We firmly believe a more ambitious path to renewable energy best serves the long-term interests of AGLs shareholders. Cannon-Brookes rejection of the climate plan on Friday marks the latest escalation of a campaign that began in 2022 when he amassed a large stake in AGL and fought to scuttle a planned demerger that would have kept the companys coal-fired power fleet running until well into the 2040s. AGL, which supplies electricity and natural gas to more than 4 million customers across Australia, is also the nations single biggest emitter of harmful greenhouse gases due to its ongoing ownership of two large coal-burning power generators in Victoria and NSW.

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Facing pressure from Cannon-Brookes and other investors, AGL eventually abandoned its demerger and brought forward the closure date of its Bayswater coal generator in NSW to no later than 2033, while the retirement of the Loy Yang A plant in Victorias Latrobe Valley was brought forward by up to 10 years from 2045 to 2035. The company also committed billions of dollars to build 12 gigawatts of backed-up renewables by that time. Grok on Friday said it commended AGL management for its progress to date. Its vote against AGLs latest climate plan, Grok said, was to express its view that more is needed  in targets, speed and action  to give investors clarity in confidence in AGLs pathway through the critical next half-decade. Damien Nicks is chief executive of AGL. The company is transitioning from coal generation to a portfolio dominated by renewables and storage. Janie Barrett Groks votes accounted for most of the proxy votes that opposed AGLs climate plan on Friday, while about 70 per cent of votes supported it. The updated climate plan won the backing of the influential proxy firms that guide institutional investors on how to vote. It included a strengthening of AGLs direct emissions reduction targets, as well as the introduction of a new target for a 60 per cent cut to Scope 3 emissions  those released by the end users of the electricity and gas that the company supplies  following its final exit from coal. AGL also committed to bring forward the deployment of some of its planned new renewable energy capacity, aiming to build six gigawatts rather than five gigawatts of capacity by 2030, at least half of which would be grid-scale batteries.

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A spokesperson for AGL on Friday said the company had been engaging with a wide range of shareholders and governance advisers about its multi-decade strategy, including its climate plans, and was pleased with the strong support it had received at the meeting. Related Article Renewables Turning your EV into a giant battery is a step closer Overall, our climate transition action plan was broadly supported by shareholders, the spokesperson said. AGL respects that there are a variety of perspectives on our climate transition action plan, which is not unexpected given the complexity of the energy transition. The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, a shareholder activism group, said the sizeable vote against AGLs climate strategy should send a signal to the board and its executives that they must do more to help drive the clean energy shift. AGL must move quickly to deliver real emissions cuts and a more compelling strategy that seizes the opportunities of the energy transition, the groups director, Brynn OBrien, said. The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the days trading. Get it each weekday afternoon.
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Exclusive BusinessWorkplaceBuilding Bad CFMEU administrator vows to destroy Mick Gattos sway over union Nick McKenzie October 4, 2025  3:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

CFMEU administrator Mark Irving has warned veteran gangland figure Mick Gatto he could be jailed if he continues to cultivate and lobby union officials now under the barristers watch. In an unprecedented intervention, the top silk wrote to the gangland identity to warn he would use all his powers to destroy Gattos sway over the construction union. Mick Gatto has been warned by CFMEU administrator Mark Irving, KC. Eddie Jim Your [Gattos] business model which relied on developing close personal relationships with CFMEU organisers is now at an end, Irving, KC, said in a letter to Gatto, emailed on Thursday evening. Irving also warned the underworld figure that if you call, meet with, email or text, any CFMEU employee or ask to be permitted onto CFMEU premises in breach of a new policy about dealing with industry fixers, then Gatto could be referred for potential prosecution for breaches of the Fair Work Act, punishable by up to two years imprisonment.

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I will if appropriate, refer your conduct to regulators for prosecution if you engage in conduct that would be a contravention of the Act, Irving said, while also stressing he was not suggesting Gatto had broken the law in any of his dealings to date. The decision to aggressively confront Gatto comes after a report by this masthead that CFMEU boss Zach Smith had blindsided Irving by directing a union organiser to have a clandestine meeting with the underworld identity in an East Melbourne park on September 12. CFMEU Victorian and Tasmanian branch executive officer Zach Smith last year. Alex Ellinghausen It has also placed political pressure on Industrial Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth, with the federal opposition claiming Smiths actions had eroded public confidence in Anthony Albaneses anointed golden boy. It can also be revealed that federal agents swooped on Gatto lieutenant John Khoury as he flew into Melbourne from his Gold Coast base last month.

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Detectives forced Khoury to hand over his electronic devices as part of an ongoing probe, codenamed Rye, into payments made into the accounts of suspected front companies allegedly controlled by the two gangland associates, via their accountant, by building companies operating down the east coast. This masthead has previously identified firms operating on Victorian state government Big Build projects, including LTE Construction Group, as having made payments to the suspected front companies to secure industrial support or peace from the CFMEU. Companies in Queensland and NSW are also caught up in the investigation. Mick Gatto (right) with gangland associate John Khoury. Erin Jonasson There is no suggestion Gatto, Khoury or their accountant or any firm are guilty of any offence, only that they are targets in an ongoing federal police probe into whether the payments involve financial crimes or unlawful attempts to influence union officials. In response to questions from this masthead, the Australian Federal Police confirmed Khoury was searched following their arrival on a flight at Melbourne Airport on 16 September and the search warrant was part of ongoing inquiries under Operation Rye.

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With the recently launched Queensland commission of inquiry into the CFMEU also set to examine Khourys activities in that state, the targeting of the two Melbourne underworld identities by the administration and police sees the pair facing scrutiny not seen since Gattos so-called Carlton Crew was caught up in Melbournes gangland wars. Related Article Opinion

Building Bad Despite corruption crackdowns, Gatto still has his mitts deep in the CFMEU pie Ben Schneiders Investigative Reporter Gatto was acquitted of murdering underworld triggerman Andrew Benji Veniamin during the height of the gangland wars, when a jury found he had acted in self-defence. Khoury, who has been described in previous royal commission documents as a veteran underworld figure albeit with a relatively minor criminal rap sheet (like Gatto), did not respond to requests for comment but has previously denied all wrongdoing. Irvings new rules around dealing with industry fixers  who not only include Gatto and Khoury but bikie-linked figures such as a former Mongols bikie chief in Melbourne and, in NSW, a high ranking Bandidos gang member  is aimed at squeezing gangland figures out of the construction sector while also complying with laws that protect the rights of individuals to conduct their business affairs freely.

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Under the new policy, figures like Gatto will have to write to Irving or his senior delegates to seek permission to raise matters with the union. Irvings letter also requested Gatto provide a list of clients to whom you provide services while warning he would pass that information to policing agencies, regulators, large project contractors who employ Gattos building firm clients and the state government building agency. Your continued engagement in IR will be entirely a matter for those project builders, Irving wrote. However, in an industry that for many years has been characterised by phoenixing and companies with opaque accountabilities, increased transparency enables those in the industry to make informed choices and increased transparency allows stakeholders to make informed choices about what sort of company they wish to engage.

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On Friday, Gatto hit back at Irving, questioning the lawfulness of his new policy in a rambling text message to his building industry clients and union backers. But Gattos missive also appeared to concede that, temporarily at least, his ability to operate was being curtailed. I am sorry that I cant deal with you [union officials] directly anymore. Irving seems to think he is judge and jury and I dont believe it is legal what he is doing, Gatto wrote while dismissing allegations of wrongdoing. I tried to speak to Irving and put him straight many times, even high ranking union officials tried on my behalf but he kept having heart attacks and was not interested. I will not walk away from my livelihood because they are looking for a scapegoat Otherwise have a great life my friends.

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Gattos reference to Irvings health relates to two short stints the barrister has had in hospital since he was appointed last August as part of the Albanese governments efforts to clean up the scandal-tainted union and broader construction sector in response to this mastheads ongoing Building Bad crime and corruption revelations. Related Article Exclusive

Building Bad CFMEU in fresh crisis over secret park meeting with underworld identity Zach Smith, who had directed a CFMEU organiser to secretly meet Gatto to discuss concerns from Melbourne Airport building firm, the Maz Group, apologised for his conduct on Thursday after being confronted by this masthead. However, his actions stoked fierce anger from senior union and industry figures and police, who believe continuing relationships between CFMEU officials and nefarious industry figures, and delays in cleaning up the unions scandal-plagued Victorian branch, have badly hampered the Albanese government-backed administration. On Friday, Minister for Industrial Relations Amanda Rishworth denied this, insisting the appointment of senior CFMEU officials, such as Smith, was a matter for Irving.

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The government has full confidence in the administration, as the strongest available action to stamp out corruption, criminality and violence in the construction industry, Rishworth said in a statement. Changing deeply rooted cultural problems takes time, and we are committed to the administration remaining in place until the job is done. Smith is one of the few senior CFMEU figures from the previous leadership to remain in a top role under Irving, and is regarded by his union and ALP allies as having good integrity but poor judgment. Opposition industrial relations spokesperson Tim Wilson said public trust in Rishworth has collapsed. When Anthony Albaneses anointed golden boy [Smith] is caught facilitating meetings with underworld figures, trust in their process to clean up CFMEU corruption collapses, Wilson said in a statement.

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When corruption is endemic in a union, then appointing an administrator is like changing the logo on the letterhead of a sternly worded letter to a union official warning them not to facilitate meetings with underworld figures, and thats been exposed today. Minister for Skills and Training Andrew Giles said the reports about Smith and Gatto were concerning. We recognise as a government that there is a ... big bit of cultural work that is required in the building and construction industry, Giles said on Friday. Thats why minister Rishworth brought together industry figures, union figures, and ministers such as myself a couple of weeks ago in the National Construction Industry Forum to demonstrate our resolve to ensure that this industry is turned around, and the Australian community can have confidence in it. The revelations come less than a month after allegations of violence and intimidation on the site of the Western Sydney Airport train terminals were exposed by this masthead and the CFMEUs NSW leader, respected union veteran Michael Crosby.

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At Fridays press conference, Giles also refused to say whether Smith should keep his job as branch executive, saying it was a matter for the administrator. Start the day with a summary of the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
The three women at the heart of the decades-long sex abuse case tell their story - and they hope its for the last time.

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Theres one word that comes to mind when meeting the three sisters at the centre of the Malka Leifer case. Endurance. They endured a miserable home life. They endured sexual abuse at the hands of the principal of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish school they attended. They endured years of trickery, lies and evasion from Leifer and her legal team after she fled to Israel and fought extradition. They endured 74 legal hearings in Israel and so many more in Australia that they stopped counting. And when Leifer was eventually brought to trial in Australia 13 years after fleeing, they endured day after day of withering cross-examination before their abuser was finally found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Now, in the documentary Surviving Malka Leifer, theyre enduring another round of questioning from audiences and journalists and well-meaning friends and acquaintances about the whole interminable mess. Loading Arent you tired of re-opening these old (and not-so-old) wounds, I ask them as we sit around the table of a large house in St Kilda that belongs, they say, to a member of their extended family? It hasnt been re-traumatising, says Nicole Meyer, 40. Its been confronting, and weve been transported back to where we were when we were filming. Its a difficult thing to have our vulnerabilities and rawness up there for everyone to see. But at the same time, theres a sense of pride that weve gone through that, we have something to show through it, and here we are today.

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The film, which screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival and at the Jewish International Film Festival, drops on Stan* on Sunday. And for middle sister Dassi Erlich, 38, getting it in front of a larger audience is vital. A big part of the reason for making it, at least for me, was for people to understand that every single person plays a part in the so-called system, she says. The way we see sexual abuse, the way we talk about sexual abuse, the way we understand it, the way we treat survivors, respond to it: its not this external thing  its something we all are a part of, and we all can make change happen. And for youngest sister Elly Sapper, 36, the film serves as a record of what they have been through  and, as the title suggests, to the fact they have survived. Nicole (left), Dassi and Elly grew up in an ultra-Orthodox household and had a strictly religious education. It feels like were looking back onto a space that we once were in, as opposed to being in that space, she says. We lived and breathed this for so many years, and now it just feels like we can take that breath, take that moment, and look back and be in that new space. Instead of a fighting space, a healing space. The documentary from director Adam Kamien and producer Ivan OMahoney tells the story of the sisters experiences, individually and collectively, from childhood abuse at home, through the betrayal of the seemingly safe haven of school, the long pursuit of justice, and finally to the trial itself. Most notably, it spends long slabs of time with the sisters in the hotel where they stayed for the trial, able to support each other but not permitted to share details of their testimony. It captures the moment immediately after Erlich  who had written a book about her experiences  hears the full details of what happened to her sisters when they testify. And it captures the moment when Meyer hears that Leifer has been found not guilty on the charges relating to her abuse (while being found guilty of those relating to her sisters abuse).

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Its all incredibly intimate, up-close and raw. And it makes this most public case personal again. For Meyer, the day of the verdict was complex. It was heartbreak. It was devastation, she says. Justice drove me for many years, and justice was denied. For months, she couldnt speak about it, and for a while she thought she might never do so again. And then I realised that ultimately, if I do that, Im letting her win, she says. I felt she had won already by getting a not guilty verdict with my charges, and I thought I dont want her to win, so Im going to go out there and just start talking. And thats what I did, and that really helped me to work on my healing. Remarkably, Meyer remains a member of the Adass community, where she advocates on behalf of abuse survivors. Erlich and Sapper left the community, but each in their own way have slowly found a way to connect with their Jewish heritage on a different basis. In the wake of her experience, says Sapper, I needed to throw away everything that I knew, and that included religion and Judaism. I didnt engage with it for many years. But over the past five or six years, Ive married and had kids, and my husbands family is a traditional [non-Orthodox] Jewish family, and Ive learned Judaism and religion are separate things. I enjoy the culture and traditions in their family, its a beautiful connection time, so Ive started to engage with that and see its not mutually exclusive.

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Erlich similarly had a period in which she totally rejected all things Jewish. But now shes working with Pathways, an organisation that offers support to members of insular Jewish communities who are having issues and dont know where to turn. Its not at all about dragging people away from religion, she explains. Its very much heres a safe space for you to have those questions, to decide whats right for you. Im enjoying using the skills we learned through all those campaign years to do something really positive and create change. The sisters experience was at once commonplace  someone in power recognised their vulnerability and mercilessly exploited it  and unusual  as members of a closed community that did nothing to educate its young women about sexual matters, they were uncommonly naive and isolated. Nicole Meyer (left), Elly Sapper and Dassi Erlich. The sisters story is one of endurance and togetherness. Wayne Taylor When they did recognise and report what had been done to them, it cost them enormously; they were suddenly cut off from the only community they had known, and thrust into a battle that would occupy years of their lives. What got them through was the support of a few close allies (former premier Ted Baillieu in particular), and the fact they were doing it together. I think if any of us had been doing it alone, we would have not finished, says Erlich.

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PoliticsFederalIsraeli-Palestinian conflict Tony Blair tried and failed to bring peace to the Middle East before. Can he succeed this time? Matthew Knott October 4, 2025  3:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

In 2015 Tony Blair travelled to Gaza, and left despairing at what he had seen. The former British prime minister was eight years into his role as special envoy to the Middle East Quartet, an office formed by the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia to try to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The present state of Gaza is a rebuke: to those of us in the international community who over the years have made so many promises unfulfilled; to those who have offered leadership and failed to provide it; to the politics both Israeli and Palestinian which have been unable to create the circumstances for peace, Blair wrote on his blog after touring the densely populated strip. The people of Gaza have been the casualties of this failure. Tony Blair during a visit to the Kerem Shalom crossing, between Israel and the Gaza Strip, in 2010. AP By that stage, as he approached the end of his Quartet role, Blair was no longer the fresh-faced poster boy of the centre-left, who had swept the Tories from power and won three elections in a row. Already, his legacy was tarnished for his role in enabling the disastrous 2003 invasion of Iraq. Now, thanks to Donald Trump, he is back at the centre of Middle East peace efforts, a 72-year-old on the search for redemption in Gaza. Blair took on his Quartet job on the day he departed Downing Street after 10 years as prime minister in 2007. The speed reflected his determination to help achieve a breakthrough in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians  just as he did with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. His mission: to achieve tangible steps on the ground to advance the Palestinian economy and preserve the possibility of a two-state solution.

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The Middle East, however, proved much less fertile ground for peace. The beginning of Blairs tenure coincided with militant group Hamas taking control of Gaza after expelling rival faction Fatah in a brief but brutal civil war in 2007. Israel responded by imposing a blockade on the movement of goods and people in and out of Gaza, helping to create what Blairs successor David Cameron famously labelled an open-air prison of high poverty, high unemployment and little hope. US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing the peace plan on Monday. NYT With Hamas controlling Gaza and Fatah dominant in the West Bank, the prospect of an independent Palestinian state faded away. Gaza is a metaphor for all that is wrong, Blair wrote on his blog. Three months later, he resigned from his Quartet position. A decade has now passed, and Gaza is an even more catastrophic failure for the international community.

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If Gaza then was an open-air prison, today it resembles hell on Earth. Israels war against Hamas, which will pass the two-year mark next week with the anniversary of the October 7 attacks, has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians and reduced most of the strip to rubble. Undeterred by past failure, Blair, 72, believes he is the man who can help break the deadlock and oversee the reconstruction of Gaza. Blair was not at the White House this week when US President Donald Trump stood beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce his 20-point peace plan for Gaza. But he loomed large over the event. Trump announced that Blair would serve on a Gaza peace board, with the US president himself acting as chair. Good man. Very good man, Trump said of Blair, who volleyed back praise in return. Related Article Analysis

Israeli-Palestinian conflict Outfoxed by Netanyahu at every turn, Trump got what he needed this time In a statement, he lauded Trumps plan as bold and intelligent and the best chance to end the war. Which was hardly surprising given he essentially co-wrote the document. Trumps peace plan draws heavily on a detailed proposal developed by Blairs think tank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, for a technocratic transitional authority to run Gaza when the war is over. Netanyahu has endorsed the plan, which he helped write, while making clear he will intensify the war against Hamas if the group fails to sign on.

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Blair met with Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner at the White House at the end of August, and appears to have played an important role in persuading him to abandon his idea of the mass displacement of Gazans from the strip, which was widely panned as ethnic cleansing. No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return, Trumps peace plan states. While Trump wants the credit  ideally in the form of a Nobel Peace Prize  for achieving peace in Gaza, it is Blair who would be responsible for implementing the plan. Blairs involvement has already aroused significant controversy and criticism, even as his plan remains just that  a plan. Amin Saikal, a professor of Middle Eastern studies at the Australian National University, gives Blair some credit for shifting Trumps position. This is the first time the Americans have come up with a plan that doesnt involve the depopulation of Gaza. Thats a positive development, Saikal says. A staffer from Blairs institute helped draft a Boston Consulting Group proposal for Gaza Riviera, with artificial islands off the coast similar to Dubais Palm Island, but Blair distanced himself from the idea and has insisted Gaza must be for Gazans. Still, Saikal argues that Blairs high-profile, hands-on role on Trumps peace board risks undermining the enterprise. I dont think many Palestinians will trust Tony Blair, he argues. They thought that he failed in his Quartet role and was viewed as very pro-Israel by many Palestinians. Thats still the case.

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When Blair resigned, the Palestinian Authoritys former chief negotiator, Nabil Shaath, said he had achieved so very little because of his gross efforts to please the Israelis  He gradually reduced his role to that of asking the Israelis to take down a barrier here or a barrier there. Netanyahu, meanwhile, thanked him for his great efforts to advance stability and peace in the region. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Tony Blair while in London. x/@AlboMP Then there was Blairs enthusiastic backing for George W. Bushs 2003 invasion of Iraq based on overhyped claims of weapons of mass destruction. It resulted in a disastrous quagmire, and undermined his credibility throughout the Middle East. Despite this, Ian Parmeter, who served as Australian ambassador to Lebanon, is more optimistic about Blairs potential role in Gaza. I dont see Blairs involvement as a particular difficulty, and it could be a positive, says the research scholar at ANUs Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies. He knows a lot of the key players. He knows the region very well and will have a realistic idea of the task involved.

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When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited London last week, the first stop on his itinerary was a trip to see Blair. Albanese was a fierce opponent of the invasion of Iraq, but spoke warmly about Blairs potential to improve life for Israelis and Palestinians. Tony Blair is someone whos always played a constructive role, hes someone who does look for solutions, Albanese told reporters. So what exactly does Blair envisage for post-war Gaza? A detailed 21-page document prepared by Blairs think tank spells out his vision for what was called the Gaza International Transitional Authority. The plan was published in full this week by Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Related Article Opinion

Israeli-Palestinian conflict Trump has licensed Netanyahu to finish the job in Gaza. His plan is peace, maybe  or else Waleed Aly Columnist, author and academic The plan envisages an international governing body  which has now been essentially rebranded as Trumps peace board  taking control of Gaza in the short term. The document says the board would include at least one qualified Palestinian representative, a senior UN official, leading international business figures and a strong representation of Muslim members to ensure regional legitimacy and cultural credibility. In its early days, the body would be based not in Gaza but in Egypt or Jordan. Initially, there is no role in the plan for the Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognised body that is dominated by Hamas more moderate and secular rival Fatah. A technocratic Palestinian Executive Authority would instead be established to oversee the delivery of healthcare, education and infrastructure services.

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Meanwhile, an international stabilisation force would conduct targeted operations to prevent the resurgence of armed groups, disrupt weapons smuggling and protect the delivery of humanitarian aid. A separate Gaza Investment Promotion and Economic Development Authority would oversee the design, packaging and delivery of high-impact investment projects, including housing schemes, major infrastructure, and special economic zones. Trumps 20-point plan echoes this idea, saying that a special economic zone will be established with preferred tariff and access rates to be negotiated with participating countries. Hell on Earth: Israels bombing campaign has left much of Gaza in ruins. AP Saikal says the plans focus on profit  and lack of meaningful representation for Palestinians  is a major flaw. Many Palestinians will view this as a neo-mercantilist, imperialist plan, he says. The Palestinians have not been consulted at all: this was not a process of self-determination. Josh Paul, who served as a national security consultant in the Coalition Provisional Authority for Iraq, slammed the plan as sugar-coated neocolonialism, insisting: It will not work, and it should not be trusted.

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A Blair-led government of Gaza would, just like the American government of Iraq, be an incompatible transplant that would be rejected by the body, leading to a cycle of violence and escalation that is entirely avoidable and in no ones interest, Paul wrote in The Guardian. For Trump and Blairs vision to come into effect, Hamas would need to agree to it after playing no role in the process. Here, the situation is entirely different from the Good Friday Agreement, in which all the key Irish factions played an active role in the negotiations. Trump gave Hamas a deadline of three or four days to respond, and the world is waiting for a definitive answer. One possibility is that Hamas accepts the plan as a basis for future negotiations but demands concessions and modifications. While welcoming the release of the plan, Parmeter says: I give it a less than 50 per cent chance of success. I hope Im wrong. While hoping for the best, Saikal is also sceptical. There are so many unanswered questions at the moment, he says, and not enough details. Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.
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Updated WorldAsiaJapan How a pink-haired heavy metal rocker turned into Japans Iron Lady Lisa Visentin Updated October 5, 2025  5:47am ,first published October 4, 2025  3:11pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share 12 View all comments

Singapore: From a pink-haired, heavy metal rocker in her youth to one of Japans leading arch-conservative lawmakers, Sanae Takaichi found her political idol in Britains Margaret Thatcher. Now she is poised to emulate Thatcher and shatter the ultimate glass ceiling by becoming her countrys first female prime minister, and shifting her partys political agenda to the right. My goal is to become the Iron Lady, Takaichi said recently as she made her third attempt to win the presidency of Japans ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Sanae Takaichi, the newly-elected leader of Japans ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party, takes her place in the party leaders office on Saturday. AP Her critics in the partys more moderate ranks allegedly have a different nickname for her  Taliban Takaichi, due to her hardline conservative views.

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The former economics security minister was successful at a party leadership ballot on Saturday after two rounds of voting by lawmakers and rank-and-file members. She defeated the more centrist frontrunner, agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi who, at age 44, was vying to be Japans youngest leader in more than a century. Takaichi will replace Shigeru Ishiba, Japans prime minister, who stepped down last month after less than a year in the job after the LDP suffered historic election defeats and lost its majority in both houses of parliament on his watch. Sanae Takaichi is set to become Japans first female prime minister. AP She is widely expected, although not guaranteed, to be confirmed as the next prime minister when the Diet, Japans national parliament, votes on the matter next week. Her bid could be thwarted by opposition parties, but they are seen as too fractured to unite behind a different candidate. She will confront the immediate challenge of dealing with the unpredictable Trump administration and navigating a 15 per cent US tariff deal negotiated by her predecessor that requires Japan to invest $US550 billion ($833 billion) in the American economy.

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But it is domestic obstacles that will be most testing. Takaichi takes the helm of a party in crisis amid a voter backlash over a stagnant economy, rising prices, and growing public anxiety over the numbers of foreign workers and inbound tourists. Newly-elected leader of Japans Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Sanae Takaichi bows in front of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after winning the LDP leadership election. Getty Images Her election reflects the triumph of the conservative guard who believe the LDP needs to move to the right to win back public support after it lost the upper house election in July and the far-right Sanseito party gained ground. But analysts say she has not laid out a clear vision for party reform, particularly when it comes to campaign finance and addressing the slush fund scandal that embroiled the LDP in 2023, which eroded public trust. For the public, it looks like business as usual and, for a lot of them, thats no longer acceptable, Jeff Kingston, a political scientist at Tokyos Temple University, said.

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A socio-economic malaise is gripping Japan and that has made a lot of voters sceptical of the ruling elite and not enthusiastic about the status quo. Nonetheless, her victory marks a significant milestone for the LDP and Japans political system in general, where women comprise about 15 per cent of the lower house. The former economics security minister was successful at a party leadership ballot on Saturday after two rounds of voting by lawmakers and rank-and-file members. AP She has vowed to promote more female cabinet ministers  there are currently just two in the 20-member cabinet  but she doesnt have a track record of supporting womens issues and there is plenty of scepticism that she represents a turning point for gender politics in Japan. She has opposed calls to legally allow married couples to have separate surnames as well as reforms to allow female succession in Japans imperial family, and is against same-sex marriage.

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Most dues-paying grassroots members of the LDP are men, and tend to be older men. Shes crafted her persona in a way that appeals to that audience very well, said Kenneth McElwain, a politics professor at the University of Tokyo. I dont know how much that will play with the general public, including with women voters. Once a drummer in a metal band and a motorcycle enthusiast in her student days, Takaichi was first elected to the Diet, Japans national parliament, in 1993 and rose through the ranks as an ally of Shinzo Abe, Japans longest serving prime minister who was assassinated in 2022. She is a strong proponent of his Abenomics economic vision centred on government stimulus and low-interest rates, is known as a China hawk who supports revising Japans pacifist constitution, and has advocated for stricter immigration controls. She has also made regular visits to the Yasukuni shrine to Japans war dead, where 14 convicted war criminals are enshrined  a practice that is seen as antagonistic in China and South Korea.

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In her victory speech, she put her colleagues on notice that there was a hard road ahead to resurrect the LDP, which has governed Japan for most of its post-war history. Everyone will be required to work  work like a horse. I will abandon the notion of work-life balance. Work, work, work, work, work, she said. Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on whats making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
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WorldEuropeAntisemitism Father of Manchester synagogue attacker praised Hamas for October 7 Robert Mendick , Martin Evans and Akhtar Makoii October 4, 2025  3:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

The father of the Manchester synagogue attacker praised the October 7 Hamas terrorists as Allahs men on earth. Faraj al-Shamie posted on Facebook his own support for the attack on Israel in which 1200 people were killed and about 250 civilians and soldiers taken hostage. Faraj Al-Shamie works as a trauma surgeon. YouTube Shamie, a trauma surgeon who lived in council housing in Britain, said in his post on the day of the attack that the Hamas terrorists who had infiltrated the Jewish state on motorbikes and paragliders had proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Israel would be destroyed eventually. The posts were uncovered by the London Telegraph hours after Shamie had issued a statement in which he expressed his profound shock in the wake of the killing of two Jewish congregants at Heaton Park synagogue in north Manchester.

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Shamies eldest son, Jihad al-Shamie, 35, rammed his car into worshippers entering the synagogue on Thursday for Yom Kippur, Judaisms holiest day, before stabbing congregants. Jihad al-Shamie was then shot dead by armed police. Counter-terror police and security services are working on the theory that the attack on the synagogue was motivated by Israels war on Hamas in Gaza, in which more than 66,000 Palestinians have also died. Loading Faraj al-Shamie arrived in the UK from Syria in the 1990s, settling in the Crumpsall area of north Manchester, which is home to a large Jewish population. He had qualified as a doctor in Syria and completed further studies in the UK, before becoming a trauma surgeon. He is thought to be currently overseas, working as a doctor.

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But a translation of posts on Facebook shows him supporting the Hamas October 7, 2023 assault on Israel. Three days later on October 10, he appeared to question why Hamas was not receiving support from other Arab nations. He wrote: Where is this so-called resistance with the Haifa rockets ... May Gods curse be upon the hypocrites, the traitors pledged to a disgusting and filthy sectarian agenda  the moment of truth is inevitably coming. Police named Jihad al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian descent, as the attacker. You told me [about the] Haifa rockets... Our brothers in Palestine are publicly asking for help from anyone who still has a part of honour or humanity, but with Gods permission they will be victorious oh you who sold your religion, your honour and your humanity to the mullahs of Tehran, and whoever sells his honour, there is no hope from him... As for the Arab governments, leave them to wander blindly in their tyranny. Long live the brave men of Gaza #Palestine_is_Arab. A day later, on October 11, he again praised the Hamas invasion and called for the resounding fall of a great traitor.

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The two victims of the synagogue attack were named on Friday as Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, from Crumpsall. Greater Manchester Police said in a statement on Friday morning that one of the victims appeared to have been shot by armed officers. The officers also accidentally shot one of the survivors of the attack. Adrian Daulby, 53, (left) and Melvin Cravitz, 66, died during the Manchester synagogue attack. Greater Manchester Police Following the synagogue attack, the family said in a Facebook post on their fathers account: The news from Manchester regarding the terrorist attack targeting a Jewish synagogue has been a profound shock to us. The al-Shamie family in the UK and abroad strongly condemns this heinous act, which targeted peaceful, innocent civilians. We fully distance ourselves from this attack and express our deep shock and sorrow over what has happened. Our hearts and thoughts are with the victims and their families, and we pray for their strength and comfort.

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We kindly request that all media outlets respect the familys privacy during this very difficult time and refrain from using this tragic event in any context that does not reflect the truth. Little is known of Jihads teenage years, but his two younger brothers, Jawad and Kenan, were exceptionally bright and did well at school. Jawad won a place at the University of Kent to study pharmacy, graduating with a masters degree in 2016. He returned to the North West and worked at a community pharmacy in Leyland, Lancashire. After a year, he set himself up as a locum pharmacist and returned to Manchester. Kenan, the youngest brother, went to the University of East Anglia in Norwich to study mathematics. He graduated in 2016 with a first-class honours degree and went on to the University of St Andrews, where he did a master of science in pure mathematics. An expert in the development of artificial intelligence, he landed a job as a software engineer, initially working at the firms flagship data centre near Winchester. But in 2022, he transferred to the companys north-west centre and moved back to Manchester.

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Related Article Crime His robe stained with blood, a rabbi led his defiant Manchester congregation in prayer Their father, meanwhile, began working for the International Red Cross, travelling to war zones around the world. He posted regularly on social media from South Sudan, where he was working in field hospitals helping those wounded in the brutal civil war. There is virtually no trace of any social media activity for Jihad, but in 2012, a person using the email address Jihad Alshamie sent death threats to a Conservative MP following comments he made defending Israel. John Howell, who was the Tory MP for Henley at the time, was offered police protection after he received about 30 emails.

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The person, calling themselves Jihad Alshamie, wrote a series of emails, including one which said, It is people like you who deserve to die. It is unclear whether Thames Valley Police attempted to track down the sender of the email at the time. The Telegraph, London Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on whats making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.

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WorldEuropeProtests Police arrest hundreds at pro-Palestine protest, days after UK synagogue attack David Crowe Updated October 5, 2025  2:15am ,first published October 5, 2025  1:49am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

London: Protesters have defied political leaders and police by rallying to support banned activist group Palestine Action on the streets of London and Manchester, days after a terror attack on a synagogue heightened warnings about hatred against Jews. Police arrested 488 protesters in London on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) for declaring their support for Palestine Action, a proscribed terrorist group, after the rally went ahead despite calls for people to stay home and respect the grief of the Jewish community. Police officers detain a demonstrator in Trafalgar Square on Saturday. Getty Images Protesters also gathered in the centre of Manchester to rally against the war in Gaza, as the organisers declared they were not being antisemitic when criticising Israel and opposing the ban on Palestine Action. The arrests came two days after a British man of Syrian descent attacked security staff and worshippers at a Manchester synagogue, leaving two dead and four in hospital. The assailant, Jihad al-Shamie, was shot dead by police.

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Police raised concerns the attacker was influenced by extreme Islamist ideology and revealed he had been charged with rape and released on bail. Related Article Violence The police tape in Manchester marks a line that should not be crossed  but it was With tensions running high over the terror attack and the war in Gaza, news reports also revealed that al-Shamies father, surgeon Faraj al-Shamie, had issued a series of social media posts praising Hamas and welcoming its attack on Israel in October 2023, when 1200 people were killed. One day before the protests, the Metropolitan Police urged the demonstrators to stay home because officers were needed for community safety including additional security for Jewish schools and synagogues. Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley criticised the protest organisers, Defend Our Juries, for gathering 1000 people in Trafalgar Square days after the terrorist attack.

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By deliberately choosing to encourage mass law-breaking on this scale, Defend Our Juries are drawing valuable resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most, he said. People have been debating for the last two years whether pro-Palestinian protests are simply a call for peace, or have an implicit intention to stir up antisemitism. Police remove a protester after a banner was unfurled on Westminster Bridge, London, as part of the protest. AP Continuing such protests within hours of Thursdays awful terrorist murder of British Jews, when communities are most fearful, will likely create further tensions and some might say lacks sensitivity. Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also called for a halt to the protests, saying this is a moment of mourning and not a time to stoke tension. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch visited the site of the Manchester on Saturday and warned against rising antisemitism in Britain.

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Jewish people right now are telling me that they are leaving to go to Israel, she said. The UK parliament voted to proscribe Palestine Action by 358 to 26 votes on July 2 after its members broke into a Royal Air Force base, sprayed red paint into the jet engines of two large aircraft and caused further damage with crowbars. Defend Our Juries opposes the ban and said police resources should not be wasted on its enforcement at the protests. The danger of the proscription not only to our rights to free speech and protest, but to the safety of the public at large, was completely foreseeable and forewarned, the group said.

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Police said they arrested 488 people at the London protests on Saturday for supporting a proscribed organisation. Another four were arrested for other offences. The youngest person arrested was 18, the oldest was 89, the police said. 297 remain in custody, the rest have been bailed. Many protesters held up saying: I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action. Because the group is proscribed, public support for it is an offence. Adrian Daulby, 53, (left) and Melvin Cravitz, 66, died during the Manchester synagogue attack. Greater Manchester Police The Israeli government strongly rejects the claims of genocide. A United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry said last month that Israel was responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza but the government dismissed this as a narrative serving Hamas and its supporters.

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The synagogue attack resulted in the deaths of two men: Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66. Police said al-Shamie rammed his car into the synagogue grounds, killing Cravitz, who was providing security. They believe Daulby was helping to barricade the doors of the synagogue and died from a bullet fired by police officers at the attacker as he tried to enter the building. The terrorist wore a bomb-like device around his waist and police later confirmed it was a fake. At this stage, we believe Al-Shamie may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology, the Greater Manchester Police said on Friday, local time. Three men and three women, ranging in age from 18 to 61, have been arrested in the wider Manchester area on suspicion of aiding the terror attack  and four of them face extended questioning. We have been granted warrants of further detention for four individuals currently in custody. This means they can remain in custody for up to a further five days, the police said at 2.43pm on Saturday, local time (11.43pm, AEST).

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Everyone in custody has been arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism. Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on whats making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
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Manchester: The crowd has gone by the time Deborah walks to the police barricade to lay flowers in the rain. A few boys from the local Jewish school watch quietly as she bends down and props the flowers against the plastic barrier that keeps visitors away from the crime scene at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester. Deborah is here to remember her cousin, Adrian Daulby, 53, who was one of two people killed a day earlier, when an assailant rammed his car into the synagogue and attacked worshippers with a knife. Police say one of the victims, and an injured survivor, were accidentally shot by police responding to the attack. Loading He was lovely, Deborah says of her cousin. He was a real gentle soul. He never had a bad word to say about anybody. He fought cancer twice in his life, and lost both his parents, and he was going through cancer when his mother passed away. He was just a really helpful, kind person  and just very gentle. Deborah, who would rather not give her last name, is the same age as Daulby and part of the Jewish community in Manchester. She wipes away tears as she remembers him.

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We are standing on a closed road near the synagogue after most of the television crews have departed. They were here a short time earlier to see Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria, pay their respects. The crowds will be back when a public vigil is held in the afternoon and evening. For now, there are just the police and a few visitors bearing flowers. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits the scene of the terror attack near the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester. Getty Images Deborah worries about whether this Jewish community can rebuild from the terror. I just pray that people heal and recover, and that this sort of thing never happens again. Its just awful. I cant convey it in words how sad and tragic it is, she says. The message that I would like to get out, especially to the Jewish community, is to never let this defeat you, to stand strong together. And thats not just for Manchester. That goes for everywhere else in the UK and across the world as well  just stand united, together, to get through this terrible time. Help each other, be kind to each other.

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Marc Levy, whose father helped to barricade the synagogue door against the attacker, is worried that too many people think the Jewish people do not need their support. Sadly, our hand of friendship has not been grasped by many people who should have done, he says. So now, people need to look themselves in the mirror and realise that they need to do more to support the Jewish community during this time. Floral tributes are left at the scene of the attack. Getty Images Does he fear rising antisemitism, as others do? I dont know whats causing all this, but it needs to be dealt with firmly. The support is strong among those who stop at this corner, but it may not be so strong in all the streets beyond. The fact is that Manchester did not look like a city in mourning when night fell on the day of the attack. The bars and restaurants around Manchester Piccadilly, in the centre of the city, were loud and lively. Some Mancunians seemed to greet the attack with a shrug. And there was no way of knowing, from their faces on the street, whether it was a one of resignation or defiance. Attacks on Jews surged in Britain after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023. The Community Security Trust, which tracks antisemitism, says the annual count rose from 1662 to 4296 attacks in the year to the end of 2023.

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Related Article Antisemitism Manchester attacks spark bitter domestic recriminations The important point is that it rose before Israel had even responded in any way, Michael Wegier, the chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, says. He worries that Hamas, a listed terrorist group in Australia and elsewhere, has so many followers chanting its slogans in the west. Theres something about the volume of these marches, which take up enormous police resources and expenses, that leave many in the Jewish community feeling very intimidated, he says. We also know there have been many incidents of antisemitism at these marches. Not for everybody, I want to be really clear about that. But among the organisers and some of the people, there have been some really problematic banners and callings. He thinks police and government prosecutors should have dealt with these more firmly. Pro-Palestine protest in London. In Pictures via Getty Images As an example, Wegier cites the phrase globalise the intifada  a catch-cry that seeks a response in the West to the Palestinian uprising against Israel. The expression globalise the intifada is a global program against the Jews because thats what the intifada was, he says. It was an armed attack on Israeli civilians by Palestinian terrorists. So when you call for globalising the intifada, thats what you mean.

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Jewish leaders are urging politicians to make sure there is no tolerance for slogans and protests that encourage people to turn on Jews. Yet, the protests in favour of the Palestinian cause continue in Britain, week by week. It looks as if a generation is not just chanting against Israel, but turning against the Jewish people, over the war in Gaza. The police tape in Manchester shows where the antisemitism can end. There is a line that should not be crossed  and there are people who are so consumed by hate that they will cross it. I am at the police cordon at the synagogue just over 24 hours after the terrorism attack. There are about two dozen bunches of flowers along the barriers. Flowers laid near the scene of the attack outside the synagogue in Manchester on Friday. AP Miriam Summer weeps when she lays flowers with her husband and their three children. She is not Jewish but feels she must be here. I think the community who arent Jewish need to come out, pay their respects and show love, she tells me. Its heartbreaking, seeing people from the community say that they feel scared. More people need to come out and show love. Its 2025. People shouldnt be getting killed because of their religion. Its disgusting to see young children scared about the future. We have to do better.

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WorldNorth AmericaRoad safety Krysta died in a fiery crash  and her parents say Tesla doors are to blame Jack Ewing October 4, 2025  11:21am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

Piedmont, California: The parents of two college students killed in a car crash last year in the United States have claimed in lawsuits that the design of the doors in the companys Cybertruck pick-up made it nearly impossible for their children to escape the burning vehicle. The suits, filed in a California court on Thursday by the families of Krysta Tsukahara, 19, and Jack Nelson, 20, underline long-standing questions about how the doors in many Teslas work, which is the focus of an investigation begun in September by federal auto safety regulators. The lawsuits are another setback for the Cybertruck, which has sold poorly and been recalled eight times since last year. Onlookers take photos of the Tesla Cybertruck as it makes its first appearance in Melbourne for the citys motor show in March this year. Paul Rovere Tesla pioneered car doors that open or shut with the push of a button. Several other car makers have imitated that design, usually on electric models. Electronic doors give cars a high-tech aura and may modestly reduce wind resistance because their exterior handles typically do not protrude from the door. The car makers door latches rely on a 12-volt battery that is separate from the high-voltage battery that drives the vehicles electric motor. If the power is cut off by a crash, the electronic door mechanism may not work.

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Krysta Tsukahara died when her friends Cybertruck crashed. NYT via the Tsukahara family. Tsukahara, a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, and Nelson, a student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, were riding in the rear seat of a Cybertruck driven by Soren Dixon that smashed into a tree at high speed in Piedmont, California, a San Francisco Bay Area suburb. Dixon, 19, also died in the crash. The suits claim that Tsukaharas and Nelsons injuries from the crash were minor but that they died of burns and smoke inhalation after the Cybertrucks battery caught fire. They were unable to escape because the manual door releases were too difficult to find, the suits say. Tsukahara suffered unimaginable pain and emotional distress because she could not escape the fire, which ultimately led to her death, according to the suit filed by her parents, Carl and Noelle Tsukahara. If it had not been so difficult to escape the burning Cybertruck, shed be alive today, Carl Tsukahara said in an interview at the familys home in Piedmont.

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Jack Nelson also died in the crash. NYT via the Nelson family. To open the Cybertrucks rear doors, the passenger must lift a rubber mat on the bottom of the doors storage pocket, then pull a cable underneath. Rear passengers like Jack were left with only a concealed mechanical release that was obscure, non-intuitive and highly unlikely to be located or operated in the smoke and chaos of a post-crash fire, according to the lawsuit filed on behalf of Nelsons parents, Todd and Stannye Nelson. The New York Times confirmed the filing of the lawsuit brought by the Nelsons on Friday. A friend who was following in another vehicle saved a fourth passenger who was in the front seat by smashing the Cybertrucks window with a branch.

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The suits threaten another blow to Teslas reputation after a Florida jury decided in August that the company should pay $US243 million ($368 million) in damages for a crash involving its driver assistance system. The jury found that the companys software had contributed to an accident in 2019 that killed one person and severely injured another. Tesla did not respond to requests for comment this week and did not respond to a request for comment after the suits were filed. The doors of the Cybertruck are controlled electronically. Paul Rovere In the Piedmont case, Tesla may seek to place blame for the crash on Dixon, the driver of the Cybertruck. He was drunk and had consumed cocaine and amphetamines that night, according to a coroners report. The company may also argue that the doors might not have opened because of damage to the Cybertrucks body, rather than flaws in the companys design. Electric vehicles are far less likely to catch fire than cars that run on gasoline. But when the batteries do ignite, they burn intensely, and the flames can quickly envelop cars, requiring quick escapes or rescues.

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Tesla is working on new designs that will make it easier to open doors if a vehicle loses power, Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhausen said in September on Bloombergs Hot Pursuit podcast. Thats something we are working on, and its in the car soon, von Holzhausen said on the podcast. The lawsuits filed this week claim that deadly flaws in the design of the door latches have been obvious for years, yet Tesla failed to make improvements even in the Cybertruck, its newest vehicle. For more than a decade before the crash, the Tsukaharas suit says, Tesla had repeated and direct notice that its reliance on electronic door systems created a serious risk of entrapment. Owners, bystanders, and first responders documented instances where Tesla occupants survived crash forces but could not escape when electrical power failed and fire ensued. Andrew McDevitt, a San Francisco lawyer who is representing the Nelsons, said: Its just absolutely unforgivable. You know people have died and you continue to do it.

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Last year, Tesla settled a lawsuit brought by the family of Kevin McCarthy, the chief executive of a software firm in Indiana, who died after a Tesla Model S driven by one of his employees struck a tree and caught fire. The driver died on impact in that crash, which was in 2016 in Indianapolis. But witnesses reported seeing McCarthy struggling to get out of the front passenger side of the car before it was engulfed in flames. Related Article Analysis

China relations Chinas EVs are dirt cheap. Its policymakers are concerned Ours is not an isolated case, Carl Tsukahara said. He is represented by Roger Dreyer of the Sacramento firm of Dreyer Babich Buccola Wood Campora. This company is worth a trillion dollars, he added, referring to Tesla. How can you release a machine thats not safe in so many ways? Tesla doors are the focus of an investigation opened in September by United States federal regulators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is examining 2021 Tesla Model Y sport utility vehicles after owners complained that, after leaving the front seats and getting out of the car, they were unable to open the rear doors. In four cases, owners reported that they had to break the cars windows to free children trapped inside.

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Other manufacturers, including Ford Motor, Toyota and Stellantis, the maker of Jeep vehicles, have adopted electronic doors. Those companies have used various designs that allow doors to be opened in the event of a power failure or emergency. Electronic door handles on some Lexus models operate manually by being pulled twice, and there is a manual release tab on the exterior handle. The handles on Volkswagens electric ID.4 operate manually if simply pulled harder. On Fords electric Mustang Mach E and some Jeep models, electronic doors have a capacitor near the door mechanism that retains enough power for it to open in case of a battery failure, according to the companies. The Piedmont crash shattered the bedroom community set in hills above Oakland, where streets wind past homes with carefully landscaped yards, many with Teslas parked out front. The four young people in the Cybertruck were close friends and outstanding individuals, each on the verge of making meaningful contributions to the world, Todd and Stannye Nelson said in their statement. They were all victims of Teslas unsafe design.

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Since the first drive in 1954, about $400,000 have been raised locally.
25-year-old Miguel A. Matos was arrested and charged with criminal recklessness after Jeffersonville Police said he fired several shots in the area of an apartment complex in Jeffersonville, Indiana on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Clark County Jail)
The long-running saga of the 'mysterious' Castlebar street sweeper has taken a fresh turn. The sweeper was bought during the days of Castlebar Town Council but rarely saw the light of day.

It is believed the machine, which lay in 'sick bay' for a long period, may now have been auctioned off without approval from councillors.

"Its an ongoing saga for a long number of years," Cllr Ger Deere told last week's municipal council meeting. "The mysterious street sweeper. Its moved from the sick bay, I believe. Its probably gone into long-term care now.

"This is a proper joke. We never seemed to see the new street sweeper that was built for Castlebar a number of years ago. We are now hiring one out I believe for a large amount of money."

Cllr Deere said he believes the sweeper was recently sold at auction for little or no money.

"You cant dispose of an asset without our approval," remarked an incredulous Cllr Michael Kilcoyne.
Tennessee is preparing to execute Christa Gail Pike, the only woman on the state's death row, in what would mark the first execution of a female inmate in more than two centuries. The state Supreme Court has set Pike's execution date for Sept. 30, 2026.

If carried out, Pike would become the first woman executed in Tennessee since the early 1800s and only the 19th woman executed in the United States in the modern era, figures from the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) show. Since the U.S. reinstated capital punishment in 1976, women have accounted for just 1% of executions, with 18 cases compared to more than 1,600 men.

Pike was 18 years old when she and two others lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer into a wooded area in Knoxville on Jan. 12, 1995. Prosecutors said the attack stemmed from Pike's jealousy over a teenage boyfriend they both knew at the Knoxville Job Corps, a career-training program.

According to court records cited by AP News, Slemmer was beaten, cut, and stabbed over the course of an hour before Pike inflicted a fatal head injury. A pentagram was carved into her chest, and Pike later kept a fragment of Slemmer's skull, which she showed to other students.

Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, also received a murder conviction and is serving a life sentence with parole eligibility. A third accomplice, Shadolla Peterson, testified against Pike and was sentenced to probation.

The DPIC notes that Tennessee has executed only three women in its history, all between 1807 and 1819, with two of them recorded as enslaved individuals. Pike's execution would be the first involving a woman in the state in over 200 years.

Nationally, Pike is among just 48 women currently on death row, compared with nearly 2,100 men. The last woman executed in the U.S. was Amber McLaughlin in Missouri in 2023.

Tennessee's most recent execution was in August 2025, when the state put to death Byron Black for the 1988 murders of his girlfriend and her two children.

With Pike's case now formally scheduled, Tennessee joins a growing number of states moving forward with executions this year. According to DPIC, 2025 has already seen the highest number of executions in a decade, with 34 inmates put to death so far and nine more scheduled before year's end.

Originally published on IBTimes
Within hours of the killing of two Jewish worshippers at a synagogue in Manchester on Thursday, the Labour government and policebacked by a frothing right-wing medialeapt on the tragedy to intensify their crackdown on protests against the Gaza genocide, and the campaign to brand anti-Zionism as left antisemitism.

On Thursday morning, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, a man drove into worshippers outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue. He then got out of his vehicle and began stabbing people, before trying to enter the synagogue. The attacker was later named as Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent.

Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation [Photo by David Dixon / CC BY-SA 2.0

Armed police officers arrived within seven minutes and shot Al-Shamie dead. It emerged the following day that police gunfire also killed one of the two victims, Adrian Daulby, aged 53, who was shot as he helped to secure the synagogue doors. Another man was seriously injured by police fire and is in hospital alongside two others with wounds from Al-Shamies car and knife attack.

Police feared Al-Shamie was wearing an explosive device, but it was deemed not to be viable after investigation. Three people have been arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.

Before the attacker was even named, Israels foreign minister Gideon Saar lyingly conflated his actions with mass protests against the genocide in Gaza, posting on X: The truth must be told: blatant and rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement, as well as calls of support for terror, have recently become a widespread phenomenon in the streets of London, in cities across Britain, and on its campuses.

Calling for political repression, he accused, The authorities in Britain have failed to take the necessary action to curb this toxic wave of antisemitism and have effectively allowed it to persist.

This was echoed by Gideon Falter of Britains witch-hunting Campaign Against Antisemitism, who said, It has been a long time since British Jews had faith in our politicians, police and institutions. Their appeasement of extremistsespecially those of the far-left and radical Islamistsis what has made todays attack inevitable.

This opened the floodgates for demands that protests against the Israeli governments war crimes and British complicity be called off, including one scheduled for this Saturday by the Defend our Juries (DOJ) group.

DOJ have organised regular demonstrations in Londons Parliament Square in opposition to the governments proscription of the protest group Palestine Action. At these protests, over 1,500 people have been arrested under the Terrorism Act simply for displaying a sign reading, I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action. Almost 1,700 people have been arrested nationally for the same offence.

The Palestine Coalition, whose leadership includes the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Stop the War Coalition, is facing demands to call off its scheduled October 11 national demonstration, also in London. Hundreds of thousands are expected to attend an event marking two years since the beginning of a genocide which has killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and reduced their home to rubble.

Just hours after Thursdays attack, Londons Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan wrote to DOJ requesting it cancel its protest, with the justification that the Met is stepping up reassurance and protective security operations across the capital with a particular focus on Londons Jewish and Muslim communities and the protests draw officers away from the communities they serve.

DOJ refused, responding, We urge you to choose to prioritise protecting the community rather than arresting those peacefully holding signs in opposition to the absurd and draconian ban of a domestic direct action group.

The Palestine Coalition has likewise refused to call off the October 11 protest.

After a rally Thursday evening outside Downing Street to protest Israels illegal seizure of the Global Sumud/Freedom Flotillaand the complicity of the British and other governmentsthe Labour government cracked down harder. Police violently attacked protesters, kettling them and arresting 40 at a relatively small demonstration.

Newly installed home secretary Shabana Mahmood declared herself very disappointed to see those protests going ahead last night. I think that behaviour is fundamentally un-British. I think it is dishonourable.

Protesters could have postponed their action against a genocide taking scores of lives a daywith the US President threatening all hell by the weekendbecause, she said with a half smile, The issues that are driving those protests have been going on now for some time. They dont look like theyre going to come to an end any day soon.

Instead of demonstrating against an ongoing genocide protesters ought to have shown some humanity and given a community that has suffered deep loss just a day or two to process what has happened and carry on with the grieving process, Mahmood added.

In the warped world of the Labour Party, it is impossible for a Jewish person to be horrified by both Al-Shamies murderous attack and Israels genocide. The noxious Zionist myth is that to be Jewish is to be totally aligned with the State of Israel and its genocidal government, to the point of being grievously offended by protest against it. If, as is reported, Al-Shamie yelled this is what you get for killing our children, he was drawing the same amalgam as the British and Israeli governments.

False allegations of antisemitism are being utilised to justify the most naked authoritarianism and repression of anti-war sentiment. Mahmood told reporters of the protests against the Israeli genocide, Just because you have a freedom, doesnt mean you have to use it.

The UKs Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, was more explicit, demanding the anti-genocide marches be banned. Speaking to BBC Radios Today, he declared, Some of them contain outright antisemitism, outright support for Hamas You cannot separate the words on our streets, the actions of people in this way, and what inevitably results, which was yesterdays terrorist attack.

He demanded the government get a grip on these demonstrations, they are dangerous.

On Friday, Saar said of a conversation with Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, I raised the need to fight the pro-Palestinian marches and protests, which bear antisemitic traits, and at times include explicit support for terror.

I said that this rabid incitement rightly disturbs the Jewish community in Britain deeply and it must be fought aggressively and determinedly. I emphasised that anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism.

These slanderous claims are amplified in the media, with the Daily Mail running a front-page piece by Richard Littlejohn headlined, two years of hate-filled Palestine marches have led to the intifada striking in Britain. Littlejohn accused the government and police of being content to stand by while pro-Palestine protesters peddle Jew-hatred on our streets.

While reams of paper have been spent denouncing anti-genocide protests and demanding their suppression, little scrutiny has been given to Al-Shamie and the governments claim that he was not previously known to counter-terrorism police.

Manchester was the scene of a terrorist atrocity in 2017, when Salman Abedi, helped by his brother Hashem, carried out a suicide bombing at Manchester Arena, killing 22 people and injuring over 1,000.

While it was admitted he was known to the intelligence agencies prior to the attack, it only subsequently emerged that Salman, his father Ramadan and brothers Ismail and Hashem were allowed to operate in the war zone of Libya and travel freely between there and the UK for years before the attack.

They were assets of British imperialism: far-right Islamists deployed to aid imperialist foreign policy objectives in Libya and throughout the Middle Eastincluding the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. In 2014, Britains Royal Navy warship HMS Enterprise even evacuated the Abedi brothers from Libya, bringing them back to Britain.
A week-old baby lies in a neonatal intensive care unit bay at the Norton Children's Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. [AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley]

The Mississippi State Health Department declared a public health emergency in August following a dramatic surge in infant mortality in the state. According to MSHD data, Mississippis infant mortality rate (IMR)deaths within the first year of liferose to 9.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2024, marking the highest rate in more than a decade.

This emergency is a signal that the smallest innocent lives are being held hostage by a health system in America that judges its success, not by the thriving of mothers and babies, but by the profits hauled in by private insurers, pharmaceuticals and other health-related conglomerates. Those women and their families who rely on social programs put in place to protect the most vulnerable are paying the ultimate price for the savage cuts being implemented by both big business parties.

Mississippis 9.7 IMR is dramatically higher than the provisional US national rate of 5.5 deaths per 1,000. Since 2014, Mississippi has witnessed the deaths of 3,527 babies before their first birthday. The recent increase has been driven significantly by deaths among newborns under 28 days old (neonatal deaths).

Dr. Daniel Edney, the Mississippi state health officer, stated that if babies dying at the rate that our babies are dying is not a public health emergency, I dont know what is. Dr. Michael Warren, chief medical and health officer for the nonprofit March of Dimes, told Jefferson Public Radio that the US is one of the most dangerous developed countries for giving birth, noting that the 20,000 infant deaths annually nationwide are the equivalent of a jumbo jet crashing once a week for an entire year and killing everyone on board.

The causes of infant death in Mississippiincluding congenital malformations, prematurity, low birth weight, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)are inextricably linked to an acute lack of medical infrastructure. More than half of the counties in Mississippi are considered maternity healthcare deserts, lacking access to comprehensive prenatal care. Obstetricians are few and far between and often see patients for the first time late in pregnancy, sometimes when they are close to delivery or already in labor.

The unraveling of Medicaid

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, like many of his Republican counterparts, aggressively resisted expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Medicaid is a crucial resource, covering nearly 53 percent of births in Mississippi and 40 percent nationwide. Without access to Medicaid, many low-income women are left uninsured before and between pregnancies.

Experts emphasize that untreated chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension prior to conception are major contributors to preterm births and subsequent infant deaths, making preconception care critical.

Inadequate prenatal care, poverty and being a single mother are all associated with increased infant mortality rates. For low-income women managing high-risk pregnancies, such as those involving hypertension, pre-eclampsia, and fetal growth restriction, specialist carewhich may require expensive travelis often financially unattainable.

The IMR figures demonstrate that the burden of this mortality crisis falls overwhelmingly on poor and black families. In Mississippi, the infant mortality rate for African American babies was 15.2 per 1,000 live births in 2024, Time magazine reports, a rate that is more than double the rate for white families (5.8 per 1,000). Nationally, non-Hispanic black infants suffer a mortality rate more than two times the rate of non-Hispanic white infants.

Infant mortality rates are strongly correlated with social vulnerability. Research using the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) confirms that increasing county-level infant mortality is associated with stepwise increasing levels of social vulnerability, according to BMJ Public Health.

Latest figures from the CDC: 2023 infant mortality rates by state [Photo: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]

Maternity care for poor vs. wealthy women

A comparison of Mississippi to other states, and the US to Europe, clearly shows that poor health outcomes are concentrated among the most impoverished segments of society. Infant mortality rates are highest in Deep South, including in Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana. States that did expand Medicaid, such as Arkansas and Louisiana, saw measurable improvements, including a 29 percent reduction in black infant mortality in Arkansas in the five years post-Medicaid expansion, CBS News Health Watch reports.

This class disparity is the key distinguishing factor between the US and its industrialized counterparts. The overall US IMR is 71 percent higher than the comparable country average, with this disparity driven almost entirely by higher mortality rates among lower income groups in the US.

Infants born to better-off white mothers with partners have mortality rates that are statistically indistinguishable from their affluent counterparts in countries like Austria or Finland. In contrast, economically disadvantaged US groups experience significantly worse outcomes, particularly during the postneonatal period (112 months), a finding that correlates to inadequate social supports after birth, the National Bureau of Economic Research reports.

Trumps social cuts and the war on science and medicine

The worsening infant mortality crisis is accelerating under the deliberate policies of the Trump administration, which has launched a two-pronged attack: mass cuts to social services and a politically motivated war on science.

The budget bill passed by the House aims to slash $930 billion from Medicaid, Medicare and Affordable Care Act (ACA) funding combined over 10 years. Experts calculate that cuts of this magnitude will result in more than 51,000 additional deaths per year by decreasing access to healthcare.

The cutbacks are projected to cause millions to lose health coverage, including an estimated 6 million women of reproductive age who gained access through ACA expansion.

The cuts are strategically designed to inflict maximum damage by imposing mountains of bureaucratic red tape to discourage health access:

Mandatory work requirements: The bill mandates onerous work reporting requirements adults with expanded Medicaid, estimated to lead to 5.2 million fewer people enrolled in the program by 2034. Frequent redeterminations: Requiring states to conduct eligibility redeterminations for expansion individuals every six months (instead of 12) will significantly elevate the risk of procedural disenrollments and interrupt continuity of care. Destabilizing rural care: These massive federal funding reductions destabilize rural hospitals that rely heavily on Medicaid reimbursement, threatening the closure of obstetric and pediatric care departments which are already underserved and operate on thin margins.

Simultaneously, the administration has waged an extreme assault on medical science. The government has carried out a systematic campaign against scientific institutions, cutting the positions of over 20,000 federal public health workers and scientists, canceling over 800 research grants, and imposing crippling budget cuts on all Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies.

Programs designed to protect mothers and infants are directly targeted. The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) program vital for tracking maternal and infant health trends, has been targeted for elimination. As one former CDC staffer noted in comments to StatNews, cutting vital maternal and child health programs when crises are rising is willful ignorance, warning that without robust data, we are flying blind.

This anti-science crusade, as the World Socialist Web Site has insisted, is politically motivated to shift the burden of responsibility from the government onto individual parents and families. This campaign is intrinsically linked to a revival of eugenicist ideology. Key figures appointed to HHS, such as David Geier, who previously promoted fraudulent autism cures involving chemical castration, oversee data initiatives that privacy advocates warn could enable harmful research targeting vulnerable individuals. This deliberate policy of social murder and pillaging on a mass scale ensures that the sick, the disabled, and the poor are left to fall by the wayside, i.e., to suffer disastrous health outcomes, and possibly death.

A bipartisan attack on social programs

The tragic crisis in Mississippi confirms that the policies of the ruling classunder both the Republicans and Democratsare dedicated to lowering workers life expectancy, gutting social services and defending corporate profits. The infant mortality crisis is a reflection of entrenched class inequities and ruling class policies aimed at the health of the entire working class.

The attack on the health of millions of Americans goes hand in hand with the Trump administrations drive toward dictatorship and fascistic forms of rule, which has been demonstrated in the government shutdown with a massive attack on social programs and federal workers jobs.

The task of defending public health and fighting against the barbarism represented by the Trump administration and its backers cannot be left to the political establishment. The working class, which suffers disproportionately under these social cuts, must mobilize independently.

As the WSWS wrote recently:

Resistance to dictatorship must be centered in the working class, because the working class is its main target. The social content of Trumps program is the destruction of millions of jobs, the lowering of life expectancy and the dismantling of programs won through decades of struggle on which tens of millions rely.  the Democrats, the other capitalist party in America, exclude any mention of fascism in their statements on the shutdown. Even their posturing over restoring Medicaid cuts will amount to nothing. Their overriding priority is to chloroform the population to the seriousness of what is happening, divert anger and prevent the eruption of social opposition, which they dread.

The defense of science, the preservation of Medicaid and the demand for comprehensive maternity care are fundamentally class issues. The independent mobilization of the working class based on a socialist program is required to secure basic social rights, including the right of every mother to a healthy pregnancy and every child to reach their first birthday and beyond. Only through the overthrow of the capitalist system, which elevates figures promoting social murder, can humanity defend itself against this accelerating public health catastrophe.
On the evening of September 27, at least 41 peopleincluding ten children and 16 womenwere killed and more than 100 injured in a horrific human-crushing, asphyxiation event at a political rally in Karur, a city in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The rally was organized by the Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK, or Tamil Victory Association), a party founded last year by the Tamil film star Vijay, who enjoys a large popular following, especially among youth.

The Karur rally was part of the actors bid to become Tamil Nadus Chief Minister when state assembly elections are held next April.

The 51-year-old Vijay, often called Thalapathy (Commander) by his fans, is one of the most popular actors in Tamil-language cinema. Over nearly three decades, he has acted in more than 65 films, usually portraying a heroic figure who defends the helpless poor and defeats corrupt elites. His movies consistently rank among the highest grossing in South India.

The site chosen for the September 27 rally, Velusamypuram, is a densely built-up market area on the KarurErode road. With barely 1,000 square feet of usable space, it was wholly inadequate for the more than 25,000 people who converged on it for Vijays September 27 rally.

Anxious to see their idol, people started congregating as of 10 am, but Vijay and his convoy only arrived in the evening, more than seven hours late. When the film-star-turned-politician ascended on his tour bus to address the crowd, it was well past 7.00 pm.

By then, it was already apparent that a medical emergency was unfolding.

Many in the large, densely packed crowd had been exposed for hours to hot weather conditions without adequate food, water and basic amenities. By 6pm an ambulance rescue mission had been launched to assist rally attendees who had collapsed from exhaustion and dehydration.

The TVK's September Karur rally [Photo: Wikimedia]

There are multiple, conflicting narratives about what precisely triggered the acute stage of the crowd-crush, but there is no question that this was a disaster that could have been foretold and prevented.

Tamil Nadus DMK government has appointed a one-woman commission to investigate the incident. The TVK, for its part, is calling for an investigation to be conducted by the BJP central government-controlled Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI.

Some news sources claim that the breaking of a tree branch that had been scaled by the actors supporters triggered rally participants to surge, further aggravating the situation.

In video footage, the crowd can be seen swaying forwards and backwards, with many holding their smartphones in the air with both hands to record Vijay as he spoke from atop his tour bus.

Five minutes into Vijays speech, cries can be heard as two ambulances strive to cut through the dense crowd. As the ambulances slowly proceed, police mount a lathi (baton) charge to clear them a path.

Watching this unfold, Vijay nonchalantly noted the ambulances presence but otherwise continued his speech unfazed. Here and there, desperate cries can be heard from the suffocating crowd, with rally participants pleading with the actor to notice those collapsing around them and begging for water.

He responds by casually hurling a few water bottles into the mass, a gesture that only added to the commotion. Even in the midst of this mounting chaos, Vijays sole concern was to deliver his speech. After a perfunctory adjustment of his microphone, he resumed speaking as if nothing had happened.

Barely a minute later, cries for help again reverberate. Ambulance sirens wail and more suffocating people can be seen to collapse. Yet the actor is indifferent and oblivious to the unfolding tragedy.

Finally, he exhorts the jam-packed crowd to make way for the ambulances, but this is impossible because the venue is packed well beyond capacity. Still Vijay persists with his speech, rather than issuing instructions to the crowd to carry out an orderly evacuation.

His speech concluded, Vijay fled the scene for Trichy airport, from whence by private jet he flew to Chennai, utterly indifferent to the dozens who had died or been critically injured during a crowd-crushing incident that unfolded before his eyes over the course of the better part of an hour.

Tamil Nadus DMK government has accused the rally organisers of flagrant violations of safety guidelines. Police have charged several senior TVK leaders, including Vijays close aide N. Anand and the partys joint general secretary, Nirmal Sekar, with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, along with violations of public safety laws. On September 30, similar charges were laid against Karur West District TVK secretary Mathiyazhagan.

The TVK, meanwhile, has tried to shift blame onto the DMK. Initially, they complained that there were not enough police personnel to control the crowd. Party supporters have subsequently accused a local DMK politician, Senthil Balaji, whom Vijay has attacked for corruption, of triggering the crowd crush by instructing police to attack the crowd when it sang along with Vijay to a song satirizing Balajis corruption.

Completely ignored in these claims are the limited size of the venue, the failure to provide relief to people forced to wait hours under trying conditions for Vijays arrival, and the decision to continue the rally amid the unfolding tragedy.

As for the police, indications are that they acted as they typically do in India with wanton brutality, even when, as here, it was a question of trying to clear a path for ambulances through a peaceful rally.

After a two-day culpable silence, Vijay issued a nearly five-minute-long video, expressing his condolences and appealing to the DMK Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin, to arrest him directly, and not hold his partys office bearers responsible. In this video he asks, Why did this happen only in Karur? referring to his previous mass gatherings and suggesting that the September 27 tragedy must have been the outcome of a DMK conspiracy.

According to the police, the TVK had originally sought permission for a smaller venue, claiming only 10,000 attendees were expected. It is common practice across the subcontinent for capitalist politicians to organize mass rallies in limited spaces, so as to give the impression of overflow crowds and to make supporters wait hours until their leaders arrival amid boisterous applause to highlight the strength and devotion of their popular following.

At Karur and in previous events, Vijay succeeded in attracting large crowds. While his superstardom undoubtedly played a role, the flocking of large numbers of youth, including unemployed graduates, to his rallies reflects Tamil Nadus deep social crisisjoblessness, soaring prices, and precarious contract labour.

For nearly six decades, control over Tamil Nadus state government has alternated between the DMK (Dravida Munnethra Kazhagam) and its offshoot the AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnethra Kazhagam). Both are steeped in Tamil (Dravidian) ethno-nationalism; have for decades pursued pro-investor policies on behalf of Indian and foreign capital; uphold the Indian bourgeoisies global strategic partnership with US imperialism; and have at various times allied with the Congress Party, till recently the ruling classs preferred party of national government, or the Hindu supremacist BJP of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Tamil Nadus unemployed youth and contract workers, many from indebted agrarian families, have time and again seen their hopes and aspirations dashed by the traditional ruling parties, whose names are increasingly popularly viewed as synonymous with corruption.

If many of them have turned to the film-star cum demagogue Vijay, it is out of desperation, hoping his heroism on screen fighting for the poor against corrupt elites can be transformed into real life.

Those principally responsible for this political confusion and desperation are the Stalinist partiesthe Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM and the Communist Party of India (CPI) and their allied trade unions, who posture as left, while systematically suppressing the class struggle.

Tamil Nadu has in recent decades experienced an explosive growth in the size and social power of the working class, propelling it into the front ranks across India for the number of strikes and social protests. Yet in Tamil Nadu, as across India, the Stalinists have confined workers to isolated collective bargaining struggles, invariably urging them to make futile appeals to the courts and government in the face of corporate intransigence, while politically subordinating it to the capitalist parties.

At the national level, this has meant time and again allying with the big business Congress Party in the name of fighting the far-right BJP. In Tamil Nadu, the CPM and CPI are close allies of the DMK government, even as it breaks strikes, and presses forward with privatization. This includes boosting the DMKs claims to be a party of social justice, based on its roots in the Non-Brahmin movement, which in the first decades of the 20th century challenged a local elite, while collaborating with the British colonial authorities in opposing the Indian National Congress and subsequently developed the politically retrograde concept of Dravidian nationalism.

TVK presents itself as an anti-corruption, pro-Tamil alternative. Vijay denounces the DMK for its failure to fulfil its phony promises of increased social support and alleviating poverty and economic insecurity through capitalist development, while also railing against the BJP and AIADMK, which he supported during the 2011 assembly election.

Like the DMK and AIDMK, Vijay tries to give himself progressive colours by invoking the non-Non-Brahmin/Dravidian tradition and its initial and premier exponent, Periyar, and like them he promotes Tamil chauvinism and pursues right-wing capitalist politics. This includes demanding exclusivist Tamil job quotas at the expense of north Indian and other migrants; and championing Tamil nationalist claims for Indian/Tamil Nadu sovereignty over the Sri Lankan held Kachchativu Island and for the lions share of the waters of the Kaveri (Cauvery) River.

The Karur tragedy has underscored the utterly fraudulent character of the TVK and its efforts, using the make-believe hero Viyay, to present itself as an advocate for Tamil Nadus workers and toilers.
Striking postal workers in Edmonton, Alberta

We encourage all striking postal workers to contact the World Socialist Web Site with your comments and views on how to take forward your struggle by filling out the form at the end of this article.

My name is Daniel Berkley, and Ive been on strike with 55,000 colleagues at Canada Post for over a week. On Thursday, September 25, we began spontaneously walking off the job after Mark Carneys Liberal government announced a plan to scrap the postal service in its current form and destroy tens of thousands of jobs. We took a courageous stand, forcing the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) bureaucracy to call a national strike. But one week later, the urgent question we now face is, how can we win our struggle? What is the way forward?

We are faced first and foremost with a political struggle. Its not just Canada Post management that wants to slash jobs and undermine our rights, but also the government and all of corporate Canada. They all view the postal service as a test case for the shredding of all public services and imposition of penury on all workers to pay for the enrichment of the corporate oligarchy and military rearmament.

This is not a normal round of collective bargaining. The conditions exist for us to win powerful support from other sections of workers, because our fight is their fight. However, this support will not emerge automatically. We have to fight for it with an appeal that makes our strike the spearhead of a wider mass mobilization for the defence of all public services, jobs, and workers rights. The CUPW bureaucracy is bitterly hostile to this, so we must build our own organizations, rank-and-file committees controlled by the strikers ourselves, to take this message to autoworkers, other delivery workers at Purolator and Amazon, public sector workers, and others.

The current course advocated by the CUPW leadership amounts to us waiting passively until the government orders us back to work. So long as the CUPW keeps us isolated from other workers, the government could drag out our strike, wearing us down over an extended period, before finally ordering us back to work. Well be starved on strike pay, Canada Post will bleed money, and the government and big business will have a free hand to continue their attacks against us unabated.

The future of all Canadian public services is at risk, and the issues we are fighting for affect all workers! The right to strike, workers control over new technologies, and the gigification of jobs affects everyone. We must become the spearhead of a broader movement of the working class in defense of the right to strike, high quality public services, and good jobs. A week into our strike, we must urgently appeal to other sections of workers to broaden our movement against a government of capitalist austerity and imperialist war.

In the announcement that provoked our walkout, government minister Joel Lightbound announced that the government of Canada would accept all of the recommendations put forward by the Industrial Inquiry Commission (IIC). This commission, headed by William Kaplan, the same man who played a key role in shutting down the Air Canada strike, was rigged from the very start. The CUPW, eager to help enforce the government-dictated strike ban on us in December, fully participated in the IIC, and thereby helped justify the governments punishing use of Sections 107 and 108 of the Canada Labour Code. Their silence throughout the flight attendants struggle served to avoid key questions such as, Why did the flight attendants defy, but not us?

While the union conspired with the IIC in Ottawa throughout January and February, rank-and-file postal workers across Canada were muzzled and encouraged by the union to sit passively by. The bureaucrats told us to send useless letters and emails to MP offices to exert pressure on a government and political establishment hell-bent on savaging our livelihoods and decimating public services. An existential crisis was developing in the post office.

Now, that crisis has a definite form. The key recommendations the government, the employer, and the union discussed in the IIC meetings have a new name: Phase 1 of a sweeping restructuring. The proposed attacks against the public and us, the rank-and-file workers, include the ending of home delivery, the end of 5-day per week mail delivery, the franchising of all Retail Postal Outlets (RPOs), and no more weekends and holidays off for new classifications of workers. New automation and AI technologies, with unprecedented progressive potential, will not be used to make our jobs easier without a loss in pay, and improve services. No, automation will instead be used to cut jobs, degrade working conditions, and overwork those who remain. Mass layoffs, up to 30,000 postal workers and more, have been discussed in the Canadian corporate press.

The ruling class has worked out its ruthless class war agenda, and we must advance our strategy for the working class. The current picket lines started from below, but more is required than spontaneous militancy. We pushed the CUPW leadership on the back-foot to force a strike, but they along with the allies atop the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) have now regrouped and pursue the same bankrupt policy of keeping us isolated from all other workers on the picket lines, while begging for talks with the pro-corporate government.

Workers should fight to give their militant hostility to the attacks on us organized expression through the building of rank-and-file strike committees at every depot, sorting facility, and other workplace. The rank and file can in this way unify our struggle with other sections of workers, mobilizing Purolator, Amazon, UPS and even United States Postal Service workers and others on our side. They all face similar attacks on their working and living conditions. We can and must deepen our struggle, positioning ourselves as the lightning rod for a mass political and industrial mobilization of the working class in defense of all public services, the right to strike, and safe, well-paying jobs.

Postal workers who agree that a successful struggle can only be accomplished through the independent intervention of rank-and-file workers into this political fight should join and help build the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee (PWRFC). Linking up with other workers throughout Canada and internationally is of decisive importance in the struggle to improve working conditions, which necessarily entails a fight against capitalist austerity, dictatorship and war.

This struggle must develop on the international arena, which is why the PWRFC is part of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees. Only an international organization, basing itself on the objective conditions of a globalized economy, and rejecting the subordination of workers lives and livelihoods to capitalist profit, will be able to defend working conditions and implement improvements in line with what new technologies make possible. The IWA-RFC provides the organizing framework and leadership needed to coordinate workers struggles across national borders in a worker-led counteroffensive to put the social needs of the vast majority, including the right to a job, secure public services, and affordable housing and healthcare, before corporate profits. Fill out the form below to join us.
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Pro-Palestinian demonstrators are sprayed by police as they protest in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 in solidarity with the Global Sumud Flotilla after ships were intercepted by the Israeli navy. [AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti]

The imperialist-backed Zionist regimes illegal blocking of the Sumud flotilla from delivering aid to the genocide-stricken Palestinians in Gaza has produced a wave of global outrage. Since the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) began intercepting the 42-ship convoy late Wednesday, demonstrations have erupted in numerous European and other countries, including Spain, Switzerland, Britain, France, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and Turkey. On Friday, more than two million workers in Italy joined a one-day general strike called by the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL).

Israel was enabled by the imperialists to carry out what amounted to piracy on the high seas. The IDF seized control of the vast quantities of aid carried by the ships and detained over 400 activists for the crime of assisting the Palestinians as they face extermination. Ships from the Italian and Spanish navies, which had made a show of accompanying the flotilla but in reality sought to divert it from Gaza, were carefully withdrawn or stood down to facilitate the IDFs dirty work. The activists will be deported to Europe, while Israel will withhold the aid so that Gazas population continues to starve.

The response to this latest war crime perpetrated by Israel reveals the vast gulf that exists between the rulers in the North American and European imperialist centres and the working class. Israels systematic denial of aid to millions, while the IDFs daily slaughter of Palestinians goes on unabated, meets with revulsion among the vast majority of the population. Meanwhile, the imperialists back the starvation of Gaza by continuing to supply Israel with military equipment and by organising brutal attacks on the spontaneous protests and strikes that have broken out in support of the flotilla.

In Italy, up to 100,000 people demonstrated in Milan as part of the one-day strike. Ports were blocked in Genoa and Livorno. The Italian authorities deemed the strike illegal, with far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini stating, Those who organise illegal strikes must pay for the damages.

Police violently attacked demonstrators in Barcelona, where 15,000 people gathered Thursday. On the same day, police charged demonstrators in Bologna, Italy, and over 100 were arrested in Marseilles, France after they tried to block access to an arms firm shipping equipment to Israel. On Friday, workers at the port of Piraeus, Greece walked off the job and declared in a union statement that they refused to be cogs in a war machine.

Workers and young people are horrified by the massive crime against humanity being carried out in Gaza. In the past six weeks, some 446,000 Palestinians have been ethnically cleansed from Gaza City during the IDFs ground offensive, more than 10,000 per day, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). In Gaza City, hundreds of thousands are encircled by shelling, drones and ground troops, denied aid, and ordered to move without safe passage. Life has been reduced to a fight for water and bread, said NRC head Jan Egeland on Thursday.

Across the enclave, over 65,000 deaths have officially been recorded since Israels onslaught began in October 2023, but estimates suggest the real death toll is many multiples of this figure.

The Zionist regimes horrific crime, comparable to the brutality of the Nazi Holocaust of European Jewry, has taken place with the active collaboration of the imperialist powers from the beginning. Led by the US and Germany, they have supplied huge quantities of weaponry to Israel. This military hardware has been used to massacre men, women, and children indiscriminately, and to enforce the criminal naval blockade of Gaza that has been imposed continuously since 2007.

US President Donald Trumps so-called peace plan would continue the imperialist powers complicity in the genocide by establishing a colonial-style administration in Gaza. Trump stated Friday that Hamas has until Sunday to accept the total abrogation of the Palestinians rights or all hell will break loose.

That is to say, Trump is preparing to give the war criminal Netanyahu the green light to escalate the genocide, all in the name of peace. Trump and leading consultants of US imperialism have bluntly insisted on the need to clear Gaza of its inhabitants so it can function as a key part of an economic corridordubbed the India-Middle East-Europe Corridordominated by the US and its allies throughout the Middle East. The securing of this trade route, and an accommodation between Israel and the despotic Arab regimes, none of which have done anything to halt the genocide, would enable American imperialism to achieve its goal of unchallenged regional hegemony by sidelining China, Russia, and Iran.

Far from being an aberration, the imperialist powers readiness to sanction the Gaza genocide in pursuit of their interests across the Middle East corresponds to the turn by the ruling elites in all the major powers towards world war and dictatorship. These are regimes accountable only to the financial oligarchy, which prioritises the accumulation of vast wealth at the expense of the working class of every country and its national competitors above all else.

As a new re-division of the world intensifies, like those that produced the two world wars in the last century, the financial oligarchs and their spokesmen in government will resort to anything to secure access to raw materials, markets, labour for exploitation, and geostrategic influenceincluding risking the very survival of humanity in a third world war fought with nuclear weapons.

The global eruption of outrage to the blocking of the Sumud flotilla, especially the strikes by workers in Italy and Greece, points to the social force capable of putting a stop to this madness: the international working class. But the working class must first establish its political independence from all of the social democratic, Stalinist, and trade union bureaucracies that have tied it to the bankrupt strategy of protest politics for the past two years. The imperialist powers will not be persuaded to change course by moral appeals. As German Chancellor Friedrich Merz admitted in June, Israel is doing the dirty work for all of us.

Single-day strikes, like Fridays called by the CGIL, are by themselves inadequate. What workers need are new organisations under their controlrank-and-file committeesso they can plan and direct a mass movement capable of stopping the machinery of imperialist war and genocide in its tracks. Workers in logistics, transportation, and manufacturing, as well as others throughout all economic sectors, should take up this fight with the following demands:

An immediate halt to shipment of all weapons to Israel.

The boycott of all trade and other economic activity with Israel.

US, European and other corporations assisting Israel in carrying out the genocide must be indicted and prosecuted.

The arrest of Israeli officials for war crimes.

The end of repression of the opposition to the Gaza genocide.

The immediate and unhindered access to Gaza for the supply of aid via all available land crossings and the ending of the 18-year-old naval blockade.

These demands must be linked with the broader movement already developing in the working class internationally against austerity, war, and the destruction of jobs. The same criminal governments that funnel weapons of death to the Zionist regime are erecting dictatorial forms of rule at home to suppress popular opposition to oligarchic rule, military rearmament, and world war.

The fight to stop the genocide necessarily requires a movement committed to ousting the financial oligarchy from power and the overturn of capitalism, the root cause of imperialist barbarism that finds its most appalling expression in Gaza. This means setting out to establish workers power to carry through the socialist transformation of society.
Rally opposing police attack on a protest against the wind power plant in Mannar [Photo: Facebook/Wasantha Mudalige]

On September 29, thousands of workers, fishermen, youth and women participated in a mass shutdown demonstration in Mannar District, of Sri Lankas war-ravaged north, to condemn a brutal police attack on a peaceful nighttime protest over a wind-power project held on September 26. Mondays event was organised by the Mannar Citizens Committee.

Leaders of the Mannar Citizens Committee presented a letter to the districts chief government administrator to be sent to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The letter called for an investigation into the police attack and reiterated longstanding demands that the government halt the wind-power scheme. Residents oppose the project because of its detrimental impact on the environment and their living conditions.

In August, President Dissanayake met with Mannar Citizens Committee leaders, assuring them that he would delay the project until the environmental problems it caused were resolved.

However, on the evening of September 26, residents learned that wind turbines were, in fact, being transported to the construction site. At around 10 p.m., hundreds of peaceful protesters gathered, staging a sit-down on the main road into Mannar town and blocking transportation.

Protesters shouted slogans and argued with the police, accusing Dissanayake of betraying their demand to halt the project. Hundreds of armed police officers, including members of the notorious Special Task Force, brutally attacked the protesters with batons and shields. Several people, including women, were injured in the assault and hospitalised.

The next day, police filed a case in the Mannar Magistrates Court against nine protesters, including three who were injured in the assault, and Mannar Citizens Committee president, clergyman Marcus Adigalar. The case will be heard on November 17.

The latest police attack followed nearly two months of protests by Mannar residents, who have been subjected to various forms of police harassment.

Police confront wind power plant protesters in Mannar [Photo: Facebook/Roobam Media Groups]

Mannar is a 130-square-kilometre island connected to the mainland via a causeway. The majority of its 70,000 residents are Tamil, with a significant Muslim community. During Colombos brutal communal war (19832009) against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the population suffered ruthless military repression. A large mass grave was discovered in Mannar town, containing about 346 human skeletons, including those of 29 children.

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) launched the first phase of the wind power project with World Bank aid in March 2019, after obtaining Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval from the Central Environmental Authority (CEA).

Wind turbine operations, however, led to declining fish populations, flooding caused by construction blocked the flow of water to the sea, and there was disruption to migratory bird patterns. Residents, many of whom rely on fishing for their livelihood, reported a drastic reduction in their catch. When the second phase of the project was proposed, the CEA submitted an impact assessment that specifically raised concerns about these issues.

The former Wickremesinghe government signed an agreement with a green energy company owned by Indian multibillionaire investor Gautam Adani to build the project. The deal sparked controversy because it was signed without securing CEA clearance regarding its ecological suitability.

During last years election campaigns, Dissanayake and his Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna/National Peoples Power (JVP/NPP) vocally opposed the project, citing ecological risks and arguing that handing it over to a foreign company would undermine Sri Lankas energy sovereignty. This nationalist rhetorictinged with the JVPs pervasive anti-Indian chauvinismsought to exploit mass opposition in the Mannar area to win votes.

After coming to power in 2024, however, the Dissanayake regime reversed its stance on the Adani deal and entered discussions over electricity pricing. The Adani company eventually withdrew from the deal in February.

In May, the Dissanayake government signed a new agreement with one of Sri Lankas major conglomerates, the Hayleys Group, and its subsidiary Hayleys Fentons, to build the project. Residents immediately resumed protests, as their original concerns remained unaddressed.

On August 13, protest leaders met with Dissanayake, who assured them that the project would not resume until a special committees report had been considered.

However, after reviewing the report, the presidents secretary, Dr. N.S. Kumanayake, reportedly wrote to the Ministry of Energy on September 22, authorising recommencement. Outraged residentswho had not been informed of the governments decisionattempted to block the transport of wind turbines into the area.

Fishermen in Mannar complain of a sharp decline in fish catches during the first phase of the project. Where they once enjoyed plentiful harvests, fish quantities have diminishedparticularly in areas of seabed affected by turbine operations along the coastline.

Residents also reported severe flooding in the Pesalai area, a few kilometres from the site, during the monsoon season. The foundations of the wind turbines obstructed natural water streams. Reports indicate that when the project was constructed, culverts were not properly installed to facilitate water flow.

Adding to local anger is Colombos repeated attempt to promote the excavation of mineral-rich sands in the area. Australian company Titanium Sands Limited (TSL) has held a survey license since 2022.

Scientific studies show that Mannar Island holds valuable minerals such as ilmenite, rutile, zircon and garnet. According to the Colombo-based Sunday Times, the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) estimates that the area contains 53 million metric tons of these minerals.

TSL is currently in talks with the GSMB to secure a mining license, pending an environmental impact assessment, which has yet to be finalised due to community protests. Company director Jason Ferris told the Times that TSL has invested 2 billion rupees (US$6.6 million) so far and plans to invest 24 billion rupees once a license is granted. Reflecting growing opposition, young people held a protest in Mannar on August 6 under the slogan Protect Black Soil.

Following the mass demonstration on September 29, the Janodanaya Movementa civil rights group allied with the ruling JVP-led NPPissued a statement on Thursday strongly condemning the police attack. It declared that the people had placed their trust and confidence in the NPP government, but that the police violence would sow mistrust.

In a blatant political cover-up, the Janodanaya Movement claimed the police attack raises the grave question of whether conspiratorial forces still embedded within the police are deliberately working to create division and hostility [against the government].

The Dissanayake government, however, unleashed the latest attack as part of its effort to suppress the growing mass opposition across the country to its administration. It is false to claim that the police acted independently. The government, having approved the Hayleys investment, would have ordered the police to use force to crush resistance to its corporate deals.

On August 24, the government deployed police and the army to break a week-long national strike by postal workers, and on September 21, it invoked the Essential Services Act to threaten CEB employees protesting privatisation and job cuts. These are just two examples of how the government has violently suppressed workers and protesters in recent months.

Janodanaya Movement spokespeople have warned Mannar residents to beware of power-hungry forces attempting to exploit their grievances. This is a cynical diversion. In truth, it was the JVP/NPP that exploited those grievances to win poweronly to betray them once in office.

Leaders of all the Tamil political partiesincluding the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi, Tamil National Peoples Front and Tamil National Partyhave issued token statements condemning the police attack and warning against state terrorism.

These claims are hollow. These partiesand the rest of the parliamentary oppositionsupport the governments IMF-backed austerity policies, claiming they are necessary for economic recovery. The brutal police assault on the people of Mannar and the broader repression of workers and the poor is further evidence of the governments shift toward dictatorial forms of rule.

The fight to defend the environment, living conditions and basic democratic rights against government repression and its big-business program requires the development of a unified movement of the working class across ethnic lines, based on an anti-capitalist and socialist program.
The front page of the online edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on October 3, the 35th anniversary of German unification, carried a frontal attack on Lenin. Under the headline One must counter the myth that everything started out well, the mouthpiece of the Frankfurt stock exchange complained: Lenin still will not disappear even 35 years after reunification.

Front page of F.A.Z. online on the Day of German Unity.

What followed was a long screed of almost 3,000 words in which the leader of the Russian October Revolution was denounced as a criminal whose name, it was claimed, leads to a trail of violence, blood and terror, who stood for dictatorship, violence and murder and who belongs in hell. The piece asserted that Lenin had established a system of terrorist surveillance and repression whose tradition the SED (Socialist Unity Party) regime in the GDR (German Democratic Republic, East Germany) had continued. This was presented as the true face of communism.

The article relied on contemporary witnesses who had come into conflict with the Stalinist regime of the GDR and had been persecuted for distributing anti-SED leaflets or trying to flee to the West.

Finally, the federal commissioner for the victims of the SED dictatorship, Evelyn Zupke, was quoted complaining that isolated Lenin statues still stood in some German towns. She said this sent the wrong signal and could even foster positive impressions. One must counter the myth that everything actually began well, Zupke demanded. Many people still cling to the delusion that these were basically good ideas. Too rarely, she said, was addressed what trail of violence this ideology has left in human history, the millions of dead since 1917.

At first glance, more than a hundred years after Lenins death, it may seem surprising that the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung would feel compelled to verbally beat the great revolutionary to death once more. Since the dissolution of the GDR and the Soviet Union 35 years ago it has repeatedly proclaimed that socialism had failed and no longer matters. Yet it is obvious that the papers editors themselves do not really believe this tale.

They have dug deep into the moth-eaten anti-communist propaganda of the Cold War because they fear that the revolutionary, Marxist perspective embodied by Lenin and his comradesabove all Leon Trotskycould regain mass support. Their hatred of Lenin is an expression of their fear of socialist revolution.

Lenins political genius lay in grasping that the outbreak of the First World Warthe greatest catastrophe in history to that pointrepresented the collapse of international capitalism, just as Marx had predicted.

The imperialist war was not simply an arbitrary policy that could be replaced by a different, more peaceful one. It followed inevitably from the laws of capitalismthe replacement of free competition by monopolies, the dominance of finance capital over industrial capital, and the complete partitioning of the world among the imperialist powers, which required a violent redivision. This war will soon, if there is not a series of successful revolutions, be followed by other wars, Lenin warned at the beginning of the First World War.

While the leaders of Germanys SPD and other social-democratic parties betrayed their pledges against war, called for the defence of the fatherland and postponed socialism to some indefinite future, Lenin called for struggle against the warmongers at home and for the international unity of the working class. In October 1917 the Russian working class, under the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky, seized power and on the same day ended the war.

The October Revolution was an act of liberation of unprecedented international significance. Millions of workers around the world joined the Communist parties; liberation movements against barbaric colonial oppression gained immense momentum; in Russia culture flourished despite material shortages, widespread illiteracy was overcome within a few years, and after initial years of wartime deprivation the economy experienced substantial growth despite international isolation.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitungs attempt to present the October Revolution as the origin of dictatorship, violence and murder rests on hackneyed lies that have been refuted time and again. Dictatorship, violence and murder came from the imperialist powers, which imposed a civil war on the young workers state and relied on notorious butcherssuch as the tsarist generals Kornilov, Denikin, Wrangel and Kolchakwho were infamous for conducting antisemitic pogroms.

The Bolsheviks also resorted to repressive measures, which, under civil-war conditions, were unavoidable. But equating coercive measures taken in a civil war with the later Stalinist terror is a gross historical falsification.

Stalins terror did not target the enemies of the revolution, but its leaders. The Great Terror of the late 1930s claimed several hundred thousand devoted revolutionaries, including almost the entire Lenin-era leadership of the Bolshevik Party and much of the command of the Red Army. Its climax came in August 1940 with the assassination of Leon Trotsky, who had built the Left Opposition internationally and in 1938 founded the Fourth International to defend Lenins legacy against Stalin.

Equating Leninism with Stalinism is the great historical lie of the 20th century; the more historical research refutes it, the more stubbornly it is repeated. It places the leaders of the revolution on a par with its gravediggers, equating victims with their murderers.

Stalin represented a privileged bureaucracy that developed within the state and party apparatus under conditions of economic hardship and international isolation, whose interests increasingly clashed with those of the working class. Fixated on securing its own incomes, the bureaucracy grew more hostile to the prospect of an international socialist revolution on which the October Revolution had been based. Internationally, it pursued an increasingly counter-revolutionary policy that led to numerous defeats of the working class.

For a long time, the bureaucracy did not dare to touch the socialised property relations created by the October Revolution. With the onset of the Cold War, it extended them to the so-called buffer states of Eastern Europe, whose control Stalin agreed with the US and Britain toward the end of the war. But unlike in the Soviet Union, there was no proletarian revolution in Eastern Europe. The nationalizations, which constituted social progress, were accompanied by repressive measures against the working class.

Eventually it was the Stalinist bureaucracy itselfas Trotsky had warnedthat took the initiative toward capitalist restoration. What Hitlers tanks had not accomplished, Gorbachev, Yeltsin and their successors completed. They dissolved the Soviet Union and plundered the socialised property. In the East, the SED, which renamed itself the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), played an active role in introducing capitalism and in the integration of the GDR with West Germany.

The International Committee of the Fourth International and its German section, then called the League of Socialist Workers, were alone in warning of the consequences of this development. They opposed the illusion that German reunification would bring prosperity and democracy; and called for the overthrow of the SED regime while preserving the socialised property.

The bankruptcy of the Stalinist regimes and their policy of national socialism was a result of the contradiction between the global character of the world economy and the nation-state system, which undermined all national-reformist programsincluding those of social democracy and the unions. The same contradiction between world economy and the nation state heraldedthe ICFI warned at the timea new era of imperialist wars and fierce class struggles.

On the 35th anniversary of German reunification there can be no doubt that this warning was correct. Germany and the other NATO states are escalating the war against Russia, supporting the genocide in Gaza and spending trillions on war and rearmament, which they plan to recoup through massive attacks on the working class. The gap between rich and poor has taken on historically unprecedented proportions. Fascist tendencies are raising their heads everywhere, especially in the US, where Trump is building an authoritarian dictatorship. Against this, resistance is growing.

This is why the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published an attack on Lenin on its front page on the Day of German Unity, as it is called. Workers and young people should draw their own conclusions from this and study the history and perspective of the revolutionary socialist movement embodied today by the ICFI.

The World Socialist Web Site, published daily by the ICFI for 27 years, contains a vast wealth of lectures, background articles and analyses dealing with current and historical aspects of the Marxist movement and politics. They form the basis for arming the working class for the inevitable class battles ahead.
Western Sydney University

Last Thursday afternoon, Western Sydney University (WSU) vice-chancellor and president George Williams sent an all-staff email thanking the two campus trade unions for their assistance in slashing jobs and restructuring the university.

I am pleased to say that the dispute with the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) over our change process has been resolved, Williams wrote. I thank the union for their goodwill and constructive engagement, and also the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) and its leadership during this process.

This means that our change process will now proceed and is back on track with the one week delay.

That change process refers to the Western Reset restructuring of WSU to service the teaching and research requirements of the corporate elite, including the military industries. This is particularly occurring at the expense of arts and humanities, and the options available to students at the largely working-class university.

On Friday, the next day, Williams confirmed that the deal he had struck with the union leaderships meant that a net loss of 193 jobs would be imposed. Hundreds of other staff members in disestablished positions would be forced to compete against each other in a supposed merit-based placement process for new roles that are suitable for them.

This brutal process will enable the management to pick and choose staff members selectively, inevitably leading to more people being pushed out the door, including by demotions or transfers to distant campuses, far beyond Williams claim that the job losses will be confined to 193.

Williams message of appreciation came just hours after the NTEU bulldozed a resolution through a hastily-called online members meeting on Thursday morning to endorse the sellout despite considerable opposition and widespread questions of concern.

The NTEU branch president, David Burchell, anti-democratically prevented anyone from speaking against that motion, including WSU Rank-and-File Committee member Michael Head, defying numerous calls for Head and other opponents to be afforded the right to speak.

Burchell hailed the outcome as a big win for staff at WSU and across the university sector. He revealed that the agreement with Williams had been greeted with jubilation at an NTEU national council meetingthe day before the members were even informed of it, let alone asked to vote on it.

This bitter experience is a warning of what the NTEU is seeking to impose everywhere. It is another demonstration of the industrial policing role of the union apparatuses.

They are working hand-in-glove with university administrations throughout Australia to help suppress resistance to the destruction of about 4,000 jobs at the countrys 39 public universities, even as they claim to oppose the cuts.

Above all, the union officials are covering up the driving force of this assaultthe agenda of the Albanese Labor government. It is restructuring tertiary education to satisfy the dictates of big business and develop a war economy, notably through the AUKUS pact against China.

That is the central thrust of Labors Universities Accord report, as highlighted by the recent speech of ex-Labor and union leader Bill Shorten, advocating the fundamental reimagining of universities as a core instrument of our national power under conditions of global instability and war.

In his message, Williams claimed that unspecified additional non-salary savings had reduced the overall job cuts from the originally threatened 400, and that numerous applications for voluntary redundanciesanother device recommended by the unionsmeant that forced retrenchments were no longer needed.

The reality is that many more staff members will be driven out. According to Williams: From Tuesday to Thursday next week, people who are impacted by the changes will have conversations about their role. This will be for people in roles that are being disestablished, people in areas where there are more people than positions, and people in roles that are being relocated.

Then the merit-based processa spill and fillwill commence. People will be asked to submit their resume and provide a written response to a question about how their skills, qualifications and experience demonstrate suitability for placement in a particular position.

This is similar to the ongoing restructuring of the CollegeWSUs preparatory feeder schoolwhich, as the WSU Rank-and-File Committee warned last year, set a precedent for WSU as a whole and the entire university sector. At the College too, the NTEU opposed and blocked our calls for a unified national fight against this attack.

In an email to NTEU members last Thursday, Burchell falsely declared that the resolution pushed through the union meeting guaranteed that: Everyone seeking a role in the new structure, who has applied for but not been appointed to a position, will be found a suitable role.

Burchell also asserted that the work done by staff leaving WSU would be appropriately managed within the agreed workloads of the staff who remain.

The truth, as many participants in the NTEU meeting objected, is that this suitability will be determined by the management, and workloads will multiply.

Over the past three weeks the fraud of WSUs change proposal consultation process under its enterprise agreements with the NTEU and CPSU has become glaring. Multiple Q&A sessions in faculties and departments have proved to be an insult, with questions unanswered.

During the NTEU meeting, Head and others intervened in the Zoom chat to oppose the sellout deal. Several people supported Heads calls for the right to speak against the motion, but Burchell flatly refused to allow it.

One of Heads chats on behalf of the WSU Rank-and-File Committee explained: The NTEU and CPSU officials are covering up the underlying agenda of the Labor government by trying to blame mismanagement by individual vice-chancellors for the disaster across the entire sector.

Not a word is being said about the fact that the Albanese government is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on military spending and developing a war economy, including via the AUKUS pact against China, while intensifying the financial pressure on the universities to restructure to align with the national priorities set out in its Universities Accord in 2024.

That financial pressure includes slashing international student enrolments and continuing the previous Liberal-National governments Job-ready Graduates scheme that hiked the cost of three-year humanities degrees to more than $50,000, while cutting the funding to universities for delivering them.

From January 1, each universitys funding will be tied to a mission-based compact with the governments new Australian Tertiary Education Commission to contribute to national priorities.

The record of the NTEU and CPSU can be understood only in the context of the transformation of the trade unions internationally from defensive organisations of the working class, always within the framework of wage labour, into industrial policing agencies. In Australia, this has taken the form of the anti-strike enterprise bargaining straitjacket first imposed by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and the Hawke-Keating Labor governments in the 1980s and 1990s.

That is why we have concluded that there is no prospect of steering the union apparatuses away from this course. We are instead fighting for the development of rank-and-file committees (RFCs) as the new forms of organisation that the working class needs to defend itself and to develop the means for overturning capitalism and establishing genuine democratic and socialist workers governments.

Through the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC), we need to link up with workers everywhere and with the educators RFCs in the US, where the fascistic Trump administration is demolishing public education and demanding the total subordination of the universities to the needs of the ruling class and the development of a war economy.

As outlined at a recent online public meeting, the WSU and Macquarie University RFCs are calling for a unified campaign throughout the working class against the job cuts and pro-corporate, pro-military reshaping of tertiary education.

We urge staff and students to contact us to take up this essential fight, via the Committee for Public Education (CFPE), the educators rank-and-file network.

Contact the CFPE:

Email: cfpe.aus@gmail.com

Facebook: facebook.com/commforpubliceducation

Twitter: CFPE_Australia
A detailed investigative report, published this week by Declassified Australia in partnership with the Ditch, has lifted the lid on extensive and ongoing military exports from Australia to Israel.

The report builds upon previous exposures by both outlets. But it is far and away the most extensive documentation of the material component of Australias involvement in Israels mass slaughter of the Palestinians in Gaza.

F-35 dropping inert B61-12 nuclear bomb, first trial [Photo: Los Alamos National Laboratory]

In addition to exposing the countrys Labor government and its leaders as a pack of liars, for their denial of such support, the material contained in the report strengthens the case that they are guilty of materially aiding war crimes, itself a violation of international law.

The report shows that such exports have continued, following Declassifieds first exposure in July and amid a growing awareness of Australias direct role in aiding the Zionist war machine.

As per the report, the most recent shipment of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel left Sydney two weeks ago destined to Tel Aviv, exported in the cargo bay of a scheduled passenger flight from Sydney International Airport.

That shipment was part of a trade that has occurred throughout the two years of the genocide. Confidential shipping records, which were the basis of the report, listed a total of 68 shipments of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft parts flown from Australia directly to Israel between October 2023 and September 2025.

Significantly, The shipping records show that the number of Joint Strike Fighter parts shipments made directly to Israel from Australia spiked immediately after the commencement of Israels bombing campaign in Gaza on the evening of 7 October 2023, with 10 separate shipments being made from Australia to Israel in the one month of November 2023 alone.

That points to the fact that far from being incidental or routine, there is a direct connection between the Australian exports and Israels war effort.

The months of October and November 2023 saw one of the most ferocious stages of the genocide. It centred on Israeli F-35 fighter jets indiscriminately dropping payloads on Gazas residential buildings and infrastructure, including hospitals, in the first and indispensable stage of a campaign aimed at rendering the Strip uninhabitable and preparing the annihilation of Palestinian society.

The picture presented is of the Australian state, under the Labor government, scrambling to dispatch parts to the Israeli military to ensure that the bombardment could continue.

At the time, in contrast to his more recent weasel-words of concern over the mass killings, Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was among the most frothing international leaders in supporting the onslaught. In parliament, he railed against Hamas, calling for its defeat by Israel. The Declassified report makes clear these were not just words, but were accompanied by actions.

Notwithstanding Labors recent 'recognition of the state of Palestine and calls for a ceasefire, the shipment of military goods to Israel ensures that its capacity to slaughter the Palestinians proceeds unchecked. In other words, the exports give the lie to Labors rhetoric, exposing it as an exercise in cynical damage control.

Declassified notes that Of the 68 documented shipments, 51 are marked with the final receiver being at Nevatim with postcode 8955000, located in Israel. This corresponds with the address of Nevatim Airbase, located in Israels Negev desert, and the base for the Israeli Air Forces three F-35 squadrons.

Significantly, the latest shipment began in Williamtown-Australia, the location of Australias RAAF fleet of F-35s, and via Sydney airport went straight to Nevatim. To the extent that government representatives have acknowledged a military trade with Israel, they have spoken of complex global supply chains, suggesting a web of intermediaries.

But this would appear to be a direct order from the Israeli military to the Australian military, with no country or corporate entity in between. In other words, this is not simply a question of Labor approving the military exports made by private corporations involved in the US-dominated weapons sector. It is a direct arrangement between the Australian military, approved by Labor, and an Israeli war machine that is perpetrating war crimes.

Labor has, over the past two years, advanced a series of often mutually contradictory excuses for the ongoing trade with Israel, while shrouding it in secrecy.

Its leading representatives have repeatedly declared that Australia does not export weapons to Israel. But it has been fairly evident that by weapons, they are referring to something in the order of fully-assembled guns, missiles, etc. That is a cynical dodge, and given the complex nature of modern weapons systems, often involving parts from around the world, it is an absurdity.

That line of argument is also contradicted by the Australian defence departments own classification system, under which parts and components, for instance, for F-35 fighter jets, are deemed military exports requiring approval.

In late July, following the release of the first Declassified report, Foreign Minister Penny Wong was asked in parliament about the exports. In an angry response dripping with contempt, Wong declared that such exports were only of non-lethal parts. But obviously, parts which aid in the functioning of a fighter jet, enabling it to drop bombs on civilians, are lethal.

Declassified recalled another conflicting response by a senior defence department bureaucrat last year, in answer to similar questioning. He claimed that many exports were not actually exports, but were being transported to Israel for maintenance or repair there before being returned to Australia.

This implausible explanation was dealt a blow by the latest Declassified report. In addition to the parts being dispatched directly to the main F-35 base of the Israeli military, their character makes it unlikely that they are being sent for repair.

For instance, Shipments of a total of 17 of these highly specialised helmet display visors for the F-35 pilots have been made directly to Israel from Australia since October 2023.

Declassified noted: It would seem odd that visors in Australia that are manufactured in the United States would be sent into an active warzone in Israel for repairs. More likely they have been pulled from the Australian spares inventory and shipped as a priority to the highly operationally-paced Israeli theatre of war.

The secrecy of the exports is perhaps the greatest argument demonstrating their sinister character. Declassified notes that the latest parts, shipped last month, were transported through the cargo of a commercial passenger plane.

That is a highly unusual arrangement, clearly intended to shield the shipments from public scrutiny. It is also a violation of the rights of passengers, who are unwittingly boarding a craft containing military supplies, which could make the plane a target.

The exports, however, must be known to a network of corporations, government departments, airline authorities and more. The airlines and airports have union coverage, for instance. Does the Transport Workers Union know of the shipments and approve of them? The unions lockstep alignment with the Labor government means that if it did, it would help push them through.

Beyond that specific question, the role of the union bureaucracies in facilitating Australias support for the genocide is undeniable. Not a single union has answered the call of Palestinian unions, made almost two years ago, for strikes to halt supplies to the imperialist-Zionist war machine. The Maritime Union of Australia has enforced the orderly loading and unloading of cargo from the Israeli Zim line, which, early in the genocide, offered its entire fleet to support the war effort.

The Declassified report is also a damning indictment of the official Australian media, from two standpoints. What should have been front-page news has instead been subject to a total press blackout.

And the question inevitably arises, why did it fall to Declassified, a small, independent outlet, to come upon and publish this information? The answer is that the major media outlets are themselves complicit in the genocide, devoting their resources, not to exposing Australias role in the worst war crimes of the century, but to attacking those who protest them.
Trump and the Republicans are using the government shutdown to escalate their fascist anti-immigrant campaign, the spearhead of dictatorship and social counterrevolution against the entire working class.

They are seizing on the Democratic leaderships claim to be defending healthcare benefits to accuse them of using Americans taxpayer money to fund free healthcare for illegal aliens. Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are insisting this is a lie, while refusing to defend immigrants, documented and undocumented, who are the victims of mass, illegal raids and detentions, and the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who are being summarily deported.

The Democrats are equally silent on increasingly violent and lawless attacks by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Gestapo on peaceful protesters in New York, Chicago and elsewhere across the US. This is despite mass popular opposition to the pogrom against immigrants.

The attacks are currently centered in the Chicago area, where Trump is seeking to incite confrontations with peaceful protesters in advance of sending troops. On Friday, federal agents who were making an arrest at a Humboldt Park medical center handcuffed a Chicago alderperson when she asked if they had a warrant. Alderperson Jessie Fuentes said the agents refused to answer her question, shoved her and then cuffed her.

ICE agents violently cuffed Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes in a hospital for asking to see a warrant, October 3, 2025.

This comes as the Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 900 arrests so far across Illinois in Operation Midway Blitz.

As the World Socialist Web Site wrote:

This week federal agents carried out a number of raids on homes and shelters in Chicago, kidnapping those suspected of being immigrants, and traumatizing neighborhoods with armed hostile actions, including dropping onto city blocks from helicopters, using flash-bang grenades and chainsaws to enter apartment buildings, and treating everyone as a criminal, including children. On Tuesday night after 10:00 p.m. in the South Shore neighborhood, dozens of federal agents descended upon an apartment building supposedly in search of gang members. Thirty-seven people were arrested, as agents sawed through fences, blew doors down, and pulled families with small children in various states of undress out of their homes, zip-tied them and held them in trucks.

In the third week of demonstrations outside an ICE processing facility in the suburban Village of Broadview, Illinois, masked and armed ICE agents in full combat gear are attacking and arresting protesters. ICE is deploying armored vehicles with mounted automatic weapons. It is using pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets against the demonstrators. On Friday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem showed up in Broadview to oversee the repression.

The assault on immigrants and their defenders is an essential part of the establishment of a presidential dictatorship. Trump has dispatched National Guard troops to Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and now Portland, Oregon and Memphis, Tennessee, and promised to deploy troops to Chicago and other major cities. The LA deployment included active duty Marines.

At this weeks unprecedented gathering of some 800 generals and admirals outside of Washington, Trump ordered the military to engage in war against US cities and the enemy within, openly declaring war against the working class.

At the same time, Trump, acting on behalf of the corporate oligarchy, is using the shutdown to impose mass permanent layoffs of federal workers and close or gut federal agencies that oversee social benefits or regulations on corporations regarding workers health and safety and the environment. He is working with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) head Russell Vought, the co-author of the Project 2025 blueprint for counterrevolution, to carry out a vast restructuring of the state, which can be imposed only by dictatorial means.

The attack on immigrant workers is aimed at dividing and disorienting the working class and facilitating dictatorship and the destruction of all the social gains won by the working class over the past century, including Social Security and Medicare.

Trump set the tone for the Republican Party in the run-up to the shutdown when he canceled a meeting with the top congressional Democrats, writing on Truth Social:

They are threatening to shut down the Government of the United States unless they can have over $1 Trillion Dollars in new spending to continue free healthcare for Illegal Aliens (A monumental cost!), force Taxpayers to fund Transgender surgery for minors, have dead people on the Medicaid roles, allow Illegal Alien Criminals to steal Billions of Dollars in American Taxpayer Benefits, try to force our Country to again open our Borders to Criminals and to the World, allow men to play in womens sports, and essentially create Transgender operations for everybody.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has publicly stated that the Democrats government funding bill restores and continues $200 billion in American taxpayer funded health care subsidies going to illegal aliens. He has claimed that Democrats are holding the American government HOSTAGE so they can give FREE health care to ILLEGAL ALIENS. Johnson has also accused Schumer of capitulating to the Marxist, far-left corners of his party.

Meanwhile, Trump is posting on social media racist AI-generated videos blaring mariachi music and showing Jeffries wearing a sombrero and a cartoon mustache. Next to him is a digitally altered Schumer saying, we need new voters, and if we give all these illegal aliens free healthcare, we might be able to get them on our side so they can vote for us.

This is a version of the fascist and antisemitic Great Replacement Theory, which claims that Jews are conspiring to replace white Christian Americans with non-white immigrants.

The working class must act independently of the Democrats and union bureaucracies, which are complicit in this attack, to defend immigrant workers and the democratic rights of the population as a whole. It must forge the fighting unity of workers in the struggle to bring down the Trump government.

Axios reported Friday that the White House is in talks with the Teamsters union over the shutdown, in addition to the US Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable. Such is the level of complicity of the union bureaucracies in the corporate oligarchys war on the working class.

The Trump administration is acting on behalf of the billionaire oligarchs who rule American capitalist society. The Democratic Party is complicit and will not oppose the social counterrevolution or police-state dictatorship in the making because it is a party of the same oligarchy. In all fundamentals, the Democrats agree with the class policy of Trump. The Democratic Party fears above all any movement of the working class that could threaten the capitalist profit system. Its primary objective is to cover up the depths of the crisis and suppress popular resistance.

The trade union bureaucracies are the labor police of the ruling class. Their fat salaries and perks depend on their defense of capitalist exploitation.

The working class must forge new, independent organizations of struggle to stop the drive to dictatorship and halt the social counterrevolution. These organizations are rank-and-file committees to coordinate the resistance of workers in every industry and every section of the economy, at the workplace and in the neighborhoods, to defend immigrant workers and unite immigrant and native born workers and youth to bring down Trump and advance a socialist program for a workers government.
An iPhone screen shows a Telegram account of OVD-Info, prominent legal aid group in Russia that tracks political arrests in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021. [AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko]

Amid an intensifying cyber and drone war with NATO-backed Ukraine, the Kremlin has significantly expanded its efforts to restrict free access to the internet and curtail whatever democratic rights in Russia nominally remain.

Rolling internet and cell network shutdowns are now a feature of everyday life across the country. ATMs, card payments and taxi and ride-sharing apps are frequently not working. Pharmacies, especially in provincial areas, have reported major difficulties obtaining medication. Viktoria Presnyakova, head of the Association of Independent Pharmacies, explained to the Associated Press that prescriptions had to be logged in special software, which is impossible when there is no internet connection for weeks. Cell phone services are also disabled for days or weeks on end, especially but not only in regions bordering Ukraine, such as Belgorod, which are routinely targeted by drone attacks.

Because of the severe disruptions to social and economic life, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta recently called for a special backup internet access mechanisma system that allows key digital services to continue operating when communications are shut down. Already, the Kremlin has created a system where specific websites on a white list are able to function, while the rest of the internet is shut down. This white list, according to the Nezavisimaya Gazeta, includes domestic social networks, large mail and information portals, Yandex ecosystem services, marketplaces (Ozon, Wildberries, Avito), and video hosting services, as well as government resources such as the Gosuslugi portal, government websites, and the presidents website. Users can still communicate, receive news, make purchases, and use basic financial services, but only within the approved list. All other resources, including foreign platforms and messengers, will be unavailable.

The Kremlin-backed Izvestiia reported that the government is now planning to set up an agency to coordinate internet shutdowns.

The shutdowns are connected to the intensification of drone warfare with Ukraine and, in part, aimed at preempting NATO and Ukraine from using telecommunications to launch attacks. The first major internet shutdowns were reported in the capital Moscow in May during the celebrations of the Soviet victory over the Nazis in World War II. A significant turning point was the Ukraine-NATO Operation Spiderweb in early June, when Ukrainian drones launched from trucks attacked military airfields deep inside Russian territory. Sarkis Darbinyan, founder of Russian internet freedom group Roskomsvoboda, told the Associated Press, They got really scared that drones now may appear, like a jack-in-the-box, in any Russian regions.

This is precisely what is now occurring. Although there is almost no coverage of it in the pro-NATO Western media, Ukraine now launches daily attacks on Russian territory with drones, targeting both civilian and military infrastructure. The Kremlin reports that it intercepts dozens of drones every night, including in regions far from the front lines. Because of mass drone attacks, airports across the country routinely have to cancel flights. The largest airports in St. Petersburg and Moscow have experienced several major shutdowns since July.

But the Kremlin is also clearly using the escalation of the cyber and drone war with Russia to significantly step up its efforts to prevent Russian workers from accessing news and linking up with their class brothers and sisters internationally. Plans for a closed Russian internet have been in the making for many years, predating the war, and the Kremlin has long imposed some of the most far-reaching censorship laws and measures to curtail the ability of users to hide their IPs through the use of Virtual Private Networks.

Since the beginning of the war, most foreign-based social media apps and platforms, including Meta-owned platforms and Twitter (X), have been banned. WhatsApp, which is very widely used by Russian users, particularly to stay connected with friends and family abroad, still functions but its voice call and message functions have been severely restricted. On September 1, a series of laws came into effect that further complicate and criminalize the use of Virtual Private Networks.

These censorship laws are an intrinsic component of a broader crackdown on democratic rights. On September 29, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on the withdrawal of Russia from the European Convention of Human Rights.

A Russian supporter of the World Socialist Web Site commented,

Although the full scope of this move is not yet clear, there are fears that conditions for prisoners and suspects will be tightened, and that torture may be actively used in the future. Russia has no clear legal norms for combating torture. The normalization of torture has been in full swing since the start of the war in Ukraine. This process accelerated against the backdrop of the tragedy at Crocus City Hall (March 2024), when the perpetrators were publicly tortured, thereby normalizing violence against suspects (whose guilt had not yet been proven at that point), not to mention the fact that torture cannot be used against criminals regardless of the nature of the crime. The issue of torture in Russia has a long history: from tsarist times to the Stalinist bureaucracy with its political genocide. Putins regime plans to once again resort to the weapons of the tsars and gangsters in an attempt to avoid retribution for its disastrous policies.

The escalating attack on democratic rights comes as NATO, and especially the European imperialist powers, relentlessly ratchet up pressure on Russia. Under these conditions, there are growing calls within the oligarchy for the Kremlin to respond more aggressively on a military level while intensifying its efforts to subordinate all of society to the war effort.

Sergei Karaganov, an influential foreign policy pundit, recently stated at a round table hosted by the Kremlin-aligned think tank Russia in Global Affairs,

Our state and military-political strategy needs to dramatically increase the role of nuclear deterrence. We have relaxed, and so has the rest of the world; the world has stopped fearing war. And we have allowed something completely unimaginable to happena sense of impunity has taken hold in the world, especially in the West. Therefore, we need to sharply increase our emphasis on nuclear deterrence, begin to move up the escalation ladder, starting with strikes using conventional weapons, and then, if there is a response, even nuclear weapons, against our opponents in Europe.

He continued,

If we do not defeat them [NATO] decisively now and put them in their place, I assure you that in two or three years, when Ukraines human capital is depleted, waves of mercenaries from the poor countries of Central and Eastern Europe will come. For Europeans and, to some extent, Americans, this is not a very big expense. Therefore, we need to end this war as quickly as possible.

Karaganov then went on to emphasize the need for a fundamental reeducation of the population in patriotic, Christian values. In a far-right Russian nationalist rant, he declared that Russia was destined to play the role of the savior of civilization, save humanity from a Third World War but that it had first to save Russia itself and establish its hegemony in Northern Eurasia.

Behind the nationalist rants of Karaganov and the attacks on democratic rights stand not efforts to save humanity, let alone the Russian working class, from imperialism. The Russian oligarchy, which has emerged out of the Stalinist reaction against the 1917 socialist revolution in Russia and the bureaucracys destruction of the Soviet Union, uses this rhetoric and these measures to conceal and safeguard its own reactionary social interests. The Putin regime launched the invasion of Ukraine in the interests of that oligarchy, after years of provocations by imperialism, in a desperate effort to reach a negotiated settlement with the imperialist powers to safeguard its own class interests in the region and its right to exploit the working class.

Tellingly, despite far-reaching sanctions by the imperialist powers since 2022, Russian oligarchs were able to continue to grow their fortunes amidst the fratricidal war in Ukraine that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. According to Forbes, between 2024 and 2025, Russias richest individuals amassed an additional $20 billion in total wealth, growing their total fortune to a new record $625.5 billion.

The Kremlins greatest concern is the development of a unified movement of the Russian and the Ukrainian working class against both imperialism and the rule of the capitalist oligarchy. For workers, the alternative posed is, on the one hand, a future determined by the interests of the oligarchy and imperialism which means unending wars and the threat of nuclear annihilationor, on the other hand, a return to the path of the 1917 October Revolution, of international class struggle and socialist revolution.
Rally at Foley Square in New York in defense of journalists

In two separate incidents in New York City this week, the New York Police Department (NYPD) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) thugs attacked journalists reporting on actions against the Gaza genocide and the federal rampage against immigrants.

In the first case, on Monday, the NYPD raided the home of photojournalist Alexa B. Wilkinson. Police arrested and charged Wilkinson with aggravated harassment and hate crimes. The police also seized video equipment and phones.

The charges stemmed from a July 30 incident Wilkinson reported on, in which protesters covered the New York Times headquarters on 8th Avenue in Manhattan with graffiti. Protesters charged the newspaper with complicity in the Gaza genocide because of its pro-Zionist reporting and editorial policies.

The New York art journal Hyperallergic notes that Wilkinson is accused of posting a threatening social media message targeting the Jewish editor of the New York Times, as summarized in a court record. Wilkinson allegedly shared screenshots of an X post that read They hanged newspaper editors at Nuremberg (a reference to the Nazi journalist Julius Streicher.) The complaint said Wilkinson captioned the screenshots with the phrase Looking at you (Joseph Kahn), referring to the Timess executive editor.

Wilkinson has been one of the leading photojournalists who has covered the mass protests against the Gaza genocide in New York City since they began in the fall of 2023, often at personal hazard to themselves from Zionists and the NYPD. The World Socialist Web Site has published their work.

The case recalls the arrest by the NYPD of journalist Samuel Seligson in June because he video-recorded the painting of graffiti on the Brooklyn Museum and on the home of its president, Anne Pasternak, for her association with the repression of protests by anti-genocide demonstrators. Seligson, who is Jewish, was also charged with felony antisemitic hate crimes.

In the second incident on Tuesday, journalist L. Vural Elibol of the state-run Turkish news agency Anadolu was shoved and thrown to the ground by ICE goons as he attempted to board an elevator outside an immigration court on the 12th floor in 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan. The elevator was taking immigrants kidnapped by ICE to detention on the buildings 10th floor. Elibol struck his head on the ground and had to be taken to the hospital.

Two other journalists were also brutalized by ICE in the same incident, including Dean Moses, amNewYorks police bureau chief and resident photographer, and freelancer Olga Fedorova, whose work is frequently published by the Associated Press.

These back-to-back attacks on journalists in the Democratic Party stronghold of New York City mark a bipartisan escalation of Trumps efforts to establish a dictatorship in the United States and silence all opposition toand even knowledge ofthe domestic and foreign policy of the ruling elite. It is noteworthy that while a variety of Democratic politicians condemned the ICE assault, neither Governor Kathy Hochul nor Democratic Socialists of America mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani condemned the blatantly political arrest of Wilkinson by the NYPD.

The action by the NYPD, which had to be approved at the highest levels of the department and city government, is meant to send a message: the police, regardless of who is mayor, will continue to harass, arrest, and beat pro-Palestinian protesters while suppressing journalists who report on these attacks. This takes place under conditions in which the Trump administration has not only unleashed ICE against immigrant workers throughout the US, but has also laid the groundwork for police-military dictatorship by sending troops to Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Portland and Memphis.

In August, the police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, scion of the billionaire Tisch family, told Attorney General Pam Bondi in a private, face-to-face meeting that the Trump administration did not need to send troops to New York since the NYPD was fully capable of suppressing opposition. Tisch declared that the city can police itself, boasting that the countrys largest domestic police force had no need of the National Guard. According to a source, the two also discussed the use of drones.

At a rally on Wednesday in Manhattans Foley Square in defense of Wilkinson and the journalists assaulted by ICE, scores of journalists and supporters assembled to protest the blatant suppression of the First Amendment and the right to report objectively on the anti-genocide demonstrations and the right to report on the actions of state agencies.

One speaker told the rally: Were here for two different incidents that have motivated us to come out and flag you all and sound the alarm that journalism is under attack. The first being the arrest of a photojournalist for documenting a protest activity after it happened. Shame!

Their home was raided in the middle of the morning, like an early morning pre-dawn raid. All of their equipment was taken so they cannot do their job  They are being charged with a hate crime for protected political speech against the executive editor of the New York Times, which has a well-documented history of whitewashing genocide. Shame!

Not only is our work as journalists being attacked, but speech itself is under attack, not just in New York City, but nationally. This is a five-alarm fire for the press.

Wilkinsons guest described to the rally the Tuesday raid at Wilkinsons home: there was a knock at the door, a gentle knock at the door. And I answered the door, not suspecting if it was going to be anything significant.

And there standing right in front of me was a riot police officer holding a shield blocking the exit to the house and I was told to leave the property. He was backed up by several other police officers and I attempted to shut the door to give myself some time to think. He put his foot in the door, blocked it from closing. I took a step back 

I started reporting, which is all you can do in that situation  we were asked to vacate the property as they executed a warrant upon exiting the building. My phone was slapped from my hand as I was recording. I was pushed up firmly against the wall. My head hit the wall and I was placed in handcuffs. I looked over to see Alexa suffering the same treatment. Her wife was also being pushed and taken downstairs. They took Alexa from my view.

A speaker from Writers against the War on Gaza, which has played a leading role in exposing the New York Times pro-Zionist bias, told the rally: In Gaza, journalists are stalked and harassed with threatening IOF phone calls. Their homes are bombed. Their families are bombed. They get arrested, tortured, and starved. They distance themselves from loved ones amidst a genocide because they know, as journalists, they wear a target. There are no special protections, no press vests that can save them 

Here in the so-called land of the free press freedom, journalists who dare to fulfill their mandate to document reality and report the truth are facing escalating retaliation. They are surveilled, raided, harassed, assaulted and arrested for capturing the moments Empire would prefer to stay hidden.

Just yesterday, journalists were brutalized by police at immigration court for simply recording the atrocities unfolding within the walls of 26 Federal Plaza. Across the country, those doing their duties as members of the press are being intimidated 

The repression were seeing here is not separate from what is happening in Gaza. It is interconnected. The same military-industrial complex that arms Israel also trains US police forces. The same surveillance tech used to track and kill Palestinian journalists is sold back to US agencies. The same logic that justifies bombing press offices in Gaza or Yemen or any of the countries weve seen bombed over the past two years is what allows police here to assault reporters on the job.
Former Golden Bachelor lead Gerry Turner is getting married.

The 73-year-old former reality star announced on Instagram Friday that he and his girlfriend, Lana Sutton, are engaged. His post included a series of pictures of him and his new fiancee, including one of them smiling on the beach, while Sutton showed off her engagement ring.

We've got BIG news. The Golden Bachelor is OFF the market. I found my perfect match and she said YES, Turner wrote in the caption. I Love this woman.

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The post also included another selfie of the couple and a snap of Sutton taking a sip of her drink, with her diamond engagement ring on her finger.

Turner confirmed his relationship with the retired teacher in April, one year after he announced his divorce from Theresa Nist, whom he had gotten engaged to during the first season of The Bachelor.

Gerry Turner reveals hes engaged to his girlfriend Lana Sutton (@goldengerryturner / Instagram)

He said in a previous interview with TMZ that he connected with Sutton on Facebook after approving a friend request from her, since they had many mutual friends. He told the publication that while Lana was the one to reach out first, he ignored the initial message.

However, when Sutton sent him a second message about growing up in a town 20 minutes away from him in Indiana, she got his attention. They then made plans to meet and had their first date at a restaurant in March. They continued to get closer, with Sutton later meeting Angie and Jenny, Turners adult children with his late wife, Toni.

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Since then, the couple has posted about their fun adventures together on Instagram. Two weeks ago, Sutton shared some sweet pictures from her and her partners visit to Toronto.

Had a wonderful trip to Niagara Falls on the Canada side! Loved every moment with @goldengerryturner ! Oh Canada, she wrote in the caption.

Turners engagement comes 15 months after he finalized his divorce from Nist, whom he split from after three months of marriage. A marital settlement agreement, dated June 4, read that certain irreconcilable differences heretofore arisen between the parties culminated in their separation.

The documents stated that Turner and Nist, who were married in January 2024 during a televised ABC special, are entitled to their sole and separate property, including housing and bank accounts.

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After his divorce from Nist, Turner also announced he was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer. As Theresa and I were trying very hard to find our lifestyle and where we were going to live and how we were going to make our life work, I was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer, he told People in December 2024.

He said he found out about his condition after suffering a shoulder injury while playing pickleball three years ago. He said he went to an orthopedic surgeon, who then referred him to an oncologist, and he is now working with a hematology-oncology group.

Unfortunately, theres no cure for it. So that weighs heavily in every decision I make, Turner said.
Celebrated poet Nikki Giovanni published more than 30 books during her lifetime, and nearly a year after her death comes her final collection.

The New Book, out now, serves as both an elegy and a continuation of her decadeslong career. Completed before she died last year and shepherded to print by her wife, Virginia Ginney Fowler, this collection carries Giovannis work into a future that she knew she would not live to see due to her declining health, Fowler said.

All the poems were written before the election, Fowler said. Nikki wanted to get people to vote.

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The book folds wisdom into instruction, speaking to the political landscape, her childhood in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the stories of her great-grandmother, who was a slave. Each poem insists on accountability, intention and action.

Jericho Brown, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and mentee of Giovannis, said the new collection shows even more of who she always was.

Brown said he remembers first encountering Giovanni not as a mentor, but as a celebrity whose poems he could recite word for word.

Her work was close to me, Brown said.

Harper Collins

Over time, admiration became friendship. She was first an inspiration, and then she was my friend and my mentor, Brown said.

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The New Book stands out among Giovannis catalog, Brown said, because she softened the boundaries that were once used to hide aspects of her life.

Much more of her life is bleeding forth in this book, he said. Along with sharing letters to her loved ones  even mentioning Brown and Fowler  she writes about the men in her life in Fathers.

Brown described it as the most that Nikki Giovanni has ever said in a poem that is about her sons father and, at the same time, about her own father.

Fathers flows like her 1972 poem Mothers, which is about the women in her family and their relationship to each other.

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The fearlessness and conviction in her writing were a trademark of Giovannis career for more than six decades, from her thoughts on the beauty of Black childhood in Nikki-Rosa (1971) to her later works dissecting Black resilience, like in Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea (Were Going to Mars) from 2002.

Thematically, The New Book gives readers the same feeling as her previous works, while deepening her audiences understanding of who she was.

Fowler said Giovanni lived as she wrote. Describing her as authentic in the real world and in her writing. Its what drew people to her, Fowler said. I have never seen another poet draw together so many different types of people. To me, that says something about the universality of her writing.

They met in the fall of 1986 when Fowler nominated Giovanni for a position at Virginia Tech. At the time, Fowler was an associate professor and the associate head of the English department.

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She said she didnt think Giovanni would accept because she thought Giovanni was too famous to want to work for the school. But eventually the poet joined the department and the two worked together.

Fowler said some faculty resisted working with Giovanni. I had a colleague that said, I will not teach at a department that Nikki Giovanni is in, and he left, she recalled. I know that was racism.

Yet Giovanni remained undeterred, and unapologetically herself. Fowler said Giovannis sharp humor became legendary among their colleagues. One time, Giovanni was asked to take minutes for a committee meeting and filled them with observations like, Peter had on really beautiful socks, ensuring she was never asked again.

Giovanni taught there for 35 years while writing more than a dozen books. She retired in 2022 to focus on her final collection. Having written most of it after retirement, many of the pieces are timely, drawn from current events like the Covid-19 pandemic in poems including 30 May 2023 and For the 2020 Celebration of Youth Essay Contest.

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She used modern themes to continue her lifelong dialogue and urge readers to remain politically engaged and morally awake.

She always understood that presence, like poetry, endures beyond the moment, Brown said. This book carries that truth forward.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
An Olympic gold medalist is selling her $1.2 million mansion after her dreams of finding success in Louisiana faltered and she is forced to move back to Las Vegas amid a divorce from her longtime husband.

Oksana Baiul, who represented Ukraine at the 1994 Winter Olympics in figure skating, said her heart is broken as she listed her Shreveport estate for sale last week.

Thank you, Shreveport !!! House is for sale, moving back to Las Vegas  I love u all. I am sorry it didnt work out, Baiul

Winter Olympic Figure Skating gold medalist Oksana Baiul shows off the property of her Shreveport, Louisiana home after she listed the mansion for sale in September 2025. Oksana Baiul/Facebook

The 47-year-old Ukrainian-native reluctantly shared that her goal of opening a skating school in the Pelican State did not come to fruition.

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I cant make a living in Shreveport. Unfortunately, I cant, Baiul said on Facebook. I do love all the people here. I came for a reason, and it did not happen. I came here to create some things, but they did not come to fruition. I have to go where the ice exists.

After striking gold at the 1994 Winter Games, Baiul moved to Simsbury, Conn., and trained at the International Skating Center of Connecticut, according to the New York Times.

She bounced around different cities across the US until she settled down in Pennsylvania, where she met her husband, Carlo Farina.

The couple moved to Louisiana in 2022, purchasing the property for $600,000.

Baiul walks around her home with a pair of skates on her back. Oksana Baiul/Facebook

Baiul listed the Shreveport mansion for $1.2 million. Google Maps

On Sept. 20, Baiul revealed she listed her five-bed, five-bath home for $1,195,000 and declared she was heading back to Sin City.

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The Georgian Italianate mansion was built in 1925 by architect Edward F. Neild for an oil baron before the current owners painstakingly restored most of the mansion over the last three years, according to the homes listing.

The Fairfield Avenue estate sits on a 1.3-acre plot and comes with a grand front entrance, 7 fireplaces, a gated driveway, six garages around the property and an outdoor fountain.

Baiul described the home as the most beautiful mansion in all of Shreveport and offered an inside look at her property.

Ive made all of the money in the world, lost all of the money in the world, she told KSLA. Ive been married, now Im divorced. But, if you fall down on the ice, can you imagine how many times I had to fall down and get up?

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In August, Baiul, who marked being two years sober on Friday, announced that she was separating from her husband after 10 years of marriage.

Dear extended fam and friends, Im expressing myself to you this morning regarding my personal circumstances. My husband and I are divorcing, Baiul posted to

Baiul steps into the fountain with the skates over her back. Oksana Baiul/Facebook

Baiul put the house on the market after being unable to make a living in Louisiana. Oksana Baiul/Facebook

Oksana Baiul and her husband Carlo Farina announced their divorce in August 2025. Oksana Baiul/Facebook

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The couple shares a 10-year-old daughter, who is already back in Sin City.

I came here from Las Vegas, Baiul told KSLA. My daughter was born in Las Vegas. She is already there. When I was in Vegas, and I just came back. We skated together.

Baiul was ordered to pay $45,000 in 2014 after she unsuccessfully sued NBC and a TV promoter, alleging that the two had used her image to promote two shows in 2011 and 2012 despite declining to perform.

That same year, a judge had tossed a $400 million suit filed by Baiul claiming her former agents stole more than $57 million from her in a criminal enterprise after signing her as a 16-year-old in 1994.

Oksana Baiul celebrates winning the gold medal in Womens Figure Skating at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, on Feb. 25, 1994. Getty Images

Baiul won gold in the Womens Figure Skating on Feb. 25, beating out American Nancy Kerrigan and Chinas Chen Lu. Getty Images

Baiul is moving back to Las Vegas where she accepted a position working within the Vegas Golden Knights organization. Oksana Baiul/Facebook

Baiul hit international fame as a teenager competing in the Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994. She won gold in the Womens Figure Skating on Feb. 25, beating out American Nancy Kerrigan and Chinas Chen Lu.

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Baiul is set to work within the Vegas Golden Knights organization, working with the skating programs staff, developing and growing the skating community in the Nevada desert.

I enjoy, sometimes, taking risks, says Baiul. I personally never learn anything from success. I learn everything from tougher situations. Im blessed and Im grateful for everything. I will miss Shreveport a lot. Thank you.
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October 3 marked a big day in the royal world as Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg abdicated the throne in favor of his eldest son, the now-Grand Duke Guillame. Celebrations were held at the Grand Ducal Palace to honor Guillame and his wife, Grand Duchess Stephanie, taking the throne, and two future European queens were among the glittering guests. Swapping elegant daywear for tiaras and gowns, both Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands and Princess Elisabeth of Belgium wore dresses that were reminiscent of Princess Kate's best evening gowns.

Princess Elisabeth, who is currently studying at Harvard, flew to Luxembourg to join her parents, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, at the historic event. Wearing a sculptural navy dress by her mother's favorite designer, Natan, Elisabeth looked every inch the future queen during the daytime ceremonybut she went into full sparkle mode for the evening gala.

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The 23-year-old wore a silver Jenny Packham dress that brought back memories of one of Princess Kate's show-stopping gowns by the British designer. Wearing a silver version of the label's cap-sleeved Ernest gown, Elisabeth dazzled in sequins and the diamond tiara she received for her 18th birthday. Her new dress is similar to the pale pink and silver sequined Jenny Packham design the Princess of Wales has worn on several occasions after debuting it on the red carpet in 2011.

Elisabeth and Amalia wore rich jewel tones representing Luxembourg's flag for the abdication events. | Credit: Getty Images

Princess Elisabeth, Grand Duchess Stephanie, Grand Duke Guillaume and Princess Catharina-Amalia are pictured at a gala dinner on October 3. | Credit: Getty Images

Princess Elisabeth wore the tiara she received as an 18th birthday gift. | Credit: Getty Images

Princess Kate is pictured in a similar Jenny Packham dress in 2011. | Credit: Getty Images

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Embellished Ernest Gown



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As for Princess Catharina-Amalia, she attended the abdication ceremony in a striking burgundy coat and coordinating Alex Perry dress. For the gala, she brought out all the stops, changing into an off-the-shoulder forest green ballgown by Monique Lhuillier. The long-sleeved design was covered in tiny sequins and featured a tulle skirt and sheer sleeves, and Amalia paired it with Queen Emma's diamond tiara.

The Princess of Wales once attended a dinner in Jamaica while wearing a similar green tulle ballgown, choosing the Jenny Packham design during her 2022 Caribbean tour with Prince William.

Elisabeth and Amalia curtsied to the new grand duke and grand duchess. | Credit: Getty Images

The princess wore Queen Emma's Tiara, which dates back to 1890. | Credit: Getty Images

The Princess of Wales is pictured in a Jenny Packham gown during her 2022 Caribbean tour. | Credit: Getty Images

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Grand Duchess Stephanie, 41, showed off her own regal look at the dinner, wearing the same lilac gown with a sparkling bodice and caped detail that she wore earlier in the day. At one point during the abdication celebrations, she changed into a sleek white gown before swapping it out for her lilac look to celebrate at the evening gala.

The new grand duke and grand duchess are parents to Prince Charles, 5, and Prince Francois, 3, and brought their sons on the palace balcony to wave to the crowds gathered on abdication day. Little Charles is now next in line to the throne, and he showed off his sweet personality while interacting with his family at the palace.

Speaking to Paris Match about his abdication and plans for the future, Grand Duke Henri said he was looking forward to a new chapter with his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa. "We are serene and both happy with this change of life," he said.
The state-sponsored show, which took place on Saturday and featured a host of top international comedians, was criticized by Human Rights Watch and several other comedians

(JTA)  During his controversial set at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia, comedian Dave Chappelle joked that he would use the phrase I stand with Israel as a code to alert fans he was facing censorship.

The state-sponsored show, which took place on Saturday and featured a host of top international comedians, was criticized by Human Rights Watch and several other comedians who believed the event was aimed at deflecting from the Gulf nations history of free speech suppression. (The Biden administration accused Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of approving the assassination of a Washington Post journalist in 2018.)

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Clearly you guys dont give a shit about what the rest of us think, but how can any of us take any of you seriously again?, wrote Jewish-born comedian David Cross in a post on X. All your bitching about cancel culture and freedom of speech and all that sht? Done. You dont get to talk about it ever again.

But despite widespread condemnation of the show, Chappelle used his set, which came after television host Jimmy Kimmel was briefly pulled off air for a statement about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, to rail against the state of free speech in America.

COMEDIAN DAVE Chappelle arrives to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, in Washington, in 2019. The statement by Chappelle last month, implying that Jews run Hollywood was inaccurate, says the writer. (credit: YURI GRIPAS/REUTERS)

Right now in America, they say that if you talk about Charlie Kirk, that youll get canceled, Chappelle said during his set. I dont know if thats true, but Im gonna find out. He then added, Its easier to talk here than it is in America.

At the end of his set, Chappelle told the audience of 6,000 that he feared returning to the United States, because he believed theyre going to do something to me so that I cant say what I want to say.

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He then told fans that in order to alert them if something had happened, he would use a code phrase:

Its got to be something I would never say in practice, so if I actually say it, youll know never to listen to anything else I say after that, Chappelle said. Heres the phrase: I stand with Israel.

Middle East politics appear in Dave Chappelle's sets

The set was not Chappelles first foray into Middle Eastern politics. At a May 2024 show in the United Arab Emirates, Chappelle called Israels military campaign in the Gaza Strip a genocide. The comic is Muslim, and has frequently made advocacy for Palestinians a hallmark of his routines.

In a November 2022 monologue on Saturday Night Live, Chappelle also stirred controversy after he said that the delusion that Jews run show business is not a crazy thing to think.
The 90 Day Fiance drama has followed Darcey Silva and Georgi Rusev home from their trip to Bulgaria. Now, the conflict hits closer to home, as it has to do with the couples finances. Its a story line that the TLC darlings have previously explored on their many seasons within the franchise. However, Darcey revealed some specifics about their financial situation.

As always, Darceys twin sister Stacey Silva was on hand to get an earful. The duo were cast on the latest season of 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? And the show is exploring their dynamics as a married couple of two years.

90 Day Fiance stars Darcey Silva and Georgi Rusev have a complicated marriage

Its not been great, just been really trying to tolerate each other, Darcey told Stacey during a sneak peek of next weeks episode, courtesy of Us Weekly. Its not been easy.

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It turns out that Georgi was hesitant to pay half of their rent upon returning to the United States. And he was not responding to Darceys messages.

I was trying to communicate about it with him because now he wants half the money back for Bulgaria, she explained of their recent trip. They celebrated their anniversary with Georgis family while there.

Darcey continued, Its so not OK because Ive always been there for him providing over the years. I paid the rent. I paid the bill to pay cable, electric, all that stuff, food going out, whatever, traveling. Thats not OK. Just be giving and gracious about it.

Stacey exploded at that point. She called her brother-in-law, Greedy.

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Further, Darcey shared that her father had to get involved to get Georgi to fork over his share. She told her sister, I had to put daddy on a text  a group text  just to say, Hi Georgi, its Darcey. Can you please pay your share of the rent? Its due today. So he did. He actually sent me the money soon after that because he wasnt answering me before that.

Darcey continued, Its kind of embarrassing that I have to include my dad, but I feel like thats the only thing that I could do to, you know, help me kind of nudge him so he can just take action. Whenever I include my dad in a text message, I feel like he does it right away. He doesnt want to disappoint my dad, but he doesnt mind disappointing me.

Its becoming habitual to include Mike Silva on such messages, unfortunately. At this point, she cant count on my hand how many times. Clearly its effective.

90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? airs on TLC Sundays at 8/7c.

TELL US  WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO GEORGI NOT PAYING RENT?

The post 90 Day Fiances Darcey Silva Drops Bombshell About Greedy Husband Georgi Rusev appeared first on Reality Tea.
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If you ask avid outdoor lovers where the absolute best place to spend Thanksgiving in the U.S. is, some would say at the campsite surrounded by nature and loved ones. But for most people, the idea of cooking a traditional Thanksgiving dinner  complete with a whole turkey  while camping sounds like a logistical nightmare. But it can even be surprisingly easy if you take the right approach. And some campers who have tried it say a DIY smoker is the way to go.

Store-bought smokers can be expensive and take up a lot of space. So a budget trick some outdoor cooks swear by is repurposing a steamer pot (think the kind used for clam bakes) as a DIY smoker over your campfire. They already come with a perforated insert and a tall, lidded design, which happens to mimic the airflow and heat control you'd find in purpose-built smokers. Just add soaked wood chips to the bottom beneath the insert, place your turkey on top, and cover with the lid before placing it on your campfire grate. The rising smoke and heat will slow-cook the bird and give it a smoky flavor.

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The best part is that the steamer pot is versatile. You can use it for tamales, crab boils, soups, or boiling water the rest of the year, but come Thanksgiving, it transforms into a budget-friendly way to deliver a holiday feast without a conventional oven. You can also skip buying a separate steamer and adjust this cooking method to work with a cast-iron Dutch oven. This Lodge cast-iron camp Dutch oven has a flat lid that can even be used as a griddle for your side dishes.

Read more: 12 Best Places In The US To Celebrate New Years With Kids, According To Our Research

Tips for nailing Thanksgiving dinner while camping

steaming metal pot over outdoor fire stove - Mardee W/Shutterstock

Cooking a turkey with a DIY smoker requires a little planning, but once you get the basics down, it's surprisingly forgiving. For campers who want to cook a whole turkey, choose an extra-tall pot (like this 20-quart GasOne steamer on Amazon) and a smaller-sized bird. However, if it's your first time, you may want to break the bird down into pieces (and level up your camp cooking by pre-marinating the meat). It will be easier to manage and won't take as long to cook. Smaller groups can swap a whole turkey for a turkey breast or two instead. Brining the turkey overnight  either in a cooler with salted water and aromatics or with a dry rub  helps lock in flavor and moisture. This is a nice touch since campfire cooking can be less predictable than an oven.

When you're ready to cook, keep the campfire burning at a steady medium heat and replenish the wood chips as needed to keep smoke flowing. It's also smart to rotate the pot during cooking, since campfires don't always heat evenly. A meat thermometer is essential; the internal temperature should be 165 degrees Fahrenheit before resting and carving your bird. For side dishes, think portable  foil packets of premade sides or chopped veggies can cook directly on the embers, and cranberry sauce and rolls travel easily in containers.

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Another method is to spatchcock (aka butterfly) the turkey and grill it over charcoal or a campfire using grill grates, like this Vevor X-Marks fire pit grill grate on Amazon. With a little prep at home, you can set yourself up for a classic Thanksgiving feast. Many campers say the novelty of enjoying a full turkey dinner outdoors is worth the extra effort.

Budget-friendly alternatives for cooking a Thanksgiving dinner while camping

chickens roasting over campfire on spit made with sticks - Jdwfoto/Getty Images

Of course, a smoker or Dutch oven setup isn't the only way to pull off a Thanksgiving campsite dinner. Another option is to cook the turkey over an open fire the old-fashioned way. Use an axe and knife to make a roasting spit from branches. Fix the turkey onto the middle of the spit, and then roast the bird above a fire pit, turning occasionally for even cooking. When it's almost done, cook your sides in foil packets  a versatile kitchen staple that makes cooking meals while camping so much easier  around the fire on the hot rocks and embers. While a spit-roasted turkey will take some time (bank on at least a couple of hours, depending on the size of the bird), the process is easy enough with some basic outdoors skills.

Another way to pull off the impressive whole-bird presentation is with a turkey fryer. This CreoleFeast Fryer Boiler Steamer Set on Amazon is on the larger side, and it connects easily to your propane tank, so you won't have to fuss with live fire or coals. It's not as budget-friendly as a DIY spit made with branches  but for less than $150, this multipurpose pot is reusable, portable, and gets the job done.

That said, frying a turkey is not for the faint-hearted; it can be dangerous. So ensure someone is responsibly in charge and supervising at all times. Always use the fryer in an open, cleared area on level ground to prevent any spills or fires. Also, make sure the turkey is completely thawed, and only use the fryer in clear, dry weather. Read the owner's manual for essential safety tips  and campers who go this route should have a fire extinguisher on hand for safety.

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Read the original article on Explore.
A 232-acre ranch for sale in the Sierra Nevada foothills bridges Californias pioneer past and modern off-grid living.

Held in the same family for 152 years, historic Schaad Ranch now beckons a new steward. Perched at a 3,000-foot elevation, the historic ranch in Wilseyville, 80 miles southeast of Sacramento, is on the market for $2.85 million.

The ranchs story begins around 1873, when Swiss immigrant Johan Schaads journey across continents led his family from Switzerland to Tennessee, and ultimately to the promise of California. Switzerland was experiencing an upheaval that led many Europeans to emigrate.

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You kind of dream about what it was like in 1870, and why they were pushed out of Switzerland, seller Rick Shaad said in a phone interview.

The modern, off-grid residence, sitting on 232 acres, offers sweeping forest views through large windows

Shaad is the great-great grandson of Johan. He and his daughter recently traveled to the Swiss town of Biberist and discovered their family tree goes back much farther, to 1642.

Switzerland was kind of a hard place to live and secure land for your family and feel safe, Shaad said. So they came, (and) it was a trek to get from Switzerland to California.

The Schaad familys resilience in the face of tragedy and challenge became legend, according to a historical account compiled by Shaad.

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Augustus Schaad, Johans son who forged the path westward, settled above the middle fork of the Mokelumne River and pieced together a life of hard work on the land. Augustus met his wife Appolonia in Stockton, and the family established their legacy amid towering pines, firs and oaks.

Historically, the primary work on the ranch has been timber production and operating a sawmill, but over the years the property has seen its share of farming, ranching and  briefly  the running of a resort and campground.

A 232-acre Schaad Ranch in Wilseyville bridges pioneer history and off-grid living with riverfront, trails, modern solar home and development potential.

Augustus Schaads two eldest sons, John and Joe, established their own sawmill. Shaad has records of the familys business activity in the early 1900s when their sawmill provided timber for local mining and residential construction in the region.

I have a receipt from Shaad brothers sawmill for 5,000 board feet of pine boards delivered to Mokelumne Hill for $97, he said. The sales transaction is dated 1917.

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The Schaad property once encompassed about 5,000 acres but over time was significantly reduced in size. Today, the two combined parcels for sale are anchored by a stunning contemporary home, built in 2018, that masterfully blends modern aesthetics like glass and clean lines with views of the forest landscape.

The home blends indoor with outdoor living.

Modern aesthetics

The residence spans 2,000 square feet, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a bonus room and attached barn, designed to blend modern aesthetics with the surrounding forest landscape.

Forest Creek, Boston Gulch and the Mokelumne River wind their way through the property. The ranchs extensive trails and riverfront offer opportunities for fishing, swimming, and exploration.

Sweeping views surround the property, graced by the middle fork of the Mokelumne River and Forest Creek, both offering swimming holes and a picturesque camping spot along the banks, listing agent Tiffany Kraft of Vista Sothebys International Realty, said in an email. The grounds are beautifully maintained, blending comfort and natural beauty. A rare retreat, this property delivers tranquility, recreation, and unmatched seclusion.

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The home, sitting on a hill, was architecturally designed to capture sweeping mountain views and dissolve the boundary between the house and forest.

I did some work with an architect, and he threw out all of my ideas and said, Nope, this is it,  Shaad, a longtime building contractor, said. And the more we got into the clean lines and all of that, the more we liked it. So we just went with the rustic contemporary (look).

The nearly 2,000-square-foot contemporary home has two bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Lifelong off-grid dream

The house was built around Shaads lifelong dream to live off-grid. It features a complete solar system with battery storage, requiring generator use of only about 100 hours a year, generally in winter when theres snow on the panels.

Instead of air conditioning, he uses innovative cooling methods.

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We open the windows at night and close them in the morning, he said. I poured concrete underneath the floor, and we draw cooler air from underneath the house with a whole-house fan.

Shaad implemented a unique wall construction technique using staggered two-by-four studs creating an eight-inch thick wall with a special insulation layer. The result is remarkable, he said.

When you sit in the house and the winds blowing, you dont hear anything, he said.

The land  with its mix of waterways, grasses and pine, cedar, Douglas fir and black oak trees  has been meticulously managed through generations. Shaad described it as like a park.

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Shaad envisions a buyer possibly making the property into a family compound where someone could build multiple homes and have some insulation from the rest of the world  or maybe a retreat center, where you have a lot of room to stretch out and have space to yourself.

The land can be split and developed, too. The minimum required lot size is 40 acres, he said.

Ranch is more than a business

The ranch, however, was never simply a business. It was equal parts homestead, enterprise and refuge  even when events tested and steeled the family.

The Spanish flu swept through the Sierra foothills and claimed multiple members of the Schaad family in a single devastating year. In the generations to follow, resilience remained a hallmark of the ranch.

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Edward Schadd and Effie Day, who married in 1919, continued the family legacy, raising three children on the property. Edward briefly ran the sawmill before shifting to farming and livestock, according to the familys historical account.

As camping and recreation flourished along the river, the ranch welcomed visitors drawn by fishing, hunting and a taste of backcountry hospitality. Electricity, generated with a Pelton wheel, lit up the cabins long before modern utilities arrived.

After Edward died in 1937, Effie partnered with a local entrepreneur to develop cabins, campgrounds and a bar and restaurant, according to the family. Effie successfully ran Schaads Resort until she passed away in 1996, Rick Shaad said.
All products featured on Epicurious are independently selected by Epicurious editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Conde Nast may earn an affiliate commission.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Judy Haubert

To some, turkey is a succulent holiday centerpieceto others, merely a vehicle for gravy. Whichever camp you fall into, knowing how to cook a turkey so it emerges from the oven golden on the outside and juicy within is the key to keeping everyone happy.

Jump ahead

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Whether youre a Thanksgiving pro ready to try something new (Will it be a spatchcocked turkey this year? A grilled bird? How about confit? ) or a holiday-hosting newbie preparing a whole turkey (or even a turkey breast) for the first time, allow this to be your guiding principle: You dont need a complicated Thanksgiving turkey recipe; just stick to the basics and let the side dishes make it a show. Ahead, youll find everything you need to know, including step-by-step instructions for cooking and preparing the perfect turkey for your holiday table.

Step 1. Thaw your turkey

The ideal place to thaw a frozen turkey is in the fridge. Depending on the size of your bird, this can take up to a week. If youre short on time, there are faster ways to thaw a turkey, but thawing it in the refrigerator is your best bet when it comes to safe kitchen practices.

How long it takes to thaw turkey in the fridge on average: 412-lb. turkey 1 to 3 days 1216-lb. turkey 3 to 4 days 1620-lb. turkey 4 to 5 days 2024-lb. turkey 5 to 6 days

Want to brine your turkey? Nows the time. If you opt for a wet brine, you can submerge a frozen turkey right away. For a dry brine, wait a day or two until you can remove the giblets from the partially thawed turkey cavity, when the skin is more pliable, which will allow it to hold on to the rub better. A fresh turkey should also get some dry brine action at least one to two days before cooking.

Step 2. Prep your turkey

Remove turkey from the fridge about 1 hour before you plan to cook it. A tempered turkey will cook more evenly than one thats very cold. Place turkey on a roasting rack that sits level with the top of your largest roasting pan. This will allow air to circulate all around the bird and help it achieve crispy skin across the turkeys entire surface). You can also use a cooling rack set inside a large sheet pan. If you havent yet removed the giblets, do so now (save them, along with the neck, for turkey stock, giblet stuffing, gravy, or another use; or discard). Check the neck cavity too. You might also come across the occasional feather quill stuck in the bird; yank these out with your fingers or with clean needle-nose pliers.

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Note: There is no need to rinse the turkey, but if youre pulling it out of a wet brine (or out of the packaging), youll want to pat the turkey dry with reusable or paper towels.

The Simplest Roast Turkey

Kemp Minifie

Step 3. Prep your oven

Position oven rack on the lowest setting. About 15 minutes before you plan to start cooking the turkey, preheat your oven to 350F.

Why 350F? Some recipes instruct you to briefly roast the turkey at a high oven temperature before lowering the heat for the remainder of the cooking time. The belief is that the high heat sears the bird, while the low heat gently finishes cooking it, resulting in a juicier and more succulent turkey. We havent found this to be trueplus, it can cause the skin to brown too quickly. Using a steady temperature of 350F throughout means less attention is needed, freeing you up to do other things, such as preparing your mashed potatoes and Thanksgiving side dishes.

Step 4. Butter your turkey

Position your turkey breast-side up. Spread room-temperature unsalted butteror your favorite flavored compound butterall over it. (For a 1214-pound turkey, youll need about  cup [1 stick] of butter.) Gently work your fingers under the skin, starting at the neck, being careful not to tear the skin or separate it completely at the large cavity. Rub most of the butter under the skin, a little inside the large cavity, and the rest on top of the skin. Note: You could swap the butter for a neutral oil like canola or safflower if preferred. Whichever fat you choose, follow these proportions to elicit crispy, golden brown skin and juicy meat.

Step 5. Season your turkey (if necessary)

If youve chosen to brine your bird (via a wet brine or dry brine), you can skip this final seasoning. For kosher turkeys, which are already salted, theres no need to salt the cavity, but you will want to salt the skin. Heres how to do it:

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For a 1214-pound bird, sprinkle 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or  tsp. kosher salt and 1  tsp. freshly ground black pepper in the large cavity and an equal amount over the skin.

Note: You can add other ground spices and seasonings to your mix at this point too. Go for smoky cumin or lemony coriander. Some cooks like to add a teaspoon or two of brown sugar. These flavorings arent essential, but theyll go a long way toward giving your Thanksgiving turkey some personality.

All products featured on Epicurious are independently selected by Epicurious editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Conde Nast may earn an affiliate commission.

How to Dry-Brine Turkey for the Juiciest Bird Ever

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Learn how to dry-brine turkey with our easy step-by-step guide. This straightforward, not-at-all messy method will deliver the juiciest Thanksgiving bird.

Step 6. Stuff the neck cavity but not the main cavity

A note on stuffing: We dont recommend stuffing a turkey with traditional stuffing. Doing so will slow down your cook time and require you to cook the bird longer so that the stuffing inside the main cavity reaches a safe temperature (hello, overcooked turkey). Instead, prep any of our favorite stuffing recipes in a casserole dish to bake and serve on the side.

Place  an apple or orange inside the neck cavity, with the cut side right against the flesh. We know this sounds random, but stick with us. The fruit will add a buffer against the heat, protecting the delicate breast meat from overcooking. The skin draped over the rounded side of the fruit will help it stand proud as the bird roasts, instead of sinking in, resulting in a more robust-looking finish. Without stuffing, the birds cavity is available for rent. This is your time to play around, so take the opportunity to add some aromatics and vegetables, which will add flavor and aroma to the turkey and add complexity to the pan drippings (used to make turkey gravy). Think fresh rosemary, thyme, sage, or parsley; a few wedges of onion and some celery sticks; or lemon and orange slices. How about a dried chile? Have some fennel stems left over from making a holiday side dish with just the bulb? Toss those in. Again, none of these things are strictly necessary, but they will perfume your turkey with lots of flavor. You can also place some aromatics in the bottom of the pan. These will caramelize in the more direct heat, perfuming the meat and further flavoring the turkey drippings. Whether you choose to add aromatics or not, pour 2 cups of water into the bottom of the pan to prevent those drippings from burning.

Step 7. Truss the turkey

Trussing isnt totally necessary, but it will help to secure anything youve stuffed into the cavity and encourage your bird to cook more evenly. It doesnt hurt that a trussed bird will look a little more Norman Rockwellesque than an untrussed bird. But theres no need to go all out with a full truss (which requires a needle):

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Tuck the wing tips behind the birds shoulders to lock them in place and protect them from scorching. The positioning of the wings also helps stabilize the cooked bird on a serving platter or cutting board. Tie the ankles (the ends of the drumsticks) together using kitchen twine, kite string, or unwaxed, unflavored dental floss. Wrap twine once or twice around each ankle, pulling the drumsticks together, then wrap around both and, finally, tie the twine in a knot. For a tighter knot, make a regular overhand knot, and before tightening it, thread one end back through the loop a second time, then tighten.

Step 8. Cook the turkey

Loosely tent the turkey with aluminum foil, shiny side out (to deflect heat). Shielding the turkey keeps its skin from getting too dark too soon; but keeping it loose prevents that skin from steaming and staying flabby. Youll remove the foil about halfway through cooking to get that burnished glow. Dont baste! While some classic roast turkey recipes insist on basting (once thought to moisten and flavor the bird), modern approaches find that opening the door so often allows precious heat to escape, lengthening the cooking time. Additionally, squirting or brushing broth onto the skin prevents it from browning evenly and can cause it to lose any crispness it might achieve. The better way to ensure a moist bird is to dry-brine it before cooking.

How long to cook a turkey

The simplest way to figure out a turkeys roasting time is to calculate 13 minutes per pound at 350F for an unstuffed turkey (thats about 3 hours for a 1214-lb. turkey), or 15 minutes per pound for a stuffed turkey. Check the temperature about three-quarters of the way through that time, and then again every 10 minutes. Roast until the internal temperature reads 165F (or 150F as the case may be; more on that below) when checked at the thickest part of the thigh meat and the thickest part of the breast meat.

If, however, you prefer to roast your turkey at a different temperature, follow these guidelines. (The following cook times are for unstuffed birds. Our general rule is to avoid stuffed turkeys and instead to bake something like our classic stuffing recipe alongside so it can easily reach a safe temperature.)

Approximate turkey cooking times based on weight:

812-lb. turkey 1214-lb. turkey 1516-lb. turkey 1820-lb. turkey 2124-lb. turkey 24-lb. or more 325F 33 hours 23 hours 34 hours 44 hours 45 hours 55 hours 350F 23 hours 23 hours 33 hours 44 hours 44 hours 45 hours 400F 22 hours 22 hours 33 hours 34 hours 44 hours 44 hours 425F 33 hours 22 hours 33 hours 33 hours 44 hours 44 hours

How to check the turkeys temperature

According to the USDA, a turkey must be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165F to kill harmful bacteria. For the juiciest meat, however, remove your bird from the oven when the temperature reaches 150F. The temperature will continue to rise as the turkey rests and should reach 165F within 30 minutes of being removed from the oven. Some cooks, including food director Chris Morocco, prefer dark meat cooked to an internal temperature of 190F, which will allow more of the collagen and connective tissues to break down, rendering the tenderest meat. This higher temp would dry out white meat, so its best to only aim for it when cooking your turkey in parts.

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Whichever turkey roasting temperature you choose, be sure to use an accurate meat thermometer to confirm the final temperature. In the past, home cooks used to look at the color of the meat as an indication of doneness: The turkey was pierced with a knife, and if the juices were clear instead of pink, it was considered done. This is not a reliable method for several reasons: First, pinkness can disappear before a safe temperature is reached; contrarily, some turkeys (especially organic and heritage breeds) may never lose their pink color, even when cooked to well above 165F.

Where To Stick That Thermometer- HERO Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Cyd McDowell

Check the temperature of the turkey

Insert an instant-read thermometer or remote food thermometer (the type that has a probe you insert before cooking, which connects to a digital display that sits on your counter) into the turkey breast so that the point reaches the center of the thickest section. Note: Be careful not to touch the bone, as this can skew the reading. Repeat, checking the thickest part of one turkey thigh to ensure the turkey is cooked evenly throughout. If you find the breast to be done but the legs need more time, position the turkey so that the drumsticks are pointed to the back of the oven and continue to cook. Loosely tent any parts of the turkey you think might be getting too dark with a double-thick layer of buttered aluminum foil to sheild them from the heat.

See the video.

Step 9. Let the turkey rest

Transfer your cooked turkey to a safe spot, away from pets and nibble-prone guests. Let it sit there for at least 30 minutes.

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Why? Letting the bird rest gives its juices time to settle and be reabsorbed. Carving it too soon will allow the moisture to escape, leaving you with parched meat and a puddle on the cutting board. The turkey can rest for up to 90 minutes and still be hot when its time to carvewhich means youve got plenty of time to make the gravy.

Note: Dont cover the turkey with aluminum foil while it rests. Doing so will cause the skin to go limp.

All products featured on Epicurious are independently selected by Epicurious editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Conde Nast may earn an affiliate commission.

How to Carve a Turkey Like a Champ

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Youve gathered the guests, conquered the cocktails, wrangled the side dishes, and roasted one heck of a turkey. Now its game time. Heres how to carve your bird. With ease.

How to cook a heritage turkey:

With longer thighs and drumsticks, a leaner breast, and a more diminutive size compared to a standard supermarket turkey, heritage turkeys look, taste, and cook differently than your average Thanksgiving fowl. Heritage birds typically weigh no more than 16 pounds. If you plan on serving a larger crowd, you might want to roast two birds side by side. The bonus is that smaller birds cook more quickly than their fleshy cousins, so you dont need to rise at dawn if you like to eat Thanksgiving meal at noon.

Because they tend to have a more active lifestyle, heritage turkeys require a different roasting method to prevent toughness. Roasting the bird slowly, at a lower temperature, is the best way to achieve tender meat.

Preheat oven to 325F. Prep a 1214-lb. turkey with softened butter, salt, and pepper, as described above (or dry-brine it) and roast for 34 hours. Monitor the internal temperature. Your turkey is done when it hits 165F.

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Note: Due to the nature of some heritage breeds, their flesh and bones may retain a pinkish hue even after being fully cooked. As long as the bird has reached the specified temperature on a reliable meat thermometer, you dont need to worry.

All products featured on Epicurious are independently selected by Epicurious editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Conde Nast may earn an affiliate commission.

Thanksgiving Turkey and Gravy: Everything You Need to Know

Dont know how long your turkey should cook? Or what size turkey you should start with? After reading through these turkey FAQs, youll have all the intel you need.

How to cook a frozen turkey:

So its noon on Thanksgiving day, and you suddenly realize youve forgotten to thaw the turkey. Take a deep, calming breath. Trust that youll get it done, but cooking that turkey will likely take longer than originally planned.

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Importantly, do not try to partially thaw the bird. According to ThermoWorks VP Tim Robinson, to do so is to invite disaster. A semi-thawed bird will cook unevenly, drying out around the edges while the center remains raw. On the other hand, you can cook a fully frozen bird and achieve a positive end result. The trick is using a two-pronged cooking method.

Preheat oven to 325F. Slide the frozen turkey into the oven while it warms up and set a timer for 2 hours. This first stretch is a controlled partial defrost. Remove the turkey from the oven. It should be pliable enough now to extract the giblets and neck bone from the cavities. Do so and set them aside or discard (itll be somewhat hot, so use a carving fork and tongs to help you navigate. Brush the turkey all over with oil or melted butter (about  cup) and season with salt and pepper, as described above, and any other seasonings that sound good to you. Have a spice blend ready to goeven already bloomed in your melted butterso that you dont waste any time. Return the turkey to the oven, still set to 325F, and continue to cook for another 34 hours. Check the internal temperature in several placesboth thighs and both breasts. If any spot is cooking more slowly, position it toward the back of your oven. Remove the turkey from the oven when your thermometer reads at least 150F in all sections; rest the bird as above so the temperature can rise to 165F.

Ready for something a little more ambitious? Check out our favorite Thanksgiving turkey recipes. Moving on from the holiday? Here are our best recipes for leftover turkey.

Editors note: This article was written by Melissa Clark for Epicurious and contains additional reporting by Grace Parisi and Sam Worley. It has been expanded and updated by the Epicurious team.

Originally Appeared on Epicurious
I left for an international beach trip on a Monday  and made it back home in time for the weekend.

My cruise on Royal Caribbean Internationals Utopia of the Seas last summer took me to the Bahamas and back. In just three nights, I had a full day at sea to explore the ship, another full day at the cruise lines private island and made it home by Thursday.

While the average cruise length is around seven days, short sailings can pack an entire vacations worth of fun into a midweek getaway or long weekend. And cruise lines are upping their game. Utopia, for instance, was the first of Royal Caribbeans game-changing Oasis Class to launch with three and four-night sailings.

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We are seeing cruise lines invest in the short Caribbean game  that's what we call it  really like never before, said Adam Duckworth, president and founder of Travelmation. You're seeing many of the ships do Monday through Friday four-night sailings, and then do the weekends in the three-night sailings. And they're putting some of their biggest and best inventory there.

What are the pros of short cruises?

Short cruises  typically any itinerary shorter than a week long  give new-to-cruise guests a way to sample the product without a huge commitment.

For folks who are interested in trying cruising  maybe they are intimidated by the size of the ship or maybe they don't want to be with a lot of people, so they're trying to figure out if this is for them  we really feel like the the top selling point of the short cruise (is) obviously, the length, Duckworth said. You get to test it out to see if it's something you might want to do later on for an extended period of time, which is great.

Those cruises also allow passengers to pack light, and since many of them visit cruise lines private islands, they give people an opportunity to experience all of that flash and excitement, he added.

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Travelers should note that the itineraries are more limited than longer sailings, though. Most sail from Florida and visit the Bahamas, according to Duckworth.

They generally, just because of the length of the sailing, can't get farther than that due to the speed.  But what weve found is that most people are not going on short cruises for the itinerary, he said. They're going for the (ship) and the experience, and really to test out the experience to see if it's something that they like.

Utopia of the Seas was the first Oasis Class ship to launch with three and four-night cruises.

Are cruise lines offering more short cruises?

Major cruise lines have leaned into those quicker itineraries. Kara Wallace, Royal Caribbean Internationals chief marketing officer, said guest feedback prompted us to expand our short vacation offerings and diversify the ships offering shorter itineraries.

Wonder of the Seas returned to Miami in August to sail three- and four-night cruises year-round, for example. Ovation of the Seas also repositioned to Los Angeles in June, joining the lines Navigator of the Seas.

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With a focus on 3- and 4-night itineraries to Ensenada, West Coast vacationers now have more options to maximize their weekends, Wallace said in an email. (Quantum of the Seas took over Ovations itineraries following its Oct. 2 arrival in Los Angeles).

The cruise line isnt done, either: Liberty of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas will sail short cruises from Galveston, Texas, and Floridas Port Canaveral, respectively, in 2026. These short vacations give our guests the opportunity to maximize their (paid time off), whether its for a quick weekend getaway or to celebrate milestones like birthdays and anniversaries, Wallace said.

Short cruises often stop at cruise line private island destinations, like Carnival's Celebration Key.

Carnival Cruise Lines Mardi Gras will become its first Excel Class ship  the lines newest and largest class  to offer short cruises in 2027. The vessel will sail four- and five-day cruises from Port Canaveral, including stops at its new private Bahamas destination, Celebration Key.

At Carnival, we helped popularize shorter cruises with the idea that cruise vacations should be accessible and affordable for more people, Michael Perez, vice president of revenue management and deployment, told USA TODAY in an email. These getaways continue to be a vital part of itinerary planning today as they offer our guests a great combination of variety, value and convenience.

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Norwegian Cruise Line has also expanded its offering of shorter, more flexible cruise itineraries year round with two to four day Bahamas sailings in response to customer demand, according to Brian Gilroy, vice president of itinerary planning and revenue strategy.

Offering guests the chance to get away for a spontaneous long weekend or a first-time cruise experience, NCLs shorter itineraries provide the perfect blend of convenience and adventure, Gilroy said in an email. The cruise line currently has three- and four-day round-trip Bahamas sailings available in Florida on nine ships from Jacksonville, Miami, Port Canaveral and Tampa through April 2026.

Norwegian has a range of short itineraries available, including on its Norwegian Joy ship.

Do short cruises cost less?

Not always. Cruise fares vary depending on many factors, including sailing date, cabin category and more.

For example, a three-day Bahamas cruise on Carnival Glory, departing on June 5, 2026, during summer vacation, currently starts at $554 per person based on double occupancy, according to Carnival's website. An eight-day Mexican Riviera cruise on Carnival Panorama departing on Jan. 31, 2026  when kids are generally in school  starts at $519.

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So you have to (consider) what experience you'd like to have, whether that's value or moderate or luxury, and then take a look at the kind of stateroom that you'd like to have, Duckworth said.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cruise lines bet big on 3- and 4-night trips. Should you try one?
By Jack Queen, Brad Heath and Kripa Jayaram

WASHINGTON, October 4 (Reuters) -After mobilizing hundreds of federal agents and thousands of soldiers to the nation's capital, President Donald Trump has declared victory over what he called a crisis of crime in Washington, and floated the idea of using such deployments to U.S. cities as training grounds for the military.

We have a very safe city now, Trump said this week. The country is going to be safe. We do it one at a time.

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Trump has ordered forces to Memphis, Tennessee and told a gathering of military officers that he plans to send troops to Chicago and other Democratic-controlled cities.

Whats not clear is whether Trumps show of force in Washington has had a significant, or lasting, effect on curbing crime.

A Reuters review of public safety records and interviews with four experts on crime suggest that it is premature to draw sweeping conclusions about the impact of Trumps deployments. While some types of crime - especially gun offenses - have become less frequent since Trump ordered troops into the city, overall violent crime hasn't changed that much.

To make a claim based on a very short-term intervention under highly unusual circumstances doesn't make any sense, Columbia Law School professor Jeffrey Fagan said.

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A spokesman for Washington's Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser declined to comment. Bowser has credited the extra federal agents with helping to reduce crime but has said immigration raids and troop deployments did not.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in an email "it is an objective fact that crime in DC dropped dramatically during the Presidents 30-day emergency."

Here is what the data shows, and why it's tricky to measure the impact of the crackdown.

CRIME FLUCTUATES A LOT

As in most cities, Washingtons Metropolitan Police Department measures crime by looking at the number of offenses reported to or observed by police. To measure violent crime, the department counts the number of homicides, assaults, robberies and sex offenses. City officials and the White House both rely on those reports to discuss the crime rate.

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The data are not perfect. Some offenses are reported days or weeks after they occur, or not at all. And reports can rise and fall based on peoples trust in police.

Immigrants make up about one in seven Washington residents, according to census data, and Fagan said some could be wary of coming forward to report crimes while police were working with immigration enforcement agents brought in for the surge.

In the month before Trumps surge, people in Washington reported an average of about seven violent crimes each day, according to police department records.

That average dropped in mid-August after Trumps show of force began, to between five and six such incidents a day. But the number of violent offenses went back up to an average of about seven each day over the two weeks that ended September 28.

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The number of violent crimes that involve firearms, however, has dropped more noticeably to 65 reports a day, from 97 in the four weeks before Trumps surge.

Thats too sudden of a change to be passed off as a coincidence, said Peter Moskos, a criminologist at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York.

CRIME WAS ALREADY DECLINING

The Trump administration claims the crackdown worked because people reported fewer crimes during the surge than during the same period in 2024. Jackson, the White House spokeswoman, said that over 30 days, total crime dropped 17 percent, homicide dropped 50 percent, assaults with dangerous weapons dropped 16 percent and robberies dropped 22 percent from the same period last year.

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But crime levels in Washington - and many other cities - were falling before Trump ordered troops to D.C., according to reports from the citys police force and the FBI.

You really need months and months of this data to be able to draw a conclusion, said crime analyst Jeff Asher of AH Datalytics. If crime was already falling, you did the intervention and it kept falling, what does that show?

Violent crime in Washington peaked in 2023, when the number of murders reached its highest point in more than two decades. Bowser responded with a new policing strategy which used data to target high-crime areas with extra patrols. The number of reported incidents has been dropping since then, according to police records.

The number of murders has also fallen in other cities. Asher said reports from more than 500 police departments show homicides down about 20 percent through July compared to the first seven months of 2024.

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THE SURGE WAS NOT HUGE

Washington already has the nation's highest ratio of officers to people, according to an FBI report this year.

About 500 federal agents were sent to work with the citys roughly 3,200 police officers, an increase of about 15%. More than 2,000 National Guard troops were stationed around the city, but they are generally prohibited by law from doing police work.

The total number of arrests rose by less than 2% between July and August, reaching 2,641 from 2,593, according to Washington police bulletins. Those bulletins are the most complete accounting available of arrests by the citys police force and the vast array of other police agencies that work in the capital. They do not include arrests by immigration authorities.

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Similarly, the number of people held in the citys jails increased by about 7% after the surge to an average of 2,150 people, according to daily counts published by the citys corrections department. About 2,000 people were in jail each day before Trumps crackdown began, a mix of those being held until their cases were heard and others serving misdemeanor sentences.

(Reporting by Jack Queen, Brad Heath and Kripa Jayaram, editing by Ross Colvin and Suzanne Goldenberg)
By Dan Peleschuk

CHISINAU (Reuters) -New power lines and wind farms; swift prosecutions of alleged Russian-backed saboteurs; winning hearts and minds. Moldova's government is focusing on its next battles to secure a future in Europe and break out of Russia's grasp.

After the ruling pro-EU party's triumph in a high-stakes parliamentary election on Sunday, current and former officials expressed both relief and urgency around what they have described as a historic chance.

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"This is a race against time," said Olga Rosca, President Maia Sandu's foreign policy adviser, of Chisinau's goal of joining the EU by 2030.

With no national elections planned for three years, Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) must now build on early successes and address long-term pain points ranging from energy security to political divisions.

And while the European Union has welcomed the election outcome, accession is notoriously tough and can take many years, requiring both broad reforms like cleaning up the judiciary and detailed efforts like lining up myriad regulations.

THWARTING FUTURE RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

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In a country where political power has alternated between pro-European and pro-Russian parties for decades - and where Moscow still has troops stationed in a pro-Russian separatist region - authorities say they must remain vigilant.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which sent an observer mission to Moldova, called the hybrid threats from Russia in the buildup to voting "unprecedented".

Moscow has denied trying to influence the vote to undermine Moldova's turn to the West and says the accusations are part of a campaign to foster anti-Russian sentiment. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he believed the election had been openly manipulated. He did not elaborate.

Alleged Russian attempts to buy votes, spread disinformation and stoke protests failed thanks to tight coordination among security agencies, said Viorel Cernauteanu, chief of Moldova's police force.

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Stiffer penalties against vote selling discouraged would-be offenders, and sweeping raids were widely publicised into illegal party financing and efforts to disrupt the election.

Still, Sandu and other senior officials say Moscow-backed interference will not end.

Cernauteanu said a key to preventing future destabilisation efforts would be ensuring swift prosecution of those arrested in recent weeks. Cases involving lower-level violations from prior elections languished for years, but new suspects include higher-level organisers, some of them former police officers.

SHORING UP ENERGY SECURITY

For decades, Moldova's dependence on Russian energy was its biggest weakness, with Moscow able to raise or lower prices to reward or punish governments in Chisinau. Moscow's grip on energy has finally been pried loose over the past three years, with Moldova now getting supplies from Romania and Ukraine.

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But that still requires overhauling an outdated grid and building major new power lines across Moldova's rolling hills to strengthen connections to the European system.

Higher energy prices have cut into living standards in one of Europe's poorest countries. Officials hope to keep tariffs down by building up a renewable energy sector, said Dorin Junghietu, Moldova's energy minister.

Wind and solar capacity have already increased more than fivefold over the past several years, he said, to nearly 800 megawatts from around 120. The government's decade-end goal is for 30% of Moldova's energy to come from renewables. Homes, schools and hospitals, many dating to the Soviet era, will need better insulation.

"Society started to understand that, really, Russia was always using energy as a weapon against Moldova," said Junghietu.

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REACHING OUT TO THE DISAFFECTED

While PAS generally performed well across the country, political rifts remain, partly between the Romanian-speaking majority and minority Russian speakers.

The pro-Russian Patriotic Bloc still won 24% of the vote, beating PAS by double digits in some northern districts such as the industrial city of Balti. In Gagauzia, a small autonomous Turkic-speaking ethnic minority region in the south, the Patriotic Bloc took 82% versus just 3% for PAS.

The opposition was able to exploit economic grievances and uncertainty over the cost of closer EU ties. In a referendum last year, voters backed joining the EU, but by only a tiny margin.

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Dumitru Alaiba, a former deputy prime minister overseeing economic development and digitalisation, said the government must pursue an extensive on-the-ground campaign to prove how a future in Europe will impact Moldovans' lives for the better.

"It's an entire generation's worth of work," he said.

As it approaches the EU's doorstep, Moldova may finally have to tackle another challenge it has long put off: the fate of its eastern Transdniestria region, where pro-Russian separatists broke from Chisinau's rule in a brief war in the early 1990s.

Though the conflict remains quiet and worries of a spillover of the Ukraine war have so far proved unfounded, there has been virtually no progress resolving the standoff for decades.

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Moldova's third-largest city, some of the country's most important industrial sites and a long stretch of its border with Ukraine all remain outside the government's control, protected by a small garrison of Russian troops.

"We don't have any more excuses not to deal with this question," said Anastasia Pociumban of the German Council of Foreign Relations.

(Reporting by Dan PeleschukEditing by Mike Collett-White and Peter Graff)
By Gavin Jones and Alvise Armellini

ROME (Reuters) -Hundreds of thousands of people marched through central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.

People with banners and flags, chanting "Free Palestine" and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organisers said attracted more than 1 million people, while police put the figure at around 250,000.

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"I'm here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilise individually," said Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome. "If we don't all mobilise, then nothing will change."

The protest, in bright sunshine, was peaceful, with students, children, and the elderly attending. It also featured at least one banner hailing Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, and anti-Israeli chants.

As the march was ending, around 200 people broke away and clashed with officers in riot gear near the St. Mary Major basilica, police said. Officers responded with tear gas and a water cannon.

Protesters threw Molotov cocktails and set fire to a police car, the AGI news agency said. Earlier, a Reuters witness saw police immobilise, handcuff, and take away some of the suspected rioters.

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Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy, they have happened daily, and in multiple cities.

On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million people, organisers said. The Interior Ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.

Italy's right-wing government has been critical of the protests.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome's main train station, where pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.

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"They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology," she said in a statement.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas militants staged a cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, Israel's offensive has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and exposed Israel to accusations of genocide, which the country has strongly rejected.

(Reporting by Gavin Jones and Roberto Mignucci, writing by Alvise Armellini, editing by Alexandra Hudson, Timothy Heritage, Rod Nickel)
ROME (Reuters) -Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.

People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting "Free Palestine" and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organisers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.

"I'm here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilise individually," Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. "If we don't all mobilise, then nothing will change".

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The protest, in bright sunshine, was peaceful, with students, children and the elderly attending. It also featured at least one banner hailing Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, and anti-Israeli chants.

As the protest was ending, a small group broke away and clashed with anti-riot police. Officers used tear gas and water cannon, and some of the protesters were immobilised and handcuffed and taken away, according to a Reuters witness.

Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, and in multiple cities.

On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, organisers said. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.

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Italy's right-wing government has been critical of the protests. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome's main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have holding a protest picket.

"They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology," she said in a statement.

(Reporting by Gavin Jones and Roberto Mignucci, writing by Alvise Armellini, editing by Alexandra Hudson and Timothy Heritage)
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi fired a federal prosecutor in Miami last week because he had posted critical blog commentary about Donald Trump during his first term as president  a politically fraught decision that nearly derailed an upcoming trial.

Bondis firing of Will Rosenzweig threatened to upend the trial of two Medicare fraud defendants set to start on Monday because he was the lead prosecutor and the U.S. Attorneys Office said it was not prepared to proceed without him. A fellow prosecutor involved in the case asked a federal judge to delay the start of the trial until early November, saying if he didnt grant his request, the U.S. Attorneys Office would consider dropping the healthcare fraud and conspiracy charges against them.

Normally, when federal prosecutors weigh whether to dismiss an indictment before trial, its for lack of evidence  not for lack of a prosecutor to try the case  underscoring perhaps the unintended consequences ofBondis firing of Rosenzweig on Sept. 23 while he was observing the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, with his family.

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At a key hearing on Friday, U.S. District Judge Donald Graham granted part of the prosecutors request. Graham kept to his initial schedule to start the trial with jury selection on Monday, but he delayed the opening statements and governments presentation of evidence until Nov. 3.

Grahams decision appeared to salvage the Medicare fraud trial, giving the U.S. Attorneys Office extra time to replace Rosenzweig and bring the new prosecutor up to speed on the case.

Until Friday, it had been touch and go.

In a court filing on Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Turken told Graham that if he denies this motion for a delay, the prosecutor may recommend dismissal of the indictment against the two defendants.

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There is currently no one at the U.S. Attorneys Office who is sufficiently familiar with the discovery and evidence in this case to refute the expected unmeritorious discovery allegations by defense counsel at trial, Turken wrote, adding that the [federal] government shutdown [on Wednesday] is further complicating the governments ability to prepare this trial.

Dimissal of this matter would not be in the interest of justice, added Turken, who has been involved in the case since the defendants were indicted by a grand jury last year.

Immediately after Rosenzweigs firing by Bondi last week, Turken asked Graham to delay the trial until March of next year. The judge denied it, saying the trial will begin on Oct. 6 with jury selection but allowed for the opening statements and trial evidence to get underway two weeks later, Oct. 20. Turken asked the judge to reconsider, seeking to postpone the trial another two weeks, until Nov. 3, which the judge did in Fridays hearing.

Millions of dollars in false billing alleged

Prosecutors, who are alleging millions of dollars in false insurance billing for medical equipment, telemedicine and other services, are expected to present more than 40 government witnesses and 400 exhibits. The trial will last more than a month.

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Defense attorneys for the two defendants, Michael Kochen and Sandro Herek, opposed a continuation of the trial, noting that the federal prosecutors had already requested a long delay after Rosenzweigs firing and Judge Graham denied it, though he allowed for a short two-week postponement for opening statements and trial evidence. A third defendant, Marcello Kochen, will be tried separately because of an illness.

The Governments position is that it will not be ready for trial, as currently scheduled, the Kochens defense attorneys, Jayne Weintraub, Christopher Cavallo and Jonathan Etra, wrote in a court filing on Thursday. That was the same position in the original motion. For that reason alone, the motion for reconsideration should be denied.

Hereks defense lawyer, David Tarras, said that while he empathizes with the unexpected termination of Will Rosenzweig and the administrative difficulties this most certainly causes for the Government, Sandro Herek should not have to suffer for it.

A prominent defense attorney who is not involved in the Medicare fraud case said the turn of events was highly unusual in federal court, but that federal prosecutors should not be allowed to delay the trial any further because of the circumstances of Rosenzweigs firing.

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The government tells defendants all the time that decisions have consequences,  Miami lawyer David O. Markus told the Miami Herald. They made their decision with respect to their trial lawyer. The consequence is simple: The trial goes on.

State court manages prosecutor turnover every day, and federal courts can too, he added.

Bondi fires prosecutor on Rosh Hashana

Rosenzweig took a short break from his work at the U.S. Attorneys Office in Miami to observe the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, last week.

But he noticed something was amiss when his office-issued mobile phone wasnt working. He called the office to find out what was wrong.

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Rosenzweig soon learned his phone was shut off because Bondi fired him. He did not see her terse Sept. 23 email dismissing him on Rosh Hashana  making the 39-year-old lawyer the third federal prosecutor in the Southern District of Florida to be summarily fired by the Bondi-led Justice Department since Trump started his second term as president in January.

But Rosenzweig  considered to be among the rising prosecutors in the office  wasnt fired because he had been associated with the criminal investigations of Trump by the Justice Departments special counsel during the prior Biden administration. That was why two other respected federal prosecutors in the Miami office were abruptly terminated this year.

Rather, Rosenzweig was fired, according to multiple sources, because of the negative things he said about Trump on a social media blog before he became a federal prosecutor in Miami. When he was working for the prominent law firm Kobre & Kim in Washington during Trumps first term, Rosenzweig posted criticisms of the president starting in 2017  posts that were recently brought to the attention of the Justice Department.

Rosenzweig, who obtained his bachelors and law degrees from Cornell University, joined the U.S. Attorneys Office in Miami in September 2020  toward the end of Trumps first term before he lost the presidential election to Joe Biden.

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Rosenzweig worked on dozens of complex cases as a prosecutor in the economic crimes section, which focuses on healthcare fraud, money laundering and other financial schemes. Of late, Rosenzweig was deeply involved in the Medicare fraud case that was scheduled for trial in early October.

His termination shocked several colleagues, who took note of the terrible timing and pettiness of his firing, calling it another frogmarch. They also said his loss would be a significant blow to an office that has witnessed a brain drain of veteran talent over the past year.

Other firings

In late January, Miami federal prosecutor Michael Thakur, 46, a Harvard Law School graduate who worked on the documents case accusing Trump of withholding top secret materials at his Palm Beach estate, was fired along with dozens of others in the Justice Department who were members of the special counsels team.

In addition to Thakur, Anne McNamara, a former federal prosecutor in the Miami office before joining Smiths team in Washington, was also terminated.

The Justice Departments rolling purges of lawyers and employees who participated in the two federal criminal cases against Trump  which Smith dismissed after Trump won the 2024 presidential election  are expected to continue in Washington and other regions of the country.
Britain deports more migrants per head of population than nearly every European country, but could soon be left behind.

The UKs pace of increase in deportations year-on-year is far slower than in other EU countries, Telegraph data analysis has found.

While UK asylum applications are hitting record highs, claims in the EU are falling.

Last year, the number of asylum applications in Britain reached 108,138  the highest since records began in 1979. In the EUs 27 states, they decreased from one million in 2023 to 911,960 in 2024.

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The decline is a result of fewer claims from Syrians since the fall of Bashar al-Assads regime and a crackdown on immigration in Germany, the most popular EU destination for asylum seekers.

Unless Sir Keir Starmer speeds up deportations, Britain faces being outstripped by countries including Germany, Spain and Ireland.

That is a challenge for a Prime Minister who has staked his credibility on being tough on illegal immigration to head off the threat of Reform UK.

Nigel Farages party has said it would be prepared to deport 600,000 migrants over five years if it wins the next election, which Labour has dismissed as unworkable.

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Last year, only Sweden deported more people per capita than the UK. Britain returned 4.97 people for every 10,000 living in the country in 2024. The rate is higher than the previous year, when the Conservatives were still in government, when it stood at 3.92.

Last year, about 34,400 people were deported  an increase of 28.3 per cent on the 26,800 returned in 2023 and the most since 2017. However, most of these were voluntary returns rather than the more expensive enforced returns.

Data on migrant returns is collected differently in the UK and EU.

The EUs statistics agency differentiates between orders to leave and completed returns, but British figures count both orders to leave and completed returns in one batch, which can give an inflated sense of how many migrants have left the UK.

Sweden

Sweden set the benchmark in 2024, with 9.38 deportations per 10,000 people. Its high per capita figure can be explained by its relatively small population of just 10 million people and as a popular migration destination.

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In 2022, a conservative coalition took power in Sweden, blaming an increase in crime on immigrant gangs. The coalition was supported by the far-Right Sweden Democrats, which remained outside the government.

In exchange, it demanded a crackdown on immigration, including slashing benefits, making citizenship tougher and faster deportations.

At the start of this year, it was reported that the number of migrants being granted asylum had hit its lowest number for 40 years.

Sweden is continuing to ramp up the pace of deportations  by more than 29 per cent last year  compared to Britains increase of 28.3 per cent.

Germany

Friedrich Merz, the chancellor, closed German land borders to asylum seekers shortly after taking office in May.

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Olaf Scholz, his predecessor, had already moved to increase deportations in a bid to head off a challenge from the far-Right and anti-migrant AfD, which is now the main opposition party.

Last year, Germany increased the total number of returns by 48 per cent compared to 2023. But for every 10,000 people, it only deported between 1.2 and 1.9 in 2023 and 2024. For a population of nearly 70 million, that is low compared to other European countries.

In the first half of this year, its refugee population fell for the first time in more than a decade because of a mix of voluntary departures, deportations and naturalisations. Asylum applications decreased from 330,000 to 230,000.

France

France has a population about the same size as the UK, but its per capita deportation rate is much lower  at just two people out of every 10,000 last year.

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But between 2023 and last year, it increased deportations from 10,625 people to 14,685, which is a 38.2 per cent rise. The official deportation figures do not include migrants attempting to cross the Channel in small boats.

Italy

Since Giorgia Meloni took power in 2022, deportations have been increasing and last year nearly doubled to 0.8 per 10,000 people.

Ms Meloni had promised to bring illegal immigration under control as Italy is one of the major entry points to the EU for migrants crossing the Mediterranean. Although returns are increasing each year, so are asylum applications  reaching record highs of 150,000 in 2024.

Hungary

Hungary has a fiercely anti-migrant government and has regularly clashed with EU judgments over its poor treatment of asylum seekers. It had only 25 asylum claims in 2024.

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For every 10,000 people living in the country, it deported about 2.31 in 2024, a 93.9 per cent increase compared to the year before.

Spain

Spains Pedro Sanchez is an outlier in the EU for his opposition to new offshore detention hubs for failed asylum seekers.

New asylum applications remained stable  about 162,000 each year between 2023 and 2024  but are nevertheless higher than usual. Between 2023 and 2024, deportations increased by 45.54 per cent in socialist Spain.

Ireland

Britains closest European neighbour is adapting to becoming a country of immigration rather than emigration. It is dealing with record numbers of asylum claims, especially for a country of only 5.3 million.

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But Ireland only returned 1.96 people for every 10,000 last year despite ramping up its efforts. In 2023, there were just 285 deportations, but the following year there were more than 1,050.

Will Britain fall behind?

Over the past five years, the UK has steadily increased deportations by an average annual rise of about 23 per cent  roughly a quarter more people every year.

Returns increased by more than 80 per cent in 2022-2023, which was helped by the agreement signed with Albania. The pace slowed sharply in 2023-2024. The last time deportations levelled off was in 2010. In 2011, the UK deported fewer people than the year before.

It wasnt until after the Covid pandemic that deportations picked up again, driven by stricter immigration policies  which Sir Keir will need if Britain is to continue leading Europe on per capita deportations.

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A Wrightstown woman who fled the country for more than a year has been released from jail while awaiting court hearings on more than 150 animal cruelty and neglect charges after she abandoned her farm.

In a bail hearing Oct. 1, Bucks County Common Pleas Judge James McMaster reduced the original $500,000 bail for Abigail Tuttle OKeeffe, 54, to nonmonetary bail. This means she doesn't have to post money.

The same day OKeeffe was released from the Bucks County Correctional Center, where she'd been incarcerated since Sept. 20 after she'd been deported to the U.S. from the Central America country of Belize.

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A spokeswoman for the Bucks County SPCA, which brought charges against OKeeffe, didn't immediately respond to a text message seeking comment on the bail change.

Narrow Way Farms owner Abigail Tuttle O'Keeffe, who is accused in the largest animal abuse and neglect case in Bucks County SPCA history, was extradited by U.S. Marshals Service on Friday, Sept. 19 from Belize.

OKeeffe is scheduled to appear in district court later this month for a preliminary hearing before District Judge Michael Pertrucci on 160 charges, including two felonies, in what has been called the largest animal rescue case in Bucks County history.

The two felony charges each carry a maximum potential jail sentence of up to seven years.

McMasters order didn't give a written reason for changing the bail and removing the nonmonetary conditions that District Judge Gary Gambardella imposed on OKeeffe when she was arraigned.

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Gambardella had ordered OKeeffe to surrender her passport, not leave Pennsylvania and not possess animals as part of her bail conditions.

According to a copy of McMaster's order, he set eight conditions that OKeeffe must follow, including GPS monitoring and pretrial supervision through the Bucks County Adult Probation Department. He also barred her from possessing animals, required her to undergo a mental health evaluation within 30 days and mandated certain treatment recommendations.

A violation of any of McMasters conditions could put OKeeffe back in the county jail.

Prosecutors with the Bucks County District Attorney's Office argued that O'Keeffe should remain in custody.

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O'Keeffe's attorney, Joshua Buchanan, noted that his client has no prior criminal history, she was released on pre-trial supervision.

"She presents as no threat to the community and looks forward to vigorously defending these charges in court," Buchanan added.

The Bucks County SPCA charged OKeeffe last December following a four-month investigation into her 37-acre Narrow Way Farms in the 800 block of Worthington Mill Road.

When those charges were filed, OKeeffe was already living in Belize. She had left for a one-week vacation in July, 2024, leaving the care of her animals in the hands of volunteers and a farm manager.

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OKeeffe then announced on her social media platforms that she didn't plan to return to the U.S.

The U.S. Marshals Service returned OKeeffe to the U.S. last month after Belize government authorities agreed to drop charges against her for firearm and ammunition possession so she could be deported to face criminal charges in the U.S.

Belize has extremely strict gun laws that require annually renewed permits and are only available to permanent residents and citizens. The law carries significant penalties, including lengthy prison sentences.

Last August, Newtown Township police and Bucks County SPCA officers removed 124 sick, dying and neglected animals after receiving complaints, photos and video of sick animals, plus reports of dying animals.

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Investigators found no evidence that OKeeffe provided veterinary care for the goats, sheep, pigs, cows or chickens, which lived in unsanitary conditions, the affidavit said.

An SPCA veterinarian who examined the animals found the presence of contagious parasites requiring deworming of the goats, sheep and cows.

The animals were also allegedly malnourished. Some had respiratory problems and a preventable contagious foot condition.

The farm manager said that OKeeffe had refused to authorize a vet to see the animals and told him to treat them only with over-the-counter medications, according to authorities.

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In Facebook posts, OKeeffe said that she had made plans to sell the animals at a livestock auction scheduled to be held days before the SPCA and Newtown Township police opened their investigation.

The SPCA spent more than $44,000 on medical and daily care for the animals, including sterilizing and vaccinating them. All but two goats and two pot-bellied pigs have found new homes.

Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks judge releases woman accused of animal cruelty who fled U.S.
A man mauled at a remote campsite sent photos of a bear to his family before his death, Arkansas sheriffs deputies said.

The Arkansas State Crime Lab ruled the mans death an animal mauling and the manner of death as an accident, the local sheriffs office said in an Oct. 3 news release. DNA tests are pending to confirm he died from a bear attack.

The 60-year-old Missouri man had gone several days without checking in with family, the Newton County Sheriffs Office said in an Oct. 2 news release. Two days earlier, on the morning of Sept. 30, the man sent his family pictures of a bear in his camp, at the Sams Throne recreation area, in Ozark National Forest.

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On Oct. 2, the mans son called for local deputies to check the area for his father. His father had been camping since Sept. 29 and was expected to return home to Springfield, Missouri, on Oct. 3, the Springfield News-Leader, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported.

A deputy found the mans campsite disturbed, with evidence of struggle and injury. Drag marks led from the campground into the woods, where the mans body was found several yards away. The man had extensive injuries consistent with a large carnivore attack.

The American black bear is one of the largest and heaviest wild mammals in Missouri.

Officials haven't released the mans name. The local sheriff's office didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on Oct. 4.

Officials are trying to find the bear, including with the help of local hunters whose dogs are used to hunt bears. The Sams Throne campground is closed until further notice.

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Sheriff Glenn Wheeler said officials will be able to identify the bear based on photos, and officials had the bears approximate size, weight and identifying markings. The bear is described as a juvenile male likely weaned this year, Wheeler said.

Officials plan to kill the bear so the state Game and Fish Commission can test for anything that may have led to the suspected mauling death. Once bears become predatory, they often continue those behaviors, Wheeler said.

The sheriff warned against open season on any bear people come across. He said most bears fear humans and run away. But, at the same time, don't put yourself or others in jeopardy.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man dead in suspected Arkansas bear attack texted photo before death
No significant injuries were reported after a two-vehicle crash flipped a car in a residential neighborhood of north Hanover late Friday afternoon, officials said.

Firefighters had been called to a rollover crash in the intersection of Washington Avenue and Penn Street on the north end of Hanover around 5:05 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, according to York County 911 records.

A cut-off driver's door is seen as firefighters sweep up glass at the scene of a two-vehicle crash that resulted in one vehicle overturning at the intersection of Penn Street and Washington Avenue, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Hanover Borough. The driver of the rolled vehicle was evaluated for what appeared to be minor injuries.

When they arrived, they found a two-vehicle crash, with a compact car on its roof in the intersection, said Hanover Area Fire & Rescue captain Bryan Spickler at the scene.

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The sole occupant of the rolled vehicle was evaluated by EMS crews with what appeared to be minor injuries, Spickler said. No injuries were reported in the second vehicle, he said.

With the car resting on its curved roof, firefighters stabilized the rolled vehicle with struts to prevent any movement, then used a hydraulic spreader to expose the hinges for the front driver's side door.

Firefighters assist a patient out of a rolled car at the scene of a two-vehicle crash that resulted in one vehicle overturning at the intersection of Penn Street and Washington Avenue, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Hanover Borough. The driver of the rolled vehicle was evaluated for what appeared to be minor injuries.

Following the use of the spreader, firefighters then removed the door completely by cutting its hinges with a hydraulic cutter.

Hanover police officers were investigating.

Two crashes in two days

It was the second day in a row that a crash had occurred in the intersection, neighbors standing by the scene noted.

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The day prior, around 3:04 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, Hanover police logs showed that a two-vehicle crash in the same intersection required towing, but resulted in no injuries.

Hanover Area Fire & Rescue firefighter Josh Hale carries battery-powered hydraulic rescue tools away from the scene of a two-vehicle crash that resulted in one vehicle overturning at the intersection of Penn Street and Washington Avenue, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Hanover Borough. The driver of the rolled vehicle was evaluated for what appeared to be minor injuries.

The intersection, located within a residential neighborhood, has a 25 mph speed limit with the right-of-way given to vehicles on Penn Street, and has stop signs for traffic crossing on Washington Avenue.

Harrison Jones is the Hanover reporter for the Evening Sun. Reach him at hjones@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Hanover Evening Sun: Hanover, Pa. car crash results in rollover, no injuries
China has deployed a working prototype of a global defence system similar to the United States' proposed Golden Dome, while hailing a breakthrough in data processing technology for worldwide threat management, according to scientists involved in the project.

Argentina's soybean export orders surged to a seven-year high this month as Chinese importers bought millions of tonnes of the staple crop during a brief suspension of export taxes. This has rattled the Trump administration, where divisions are deepening over Argentine President Javier Milei's closer ties with Beijing and what many Republicans see as a direct blow to American farmers.

href=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3327548/hong-kong-marks-national-day-fireworks-naval-ship-tours-and-horseraces data-entity-uuid=95cb6813-ae41-4a53-9b9f-649496c35890 data-entity-type=node data-entity-bundle=article>Hong Kong marks National Day with fireworks, naval ship tours and horse races

Revellers

Hundreds of thousands of spectators packed Hong Kong's harbourfront for a fireworks display on National Day, capping off celebrations that included an open day at PLA naval ships and visitors descending upon the city for shopping, sightseeing and hiking.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for further enactment of law and regulation, as well as stricter law enforcement, in religious affairs in a push to Sinicise religions in the country, according to state media.

href=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3327190/south-koreas-new-us-iron-dome-air-defence-system-seen-reply-china-north-korea data-entity-uuid=c20a1370-0560-4554-aaaa-a3ceb21382d0 data-entity-type=node data-entity-bundle=article>South Korea's new US 'Iron Dome' air defence system seen as reply to China

US

The US has deployed a new air defence system in South Korea - dubbed America's Iron Dome - in what analysts see as an effort by Washington to counter Chinese or North Korean drone operations in the event of a conflict in the region.

With Singapore's population at a high of more than 6.11 million, fuelled by foreign worker influx, more assurance should be given to locals on public infrastructure integrity and that they will remain the core of the labour market, according to analysts.

href=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3327336/top-battery-scientist-stefano-passerini-relocates-china data-entity-uuid=8df7f5a1-b030-43bd-b6ae-fa9f3707cdd7 data-entity-type=node data-entity-bundle=article>Top battery scientist Stefano Passerini relocates from Germany to China

Stefano

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65-year-old Italian researcher Stefano Passerini - a member of Germany's National Academy of Sciences - has taken up a full-time position at Nanjing Normal University in eastern China.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
PRAGUE (AP)  Czechs were voting Friday in a two-day general election that could steer the country away from supporting Ukraine and toward Hungary and Slovakia, threatening to further divide the European Union and NATO.

Billionaire Andrej Babis is predicted to be the latest populist leader in Central Europe to stage a political comeback. Opinion polls put the former prime minister on course for victory over a pro-Western coalition, led by Petr Fiala, that defeated him in 2021.

Well succeed if we win and are able to create a one-party government, Babis said outside a polling station in the eastern city of Ostrava.

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A victory for Babis would be a boost for Viktor Orban of Hungary and Robert Fico of Slovakia, whose countries have refused to provide military aid to Ukraine, continue to import Russian oil and oppose sanctions on Russia.

After voting in the second largest city of Brno, Fiala said security and prosperity are at stake. If we move to the East, our country gets poorer, he said.

Last year, Babis and Orban co-founded a new alliance in the European Parliament  Patriots for Europe"  which marked a significant shift from the liberal Renew group that Babis previously belonged to.

Patriots for Europe represent Babis's rejection of European Union policies on migration and climate change and support for the protection of national sovereignty.

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Babis has denied sharing the pro-Russian stance of many members of the group, but questioned a Czech initiative that uses the countrys long-term global contacts to acquire artillery shells for Ukraine on markets outside the EU. He has also refused to fully endorse a NATO commitment to significantly increase defense spending.

Babis has been a divisive figure since he joined Czech national politics in 2013. A member of the Communist Party before the anti-Communist 1989 Velvet Revolution in the former Czechoslovakia, he has drawn comparisons to U.S. President Donald Trump and faces fraud charges in a case involving EU subsidies. His scandals have not harmed his popular support.

His populist ANO (YES) movement, which he defined as a catch-all party, lost the parliamentary election in October 2021 after a turbulent term including the COVID-19 pandemic. A coalition of five parties formed a new government.

Babis would prefer to rule alone, but polls predict he could win with some 30% vote. That would be about 10% more than Fialas coalition but not enough to form a majority government.

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He has ruled out cooperation with any of the parties that have been in the government after the 2021 election.

His potential partners include two coalitions that are openly pro-Russian and want to lead the country out of the EU and NATO. Babis declared that was not his intention. Another potential ally, a right-wing group calling itself the Motorists that is backed by former Euro-skeptic President Vaclav Klaus, has vowed to reject the EUs environment policies.

Polls close on Saturday at 1200 GMT and the results will be known later in the day.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt wants to create a joint drone defence centre as the country beefs up its abilities to deal with the unmanned aircraft, many of which were seen over numerous German airports in recent days.

Dobrindt told a meeting with European counterparts in Munich on Saturday that an amendment to Germany's constitution or Basic Law would not be necessary for the Bundeswehr to be able to provide administrative assistance as he had planned.

He did not comment on the background to the recent drone overflights at Munich Airport.

Minister speaks of arms race

"We already have capabilities in the federal police, customs, the Federal Criminal Police Office and the state authorities," Dobrindt, who is from Germany's conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union party, explained.

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"However, we want to significantly expand these capabilities and we want to ensure that communication between the federal states and the federal government and the ability to analyse is strengthened," the minister added.

He spoke of an "arms race" between drone threats and drone defence.

Varying aporoaches for different sorts of drones

Depending on the type of drone in question, administrative assistance from the German Armed Forces could be necessary, said Dobrindt - in any case, this should not be ruled out. "That's why we need to create the legal framework to make this possible."

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Dobrindt said that drones flying at treetop height, for example, could be dealt with by the police.

"But we also have drones at very high altitudes," he noted.

One could also imagine military drones, such as those already seen in other countries like Poland.

The minister also wants to set up a "development and research unit" on the subject of drones and work together with Israel and Ukraine, as well as with other countries in Europe and the European Commission.

However, Dobrindt also emphasized that not every drone is a threat. "Many of them, even if they are initiated and controlled by foreign powers, are part of a targeted provocation and not always automatically a threat."

Frontex should invest more money in drone defence

EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Magnus Brunner announced additional EU funding for drone defence. The EU border protection agency Frontex already has 150 million available for this purpose.

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"We will make an additional 250 million available from the border protection fund, specifically for drones," he said, referring to a proposal from his agency. This should also include the protection of airports.

Brunner spoke of hybrid warfare. Attacks no longer only occur on the EU's eastern external border, but also in the heart of Europe.

Migration policy also on the agenda

Dobrindt hosted interior ministers from several European countries in Munich on Saturday in a bid to tighten migration policy.

They did not plan to issue a final declaration at the close of the Munich Migration Meeting as it was a "working meeting," the ministry said.

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The meeting chiefly sought to pave the way for return centres, Dobrindt said. They would accommodate rejected asylum seekers from Europe who cannot be returned to their home countries, he told Munich newspaper the Munchner Merkur.

Such centres would be located as close as possible to the countries of origin.

Although work is under way at EU level on such centres, Dobrindt said the European Union could not be relied upon to establish such "return hubs" and individual EU states should be able to take the lead in this matter.

The latest gathering comes after Dobrindt met with colleagues from five EU countries and Brunner in July, when they committed to consistent deportations including to Syria and Afghanistan, better protection of the EU's external borders and boosting the acceptance of rejected asylum seekers by non-EU countries.
President Donald Trump believed the government shutdown would deliver Republicans a swift and decisive political victory. But with the stalemate now likely to spill into a second week, that calculation is looking increasingly shaky.

The opening stage of the high-profile funding fight has emboldened Democratic lawmakers and left voters split over who to blame for the impasse, raising quiet concerns within Trumps orbit that the politics of the shutdown may prove more complicated than they initially hoped.

Democrats are still largely unified behind their demands, defying some Republicans predictions they would quickly fold under pressure. In early polling, Americans are just as likely to fault Trump as they are congressional Democrats.

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And as the White House prepares a wave of retaliatory mass layoffs, theres little certainty over how Trumps efforts to ramp up the pressure will play with the broader public.

Im supposed to say this is killing the Democrats, one Trump adviser said of the shutdown. But I dont think it helps either side, to be honest with you.

The political complexity has surprised operatives on both sides of a fight where the widely accepted conventional wisdom is that the party that triggers the shutdown takes the overwhelming amount of the blame. Instead, the stalemate has so far generated little in the way of high-volume outrage, with voters seemingly willing to wait out the drama and financial markets already numb to the day-to-day chaos in Washington.

A protester holds a sign as they listen during a news conference by Democrats, Wednesday, October. 1, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. - Mariam Zuhaib/AP

White House officials trumpeted early polling showing Democrats would mainly be held responsible for triggering the first extended shutdown since 2018. Yet a Washington Post poll on Thursday blunted some of that momentum, finding that 47% of respondents were blaming Trump and the GOP compared with just 30% blaming Democrats.

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This is basically a congressional problem, Whit Ayres, a GOP pollster, said of voters lower-key approach to the shutdown. Weve had these shutdowns so often that this looks like par for the course.

GOP leaders remain confident

The mixed reaction has appeared to alleviate political pressure felt by Democrats to quickly seek an off-ramp, with some lawmakers instead beginning to broaden their messaging beyond the partys initial set of health care demands. And while White House officials remain confident they will ultimately prevail, officials are now girding for a prolonged messaging war that could reverberate into the fall. Some Democrats are privately planning for a shutdown that could last through mid October or later.

Trump aides and GOP lawmakers are doubling down on accusations that Democrats shut down the government over health care funding for undocumented immigrants  a claim that officials believe can effectively chip away at their public support. Theyve marshaled support for a funding extension from a range of outside groups in hopes of turning the tide against Democrats.

The White House has also sought to advance a double-barreled message urging Democrats to agree to a straightforward funding extension  or watch as their voters suffer the fallout.

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If this shutdown continues, as weve said, layoffs are an unfortunate consequence, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Friday. Its the Democrats who have forced the White House and the president into this position by voting to shut the government down.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, on Friday. - Alex Brandon/AP

The Trump administration has yet to follow through on its threat of widespread cuts to the federal workforce, even as it threatened firings in the thousands. The prospect has alarmed some Republican lawmakers and operatives, who contend that it would immediately give away the high ground that the party enjoys in its ask for a no-strings-attached funding measure.

Yet within Trumps orbit and among congressional GOP leaders, theres no appetite to back down from its vows, and little belief that the standoff can end without Democrats being convinced to give in. In a sign of their confidence, House GOP leaders have even decided not to bring the chamber back to DC until the Senate Democrats cave.

Some top advisers, including budget chief Russ Vought, have pushed Trump to take full advantage of the shutdown to advance a range of priorities that includes downsizing agencies and cutting off funds to projects underway in blue states  arguing that its simultaneously an opportunity to push blame for those moves onto Democrats.

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And while the prospect of such unprecedented action has unnerved some Republicans who worry it will further shift public opinion against them, others contend that the potential for short-term political blowback is worth making good on Trumps longer-term campaign promises.

When theres significant upside, he doesnt care about downside, one Trump ally said of the president. And he doesnt really give a damn about criticism.

Expiration of enhanced Obamacare subsidies looms

The unpredictable political repercussions have nevertheless injected fresh urgency into GOP efforts to avert the looming expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies  an issue that Republicans increasingly worry could do lasting damage to the party if its not defused.

Democratic lawmakers have made the subsidies a central element of their shutdown demands, issuing warnings of double digit-percentage premium increases that have bolstered support for their decision to shutter the government.

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White House officials and Republican leaders have decided to take a hard line against any negotiations until the funding standoff is over, in an effort to speed Democrats decision to fold. But administration officials have privately debated options for extending the subsidies since well before the shutdown, the Trump adviser and another person familiar with the matter said.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson walks through Statuary Hall on the third day of the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on Friday. - J. Scott Applewhite/AP

On Capitol Hill, aides to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson have also signaled awareness that they need to resolve the issue or risk steep cost increases for millions of people  many of whom are their own voters.

Thats likely to set up a brutal intraparty fight, with House Republicans in particular being asked to vote for the first time ever to uphold a piece of Obamacare. Some conservative lawmakers have already signaled opposition to supporting an extension, while others are expected to demand sharply divisive provisions like prohibitions on federal funds going toward gender-affirming care.

Yet a contingent of Senate Republicans have already held private discussions with Democrats in the chamber in search of a solution, with some early talks centering on a possible two-year extension of the subsidies that includes significant reforms aimed at limiting its eligibility and total price tag, according to two people familiar with the deliberations.

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We have to do something on it, GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said, noting that many in his state will see their premiums nearly doubled. Thats a lot of Missourians who will not be able to afford health care.

In a sign of the subsidies growing political salience, White House officials have sought to make clear in recent days that the administration is willing to start bipartisan negotiations on a health care deal once the shutdown ends.

But with no clear political impetus for the stalemate to end, few could say with confidence anymore when that might be.

I think they were under the assumption the Democrats were going to cave quicker, the Trump adviser said. But people have gotten used to these things. Theyre like, oh, thats a Washington thing. Theyll solve it, theyll figure it out.

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PLAQUEMINES PARISH, La. (WGNO)  A driver has been arrested in connection with a crash that left a Gretna passenger dead in Plaquemines Parish.

On Wednesday, Oct. 1, the Louisiana State Police reported that troopers responded to a crash on Louisiana 39 near Water Plant Road around 6:20 a.m.

LSP officials said an initial investigation showed that a GMC was heading south on LA 39 when it ran off the road and overturned.

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Coroner identifies man killed in Mid-City carjacking

The passenger, identified by the LSP as 56-year-old Ryan Riley, suffered serious injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the GMC, later identified by the LSP as 48-year-old Sherold Manuel, suffered serious injuries and was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

According to the LSP, Riley and Manuel were unrestrained at the time of the crash.

Man shot, killed outside Gentilly business Friday morning, suspect arrested

On Friday, Oct. 3, LSP officials announced that Manuel was arrested in connection with the crash.

According to the LSP, During the investigation, Troopers discovered that the GMC Manuel was driving had been stolen in New Orleans in August 2024.

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Manuel was booked into the Plaquemines Parish Jail and faces charges of negligent homicide, possession of a stolen vehicle, careless operation, no seatbelt and other traffic violations.

Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter.

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An initiative to convene a "comprehensive Palestinan dialogue" for the future of Gaza is being considered, said an Egyptian source.

An Egyptian source told the Al-Kahira Al-Akhbariya channel that preparations are underway to open discussions for practical conditions to carry out a hostage deal.

The source added that an initiative to convene a "comprehensive Palestinan dialogue" for the future of Gaza is being considered.

This is a developing story.
Updated to make corrections to photo caption.

The Oak Ridge Fund for Achieving Community Excellence (ORFACE), an affiliate fund of the East Tennessee Foundation announced recently that $40,000 in grants has been awarded to five organizations serving the citizens of Oak Ridge.

The five grants will support a range of projects enhancing the quality of life in Oak Ridge. The 2025 grant recipients and how the grants will be used are listed below:

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Oak Ridge Civic Music Association - Three new music-oriented initiatives;

Weaver Consulting - Scarboro 85 outreach to elementary and middle school students;

Oak Ridge Arts Center - Arts Trail connector to the Arts Center;

Oak Ridge Community Band - Spring Concert with family engagement; and the

Friends of Grove Theatre - Three-panel mural highlighting the theaters history;

The Oak Ridge Fund for Achieving Community Excellence has its finger on the pulse of the arts, community and culture of the Oak Ridge area and is helping the East Tennessee Foundation ensure the grants are promotingthese areas in meaningful ways, Keith Barber, president and CEO of the East Tennessee Foundation, said in a news release. ETF appreciates ORFACEs local leadership and ongoing commitment to fostering impactful change in this community. We are thrilled to collectively advance and celebrate the important work of these local nonprofits.

With an emphasis on promising community arts, culture and history, we believe these grants will promote projects which will result in ongoing legacies of excellence for the community and result in continuing events orinstallations, ORFACE Chair Megan Houchin said. We are proud to partner with the East Tennessee Foundation to help donors maximize their positive impact and support local organizations making Oak Ridge abetter place to live, work, and visit."

For more information about how to be involved with ORFACE, contact Megan Houchin or visit the website at https://easttennesseefoundation.org/donors/explore-our-funds/affiliate-funds/anderson.

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To learn more about ways to donate to ORFACE, contact Scott Gillenwaters, the foundation's director of regional advancement, at regionaladvancement@etf.org or by phone at (865) 524-1223, ext. 114

ORFACE was established as an affiliate fund of the East Tennessee Foundation in January 2018 by a group of local donors to make a lasting commitment to the people of Oak Ridge by developing a resource to achieve community goals and promote Oak Ridge. ORFACE is a permanent endowment with an advisory board that awards grants annually to strengthen the local community and improve lives for Oak Ridge residents.

Representatives of the five organizations that received $40,000 in grants from the Oak Ridge Fund for Achieving Community Excellence (ORFACE) gather for a group photo. Seated are Maria Catron, from left, Megan Houchin, Pat Postma, Lois McKeever, and Barbara McCord; standing, Charlie Crowe, from left, Don Nalls, Rex Redd, Jim Rushton, Jim Dodson, Dan Mantooth, Tim Fischer, Mark Watson, Rhonda Woodbridge, Jim Womack, Laurel Patrick, Jenny Lindley, Rose Weaver, Joy Bonamarte, Trina Watson, Sherry Simpkins, Larry Vance, Sarah Jean Cammisano, and Ram Uppuluri.

The Mission of the Oak Ridge Fund for Achieving Community Excellence.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Enhancing the quality of life in Oak Ridge: 5 organizations get $40K
On Sept. 30, 2025, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth convened a meeting of top generals at the Quantico Marine Corps base in Virginia, in what many news outlets referred to as a last-minute gathering. During the meeting, Hegseth gave a speech to the assembled officials in which he allegedly called on them to abandon the Geneva Conventions.

According to several posts on X and Facebook, Hegseth specifically called on troops to ignore "stupid rules of engagement."

Drunk Hegseth just called for the USA to abandon the Geneva Conventions  saying our troops should ignore "stupid rules of engagement." FYI: Those "rules" were created after WWII to stop WAR CRIMES. Hegseth is defending atrocities on live TV.

WTF??? Drunk Hegseth just called for the USA to abandon the Geneva Conventions  saying our troops should ignore stupid rules of engagement.



FYI: Those rules were created after WWII to stop WAR CRIMES. Hegseth is defending atrocities on live TV. pic.twitter.com/V8RTvnzLTx  Morgan J. Freeman (@mjfree) September 30, 2025

Hegseth did not explicitly call on the military to abandon the Geneva Conventions during his Sept. 30 speech, but said troops "don't fight with stupid rules of engagement." He did not specify which Rules of Engagement (ROE) he was referring to. However, the U.S. is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions and ROE handbooks have referenced how the military is expected to follow the Conventions.

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We have reached out to Hegseth to determine which ROEs he was referring to and will update this story if we get more information.

Hegseth made the following remarks at the 42:16 mark:

Per official transcripts (archived), Hegseth said the following addressing U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to rebrand the U.S. Department of Defense to the Department of War (emphasis, ours):

We have to be prepared for war, not for defense. We're training warriors, not defenders. We fight wars to win, not to defend. Defense is something you do all the time. It's inherently reactionary and can lead to overuse, overreach and mission creep. War is something you do sparingly on our own terms and with clear aims. We fight to win. We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy. We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for warfighters.

Per a U.S. Marine Corps training handout, titled, "Law of War/Introduction to Rules of Engagement," the ROE are "those directives that delineate the circumstances and limitations under which United States (US) forces will initiate and/or continue combat engagement." These rules specifically apply to U.S. armed forces.

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The same guide references the Geneva Conventions thus on page 7:

All persons we detain on the battlefield, regardless of their status, are treated the same. All detainees have rights under the Geneva Convention that guide us in their handling. If they are injured, we provide treatment as if one of our own Marines.

The Geneva Conventions are a body of international laws governing armed conflict, first laid out in 1949, that "protect people who do not take part in the fighting (civilians, medics, aid workers) and those who can no longer fight (wounded, sick and shipwrecked troops, prisoners of war)." Under the laws' ROE, the U.S. thus adheres to the Geneva Conventions in handling prisoners of war.

The U.S. is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions and therefore subject to its rules. In practice, however, the U.S. has been accused of violating the Conventions many times, including in Afghanistan in 2021, in reports of their treatment of suspected militant detainees in Guantanamo Bay and CIA-run prisons overseas, and the 1968 My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

Though he did not reference the Geneva Conventions in his speech on Sept. 30, Hegseth has questioned the appropriateness of following these laws in the past. In his 2024 book, "The War on Warriors," Hegseth wrote: "Should we follow the Geneva Conventions? What if we treated the enemy the way they treated us? Would that not be an incentive for the other side to reconsider their barbarism?"

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During his January 2025 confirmation hearings, Hegseth was questioned about his views on the Geneva Conventions. Hegseth defended Trump's methods of tackling militancy abroad, which led to Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King from Maine asking if he believed U.S. laws that incorporated the Geneva Conventions should be repealed. Their exchange went as follows (emphasis, ours):

KING: Your quote in 2024, "Our boys should not fight by rules written by dignified men in mahogany rooms 80 years ago." That would be the Geneva Convention. "America should fight by its own rules, and we should fight to win or not go in at all." Are you saying that the Geneva Convention provisions, which clearly outlaw torture of prisoners, do not -- should not apply in the future? HEGSETH: Senator, how we treat our wounded, how we treat our prisoners, the applications of the Geneva Conventions are incredibly important, but we would all have to acknowledge that the way we fought our wars back when the Geneva Conventions were written are a lot different than the asymmetric, non-conventional environment of counter-insurgency that I confronted in Iraq and Afghanistan. [...] I've never been party to torture. We are a country that fights by the rule of law, and our men and women always do, and yet we have too many people here in air-conditioned offices that like to point fingers at the guys in dark and dangerous places, the gals in helicopters in enemy territory who are doing things that people in Washington, D.C., would never dare to do [...] What an America First national security policy is not going to do is hand its prerogatives over to international bodies that's -- make decisions about how our men and women make decisions on the battlefield. America First understands we send Americans for a clear mission and a clear objective. We have -- equip them properly for that objective.

In short, Hegseth has expressed skepticism of adhering to the Geneva Conventions in the past, though he did not say so explicitly during the speech on Sept. 30. Until we know more about which ROE he was referring to, we are unable to rate this claim.

We have previously covered a number of rumors about Hegseth, including analyzing his past statements opposing the inclusion of women in combat roles and how he criticized troops and generals for being "fat."

Sources:

Aikins, Matthieu. "They Celebrated Vigilante Justice on the Battlefield. Then They Brought It Home." The New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/magazine/trump-hegseth-pardon-power-military-warrior.html. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

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Beehner, Lionel. "The United States and the Geneva Conventions." Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/united-states-and-geneva-conventions. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

Clarke, Amelia. "Pete Hegseth Has Said 'Women Shouldn't Be in Combat Roles' in US Military. Here's His Reasoning." Snopes, 29 Jan. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//news/2025/01/29/pete-hegseth-women-military/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

Deng, Rae. "12 Rumors about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth." Snopes, 30 Apr. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//collections/pete-hegseth-rumors-collection/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

Detsch, Jack, and Leo Shane III. " 'Could Have Been an Email': Officials Balk at Hegseth's Generals Meeting." Politico, 30 Sep. 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/30/hegseth-meeting-pushback-00588181?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

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"Double Standards in International Law: Did the U.S. Get Away with War Crimes in Afghanistan?" Columbia Undergraduate Law Review, 16 Jun. 2022, https://www.culawreview.org/journal/double-standards-in-international-law-did-the-us-get-away-with-war-crimes-in-afghanistan. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

"Geneva Conventions and Their Additional Protocols." LII / Legal Information Institute, https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/geneva_conventions_and_their_additional_protocols. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

Hegseth, Pete. The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free. HarperCollins, 2024. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

"Hegseth, Trump Addresses Senior Military Leaders at Quantico, Virginia | Full Video." YouTube, Face the Nation, 30 Sep. 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkk9n559NJ0&t=1s. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

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Hersh, Seymour M. "The Massacre at My Lai." The New Yorker, 14 Jan. 1972. www.newyorker.com, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1972/01/22/coverup-my-lai-vietnam-war-seymour-hersh. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

Ibrahim, Nur. "Real Hegseth Quote about 'fat Generals and Admirals' Spreads Online." Snopes, 2 Oct. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/pete-hegseth-fat-generals-admirals/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

"Law of War/Introduction to Rules of Engagement." United States Marine Corps, https://www.trngcmd.marines.mil/Portals/207/Docs/TBS/B130936%20Law%20of%20War%20and%20Rules%20Of%20Engagement.pdf. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

"Pete Hegseth Questioned in Senate Confirmation Hearing; Hegseth Asked About His Views on Women Serving in Combat Roles. ." CNN, 14 Jan. 2025, https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/ip/date/2025-01-14/segment/01. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

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"Secretary of War Pete Hegseth Addresses General and Flag Officers at Quantico, Virginia ." U.S. Department of War, 30 Sep. 2025, https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

"The Geneva Conventions and Their Commentaries." ICRC, 30 Jan. 2024, https://www.icrc.org/en/law-and-policy/geneva-conventions-and-their-commentaries. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.






SACRAMENTO - Some California National Guard troops are being sent to Portland to help train soldiers deployed there by President Donald Trump, Gov. Gavin Newsom told the Chronicle on Friday evening. He said his administration may sue over the move, depending on what the soldiers are asked to do there.

Newsom said he was told Thursday that some of the troops currently deployed to Los Angeles would be sent to Portland "to help with training exercises." He said he didn't know if they had already been sent or how many would be deployed. He called the move "deeply alarming."

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"It's very questionable that they're being tasked to do that," Newsom said. "Our legal team has already been engaged on this for the last day  if they do it, we're prepared to litigate."

Newsom is already suing the Trump administration over its deployment of National Guard troops and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles over the summer, arguing it violates federal law that restricts the use of the military on American soil. Trump sent more than 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles in June in response to protests of immigration raids, over Newsom's objections. The Trump administration has argued that the troops quelled unrest in the city, even though protests grew in response to the deployment. Reporting by the Chronicle revealed that at one point less than 20% of those troops were actually on the ground in the city, raising questions about the necessity of the deployment.

By the end of July, the Trump administration had recalled most of the soldiers from the deployment, but about 300 are still stationed in Los Angeles. Trump has since also sent National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. Over the weekend, he federalized about 200 Oregon National Guard troops to deploy them to Portland over the objections of the governor and mayor there. Troops had not yet arrived in the city as of Friday afternoon, according to the Associated Press. Normally, presidents deploy National Guard troops only at the request of governors.

Trump said Tuesday that he wants to use liberal American cities as "training grounds for our military" in a speech to military generals he summoned to Virginia on short notice.

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"San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, they're very unsafe places," Trump said. "And we're going to straighten them out one by one. And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That's a war, too. It's a war from within."

Democratic officials have called for a complete withdrawal of troops. They argue it is a wasteful show of force that took members of the National Guard away from important civilian jobs fighting fires and interdicting drugs at the border.

A federal judge has ruled the Los Angeles deployment illegal. Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a motion in court shortly after the ruling requesting that the remaining troops be removed. That case is still pending. On Thursday, Newsom and Bonta filed an amicus brief in support of Oregon's attorney general, who is also challenging Trump's decision to send troops to Portland. A federal judge heard arguments in the case in Portland Friday, and is expected to rule soon on a temporary restraining order to block the deployment.

Newsom and Trump's relationship has deteriorated since the president returned to the White House. Newsom has become one of Trump's chief antagonists, frequently trolling him on social media. He's also launched a campaign to redraw California's congressional districts to help wrest control of the House of Representatives from Republicans. In August, federal Border Patrol officers arrested people outside a political rally that Newsom held in Los Angeles in support of the effort, which the governor described as an intimidation tactic.

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Newsom has repeatedly noted that the National Guard is federalized in Los Angeles through Election Day, when California voters will weigh Newsom's ballot measure intended to redraw congressional districts in an effort to check Trump's power.

In July, when Trump demobilized nearly all the troops sent to Los Angeles, Newsom criticized the president for the entire exercise and said the remaining 300 troops should also be released from the deployment.

"The women and men of our military deserve more than to be used as props in the federal government's propaganda machine," Newsom wrote in a statement.

The California Military Department, which oversees the California National Guard, and the public affairs office for U.S. Army North, which oversees the Los Angeles deployment, did not immediately respond to questions Friday evening.

This article originally published at Exclusive: Trump is sending California National Guard troops to Portland, Newsom says.
The FBI is considering carrying out a "showy" arrest and perp walk of the agency's now-indicted ex-Director James Comey, and has suspended an agent who refused to participate in the plan, three sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

Comey was charged last week with lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding, an unprecedented move that came after President Trump publicly pressured Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into his longtime adversary. A grand jury voted to indict him on Sept. 25 and hours later, Comey was issued a summons directing him to appear in federal court in northern Virginia for an Oct. 9 arraignment. His lawyers agreed to bring him to his arraignment, two sources said.

But on the same day as his indictment, FBI leadership discussed hauling Comey in instead of waiting for the ex-FBI chief to report to court on his own, a source knowledgeable about the conversations told CBS News.

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The source told CBS News that leadership asked for "large, beefy" agents to conduct an arrest of Comey "in full kit," including Kevlar vests and exterior wear emblazoned with the FBI logo. It was suggested that a supervisory special agent in the violent crimes division of the FBI's Washington Field Office would be able to put together the kinds of agents who fit the bill, the source said.

The agent, however, refused to participate in this plan, believing it would be inappropriate and highly unusual for a white-collar defendant like Comey, according to the source. He was then suspended for insubordination.

The FBI is now actively working to put together a team to arrest Comey between now and his court appearance on Thursday, but other FBI supervisors have also refused to cooperate, said a source knowledgeable about the conversations and a law enforcement source familiar with the situation. The expectation is that the FBI will eventually find somebody.

CBS News has reached out to the FBI for comment. Comey's lawyer, Patrick Fitzgerald, declined to comment to CBS News.

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Reuters was first to report that an FBI agent was sidelined for refusing to help with a perp walk.

Law enforcement has long opted to carry out public perp walks for some defendants. The tactic is controversial, with critics arguing it undermines defendants' presumption of innocence. When Comey was the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan during George W. Bush's administration, the New York Civil Liberties Union penned a letter urging him to end the practice, saying it "seems calculated simply to cause public humiliation and embarrassment of the accused."

Comey's indictment marked an escalation in the almost decade-long feud between Mr. Trump and the FBI director he fired in the opening months of his first term. Mr. Trump has castigated Comey over the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, and Comey has called Mr. Trump "morally unfit to be president."

The charges accuse Comey of lying during a Senate hearing five years ago by falsely stating that he hadn't authorized anybody at the FBI to serve as an anonymous source in media reports about investigations into Hillary Clinton. The indictment does not make clear who he allegedly authorized to be an anonymous source, or what the leak entailed.

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Comey has denied wrongdoing.

The charges followed days of upheaval in the U.S. Attorney's office in the Eastern District of Virginia, where Comey was indicted. The lead prosecutor in that office, Erik Siebert, resigned from the job two weeks ago, and Mr. Trump replaced him with his former personal lawyer, Lindsey Halligan. Less than a week later, Halligan asked a grand jury to indict Comey.

Some staff in the office had circulated a memo that argued charges shouldn't be brought against Comey, a Justice Department source familiar with the matter told CBS News last week.

The Justice Department has also fired two high-level prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia in the last two weeks, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

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Prince William will be heading to Brazil's Rio de Janeiro in November for the fifth iteration of his Earthshot Prize. And today, the 15 finalists for this years Prize are revealed, ranging from an innovative washing machine filter to a whole country that is on track to become fossil-free.

It is impossible to hear these finalists stories, to see the impact they are already having and not feel encouraged by their energy and momentum, Prince William said in a video message to mark the announcement of the finalists. Reflecting on his journey so far with the ambitious prize, he said I sat under this oak tree five years ago, soon after we launched The Earthshot Prize. The planet, the only home we have, needed our help, as scientists made it clear that we had to make significant changes by 2030. Back then, a decade felt a long time. George was seven, Charlotte five and Louis two; the thought of them in 2030 felt a lifetime away. But today, as we stand halfway through this critical decade, 2030 feels very real.

The Prince emphasized that this decade matters and described the people behind the projects as heroes of our time. The Prize is divided into five categories, with three finalists in each. The winner of each category will be given 1 million to scale up their innovation or project, meaning that over a decade the Prize will have funded 50 solutions. The Prize also actively supports previous winners and finalists with networks and development opportunities.

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Previous locations for Earthshot have been London, Boston, Singapore and Cape Town. This year, it will be held in Rio de Janeiro days before Brazil also hosts the Cop30 Climate Summit.

Protect and Restore Nature

Courtesy Earthshot Prize

re.green, Brazil: Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, re.green rebuilds forests with innovative tech and community-led action.

Tenure Facility, Global: Helps Indigenous Peoples, Afrodescendant Peoples, and local communities to secure their ancestral lands and critical ecosystems with funding and legal support.

Tropical Forest Forever Facility, Global: An organization on the verge of closing a deal for a financial strategy to protect the planets forests.

Clean Our Air

Courtesy Earthshot Prize

The city of Bogota, Colombia: Earthshot says the city has reduced tiny harmful particles in the air by 24% since 2018 by following policies such as expanding its electric bus fleet, adding bike lanes and increasing urban greenery.

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The city of Guangzhou, China: A city which Earthshot says is at the forefront of innovation in public transport electrification.

The State of Gujarat, India: Earthshot says the city has pioneered an emissions trading scheme that allows businesses to thrive while reducing air pollution.

Revive Our Oceans

Courtesy Earthshot Prize

Matter, UK: A sustainable technology scale-up that has developed a filter for washing machines to catch microplastics from clothes.

Bonds for Ocean Conservation, Global: A financial mechanism that allows countries to refinance debt on better terms, with part of the savings redirected toward long-term marine conservation.

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The High Seas Treaty, Global: A worldwide Treaty aimed at protection of the ocean.

Build a Waste-Free World

Courtesy of Earthshot Prize

ATRenew, China: A system for consumers to recycle old phones, laptops and watches.

Quay Quarter Tower, Australia: Described by Earthshot as the worlds first upcycled skyscraper, demonstrating how demolition can be avoided and office towers repurposed.

Lagos Fashion Week, Nigeria: A fashion week that puts sustainability at its core.

Fix Our Climate

Courtesy Earthshot Prize

Form Energy, USA: An organization developing and deploying an iron-air battery capable of storing energy for multiple days at costs competitive with traditional power plants.

Barbados: Barbados is leading the way globally with The Bridgetown Initiative, a $700m loss and damage fund for the 70 most climate vulnerable nations, as well as securing commitment from the G20 to channel $100bn to developing countries, Earthshot says. The county is also working to become fossil-free by 2030.

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Friendship, Bangladesh: An organization helping the people of Bangladesh prepare for extreme weather and supporting them by restoring mangrove forests, offering floating hospitals and creating schools that can be easily dismantled in a natural disaster.

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Marco Schwidergall, Tomasz Rodzynkiewicz of Poland, and Matej Prcin of Slovakia have made the first ascent of a 6,232m peak in the Ghujerab Mountains of the Karakoram, according to Polski Himalaizm Sportowy. They tentatively named it Tumladen Sar, pending local approval.

Their 1,800m M5 route featured ice up to 85 degrees.

Photo: Polski imalaizm Sportowy / Facebook

The expedition, which also included Michal Nowicki, Maksymilian Parys, and Mateusz Wieckowski, set up Base Camp near Pakistan's Virjerab Glacier. The team split into two groups, with Schwidergall, Rodzynkiewicz, and Prcin targeting the unclimbed peak.

Photo: SHS JAMES/Facebook

Two bivouacs, ten rappels

They began on September 21, with the team spending two bivouacs on the wall. They summited on September 23 at 2:30 pm. After 10 rappels down the south side and navigating a complex glacier, they safely returned to Base Camp on September 24.

Photo: Polski Himalaizm Sportowy/Facebook

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The first day involved climbing a couloir with steep, high-quality ice, reminiscent of classic Alpine routes, plus one mixed pitch graded M5. Windblown snow made conditions challenging, according to Schwidergall.

On the second day, the climbers had to face endless stretches of hard ice up to 80. Schwidergall notes that on the third day, they climbed easier ice and firn to the summit, with two more difficult pitches.

The Polish-Slovak trio on the summit of Tumladen Sar. Photo: Polski Himalaizm Sportowy/Facebook

During acclimatization, the same trio summited a nearby 6,031m peak via a route with rocky sections and ice up to 50 degrees.

The Ghujerab Mountains, part of the Karakoram range bordering Pakistan and China, remain largely unexplored, with only a few expeditions venturing into the region due to its remoteness and logistical challenges.

During the climb. Photo: SHS JAMES / Facebook

Notably, a 2021 Polish Himalayan expedition included climbers Adam Bielecki, Michal Czech, Janusz Golab, Wadim Jablonski, and Maciej Kimel. They focused on exploratory ascents in the adjacent Shimshal Valley, which separates Ghujerab from other Karakoram subranges.
In a significant development that comes six decades after Fidel Castros government seized all private property in Cuba, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases involving lawsuits against Cuban companies and four major Florida-based cruise lines accused of trafficking in confiscated property.

In a brief, unsigned order on Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear cases brought by oil giant Exxon and Havana Docks  a company that had a concession to Havana port facilities  related to the 1996 Libertad Act, also known as the Helms-Burton Act. A provision in that law allows U.S. nationals who hold a claim to property that the Cuban government confiscated without compensation to seek damages from companies that have profited or trafficked in such property.

A ruling supporting Exxon and Havana Docks could remove significant hurdles and ease the legal pathway for similar lawsuits at a time when the Trump administration is seeking to increase pressure on the Cuban government.

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From 1996 to 2019, successive U.S. presidents suspended the Helms-Burton provision that provided the legal remedy  known as Title III out of diplomatic concerns, as several U.S. allies, including Canada and Spain, have investments in Cuba. But in 2019, President Donald Trump enacted that portion of the act during his first term. More than 40 lawsuits have been filed since.

But the law had not been tested in court, and plaintiffs have faced setbacks due to technicalities and the time lapse.

Exxon was the first American company to sue Cuban state companies, Cimex and Union Cuba-Petroleo in 2019, for the exploitation of service stations confiscated by the Cuban government. But after years of expensive litigation, Exxon hit a roadblock last year when a Washington, D.C., federal appeals court ruled the Cuban entities could not be sued because they had foreign immunity.

Prohibited tourism: Miami judge deals major blow to cruise companies that traveled to Cuba

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In 2022, a federal judge ordered the cruise lines Carnival, MSC SA, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian to pay more than $400 million in damages to Havana Docks, the American company that had the concession to the Havana port facilities the cruise companies used to disembark passengers between 2015-19. The facilities, some of which were built by Havana Docks, had been expropriated without compensation in 1960.

But because Havana Docks had a 99-year concession for the use of the port piers and facilities, which expired in 2004, the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the judgment, arguing that the company did not have an interest in the property at the time of the alleged trafficking.

Appeals court reverses ruling against cruise industry on trafficking in Cuba property

In a dissenting opinion that forms the basis for Havana Dockss petition to the Supreme Court, appeals court Judge Andre L. Brasher cited precedent establishing that under the Helms-Burton Act, former owners of confiscated property were considered to have a claim to such property instead of any rights in the property itself.

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Unlike Havana Docks original concessionary interest in the docks, its claim is not time-limited, he argued.

The Supreme Court will now decide whether the plaintiffs must prove they would have currently owned or have an interest in the property in question had it not been confiscated by the Cuban government, a view that, if sustained, would bar other claimants who hold time-limited rights like patents. And, in the case brought by Exxon, whether Cuban state companies can evade liability under the Helms-Burton Act by claiming foreign sovereign immunity.

The fact that the high court has fast-tracked the two cases, which involve a narrow foreign policy issue, instead of the high profile cases of national interest it usually handles, is worth noting, said John Kavulich, the president of the U.S-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, who has been tracking the Helms-Burton lawsuits.

Just the mere fact the cases got to the Supreme Court will have an immediate impact on Cuba, he said. Companies again will have a reason to pause and regardless of the decision, some may even decide Cuba is not worth the effort during the Trump administration years.

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Kavulich also noted that the conservative leaning of the court, their favorable rulings for the Trump administration on several issues and the fact the Justice Department is also supporting the plaintiffs, are all unfavorable signs for the Cuban government.

It-s not a good day for the Miguel Diaz-Canel administration, he said.

Foreign policy might be central to the Supreme Court deliberations.

Havana Docks petition, co-written by Christopher Landau, currently the U.S. deputy secretary of state, argues that the appeals court undermined a pillar of U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba usurped the role of the political branches, and overrode their policy choices.

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In a filing supporting Havana Docks, five members of Congress from Florida  Sen. Rick Scott and Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Maria Elvira Salazar and Carlos Gimenez  wrote that the judgment sought to be reviewed upends the Libertad Act and undermines our nations foreign policy on Cuba.

The Trump administration also strongly supported Exxon and Havana Docks requests, telling the Supreme Court it is in the interest of U.S. foreign policy to review the cases.

The United States has compelling foreign-policy interests in ensuring that U.S. nationals whose assets were illegally expropriated by Fidel Castros communist regime receive recompense and in preventing the Cuban government from further benefiting from its wrongdoing, the Justice Department said in a filing to the court supporting Exxon. Review is especially warranted now, during a window when the President has allowed Title III suits to proceed, and at a time when the United States believes that such suits could meaningfully contribute to American foreign-policy objectives involving Cuba.
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21:22 Fee for children's Aadhaar biometric updates waived off for a year The Unique Identification Authority of India has waived off all charges for mandatory biometric update of Aadhaar for children, an official statement said on Saturday. The fee waiver has already kicked in effective October 1 and will be in force for a period of one year. In a... Read more >

21:21 Samples of Coldrif cough syrup found 'adulterated: TN min Test samples of cough syrups collected from a city-based firm during an inspection conducted at its facility are found to be 'adulterated', an official of the Food Safety and Drug Administration department said on Saturday.The officials have sought an explanation from the Tamil Nadu-based company... Read more >

20:43 British PM Starmer to visit India from next week British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will undertake a two-day visit to India next week in his first trip to the country since he assumed charge of the top office in July last year. Starmer's visit to India from October 8 to 9 will provide a valuable opportunity to reaffirm the shared vision... Read more >

20:08 Woman, lover held for killing 3-year-old daughter in UP A woman and her lover were arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr on Saturday for allegedly killing her three-year-old daughter and attempting to implicate others for the same, police said. According to police, on October 1, a woman identified as Seema alias Lali lodged a complaint at... Read more >

20:00 Fire tender kills motorcyclist while rushing to rescue drowned man A man died on Saturday after his motorcycle was hit by a fire brigade van which was en route to rescue a former local BJP leader who drowned in the Yamuna river in northeast Delhi, police said.The motorcyclist has been identified as Rohit Pal (18), from 5th Pushta, Sonia Vihar. He was rushed to... Read more >

19:52 Right-wing YouTuber arrested for 'defamatory' post on Karur stampede Well-known right-wing YouTuber Maridhas was arrested by the cybercrime police on Saturday for allegedly posting defamatory content related to the Karur stampede.The arrest comes after the Madras high court on October 3 ordered the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by IPS... Read more >

19:29 Hyderabad student dies in US shooting An Indian student from Hyderabad was killed in a shooting incident in the US, former minister and BRS MLA T Harish Rao said on Saturday.Expressing concern over the incident, Harish Rao said he and other party leaders visited the bereaved family here and offered condolences.In a post on X, Rao... Read more >

19:15 Bal Thackeray death row: Uddhav slams Sena leader Shiv Sena-UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday dubbed Devendra Fadnavis a helpless chief minister who has failed to crack down on rampant corruption under his watch.He termed Shiv Sena-UBT leader Ramdas Kadam as gaddar and namak haram after the latter alleged a purposeful delay in formally... Read more >

19:08 V Shantaram's wife Sandhya passes away Veteran actress Sandhya Shantaram, wife of late filmmaker V Shantaram, has died due to age-related ailments, her family said on Saturday. She was 94.Sandhya Shantaram was the third wife of the legendary filmmaker and frequently starred as the leading lady in films such as Do Aankhen Barah Haath... Read more >

18:40 Man jumps into Yamuna with 4 children after wife elopes A man, along with his four children, allegedly jumped into the Yamuna River in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar after his wife eloped with another man, police said on Saturday. According to police, Salman took the extreme step after a dispute with his wife on Friday. Before jumping, he... Read more >

18:33 Farooq Abdullah hospitalised National Conference president Farooq Abdullah (87) was hospitalised on Saturday as he was not keeping well for the past few days, party leaders said. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister developed infection in the abdomen earlier this week and was taken to a private hospital... Read more >

17:59 Now, Kerala suspends sale, distribution of Coldrif syrup Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Saturday said the state Drugs Control department has suspended the sale of Coldrif cough syrup in the state. The decision follows reports from other states that flagged issues with one of the batches of the Coldrif syrup, she said.A preliminary... Read more >

17:58 Zubeen Garg's wife reacts to bandmate's 'poison' claim Singer Zubeen Garg's wife Garima on Saturday returned the postmortem report of her husband to the police, saying that it is not her personal document and the investigators will be the best judge to decide whether it should be made public or not.Speaking to reporters after CID Additional SP... Read more >

17:34 'What's there to talk?': Shah rules out talks with Naxals Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday ruled out talks with Naxals and said they will have to lay down weapons and accept the government's lucrative surrender and rehabilitation policy.Addressing the 'Bastar Dussehra Lokotsav' and 'Swadeshi Mela' in Jagdalpur, the headquarter of Chhattisgarh's... Read more >

16:50 Extra Charges For COD: Ecom Platforms Under Govt Lens The ministry of consumer affairs is looking into complaints of additional charges being levied by ecommerce platforms when customers choose cash-on-delivery (COD) option instead of paying while ordering items.'The Department of Consumer Affairs has received complaints against ecommerce platforms... Read more >

16:46 Kejriwal's 'Sheesh Mahal' likely to be converted into state guest house The Delhi government is planning to convert the bungalow, which was renovated for Arvind Kejriwal when he was the chief minister and was at the centre of corruption allegations, into a state guest house featuring a cafeteria, senior government officials said on Saturday. The bungalow... Read more >

16:44 Assam Police hands over 2nd post-mortem report of Zubeen Garg to his wife The Assam Police on Saturday handed over the second post-mortem report of singer Zubeen Garg to his wife Garima Saikia Garg, sources said.The report of the first post-mortem conducted in Singapore was given to her on Thursday.An officer from the SIT went to Garima's house in Kahilipara area of... Read more >

16:24 Hold polls soon after Chhat: Bihar parties to EC Political parties in poll-bound Bihar told the Election Commission on Saturday to hold assembly elections soon after the Chhat festival to ensure increased voter participation. Chhat, an important festival in Bihar that is celebrated six days after Diwali, will fall on October 25-28... Read more >

16:19 Can This Boost Foreign Investment? NITI Aayog has proposed an optional presumptive taxation regime for foreign companies operating in India, aimed at reducing litigation, bringing greater certainty, and easing compliance costs. The recommendation appeared in the think-tanks latest Tax Policy Working Paper Series-1 released on... Read more >

15:55 1 held after Saudi Arabian flag hoisted on UP mosque A 25-year-old man was arrested in the Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh after the video of a Saudi Arabian flag hoisted on a mosque went viral, an official said on Saturday. The arrested individual has been identified as Noor Alam (25), the mosque's caretaker and a resident of the Kadsara... Read more >

15:43 Man held for appearing in undergarments during court virtual hearing The Delhi Police has arrested a man for disrupting court proceedings being held via videoconferencing by appearing in his undergarments while smoking drinking, an official said on Saturday. The man, Md Imran (32) from Gokulpuri, is an active history-sheeter with over 50 previous cases... Read more >

15:37 Vijay rally stampede: National SC/ST Commission visits Karur The National SC/ST Commission chairperson Kishore Makwana, accompanied by its members and district officials on Saturday visited Karur where 41 lives were lost during a stampede at the rally of actor-politician Vijay on September 27.The Commission visited Velusamypuram, the venue of rally where... Read more >

15:14 Nagpur hotelier, wife died in road accident in Italy A Nagpur hotelier and his wife died in a road accident on the last day of their vacation in Italy on October 2, while their children were injured, one of whom is in a critical condition, officials and kin said here on Saturday. Javed Akhtar (57), his wife Nadra, daughters Arzoo (22)... Read more >

15:00 Ashwin in BBL: Sydney Thunder to arrange for his private security Ravichandran Ashwin will be provided private security with his Big Bash League franchise Sydney Thunder anticipating an enhanced interest from the Indian diaspora during the team's training session at the Olympic Arena ground, according to media reports. It is also learnt that... Read more >

14:58 Nirav Modi raises 'interrogation' ground to reopen extradition trial in UK A London court will on November 23 hear fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi's petition to reopen his extradition trial on the grounds that he may face interrogation by agencies if repatriated to India, a claim agencies are likely to counter with an assurance that he will not be quizzed. Modi,... Read more >

14:52 After TN, MP bans Coldrif cough syrup after child deaths The Madhya Pradesh government on Saturday banned the sale of Coldrif syrup following the death of nine children due to suspected kidney infection in Chhindwara district since September 7. The deaths of children in Chhindwara due to Coldrif syrup are extremely tragic. The sale of this syrup... Read more >

14:36 Zubeen Garg was poisoned in Singapore, alleges bandmate In a startling claim, Zubeen Garg's bandmate Shekhar Jyoti Goswami has alleged that the singer was poisoned in Singapore, which led to his death, according to official documents with the police.Goswami alleged that Garg was poisoned by his manager Siddharth Sharma and festival organiser Shyamkanu... Read more >

14:31 Some trying to steal...: PM jabs Rahul over 'Jan Nayak' Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday blamed the poor state of education during the Rashtriya Janata Dal rule as a major reason for the large-scale migration from Bihar and lauded the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government for improving the situation and setting the state on a path to... Read more >

13:52 Priest threatened over 'Hanuman Chalisa' on loudspeaker in UP Police have arrested two men for allegedly threatening a temple priest who played the Hanuman Chalisa on a loudspeaker in the Madanpura area in Varanasi, an official said on Saturday. The priest, Sanjay Prajapati, told police that after performing puja at the Hanuman temple on Friday, he... Read more >

13:48 Firms Flouting Independent Director Norms Up The number of companies failing to meet the minimum requirement of independent directors on their boards increased to 16 during 2024-2025 from 11 in FY24, according to a corporate governance survey conducted by Excellence Enablers.At the end of FY25, 16 companies among the Nifty 100 firms were... Read more >

13:17 Identify burqa-clad voters at booths: Bihar BJP to EC Representative image Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal on Saturday urged the Election Commission to conduct the upcoming assembly polls in one or two phases and ensure that faces of women turning up at booths in burqas were tallied with voter cards.Jaiswal, who led a BJP delegation that met the visiting EC team... Read more >

12:35 No Fastag For Tolls? In a bid to end cash leakages during toll collections on national highways, the ministry of road transport and highways has introduced a provision which will now allow users who do not have Fastag to pay a reduced extra charge if they choose to pay the toll through a unified payments interface... Read more >

12:33 Eyes on Bihar poll dates as CEC-led team visits Patna Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar led a delegation to Bihar's Patna on Saturday, and reviewed poll preparations for the upcoming Legislative Assembly elections. The team included Election Commissioners Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr Vivek Joshi, along with Bihar's Chief... Read more >

12:12 Banks To Clear Cheques On Same Day From Today Banks will transition to a continuous cheque clearing system from the fixed batch format starting October 4, a move which will enhance customer convenience, industry experts said.Under the new system, cheques will no longer be processed in fixed batches. Instead, cheques received at bank branches... Read more >

12:07 Zubeen Garg death: Assam govt forms judicial panel The Assam government has set up a one-man judicial commission to probe the death of singer-composer Zubeen Garg, an official order said.The commission, headed by Justice Soumitra Saikia of the Gauhati high court, will submit its report within six months, the order issued by the Political... Read more >

11:36 Tension in Belagavi during Urs procession after slogan row File image Tension has prevailed in Belagavi after stone-pelting broke out during the Urs procession of the Mehboob Subhani Dargah in Khadak Galli, following a row over slogans, police sources said on Saturday.The incident began when a group of youths in the procession raised the slogan 'I Love Muhammad' on... Read more >

11:31 Child rape-murder accused on the run murders another kid after rape near Mumbai A powerloom worker, who had been on the run in a rape and murder case involving a six-year-old girl, allegedly sexually assaulted and killed another child in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Saturday.The police have arrested the 33-year-old man in connection with the incident that... Read more >

11:08 Actor Rhea Chakraborty receives passport after 5 years Actor Rhea Chakraborty shared an emotional note after finally receiving her passport back on Friday, nearly five years later. The Bombay high court recently ruled in her favour, allowing the return of the document in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput case. Taking to Instagram,... Read more >

10:54 Pune police, NSG conduct mock drills in city The Pune police and the National Security Guard conducted mock drills in different parts of Pune in Maharashtra on Friday to test their preparedness for effectively tackling emergency situations. A mock drill was also staged at the Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati Temple in Pune.Earlier... Read more >

10:45 Vijay Deverakonda, Rashmika engaged, wedding in 2026? Actors Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna have reportedly got engaged in a private ceremony attended by close family and friends, according to reports. The couple is set to tie the knot in February 2026, said the reports. However, the stars have not yet officially confirmed their... Read more >

10:35 First stage of Trumps hostage plan underway: IDF File image Soon after Hamas signalled its willingness to accept United States President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan announced earlier this week, the Israeli Defence Force confirmed that they are ready to implement the first stage of Trump's plans to free the hostages, Times of Israel reported.According... Read more >

10:22 Assam Rifles arrests 6 militants in Manipur's Churachandpur File image Personnel of the Assam Rifles arrested a senior commander of a banned outfit and five other militants from the jungles of Churachandpur district in Manipur, the paramilitary force said on Saturday. The militants were apprehended on October 1 during an operation, it said. Assam Rifles in... Read more >

10:15 J-K bans sale, storage of smokeless tobacco product Cool Lip in Kathua Image only for representation The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday imposed a ban on the storage, sale, display and distribution of the smokeless tobacco-based product 'Cool Lip' in Kathua district with immediate effect, citing rising health concerns, particularly among children and youth, officials said. An... Read more >

10:07 Wanted criminal killed during encounter in UP's Muzaffarnagar File image A wanted criminal with a Rs 1 lakh bounty on him was killed in an encounter here on Friday, the police said. Senior superintendent of police Sanjay Kumar told reporters that acting on a tip-off police teams surrounded the criminal, Mehtab. A gunfight ensued during which Mehtab sustained... Read more >

09:42 Cyclone Shakhti moves to Guj coast, to intensify further File image Cyclone Shakhti, the first cyclonic storm in the Arabian Sea in the post-monsoon season, was moving towards Dwarka off the Gujarat coast on Friday and was expected to intensify further, the weather office said. The cyclonic storm over the northeast Arabian Sea moved west-northwestwards with... Read more >

09:39 Earthquake of 4.5 magnitude hits Pakistan An earthquake of magnitude 4.5 hit Pakistan on Saturday at 01:59 IST (Indian Standard Time), as per National Center for Seismology.The depth of the earthquake was 10 km below the earth's crust.EQ of M: 4.5, On: 04/10/2025 01:59:40 IST, Lat: 28.30 N, Long: 65.25 E, Depth: 10 Km, Location:... Read more >

09:35 Husband, relatives held for murder of woman, paramour in Rajasthan The Rajasthan police on Friday arrested the husband and two relatives of a woman who was killed along with her paramour in Karauli in Jaipur eight days ago. The police said the woman's husband, identified as Bhura Meena, confessed to the crime during preliminary... Read more >

09:15 2 Indian tourists sentenced to jail for robbing, assaulting sex workers in Singapore Two men from India, accused of robbing and assaulting two sex workers in hotel rooms while holidaying in Singapore, were each sentenced to five years and one month in prison, along with 12 strokes of the cane on Friday. Arokkiyasami Daison, 23, and Rajendran Mayilarasan, 27, pleaded guilty... Read more >

09:03 Cough syrup row: Raj suspends drug chief, halts halts Kaysons supply File image The Rajasthan government has suspended the state drug controller and halted the distribution of medicines manufactured by Jaipur-based company Kaysons Pharma, officials said. The medical and health department stopped the supply of all 19 medicines manufactured by Kaysons Pharma until further... Read more >

08:49 IMD forecasts moderate rain with thunderstorms and lightning across TN The India meteorological department has issued a weather alert for several districts in Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, due to a cyclonic circulation that is expected to bring moderate to heavy rainfall on Saturday.The districts under warning with heavy rain include Chennai, Tiruvallur,... Read more >

08:30 Modi welcomes Trump's leadership amid 'decisive' progress in Gaza peace efforts India welcomes US President Donald Trump's leadership as peace efforts in Gaza make decisive progress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. Modi referred to the indications of the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas and said it marks a significant step forward in efforts to... Read more >

08:25 Cyclone Shakti alert for Maha; heavy rain from Oct 4 to 7 File image The India meteorological department has issued cyclone 'Shakti' warning for some districts of Maharashtra, with high to moderate cyclone warning between October 3 and 7.According to the release, the warning covers Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg. The wind speed,... Read more >

00:40 Pulled up by sibling for drinking, man jumps to death from Thane high-rise A 34-year-old man allegedly committed suicide in Thane's Naupada area after being admonished for his alcoholism, a police official said on Friday. Satish Yadav jumped from his 20th floor flat in a high-rise on Thursday night, he added. He came home after consuming liquor and was... Read more >

00:29 Jolt to Nitish as JD-U MLA joins RJD ahead of Bihar polls Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar/File image In a setback to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD-U ahead of the assembly polls in Bihar, MLA Sanjeev Kumar joined the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal on Friday.Kumar, who ended his two-decade-old association with the ruling party, joined the RJD at a rally in Khagaria district, where the Parbatta... Read more >
The National Union of Journalists (SNJ) issued a statement on Friday announcing the death of French photojournalist Antoni Lallican, aged 37, killed by a Russian drone strike in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) "condemn this war crime and call on the authorities to open an investigation to identify those responsible".

French President Emmanuel Macron reacted swiftly to this announcement. In a post on X, the French leader expressed his condolences to the journalist and his family, and commended him for his bravery.

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"Our compatriot, photojournalist Antoni Lallican, was accompanying the Ukrainian army on the resistance front. I was deeply saddened to learn of his death, the victim of a Russian drone attack."

"I send my heartfelt condolences to his family and friends, and to all his colleagues who, at the risk of their lives, inform us and bear witness to the reality of war", he added.

According to the SNJ press release, a Ukrainian journalist, Heorgiy Ivanchenko, was injured in the same attack. Both journalists were wearing "protective gear and bullet-proof waistcoats", and were clearly marked "Press".

The EFJ noted that this was the first time a journalist was killed by a drone in Ukraine. They added that the exact series of events leading up to the tragic attack are still under investigation.

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The Paris-based journalist worked for numerous media outlets across France and Europe prior to his trip to Ukraine, to cover the ongoing brutalities committed by Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion, well into its fourth year.

His work has been published in news outlets, including Le Monde, Le Figaro, Liberation, Mediapart, Der Spiegel, Zeit, Die Welt, Le Temps, Der Standard, La Presse and others.

Lallican has covered the war in Ukraine previously, having visited the country back in March 2022, just days after Russia launched its offensive.

He spent months moving across the country, extensively covering the various frontlines and documenting the realities on the ground and the consequences of war, though his work saw him primarily focus on the Donbas region, the most active frontline.

In January, Antoni Lallican won the 2024 Victor Hugo Prize for "Committed Photography" for his impressive correspondence, titled "Suddenly the Sky Darkened", dedicated to the Ukraine war.
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) In response to looming federal funding cuts and changing qualification requirements for both Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the recent special session in New Mexico pumped nearly $66 million into the states Health Care Authority (HCA)  the agency that oversees those programs. But officials say its only the beginning of a long financial fight.

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I think its a testament to New Mexico and the state we live in that we were able to come together and really come up with solutions for this time, said HCA Cabinet Secretary Kari Armijo. Ive heard that were the only state so far that has really taken action to prepare for these federal reductions.

Armijo said shes proud to live in a state that is taking action quickly and added, We are going to have to keep doing that.

The money is meant to help the HCA prepare for whats coming in the years ahead  and to offset changes that Armijo said have already started taking effect.

I feel like were really well-positioned, and there was a lot of support for making sure that the agency has what it needs, not only to support families, but to just get ready, said Armijo.

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Thanks to House Bill 1, the HCA will now be able to maintain SNAP benefits for seniors and people with disabilities, and continue enhanced premium subsidies for many people purchasing insurance through Be Wells Marketplace  one of the issues at the federal level that has contributed to the government shutdown.

This funding will hold the HCA over to at least the end of June 2026.

Armijo says the agency will also be able to implement major staffing changes and increase infrastructure support  both necessary to respond to the upcoming changes.

The funds will also ensure nutrition support continues for immigrants with lawful status who no longer qualify for federal benefits.

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We received some additional support to maintain SNAP benefits for individuals with a lawful immigration status, but who will be losing federal SNAP benefits, so well be able to continue to support those folks, said Armijo.

While many immediate concerns have been addressed, state leaders acknowledged throughout the session that no amount of funding may fully offset the losses.

The federal reconciliation bill is going to reduce federal payments to New Mexicos health care providers, specifically hospitals, by $8.5 billion over the next decade, said Armijo.

That $8.5 billion figure does not include cuts to food security programs.

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So the state cant fix or plug all of those holes, but were really trying to prepare for and minimize those impacts for New Mexicos families, added Armijo.

Leading up to the session, Republican lawmakers argued the federal funding cuts do not qualify as an emergency  a requirement for calling a special session  because many of the cuts are still years away.

Instead, they argued that dysfunction at the Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD), rising juvenile crime, and unresolved medical malpractice reform were the emergencies that should have taken priority.

Sec. Armijo said acting now was critical to ensure the state remains compliant with federal healthcare rules  and avoids costly penalties.

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If we waited until the 30-day session, and we didnt get any budgetary resources or additional staff or any extra support, we would really not meet those federal deadlines. We would really be out of compliance and facing major compliance penalties from the federal government, she said.

Armijo said she is grateful to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and the legislature for their support of the programs administered by HCA, as the agency prepares for what she called monumental changes.

New Mexico is really leading the country right now in terms of just preparing and getting ready to implement these big changes in a way that protects our families and our healthcare system and our food infrastructure across the state, she added.

During the upcoming 30-day session, Armijo said lawmakers are expected to take a closer look at what it will take to prevent New Mexicans from losing their health insurance.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
By Kate Abnett

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Dozens of countries have yet to secure accommodation at next month's COP30 climate summit in Brazil and some delegates are considering staying away as a shortage of hotels has driven prices to hundreds of dollars per night.

Small island states on the frontline of rising sea levels are confronted with having to consider reducing the size of delegations they send to Belem, while two European nations said they were considering not attending at all.

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COP30 organisers are racing to convert love motels, cruise ships and churches into lodgings for an anticipated 45,000 delegates.

Brazil chose to hold the climate talks at Belem, which typically has 18,000 hotel beds available, in the hope its location on the edge of the Amazon rainforest would focus attention on the threat climate change poses to this ecosystem, and its role in absorbing climate-warming emissions.

LATVIA SAYS ROOMS ARE TOO EXPENSIVE

Latvia's climate minister told Reuters the country has asked if its negotiators could dial in by video call.

"We already basically have a decision that it's too expensive for us," Melnis said. "It's the first time it's so expensive. We have a responsibility to our country's budget."

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A second eastern European country, Lithuania, also said it may stay away after being quoted prices for accommodation exceeding $500 per person per night.

A spokesperson for Lithuania's energy ministry, which covers climate affairs, said the legitimacy and quality of negotiations would suffer if governments could not attend because of the costs.

A spokesperson for Brazil's COP30 presidency said the decision was up to each government.

COP30 HOTEL PRICES LEAVE DELEGATIONS OUT OF POCKET

Days after Brazil opened a booking platform in early August, the website showed rates from $360 to $4,400 a night. Prices this week started at $150 per night, the platform showed.

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The host country has dismissed calls to relocate the summit and said it would provide 15 rooms priced below $220 per day for each developing country delegation, and below $600 for each wealthy nation delegation. The United Nations has also increased its subsidy to help low-income countries attend.

Less than six weeks out from COP30, 81 countries remain in negotiations over hotel rooms while 87 countries have reserved accommodation, according to Brazil's COP30 Presidency.

Evans Njewa, chair of the Least Developed Countries group that represents the world's poorest nations in U.N. climate talks, said it was still assessing countries' attendance plans.

"We're receiving a high volume of concerns ... and numerous requests for support," Njewa told Reuters. "Regrettably, our capacity is limited, which may affect the size of delegations."

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CLIMATE ACTION UNDER THREAT

This year's COP summit takes place after U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to lead a shift away from climate action and Europe's priorities change as economies struggle.

Ilana Seid, chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, said the lack of affordable accommodation placed its members at a "severe disadvantage". Small island countries have used previous COPs to secure more funding to adapt to climate change.

Smaller delegations would leave island nations "lacking expertise needed to effectively participate in the negotiations which decide our future," Seid said.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett in Brussels; Additional reporting by Jason Hovet, Luiza Ilie, Manuela Andreoni; Editing by Richard Lough and Barbara Lewis)
School (in)Security is our biweekly briefing on the latest school safety news, vetted by Mark Keierleber. Subscribe here.

The top campus security story this week is the resignation of Iowas largest school district superintendent, who was detained by federal immigration authorities on allegations he was living and working in the U.S. without authorization.

In a targeted enforcement operation a week ago, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Ian Roberts, a 54-year-old native of Guyana, who has led Des Moines Public Schools since 2023.

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Watch

Iowa Public School Superintendent Detained By ICE

The fast-moving chain of events raises questions about why ICE agents specifically sought the arrest of the public official and the citys first Black schools superintendent, whom federal officials said had a previously unreported final order of removal issued by an immigration judge on May 29. Yesterday, he was accused of federal firearm charges for possessing a gun at the time of his arrest.



The Trump administration has already tied Roberts detainment to the presidents broader crackdown on affirmative action. The Justice Department announced Tuesday it would investigate Des Moines Public Schools to determine if it engaged in race-based hiring.



In 2021, the districts former human resources manager said that out of Des Moines Public Schools 4,000 staff members, some 400 were Black. His comments were made as the district reflected on hiring Iowas first Black teacher 75 years earlier.



The unraveling of Roberts career is also a story of purported deception. The school board, whose vetting practices have come under scrutiny, released a letter this week saying it is also a victim, after Roberts was accused of falsifying records about his immigration status and academic credentials.



Roberts, an Olympic runner for his native Guyana who came to the U.S. in 1999 on a student visa, previously served in leadership roles at school districts in Pennsylvania and Missouri and at a major charter school network.



Get up to speed with this step-by-step explainer by the Des Moines Register.

In the news

A TikTok post led to the arrest of a Kennewick, Washington, 14-year-old who officials say had guns, a color-coded map of his high school and a manifesto outlining plans to carry out a campus shooting. | Tri-City Herald

In California, authorities say an anonymous tip thwarted a potential school shooting after a student posted detailed threats on social media including a mapped-out plan. | NBC News

The Education Department announced it would withhold more than $65 million in federal grants to the New York City, Chicago and Fairfax, Virginia, school districts for upholding equity policies designed to support transgender and Black youth. | The New York Times

Campus speech at the forefront: More than 350 complaints have been submitted to the Texas education department against public school employees accused of publishing social media posts that praised the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. | Fort Worth Report

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The Los Angeles Unified School District faces accusations that its social media policy, which allows educators to ban parents from campus for making threatening or racist online comments about school officials, violates the First Amendment. | LAist



Truly scandalous: The Trump administration engaged in the unconstitutional suppression of free speech when federal immigration enforcement officials arrested and sought to deport international college students for their pro-Palestinian activism. | The Washington Post



A new PEN America report warns of a disturbing normalization of censorship in public schools where book bans have risen sharply in the last few years. The 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess topped the list. | NPR



Lawrence, Kansas, school officials were accused of censoring high school journalists and intimidating their adviser in violation of state law after current and former students filed a federal lawsuit alleging the districts use of a digital student surveillance tool violated their privacy and press freedom rights. | Student Press Law Center

The student activity monitoring tool Gaggle, which flags keywords like kill and bomb, has helped our staff intervene and save lives, the Lawrence district says. But students say the system subjected them to false allegations. | The Washington Post

The 74 throwback: Meet the gatekeepers of students private lives. | The 74



Places of care, not chaos: California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law new rules that require federal immigration enforcement officers to show a warrant or court order before entering a school campus or questioning students. | EdSource

Minnesotas red flag gun law, which allows authorities to confiscate firearms from people with violent plans, has been used to prevent school shootings but its use is inconsistent, an investigation found. | The Minnesota Star Tribune

A middle school boy from New York was arrested on allegations of catfishing classmates by impersonating a girl online, convincing male classmates to send him sexually revealing photographs and extorting them for cash or gift cards. | The New York Times

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The Trump administration plans to overhaul a student loan forgiveness program for employees at nonprofits that officials claim are engaged in illegal activities  a justification that could be used to target organizations that serve immigrants and transgender youth. | The Associated Press

A Michigan school district, where four elementary school girls said they were groped by a classmate on the playground, is accused of waiting eight days to report the incident to the police. | Lansing State Journal

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As the LGBTQ Youth Population Doubles, Number of Bills Targeting Them Triples

Goblins AI Math Tutoring App Clones Your Teachers Looks and Voice

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The 74 will meet for a company summit in Minneapolis next week. Matilda wasnt invited, but she couldnt care less.




It sounds like a whimsical Disney film: a troupe of sun-bathing lizards floating on a log in the ocean, aimlessly heading to an unknown island across the earth. But according to several scientists at the University of San Francisco and UC Berkeley, this exact scenario may explain an enduring mystery that has rattled evolutionary biologists' brains since the 1970s.

According a March 2025 study led by USF professor Simon Scarpetta, it's possible that a group of iguanas - which may have hailed from arid regions like Southern California and Northern Mexico - hitched a ride on vegetation rafts all the way to Fiji millions of years ago, explaining their genetic presence on a far-flung archipelago over 8,000 kilometers away. Though scientists were aware of their presence on the islands for decades, none of them could figure out how, exactly, they wound up there.

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At first, Scarpetta didn't intend to bridge a missing connection between two seemingly distant species. But while conducting DNA sequencing for other projects, he discovered that desert and Fijian iguanas were closely related. "That was a big surprise," he told SFGATE.

"Lizards have done things like this on a number of occasions," said Scarpetta, who's hosting a lecture about his team's research paper later this month. "And iguanas seem to be one of the groups of lizards that are  the best suited for it." That's partly because they're cold blooded, or ectothermic, meaning they don't need to constantly eat and drink in order to survive, he explained. Juveniles will often get by on small insects, and their ocean locomotives - which are usually made of downed trees or vegetation - might even already have food on them. They're also large, hearty creatures that have plenty of body mass to fall back on during long sea-faring journeys, he continued.

The desert iguanas seen roaming throughout North America are lean and beige, resembling the color scheme of their unforgiving habitat. By comparison, Fijian iguanas are a bright emerald green, and some usually measure 7.5 inches. Tellingly, they've even developed some resistance to dehydration.

Iguanas have even been spotted drifting along the ocean, awing spectators.

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After a hurricane struck the Caribbean in 1995, several people reported seeing iguanas "literally rafting" on downed vegetation, Scarpetta said. Shortly after, the robust lizards colonized an island they had never been to before and interbred with a critically endangered population. Unfortunately, though, this type of "sweepstakes dispersal" also has the potential to disrupt fragile ecosystems and may become more frequent as the earth continues to warm.

The process of interbreeding, for instance, can genetically dilute the current population, and more iguanas means less food and resources to go around. "Islands are already so limited in what they can provide because they're small and isolated," Scarpetta said. "Any sort of change like that can have really, really big effects.

"We don't want another species coming in and then creating hybrids that are then competing with the original parent population, or then just altering the genetic composition of the one that was already there."

Today, Fijian iguanas are endangered, and human activities like logging, along with illegal pet trade operations, continue to threaten their existence, he said. Invasive species like rats are also a threat and remain a problem on the islands, he continued. In the meantime, the paper's co-authors and conservationists on the archipelago are working tirelessly to keep the iguana population afloat.

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"They're just completely unique animals" that are "utterly unlike any of the other iguanas," Scarpetta said.

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This article originally published at Iguanas from California possibly 'rafted' all the way to Fiji, scientists say.
NEW DELHI/KABUL (Reuters) -The U.N. Security Council Committee has temporarily lifted a travel ban on the Afghan Taliban foreign minister, which would allow him to visit India between October 9 and 16, India's foreign ministry said on Friday.

If confirmed, it would be the first visit to India by a senior leader of the Taliban-run Afghan administration since it seized power in 2021 after 20 years of U.S. military presence.

Delhi and Kabul have traditionally enjoyed close ties when the Islamist Taliban were not in power.

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Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is among Afghan Taliban members who are under U.N. sanctions including a travel ban and asset freeze. Temporary exemptions are sometimes granted for diplomacy. The Afghan administration did not immediately respond to inquiries about Muttaqi's travel plans.

India's foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters that New Delhi had already been speaking to the Afghan administration, and noted that it had provided support after an earthquake on August 31. He did not specifically confirm that the visit would take place.

Indian and Afghan media have reported that Muttaqi will travel to Russia before visiting New Delhi.

In Moscow, he is expected to discuss the situation in Afghanistan with representatives from Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Central Asian countries, the reports say.

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Hekmatullah Hekmat, an Afghan political analyst, said the visit to India was highly significant for the Taliban government:

"Afghanistan is in dire need of establishing relations with regional countries, especially its neighbours. It needs to build political, economic, and trade ties and to gain recognition."

Only Russia has so far recognised the Taliban government. India closed its embassy in Kabul in 2021, but a year later opened a technical mission to coordinate humanitarian assistance.

(Reporting by Sakshi Dayal and Shivam Patel in New Delhi, and Mohammad Yunus Yawar in Kabul; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia said it has suspended TikTok's registration status as an electronic system provider after it failed to hand over all data relating to the use of its live stream feature, though the social media app was still accessible to users on Friday.

Alexander Sabar, an official at Indonesia's communications and digital ministry, said in a statement some accounts with ties to online gambling activities used TikTok's live stream feature during recent national protests and monetised it.

Protests rocked the world's third-largest democracy over exorbitant lawmaker allowances and police brutality from late August to September. TikTok temporarily suspended its live feature during the protests, saying this was intended to "keep TikTok a safe and civil space."

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Sabar said the government subsequently asked the company for its traffic, streaming and monetisation data. The company, owned by China's ByteDance, only provided partial data, citing its internal procedures, Sabar said.

"So the communications and digital ministry deemed TikTok to have violated its obligations as a private electronic provider," and suspended its registration, he said.

The regulation regarding the list states every company that has signed up to Indonesia's licensing rules must hand over its data to the government for the purpose of supervision or risk being blocked.

TikTok, which has more than 100 million accounts based in Indonesia, did not respond to a request for comment.

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It was unclear if access to TikTok in Indonesia was fully blocked. Reuters was able to access the application as normal on Friday. The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
SIDOARJO, Indonesia (AP)  The death toll from a school collapse in Indonesia rose to 14 on Friday after recovery crews pulled multiple bodies from beneath the rubble. Dozens of students remain unaccounted for and the death toll is expected to rise.

Rescuers initially searched by hand for survivors after the building caved in Monday. But with no more signs of life detected by Thursday they turned to heavy excavators equipped with jackhammers to help them progress more rapidly.

By Friday evening, they had found nine bodies, bringing the confirmed death toll to 14, with nearly 50 students still unaccounted for.

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The structure fell on top of hundreds of people on Monday in a prayer hall at the century-old al Khoziny Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo on the eastern side of Indonesias Java island.

Two of the bodies found Friday were in the prayer hall area and one was found closer to an exit as if he had been attempting to escape, according to Suharyanto, the head of Indonesias National Disaster Mitigation Agency, who goes by one name as is common in Indonesia.

The students were mostly boys in grades seven to 12, between the ages of 12 and 19. Female students were praying in another part of the building and managed to escape, survivors said.

Thirteen-year-old Rizalul Qoib, one of 104 survivors, returned to the scene on Friday to look at what was left of his school, and said he was lucky to have gotten out with only a minor gash to his head.

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He said, like the others, he had been praying when he heard something like the sound of falling rocks, which got louder and louder.

I stopped praying and fled when I felt the floor shaking, he recalled.

Suddenly the building collapsed, the debris of the roof fell on my head, my face.

Then the room went dark, but he heard someone shouting this way, this way and he followed the voice until he eventually found a narrow gap in the rubble.

I just followed the light, he said.

Many of the others who were injured but escaped or were rescued suffered serious head trauma and broken bones and are still being treated in the hospital.

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Authorities have said the building was two stories, but two more levels were being added without a permit. Police said the old buildings foundation apparently was unable to support two floors of concrete and collapsed during the pouring process.

School officials have not yet commented.

Crews worked in the hot sun Friday to break up and remove large slabs of concrete, with the smell of decomposing bodies as a grim reminder of what they would find underneath.

Suharyanto, of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, told reporters at the scene on Friday that the recovery efforts were expected to be complete by the end of Saturday.

___

Rising reported from Bangkok.
By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) -Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas which took part in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, endorsed on Saturday the group's response to the U.S. plan to end the war in Gaza.

Islamic Jihad's approval of the plan could help facilitate the release of hostages held by both groups in Gaza.

"Hamas' (reaction) to Trump's plan represents the position of the Palestinian resistance factions, and the Islamic Jihad participated responsibly in the consultations that led to this decision," it said in a statement.

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Israel, meanwhile, struck Gaza on Saturday, local authorities said, after U.S. President Donald Trump had called for a halt to the bombing and said Hamas is ready for peace, agreeing to release hostages and accepting some other terms in his plan to end the war.

Israeli fire killed six people across Gaza Strip, local authorities said. One strike killed four people in a house in Gaza City while another killed two others in Khan Younis in the south, medical workers and local authorities said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said early on Saturday that Israel was preparing for an "immediate implementation" of the first stage of Trump's Gaza plan for the release of Israeli hostages following Hamas' response.

Shortly after, Israeli media reported that the country's political echelon had instructed the military to reduce offensive activity in Gaza.

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The U.S. plan and Hamas' reaction raised spirits among traumatized residents of Gaza, which has been reduced to rubble by two years of Israeli air strikes.

Its happy news, it saves those who are still alive, it saves the people, and thank God that they (Hamas) agreed. This is enough, good people. We are tired, I swear to God, we are tired, tired," said Palestinian Saoud Qarneyta, 32.

The Israeli military chief of staff instructed forces in a statement to advance readiness for the implementation of the first phase of Trumps plan, without mentioning whether there would be reduction of military activity in Gaza.

Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, responded to Trump's 20-point plan after the U.S. president gave the group until Sunday to accept or face grave consequences.

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Trump, who has cast himself as the only person capable of achieving peace in Gaza, has invested significant political capital in efforts to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and left U.S. ally Israel increasingly isolated on the world stage.

Trump said on Friday he believed Hamas had shown it was "ready for a lasting PEACE" and he put the onus on Netanyahu's government.

"Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

"We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East."

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Netanyahu's office said Israel "will continue to work in full cooperation with the President and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles set out by Israel, which align with President Trump's vision."

Before Israel's latest announcements, families of those being held by Hamas in Gaza called on Netanyahu "to immediately order negotiations for the return of all hostages."

Domestically, the prime minister is caught between growing pressure to end the war  from hostage families and a war-weary public  and demands from hardline members of his far-right coalition who insist there must be no let-up in Israels campaign in Gaza.

Israel began its offensive in Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel says 48 hostages remain, 20 of whom are alive.

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Israel's military campaign has killed more than 66,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. Its assault has destroyed much of the strip while aid restrictions have triggered a famine in parts of Gaza, with conditions dire across the enclave.

(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Susan Fenton)
The West Bank and the Egyptian border have the potential to boil over if certain threats are not addressed - and the issues are different in each place.

While Israel has been fighting in Gaza for more than 23 months, other borders and areas have grown increasingly unstable and pose a threat. This is particularly true when it comes to the West Bank and Egyptian border.

Both areas have the potential to boil over if certain threats are not addressed. The issues are different in each place.

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In the West Bank, the challenge is keeping a low level insurgency weakened. Israel has successfully checked the attempt by groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad to carve out a zone of control in the northern West Bank. This took several years to accomplish, from roughly 2021 to early 2025.

The attacks by groups in Jenin and Nablus and other places were fueled by illegal arms that have been flowing the West Bank. Large numbers of M-4 or M-16 type rifles as well as modern handguns have been moving into the hands of terrorist groups.

A new phenomenon in the West Bank is the attempt by terrorist groups to build small rockets. This is a new problem and one that mirrors what happened in Gaza in the late 1990s and early 2000s. As such it is clear that the terrorists are seeking to innovate and change. In the early 2000s the main threat in the West Bank came from suicide bombers and some guns.

Joint police-IDF operation foils smuggling of over 30 weapons (credit: IDF SPOKESMANS UNIT)

Now, things are changing. The enemy is changing and seeking to find ways to outsmart Israel. Recent attacks all show this to be the case. They usually involve several terrorists who are armed.

Threat of weapons smuggling across Egyptian border rises

While the West Bank is going to need continuous monitoring, a related threat comes from smuggling across the Egyptian border. Recent reports indicate that the size of the smuggling effort has increased and it relies on things such as drones to smuggle guns or parts of guns.

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The number of incidents is growing and it appears to mean that there are numerous incidents daily. The full size of this elephant is probably not known, because any one smuggling attempt that is prevented may only be part of the larger problem. In essence, its possible we are only seeing the proverbial elephant legs and not the whole animal.

Egypt has been focused on getting a Gaza deal. It also doesnt want Gazans being pushed into Sinai. It has deployed more forces but it is focused on Gaza. Its possible that smuggling networks that once sought to help Hamas in Gaza are now shifting operations. This is fueling gun violence in Israel. Most of the killings are in the Arab community but this will one day boil over.

Israel thus faces other threats closer to home. Israel was focused for many years on third circle threats such as Iran. Israel prided itself on precision airstrikes and also its ability to try to prepare for dealing with Iran. Gaza was neglected and Hamas was underestimated. Now Hamas is largely weakened in Gaza.

However, as Israel fought in Gaza for 23 months and poured resources into the fight there, it is possible other areas closer to the center are being ignored. What this means, is perhaps the Egyptian border and the West Bank and weapon smuggling networks that feed weapons into Arab communities in Israel and the West Bank, are a serious problem.
By Alexander Cornwell

TEL AVIV (Reuters) -The Israeli military intercepted the last boat in an aid flotilla attempting to reach blockaded Gaza on Friday, a day after stopping most of the vessels and detaining some 450 activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg.

The organisers of the Global Sumud Flotilla said the Marinette was intercepted some 42.5 nautical miles (79 km) from Gaza. Israeli army radio said the navy had taken control of the last ship in the flotilla, detained those aboard and that the vessel was being led to Ashdod port in Israel.

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In a statement, the Global Sumud Flotilla said Israeli naval forces had now "illegally intercepted all 42 of our vesselseach carrying humanitarian aid, volunteers, and the determination to break Israels illegal siege on Gaza".

However, in another attempt to challenge Israel's naval blockade, a new flotilla comprising 11 vessels was attempting to make its way to Gaza on Friday, organisers said, including a vessel carrying medics and journalists.

A live-tracker shared by the organisers showed the boats sailing southeast in the Mediterranean between the Greek island of Crete and Egypt, while live footage from one of the boats showed activists chanting for a "Free Palestine".

MARINETTE PASSENGERS CLAIM TO SEE A WAR SHIP

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A camera broadcasting from the Marinette showed someone holding up a note saying "We see a ship! It's a war ship", before a boat is seen approaching and soldiers boarding. A voice is heard telling the people on board not to move and to put their hands in the air.

An Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the boat's status.

The flotilla, which set sail in late August, marked the latest attempt by activists to challenge the Israeli naval blockade of the territory where Israel has been waging an offensive since Hamas' October 2023 attack.

Israeli officials have repeatedly denounced the mission as a stunt. The foreign ministry had said the flotilla was previously warned that it was approaching an active combat zone and violating a "lawful naval blockade", and asked organisers to change course. It had offered to transfer aid to Gaza.

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The Israeli foreign ministry on Friday said that four Italians had been deported. "The rest are in the process of being deported. Israel is keen to end this procedure as quickly as possible," it said in a statement. All the flotilla participants were "safe and in good health", it added.

The Italian government identified the four Italians as parliamentarians who would fly back to Rome on Friday.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators took to the streets in cities across Europe as well as in Karachi, Buenos Aires and Mexico City on Thursday to protest the flotilla's interception.

On Friday, tens of thousands of Italians demonstrated, as part of a day-long general strike called by unions in support of the flotilla.

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BEN-GVIR CALLS ACTIVISTS 'TERRORISTS'

During a visit to Ashdod on Thursday night, Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was filmed calling the activists "terrorists" as he stood in front of them.

"These are the terrorists of the flotilla," he said, speaking in Hebrew and pointing at dozens of people sitting on the ground. His spokesperson confirmed the video was filmed at Ashdod port on Thursday night.

Some activists are heard shouting "Free Palestine".

Cyprus said one of the flotilla boats had docked in Cyprus with 21 foreigners aboard. Crew from the vessel, "Summer Time", said it was an observer mission carrying doctors and journalists.

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"Nobody has the right to be a pirate of the sea and enforce whatever they want to do and I think we are equal," Palestinian crew member Osama Qashoo told journalists.

Israel faced international condemnation and protest after it intercepted all of the 40 or so boats in the flotilla and detained more than 450 activists from different countries.

Israel has faced widespread global condemnation over the war in Gaza, and is defending itself against charges of genocide in the International Court of Justice.

Israel says its actions have been in self-defence and has consistently denied genocide allegations.

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Israel's offensive has killed over 66,000 people, Palestinian health authorities say. It began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed during the assault, and 251 were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures.

(Additional reporting by Jana Choukeir and Tala Ramadan in Dubai, Angeliki Koutantou in Athens and Alvise Armellini; Angelo Amante in Rome; Writing by Tom Perry and Matthias Williams; Editing by Alison Williams and Sharon Singleton)
TOKYO (AP)  In a country that ranks poorly internationally for gender equality, the new president of Japan's long-governing Liberal Democrats, and likely next prime minister, is an ultra-conservative star of a male-dominated party that critics call an obstacle to women's advancement.

Sanae Takaichi, 64. admires former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and is a proponent of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's conservative vision for Japan.

Takaichi is the first female president of Japan's predominantly male ruling party that has dominated Japan's postwar politics almost without interruption.

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She hardly touched on gender issues during the campaign, but on Saturday, as she tried out the party president's chair and posed for a photo as is customary for the newly elected leader, Takaichi said: Now that the LDP has its first female president, its scenery will change a little."

First elected to parliament from her hometown of Nara in 1993, she has served in key party and government posts, including minister of economic security, internal affairs and gender equality.

Female lawmakers in the conservative Liberal Democratic Party who were given limited ministerial posts have often been shunned as soon as they spoke up about diversity and gender equality. Takaichi has stuck with old-fashioned views favored by male party heavyweights.

Takaichi also admits she is a workaholic who would rather study at home instead of socializing. After unsuccessfully running for party presidency twice in the past, she made efforts to be more sociable to build connections as advised, she said.

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But on Saturday, as she called for an all-out effort to rebuild the party and regain public support, she asked all party lawmakers to work like a horse. Then she added, I will abandon the word work-life balance. I will work, work, work and work."

The work-life balance quickly trended on social media, triggering mixed reactions  support for her enthusiasm and concern about her work ethic.

Women comprise only about 15% of Japans lower house, the more powerful of the two parliamentary chambers. Only two of Japans 47 prefectural governors are women.

A drummer in a heavy-metal band and a motorbike rider as a student, Takaichi has called for a stronger military, more fiscal spending for growth, promotion of nuclear fusion, cybersecurity and tougher policies on immigration.

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She vowed to drastically increase female ministers in her government. But experts say she might actually set back womens advancement because as leader she would have to show loyalty to influential male heavyweights. If not, she risks a short-lived leadership.

Takaichi has backed financial support for women's health and fertility treatment as part of the LDP policy of having women serve in their traditional roles of being good mothers and wives. But she also recently acknowledged her struggles with menopausal symptoms and stressed the need to educate men about female health to help women at school and work.

Takaichi supports the imperial familys male-only succession, opposes same-sex marriage and a revision to the 19th-century civil law that would allow separate surnames for married couples so that women dont get pressured into abandoning theirs.

She is a wartime history revisionist and China hawk. She regularly visits Yasukuni Shrine, which Japans neighbors consider a symbol of militarism, though she has declined to say what she would do as prime minister.

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Political watchers say her revisionist views of Japans wartime history may complicate ties with Beijing and Seoul.

Her hawkish stance is also a worry for the LDPs longtime partnership with Komeito, a Buddhist-backed moderate party. While she has said the current coalition is crucial for her party, she says she is open to working with far-right groups.
The Lebanon Police Department is asking for the publics help in identifying a person of interest allegedly involved in multiple thefts of electronics from Systems Plus Computers, located on the town's Miracle Mile.

Over the past several weeks, an individual has entered the business on multiple occasions and stolen electronic items.

Lebanon police ask that anyone who may have information to call 603-448-1212. Information can also be submitted to the Tip Line, 603-448-CLUE, or online at LebanonNH.gov/CLUE.
William Patrick Howard, a deeply religious man who drafted his own plans for his funeral, died on Sunday, Sept. 28, in a shooting and fire at the Grand Blanc Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On Saturday, Oct. 4, Howard's family and hundreds more gathered at the Owosso Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to make good on his plans, down to the hymn.

Hundreds of people mourned and remembered Howard, 77, a ministering brother in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints community, at the LDS Ward in Owosso, some 37 miles from the site of the Grand Blanc attack where a man crashed his vehicle into the building, shot churchgoers and caused a fire, killing four and injuring eight.

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After Howard's gray casket, draped in flowers, was carried through the pews, Howard's family remembered their sometimes-stubborn patriarch as an avid reader, a devout, food-loving father, grandfather and member of his religious community.

Howard's daughter, Stephanie Howard, wept as she recalled her father's tradition with his close friends, Pierre Dery and Craig Hayden, to share meals together. Dery was shot and injured in the attack. Hayden, like Howard, died in the attack.

Howard was born in Winnipeg, Canada, and lived in Holly when he died, though he had roots in the Owosso community. Howard grew up in Owosso, graduating from Owosso High School in 1965. His family said during the funeral service that he considered Owosso his hometown.

Though he was born in Canada, he was raised from age 3 onward in mid-Michigan, later becoming a citizen of the country. In 1967, he joined the U.S. Army and served in Korea during the Vietnam War  a service of which he rarely spoke. When he returned, he worked as a dispatcher for the Grand Trunk Western Railroad.

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Marcelino Sanchez, the president of the Grand Blanc stake of the LDS church to which Howard belonged, said Howard was "uber prepared" as a ministering brother of the church. He frequently constructed PowerPoint presentations and directed religious discussion carefully, a preparedness that colored his own funeral, despite a tragic death.

One thing Howard did not plan for, however, was a poem written and edited in tandem by Michigan's poet laureate, Melba Joyce Boyd, and John Percy Boyd. John Percy Boyd, a childhood friend of Howard's son, Geoff Howard, wrote the poem with his mother for the service.

Titled "A Second Father," the offering shook Geoff Howard as he read it. Afterward, a single tear fell on the lapel of his suit jacket as he shared more memories of his late father.

At the end of the service, a funeral procession carried Howard's casket, now draped in an American flag, south along Hickory Road.

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In the wake of the attack at the LDS church in Grand Blanc, where Howard died, his funeral was surveilled by a small police presence. According to officials with the church, the building in which his funeral was held had been inspected and swept by officers and dogs before the service.

Howard's daughter, Stephanie, said her family has been overwhelmed with support since the attack.

"Our family is so, so appreciative of all the support we have received since Sunday," she said. "My dad would be amazed to see this room full."

Contact Liam Rappleye: LRappleye@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Funeral honors William Patrick Howard after Grand Blanc LDS tragedy
Grand Duke Henri, of Luxembourg has abdicated the throne in favor of his son, Guillaume, in a historic ceremony attended by world leaders and royals on Friday.

The 70-year-old, who is Europes richest royal with a staggering $4 billion net worth, stepped down after 25 years as head of state during a glitzy event at the Grand Ducal Palace.

The ceremony, attended by a range of guests including Dutch and Belgian royals, saw Guillaume, 43, crowned as he stepped into the role of a lifetime.

Grand Duke Henri, of Luxembourg has abdicated the throne in favor of his son, Guillaume, in a historic ceremony attended by world leaders and royals on Friday. Getty Images

Guillaume also swore an oath to Luxembourgs constitution before 60 elected members of the parliament, known as the Chamber of Deputies.

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The lavish ceremony is set to be followed by a gala dinner in Luxembourg City, and is expected to be attended by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Despite the change in grand dukes, the role remains largely ceremonial as his primary function is to act as a symbolic head of state and a representative for Luxembourg internationally.

His reign endured numerous challenges in Luxembourgs political and socioeconomic landscape, including the 2008 financial crisis  the most significant economic shock to the country since the 1970s.

Guillaume swore an oath to Luxembourgs constitution before 60 elected members of the parliament, known as the Chamber of Deputies. AFP via Getty Images

Henri received an education in France, Switzerland and at Sandhurst military academy in Berkshire, England.

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His son had largely followed suit, enrolling at schools in London, Switzerland, France and at Sandhurst, before working in Belgian, German and Spanish firms.

Guillaume is married to Belgian-born Countess Stephanie de Lannoy. The couple, who tied the knot in 2012, share sons Charles, 5, and Francois, 2.

The 70-year-old stepped down after 25 years as head of state during a glitzy event at the Grand Ducal Palace. AFP via Getty Images

As Europes seventh-smallest country, Luxembourg has emerged as a leading financial hub and plays a central role in the European Union, serving as home to major institutions such as the European Court of Justice and the European Investment Bank.

Guillaume will be Luxembourgs seventh grand duke since 1890, when the modern monarchy was established.

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Complex royal politics, as well as the loss of significant territories over the centuries, has meant Luxembourg is not a kingdom. It is the worlds last remaining grand duchy.

Luxembourgs Grand Duke Guillaume, his wife Grand Duchess Stephanie and Prince Charles appear on the balcony of the Grand Ducal Palace in Luxembourg, October 3, 2025. REUTERS

Guillaume will symbolically head the 1,000-person army of Luxembourg, which was a founding member of NATO in the wake of the devastation of World War II.

Henri laid out the challenges ahead for Guillaume and Luxembourg in his last Christmas speech.

Climate change is probably the greatest challenge of the future, but geopolitical tensions, wars and economic upheaval also require a need for reflection, he said at the time.

Henris abdication, which was announced in Dec. 2024, marks the second European abdication within the last year.

Princess Stephanie de Lannoy of Luxembourg and Prince Guillaume Jean Joseph Marie of Luxembourg on October 03, 2025 in Luxembourg. WireImage

Queen Margrethe of Denmark decided to hand over the crown to her son, Frederik, in January after a whopping 52 years on the throne.

The monarch  third cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II  revealed in her New Years speech on Dec. 31, 2024 that she would be stepping down on Jan. 14, 2025.

With Post wires
A MAGA reporter who was arrested in Portland, Oregon, has claimed he was detained by police for being a conservative.

Nick Sortor claimed that he had done nothing to provoke his arrest and had been harassed himself by a group of people described by his supporters as Antifa thugs.

The 27-year-old, who is a regular guest on Fox News and whose X profile has more than 1 million followers, was arrested Thursday night with two other people outside the citys Immigration and Customs Enforcement building.

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It is not precisely clear why Sortor or the others were arrested. Portland police said they moved into the crowd to make arrests as fights broke out. They arrested Sortor and two others.

They say when they make arrests based on observed behavior, Sortor said, recalling the incident to Fox News Saturday. I believe, in these circumstances, that observed behavior was being a conservative, if Im being totally honest with you.

Portland Police load onto a van as people protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, Friday October 3 (AP)

You saw the video, there was another video that came out yesterday showing a close up of what happened.

Video from Thursday showed Sortor grabbing an American flag that had been set on fire and stamping out the flames. In another, he was seen being verbally abused by protesters as he walked down the street.

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Nobody, even my biggest detractors, cannot take that video and say I was the aggressor in that situation, simply trying to walk down the sidewalk with my camera, Sortor continued.

I get up and I walk over to the Portland police, not to report anybody because, honestly, I didnt expect anything to be done anyway. I just walk over there for a little safety, you know, calm down for a few minutes.

It was previously reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth considered deploying an elite Army unit to Portland to address what the president had called lawless mayhem (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

But instead I sit there, 7 or 8 minutes, and a sergeant walks up and points to me and says to the officers, Cuff him. No reason given, the officers didnt know what they were doing.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later blasted the arrest, calling it extremely troubling. Speaking to reporters, she said that Sortor had been ambushed by Antifa and was defending himself from these assaults.

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But instead of arresting these violent mob members night after night after night who are ravaging this community, the police arrested a journalist who was there trying to document the chaos, and everyone in this room should be extremely concerned about that, she said.

The Independent has contacted Portland police for comment about Sortors arrest.

Federal agents walk into the street as people protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, Friday, October 3 (AP)

Before his arrest, Sortor had been posting consistently on social media about Portland, which he described as a third world hellhole. Antifa is in full control out here. President Trump NEEDS to step in, he wrote.

It was previously reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth considered deploying an elite Army unit to Portland to address what the president had called lawless mayhem.

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High-ranking Trump administration officials exchanged messages about potentially deploying the Armys 82nd Airborne, a division historically sent into combat in both World Wars, Vietnam, and Afghanistan, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Any move to send the unit domestically would likely face legal challenges under federal restrictions on the use of military forces within the United States.
A MAGA conspiracy theorist commissioned by the RNC to train poll watchers may not actually live in the swing state where he votes.

Jack Posobiec, a Turning Point USA host and self-appointed voter fraud watchdog, has seemingly resided in Maryland for nearly a decade. Social media posts, court filings, and FEC donation records all indicate he lives in Hanover, a suburb of Baltimore. However, voter registration documents show Posobiec, 40, has voted in Pennsylvania in every election since 2004.

The influencer is registered to vote under his parents home address in Norristown, Pennsylvania. His voting record, first obtained by Slate, shows he voted in the state via mail-in ballot in 2018, 2022, and 2024, and in-person in 2020.

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Turning Point USA did not immediately respond to the Daily Beasts request for comment.

Unlike Maryland, which consistently favors Democratic presidential candidates, Pennsylvania is a key swing state. President Trump won the state in 2016 and 2024, but lost in 2020.

Jack Posobiec, a prominent MAGA conspiracy theorist known for his election denialism and voter fraud claims, consistently votes in Pennsylvania, despite appearing to live in Maryland. / PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

Though born to registered Democrats in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Posobiec seems to have spent most of his adult life living outside of the state where he consistently votes.

A self-described devout Catholic, Posobiec currently lives in the Hanover area with his second wife, Belarusian-American influencer Tanya Posobiec, whom he married in 2017. In a court filing from his divorce, also from 2017, Posobiecs first wife listed a Maryland apartment as his home address.

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However, Posobiec has likely lived away from his birthplace for much longer. After graduating from Pennsylvanias Temple University in 2006, Posobiec spent two years living in Shanghai, China, where he worked for the United States Chamber of Commerce.

He then joined the U.S. Navy Reserve in 2010, commissioning as an officer in 2013. In 2012 and 2013, he was stationed at Guantanamo Bay. Starting in 2014, Posobiec was assigned to the Reserve Intelligence Unit at the Naval Maritime Intelligence Center in Washington, D.C.

Posobiec rose to prominence in MAGA circles during Trump's first term for promoting conspiracy theories like Pizzagate. / Rebecca Noble/Getty Images

Posobiec has not worked for the Naval Intelligence unit since 2017. That year, his security clearance was suspended after he promoted a WikiLeaks campaign to release classified emails from French President Emmanuel Macron. He also came under fire for posting a conspiracy theory, which President Trump later retweeted, about the white supremacist attack in Charlottesville.

At the time, Posobiec insisted that he had resigned from the Office of Naval Intelligence of his own accord because his support for President Trump had made him the victim of a toxic work climate.

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Since resigning from his Naval post, Posobiecs influence in MAGA circles has only grown. Vice President JD Vance wrote a glowing blurb for Posobiecs 2024 book, Unhumans: The Secret History of Communist Revolutions (and How to Crush Them).

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth even invited the influencer to join his trip to Europe in February. Though he did not attend, Posobiec later joined Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on a trip to Ukraine.

Posobiec voted in person in Pennsylvania in 2020, though he began casting doubt about the results nearly two months before the election. Tanya Posobiecs voting record from the same year shows she registered using their Maryland address. Her Facebook and Instagram bios list the familys location as Washington, DC.

During the 2024 election, Posobiec once again began preemptively casting doubt over the election results in Pennsylvania. A week before election day, he claimed via X that Thousands of fraudulent registrations have already been reported in multiple counties across PA. Trump ultimately won the state by over 120,000 votes.

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In September 2024, Posobiec accused Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija, a Democrat, of voting illegally by submitting his mail-in ballot before ballots were tested by the county. The RNC filed suit against Makhija over the allegation, but dropped the suit a few weeks later.

Though Prosbiec consistently votes in Pennsylvania, a 2020 Instagram post from his wife, Tanya Posobiec, shows the influencer in a backyard that matches the Hanover, Maryland, address listed on his 2024 donations to the Trump Campaign. / Instagram/@realtanyatay

Also in September 2024, the RNC invited Posobiec to speak to poll watchers in Michigan about how to catch and prevent voter fraud.

At the event, Posobiec told trainees, Think of yourself as the ground forces, as the army thats going to be out there, the eyes and ears of the Trump campaign, of the Republican party, there on the front line to say, we are going to catch you. He added, We want to get the truth out and the truth will always set us free in these instances.

During that election cycle, records from the Federal Election Commission show that Posobiec made 23 donations over a seven-month periodall under his Maryland addressto the Trump National Committee, the RNC, the Republican fundraising platform WinRed, and the Trump-affiliated PAC Never Surrender, Inc.

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That October, he shared images of himself on X voting early in Pennsylvania, writing, Just stopped by the county voting board and did the deed - easy.

SECURED THE BAG



Just stopped by the county voting board and did the deed - easy and even open on Sunday!



Vote Early, Pennsylvania! pic.twitter.com/VVMMwk827I  Jack Poso  (@JackPosobiec) October 13, 2024

His consistent record of voting in Pennsylvania while living in Maryland may violate the two states voter registration laws.

Members of the U.S. military are generally permitted to vote using their most recent legal address, regardless of where they currently reside. However, the four elections in which Posobiec has voted in Pennsylvania since leaving the Naval Intelligence Office in 2017 may still prove problematic.

Per Pennsylvanias voter registration laws, all voters must have been a resident of the district in which they plan to vote for at least 30 days leading up to the election. When asked whether an investigation has been opened into Posobiec, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday did not immediately respond to the Daily Beasts request for comment.
A tanker from Russia's "shadow fleet" detained by the French navy was heading towards the Suez Canal Friday with its captain back on board, according to data from maritime websites and a source close to the case.

The Boracay, blacklisted by the European Union for being part of Russia's sanctions-busting "shadow fleet" of ageing oil tankers, has been linked to mysterious drone flights over Denmark last month.

It had been boarded by French authorities on Saturday and its captain and first mate detained.

But it resumed its journey Thursday evening and was off the coast of western France on Friday morning, data from vessel tracking websites Marine Traffic and Vesselfinder showed.

The tanker's Chinese captain -- who had been due to appear in a French court in February over failing to comply with orders from the French navy -- and first mate were back on board, a source close to the case said.

"They were brought back to their ship after being released from custody," a source close to the case requesting anonymity told AFP.

French prosecutors said Thursday the vessel was stopped over inconsistencies in where it was officially registered while it was carrying a "large cargo of oil" from Russia to India. It claims to be flagged in Benin.

The ship has been linked to the series of mysterious drone flights over Denmark last month, including military sites, part of a recent spate of drone sightings and airspace violations in European countries blamed on Russia -- though Moscow denies responsibility.

The ship's detention and these airspace incidents are adding to tension between European nations and Moscow, already riding high over Russia's war on Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called France's detention of the Boracay "piracy" and vowed a "significant" response to what he called European threats.

French President Emmanuel Macron hailed the move, urging European countries to do more to thwart Moscow's efforts to skirt Western sanctions imposed after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Macron said Europe needed to "kill the business model" of using ageing, foreign-flagged tankers to transport Russian oil by detaining such ships.

He said military chiefs of countries in the European-led "coalition of the willing" supporting Ukraine would hold talks "in the coming days" on how to disrupt the so-called shadow fleet.

Estimated to include up to 1,000 ships, the "shadow fleet" is thought to represent "tens of billions of euros of Russia's budget" and make up "40 percent of the Russian war effort", according to Macron.

The vessels -- which fly flags of convenience, have opaque ownership and often turn their transponders off -- enable Moscow to keep exporting its crude oil for much-needed revenue despite curbs on exports.

Some of these ships are suspected of also carrying out sabotage operations.

According to shipping data analysed by AFP, the Boracay -- which has also been named the Pushpa or the Kiwala -- was positioned off Denmark during last month's drone incursions, which prompted brief airport closures.

But Macron stopped short of confirming reports of a connection to the Denmark drone flights.

A military source told AFP Russian ships were common off the French coast.

"Every day, between 10 and 15 vessels from the 'shadow fleet' sail off the coast of Brest," the source said.

The tanker left the Russian port of Primorsk near Saint Petersburg on September 20, shipping data showed.

According to data from the Marine Traffic tracker, the vessel was scheduled to arrive in Vadinar in northwestern India on October 20.
Heres what youll learn when you read this story:

A metal detectorist discovered ancient gold coins in the Netherlands that turned out to be a cult ritual offering.

Experts believe the money left at the location was devils money, an offering to pagan gods.

The worship site likely had ties to summer and autumn equinoxes thanks to the discovery of seasonally aligned post holes.

A metal detectorist recently came across a cache of more than 100 gold and silver coins buried underground in the Netherlands, prompting archaeologists to come further investigate the site. But knowing now what the coins were there for, perhaps the archaeologists shouldve left them alone.

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According to a study published in Medieval Archaeology, the coins, which sat buried for 1,300 years in the Netherlands, were likely used in cult rituals, and further around the site, archaeologists uncovered the remains of a seventh-century open-air cult site. Its more than plausible that the cache of coins was what was known as devils money, coin offerings common at pagan cult sites.

The metal detectorists made the find near Hezingen, a hamlet near the Netherlands border with Germany. The coins are from around 700 A.D.including some rare finds from the mints of the Frankish Empireand were found along with metal jewelry in 2020 and 2021.

There were a number of clues that helped the archaeologists deduce that the site where the coins were found was once the stomping grounds for a cult. There were rows of posts, evidence of a large residence in a clearing near an ancient road junction on a prominent elevated landscape, remnants of animal sacrifices, and more. They also determined that the gold coins and jewelry were placed there in intervals over 100 years and interspersed with the animal sacrifices, making it clear that the site once served as a ritual sacrifice location for pagan gods.

The archaeologists, led by Jan-Willem de Kort of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, located the signs of an old structure, likely from the sixth century, as well as 17 postholes for wooden posts that aligned with spring and autumn equinoxes, which tied the site to seasonal harvest rituals.

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The cult site was probably linked to a nearby high-status settlement with an enclosed cult house or ceremonial building, the study authors wrote. The offerings may have been linked to fertility rites as the posts were aligned with the rising and setting of the sun during the spring and autumn equinoxes.

In all, the gold and silver coins were discovered in three areas. One site had a single gold coin, while another had 24 fragmented or complete gold coins, along with silver and gold jewelry. The third site featured gold coins and jewelry. I think that this cult site was mainly used by local elites to emphasize their own status, and of course, you do that preeminently with valuables, de Kort said, according to Phys.org. The finds at the other cult sites are probably more the result of personal offerings and thus less precious.

The use of the site by elites and the timing of it all raises questions about the rise of Christianity in the area. The sites use curtailed in the 700s A.D., the study claims, earlier than the rise of Christianity in the region, leading the study authors to theorize that the areas leaders could have turned to Christianity earlier than others.

As prominent missionary texts spelled out, to have pre-Christian groups convert to Christianity, they would need to stop worshiping pagan gods and cease the sacrifice of the so-called devils money. Since Hezingen was abandoned by the early eighth century when Christianity began to spread, the study authors suggest the leaders of the townwealthy, as shown by the value of the gold and silverwere some of the first in the area to convert to Christianity.

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Military reconnaissance drones were behind the closure of Munich airport for the second night in a row, reports in Germany have said.

The airport, one of Germanys largest, was forced to ground flights late on Thursday and Friday before reopening from 7am local time (6am BST) on Saturday.

It was the latest in a series of mysterious drone overflights in European Union airspace and Nato member countries.

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Suspicion has fallen on Russia after marine tracking data recorded a vessel  believed to be part of Moscows so-called Shadow Fleet  operating in the seas around Denmark and Norway at the same time airports were forced to shut down there late last month.

Bild newspaper, which said it had obtained a classified report, said on Saturday that the drones responsible for the disruption in Munich were military reconnaissance drones, suggesting they were not drones that could be purchased off-the-shelf.

The German armed forces (Bundeswehr) said it had been supporting Munich airport since Friday in the area of drone detection.

Flights were grounded at Munich airport on Thursday and Friday - MICHAELA STACHE/AFP

A police helicopter was sent to the Bavarian airport to patrol the skies.

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The helicopter is circling Munich airports airspace for security purposes due to the drone incidents, an airport spokesman told the German tabloid.

The drones were spotted shortly before 11pm on Friday, with a police spokesman saying: One drone each was spotted at the same time, both on the north and south runways... the drones immediately turned around and disappeared, so they could not be identified.

Munich is about 180 miles from the nearest sea, suggesting the UAVs were land-launched. Stefan Bayer, another Munich police spokesman, said they had not been able to identify where from.

Drone sightings

Earlier this week, it was reported that suspicious drones were seen over Erding, a town a few kilometres away from the airport.

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A drone incident also occurred at Frankfurt airport overnight, officials said. A 41-year-old Croatian man was arrested and is being investigated.

Germany is also investigating Russias involvement in a swarm of drones seen spying on a power plant, hospital and military shipyard in the north of the country around Sept 25.

At least 6,500 passengers were impacted by the overnight airport closure from Friday into Saturday, Munich airport said.

Germany operates a night-time flight ban to avoid noise disturbance for residential areas, meaning that evening drone incursions are particularly disruptive at its airports.

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Photographs published by German newspaper Die Welt showed rows of passengers lying on sleeping bags on Friday night due to the disruption.

Stranded passengers were given inflatable mattresses to sleep at the airport - MICHAELA STACHE/AFP

The airport also provided stranded passengers with camper beds, so they could sleep there until flights resumed the following morning.

Camp beds were set up, and blankets, drinks, and snacks were distributed, a Munich airport spokesman said.

In total, 23 incoming flights were diverted and 12 were cancelled, while 46 departing flights were also cancelled.

Drone defence systems

German politicians have called for a new system to tackle drones following the disruption.

We urgently need a functioning drone defence system, Herbert Reul, North Rhine-Westphalias interior minister from the centre-Right Christian Democrats party, told German news agency DPA.

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Our security authorities must become more capable and more modern.

There have been a series of drone sightings over airports as well as other critical infrastructure sites in several European Union member countries.

Drones were spotted above a military base in Belgium overnight.

A drone incident in Oslo, the capital of Norway, which is a Nato member but not part of the EU, also affected flights there late last month.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the flyovers.

Tracking data for the Boracay, an 18-year-old tanker sanctioned for being part of Russias shadow fleet, showed that it left Russia on Sept 20 and sailed through the Baltic, where a string of mysterious swarms of drones were launched over the past two weeks.

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A Telegraph analysis of tracking data put the ship at the scene of the unexplained drone incursions, which Western leaders have warned are part of Moscows hybrid war against Nato and its allies.

However, that would not explain the Munich disruption on account of the airports distance from the sea.

Some experts have noted that anybody with drones could be behind them. Russian authorities have rejected claims of involvement, including in recent drone incidents in Denmark.

Alexander Dobrindt, Germanys interior minister, said he and some European counterparts would discuss the drone incursions, and a drone detection and defence plan at a meeting this weekend in Munich.

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Russian drones flying over airports could be punched out of the sky by a new Swedish defence system which is 16,000 times cheaper than a fighter jet.

Nordic Air Defence (NAD), a Stockholm-based tech firm, is building the low-cost mini-missile which uses kinetic force to knock out drones whirring over critical infrastructure, such as airports and factories, as seen across EU airspace in recent weeks.

The Kreuger 100 interceptor uses infrared sensors to hunt down hostile drones and ram them out of the sky at high speed, making it much safer to use in civilian areas than explosive projectiles.

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These airport incursions are the perfect example of why protecting public spaces against drones needs a more sophisticated solution than just shooting them down, Karl Rosander, the chief executive of NAD, told The Telegraph.

Were building a small, electricity-driven interceptor which is only kinetic. It doesnt have any warheads or explosives, it knocks the drone down by coming at high speed. This means police can use it in civil environments, he said.

We dont want to be shooting explosives over airports, so this would be perfect for what happened in Denmark. You avoid shooting expensive missiles, and burning fragments over civilian infrastructure, Mr Rosander added.

EU-wide drone menace

European Union leaders are urgently looking for ways to defend their airports after a string of suspected Russian drone incursions in Denmark, Norway and Germany.

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Their main challenge is safety, as shooting down drones with powerful missiles over civilian areas creates the risk of death, injuries and damage to key infrastructure.

Another major concern is cost: Russian drones can cost as little as 1,000 each, whereas Natos current tactic of scrambling fighter jets, as it did with success in Poland, is enormously expensive by comparison.

It is unacceptable to shoot down drones costing one or two thousand dollars with missiles that may cost half a million or even a million dollars, Mark Rutte, the secretary general of Nato, warned this week.

The key advantage of Mr Rosanders Kreuger system is that its estimated cost is as little as $5,000 (3,700), a fraction of the price of the F-15 and F-35 Nato fighter jets used to destroy drones over Poland last month.

A mobile anti-drone solution

Concept imagery showed the missiles could be launched in several ways  from a hand-held cannon, a rifle-like device, launch crates that contain projectiles, or vehicle-mounted systems.

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It would also be beneficial in a war zone, such as Ukraine, where drones are a constant threat to ground troops and hardware. The system would allow soldiers to take out bomb-laden FPV (first person view) drones that are increasingly difficult to jam or shoot out of the sky.

CGI footage showing the NAD missiles being fired from a vehicle-mounted system

The anti-drone systems currently used in Ukraine are also a military variant with an explosive warhead, rather than a kinetic missile which knocks them to the ground.

CGI footage released by the firm showed a battlefield scenario in which two quadcopter FPV drones carrying bombs are closing in on a military convoy. A vehicle on the ground, armed with the kinetic missiles, is shown launching the projectiles from a vehicle-mounted system to intercept and destroy the drones before they could reach their target.

German drone sightings

This week, Munich airport was closed overnight due to yet another suspected Russian drone incursion in Europe. The drones were first spotted at around 10.30pm on Thursday evening, and then again an hour later.

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More than a dozen flights were delayed or cancelled that evening, with passengers forced to sleep in the airport on camper beds until the next morning when flights were allowed to resume.

The NAD missiles can also be fired from a hand-held cannon

Germany last week also recorded other drone sightings in the northwestern state of Schleswig-Holstein, where a fuel refinery, a regional parliament, a power plant, a hospital and a shipyard were targeted.

This followed similar drone incursions last week at airports in Denmark and Norway, including the formers Aalborg and Karup military sites.

Mini-missiles are not the only new anti-drone systems being explored by EU leaders, who have also considered building a so-called drone wall.

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The wall would consist of radars and air defences placed along the Europeans eastern flank with Russia and its main regional ally, Belarus.

CGI footage of a NAD mini-missile being fired from a launch crate

On Friday, the European Union held its first formal discussions on how to build a drone wall, inviting Ukraine and ten other EU member states, mostly Baltic and Nordic countries.

Hungary and Slovakia, which have grown increasingly Kremlin-friendly in recent years, were initially not included in the discussions. However, both countries later sent representatives to the meeting in Brussels.

Drone wall drawbacks

We need to strengthen our production of drones, of anti-drone capabilities, and this includes building up a European network of anti-drone measures that can protect and, of course, also neutralise intrusion from outside, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said at a summit in Copenhagen this week.

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But experts said the drone wall could be hugely expensive, and it would only prevent incursions of drones launched from Russian or Belarusian territory flying over land.

Munich airport was forced to close earlier this week after a suspected Russian drone incursion - Michaele Stache/AFP

It would need to be uniform in terms of its structure and technology to make sure it was effective across the whole eastern flank, Mr Rosander noted.

Youd have to agree on one standard for all Europe, its quite a big challenge I must say, he said. To be able to do this, its a multi-layered solution and complicated. You have to unite on one system that controls all of it.

It would also demand the total political commitment of all EU countries on the eastern flank. Otherwise, it would lead to an airspace gap that Russian drone swarms could easily slip through.

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Another reason the drone wall would be just part of a solution for Europe is that it has no use for preventing hostile drone launches within the EUs borders.

With this in mind, some European countries are working on their own reforms at the national level to better defend against drones.

In Germany, the government is planning to change its armys rules of engagement so that they are allowed to shoot down drones if they pose a threat to critical infrastructure.

Denmark this week sought to avoid any further incursions over Copenhagen during a European summit by imposing a blanket ban on civilian drones.

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In the long run, this tactic could create its own issues as small civilian drones are highly popular among hobby enthusiasts, as well as photographers seeking to take aerial photographs.

Another piece of technology which could support airports is the handheld radio frequency jammer, which can force a drone to land, or even send it flying in a different direction.

However, the jammers are said to have a low range of effect.

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An Afghan judge who spent years jailing Taliban terrorists was wrongly blocked from coming to Britain, the High Court has ruled.

The judge, known only as ACG, served for more than two decades in Afghanistans judiciary, including five years at Kabuls anti-terrorism court, where he presided over hundreds of trials.

These included sentencing to death a Taliban terrorist who organised a suicide-bombing attack on a supermarket in Kabul regularly used by foreign nationals, including people working for the UK government and Armed Forces.

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The judge sought to come to the UK under the Afghan relocation and assistance policy (Arap), designed for Afghan citizens who worked alongside or in partnership with the UK government.

ACG claimed that he had received training from the government, provided reports on cases for British officials and also attended seminars and conferences organised by them.

His claim, however, was rejected by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), forcing him to appeal to the High Court in a bid to overturn it and allow him to escape risks to his life.

Mr Justice Lane, the High Court judge, has backed ACGs claim, saying that the MoDs decision should be reversed.

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The move comes just months after a data breach of the personal details of Afghans who worked with the British put their security at risk and paved the way for more than 7,300 of them to be resettled in the UK.

ACG worked for more than 20 years as a judge until the Taliban takeover in 2021. For five years of that time, he was a judge in the anti-terrorism court. He estimated that during his time as director of the panel of judges, he oversaw some 360 cases concerning Taliban members or other terrorist activity.

Among those he sentenced to death was Mohammed Khan, who organised the suicide bomb attack on the supermarket in Kabul in 2010. He also sentenced Maulawi Qudratullah, a prominent Taliban terrorist, to a long spell in jail.

In his submission to the High Court, ACG set out the risks he faced. For example, Qudratullah was released when the Taliban returned to power, becoming governor of Panjshir province. Others whom he sentenced to death were also released .

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The High Court accepted that being a judge in itself did not justify his inclusion on the Arap scheme, but he also had to show that he had worked for or with the UK government.

In statements to the court, the ACG maintained he had received training on equipment and security from government officials, and that those government representatives had also sat with anti-terrorist judges on cases.

The Afghan judge sentenced to death many Taliban fighters while at the anti-terrorism court - Getty Images/Sanaullah Seiam

The government had also helped the anti-terrorism court move to more secure premises and refurbished the new compound to ensure judges could be separated from prisoners.

A review of his claim by the MoD in February rejected his application for Arap, saying the judge had not provided any evidence in support of these claims.

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Your claims of receiving training and equipment from UK government officials and military personnel does not, to the satisfaction of the decision maker, constitute working in Afghanistan alongside a UK government department, in partnership with or closely supporting and assisting that department, the review ruled.

The High Court, however, rejected the reviews finding, accepting the Afghan judges claim that the MoD had erred in its interpretation of working alongside the British, and so had failed lawfully to consider his evidence in light of the Arap scheme.

Mr Justice Lane ruled that the review decision should be quashed.

A new one will need to be made, no doubt expeditiously, he said.

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In November 1957, police in the aptly named Plainfield, Wisconsin, entered the remote farmhouse of 51-year-old handyman Ed Gein after hed been arrested in connection with the disappearance of a local shopkeeper. What they uncovered inside would inspire some of the greatest horror films of the 20th century, including Alfred Hitchcocks 1960 classic Psycho. The shopkeeper, 58-year-old Bernice Worden, had been strung upside down, decapitated and dressed out like a deer, authorities said. After searching Geins house, police found a nightmarish array of paraphernalia made from human remains, including face masks, bowls made from skulls, and, most horrifying of all, a woman suit crafted from female skin. The local sheriff, Art Schley, was reportedly so disturbed by the scene that those close to him attributed it to his untimely death of heart failure aged 43 in 1968. He would not live to see Geins trial.

While Gein has inspired fictional psychopaths such as Psychos Norman Bates, Leatherface in Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs (1991), he has never been directly reincarnated in a major Hollywood film or TV series  until now. The so-called Butcher of Plainfield is the latest subject in Ryan Murphy's controversial Monster anthology, which has previously dramatised the crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer in 2022 and the Menendez brothers in 2024. British actor Charlie Hunnam plays Gein in this new instalment, which looks set to explore the killers troubled upbringing and obsession with his mother, as well as his legacy in Hollywood (Tom Hollander has been cast as Hitchcock in the series).

Unlike Dahmer or his murderous contemporary John Wayne Gacy, Gein was not a prolific killer  he only had two known victims; the rest of his human accessories were crafted from corpses hed robbed from cemeteries. The two women Gein killed, he executed very swiftly, just because they reminded him of his mother, and he probably ran out of corpses in the local graveyard, true-crime author Harold Schechter tells me. I mean, he was basically a necrophile. It was not the nature of Geins killings that created a mythic villain; it was who he was and what he did with the bodies afterwards. In every community, there is some house off the beaten path where kids tell stories that some monster lives there. It's like Boo Radley and To Kill a Mockingbird, says Schechter. But in the Gein case, it was true. There really was this monster living in this ramshackle house off the beaten path. He was like some fairytale ogre come to life.

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In the late 1980s, Schechter travelled to Plainfield, where he interviewed Geins neighbours, people he had known and the judge who presided in his case, culminating in his 1989 book, Deviant: The Shocking True Story of the Original Psycho. The book helped bring Gein into the mainstream consciousness. I actually thought I was inventing a new literary genre, because I didnt think of it as true crime. I thought of it as true horror, says Schechter.

Gein had an isolated upbringing. His father, George, was a violent alcoholic and his mother, Augusta, was a domineering, religious fanatic who instilled in him a toxic fear of women and sexuality. Gein nevertheless idolised her  a feature that inspired Bates in Psycho and the famous line, A boys best friend is his mother. When Augusta died in 1945, Gein was devastated and set about boarding up rooms used by his mother while he lived in increasingly squalid conditions in a small room off the kitchen. As Schechter writes in Deviant, he had lost his only friend and one true love. And he was absolutely alone in the world.

After his arrest, Gein confessed that between 1947 and 1952 he had made as many as 40 nocturnal trips to local cemeteries, slipping into a trance" as he exhumed the bodies of recently buried corpses. Investigators later verified evidence of at least 10 such grave robberies across three graveyards. In the years following Augustas death, Gein had begun fashioning a woman suit. According to forensic psychologist and author Katherine Ramsland, the garment was intended to allow him to become his mother  to literally crawl into her skin. To achieve this, he needed fresh corpses resembling Augusta herself. During questioning, Gein admitted to killing 51-year-old tavern owner Mary Hogan, who had vanished in December 1954. Her severed head was discovered in his farmhouse  though Gein claimed to have no memory of the circumstances of her death. The killer also denied having sex with the bodies he exhumed, explaining: They smelled too bad.

Ed Gein (centre) was arrested in 1957 but didnt face trial until a decade later, where he was finally found guilty but legally insane (Courtesy of MGM+/Getty)

Geins background raises the question of whether monsters are born or made. Hitchcocks film centred on his antagonists sexual repression, framed in the context of post-war America. Polite society burdens us with the fiction that these urges do not exist, Hollanders Hitchcock says in an early episode of Monster. That transforms these urges into secrets we must hide. These secrets make us sick. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Murphy and his co-creator Ian Brennan claimed their focus was less on Geins mental illness and more on how the criminal justice and mental health systems handled him. To me, whats interesting is not so much the crimes but everything else that surrounds the crimes, Murphy said. If you walk away from Ed Gein and all you want to talk about are the two murders, well, that says a lot about you.

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Gein was arraigned in court on murder charges in late 1957, but was declared unfit to stand trial after being diagnosed with schizophrenia. He spent a decade in mental health institutions before authorities determined he was capable of participating in his own defence, and he finally faced court. In the end, the jury returned a verdict of guilty but legally insane, and Gein was sentenced to life in a psychiatric institution, where he died quietly of respiratory failure in 1984 at the age of 77.

Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam is the latest actor to take on a serial killer in Ryan Murphys Monster anthology (Courtesy of Netflix)

Schechter believes its possible to feel a certain amount of sympathy for Gein because of the conditions under which he lived. He believes he lacked the truly evil core that manifested itself in people like Dahmer and Gacy, who derived pleasure from torturing their victims. Once [Gein] was arrested and put in these institutions, he was just a harmless old guy, living better than he'd ever lived before From what Ive seen, Ryan Murphy and his collaborators have turned him into much more of a serial killer than he really was. Schechter worries, for instance, about scenes depicting Gein with a chainsaw, which he never used, and torturing a young woman played by influencer-turned-pop-star Addison Rae: That's not what Gein did at all.

Tom Hollander plays Alfred Hitchcock in 'Monster: The Ed Gein Story' (Courtesy of Netflix)

Murphy has long faced criticism for taking creative licence with notorious murderers, a debate that was particularly intense with Dahmer, whose crimes largely took place in the 1980s. Critics argued that the show risked glamourising Dahmer, portraying him with a level of nuance and charisma that could overshadow the suffering of his victims and their families, many of whom are still alive. With Gein, Murphy is retreating into the safer territory of the 1950s (and even further still with the forthcoming fourth season of Monster, centred on Lizzie Borden, a young woman acquitted of axe murder in the 1890s). Despite his fears about the historical accuracy of Murphys adaptation, Schechter believes these stories are fair game. They serve some kind of purpose in helping people confront and control their fears, he says. Turning these unspeakable acts into a story, gives you a sense of control over them. As Hunnams Gein says in the trailer, staring into the souls of the viewer, Youre the one who cant look away.

Monster: The Ed Gein Story is out now on Netflix
Protests in Italy in solidarity with the Gaza aid flotilla stopped by Israel continue unabated on Saturday, with large crowds gathering for a fresh demonstration in Rome.

The organizers spoke of several hundred thousand participants, but there are no official figures from the authorities.

Since the Israeli Navy stopped the Gaza flotilla, there have been protests in Italy on an almost daily basis.

People carrying banners and Palestinian flags took part in a march from Porta San Paolo to Porta San Giovanni, passing by the Colosseum. They shouted Free Palestine and other slogans.

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The Italian news agency ANSA reported that flags of the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia were also waved during the march.

According to the report, some demonstrators also carried a banner with the slogan: "October 7 - Day of Palestinian Resistance."

On October 7, 2023, Hamas and other extremists carried out an unprecedented massacre in southern Israel, leaving around 1,200 people dead.

On Friday, trade unions called for a general strike in solidarity with the Global Sumud Flotilla, the largest aid flotilla for Gaza to date.

Nationwide demonstrations attracted more than 2 million people, according to organizers. However, the Interior Ministry estimated the number of participants at just under 400,000.

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The Israeli Navy intercepted the flotilla with more than 400 crew members from dozens of countries, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, and took them into custody,

According to the activists, they wanted to bring aid supplies to Gaza. Israel had offered to bring the aid supplies ashore via harbours outside Gaza and from there to the Palestinian coastal area. Activists rejected this saying they believe Israel's Gaza blockade is illegal under international law.
By Karin Strohecker and Jorn Poltz

MUNICH (Reuters) -Drones have been spotted at airports and military installations across Germany over the past two days, Bild newspaper quoted a confidential police report as saying, suggesting sightings this week at Munich Airport were the tip of the iceberg.

Dozens of flights were diverted or cancelled at Munich Airport on Friday after both runways were closed following the second drone sighting in two days. Operations resumed, with delays, on Saturday morning.

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There is mounting concern that Russia could be behind a growing number of recent drone incursions in the airspace of Ukraine's European allies. Russia, which is fighting a war in Ukraine, has denied any involvement.

DRONES SPOTTED AT MUNICH AIRPORT ARE 'USED MILITARILY'

Quoting the confidential police report which it said it had seen, Bild said on its website the drones spotted at Munich Airport were "used militarily", without giving further details or saying where they had come from.

Other sightings in the past three days, it said, included a drone seen on Friday morning flying about 700 metres (0.4 miles) from Frankfurt Airport, Germany's largest hub, and a small aircraft reported flying over an ammunition depot in northern Germany on Friday afternoon.

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Three drones were also seen the day before, seemingly flying in formation, above a base of the Federal Police's airborne unit near the northern town of Gifhorn, it said.

A 41-year-old Croatian man has been detained and is being investigated for public order violations in connection with the Frankfurt incident, the newspaper said.

MINISTER SAYS 'WE ARE IN AN ARMS RACE'

The German defence ministry confirmed a media report that drones had been spotted flying over Erding military base near Munich Airport at around the time of the airport's first closure on Thursday evening.

The Erding base is home to some of the German armed forces' drone research and development.

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Police have disclosed no details about the nature or origin of the drones. Those sightings left about 11,500 passengers stranded over two evenings and caused dozens of flights to be cancelled, diverted or postponed.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, hosting a migration-focussed summit of European interior ministers in Munich on Saturday, told reporters he would equip police with a drone defence unit.

"We are in an arms race," he said. "We want to rise to that challenge."

European aviation has repeatedly been thrown into chaos in recent weeks by drone sightings and air incursions.

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Dobrindt has promised legislation making it easier for the police to ask the military to shoot drones down.

(Reporting by Karin Strohecker and Mrinmay Dey, additional reporting by Kirsti Knolle; Writing by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Chris Reese, Rosalba O'Brien, William Mallard and Timothy Heritage)
JAMAICA, Queens (PIX11)  A murder-suicide investigation is underway after two people were found shot in the head inside a home in Queens late Friday night, according to sources.

A 37-year-old man and a 41-year-old man were found with gunshot wounds to the head at 155-18 116 Road in Jamaica just after 11:45 p.m. on Friday, sources said.

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The 37-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene, while the 41-year-old was transported to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, sources told PIX11 News.

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The investigation into what may have led up to this incident remains ongoing.

Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work can be found here.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  As international tourism to Oregon continues to wane, industry experts worry that the decision to deploy troops to Portland could make matters worse.

We are concerned that the recent decision to deploy the Oregon National Guard in Portland could have a negative effect on visitation to the city, Marcus Hibdon, vice president of communications for Travel Portland, said in an email. However, visitors should know that the areas where it has been stated that the Oregon National Guard will be deployed are far away from the most popular visitor neighborhoods and attractions and located in isolated areas of the city that are very easy to avoid.

Troops were previously expected to arrive on Thursday, but delays were possible, the Oregon Military Department said. As of Friday afternoon, National Guard members had not yet been seen on the ground in Portland.

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When they do arrive, National Guard members are expected to perform federal functions for 60 days, which includes protecting the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland.

We expect the rest of our city will be completely unaffected, with lots to offer our guests, Hibdon said.

Data from the current week wont be reflected in lodging performance reports until mid-October. Even when that data is available, he said there wont be any way to determine if any potential changes in performance are linked to the presence of troops or something else.

As KOIN 6 News previously reported, international tourism to Oregon has declined, with some would-be visitors blaming President Trump.

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According to Travel Oregon, the research firm Tourism Economics estimates that international visitation will decline by 16.1%, and overseas visitors will decline by 2.4%. They cite political tensions and uncertainty as contributing factors to the decline in tourism across the U.S. this year, with the steepest decline coming from Canadian travelers.

Most of the travel spending in Oregon currently comes from out-of-state visitors. In 2024, Oregon residents made up about 37% of travel spending, while out-of-state residents accounted for 57%. International visitors accounted for roughly 5% of travel spending in the state.

In 2024, visitors from Washington spent $3 billion in Oregon, and Californians spent $2 billion. Idahoans brought $1.1 billion to Oregons economy. Arizona visitors spent $300 million, while tourists from Michigan spent $200 million in Oregon.

The states international visitors mostly come from Canada, China and the United Kingdom. In 2024, Canadians spent $232.5 million in Oregon. Visitors from China spent $65.2 million, and visitors from the U.K. spent $39.5 million. Guests from India, who had the next highest visitor spending, spent $39.1 million in the state, followed by Germany, which spent $34.5 million.

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In Portland, Mayor Keith Wilson recently walked back a plan to extend the citys pay-to-park hours, citing a downtown economy that is still in recovery. Local business leaders also released a letter voicing their disapproval of the deployment of federal troops to the city.

According to the most recent data from the Oregon Tourism Commissions Lodging Statistics dashboard, occupancy rates for August were down 5.1% year-over-year in Portland. Year-to-date, the citys occupancy rate is -2.9%. Demand for rooms in the city was also -4.4% for August, and -2.8% year-to-date.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
CHICAGO  In the desert, he realized Humvees dont uphold the Constitution: People do.

Twenty years later, Iraq War veteran Aaron Hughes continues spreading his realization that soldiers can better champion American ideals by following their conscience over orders.

The 42-year-old is sharing the message more vociferously than ever as President Donald Trump moves to deploy troops to cities around the United States in what the president says is an effort to fight crime and support immigration enforcement.

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"When people withdraw themselves from the gears of the machine, thats power, and service members need to know they have power to withdraw their consent," said the Chicago-area native.

Debris and personal belongings sit on the floor of an empty apartment in a complex where 37 people were detained during a large-scale ICE raid on Sept. 30, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Oct. 2, 2025. Broken exterior windows of an apartment complex where 37 people were detained during a large-scale ICE raid on Sept. 30, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Oct. 2, 2025. Debris and personal items belonging to Venezuelan immigrants sit in the hallway of an apartment complex, where 37 people were detained during a large-scale ICE raid on Sept. 30, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Oct. 2, 2025. Debris and personal belongings sit on the floor of an empty apartment in a complex where 37 people were detained during a large-scale ICE raid on Sept. 30, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Oct. 2, 2025. Workers remove debris from units of an apartment complex where 37 people were detained during a large-scale ICE raid on Sept. 30, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Oct. 2, 2025. The exterior of an apartment complex where 37 people were detained during a large-scale ICE raid on Sept. 30, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Oct. 2, 2025. Laundry room of an apartment complex where 37 people were detained during a large-scale ICE raid on Sept. 30, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Oct. 2, 2025. A worker throws an item out of an apartment complex where 37 people were detained during a large-scale ICE raid on Sept. 30, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Oct. 2, 2025. The broken exterior windows of an apartment complex where 37 people were detained during a large-scale ICE raid on Sept. 30, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Oct. 2, 2025. See aftermath from large-scale ICE raid in Chicago apartment building 1 of 9 Debris and personal belongings sit on the floor of an empty apartment in a complex where 37 people were detained during a large-scale ICE raid on Sept. 30, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Oct. 2, 2025.

Hughes is an Illinois-based member of About Face: Veterans Against the War, an organization formed to stop "militarism and endless wars" that has been slamming the White Houses efforts to use soldiers to police Americans and is urging troops to resist being deployed.

"Were trying to rebuild the GI resistance movement," said Hughes, referring to the sweeping efforts veterans and service members made to end the Vietnam War. "We don't want our brothers and sisters participating in this authoritarian adventurism."

Efforts to build a new resistance movement come as Trump deploys troops to Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Memphis, Tennessee. Most recently, troops have deployed to Portland, Oregon and are expected to deploy to Chicago.

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The Trump administration has already signaled an unwillingness to allow dissent in the ranks. At a recent gathering of generals, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lambasted "decades of decay" at the Pentagon and said that new measures would weed out political correctness among the world's most powerful armed forces.

"If the words I'm speaking today are making your heart sink," Hegseth told hundreds of generals. "Then you should do the honorable thing and resign."

A pastor reads the Bible during a standoff with police officers outside the Broadview ICE facility, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Ill. on Nov.1, 2025. Law enforcement officers operate during a protest near the Broadview ICE facility, following U.S. President Donald Trump's order to increase the federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Broadview, a suburb of Chicago, Ill. on Nov. 1, 2025. Protesters stand outside the Broadview ICE facility, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Ill. on Nov. 1, 2025. A protester records a Cook County Sheriff's police officer outside the Broadview ICE facility, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Ill. on Nov. 1, 2025. Flowers lay near the feet of Illinois State Police officers outside the Broadview ICE facility, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Ill. on Nov. 1, 2025. Police confront demonstrators during.a protest outside of the immigration processing and detention facility on Oct. 11, 2025 in Broadview, Illinois. Demonstrations have been taking place outside of the facility for several weeks as the Trump administration's Operation Midway Blitz has been underway, arresting and detaining immigrants in the Chicago area. Demonstrators in costume protest outside of the immigration processing and detention facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Oct. 12, 2025. Demonstrators with opposing viewpoint argue outside of the immigration processing and detention facility on Oct. 12, 2025 in Broadview, Illinois. Demonstrations have been taking place outside of the facility for several weeks as the Trump administration's Operation Midway Blitz has been underway, arresting and detaining immigrants in the Chicago area. Community members attend a religious service in a designated "Free Speech Zone" outside of the immigration processing and detention facility on Oct. 12, 2025 in Broadview, Illinois. Demonstrations have been taking place outside of the facility for several weeks as the Trump administration's Operation Midway Blitz has been underway, arresting and detaining immigrants in the Chicago area. Demonstrators stand outside a cordoned-off area during a standoff with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and federal officers in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, October 4, 2025. Police clash with demonstrators during a protest outside an immigrant processing and detention center on October 3, 2025 in Broadview, Illinois. The site has been the target of frequent protests as federal law enforcement agents continue Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area, an operation designed to apprehend and deport undocumented immigrants living in the area. A protester washes chemical irritant from his eyes after federal agents deployed tear gas and pepper balls outside of the ICE processing facility on Sept. 26, 2025, in Broadview, Illinois. People protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Ill., Oct. 3, 2025. People protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Oct. 3, 2025. Federal agents detain a protester outside of the Broadview ICE processing facility, after President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence in Chicago to assist in crime prevention, in Broadview, Ill., Sept. 26, 2025. A protester runs as pepper balls are fired by federal agents outside of the Broadview ICE processing facility, Sept. 26, 2025. Federal agents detain a protester outside of the Broadview ICE processing facility, Sept. 26, 2025. U.S. Border Patrol agents and police keep watch as people protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Oct. 3, 2025. People protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Ill., Oct. 3, 2025. A demonstrator is detained as people protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Ill., Oct. 3, 2025. A police officer holds a demonstrator as people protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Ill., Oct. 3, 2025. A man is detained as people protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Ill., Oct. 3, 2025. A demonstrator is detained as people protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Ill., Oct. 3, 2025. A demonstrator is detained as people protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Oct. 3, 2025. Military veterans hold a press conference to express support for a 70-year-old Air Force veteran who was shoved to the ground before being taken into custody for standing in a roadway while protesting last week outside of an immigrant processing and detention center on Oct. 2, 2025 in Broadview, Ill.. The site has been the target of frequent protests as federal law enforcement agents continue Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area, an operation designed to apprehend and deport undocumented immigrants living in the area. Supporters of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), waving U.S. flags, argue with an anti-ICE protester about immigrant detention outside the Broadview ICE facility, amid heightened federal security following President Donald Trump's order to expand federal presence and intensify immigration enforcement in Chicago through the Department of Homeland Security, in Broadview, Ill., on Oct. 2, 2025. Activists protest outside of an immigrant processing and detention center on Oct. 2, 2025 in Broadview, Ill. A federal law enforcement agents confronts demonstrators from the turret of an armored vehicle during a protest outside an immigrant processing and detention center on October 3, 2025 in Broadview, Illinois. The site has been the target of frequent protests as federal law enforcement agents continue Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area, an operation designed to apprehend and deport undocumented immigrants living in the area. Chicago protests push back against increased federal immigration raids 1 of 28 A pastor reads the Bible during a standoff with police officers outside the Broadview ICE facility, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Ill. on Nov.1, 2025.

Quantico meeting takeaways: Hegseth rips Pentagon 'decay,' 'fat generals'

Vets rally around the country

Hughes and other Chicago-area veterans are just a chapter in About Faces national efforts to rally troops to refuse what they view as Trumps "unlawful orders" to deploy to American cities.

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In Washington, DC, the group members were arrested protesting the deployment of soldiers to Los Angeles; outside military bases, including Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune, theyve set up billboards questioning if supporting immigration agents is what soldiers signed up; and as Trump threatened to send troops to Baltimore, members rallied against the planned potential deployment.

"A lot of vets out there are feeling really devastated right now to see everything they had felt they signed up to protect crumble," said About Face Organizing Director Brittany Ramos DeBarros. But, "there's still an opportunity for us to stand up for the values we signed up for."

DeBarros said the local chapter organizations are staging protests around the country, trying to spread information about what options troops facing deployment have and eventually develop more legal avenues for troops to claim conscientious objection.

Oct 1, 2025; Washington, DC, USA; National Guard patrol near the National Gallery of Art on the morning of the first day of the federal government shutdown on October 1, 2025, after President Donald Trump and congressional leaders failed to reach a funding compromise.

"I know there are thousands and thousands of vets out there who would agree with us but havent heard of us," said DeBarros, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. "I want people to know the door is open and theres a community here that will have your back."

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DeBarros said the organization has about 2,000 members nationwide at the moment, but that hundreds of new members have joined in recent months. Among them are active-duty soldiers, said the former Army captain, who resigned from her position in 2018 after being investigated by the military for speaking out against the war in Afghanistan.

More: Trump orders troops to Portland, Oregon; governor and mayor push back

Can soldiers claim conscientious objection?

Soldiers do have at least one path to resisting orders to deploy: Conscientious objection. The process refers to soldiers who wont fight based on moral or religious grounds.

But conscientious objection is a narrowly defined status that can be difficult to claim because a soldier must object to all conflicts to qualify, not just a single deployment, several experts told USA TODAY.

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"If you are willing to be part of an armed force but just dont like this moment, then you dont qualify," Steve Woolford, a GI Rights Hotline worker, told USA TODAY. "For those people, the military considers that a political objection."

Woolford, who has been taking calls at the GI Rights Hotline since before Sept. 11, 2001, said in recent months hes seen about a 50% uptick in calls from soldiers interested in conscientious objection or in exploring options to resist orders to deploy to U.S. cities.

"Theres people asking a lot of different questions they werent asking before because theyre seeing themselves in roles they didnt expect to see themselves in," said Woolford. "Theyre not talking about things in political ways, theyre not shirkers, theyre people who are dedicated to serving the country, willing to risk their lives and they don't want to feel like theyre doing something wrong."

More: ICE wants National Guard troops in Chicago amid 'riots' and arrests. Governor fights back

Can soldiers refuse orders?

The U.S. military is a volunteer fighting force, but while in the service, soldiers cant pick and choose which orders to follow. Doing so could lead to serious consequences, including years in prison, according to Steve Levin, a University of Maryland Carey School of Law professor.

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"In the military, disobeying a lawful order threatens the entire chain of command," said Levin, on why resisting orders can be a serious offense. "The system depends on discipline and the military runs on instant obedience for the simple reason that defiance can cost lives."

The only exception, according to Levin and other legal experts, is for unlawful orders, though meeting that standard can be exceedingly difficult, even as Trump opponents, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, call deployments illegal.

"Under the present deployments, the legality of the orders is dubious, but historically its not within the ken of any individual service members to make a decision," said John W. Hall, a professor of military history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Can soldiers resist anyway?

A soldier in the National Guard cleared leaves with a leaf-blower on Aug. 28 at McPherson Square in Washington, D.C. Members of the Louisiana National Guard patrol the perimeter of Union Station in Washington, DC, as President Donald Trump's deployment of National Guard troops and federal takeover of Metro Police Department continues on Aug. 26, 2025. Members of the National Guard stand outside Union Station on August 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy federal officers and the National Guard to the District and also placed the DC Metropolitan Police Department under federal control. District of Columbia National Guard members positioned along with United States Capitol Police at Union Station in Washington, DC on Thursday, August 14, 2025. A person yells in protest at members of the National Guard as they stand outside Union Station on August 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. A cyclist passes a National Guard vehicle near the Lincoln Memorial on August 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. District of Columbia National Guard members patrol Washington, DC, on Aug. 14, 2025. National Guard troops patrol the National Mall on Aug. 12, 2025, in Washington, DC. U.S. Army National Guard Humvees park near the Washington Monument after President Donald Trump announced a federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department under the Home Rule Act to assist with crime prevention in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., August 12, 2025. Members of the Washington DC National Guard pose for photos with a tourist near the Washington Monument on August 12, 2025 in Washington, DC. National Guard troops are deployed to the Washington Monument as part of President Trump's mobilization of law enforcement on August 12, 2025 in Washington, DC. National Guard troops walk along the National Mall on August 12, 2025 in Washington, DC. District of Columbia National Guard soldiers carrying boxers of MREOs (Meals Read to Eat) at the DC Armory on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered an increased federal law enforcement presence across the streets of Washington, D.C. District of Columbia National Guard soldiers arriving at the DC Armory on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered an increased federal law enforcement presence across the streets of Washington, D.C. District of Columbia National Guard soldiers arriving at the DC Armory on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered an increased federal law enforcement presence across the streets of Washington, D.C.. The president has increasingly criticized crime in Washington even as itOs reached a 30-year low. Trump in a social media post on Aug. 10 said that the homeless in D.C. "have to move out, IMMEDIATELY," but he did not elaborate on how that will be accomplished. Members of the District of Columbia Army National Guard walk out of the D.C. Armory building on August 12, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered an increased federal law enforcement presence across the streets of Washington, D.C.. The president has increasingly criticized crime in Washington even as its reached a 30-year low. District of Columbia National Guard soldiers arrive on Aug. 12, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered an increased federal law enforcement presence across Washington, DC. District of Columbia National Guard soldiers arrive at the DC Armory on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered an increased federal law enforcement presence across the streets of Washington, D.C.. Members of the District of Columbia Army National Guard walk out of the D.C. Armory building on August 12, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered an increased federal law enforcement presence across the streets of Washington, D.C.. The president has increasingly criticized crime in Washington even as its reached a 30-year low. District of Columbia National Guard soldiers arrive at the DC Armory on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered an increased federal law enforcement presence across the streets of Washington, D.C. District of Columbia National Guard soldiers arrive at the DC Armory on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered an increased federal law enforcement presence across the streets of Washington, D.C. A District of Columbia National Guard soldier arrives at the DC Armory on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, after President Donald Trump ordered an increased federal law enforcement presence across the streets of Washington, D.C. The scene in Washington, DC, as National Guard troops deploy on the streets 1 of 22 A soldier in the National Guard cleared leaves with a leaf-blower on Aug. 28 at McPherson Square in Washington, D.C.

A lack of legal options hasnt stopped U.S. soldiers from resisting orders in the past.

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"The U.S. has had a democratic tradition when it comes to military service where, though you pay a price for dissent, when that occurs, its a warning to the political leadership that even the troops who are ordered to do these things will speak out," said David Cortright, a professor at the Notre Dame Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

Cortright participated in that kind of resistance himself after being drafted to serve in the Vietnam War. Stationed in New York, he participated in protests in Manhattan when he was off duty and signed a petition against the war.

His efforts to resist got him reassigned to a base in Texas, where "all we did was clean the barracks floor continuously for months," said Cortright.

"If you join in protests, you have to know or expect you could face punishment, commanders never like it when their soldiers disagree with the mission. But back with Vietnam, we didnt care," he said. "The thinking soldier is a real thing, thank goodness for our society, were not just robots."

'Legacy of freedom fighters,' vet says

Hughes signed up to join the National Guard at an armory in Chicago before 9/11, imagining he would be helping flood victims or sandbagging the Mississippi River. Instead, he deployed to Iraq and Kuwait, where a gung-ho belief in the mission gave way to misgivings.

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"I wanted to go help build a democracy, but it didn't take long to realize occupying forces don't build democracies," Hughes said.

Hughes and others began resisting orders in passive ways, showing up late or taking patrols extra slowly.

For Hughes, it was the start of a new sense of patriotism: U.S. soldiers dont just follow orders, they uphold American ideals and sometimes that means refusing orders. In About Face, he discovered thousands of other soldiers who felt the same way.

"Its often that they think theyre alone and theyre not, theres a history and legacy of freedom fighters that they are a part of that we want to connect them to," Hughes said. "What gives me hope is that the figures who have captured our security state still depend on people complying and acting out their orders and historically, those people have shown that when things are unjust and immoral, we have the power to withdraw our consent."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vets call on National Guard to refuse deployment orders
MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (WNCT)  The North Carolina Seafood Festival says they are putting an emphasis on highlighting local seafood and fishermen for their 39th year.

It comes after House Bill 442 proposed to ban shrimp trawling in inland waters and near the coast, which commercial fisherman said would threaten their livelihoods. The House of Representatives stalled the bill, but some local commercial fishermen have since said they have felt unsupported by the festival

Its no secret that weve had a very tough year as a seafood festival conquering that image and bringing back that heritage of the festival, Kenny Bradberry, festival chair said. We are serving local seafood and showcasing how hard the men and women work on our waters here.

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Up and down Morehead Citys waterfront vendors are touting Got to be NC Seafood signs.

This year we have brought in a team to go around and verify the fresh seafood thats being served up and down the waterfront throughout various vendors, Bradberry said.

The festival is also addressing the issue by putting new members on their board, showing displays from the Division Marine Fisheries and the Fishermens Village and inviting legislators to hear from local chefs during Fridays Chefs Tent event.

They could do a lot to talk about our commercial fishermen, not just for the Morehead City or Downeast area, but really the whole the whole coast of North Carolina. Executive Director Nick Eatmon said.

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One of those local vendors is Southern Breeze Seafood who have a market in Jacksonville. Owner John Mallette is also a commercial fisherman and says he feels supported by the festival.

Its not just the fishermen that need it, Mallette said. The people that go out to the restaurants every day need to support us, commercial fishermen, but then also need to know where the seafood comes from and the quality of stuff thats right outside their back door.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  Tennessee nurses and doctors are being assaulted and harassed at alarming rates.

Recently, six health care workers filed police reports for assaults at TriStar Summit Medical Center.

According to the Tennessee Emergency Nurses Association, these kinds of incidents are most likely underreported.

Ive seen people beaten so bad they never come back to the bedside, Tennessee Emergency Nurses Association State Council President, Todd Haines, said.

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The American Hospital Association says as many as 76% healthcare workers report having faced some form of violence on the job.

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Nursings my third career, first career was with the sheriffs department, law enforcement, and Ive been threatened and assaulted more as a nurse than ever as a police officer, Haines said.

The American Nurses Association says that out of all nurses who experience workplace violence, as many as 80% of their cases go underreported. Haines points to a lack of legislation that holds patients accountable, as well as a lack of prosecution.

In the state of Tennessee, theres really not a lot, Haines said. Why dont we have things in place to protect our safety?

News 2 reached out to TriStar Summit Medical Center, and they responded with a statement:

Workplace violence is a national issue affecting hospitals across the country. We do not tolerate behavior that threatens the safety of our patients and colleagues and, when appropriate, we assist law enforcement in taking action against anyone who attempts to harm our dedicated healthcare workers. While this is a national challenge, TriStar Summit is taking proactive steps to lead locally  implementing layered safety protocols, training programs and support systems that reflect best practices to protect our frontline healthcare workers. Nationally, we are proud to support the Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE) Act, a federal bill championed by the American Hospital Association that would make violence against healthcare workers a federal offense, offering the same protections currently granted to airline employees. As an organization we are actively engaging our legislative partners in Washington, D.C., urging lawmakers to prioritize and advance this critical piece of legislation.  Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

When it comes to prosecuting patients in Davidson County, the District Attorneys Office says every incident is looked at on a case-by-case basis. If a charge can be proven, they proceed. If other factors contribute, they are taken into consideration.

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Despite that, nurses say there needs to be more changes.

Were nurses, we love treating people, were not punching bags, understand that we feel your grief and anger, but we appreciate you as a patient and thats why we do what we do, Haines said.

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This story is reported by South Dakota News Watch, a non-profit news organization. Find more in-depth reporting at www.sdnewswatch.org.

Nearly a year after a Yankton Sioux man was killed in a tribal housing unit, the federal agency responsible for his death has few answers.

On Nov. 27, 2024, officers from the U.S. Marshals Service shot Zander Zephier in a tribal housing unit on the Yankton Indian Reservation. Zephier, who had a criminal history and was considered escaped from Charles Mix County Jail at the time of his death, was brushing his teeth and live-streaming on Facebook.

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A media representative from the U.S. Marshals Service told News Watch that internal investigations about officer-involved deaths can take months or years but did not provide any updates on the status of Zephiers case. The representative did not clarify whether an external investigation was taking place.

The U.S. Marshals Service also denied a Freedom of Information Act request from News Watch for body and dash camera footage related to the shooting.

Exemption (b)(7)(A) permits withholding of information when a law enforcement proceeding is pending or prospective and release of information pertaining to the open investigation could reasonably be expected to cause some articulable harm, the denial said.

Portraits of Zander Zephier are surrounded by lit candles during a vigil held Dec. 11, 2024, by friends and family in the tribal housing community just north of Wagner, S.D. (Photo: Stu Whitney / South Dakota News Watch)

In February, Zephiers family said it had retained Sioux Falls attorney Nicole Griese to represent it.

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Lawsuits against the U.S. Marshals Service and other federal agencies are usually filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which begins as an administrative claim with the Department of Justice. The FTCA allows individuals to sue the federal government for damage, including death, caused by a federal employees negligence when acting within official job duties.

Griese told News Watch that an FTCA claim was filed on behalf of the family in July. If the DOJ does not respond within six months, the claim can be treated as a denial and a formal lawsuit can be pursued, she said.

Griese said she could not comment further but said in February, No family should have to fight this hard for basic answers about what happened to their loved one. We will not stop until the truth is brought to light and there is justice for Zander.

Marshals shootings drop, with most tied to non-federal crimes

Although the U.S. Marshals Service is a federal law enforcement agency, much of the agencys work is with local and state law enforcement in locating and apprehending their most violent fugitives. In 2024, the agency executed 88,765 warrants, 58,792, or two-thirds, of which were state or local.

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Marshals are allowed to operate on tribal lands, like the Yankton reservation, when executing federal warrants but not when assisting in state or local arrests.

According to the 2023 U.S. Marshals Service Shooting Incident Report, the most recent data available, there were 40 intentional agency shooting incidents in that year. Eighteen of them resulted in the death of a suspect and 11 resulted in injury of a suspect. There were 10 law enforcement officer injuries during those incidents. The 2023 numbers represent an overall 17% decline in shooting incidents from the previous year.

In 2023, the U.S. Marshals Service made 65,089 physical arrests, some of which may have included the same suspect.

Of shootings involving U.S. Marshals Service officers, 75% were related to the enforcement of local or state warrants, with just 17% related to federal warrants, according to the report.

In 2023, there were no officer-involved shootings involving Native Americans, who made up 2.3% of total arrests that year.

Other law-enforcement related deaths in South Dakota this year

There have been seven officer-involved shootings in the state this year, one of which resulted in the death of a suspect. Two of those shootings involved the same suspect, and two shootings occurred on tribal lands.

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On Aug. 5, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe member Shace Looking Horse died after being shot by a South Dakota Highway Patrol officer during a hostage situation. Two tribal officers from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services were also present, though the shooting did not occur on the reservation.

Looking Horse held a female hostage at gunpoint and led officers on a chase from Green Grass on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation to a home in rural Haakon County. Looking Horse was fatally shot outside the residence while holding the hostage victim at gunpoint.

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced on Sept. 5 that a Department of Criminal Investigation review determined the three officers were justified in their use of force.

On Aug. 2, a member of the Sicangu Lakota Tribe suffered life-threatening injuries after being shot by tribal officers outside the Indian Health Service building in Rosebud, according to a press release from the Rosebud Police Department.

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In accordance with standard protocol for officer-involved shootings, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been notified and will serve as the primary investigative agency for this incident, the release said.

The FBI did not respond to a request for comment.

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NEWTON COUNTY, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA)  The Newton County Sheriff has released the cause of death after a Missouri mans body was found at a campground in the Ozark National Forest on Oct. 2.

Newton County Sheriff Glenn Wheeler said he spoke with the medical examiner at the Arkansas State Crime Lab, who confirmed the mans death was ruled as an animal mauling and the manner of death was an accident.

Wheeler previously said that the attack could have been from a bear, but the crime lab cannot confirm it until DNA samples are obtained.

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This confirms our suspicions, and I appreciate the quick work of the Medical Examiner in getting us and the family preliminary answers, Wheeler said in the release. I also understand their desire to confirm the species of animal via DNA just to cover all our bases.

Sams Throne Campground, near Mount Judea, and the surrounding area will continue to be closed until further notice as efforts to locate the bear remain ongoing.

How rare are bear attacks in Arkansas?

Wheeler said that they have an approximate size and estimated weight of the bear believed to be responsible for the attack.

There is a lot of speculation circulating about the bear and I can say that the one believed to attacked the man was not a large bear. We believe it to be a juvenile male that was likely weaned and kicked off its mother this year, Wheeler said.

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Authorities responded to the campground to do a welfare check on Oct. 2.

After arriving, deputies said the man wasnt in his camp, but there was evidence of a struggle and injury at the site. Deputies said there were also drag marks leading from the campground into the woods.

During a search, deputies said they found the camper dead several yards outside the campsite, and his body had injuries that could have been from a bear attack, deputies said. Authorities told KNWA/FOX24 that the camper was a 60-year-old man from Springfield, Mo.

Missouri man found dead near campsite after possible bear attack in Arkansas

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Investigators said they received information that the victim had sent pictures of a bear in his camp earlier that week.

Wheeler told KNWA/FOX24 that the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission has installed real-time surveillance cameras in the woods to spot and track the bear. Bear traps have also been set.

If the DNA is confirmed to be bear, it would be the second fatal bear attack in Arkansas in as many months.

Fatal bear attacks are incredibly rare in Arkansas. The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture says a person is 180 times more likely to die from a bee sting than a bear attack.

This is a developing story. Stay with KNWA/FOX24 for the latest.

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Theres unrest over pay levels among nurses who work in Foxborough at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

All 31 nurses there wrote a letter in September to Dana-Farber Board Chair Josh Bekenstein, asserting that they are paid 20% less than nurses who work in the same building at Patriot Place for Massachusetts General Brigham/Brigham and Womens Hospital, as well as nurses who work in satellite facilities.

Registered nurses at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute - Foxborough voted to join the Massachusetts Nurses Association in December 2024. They say the pay offer they object to was made during negotiations over their first union contract.

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More talks are planned on Tuesday in Foxborough.

We want to reach a fair first contract that ensures Dana-Farber remains a leader in cancer treatment not only in Boston but across every community it serves, the Foxborough-based nurses wrote in their letter.

The union notes the dispute comes as both Dana-Farber and Mass General Brigham pursue oncology care expansions and compete for potentially hundreds of nurses to staff cancer care facilities.

A union official said Friday that the top oncology nurse wage is $105 per hour at Mass General Brigham for a nurse with 20 years of experience, and that wage disparities occur along the pay spectrum for nurses with less experience.

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The union also said Thursday that 34 registered nurses of Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center at Milford Regional Hospital remain committed to filing for a union election after they could not file on Wednesday because the federal government shutdown has temporarily closed National Labor Relations Board offices.

More on Politics

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Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip continued on Saturday, Palestinian sources said, despite US President Donald Trump's call to immediately halt the bombing in view of a possible peace deal.

Medical sources reported casualties from several airstrikes in Gaza City in the morning.

Israel's military did not comment on the attacks when asked. However, a spokeswoman said the army had not officially announced a halt to the attacks, as was reported by Israeli media.

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Several media outlets said the military had been instructed to pause its offensive to capture Gaza City, the territory's major metropolis, and maintain only defensive operations against threats on the ground.

Army warns against returning to Gaza City

A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warned residents not to return to Gaza City, which it said remains a "dangerous combat zone."

An Arabic-language statement posted on X said Israeli soldiers were still deployed in the city, adding: "For your safety, avoid returning north or approaching areas of IDF troop activity anywhere - including in the southern Gaza Strip."

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People in the Gaza Strip expressed their frustration at the continuing attacks to dpa.

On Friday, Trump called for an immediate halt to the bombing in order to secure the release of hostages as part of a US plan to end the war.

His call came after the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said it accepted most of the US plan, including the release of hostages, while demanding further negotiations on some points.
PARKER. Colo. (KDVR)  Most people travel to Africa to finally see the romanticized image of a continent theyve spent a lifetime forging in their mind: the up-close experience with wildlife, the sweeping savannahs, brown and barren before the rainy season arrives and turns everything green.

But impoverished villagers are the draw for Wayne Schultz of Parker. Hes been travelling to sub-Saharan Africa for more than a decade as a volunteer and board member with Marion Medical Mission.

Collapsed bridges, flat tires: CO volunteers face challenges during life-saving mission to Malawi

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Everybody tells you about the need and until youre there, until you see it, so you just dont have that appreciation, Schultz told FOX31.

Schultz leaves next week for Malawi, just as he has annually since 2013. Hell be part of the second team of American volunteers on the ground in east Africa, helping the non-profit in its quest to finish installing more than 4,000 safe, sustainable water wells in the most remote of villages in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique this year. Over the last few decades, Marion Medical Mission has installed nearly 60,000 wells across east Africa.

Without the wells, clean water is often miles away and requires women and girls getting up in the middle of the night and walking for hours to retrieve it.

Traveling to Malawi wasnt Schultzs idea; it was his wifes. One day, she was reading an article in the Estes Park newspaper about Marion Medical Mission volunteers from Colorado doing great things 9,000 miles from home. She wanted to get involved, but she became sick with a long-term illness and was never able to make the trip.

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She said, I cant go, but youre going, Schultz said.

His wife died in 2017, but Schultz keeps her memory alive by carrying out her passion project, showing compassion to the most vulnerable in Africa.

They see an immediate impact, he said.

To learn more about Marion Medical Mission, visit their website.

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(WHTM)  The chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party is responding to grassroots members complaints that the party is putting its thumb on the scale in next years race for governor.

State Senator Doug Mastriano was the partys gubernatorial nominee in 2022 after receiving an endorsement from President Donald Trump. Mastriano went on to lose the general election to Josh Shapiro by nearly 15%.

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This Week in Pennsylvania

Mastriano has said hes considering another run in 2026, but has criticized the partys decision to, in his words, coronate State Treasurer Stacy Garrity last month instead of having a competitive primary next spring.

Theyd rather lose a general election than let the people pick somebody who has a good chance of winning. Its madness, Mastriano said on the John Fredericks Show.

Underdog Garrity outlines vision for Pennsylvania in Governors Race

State Senator and chairman of the state Republican Party Greg Rothman on Friday, who described Mastriano as a friend who has served his country and the state, insists the party made the right decision to endorse Garrity and give her a head start.

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We are absolutely saying who we believe is the best candidate to beat Josh Shapiro, and that is Stacy Garrity, said Rothman.

More than 300 elected party members endorsed Garrity in September as the partys nominee for governor. Rothman pointed to a similar approach to last years U.S. Senate race when the decks were cleared for Dave McCormick, who went on to defeat incumbent Bob Casey (D).

Rothman said the party is clearly united around Garrity despite some complaints from those in his party. Rothman says hes also spoken to the president specifically about the race for governor.

I think that the president endorsing anybody would be very helpful right now, but theres no reason that he would not endorse Stacy Garrity, said Rothman. (The president) has more important things to do, like getting the government back up and running.

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On Wednesday, Quinnipiac University released a poll showing Garrity and Mastriano losing by double-digits to Shapiro.

Rothman responded by pointing to Pennsylvania voters having a long history of Election Day upsets, pointing to Garritys victory over incumbent treasurer Joe Torsella in 2020.

Who are Stacy Garritys donors?

You can hear more from Rothman on This Week in Pennsylvania on Sunday, October 5.

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Prosecutors in Poland are investigating an alleged Russia plot that involved smuggling food cans labelled as corn packed with explosives into the country, according to Polish media.

An article published in Gazeta Wyborcza on Thursday cited sources at the Polish National Prosecutors Office and the Internal Security Agency (ABW) confirming the development.

A Ukrainian suspect linked to Russias military intelligence agency (GRU), who has only been identified as Wadysaw D, allegedly transported the cans to Poland after digging them up at a cemetery in neighbouring Lithuania.

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The young man left them near the city of odz in central Poland, according to Gazeta Wyborcza.

A military expert told the Polish paper that the quantities of explosives believed to have been involved could have caused severe damage to a car and life-threatening injuries to people nearby.

Pedestrians walk behind police tape in Warsaw, 14 October, 2023 - AP Photo

Poland's special services co-ordinator Tomasz Siemoniak said the GRU had planned sabotage operations in Poland, as well as in Lithuania and Germany using explosives hidden in the cans.

According to investigators, GRU operatives were allegedly planning to attach the cans to drones as explosive payloads for attacks.

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Investigators haven't said what the motive for the planned attacks might be, but Poland's staunch support for Ukraine during the full-scale invasion could be a possible reason.

Total support to Kyiv from Warsaw since 2022 totals approximately 3.3 billion, in both military and humanitarian assistance.

And Poland is home to around 1 million refugees who fled the war, the majority of them women and children.

Refugees fleeing war in neighbouring Ukraine queue at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, 10 March, 2022 - AP Photo

Hybrid attacks

The Polish National Prosecutor's Office told TVP World that the investigation is part of a wider probe into Russian hybrid warfare operations in Europe.

The discovery of the cans comes amid a recent spate of airspace violations in Europe, with Russia believed to be responsible.

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Munich Airport in Germany was forced to suspend operations on Thursday night after "several drone sightings" were reported, leading to the cancellation of 17 flights.

In recent weeks, airports in Denmark, Norway and Poland similarly suspended flights due to unidentified drone activity.

Passengers stand in front of a display board in Terminal 2 at Munich Airport, 3 October, 2025 - AP Photo

Airspace violations were also reported in Estonia and Romania.

Those incursions have fuelled a debate among European leaders over the feasibility of a so-called drone wall to protect the eastern edge of the continent against drone incursions believed to be from Russia.

Moscow has dismissed claims that it was responsible for any of the airspace violations, calling them "unfounded accusations."
Armenia and the United Kingdom have agreed to elevate their relationship to a Strategic Partnership. This is a timely and important step that aligns diplomacy with a larger vision of transforming the South Caucasus into one of Eurasias most reliable transport and connectivity hubs, with Armenia at its centre.

Announced jointly by UK Minister for Europe Stephen Doughty and Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan in Yerevan in August, the move underscores the deepening of bilateral ties and Armenias emergence as a confident connector nation between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Armenia has earned this role. My government has engaged constructively in the peace talks with Azerbaijan. We have chosen the horizon over the rear-view mirror  promoting a durable peace that enables open borders, open markets and open futures.

The Washington Declaration, signed and witnessed in the White House by President Trump, de facto declares peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It offers a visionary path to stability and prosperity, proving that determined leadership and compromise can resolve even the most entrenched disputes. President Trumps pivotal role has been warmly acknowledged by the international community, including former UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

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At the heart of the peace framework is connectivity  the opening of regional transport communications and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) that will enable intrastate, bilateral and international trade for both former combatants.

More than a just practical compromise, TRIPP is a transformative vision. By reopening long-blocked routes, it promises to weave the South Caucasus into global trade and transit networks. Railways and highways once severed by barbed wire may soon carry goods, people and ideas between East and West. The impact could be profound: a region once defined by division becoming a thriving logistical hub of exchange, energy, and opportunity.

This is the essence of Armenias Crossroads of Peace initiative: an inclusive, rules-based network of rail, road, energy, and digital links that binds neighbours together through shared prosperity and mutual respect for territorial integrity.

For three decades, the economic potential of the South Caucasus has been throttled by conflict and mistrust. Now, with the peace architecture in place, the region can shift from cul-de-sac to crossroads  and Armenia is the interconnector at the centre of the map.

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We visualise Armenia as a hub, not just a corridor. The vision is bigger than just a single line on the map. It envisages a multimodal platform that interconnects EastWest trade across the Caspian and NorthSouth trade from the Black Sea to the Gulf and beyond. It sees a coupling of physical and digital infrastructure, so goods and data move with the same reliability along a silicon silk road. It will embed sovereign control, transparent rules and international standards at every border, terminal and yard.

For the UK, deepening ties with Armenia strengthens its presence in a region of growing geostrategic weight. As the peace framework moves from words towards implementation, the UKArmenia partnership promises mutual benefits from increased trade, security and education partnerships, while contributing to regional stability and global prosperity.

The goal is a connectivity premium for the entire South Caucasus: lower risk, lower cost of capital and much higher throughput. This can unlock first-wave investments in logistics parks, dry ports, rolling stock, warehousing, customs modernisation and cross-border fintech. Early movers will capture outsized returns as traffic scales.

The UKArmenia strategic partnership is decisive here. Britain brings world-class expertise in infrastructure finance, insurance and law, as well as leadership in green energy, cybersecurity, and skills. Armenia provides the setting, the will to succeed and the plan  a reform-minded economy, a dynamic tech sector, and the political courage to turn hard-won peace into prosperity. More than anything, for Armenia, it secures the partnership of a trusted friend at a decisive turning point in its history.

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If we succeed, the payoff will be transformational. Railways and highways, once blocked, will again carry goods, energy and ideas. Armenia will shift from periphery to centre-stage, while the South Caucasus emerges as a trusted, secure and efficient Eurasian transport node. With the UK at Armenias side, the vision scales from map to market: a partnership that turns peace into prosperity.

Varuzhan Nersesyan is the Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the UK and Ireland

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
South Carolina officials have confirmed an outbreak of measles in the state, contributing to what has been the highest level of cases in the U.S. since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000.

As of Wednesday, eight cases had been reported in the Upstate region of the state, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health. A measles outbreak is defined as three or more cases that are linked.

The people involved in the outbreak are unvaccinated and did not have immunity from a previous measles infection, DPH said. The agency added that its notifying people who may have been exposed.

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So far this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified more than 1,500 cases of measles in the U.S. across 41 states, the largest surge in 25 years. Ninety-two percent of those who have gotten measles are unvaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown, according to the CDC.

News: Using Helicopters And Chemical Agents, Immigration Agents Become Increasingly Aggressive In Chicago

Measles is an airborne, extremely infectious, and potentially severe rash illness, the CDCs website says. Before the measles vaccine was introduced, an estimated 48,000 people were hospitalized and 400500 people died in the United States each year.

The majority of cases have been reported in Texas, where two school-aged children died while living in outbreak areas earlier this year. In August, Texas state health officials officially declared the outbreak over as cases continued to rise in other states.

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As cases grow, anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been remaking the CDC in his ownimage in an effort to loosen vaccine requirements.

South Carolina state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said she expects cases in the state to rise.

We anticipate more cases will be identified and implore community members to act responsibly, Bell said. If you are ill, stay home.

U.S. Updates

Read the original on HuffPost
(Reuters) -Donald Trump has called for Israel to halt its bombing of Gaza after Hamas said it was ready to release hostages and agreed to some aspects of the U.S. president's plan to end the war, although Israeli strikes still killed several people on Saturday.

Here are some reactions from around the world to Hamas' comments and Trump's reaction:

EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT URSULA VON DER LEYEN

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"Hamas stated readiness to release hostages and engage on the basis of the recent @POTUS proposal is encouraging. This moment must be seized. An immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages are within reach."

FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON

"The release of all hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza are within reach! Hamas' commitment must be followed up without delay. We now have the opportunity to make decisive progress towards peace ... I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump and his team for their commitment to peace."

GERMAN CHANCELLOR FRIEDRICH MERZ

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"The hostages must be released. Hamas must disarm. The fighting must cease immediately. All of this must happen very fast. After almost two years, this is the best chance for peace. Germany will continue to engage."

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER KEIR STARMER

"Hamas acceptance of the U.S. peace plan is a significant step forwards. We strongly support President Trumps efforts, which have brought us closer to peace than ever before. There is now an opportunity to end the fighting, for the hostages to return home, and for humanitarian aid to reach those who so desperately need it."

SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER JOSE LUIS ALBARES

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"An immediate ceasefire, the entry of food and humanitarian aid, the release of the hostages, all is welcome."

"It's not a definitive step; there are still many obstacles. This fundamentalist organization (Hamas) must be disarmed. We want the Israeli army to definitively cease all military actions against the group.

"What will bring peace to the Palestinian people, to the people of Israel, is the existence of a realistic and viable Palestinian state," he told Spanish state broadcaster RTVE.

IRISH FOREIGN MINISTER SIMON HARRIS

"This moment to end the unconscionable human suffering must be grasped by all. Stop the bombing, silence the guns, end the famine and allow a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza," he said in a statement on X.

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INDIAN PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI

"We welcome President Trumps leadership as peace efforts in Gaza make decisive progress. Indications of the release of hostages mark a significant step forward. India will continue to strongly support all efforts towards a durable and just peace," he wrote on X.

JORDANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY

Jordan welcomed Hamas' positive response to Trump's plan, calling it an important step to end the Gaza war, a ministry statement said. Amman also praised Egypt and Qatar's mediation, highlighted U.S. efforts including opposition to West Bank annexation, and called for an immediate halt to Israel's offensive, the opening of crossings for aid, and a peace process based on a two-state solution.

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CANADA PRIME MINISTER MARK CARNEY

"Canada welcomes commitments from Hamas to relinquish power and release all remaining hostages, living and deceased. We encourage all parties to immediately work to turn commitments into reality, and to advance peace and security in the region."

AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER ANTHONY ALBANESE

"Australia welcomes progress on President Trump's plan to bring peace to Gaza," he wrote on X. "Together with our partners, Australia will continue to support efforts to end the war and work towards a just and sustainable two-state solution."

DUTCH PRIME MINISTER DICK SCHOOF

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"Important steps toward a ceasefire in Gaza thanks to President Trump's peace plan. Hamas's stated willingness to release the hostages and its willingness to enter direct negotiations on the peace plan is a positive sign.

"An end to this terrible war is within reach."

(Editing by Alexandra Hudson, William Maclean)
One of the boats that runs between Waterton Townsite and Goat Haunt is the International. Built in 1927, the International has carried thousands of visitors across the border during its lifetime. Passengers can disembark for a brief sightseeing opportunity, while others take the boat to start multi-day backpacking trips. (Photo by Glacier National Park / NPS)

The shutdown of the federal government, which began Wednesday, could have a more visible presence in Montana due to the outsized impact the National Park system has on Montanas economy.

According to a report released Monday by the National Park Service, the state is a top-15 benefactor of national parks in terms of visitor spending, jobs, labor income, value added to the state and overall economic output.

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Last year, visitors spent roughly $838 million in Montana communities near the national parks and historic sites, anchored by Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park.

Lucrative, but not fully staffed

Glacier and Yellowstone national parks bring in a lot of money to local communities, but they arent staffed up with the federal shutdown. Read Fridays story about how the shutdown affects the parks in Montana.

National Park Service sites contributed to about 9,293 jobs in Montana, about $408 million in labor income, added $675 million in value to the states economy, and contributed about $1.2 billion in economic output, according to the report.

In 2024, about 8.9 million visits were logged among Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Big Hole National Battlefield, Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, and Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. The vast majority of those visits were to Glacier (3.2 million visitors) and Yellowstone (4.7 million visitors).

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Glacier National Park supported about 5,188 jobs and generated about $217 million in labor income and $656 million in economic outputs for surrounding towns, cities and counties.

The communities around Glacier are our partners in providing visitors with information that helps them enjoy the park safely and responsibly  so that we may all continue to experience the wonder of this wild and scenic landscape for generations to come. The park contributes back to Western Montana through visitor spending that supports jobs and creates revenue. Were grateful to work with community partners on a sustainable future for our parks and communities, said Glacier National Park Superintendent Dave Roemer in a statement on Monday.

Yellowstone National Park, which contributes to local economies in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, saw visitors spend about $709 million in nearby communities last year, supporting about 6,500 jobs locally and $322 million in labor income. The Park Service said those visitors generated about $903 million in total economic output for nearby communities.

In October, Yellowstone National Park receives around 6% of its annual visitors, which translates to roughly $42 million in spending in gateway communities, a number that could take a hit in 2025 if the federal shutdown continues for multiple weeks.

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But the other National Park Service sites in Montana also brought in almost half a million visitors last year as well, along with hundreds of jobs and millions in economic output.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument saw 111,000 visitors last year who spent about $9 million in the region, supporting 91 jobs and generating $10.5 million in economic output, according to the report. The Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, also in southeast Montana, saw 219,000 visitors who spent an estimated $11.5 million in the region and supported 121 jobs.

In western Montana, the Big Hole National Battlefield and Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site brought in a combined 72,000 visitors who spent about $4.5 million in the region and supported about 47 jobs, according to the National Park Service.

Nationally, NPS visitors spent an estimated $29 billion in local gateway communities, primarily through lodging ($11 billion) and restaurants ($5.7 billion).
Editors Note: Gov. Andy Beshear is increasingly in the spotlight as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate. The Herald-Leader believes Kentuckians should know what he is saying and doing, where he is traveling and what is being said nationally about the two-term governor. To keep the commonwealth updated, our journalists will publish a regular round-up of the latest news and headlines about Beshear.

Gov. Andy Beshear continues to make his rounds in national media as a two-term Democrat leading a red state.

The Kentucky governors recent interviews with NPRs Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep and former Today co-host Katie Couric highlighted his bipartisan appeal, criticism of political violence and concerns for the nation under President Donald Trump.

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Beshear will also soon travel to New Hampshire, an early primary state, to join local Democrats at a fundraiser and a campaign reception. Hell start at a reception for the House Dems Victory Committee. From there, he will travel to Manchester to participate in a reception for Manchester City Democrats. The swing state currently has a Republican governor and legislative majority.

Beshear has not said whether he will run for president in 2028, but the appearances add to speculation that hes a possible contender.

NPR at the Governors Mansion

Inskeep interviewed Beshear from the Governors Mansion in Frankfort on Oct. 1, the first day of the federal government shutdown, to learn about the governors political experience.

They discussed his support among Trump voters who helped him win a second term in 2023. They reflected on his at times unpopular actions during COVID-19.

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Every decision I made was based on trying to save as many lives as I could, he said. I knew the decisions would be unpopular. I was OK if it meant I would never win reelection if I could save 10 more lives, he said. Its one of the most important things Ive ever been called on to do.

He added: Looking back, I know I made the decisions for the right reasons, and I stand by them.

Beshear responded to Trumps recent comment that the military should begin using U.S. cities as training grounds by insisting that was not the reason that people voted for him. Added to the tariffs and healthcare cuts, he extended empathy to Trump voters.

People didnt vote for this type of governance, he said. Yes, they were worried that the American Dream was slipping away. They were willing to take a chance with someone they thought would do things very differently, but they didnt vote to make their lives harder. They didnt vote to make us more cruel.

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Beshear referenced his fears for Kentuckians under the Trump administration. He aired his concerns for American health care, pointing out potential hospital closures following Medicaid cuts and increased healthcare premiums once Obamacare tax credits expire.

They discussed the inroads Republicans have made with rural voters and what Democrats need to do to win them back.

Democrats need to be the common sense, common ground, get-results-type of party, one that spends 80% of its time on concerns that impact 100% of the American population. Ive seen that voters are willing to vote for you even if they disagree with you on social issues, Beshear said. But Democrats need to focus. We need to be laser focused on peoples everyday issues.

He offered the example that those who believe abortion should be legal still voted for Trump because of their belief he would make life easier for them.

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The American people deserve a refocus on them. Less politics  less Democratic and Republican, less conservative-liberal, and more on the everyday concerns of the American people, Beshear said.

Hosting Katie Couric, Today show veteran

Beshear also had the veteran journalist Katie Couric on his SiriusXM-signed podcast to discuss the state of American politics, which aired Sept. 18.

Hosted the week after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, he urged against violence to solve political differences and condemned the Trump administrations blame on Democrats in the days after the killing.

He also raised his support for red flag laws that could help prevent mass shootings, pointing to the 2023 Louisville Old National Bank shooting that resulted in the deaths of five people, including one of Beshears oldest friends, Tommy Elliott. Such a bill had bipartisan sponsorship in 2024, but didnt get a committee hearing or vote in the GOP-controlled Kentucky legislature.

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I think the next step we ought to take is a red flag law, Beshear said. Yes, there is a constitutional right under the Second Amendment, but the courts are who define what that constitutional right means. All a red flag does is allow law enforcement to go to the courts right before they believe a murder is going to be committed and stop it. And if we trust our courts in deciding custody of our kids, certainly we can trust them here. 

He called out the dehumanization that has taken shape in politics and longed for a return to a political climate in which Americans can look at one another in the eye despite their differences. Beshear emphasized Kentucky is a model for that.

That Golden Rule that you love your neighbor as yourself has no asterisks, Beshear said. Thats one of the reasons we see a little more unity in Kentucky. Weve been through more natural disasters than any state in the last five years.

Weve seen hardships, but weve never addressed or responded to them as Democrats or Republicans, just as Kentuckians, Beshear said.

Off to another early primary state

Beshear will head to another early primary state after his July visit to South Carolina.

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On Oct. 7, hell go to several Democratic events in the purple state of New Hampshire.

According to New Hampshire ABC affiliate WMUR9, Beshear plans to support the states minority party ahead of next years midterm election. The channel reported that hell start the day off in Concord with the House Dems Victory Committee. From there, hell head to a Manchester meet-and-greet with the citys Democrats at a fundraiser.

The station also said Beshear will go to Nashua, where a state senator is hosting a Brownies with Beshear event.

ABC reported that the New Hampshire visit is part of his commitments to the Democratic Party as vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association. Hell be chair in 2026 during the crucial midterm elections. The chair is currently held by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and in 2024, it was held by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz before he received the Democratic nomination for vice president.

Last year, Beshear was the keynote speaker at the New Hampshire Democratic Partys Eleanor Roosevelt Dinner ahead of the 2024 presidential election cycle.
Saudi Arabia's recent mutual defence pact with nuclear-armed Pakistan is widely seen as a strategic move by the kingdom as it seeks alternatives to its traditional security guarantees from the United States.

However, it also poses a dilemma for China, which has strong relations with both countries, including a long-standing collaboration with Riyadh on its civilian nuclear programme.

Analysts suggested Beijing would not wish this nuclear partnership to develop further to avoid provoking the US or giving the impression it was encouraging nuclear proliferation.

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Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

When asked whether the pact would place Saudi Arabia under Pakistan's nuclear umbrella, a senior Saudi official replied that it would "encompass all military means".

The deal comes amid growing Saudi unease over American security guarantees, particularly following Israel's recent missile strikes targeting the Hamas leadership in Qatar, another key US ally in the Middle East.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since apologised to Qatar for the attack, but Sun Degang, director of the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at Fudan University, said the widespread belief that Israel had a "nuclear monopoly" in the region was fuelling concern.

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Sun added that "as America shows reluctance to protect its ally [Qatar], it directly triggered Riyadh's unease".

"Whether Saudi Arabia develops nuclear weapons will largely depend on Iran, which has long sought to become a nuclear-capable state," Sun said.

However, John Calabrese, a non-resident senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said given this growing Saudi unease, China could give the kingdom an opening to advance its nuclear development.

"China's historical collaboration with Saudi Arabia on civilian nuclear projects and uranium exploration provides a potential avenue for deeper engagement.

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"Beijing could expand support for civilian nuclear infrastructure, with possible dual-use implications," he said.

In 2020, Saudi Arabia denied a Wall Street Journal report that China was involved in a project in the kingdom to produce yellowcake uranium - a concentrated form of the ore that can be processed into reactor fuel.

However, Riyadh did say it had agreed to work with China on "certain areas" of uranium exploration, and three years later it emerged that Saudi Arabia was considering a Chinese bid to build a nuclear power plant.

The two sides have also signed a deal on broader cooperation on uranium and thorium resources, and set up joint projects to extract uranium from seawater in 2017.

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In April this year, the two countries signed another memorandum of understanding on nuclear energy security.

Previous Saudi missile purchases from China have triggered US scrutiny about whether they were nuclear-capable, according to media reports.

Any further nuclear cooperation between the two countries would also be likely to draw scrutiny from Washington.

But Sun said he doubted that Beijing would want to move beyond civilian projects, citing its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and concern about provoking the United States.

"Beijing is also not seeking a sphere of influence in the Middle East and remains restrained in defence cooperation, since moving too far would touch on America's core interests," he said.

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The US has made periodic attempts to deepen its own nuclear collaboration with the Saudis, but these have largely come to nothing.

During Donald Trump's first term as president, opposition from Congress prevented the White House from making any progress in this area.

A US-Saudi defence treaty proposed by Joe Biden's administration in return for Saudi Arabia and Israel normalising relations was also reported to include further cooperation on civilian nuclear projects, but this proposal stalled following the outbreak of the Gaza war.

Sun's assessment was echoed by Rabia Akhtar, a visiting fellow at the Project on Managing the Atom at Harvard Kennedy School, who described Beijing as a "hedge partner" for Saudi Arabia - "present enough to diversify Saudi options, cautious enough to avoid a public breach with the US on nuclear issues".

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She added: "China has little incentive to be tagged as a proliferator; it has more to gain by being the reliable civil partner that grows influence without triggering sanctions."

Beijing's ambition to expand its influence in the Middle East is clear, but it has tried to distinguish itself from Washington by acting as a peace broker - most visibly when it mediated a deal to restore diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran in 2023.

In March, when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Iranian and Russian counterparts to discuss the international deal on Iran's nuclear programme, he stressed China's commitment to non-proliferation while condemning Western sanctions.

"China's approach to entering the Middle East security landscape is by presenting itself as a stabiliser rather than a source of tension, which is why, I believe, Beijing will not play a role in accelerating the regional nuclear arms race," Wen Shaobiao, a Middle East specialist at Shanghai International Studies University, added.

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China and Pakistan's close military relationship has sparked speculation that the deal could pave the way for Beijing and Riyadh to cooperate on nuclear weapons, but this is unlikely, according to Jesse Marks, executive director of Rihla Research & Advisory, a Washington-based consultancy.

"If a Beijing-Pakistan mechanism became the cornerstone of Saudi nuclearisation, Beijing may face opposition from its own SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organisation] members, including India and Iran," Marks said.

"This would likely draw [a] mass international backlash and criticism, undermining Beijing's leadership narrative around the Global Security Initiative and its wider global governance ambitions."

A vague Pakistan-Saudi defence deal was not solid evidence that Riyadh was moving rapidly toward nuclear capability, said Akhtar. "Riyadh is hedging, not sprinting," she said.

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"Doctrines can evolve if Iran's programme shifts decisively," she added.

In 2018, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country's de facto ruler, said: "Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt, if Iran develops a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible."

This development could directly threaten China's role as a peace broker between Riyadh and Tehran, and Beijing should "draw a red line on its depth of nuclear cooperation with Saudi Arabia", Marks said.

"If Riyadh makes a concerted push for a nuclear weapons programme ... Beijing will have to set clear boundaries over how far down the path of the development of a Saudi bomb they will support.

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"This is unlikely to align with China's rhetorical interests and could not negatively impact its own image if perceived as an enabler of nuclearisation. Put plainly, Beijing will not want to be criticised as helping spark a regional nuclear arms race."

He added: "The key question is where China will draw a red line."

Wen added that China would not want to see a Saudi-Iranian nuclear arms race, adding that in such an event "China will still hope to implement the nuclear non-proliferation mechanism in the Middle East through consultation".

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
If you see a drone fly over your head, you might be curious about what to do if you spot one.

There is state and federal legislation that provides a clear answer so get informed before you take matters  or a weapon  into your own hands.

Is it legal to shoot down a drone in Delaware?

Drones were a hot topic of conversation on and off social media last year, as reports in the region were on the uptick.

If you think you see one, leave it alone.

Shooting at drones is violates federal law. Property ownership does not include the surrounding airspace. The airspace is essentially public property.

What can happen to me if I shoot down a drone?

Destroying or rendering an aircraft incapable of flight can result in fines and possible imprisonment, sometimes up to 20 years in prison.

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Drones & your home: Drone roof inspections can't trigger insurance cancellation, Delaware commissioner rules

Where are drones permitted, not permitted under federal law?

Organizers used a drone to record video of the crowd enjoying this year's Festival Hispano in Goergetown on September 21, 2025.

Drones are legal to fly if they are registered with the Federal Aviation Administration and fly under 400 feet in altitude.

Flying a drone is not permitted over stadiums during a scheduled event, near airports, in hazardous conditions, around emergency response areas and within a 15-mile radius of Washington, D.C.

New Castle County police encourage anyone who observes any large drones to capture video evidence and report their sighting to local law enforcement for investigation.

2024 drone sightings: These theories could explain what's happening

What is the law surrounding drone flight in Delaware?

According to state law, an "unmanned aircraft system" cannot operate over a sporting event or event with more than 1,500 people in attendance. They also cannot fly over "critical infrastructure," including chemical plants, rail yards, ports and government buildings.

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A drone cannot fly over private property while subjecting a specific person without written permission from the property owner. Drones also are prohibited from flying over scenes where first responders are active. If you spot what you think may be a violation, contact law enforcement.

Drones operated by law enforcement, higher education or commercial purposes with proper FAA authorization could be exempt from state rules.

What are the penalties for flying a drone illegally?

A first-time violation earns an unclassified misdemeanor, while a subsequent violation earns a Class B misdemeanor. If a violation ends up with a personal injury earns a Class A misdemeanor in state law.

Delaware State Police uses drones for search and rescue during natural disasters or in places that are inaccessible by cars, according to their 2022 annual report. Wilmington police also use drones.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Is it legal to shoot down a drone in Delaware?
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU)  Voters in Sioux City have only one day remaining to cast an in-person absentee ballot for the upcoming City Council primary election.

People can cast their ballots in absentee voting on Monday. They can go to the Woodbury County Auditors Office and can vote from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Auditors Office is located inside the County Courthouse.

2 forums set for Sioux City Community School District Board and City Council

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Primary election day is set for October 7. Residents can vote at their designated polling locations from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Absentee ballots by mail must be received at the County Auditors Office by 8 p.m. on election day. The top six candidates will move on to the November 4 general election.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports.
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden speaks to the media on March 6, 2025, at the Capitol in Pierre. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

Gov. Larry Rhoden has issued 65 pardons and one commutation since taking office in January, according to records on file with the South Dakota Secretary of State.

As of Sept. 29, Rhoden had also denied four pardon requests, and denied one request for a commutation.

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A state board makes recommendations, but the South Dakota Constitution grants the governor sole authority to extend clemency to people convicted of crimes.

Pardons scrub all government documentation of a crime from a persons public record. Commutations reduce sentences for inmates, often making them immediately eligible for parole and early release from prison.

In an interview with South Dakota Searchlight, Rhoden said his legal team reviews the notes, video interviews with applicants and records for each pardon and commutation request carefully before he makes the call. He trusts his legal team, he said, but for me, it boils down to just my personal feelings and beliefs about the goodness of humanity.

Its just looking for signs that you feel like they deserve a second chance, Rhoden said.

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Kristi Noem, who preceded Rhoden in office and departed in January to become secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, issued a total of 348 pardons and 27 commutations during her six years in office.

State law grants the governor the authority to let the state Board of Pardons and Paroles review and recommend pardons and commutations. The board meets and issues recommendations on a monthly basis, in each case after hearing directly from the person requesting clemency and sometimes also from the persons victims or the prosecutors involved in the case.

Rhodens approach, decisions

Noem would sometimes wait months between signing each batch of clemency orders. Rhoden signed his clemency orders at least once a month during the first half of 2025, but hasnt issued any since July. His first dozen pardons were signed on March 3.

Parole board rules say a person must be at least five years removed from the date of their sentencing to request a pardon.

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Pardons are filed and held as a public record at the Secretary of States Office for five years after being signed and are sealed thereafter. Commutations, also held by the Secretary of States Office, are not closed after five years and do not shield any record of a conviction or the circumstances surrounding it from public disclosure.

Noems pardons typically went to people with lower-level crimes like drunken driving, drug possession or property crimes. She occasionally forgave more serious crimes, such as third-degree rape or assault, often decades after the incidents.

The same pattern has held true for Rhoden in the 65 pardons issued thus far. Few of the crimes pardoned were felonies against other people. One man was pardoned for two charges of attempted sexual contact with a child under 16, for which he was convicted in 2001 and 2003, respectively. Another was pardoned for a robbery and an attempted robbery, both of which took place 41 years ago.

Commutation granted

Rhodens sole commutation thus far went to Jack Sidney Hagen, a 64-year-old initially given three consecutive life sentences for a 1995 break-in and kidnapping in Black Hawk.

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At his commutation hearing last year, Hagen told the parole board hed been foolish and quick to anger, having spent years in the drug trade.

Using a handgun, Hagen threatened a couple whose home he broke into with two other people. He thought the couple had stolen methamphetamine from him. The crime went unreported for more than a year, but the incident came to light when some of the victims were indicted on federal drug charges.

The parole board recommended a commutation for Hagen during Noems first term in office, but she denied his request.

At his second commutation hearing, in September 2024, Hagen said hed worked hard to change his life during his nearly three decades in prison.

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Something was not right with my thinking and my drug usage, Hagen said. I became a Christian. Ive been heavily involved in church since Ive been in, Ive worked hard, kept my mind busy and tried to change, to not act like the person I used to be.

He worked more than two decades for market wages at Metal Craft Industries, a shop operated in the South Dakota State Penitentiarys Jameson Annex by a private company until 2024.

After moving to Springfields Mike Durfee State Prison, Hagen said, he used money hed saved to invest in the stock market with the help of friends and family on the outside.

The board recommended that Hagens three life sentences be commuted to 60-year sentences. That wouldve made him eligible for parole at the boards discretion next summer, and a release date of 2027 without their approval, based on credits earned for good behavior.

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Rhoden granted the commutation, but did not follow the boards advice to the letter. His order changed two of Hagens life sentences to 153-year sentences, and another to a 114-year sentence. Hagen is still eligible for release by the parole board in June, but wouldnt be able to walk free without their approval until 2075.

Commutation denial

The most serious crime on Rhodens list of five denied clemency requests is the conviction of Dawn Frazer. She was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life for participating in the killing of Morningstar Shalimar Standing Bear in 1999 in Sturgis.

During her second commutation hearing, which took place in October 2024, a handful of parole board members expressed concerns, ranging from her downplaying her role in the incident to the crimes severity.

The board also agreed, though, that she was a changed woman whod become a mentor to others at the South Dakota womens prison. They voted for a commutation that would have made the 57-year-old parole eligible when she turns 70.

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Rhoden denied Fraziers commutation request in a letter dated June 12.

Rhoden did not comment on any individual cases in his interview on clemency with South Dakota Searchlight. When asked more broadly about his denials, he said the time between an incident and the request has been the primary factor.

Rhoden said he wants to see that enough time has elapsed that they truly are rehabilitated.

Pardons & Commutation (2)

Pardons and commutations issued by Gov. Larry Rhoden.
The University of South Dakota and the state Board of Regents have dropped their effort to fire a professor for his social media post about the killing of Charlie Kirk, according to a letter released by the professors lawyer.

Professor Michael Hooks attorney Jim Leach released the letter from the university on Friday.

We have taken into consideration your remorse for the post, your past record of service, and the universitys interest in efficient operations, the letter says. Based upon these factors, the university, in consultation with the Board of Regents, hereby withdraws its intent to terminate your contract.

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The letter was signed by USD President Sheila Gestring. Neither USD nor the Board of Regents, which oversees the states public universities, immediately responded to South Dakota Searchlight messages.

Leach also released a written statement from Hook, an art professor.

I am thrilled that I can continue teaching my students at the University of South Dakota. I love this work and this university as much now as when I came here 19 years ago, the statement said. I hope the state now understands that the First Amendment prohibits it from punishing anyone for speech about public issues  no matter how much state or national leaders or others disagree with it.

Kirk, a conservative political activist and commentator, was fatally shot on Sept. 10 in Utah. Later that same day, Hook wrote a Facebook post that used a derogatory term to describe Kirk and questioned the veracity of Kirk supporters concerns about political violence. The Facebook page was Hooks personal account, but noted his status as a USD professor.

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Hook deleted the post several hours later and posted an apology, but the original post had already circulated widely. South Dakota political leaders, including Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden and Republican state House Speaker Jon Hansen, criticized Hook and publicly supported his termination.

In response to a Searchlight message Friday, a spokesperson for Rhoden said our office has no further comment at this time.

Within days of Hooks posts, the Board of Regents notified Hook of its intent to fire him. The board placed him on administrative leave and scheduled a personal conference to discuss the matter.

Hook filed a lawsuit, and a federal judge grantedhim a temporary restraining order requiring the state to pause its effort to terminate him. A hearing on Hooks motion for a longer-lasting order was scheduled for later this month.

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Judge Karen Schreier wrote in her order that Hook had spoken as a citizen on a matter of public concern, which is a form of constitutionally protected speech. She also said the state failed to produce evidence that Hooks speech had an adverse impact on the efficiency of university operations, and that Hook had a fair chance of prevailing in his lawsuit by showing the actions taken against him were a form of retaliation that could chill protected speech.

Hooks case was part of a wave of firings and investigations that swept through academia and government in the wake of Kirks death, as state agencies, colleges and local school districts took action against employees over comments perceived as offensive or inappropriate. Dozens of workers in higher education alone lost their jobs.

South Dakota Searchlights Joshua Haiar contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota university drops effort to fire professor for Charlie Kirk post
Update: 4:30 p.m. 10/5/2025

SHELBY COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA)  The Shelby County Coroner has identified the 47-year-old man who died in a crash on Route 16 Saturday morning.

Beth Debolt, coroner, said Robert Braun Jr. of Manhattan, Illinois, was pronounced dead at the scene. Debolt said that Brauns family members have been notified at this time. An autopsy was completed on Sunday.

On Saturday, Illinois State Police said the crash involved an SUV and a semi-truck. State Police said the 47-year-old man who died after the crash  later identified as Braun  was traveling traveling eastbound on Route 16. The driver of a semi-truck was traveling westbound. Braun drifted into a westbound lane for unknown reasons and collided with the semi head-on. The semi-truck driver was brought to the hospital with suspected minor injuries.

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There is no further information at this time.

Update at 4:45 p.m.

SHELBY COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA)  A 47-year-old man has died, and the other driver was hospitalized following a head on collision in Shelby County Saturday morning.

One hospitalized in Decatur shooting; police investigating

According to the preliminary crash investigation done by Illinois State Police Troop 7, the driver of a Ford SUV, a 47-year-old man, was traveling eastbound on Route 16. The driver of a semi-truck, a 62-year-old man, was traveling westbound.

For unknown reasons, the driver of the Ford drifted into the westbound lane, colliding with the semi head on. The driver of the Ford succumbed to their injuries at the scene of the crash, and the semi driver was transported to an area hospital with suspected minor injuries.

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The crash occurred at Illinois Route 16 at Shelby County Road North 2450E. There is no further information at this time.

Update at 10:24 a.m.

SHELBY COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA)  Illinois State Police are on the scene of a fatal crash involving two vehicles east of Shelbyville, and Route 16 remains closed at the scene.

Rantoul City Schools bus involved in minor collision with SUV; bus driver ticketed

At approximately 8:03 a.m., State Police Troop 7 responded to IL Route 16 at 2450E east of Shelbyville for the report of a two-unit, fatal crash. IL Route 16 is closed at this location and traffic is being diverted at IL Route 32. This remains an active crash scene.

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State Police and the Shelby County Coroners Office told WCIA there is no further information they will be sharing at this time.

This is a developing story. WCIA will continue to update as information is received.

SHELBY COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA)  Illinois State Police are on the scene of a serious personal injury crash in Shelby County, and Route 16 has been shut down in the area.

19-year-old Chicago man accused of stabbing bicyclist in Urbana Township

At approximately, 8:42 a.m., State Police said Troop 7 troopers and the Illinois Department of Transportation were on their way to an accident at IL Route 16/2450 E in Shelby County for a serious personal injury crash. The Shelby County Sheriffs Office said that as of 8:46 a.m., Route 16 near the accident, which took place approximately six miles east of Shelbyville, has been shut down.

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Drivers are advised to use alternative routes at this time, as the accident has caused lane blockage. Those approaching the area of this crash are urged to use caution.

There is no further information at this time.

This is a developing story. WCIA will continue to update as information is received.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
DEWITT, N.Y. (WSYR-TV)  Doctors from Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists are heading overseas with a mission to change lives.

Operation Walk New York is sending a team to Ghana this month to provide free joint replacement surgeries for patients who otherwise wouldnt have access to care.

Local surgeons, nurses, physical therapists and volunteers plan to spend more than a week in Ghana. Their mission is to help patients who suffer from painful hip and knee conditions.

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Theres a huge number of patients that we will be seeing and screening and we actually had to cut off the list, Kim Murray, clinical and operations director for Operation Walk New York, said, because right now we have 375 patients that were going to be screening.

The surgeons are trying to give free hip and knee replacements for patients living with severe joint pain. Many of the patients that will be operated on are accident victims, but a large majority suffer from sickle cell disease, with damage starting at an early age.

The cells clot more easily and so what happens is they disrupt the vascular supply to the hip and the femoral head or ball of the hip sort of dies and collapses, Dr. Seth Greenky, orthopedic surgeon, said.

Many are unable to walk or work without surgery.

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In the recovery room when they take their first steps on the floor, I mean theyre crying, Greenky said.

Something as simple as a hip replacement could change their life.

They go back to where they live and they just get better. It literally is the most life changing event in their entire life, the surgeon said.

The team leaves Oct. 9, and expect to return on Oct. 18. Their goal is to perform 100 knee and hip replacement surgeries over the course of four days.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR.
Japan's conservative ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Saturday elected former minister Sanae Takaichi as its first female leader, positioning her for a likely successful run for prime minister later this month.

More than 900,000 party members and 295 LDP lawmakers cast ballots, choosing the staunchly conservative Takaichi in a run-off against her moderate contender Shinjiro Koizumi.

Takaichi won with 185 of the lawmakers' votes against her rival's 156.

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The LDP, which governs in coalition with its junior partner Komeito, has been in a minority government since losing its majority in the upper house of parliament in July.

But with the fragmented opposition camp unlikely to agree on a joint candidate for prime minister, Takaichi is widely expected to be elected by parliament as Japan's next leader on October 15.

If elected, the 64-year-old would become Japan's fourth prime minister in just five years and the country's first ever female leader.

Most recently, the LDP's Shigeru Ishiba resigned as prime minister in early September after less than a year in office, citing the party's historic defeat in July's upper house election.

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The sharp rise in prices in recent years and increasing immigration figures have led to dissatisfaction with the government among many in Japan.

Small right-wing populist parties, especially the openly xenophobic Sanseito, have gained in popularity.

Controversial leader choice

Takaichi's election victory is likely to cause tensions with China and South Korea. After the comparatively liberal Ishiba, Takaichi is likely to steer the LDP back onto a right-wing conservative course.

Takaichi, who has held several ministerial posts, has repeatedly expressed criticism of immigration and advocates a hardline political stance towards China.

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As an ally of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, she also shares his nationalist and revisionist views.

Takaichi is known for making pilgrimages to the controversial Yasukuni War Shrine in Tokyo. The Shinto shrine commemorates those who died in wars for the Japanese Empire, including convicted and executed war criminals.

Critics see the shrine as a symbol of former militarism. Visits by Japanese politicians and offerings at the site have repeatedly sparked tensions with China and South Korea, which endured huge suffering at the hands of the Japanese forces during World War II.
IONIA, Mich. (WOOD)  A Spanish teacher at Ionia Middle School is using social media in a way thats changing his students lives.

Craig Gurnee, better known to his students as Senor Gurnee, has raised enough money to help 16 students travel abroad, demonstrating the power of culture and community.

In his classroom, culture surrounds you. Flags of every Spanish-speaking country hang in the hallway and maps and posters cover the walls of Room 102. Gurnees passion for teaching Spanish started years ago when his high school teacher helped raise funds for a trip to study abroad in Mexico.

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It was extremely life-changing to be immersed in the culture, Gurnee said. You can read it in a textbook and you will learn it But when youre put in the culture and actually have to use what youre learned, its a whole new experience and its one Ill never forget. So I thought Id have to take my students abroad and give them that same opportunity.

Seventeen students expressed interest in a spring break trip to Costa Rica, but three were not able to commit because their families couldnt afford it. When he found out they werent able to take advantage of the opportunity that meant so much to Gurnee, he turned to an unexpected tool: TikTok.

I thought if I could earn a couple extra dollars to help students afford to go on that trip then why not, he said. TikTok is a great resource for me to step out of my comfort zone. Its just fun. Its like a way for an introvert to be an extrovert.

Gurnee now has nearly 62,000 followers. He posts content almost every day, asking his followers to interact with his content so the app would pay him. However, people from across the globe watching his videos started reaching out, asking how they could personally contribute to sponsoring the kids trips.

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People want to help students travel. People want to help students with their education, Gurnee said. Thats what really opened my eyes that there are such good people in this world that are willing to help. They just need to know how.

With global support, he exceeded his $9,000 goal. Thats when he decided to continue raising money to help pay off the balance of 13 other students. As of Friday, Gurnee raised around $34,000 across platforms.

TikTok brings people together, Gurnee said. It can be used positively and Ive had nothing but positive experiences with it, as you can see. Raising $34,000 to take 16 of my students to Costa Rica is something Im so glad that I found.

He said it was important for his students to be excited and not stress about the money.

Ionia Middle School Spanish teacher Craig Gurnee. (Oct. 3, 2025)

The students will be touring Costa Rica, visiting a coffee plantation, going ziplining and volunteering at an animal rescue.

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Philanthropic work is especially important to Gurnee. He raises money and food for local food pantries, created a giving closet at Ionia Middle School and regularly volunteers with Gildas Club. He hopes that if people take one thing from his story, it is to give back and pay it forward.

Community is everything to me, he said. I am a part of this community here and I like to give back anyway I can.

His online movement and the support he garnered is giving students an opportunity that could change their lives.

My goal is to inspire my students to become global citizens  to want to see the world, he said. Its very important to me to step outside of your small town, your small comfort zone, and see the world for what it is.

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It was a warm Thursday night in August 2017 when crews rolled into San Antonio's Travis Park to remove the Confederate Soldier statue that had stood there since 1899. Earlier that day, the San Antonio City Council voted 10-1 in favor of its removal, and by the early hours of Friday morning, it was taken from its pedestal and put into storage, where it would stay for the next eight years.

However, the ordinance that authorized the removal also allowed for the statue's eventual donation to a nonprofit that could communicate its historical significance "in an instructive and not divisive way," a memo from Center City Development and Operations states. The SS American Memorial Foundation, a Seguin nonprofit founded and headed by Navy veteran Craig Russell, is the new owner, after a donation deal with the City of San Antonio went through in August 2025. It was two years in the making, and the nonprofit (the SS in its name standing for "ship submersible," Russell said) will receive the statue in October.

What is the SS American Memorial Foundation in Seguin?

The nonprofit is located on the Lazy U Ranch Settlement, where Russell and the board of directors run what they call a "living war memorial." Russell told MySA that since 2000, the property has welcomed tens of thousands of wounded veterans through its gates, providing free respite, annual nature retreats, spiritual guidance and time outdoors along the Guadalupe River. It's also home to the SS American Memorial building, where the nonprofit has collected military memorabilia and photos of service members gifted by their families.

Today, the focal point of the property is the SS American Memorial building, where military memorabilia - such as a vial of sand from Iwo Jima, a 19th-century "Mark V" diving helmet, Betsy Ross flags - and portraits of fallen warriors cover the walls. (Emma Weidmann/MySA)





A headstone for Russell's father-in-law's grandfather is displayed next to the entrance to the SS American Memorial building. (Emma Weidmann/MySA)





The ranch is undergoing a 68-acre expansion, which has kept it closed to the public since early this year until its completion in March 2026. Among many additions, the "master plan" envisions a nature therapy park with a four-and-a-half-mile walking trail, aimed at lowering veteran suicide rates.

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That's where the Confederate Soldier and other monuments will be placed. Russell said the statue will be accompanied by a plaque developed by a planning committee of "experts" to explain its historical context, though details haven't been finalized. Russell said the statues "just became a component, because we believe that teaching history and sacrifice is part of the healing process for everybody - good, bad or indifferent."

Other monuments along the trail will be a 14-foot replica of the 567-foot San Jacinto Monument - located roughly 23 miles east of Houston in La Porte, Texas - commemorating the end of the Texas Revolution, and a granite marker for the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway, which came from New Braunfels. The nonprofit is "interested in possible additional monuments in storage" in Dallas and Houston. Russell reached out to the Daughters of the Confederacy (the organization responsible for the vast majority of Confederate monuments erected after the war) for a list of monuments and their locations, though his nonprofit doesn't "work with them jointly," he said.

Confederate statue removed from San Antonio park remains controversial

When it stood in Travis Park, the statue was the subject of protests (and counter-protests). Despite a past of public outcry, Russell said he doesn't believe that its presence in a space made for "healing" detracts from that mission. On the contrary, he said the education the statue provides "is healing for the soul, period. You have to know the history before you can heal, and those that deny it will always have problems ... understanding it and healing. They'll always be mad. I'm not mad about anything."

"We do believe that the outdoors opens up your mind to whatever might be, kind of gives you a clear thinking," Russell said. "And they will hopefully look into the history and make their own decisions in a clearer conscience, let's say, instead of an angry one. The majority of the people, I think, that find these divisive or whatever, again, I would venture to say that most of them really don't understand the history and how it all [came] about - and they don't want to understand."

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Alex Svehla, head organizer for San Antonio's branch of the nationwide protest group, 50501, sees it differently. Svehla told MySA via email that they hope that "true American history" will be taught "instead of glorifying or downplaying the Confederacy's goal of preserving slavery."

"America has a long-complicated history we must not erase  it is better to face the truth about our past rather than hiding behind falsehoods," Svehla said. "Ultimately, the Confederacy should only be remembered as racist losers who tried to destroy the union of the United States of America."

The Confederate statue in Travis Park on August 31, 2017. (Tom Reel/San Antonio Express-News)





Meanwhile, Catherine Clinton, chair of American History at the University of Texas at San Antonio, told MySA she believes preserving the statues is "important historically, to explain why it was commissioned, what the reception was at the time and how transformations of attitudes toward the Civil War were key," adding the removal of such statues is "as much as an act of stating current philosophies and current political issues as much as the statues were."

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But Deborah Omawale Jarmon, CEO of the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum, said in a phone call with MySA that statues like these are art, not history. As "visual storytelling," the question becomes what story they tell. Jarmon explained, "In an era where our country seems to be divided even more, I don't think that the display of art celebrating that division is the same as telling the story of the division in a classroom setting, or at home, or in college or anything like that."

With some contending that the statue is a piece of history and others denouncing it as a reminder of a painful past, the debate is far from over. The donation comes during a time when many previously removed monuments across the country are being reinstalled - such as the controversial bronze statue in the Arlington National Cemetery - following an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in March.

This article originally published at Texas veteran memorial takes in Confederate statue once in San Antonio park.
Yet another development in the ongoing saga of former Millcreek Superintendent Ian Roberts.

The Des Moines school board announced they too intend to file a lawsuit against the company that helped them find and hire the Guyana native back in 2023.

Thats according to the Des Moines Register, which reports the district claimed a company called JG Consulting failed to properly vet Roberts.

This comes after the Millcreek School Board announced on Wednesday they would seek similar action against the search firm Ray & Associates.

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Weve been digging into Roberts criminal past and according to DHS, in 1996, Roberts faced drug charges in New York, including criminal possession of narcotics with intent to sell.

In 2013, according to court paperwork, he spent two days in jail for a 2012 speeding conviction in Maryland.

He faces weapons charges in Pennsylvania from 2020 and 2022, as well as weapons charges from last week and yesterday.

His criminal record includes the following:

July 3, 1996: Charges for criminal possession of narcotics with intent to sell, criminal possession of narcotics, criminal possession of a forgery instrument and possession of a forged instrument in New York.

Nov. 13, 1998: A charge for third-degree unauthorized use of a vehicle in Queens, New York, which was dismissed July 6, 1999.

Nov. 1, 2012: A conviction for reckless driving, unsafe operation and speeding in Maryland.

Feb. 3, 2020: Charges for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon (having a loaded firearm outside his home or business); third-degree criminal possession of a weapon (an ammunition feeding device); and fourth-degree weapon charges. A document from Feb. 4, 2020, indicates that the second-degree criminal possession charge was inchoate.

Jan. 20, 2022: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania convicted Roberts of unlawful possession of a loaded firearm.

Sept. 26, 2025: Roberts was arrested with a Glock 9mm pistol and a fixed-blade hunting knife in his possession. He also had $3,000 in cash.

Oct. 2, 2025: Roberts criminally charged with being an illegal alien in possession of firearms.

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Roberts immigration history includes two visas, four Green Card applications and subsequent denials, and several trips:

June 1, 1994: Roberts entered the United States at John F. Kennedy International Airport on a B-2 nonimmigrant visa; he was classified as a visitor for pleasure. He departed the U.S. on an unknown date but returned before his 1996 arrest for narcotics possession.

March 8, 1999: He entered the U.S. through Californias San Francisco International Airport as an F-1 student visa holder. The visa was set to expire March 7, 2004. He departed the U.S. on an unknown date.

June 28, 1999: Roberts reentered the U.S. through San Francisco on the same F-1 student visa. He departed the U.S. on an unknown date.

Aug. 30, 1999: He again reentered the U.S. at JFK International Airport on the same student visa.

Feb. 9, 2000: Roberts filed an application for employment authorization, which U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved April 5, 2000, with an expiration date of April 1, 2001.

Sept. 4, 2000: He left the U.S. from JFK International Airport.

Sept. 30, 2000: Roberts entered the U.S. again at JFK International Airport on the same F-1 student visa.

May 21, 2001: He filed a green card application with USCIS, which the agency rejected Jan. 3, 2003.

May 15, 2018: Roberts filed another green card application with USCIS, which the agency again rejected on May 30 that year.

June 4, 2018: Roberts filed another green card application, which USCIS rejected for the third time June 20 that year.

July 15, 2018: He filed for employment authorization documents, which USCIS granted on Dec. 18 that year, giving the documents an expiration date of Dec. 18, 2019.

July 16, 2018: Roberts filed, for the fourth time, a green card application. USCIS denied it Jan. 24, 2020.

Nov. 18, 2019: He filed another application for employment authorization documents, which USCIS approved Dec. 3 of that year and issued an expiration date of Dec. 18, 2020.

Feb. 11, 2020: Roberts updated his address with USCIS.

Oct. 2, 2020: USCIS issued him a notice to appear before an immigration judge.

May 22, 2024: An immigration judge in Dallas, Texas, ordered Roberts removed in absentia.

April 24, 2025: An immigration judge in Dallas denied Roberts motion to reopen his case.

Sept. 26, 2025: ICE officials arrested Roberts in Des Moines, Iowa.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Travel + Leisure recently released a list of the 21 most beautiful waterfalls around the world  naming one Oregon waterfall with a fairy-tale feel.

Its hard to explain exactly why waterfalls are so enchanting, but theres no denying their effect. People traverse the globe just to witness the magnetic power of water pouring over a cliffs edge and plummeting to the earth below. Waterfalls top many travelers to-see lists and are often protected by parks or UNESCO designations. And while these wonders exist all over the world, from the lush hills of Hawaii to the rugged coast of Iceland, theres no denying that some falls are more spectacular than the rest, Travel + Leisure said.

From those heralded as the largest, tallest, or most powerful to little-known cascades with enticing swimming pools at their feet, these are some of the most beautiful and overall best waterfalls in the world, the outlet continued.

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Oregon Senate passes transportation funding bill during special session vote

According to Travel + Leisure, Oregons Multnomah Falls is among the most beautiful.

FILE  In this June 7, 2011, file photo, Multnomah Falls is shown in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area near Bridal Veil, Ore. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, file)

These spring-fed falls might be right off the busy Historic Columbia River Highway, but the sites easy accessibility does nothing to detract from its fairy-tale feel, Travel + Leisure wrote. Set in the Columbia River Gorge between Portland and Hood River, Oregon, Multnomah Falls plunges from upper to lower tiers as the iconic Benson Bridge stands prominently in the foreground.

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Positively Portland

Multnomah Falls Recreation Area is one of the states top visitor attractions, with more than two million visitors every year, according to Travel Oregon, noting the 611-foot cascade is Oregons tallest waterfall.

Other waterfalls on Travel + Leisures list include Victoria Falls, Zambia and Zimbabwe; Havasu Falls, Arizona; Angel Falls, Venezuela; Dudhsagar Falls, India and Yosemite Falls, California.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Gram Slattery

CAIRO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump told Israel on Friday to immediately stop bombing Gaza after Hamas agreed to release hostages and some other terms in a U.S. plan to end the war, but vexing issues like disarmament appeared unresolved.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that Israel was preparing for an "immediate implementation" of the first stage of Trump's Gaza plan for the release of Israeli hostages following Hamas' response.

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The Palestinian militant group on Friday issued its response to Trump's 20-point plan after the U.S. president gave Hamas until Sunday to accept or face grave consequences.

Trump, who has cast himself as the only person capable of achieving peace in Gaza, has invested significant political capital in efforts to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and left U.S. ally Israel increasingly isolated on the world stage.

Trump said he believed Hamas had showed it was "ready for a lasting PEACE" and he put the onus on Netanyahu's government.

"Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East."

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Netanyahu's office said Israel "will continue to work in full cooperation with the President and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles set out by Israel, which align with President Trump's vision."

CONTINUED BOMBARDMENT REPORTED BY RESIDENTS

According to residents, Israeli tanks bombarded Talateeni Street, a major artery in the heart of Gaza City, after Trump's message to Israel to stop.

Witnesses said Israeli military planes also intensified bombing in Gaza City in the hour after Hamas issued its statement, hitting several houses in the Remal neighborhood.

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There were also strikes on Khan Younis but no reports of casualties, residents said.

Israel, which backs Trump's proposal, has not yet commented on the Hamas response or on Trump's demand for an end to bombing in Gaza.

But Israel's parliamentary opposition leader Yair Lapid urged Netanyahu to move forward with the plan. In a post on X he said: "Israel should announce it is joining the discussions led by the president to finalize the details of the deal."

Families of those being held by Hamas in Gaza called on Netanyahu "to immediately order negotiations for the return of all hostages."

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Domestically, the prime minister is caught between growing pressure to end the war  from hostage families and a war-weary public  and demands from hardline members of his far-right coalition who insist there must be no let-up in Israels campaign in Gaza.

FOLLOW UP ON HAMAS COMMITMENT IMMEDIATELY, URGES FRANCE

French President Emmanuel Macron, who spearheaded efforts for wider recognition of a Palestinian state in a bid to help end the conflict, said in a post on X: "Hamas' commitment must be followed up without delay."

Israel began its offensive in Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel says 48 hostages remain, 20 of whom are alive.

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Israel's military campaign has killed more than 66,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. Its assault has destroyed much of the strip while aid restrictions have triggered a famine in parts of Gaza, with conditions dire across the enclave.

A U.N. Commission of Inquiry and multiple human rights experts have concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Netanyahu's government says it has acted in self-defense.

THORNY ISSUES STILL TO BE IRONED OUT

Hamas, in a copy of its response seen by Reuters, did not say if it would agree to disarm and demilitarize Gaza  something Israel and the U.S. want but Hamas has rejected before.

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It also did not agree to an Israeli withdrawal in stages, as opposed to the immediate, full withdrawal Hamas demands.

A senior Hamas official told Al Jazeera that the group would not disarm before Israel's occupation of the enclave ends, comments that underscored the gap between the parties as the war approaches its two-year mark.

Qatar has begun coordination with mediator Egypt and the United States to continue talks on Trump's Gaza plan, the Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson said on X.

Trump's plan specifies an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of all hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and the introduction of a transitional government led by an international body.

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HAMAS SEEKS FURTHER NEGOTIATIONS

In its response to Trump's plan, Hamas said it "appreciates the Arab, Islamic, and international efforts, as well as the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump, calling for an end to the war on the Gaza Strip, the exchange of prisoners, (and) the immediate entry of aid," among other terms.

It said it was announcing its "approval of releasing all occupation prisoners  both living and remains  according to the exchange formula contained in President Trumps proposal, with the necessary field conditions for implementing the exchange."

But Hamas added: "In this context, the movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter, through the mediators, into negotiations to discuss the details."

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The group said it was ready "to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats) based on Palestinian national consensus and supported by Arab and Islamic backing."

But Hamas did not make clear whether it would agree to Trump's proposal that it be barred from exercising political power in Gaza. But the group said it should be "included and will contribute" to any Palestinian national discussion on Gaza's future.

Hamas has previously offered to release all hostages and to hand over administration of the Gaza Strip to a different body.

Earlier on Friday, Trump warned that "all HELL" would break out in Gaza if Hamas failed to agree to his proposal for the enclave by Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.

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Hamas was not involved in the negotiations that led to the proposal.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Yomna Ehab, Menna Alaa El Din and Ahmed Tolba in Cairo; Gram Slattery, Kanishka Singh, Bhargav Acharya and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Andrew Mills in Doha and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Writing by Costas Pitas and Rami Ayyub; Editing by Howard Goller, Cynthia Osterman and Diane Craft)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D) said on Sunday that President Donald Trump will federalize the Illinois National Guard.

This morning, the Trump Administrations Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will, Pritzker wrote on Bluesky, using Trumps non-statutory term for the Department of Defense. It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.

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The move comes a day after Trump activated 200 National Guard members in Portland, Oregon as part of the presidents ostensible aim of combating cities run by Democrats. Trump has also deployed the National Guard in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

In the coming hours, the Trump Administration intends to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, the governor added. They will pull hardworking Americans out of their regular jobs and away from their families all to participate in a manufactured performance  not a serious effort the protect public safety. For Donald Trump, this has never been about safety. This is about control.

In a rambling address to top military brass on Tuesday, Trump said that American cities should serve as training grounds for U.S. soldiers.

And I told [Secretary of Defense] Pete [Hegseth] we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military, National Guard, but military, because were going into Chicagos very soon, the president warned. Thats a big city with an incompetent governor. Stupid governor.

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I want to be clear: there is no need for military troops on the ground in the State of Illinois, Pritzker said. I will not call up our National Guard to further Trumps acts of aggression against our people.

The post Trump To Federalize Illinois National Guard, Governor Says first appeared on Mediaite.
President Donald Trump will host a large Navy celebration this weekend while the military goes without pay during the government shutdown.

Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday evening, THE SHOW MUST GO ON! when announcing his trip to Norfolk, Virginia, on Sunday to honor our brave men and women of the United States Navy for its 250th birthday, which will be on October 13.

Trump said he will be joined by first lady Melania Trump, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan to mark decades of what the president called maritime dominance.

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This will be the largest Celebration in the History of the Navy, Trump said, adding that thousands of active-duty servicemembers and military families are expected to be in attendance.

President Donald Trump will host a large Navy celebration this weekend while the military goes without pay during the government shutdown (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

But unlike the president, these servicemembers wont be getting paid this weekend thanks to the ongoing government shutdown.

Active-duty servicemembers are required to work unpaid during the shutdown. Their paychecks will stop coming on October 15 if the Senate doesnt pass a funding bill by then, the Military Times reports.

While the president does get a paycheck during a government shutdown, Trump said in August that he donated a portion of his salary to help with White House renovations.

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Many government workers, including servicemembers, should expect to receive backpay once the government shutdown comes to an end.

Trump joins Naval Academy cadets during the Army v. Navy American Football game in Philadelphia on December 14, 2019 (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Republicans and Democrats have blamed each other for the shutdown, which started Wednesday at midnight.

Democrats have demanded the reversal of Medicaid cuts from Trumps big, beautiful bill and an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies in exchange for their support on a funding bill to keep the government open.

For their part, Republicans have pushed for a funding bill without such provisions and claimed Democrats healthcare demands are to give undocumented immigrants free healthcare, despite the group not being eligible for federal healthcare programs aside from emergency services.

Republicans and Democrats have blamed each other for the shutdown, which started Wednesday at midnight (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

In his Truth Social post announcing this weekends Navy event, Trump accused Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, and the other Minority Radical Left Democrats of trying to destroy this wonderful celebration of the U.S. Navys Birthday with the shutdown.

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The U.S. Navy has been planning this event for many months and, despite the Democrats incompetence, I refuse to let them down as their Commander-in-Chief, Trump wrote.

Trump is known to enjoy a military celebration. In June, he hosted a military parade in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the Armys 250th birthday, which coincided with his 79th birthday. An Army spokesperson later told The Hill the grand celebration cost $30 million.
Namibia recorded its highest-ever trade deficit in August 2025, reaching 5.3 billion Namibian dollars (approximately 308 million U.S. dollars), according to data released by the Namibia Statistics Agency on Thursday, October 2.

This sharp increase marks a significant jump from Julys deficit of 13 million Namibian dollars and is notably worse than the 3.4 billion Namibian dollar deficit registered in August 2024. Statistician-General Alex Shimuafeni noted that South Africa remains Namibias principal trading partner for both imports and exports, underscoring the countrys deep economic ties with its southern neighbour.

Namibias export performance continues to rely heavily on its mining sector. The bulk of exports comprises non-monetary gold, uranium, base metal ores and concentrates, as well as copper and copper-related products. Fish remains the only non-mineral product among the countrys top five exports, highlighting the limited diversification of Namibias export basket. Re-exports were similarly dominated by mineral commodities, including copper, petroleum oils, diamonds, and various base metal ores and concentrates.

On the import side, Namibias demand was led by petroleum oils, motor vehicles, nickel ores and concentrates, and civil engineering and contractors equipment. The widening trade deficit reflects the countrys heavy dependence on imports of essential goods and industrial materials, set against a relatively narrow export base concentrated in resource extraction.
President Donald Trump moved to deploy the National Guard in another city Saturday by authorizing 300 troops to protect federal officers and assets in Chicago, where the government said Border Patrol agents shot and injured a woman while firing at someone who tried to run them over.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson confirmed that the president authorized using the Illinois National Guard members, citing what she called ongoing violent riots and lawlessness that local leaders have not quelled.

President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities, Jackson said.

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Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said the guard received notice from the Pentagon early in the day. He called the move unnecessary and a manufactured performance  not a serious effort to protect public safety.

This morning, the Trump Administrations Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will, Pritzker said in a statement. It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will. 

Trump has long threatened to send troops to Chicago, but it was not immediately clear when or exactly where they would be deployed.

Meanwhile the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged the shooting of the woman on the southwest side of Chicago. It said in a statement that Border Patrol agents were rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars, and when they got out of their trapped vehicle, a suspect tried to run them over, forcing the officers to fire defensively.

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The woman who was shot was a U.S. citizen and was armed with a semiautomatic weapon, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said, noting that the woman was accused in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection intelligence bulletin last week of doxing agents.

DHS later identified her as Marimar Martinez, and said she's in FBI custody after being treated and released from the hospital. DHS said the driver of another vehicle involved in the ramming, Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, was apprehended. It's unclear if they are represented by attorneys who could comment on their behalf.

No officers were seriously injured, McLaughlin said.

In an interview with Fox & Friends on Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem again called Chicago a war zone" and said protesters are being paid to disrupt operations and stir violence against officers.

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Our intelligence indicates these people are organized and making plans to ambush and kill them, she said. Somebody is funding them.

The Chicago Police Department confirmed a shooting in the area but offered few details, saying it responded only to document the incident and control traffic.

CPD is not involved in the incident or its investigation. Federal authorities are investigating this shooting, it said in a statement, referring questions to federal officials.

The escalation of federal law enforcement follows similar deployments in other parts of the country. Trump sent the National Guard to Los Angeles over the summer and to Washington, D.C., as part of his law enforcement takeover there. Tennessee National Guard troops are expected to arrive in Memphis to help police.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued to stop the deployment in Los Angeles and won a temporary block in federal court. The Trump administration has appealed that ruling that the use of the guard was illegal, and a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has indicated that it believes the government is likely to prevail.

Pritzker criticized the Illinois deployment for pulling the National Guard troops away from their families and regular jobs, saying, For Donald Trump, this has never been about safety. This is about control.

He also noted that state, county and local law enforcement have been coordinating to ensure the safety of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Broadview facility on the outskirts of Chicago.

Federal officials reported the arrests of 13 people protesting Friday near the facility, which has been frequently targeted during the administrations surge of immigration enforcement this fall.

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Trump also said last month that he was sending federal troops to Portland, Oregon, calling the city war-ravaged. But local officials have suggested that many of his claims and social media posts appear to rely on images from 2020, when demonstrations and unrest gripped the city following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

Oregon officials sued to stop the deployment the next day. U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut heard arguments Friday and temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Saturday from deploying the guard in Portland. Immergut was appointed by Trump during his first term in office.

Immergut issued the order pending further arguments in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs said a deployment would violate the U.S. Constitution as well as a federal law that generally prohibits the military from being used to enforce domestic laws.

Trump has federalized 200 National Guard troops in the state, but so far it does not appear that they have moved into Portland. They have been seen training on the coast in anticipation of a deployment.

___

Associated Press writers Rebecca Boone and Margery A. Beck contributed.
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Gram Slattery

CAIRO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump told Israel on Friday to immediately stop bombing Gaza after Hamas agreed to release hostages and some other terms in a U.S. plan to end the war, but vexing issues like disarmament appeared unresolved.

Hamas on Friday issued its response to Trump's 20-point plan after the president gave the Palestinian militant group until Sunday to accept or face grave consequences.

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The president, who has cast himself as the only person capable of achieving peace in Gaza, has invested significant political capital in efforts to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and left U.S. ally Israel increasingly isolated on the world stage.

Trump said he believed Hamas had showed it was "ready for a lasting PEACE" and he put the onus on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

"Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East."

CONTINUED BOMBARDMENT REPORTED BY RESIDENTS

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According to residents, Israeli tanks bombarded Talateeni Street, a major artery in the heart of Gaza City, after Trump's message to Israel to stop.

Witnesses said Israeli military planes also intensified bombing in Gaza City in the hour after Hamas issued its statement, hitting several houses in the Remal neighborhood.

There were also strikes on Khan Younis but no reports of casualties, residents said.

Israel, which backs Trump's proposal, has not yet commented on the Hamas response or on Trump's demand for an end to bombing in Gaza.

But Israel's parliamentary opposition leader Yair Lapid urged Netanyahu to move forward with the plan. In a post on X he said: "Israel should announce it is joining the discussions led by the president to finalize the details of the deal."

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Families of those being held by Hamas in Gaza called on Netanyahu "to immediately order negotiations for the return of all hostages."

Domestically, the prime minister is caught between growing pressure to end the war  from hostage families and a war-weary public  and demands from hardline members of his far-right coalition who insist there must be no let-up in Israels campaign in Gaza.

FOLLOW UP ON HAMAS COMMITMENT IMMEDIATELY, URGES FRANCE

French President Emmanuel Macron, who spearheaded efforts for wider recognition of a Palestinian state in a bid to help end the conflict, said in a post on X: "Hamas' commitment must be followed up without delay."

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Israel began its offensive in Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel says 48 hostages remain, 20 of whom are alive.

Israel's military campaign has killed more than 66,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. Its assault has destroyed much of the strip while aid restrictions have triggered a famine in parts of Gaza, with conditions dire across the enclave.

A U.N. Commission of Inquiry concluded last month that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Netanyahu's government denies this and says it has acted in self-defense.

THORNY ISSUES STILL TO BE IRONED OUT

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Hamas, in a copy of its response seen by Reuters, did not say if it would agree to disarm and demilitarize Gaza  something Israel and the U.S. want but Hamas has rejected before.

It also did not agree to an Israeli withdrawal in stages, as opposed to the immediate, full withdrawal Hamas demands.

A senior Hamas official told Al Jazeera that the group would not disarm before Israel's occupation of the enclave ends, comments that underscored the gap between the parties as the war approaches its two-year mark.

Qatar has begun coordination with mediator Egypt and the United States to continue talks on Trump's Gaza plan, the Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson said on X.

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Trump's plan specifies an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of all hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and the introduction of a transitional government led by an international body.

HAMAS SEEKS FURTHER NEGOTIATIONS

In its response to Trump's plan, Hamas said it "appreciates the Arab, Islamic, and international efforts, as well as the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump, calling for an end to the war on the Gaza Strip, the exchange of prisoners, (and) the immediate entry of aid," among other terms.

It said it was announcing its "approval of releasing all occupation prisoners  both living and remains  according to the exchange formula contained in President Trumps proposal, with the necessary field conditions for implementing the exchange."

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But Hamas added: "In this context, the movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter, through the mediators, into negotiations to discuss the details."

The group said it was ready "to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats) based on Palestinian national consensus and supported by Arab and Islamic backing."

But Hamas did not make clear whether it would agree to Trump's proposal that it be barred from exercising political power in Gaza. But the group said it should be "included and will contribute" to any Palestinian national discussion on Gaza's future.

Hamas has previously offered to release all hostages and to hand over administration of the Gaza Strip to a different body.

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Earlier on Friday, Trump warned that "all HELL" would break out in Gaza if Hamas failed to agree to his proposal for the enclave by Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.

Hamas was not involved in the negotiations that led to the proposal.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Yomna Ehab and Ahmed Tolba in Cairo; Gram Slattery, Bhargav Acharya and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Andrew Mills in Doha and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Writing by Costas Pitas and Rami Ayyub; Editing by Howard Goller and Cynthia Osterman)
The party of Andrej Babis, a billionaire and self-described Trumpist, has come first in the Czech general election, according to the polls.

His ANO (Yes) party, campaigning on pledges of welfare and halting military aid to Ukraine, scored 36.5 per cent of the vote in a country of 10.9 million people, interim figures showed on Saturday.

The Together grouping of outgoing prime minister Petr Fiala came second with 21.8 per cent, ahead of its coalition partner STAN with 10.8 per cent.

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Six parties looked on track to enter parliament, with final results expected later on Saturday. The country is a member of both the EU and Nato.

Confetti falls as Mr Babis addresses a press conference after the preliminary results of the parliamentary election - Radovan Stoklasa/Reuters

Mr Fialas government has provided humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia in February 2022.

But a return to power for Mr Babis could draw the Czech Republic closer to EU mavericks Hungary and Slovakia, which have refused military aid to Ukraine and opposed sanctions on Russia.

In the European Parliament, ANO is part of the far-Right Patriots for Europe bloc, which Mr Babis himself co-founded with Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban.

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Mr Babis, 71, said he preferred a single-party government, but the interim results indicate he would need partners to rule, such as the opposition far-Right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), which gained a preliminary 8.1 per cent, and the non-parliamentary Right-wing Motorists with 6.9 per cent.

The SPD is promoting a referendum on the Czech Republic leaving the European Union, something that Mr Babis has vehemently rejected.

What lies ahead for us is probably a government led by Andrej Babis, but the question is, who will he join forces with? Otto Eibl, an analyst at Masaryk University, told AFP.

He said ANO would probably team up with the SPD or with the small Motorists party.

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For foreign policy, a Babis government with the Motorists could actually be good news, he said, predicting Mr Babis could continue more or less in Fialas footsteps.

Petr Pavel, the Czech president, said he would start talks with the elected party heads on Sunday.

Czechs first approach

Describing himself as a peacemonger calling for a truce in Ukraine, Mr Babis has vowed a Czechs first approach and a better life for all Czechs  echoing Donald Trump.

When he was prime minister from 2017 to 2021, Mr Babis was critical of some EU policies. He is on good terms with Mr Orban and Slovakias Robert Fico, who have maintained ties with Moscow despite its invasion of Ukraine.

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Petr Just, an analyst at the Metropolitan University in Prague, told AFP a government led by Mr Babis might use harsher rhetoric towards Brussels.

I would certainly not rule out that we will witness some rhetorical questioning of certain Western steps or actions that the West will take, he said.

Analysts have pointed out the role of Russian propaganda in the election campaign.

The Czech Online Risks Research Centre said last week that Czech-language accounts on TikTok reaching millions of viewers systematically spread pro-Russian propaganda and support anti-system parties through manipulated engagement.

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The European Commission held an emergency meeting with TikTok on Thursday in the context of the Czech elections, after which the social media platform removed several bots, said its spokesman Thomas Regnier.

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ANKARA (Reuters) - Some 137 activists detained by Israel for taking part in a flotilla seeking to deliver aid to Gaza are being flown to Istanbul, Turkey's foreign ministry said on Saturday.

The individuals include 36 Turkish nationals, as well as citizens from the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Switzerland, Tunisia and Jordan, ministry sources added.

The Turkish Airlines flight is expected to land sometime after 3:40 p.m. local time (1240 GMT), the ministry said.

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MORE THAN 450 ACTIVISTS DETAINED

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said 26 Italians were on board, with another 15 still held in Israel and set to be expelled next week - along with activists from other nations.

Israel has faced international condemnation after its military intercepted all of about 40 boats in a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza and detained more than 450 activists.

"I have once again given instructions to the Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv to ensure that the remaining compatriots are treated with respect for their rights", Tajani wrote on X.

A first group of Italians from the flotilla - four parliamentarians - arrived in Rome on Friday.

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"Those who were acting legally were the people aboard those boats; those who acted illegally were those who prevented them from reaching Gaza", Arturo Scotto, one of the Italian lawmakers who took part in the mission, told a press conference in Rome.

"We were brutally stopped ... brutally taken hostage", said Benedetta Scuderi, another Italian parliamentarian.

ZIP-TIED ON THEIR KNEES FOR HOURS

Israel's foreign ministry wrote on X that all detained activists were "safe and in good health", adding it was keen to complete the deportations "as quickly as possible".

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According to Adalah, an Israeli group offering legal assistance to flotilla members, some of them were denied access to lawyers, and denied access to water and medications, as well as the use of toilets.

Activists were also "forced to kneel with their hands zip-tied for at least five hours, after some participants chanted 'Free Palestine,'" Adalah said.

Israel's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The flotilla, which set sail in late August, marked the latest attempt by activists to challenge the Israeli naval blockade of the Palestinian enclave Gaza, where Israel has been waging a war since Palestinian militant group Hamas' deadly attack on Israel in October 2023.

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Israeli officials repeatedly denounced the mission as a stunt and warned it against violating a "lawful naval blockade".

(Reporting by Ece Toksabay in Ankara, Alexander Cornwell in Tel Aviv and Alvise Armellini in Rome. Additional reporting by Pesha Magid in Jerusalem. Editing by Susan Fenton and Mark Potter)
The Trump administration escalated its campaign against Venezuelan drug cartels on Friday, announcing a U.S. military strike that destroyed another alleged narco-trafficking vessel off the coast of the South American nation. According to Pentagon officials, four men aboard the boat were killed, and a significant shipment of narcotics was prevented from reaching the United States.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the operation in a message posted to his X account, describing it as a lethal, kinetic strike carried out under President Donald Trumps direct orders. Officials said the target was a vessel tied to groups Washington has designated as terrorist organizations.

The post also included a video showing aerial footage of a fast-moving boat at sea that suddenly explodes. So far, five boats believed to be carrying drugs have been intercepted in the Caribbean, with the death toll now rising to 21.

Earlier this morning, on President Trump's orders, I directed a lethal, kinetic strike on a narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with Designated Terrorist Organizations in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility. Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the pic.twitter.com/QpNPljFcGn  Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 3, 2025

Earlier this morning, on President Trumps orders, I directed a lethal, kinetic strike on a narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with Designated Terrorist Organizations in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility, Hegseth said. Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike, and no U.S. forces were harmed in the operation. The strike was conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was transporting substantial amounts of narcoticsheaded to America to poison our people.

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Hegseth emphasized that U.S. intelligence provided unequivocal confirmation that the vessel was engaged in drug trafficking. He vowed that operations would continue.

These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over, he said.

The strike marks the latest move in a campaign that U.S. officials say targets drug trafficking networks with deep ties to the Venezuelan government. U.S. intelligence agencies have long alleged that elements of the Maduro regime are embedded within the so-called Cartel de los Soles, which is accused of overseeing large-scale cocaine shipments from Venezuela to markets in North America and Europe.

Fridays strike came a day after the administration justified its previous strikes in a memo to lawmakers, some of whom have expressed concerns about an overreach of executive power. In its memo to Congress, the administration declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and informed lawmakers the United States is in an non-international armed conflict with them.

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The strikes, which began early last month, followed the administrations launch of the largest U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean in decades, aimed at disrupting drug operations in the region. The initial phase of the deployment includes a Marine air-ground task force aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima and two San Antonio-class transport ships, with more than 2,000 Marines prepared for rapid-response missions.

In total, over 4,500 U.S. personnelMarines and Navyare operating in the region, supported by a cruiser, several destroyers, and a Los Angeles-class attack submarine armed with precision-guided missiles. Ten F-35 stealth fighters are also stationed in Puerto Rico, capable of easily outmatching Venezuelas aging fleet of Sukhoi Su-30s and F-16s.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the operation during her daily briefing, framing it as both a constitutional and moral obligation for the president.

As the White House has said many times, the President has directed these actionsthese strikes against Venezuelan drug cartels and their vesselsin accordance with his responsibility to protect U.S. interests abroad and to further American national security and foreign policy objectives, Leavitt told reporters. This is pursuant to his constitutional authority as commander-in-chief and chief executive to conduct foreign relations in each of these cases.

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Leavitt added that the intelligence community had confirmed the vessels ties to terrorist organizations and their role in the northward flow of narcotics. The vessels have been assessed by the U.S. intelligence community to be affiliated with designated terrorist organizations and were actively trafficking illicit drugs to our country at the time of the strike, she said.

The administration has increasingly fused the war on drugs with counterterrorism, describing cartels as narco-terrorist entities rather than merely criminal organizations. Officials argue that this framing grants Washington broader legal and military latitude to act against foreign groups involved in narcotics smuggling.

For Trump, the operation also ties directly into his domestic political narrative. On the campaign trail, he repeatedly promised to end the opioid crisis and the broader drug epidemic that he argues has devastated American communities. Leavitt said Fridays strike demonstrated his commitment to that pledge.

The President has been very cleardating back to the campaign trailthat he will always do what is in the best interest of the American homeland, she said. He also promised the American people he would end the drug epidemic that has taken far too many American lives. Youre seeing those actions play out almost every single day.

The Venezuelan government has not yet issued a public response to the strike, though Caracas has previously condemned similar U.S. operations as violations of its sovereignty.
The UK is taking a significant step toward modernizing its rail travel experience by trialling a GPS-based ticketing system. This innovative approach could simplify train travel by eliminating the need for traditional tickets, offering passengers a more seamless and potentially cheaper way to get around. The pilot is currently underway in northern England, with plans for wider implementation in the coming months.

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How does it work?

Introduced by Northern and East Midlands Railway, the new process allows passengers to travel without buying a ticket in advance. Instead, users download a dedicated app that tracks their location via GPS. When starting a journey, passengers use the app to check in at their departure station. Once they arrive at their destination, they simply tap end journey in the app.

A few minutes later, users receive a message confirming their fare, which the system guarantees is the lowest available price for that journey. For validation, the app also generates a barcode that can be used at ticket barriers or during inspections.

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To encourage participation, travellers who join the pilot are offered 15 (17) of free credit. The system is currently being tested on routes like Harrogate to Leeds, and Derby to Nottingham, with further expansion planned for lines between Sheffield, Doncaster, and Barnsley.

Who else has this system?

While the UK is only beginning to trial this technology, similar systems have already been adopted in countries like Denmark, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

In Denmark, the Rejsekort app allows users to tap in and out via their phones using GPS data to calculate fares automatically. The Netherlands offers a similar system with NS Lab and the OV-chipkaart, where users can enable GPS-based fare tracking without needing to physically scan a card. Meanwhile, Switzerlands SBB EasyRide uses GPS and geofencing to detect journey start and end points, ensuring passengers are charged the best fare.

These examples show that GPS-based ticketing can work efficiently, particularly in countries with robust digital infrastructure and high public transport usage.

Privacy concerns

As with any GPS-based system, concerns about user privacy have emerged. In Denmark, the Rejsekort app was criticised for requiring constant location access, even when not in use. Following public backlash and regulatory scrutiny, users are now able to choose a while using the app setting for location sharing.

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In the Netherlands, the NS Lab app only processes personal location data if the user activates the GPS feature. Data collection stops within 20 minutes after the user leaves the stations virtual boundary, known as a geofence.

UK authorities will likely face similar scrutiny as the system expands. Clear communication, opt-in settings, and limited data retention will be key to ensuring public trust.

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Is this the future of travel?

If successful, GPS-based ticketing could revolutionise UK rail travel by removing ticket barriers, reducing fare confusion, and guaranteeing better pricing. It also has the potential to make commuting more efficient and accessible, especially for irregular travellers.

As the UK modernizes its railway infrastructure, this trial could be the first step toward a smarter, more passenger-friendly transport system. But the success of the scheme will depend on how well it balances convenience with privacy.

This story was originally reported by TravelHost on Oct 3, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add TravelHost as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints General Conference is set to take place this weekend, in addition to funeral services for the Churchs President Russell M. Nelson. Utah agencies are preparing for the influx of visitors.

Twice a year, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints hosts General Conference, in which church leaders address their members and share messages. While it is also broadcasted online, approximately 100,000 individuals attend General Conference in person at the conference center in downtown Salt Lake City.

In addition to Octobers General Conference, the Church is also hosting funeral services for their leader, President Russell M. Nelson, who passed away on September 27, 2025, at 101 years of age.

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Russell M. Nelson: A history of the LDS Church Presidents life of faith, medicine

A public viewing for President Nelson will be held on October 6, 2025, and a funeral service will be held on October 7, 2025.

It is expected that thousands will also attend these services. When the Churchs last leader, President Thomas S. Monson, died in 2018, over 31,500 people reportedly attended his public services.

Notably, some have raised concerns about the safety at General Conference and Nelsons funeral services after a Michigan man attacked and set fire to a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints meetinghouse in what the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has called a targeted attack.

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ABC4 spoke with various agencies to see what measures they are taking to ensure safety and prepare for both General Conference and President Nelsons funeral services.

Utah Transit Authority

Utah Transit Authority is reportedly well versed in handling General Conference crowds, and large events in general.

Gavin Gustafson, the Senior Public Information officer at UTA, says, Certainly, we do see an increase in ridership on both of the conference weekends throughout the year, so this is not new. We do this twice a year [and] we certainly handle large events.

Gustafson said that they are expecting additional crowds for President Nelsons funeral services, but that UTA is prepared and plans to add extra cars to the downtown transit lines, TRAX is a 15-minute service, so the bus lines are all set and ready to handle the crowds. The main thing we do is we add cars to the TRAX train lines so we can handle two or three times as many people.

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General Conference weekend  What to expect if youre heading to the Conference Center

UTA has also partnered with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in order to offer a Ticket as Fare service for General Conference and the funeral services. Under this service, individuals with tickets to any of the events can use those in lieu of a fare.

You can leave your car, leave the hassles that come with it, leave all that behind at one of our 150 or so parking rides that are around and enjoy the ride into Salt Lake on a UTA bus or train, Gustafson said, Certainly getting into downtown, theres going to be a lot of people, so we certainly encourage people to take advantage of the ticket as fare.

In addition to providing transit, UTA is also helping with event security and Gustafson say travelers will likely see an increased UTA police department presence.

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Were always concerned about safety- Its our number one priority. The temperature is elevated lately, Gustafson said, As with all large events on or near our service routes and rails, we meet with the event organizers and coordinate security efforts prior to the event.

Salt Lake City Police Department

Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD) is also taking measures to ensure that General Conference and the funeral services go well.

Sergeant Miles Southworth, with the Salt Lake City Police Department, says We handle this event every spring, every fall. We handle it every year and we take it very seriously.

We staff this event with a number of officers and specialty assignment officers and use a lot of special squads and tools to help prepare and ensure this event goes off safely, Southworth added, In the process leading up to the event, we do a lot of work to identify potential threats, potential vulnerabilities.

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In the case of any large events, like with General Conference, SLCPD works on making sure they allocate enough resources and use those resources strategically.

Ultimately, though, Sergeant Southworth asked the public to help keep the events safe, by showing up peacefully and staying alert.

In regard to the Michigan church shooting and the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10, Southworth said, Id like to remind that these are outlier events that are tragedies that do not occur frequently. We do everything we can to prepare.

Additionally, SLCPD is asking the public to show up to General Conference peacefully and to be alert. Southworth said, I would like to ask people coming into SLC just keep aware, keep a watchful eye.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
RALEIGH, N.C. (KNWA/KFTA)  Walmart will open a 1.2 millionsquare-foot fulfillment center in Kings Mountain, N.C., with an estimated investment of $300 million and the creation of more than 300 jobs.

The facility, expected to open in 2027, will ship large items such as patio furniture and lawnmowers with next-day delivery, according to a news release.

North Carolina offers global companies like Walmart a friendly business climate, strong workforce development programs, and a transportation network tailored to their logistics needs, said North Carolina Josh Governor Stein. These advantages, and more, make North Carolina the top state to do business in the country.

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The project is supported by a 12-year Job Development Investment Grant, which may reimburse Walmart up to $3.67 million if job creation and investment targets are met.

Walmart plans to remove artificial colors and other food additives from store brands by 2027

State economists estimate the fulfillment center could contribute nearly $791 million to North Carolinas economy over the grant term and generate more than $20 million in annual payroll. According to the states Department of Commerce, payments from the grant are made only after state verification that the company meets its targets.

Karisa Sprague, senior vice president, Supply Chain, Walmart U.S. said that the new center will be critical in helping the company serve customers faster.

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Were excited to join the Kings Mountain community and proud to create long-term career opportunities where associates can grow and build their future with Walmart, Sprague said.

Walmart currently employs more than 62,000 people in North Carolina through more than 200 stores, Sams Clubs and seven supply chain facilities. The new center will be located at 799 Sara Lee Access Road in Gaston County.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24.
The US military has struck a boat that was allegedly trafficking drugs off the Venezuelan coast, killing four.

On Friday (3 October), Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth shared footage of the strike, which shows a small speed boat exploding into flames whilst sailing in the Caribbean. Hegseth claimed that the boat was a narco-trafficking vessel.

The strike was conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics - headed to America to poison our people, he said on X.

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Donald Trump also confirmed the strike on his Truth Social platform, saying that the boat was carrying enough drugs to kill 25 to 50 thousand people.

The attack marks at least the fourth known US military strike in the Caribbean since the beginning of September.




Reflecting on the disastrous year in which Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed one of his best symphonies, the composer wrote in his diary, "There is no doubt that for some months I was insane."

The Waterbury Symphony Orchestra is performing that symphony, No. 4 in F minor, called "Fate," Sunday, along with Aaron Copeland's "Appalachian Spring" and Paul Frucht's "Finding Religion" at the Fine Arts Center at CT State College: Naugatuck Valley. Although the composer later called the fourth symphony "my best symphonic work," it was written in 1877, a period the composer and biographers have agreed was the worst of his life.

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That year Tchaikovsky had married Antonina Milyukova, despite widespread knowledge that the young composer was gay. The marriage was catastrophic. In later years, he referred to Milyukova as "the reptile," writing that he found her "absolutely repulsive."

Beset by "unbearable moral torments," the marriage was over within weeks. Tchaikovsky fled to Switzerland, tormented by the anxiety and depression that had assailed him most of his life.

But the Symphony No. 4 contains everything that would make the Tchaikovsky the most popular Russian composer of all time. Somehow, he was able to tap into his mercurial, melancholic nature and create a piece that captured emotional depth and entwined it with a melodic richness and expressiveness.

It turns out the worst year of Tchaikovsky's life was also the best one. The year marked the beginning of Tchaikovsky's relationship with the widowed Nadezda von Meck, who became his patroness. Von Meck's husband had made a fortune in the railroad industry. His death in 1846 left her with 11 children (she bore 18) and a fortune.

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As a widow, however, she had become increasingly reclusive, connecting to the outside world largely through music - and letters. The widow began writing Tchaikovsky and then supporting him financially, allowing him to quit teaching and devote his life to composing.

In their nearly 14-year relationship, the pair exchanged nearly 1,200 letters. Among them are letters he wrote about his fourth symphony, which the Waterbury Symphony calls "a sweeping exploration of destiny's triumphs and heartbreaks."

He described the symphony's now-celebrated opening brass fanfare as "that fateful force which prevents the impulse to happiness from attaining its goal, which jealously ensures that peace and happiness shall not be complete and unclouded, which hangs above the head like the sword of Damocles, unwaveringly, constantly poisoning the soul. It is an invincible force that can never be overcome-merely endured, hopelessly."

Like his patroness, Tchaikovsky tended toward the histrionic.

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The pair never met. The music, which will be presented at 3 p.m. in Naugatuck Valley's Fine Art Center, is widely available for streaming.

More about the busy life of Richard Scarry

Remember Richard Scarry's Busy Town? If you liked Lowly Worm and Huckle Cat, you can now obtain your own illustrations of them at a Connecticut bookstore that has a vending machine that spits out of art inspired by the former Westport resident's characters. Mermaid Books in Milford now has a vending machine that dispenses small prints artist Anastasia Inciardi's recreations of Richard Scarry's characters.

Scarry (1919-1994), a Boston-born illustrator, published more than 250 books that have collectively sold more than 100 million copies and been translated into 30 languages. He started studying painting and drawing at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts (now part of Tuft's University) after which he was drafted, ultimately serving as a second lieutenant at Allied headquarters in Algiers during World War II.

Among his tasks were developing newsletters to boost moral, accompanied by hand-drawn illustrations and maps. He found remarkable success after his discharge, when he moved to Greenwich Village in New York and began illustrating Little Golden Books, including "Two Little Miners," by Margaret Wise Brown (of "Goodnight Moon" and "The Runaway Bunny" fame.)

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His breakthrough book, "Best Word Book Ever," published in 1963, became a template for his many "best" books, which encouraged children to look at pages, jam-packed with illustrations, detailed images, sneakily teaching them vocabulary.

Scarry spent from 1951 to 1968 in Connecticut, first in Ridgefield and later in Westport, where he spent time at Compo Beach, often sailing his boat, the Irish Pennant, according to Connecticuthistory.org. He moved to Switzerland in 1968. He died there of a heart attack caused by complications of esophageal cancer in 1994.

Treasures from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

If you like sumptuous regalia, exquisite goldsmith work and lavish vestments, you might want to head down to the The Frick Collection in New York, which just opened "To the Holy Sepulchre:

Treasures from the Terra Sancta Museum."

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Built first by Constantine the Great, The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is believed to be the place where Jesus was crucified and buried, although the precise location has been debated for centuries. The Frick exhibit will feature 40 objects, from liturgical objects in gem-encrusted gold and silver to richly decorated vestments in velvet, damask and other luxurious materials, according to a news release. These treasures were donated by European Catholic monarchs and Holy Roman Emperors in the 17th and 18th centuries to the church in Jerusalem, according to the Frick, which said in a news release that the works "represent the pinnacle of European goldsmithing and textile design of the era, and many have no parallel anywhere in the world."

Before the opening of the new Terra Sancta Museum, these objects from its holdings are traveling to several institutions in Europe and North America, including the Frick, which is the exhibition's first venue in the United States.

The Frick reports the objects on view were largely unknown until their rediscovery by scholars in the 1980s.

The Frick Collection is at 1 East 70th St., New York. For information, visit www.frick.org/ or call 212-288-0700.

This article originally published at Waterbury Symphony performs Tchaikovsky work and more.
After millions of people in all 50 states showed out in protests on June 14, the No Kings Coalition is planning a second day of action this month. Currently, there are at least 16 protests for Oct. 18 planned around South Carolina, though organizers say more events could be added.

Protestors plan to take to the streets to speak out against President Donald Trump and what the coalition calls his violent authoritarian attacks on our freedoms  including increasing militarization of our nations cities, as well as the federal government shutdown.

In statements preparing for the Oct. 18 protests, the coalition said organizers are trained in de-escalation and working with local partners to ensure peace. The No Kings website touts a commitment to nonviolent action and says that weapons, even legally permitted ones, shouldnt be brought to events.

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Participating organizers around the country include groups like 50501, ACLU, American Federation of Teachers, Common Defense, Human Rights Campaign, Indivisible, League of Conservation Voters, MoveOn, National Nurses United, Public Citizen, SEIU, United We Dream and more.

An estimated 5 million people around the United States attended Junes protests, and organizers say Oct. 18 could be even bigger. According to the coalition, the number of protests planned this month has already surpassed the number of June 14 events.

Groups including No Kings South Carolina, 50501 South Carolina and South Carolina Indivisible chapters, are planning a statewide rally at the South Carolina Statehouse from 1 to 3 p.m., but at least 15 other protests are organized around the Palmetto State.

An interactive map with the latest locations planning protests is available on the No Kings website. Here are the South Carolina locations organized so far.

Beaufort

No Kings Beaufort SC

12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Beaufort City Hall at 1911 Boundary St., Beaufort, SC 29902

Bluffton

Lowcountry Indivisible No Kings Day

4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Beaufort County Municipal Building at 4819 Bluffton Parkway, Bluffton, SC 29910

Charleston

No Kings Charleston

3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Hampton Park at 30 Mary Murray Drive, Charleston, SC 29403

Cheraw

No Kings Cheraw

2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

2nd Street and Market Street, Cheraw, SC 29520

Columbia

No Kings South Carolina (All South Carolina Indivisible Chapters + 50501SC + Others)

1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

South Carolina State House at 1100 Gervais St., Columbia, SC 29201

Greenville

No Kings Greenville Mirror Event

2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Graham Plaza at 300 S. Main St., Greenville, SC 29601

Hilton Head

No Kings - Hilton Head

12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Near 430 William Hilton Parkway, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926

Florence

No Kings - Florence

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

West Gate Office Park at 2135-2147 Hoffmeyer Road, Florence, SC 29501

Fort Mill

No Kings Fort Mill

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The intersection of S.C. 160 and S.C. 460 by Walgreens at 2907 S.C. 160, Fort Mill, SC 29708

Indian Land

No Kings Indian Land, SC

11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Indian Land Middle School by Dobys Bridge Road and U.S. 521 at 8063 River Road, Indian Land, SC 29707

Myrtle Beach

No Kings Myrtle Beach - Chapin Library

1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Chapin Memorial Park at 400 14th Ave. N., Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

North Charleston

No Kings 50501SC

1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

5201 Ashley Phosphate Road, North Charleston, SC 29418

Rock Hill

York County Rising + No Kings

2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Dave Lyle Boulevard between White Street and Main Street at 111 E. White St., Rock Hill, SC 29730

Seneca

No Kings - Seneca, SC

1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Seneca City Hall at 221 E. North 1st St., Seneca, SC 29678

Spartanburg

No Kings Spartanburg, SC

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Private address available on sign-up

Summerville

No Kings Summerville

10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Veterans Monument at 500 N. Main St., Summerville, SC 29483

A second protest in the Hilton Head area called No Kings with Hilton Head Island Indivisible is listed on the No Kings protest map for 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., but the address isnt listed. The No Kings Coalition did not respond to requests for clarification before publication.
Fall is speeding along in the Poconos, and the trees are putting on a colorful show.

On Oct. 2, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) released its fall foliage report for Oct. 2 to 8, and according to the forester for Delaware State Forest, covering Monroe and Pike counties, the region is already bursting with autumn hues.

In Pike County, many forests have reached full fall color. DCNR says that areas along Route 402, the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Promised Land State Park, Milford and Lake Wallenpaupack are all showing off vibrant shades. State game lands 180, 209 and 183 are in their prime, while Delaware State Forest spots near White Deer Lake, Pecks Pond, Rock Hill Pond, 5 Mile Meadow Road, and Flat Ridge Road are also glowing with fall tones.

Fall foliage is seen at Tobyhanna Lake in Tobyhanna State Park on Oct. 15, 2021.

Over in Monroe County, the most noticeable changes are along the northern edges. If youre driving along Interstate 80 or 380 or passing through Cresco or Canadensis, youll spot the color building. Tobyhanna and Gouldsboro state parks and game lands 127 and 221 are also highlighting the shift.

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Not everywhere is peaking just yet. The DCNR report says that southern Monroe County is a little slower to change, though Big Pocono State Park, game lands 38, and the Dixon Miller Area of Delaware State Forest are starting to catch up. Birches are painting the forests yellow, and sassafras trees are adding splashes of orange and red for a fiery mix.

Leaves are turning colors near the Pocono Record office in Stroudsburg on Oct. 2, 2025.

According to the Luzerne County forester, the northeasts northern hardwood forests are well on their way. Red and sugar maples are dazzling right now, and while some oaks are still hanging onto their green, others are finally beginning to flip. Recommended spots for peak color are Prompton State Park, the Varden Conservation Area, Francis E. Walter Dam, and Thornhurst Tract.

Reach Emmanuella Pierre at epierre@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Where can you see fall foliage in northeastern Pennsylvania this week?
Hostage and ceasefire deal negotiations are expected to begin on Sunday, with both sides reportedly preparing withdrawal maps.

US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to arrive in Cairo for talks on the deal to end the war in Gaza, a source familiar with the negotiations reported on Saturday.

Hamas negotiators are also expected to arrive in Cairo on Saturday night, according to Saudi outlet Al Arabiya.

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An Israeli delegation will arrive on Monday.

Among the members of the delegation are Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, Coordinator of the Captives and Missing Persons and Brigadier General Gal Hirsh, Political Advisor to the Prime Minister Dr. Ofir Falk, a senior Shin Bet official, a senior Mossad official, and professional working ranks from the IDF, Shin Bet, and Mossad.

Officials believe that there is limited time to strike a deal, hence the rush to the negotiating table. We are heading into a dramatic week," a senior Israeli official told Israeli media outlet N12.

The deal, as originally stated by US President Donald Trump, calls for the release of all hostages, living and deceased, within 72 hours of agreement.

People protest for the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip, at the Ami'ad Junction, northern Israel, on August 26, 2025. (credit: AYAL MARGOLIN/FLASH90)

Hamas, US, Israel head for hostage deal talks

However, N12 reported that Israel understands that the timetable for the hostages' release could be stretched out depending on the situation on the ground in Gaza.

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One Hamas official told the AFP that Egypt will host an "intra-Palestinian dialogue on Palestinian unity and the future of Gaza, including the administration of the Gaza Strip."

"We are ready to begin negotiations immediately to finalize all issues," the anonymous Hamas official added.

Al Sharq reported that Israel will reportedly exchange 250 life prisoners and more than 1,700 prisoners who were arrested after the October 7 massacre.

N12 reported that Israeli security officials have already begun making a list of the prisoners who could be released as part of the hastened negotiations. Both sides are also preparing withdrawal maps.

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The Israeli delegation is reportedly trying to speed up talks on the hostages, and wants to table discussions on an IDF withdrawal from Gaza, the meaning of the full ceasefire, and the names of the prisoners set to be released.

This comes after Palestinian-American negotiator Bishara Bahbah told Walla that he believes that Trump's Gaza deal could indeed mark the end of the war and the release of all the hostages."

I truly believe that good things are happening now," he added.

I can see before my eyes the end of the war and the release of all the hostages, he said

Earlier, the IDF announced that it would be moving to defensive operations after Trump implored Israel to stop striking Gaza to allow the return of the hostages.

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Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, its far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

If the talks fail, Israel will continue fighting in Gaza.
A woman and her child arrive at a hearing as federal agents patrol the hallways outside of a courtroom at New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court at the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York City on Aug. 20, 2025. US President Donald Trump has made deporting undocumented immigrants a key priority for his second term, after successfully campaigning against an alleged "invasion" by criminals.
The Haryana govt has taken action after the WHO alert on cough syrups It said that the samples of cough syrup have been taken and sent to the lab The WHO has raised an alarm saying 4 India-made cough syrups could be linked to children's death in Gambia
Pole, a student from Hyderabad who had completed his BDS and moved to Dallas for higher studies, was killed in a shooting.
Independent MLA Hanuman Beniwal on Tuesday drew the ire of the Rajasthan Assembly Speaker after he rushed into the well of the House and tore papers during the Question Hour.
Indonesian families whose children were offered free school meals are joining non-profit groups calling for the flagship government programme to be suspended after thousands of students fell ill from the food.

Cases of food poisoning spiked last week in West Bandung, a district of Java island, when more than 1,300 children were rushed to health clinics after suffering from breathing difficulties, nausea and diarrhoea, local media reported.

President Prabowo Subianto's initiative was touted as a way to tackle a child nutrition crisis but the government has instead had to suspend dozens of production kitchens.

"This programme should be stopped and replaced with cash," said 50-year-old grandmother Aminah, who goes by one name and whose seven-year-old grandson got sick after a free meal.

"I'd rather the kids bring their own lunch from home."

The disastrous rollout comes as Prabowo is working to move on from violent anti-government protests fuelled by deep inequality in Indonesia, where stunting spurred by malnutrition affects more than 20 percent of children.

But nine months after the programme began, food poisoning cases have affected thousands of people, prompting mounting calls from non-profit groups for a temporary halt to the multi-billion-dollar scheme.

In West Bandung, students wailed in pain as they were hooked up to oxygen tanks in a temporary health clinic set up by local government to handle the surge in food poisonings, an AFP journalist saw.

The National Nutrition Agency (BGN), which is responsible for the initiative, reported 70 food poisoning incidents since the programme began in January until late September.

More than 6,400 people are affected, the agency said in an update on Wednesday.

The reported cases were the "tip of the iceberg", said Diah Satyani Saminarsih, founder of the non-profit Center for Indonesia's Strategic Development Initiatives.

"The actual number of cases could be higher because the government has not yet provided a publicly available reporting dashboard," Diah said.

Part of the problem was the government's rapid expansion of the programme, she added.

The government initially aimed to deliver meals to almost 83 million people by 2029, including students, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, but now says the target will be reached by the end of 2025.

The nutrition agency expanded the number of production kitchens from around 1,000 in April to more than 9,600 by late September.

The number of beneficiaries grew from three million to 31 million over the same period.

The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dadan Hindayana, chair of the nutrition agency, said in a statement on Sunday that most of the cases occurred in newly operating kitchens where cooks lacked experience.

The food poisoning incidents were also caused by the quality of raw materials, water and violations of operational standards, he said.

Prabowo's administration has allocated 62 cents per meal and set a budget of 71 trillion rupiah ($4.2 billion) for 2025.

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said last week that the government had prepared an additional budget of 28 trillion rupiah requested by the agency, local media reported.

Prabowo defended the programme in a televised speech on Monday, saying cases of food poisoning incidents were long a small percentage of the number of meals served.

"We calculated from all the food that went out, the deviation, or shortcoming or error is 0.00017 percent," he said.

He added that all kitchens involved in the programme were ordered to test foods before distribution.

It was "very urgent" for the programme to be suspended given the number of people who fell ill, said Izzudin Al Farras, a researcher at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance.

Ubaid Matraji, a researcher at the Network for Education Watch, said the programme should be suspended before matters worsen.

"We stress that we will no longer wait until we have thousands more victims -- we cannot let death happen," he said.

The nutrition agency suspended 56 kitchens allegedly responsible for "food safety incidents", it said in a statement Monday.

Nanik S. Deyang, the agency's deputy chair, said the suspension was part of a "comprehensive evaluation" to prevent similar incidents from recurring.

"The safety of the people, especially children who receive the free nutritious meals, is our top priority," she said.
A court in Melbourne ruled Friday that one of Australia's most famous drug kingpins must face a retrial after his defence lawyer was revealed to have been a police informant.

Tony Mokbel -- one of the key figures in Melbourne's years-long gangland war -- was handed a 30-year prison sentence in 2012 after pleading guilty to masterminding an elaborate drug syndicate.

Violence linked to his group, known as "The Company", claimed dozens of lives and was later immortalised in the hugely popular Australian TV series "Underbelly".

But it was later revealed that Mokbel's high-profile lawyer at the time, Nicola Gobbo, was feeding information to police while supposedly defending her clients.

Mokbel spent about 18 years behind bars but was released on bail this year after a court ruled he had a strong chance of overturning the criminal convictions.

His appeal hinged on the fact he would not have pleaded guilty if he had been aware of Gobbo's double life, his legal team told Victoria's Court of Appeal this year.

The court acquitted Mokbel of one charge on Friday, ordering a retrial for another and dismissed his appeal relating to a third charge.

Mokbel, who did not comment as he left court, remains on bail before the case returns to court later this year.

The court ruling is just the latest in what could be many more -- prosecutors informed 22 people that they could have grounds to appeal in 2019.

That same year, Faruk Orman walked free after he was jailed 12 years ago for a gangland murder -- he had always proclaimed his innocence.

During his time in prison Mokbel was brutally attacked, with one man stabbing him "up to seven times" and another kicking him in the head, court documents show.

He was left with displaced brain tissue, a fractured skull, a broken jaw and a pneumothorax of his right lung.

The incident related to a newspaper article claiming Mokbel was a feared "top enforcer" and had "disrupted an extortion racket within the jail run by a group of prisoners of Pacific Islander descent", court documents show.

Mokbel told prison staff he held no concerns for his safety the day before the attack.

Gobbo -- also referred to as Lawyer X and Informer 3838 -- claims that over 300 people were arrested and charged based on the information she provided, according to a June 2015 letter that was made public in December.

A Royal Commission of inquiry in 2020 found Gobbo's double life during a period of intense gang bloodletting in Australia's second-biggest city were "fundamental and appalling breaches" of her obligations as counsel to her clients.

Gobbo was a key police source during the critical years of gangland prosecutions between 2005 and 2009, but was also registered as an informant as far back as 1999 -- two years before she was admitted to practice law.

She was recruited as a police informer after being charged with drug offences in 1993.

No conviction was recorded on condition that she did not reoffend, according to a police informant registration document filed with the Royal Commission.

Victorian police spent five years and millions of dollars fighting in the courts to keep Gobbo's identity a secret, maintaining that she could be murdered if it came to light.

Gobbo told a court in 2024 she had been living in hiding for years since her double life had been revealed.

"I'm tired and I'm broken," she said. "I've just had enough."
Tyrese Gibson was booked into a Georgia jail early Friday, a week after he failed to turn himself in following an arrest warrant for cruelty to animals, police said.

Gibson was released the same day on a $20,000 bond, Fulton County Police Captain Nicole Dwyer said. He has still not turned his four Cane Corso dogs to police, who authorities say killed a neighbors small dog in mid-September and had roamed the neighborhood unsupervised at various times over the past few months.

We are glad he did the right thing and turned himself in, Dwyer wrote to The Associated Press, noting the four dogs are still unaccounted for.

Gibsons lawyer, Gabe Banks, wrote to the AP Friday that his legal team secured a consent bond, meaning the terms of his bond were set before he voluntarily turned himself in. Banks wrote Gibson has cooperated fully with legal authorities and will continue to do so until this matter is resolved.

Banks had previously told AP that the actor wasnt home when the incident took place and immediately made the difficult decision to rehome his dogs to a safe and loving environment, including two adult dogs and their three puppies.

A search warrant for the Fast & Furious actors property was issued alongside the arrest warrant days after the Sept. 18 incident, when the dogs attacked a small spaniel owned by a neighbor about a half a mile away from Gibsons house. The dog was rushed to a veterinary hospital, but did not survive, Dwyer said.

The dogs were seen on camera minutes later at the next-door neighbors house, where the owner called police to report she couldnt reach her car because of the animals. Animal control officers responded and were able to keep the dogs back while the neighbor went to her vehicle.

Gibson had initially told police he would surrender his dogs on Sept 22, but when officers arrived, he said he needed a few more days, according to a police press release.

Gibson posted a video to Instagram that included various clips of his dogs early Monday and reposted it the following day with a statement from him and his lawyer. Banks wrote Gibson had dealt with stalkers for years, and his only motivation in bringing these dogs into his life was to protect his family and provide peace of mind.

Banks added the dogs werent trained to be vicious, and had never harmed a child, a person, or another dog. This tragic event is shocking and traumatizing for him and his family  and he can only imagine how devastating it has been for the family who lost their pet.

I had no idea I would ever wake up to this nightmare, and I know the family must feel the same way. To them, please know that my heart is broken for you, Gibson said in the statement. I am praying for your healing and for your beloved pet, who never deserved this. I remain committed to facing this matter with honesty, responsibility, and compassion.

By ITZEL LUNA

Associated Press
Sonora, CA  Those renting or previous homeowners in Tuolumne County during the disastrous 2023 floods can get some funding to purchase a home.

Find out how to qualify for up to $300,000 from a state homebuyer assistance program at the ReCoverCA Home Buyers Event, hosted by the Golden State Finance Authority (GSFA). It is free to attend.

The residences must be in California and not in special flood hazard or high fire zones. Flood catastrophe recovery agencies and organizations, as well as real estate specialists, are also invited. The workshop is on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Tuolumne County Administration, Board Chambers, 2 South Green Street, 4th Floor, in Sonora.

GSFA officials provided these details on what can be learned at the workshop:

How to apply for forgivable loans

Steps to buying a safer, more affordable home

Tips for first-time homebuyers

GSFA officials added that funding is limited, meaning applying as soon as possible is recommended. To view the event schedule and register, click here.

For more information and eligibility requirements, click here.
Heres a question about the shutdown submitted by an Associated Press reader, Deanna:

Have agencies violated the Hatch Act by using Democrat-blaming language online in discussing the shutdown?

Experts disagree on whether the Democrat-blaming language on the website of HUD and various other government agencies reaches the threshold of violating the 1939 Hatch Act, which restricts certain political activities by federal employees.

Kathleen Clark, a government ethics lawyer and law professor at Washington University, argues it does.

These agencies are using federal resources, taxpayer-funded websites, to engage in partisan political messaging, she told The Associated Press in an interview. The Hatch Act prohibits federal officials from using official resources that way.

Donald Sherman, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, disagrees, telling AP the messages discuss the Democratic Party related to a policy difference rather than an election but still calling the postings wildly inappropriate.

On Thursday, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the Office of Special Counsel calling for an investigation into the messages for apparent violations of the Hatch Act.

___

Do you have a question for AP about the government shutdown? You can submit it here.

By ALI SWENSON

Associated Press
A team of excavators has uncovered a load of long-lost Spanish coins buried for centuries under the surf and sand along a stretch of Florida known as the Treasure Coast.

This week, shipwreck salvage company 1715 Fleet  Queens Jewels LLC announced that its divers had found more than 1,000 silver and gold coins thought to be minted centuries ago in the Spanish colonies of Bolivia, Mexico and Peru. They estimate the coins are worth $1 million.

Over the years, millions of dollars in coins have been found  and stolen  by salvagers in a stretch of Atlantic coast from Melbourne to Fort Pierce.

Ultimately, the recent finds from this summers salvage season will be split between the salvage company, its subcontractors and the state of Florida, as required by state law.

Heres what to know about Floridas tradition of state-sanctioned treasure hunting.

A hurricane sunk the 1715 Fleet

The 1715 Fleet was a convoy of Spanish ships laden with silver, gold and jewels taken from the New World. The flotilla was sailing back to Spain when a hurricane struck it on July 31, 1715, spilling the treasures into the sea.

The Spanish recovered some of the gold and silver coins, but many of the doomed fleets treasures were considered lost to the ages.

For generations, divers have combed the Treasure Coast, looking for the gold bars and pieces of eight lost beneath the waves. Over the years, the site has yielded a trove of, well, treasure and has helped sustain a local industry of professional treasure hunters.

The treasure actually belongs to Florida

Under Florida law, any treasure trove or archaeological artifacts that have been abandoned on state-owned lands or in state waters belong to the state. But the state can issue permits to qualified individuals or companies for the survey and recovery of offshore cultural resources.

The salvagers get to walk away with most of the artifacts, following negotiations with state officials.

State law requires that up to roughly 20% of the recovered archaeological materials be retained by the state for research collections or public display. The other 80% can be split among the salvagers.

Each coin will be cleaned and documented

The company 1715 Fleet  Queens Jewels LLC was awarded the exclusive salvage rights for the 1715 Fleet shipwrecks by a federal court, which oversees its finds and distributions each year.

Sal Guttuso, the companys operations director, says staff make a detailed inventory of the finds before starting the conservation process in the companys archaeological lab, in which small batches of the coins are placed in a reverse electrolysis tank. Thats a process of running a current of electricity through the water solution to gently remove salt, metal oxides and marine growth that may have encrusted the coins over the centuries.

Then, staffers will use magnification and high resolution photography to document the nuances of each coin, including any markings showing the date, monarch and minter associated with it, along with the weight and location where it was found. Those metrics are used to assess the coins on a point-based grade system.

State officials then review the detailed inventory and request which artifacts they want to keep for the public, once a federal judge signs off.

Not just anyone can go treasure hunting in Florida

Its against Florida law to disturb or dig publicly-owned sites without permission from the Florida Division of Historical Resources, and violations can warrant felony charges. Florida officials can issue an exploration or recovery permit to applicants that have met stringent archaeological requirements.

The state does encourage residents and visitors to explore Floridas many underwater archaeological preserves, and to help identify, record and report underwater sites  just not disturb them.

A shipwrecks true treasure is derived through public participation and interpretation, reads an explainer on the Division of Historical Resources website.

Does anyone make money doing this?

Sometimes.

Guttuso says running the shipwreck salvaging company is a part-time job for him. And the subcontractors who dive the site treat it as a summer job while working as a mechanic or property manager during the offseason, he said.

Some of the divers use one seasons finds to finance next seasons hunt, Guttuso said. Others keep the coins for private collections.

But there are some years when the hunters see a major payout, he said. In 2015, the companys divers found more than 350 gold coins, the most precious of which sold for $250,000 a piece.

___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

By KATE PAYNE

Associated Press/Report for America
WASHINGTON (AP)  FBI Director Kash Patel says the bureau is cutting ties with two organizations that for decades have tracked domestic extremism and racial and religious bias, a move that follows complaints about the groups from some conservatives and prominent allies of President Donald Trump.

Patel said Friday that the FBI would sever its relationship with the Southern Poverty Law Center, asserting that the organization had been turned into a partisan smear machine and criticizing it for its use of a hate map that documents alleged anti-government and hate groups inside the United States. A statement earlier in the week from Patel said the FBI would end ties with the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish advocacy organization that fights antisemitism.

The announcements amount to a dramatic rethinking of longstanding FBI partnerships with prominent civil rights groups at a time when Patel is moving rapidly to reshape the nations premier federal law enforcement agency. The organizations over the years have provided research on hate crime and domestic extremism, law enforcement training and other services but have also been criticized by some conservatives for what they say is an unfair maligning of their viewpoints.

That criticism escalated after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk amid renewed attention to the SPLCs characterization of the group, Turning Point USA, that Kirk founded and led. The SPLC included a section on Turning Point in a report titled The Year in Hate and Extremism 2024 that described the group as A Case Study of the Hard Right in 2024. Prominent figures including Elon Musk lambasted the SPLC just this week about its descriptions of Kirk and the organization.

A spokesperson for the SPLC, a legal and advocacy group founded in 1971 as a watchdog for minorities and the underprivileged, did not directly address Patels comments in a statement Friday but said the organization has for decades shared data with the public and remains committed to exposing hate and extremism as we work to equip communities with knowledge and defend the rights and safety of marginalized people.

The Anti-Defamation League has also faced criticism on the right for maintaining a Glossary of Extremism. The organization announced this week that it was discontinuing that glossary because a number of entries were outdated and some were being intentionally misrepresented and misused.

Founded in 1913 to confront antisemitism, the ADL has long worked closely with the FBI, not only through research and training but also through awards ceremonies that recognize law enforcement officials involved in investigations into racially or religiously motivated extremism.

Former FBI Director James Comey paid tribute to that relationship in May 2017 when he said at an ADL event: For more than 100 years, you have advocated and fought for fairness and equality, for inclusion and acceptance. You never were indifferent or complacent.

A Patel antagonist, Comey was indicted last week on false statement and obstruction charges and has said he is innocent. Patel appeared to mock Comeys 2017 comments in a post Wednesday on X in which he shared a Fox News story that quoted him as having cut ties with the ADL.

James Comey wrote love letters to the ADL and embedded FBI agents with them  a group that ran disgraceful ops spying on Americans, he said in a post made as Jews were preparing to begin observing Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. That era is OVER. This FBI wont partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs.

An ADL spokesman did not immediately comment Friday on Patels announcement, but the groups CEO and national director Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement Wednesday that the ADL has deep respect for the FBI.

In light of an unprecedented surge of antisemitism, we remain more committed than ever to our core purpose to protect the Jewish people, Greenblatt said.

By ERIC TUCKER

Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  More than 800,000 drivers for ride-hailing companies in California will soon be able to join a union and bargain collectively for better wages and benefits under a measure signed Friday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Supporters said the new law will open a path for the largest expansion of private sector collective bargaining rights in the states history. The legislation is a significant compromise in the yearslong battle between labor unions and tech companies.

California is the second state where Uber and Lyft drivers can unionize as independent contractors. Massachusetts voters passed a ballot referendum in November allowing unionization, while drivers in Illinois and Minnesota are pushing for similar rights.

Newsom announced the signing at an unrelated news conference at University of California, Berkeley. The new law will give drivers dignity and a say about their future, he said.

The new law is part of an agreement made in September between Newsom, state lawmakers and the Service Employees International Union, along with rideshare companies Uber and Lyft. In exchange, Newsom also signed a measure supported by Uber and Lyft to significantly cut the companies insurance requirements for accidents caused by underinsured drivers.

Lyft CEO David Risher said in September that the new insurance rates are expected to save the company $200 million and could help reduce fares.

Uber and Lyft fares in California are consistently higher than in other parts of the U.S. because of insurance requirements, the companies say. Uber has said that nearly one-third of every ride fare in the state goes toward paying for state-mandated insurance.

Labor unions and tech companies have fought for years over drivers rights. In July of last year, the California Supreme Court ruled that app-based ride-hailing and delivery services like Uber and Lyft can continue treating their drivers as independent contractors not entitled to benefits like overtime pay, paid sick leave and unemployment insurance. A 2019 law mandated that Uber and Lyft provide drivers with benefits, but voters reversed it at the ballot in 2020.

The collective bargaining measure now allows rideshare workers in California to join a union while still being classified as independent contractors and requires gig companies to bargain in good faith. The new law doesnt apply to drivers for delivery apps like DoorDash.

The insurance measure will reduce the coverage requirement for accidents caused by uninsured or underinsured drivers from $1 million to $60,000 per individual and $300,000 per accident.

The two measures together represent a compromise that lowers costs for riders while creating stronger voices for drivers demonstrating how industry, labor, and lawmakers can work together to deliver real solutions, Ramona Prieto, head of public policy for California at Uber, said in a statement.

Rideshare Drivers United, a Los Angeles-based advocacy group of 20,000 drivers, said the collective bargaining law isnt strong enough to give workers a fair contract. The group wanted to require the companies to report its data on pay to the state.

New York City drivers pay increased after the city started requiring the companies to report how much an average driver earns, the group said.

Drivers really need the backing of the state to ensure that not only is a wage proposal actually going to help drivers, but that there is progress in drivers pay over the years, said Nicole Moore, president of Rideshare Drivers United.

Other drivers said the legislation will provide more job safety and benefits.

Many who support unionization said they have faced a slew of issues, including being deactivated from their apps without an explanation or fair appeals process when a passenger complains.

Drivers have had no way to fight back against the gig companies taking more and more of the passenger fare, or to challenge unfair deactivations that cost us our livelihoods, Ana Barragan, a gig driver from Los Angeles, said in a statement. Weve worked long hours, faced disrespect, and had no voice, just silence on the other end of the app. But now, with the right to organize a strong, democratic union, I feel hope.

By TRAN NGUYEN

Associated Press
GREENBELT, Md. (AP)  A California resident who attempted to assassinate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his Maryland home was sentenced Friday to over eight years in prison by a federal judge, who imposed a punishment that is significantly more lenient than the Justice Departments recommendation.

Sophie Roske, a transgender woman charged under her legal name, Nicholas Roske, had faced a maximum sentence of life in prison. U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman sentenced her to eight years and one month behind bars followed by a lifetime of court supervision. Prosecutors had asked for a prison sentence of no less than 30 years, which was the low end of the range recommended by sentencing guidelines.

Roske, then 26, had a pistol, a knife, zip ties and burglary tools in her possession when a taxi dropped her off outside Kavanaughs home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, just after 1 a.m. on June 8, 2022. Noticing two U.S. Marshals Service deputies guarding the residence, Roske kept walking down the street and took a phone call from her sister. Then she dialed 911, reported having suicidal and homicidal thoughts and said she needed psychiatric help.

The judge said law enforcement didnt know anything about Roskes plot until she called 911 and reported her crime unprompted. Boardman described Roskes conduct as reprehensible but credited her with abandoning the plot before police detected her presence in Kavanaughs neighborhood.

This is an atypical defendant in an atypical case, she said.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department will appeal the woefully insufficient sentence  which does not reflect the horrific facts of this case.

The attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a disgusting attack against our entire judicial system by a profoundly disturbed individual, Bondi said in a statement.

Roske apologized to Kavanaugh and the justices family for the considerable stress I put them through.

I have been portrayed as a monster, and this tragic mistake that I made will follow me for the rest of my life, Roske said before learning her sentence.

Boardman acknowledged that Roskes plot caused real harm to Kavanaugh and his family.

Hes a justice of the Supreme Court, but hes a human being, the judge said.

After her arrest, Roske told investigators she was angry about a leaked draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court intended to overrule Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion case, according to an FBI affidavit. Roske also was upset about the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, and believed Kavanaugh would vote to loosen gun control laws, the affidavit said.

Roskes case underscores the pervasive threat of political violence in a polarized nation: The number of threats and inappropriate communications directed at federal judges and other court employees more than quadrupled over a seven-year span, from 926 incidents in 2015 to 4,511 in 2021, according to the Marshals Service.

Roske targeted three of the high courts justices, prosecutors said. Killing one judge could change the decisions of the nine-member court for decades to come, Roske wrote over an encrypted messaging platform to another user in May 2022. Roske added, I am shooting for 3.

Roske, 29, of Simi Valley, California, searched the internet for justices home addresses and other information, including techniques for breaking into homes and quietly killing somebody. Roske also wrote about killing judges in encrypted messages.

The thought of Roe v Wade and gay marriage both being repealed has me furious, Roske wrote.

Roske pleaded guilty in April to an attempted assassination charge without reaching a plea agreement.

Prosecutors recommended a prison term of no less than 30 years, followed by a lifetime of supervised release.

The defendants objective  to target and kill judges to seek to alter a courts ruling  is an abhorrent form of terrorism and strikes at the core of the United States Constitution and our prescribed system of government, they wrote.

Roskes attorneys asked for a prison sentence of eight years. They said she is ashamed and remorseful for frightening Kavanaugh and his family.

I am very glad I did not continue, Roske wrote in a letter submitted to the court. I am also sorry for contributing to a trend of political violence in American politics. I can see now how destructive and misguided such acts are, and am ashamed to have not recognized these things sooner.

Roskes lawyers said she was struggling with mental illness and her gender identity. She came out to herself as a transgender woman in 2020 but kept it a secret from her parents. She recently resumed receiving gender-affirming care while imprisoned, according to her attorneys.

Roske was severely depressed and suicidal in May 2022 when Politico published a leaked draft of the Supreme Courts abortion rights opinion. Roske decided she could give her life some meaning by stopping the Supreme Court from overturning Roe v. Wade, her lawyers said.

Crucially, she stopped short of causing harm to another person, they wrote. Her actions resulted in large part from isolation and inadequately treated mental illness. But in her deepest moment of crisis she showed her humanity.

Prosecutors said Roskes mental illness isnt an excuse.

The sentence here must forcefully convey to the defendant and others that taking matters into ones own hands as the judge, jury, and executioner is wholly condemned and will be punished, they wrote.

Roskes parents, Vernon and Colleen, also apologized to Kavanaugh during the sentencing hearing. Vernon Roske said he wishes that he had communicated better with Sophie about her personal struggles.

I should have pushed for her to get better care, he added.

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

Associated Press
MANCHESTER, England (AP)  Hundreds of mourners gathered in wind and rain Friday for a vigil that combined grief and defiance in the remembrance of two men who were killed when a knife-wielding assailant attacked their synagogue in the English city of Manchester.

Standing behind the police cordon that still surrounds the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the citys Crumpsall neighborhood, the mourners said they felt forgotten by a society that has allowed antisemitism in the U.K. to grow unchallenged over the last two years.

Politicians and other leaders have failed to reject anti-Jewish speech or protect Jews from hate crimes, they said.

We are Jews, but we are English. We have lived in Manchester for 150 years. We belong here, Simon Burton, who works in sales, told The Associated Press. We feel that, as a community, we are not always listened to. We feel let down.

On Thursday, as people gathered at the synagogue to celebrate Yom Kippur, the most sacred day of the Jewish calendar, the attacker drove his car into people outside the building and stabbed one person to death. A second man appears to have been inadvertently shot by police who confronted the assailant, police said Friday. Three other people were seriously injured.

Assault was declared an act of terrorism

Authorities declared the assault an act of terrorism, though they are still investigating what motivated the attacker, who was identified as a naturalized British citizen of Syrian descent. He was shot dead by police.

Right now, our hearts are shattered, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said Friday. What transpired yesterday was an awful blow to us, something which actually we were fearing might happen because of the buildup to this action.

As evidence of the climate of intolerance that has been allowed to fester in Britain, some people pointed to pro-Palestinian protests in London that went ahead Thursday night, even as Jews around the country grieved over the deaths in Manchester.

Police in London urged organizers to call off a demonstration planned for Saturday to oppose the governments decision to ban the group Palestine Action, which was labeled a terrorist organization after its members attacked Israeli defense contractors and Royal Air Force aircraft over support for the war in Gaza.

Organizers rejected the request.

Canceling peaceful protests lets terror win, the group said in a statement.

Protests and counter-protests have gripped cities across Britain since the Hamas-led attack on Israel almost two years ago.

Pro-Palestinian marches have become louder and angrier amid criticism of Israels offensive in Gaza. Some Jews say they feel threatened by chants such as From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. The protests have been largely peaceful.

The Israeli prime minister and his supporters have frequently accused critics of Israel or its conduct of the war in Gaza of antisemitism. Israels detractors see it as an attempt to stifle even legitimate criticism.

Number of antisemitic incidents has soared

The number of antisemitic incidents reported across the U.K. has soared since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel, according to the Community Security Trust, which works to protect the Jewish community. The group recorded 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the first half of this year, up from 965 in the same period of 2023.

But in Crumpsall, neighbors of all faiths banded together Friday to support one another, focused on their mutual disgust at the violence inflicted on their multicultural community during seven minutes on Thursday morning.

Theres no room for this, said Sham Raja, a local businessman. The Jewish community, obviously, they are very upset at whats happened, and theres no room for the antisemitic. And also as a British Muslim, I fully support the Jewish community and work with them shoulder to shoulder.

Josh Aronson, a Jewish man who lives near the synagogue, said people of all faiths turned out to show their solidarity.

Yesterday I had a story that  one of my neighbors whos Muslim and another neighbor whos Christian, and myself, we hugged together and its like so they can be in this community, he said.

But the air of solidarity was shattered during Fridays vigil, when Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was introduced to the crowd. Lammy was Britains foreign secretary until a few weeks ago and is seen as the architect of the governments decision to criticize the Israeli offensive in Gaza and recognize a Palestinian state.

Lammy was greeted with shouts of not today and shame on you.

Mark Adlestone, chair of the Jewish Representative Council in Greater Manchester, eventually quieted the crowd, saying, All right, weve heard enough. We know how you feel.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who visited the synagogue Friday, said the attack was designed to inflict fear on the Jewish community.

Jews in Manchester seem determined to carry on. Orthodox Jews hurried to do their shopping ahead of the Sabbath, all but tripping over the journalists seeking their views. Were they afraid? Did they see this coming?

Yes, there was grief for those that were lost. Yes, there was fear of rising antisemitism. But there was also defiance.

Were not going to cower away, Issaac Friedlander said. Were not going to hide.  Were going to carry on with our lives.

___

This version has been changed to correct that the pro-Palestinian protests in London were Thursday night, not Wednesday night.

By DANICA KIRKA and KWIYEON HA

Associated Press
LONDON (AP)  U.K. police were given extra time Saturday to question four people arrested on suspicion of terror offenses after an attack on a synagogue in northwest England that left two people dead and Britains Jewish community shocked and grieving.

Two other people who had been arrested were released without charge.

Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by police on Thursday outside the Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue in Manchester after he rammed a car into pedestrians, attacked them with a knife and tried to force his way into the building.

Congregation members Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, died in the attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. Police say Daulby was accidentally shot by an armed officer as he and other congregants barricaded the synagogue to block Al-Shamie from entering. Three other men are hospitalized with serious injuries.

Detectives say Al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian origin who lived in Manchester, may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology. He wore what appeared to be an explosives belt, which was found to be fake.

Police said that Al-Shamie was on bail over an alleged rape at the time of the attack, but hadnt been charged.

Three men and three women were arrested in the greater Manchester area on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism, as police work to determine whether the attacker acted alone. A court on Saturday granted police five more days to hold four of the suspects: men ages 30 and 32, and women ages 46 and 61. An 18-year-old woman and a 43-year-old man were released with no further action, police said.

Police havent identified those arrested or disclosed their links to Al-Shamie.

Antisemitic incidents on the rise

The attack has devastated Britains Jewish community and intensified debate about the line between criticism of Israel and antisemitism.

Recorded antisemitic incidents in the U.K. have risen sharply since Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israels ensuing campaign against Hamas in Gaza, according to Community Security Trust, a charity that provides advice and protection for British Jews.

Some politicians and religious leaders claimed pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which have been held regularly since the war in Gaza began, had played a role in spreading hatred of Jews. The protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful, but some say chants such as From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free incite anti-Jewish hatred.

Some also say that the U.K.s recognition of a Palestinian state last month has emboldened antisemitism  a claim that the government rejects. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was interrupted by boos and shouts of Shame on you on Friday as he addressed a vigil for victims of the attack in Manchester.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters have frequently accused critics of Israel or its conduct of the war of antisemitism. Critics see it as an attempt to stifle even legitimate criticism.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the head of Orthodox Judaism in Britain, said that the attack was the result of an unrelenting wave of Jew hatred on the streets and online.

Pro-Palestinian rallies in Manchester and London

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators were held in Manchester and London on Saturday despite objections from police and politicians. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that organizers should recognize and respect the grief of British Jews this week and postpone the protests.

About 100 people gathered in a central Manchester square in heavy rain, waving Palestinian flags and demanding an end to the war in Gaza.

In London, organizers said that about 1,000 people demonstrated against the banning of Palestine Action, a direct-action group that has vandalized British military planes and targeted sites with links to the Israeli military. It has been labeled a terrorist organization by the government, making support for the group illegal. Critics say that tramples on free speech and the right to protest.

Police officers carried away a number of people who sat silently in Trafalgar Square holding signs saying I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action. Police said they made at least 493 arrests.

More than 2,000 people have now been arrested at protests since Palestine Action was proscribed in July, and more than 130 charged with terrorism offenses.

Campaigner Jonathon Porritt said that protesters would demonstrate huge respect and real grief for those affected by the absolute atrocity at Heaton Park.

But I dont think that means that we should be asked to give up on our right to stand up for those who are being devastated by an ongoing, real-time genocide in Gaza, he told the BBC.

By JILL LAWLESS

Associated Press
The lead Netflix K-drama "Genie, Make A Wish," starring Suzy and Kim Woo Bin, has recently turned into a hot issue following criticism of the acting of its main actors in a provocative scene.

The K-drama, premiered on October 3, has already become a subject of scrutiny prior to release, and responses to its initial episodes have only further encouraged controversy.

suzy's character curses, leaving Kim Woo Bin's character openly shocked. Though the scene gained popularity among foreign fans for the surprise turn of events, it was more strongly reacted to in Korea.

When the clip went up on popular internet forum theqoo, some netizens wondered about the authenticity of the acting. One commenter stated, "It doesn't hit right LOL." Another added, "Both are just not good."

 

       pic.twitter.com/wnE99cBq94   (@sofyzip) October 3, 2025

Some users were frank about their criticism. One read, "They're both bad at acting." Another wrote, "Honestly, I think I could act that better myself."

Some of the reactions emphasized the strange tone of the acting. In one of the comments, "Both of them are weird lol. Why are both of their acting like that? Why is the acting so bad."

Others protested, however, that the strange acting style could have been deliberate, considering the plot of the drama.

A netizen posted, "Since they're supposed to be psychopaths, doing it emotionlessly like that kind of fits lol."

Another commentator opined that the problem lay not in the actors but in the script, commenting, "I think it's just because there's too much cursing in the lines that it feels weird  the acting itself doesn't seem awkward."

Koreaboo earlier reported that "Genie, Make A Wish" had been dogged by controversy ever since the announcement, with skepticism and anticipation surrounding it owing to its dark content and unorthodox strategy.

Now playing on Netflix, the drama continues to generate buzz throughout online forums and social media, as fans and critics argue whether the acting is a daring artistic move or evidence of poor execution.

Suzy and Kim Woo Bin's pairing remains under heavy public scrutiny for the time being, as "Genie, Make A Wish" attempts to balance intrigue with the gravity of increasing criticism.
During a three-day official visit to Singapore, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal met with Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister of Singapore, where discussions focused on strengthening trade, enhancing cooperation, and exploring new opportunities for future growth. In a social media post, Goyal said, "Delighted to call on H.E. @LawrenceWongST, Prime Minister of Singapore. Discussions reaffirmed our commitment to further strengthen our comprehensive strategic partnership, building on the strong momentum and vast potential for future growth." As per a government release on Friday, the visit highlighted India's strong growth trajectory, commitment to investment-led reforms, and the vast opportunities available for global partners across manufacturing, infrastructure, financial services, and the green economy. In his bilateral meeting with Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry, the discussions centered on further deepening industrial and trade cooperation between India and Singapore. Taking to social media, the Goyal said, "Had insightful discussions with H.E. Mr. Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Trade & Industry, Singapore, along with Industry leaders & officials from India and Singapore. Excited to deepen India-Singapore trade & economic partnership through meaningful engagements and robust public-private collaborations." He also met Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs, with both sides reaffirming strategic trust and alignment on regional and global economic priorities. "Delighted to meet H.E. @VivianBala, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Singapore, for a follow-up interaction after the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable in New Delhi. Had an engaging discussion on advancing cooperation in trade and investment for further deepening our robust comprehensive strategic partnership," he said on X. The Union Minister also held meetings with the Group CIO of GIC, Bryan Yeo, and the CEO of Temasek, Dilhan Pillay, which focused on scaling up India-focused portfolios across infrastructure, hospitality, renewable energy, financial services, and urban development. "Had a good meeting with Mr. Dilhan Pillay, CEO of @Temasek. Discussed key opportunities to further strengthen investment ties between India & Singapore." A major highlight of the visit was the Business Roundtable on Foreign Direct Investment in the manufacturing sector, which was attended by key decision-makers from AmCham, EuroCham, the German Chamber of Industry & Commerce, and other business leaders. In addition to these leadership engagements, Goyal also held strategic business meetings with leading Singaporean corporates and institutional investors. At SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC), discussions focused on India's fast-growing Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) sector and the need to fast-track the India-Singapore Skilling Centre for MRO professionals in collaboration with Indian universities. CapitaLand Investment conveyed its commitment to expand renewable energy solutions for data centres in Maharashtra, while also exploring opportunities in industrial parks, worker housing models, and potential entry into credit financing. Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) shared updates on its tissue and pulp operations in India, discussed operational challenges, and expressed interest in knowledge exchange on sustainable forestry and reforestation practices. (ANI)
Producer Yoo Go-un, known for creating beloved children's television programs at Daekyo Children's TV, died early October 3, 2025, at age 45 after a three-year battle with stage 3 ovarian cancer.

Yoo was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer in April 2022, but the diagnosis came after months of delayed medical attention due to her demanding work schedule. In November 2021, her health checkup revealed tumor marker levels three times higher than normal, but she was managing two television programs simultaneously at the time.

Despite informing her company about the abnormal results, her workload remained unchanged. By April 2022, her tumor marker levels had soared from 127 to 1,171, leading to her cancer diagnosis.

The veteran producer began her broadcasting career as a part-time stage director for the EBS children's program "Fart Captain Ppoongppoongi." She joined Daekyo Children's TV in 2005 and spent 16 years creating educational content for young viewers. Her notable programs included "Mystery Times," "Kiwi," and "Classics in the Art Room." The "Kiwi" program alone earned approximately ten awards, including recognition at the 2019 Cable TV Broadcasting Awards.

Throughout her career at the small cable station, Yoo secured 1.6 billion won in government grants for programs she planned and produced. Despite having three children and barely being able to take parental leave due to heavy workloads, she remained dedicated to her profession because she loved creating content that brought joy to children.

During a company restructuring last year, Yoo was encouraged to resign as her cancer returned. She left the company in July 2024, sending a farewell message to colleagues asking them to remember her dedication. After leaving, she filed a workers' compensation claim with the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service, citing overwork as the cause of her cancer. She calculated that between her health checkup and cancer diagnosis, she worked 600 hours of overtime over 25 weeks.

The compensation claim was denied in April 2025, with authorities citing insufficient scientific evidence linking long working hours to ovarian cancer. Yoo had been preparing an administrative lawsuit from her hospice bed, hoping to establish a precedent for better working conditions for other producers.

Her funeral was held at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital Funeral Hall, with the burial taking place at Seoul Memorial Park on October 5. Before her death, Yoo expressed hope that her case would improve working conditions for other broadcasting professionals, stating she had been "a happy person" who got to fight for what she loved.
New Delhi [India], October 4: In a striking convergence of symbolism and sound, the New Delhi-based collective Village Vigilantes (VV) has unveiled their latest single, "Vikaar", today, coinciding with Gandhi Jayanti and Dussehra. The release date, 2-10, also carries local significance in Delhi slang as "tootan," meaning cravings or withdrawal, highlighting the song's thematic focus on confronting desires and addictions.

"Vikaar" delves deep into the personal and societal battles that define modern India. The track encourages listeners to confront the evils within themselves before challenging the larger forces that undermine positivity, progress, and unity. Through its thought-provoking lyrics, the song warns the youth against violence, substance abuse, and blind idolization, while urging independent thought and self-awareness.

Beyond personal introspection, "Vikaar" highlights societal hypocrisy, consumerism, and the ill effects of addiction to cheap dopamine. The song addresses the pressures of the digital world, where curated lifestyles can distort reality and foster dissatisfaction, prompting a need to recognize one's blessings and reclaim agency over life. Ultimately, the song calls for a path rooted in kindness, education, critical thinking, and community-oriented action, empowering the youth to become productive and socially responsible citizens.

The song is the product of Village Vigilantes, a unique collective representing rural India and tier 2 cities. VV uses art as a medium to foster cultural awareness and rural development, focusing on collective progress rather than individual gains. Each member works under an alter ego, and maintains a professional career outside the collective, ensuring that their social and artistic contributions remain free from profit-driven motives.

"Vikaar" is written and performed by YAYATI from Kanpur and Maashu from Jabalpur, both celebrated voices in India's underground Hip Hop scene, known for blending hard-hitting lyricism with socially conscious themes.

With this release, Village Vigilantes combine art, activism, and music, offering a mirror to society and a roadmap for youth to navigate life's challenges with integrity, awareness, and compassion.

Listen to "Vikaar" today and join the movement for a more conscious and progressive India.

Media Contact:Village VigilantesEmail- graamsajag@gmail.com Website: https://www.instagram.com/villagevigilantes?igsh=NGF1cW9oa2Nudnlm

(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same.)
Former NITI Aayog CEO and ex-G20 Sherpa of India, Amitabh Kant, said on Friday that the vision for Viksit Bharat is bold and ambitious, but to achieve it, India must significantly raise its infrastructure spending. Sharing his thoughts on the Kautilya Economic Conclave, Kant stated on X, "Delighted to speak on infrastructure at the Kautilya Economic Conclave. The vision for #ViksitBharat is bold & ambitious. To achieve it we need to raise infrastructure spending from 4% to 6.5% of GDP, do high quality project development, monetise assets, mainstream instruments like InVITs and REITs." He further noted that the challenge was not only about raising funds but also about execution. "Execution also demands smarter planning, innovative financing, empowered institutions, and climate-resilient design. If we confront these challenges head-on, India will not just build infrastructure, it will build the backbone of Viksit Bharat," he added. The conclave, held in New Delhi, also saw Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman underline India's role in the global economic landscape. She highlighted India's role as a stabilising force in the global economy while cautioning against the risks of imbalances and volatility, in her inaugural address at the fourth edition of the Kautilya Economic Conclave 2025 at New Delhi. Speaking at the conclave, themed "Seeking prosperity in turbulent times", the minister noted that the very foundations of the global order are undergoing a structural transformation, with trade flows, alliances and financial systems being reshaped by geopolitical shifts. Stating that the present is 'turbulent', in some sense, would be to understate the scale of the challenge at hand, the minister said, adding that omnipresent uncertainty has become the new norm. "The international order is morphing. Trade flows are being reshaped, alliances are being tested, investments are being rerouted along geopolitical lines, and shared commitments are being re-examined," Sitharaman noted. Highlighting the importance of dialogue and openness at the three-day conclave, the finance minister said, "Let us, therefore, treat this moment not only as a crisis but as an inflexion point. Let us converse, not only to ponder upon what future awaits us but also to lay out the contours of the future we wish to create."(ANI)
India is set to become the next major force in the petrochemicals industry, a move that could intensify supply imbalances already troubling Asia, according to a press release citing recent reports by S&P Global Ratings. The research points out that India's plans to expand its petrochemical production mirror the earlier steps taken by China, which is already reshaping the global market. This shift comes as both countries, with China being the world's largest consumer and India the third, look to reduce their dependence on imports for essential chemicals used in everyday products such as plastics, packaging, and auto components. "India's capacity additions in petrochemicals, which follows those of China, will increase competition within the broader Asian industry over the coming years," said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Ker Liang Chan in a statement. The first report, "First China, Now India: Self-Sufficiency Goals Will Add To Petrochemicals Supply", anticipates that India will stick with major investment plans to reduce import dependency on chemicals used in everyday goods, from plastic bags to auto parts. This is an overhang on a sector that already faces overcapacity in the Asia-Pacific. The other report, India's Energy Landscape In Charts, maps the central role of these entities in national energy security and India's transition and sustainability goals. Chan explained that greater self-sufficiency in India and China would challenge petrochemical exporters in Asia. "Greater self-sufficiency in India and China markets pose a challenge for Asia-Pacific petrochemical exporters, absent mitigating actions to diversify sales and optimize capital expenditure," he said. The release stated, "We view USD 25 billion in spending from Indian public sector undertakings as sticky because they integrate with refinery expansions; planned private sector capex of USD 12 billion could be more flexible." This trend could spell trouble for regional exporters, who currently supply more than half of China and India's chemical imports. Redirecting these volumes to other markets, such as the United States, may not be economically viable because of tariff barriers. S&P noted that this may negatively impact earnings and lead to consolidation within the industry. At the same time, India's petrochemical sector is likely to remain resilient thanks to strong domestic demand. The country is projected to surpass the United States to become the world's second-largest consumer of polyethylene, a key plastic material. "The self-sufficiency goals of China and India exacerbate the structural overcapacity in the industry, particularly amid lackluster recovery in global demand amid trade tensions," said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Shawn Park in a statement. (ANI)
The Government of India's Department of Food and Public Distribution has joined hands with the Indian Rice Exporter's Federation (IREF) to host the Bharat International Rice Conference (BIRC) 2025 and unveil a roadmap for the rice sector's contribution to Viksit Bharat @2047. According to a press release issued by Dr. Prem Garg, National President of IREF, the mega event, billed as the world's largest rice conference, is scheduled to take place on October 30 and 31, 2025, at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. It is expected to draw more than 5,000 farmers, 2,500 exporters and millers, 50 shipping lines, and nearly 1,000 international buyers representing over 80 countries. Senior ministers from foreign governments, along with representatives from trade delegations and diplomatic missions, are also slated to participate. According to the release, the government's collaboration with IREF marks a significant step toward strengthening India's rice sector on the global stage. The Department of Food and Public Distribution confirmed its support for three key initiatives linked to the conference. These include the main event--BIRC 2025, the release of a Coffee Table Book on Indian Rice, and the launch of a detailed vision document mapping the rice sector's role in shaping India's future by 2047. "The global rice summit will serve as a dynamic platform to unite all stakeholders, fostering collaboration, innovation, and trade opportunities. The event is set to help visitors and exhibitors gain direct access to global buyers, new markets, and the latest technological innovations in the field of agriculture. Visitors and participants will also get one-to-one networking opportunities, which will further strengthen international supply chains and help them explore new business opportunities," the release stated. The release also highlighted the importance of the collaboration and the scale of the conference, stating that it would create a historic meeting of key stakeholders in the industry. The release said, "The conference will also feature participation from senior Ministers of various foreign governments, creating a historic convergence of key stakeholders in the rice industry". (ANI)
NewsVoir Pune (Maharashtra) [India], October 4: Loop, India's leading Group health insurance and health benefits provider, today announced the launch of the Workforce Health Index (WHI), India's first national-level benchmark report on the health of working professionals. Built on 214,142 lab test parameters and lifestyle surveys from 3,437 professionals across major cities, the report provides unprecedented insights into the biological and lifestyle health of India's urban workforce. The WHI uncovers systemic health risks that threaten long-term productivity: * Metabolic health: 37.2% of professionals show abnormal glucose metabolism--early signals of diabetes risk in prime career years.* Sleep & stress: 27.3% sleep less than 6 hours nightly, while 33.9% report high stress. Women report 17% higher stress levels than men.* Gender health gap: 36.5% of female professionals are clinically anemic compared to 8.2% of men, a 4.5x difference.* City hotspots: Delhi NCR shows 34.8% liver dysfunction, while over 82% Mumbai have HDL cholesterol below the protective level of 50 mg/dL. "India's workforce is running on borrowed health," said Mayank Kale, Co-founder & CEO of Loop. "The Workforce Health Index gives leaders measurable proof of what's at stake. Without timely interventions, organizations risk shorter careers, rising claims, and lost productivity. But with the right policies, we can extend healthy working years and strengthen our growth story." Health experts note that many risks stem from systemic and workplace drivers, not just personal choices. "These are not isolated lifestyle lapses," said Harpreet Singh, President, Healthcare, Loop. "The data shows patterns shaped by work culture, access to preventive care, and benefit design. This means employers have the power to change the trajectory." The WHI is designed as a decision-making tool for CFOs, CHROs, and policymakers, helping them shape benefits, workplace design, and preventive health strategies. Loop plans to update the index annually, enabling leaders to track trends and measure progress. The full Workforce Health Index report, along with city and industry-level insights, can be accessed here: bit.ly/3VjYvil Loop, India's leading Group health insurance and healthcare provider, is on a mission to add 20 healthy years to the Indian workforce. By uniting best-in-class insurance, unlimited primary care, and data-led prevention, Loop empowers over 850,000 lives at 1,250+ companies to live longer, healthier lives. Backed by global investors including Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures, Elevation Capital, and General Catalyst, Loop is redefining corporate healthcare for enterprise companies by making prevention profitable, outcomes measurable, and vibrant health possible for every team in India. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
VMPL New Delhi [India], October 4: In honor of World Smile Day on October 3, Smile Train India is launching Smile Walls nationwide in collaboration with partner hospitals, schools and corporate partners. This initiative is part of a global campaign led by Smile Train, the world's largest cleft-focused organization, to celebrate connection, positivity, and the power of a smile while rallying support for children with cleft lips and palates. Beginning today and continuing through the first week of October, Smile Walls will be installed across the country at partner hospitals, corporate partners, schools and public places such as the Millenium City Centre train Station in Gurugram. These installations will be spaces where community members can post messages or drawings that reflect what makes them smile, transforming blank walls into vibrant displays of positivity. Every three minutes, a baby is born with a cleft, a facial difference that can bring significant challenges with eating, speaking, hearing, and breathing. Smile Walls symbolize how something as simple as a smile can do more than brighten someone's day, it can represent the promise of a healthier, brighter future for children with clefts. "We are excited to bring Smile Walls across India is World Smile Day, said Mamta Carroll, Smile Train's Senior Vice President and Regional Director for Asia. "This is a wonderful opportunity for our communities to come together and share moments of happiness through a simple act while raising awareness of clefts." At Sant Parmanand Hospital in Delhi, the Smile Wall was inaugurated in the presence of Miss Cosmo India 2025, Vipra Mehta, who joins Smile Train India and hospital partners in celebrating the power of smiles. "I am honored to be part of this initiative," said Vipra, Miss Cosmo India 2025. "A smile is the simplest expression of joy, yet it carries the power to heal, connect, and inspire. By supporting Smile Train India, we are ensuring that children born with clefts have the chance to live healthier and happier lives." Vipra Mehta will be representing India at the Miss Cosmo pageant in December 2025. "The Smile Wall campaign is a movement built on the importance of a smile," said Smile Train's President and CEO, Susannah Schaefer. "By sharing what brings us happiness, we celebrate the moments that unite us despite our differences and honor the power and potential that a smile carries for cleft-affected children." Smile Train India encourages communities across the country to visit the Smile Walls at partner hospitals and share what makes them smile. Individuals and organizations can also start their own Smile Walls at schools, workplaces, community centers, and more. Join the movement online by creating or contributing to a digital Smile Wall. Find out more information on how to get involved at https://www.smiletrain.org/wsd. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same.)
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday launched here a three-month-long nationwide awareness campaign on unclaimed assets in the financial sector - 'Aapki Punji, Aapka Adhikar' (your money, your right). The campaign is aimed at helping people trace and claim their unclaimed deposits, insurance payouts, dividends, shares, and mutual fund proceeds. Unclaimed financial assets have been a long-standing issue, and the campaign seeks to simplify the process for citizens by offering on-the-spot guidance, demonstration of digital tools, and support to complete claim procedures. During the launch event, Sitharaman handed over cheques and claim orders to citizens who had successfully reclaimed their unclaimed money. Addressing the gathering, she urged people to spread the message. "I urge you all to become ambassadors of this campaign, reach out to people you know, ask if they hold any papers of unclaimed financial assets, and guide them to register on the portal to claim what is rightfully theirs," she said. She added that the campaign's success lies in fulfilling the three "A"s - Awareness, Access, and Action. "If the three 'A's are fulfilled, the money lying in safe custody can be rightfully claimed by the people with proper documents," she explained. The Finance Minister also recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi's advice to take this initiative directly to the people. "I am very grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who once advised me to go among the people and call upon them to claim what is rightfully theirs. Acting on his advice, I am glad to share that Gujarat has taken the lead in launching this campaign," she said. Sitharaman emphasised that collective participation was necessary to ensure success. "With concerted efforts from all - the Finance Ministry, regulators, state governments, and banks in villages - if the entire chain is activated, everyone will be able to reclaim their money. This is not only our assurance, but also our duty," she added. The campaign launch was attended by Gujarat Finance Minister Kanu Desai and Department of Financial Services Secretary M. Nagaraju, along with senior officials from the financial sector. As per an official release, the initiative has been launched by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, Government of India, in coordination with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The release said that the Centre is committed to ensuring that every rupee saved by citizens can be rightfully claimed by them, or by their legal heirs and nominees. The campaign will encourage people to participate actively, spread awareness, and strengthen financial inclusion in every household. It seeks to empower citizens by providing clear information on how to trace and claim their rightful money, supported by Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) developed by the respective fund regulators, to make the process simple and transparent. (ANI)
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Saturday held a meeting with Kim Yin Wong, Group President and CEO of Sembcorp, to discuss India's progress in the renewable energy sector and explore opportunities for collaboration. The discussion focused on key areas such as clean energy, green hydrogen, industrial parks, and skill development, underscoring India's commitment to sustainable growth and global partnerships in the energy transition. In a post on social media platform X, Goyal wrote, "Held a meeting with Mr Kim Yin Wong, Group President & CEO of Sembcorp. Discussed India's remarkable achievements in renewable energy & ambitious aims, and explored avenues for collaboration in clean energy, green hydrogen, industrial parks and skill development." In another post he added, "Delighted to address the 'India-Singapore@60: Partnership for Growth and Innovation' Business Session, alongside Gan Siow Huang, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade & Industry, Singapore. Highlighted greater collaboration & B2B opportunities between our businesses, and emphasised further strengthening India-Singapore trade & investment ties for a more balanced, inclusive & future-ready economic partnership." Earlier, during a three-day official visit to Singapore, Goyal met with Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister of Singapore, where discussions focused on strengthening trade, enhancing cooperation, and exploring new opportunities for future growth. As per a government release on Friday, the visit highlighted India's strong growth trajectory, commitment to investment-led reforms, and the vast opportunities available for global partners across manufacturing, infrastructure, financial services, and the green economy. In his bilateral meeting with Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry, the discussions centered on further deepening industrial and trade cooperation between India and Singapore. He also met Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs, with both sides reaffirming strategic trust and alignment on regional and global economic priorities. The Union Minister also held meetings with the Group CIO of GIC, Bryan Yeo, and the CEO of Temasek, Dilhan Pillay, which focused on scaling up India-focused portfolios across infrastructure, hospitality, renewable energy, financial services, and urban development. A major highlight of the visit was the Business Roundtable on Foreign Direct Investment in the manufacturing sector, which was attended by key decision-makers from AmCham, EuroCham, the German Chamber of Industry & Commerce, and other business leaders. In addition to these leadership engagements, Goyal also held strategic business meetings with leading Singaporean corporates and institutional investors. At SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC), discussions focused on India's fast-growing Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) sector and the need to fast-track the India-Singapore Skilling Centre for MRO professionals in collaboration with Indian universities. (ANI)
PNN Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], October 4: EarlyJobs, one of India's fastest-growing recruitment startups, has announced its boldest initiative yet -- a plan to onboard more than 10,000 freelance women HR recruiters by 2026. At a time when headlines in the recruitment industry are dominated by layoffs, shrinking HR teams, and cost-cutting measures, EarlyJobs is going against the tide. Instead of eliminating recruiters, the company is putting them at the centre of its model, offering remote, flexible, and income-generating careers to women professionals across the country. Saurav Kumar, Founder and CEO, EarlyJobs The decision reflects a larger truth about the state of India's hiring ecosystem. Most recruitment platforms and staffing firms focus exclusively on candidates or companies, promising job seekers more opportunities or helping employers cut hiring costs. But in this race, recruiters, the very people who connect talent with jobs--are often forgotten. EarlyJobs is rewriting this story by treating recruiters themselves as the backbone of the industry, giving them tools, access, and opportunities to build sustainable careers. Saurav Kumar, Founder & CEO of EarlyJobs, explained the philosophy behind the move: "We are like the port for recruiters. Through EarlyJobs, women professionals get access to multiple job opportunities from leading companies while working remotely and independently. With our platform, we're not just offering jobs, we're creating careers." The vision was born out of observing how women, despite being skilled and qualified, often drop out of the workforce after college, marriage, or maternity leave. Traditional HR roles demand fixed hours and office presence, conditions that many women are unable to commit to while balancing personal responsibilities. EarlyJobs flipped the equation by introducing a freelance recruiter network, enabling women to take control of their time, work remotely, and still participate meaningfully in India's massive recruitment market. The rise of freelance recruiters comes at a time when the industry is grappling with contradictions. On one side, India produces millions of graduates every year, but companies complain of slow and inefficient hiring processes. On the other hand, cost pressures are leading many firms to downsize HR teams. EarlyJobs' approach cuts across this paradox: by mobilising freelance recruiters, the company ensures that businesses still get the human touch and sourcing expertise needed to hire faster, without bearing the overhead costs of large HR departments. What makes this approach particularly disruptive is the empowerment it provides to women professionals. Freelance recruiters working with EarlyJobs can operate from home, from smaller towns, or even while managing personal commitments, without sacrificing career aspirations. They are not tied to one company's mandates but instead get access to openings from hundreds of businesses through the platform, multiplying their opportunities to earn and grow. For many women, this is not just an alternative career--it is the only viable pathway to continue working. Saurav Kumar believes that this impact goes beyond employment statistics. "The vision is to create a decentralised, recruiter-first ecosystem. By hiring 10,000+ women recruiters, we are creating both social impact and business efficiency. Our recruiters gain financial independence, companies get faster hiring at scale, and candidates get access to jobs that were previously out of reach. Everyone wins," he said. The larger recruitment industry is watching closely. While traditional platforms continue to focus their messaging on "helping candidates get jobs" or "helping companies cut hiring costs," EarlyJobs is quietly building an army of recruiters who sit at the centre of the hiring process. By giving recruiters flexibility, volume of opportunities, and access to clients, EarlyJobs is redefining what it means to work in HR in India. The bold bet on recruiters may well change how the industry thinks about hiring. In a market where staffing firms and portals often view recruiters as replaceable middlemen, EarlyJobs is betting that they are, in fact, the engine of the hiring machine. If successful, the plan to onboard 10,000+ women recruiters will not just create flexible careers but could reset the balance of India's recruitment industry itself. As Saurav Kumar concluded, "We are not just solving hiring; we are creating opportunity. For women, for recruiters, for companies -- EarlyJobs is the bridge that connects all three. And this is just the beginning." (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same.)
When Kangana Ranaut walks into a room, she makes sure all eyes are on her, and on Friday night, she did exactly that as she returned to the ramp in style after quite some time. The actor-turned-MP was the showstopper for designer Raabta by Rahul's latest bridal jewellery collection, 'Saltanat', and the audience couldn't get enough of her royal look. Dressed in an ivory drape with heavy embroidery, Kangana paired her outfit with striking emerald and gold jewellery. The 'Queen' actor walked the ramp in a stunning ivory outfit paired with an ornate emerald and gold jewellery set, finishing her look with a flower-adorned bun and traditional accessories, giving her an aura of timeless royalty. Meanwhile, on the work front, the actress is set to make her debut in Hollywood with a lead role in the horror drama 'Blessed Be the Evil', reported 'Variety'. She will star alongside Teen Wolf actor Tyler Posey and Tulsa King star Scarlet Rose Stallone in the film. The actress was last seen in Emergency, a film she directed and in which she portrayed the former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. (ANI)
Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan has penned an adorable birthday wish for her sister-in-law, actor Soha Ali Khan. Kareena took to her Instagram handle and shared a series of pictures. The first one featured the 'Jab We Met' actor alongside Soha Ali Khan. The ace star called her "funny" and "supportive" "May the books, sugar free cake and the love you have for your brother and me never run out..You funny, supportive, lovely one ...Happy birthday sister in law..Love you always ..@sakpataudi," Kareena Kapoor wrote in the caption. https://www.instagram.com/p/DPYCsh9DAsg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== After Kareena's post, Soha responded, "No danger of that!! I am supremely loyal to my family, my literature and my desserts!! sometimes the order of priority changes..love you!!" Born on October 4, Soha has acted in the romantic comedy film 'Dil Maange More', and is also known for working in 'Rang De Basanti', 'Ahista Ahista', 'Chhorii 2', among others. Talking about Kareena, she will be seen in 'Daayra', also starring Prithviraj Sukumaran. The actors have officially begun shooting their upcoming film. Taking to their respective social media handles, the actors shared glimpses from the first day of shoot, adding several BTS moments."Day 1. 68th film Daayra with the most amazing @meghnagulzar and @therealprithvi...Send love and blessings," Kareena wrote in the caption. From holding a puja ceremony on the first day of production to discussing scenes with director Meghna Gulzar, trying look tests, shooting scenes, and reading scripts, the actor offered an intimate insight into their preparations. In a special highlight, veteran lyricist Gulzar also arrived on the sets and engaged in a conversation with the team. Likewise, Prithviraj expressed a feeling of thrill in his post as he added, "#Daayra is officially rolling. A new story, a new journey that challenges and excites in equal parts. Thrilled to be stepping into this world." Director Meghna Gulzar dedicated a special post to mark the beginning of a journey of "blurred and crossed lines." 'Daayra' was announced earlier this year when Kareena Kapoor confirmed her part in the film. As explained by the National Award-winning filmmaker, 'Daayra' tells a story that will compel viewers to reflect on society and its institutions. (ANI)
Actor Robert Pattinson recently discussed playing wacky, brooding, and bold characters, as well as transitioning to more conventional behaviour, while promoting his new movie, 'Die My Love', alongside Jennifer Lawrence, reported People. Pattinson said in a new interview that he finds it "actually kind of difficult to play a normal person when you're used to playing freaks" "At one point, I really wanted to play some normal guys," Pattinson said, adding, "And it's actually kind of difficult to play a normal person when you're used to playing freaks and stuff," as quoted by People. 'Die My Love', which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, follows the characters of Lawrence's "Grace and Pattinson's Jackson, who spend time in a secluded home in Montana as Grace struggles with her mental health." A trailer for the movie shows their characters enjoying life together, with plenty of dancing, contrasted with streaks of bizarre behaviour and screaming matches between the two, reported People. "Grace, a writer and young mother, is slowly slipping into madness," reads an official synopsis for the movie. "Locked away in an old house in and around Montana, we see her acting increasingly agitated and erratic, leaving her companion, Jackson, increasingly worried and helpless." His recent roles in 2022's The Batman, in which he portrays an emo-inspired, brooding Bruce Wayne, and this year's science fiction adventure Mickey 17, in which he played a man in the near future who agrees to have his body and memories reprinted each time he dies, seem to be very different from his Die My Love role, as Pattinson hinted. When the actor discussed working with the 35-year-old Lawrence in an interview back in March, he made waves by stating that he had trouble improvising dance moves on cue with the actress. "They just find it so easy, and they're like 'Just dance, it's just music playing, just dance,' " he said of Lawrence and director Lynne Ramsey. "And I'm like, 'I'm telling you, I'm going to have a mental breakdown when this happens. We need to either choreograph it or cut it.' And they're like, 'Just dance, stop being a freak.' " "At a certain point -- maybe when you hit your 30s -- you realise, 'I can't sit around waiting for my agent to call. I'll be dead,' " said Pattinson, reported People. 'Die My Love' in theaters on November 7. (ANI)
In a significant breakthrough, the 36 Assam Rifles conducted a successful operation in the general area of Songkot village, Henglep Sub-Division, Churachandpur district, on October 2, resulting in the apprehension of five United Kuki National Army (UKNA) cadres. The operation also led to the recovery of a substantial cache of arms, ammunition, and other war-like stores, dealing a major blow to insurgent activities in the region. The 36 Assam Rifles apprehended five cadres of the United Kuki National Army (UKNA) on October 2 in Songkot village, Henglep Sub-Division, Churachandpur district, according to the release. The apprehended individuals have been identified as Paolenlal Kipgen (30), son of late Tongkam Kipgen of Boljol, Churachandpur; Kamgoulen (23), son of late Seilun Kipgen of K. Phaijang, Churachandpur; Lhunkholen Singson (26), son of late Mangkhopao Singson of Bolkot, Henglep Sub-Division, Churachandpur; Thangzasuan (14), son of Pauneilian Vaiphei of S. Bualkot, Churachandpur; and Khaiginpau (37), son of Lienzangul Vaiphei of S. Bualkot, Churachandpur. The seized items include one M79 Grenade Launcher with three bombs, two 9mm pistols with five rounds, eight radio sets with four sets of chargers, eight pairs of jungle shoes, three kilograms of opium seeds, and three mobile handsets. In this connection, a case under section 20 UA(P)Act, 25(1-C) Arms Act, and 6 IWT (Indian Wireless Telegraphy) Act has been registered for investigation. The accused were produced before the Duty Magistrate and remanded into police custody, while the Child in Conflict with Law (Juvenile) is kept at an Observation Home. Further investigation is ongoing. On September 30, the Indian Army and Assam Rifles formations under the Spear Corps, in close coordination with Manipur Police, undertook a series of precise, intelligence-driven operations across Tengnoupal, Imphal East, and Chandel Districts of Manipur from September 19 to 28, a release said. The operations led to the apprehension of four cadres from various hill and valley-based insurgent groups. They recovered eight weapons, narcotics, and other war-like stores, according to the release from the Ministry of Defence, Manipur, Nagaland, and Southern Arunachal Pradesh. Assam Rifles in the Toronglaobi Awang Leikai area apprehended two PREPAK cadres involved in extortion and recovered two mobile phones on September 19, the release said. (ANI)
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) on Friday expressed satisfaction over its meeting with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on strengthening aviation safety mechanisms and ensuring transparency in accident investigations. ALPA President Captain Sam Thomas said that the meeting, facilitated by DGCA chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai and attended by AAIB Director General Yugandhar, was "very cordial" and marked an important step toward greater pilot involvement in investigations. "For the first time, we were able to have an interaction where we explained the problems and challenges that we are facing. It was not specific to Air India 171; it was for every kind of air accident investigation that might take place from here onward. They have outlined a roadmap on which the subject matter experts like us can be involved," Thomas said. He added that the move would help provide more accurate information to the public. We can take this forward in a more positive manner, wherein we can speak authentically to the press and give them the exact scenario as it transpired. They have said that they have contacted 250 SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) that are on the database. Thomas also revealed that the AAIB has already contacted about 250 subject matter experts (SMEs) on its database but is facing regulatory hurdles in engaging external specialists. They have some regulatory issues as far as calling any outsider is concerned. The next time this happens, we would also have our representation so that changes can be made in this Act with a positive input from our side and from Yugandhar..." ALPA was formally invited by the Director General, Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), to attend a consultation meeting particularly with regard to participation as part of the investigation into the AI 171 crash in Ahmedabad in June this year. The crash occurred in the densely populated Meghani Nagar locality of Ahmedabad and killed 260 people. The flight was carrying 242 individuals and only one passenger survived. The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) had earlier this month written to the Ministry of Civil Aviation demanding the constitution of a Court of Inquiry (judicial probe) into the investigation of the fatal crash of Air India Flight AI 171 on June 12, 2025. (ANI)
On the Sabarimala gold row, Sabarimala Karma Samithi Convenor SJR Kumar accused the current Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) President of involvement in the unauthorised removal of gold-plated idols in September, demanding probes into board members and slamming the Kerala government for a politically motivated global Ayyappa meet with "non-believer" DMK CM. Speaking to ANI, he said, "I have a video report by the current Devaswom Board President, who is putting the blame on the employees of those days. The whole thing started when the court came to notice that the gold-plated idols of the Dwarapalakas had been removed. The special commissioner reported to the high court that these idols had been removed without his permission. This happened in September, under the leadership of the current Devaswom Board president. He is equally involved in this. All Devaswom Board people are really in the dark, and enquiries should be held against them. The government is comprised of non-believers, and they attempted to organise a global Ayyappa meet. It was a political move. They claim to want to promote Sabarimala, but their intentions became clear when they invited the DMK CM of Tamil Nadu. We know that DMK is a party of non-believers." SJR Kumar accused the Kerala government of targeting Hindu temples for financial gain, alleging they invited Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, whose son Udhayanidhi Stalin called for eradicating Sanatana Dharma, to a global Ayyappa meet, revealing their intent to exploit temple funds amid Kerala's economic ruin. "Moreover, they have defamed every god of Hindus and also the Sanatana Dharma. They questioned the existence of Sanatana Dharma. The son of the Tamil Nadu CM Udayanidhi Stalin said that Sanatana Dharma should not be on the face of the earth. And his father was invited. The government's intention is very clear. From the government's activities from 2016 to date, it is clear that their intention was to extract money from everywhere. They have been looting money from the common people. They have shattered the economy of Kerala, and now they are trying to grab money from the temples. It cannot be allowed," he said. SJR Kumar urged the court to order a CBI probe into the Sabarimala gold row and called for central government intervention. "I request the court to initiate a CBI probe. It is time for the Central government also to get involved in this and save Sabarimala," he added. The Dwarapalaka idols at the Sabarimala temple had gold-plated copper plates, originally installed in 1999, with the intention of keeping them there for the next 40 years. However, defects were seen in the plates after just a few years. In 2019, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) removed the plates for repairing. Historical records indicate that the 1998 gold cladding, completed in 1999, was undertaken under the leadership of Chennai-based jeweller Nagarajan of JNR Jewellery, with the expertise of 53 Tamil Nadu artisans. The process involved layering gold beaten into thin foils and bonding them onto copper plates with mercury. In 2019, during repairs, Devaswom records listed the removed panels as copper sheets. When the replated panels were returned, records showed a reduction of 4.41 kg. Unnikrishnan Potty testified that the sheets given to him were copper-based with residual gold, which had been later replated at a Chennai firm. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended homage to the Indian revolutionary, lawyer, and journalist, Shymji Krishna Verma, on his birth anniversary. PM Modi posted on X, "On behalf of all citizens, respectful homage to the diligent son of Mother India, Shyamji Krishna Varma, on his birth anniversary. His courage, dedication, and spirit of service in the freedom movement will always be remembered with reverence. His saga of bravery and fearlessness is a great source of inspiration for building a developed India as well." Born in Gujarat, Shyamji Krishna Varma was a freedom fighter who founded the Indian Home Rule Society, the Indian Sociologist and India House in London. He was a barrister in London and was later barred from practising for being critical of the colonial government. Varma also taught Sanskrit at Oxford University. (ANI) Meanwhile, PM Modi is all set to introduce a series of initiatives focused on young individuals, with a cumulative investment exceeding Rs. 62,000 crore. These initiatives aim to provide a substantial enhancement to education, skill development, and entrepreneurship across the nation. The Prime Minister will launch PM-SETU (Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs), a centrally sponsored scheme with an investment of Rs. 60,000 crore. The scheme envisages the upgradation of 1,000 government ITIs across the country in a hub-and-spoke model comprising 200 hub ITIs and 800 spoke ITIs. The Prime Minister will inaugurate 1,200 Vocational Skill Labs established in 400 Navodaya Vidyalayas and 200 Eklavya Model Residential Schools across 34 States and Union Territories. These labs will equip students, including those in remote and tribal areas, with hands-on training in 12 high-demand sectors such as IT, automotive, agriculture, electronics, logistics and tourism. Aligned with the National Education Policy 2020 and CBSE curriculum, the project also involves the training of 1,200 vocational teachers to deliver industry-relevant learning and create an early foundation for employability. A special emphasis of the programme will be on transformative projects in Bihar, reflecting the state's rich legacy and youthful demographic. The Prime Minister will launch Bihar's revamped Mukhyamantri Nishchay Svyam Sahayata Bhatta Yojana, under which nearly five lakh graduate youth will receive a monthly allowance of Rs. 1,000 for two years, along with free skill training, every year. He will also launch the redesigned Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme, which will provide completely interest-free education loans of up to Rs . 4 lakhs, significantly easing the financial burden of higher education. More than 3.92 lakh students have already availed of loans worth over Rs. 7,880 crore under the scheme. Further strengthening youth empowerment in the state, Bihar Yuva Ayog, a statutory commission for people between the ages of 18 and 45, will be formally inaugurated by the Prime Minister to channelise and harness the energies of the state's young population. The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University in Bihar, envisioned to impart industry-oriented courses and vocational education to create a globally competitive workforce. Taking forward the National Education Policy 2020 with the vision to make higher education avenues better, Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for new academic and research facilities in four universities of Bihar, namely Patna University, Bhupendra Narayan Mandal University in Madhepura, Jai Prakash Vishwavidyalaya in Chapra and Nalanda Open University in Patna, under the PM-USHA (Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan). Together, these projects, with a total allocation of Rs. 160 crores, will benefit more than 27,000 students by providing modern academic infrastructure, advanced laboratories, hostels, and multidisciplinary learning opportunities. Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation the Bihta campus of NIT Patna. With the capacity to host 6,500 students, the campus houses advanced facilities, including a 5G use case lab, a Regional Academic Centre for Space established in collaboration with ISRO, and an Innovation and Incubation Centre that has already supported nine start-ups.The PM Modi will also distribute appointment letters to more than 4,000 newly recruited candidates in the Government of Bihar and release Rs. 450 crores in scholarships through Direct Benefit Transfer to 25 lakh students of Class 9 and 10 under the Mukhyamantri Balak/Balika Scholarship Scheme. The initiatives to be launched are expected to create significant opportunities for India's youth. By integrating education, skill development, entrepreneurship, and improved infrastructure, they aim to support a solid foundation for the country's progress. With a special focus on Bihar, the state is likely to develop as a centre for skilled manpower, contributing to growth both regionally and nationally. (ANI)
Congress leader Harish Chaudhary on Saturday expressed deep sorrow over the demise of Congress leader and former Bikaner MP Rameshwar Lal Dudi, describing the loss as "irreparable" for Rajasthan. In a heartfelt post on Facebook, Chaudhary recalled Dudi's long political journey, which began in his student life and later saw him emerge as a strong voice for the oppressed, deprived, and marginalised communities in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. "Beginning his political journey from student life, farmer leader Rameshwar Dudi ji, who raised the voice of the oppressed, exploited, and deprived sections of society in the country's largest panchayat, the Lok Sabha, as well as in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, and fought for their rights, has passed away. This is extremely sad and unfortunate for all of us," Congress leader said in his post on Facebook. "May God grant the departed soul a place in His feet and give the bereaved family the strength to bear this grief. Dudi Sahib's passing is an irreparable loss for the entire state," he further added. https://www.facebook.com/100044610721454/posts/1370177274479284 Former Congress MP from Rajasthan's Bikaner, Rameshwar Lal Dudi, passed away at the age of 62 after remaining in a coma for nearly two years. A veteran politician, Dudi had been active in politics since 1995. Born on July 1, 1963, Dudi began his political journey with the student group NSUI and gradually rose from the grassroots to hold significant positions in both state and national politics. His wife, Sushila Dudi, currently serves as the MLA from Nokha. Dudi's political career spanned several milestones. He served as the Pradhan of Nokha (1995-1999) before being elected as a Member of Parliament from Bikaner (1999-2004), where he was also part of the Food, Civil Supplies and Public Distribution Committee. From 2005 to 2010, he held the post of Bikaner District Chief. In 2013, Dudi returned to the state assembly as the MLA from Nokha and went on to serve as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly (2014-2018). Most recently, in 2022, he was appointed Chairman of the Rajasthan State Agro-Industries Development Board. (ANI)
A prominent Rajasthan Congress leader and former Leader of the Opposition, Rameshwar Lal Dudi, passed away at his residence during the late hours of Friday. The Congress leader went into a coma after suffering from a brain haemorrhage in August 2023. He was initially admitted to the SMS hospital in Jaipur, but was later transferred to Medanta Hospital in Delhi for better medical treatment. His condition stabilised recently, leading to his return to Bikaner, where he passed away at the age of 62. Former Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot, expressed grief on the social media platform X. He described the incident as "heartbreaking" and "a personal shock." "The passing away of former Leader of the Opposition and Member of Parliament from Bikaner, Shri Rameshwar Dudi, is extremely heartbreaking. After being ill for nearly 2 years, his departure at such a young age will always be deeply felt. This is a personal shock for me," he wrote on X. He further said, "Shri Rameshwar Dudi fulfilled every role he took on with great dedication. He was with me as a Member of Parliament, MLA, and our Leader of the Opposition. He always worked tirelessly for the farming community." Gehlot, recalling Dudhi's visit, wrote, "I remember that just a few days before my visit, he had come to meet me, and we had a long conversation. We made the best possible arrangements for his treatment." He asserted that Dudi led a controlled life with an active lifestyle. "Seeing Dudi Ji, who lived such an active life, fall ill like this pained all of us deeply. I pray to God to grant peace to the departed soul and strength to the family members," he said. (ANI)
Pune Police and the National Security Guard (NSG) conducted mock drills in different parts of Pune in Maharashtra on Friday to test their preparedness for effectively tackling emergency situations. A mock drill was also staged at the Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati Temple in pune. Earlier on September 18 a similar mock drill jointly conducted by the Indian Army, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Police, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and Civil Administration for a large-scale earthquake response mock drill in Along, West Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh, an official release said. The exercise simulated a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake across five different sites, designed to test the speed, coordination, and efficiency of multiple responding agencies under realistic conditions. Search and rescue teams, along with specialized medical units, were swiftly deployed, while the Incident Response System framework was thoroughly evaluated in action. The mock drill highlighted key aspects of disaster readiness: improved communication networks, stronger logistical support, and seamless coordination between military and civil agencies. By working side by side, the participating forces demonstrated how collective action can minimize casualties, ensure rapid relief, and restore normalcy in the aftermath of a natural disaster, the release added. This exercise was not only a test of operational capability but also a reaffirmation of the bond between the armed forces and the civil administration. It emphasized that disaster management is not the responsibility of a single agency, but a shared duty that requires synergy, trust, and mutual support. Further, as per the release, the success of the drill underlines the commitment of all stakeholders to safeguard communities, strengthen resilience, and build confidence among the people of Arunachal Pradesh. Together, these coordinated efforts reinforce the message that in times of crisis, the strength of unity becomes the strongest shield for society. Mock Drill is a regular exercise to tackle any emergency in country. (ANI)
https://x.com/official_dgar/status/1974314111476641883

"ASSAM RIFLES STRIKES A MAJOR BLOW TO UKNA NETWORKS #AssamRifles in a daring jungle operation codenamed Operation Songkot on 01 October 2025, apprehended six dreaded UKNA militants, including senior commander SS Lt Jamkhogin Guite Lupho alias Pepsi. The successful operation has dealt a crippling setback to UKNA's networks in Churachandpur and Jiribam, reaffirming Assam Rifles relentless commitment to peace and security in the region," Assam Rifles said in a message on X on Saturday.

On September 30, the Indian Army and Assam Rifles formations under the Spear Corps, in close coordination with Manipur Police, undertook a series of precise, intelligence-driven operations across Tengnoupal, Imphal East, and Chandel Districts of Manipur from September 19 to 28, a release said.

The operations led to the apprehension of four cadres from various hill and valley-based insurgent groups. They recovered eight weapons, narcotics, and other war-like stores, according to the release from the Ministry of Defence, Manipur, Nagaland, and Southern Arunachal Pradesh.

Assam Rifles in the Toronglaobi Awang Leikai area apprehended two PREPAK cadres involved in extortion and recovered two mobile phones on September 19, the release said.

Earlier, In a significant strike against drug trafficking, Assam Rifles conducted a major operation in the Mohanpur area of Agartala, Tripura, successfully intercepting a large consignment of narcotics, as per the release.

Recently, in a joint operation with the Mizoram Police, Assam Rifles recovered 146 cases of contraband cigarettes from Tlangsam in Mizoram's Champhai district.

The consignment, moving from Tiao River towards Tlangsam via a forest route, was tracked and intercepted by the joint team at a strategic location, said Assam Rifles.(ANI)
Madhya Pradesh Cabinet Minister Vishvas Sarang slammed Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi over his statement in Colombia, saying that the latter once again showed his childishness. Minister Sarang also accused the Congress leader of tarnishing the nation's honour on foreign soil, stressing that it amounts to treason. "Rahul Gandhi has once again shown his childishness. Travelling abroad and tarnishing the nation's honour in this manner amounts to treason. Rahul is forgetting that when he goes abroad and gives interviews as the leader of the opposition, he should remember that it is because of this democracy and system that he has become the leader of the opposition. Yet, he is not mature, behaves childishly all the time," Sarang told ANI. He further said that the Congress leader bakes his political bread in India and with the same ill intent, he tarnishes the honour and dignity of the nation on foreign soil as well. "I believe Rahul Gandhi should give up this childishness. The way he has commented on the BJP and the RSS, he seems to forget that the BJP government has always enhanced the pride and prestige of the country... RSS is such a non-political organisation that has always lifted the honour of the nation. Rahul Gandhi does not know the truth, you only speak scripted stuff. You can not imagine the contribution of RSS for the nation before and post independence," the Minister said. "Rahul Gandhi should show some maturity, and the baseless remarks he makes about India while abroad comes in the category of treason," he added. Speaking at an event at EIA University of Colombia, Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the Narendra Modi government, asserting that the biggest challenge India is witnessing is the attack on its democracy. "India has strong capabilities in areas like engineering and healthcare, so I am very optimistic about the country. But at the same time, there are also flaws in the structure that India has to correct. The biggest challenge is the attack on democracy taking place in India," Gandhi said. The Congress leader argued that the democratic system remains crucial for diversity, allowing different traditions, customs, and ideas, including religious beliefs, to thrive. However, he added, the democratic system in India is under attack, which is a "major risk" or threat. "Currently, there is a wholesale attack on this democratic system, and that is a major risk. Another big risk is the tension between different conceptions in parts of the country. With 16-17 major languages and many religions, it is crucial to allow these diverse traditions to thrive and give them the space they need," he added. Gandhi also attacked the RSS-BJP duo, saying that "cowardice" was at the heart of their ideology. "This is the nature of BJP-RSS. If you notice a statement of the foreign minister, he said, 'China is much more powerful than us. How can I pick a fight with them?' At the heart of the ideology is cowardice," the Congress leader said. (ANI)
Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey on Saturday said that the Samajawadi Party-led delegation was being "stopped" from going to Bareilly, where protests over "I Love Mohammad" posters on September 26 turned violent. Authorities also deployed police personnel outside the residence of Mata Prasad Pandey. The SP leader told ANI, "We're being stopped from going... This was not a communal riot... They (Police) themselves have ruined the law and order situation... They've become partisans." He further said that the police were "giving clear answers" about the incident between the two communities and alleged that one community is "terrified" of the police. "If two communities had clashed, I would have assumed a serious incident had occurred... When we asked the police, they weren't giving any clear answers. Locals reported that widespread injustice followed the incident. One person is charged, and four are being arrested... That community is terrified... They're terrified of the administration and the police. They have no quarrel with the other community." Meanwhile, Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati Maharaj said that the "I Love Muhammad-Mahadev" is a deliberate attempt to divert attention from more pressing matters. He questioned whether Mahadev is a matter of worship or love, emphasising that such language is disrespectful and not befitting of the deity. "... 'I love Mohammed, I love Mahadev' row has been started to distract the public from the real issues. Is Mahadev a matter of worship or love? This is an insult to Mahadev. I don't know about Mohammed. Those who are with Mohammed may know about him. But is saying, "I love Mahadev," an honour or an insult to Mahadev? This is disrespectful to Mahadev, an insult to Mahadev. We don't use such language with Mahadev...," Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand told ANI. In response to the unrest, the Bareilly administration suspended mobile internet and broadband services for 48 hours, from 3 pm on October 2 to 3 pm on October 4. A group of people had gathered outside Ala Hazrat Dargah and Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) chief Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan's house, holding "I Love Mohammad" placards. The protestors pelted stones at the police during the protest after the Friday prayers.Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Police conducted flag marches in Kanpur as well to ensure peace during Friday prayers. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ashutosh Kumar Singh stated that no problems have arisen thus far. "There is no disorder of any kind here... Police are deployed everywhere." Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) National General Secretary Nafees Khan and his son Farman Khan in connection with the September 26 protests in Bareilly, taking the total arrests in the case to 81. According to the police, Farman used to handle the Facebook page of IMC.Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Bareilly Anurag Arya informed that Nafees and his son revealed that "everyone was involved in the conspiracy". (ANI)
In a breakthrough, North Tripura Police have re-arrested two convicts who escaped from the Kalikapur Sub-Jail in Dharmanagar during the early hours of Navami, police said. The jailbreak, which took place on October 1, saw six convicted prisoners flee custody, triggering a massive manhunt across the region. On Wednesday evening, police detained Abdul Patta of Nilam Bazaar, Assam, along with a vehicle from Dharmanagar's West Chandrapur area. Acting on further intelligence inputs, security forces later nabbed another fugitive, Narayan Dutta, son of Shubhankar Choudhury, from Malakarpura near the India-Bangladesh border on Thursday afternoon. According to sources, the arrest was made possible through coordinated action by North Tripura Police and personnel of the 97th BSF Battalion. Speaking to ANI, North Tripura Superintendent of Police Avinash Rai said, "On 1st Oct, the incident took place in Dharmanagar, six inmates ran away, and today we got a big achievement, we have arrested Narendra Chandradutta, a resident of Bangladesh. With the input of North Tripura Police and personnel of the 97th BSF Battalion, and with the help of local people, we have launched a special operation in the area, and he was arrested from the Malakarpura bus station." Despite the fresh arrests, four convicts, including the notorious dacoit Nazim Uddin, remain at large. Police have intensified search operations and border surveillance to nab the remaining fugitives. Authorities have assured that all possible measures are being taken to restore public confidence and prevent further security breaches in the region. ( Meanwhile, in an earlier operation on September 29, in a significant strike against drug trafficking, Assam Rifles conducted a major operation in the Mohanpur area of Agartala, Tripura, successfully intercepting a large consignment of narcotics, as per the release. Acting on credible intelligence, troops swiftly intercepted a major consignment, foiling an attempt by miscreants to exploit the festive atmosphere of Durga Puja for smuggling contrabands into the state.As per the release, the operation resulted in the recovery of 60.77 kilograms of contraband. The success was made possible by the speedy response, precise intelligence and effective execution, which prevented the narcotics from reaching their intended networks. ANI)
Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Bansal underlined on Saturday that the Armed forces have got a "free hand" since the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government came to power at the Centre in 2014. On the statement of Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, Bansal told ANI, "Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has come to power, the morale of the army has increased, the army has got a free hand, and the army decides the method, time, and to respond to terrorism..." "If Pakistan cannot stop sponsoring terrorism, then one day Pakistan will be wiped off the map of the world," he warned. BJP leader Yaser Jilani welcomed the Chief of the Army's Statement. "I welcome General Upendra Dwivedi's statement... I believe that if Pakistan still doesn't understand, they should prepare for a new version of Operation Sindoor. The Indian Army is not in the mood to spare Pakistani terrorists..." Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi warned Pakistan that if it continues to sponsor terrorism, India will not show the same restraint in "Sindoor 2.0" as it did during Operation "Sindoor 1.0", and that Pakistan must change its ways if it "wants to exist geographically". While General Upendra Dwivedi mentioned a restraint in action during Operation Sindoor, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh had said that the Indian Air Force destroyed at least 12 of Pakistan's combat aircraft, including four to five F-16s on the ground and five F-16s and JF-17s in the air, along with two spy planes. Earlier on Friday, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Dwivedi said, "India is fully prepared this time. We will not show the restraint we exhibited during Operation Sindoor 1.0. This time, the action will be such that perhaps Pakistan will have to think whether it wants to exist geographically. If Pakistan wants to continue with its position in geography, it should stop its state-sponsored terrorism." The Army Chief issued the warning to Pakistan during his visit to forward areas, including the Bikaner Military Station, where he assessed troops' operational preparedness. The Indian Armed Forces initiated Operation Sindoor on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, following which terrorist infrastructure was struck in pre-dawn strikes across the length and breadth of Pakistan and also in Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), as per a prior statement from the Ministry of Defence. (ANI)
UP Police personnel have been deployed outside Uttar Pradesh Assembly Leader of Opposition Mata Prasad Pandey's residence in Lucknow amid plans to visit Bareilly. The move comes as the senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader was scheduled to lead a party delegation to Bareilly, where recent incidents have triggered tension and raised law and order concerns over the September 26 violence. This comes against the backdrop of a tense situation prevailing in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, where protests over "I Love Mohammad" posters on September 26 turned violent. In response to the unrest, the Bareilly administration suspended mobile internet and broadband services for 48 hours, from 3 pm on October 2 to 3 pm on October 4. A group of people had gathered outside Ala Hazrat Dargah and Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) chief Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan's house, holding "I Love Mohammad" placards. The protestors pelted stones at the police during the protest after the Friday prayers. Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Police conducted flag marches in Kanpur as well to ensure peace during Friday prayers. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ashutosh Kumar Singh stated that no problems have arisen thus far. "There is no disorder of any kind here... Police are deployed everywhere." Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) National General Secretary Nafees Khan and his son Farman Khan in connection with the September 26 protests in Bareilly, taking the total arrests in the case to 81. According to the police, Farman used to handle the Facebook page of IMC. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Bareilly Anurag Arya informed that Nafees and his son revealed that "everyone was involved in the conspiracy". Meanwhile, Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati Maharaj said that the "I Love Muhammad-Mahadev" is a deliberate attempt to divert attention from more pressing matters. He questioned whether Mahadev is a matter of worship or love, emphasising that such language is disrespectful and not befitting of the deity. "... 'I love Mohammed, I love Mahadev' row has been started to distract the public from the real issues. Is Mahadev a matter of worship or love? This is an insult to Mahadev. I don't know about Mohammed. Those who are with Mohammed may know about him. But is saying, "I love Mahadev," an honour or an insult to Mahadev? This is disrespectful to Mahadev, an insult to Mahadev. We don't use such language with Mahadev...," Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand told ANI. (ANI)
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Saturday expressed grief over the demise of former Leader of Opposition, Rameshwar Dudi. In a post on X, the Rajasthan CM said, "The news of the demise of former Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, Shri Rameshwar Dudi ji, is extremely heartbreaking. May God grant the departed soul a place in His supreme abode and give the bereaved family the strength to bear this calamity." A prominent Rajasthan Congress leader and former Leader of the Opposition, Rameshwar Lal Dudi, passed away at his residence during the late hours of Friday. The Congress leader went into a coma after suffering from a brain haemorrhage in August 2023. He was initially admitted to the SMS hospital in Jaipur, but was later transferred to Medanta Hospital in Delhi for better medical treatment. His condition stabilised recently, leading to his return to Bikaner, where he passed away at the age of 62. Earlier, the Former Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot, also expressed grief on the social media platform X, describing the incident as "heartbreaking" and "a personal shock." After being ill for nearly 2 years, his departure at such a young age will always be deeply felt. This is a personal shock for me," he wrote on X. He further stated, "Shri Rameshwar Dudi fulfilled every role he undertook with great dedication. Gehlot, recalling Dudhi's visit, wrote, "I remember that just a few days before my visit, he had come to meet me, and we had a long conversation. We made the best possible arrangements for his treatment. "He asserted that Dudi led a controlled life with an active lifestyle. "Seeing Dudi Ji, who lived such an active life, fall ill like this pained all of us deeply. I pray to God to grant peace to the departed soul and strength to the family members," he said. (ANI)
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey took a jibe at the Congress for opposing the arrest of the activist Sonam Wangchuk, in connection with the Leh violence. Dubey slammed Congress for former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's actions during the Emergency, citing the arrests of veteran BJP leader Vijaya Raje Scindia and former Andhra Pradesh Governor Bhim Sen Sachar. He told ANI, "You are invoking the Constitution? But in 1975, Rajmata Scindia, who was a founding member of the BJP and Maharani of Gwalior, was arrested, and there were Income Tax raids. She and Gayatri Devi were imprisoned in Delhi's Tihar Jail in the death row cell, where there wasn't even a bathroom facility. You talk about women's empowerment?" The BJP MP alleged involvement of a "foreign power" behind activist Sonam Wangchuk and said that PM Modi fulfilled Ladakh's demand for Union Territory status. "Today, you are talking about Wangchuk. People died in Ladakh. Wangchuk used to demand the status of a Union Territory; now, after (involvement of) a foreign power, they are demanding statehood. Congress did not do anything in the last 30 years, but PM Modi gave you the status of a Union Territory. Investigation is going on," he said. "But 82-year-old Bhim Sen Sachar, who was a freedom fighter and former Governor of Andhra Pradesh, was dragged by the police and arrested. You talk about democracy? Congress should apologise to the nation," Dubey added. Earlier today, Dubey shared an X post, saying that the Congress is shedding "crocodile tears" for the people arrested after the violence in Leh, Ladakh. Sharing an X post, the BJP MP wrote, "Indira Gandhi ji had the Maharani of Gwalior and the founder of BJP, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia ji, imprisoned in Delhi's Tihar Jail in the death row cell where there wasn't even a bathroom facility." "Surprisingly, merely for writing a single letter, the freedom fighter and former Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Bhim Sen Sachar Sahab, was sent to jail at the age of 82, along with police torture. Today, this Congress is shedding crocodile tears for the people arrested after the Ladakh violence," the X post read. Nishikant Dubey's remarks come as senior Congress leaders have opposed the arrest of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and asked the Centre to hold talks with the people of Ladakh regarding their demands for statehood and inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had urged the Centre to hold talks with the people of Ladakh, calling on the government to "engage in dialogue and stop the politics of violence and fear," as he demanded a fair judicial inquiry into the recent violence in Leh that claimed four lives. In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi highlighted that one of the victims who was shot dead belonged to a family of soldiers. "Father a soldier, son also a soldier - those whose blood runs with patriotism. Yet the BJP government took the life of the country's brave son by shooting him, just because he stood up for Ladakh and his rights. The father's pained eyes are just asking one question - is this the reward for serving the country today?" he said. He further demanded a fair judicial inquiry, calling the death "murder" and added, "Our demand is that there must be a fair judicial inquiry into these murders that took place in Ladakh, and the guilty must be given the strictest possible punishment. Modi ji, you have betrayed the people of Ladakh." Sonam Wangchuk has been lodged in Jodhpur Central Jail following his detention under the provisions of the National Security Act (NSA). (ANI)
Senior Congress leader of Rajasthan Rameshwar Dudi's last rites will be performed at 1:00 pm on Saturday. Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Opposition Leader in Rajasthan assembly Tikaram Julie and many others will also be present. Rameshwar Dudi, aged 62 passed away on Friday. he had suffered a brain hemorrhage in August 2023, after which he went into a coma. The Former Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot, also expressed grief on the social media platform X, describing the incident as "heartbreaking" and "a personal shock. "After being ill for nearly 2 years, his departure at such a young age will always be deeply felt. This is a personal shock for me," he wrote on X. He further stated, "Shri Rameshwar Dudi fulfilled every role he undertook with great dedication. I remember that just a few days before my visit, he had come to meet me, and we had a long conversation. We made the best possible arrangements for his treatment. Seeing Dudi Ji, who lived such an active life, fall ill like this pained all of us deeply. I pray to God to grant peace to the departed soul and strength to the family members," he said. Congress General Secretary Sachin Pilot also condoled the death of the Senior Congress Leader, "The news of the demise of former Leader of Opposition Shri Rameswar Dudi Ji is extremely heartbreaking. His political journey, beginning from student politics and reaching the unforgettable milestone of becoming District Head and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, has been remarkable. During my tenure as President of Rajasthan Congress, I had the opportunity to work closely with him. Shoulder to shoulder, he played a crucial role in exposing the anti-people policies of the then BJP government before the people of the state. He was always a steadfast advocate for farmers' interests, and his deep connection with the grassroots will forever remain memorable. On his untimely demise, I extend my deepest condolences to Smt. Sushila Dudi Ji and the entire family. May God grant peace to the departed soul and provide strength to the family members to bear this sorrow. " Earlier, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Saturday expressed grief over the demise of former Leader of Opposition, Rameshwar Dudi. In a post on X, the Rajasthan CM said, "The news of the demise of former Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, Shri Rameshwar Dudi ji, is extremely heartbreaking. May God grant the departed soul a place in His supreme abode and give the bereaved family the strength to bear this calamity." (ANI)
He tweeted on X, "Dear sisters and brothers of Bihar, nephews and nieces. Today, I am coming to the Makhana Festival in Patna. Makhana is Bihar's pride."

"The Honorable Prime Minister Shri@narendramodiji has formed the Makhana Board. This Makhana Board will work with full capacity on increasing makhana production, processing, packaging, as well as marketing and export", said in his post on X.

"Makhana will also bring investment to Bihar, increase employment, and create a sensation in the world", he tweeted.

In the Budget 2025-26, the Union government announced a Makhana Board be established in Bihar, a key grower of nutri-rich food. The board will work to improve production, processing, value addition, and marketing of makhana.

The National Research Centre for Makhana (NRCM), Darbhanga, is a well-equipped facility dedicated to Makhana research and innovation, supported by a skilled team of scientists. Its key achievements include developing high-yield makhana and thornless water chestnut varieties, introducing water-efficient and integrated farming systems, and launching Makhana-cum-fish farming.

The cultivation practices of Indian Lotus, medicinal plants like Acorus calamus (Sweet flag) and Alocasia montana have also been established.

Several equipment/machines for Makhana popping and value-added products have been developed and licensed to manufacturers for commercialisation, namely Makhana seed washer, Makhana seed grader, Makhana seed primary roasting machine, Makhana seed popping machine, Popped Makhana grader and various types of value-added products.

Over the years, 15,824.1 kg of high-yielding Makhana seeds have been distributed to farmers, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, and organisations across various states.

Significant beneficiaries include institutions such as NABARD, fisheries departments, the Bihar Horticulture Development Society, and farmers from regions like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

The NRCM has trained thousands of farmers and entrepreneurs, driving regional industries and livelihoods. Makhana cultivation has expanded from approximately 13,000 to 35,000 hectares across multiple states. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched several youth-focused initiatives worth more than Rs 62,000 crore on Saturday. PM Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs (PM-SETU), a centrally sponsored scheme with an investment of Rs 60,000 crore. The scheme envisages the upgradation of 1,000 Government ITIs across the country in a hub-and-spoke model comprising 200 hub ITIs and 800 spoke ITIs. Each hub will be connected to four spokes on average, creating clusters equipped with advanced infrastructure, modern trades, digital learning systems and incubation facilities. Anchor Industry Partners will manage these clusters, ensuring outcome-based skilling aligned with market demand. Hubs will also house innovation centres, training-of-trainers facilities, production units and placement services, while spokes will focus on expanding access. The PM-SETU aims to redefine the ITI ecosystem, making it government-owned but industry-managed, with global co-financing support from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. In the first phase of the scheme implementation, there will be special focus on ITIs in Patna and Darbhanga. PM Modi also inaugurated 1,200 Vocational Skill Labs established in 400 Navodaya Vidyalayas and 200 Eklavya Model Residential Schools across 34 States and Union Territories. These labs will equip students, including those in remote and tribal areas, with hands-on training in 12 high-demand sectors such as IT, automotive, agriculture, electronics, logistics and tourism. Aligned with the National Education Policy 2020 and CBSE curriculum, the project also involves the training of 1,200 vocational teachers to deliver industry-relevant learning and create an early foundation for employability. Ahead of the Assembly elections in Bihar, PM Modi launched Bihar's revamped Mukhyamantri Nishchay Svyam Sahayata Bhatta Yojana, under which nearly five lakh graduate youth every year will receive a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 for two years, along with free skill training. He launched the redesigned Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme, which will provide completely interest-free education loans of up to Rs 4 lakh, significantly easing the financial burden of higher education. More than 3.92 lakh students have already availed loans worth more than Rs 7,880 crore under the scheme. Further strengthening youth empowerment in the state, Bihar Yuva Ayog, a statutory commission for people between the ages of 18 and 45, was inaugurated by the Prime Minister to channelise and harness the energies of the state's young population. The Prime Minister also inaugurated the Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University in Bihar, envisioned to impart industry-oriented courses and vocational education to create a globally competitive workforce. Taking forward the National Education Policy 2020, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for new academic and research facilities in four universities of Bihar, namely Patna University, Bhupendra Narayan Mandal University in Madhepura, Jai Prakash Vishwavidyalaya in Chapra and Nalanda Open University in Patna, under the PM-USHA (Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan). Together, these projects, with a total allocation of Rs 160 crore, will benefit more than 27,000 students by enabling modern academic infrastructure, advanced laboratories, hostels and multidisciplinary learning. PM Modi dedicated to the nation the Bihta campus of NIT Patna. With the capacity to host 6,500 students, the campus houses advanced facilities, including a 5G use case lab, a Regional Academic Centre for Space established in collaboration with ISRO, and an Innovation and Incubation Centre that has already supported nine start-ups. The Prime Minister distributed appointment letters to more than 4,000 newly recruited candidates in the Government of Bihar and released Rs 450 crores in scholarships through Direct Benefit Transfer to 25 lakh students of Class 9 and 10 under the Mukhyamantri Balak/Balika Scholarship Scheme. (ANI)
An MP delegation of the Samajwadi Party, including Mohibbullah Nadvi, Iqra Hasan, and Harendra Singh Malik, enroute to Bareilly following last week's 'I Love Mohammad' row, was stopped at Ghazipur border by the Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday. Visuals showed the members of the delegation arguing with the police personnel deployed to maintain law and order. SP MP Mohibbullah Nadvi told ANI, "... We are being stopped from going to Bareilly. This is unconstitutional... The BJP government first oppresses people with great vengeance and then tries to cover it up..." SP MP Iqra Hasan linked the situation with an "undeclared emergency" and said that their visit does not have an agenda. "We don't understand on what grounds we are being stopped in the way of an undeclared emergency. We request the administration to accompany us. We are not trying to hide anything. We don't have any agendas... I don't know which of its evil deeds the UP government wants to cover up that its not allowing us to go to Bareilly..." This comes against the backdrop of a tense situation prevailing in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, where protests over "I Love Mohammad" posters on September 26 turned violent. In response to the unrest, the Bareilly administration suspended mobile internet and broadband services for 48 hours, from 3 pm on October 2 to 3 pm on October 4. A group of people had gathered outside Ala Hazrat Dargah and Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) chief Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan's house, holding "I Love Mohammad" placards.The protestors pelted stones at the police during the protest after the Friday prayers. Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Police conducted flag marches in Kanpur as well to ensure peace during Friday prayers. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ashutosh Kumar Singh stated that no problems have arisen thus far. "There is no disorder of any kind here... Police are deployed everywhere." Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) National General Secretary Nafees Khan and his son Farman Khan in connection with the September 26 protests in Bareilly, taking the total arrests in the case to 81. According to the police, Farman used to handle the Facebook page of IMC. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Bareilly Anurag Arya informed that Nafees and his son revealed that "everyone was involved in the conspiracy". Meanwhile, Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati Maharaj said that the "I Love Muhammad-Mahadev" is a deliberate attempt to divert attention from more pressing matters. He questioned whether Mahadev is a matter of worship or love, emphasising that such language is disrespectful and not befitting of the deity. "... 'I love Mohammed, I love Mahadev' row has been started to distract the public from the real issues. Is Mahadev a matter of worship or love? This is an insult to Mahadev. I don't know about Mohammed. Those who are with Mohammed may know about him. But is saying, "I love Mahadev," an honour or an insult to Mahadev? This is disrespectful to Mahadev, an insult to Mahadev. We don't use such language with Mahadev...," Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand told ANI. (ANI)
Union Minister and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) Chief Jayant Choudhary described today as a "historic moment," commemorating the 11th anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landmark initiative in skill development and entrepreneurship. Speaking at an event in Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, Chaudhary said, "Today is a historic moment. Eleven years ago, Prime Minister Modi initiated a movement. Recognising the importance of skill development and entrepreneurship, a new department was established. The vision and efforts behind that work are what we are all collectively celebrating today as a milestone in that journey of progress." He emphasised the importance of recognising students who excel in formal education, noting that convocations are done to honour their hard work and contribution to society. "Today, PM Modi will call selected students to the stage and hand them awards. This is a memorable and historic moment for them," Choudhary added. Highlighting the PM's emphasis on inclusive growth, Choudhary remarked that village girls are now leading the way in various fields, making remarkable contributions in science, food, and business. He further stated that Prime Minister Modi had said that we must take initiatives to respect children studying in our ITIs. He also said that the Prime Minister encouraged India's youth to focus on their potential, pursue skill development, obtain quality education, and achieve global recognition. Choudhary recalled PM Modi's long-term vision for the country, "The country must become viksit by 2047. This isn't just a dream. He inspired us to make decisions, plan, and move forward to bring it to reality. Certainly, Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation for making India developed by 2047 eleven years ago." The Directorate General of Training (DGT) oversees more than 14,500 ITIs across the country, institutions that Choudhary said form "the backbone of the nation's progress" and have consistently contributed to India's evolving workforce. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi felicitated 46 all-India toppers from Industrial Training Institutes at the Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh was the fourth edition of the National Skill Convocation, where the toppers from the ITIs under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship are felicitated. Later today, PM Modi will unveil various youth-focused initiatives worth more than Rs 62,000 crore. According to a press release by the PMO, Prime Minister Modi will launch Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs (PM-SETU), a centrally sponsored scheme with an investment of Rs 60,000 crore. The scheme envisages the upgradation of 1,000 Government ITIs across the country in a hub-and-spoke model comprising 200 hub ITIs and 800 spoke ITIs. Each hub will be connected to four spokes on average, creating clusters equipped with advanced infrastructure, modern trades, digital learning systems and incubation facilities. (ANI)
She appeared before the Rouse Avenue court pursuant to a bailable warrant issued against her due to non-appearance.

Earlier, the court had issued a summons to her after taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed against her.

She did not appear before the court and sought an exemption on two occasions. Thereafter, the court issued a bailable warrant against her on September 24.

Additional Chief Judicial (ACJM) Vaibhav Chaurasia granted bail to Alka Lamba and directed the prosecution to supply a copy of the charge sheet to her.

The court has listed the matter for hearing arguments on the charge on October 15.

This case pertains to an alleged violation of prohibitory orders during a protest at Jantar Mantar, which demanded the implementation of women's reservation before the 2024 General Election.

An FIR was registered against her at the Parliament Street Police Station in 2024. (ANI)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday expressed deep anguish over the recent tragedy in Karur and assured that the state government is taking all measures to ensure accountability and prevent future disasters. In a post shared on X, CM Stalin said, "Tamil Nadu government is treating all the observations and directions issued by the Honourable High Court regarding the Karur tragedy with the utmost seriousness. We are all deeply shaken by the sorrowful events in Karur. I feel great anguish for every family suffering the loss of a loved one and share in their tears and pain." He confirmed that a Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted under the orders of the Honourable High Court, will begin its inquiry, assuring the public that the investigation will uncover the full truth and ensure accountability at every level. "A Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted under the orders of the Honourable High Court, will commence its inquiry. As the Chief Minister of the state, I assure the people that this investigation will bring out the full truth. Accountability will be ensured at every level," Stalin said. Moreover, the Chief Minister also outlined plans to prevent similar tragedies in the future. "Tamil Nadu, a frontrunner for India in many areas, will also lead the way in preventing stampede disasters. We will consult departmental experts, political parties, activists, and the general public across the state to draft comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). These SOPs will serve as a model for not only Tamil Nadu but for the entire country to follow," he said. Emphasising the need for unity, CM Stalin urged all parties to avoid politicising the tragedy. "Instead of accusing one another for political reasons, we will pursue a long-term solution. I welcome everyone's ideas and suggestions for this collective effort. Every life is invaluable. Let us unite to protect our people and ensure that such a devastating calamity never happens again in Tamil Nadu or anywhere in India," he added. Meanwhile, National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) Chairman Kishor Makwana on Saturday visited the site of the September 27 stampede in the Velusamy area of Karur district, where 41 people lost their lives during a rally organised by actor-politician Vijay's Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party. The District Collector accompanied him during the visit. Karur Superintendent of Police (SP) K Josh Thangaiah, when asked about action against TVK General Secretary Anand and party leader CTR Nirmal Kumar following the rejection of their anticipatory bail pleas, said, "Madras High Court has constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT)." The Madras High Court has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the leadership of Inspector-General of Police (North) Asra Garg to probe the incident. The Court directed Karur Police to hand over all related documents to the SIT immediately. The Court has also prohibited political rallies, roadshows, and similar public events along state and national highways in Tamil Nadu until Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are formulated to ensure safety. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has dismissed the anticipatory bail petitions filed by TVK General Secretary Anand and Joint Secretary CTR Nirmal Kumar in connection with the Karur stampede case. The stampede occurred on September 27 during a public rally led by TVK chief and actor Vijay, resulting in the death of 41 people and injuries to several others. Preliminary observations suggested lapses in crowd management led to the chaos. On Friday, Justice N Senthilkumar of the Madras High Court also dismissed the anticipatory bail petition filed by TVK district secretary N Sathish Kumar in connection with the same case. The Court questioned the party's failure to control the crowd and noted the "unruly behaviour" of party cadres, including rampage and damage to public property during the event. (ANI)
BJP leader Tarun Chugh on Friday highlighted the role of India's youth in nation-building while taking a dig at opposition parties, and said that "whenever there is an atmosphere of joy in the country, Rahul Gandhi and the rest of the INDI alliance parties start playing the tune of mourning." Speaking to reporters, the BJP leader said, "Whenever there is an atmosphere of joy in the country, Rahul Gandhi and the rest of the INDI alliance parties start playing the tune of mourning. India's Gen-Z is engaged in making a self-reliant India. India is being advanced by following Prime Minister Modi's policies. Prime Minister Modi has given a goal to Gen-Z and is continuously working for Gen-Z. The result of this is visible across the entire country." Jammu and Kashmir BJP President Sat Sharma said the meeting also reviewed recently concluded Seva Pakhwada programs and planned upcoming programmes. "The programmes of the Seva Pakhwada have been completed, and there will be discussions regarding some upcoming programs. There is also the Rajya Sabha election, and there will be discussions on that as well," he said to ANI. The remarks came ahead of a core group meeting of the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir, held to discuss organisational matters and crucial upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, set for October 24, to fill four seats in the Union Territory that have been vacant since 2021. Earlier on September 24, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the by-elections for four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir, and one seat in Punjab. Voting and counting for all five seats will be held on October 24. All four Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir have been vacant since February 2021, after the retirement of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mir Mohammad Fayaz, Shamsher Singh, and Nazir Ahmed Laway. As per the notice by the ECI, these four vacancies will be filled by holding three separate elections, in accordance with the law on the subject, as each of these four vacancies fell under three different cycles. In this context, it is stated that the decision of the Commission to hold separate elections was called in question before the Delhi High Court in 1994 on behalf of the Indian National Congress, contending that all three vacancies should be filled by holding a common election as the elections to the Rajya Sabha are held under the system of proportional representation. The Delhi High Court, however, dismissed the petition, holding, inter alia, as follows: "We are of the view that once the seats have been divided into the three categories from the inception, the Respondents were right in holding separate elections for each category. Now these three seats fall in three separate categories, so elections to these three seats have to be also separate", the ECI notification said. One Rajya Sabha seat in Punjab will undergo polling after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjeev Arora resigned on July 1, without completing his term. His term was set to be completed on April 9, 2028. For all five seats, the issue of notifications will take place on October 6. The last date for making nominations will be October 13. According to the Election Commission, the scrutiny of nominations will take place on October 14, and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is October 16. The polling will take place between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm on October 24, with counting of votes starting at 5:00 pm on the same day. (ANI)
Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Bareilvi, President of All India Muslim Jamaat, hit out at the Samajwadi Party delegation on Saturday and accused it of turning "peace into unrest" after a SP delegation enroute to Bareilly was stopped by Uttar Pradesh police earlier in the day. The delegation had planned to visit Bareilly, but was stopped at the Ghazipur border on Saturday as the row continues over the 'I love Mohammad' posters that erupted in Kanpur. "Whenever the Samajwadi Party goes anywhere, it makes noise and beats drums. They have no love in their hearts and no sense of service. They know that peace has been restored in Bareilly, and now these people are coming to turn this peace into unrest," he told ANI. He demanded that the police ban outsiders' entry into Bareilly to maintain peace in the area. "This is a local issue; the local people will resolve it... I want to tell all Samajwadi Party leaders that we will not let Bareilly become Sambhal. The police and administration should also ban outsiders from entering so that the peace of the area is not endangered..." Meanwhile, an MP delegation of the Samajwadi Party, including Mohibbullah Nadvi, Iqra Hasan, and Harendra Singh Malik, enroute to Bareilly following last week's 'I Love Mohammad' row, was stopped at Ghazipur border by the Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday. Visuals showed the members of the delegation arguing with the police personnel deployed to maintain law and order. SP MP Mohibbullah Nadvi told ANI, "... We are being stopped from going to Bareilly. This is unconstitutional... The BJP government first oppresses people with great vengeance and then tries to cover it up..."SP MP Iqra Hasan linked the situation with an "undeclared emergency" and said that their visit does not have an agenda."We don't understand on what grounds we are being stopped in the way of an undeclared emergency. We request the administration to accompany us. We are not trying to hide anything. We don't have any agendas... I don't know which of its evil deeds the UP government wants to cover up that its not allowing us to go to Bareilly..." In response to the unrest, the Bareilly administration suspended mobile internet and broadband services for 48 hours, from 3 pm on October 2 to 3 pm on October 4. Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) National General Secretary Nafees Khan and his son Farman Khan in connection with the September 26 protests in Bareilly, taking the total arrests in the case to 81.(ANI)
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar virtually attended a skill convocation ceremony for ITI toppers from across the country on Saturday, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented certificates to the students during Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh 2025. On this occasion, Kumar highlighted the state government's initiatives to empower the youth, including the establishment of the Bihar Youth Commission and the Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University. "It is a matter of great joy that today a skill convocation ceremony has been organised for ITI toppers from across the country. In this program, Prime Minister Modi has awarded certificates to the students and girls of these institutions... The Youth Commission and Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University have been established in Bihar... Through this, appointment letters for jobs are being distributed to the youth of Bihar, and scholarships are being provided to 25 lakh students... This will benefit the people of Bihar a lot..." Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University aims to offer industry-oriented courses and vocational education, thereby creating a globally competitive workforce. Bihar Youth Commission will recommend and provide inputs to the government on key issues concerning the development and welfare of the youth, coordinating with various government departments to ensure better education and employment prospects. The government has set a target to provide government jobs and employment opportunities to one crore youths over the next five years. Moreover, PM-SETU, a centrally sponsored scheme with an investment of Rs 60,000 crore, aiming to upgrade 1,000 government ITIs across the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched several youth-focused initiatives worth more than Rs 62,000 crore on Saturday.PM Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs (PM-SETU), a centrally sponsored scheme with an investment of Rs 60,000 crore. The scheme envisages the upgradation of 1,000 Government ITIs across the country in a hub-and-spoke model comprising 200 hub ITIs and 800 spoke ITIs. Each hub will be connected to four spokes on average, creating clusters equipped with advanced infrastructure, modern trades, digital learning systems and incubation facilities. Anchor Industry Partners will manage these clusters, ensuring outcome-based skilling aligned with market demand. Hubs will also house innovation centres, training-of-trainers facilities, production units and placement services, while spokes will focus on expanding access. The PM-SETU aims to redefine the ITI ecosystem, making it government-owned but industry-managed, with global co-financing support from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. In the first phase of the scheme implementation, there will be special focus on ITIs in Patna and Darbhanga. PM Modi also inaugurated 1,200 Vocational Skill Labs established in 400 Navodaya Vidyalayas and 200 Eklavya Model Residential Schools across 34 States and Union Territories. These labs will equip students, including those in remote and tribal areas, with hands-on training in 12 high-demand sectors such as IT, automotive, agriculture, electronics, logistics and tourism. Aligned with the National Education Policy 2020 and CBSE curriculum, the project also involves the training of 1,200 vocational teachers to deliver industry-relevant learning and create an early foundation for employability. Ahead of the Assembly elections in Bihar, PM Modi launched Bihar's revamped Mukhyamantri Nishchay Svyam Sahayata Bhatta Yojana, under which nearly five lakh graduate youth every year will receive a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 for two years, along with free skill training. He launched the redesigned Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme, which will provide completely interest-free education loans of up to Rs 4 lakh, significantly easing the financial burden of higher education. More than 3.92 lakh students have already availed loans worth more than Rs 7,880 crore under the scheme. Further strengthening youth empowerment in the state, Bihar Yuva Ayog, a statutory commission for people between the ages of 18 and 45, was inaugurated by the Prime Minister to channelise and harness the energies of the state's young population. The Prime Minister also inaugurated the Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University in Bihar, envisioned to impart industry-oriented courses and vocational education to create a globally competitive workforce. Taking forward the National Education Policy 2020, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for new academic and research facilities in four universities of Bihar, namely Patna University, Bhupendra Narayan Mandal University in Madhepura, Jai Prakash Vishwavidyalaya in Chapra and Nalanda Open University in Patna, under the PM-USHA (Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan). Together, these projects, with a total allocation of Rs 160 crore, will benefit more than 27,000 students by enabling modern academic infrastructure, advanced laboratories, hostels and multidisciplinary learning. PM Modi dedicated to the nation the Bihta campus of NIT Patna. With the capacity to host 6,500 students, the campus houses advanced facilities, including a 5G use case lab, a Regional Academic Centre for Space established in collaboration with ISRO, and an Innovation and Incubation Centre that has already supported nine start-ups. The Prime Minister distributed appointment letters to more than 4,000 newly recruited candidates in the Government of Bihar and released Rs 450 crores in scholarships through Direct Benefit Transfer to 25 lakh students of Class 9 and 10 under the Mukhyamantri Balak/Balika Scholarship Scheme. (ANI)
In a step towards providing protection to population centres and centres of faith close to the border with Pakistan, the Indian Army has issued a tender to buy six AK-630 30mm guns from a state-owned firm, which is being seen as one of the pillars of the Mission Sudarshan Chakra. The tender for buying the air defence system has been issued as part of lessons learnt during Operation Sindoor, where the Pakistan Army carried out direct attacks on civilians and religious buildings in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. Mission Sudarshan Chakra is India's plan to create a comprehensive, multi-layered, indigenous security shield by 2035, integrating surveillance, cyber security, and air defence systems to protect key installations from various enemy attacks. Launched on India's Independence Day in 2025 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the mission aims to provide both a defensive barrier and a potential offensive capability, aligning with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative to enhance self-reliance in defence technology. Army chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi on Friday had warned Pakistan against terrorist activities in India and asserted that India would not show any restraint in Operation Sindoor 2.0. "Indian Army Air Defence has floated an RFP for the procurement of six AK630 Air Defence Gun Systems* with Advanced Weapon and Equipment India Ltd (AWEIL). The system sought is a 30mm multi-barrel mobile air defence gun system with a high rate of fire," defence officials told ANI. The gun system will be mounted on a trailer and towed by a high mobility vehicle. "AK630 will be utilised to thwart the threat from URAM (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Rocket, Artillery and Mortar) and will be used for the protection of key population centres and Centres of Faith* in close proximity to the international border and Line of Control, they said. The Gun systems will have a range of up upto 4km* with a cyclic rate of fire of up upto 3000 rounds per minute. Detection is achieved through an all-weather Electro-Optical Fire Control system. The system will also form one of the essential pillars of the Sudarshan Chakra shield being developed and will be *integrated in the overall air defence architecture. The Indian Army's Army Air Defence played a key role in thwarting Pakistani aerial attacks using drones and aircraft. The Defence Minister also recently visited the Army Air Defence troops in Bhuj in Gujarat, where they had foiled multiple Pakistani attacks during Op Sindoor. (ANI)
An 18-year-old motorcyclist died after his bike collided with a fire tender that was on its way to attend an emergency drowning call in Delhi's Sonia Vihar area on Saturday morning, police said. According to officials, the incident occurred around 8:15 AM within the jurisdiction of Sonia Vihar Police Station. The deceased was identified as Rohit Pal, son of Vinod Pal, a resident of 5th Pushta, Sonia Vihar. "Upon receiving information about the accident, police reached the spot and found that a motorcycle had collided with a fire tender proceeding to attend an emergency drowning call. The injured was rushed to JPC Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead," a police officer said. During preliminary investigation, it was revealed that the fire tender was en route to Pusta Road, Sonia Vihar, near Chauhan Patti, when the driver noticed a speeding motorcyclist coming from the opposite direction. In an attempt to avoid the collision, the driver swerved left, causing the vehicle to hit the Pushta wall, resulting in damage to the fire tender. However, despite efforts to avoid the crash, the accident could not be averted, police said. A case under Sections 279/106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered at PS Sonia Vihar. Further investigation is underway. Earlier in another case, Delhi Police rescued a seven-year-old boy and arrested four men allegedly involved in his abduction, officials said. The arrested individuals have been identified as Ajay Verma (24), Amit (18), Sachin (20), and Ajay (20). The child was rescued from a farmhouse located in Hansi, Haryana, officials further stated. The case was reported on September 28, when the mother of the minor approached the Vikas Puri police station and informed authorities that her son had not returned home after leaving for school the previous day. The mother further alleged that one of the arrested, Ajay Verma, her former live-in partner and a resident of Hansi, was involved in the abduction. Based on the complaint, a case was registered and a search operation was launched, resulting in the successful rescue of the child and arrest of the alleged accused. (ANI)
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta inspected the Yamuna river in Lakshmi Nagar, Delhi ahead of the Chhath Puja festival. Delhi CM Rekha Gupta told ANI, "Chhath puja will be celebrated on Yamuna Ghats and we are fully committed to ensuring that this year, Delhities will have the opportunity to celebrate this beautiful and historic Chhath festival". "We will set up Chhath Ghats from Palla to the last corner of Okhla, nearby densely population area of Yamuna river", she added. She also said that, Government will construct around 1000 chhath ghat points for celebrations and Delhi government is responsible for cleanliness and all arrangements of this festival. "Due to the chhath the Yamuna will never be dirty, it is a pious festival of cleanliness and it connects people with nature. Our government is ready to tackle any kind of problem during chhath puja," she added. On Monday Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said that the national capital will witness a grand Chhath Puja this year and arrangements will be done at banks on both sides of the Yamuna river. She said focus will be given on cleanliness of the ghats. "To ensure that the Chhath Puja festival is historic, this year, we will make a detailed plan and preparations for it. Arrangements for the Chhath puja will be done at banks on both sides of the river. Focus will be laid on cleanliness at the ghats. Earlier, during his Mann Ki Baat address PM Modi said that Delhi will witness a grand Chhath Puja this year. The PM said that the Government of India is working to get the Chhath Mahaparva added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List. "I am very happy to inform you that the Government of India is also engaged in a major endeavour connected with Chhath Puja. The Government of India is striving to include the Chhath Mahaparva in UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List. When Chhath Puja is included in the UNESCO list, people in every corner of the world will be able to experience its grandeur and divinity," PM Modi said. "Our festivals keep India's culture alive. Chhath Puja is a sacred festival that comes after Diwali. This grand festival, dedicated to the Sun God, is very special. In it, we offer prayers to the setting sun and worship it. Chhath is not only celebrated in different parts of the country, but its splendour is also seen across the world. Today, it is becoming a global festival," he added. (ANI)
BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his remarks in Colombia while stressing that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has grown stronger. Addressing a press conference, Bhatia said, "We all know how India has grown stronger under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. The Indian armed forces were given full freedom, and in Operation Sindoor, we saw how a strong message was sent." "India's Leader of the Opposition has been on foreign soil for four days. And his only job is to defame India, which is progressing towards development," he added. These remarks came after the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, met the Senate President of Colombia, Congress Overseas Chief Sam Pitroda, as shared on Saturday. Meanwhile, his remarks have drawn sharp criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress leader, speaking earlier at an event at EIA University in Colombia, highlighted what he termed "structural flaws" in India's governance and argued that the country's diverse traditions must be allowed to thrive. "India has strong capabilities in areas like engineering and healthcare, so I am very optimistic about the country. But at the same time, there are also flaws in the structure that India has to correct. The biggest challenge is the attack on democracy taking place in India," Gandhi said during his address. Following his statement, the BJP has jumped into the mounting controversy, raising strong objections against the remarks made by Rahul Gandhi, labelling them as "anti-India" and "insulting" to the nation. Moreover, Bhatia also said, "In the UPA government, P Chidambaram was the Home Minister, and yesterday, Manish Tewari, who was a former minister, made revelations. This revelation is worrying, it scares us that a government which was given the constitutional responsibility to protect the sovereignty of India, that government became a puppet in the hands of foreign powers." These remarks came after P Chidambaram's recent statement about foreign pressure behind India's lack of retaliation against Pakistan after the 26/11 attacks. Speaking on an ABP News Podcast, Chidambaram recounted the decision-making process within the government and how international diplomatic pressure, particularly from the United States, shaped India's stance. Chidambaram recalled that he took charge as Home Minister on November 30, 2008, a day after the attacks and immediately following the resignation of Shivraj Patil. "I became Home Minister the day after the attack. The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, called me to shift me from Finance to the Home Ministry. When I initially refused, I was told that Mrs. Gandhi (Sonia Gandhi), who was Congress president at the time, had already made a decision. I asked if I could speak with her, but was told she was out of town. I was instructed to take charge the next morning," Chidambaram said on the Inside Out podcast. Later, P Chidambaram on Wednesday expressed frustration over being misquoted by the media regarding his comments on the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Meanwhile, Congress leader and former Union minister Manish Tewari has said that former Union minister P Chidambaram's remarks about "US pressure" after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks "cannot be disregarded". (ANI)
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has informed the Supreme Court through an affidavit that it will release the provisional answer key of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination soon after the test, rather than waiting until the entire exam cycle is completed. The move comes in response to a petition challenging the Commission's earlier practice of withholding the answer key until the final stage of the Civil Services Examination. The affidavit marks a notable departure from UPSC's longstanding stance, as in previous years, including the 2023 prelims, it maintained that marks, cut-off scores, and answer keys would be disclosed only after the completion of the full recruitment process. For years, the demand for greater transparency has echoed across various platforms. Recommendations from Parliamentary Committees and directions from the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) had repeatedly urged UPSC to publish the answer key of the preliminary examination along with the prelims results. Yet, these recommendations went unheeded. It was only after persistent legal battles by civil service aspirants Vidushi Pandey and Himanshu Kumar, who challenged this opacity over the past two years, that UPSC finally conceded. Their petition sought timely disclosure of answer keys, cut-off marks, and candidates' scores, arguing that the lack of transparency disadvantaged aspirants. During the hearing earlier, a bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra appointed senior advocate Jaideep Gupta as amicus curiae to assist in the matter. The Court also directed the petitioners to provide Gupta with a copy of the petition. The decision to release provisional answer keys soon after the prelims is expected to benefit lakhs of aspirants who appear for the highly competitive examination every year. It will allow candidates to verify their performance in real time and hold the Commission accountable to higher standards of transparency. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday participated in the 'Muriya Darbaar' celebrations that are part of the renowned Bastar Dussehra in Chhattisgarh's Jagdalpur. Shah was accompanied by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai. The Union Home Minister arrived in Raipur on Friday to attend the historic Bastar Dussehra celebrations in Jagdalpur, which was once infamous as a Naxal stronghold but is now steadily emerging from the shadow of extremism. He was received at the airport by Chhattisgarh CM Sai. Shah attended the grand celebrations of the Bastar Dussehra Festival at Lal Bagh in Jagdalpur. The centuries-old festival is one of the most prominent cultural events in Chhattisgarh, drawing thousands of participants and visitors every year. Shah's visit is being seen as a gesture of cultural outreach and an acknowledgement of Bastar's rich traditions. Bastar Dussehra is a unique celebration in India, where Dussehra is observed for 75 days, and the effigy of Ravana is not burnt. The festival has a history that spans over 600 years, making it one of the oldest and most unique festivals in India. It was initiated by the Kakatiya dynasty and has been preserved and celebrated by the local tribal communities ever since. The festival is deeply rooted in the spiritual beliefs of the Bastar tribes, who honour Goddess Danteshwari as their protector and guide. The cultural importance of Bastar Dussehra lies in its ability to unite the diverse tribes of Bastar, showcasing their traditional customs, music, and dance in a grand celebration of devotion. This unique Dussehra is celebrated in Bastar, a tribal-dominated area of Chhattisgarh, and is known as 'Bastar Dashara'.The fame of 'Bastar Dashara' is nowadays such that tourists from different parts of the country and the world also come to see it. Bastar Dussehra begins with the greenery of the new moon in the month of Shravan (Savan). On this day, the first wood is brought from the forest to build chariots. This ritual is called Pat Jatra. This festival runs till Dushara and ends with the ritual of Muria Durbar. In this ritual, the Maharaj Darbar of Bastar listens to the problems of the public. This festival is the most celebrated in the country. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday appealed to the youth in Bastar to "shun the path of violence" while advising against joining the Naxal movement. Stating that Naxalism didn't benefit anyone, Shah urged the youth to join the mainstream and assured development works worth Rs 1 crore for villages that become Naxal-free. "I wanted to appeal to people to ask the youth, who are misled and join Naxalism, to shun the path of violence and join the mainstream. Once the village is free from the Naxal issue, Rs 1 crore will be allocated to them for developmental works," Shah said. He said that Naxalism has not benefited anyone, while informing that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has introduced various schemes in honour of Adivasis. He further stated, "On behalf of PM Modi, I want to assure that after March 31, 2026, Naxals will not be able to obstruct development." Shah asserted that the armed forces and Chhattisgarh police will respond if peace in Bastar is threatened. On attending the 75-day-long Bastar Dussehra celebrations, Shah said that the world's longest Dussehra remains an important fair, not merely in Bastar, but in the world. He added that the culture, food and music make Bastar special in the country. Shah said that he offered a prayer to Maa Danteshwari to provide strength to the security forces in the task of eradicating Naxalism. Shah on Saturday participated in the 'Muriya Darbaar' celebrations that are part of the renowned Bastar Dussehra in Jagdalpur. Shah was accompanied by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai. The Union Home Minister arrived in Raipur on Friday to attend the historic Bastar Dussehra celebrations in Jagdalpur, which was once infamous as a Naxal stronghold but is now steadily emerging from the shadow of extremism. He was received at the airport by Chhattisgarh CM Sai. Shah attended the grand celebrations of the Bastar Dussehra Festival at Lal Bagh in Jagdalpur. The centuries-old festival is one of the most prominent cultural events in Chhattisgarh, drawing thousands of participants and visitors every year. Shah's visit is being seen as a gesture of cultural outreach and an acknowledgement of Bastar's rich traditions. Bastar Dussehra is a unique celebration in India, where Dussehra is observed for 75 days, and the effigy of Ravana is not burnt. The festival has a history that spans over 600 years, making it one of the oldest and most unique festivals in India. It was initiated by the Kakatiya dynasty and has been preserved and celebrated by the local tribal communities ever since. The festival is deeply rooted in the spiritual beliefs of the Bastar tribes, who honour Goddess Danteshwari as their protector and guide. The cultural importance of Bastar Dussehra lies in its ability to unite the diverse tribes of Bastar, showcasing their traditional customs, music, and dance in a grand celebration of devotion. This unique Dussehra is celebrated in Bastar, a tribal-dominated area of Chhattisgarh, and is known as 'Bastar Dashara'.The fame of 'Bastar Dashara' is nowadays such that tourists from different parts of the country and the world also come to see it. Bastar Dussehra begins with the greenery of the new moon in the month of Shravan (Savan). On this day, the first wood is brought from the forest to build chariots. This ritual is called Pat Jatra. This festival runs till Dushara and ends with the ritual of Muria Durbar. In this ritual, the Maharaj Darbar of Bastar listens to the problems of the public. This festival is the most celebrated in the country. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that the government has formulated a "lucrative" surrender policy in its efforts to curb the Naxalite movement in Chhattisgarh. Addressing the demands to hold talks with the Naxals, Shah said that there was nothing to talk about since the Bhratiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the Centre and Chhattisgarh were dedicated to developing the entire Naxal-affected region, including Bastar. The Union Home Minister warned against "disrupting the peace" in Bastar and said that the state machinery will respond strongly. He added that March 31, 2026, has been fixed to bid farewell to Naxalism from the soil of this country. "Some people talk about talks (with Naxals). I want to make it clear once again: both our governments, the Chhattisgarh government and the central government, are dedicated to the development of Bastar and the entire Naxalite region. What is there to talk about? We have formulated a very lucrative surrender policy. Come, lay down your arms. If you take up arms and try to disrupt the peace of Bastar, our armed forces, the CRPF, and the Chhattisgarh police will respond. March 31, 2026, has been fixed to bid farewell to Naxalism from the soil of this country," Shah said while addressing a gathering at the celebrations for Bastar Dussehra here. Advocating for the call to go Swadeshi, Shah said, "If the 140 crore population embraces the resolve of Swadeshi, no one can stop our India from becoming the world's top economic system. Prime Minister Modi has recently provided a huge relief by reducing GST rates. If we adopt the culture of Swadeshi, our country's economy will gain great momentum." Shah further appealed to the youth in Bastar to "shun the path of violence" while advising against joining the Naxal movement. Stating that Naxalism didn't benefit anyone, Shah urged the youth to join the mainstream and assured development works worth Rs one crore for villages that become Naxal-free. "I wanted to appeal to people to ask the youth, who are misled and join Naxalism, to shun the path of violence and join the mainstream. Once the village is free from the Naxal issue, Rs one crore will be allocated to them for developmental works," Shah said. He said that Naxalism has not benefited anyone, while informing that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has introduced various schemes in honour of Adivasis. On attending the 75-day-long Bastar Dussehra celebrations, Shah said that the world's longest Dussehra remains an important fair, not merely in Bastar, but in the world. He added that the culture, food and music make Bastar special in the country. Bastar Dussehra is a unique celebration in India, where Dussehra is observed for 75 days, and the effigy of Ravana is not burnt. The festival has a history that spans over 600 years, making it one of the oldest and most unique festivals in India. It was initiated by the Kakatiya dynasty and has been preserved and celebrated by the local tribal communities ever since. The festival is deeply rooted in the spiritual beliefs of the Bastar tribes, who honour Goddess Danteshwari as their protector and guide. The cultural importance of Bastar Dussehra lies in its ability to unite the diverse tribes of Bastar, showcasing their traditional customs, music, and dance in a grand celebration of devotion. This unique Dussehra is celebrated in Bastar, a tribal-dominated area of Chhattisgarh, and is known as 'Bastar Dashara'.The fame of 'Bastar Dashara' is nowadays such that tourists from different parts of the country and the world also come to see it. Bastar Dussehra begins with the greenery of the new moon in the month of Shravan (Savan). On this day, the first wood is brought from the forest to build chariots. This ritual is called Pat Jatra. This festival runs till Dushara and ends with the ritual of Muria Durbar. In this ritual, the Maharaj Darbar of Bastar listens to the problems of the public. This festival is the most celebrated in the country. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid tribute to two prominent freedom fighters from Tamil Nadu, Tiruppur Kumaran and Subramaniya Siva, highlighting their sacrifices and contributions to India's independence. In a post on X, PM Modi said, "On this day, we remember and bow to two great sons of Bharat Mata, Tiruppur Kumaran and Subramaniya Siva. Both hail from the great state of Tamil Nadu and dedicated their lives to India's independence and awakening a spirit of nationalism." Prime Minister Modi remembered the courage and patriotism of the two leaders, noting that Tiruppur Kumaran sacrificed his life while holding national flag while Subramaniya Siva instilled cultural pride and patriotism among countless youth through his fearless writings and fiery speeches. The social media post reads, "Tiruppur Kumaran attained martyrdom while holding our national flag and thus showed what unflinching courage and selfless sacrifice are. Subramaniya Siva, through his fearless writings and fiery speeches, instilled cultural pride and patriotism among countless youth." "The efforts of these two greats remain etched in our collective memory, reminding us of the struggles and suffering of countless people who ensured our freedom from colonial rule. May their contributions continue to inspire us all to work towards national development and unity," it added. https://x.com/narendramodi/status/1974429905757651346 Earlier today, Prime Minister Modi lauded the successful completion of the 'Swasth Nari Sashakt Parivar Abhiyaan' and appreciated those who worked on the ground to make it "impactful" and "beneficial" for women. In a post on X, PM Modi said, "Commendable effort! Compliments to those who have worked on the ground to make it so impactful and beneficial to our Nari Shakti. This is a great example of Jan Bhagidari to improve lives." BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda shared the campaign's achievements, highlighting the scale and impact of the health initiative. "Launched on 17th September by the Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the two-week-long #SwasthNariSashaktParivar Abhiyaan concluded on 2nd October after achieving historic milestones of screening 6 crore 50 lakh women, through nearly 18 lakh health camps organised across the country. This extraordinary achievement reflects the nation's collective resolve to place women's health at the heart of strong families and thriving communities. Let us continue this momentum by encouraging every woman to prioritise her well-being, adopt regular health check-ups, and lead the way towards a healthier, empowered future," Nadda posted on X. (ANI)
After Uttar Pradesh LoP and Samajwadi Party leader Mata Prasad Pandey was stopped from visiting Bareilly following September 26 protests, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the BJP government, accusing them of "communalising and polarising" every issue. Speaking to ANI, the Congress MP said, "The central and UP governments are making every effort to communalise and polarise every issue. They have nothing left to tell the public. However, if the Leader of the Opposition, Mata Prasad Pandey, or the MP in Bareilly wanted to appeal for peace, they should have been allowed to go... Peace should be maintained there..." Earlier today, Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey said that the Samajawadi Party-led delegation was "stopped" from going to Bareilly, where protests over "I Love Mohammad" posters on September 26 turned violent. Authorities also deployed police personnel outside the residence of Mata Prasad Pandey. The SP leader told ANI, "We're being stopped from going... This was not a communal riot... They (Police) themselves have ruined the law and order situation... They've become partisans." He further said, "If two communities had clashed, I would have assumed a serious incident had occurred... When we asked the police, they weren't giving any clear answers. Locals reported that widespread injustice followed the incident. One person is charged, and four are being arrested... That community is terrified... They're terrified of the administration and the police. They have no quarrel with the other community." Samajwadi Party (SP) leader was scheduled to lead a party delegation to Bareilly, where recent incidents have triggered tension and raised law and order concerns over the September 26 violence. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) National General Secretary Nafees Khan and his son Farman Khan in connection with the September 26 protests in Bareilly, taking the total arrests in the case to 81. According to the police, Farman used to handle the Facebook page of IMC. Earlier today, the Bareilly Development Authority (BDA) carried out a bulldozer action on the property of Dr Nafees following his arrest in connection with the 'I Love Muhammad' protests outside Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) chief Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan's house on September 26. (ANI)
After a Samajwadi Party delegation was stopped from visiting violence-hit Bareilly, party MP Iqra Hasan on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, accusing it of suppressing dissent and "denying people their democratic rights". The SP MP alleged that the administration, "acting under pressure from the ruling party", has been curbing the freedom of citizens and representatives to move freely and voice their concerns. Addressing the media, Hasan said, "Wherever someone asserts their rights, this government treats them similarly. Ladakh is one of them, and Bareilly is another. The situation in Sambhal, where we were prevented from going, was also created by the administration there under pressure from the ruling party, and this is now being played out as propaganda in Bareilly." The SP leader condemned the alleged misuse of administrative authority, calling it a "sign of dictatorship". "There is no law, no authority, no order to prevent any public representative or ordinary citizen from going anywhere. Yet, they are being prevented because a dictatorship is blatantly operating in our country," she added. Referring to the ongoing protests in Ladakh, Hasan said the government's handling of the situation amounted to a "violation of constitutional rights." "The government's violation of the Ladakhi people's right to protest and their demands is completely unconstitutional and intolerable," she asserted. Earlier today, an MP delegation of the Samajwadi Party, including Mohibbullah Nadvi, Iqra Hasan, and Harendra Singh Malik, en route to Bareilly following last week's 'I Love Mohammad' row, was stopped at the Ghazipur border by the Uttar Pradesh Police. Visuals showed the members of the delegation arguing with the police personnel deployed to maintain law and order. "We are being stopped from going to Bareilly. This is unconstitutional... The BJP government first oppresses people with great vengeance and then tries to cover it up," SP MP Mohibbullah Nadvi told ANI. SP leader Iqra Hasan linked the situation with an "undeclared emergency" and said that their visit does not have an agenda. "We don't understand on what grounds we are being stopped in the way of an undeclared emergency. We request the administration to accompany us. We are not trying to hide anything. We don't have any agendas... I don't know which of its evil deeds the UP government wants to cover up that its not allowing us to go to Bareilly..." she said. (ANI)
Pathanamthitta Youth Congress district president Vijay Induchoodan has written to the police, demanding a case be registered against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in connection with the alleged Sabarimala gold-plated pedestal theft. Induchoodan wrote to the Director General of Police (DGP) and other police officials, urging them to register a case against Kerala Devaswom Minister VN Vasavan, who is also the Minister for Cooperation and Ports, along with Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president P S Prasanth, and other officials. "A case should be registered against the Devaswom President, Devaswom officials, Devaswom Minister, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and Unnikrishnan Potty, and an investigation should be conducted. I also request that the concerns of the devotees regarding this issue be resolved. I believe that the police system here will understand that it is the responsibility of the devotees to resolve their concerns," Induchoodan wrote in his letter. The controversy surrounds the gold-plated Dwarapalaka idols and pedestals at the Lord Ayyappa temple. "The issue related to the Sabarimala gold plating must have come to your attention. This is an incident that has made the entire believing community worried. Therefore, an investigation should be conducted into how the gold plating became a copper coating. An investigation should also be conducted into how the gold plating and the gate in Sabarimala went outside. We should find out who Unnikrishnan Potty is," the letter read. Induchoodan further mentioned Unnikrishnan Potty, who worked in the Sabarimala temple earlier, claiming that he may have received help from the Devaswom Board to allegedly smuggle valuable items from the temple. "It is believed that Unnikrishnan Potty may have received help from the Devaswom Board to smuggle such valuable items from there. Therefore, a case should be registered against the Devaswom Board officials, including the Devaswom Board President, and action should be taken. If the Devaswom Board President and the Devaswom Board officials say so many lies, they must have received instructions from the Minister's Office and the Chief Minister's Office," he added. The opposition-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala on Friday sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged irregularities in the gold plating of the Sabarimala temple. UDF convener Adoor Prakash said that the Ayyappa devotees have the right to know about the culprits. Vigilance wing of the TDB is currently investigating the alleged theft of two copper-gold-leaf-covered metal plaques donated to the Sabarimala temple in 2019. There are also allegations surrounding the more than 30 kg of gold donated to the temple by industrialist Vijay Mallya in 1998. The TDB Vigilance has reported that key records related to Mallya's donations had gone missing from the Sabarimala Executive Office. The Dwarapalaka idols at the Sabarimala temple had gold-plated plates, originally installed in 1999, with the intention of keeping them there for the next 40 years. However, defects were seen in the plates after just a few years. In 2019, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) removed the plates for repairing. Historical records indicate that the 1998 gold cladding, completed in 1999, was undertaken under the leadership of Chennai-based jeweller Nagarajan of JNR Jewellery, with the expertise of 53 Tamil Nadu artisans. The process involved layering gold beaten into thin foils and bonding them onto copper plates with mercury. In 2019, during repairs, Devaswom records listed the removed panels as copper sheets. When the replated panels were returned, records showed a reduction of 4.41 kg. Unnikrishnan Potty testified that the sheets given to him were copper-based with residual gold, which had been later replated at a Chennai firm. (ANI)
A student from Hyderabad, Telangana, was reportedly shot dead in Dallas, United States. The victim has been identified as Pole Chandrashekhar, according to his family members, who confirmed the tragic incident. They have appealed Central and state governments to facilitate the repatriation of his mortal remains to Hyderabad at the earliest. Providing details of the incident, Chandrashekhar's mother, Sunitha, told ANI, "My son went to the US two years ago. He became a dental doctor here and went there to complete his post-graduation, which he has finished. Two years have passed since he started his PG. We learned about his death from his friend's parents who visited us and shared our grief. We've come to know that he was shot dead by black people last night. We request the central and state governments to ensure the safety of Indians and bring my son's body back home as soon as possible." Chandrashekhar had completed his BDS in India before moving to Dallas for higher studies. His family is now waiting for authorities to take necessary steps to bring his body back to Hyderabad. Reacting to the incident, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA and former Telangana minister T Harish Rao expressed grief over the death of Chandra Shekhar Pole, describing him as a Dalit student from Nagar who had gone to the US for higher studies. In a post on X, Harish Rao informed that he met the grieving family and expressed condolences. "It is tragic that Chandra Shekhar Pole, a Dalit student from Nagar who completed BDS and went to America (Dallas) higher studies, died in a shooting carried out by miscreants early morning," Rao posted. Sharing his condolences further, he said, "The pain that the parents are going through, knowing that their son, who they believed would reach great heights, is no more, is heart-wrenching to witness. My deepest condolences to their family members." Harish Rao also urged the authorities to take steps to bring back the mortal remains of the student. "We, on behalf of BRS, demand that the state government take initiative and make efforts to bring Chandra Shekhar's mortal remains to his hometown as quickly as possible," he stated. The tragic incident comes close on the heels of another case involving the Indian community in Dallas. Last month, Chandra Mouli "Bob" Nagamallaiah, a 50-year-old motel manager of Indian origin, was brutally beheaded in Texas in front of his wife and son following an argument over a washing machine. (ANI)
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and the Union Cabinet for approving the establishment of a Kendriya Vidyalaya in Swaad village of Chamoli district. According to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), the Chief Minister said that, responding to the demand of the local people of the renowned Swaad village in Chamoli district, he had been continuously requesting the establishment of a Kendriya Vidyalaya in the area. He added that the opening of a Kendriya Vidyalaya in this border region of Chamoli will provide students with access to quality education and give the region a new identity. The Chief Minister further stated that the state government is consistently working to create a favourable educational environment in Uttarakhand. "Teachers are being connected with training programs and innovative methods to ensure that students receive quality education in a conducive learning atmosphere," CM Dhami said. Earlier, on October 1, the Union Cabinet approved the opening of 57 new Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) under the Civil sector across the country to facilitate the educational needs of the wards of an increased number of Central Government employees. According to an official release from the Ministry of Education, the total estimated requirement of funds for the establishment of the 57 new KVs is Rs 5862.55 crore (approx.), spread over a period of nine years from 2026-27. This includes the capital expenditure component of Rs 2585.52 crore (approx.) and operational expenditure of Rs 3277.03 crore (approx.). It is worthwhile to note that, as exemplar schools for NEP 2020, for the first time, these 57 KVs have been sanctioned with Balvatikas, i.e. three years of the foundational stage (pre-primary). The Union Government approved the Scheme of KVs in November 1962 to provide educational facilities of uniform standard throughout the country to cater to the educational needs of wards of transferable and non-transferable employees of the Central Government, including Defence and Paramilitary forces. Consequently, "Central Schools Organisation" was started as a unit of the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. (ANI)
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday accused Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah of "focusing more on attacking the Centre rather than focusing on development". Basavaraj Bommai, a former Karnataka Chief Minister, referred to Siddaramiah's remarks on GST reforms campaign by the Centre and said these are benefitting people. "It has become a habit for Siddaramaiah to blame the Centre for everything. The Centre has given whatever is due. He is trying to tell that he wants to go to the Court for the GST compensation. The whole nation knows that this concession (GST reforms) is going to the people and all the states are also members of the GST Council and they have passed it. Still, they want to go to the Court. There is a political design behind this. He wants to politicise everything, including the sharing of funds. He is more of a political CM than a development CM," he told ANI. Siddaramaiah said that the central government's decision to simplify the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the wake of the Bihar elections will cause an estimated loss of Rs 15,000 crore to the state annually. "The central government implemented the GST in 2017 and fixed the GST rate. Will the central government, which has collected higher rates for the last eight years, return that money? The Centre is busy patting itself on the back by reducing the GST rate it had increased itself," he said. "As recommended by the commission, we were not given Rs 5,490 crore, Rs 3,000 crore for lake development, Rs 3,000 crore for road construction, and Rs 5,000 crore for the Bhadra Upper River Project. A total of Rs 17,000 crore. The grant that was supposed to come has been misappropriated. Like last time, this time too, if necessary, they will seek court assistance and get central funding," he added. (ANI)
The Supreme Court will hear on October 6 a habeas corpus petition filed by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk's wife, Geetanjali Angmo, against his detention under the National Security Act (NSA) and seeking his release. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria will hear the case. On Friday, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk's wife, Gitanjali Angmo approached the Supreme Court seeking her husband's release. Wangchuk was detained under the National Security Act (NSA) and was shifted to Jodhpur Central Jail in Rajasthan for allegedly inciting violent protests in Ladakh. He was also booked under the NSA after violence in Leh, in which four people were killed and 80 others were injured. In a post on social media X, Wangchuk's wife wrote that she had no information about his health or the grounds of his detention. "I have sought relief from the SUPREME COURT OF INDIA through a HABEAS CORPUS petition against @Wangchuk66's detention. It is one week today. Still I have no information about Sonam Wangchuk's health, the condition he is in nor the grounds of detention," the post read. Earlier, Gitanjali J Angmo slammed the Centre and alleged police torture against the people of Ladakh after the September 24 violence in the Union Territory. Comparing the current situation in Ladakh to that during British India, she said that the Union Home Ministry is "misusing" the Ladakh Police. "Is India really free? In 1857, 24,000 Britishers used 135,000 Indian sepoys to oppress 300 million Indians under orders from the Queen. Today, a dozen administrators are misusing 2400 Ladakhi police to oppress and torture 3 lakh Ladakhis under the orders of the MHA," Gitanjali wrote on X. Angmo's criticism of the MHA and the police comes amid curfew in Leh and police firing as a response to the violence on September 24. Following Sonam Wangchuk's detention under the National Security Act (NSA), Gitanjali Angmo has refuted the allegations against Wangchuk being in touch with a Pakistani Intelligence Operative, and accused the Ladakh police of working with an "agenda". "Whatever the DGP is saying, he has an agenda. They don't want to implement the 6th Schedule under any circumstances and want to make someone a scapegoat," she alleged. Gitanjali has also sent a representation for the immediate release of Wangchuk to the President of India, Prime Minister of India, Home Minister, Law Minister of India, the LG of Ladakh and the DC Leh. The violence on September 24 claimed the lives of four people amid police retaliation, after the protestors set a political party's office on fire. The protests were a result of people demanding statehood and inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, which turned into clashes with the police officials in Leh. (ANI)
Nasir Aslam Wani, Advisor to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, on Saturday, asserted that Ladakh remains the most patriotic region in the country while labelling the situation that unfolded in the Union Territory as "unfortunate". "It is very unfortunate; it should not have happened. Ladakh has been the most patriotic region. Such behaviour with them is wrong. Either the promises made to them should not have been made in the first place, or those promises should have been met," Wani told ANI. Advocating for the fulfilment of promises made to Ladakhis, Wani further stated that the restoration of statehood was also promised to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, which is not being fulfilled either. Wani argued that these issues must be resolved through dialogue. "Similarly, restoration of statehood was promised to Jammu and Kashmir. But that is also not being done. We hope the Government of India will go ahead with thinking this through. They should resolve issues through dialogue. Those who were presented as superstars a while ago are being called traitors today. This is not acceptable," he added. Earlier, Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Kavinder Gupta on Friday chaired a high-level security review meeting in Leh to take stock of the prevailing situation in Ladakh. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Dr Pawan Kotwal, Director General of Police Dr SD Singh Jamwal, DIG Srinagar South PK Singh, Deputy Commissioner Leh, Senior Superintendent of Police Leh, Sanjay Kumar, CO 79, Rajat Jain, CO 25, and other senior officials. The officials briefed the Lt Governor on the overall law and order scenario and reported that the day remained peaceful across the Union Territory. The officers informed that peace and normalcy have been effectively restored with the wholehearted cooperation of the people. The Lt Governor appreciated the exemplary restraint and sense of responsibility shown by the citizens during the recent relaxations in restrictions, terming their role crucial in maintaining stability. He assured that the UT administration remains committed to safeguarding the rights of citizens, working tirelessly to protect their aspirations for growth and harmony. He emphasised that peace and development must go hand in hand for building a prosperous Ladakh. The violence on September 24 claimed the lives of four people amid police retaliation, after the protestors set the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) office on fire. The protests were a result of people demanding statehood and inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, which turned into clashes with the police officials in Leh. Meanwhile, things have escalated after the arrest of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, with senior Congress leaders opposing his arrest. The opposition party has asked the centre to hold talks with the people of Ladakh regarding their demands for statehood and inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had urged the Centre to hold talks with the people of Ladakh, calling on the government to "engage in dialogue and stop the politics of violence and fear," as he demanded a fair judicial inquiry into the recent violence in Leh that claimed four lives. Gitanjali Angmo, Wangchuk's wife, on Friday approached the Supreme Court seeking her husband's release. Wangchuk was detained under the National Security Act (NSA) and was shifted to Jodhpur Central Jail in Rajasthan for allegedly inciting violent protests in Ladakh. Four people were killed in the Leh unrest, and 80 others were injured. In a post on social media X, Wangchuk's wife wrote that she had no information about his health or the grounds of his detention. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday advocated for the call to go 'Swadeshi', informing the public about the recent tax reliefs introduced by the Centre, including those in income tax and the Goods and Services Tax (GST). He suggested that adopting the Swadeshi culture would ensure the momentum of India's economy. While addressing a gathering at the celebrations for Bastar Dussehra in Chhattisgarh's Jagdalpur, Shah said, "If the 140 crore population embraces the resolve of Swadeshi, no one can stop our India from becoming the world's top economic system. Prime Minister Modi has recently provided a huge relief by reducing GST rates. If we adopt the culture of Swadeshi, our country's economy will gain great momentum." In Goa's Bambolim, Shah today praised the Aatmnirbhar Bharat initiative, saying that it has given "impetus" to the country's economy while promoting 'Make in India' and encouraging people from across the world to manufacture in India. He said that the Aatmanirbhar Bharat is also resolving the issue of unemployment. "Aatmanirbhar (Bharat) is the biggest initiative, which has given impetus to our economy, promoting Make in India and for people from all over the world to do manufacturing in India (ease of business). This is also resolving the issue of unemployment. No income tax payable for income up to Rs 12 lakh under the new tax regime. When we came in 2014, the limit was 2.5 lakh. This has increased the purchasing power of women," Shah said while addressing a gathering at Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium. Urging Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, the Union Home Minister stated that the Swayampurna Goa initiative, which aligns with the Aatmnirbhar Bharat vision, must be continued so that the problems faced by the people can be resolved. "Swayampurna Goa is a major initiative of the government of Goa. I urge Pramod Sawant to continue this program. New government schemes are constantly introduced, and through Swayampurna Goa, we must tirelessly resolve the problems of our citizens. We should strive to make our Goa the first fully developed state in the country in the coming days," Shah said. According to the Goa government, the Swatampurna Goa initiative has been launched to deliver the benefits of every government scheme, oriented towards beneficiaries, to every needy individual in the state. In Bastar, the Union Home Minister also made an appeal to the youth to "shun the path of violence" while advising against joining the Naxal movement. Stating that Naxalism didn't benefit anyone, Shah urged the youth to join the mainstream and assured development works worth Rs 1 crore for villages that become Naxal-free. "I wanted to appeal to people to ask the youth, who are misled and join Naxalism, to shun the path of violence and join the mainstream. Once the village is free from the Naxal issue, Rs 1 crore will be allocated to them for developmental works," Shah said. He said that Naxalism has not benefited anyone, while informing that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has introduced various schemes in honour of Adivasis. "On behalf of PM Modi, I want to assure that after March 31, 2026, Naxals will not be able to obstruct development," Shah added. Addressing the demands to hold talks with the Naxals, Shah said that there was nothing to discuss since the Bhratiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the centre and in Chhattisgarh was dedicated to developing the entire Naxal-affected region, including Bastar. The Union Home Minister warned against "disrupting the peace" in Bastar and said that the state machinery will respond strongly. He added that March 31, 2026, has been fixed to bid farewell to Naxalism from the soil of this country. "Some people talk about talks (with Naxals). I want to make it clear once again: both our governments, the Chhattisgarh government and the central government, are dedicated to the development of Bastar and the entire Naxalite region. What is there to talk about? We have formulated a very lucrative surrender policy. Come, lay down your arms. If you take up arms and try to disrupt the peace of Bastar, our armed forces, the CRPF, and the Chhattisgarh police will respond. March 31, 2026, has been fixed to bid farewell to Naxalism from the soil of this country," Shah said. (ANI)
"I welcome Upendra Dwivedi's statement... I believe that if Pakistan still doesn't understand, they should prepare for a new version of Operation Sindoor. The Indian Army is not in the mood to spare Pakistani terrorists," Yaser Jilani said.

He accused Congress leaders of making remarks that do not reflect national interest.

BJP leader Prakash Reddy also backed the Army Chief's warning to Pakistan, stating that Islamabad must stop state-sponsored terrorism or risk its future as a nation.

"The Indian Army Chief clearly stated that if Pakistan wants to maintain its geographical position on the global map, it must stop terrorism. Pakistan must exercise restraint. And they must also stop terrorist activities, funding and supporting terrorists in Pakistan," Prakash Reddy told ANI.

Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, speaking in Rajasthan's Anupgarh on Friday, had warned Pakistan against continuing state-sponsored terrorism.

General Dwivedi said that if Pakistan continues to sponsor terrorism, India will not show the same restraint in "Sindoor 2.0" as it did during Operation "Sindoor 1.0", adding that Pakistan must change its ways if it "wants to exist geographically."

While General Dwivedi spoke about India's restraint during Operation Sindoor, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh had said that the Indian Air Force destroyed at least 12 of Pakistan aircraft during Operation Sindoor. (ANI)
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday attended the 6th Hadoti Milan Sammelan as Chief Guest at the Dr SC Subrahmanyam Auditorium, ICAR, Pusa in the national capital. He called upon everyone to take collective responsibility in further strengthening the identity of Kota, Bundi and the entire Hadoti region, while also addressing the problems of people living in villages and towns. He said that even while living and working in Delhi, it must be ensured that no person from the region feels neglected. On this occasion, Birla said that the contribution of the Hadoti region is directly linked with the stream of national development. He emphasized that this Sammelan is not merely a social event but a resolve to preserve our heritage, traditions and cultural identity. He further said that the people of Hadoti are bringing glory to the nation in diverse fields such as education, administration, trade and technology, which is the true strength of the region. A large number of people from the Hadoti region, residing in Delhi and other parts of the country, were present at the Sammelan. Folk art, folk songs and traditional attire from Hadoti were special highlights of the occasion. In his address, Birla laid special emphasis on Hadoti's culture, history and social unity. He remarked that no matter how far a person from Hadoti may go in India or abroad, their language will always remain Hadoti. He described Hadoti as a land where there has never been a crisis of basic sustenance, which is why its people rarely face displacement. Seeing such a large gathering of people from Hadoti in Delhi, he said, was a deeply satisfying experience for him. Birla urged the community members that whenever they visit their villages, towns or the region, they should bring forth the issues and problems faced by local people and communicate them to his office. Be it arranging medical treatment for a patient, resolving pension-related difficulties, inclusion under the Food Security Scheme, or any other matter--his office, he assured, is always open to every person from Hadoti. He further said that the people of Hadoti's villages and towns, particularly the younger generation, should draw inspiration from those who have achieved success in Delhi, the national capital, and other major cities. It is their responsibility, he added, to support their community and provide guidance to society. Birla proudly mentioned that today, Kota stone, Kota coriander, Kota Doria sarees and Kota kachori are not only recognized in India but across the world. Concluding his address, the Lok Sabha Speaker affirmed that his office will always remain open for the service of the Hadoti region, and he will continue to work tirelessly to further strengthen the region's progress, education, culture and identity. (ANI)
Officials of the State Bank of India (SBI) today handed over a cheque of Rs 1,55,00,000 to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini as a contribution to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. Development and Panchayat Minister Krishan Lal Panwar was also present on the occasion. This amount was collected as one day salary donated by SBI staff members to support flood relief efforts in the State. The cheque was presented by Chief General Manager, SBI, Krishan Sharma along with General Manager (Haryana), Neeraj Bharti and Deputy General Manager Kajal Bhowmik, a release said. The Chief Minister appreciated SBI, the nation's largest bank, for its generous contribution and continued support to the people of Haryana. Meanwhile, Saini today urged traders across the state to ensure that the full benefits of the Central Government's reduced GST rates are passed on to consumers. He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, GST reforms have provided significant benefits to the people of India. The Chief Minister called upon traders to actively participate in promoting the GST Bachat Utsav, which aims to make goods and services more affordable. He highlighted that this initiative will not only boost trade but also enable consumers to purchase essential items at lower prices. Affordable prices, growing trade, and a strong economy are the core spirit of the GST Bachat Utsav, which will take Haryana to new heights of progress, he said. Saini described the reforms as a historic step toward a self-reliant India and a stronger economy, emphasizing the crucial role of the business community in delivering these benefits to the public. He expressed confidence that Haryana's traders would lead by example in implementing the Prime Minister's vision. The Chief Minister said that the GST reforms would directly benefit consumers, especially during the festive season, by lowering prices on many everyday goods and generating additional savings for the middle class. These savings, he said, would not only provide relief to consumers but also create new opportunities for businesses. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday felicitated 46 toppers from the Industrial Training Institutes at the Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh at Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan, and also unveiled various youth-focused initiatives worth more than Rs 62,000 crore. The Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh was the fourth edition of the National Skill Convocation, where the toppers from the ITIs under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship are felicitated. Calling ITIs "workshops of Atmanirbhar Bharat", PM Modi said, "ITIs are not only premier institutions of industrial education; they are also the workshops of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Our focus is on upgrading them, along with increasing their numbers. There were 10,000 ITIs till 2014, and in the last decade, 5,000 new ITIs have been established." The Prime Minister added that India needs to take forward the "local talent, local skills, and local knowledge". "Today, this is a mega program of empowerment of Bihar's youth. This shows how the NDA government prioritises youth and women in Bihar. India is a country of knowledge and skill. This intellectual strength is our greatest power. The 21st century demands that, keeping India's needs in mind, we have to take forward local talent, skills, and knowledge. The ITIs will play a role in it. More than 1.5 crore youth have been trained in the last 11 years. They have been taught the skills in their local languages," he said. During his address, the Prime Minister also alleged that the schools were not opened and no recruitments took place under the Congress-RJD regime in Bihar. He said, "This generation may not realise how devastated the education system in Bihar was two and a half decades ago. Schools were not open, nor were recruitments conducted. Which parent doesn't want their child to study and progress here? But out of compulsion, millions of children were forced to leave Bihar and go to Varanasi, Delhi, and Mumbai. This was the real beginning of the migration." Further lauding Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the NDA government for improving the education system in the state, he added, "fortunately, the people of Bihar entrusted Nitish Kumar with the responsibility of government, and we are all witnesses to how the entire NDA team together brought the deteriorating system back on track". Notably, the Prime Minister also launched various youth-focused initiatives worth more than Rs 62,000 crore, including the inauguration of the Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University in Bihar. "I am happy that Bihar has received a new Skill University at today's Skill Convocation. Nitish Kumar's government has named this university after Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur", the Prime Minister said after the inauguration. The Prime Minister hailed the Bihar government for generating 10 lakh permanent government jobs and raising the education budget as compared to the RJD-Congress regime. PM Modi said, "In the last two decades, the Bihar Government has connected 50 lakh youth with employment in Bihar. In the last few years alone, about 10 lakh permanent government jobs have been given to the youth of Bihar." Further, PM Modi said that the youth have even planned to purchase two-wheelers on the occasion of Dhanteras amid the ongoing 'GST Bachat Utsav' after the implementation of the next-gen GST reforms. He said, "'GST Bachat Utsav' is currently underway in the country. Someone told me that the youth of Bihar are very happy with the reduction in GST on bikes and scooters. The youth have even planned to buy them this Dhanteras. I also heartily congratulate the youth of Bihar and the country for the reduction in GST on most of the things they need." "Before 2014, India was considered a fragile economy, meaning growth was low. Employment was also very low. Today, India is poised to become one of the top three economies," the Prime Minister added. PM Modi also launched the Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs (PM-SETU), a centrally sponsored scheme with an investment of Rs 60,000 crore. The scheme envisages the upgradation of 1,000 Government ITIs across the country in a hub-and-spoke model comprising 200 hub ITIs and 800 spoke ITIs. Each hub will be connected to four spokes on average, creating clusters equipped with advanced infrastructure, modern trades, digital learning systems and incubation facilities. The PM-SETU aims to redefine the ITI ecosystem, making it government-owned but industry-managed, with global co-financing support from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. In the first phase of the scheme implementation, there will be special focus on ITIs in Patna and Darbhanga. PM Modi also inaugurated 1,200 Vocational Skill Labs established in 400 Navodaya Vidyalayas and 200 Eklavya Model Residential Schools across 34 States and Union Territories. Ahead of the Assembly elections in Bihar, PM Modi launched Bihar's revamped Mukhyamantri Nishchay Svyam Sahayata Bhatta Yojana, under which nearly five lakh graduate youth every year will receive a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 for two years, along with free skill training. He also launched the redesigned Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme, which will provide completely interest-free education loans of up to Rs 4 lakh, significantly easing the financial burden of higher education. More than 3.92 lakh students have already availed loans worth more than Rs 7,880 crore under the scheme. PM Modi dedicated to the nation the Bihta campus of NIT Patna. With the capacity to host 6,500 students, the campus houses advanced facilities, including a 5G use case lab, a Regional Academic Centre for Space established in collaboration with ISRO, and an Innovation and Incubation Centre that has already supported nine start-ups. The Prime Minister distributed appointment letters to more than 4,000 newly recruited candidates in the Government of Bihar and released Rs 450 crores in scholarships through Direct Benefit Transfer to 25 lakh students of Class 9 and 10 under the Mukhyamantri Balak/Balika Scholarship Scheme. In a post on X, PM Modi also lauded the successful completion of the 'Swasth Nari Sashakt Parivar Abhiyaan' and appreciated those who worked on the ground to make it "impactful" and "beneficial" for women. "Commendable effort! Compliments to those who have worked on the ground to make it so impactful and beneficial to our Nari Shakti. This is a great example of Jan Bhagidari to improve lives", the PM's post read. BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda shared the campaign's achievements, highlighting the scale and impact of the health initiative. The campaign concluded with widespread participation across India, benefiting lakhs of women, children, and families through comprehensive health services, according to an official statement from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. By the end of October 2, over 18 lakh health camps (comprising both screening and speciality camps) were held under the Abhiyaan, registering a footfall of nearly 10 crore citizens nationwide. Earlier today, the Prime Minister also paid tribute to two prominent freedom fighters from Tamil Nadu, Tiruppur Kumaran and Subramaniya Siva, highlighting their sacrifices and contributions to India's independence. (ANI)
The 27th India Eastern Territory Congress of the Salvation Army Youth (SAY) is currently in full swing in the town of Darlawn, drawing thousands of young people from across the Northeast. The event officially commenced on Friday evening, October 3, with a Welcome Meeting where Chief Secretary Lt. Col. Masilamani Stalin dedicated the congress to God. He delivered the keynote address on the theme, "Transformed into Christ's likeness - in knowing Him." The spiritual sessions continued on Saturday, October 4th, with morning and afternoon Praise Meetings. Lt. Col. Vanlaltluanga, Secretary for Personnel Administration, led the morning session, speaking on the theme "Transformed into Christ's likeness - in all things." The afternoon meeting featured Lt. Col. Vanlalsawmthanga, Secretary for Business Administration, who addressed the delegates on being "Transformed into Christ's likeness - in faithfulness to promises." The evening is scheduled to feature a Prayer Meeting and a Variety Program, with Territorial Youth Secretary Major Richard Vanlalnghaka as the speaker. Organisers report that approximately 4,700 delegates have registered for the congress so far. Despite travel challenges, including poor road conditions, which caused delays for many attendees travelling from various parts of the region, participants continue to arrive and join the event. The SAY Congress is set to conclude on the evening of Sunday, October 5, 2025, with a final Salvation Meeting. The Congress gathering was held with the theme drawn from 2 Corinthians 3:18, focusing on transformation into the likeness of Christ. The programme included a variety of performances such as band and choir presentations, live music, dramas, and other items. The Salvation Army is an international Protestant Christian church and social welfare organisation, founded in London in 1865 by William and Catherine Booth. It provides a wide range of social services, such as feeding the homeless, providing shelter and vocational training, and offering aid during disasters. The organisation operates worldwide, with a mission to spread the Christian faith and help those in need through practical actions. (ANI)
Kinshasa, DRC (PANA) - For people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) exhausted by years of conflict, the United Nations envoy for the country said she understands their impatience but urges them not to lose hope as the Congolese government, the UN and the international community are determined to bring peace to the volatile region
Jawaharlal Nehru University's (JNU) professor Srikanth Kondapalli, an expert on China's foreign and security policies, has suggested that another conflict between India and China is unlikely despite new weapon systems being developed by the neighbouring country. The professor has said that at the moment, there is a drive for normalisation on the border, that is "disengagement, patrolling, grazing if not de-escalation and de-induction". When asked whether the aggression shown by China towards its other neighbours is indicative of a possibility of another India-China conflict, the professor said that the path for normalisation has been laid out since October 21, 2024, but it has to be seen "whether this will be fulfilled." "At the moment, with the drive towards normalisation on the border, that is disengagement, patrolling, grazing if not de-escalation and de-induction, there is a path that has been laid down since October 21. We have to see whether this will be fulfilled," Professor Kondapalli told ANI in an interview. On September 3, China carried out a 'Victory Day Parade' which marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) showcased a range of sophisticated weapons, including new missile systems. Talking about the recent visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to India, the professor expressed confidence in the talks moving forward between the two countries, highlighting the formation of three important groups, including the 10-point joint consensus between the two countries. "When foreign minister Wang Yi came, we had three new institutions coming up; an expert group, a working group a border management group, and they used the word delimitation of the boundary. We don't know if there is any real progress on the boundary, but generally boundary disputes are resolved step by step", the professor in JNU's Centre for East Asian Studies said. First step is defining the line of actual control, second is delimitation, third is demarcation, and the fourth is a Parliamentary resolution, said Professor Kondapalli. The professor suggested that both sides using the word 'delimitation' is indicative of "some progress at the border". "The fact that they used the second term, delimitation, in the Wang Yi, Ajit Doval joint statement, the 10-point consensus after the July 17-18 meeting. It indicates some progress at the border," he added. The JNU professor also welcomed the announcement of resuming direct flights between India and China, calling it a "small step" that China has taken after imposing Covid-19 pandemic-era restrictions on flights in 2020. "The decision was made several months ago, but it has not been implemented. By October end, we will see some direct flights. However, in any case, it was a pandemic-related response by China, not by India. They blocked all these aircraft, so they are now moving in that direction. But anyway, this is basically tourism and others, it is a small step", he told ANI. The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said that resumption of direct flights between India and China is in line with the growing trend towards normalisation in the relationship between the two nations. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a media briefing, "Yesterday we had issued a press release and thereafter I understand that commercial activity in this regard has started. This is, of course, in line with the growing trend towards normalisation in the relationship between India and China." This development follows commitments made during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to India in August. During his bilateral talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, both sides had agreed to resume direct flight connectivity between the Chinese mainland and India at the earliest and finalise an updated Air Services Agreement. Direct flights between India and China had been suspended following the Doklam standoff and the Covid-19 pandemic. In August, Chinese ambassador Xu Feihong highlighted ten points of consensus from the 24th Round of Talks Between the Special Representatives (SRs) of China and India on the boundary question. He said in a post on X that the two sides spoke positively of the progress made in the implementation of the important leader-level consensus in Kazan, and shared the view that peace and tranquillity have been maintained in the China-India border areas since the 23rd Round of SR Talks. (ANI)
Kerala Assembly Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan on Saturday strongly condemned the alleged Sabarimala gold-plated idol theft and demanded action against those who are involved. The controversy surrounds the theft of gold-plated Dwarapalaka idols and pedestals at the Lord Ayyappa temple. The leader of the Opposition called it a "robbery of Swami Ayyappa's gold" and said that if action is not taken, they would start agitation. Satheesan held the former and current Devaswom Board Presidents, along with the former and present Devaswom Ministers, responsible for the controversy. Speaking to ANI, Satheesan said, "This is a robbery of Swami Ayyappa's gold. Former and present Devaswom Board President, and former and present Devaswom Minister are responsible for this. We demand the resignation of the present Devaswom Board President and Minister. An investigation has to be initiated against all four people. This is a shocking thing for Ayyappa devotees. If action is not taken, we will start our agitation." Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president PS Prasanth on Saturday said that the Board, along with the Devaswom Minister, has decided to approach the Court for a comprehensive investigation into the matter. Speaking to ANI on the issue, Prasanth said, "I met with the Devaswom Minister yesterday, and both the Minister and the Board have decided to request the court for a comprehensive probe covering everything from Vijay Mallya's gold plating in 1998 up to the events of 2025. This will include the shortfall in gold, other doubts related to the gold, and all such controversies." He emphasised that a great temple like Sabarimala should never be left under a cloud of suspicion. "For us, there is nothing to hide or conceal, which is why we are demanding a detailed investigation. In 2025, when the Dwarapalaka gold plates were taken to Chennai, all due procedures were strictly followed. We have nothing to hide or suppress in this matter," the TDB President said. Meanwhile, the Vigilance wing of the TDB is currently investigating the alleged theft of two copper-gold-leaf-covered metal plaques donated to the Sabarimala temple in 2019. There are also allegations surrounding the more than 30 kg of gold donated to the temple by industrialist Vijay Mallya in 1998. The TDB Vigilance has reported that key records related to Mallya's donations had gone missing from the Sabarimala Executive Office. (ANI)
Following the meeting of the ECI delegation, Bihar LoP and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday said that their representatives had put forward their views. He further hoped that the elections conducted in Bihar would be fair. Speaking to reporters, Tejashwi Yadav said, "Our party's representatives had gone and put forward their views. We hope that this time the Bihar elections will be fair. Elections should not be held to help anyone. In a democracy, the public is the master. The public has every right that the elections should be held in a good environment." Earlier on Saturday, the Election Commission of India held a meeting with political parties of Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections in the state. Under the Chairmanship of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, discussions were successfully held with all the recognised political parties of Bihar, along with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar Vinod Singh Gunjyal and senior officers of the Commission. During the interaction, the Election Commission stated that political parties are the cornerstone of democracy and that all parties should ensure their participation at every stage of a transparent electoral process. The EC urged voters to celebrate the festival of elections with harmony and respect, and to experience the transparency of the elections. It also urged political parties to ensure that they nominate polling agents at every polling booth. Political parties thanked the EC for taking "historic, transparent, and firm" measures to purify the electoral rolls through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and reiterated their complete commitment and faith in the electoral process. They also thanked the EC for setting a maximum number of voters per polling station at 1,200. Moreover, representatives from various political parties demanded that elections be conducted immediately after the Chhath festival to ensure maximum voter participation and suggested holding the elections in as minimum phases as possible. The parties also appreciated several recent initiatives by the Election Commission, including reforms related to the counting of postal ballots and the use of Form 17C. All political parties reiterated their complete trust in the Election Commission and expressed confidence that the upcoming Bihar elections would be conducted in a free, fair, and fully transparent manner. (ANI)
The father of the RG Kar Medical College rape victim has strongly contested the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report that labels Kolkata as the safest city in India, calling it a misrepresentation of ground realities. He criticised the report, stating that it was prepared based on paperwork rather than actual conditions. "The National Crime Bureau released a report claiming Kolkata is the safest city in India. However, the people who made this report did not base it on ground realities; they relied solely on paperwork. In Kolkata, at least 90 per cent of incidents are not registered as FIR cases. At our local police station in Gola, a girl was brutally beaten, and no one knows about it yet. This incident occurred three months ago, and such incidents happen daily in Kolkata. Nothing is brought to light. Even a six-month-old girl is not safe here. The report made by the Bureau, sitting in their offices, is clueless about the reality. Educated people in our country are misleading everyone. No one is safe in Kolkata--not a man, not a girl," he said. The mother of the RG Kar Medical College victim expressed profound grief and frustration over the lack of security in Kolkata, stating, "If there was proper security, my daughter, who was a doctor, would have been safe in her hospital. She was brutally beaten and killed, and her body was found in the hospital, yet no one knows the full truth. This kind of injustice occurs frequently. I believe around 200 such incidents have occurred in a year. It has happened in law colleges and it's happening everywhere, every day. There is no security; it is not safe. Even when incidents occur, they are not properly reported or addressed due to widespread corruption. These issues have been ongoing for a long time. For us, it's been a year and two months of pain. Wherever such incidents happen, we try to stop them, but the system fails us.'" On Saturday, All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) announced that Kolkata has been named India's safest city for the fourth consecutive year. Highlighting the city's commitment to care, compassion, and community, the achievement is credited to the leadership of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. IAITC took to X and posted, "For the fourth year in a row, Kolkata has been named India's safest city. A city that believes in care, compassion, and community led by our Hon'ble CM @mamataofficial who believes safety is service." Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma lauded the achievement, stating, "It is a very positive story. Kolkata Police and West Bengal Police always try their best to keep citizens safe and keep the state free from crime." He acknowledged occasional shortcomings but emphasised the collective efforts of the police force, supported by a cooperative and law-abiding public. Verma credited junior-level field officers, behind-the-scenes personnel, and middle and top-level leaders for their vigilance and use of modern technologies. "The secret lies in continuous efforts to improve policing, learning from failures, valuing public opinions, and being receptive to changes. There is no replacement for hard work and discipline, and there is no shortcut to success. Policing is never a one-man show; it is always teamwork. Every man and woman in uniform matters," he added. (ANI)
Taiwan recorded presence of Chinese military around the island with 10 PLA and seven PLAN vessels operating around its territory, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) reported on Saturday. In a post on 'X', MND said that five out of the 10 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern ADIZ. "10 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 5 out of 10 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and responded accordingly," the 'X' post said. On Friday, Taiwan recorded Chinese military presence around the island with 6 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around its territory, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) reported on Friday.Sharing the details in a post on X, it noted that one out of the six sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's southwestern ADIZ. "6 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. One out of six sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's southwestern ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and responded accordingly." The latest activity comes amid warnings from defence experts that China's newly unveiled weapon systems are designed to counter Taiwan's long-standing asymmetric warfare strategy. According to the Defence and Security Biweekly, published by the Institute for National Defence and Security Research (INDSR), assistant research fellow Sheu Jyh-shyang has said that Taiwan has invested heavily for decades in asymmetric warfare, a defence strategy based on low-cost, highly effective systems meant to deter Beijing from launching a large-scale invasion. The frequent incursions and maritime operations reflect rising tensions between Taiwan and China, a relationship long fraught with geopolitical strain. Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China (ROC), governs itself independently with its own distinct political and economic systems. However, China continues to claim Taiwan as part of its territory under the "One China" principle, insisting there is only one China with its capital in Beijing. The dispute's roots trace back to the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, when the ROC government fled to Taiwan after the Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, took control of mainland China. Since then, Beijing has maintained its goal of reunification, using military, diplomatic, and economic means to apply pressure on Taiwan and diminish its international space. Despite these efforts, Taiwan maintains its de facto independence, backed by strong public support, and continues to assert its sovereignty amid ongoing external pressures. The MND regularly monitors and publicly reports such military movements to ensure transparency and national security awareness. (ANI)
India and France concluded the 21st Army-to-Army Staff talks in Paris, where the discussions focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation, as well as enhancing defence and military cooperation between the two countries. The details were shared by the Embassy of India in a post on X on Thursday. The Embassy noted that the discussions between India and France also saw exchanges of experts in cutting-edge technologies, joint exercises, and collaboration in training across various fields. "India and France held the 21st Army-to-Army Staff Talks (AAST) from September 30 to October 1 in Paris. The discussions focused on future activities aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation, including exchanges of experts in cutting-edge technologies, joint exercises, collaboration in training across various fields, as well as enhancing defence and military cooperation between India and France." https://x.com/IndiaembFrance/status/1973684136884756964 At the same time in New Delhi, the 22nd edition of Air Staff Talks between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the French Air and Space Force (FASF) was held from September 29 to October 1, 2025, with both sides focusing on enhancing bilateral defence cooperation, as per the Indian Air Force. "India and France have a strong and robust defence partnership with an increasing 'Atmanirbharata' element in it. The defence cooperation between the two sides is reviewed under Annual Defence Dialogue (Defence Minister level) and High Committee on Defence Cooperation (Secretary level), " as per the MEA. Earlier in September, the two nations also held the Second Meeting of the India-France Special Task Force on Civil Nuclear Energy in the national capital, co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Secretary-General of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Anne-Marie Descotes.T The meeting reviewed progress in bilateral civil nuclear cooperation and explored avenues to deepen the strategic partnership across innovation, defence, and regional issues like the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the West Asia crisis. According to a press statement by the Ministry of External Affairs, both sides conducted a comprehensive review of advancements made over the past year, emphasising engagement in emerging technologies such as Small and Advanced Modular Reactors (SMRs/AMRs), as outlined in the Declaration of Intent signed in February 2025. Both sides also agreed to maintain close coordination on key aspects of civil nuclear cooperation. "During the meeting, both sides undertook a comprehensive review of the progress made over the past year through various meetings and consultations. They agreed to remain in close touch over various key aspects of bilateral civil nuclear cooperation. They reaffirmed the importance of engagement in emerging technologies like Small and Advanced Modular Reactors (SMRs/AMRs), as articulated by the Declaration of Intent on SMRs and AMRs signed in February 2025," the MEA statement read. The discussions also covered broader bilateral ties, including innovation, technology, defence, space, counter-terrorism, and trilateral cooperation with third countries. (ANI)
The intense negotiations between the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) and a high-profile team from Islamabad came to result on midnight on Friday as both sides agreed on a draft with some minor amendments, as reported by Dawn, citing one of the participants. Dawn reported that Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry announced late at night that the final round of negotiations with the JKJAAC had begun and an agreement was scheduled to be signed soon, thereby bringing to an end the protests taking place in PoJK. According to Dawn, after talks between JKJAAC, the PoJK government, and other ministers over privileges for elites and reserved seats for refugees broke down last week, rival groups have since staged protests. The fierce clashes between protesters and law enforcers have left at least 10 people dead and several critically injured. On Friday, PoJK observed its fifth consecutive day of a shutdown strike, and the communications blackout imposed on Sunday persisted. It follows the administration's decision to impose an indefinite lockdown amid last week's protests led by the JKJAAC. The demonstrations, which drew massive public support, centred around a 38-point charter of demands put forward by the committee. The unrest stems from the government's failure to address these demands, which include the elimination of reserved seats in PoJK--12 legislative seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees settled in Pakistan were abolished. In addition to political reforms, protesters are also calling for urgent economic relief measures such as slashing electricity tariffs, providing subsidised wheat flour, and ending perks for government officials. They are further demanding free education and health facilities for the people of PoJK. At least 10 people have lost their lives in the violence, and many others have been critically injured, as per Dawn. A fresh round of talks between a high-level government delegation and a civil society alliance was held on Thursday. Talks resumed around noon on Friday at a hilltop hotel in Upper Chattar, Muzaffarabad -- rather than at the chief secretary's office -- and continued until evening, with short breaks for prayers and meals. The JKJAAC delegation comprised Shaukat Nawaz Mir, Raja Amjad Ali Khan and Anjum Zaman Awan, all representing the Muzaffarabad division. The team from Islamabad included Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Rana Sanaullah, Ahsan Iqbal, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Sardar Yousaf, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Masood Ahmed and Amir Muqam. Dawn reported that PoJK PM Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, Legislative Assembly speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar and some other ministers from the region were also in the hotel but not in the negotiation room. The rest of the leadership of JKJAAC remained in Kohala, where Dawn reported, citing police sources, that an estimated 15,000 people had converged from different areas. Late on Friday night, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry took to X and stated that matters between the two sides had been settled, as reported by Dawn. "The final agreement is expected to be signed soon [and] the final round of negotiations is underway," the minister wrote. Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed deep alarm at the ongoing violence in PoJK. "We strongly condemn the use of excessive force and the deaths of civilians and law enforcers alike, as well as communication blackouts," the HRCP posted on X, according to Dawn. Amid ongoing civilian protests in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), India has strongly criticised Pakistan's actions in the region, calling for accountability for its "horrific" human rights violations. Adressing the weekly presser, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday that, "We have seen reports on protests in several areas of Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir, including brutalities by Pakistani forces on innocent civilians." He further stated that the unrest is a "natural consequence of Pakistan's oppressive" approach towards the region. The protests, which have been reported in multiple districts of PoJK, have seen civilian demonstrations against economic hardship, lack of basic services, and exploitation by the Pakistani authorities. Reports from the region also suggest a heavy-handed response by security forces, leading to casualties and widespread condemnation from local groups. (ANI)
National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval met Celso Luis Nunes Amorim, Special Advisor to the President of Brazil, in New Delhi on Friday for the 6th edition of the India-Brazil Strategic Dialogue. The meeting brought together senior officials from both countries to deepen cooperation across multiple sectors and review the progress of their Strategic Partnership. Ambassador Amorim, who led a delegation of senior Brazilian government officials and advisors, discussed with NSA Doval the follow-up on issues agreed under the five pillars of cooperation identified during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's State Visit to Brazil in July this year. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), "The dialogue was an opportunity to review ongoing progress in the Strategic Partnership, including in diverse areas such as defence and security; energy, rare earths and critical minerals; and health and pharmaceuticals." The discussions also touched on global issues and cooperation in multilateral platforms such as BRICS, IBSA, and the upcoming COP-30 climate conference, which Brazil will host in November. The MEA statement added, "Both sides agreed to carry forward the work to implement the vision laid down by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva." The India-Brazil Strategic Dialogue serves as a high-level mechanism to steer bilateral relations, ensuring that the priorities of both governments are implemented through regular consultations. External Minister S Jaishankar also met Brazil's envoy in the national capital. Sharing details of the meeting in a post on X, he wrote, "A pleasure meeting Amb. Celso Amorim, Special Advisor to President of Brazil, today in New Delhi. Had a useful exchange on the current global scenario and on opportunities for deepening our strategic cooperation." Linking to the forthcoming climate summit, President-designate of COP30 and former Brazilian Ambassador to India, Andre Aranha Correa do Lago, has highlighted India's crucial role in the global climate discussions, noting the country's unique position as both an industrially advanced nation and a developing economy. Speaking on India's participation in the Conference of the Parties, Correa do Lago told ANI, "India is one of the most important actors in the Conference of the Parties, as India represents a country that is one of the most advanced, technologically and industrially."He further pointed out that India and Brazil share common challenges: they must pursue development that meets the expectations of their populations while also being climate-conscious." At the same time, it is a developing country like Brazil that still has to lift many people out of poverty. So Brazil and India have a very strong thing in common. When we think of climate, we have to think of development, on the expectations of our populations and how we have to deliver development that will be climate conscious, but also create jobs and bring a better life to our people," he said. The senior diplomat praised India's firm commitment to global climate action, especially under frameworks such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. (ANI)
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi met the Senate President of Colombia, Congress Overseas Chief Sam Pitroda shared on Saturday. In a post on X, he also mentioned the launch of a parliamentary friendship group with Peru for nurturing deeper political, diplomatic and commercial ties between the countries. He wrote, "Accompanied Shri Rahul Gandhi and met Colombian Senate President Lidios Garcia. The launch of a Parliamentary Friendship Group with Peru will foster deeper political, diplomatic & commercial ties between our countries." https://x.com/sampitroda/status/1974290182611562616 After arrival in Peru with Rahul Gandhi, Pitroda shared a picture of receiving a traditional welcome in the country. "Arrived in Lima, Peru along with Shri Rahul Gandhi and received a heartfelt traditional welcome filled with music, dance & culture. Truly moving gesture of friendship", he said on X. https://x.com/sampitroda/status/1974290737769689586 While he was in Colombia, Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, hailed the performance of Indian automobile brands Bajaj, Hero and TVS, saying that through "innovation" rather than "cronyism," these companies are doing well in Colombia. In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "Proud to see Bajaj, Hero & TVS do so well in Colombia. Shows Indian companies can win with innovation, not cronyism. Great job." Meanwhile, his remarks have drawn sharp criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress leader, speaking earlier at an event at EIA University in Colombia, highlighted what he termed "structural flaws" in India's governance and argued that the country's diverse traditions must be allowed to thrive. "India has strong capabilities in areas like engineering and healthcare, so I am very optimistic about the country. But at the same time, there are also flaws in the structure that India has to correct. The biggest challenge is the attack on democracy taking place in India," Gandhi said during his address. Following his statement, the BJP has jumped into the mounting controversy, raising strong objections against the remarks made by Rahul Gandhi, labelling them as "anti-India" and "insulting" to the nation. A BJP leader said that it was Gandhi's nature to tarnish India's image abroad. Congress MP Rajeev Shukla said that Rahul Gandhi does not "malign the country's image in foreign soil" and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders of abusing former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru during their trips to foreign countries. On Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's statement in Colombia, Shukla told ANI, "Rahul Gandhi doesn't malign the country's image on foreign soil. He always speaks positively about the country. But what he is saying about democracy is correct." He pointed out that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is highlighting the issues facing the country and criticised the BJP for dubbing anyone as "anti-national". "India has strong capabilities in areas like engineering and healthcare, so I am very optimistic about the country. But at the same time, there are also flaws in the structure that India has to correct. The biggest challenge is the attack on democracy taking place in India," Gandhi said. The Congress leader argued that the democratic system remains crucial for diversity, allowing different traditions, customs, and ideas, including religious beliefs, to thrive. "India has multiple religions, traditions, and languages -- in fact, the country is essentially a conversation between all these people and cultures. Different traditions, religions, and ideas require space, and the best method for creating that space is the democratic system," Gandhi said. "Currently, there is a wholesale attack on this democratic system, and that is a major risk. Another big risk is the tension between different conceptions in parts of the country. With 16-17 major languages and many religions, it is crucial to allow these diverse traditions to thrive and give them the space they need," he added. (ANI)
A disturbing incident of communal and caste-based discrimination has surfaced in Kotri, Sindh, where a young man from the Hindu Bagri community was brutally assaulted for dining at a local dhaba, as reported by The Express Tribune. According to The Express Tribune, the victim, identified as Dolat Bagri, had gone to a roadside eatery for lunch when the hotel owner and several others objected to his presence. The group reportedly tied Dolat's hands and feet with rope, beat him mercilessly, and looted Rs60,000 from his pockets. Despite his pleas for mercy, the assailants continued to attack him for "daring to eat there."A video of the assault later went viral on social media, prompting outrage and calls for justice. Following the uproar, Kotri police registered a case on Dolat's complaint against seven accused, Fayyaz Ali, Arshad Ali, Moeen Ali, Shafi Muhammad, Niaz, Dar Muhammad, and Ikram, along with the hotel owner. However, despite the registration of the FIR, no arrests have been made so far, raising serious concerns about the police's lack of action and the ongoing persecution of minorities in Sindh. Before the case was lodged, a petition had been filed in the District and Sessions Court of Jamshoro against the SSP and SHO Jamshoro for failing to take action. It was only after the petition was submitted that the police finally filed the case. The incident has once again highlighted the systemic discrimination and violence faced by Pakistan's Hindu minorities, especially those belonging to marginalised communities like the Bagris, who continue to endure widespread prejudice and social exclusion, as reported by The Express Tribune. Condemning Pakistan's negligence, Dr Sharma accused Pakistan of perpetuating a form of "religious apartheid," in direct violation of international human rights treaties. He said the global community must no longer remain silent, adding that the UNHRC must push for immediate accountability and ensure mechanisms are put in place to safeguard persecuted minorities. (ANI)
Rome, Italy (PANA) - The Director General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Amy Pope, concluded a two-day visit to Italy thsi week that included her first official audience with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV in Vatican City, as well as a field mission to Lampedusa, the main landing point for migrants arriving by sea
The Government of Maldives responded to the "Lootuvaifi, Lootuvaifi!" protests, which took place in the country on Friday night by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), reaffirming its commitment to uphold the democratic right to peaceful assembly. The Government stressed that the police action came in the wake of the participants defying the designated routes. The MDP has accused the government of police brutality as thousands of people had turned up on Friday night to participate in the Lootuvaifi protest against the policies of the Muizzu government, alleging widespread corruption and deteriorating living conditions. The demonstration was joined by former Maldives President Ibrahim Solih and former Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid. The largest political party of the Maldives, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), alleged that at least six people have been detained by the police and demanded their immediate, unconditional release. Former Foreign Minister of Maldives, Abdulla Shahid, who is also the President of MDP, in a post on X condemned the use of Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs) by Muizzu's government against MDP supporters and peaceful demonstrators in Male on Friday night. He also condemned the "violent dispersal and indiscriminate arrests of peaceful demonstrators" in Male and raised concerns about human rights and police brutality. https://x.com/abdulla_shahid/status/1974217501967069319 Former President Ibrahim Solih also condemned the disproportionate government action against the protestors. https://x.com/ibusolih/status/1973968589158760884 Ali Ihusaan, the Minister of Homeland Security and Technology, countered the allegations, sharing a video on X where he said that equipment was forcibly taken from an on-duty police officer and said that such actions are not considered a part of peaceful political activity. "Forcibly taking equipment from an on-duty police officer is not considered a peaceful political activity, as it involves coercive or violent actions that disrupt law enforcement duties." https://x.com/min_mohst/status/1974154538140774518 In another post on X Ilhusaan shared how the police had approved an alternative route for the MDP event, which was disregarded, "suggesting that their intent may not have been to hold a peaceful event". In a statement issued on October 2, MDP slammed the Muizzu government and said that the basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution have been violated, the living conditions of the people are deteriorating day by day due to "theft and corruption committed by the government". It also accused the government of trying to destroy the independent media. Sharing other local issues such as hike in commodity, electricity prices, MDP said that the confidence of the financial institutions has been completely lost and the country's economy has declined to an unprecedented level. It thus gave a call for both party members and civilians to participate in the rally. https://x.com/MDPSecretariat/status/1973670887812628523 The Maldives Government, in its official statement on Saturday, reaffirmed its commitment to upholding democratic rights, including the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. Referring to the police statement dated October 1 where the Maldives Police Service had reiterated that all protests and rallies, must be conducted in accordance with the Freedom of Assembly Act, the government said, "Despite this, and the subsequent reminders by the Police, participants defied the designated route and forced their way into Majeedhee Magu, - the busiest street in the Capital Male', disrupting public order, breaking police barricades and seizing police shields and obstructing police duties. The Government reiterates that the Maldives Police Service acted responsibly and with restraint in ensuring public safety, even in the face of obstruction and provocation from the protesters." "The Government of Maldives respects and fully supports the right to protest and the right to freedom of expression to be exercised peacefully in accordance with the law.", it said. (ANI)
The report denounces Pakistan's systematic persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community and the alarming increase in forced conversions and blasphemy-related violence across the country, as reported by Rabwah Times.

According to Rabwah Times, Pakistan's Penal Code openly discriminates against Ahmadis, barring them from identifying as Muslims or practising their faith publicly.

The USCIRF report documented a disturbing surge in violence against Ahmadis in 2025, including the demolition of three Ahmadi mosques in Punjab within a span of ten days in February.

In April, a mob of over 400 attacked another Ahmadi mosque and brutally lynched Laeeq Cheema, an Ahmadi activist who had been documenting previous assaults. Police later arrested 13 individuals linked to the killing.

In Karachi, two Ahmadi men were attacked inside a courtroom in March, leading to the death of one, Tahir Mahmood. In another tragic case, an Ahmadi named Sheikh Mahmood was gunned down in Sargodha after receiving repeated death threats.

The report further revealed how authorities in Punjab excluded Ahmadis from property auctions and even registered cases against 42 members for praying in a private home. During Eid, courts ordered police to stop Ahmadis from congregating, resulting in the arrest of 22 worshippers in Sialkot.

Forced conversions of Hindu and Christian girls persist in Sindh and Punjab, often involving abduction, coercion, and forced marriage. Legal reforms remain limited to Islamabad, with conservative religious bodies dismissing new laws as "un-Islamic," as cited by Rabwah Times.

The USCIRF findings also condemned Pakistan's draconian blasphemy laws, under which hundreds remain imprisoned. It called for the repeal of these laws, an end to forced conversions, and stronger protections for religious minorities, as reported by Rabwah Times. (ANI)
Tablisi [Georgia], October 4 (ANI/WAM): The UAE participated in the 10th UN Global Forum on Gender Statistics, hosted by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) and organised by the UN Statistics Division (UNSD) in Georgia from 1st to 3rd October under the theme "Driving Change with Gender Statistics: A Path to Equality''. The three-day event brought together national statistical offices, UN agencies, policymakers, and researchers to explore and shareinnovations, strengthen partnerships, and advance the use of gender data to inform policy and drive equality at national and global levels. Speaking during a session titled ''Gender data and the digital transformation'', Eng. Ghalya Ali Al Mannaee, Chairwoman of Strategic Affairs and Development, General Women's Union (GWU), presented the "Mother of the Nation 50:50 Vision", which represents the vision of H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the "Mother of the Nation," Chairwoman of the General Women's Union (GWU), President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation (FDF), to empower Emirati women to become a central partner in the UAE's development journey and globally. It reflects the UAE's ambition for its women to become a global model of influence and inspiration and serves as a call for partnership, action, and innovation to ensure Emirati women's presence at the heart of the future, in line with the UAE Centennial 2071 and confidently moving towards 2075. She said that the UAE was the first country in the Gulf region to launch a national strategy for women's empowerment, which established a comprehensive framework for national policies in this area. She noted that these efforts now extend to include female citizens and residents of the country, ensuring that every woman, regardless of her nationality, has the opportunity to thrive and improve her quality of life. She pointed out that the UAE currently leads 31 global gender balance indicators, ranks first regionally in the 2025 Gender Gap Index, and ranks thirteenth globally. She emphasised that these achievements are the result of the efforts of relevant authorities and a clear vision supported by accurate monitoring methodologies, most notably the Women's Progress Monitoring System, which was adopted by the Ministerial Development Council in 2021 with the participation of 155 entities. ''The UAE is currently working to enhance this system using artificial intelligence technologies, which will enable it to anticipate challenges and take proactive steps to address them, so that the system remains a dynamic tool that links vision with practical monitoring mechanisms,'' she said. The UAE's participation in this global event reflects the country's commitment to continuing its pioneering role in shaping the international agenda for women, and consolidating its position as a global model that combines a forward-looking vision with precise monitoring mechanisms, in order to chart a more comprehensive and sustainable future for women until 2075 and beyond. The Forum focused on the importance of gender data for policy planning and the promotion of sustainable development. It provided an important platform to discuss issues related to gender equality, well-being, and inclusive and sustainable development, as well as women's empowerment and their full participation in social and economic life. Special emphasis was placed on violence against women and girls and overcoming gender stereotypes. In addition, participants discussed gender aspects of migration, climate change and explored how gender statistics can drive the digital transformation and transformation of care systems. (ANI/WAM):
Prime Minister Tobgay, in a social media post, said he was "pleased to meet Vikram Misri" and highlighted the wide range of issues discussed, including connectivity, hydropower cooperation, trade and commerce, and people-to-people relations.

Earlier, he also met His Majesty the King and called on the Foreign Minister of Bhutan.

Indian Embassy in Bhutan wrote in an X post, "Together for Progress and Development. In keeping with the tradition of regular high-level exchanges, Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri visited Bhutan on 3 October 2025 for discussions encompassing the entire gamut of special and multifaceted bilateral partnership. During his visit, FS had an audience with His Majesty the King, and called on the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Bhutan."

India and Bhutan share a tradition of regular high-level exchanges. The latest visit by the Indian Foreign Secretary comes as both sides continue to explore new avenues of cooperation, while building on their deep-rooted ties in energy, infrastructure, and cultural exchange.

As per MEA, "India and Bhutan share unique and exemplary bilateral relations, which are based on mutual trust, goodwill and understanding. Formal diplomatic relations between India and Bhutan were established in 1968.

"The basic framework of India-Bhutan relations is the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation signed in 1949 between the two countries, which was renewed in February 2007," MEA said. (ANI)
President Penpa Tsering of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), also known as the Tibetan government in exile, has called on the Canadian government to adopt a firmer stance on Tibet, warning that Chinese policies are systematically eroding Tibetan language, culture, and identity. Addressing the media at the Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa on Thursday, Tsering highlighted the impact of state-run boarding schools in Tibet, likening them to colonial-style institutions designed to assimilate an entire generation of Tibetan youth, as reported by Phayul. According to Phayul, speaking on Canada's National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, Tsering drew a direct parallel between China's boarding schools and Canada's own history of residential schools. "Canada has confronted its past, recognising that residential schools were wrong. Unfortunately, Tibetans are facing a similar experience today," he said, emphasising the urgency of international intervention. Tsering warned that if the current policies continue unchecked, a whole generation of Tibetans could be "turned into Chinese," erasing centuries of cultural heritage. Despite these concerns, Tsering clarified that the CTA does not seek independence or separation from China. "We are willing to coexist peacefully with the Chinese people. That is all we are asking for," he said. He urged Canada to leverage its history and values to ensure that the mistakes of residential schools are not repeated elsewhere, including Tibet. "Since Canada has recognised its past mistakes and is working toward reconciliation, it can help prevent similar injustices in other parts of the world," Tsering stated. Tsering also criticised international bodies for failing to protect Tibet. "The UN is ineffective and cannot enforce its own resolutions," he said, adding that democratic nations like Canada, which prioritise human rights and freedom, are crucial allies in supporting Tibet's struggle. During the press conference, several Canadian MPs and civil society representatives expressed their support for Tibet, including Conservative MP Garnett Genuis, Bloc Quebecois MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Liberal MP Karim Bardeesy, and Canada Tibet Committee senior advisor Charles Burton, as highlighted by Phayul. The conference highlighted the urgent need for global attention on Tibet, with Tsering urging Canada to act decisively in defence of Tibetan cultural survival. The event highlighted the CTA's commitment to peaceful dialogue while pressing for meaningful international support, as reported by Phayul. (ANI)
Former Indian diplomat KP Fabian on Saturday shared his views on the recent statements made by Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while also analysing United States President Donald Trump's ultimatum to Hamas and its wider implications. Fabian strongly criticised the gaps in Trump's proposal. "Trump had nothing to say about it, and apparently, the eight countries, including Pakistan, had nothing to say about it, except that I had seen Pakistan's foreign minister saying that the matter was raised, but Trump sort of pushed it away, saying that he would look at it later. In other words, they did not have the guts to tell Trump that any plan for Gaza without a plan for the West Bank is a non-starter," Fabian told ANI. Expanding on his assessment, the former diplomat added, "I like the phrase you used, Trump's ultimatum, and in fact, the whole Trump plan is an ultimatum. Now, Hamas finds itself in a very difficult situation because the Arab states which have been publicly, ostensibly--mark my words, ostensibly--supporting Hamas have endorsed the Trump proposal, which, incidentally is to be understood, its significance is to be understood as much for what it has said as for what it has not said. Let me explain what it has not said." He underlined that Trump's proposal did not address Israel's actions in the West Bank. "There is no reference to the West Bank, where Israel is continuing with its plans for more settlements, in fact dividing the West Bank into two," he noted. Fabian, however, described Hamas' response as a positive sign. "Now, having said that, I take it that this is a good beginning, that Hamas has responded the way it has, but it has also said that there are matters to be discussed, and it has not as yet said anything about decommissioning its weapons. So again, in the reply also, what is not said is as important as what is said." Turning to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks, Fabian welcomed India's stance. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also said that Israel and Gaza have made decisive progress. Indications of the release of hostages mark a significant step forward. India will continue to strongly support all efforts towards a durable and just peace. This is an excellent statement. At the same time, we should be relieved, not only because the hostages are released, we should be relieved that the genocide that Israel has been carrying on will be stopped at least temporarily." Fabian also urged the Indian media to be more balanced in its coverage. "I am sorry to say, in the Indian media, the reference to the genocide is often absent, and the concentration is only on the hostages. Take a hard look within. Any rights violations? Well, let me put it this way," he said. On India's neighbourhood, Fabian supported the government's stand on Bangladesh. "The statement by our spokesperson is absolutely right. Unfortunately, Bangladesh has this habit of blaming India for problems arising from the Bangladesh government's, interim government's own inaction or wrong action. And, as pointed out by the spokesperson, Pakistan is also fishing in troubled waters. So it is good that it has been pointed out once again." Addressing the warning issued by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Upendra Dwivedi to Pakistan, Fabian cautioned against overstatement. "Sir, the Army Chief has warned Pakistan, said he will erase it from maps, won't exercise restraint. If Pakistan wants to retain its place in geography, then it must stop state-sponsored terrorism, said the Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi. Well, I'll put it this way. Pakistan should be told rather sternly that it should stop exporting terrorism. But to say that we shall erase it from geography, perhaps is an example of unnecessary exaggeration," he said. Finally, he reacted to Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh's statement on Operation Sindoor. "He also said that, as Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh on Friday has said, destroyed multiple Pakistan jets, including five high-tech fighters, likely F-16s, JF-17s in Operation Sindoor. Yes, it's very good that our Air Chief has made this statement now. I also noticed that he said that the F-16s which were destroyed were parked," Fabian said. (ANI)
A Russian strike hit a passenger train in Ukraine's northern Sumy region, causing casualties among civilians, according to Al Jazeera. The incident marks another escalation as Moscow continues its near-daily assaults on the country's railway infrastructure. Regional governor Oleh Hryhorov confirmed on Saturday that the strike targeted a railway station in the Shostka community, hitting a passenger train bound for Kyiv. He also shared an image of a burning carriage at the site of the attack. In a message on Telegram, the acting mayor of Sumy, Artem Kobzar, said: "There are injured passengers. Rescuers, medics, and all emergency services are working at the scene." While authorities did not immediately release figures on casualties, Al Jazeera reported that the attack came just a day after Russia launched its largest overnight air assault in months, striking several regions and targeting energy infrastructure. Ukraine's Ministry of Energy stated on Telegram that the wave of attacks involved both missiles and drones. It added that "rescuers and energy workers were working to eliminate the consequences of the attacks and stabilise the situation as soon as possible." Russian forces have intensified their campaign against Ukraine's railway network, with strikes occurring almost daily over the past two months. These repeated attacks have raised fresh concerns over Ukraine's resilience as winter approaches in the fourth year of the war. The strike on the Sumy passenger train coincided with a broader wave of Russian attacks on Friday, when Moscow's forces also targeted multiple Ukrainian military facilities and gas infrastructure, Russia Today reported, citing the country's Ministry of Defence. According to Russia Today, the Russian defence ministry said that missiles and long-range drones were launched from various platforms overnight which hit all the designated targets. Ukraine's state-owned energy company Naftogaz described the assault as the largest on gas extraction sites in the country to date. The company said the damage from Russian strikes was "critical," noting that sites in the Kharkiv and Poltava regions were hit by about 35 missiles. (ANI)
Speaking at an intellectual session during the Kech Cultural Festival, he emphasised that a multi-ethnic state can only maintain stability when all languages and cultures are treated with equal dignity.

He highlighted that genuine dialogue between the federal government and the province is the only viable way to address Balochistan's persistent challenges, as reported by Dawn.

According to Dawn, the event focused on education, civil society, and journalism in the province and was attended by prominent educationist Pervez Hoodbhoy, senior journalist Shehzada Zulfiqar, and Quetta Press Club President Irfan Saeed.

The speakers collectively urged reforms in education and media, calling for a more inclusive approach to governance and the protection of provincial rights.

Malik Baloch stated that Balochistan's literacy rate remains below 50 per cent, while poverty and social inequality continue to deepen. He stated that the people must be granted their rightful democratic and constitutional freedoms for progress to take root.

Pervez Hoodbhoy emphasised the importance of mother-tongue education at the primary level, stating that it enhances children's understanding and strengthens their cultural identity. Religion teaches morality, while science thrives on observation, reasoning, and experimentation, he stated.

Senior journalist Shehzada Zulfiqar stated that journalism in Balochistan faces severe constraints, with weakened press institutions and limited space for independent reporting.

He observed that social media is increasingly becoming a tool for cultural and civic expression, as highlighted by Dawn.

The president of the Quetta Press Club, Irfan Saeed, pointed out that journalism in the province is losing its essence.

He said journalists from the Makran region could play a pivotal role in bridging this gap, asserting that the cultural vibrancy seen in Kech reflects that "the real Balochistan is still alive," as reported by Dawn. (ANI)
Camps in Loralai, Gardi Jungle, Saranan, Zhob, Qala-e-Saifullah, Pishin, and Muslim Bagh have been affected.

Refugees say they were forced out suddenly without being allowed to gather their belongings.

Bashir Ahmad, a resident of the Gardi Jungle camp, said, "I wasn't even given time to collect my belongings. They told me that if I didn't leave my house, they would burn everything."

Civil aid workers have called on Islamabad to uphold human rights in the process.

Wali Mohammad, a volunteer assisting Afghan refugees in Chaman, said, "I call on the Pakistani government to respect human rights while deporting Afghan refugees. The rest of the world provides citizenship documents to Afghans within five years, but in Pakistan, this has not happened even after decades."

Those expelled say they returned to Afghanistan empty-handed and are struggling for basic needs.

Khalq Dad, a recently returned refugee, stated, "We need shelter and food assistance until we can start working again, because we are unfamiliar with this place and are returning to our areas after decades."

Officials at the border have raised concerns over the growing numbers.

Abdul Latif Hakimi, the registration officer for returnees in Spin Boldak, told Tolo News, "The situation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan is deteriorating. Our information shows that Afghans are being forcibly deported from all areas, which has dramatically increased the number of returnees."

According to Tolo News, more than 13,500 Afghans, including hundreds of former prisoners, have crossed back through Spin Boldak in just the last five days, highlighting the scale of forced deportations.

Authorities said the sudden influx has created urgent demand for humanitarian aid. (ANI)
The fourth edition of India and Australia's bilateral military exercise 'AUSTRAHIND 2025' will be held from October 13 to 26 at Irwin Barracks in Perth, Australia, according to an Indian Army statement released on Saturday. The joint exercise aims "to further strengthen the operational capabilities of both the armies in undertaking joint Company level operations in urban and semi-urban terrain, under the United Nations mandate reflecting the shared commitment towards global peace and security." https://x.com/adgpi/status/1974365255938814144 In a post on X, the Army wrote, "Exercise #AUSTRAHIND 2025: The Fourth edition of the Joint Bilateral Military Exercise #AUSTRAHIND between #India and #Australia will be conducted from 13-26 October 2025 at the Irwin Barracks, Perth, #Australia." "The exercise aims to further strengthen the operational capabilities of both the armies in undertaking joint Company-level operations in urban & semi-urban terrain, under the United Nations mandate -- reflecting the shared commitment towards global peace and security. -- said the Indian army," the post added. The third edition of the India-Australia joint military exercise, 'AustraHind', concluded in November 2024 at the Foreign Training Node in Maharashtra's Pune, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The two-week training programme, designed to enhance cooperation and interoperability between the armed forces of the two nations, was held from November 8 to 21. According to an official statement, participants practised combat scenarios such as raiding a hostile target and administering combat first aid to injured soldiers. These drills aim to improve coordination and build mutual understanding between the Indian and Australian forces. As part of the exercise's social and cultural activities, both contingents participated in an excursion to the historic Sinhagad Fort near Pune, providing a cultural and historical experience. The Australian contingent also had the opportunity to visit the prestigious National Defence Academy (NDA) at Khadakwasla, Pune, on 12 November 2024, the statement said. The exercise was started in 2022 in Rajasthan and has since then become an annual event, which is conducted alternatively in India and Australia. (ANI)
Benghazi, Libya (PANA) - The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) has discussed the upcoming Afro-European Summit scheduled in Angola between the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU)
Armenian Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan has been sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of inciting a coup, deepening tensions between the government and the national church, RT reported. The cleric has rejected the charges, calling them politically motivated. The verdict was issued by a court in Yerevan on Friday. Ajapahyan had been in custody since his arrest in late June. Prosecutors had sought two and a half years in prison, while his defense argued that he was innocent, according to RT. The indictment accused the archbishop of calling for the overthrow of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's government in two media interviews, one in February 2024 and another in June 2025. Following his arrest, Ajapahyan declared, "The Lord will not forgive the pathetic minions who know very well what they do." RT's report also noted that the case comes amid growing discontent in Armenia over Pashinyan's decision to hand over several border villages to Azerbaijan. The move sparked widespread protests, with opposition groups and prominent figures in the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) accusing the prime minister of betraying national interests. Pashinyan, however, defended the handover as part of efforts to end the decades-long conflict with Baku. In August, Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, voiced concern over what he described as the "illegal campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church and its clergy by the ruling political force," according to a statement published by the church. The dispute between the government and the AAC has widened further after the arrest of another high-profile cleric, Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan, in June on charges of terrorism and preparing a coup. Reacting to the escalating rift, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in June that it was an "internal matter" for Armenia. However, he added that many in the large Armenian diaspora in Russia were "watching these events with pain" and did not "accept how this is happening," RT reported. (ANI)
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer will make his first official visit to India from October 8 to 9 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Saturday. According to MEA, during the visit, on October 9 in Mumbai, the two Prime Ministers will take stock of progress in diverse aspects of the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in line with 'Vision 2035', a focussed and time bound 10-year Roadmap of programmes and initiatives in key pillars of trade and investment, technology and innovation, defence and security, climate and energy, health, education and people to people relations. Both leaders will engage with businesses and industry leaders on opportunities presented by the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) as a central pillar of the future India-UK economic partnership, MEA added. Further, the ministry noted that Starmer and PM Modi "will also exchange views on issues of regional and global importance." PM Modi and PM Starmer will also attend the 6th edition of the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai and deliver keynote addresses. The leaders will also engage with industry experts, policymakers and innovators. The visit will build on the momentum and substance generated by PM Modi's visit to the UK on 23-24 July 2025. It will provide a valuable opportunity to reaffirm the shared vision of India and the United Kingdom to build a forward-looking partnership, according to MEA. The India-UK FTA was signed in the presence of PM Modi and Keir Starmer, providing greater access to goods and services between the two countries. The agreement was formalised in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and was officially signed by India's Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, and the UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying said in a release. CETA offers zero-duty access on 99 per cent of tariff lines and opens up key service sectors. Notably, for the marine sector, the agreement eliminates import tariffs on a wide range of seafood products, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of Indian exporters in the UK market. This is expected to particularly benefit exports of shrimp, frozen fish, and value-added marine products, thereby boosting India's presence in one of its major seafood destinations, alongside labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, leather, and gems and jewellery. India's key seafood exports to the UK currently include Vannamei shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), frozen squid, lobsters, frozen pomfret, and black tiger shrimp--all of which are expected to gain further market share under CETA's duty-free access. Under the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), all fish and fisheries commodities falling under the UK tariff schedule categories marked 'A' now enjoy 100 per cent duty-free access from the date of entry into force of the agreement. (ANI)
Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Saturday lauded India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supporting the 50-day Jaipur Foot Artificial Limb Fitment Camp, where free prosthetics were provided to over 800 people. She described the initiative as an extraordinary example of diplomacy rooted in humanity. Speaking at the event, Persad-Bissessar said, "Diplomacy is not just about signing trade treaties. Diplomacy is about the universal language of humanity and sharing with others. That is what had us here today, all thanks to PM Modi..." Expressing her gratitude, she added, "Today was awesome... We cannot thank PM Modi enough for sharing this gift with the people of Trinidad and Tobago. We saw a lot of smiles. It brought tears to my eyes when I saw the children and men realise that they could now walk... May PM Modi continue to share humanity and love throughout the nation... To the government and people of India, to you we say from Trinidad and Tobago, thank you, thank you, thank you. Namaskar..." The Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister also thanked the Jaipur team for its efforts and announced plans for a long-term presence. "We have to thank the whole Jaipur team for pledging today to set up a permanent foot camp in Trinidad and Tobago... Logistics will be worked out..." Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar further confirmed that an artificial foot centre would soon be established in Trinidad and Tobago, extending benefits not only to the nation but also to the wider Caricom community. The announcement came during the inauguration of the camp at the Diplomatic Centre in Port of Spain on October 3. She explained that over the course of 50 days, hundreds of citizens would be measured, fitted, and trained to walk again free of cost, fulfilling PM Modi's earlier commitment. "Just three months later, that promise has taken foot in TT with containers of lightweight limbs shipped from Jaipur, India, guided by High Commissioner (Pradeep Singh) Rajpurohit, partnered with several volunteer groups, our ministries of Social Development and Health and the renowned Jaipur Foot Organisation to make Prime Minister Modi's vision a reality," she said. Highlighting the health challenge, she noted that the Ministry of Health records 350-400 lower-limb amputations annually, mainly due to diabetes and traffic accidents. "With one in six adults living with diabetes in TT, the second-highest rate in the Americas, too often, a small foot wound spirals into the loss of a limb. The economic toll is severe, as a single amputation can reduce a household's income by 20-40 per cent, while a prosthetic limb costs $15,000-$40,000, far beyond the reach of most families," she added. Persad-Bissessar said she was deeply moved after seeing amputees fitted with new limbs at the camp. "Only yesterday they were fitted with new limbs and they were already walking. There is hope, as eight in ten amputees fitted with a quality prosthesis regain basic mobility and one in two returns to work or school within a year," she said. She added, "If even two-thirds of the 800 beneficiaries of this camp regain the ability to earn or study, over 500 people will be restored to full participation in society. This will ignite a wave of productivity, renewed confidence, and dignity across families and communities, transforming lives and strengthening the very fabric of our nation." (ANI)
The Consulate General of India in Houston has expressed deep condolences over the death of Chandrasekhar Pole, an Indian student from Hyderabad, who was killed in a shooting incident in Denton, Texas. In a post on X, the consulate said, "Consulate General of India, Houston, deeply condoles the tragic death of Mr. Chandrasekhar Pole, an Indian student from Hyderabad, who was killed in a shooting incident Denton, Texas. We are in touch with the family and extending all possible assistance." https://x.com/cgihou/status/1974509706157727876 It further stated, "Local authorities are investigating the incident, and we are following up closely with them." Chandrashekhar, who had completed his BDS in India before moving to Dallas for higher studies, was reportedly shot dead in Dallas, United States. His family members confirmed the tragic incident and appealed to the government to facilitate the repatriation of his mortal remains to Hyderabad at the earliest. Providing details of the incident, Chandrashekhar's mother, Sunitha, told ANI, "My son went to the US two years ago. He became a dental doctor here and went there to complete his post-graduation, which he has finished. Two years have passed since he started his PG. We learned about his death from his friend's parents who visited us and shared our grief. We've come to know that he was shot dead by black people last night. We request the central and state governments to ensure the safety of Indians and bring my son's body back home as soon as possible." Reacting to the incident, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA and former Telangana minister T Harish Rao expressed grief, describing Chandrasekhar as a Dalit student from Nagar who had gone to the US for higher studies. In a post on X, Harish Rao informed that he met the grieving family and expressed condolences. "It is tragic that Chandra Shekhar Pole, a Dalit student from Nagar who completed BDS and went to America (Dallas) higher studies, died in a shooting carried out by miscreants early morning," Rao posted. Sharing his condolences further, he said, "The pain that the parents are going through, knowing that their son, who they believed would reach great heights, is no more, is heart-wrenching to witness. My deepest condolences to their family members." Harish Rao also urged the authorities to take steps to bring back the mortal remains of the student. "We, on behalf of BRS, demand that the state government take initiative and make efforts to bring Chandra Shekhar's mortal remains to his hometown as quickly as possible," he stated. The tragic incident comes close on the heels of another case involving the Indian community in Dallas. Last month, Chandra Mouli "Bob" Nagamallaiah, a 50-year-old motel manager of Indian origin, was brutally beheaded in Texas in front of his wife and son following an argument over a washing machine. (ANI)
Nepal's interim government's Prime Minister Sushila Karki has urged caution as continuous rainfall across the country has triggered risks of floods, landslides, and inundation. In a recorded video statement, the Nepali Prime Minister also claimed that the government is fully prepared for rescue and relief operations, highlighting forecasts that heavy rainfall is likely to persist for another two days. "According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, there is a possibility of continuous rain for two more days. We are at high risk of floods, landslides, inundation and erosion, and the risk situation is increasing. Currently, the flow of rivers and streams is at a high alert level, and there is a high possibility that it may go to a danger level due to continuous rain. There is also a risk of landslides in many places. In this challenging time, I would like to assure all citizens that government agencies are fully prepared with high morale for rescue and relief despite the adverse natural conditions. At this time, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, Nepal Army, administration, health workers, other service agencies, and emergency services are on standby 24 hours a day to provide immediate assistance to citizens and secure vulnerable areas," the interim Prime Minister said. Monitoring of key highways and infrastructure is underway, the Prime Minister added, with a commitment to reopen road links as soon as conditions permit. Appealing directly to the public, Karki said: "Wherever you are, stay safe and encourage others to remain safe. Do not travel unless absolutely necessary. Avoid crossing floodwaters or landslide-prone areas." She also urged residents in flood- and landslide-risk zones to prioritise the safety of life and property, and to follow official alerts and instructions issued by police and disaster management authorities. "Your safety is our primary concern. Do not hesitate to seek necessary assistance. Assessing the risk of potential disasters, the government has decided to declare public holidays across the country on Ashoj 19 and 20, 2082 (October 5 and 6, 2025)," the Prime Minister said. (ANI)
China replacing the United States as a global hegemon would be difficult, said Professor Srikanth Kondapalli, Chinese Studies Expert at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). In an interview to ANI, Professor Kondapalli explained, "It would be pretty hard for China to actually take that seat...It would be hard to think of that because the US came with a liberal world order. The Chinese are coming with a Middle Kingdom world order, it is hierarchical rather than equal. So, it would be pretty hard for countries like India to accept this Middle Kingdom world order...India has a territorial dispute with China that has not been resolved. India also has two neighbours who have nuclear weapons. India is concerned about those issues. India is also concerned about China's role in Indian Ocean Region...The list is long on why India cannot join Chinese bandwagon so quickly." On the United States' tariff on India, Professor Kondapalli said, "...it probably got activated due to personal egoistic reasons on the Nobel Prize or ceasefire...This is a rub between US and China. I do not think the tariff issue or other issues are the main, it is about China challenging US as the global hegemon. That has led to all of these issues...I think this is a temporary phase, this is more related to ego problems...I believe in about a few months, we will have a very clear vision and more likely that India will bounce back in the US strategic calculus..." Discussing China's response to the Pahalgam attacks, Professor Kondapalli observed, "After the Pahalgam attacks, (Chinese) Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that there should be an impartial inquiry into the Pahalgam attacks, forgetting for a moment that China never accepted any investigation into the Xinjiang Uyghur insurgency-related incidents or that during COVID-19 pandemic they did not allow the WHO delegation to go and visit. So, it is quite strange that China now takes up the fair investigation..." On the Chinese role in the Pahalgam incident, he added, "On April 22nd, when the Pahalgam incident took place, one of the terrorists was carrying a Huawei phone with Chinese satellite connection. He was messaging back to Pakistan after the Pahalgam attacks. So, there is a Chinese role here...The Chinese have supplied satellite images of Pahalgam before the attack. 120-129 slides have been given to the Pakistanis...This is another incident where the Chinese were helping the Pakistani side, despite the counter-terrorism pledge with the Indians, also with the international community in the SCO..." (ANI)
Chinese Studies Expert Professor Srikanth Kondapalli has expressed scepticism over the possibility of China's relationship with Pakistan being impacted amid Pakistan's growing proximity to the United States. In an interview with ANI, Professor Kondapalli noted that China will maintain its relationship with Pakistan, particularly given the significant investments in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). However, he acknowledged that the US' recent diplomatic approach towards Pakistan, including reports of acquiring Bagram airbase with Pakistani assistance and a possible patch-up between Israel and Pakistan to counter Iran's nuclear issue, can alter regional geopolitical dynamics, and there is a "chance" for China moving away from Pakistan, given the Pakistani proclivity to move towards US. Professor Kondapalli said, "Field Marshal Munir visited China a few weeks ago and the Chinese concern is the CPEC's security, prosperity, etc. So, I do not think that the Chinese are moving away from Pakistan. Although there are some signals like Bagram base that Americans want to acquire with the Pakistani assistance. Secondly, there is also the American acquiring of bases in Pakistan to counter China. Thirdly, a new patch-up between Israel and Pakistan to counter Iran's nuclear issue." "If these are real, if these are what they have decided, then there is a chance for China moving away from Pakistan, given the Pakistani proclivity to move towards the United States. But all these are just in about a year or so, we will get to know, because by November 2026, there will be midterm elections and the manoeuvrability for president," he added. However, Professor Kondapalli also acknowledged that there is still no concrete evidence of deepening ties between the US and Pakistan. He further highlighted that China has invested $52 billion in Pakistan through CPEC, which is nearly double the US' investment of $24 billion, suggesting the depth of China's engagement with the country. He stated, "As of now, we do not have enough evidence to show that Pakistan is moving too close to the United States and away from China. China had given Pakistan $52 billion in the CPEC. United States gave Pakistan $24 billion so far in counterterrorism measures and others. So the weight of China is more in Pakistan than compared with the US. There are 36,000 Chinese security guards in Pakistan. These are basically people's armed police force. I don't think these many Americans are living in Pakistan." (ANI)
The parents of a six-year-old boy from Oklahoma were arrested by police after the young child told neighbors that he suffered from alleged abuse at home.

Moore police responded to a house in a neighborhood on Sept. 21, after one resident called regarding an unusual and upsetting development. In a statement, Clint Byley of the Moore Police Department (MPD) said that the boy was kind of "wandering in and out of the traffic and roadway."

Child's Parents Arrested for Abuse

He added that the young boy told the resident who called the police that he had run away from home because of abuse. Law enforcement personnel also noticed an open wound on the boy's foot, which was infected and unhealed.

Then, the boy's parents showed up at the scene after they noticed that their son was missing from their home. Police informed the couple of what they found and escorted them back to the MPD, where they were interviewed, according to ABC7 Chicago.

While the parents were being interviewed, their child was transferred to a hospital to be treated for his injuries. The couple then admitted to the alleged abuse, saying that they used lighters to burn the bottom of their son's foot. The boy was also found to be malnourished, officials said.

The CEO of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, Joe Dorman, said that his initial reaction to the incident was, "Here we go again." He noted that this type of abuse is quite alarming, but added that vigilant neighbors were able to help get the abusers arrested.

Dorman said that the first thing that people should watch out for in trying to determine abuse is isolation. He explained that oftentimes, families that abuse children within their households try to keep them isolated from other people, KOCO reported.

How To Spot Child Abuse

He added that another thing people should keep a lookout for is when parents start to act suspiciously. Dorman said that when this happens, it never hurts to check on the children, and if people are not comfortable doing it themselves, they can contact the authorities.

After the parents were brought to the Cleveland County Detention Center and charged with child abuse and the young boy is now safe in state custody.

The latest incident comes after two individuals were arrested after their adopted child died due to alleged child abuse. The San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) announced the arrest of the suspects, Jonathan and Christina Miranda, who are accused of the murder of a 10-year-old child, as per News4 San Antonio.
At least 91 civilians were killed in Sudans besieged city of El-Fasher within 10 days last month, according to a United Nations statement on Thursday, 2 October 2025.

The deaths were the result of intensified attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) between 19 and 29 September, as they continued their push to seize the city from the military. El-Fasher, the armys last major stronghold in Darfur, has become the focal point of Sudans brutal civil war, which erupted in 2023 following a power struggle between former allies  the RSF and the military. The conflict has already claimed at least 40,000 lives and displaced about 12 million people, with over 24 million now facing severe food insecurity.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk condemned the attacks on El-Fashers Daraga Oula neighbourhood, citing artillery shelling, drone strikes, and ground incursions by the RSF. On Wednesday, the RSF launched a missile strike on residential areas, killing 16 people, including three women, and injuring 21 others. This came shortly after two separate RSF assaults that killed 15 people in a market and at least 70 worshippers in a mosque. Turk warned of the growing risk of large-scale, ethnically-driven attacks and atrocities and called for immediate international action to halt the violence. The Sudanese army claimed it had inflicted heavy losses on RSF fighters, including foreign mercenaries with drone expertise, but the RSF did not respond to requests for comment.

As the siege tightened, civilians have been forced to flee on foot to Tawila, about 60 km away, where Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has been providing emergency medical care. Since 25 September, MSF has received 484 patients, including 111 children, many suffering from gunshot wounds, malnutrition, torture and sexual violence. The journey itself is perilous  some displaced families reported burying relatives along the route, as the severely wounded rarely survive the six-day trek. Aid agencies have warned that without immediate humanitarian access, those trapped in El-Fasher face starvation and preventable deaths due to the lack of food, medicine, and treatment.

The siege has also intensified risks for journalists and activists. According to a Committee to Protect Journalists report on Wednesday, media personnel in El-Fasher face targeted violence, arrests, rape and intimidation by RSF fighters, who rely on informants to track them down. One female journalist was gang-raped after her home was raided. Everyone is afraid to work, said journalist Lana Awad Hassan, who fled after being shot in the leg. Meanwhile, Egypt has signaled support for diplomatic efforts to end the siege, with its foreign minister Badr Abdelatty holding talks with his Sudanese counterpart Mohi el-Din Salem. However, details of any potential breakthrough remain unclear.
King Mohammed VI has hailed the strong ties of brotherhood and cooperation existing between Morocco and Iraq and renewed his determination to continue working together with the Iraqi President Abdel Latif Jamal Rachid to enshrine these ties in favor of the two brotherly peoples.

This came in a message of congratulation the Monarch addressed to the Iraqi President on the occasion of his countrys national day.

In this message, the Monarch expressed his warm congratulations to President Jamal Rachid and his sincere wishes for further progress and prosperity for the brotherly Iraqi people.
Morocco and Spain continue strengthening scientific and technological cooperation in renewable energy through two new projects selected under the INNO-ESPAMAROC ENERGY call for proposals. The fourth edition, announced at the 5th World Power-to-X Summit, mobilized 3 million dirhams in global financing supporting collaborative renewable energy, green technology, and water-energy nexus desalination initiatives, reported Maroc Diplomatique news platform.

The Solar Energy and New Energy Research Institute (IRESEN) partnered with Spains Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) to evaluate projects through scientific and strategic steering committees. Selected initiatives demonstrate the joint commitment of Morocco and Spain to transforming research results into concrete solutions contributing to global energy transition while consolidating both countries industrial competitiveness.

IRESEN Director General Samir Rachidi told the media that through INNO-ESPAMAROC ENERGY, we reaffirm that collaborative innovation and technology transfer constitute decisive levers for accelerating energy transition and solidly positioning Morocco and Spain as strategic partners in the global green molecules economy.

The first selected project, E-PAVE, valorizes road infrastructure by transforming it into renewable energy sources. The system integrates electrospun piezoelectric membranes directly into asphalt to capture vehicle traffic-generated energy while maintaining pavement durability and resistance. This technology combines nanotechnology with recycled materials offering scalable solutions with technical and economic viability. The consortium includes Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Ain Chock College of Sciences, and FOX Transport company.

The second project, STDSCWG, focuses on sustainable drinking water access in arid zones and regions with limited freshwater supplies. This renewable energy-powered desalination system automatically adjusts parameters to optimize performance, limit losses, and reduce costs. The Hassan II Agronomic and Veterinary Institute serves as scientific partner while Harmony Technology provides industrial partnership.

Beyond scientific and technological dimensions, these initiatives generate concrete results across multiple domains including innovative exportable solutions, enhanced energy sovereignty, strengthened Moroccan-Spanish industrial competitiveness, and new training and employment perspectives for highly qualified workforces.

The fifth edition of the World Power-to-X Summit, held in Marrakech October 1-2, brought together 2,000 attendees from 40 countries and 125 speakers who addressed what organizers termed the global hydrogen gap between ambition and implementation.

On the sidelines of the event, Moroccan officials and several international stakeholders highlighted the Kingdoms potential in developing the green hydrogen sector. Morocco aims to turn its natural resources and strategic geographic position into key assets to attract investment and build a competitive value chain in the green hydrogen industry.
Moroccos National Library (BNRM) is taking part in the 11th edition of the Baku International Book Fair, currently being held in the Azerbaijani capital.

As part of this cultural event, a partnership and cooperation agreement was signed between the BNRM, represented by its Director, Samira Malizi, and the National Library of Azerbaijan, focusing primarily on librarianship, exchange of expertise and publications, and the organization of joint activities, within the framework of strengthening cultural cooperation between Morocco and Azerbaijan.

Mrs Malizi participated in an international conference on the Role of National Libraries in Preserving Cultural Heritage. In her address, she highlighted the role of Moroccos National Library in preserving and promoting the countrys documentary heritage.

The Moroccan pavilion at the fair that was inaugurated on Friday at the National Library of Azerbaijan, by Mrs Malizi and her Azerbaijani counterpart, Karim Tahrov, showcases Moroccan publications donated by the BNRM to the Azerbaijani institution. These publications cover the history, geography, and heritage of the Kingdom, as well as the major development projects launched by King Mohammed VI, in addition to works devoted to the Green March.

The Baku International Book Fair, which runs until October 7, provides a platform for interaction between publishers and readers and seeks to strengthen the presence of the publishing industry in the digital age.
Illustration: Zohar Lazar

This article was featured in One Great Story, New Yorks reading recommendation newsletter. Sign up here to get it nightly.

Charlotte, a young professional in her mid-30s who lives in Bushwick, started seeing her therapist following a serious mental-health crisis in 2021. (Like all the people referenced by first name in this story, Charlotte is using a pseudonym.) Although the therapist never revealed her politics, it became apparent over the years that she was a fairly observant Jew. At one point long before October 7, 2023, Charlotte told her therapist that she was pro-Palestine, and she said the information was accepted neutrally. But in the weeks after that cataclysmic day, Charlotte, who is also Jewish, felt deep in her bones that she couldnt tolerate hearing anything in her therapy session other than Free Palestine echoed back to her  and she assumed that her therapist wasnt up for that particular task. I told her, I dont think that I can handle having a conversation where we dont see eye to eye, Charlotte recalled. And she said something like, I understand why you feel the way you do, and I dont think that we see fully eye to eye on this either. I respect that you have a lot of empathy and that youre very troubled by this. And if its important that we have a conversation of equal opinion, then that might not be a productive conversation for us. She was very empathetic and caring.

They moved on to other topics, but soon after the session, over email, Charlotte ended the relationship. She now sees a non-Jewish anti-Zionist therapist who she said understands her rage and grief but doesnt quite grasp what she calls the existential dark despair of being Jewish right now. She thinks about her former therapist sometimes but doesnt regret the switch. I dont think that I could be in a therapeutic relationship with somebody supportive of the State of Israel at this point. I wouldnt feel like they have the same baseline understanding of what constitutes care and empathy and a good world, she said. I would not trust them enough to provide psychological care to me or to anyone, really.

Joshua, a 30-something writer in Brooklyn, was facing perhaps the most common New York Jewish dilemma of his generation: He felt constantly stressed, trapped between conservative Zionist older family members and progressive anti-Zionist friends. His therapist  elderly, Jewish  was unable to listen neutrally as Joshua discussed his friends beliefs; instead, she openly argued against their viewpoints. Soon, the two found themselves in full-on debates about the nature of therapy itself. I would argue that she was showing her hand too much and that I needed her to accept that these ideas were a large part of my life. We both lost our composure several times, he said. I think I took a lot of my general frustration around the fissures within the Jewish community out on her. One session became so heated that Joshua ended the Zoom call midway through. Soon after, Joshua paused the sessions entirely, refusing his therapists requests to meet again to repair their relationship and restart. Im not particularly proud of my handling of the therapy, Joshua wrote to me. He hasnt seen a therapist since.

It took less than five minutes for Aubreys relationship with their new therapist to fall apart. Over a handful of sessions, the 37-year-old discussed their journey to sobriety, their struggles with neurodivergence at work, their nonbinary gender identity, their Jewishness, and their feelings of social isolation and grief since October 7, when many of Aubreys friends had declared themselves hard-line anti-Zionists, some of them calling Hamas attack and kidnapping of Israelis justifiable. Aubrey, who supports Israel as a Jewish state and homeland, had been plunged into social isolation with no one to talk to about their wrenchingly complicated feelings. They lost friends, cut off contact with a sponsee in their 12-step program, and ceased attending queer- and trans-focused recovery meetings. Aubrey had sought out a Jewish therapist with the hope that a shared culture could make talking about their current situation easier. The therapist seemed like a person who was validating my experiences and feelings, Aubrey told me from their living room in Queens, where the AC was cranked up on an unusually stifling September afternoon. I felt like I could trust her and had positive hopes for the relationship.

But as their third session wound down, the therapist explained that she had people in her life who were Palestinian activists and that she herself had split from her Zionist family. She said she knew colleagues who were accepting Zionist clients and didnt have weird dual ties. She wondered if Aubrey would feel more heard with one of them. Aubrey was stunned. Im not anti-Palestinian or anything, and I would never hold anything against somebody who believes in Palestinian self-determination, because I also do, Aubrey told their therapist. I dont see being pro-Palestinian as being anti-Israel. Though Aubrey would have stayed in her care, the therapist continued to push to refer Aubrey to someone else. After the session, the two never spoke again.

In the months since the breakup, Aubrey has reflected on it frequently. The rejection jolted them, and what the therapist assumed about Aubreys beliefs offended them. I had been seeking therapy to deal with the trauma of losing inclusive spaces, Aubrey told me. It felt really ironic. And hurtful.

In the two years since Hamas October 7 attack on Israel and the beginning of the brutal war in Gaza, the American Jewish community has ruptured. Hostile factions have formed over support of Israel, leaving just about everyone, no matter where they stand, feeling judged and alienated and angry. Colleagues and friends are horribly estranged. Family members arent speaking to one another. Some observant anti-Zionist Jews cannot find a place to comfortably pray. Others are afraid to gather, seeing news of deadly hate crimes, including one this Yom Kippur at a synagogue in Manchester, England. In New York City, which has the largest population of Jews in the U.S., Jewish people across the political spectrum have told me theyve developed a new and persistent insecurity, wondering what assumptions others might be making about them and their beliefs. The terms Zionism and anti-Zionism have become proxy labels for unambiguous moral positions, said Halina Brooke, a psychotherapist and founder of the Jewish Therapist Collective, an online community that helps patients find Jewish practitioners and offers support to Jewish therapists. When people see you as a living caricature of the worst of humanity, its a lot.

Fraught relationships, guilt, loneliness, anger, anguish, fear  those are precisely the types of messy feelings often best explored in the sanctuary and confidentiality of a therapists office. Yet when Israel or Gaza comes up, it doesnt take much to shatter the trust between therapist and patient. Sometimes it comes down to a single loaded word. Ive seen people who said their therapist said genocide and they freaked out, and then Ive had people who themselves said genocide and their therapist freaked out, said Yael, a Jewish therapist who works with both Zionist and anti-Zionist patients in the city. Therapists are dropping their Jewish patients basically because theyre coming in saying, My husband is Israeli, and Im suffering, or My father is Israeli, or I went to Israel last summer, said Sasha, a Jewish psychotherapist in lower Manhattan. They hear patients say, Im a Zionist, and its been really hard for me. Ive lost a lot of my friends and family. And the therapist just immediately shuts it down. They are sending letters saying their values do not align.

The contentiousness has extended beyond the cozy offices up and down Manhattan lined with John Gottman books and white-noise machines. It has ripped apart the consultation listservs and referral groups that therapists rely on to treat their patients. It has also created controversy in and around therapists professional organizing bodies, including the American Psychological Association and the International Psychoanalytical Association, over which topics can be discussed at conferences or what kinds of official statements should be published. In an era of desperate Facebook and Reddit pleas for like-minded practitioners (Finding a Jewish therapist who isnt anti-Israel?; Is my therapist a Zionist extremist?; Any other Jewish therapists feeling really alone?), many Jews are coming to the sinking realization that some subjects are too sensitive for the therapists office. Eyal Rozmarin, a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in Tribeca who asked to be identified as from Israel-Palestine, said the tension Jews are feeling that has spilled into therapy is particularly intense, even as the rupture has shaken so many non-Jews, too. We were the center of one terrible story 80 years ago that has influenced the whole world with international law, and now were back in the center but the other way. We find ourselves in a very tricky position.

The Catholics have confession, and the Jews have therapy, my husband, a Jewish psychiatrist, said to me the other night as I mentioned how therapy has become, for so many New York City Jews, an awkward or contentious space. The history of the profession, especially in New York, is intricately tied up with the Jewish Diaspora  imported or informed by European Jews including Sigmund Freud, Viktor Frankl, and Alfred Adler as well as others who spread the burgeoning craft as they fled persecution in the 1930s and 40s. More recently, a survey from the early aughts estimated that almost one in three psychiatrists in the U.S. were Jewish  compared with 13 percent of medical doctors  a figure that is especially striking when you consider how only 2.4 percent of the American population is Jewish. Psychotherapy is a very Jewish profession, Leonard Saxe, a social psychologist and scholar of contemporary Jewish life at Brandeis University, told me. Jews, whether they are observant or not, are part of a culture that is introspective, questioning, and that sees personal responsibility as key, Saxe said. These issues are central to psychotherapy.

The field is now populated with all kinds of practitioners, and the types of therapy that are practiced can look very different from those of a hundred, or even 20, years ago. The trope of the neutral observer sitting by a couch asking, And how did that make you feel?, has somewhat faded as a variety of modalities have evolved and gained popularity. Personal disclosures on the part of the therapist  once completely taboo  can now be seen as a potentially useful part of some practitioners therapeutic practice, a means to help patients relate and dig deeper. To varying degrees, a therapists background and experience have now entered the office, and patients increasingly want to know who their therapist really is. This itself puts therapists on the spot.

Philip Herschenfeld, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who has been in practice on the Upper East Side for 55 years, said that he, like many therapists, would not talk about his politics with patients but that some seek confirmation of their suspicions. They may ask, Are you outraged by what Netanyahu is doing? Are you outraged by what Hamas did? That sort of thing, he told me. He handles those questions analytically by trying to understand whats behind them. He may respond, Are you trying to find out if were on the same team?

Lynn Bufka, a clinical psychologist and head of the American Psychological Associations psychology practice, said the matter of disclosing ones relationship to Zionism or anti-Zionism is a bit of a gray area, but so is any kind of personal disclosure. As a clinician, you think very carefully about the question of What do I reveal about myself and what I might be experiencing to any patient? and do so only in what you believe to be the interest of the patient, she said. Its not about an opportunity to self-discover or to be joined with another person.

Every topic is complicated in some way. Bufka said she had a colleague whose partner died after suffering from Parkinsons disease. When she has a new patient who comes in who has a family member with Parkinsons, she has to think about, What does she say? What does she not say? How does this impact that? If the therapist offers too much information about their own struggle with the illness, it could alienate the patient. But helping the patient relate to another person who understands what they are going through may bolster that patients ability to face the pain of the situation.

Kevin Hershey, a psychotherapist and licensed master social worker who practices in the Financial District, said that, for many patients, a therapists Zionism orientation (pro- or anti-) has become as significant as their gender or sexual identity, adding that he is seeing way more need for Zionist and anti-Zionist therapists on the therapist listservs he browses. One in particular is regularly inundated with specific stipulations. I even saw one posting that was like, I need a therapist who is a liberal Zionist who believes in a two-state solution, he said.

Some therapists  mostly anti-Zionists  have made their stance an explicit part of their treatment. Alex, a licensed master social worker in Brooklyn, identifies as anti-Zionist on their web page. I believe in offering it as an indication that Im a safe space for certain conversations, they told me. I asked Alex if they had ever treated a Zionist patient, and they declined to answer, in deference to patient confidentiality. I rephrased my question: As a policy, are you open to treating Zionist clients? I dont think it would be safe or comfortable for someone who identifies as a Zionist to work with me  for them, they said. There would be a level of dissonance that would get in the way of their healing.

Theres a genocide of the Palestinian people happening, and there is a lot of focus on Jewish needs, anxieties, and perceived antisemitism, Alex continued. If theres anything I say that Id want you to publish, it would be that we have to decenter Jewish feelings. They later clarified that they also see decentering as an active practice, urging their clients to go to rallies or to volunteer.

Another licensed mental-health counselor who sees lots of Jewish clients told me about patients they knew  people who had been actively examining their politics  who were unnerved when the therapists they saw asserted their own perspectives. The clients felt hemmed in and eventually sought new care, feeling their therapists value system imposing on their sessions, the counselor said.

In his own practice, when Hershey senses a patient wants to gauge his Zionism status, he double-checks that he has intuited their desire correctly: Ill ask, Do you want to know what I think about this? Some of them have said yes. Hershey is not Jewish but feels a kinship with the Jewish community, having participated in a Jewish social-justice leadership program. He has many Jewish patients and considers himself anti-Zionist, though he doesnt advertise himself as such. Ive been pretty involved with Jewish Voice for Peace, he told me. Ive told that to a couple Jewish clients. One is probably further to the left than I am about it, and I think, for him, it just helps him feel like he doesnt have to explain himself so much.

He also told that to an Israeli client, a woman whose stance he described as against settlements and in favor of a cease-fire but also very much wanting her homeland to continue to exist. Disclosing some of his own experience to her led to an outcome that seems rare in therapy offices and even less likely in the real world: We discovered we can trust each other and really like each other and not have 100 percent alignment on everything. Zionist friends of the client had cut off communication with her, and she was worried her anti-Zionist friends might do the same. She told Hershey that, though she dislikes JVP, she still felt comfortable talking to him: She said, Its a relief that you and I can tolerate this ambiguity.

In a few stories I heard, the conflict in the therapists office just sounded like bad therapy: A Jewish attorney in her 30s told me that after October 7, when she started having panic attacks during her solo morning runs, her therapist, who was not Jewish, mentioned she had heard Hamas was treating the hostages well. Another client, who isnt Jewish but has a Jewish wife, left the care of an older Jewish therapist after he implied she should vote for Andrew Cuomo because Zohran Mamdani is pro-Palestinian.

But for the most part, the therapists I talked to emphasized that they prize the patients therapeutic experience above all else, in some cases being hypervigilant not just about what they disclose but how they respond to their patients in the moment as they feel their stomach drop because of an offensive or divisive statement. The whole point of therapy is to help the patient learn more about their own mind, said Herschenfeld. In general, if somebody leaves their therapy over a political issue, theres been some error on the part of the therapist, either in revealing too much or in taking a stand of some sort.

Some therapists and patients told me therapy had been helpful and productive when it came to grappling with their angst over Israel. A 48-year-old Jewish woman in Brooklyn shared that she has felt more comfortable speaking openly about the war with her longtime therapist than with her husband, who disagrees with her on aspects of the conflict  an issue that has led to marital tension. I also talked to a Modern Orthodox queer woman in Sheepshead Bay who said her non-Jewish Caribbean therapist has listened neutrally  and with a lot of empathy  as she talks about her Zionism. Still, in many cases, I realized acrimony can have a way of creeping in despite therapists best intentions and regardless of the therapeutic modality. Sometimes the patient is looking for a fight. Thats not uncommon, Herschenfeld said.

Therapy, like so much else, is not a perfect art. As therapists, our self is the tool, Rozmarin said. Thats what I have to work with  my insight, my thinking, my feeling, my unconscious.

When a therapist has a patient who falls outside their comfort zone, cultural competency, or personal boundaries, the first step, said Bufka, is always to try to consult with colleagues and say, Heres the dilemma Im struggling with. Especially for therapists in private practice, thats where email listservs, Facebook groups, and, more recently, Discord groups and Slack channels come in. But many people I talked to said that during the past two years, these listservs have themselves exploded over the same issues tearing therapists and clients apart.

Discussions about patient referrals have gone off the rails. Some therapists said forums that used to be populated by mundane questions about office space or insurance reimbursement have been overtaken by heated altercations, some devolving into arguments about whether its even acceptable to devote time and space in these forums to questions about Jewish patients. Some Jewish therapists have left these forums entirely.

If someone is looking for anything for a Jewish person whos been through trauma  lets say someone says, I need a Russian-speaking therapist for a Jewish family whose house burned down, that was one of them  the comments will be full of I wonder if maybe its good for them to know what its like in Gaza. And its, like, this is a family that has never lived in Israel. This is their house in Westchester, said Brooke, the founder of the Jewish Therapist Collective.

In Chicago earlier this year, a member of an anti-racist therapists Facebook group was reprimanded by the Illinois professional licensing body for creating and distributing a blacklist of therapists with Zionist affiliations. Some on the list had not publicly identified themselves as Zionist; they told Jewish Insider their only unifying factor was being Jewish. (In a twist, some redditors began recommending the blacklist as a resource for Zionist patients.) In February 2025, a group called Psychologists Against Antisemitism sent an open letter to the APA calling for, among other things, decorum on its listservs, where they say members have openly cheered for Hamas. (In July, the Academic Council of Jewish Voice for Peace sent its own open letter to the APA endorsing a petition from Psychologists for Justice in Palestine that demands the APA change its definition of antisemitism to allow for open criticism of Israel and its supporters.)

Brooke told me she founded the Jewish Therapist Collective after an incident in a national therapists Facebook group in which a non-Jewish therapist asked if anyone could help with a Jewish patient feeling anxiety. A few Jewish therapists responded in the comments section to offer their guidance. Then, all of a sudden, someone came in and went, How dare you focus on Jews right now? Essentially as though one Facebook post would rob the space for another, she said. And the poor original poster apologized and turned off comments and said she was going to think about her transgressions. (She said this Facebook group is no longer active.)

The fighting in the mental-health profession isnt limited to online spaces or national organizations. A few months ago, the famed psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk was banned from teaching at the Omega Institute, a holistic education center upstate, after he went off-script from his talk about trauma therapy and compared Israelis to Nazis in front of an audience that included American Jews and Israelis as well as at least one descendant of Holocaust survivors. Van der Kolk later issued an apology, calling his comments gratuitous, offensive, inaccurate and completely unnecessary. In an email to New York Magazine, however, he wrote that he now regrets the over the top language in his apology and wished he had instead compared what is happening in Gaza to what Andrew Jackson did to the Seminoles in their trail of tears. He said in his Omega Institute talk he was speaking about how the deep need to belong often leads to people applying completely different moral standards to their own communities.

For Brooke, anecdotes like this underscore why many Jewish therapists have come to feel they need separate, insulated spaces for professional support. Her group now has thousands of members, many of whom, she said, use it as their primary place for referrals and advice. The Jewish flight from greater therapy spaces to more insulated ones  we have a right to do it, and its important that we find care for ourselves, Brooke said. But my goodness, the therapists whove pushed us out  they have no idea the emptiness of insight that is left when the Jews leave.

For those of us who believe in therapy at all, its as a place to unpack and process our heaviest issues so each of us can face the world with a deeper understanding of ourselves and a better ability to handle hardship and conflict. But when there is so much estrangement that even a longtime therapist cant be trusted, who can be confided in? And if we can no longer use the therapists office as a place to explore the dark nuances of our own grief and confusion, where can we go instead?

When the first therapist I interviewed told me a therapeutic relationship could be wrecked by the mention of a Birthright Israel trip, I laughed. The idea seemed absurd. But over the hours I spent talking about it with therapists, I started to understand how quickly things could go sideways. Every so often, I felt it: the jolt of awkwardness and dislocation as I took in a comment that struck me as out of bounds  potentially even interview-ending if Id failed to maintain a neutral demeanor. Patients and therapists, Zionist and anti-Zionist alike, blithely shared extreme viewpoints that I would have found disqualifying had they been uttered by my own therapist or that, I imagine, would have been hard to hear week after week if I were their therapist. One used the R-word to describe anti-Zionists. Another suggested there is beauty in the idea of the Jews being a placeless people. My mind flashed to my traumatized Jewish grandparents emerging from a forest in what is now Belarus, homeless and nationless, after narrowly escaping the fate of their own children, spouses, siblings, and parents. I struggled for a moment when someone referred to October 7 as an infringement. When another person suggested Jews shouldnt draw attention to their anxiety, I felt sort of abandoned  like I was being told I wasnt deserving of help.

More than a few times, I was also struck by the fact that the therapist across the Zoom screen was really wise. Gently, as they shared their therapeutic philosophies, I found my own thinking adjust. I momentarily regretted that I had now made myself ineligible to be their patient. With those practitioners, I wanted to disclose more.

Sometimes, when a therapist teared up sharing a story of discomfort or their own difficulty in dealing with this moment, I felt as if I were the therapists therapist. I could see how much this crisis pained them on so many levels. But the stories that really stuck with me were from Jewish patients who had been scared off from therapy entirely after alienating experiences or, somewhat more hauntingly, who love working with their therapist and find themselves unwilling to risk the breach that might occur if they shared how they feel or the hard things they grapple with about their Judaism. With so few like-minded Jews to talk to, they cant afford to lose another important relationship and disrupt a peaceful rapport.

Eliza, who lives on the Upper West Side, was on maternity leave with her second daughter on October 7, 2023. Like many Jewish mothers I know, she struggled to turn away from the news and photos of slain and kidnapped Jewish children, seeing her own babies looking back at her. She became familiar with individual hostage stories and grieved the victims as if they were her own family members. She talked about this often with her therapist, who helped her feel less broken and abnormal for letting a tragedy that happened to strangers affect her so deeply. On one particularly rough news day, Eliza broke down in tears, and her therapist, perhaps no longer able to keep her guard up, or perhaps having intentionally opted to disclose her own emotions, began to weep too. At the time, the shared grief was healing  an emotional release for Eliza alongside the best therapist shed ever had. But months later, Eliza has come to realize that knowing the depth of her therapists sadness and connection to Israel is also getting in the way of her own evolution.

As time passed and the hostages became less central to the news, Eliza told me she has been able to look at the situation as more of an uninvolved observer, and she has diversified her reading with books about the history of the land. In doing so, her support for Israel has begun to waver. The process has left her at loose ends: I feel like I shouldnt be wishy-washy. Im confused, and I feel like I shouldnt be confused, like I should be able to take a stance quickly. Why does my mind feel like cobwebs all the time  like Im still trying to figure out what Im thinking and what is real? She told me she also carries shame that her parents are proud Zionists who lived on a kibbutz and that she herself feels attached to what they love about the country. She hasnt told her therapist about any of this.

My husband will be like, Did you talk to her today? And I cant  theres a block. I dont want her to be disappointed in me, and I dont want to feel that way about her. But its fine, Eliza told me, hurrying the interview to its conclusion. Honestly, Ive moved past it.
A massive rescue operation is currently underway in Indonesia after a local school collapsed, trapping dozens of students under rubble.

Officials said that at least three students have died and dozens of others are still missing following the collapse of the Al Khoziny boarding school. The educational institution was located in Sidoarjo, which is a town east of Jakarta.

Indonesian School Collapses

Now, the families of the trapped students, the majority of whom are said to be teenage boys, are anxiously waiting for news of the rescue teams' efforts. The 38 individuals who are still missing include students and workers at the school.

In a statement, the country's National Agency for Disaster Management said that 77 victims were transferred to hospitals to be treated for various injuries. Officials noted that the building's foundation pillars gave way while construction workers were still laying down concrete. It was reported that the building was undergoing unauthorized expansion, according to ABC News.

The agency said in a social media post that the incident called attention to the need for the "strict implementation of construction safety standards." It added that the authorities' primary focus right now is to assess the site, monitor the remaining building structure, and prepare evacuation routes for victims.

Read more: Washington High School Student Charged With Murder Over Plans of Shooting

At the site of the collapse, emergency teams were seen running oxygen and water to the victims who were still trapped under the rubble. They added that several bodies were scattered under the rubble, noting that they are still focused on rescuing the surviving individuals.

The operational director of the search and rescue services, Yudhi Bramantyo, said that they initially evacuated seven victims, five of whom were alive, and two were already dead. He added that the victims who were alive were able to communicate with officials, Aljazeera reported.

Dozens of Students Trapped

A spokesperson for the National Disaster and Mitigation Agency, Abdul Muhari, said they believe that 91 people were buried underneath the rubble. Parents were demanding that rescue efforts be accelerated.

One parent, Abdul Hanan, said, "We believe our children might still be alive because they were crying for help. Another parent, Dewi Sulistiana, was waiting for news regarding her missing 14-year-old son.

Many parents camped outside of the collapsed school, some being seen on their phones on Wednesday. Jayanti Mandasari, whose 16-year-old son was among the victims still missing, said there has been no apology from the management of the Islamic boarding school, which tried to blame the other party for the incident, as per The Guardian.
Despite significant investment, some Wall Street analysts are concerned about a potential bubble, citing a disconnect between fundamentals and valuations, leading to downgrades for some startups.

Billions of dollars are flowing into cutting-edge nuclear technologies, from nuclear fusion experiments to small modular reactors and microreactors that backers say will catalyze a global nuclear power renaissance. But after years of buzz and successful funding rounds, these Wall Street darlings have yet to send any of their promised carbon-free energy to the grid.

In 2024, investments in advanced nuclear companies from both private equity and venture capital hit an all time high. According to S&P Global, last year's investments surpassed the total deal value of the past 15 years combined. The push for next-gen nuclear energy has accelerated on the back of growing energy demand projections driven by the proliferation of AI integration.

The single biggest driver in the paradigm shift we're seeing right now in the power sector comes down to data centers, Jackson Morris, director of state power sector policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, was recently quoted by Marketplace. Load growth for electricity that we had already forecasted is now coming 10 years sooner and five times as fast because of data centers and these facilities largely being built by the big hyper scalers like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, etc.

In addition to the AI boost, nuclear energy startups have benefitted enormously from the political upheaval currently ensnaring renewable energy technologies. For now, nuclear power remains one of very few carbon-free energy sources with broad bipartisan support, both in the United States and abroad. In the past few months, nuclear holdouts in Europe have started to loosen nuclear restrictions and publicly adopt a more pro-nuclear stance, and the United States and the United Kingdom unveiled a new nuclear partnership. An, just this week, United States Energy Secretary Chris Wright cast a renewed vote of confidence in cutting-edge nuclear power technology this week according to reporting from Semafor.

However, this confidence is being undercut by some Wall Street analysts, who smell a bubble in the making. Semafor reports that in general, the hysteria around power demand is pushing the valuations of many newly public energy startups beyond what they will realistically be able to deliver. Dimple Gosai, head of U.S. clean tech equity research at Bank of America, told the news outlet that the disconnect between fundamentals and valuation is too wide to ignore.

Related: OPEC+: Reuters Leaks on Oil Plans Again

Oklo, a small modular reactor (SMR) startup backed by AI bigwig Sam Altman, may prove to be such a cautionary tale. While the companys share values have fared well since its 2024 IPO, the Bank of America downgraded its rating from buy to neutral just this week. It also downgraded NuScale, another SMR startup, NuScale, from neutral to underperform.

Axios Pro has also begun to report on investors looking to make a hasty exit from the market via SPAC mergers. SPACs, sometimes referred to as blank check companies are shell companies with no existing assets or operations at the time that they go public, making them an ideal escape hatch for investors getting cold feet about next-gen nuclear startup companies who want to offload the risk elsewhere. This is the epitome of dumping on retail investors," a venture funder told Axios Pro.

This isnt to say that next-gen nuclear is a lost cause. It still has enormous potential, and will likely be a critical component of the clean energy transition in coming years  but not this year. The sector must first overcome significant bottlenecks including limited supply chains for nuclear fuel and containment vessels, and the familiar red tape for construction permitting and grid interconnection. But while investors may have gotten ahead of themselves in terms of near-term bullishness, the policy environment is encouraging for those with a longer-term outlook. Dozens of countries have pledged to triple nuclear capacity by 2050, and startup-backed SMRs and microreactors are sure to be a significant part of that global push.

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Farmers in Pakistan are replacing diesel-fueled pumps with solar energy to power the typical irrigation technique in a large part of the worlds fifth most populous country.

Many farmers rely on the so-called tube wellsa water well and a motorized pump to take water from groundwater. Amid soaring diesel prices and unreliable electricity supply in recent years, more farmers are installing solar panels to help them with crop irrigation.

The solar-powered tube wells provide smoother irrigation. Solar panels have steep upfront costs for a farmer in Pakistan, but they save a lot on energy costs that would have gone for diesel or (often unreliable) grid electricity.

However, as the number of solar-powered pumps has surged in recent years, some experts and analysts fear that farmers who have constant access to energy to irrigate at will could deplete the underground water levels, the so-called water table, in a country that is already under water stress.

The solar power boom in Pakistans huge agriculture sector could lead in the longer term to a full-blown water crisis in provinces such as Punjab, Pakistans bread basket, and Balochistan, the countrys fruit basket province, which produces more than 90% of the fruit in Pakistan.

Related: OPEC+: Reuters Leaks on Oil Plans Again

The solar-powered irrigation boom is good for the environment because it's clean energy, Muhammad Kazim Pirzada, the irrigation minister of Punjab, told Reuters.

But at the same time, it is also impacting our water table, the minister added.

The underground water levels are depleting, according to reports by the Punjab water authorities reviewed by Reuters. The documents, however, did not pinpoint reasons for the falling water table levels.

Earlier this year, Pakistans Power Minister, Awais Leghari, told Reuters that it is a misconception that solar tube wells are depleting groundwater.

Some experts disagree, while the water department in Punjab continues to study whether tube wells are depleting groundwater.

Pakistan needs measures to map the tube wells and monitor groundwater levels and withdrawals, to avoid what could be a major water crisis, analysts tell Reuters.

Pakistan is a water-stressed country, and its water supply situation may further worsen. Earlier this year, rising tensions with India led to New Delhi threatening to suspend the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), a vital water treaty between the two rivals mediated by the World Bank, to share water resources from the Indus River basin downstream to Pakistan.

Climate change and population growth are also stressing water resources in Pakistan. Many people do not have access to clean water. Depletion of groundwater would be devastating to a country with a rapidly growing population, as potentially falling crop yields due to water shortages could also lead to food scarcity.

Solar-powered irrigation could also contribute to the water stress of Pakistan, according to a study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Research earlier this year.

The paper by researchers from the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council and the Wageningen University in the Netherlands studied the effect of the ongoing transition from diesel to solar power for irrigation. The authors noted that farmers using solar pumps typically extract more groundwater compared to farmers using diesel pumps under similar conditions. While solar-powered tube well pumps have environmental and economic benefits, they could cause over-extraction of groundwater, the study found.

The authors of the paper conducted one-to-one comparisons of solar vs diesel pumps in 30 pairs of farmers working in similar circumstances. The researchers found that in 77% of the cases, farms using solar pumps extracted more water than their diesel counterparts under comparable conditions.

The up-scaling of solar pumps could deplete groundwater aquifers and have drastic implications for future sustainable food production in Pakistan, the authors of the study wrote.

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Norway is looking to launch a domestic electric plane service to replace the dozens of daily fossil-fuelled flights to its many islands. If successful, this could encourage other countries to launch similar domestic services. This follows successful test runs of various electric flights in several countries that signal a new era of electric flight in the coming years, although the commercial rollout of electric passenger planes may still be several years away.

In September, Norway conducted a pilot flight of its electric-powered Alia CX 300, making it the first electric plane to fly from one major city to another in Norway. The flight carried empty cardboard boxes, representing cargo, and the aim is to make the aircraft suitable for carrying passengers. While the 160-km journey would take roughly four hours using two ferries, the Alia would reduce the journey time to 55 minutes.

Despite being Europes largest oil producer, after Russia, and the fourth-largest natural gas exporter globally, Norway has long invested in a shift away from fossil fuels to green alternatives to power domestic power, heating, and transport. The government is supporting a nationwide electrification campaign, targeting net-zero carbon emissions. This will be achieved by making oil and gas production electric-powered, continuing to invest in green electricity for power, and shifting to a green transport sector, which has been more challenging.

The Scandinavian country already uses electric ferries to transport passengers from island to island, and its airport authority, Avinor, is supporting the shift to electric commercial flight for the short-hop flights known as milk run routes. There are roughly 560 domestic flights in Norway, and over 75 percent of these travel fewer than 400 km.

Beta Technologies, the helicopter company Bristow, and Avinor ran the first Alia CX300 pilot flight test this month and hope it will be the first of many. The Alia, developed in Vermont by Beta Technologies, has a wingspan of just 15 metres and can reach a speed of just over 200 km an hour, powered by five batteries.

Related: New Quantum Breakthrough Could Lead to Super-Efficient Electronics One of the main drawbacks to electric flight is the weight of the batteries needed to power an aircraft, which can weigh around 50 times as much as the conventional fuel used to power it for the same amount of energy. In addition, because the battery remains on board throughout the flight, as it discharges, it does not get any lighter, unlike spent fuel. The lifecycle of such large batteries is also limited, as experts warn that they may degrade quickly with regular charging. Extreme weather conditions, such as ice and strong winds, may add to this rapid degradation.

However, if operators can successfully develop batteries suitable for flight and recharge, electric aircraft could be significantly cheaper to maintain than conventional planes, as they dont have components such as a gearbox or hydraulic system, which are expensive to maintain. To date, Betas longest successful flight on a single charge has been 622 km. The battery can be charged using a standard electric vehicle fast charger in just 20 to 40 minutes, which shows great promise for the refuelling turnaround.

Related: EU and NATO Consider Denying Russia Baltic Access

The government supports the shift to green flight and invested $5 million in support of the pilot test. It plans to continue investing in the sector, aiming to adapt Norways 44 airports for electric flight. Norways airport authority has already constructed an electric charging station at Stavanger airport.

Norways electric vehicle (EV) uptake has soared in recent years, as many consumers support a shift to green. In 2024, EVs in Norway contributed 88.9 percent of new cars sold, marking an increase from 82 percent in 2023, the highest uptake percentage of EVs in the world, according to the Norwegian Road Federation. There are now over 10,100 public EV chargers across the country. This suggests that most Norwegian consumers would be open to electric flights, as the electrification of the countrys transport sector is already well underway.

Norway is not the only country trialling electric flights, as Beta Technologies also completed a pilot 200-km flight between Snderborg and Copenhagen in neighbouring Denmark in July with its ALIA CTOL. The Danish government aims to launch its first fully electric flight route in 2025 and hopes to make all domestic routes fossil fuel-free by 2030. It recently introduced a $2 charge per passenger on flights to help finance research and development into sustainable domestic flight. Several European countries have introduced targets for sustainable aviation and are testing electric aircraft from various emerging companies.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., Beta is gaining traction, and its competitor Archer Aviation recently announced that its flagship Midnight eVTOL aircraft completed its longest piloted flight yet, travelling with a pilot for 31 minutes across 88 km. Several other startups are expected to test similar domestic flights across the U.S. in the coming years.

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By Taxpayers Association of Oregon Foundation,

A 20-year-old man faces charges after an early August fire at the Zion Mennonite Church at 6124 S. Whiskey Hill Drive in Hubbard, Ore., according to KOIN. Malachi Samuel Kercher of Hubbard faces charges in Clackamas County of first-degree arson, second-degree burglary, and criminal mischief stemming from the Aug. 2nd fire inside the church. He is being held on $200,000 bail.

A Salem church was hit with arson just last year by a criminal with a prior record of arson.

Police have arrested a 48-year-old suspect in the early morning arson fire that damaged St. Josephs Catholic Church in downtown Salem in late August. Billy James Sweeten remains in Marion County Jail on charges of first-degree arson in the blaze that began in a nearby dumpster shortly before 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 31 and spread to the roof of the church at 721 Chemeketa St. NE, according to KGW.com. About 70 firefighters responded to the blaze. He has a previous record of arson.

A Portland church was set afire in 2023


Kevin Mannix Announces ReElection for HD 21

Continues Ongoing Fight for Affordability, Safety, and Accountability

By Kevin Mannix campaign,

SALEM, Ore.  State Representative Kevin Mannix (R-Keizer/North Salem) today formally announced he will seek reelection to Oregon House District 21.

A longtime smallbusiness attorney and community leader, Mannix built his Salem law firm around representing local employers, churches, and nonprofits and has spent decades standing up for taxpayers and victims of crime. In 2023 he returned to the Legislature and has become Oregons most effective bipartisan lawmaker, passing more bills into law than any other legislator in state history despite oneparty control over the capitol.

I refuse to let politics get in the way of progress, said Mannix. I face pushback from the left and from the right because I never stop showing up to find those willing to work with me to make progress on the issues that matter. I am running for re-election because we must continue to see progress on our priorities: ensuring violent criminals are held accountable, protecting crime victims, expanding the supply of housing in Salem and Keizer, ending punitive taxes, and restoring basic good governance.

A record of delivering tangible results

Rep. Mannix is seeking to build on his clear record of delivering on safety, affordability, and government accountability:

Public safety leadership: Long known for his authorship of mandatory minimum sentences in Measure 11 and the Family Abuse Prevention Act, Mannix expanded on protections for crime victims in the 2025 session. Key legislation he passed included the criminalization of nonconsensual distribution of AIgenerated deepfake intimate images and protections for survivors right to speak without being silenced.

Housing and affordability: Working across party lines, Mannix coauthored landmark housing legislation to unlock 3,500+ acres of unused stateowned land for affordable and middle housing, streamline approvals, and cut costly delays. Mannix is also a Chief Petitioner for Initiative Petition 51 (2026), the End the Death Tax Act, which would eliminate Oregons estate tax (currently up to 16%) that is driving retirees and job creators out of the state.

Common sense, accountable government: Mannix modernized Oregons courts and cut red tape so government works faster and cheaper for taxpayers. He worked with Democrats to ensure proper legal oversight at the Oregon State Hospital, and he delivered more than $10 million for local priorities such as Marion Polk Food Share, Keizer Rapids Park, the Willamette Heritage Center, and the Oregon State Fairgrounds.

Mannix and his wife, Susanna, have lived in Salem since 1974. They raised three children and are proud grandparents of six. Mannix invites supporters to volunteer, donate, or sign up for updates at MannixForOregon.com.
Early education advocates marched onto the Arkansas State Capitol to protest the recent childcare funding cuts.

The movement was joined by more than 100 people who yelled as they marched, saying, "Arkansas children deserve better, we stand strong, we stand together." They claim that childcare funding is currently under attack.

Childcare Funding Cuts

One advocate, Ramona Simpson with Building a Better World Daycare, said that they cannot simply let the current situation go by unnoticed. She said that they have an obligation to do something about it.

The protests come as childcare in the state has gone through a series of unfortunate events in the past few weeks. The first of these was when the Arkansas Department of Education told providers and families that childcare funding for the School Readiness Assistance Program (SRA) would be cut.

After that, people were forced to figure out how to get by with lower reimbursements and higher copays. The department has now delayed the start of these changes for providers; however, some families are still forced to look for new sources of funds, according to KATV.

One parent, Sarah Patron, said that a lot of the families in the state have other things they need to pay for on top of childcare. She argues that they must also contend with a "huge copay" that they were not given enough time to budget for.

Patron shared that she has a two-year-old child at home, and they are directly in line of fire for the latest funding cuts. She joined the protests at the Capitol to demand a better way to fix the situation, as a parent and a provider.

Protest at the Arkansas State Capitol

A family home childcare owner in Rosebud, Tonya Rodgers, said that they feel like they are being taken advantage of with the latest changes. She had spent more than three decades in education and now faces a 40% pay cut with less than two weeks' notice, Fox16 reported.

The changes affect the SRA, which is primarily funded through the federal Child Care Development Block Grant. The latest announcements reduced its allocation by $8 million, and officials said that more cuts are possible amid negotiations.

Another Arkansas childcare provider, Debbie Mays, was an event organizer at the latest protest at the state Capitol. She said that children deserve quality, and educators deserve the pay for that quality provided.

An attendee, Bo Hines, argued that the decision to delay one of the big changes will not help a lot. He said that it is merely a break and not a solution to the problem, as per THV11.


By Lars Larson

NW and national radio host,

The Northwest Nonsense

I guess you can call this progress.

The Federal Judge set to hear a challenge, to President Trumps National Guard plans for Portland ICE has been removed.

Being married to a democrat Congresswoman offers a conflict of interest you couldnt miss.

The ICE facility has seen months of vandalism and attacks from Antifa. The USDOJ tells a new Judge this morning that police have not responded to federal agents calls for help.

Nearby residents endure nightly noise and flag burning and tear gas.

Portland police say fully half of their overtime budget has been spent responding to this single city blockwhile the rest of the Riot City gets short changed.

Youd think Portland would welcome some help.

But, you know, Orange man bad.

Conservative journalist Katie Daviscourt, hit with a pole and left with a black eye, but police didnt arrest her attacker.

Last night, Antifa jumped conservative journalist Nick Sortor who extinguished a burning American flag, so, officers arrested Sortor.

Get the picture?

At least 3 American PresidentsEisenhower, JFK and LBJ have used troops to enforce federal law when states refused, like Oregon.

I wonder if the Judge upholds Trumps right to use the same law.

Thats the Rose City Rap. Join me at noon on KXL for First Amendment Friday. Im Lars Larson
The parents of an Air Force veteran who committed suicide to end his life while locked up in jail have filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office.

The recent filing claims that the deceased's family obtained documents and video recordings that showed deputies failing to check on their son. The footage also allegedly showed that the officials were simply watching internet videos and eating while on duty.

Air Force Veteran's Suicide Death

The video recordings had timestamps for Sept. 22, 2023, and were produced by the LA County Sheriff's Department in response to the family's legal demands in federal court. They show the deputies watching videos and eating food at around the time when the deceased, 22-year-old Maxwell Aguirre, tried to hang himself in his cell.

The family's attorney, Denisse Gastelum, said that the deputies at the time were watching YouTube and eating Chick-fil-A when they were supposed to be monitoring the Air Force veteran's cell, according to NBC Los Angeles.

Aguirre was a U.S. Air Force veteran who was locked up in jail while waiting for trial on a murder charge. One of the video recordings showed him covering the windows of his cell inside the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, shortly before Gastelum said his feet could be seen thrashing before becoming still.

The attorney noted that the public should not tolerate government officials if they fail to fulfill their roles. The veteran was said to have still been alive when deputies were alerted to his hanging. He was quickly transported to a hospital, where he remained on life support for a week before being pronounced dead.

The deceased's family and their attorneys said in a press conference that the deputies who failed to monitor Aguirre should be brought up on criminal charges. The veteran's father, Omar Aguirre, said that the officials took an oath to serve the public but simply violated it, Yahoo News reported.

Lawsuit Against the LASD

On the other hand, the LASD detailed that almost half of the people in Los Angeles County Jails suffer from at least one mental illness. Additionally, officials detailed their regulations regarding the individuals who could be a danger to themselves.

Gastelum added that deputies who should have been monitoring Aguirre "effectively falsified a government record saying that they're going to do a mandated duty that's required in the state of California, and then they don't do it."

The family of Aguirre is calling for the state to revoke the deputies' peace officer certifications. The attorneys said that despite the Air Force veteran facing manslaughter charges, what happened to him was not justified, as per ABC7.
Partnership Expands Access to Next-Generation Minimally Invasive Solution for Surgical Evacuation of Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Clearmind Biomedical, a leader in minimally invasive neurosurgical innovation, today announced it has signed an exclusive U.S. distribution agreement with Sutter Medical for the Neuroblade Multi-Function Neuro-Endoscope System, a 510(k)-cleared device engineered to advance the treatment of complex neurosurgical conditions such as intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

ICH remains one of the most devastating forms of stroke, with limited treatment options, high mortality, and severe disability rates. The Neuroblade system addresses this unmet need by providing neurosurgeons with a new paradigm for hemorrhage evacuation: a single, minimally invasive platform that integrates visualization, illumination, irrigation, suction, coagulation, and powered debridement. This combination is designed to streamline surgical workflow, reduce instrument exchanges, and improve surgical precision  ultimately enhancing patient outcomes and the potential for recovery.

"Clearmind's mission has always been to simplify and advance the surgical treatment of hemorrhagic stroke, so patients not only survive but return to independent lives," said J. Dustin Duckett, Clearmind Vice President and General Manager, Americas. "By partnering with Sutter Medical, we can accelerate adoption of the Neuroblade across leading stroke and neurosurgical centers in the U.S., giving surgeons the tools they need to treat ICH more effectively."

Under the agreement, Sutter Medicalglobally recognized for its non-stick bipolar forceps and radiofrequency systemswill serve as the exclusive distributor of the Neuroblade in the United States. With its established commercial infrastructure and trusted surgeon relationships, Sutter will expand access to this next-generation technology.

"We are proud to add the Neuroblade to our U.S. portfolio," said Brent Lacy, Sutter Vice President. "It's unique combination of minimally invasive access and integrated functionality aligns perfectly with our mission to provide neurosurgeons with tools that improve surgical workflow, precision and enhance patient outcomes."

The Neuroblade will be featured at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) Annual Meeting, October 11-15th, 2025 at Booth #350.

About Clearmind Biomedical

Clearmind Biomedical is a privately held medical device company based in San Jose, California and Taipei, Taiwan. The company has rapidly developed a portfolio of minimally invasive devices aimed at improving care for neurosurgery patients. Clearmind has filed 21 patents and completed multiple studies to support the clinical value of the Neuroblade system.

About Sutter Medical

Sutter Medical is a global leader in electrosurgical solutions, including non-stick bipolar forceps and radiofrequency systems. With decades of expertise and trusted relationships across the neurosurgical community, Sutter Medical is committed to advancing technologies that improve surgical precision and patient outcomes.

Media Contacts:

Dustin Duckett

Clearmind Biomedical

[email protected]

Brent Lacy

Sutter Medical USA

[email protected]

SOURCE Clearmind Biomedical Inc.
Government gives Cozumel airport mega expansion project green light

Cozumel, Q.R.  After being given the green light, construction on the Cozumel International Airport is set to begin. The construction project consists of an expansion that will allow the facility to accommodate additional flights.

On October 1, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) approved the environmental impact statement, allowing airport construction to move forward.

On Friday, Pablo Arjona, Administrator of the Cozumel International Airport, held a press conference detailing the project. According to Arjona, over 330 million pesos will be spent on the airports expansion to accommodate additional domestic and international flights in anticipation of an increase in air traffic.

The project will be completed in two stages, one of which will be the expansion of the commercial platform and the other, the expansion of the terminal building. The expansion project is expected to take around three years.

He reported that the project will allow the Cozumel airport to receive category C aircraft including McDonnell Douglas MD-81, Airbus A318, A319, A320 and A321 planes, as well as Boeing 737 aircraft.

A new building for rental vehicles and the Fire and Rescue Corps is also part of the plans. The two-story building will be constructed on a 1.6 hectare site with a completion date for December of 2026.

Arjona said that the new facilities, with all its improvements, will provide the airport with the extra room it needs.

Inside the terminals will be double-height, with more space. Right now, the airport has become a little too small. It is functional, but I do feel its a little small, he said.

Pablo Arjona

Arjona said the airport is anticipating an increase in air traffic, up from its current three to five daily flights to as many as 15. The increase is expected to start within the next few months, peaking out at a possible 17 flights per day on weekends.

Now, we have an average of five flights per day, but we expect that in the coming months, this will increase from six to nine to 12, 15 and 17 on Saturdays.

Due to the current low season, flight capacity averages between 60 and 65 percent which is low. We estimate and expect that for the coming months, the end of the year perhaps, capacity will reach 85 to 90 percent and that other airlines, particularly domestic ones, will reach 95 to 98 percent, he explained.

He said that the Cozumel airport is currently connected with Mexico City, Monterrey and Cancun as well as Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Miami. Recently, a new Calgary route has been added.

The Cozumel airport expansion project was suppose to have begun earlier this year, however, there were technical difficulties related to the logistics of materials and personnel, especially in terms of material costs.

The finished Cozumel expansion project will allow the island airport to increase the number of annual passengers it can receive from its current capacity of around 711,000 to approximately 1.2 million.
JMM increasing municipal security with addition of cameras

Jose Maria Morelos, Q.R.  To reinforce security, a dozen new surveillance cameras are being installed in Jose Maria Morelos. Addy Lucelly Rojas Caamal, Deputy Director of Public Safety and Municipal Transit, says the cameras are being installed in strategic points around the town.

The new cameras were purchased by City Council and are being installed in coordination with the State Government. The 12 new surveillance cameras will be added to the existing four and installed at the municipal entrances, exits as well as school grounds.

These cameras were pending but will now be installed to provide greater security for students and residents, as well as to better monitor vehicles entering and leaving the municipality, said Rojas Caamal.

She says the corporation currently has two aerial surveillance drones, which support the monitoring of various sectors at different times and days, complementing ground patrol efforts.

The new surveillance system has cutting-edge technology, infrared vision, three fixed lenses and a PTZ camera with a range of up to 500 meters. Monitoring will be carried out from the state C5 with a direct connection to 911 and the municipal system.

For distribution, she says nine cameras will be installed at entrances and busiest areas, one at the Santa Gertrudis intersection, another at the Dziuche border crossing and another near the town of Kantemo.

She reported that the installation project will be finished by the end of the year, consolidating a firm step in strengthening municipal public safety.

Concrete bases are being made to house the underground camera wiring.

With this equipment, we improve response and control capacity, which translates into greater security. These initiatives are part of the strategy to safeguard the integrity for a developing police force and improve citizen security, Rojas Caamal stated.
Ministry of Environment denies building permits for two under-construction Tulum real estate projects

Tulum, Q.R.  The Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Semarnat) has denied building permits for two Tulum real estate projects. Both the Maiim and Adamar condominium projects have been denied their environmental building permits after starting construction without them.

The Maiim Condominium is a 38 unit building by company Promotora de Incentivos Mexico SA de CV. The Adamar Condominium, its company name Desarrollos Tulum Dieciseis SAPI de CV, is a seven-story building with 16 apartments.

Both projects, which are well under development, submitted their environmental impact statements after repeated closures and fines by federal authorities.

However, last week in the federations Gaceta Ecologica, both projects were deemed resolved after the government denied their permits. Both real estate projects were built in Bahia Soliman of Tulum prior to submitting environmental impact statements for authorization, which is a mandatory process for construction approval.

When the companies finally did submit, both were denied authorization by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) for environmental damage already done.

Last month, a judge ruled in favor of the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) to seize the Adamar property for building without permits and continuing to build after being closed.
CALGARY, AB, Oct. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On Sept. 25, 2025, Dr. Joseph Fournier gave a presentation on "Food Prices, Farming and Net Zero Ideology" for Friends of Science Society in Calgary, Alberta. Fournier is a Senior Scientist and rancher, and he addressed four main themes.

Food Prices, Farming and Net Zero Ideology with Dr. Joseph Fournier Science is about inquiry, not compliance.

Fournier discussed how hydrocarbons and the internal combustion engine are largely responsible for the modern era, resulting in rapid population growth, health and longevity, and the technology boom. The audience was surprised to learn that only a small fraction of the calories in the food-supply-chain are derived from photosynthesis - the remainder is from hydrocarbons.

While the European Union and the Canadian government have introduced legislation to cut methane emissions from oil and gas and agriculture, Fournier showed that Canada's Boreal Forest's natural methane emissions are largely ignored, but dwarf those from our agricultural sector and oil & gas industry. He explained how methane emissions from Mother Nature in Canada may easily be ten times that of human industry and agriculture. Consequently, stringent methane restrictions on the oil and gas industry are meaningless.

"Cows are the new coal" is a mantra of the "climate cartel" according to the US Republican House Judiciary report; Fournier says that's not true.

Fournier explained how the Haber-Bosch process of creating synthetic fertilizer led to abundant crop production. Thus, attempts by climate activists and governments to limit the use of synthetic fertilizers on farms will only result in reduced crops  leading to higher prices, potential famine or starvation for swaths of the developing world, food poverty at home and farm or family bankruptcy.

Fournier then discussed the 20th Century Green Revolution which led to a productivity boom and massively reduced land-use requirements. Modern farming practices like no-till seeding were shown to increase soil moisture and drought resistance. What once took armies of men to plant and harvest can now be done by one person with hi-tech agricultural equipment, taking off crops that can feed hundreds of people.

Fournier's early scientific interest was in fuel cell technology. In his presentation he debunked the notion that farm equipment could be decarbonized with battery technology, explaining that just the weight of a typical lithium-ion battery required for the massive farm equipment used today, would compact and destroy the health of the soil.

According to Fournier's calculations, Canada's agricultural industry produces five to six times the amount of food required for domestic consumption, making it a vast economic driver for Canada and a benevolent supplier of food for a hungry world.

Fournier's presentation debunks the premise of WWF and its pre-COP30 program wherein it claims that "Food systems sit at the heart of the climate change crisis. They are a primary source of greenhouse gas emissions but also hold powerful pathways to adaptation, resilience, restoration and justice..."

According to CLINTEL, the climate intelligence network based in The Netherlands, and the recent US Department of Energy Climate Science Report, Steve Koonin's book "Unsettled," and Judith Curry's book "Climate Uncertainty and Risk: Rethinking our Response," there is no climate crisis or climate emergency. Thus, Friends of Science Society says measures like carbon taxes, a price on carbon, methane restrictions and climate legislation to curb fertilizer use or to cull beef cattle, sheep, dairy cows and other animals on farms is unnecessary.

Fournier's presentation shows that Mother Nature is the largest emitter of methane in Canada. Like Friends of Science Society, Fournier explores the research on his Substack which shows that the Sun is the main driver of climate change, not carbon dioxide. In the climate activist community, the benefits of carbon dioxide go unaccounted for, says Friends of Science Society.

If Canada is to reach its stated goal of being an energy Superpower, Friends of Science Society says that Canada must disengage from the Canada-EU Green Alliance Agreement and accept that there is no climate crisis. As shown in "Insights from a Sankey Diagram" on Friends of Science Society's blog, Canada is light years away from decarbonization. Dr. Fournier's presentation shows the perils of fiddling with farming methods and technology  very risky in a hungry world.

About

Friends of Science Society is an independent group of earth, atmospheric and solar scientists, engineers, and citizens that is celebrating its 22nd year of offering climate science insights. After a thorough review of a broad spectrum of literature on climate change, Friends of Science Society has concluded that the sun is the main driver of climate change, not carbon dioxide (CO2).

Friends of Science Society

PO Box 61172 RPO Kensington

Calgary AB T2N 4S6

Canada

Toll-free Telephone: 1-888-789-9597

Web: friendsofscience.org

E-mail: contact(at)friendsofscience(dot)org

Web: climatechange101.ca

Media Contact

Michelle Stirling, Friends of Science Society,

8887899597,[email protected], https://friendsofscience.org/

SOURCE Friends of Science Society
On October 3, 2025, President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages with Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Xi Jinping noted that China and Singapore are friendly neighbors and important cooperation partners. Over the past 35 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries have adhered to mutual respect, mutual trust and win-win cooperation, continuously upgrading bilateral relations and achieving fruitful results in cooperation across various fields. Both sides have moved forward hand in hand in advancing their respective modernization processes, bringing tangible benefits to the people of both countries.

Xi Jinping emphasized that China is ready to take the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Singapore as an opportunity to further deepen political mutual trust, advance high-level cooperation, strengthen people-to-people exchanges, jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system and the basic norms governing international relations, promote the greater development of the all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership between China and Singapore, and make greater contributions to the peace and prosperity of the region and the world.

Tharman Shanmugaratnam noted that in 2023, Singapore-China relations were elevated to an all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership. The cooperative projects between the two governments have continued to advance, constantly integrating new features and demonstrating foresight. Both sides have actively expanded cooperation in new areas in response to the demands of the times, and the people of both countries have continuously strengthened cultural ties. Tharman Shanmugaratnam expressed his firm belief that Singapore and China will continue to work closely together to bring bilateral relations to new heights.

On the same day, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong exchanged congratulatory messages. Li Qiang said that China is ready to further strengthen the synergy of development strategies with Singapore, deepen high-level cooperation across various fields, and work together to uphold the multilateral trading system, so as to contribute to the development of both countries as well as the prosperity and stability of the region.

Lawrence Wong said that Singapore-China relations have continued to deepen over the years, building high-level mutual trust. Singapore is willing to continuously expand cooperation with China in various fields and jointly safeguard free trade and the multilateral system.
The good news about Shadow Ticketthe new Thomas Pynchon novel and his first in 12 yearsis that its one of his private-eye stories. Fictional gumshoes make ideal Pynchon protagonists, guys not in it for anything much beyond the next check, but required to go around poking their noses where they dont belong. Hicks McTaggart, the hero (as such) of Shadow Ticket is perpetually bemused as he bounces off gangsters, federal agents, international jewel thieves posing as international playboys, motorcycle gangs, and jazz musicians in Depression-era Milwaukee and, eventually, improbably, Budapest.

The bad news is that the novel is set in 1932, so there are lots of the tedious song lyrics of which Pynchon is lamentably fond. Also, everyone talks like a character in an old movie; the (typically) indistinguishable women characters are all tomatoes, chorines and cuties with platinum-blond Marcel waves, and readers will need to surf through plenty of campy lines like Hicks liked to take one of these 12-cylinder whizbangs out for a cruise, usually down to an unincorporated patch of riot and sin north of Chicago known as No Mans Land, right in the heart of the hoity-toity North Shore. And all that jazz.

Still, its impossible not to harbor a soft spot for the old trouper, at 88 still turning out a pretty fun ride, and currently enjoying an extra bump in fame due to Paul Thomas Andersons One Battle After Another, which is very loosely adapted from Pynchons Vineland. That No Mans Land that Hicks favors is also Pynchons land, the place where dropouts, bohemians, and lowlifes congregate, a subcultural oasis that only looks like a utopia because the mainstream of society sucks so bad. Do such places still exist, in a world where no one wants to fly under the radar, where everyone is hustling their weird little hobby into a personal brand and you can get famous for playing video games? Probably not, so no wonder Pynchon set Shadow Ticket almost 100 years ago.

Slate receives a commission when you purchase items using the links on this page. Thank you for your support.

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The shadow ticket in the novels title is the job behind the job, an indecipherable puzzle for poor Hicks, who starts out looking for a runaway heiressthe quintessential movie PI assignmentand ends up with an ever-mutating mission. Hicks prefers not doing matrimonials (one of the clients is the heiress fiance), but his boss at the Unamalgamated Ops agency twists his arm and sends him off in search of a cheese heiress. Before Hicks knows it, hes being enlisted into tracking down a local bootlegger who fled town in a decommissioned German submarine. The official who orders him to do this explains that this is the next wave of Feds youre talking to. We havent begun to show how dangerous we can be and the funny thing? Is, is we could be running the country any day now and youll have to swear loyalty to us. Somehow, all this results in Hicks being sent to New York, having a mickey slipped in his beer, and waking up on an ocean liner bound for the Mediterranean.

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A not insignificant thing about 1930s Europe, where the rest of the novel takes place, are the many unsettling parallels to our own time. Nazis and their sympathizers roam the Eastern European landscape, and everyone can feel the noose tightening. Pynchon hints around at the relevance to certain public figures of today by making Bruno Airmontthe runaway heiress estranged father, a fugitive from the dairy syndicate he embezzled from, and a man once known as the Al Capone of Cheesenotorious for being photographed with his daughter, in early adolescence, posing ambiguously on Brunos lap, each with the same self-pleased expression on their kisser.

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Bruno is the main bad guy in Shadow Ticket, but hes not all that threatening. For Pynchon, the real enemy is, as ever, the system. The federals who had you in, his boss informs him, are likely just a front. Whats behind them is a nationwide syndicate of financial tycoons, all organized in constant touch against the forces of evil, namely everything to the left of Herbert Hoover. This vast right-wing conspiracythe 1930s equivalent of a certain yuletide cabal in One Battle After Anotherwill, in the alternate history of the novel, stage a coup against Franklin D. Roosevelt and put Douglas MacArthur in charge of the nation. By the end of Shadow Ticket, Hickswho spends most of his time in Europe pining for Milwaukeewill learn that even America isnt really safe.

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Pynchons fiction always executes a delicate balance between silliness and substance.

Some of his jokes land with the splat of a wet ragegregious puns like the one about alternatives to the O.K. Corral that included the Mighty Fantastic Corral with gourmet nosebags, what they call oat cuisine.  But others feel sharp as ever. When Hicks gets to Hungary, he learns of a much sought-after MacGuffin, a lamp so stupefyingly tasteless it makes nonsense of the tasteless-lamp category itself. Too horribly tasteless ever to have been photographed. Cameras break. Yet, due to some perverse law of secondary markets, the more vehemently denounced, the more valuable it has become, particularly to a count renowned for his collection of hideous lamps. The sinister cheese syndicate may be a dopey concept, but their colonialist scheme to impose their product on Asia, despite the inhabitants widely known reluctance to have much to do with cheese, is a funny vamp on the East India Company, the villain of Pynchons masterpiece, Mason & Dixon.

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Though the novels action is often too frenetic to stop for it, Pynchon can also still set a mood when he feels like it. As Hicks gazes out the window of the train headed for New York, he sees the homeless encampments then nicknamed after the sitting president, Hoovervilles, the ghost-city light, hobo gatherings around track-side trash fires, stray auto headlights gliding briefly alongside the tracks, some fractional moonlight through the windows plus a few dim electric lamps in the observation car, deserted at this hour except for Hicks.

Pynchons characters dont have inner livesat most, their personalities are organized around one or maybe two traitsbut theres enough going on in their outer lives to keep you interested. Shadow Ticket has moments, though, when it addresses the interiority of an entire society. As one character puts it, Europe in the early 30s trembles, not only with fear but with desire. Desire for what has almost arrived, deepening over us, a long erotic buildup before the shuddering instant of clarity, a violent collapse of civil order. Sometimes Pynchons characters feel preternaturally astute, as when one explains, whatever it is thats just about to happen, once its over well say, oh well, its history, should have seen it coming, and right now its all I can do to get on with my life.

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Pynchon is usually at his best writing about milieus hes actually experienced. Inherent Vice depicted a convincingly authentic 1970s Southern California. If his Milwaukee and Budapest of the 1930s are less persuasive, the melancholy way they echo the current mood stateside hits home. For Pynchon, the coming storm is so comprehensive, the only viable choice is that submarine, forever roaming the undersea frontier like Captain Nemos Nautilus. The system can be eluded if never escaped, which is why Pynchons characters tend to stay on the move. As the bootlegger who signs on for the underwater voyage suggests to Hicks, what if freedom is only when theyre comin after you for somethin? But they havent caught you yet. So for a while, as long as you can stay on the run, thats the only time youre really free?
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When he filmed Stand by Me, the 1986 Rob Reiner adaptation of Stephen Kings novella The Body, River Phoenix was only 14. In 1990, the year my middle-school friends and I watched a rented VHS copy of that movie at every sleepover, we were 13. If youd asked us at the time, we wouldnt have been able to explain why Phoenixs character, Chris Chambersthe brave, wrong-side-of-the-tracks leader of the boy gang on a quest to see a dead bodydid it for us. To be sure, Phoenix always had a foxlike, sincere handsomeness. But the other actors we liked played dangerous, older, more explicitly romantic charactersChristian Slaters J.D. in Heathers, Patrick Swayzes Johnny in Dirty Dancing. Why would we spend every Saturday night watching young Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, and Jerry OConnell wrestle, bicker, tell ghost stories, and get leeches on their testicles in the middle of a forest? Why did we buy the Stand by Me soundtrack (lollipop, lollipop, oh lolli lollipop) and copy its songs onto blank tapes for one another? Why did we rate the boys at our school against Chris Chambers, and find them all lacking?

I was a Gen X tween, without a LiveJournal or a Tumblr to pour forth my obsessions. My love found expression mostly in the purchase of reams of teen magazines and movie posters, to be collaged into a mosaic of River for my wall. Over the years, this old teenage crush became a party anecdote, its power lost to me. But recently, having given up on shielding her from swears, and promising to warn her ahead of time when the dead body would be revealed, we screened Stand by Me for our 8-year-old. Your mom loved him, my husband informed my daughter when Phoenix came on the screen. Mom! she said, with shocked disgust. Hes just a kid! (She cannot imagine me any other age than I am.) She loved the movie; the leeches scene killed. At the end, when Chris Chambers walks off the screen and vanishes, as Richard Dreyfuss voice-over describes the characters heroic death, I cried and cried. The actor also died very young, I tried, and failed, to explain.

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On Letterboxd, where I went to rank the movie five stars after this rewatch, many fans of Stand by Me say that they either watch the movie and remember their middle-school friends, or think about the good friends they thought they would have, but never did. (The films iconic lineI never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone?doesnt hit as true for everyone but still retains an elegiac, universal ring, which is a very neat trick.) Then, one reviewer wrote: river phoenix is so sincere & gentleits like theres a wall hes always able to break through to provide a sense of comfort.

This comment made me realize something. We loved Chris Chambers, and River Phoenix by extension, because there are parts of the movie where Chris is a typical annoying early-teenage boy, engaging in the same tedious games of one-upsmanship with his friends that always seemed tiresome to us girls looking on, hoping to see in our male peers something, anything, to find attractive. (The movie has vanishingly few girl or woman characters; its a fully homosocial world.) But as the film unfolds, Reiner alternates this joshing and arm-punching with sincere, deeply felt scenes between Wheatons character Gordie and Phoenixs Chambers. This contrast was what we were looking forand what brought us back to Stand by Me, again and again.

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In one sequence, Feldman and OConnells characters, Teddy and Vern, walk down the railroad tracks as a pair, furiously debating whether Superman could beat Mighty Mouse in a fight. This was one vision of boyhoodthe one we knew well. Behind them come the second pair, Chris and Gordie, having a conversation about whether Gordie should join the other three friends in shop classes, or stay on the college track. Chris starts to get worked up, rightfully blaming Gordies parents, who cant get past the recent death of Gordies older brother, for not supporting his dreams of being a writer. Youre just a kid, Gordie. I wish to hell I was your dad, Chris says (and Phoenix delivers the lines with forceful sincerity). Kids lose everything unless theres someone there to look out for them. If your parents are too fucked up to do it, then maybe I should. This is not a traditionally romantic movie, but these are the kinds of swoon-worthy lines that, if we had read them in a book, we would have underlined twice and annotated with hearts.

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Recently, the idea of the black cat boyfriend went viral, with Conrad, of the hit show The Summer I Turned Pretty, as the archetype: brooding, loyal, and weighed down by grief, as GQ described the character, played by Chris Briney. Moody but devoted, the description goes, embodying a quieter strength rooted in humility and care. Past black cats mentioned include Leonardo DiCaprios Jack Dawson character in Titanic, Milo Ventimiglias Jess Mariano from Gilmore Girls, and Ben McKenzies Ryan Atwood from The O.C.

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Reading about this invented archetype, not only did I want to insist that Chris Chambers should be on the list, I also realized how definitively this one character, a tween from a movie with no kissing, had changed my taste in men. In middle school and high school, a time when I had very little ability to actually speak to boys, I often developed crushes after hearing through the grapevine that a person had dealt with something serious. This wasnt just about bad boys, though that serious thing could be drugs, or legal trouble. It could also be the breakup of a previous big relationship, a crisis one of his close friends had had, or an illness in the family. I just needed to hear that the guy had been through some shit, and hadnt backed away.

I sparked to these stories because this was the kind of boy I wished my peers would show themselves to be: principled, smart, a chip on his shoulder; a person whose understanding of the stakes of life went deeper than sports, farts, and cartoons. Later, these men would get easier to find. But early on, the character of Chris Chambers made my friends and I believe that behind the scenes, in their private selves, maybe some boys could be like that. We just needed to figure out which.
OSAKA, Japan, Oct. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Macao Week at the China Pavilion of World Expo 2025 Osaka opened on October 3 at the China Pavilion in the Expo 2025 Osaka site. Themed "Experience Macao", the three-day event (October 2-4) features creative exhibitions, business exchanges, cultural performances, and interactive experience, serving as a significant window to showcase Macao's development achievements to the world.

Macao Week at the China Pavilion, World Expo 2025 Osaka Opens

Inside the pavilion, several themed zones are set up: The "Macao Impressions" zone uses digital imagery to present UNESCO World Heritage sites and tourism projects; the "East-West Fusion" zone dynamically displays grand scenes such as fireworks galas and food festivals; the "World Heritage Walk" zone allows visitors to virtually tour the Historic Centre of Macao and explore the textures of its heritage architecture and urban landscape through touchable interactive screens, transcending time and space. At the plaza in front of the China Pavilion, Macao's tourism mascot "Mak Mak" warmly greets guests at a photo spot, while captivating Portuguese folk dances and lion dance performances attract large crowds of tourists.

The participation of Macao Week marks the Macao SAR Government's return to the World Expo stage after 15 years since the Expo 2010 Shanghai. It is also the first time Macao has appeared on an overseas World Expo platform since its return to the motherland. The rich array of activities and exhibitions highlights Macao's unique character defined by "a base for exchange and cooperation where Chinese culture is the mainstream and diverse cultures coexist", conveying Macao's commitment to promoting both cultural heritage and innovation within the context of globalization. This offers a "Macao model" for building an inclusive and diverse future society.

Since its opening on April 13, the China Pavilion, with its strong and distinctive Chinese cultural elements, technologically advanced exhibitions, and a vibrant program of thematic events, has welcomed over 1.7 million visitors from around the globe.

SOURCE The China Pavilion of the Expo 2025 Osaka
Still winning in sub-1:50 fashion in his 10-year-old campaign, American History showed his back class as he sprinted off cover to take a $30,000 Pop-Up Series final featured on Friday, Oct. 3 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Joining the conditioned pacing series last week for a leg two victory, 1-2 favourite American History and driver Dale Spence tracked third-over from the backfield at the three-eighths mark and kicked home in :26.4 to go by late leader Myultimate Snowy A (Bob McClure) for the 1:49.4 victory. Arties Deal (Louis-Philippe Roy) split rivals and bested Myultimate Snowy A in a place photo 1-1/4 lengths behind the popular winner.

MacKenzie Spence trains American History, a four-time winner this year in 16 starts, for owner Patrick Hill of Fredericton, N.B.

The American Ideal-Perfect Touch gelding, who took his lifetime mark of 1:47 at The Meadowlands as a three-year-old and claimed a Breeders Crown title at Mohawk the next year when trained by Tony Alagna, now boasts 52 career victories and $1,935,345 in purse earnings.

American History paid $3.10 to win.

The series was for male pacers that started for a purse of $12,000 or less in their last three starts, with non-winners of $25,000 in a minimum of 10 starts in 2025 also eligible. Winners of more than $45,000 in 2025 were not eligible.

As one ended, another one began. The next Pop-Up Series put together by Mohawk's race office is for female pacers that were starters for a purse of $10,000 or less in their last three starts, with non-winners of $30,000 in a minimum of 10 starts in 2025 also eligible. Winners of more than $40,000 in 2025 are not eligible.

The first leg included two $15,000 divisions, which were won by trainer Daniel Walker's homebred three-year-old filly Cold Creek Fuego ($22.60) in a new lifetime mark of 1:50.4 with Bob McClure driving and the Eric Nadeau-trained six-year-old mare Sauble Amber ($10.90) in 1:53 with Louis-Philippe Roy in the bike for owner Michel Lagace.

To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.

(Standardbred Canada)
The Atlantic regions top three-year-old pacers will converge on Red Shores Summerside Raceway on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 5 as the Lady Slipper Stakes and Joe OBrien Memorial headline a stakes-filled 11-dash program.

The Lady Slipper Gold divisions for three-year-old pacing fillies headline the program, starting in race five with a $25,250 division. Badgirl Bridgette is the 5-2 morning line choice from post seven for trainer William Lanigan and driver Jason Hughes after a string of sharp efforts, while Tobins Dream (Gilles Barrieau) from post two and Miss Believing (Ken Murphy) from post one are her main challengers.

Another $25,250 Gold split will line up in race eight with Steady Heart (Marc Campbell) pegged as the top choice from post three for trainer Bo Ford over Talldarklatte (Brodie MacPhee) with post five and Mindbodyandsoul (Paul Langille) with post six.

The final Gold division for the pacing fillies will go in race 10 with $25,250 on the line. Elm Grove Talia (Post 4) for trainer-driver David Dowling has been installed as the 5-2 morning line favourite after a season of nothing but top-three finishes, while Watch Me Shake It (Kenny Arsenault) with post five and Woodmereontheline (Langille) from post six round out the top choices.

The Joe OBrien Memorial also has two rich $32,800 Gold divisions for three-year-old pacing colts. Race six is the first with One Wicked Man (Arsenault) leading the selections at 5-2 in post three after multiple victories in stakes action. Rosetown Eclipse (Corey MacPherson) will leave from post four and Evil Lou (Barrieau) has post six, with both marked as key contenders.

Race nine carries the same $32,800 purse level with Malevolent given respect at 5-2 in post three for trainer/driver Langille ahead of Dusty Lane Levi (Jason Hughes) with post four and Phil My Beer (Marc Campbell) from post two.

The Lady Slipper Stakes for three-year-old pacing fillies will kick off in race one with a $12,625 Grassroots division followed by another split in race seven. The Joe OBrien Memorial for sophomore colts and geldings has a lone $16,400 Grassroots division in race three.

The stakes-laden afternoon also features the Atlantic Aged Pacing Mares Series presented by Standardbred Canada in race 11 with a $6,000 purse. Sugar Bowl (Barrieau) has rail control for trainer Jeff Holmes, while Rosetown Mary (MacPherson) and Miss Dutton (Langille) are set to mount top level challenges.

First race post time is 1 p.m. (ADT).

To view Sunday's entries, click the following link: Sunday Entries - Summerside Raceway.

(With files from Red Shores)
The only three-year-old in a bulky field, Hazardos used an early move and benefitted from well-rated drive from Sam Widger to take the first feature, a $25,000 conditioned claiming pace, on Friday, Oct. 3 at Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway.



The field of 10 quickly made its way into single file as Hazardos grabbed the lead in the :27.4 opening quarter. Widger was able to back the pace down and received a :29 breather in the second panel. Jeremy Smith sent Saulsbrook Litten from back in the pack to mount the only challenge through the three-quarters in 1:24.1. Chris Page slipped out of the pocket around the final turn with favoured Twenty Five, but Hazados and Widger saved enough for a :27 last quarter, tripping the timer in 1:51.1. Twenty Five finished 1-1/2 lengths back in second and Handsome Sir (Brett Miller) completed the trifecta.



Tessa Perrin trains the Always B Miki-Fiery Beauty gelding for Arrhythmic LLC of West Seneca, New York. Winning his Dayton debut, the six-figure earning sophomore improved his career record to 9-4-1 in 21 starts.



In the matching co-feature, Cam McCown used an early give-and-go move with Vel Lickety Split to retake the lead from Tennessee Smooth (Brett Miller). The leaders set :26.2, :55.2 and 1:23.1 fractions and opened a two-length lead at the top of the lane. A :28.3 final panel sealed the deal and gave Vel Lickey Split a 1:51.4 win by 1-3/4 lengths over Fast Dealin (Trevor Smith) and Wirelesscaller (Jeremy Smith).

Jessica McCown trains the four-year-old Lost In Time-Lickcreek Francis gelding for Nick Katterhenry of Saint Marys, Ohio. Vel Lickety Split is now 10-for-60 lifetime with seven of those wins achieved this year.



McCown was one of five drivers to double up on the card. He won the first and last race of the night.



Dayton Raceway will wrap up its week of harness racing with a 14-race card on Saturday night. First post is 4 p.m.

(With files from Dayton Raceway; photo of Hazardos from a previous win at Woodbine Mohawk Park)
Multiple O'Brien Award-winning trotter Flanagan Memory has passed away at the age of 15.

Bred by the late Michel Flanagan of Repentigny, Que. and owned by Flanagan's daughter Liette along with trainer Rene Dion, the Kadabra-Classy Stacy stallion was a two-time O'Brien Award winner, first as a three-year-old in 2013 and again during his aged campaign in 2016 at age six.

An Ontario Sires Stakes sophomore champion, Flanagan Memory also won the Goodtimes Stakes before developing into a top Grand Circuit open stakes competitor, punctuated with a Breeders Crown title. His other Grand Circuit stakes wins included the John Cashman Memorial and Allerage Farms Open Trot, equalling his lifetime mark of 1:51.2. Another memorable moment in his career was representing Canada in the Yonkers International Trot with a top three finish.

Flanagan Memory retired in 2017 with a career record reading 20-7-11 from 72 starts and purse earnings totalling $1,674,499.

After standing his first four seasons at stud in Ontario, Flanagan Memory relocated to Pfeiffer Farms of Richmond, Michigan in 2022. From 26 eligible starters, he sired two six-figure earners with Preferred competitor Bucktober ($188,880 - 1:55.1s) and stakes winner Goober Smack ($109,593 - 1:54.2s) being his top performers.

Susie Kerwood, Dion's partner and Flanagan Memory's caretaker, told Trot Insider that Flanagan Memory passed away in Michigan on Oct. 1 due to complications from a ruptured bowel.

"He was actually going to come home in a couple weeks," added Kerwood. "We were just going to take him home and retire him at our farm.

"I've been around a lot of horses, obviously my whole life, and it's not just because he was good. ...He had a personality, and he was so darn smart. Definitely the greatest horse I've ever been around, and he was just special in many, many ways."

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of Flanagan Memory.

(Standardbred Canada)
NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until October 10, 2025 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against SelectQuote, Inc. ("SelectQuote" or the "Company") (NYSE: SLQT), if they purchased the Company's securities between September 9, 2020 and May 1, 2025, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Get Help

SelectQuote investors should visit us at https://claimsfiler.com/cases/nyse-slqt-1/ or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options.

About the Lawsuit

SelectQuote and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On May 1, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") filed a False Claims Act complaint against the Company, alleging that, "[f]rom 2016 through at least 2021" it had received "tens of millions of dollars" in "illegal kickbacks" from health insurance companies in exchange for steering Medicare beneficiaries to enroll in the insurers' plans, and that, in exchange for kickbacks, the Company engaged in a conspiracy with major insurers to illegally discriminate against beneficiaries deemed to be less profitable, including those with disabilities. The DOJ further alleged that the Company made materially false claims by stating it offers "unbiased coverage comparisons" when in fact it "repeatedly directed Medicare beneficiaries to the plans offered by insurers that paid them the most money, regardless of the quality or suitability of the insurers' plans."

On this news, the price of SelectQuote's shares fell $0.61, or 19.2%, to close at $2.56 per share on May 1, 2025, on unusually heavy trading volume.

The case is Pahlkotter v. SelectQuote, Inc., et al., No. 25-cv-06620.

About ClaimsFiler

ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations.

To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com.

SOURCE ClaimsFiler
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos has invested in the American generative AI start-up Perplexity.

Artificial intelligence technology is in an "industrial bubble," Amazon founder Jeff Bezos told a tech conference in Italy on Friday, but the benefits to society will be "immense."

"Investors don't usually give a team of six people a couple billion dollars with no product... and that's happening today," Bezos told an audience at Tech Week in Turin.

"This is a kind of industrial bubble," said Bezos, who has invested in the American generative AI start-up Perplexity.

But that is not the same as a banking bubble such as the 2008 financial crisis, he argued.

"Those bubbles society wants to avoid. The ones that are industrial are not nearly as bad, it could even be good, because when the dust settles and you see who are the winners, society benefits from those inventions... and that's what's going to happen here."

"This is real," Bezos continued. "The benefits to society from AI are going to be gigantic."

Multiple technologies are in a kind of "golden age," he said, echoing language used by US President Donald Trump. "There's never been a better time to be excited about the future."

"AI is real. And it is going to change every industry... it is going to affect every company in the world."

 2025 AFP
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

When Amazon.com Inc. recruited longtime Microsoft Corp. product chief Panos Panay in 2023 to run its devices division, his new colleagues thought the e-commerce giant was preparing to take its consumer gadget line upscale.

Panay pushed back on the idea during an all-hands meeting with thousands of engineers from the Alexa, Echo and Fire TV brands. But his vision for the business didn't come into clearer focus until this week, when the executive unveiled a suite of new products at an event in New York. The message: Panay aims to build devices that people want to show off in their homes and useat every price tag. "The idea is putting a lot of detail into every product," he said in an interview.

Though most of the new devices, including updated smart speakers, e-book readers, home security tools, TV accessories and other offerings, do carry higher prices, the company's more affordable products are equally key, Panay said.

"The superpower of designing for cost is such a rare talent," he said. "When you just anchor on that and now you're making great products and you can serve everyonethat's how we can have an impact on the world."

Ralf Groene, a former top designer at Microsoft who came out of retirement earlier this year to become head of design at Amazon, echoes that sentiment. "There's lots of sophistication in the material, but we don't want you to be like, 'Oh, it's so sophisticated.' It needs to blend in." He compares it to not noticing your shoes when you run. Or when you play the guitar and are "just into the music," Groene said.

While Panay is thrilled with Amazon's slick-looking new Echo speakers and Kindle e-readers, he talks most proudly about an updated $40 4K Fire TV stickan unglamorous peripheral that lets people stream programming on their television. That product has a new operating system with improved speed and performance "on the cheapest possible 4K device," he said.

"In my heart, that's a great product," Panay said, "because so many can afford that and get an incredible experience."

Still, making more premium hardwaresomething Panay calls the "signature" lineto generate higher profit margins, a la Apple, is also a major part of the goal. Amazon's hardware division has long been seen as a loss leaderwith the real money coming from subscriptions and purchases made through the Alexa voice assistant.

Panay disputes that view. While the overall division continues to lose money, some product lines are profitable, and others are heading in that direction, he said.

Panay also oversees Amazon's efforts beyond Alexa and devices, including its push into satellite internet through Project Kuiper and autonomous vehicles with Zoox. The profit drive has been a priority for the group in recent years as Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy seeks to cut costs and reform a unit that sometimes operated as a borderline research lab.

"My belief is that our job is to make devices the next big business at Amazon," Panay said. To accomplish thatand continue building the organizationcertain levers need to be pulled to make the business more successful, he said.

The revamped devices could help. Other than the Fire TV stick, most of the new Amazon-branded hardware has a higher price tag. The latest Echo Show 8, for instance, is $80 more than the current model. And the new color Kindle Scribe is the priciest Amazon e-reader by about $200. With those higher prices, you're also getting a much better product, Panay said. But you're not getting an overhaul built around high-end metals or the world's priciest fabrics.

"The first transformation is just elevating those products to the next generation of what they should be," Panay said. "It's just the beginning of that."

His department's top leaders assemble every Thursday for confidential planning discussions, and they've created a road map for the next three years of products, Panay said. A key first step was releasing an AI-fueled version of Amazon's voice assistant, Alexa+, a rollout that began in March. That set the stage for a device strategy: "Great products made even better through ambient AI," Panay said.

Though Alexa+ can run on Amazon gadgets dating back more than five years, the latest hardware is the first to include the system already installed. The devices also have new features.

The updated Echo Showa smart speaker with a screencombines AI with sensors to know who just walked up to the device. It then immediately displays a person's preferences and can serve up tailored podcasts or photos. The Kindle, meanwhile, can upload a user's notes to help fulfill Alexa queries made on speakers.

While the company is now confident enough to include Alexa+ as the default option on its new devices, the rollout hasn't been entirely smooth. Users have complained about slow deployment, broken compatibility with some appliances and the system misunderstanding commands. Still, Panay is all in.

"This is not an easy transition," he said, given that hundreds of millions of people use the current version. Still, "an Alexa+ home is probably the most exciting home product that I've ever seen," he said.

Amazon already has double-digit millions of users running the new Alexa, which costs either $20 per month or comes free with a Prime subscription, but the company is working at full speed to improve it, Panay said. "Everybody will want it and use it," he said, adding that it will take time to resolve kinks across every use case.

Daniel Rausch, Panay's lieutenant in charge of Alexa and Echo, said the results are already promising: The new interface boasts two to three times more usage than the old-school Alexafor those who have it. (The regular Alexa still has hundreds of millions of users).

In a world where people are glued to their smartphones and computer displays, Panay wants to steer Amazon users in the other direction. That means creating AI devices that work in the background and require less screen time.

But plenty of other companies are chasing that dream, including Apple, Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Meta Platforms Inc. Even Panay's predecessor, Dave Limp, had been exploring the idea at Amazon.

For Amazon to be a true contender in this market, the company will finally need to crack the code on mobile devices. A decade ago, it tried and failed with the Fire Phoneback when Panay was at Microsoft designing tablet-laptop hybrids. The company is working on future earbuds and smart glasses that tap into Alexa, but the real win will be something entirely new that's portable and built around AI.

"There's an entire paradigm shift of user interfaces that's comingI think the way people interact with their devices is being challenged," Panay said. "I am a firm believer in ambient AI and being able to talk to something, have that conversation wherever, whenever, however you want to. I think it'll take different form factors to accomplish that."

To help, Amazon acquired a startup called Bee in August. That company developed a wristband that can record a person's day and send the user a summary to a phone app. Though Amazon didn't discuss the idea during its product unveiling Tuesday, it aims to eventually update the device and tie it into Alexa+.

To reshape Amazon's hardware group, Panay has brought in collaborators from his Microsoft days, as well as veterans from Amazon itself. The team includes Aidan Marcuss, who worked on Windows until last year and now heads Amazon's TV business, as well as J Allard, the co-inventor of Xbox who now leads a team focused on new form factors.

Ring creator Jamie Siminoff, meanwhile, returned earlier this year. Perhaps the most significant addition is the German-born Groene, who left his Microsoft role when Panay exited.

When Groene joined Amazon eight months ago, his first order of business was bringing all of the company's designersacross hardware, software and user experienceunder one roof. That created a structure similar to the way Apple develops its products.

Before the shift, design was implemented on a product-by-product basis by individual product managers. While this structure allowed for efficient product creation, there were silos that prevented teams from building on one another's achievements, Groene said. It also yielded a slate of mostly utilitarian products that, aside from the Amazon smile logo, shared few common design traits.

Two other major changes: involving design from day one of the product process and making rapid prototyping a core part of development. Rausch, who has worked in Amazon's devices division since 2009, said the biggest change is that sketch artists, prototypers, material scientists and engineers now work together from the start.

"Bringing it all together much sooner, iterating on the product much sooner, setting the bar higher much sooner lets you end up with something much more complete and just frankly better," he said.

Amazon is launching its new products just weeks after Apple rolled out new iPhonessome of the company's biggest updates in yearsproving that this decades-old form factor is here to stay.

Meanwhile, Meta released new smart glasses with a display, showing that companies outside of Apple are eager and capable of introducing entirely new categories of devices.

OpenAI also looks to become a contender in mobile hardware, with ex-Apple designer Jony Ive working on a bevy of new AI-centric gadgets.

For Amazon to become a true leader in devices, it will need breakthroughs that go beyond its current lineup. It will also need to convince users that Alexa+ and its AI is worth paying forlest they revert to or downgrade to the old version of Alexa. In any case, it will take years for the company's strategy to take shape, Groene said.

"It's really a journey," he said. "In 12 months, you'll see the story one step further, but it's still not the full picture. It'll take its time."

2025 Bloomberg L.P. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Threat intelligence firm GreyNoise disclosed on Friday that it has observed a massive spike in scanning activity targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals.

The company said it observed a nearly 500% increase in IP addresses scanning Palo Alto Networks login portals on October 3, 2025, the highest level recorded in the last three months. It described the traffic as targeted and structured, and aimed primarily at Palo Alto login portals.

As many as 1,300 unique IP addresses have participated in the effort, a significant jump from around 200 unique IP addresses observed before. Of these IP addresses, 93% are classified as suspicious and 7% as malicious.

The vast majority of the IP addresses are geolocated to the U.S., with smaller clusters detected in the U.K., the Netherlands, Canada, and Russia.

"This Palo Alto surge shares characteristics with Cisco ASA scanning occurring in the past 48 hours," GreyNoise noted. "In both cases, the scanners exhibited regional clustering and fingerprinting overlap in the tooling used."

"Both Cisco ASA and Palo Alto login scanning traffic in the past 48 hours share a dominant TLS fingerprint tied to infrastructure in the Netherlands."

When reached for comment regarding the spike in activity, a spokesperson for the company said there are no signs of compromise.

"The security of our customers is always our top priority," Palo Alto Networks said. "We have investigated the reported scanning activity and found no evidence of a compromise."

"Palo Alto Networks is protected by our own Cortex XSIAM platform, which stops 1.5 million new attacks daily and autonomously reduces 36 billion security events into the most critical threats to ensure our infrastructure remains secure. We remain confident in our robust security posture and our ability to protect our network."

In April 2025, GreyNoise reported a similar suspicious login scanning activity targeting Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS GlobalProtect gateways, prompting the network security company to urge customers to ensure that they are running the latest versions of the software.

The development comes as GreyNoise noted in its Early Warning Signals report back in July 2025 that surges in malicious scanning, brute-forcing, or exploit attempts are often followed by the disclosure of a new CVE affecting the same technology within six weeks.

In early September, GreyNoise warned about suspicious scans that occurred as early as late August, targeting Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) devices. The first wave originated from over 25,100 IP addresses, mainly located in Brazil, Argentina, and the U.S.

Weeks later, Cisco disclosed two new zero-days in Cisco ASA (CVE-2025-20333 and CVE-2025-20362) that had been exploited in real-world attacks to deploy malware families like RayInitiator and LINE VIPER.

Data from the Shadowserver Foundation shows that over 45,000 Cisco ASA/FTD instances, out of which more than 20,000 are located in the U.S. and about 14,000 are located in Europe, are still susceptible to the two vulnerabilities.

Update

In a new update shared on October 7, 2025, GreyNoise said it has detected a further spike in scanning against Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS GlobalProtect login portals, with the activity originating from over 2,200 unique IP addresses.

The cybersecurity company said it has also "observed a sharp increase in the unique count of ASNs involved in scanning Palo login portals, suggesting an increase in the number of threat actors involved," adding "the pace of login attempts suggests elevated activity may be driven by a threat actor(s) iterating through a large dataset of credentials."

GreyNoise also said the elevated scanning activity targeting Cisco and Palo Alto Networks firewalls, along with brute-force attack attempts aimed at Fortinet SSL VPNs, originate from IPs on the same subnets, specifically from ASNs 3xK Tech GmbH (AS200373) and tzulo, Inc. (AS11878).

The company said the three campaigns are "at least partially" driven by the same threat actor due to shared TCP fingerprints, recurring subnets leveraged, and a coordinated surge in activity at similar times across each campaign.

(The story was updated after publication to include a response from Palo Alto Networks and additional insights from GreyNoise.)
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What comes to mind when you hear the word hacking?

Generally, it means an act of unauthorized access into a system or network, intended to cause harm.

In films and comics, hackers are often portrayed as criminals.

You may have watched scenes where such hackers tap away on keyboards as lines of numbers and symbols fill the computer screen to steal data and hijack machines.
We are hearing a lot about the 10% to be paid to public servants, but nothing is said about 
When her husband, Jack, leaves her every night, Bella starts hearing strange noises coming from the attic.

A loud thud followed by thumping, like heavy footsteps.

The lights dim in the downstairs sitting room, which leans almost cartoonishly inward, as if its bending from the weight of its beams.

Jack assures his young bride that its all in her head, part of a growing pattern of missteps like losing her mothers pearls, misplacing the grocery bill and hiding the painting of the homes previous owner, who had met a violent death in the home before Jack and Bella moved in.

It didnt take long for the audience at Arizona Theatre Companys opening night of Deceived to start putting together the pieces.

But its a safe bet not many of us loosely filling the Temple of Music and Art Thursday night had that plot twist on our bingo cards.

ATC opens its 58th season with the play, an adaptation of the 1939 play Gas Light, about a man who tries to convince his wife she is slowly losing her mind. The show continues through Oct. 18.

Thursdays audience kinda figured Jack, played by Tony Roach with a delicious mix of smarmy and cruelty, was behind the trickery. But we figured it was because he might have been cheating with the young maid, Nancy (Sarah-Anne Martinez).

But the genius of Deceived lies in Jacks motivation. Surely he would not go to such great lengths to convince Bella (Laakan McHardy) that she was losing her mind and might have to be institutionalized like her mother just to cover up his infidelities.

Bella might not trust herself when it comes to her memory, but she trusts the memory of her housekeeper, Elizabeth (Amelia White).

Its Elizabeth who reveals the biggest clues through the smallest details. She confides in Bella about the night her former employer, Alice Barlow, was killed by a robber looking for her valuable ruby necklace in the Victorian London townhouse.

The necklace was never put in the safe that the robber broke into nor was it ever recovered.

When she breaks open her husbands desk and finds her pearls, you could see a light go off in Bella; she knew her husband was playing her, but she didnt know why.

We wont give away any more details, but suffice it to say, the ending prompted a flood of applause; if only every gaslighting story ended with karma this sweet.

Director Jenn Thompson made sure that the audience sympathized with McHardys Bella but never felt sorry for her while allowing us glimpses of Jacks evil streak with just enough empathy to make us question his intentions.

McHardys Bella mined the depths of growing instability with a balance of vulnerability and skepticism. She never let us fully believe Jacks conclusion that her character was slipping into the abyss of madness, which explains the loud applause at the ending. We were quietly cursing Jacks cruelty throughout, so when McHardys Bella rose to the challenge, it almost felt personal.

Whites Elizabeth infused snarky humor into some of the plays darkest moments, including reprimanding the younger maid Nancy when she refused to follow the rules.

Martinezs Nancy had the attitude of Snooki from Jersey Shore with flashes of Eliza Doolittle, the street corner flower girl trying to convince us she wasnt a con artist.

Thompsons vision for Deceived was brought to life in the sets by Alexander Dodge, including the leaning wall and Philip Rosenbergs lighting effects that included flickering gas lights and illuminating the translucent parlor ceiling so that we could see characters climbing the stairs into the attic.

Performances continue through Oct. 18 at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. For showtimes and tickets, visit atc.org.
HA NOI  Creating and leveraging resources and capabilities for sustainable business development in the dynamic global landscape was the main topic of discussion at an international conference in Ha Noi on Friday.

The event was jointly organised by the Foreign Trade University and the Vietnam-Japan Institute for Human Resources Development (VJCC) in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and partner universities from Japan.

The event aims to promote knowledge exchange and foster connections among scholars, experts, and organisations across the world.

Opening the conference, Foreign Trade University president Pham Thu Huong said the conference not only promoted research collaboration but also served as a highly practical forum, helping organisations develop evidence-based and practical solutions for strategic and sustainable decisions in the volatile global context.

At the event, Deputy Chief Representative of JICA in Vietnam, Kubo Yoshitomo, highlighted the important role of the VJCC and the conference in strengthening the strategic partnership between Viet Nam and Japan, particularly in training high-quality human resources and promoting research and application of advanced practices in economics and business.

Associate Professor Dr Tomohiro Machikita from the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, shared his in-depth analysis of Southeast Asian economies and Japans remarkable development journey.

Machikita emphasised that in an ever-changing global context, sustainable development relies not only on technological innovation but more importantly on the ability to build flexible business models and establish effective cooperation mechanisms to convert knowledge into long-term competitiveness.

At the plenary session, speakers presented diverse and multidimensional perspectives that linked research and practice, offering deep insights into the challenges and opportunities in resource utilisation, strategic development, and building sustainable competitive capabilities in a constantly changing business environment.

Participants focused discussion on various topics, such as Digital Business & Innovation, International Trade & Legal Conditions, Finance & Banking, Human Resources Management & Organisational Behaviour, Business Strategy & Management, and Marketing.

They also discussed new research findings, providing important theoretical and practical implications for sustainable business development.

The conference further strengthens the FTU's commitment to scientific research, international cooperation and the link between research and practice towards sustainable development.  VNS
HA NOI  Quang Ninh saw its economy expand at 11.66 per cent in the first nine months of this year, the highest rate in the past decade as well as the highest rate across 34 provinces and cities.

This is driven by increasing private investment and foreign capital inflows, according to a report of the provincial Peoples Committee.

The northern province has attracted non-budget investment worth VN194.183 trillion (US$7.36 billion) in the nine-month period, 20 times higher than the same period last year while foreign direct investment (FDI) reached $379 million.

Nearly 3,000 new enterprises were found in the period, up 41.6 per cent from last year, bringing the number of active firms to more than 13,000 together with 1,200 cooperatives and over 40,700 business households.

Speaking at the conference with local enterprises on Saturday, Bui Van Khanh, Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee, pledged to remove difficulties to enterprises to promote production and business.

He asked for efforts to simplify procedures, step up digital transformation and reduce costs for enterprises, adding that focus would be on addressing bottlenecks in planning, land clearance, infrastructure and workforce development and improve access to capital, technology and markets.

The province is promoting digital economy, green economy and circular economy to enhance competitiveness, he added.

At the conference, the Quang Ninh Business Association urged the local authority to address issues related to site clearance and shortage of construction materials.

Le Do, director of Thanh Cong Viet Hung auto plant in Quang Ninh, proposed policies to encourage local companies to use each others raw materials to develop a production chain and reduce costs.

Other enterprises, cooperative and business households, urged efforts to tackle issues related to taxes, fees and input material.  VNS
HUNG YEN  President of the National Assembly of Peoples Power and President of the Council of State of Cuba Esteban Lazo Hernandez paid a working visit to Nestle Bong Sen Company and Thang Long II Industrial Park in Nguyen Van Linh Commune, Hung Yen Province on Saturday, as part of his ongoing official visit to Viet Nam.

The Cuban official appreciated the modern development of Nestle Bong Sen as well as the synchronised infrastructure investment at the industrial park, which has laid a strong foundation for attracting foreign investment to the area.

He stated that despite the challenges posed by the blockade and embargo policies, Cuba plans to expand several industrial parks in the future, strengthen cooperation, and boost foreign investment attraction through specific preferential mechanisms and policies.

He expressed his hope that enterprises, including Sumitomo Group  the investor of Thang Long Industrial Park in Viet Nam  will visit, explore the investment environment, and eventually participate in industrial park infrastructure development in Cuba.

Nguyen Minh uc, deputy general director of Thang Long II Industrial Park Co Ltd said that Sumitomo Group is currently developing and operating 10 industrial parks across six countries. In Viet Nam, it manages five industrial parks located in Ha Noi, Hung Yen, Thanh Hoa, Quang Tri, and Vinh Phuc (now Phu Tho), mainly hosting Japanese investors engaged in the production of electrical and electronic products, automobile and motorcycle components, metal and mechanical parts, as well as plastic and rubber products.

Thang Long II Industrial Park was established in 2006, covering a total area of 527 hectares.

The park currently accommodates 82 out of 90 investors from Japan, along with several companies from Viet Nam, the Republic of Korea, and Switzerland, with a total investment capital of US$3.2 billion. It has created jobs for 27,000 workers, and made a significant contribution to the provinces economic development.  VNA/VNS
HA NOI  Musician Tran Tien secured the Grand Prize at the 18th Bui Xuan Phai - For the Love of Ha Noi Awards 2025 with "songs deeply imbued with the cultural essence of the Red River, the Old Quarter and oai Region, according to the Vietnam News Agencys The Thao & Van Hoa (Culture & Sports) newspaper.

Now living in the southern province of Ba RiaVung Tau, the 76-year-old Ha Noi-born musician is among the pioneers who brought free-spirited, improvisational creativity to Vietnamese music, composing across diverse genres such as jazz, country, rock, hip-hop, and rap.

His colleagues fondly refer to him as "The King of Vietnamese Pop."

Tran Tien shared: "Ha Noi has changed so much with taller buildings, wider streets. There are many new roads I've never even seen. And that's something to be glad about. We must change as the whole world has changed. But inside me, the image of the old Ha Noi remains, like a painting by Bui Xuan Phai. Wherever I touch, memories of those cherished years ripple beneath, moments of joy and sorrow, like negatives from a distant past."

In his compositions, Ha Noi is more than just a place or the nations capital  it is the Old Quarter of childhood memories, a flowing current of Northern folk culture and a tapestry of everyday streets and the rustic charm of the oai Region countryside.

When brought together, the Red River, the Old Quarter, and Xu oai form a cultural triangle that is both historical and symbolic. Through this connection, Ha Noi in Tran Tiens music transcends geography and becomes an expansive cultural space  vibrant, dynamic and deeply imbued with the Vietnamese spirit.

His songs enrich the nations musical identity, turning Ha Noi into a cultural symbol deeply woven into the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people.

"Ha Noi is my mother, my sister and my childhood friends. No matter how wealth, poverty, illness, or loneliness may cause one to suffer, my heart will forever remain in my hometown, Ha Noi. Everything I've ever needed to say, Ive already poured into my songs," he added.

In addition to the Grand Prize, the organisers presented the Work Award to a series of paintings of Ha Noi by painter Pham Binh Chuong and to the musical Lua at (Fire from the Earth) by the Youth Theatre of Viet Nam.

The Award for Good Deeds went to the construction and inauguration of the Viet Nam Exhibition Centre (VEC), while the Idea Award was given to the project for building the Ha Noi Opera House and a cultural and art park in Quang An, Tay Ho.

The Bui Xuan Phai awards were launched in 2008 by the Vietnam News Agencys The Thao & Van Hoa (Culture & Sports) newspaper and the descendants of the esteemed late artist Bui Xuan Phai (1920-1988), one of the key individuals behind Viet Nams modern art scene.

It aims to honour authors, works, ideas, and initiatives that possess artistic and scientific values and reflect a deep love for Ha Noi.

This year, more than 160 authors, works, ideas, and initiatives were nominated and 11 nominations were officially selected.

The Bui Xuan Phai Awards also include the Award for Works, the Award for Good Deeds and the Award for Ideas.

Last year, the Grand Prize was awarded to architect Prof. Dr. Hoang ao Kinh, who has made substantial contributions to the restoration of numerous cultural and architectural structures nationwide, particularly in Ha Noi.  VNS
The Vietnamese Government has set ambitious new targets for economic growth in 2025, with tourism assigned a central role. On August 5, 2025 it issued Decree 226, which sets a GDP growth target of 8.38.5 per cent across all industries, sectors and localities, placing strong expectations on the tourism sector. In response, travel enterprises are accelerating plans to turn this policy support into concrete results.

Vu The Binh, chairman of the Viet Nam Tourism Association, shared his views with Viet Nam News on how businesses are preparing to meet these goals.

Decree 226 sets ambitious new growth targets, including for tourism. How do you assess the feasibility of these targets in the final stretch of 2025?

When Decree 226 was issued, we were surprised at the Governments very strong determination. Assigning such a major responsibility to tourism shows the Governments high expectations of the sector. This serves as encouragement for us to push harder, even under challenging conditions.

In just the first four months of the year, we attracted 11 million visitors  an impressive figure, representing 21 per cent growth. But achieving the Governments targets remains a huge challenge.

Still, it reflects the trust placed in tourism, and we must try our best. The Viet Nam Tourism Association began implementing action plans as soon as the Decree was adopted.

What specific measures is the association pursuing?

To achieve rapid growth in a short period, we need strong, decisive programmes that require all parties to work together. The key is choosing the most effective path.

There are two main approaches to get more foreign visitors to Viet Nam. First, for independent travellers, we must strengthen communications to provide them with compelling information. But this approach takes time and consistency.

Second, growth depends heavily on tour operators, whose job is to promote and sell tours. We therefore plan to welcome large groups of familiarisation trips from abroad. This may be the first time Viet Nam has organised such a large-scale and rapid campaign.

Over the next two months, we expect to bring in 300400 executives from major travel firms in Viet Nam's key markets -- a move I must stress again that is quite unprecedented.

Through these visits, foreign tour operators can directly experience Viet Nam's attractions and then inspire and draw their customers in. Using their influence and credibility, they can promote Viet Nam when they return home. We believe this is the force that will help us boost visitor numbers in the short time we have left for the year. For the long term, we have to carry out a lot of work simultaneously.

Of course, Vietnamese tour operators also need to quickly refine new products and deliver the best services, focusing on green tourism and local cuisine to enhance appeal and win over visitors.

Green tourism is closely linked to changing traveller trends in the post-pandemic era. This green factor ensures safety for visitors throughout their journey, with relevant criteria applied to transport, environment, food, and more. Todays tourists always place safety above all else, even valuing it more highly than cost. They will only set out if the trip is safe and genuinely enjoyable.

The Viet Nam Tourism Association has been actively implementing green tourism over the past two years. After studying and drawing on international experience, we have now issued VITA GREEN certification standards. These criteria are on par with those of countries with developed tourism sectors in the region, while also highlighting Viet Nam's distinctive strengths as a destination.

With the VITA GREEN criteria, how do you assess the level of adoption among member enterprises?

VITA GREEN is considered a relatively high-level set of criteria among dozens of standards worldwide. With support from United Nations Development Programme experts, the association carefully weighed both international and domestic requirements before issuing standards for four categories: destinations, accommodation, restaurants, and tour operators.

So far, we have certified 40 enterprises that meet the standards, and we aim to raise this number to 100 by the end of the year. These are businesses that travellers can fully trust when making their choices.

Many international events hosted in Viet Nam not only attract foreign visitors but also help elevate the countrys tourism sector. How do you view this, for instance with the upcoming APEC 2027 event in Phu Quoc?

Every international event held in Viet Nam brings benefits to tourism. Beyond the primary goals of these events, we must seize the chance to promote Viet Nam's image as strongly as possible to politicians, delegates and experts attending. On this point, I think we have not done well enough.

Many major, high-profile events have taken place in Viet Nam, yet the tourism sector has not fully leveraged them. When participants come here, it is the perfect opportunity for direct promotion  something every tourism professional dreams of. To do better, we need thorough, meticulous preparation.

That is why, at this stage, we are focusing on linking Viet Nam's activities more closely with tourism promotion. I believe APEC 2027 is a very good opportunity. We recently held a meeting on Phu Quoc island, working with provincial leaders, the local tourism association and businesses to discuss how to extract the best from the events tourism potential.

Accordingly, a series of promotional activities showcasing Phu Quoc will be organised in the lead-up to APEC 2027 and throughout the event itself, enabling politicians, delegates and experts to directly experience Viet Nam's tourism.

How do you evaluate our visa policy and tourism promotion efforts?

We are very pleased that the Government is now giving such strong support to the tourism sector. In particular, the recent decision to waive visas for 12 emerging markets is an initiative that demonstrates its determination to back the sector.

At the same time, this places heavy responsibility on us. The challenge is to ensure effective development and organisation of activities that take advantage of such supportive policies. We are mindful that once the Government has granted visa exemptions, we must find ways to invest, grow and attract more visitors.

If we invest but fail to generate growth, the fault lies with those of us working in tourism. That is why we are now implementing strong plans and programmes focused on the 12 key markets that have just been granted visa-free access. VNS
HA NOI  Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long has requested solutions for digital transformation as well as building a culture of legal compliance while chairing a meeting of the Central Law Education and Dissemination Coordination Council.

It was the councils first meeting after its merger, taking place on Friday afternoon under the chair of Deputy PM Long, who is also chairman of the council.

Digital transformation in legal education

The Prime Ministers Decision No 26/2025/Q-TTg issued in August this year regulates composition, duties and powers of the council, merging the Central Law Education and Dissemination Coordination Council with the Interagency Council on Legal Aid in Litigation.

At the meeting, Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Thanh Ngoc, Deputy Chairman of the council, reported that in the first nine months this year, legal dissemination and education nationwide achieved many outstanding results.

Ministries, sectors and localities issued 40 directive and guidance documents; organised over 216,000 direct communication activities attracting nearly 24 million participants.

They also conducted nearly 5,000 legal knowledge contests with more than 2.2 million contestants and distributed over 16 million legal education materials.

Nationwide, as many as 16,630 legal aid cases were handled, a 21-per-cent increase compared to the same period last year.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ), as the councils standing agency, advised the PM to approve the Digital Transformation Project in legal dissemination and education for the 2025-2030 period.

The National Legal Portal has been operational for four months, from June 1 to August 31. It received nearly 660,000 visits and answered 156,000 legal-related questions via artificial interlligence (AI) applications.

Contributing to the discussion, Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh noted that with the two-tier local government, the workload was heavy, especially at the commune level, which faced many new tasks and new legal documents.

In recent times, training sessions, issuing documents and sending officials directly to grassroots levels have been implemented, but these efforts need to continue, especially at the commune level, to ensure effective law enforcement so that citizens and businesses can understand regulations and smoothly exercise their legal rights and obligations.

From the local perspective, a representative from ong Nai southern province stated that digital transformation was a prerequisite while conducting two-tier local government.

The representative proposed that this years Viet Nam Law Day theme focus on digital transformation in law and in legal publicity, dissemination and education, as well as developing applications for searching legal information and regulations.

During the meeting, several opinions suggested strengthening the monitoring of actual situations, removing difficulties, guiding the legal dissemination and education.

They also wanted to provide legal support to citizens, small and medium enterprises, business households and individual businesses, particularly under the two-tier local government system.

To Hoai Nam, Standing Deputy Chairman and General Secretary of the Viet Nam Small and Medium Enterprise Association, emphasised that legal information and dissemination to people and businesses must be simplified and easy to understand with diverse communication channels.

Accordingly, he proposed that enterprises, business households, and citizens should have channels for questions when they do not understand, a two-way interactive channel with authorities regarding legal regulations, especially newly issued ones.

Authorities and those responsible for communication and education should proactively reach out to those who need to grasp legal regulations.

Culture of legal compliance

Concluding the meeting, Deputy PM Long noted that recently, the Politburo issued Resolution No 66-NQ/TW on innovating lawmaking and law enforcement to meet the countrys developmental demands in the new era, which clearly focuses on building a culture of legal compliance.

This is regarded as a revolution in lawmaking and enforcement work.

The Deputy PM acknowledged highlights in legal dissemination and education, such as digital transformation and information technology application.

Policy communication has directly entered peoples daily lives.

A large volume of legal normative documents has been amended and supplemented in a very short time to operate the two-tier local government system.

However, according to the Deputy PM, certain limitations remain, such as shortcomings in realising legal education at training institutions, legal aid and legal support for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Guidance on legal education and application has sometimes been untimely, and there are still many issues to resolve in applying information technology.

Looking ahead, Deputy PM Long requested the MoJ, as the councils standing agency, to propose solutions, introduce experts and determine the financial mechanisms for developing and carrying out a policy communication programme on major national press agencies.

The MoJ is to lead the research, development and submission to the PM about a project on building a culture of legal compliance among officials, State workers and the people, following the PMs directives.

It will also take charge of closely coordinating with relevant ministries and agencies to successfully organize the Viet Nam Law Day Ceremony 2025 and continue to effectively operate the National Legal Portal.

The Ministry of Home Affairs will focus on developing a legal knowledge training and updating programme for officials and public employees, to be deployed starting next year.

The Ministry of Education and Training will study integrating content on the Constitution, laws and rules into training curricula and programmes.  VNS
Viet Nam has fired the starting gun on its nuclear ambitions with the adoption of a landmark resolution by the ruling Communist Party, known as Resolution 70, which sets a target of 6,000MW of nuclear capacity by 2030 to power the countrys next phase of growth.

Experts, however, caution that tailored mechanisms and concrete solutions will be essential to clear bottlenecks and unlock opportunities in the energy sector.

Ngo uc Lam, former deputy director of the Institute of Energy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, noted that the Party's earlier energy policy, known as Resolution 55, issued in 2020, focused on renewable energy but overlooked nuclear power.

Resolution 70, released on August 20, 2025, marks a significant shift by explicitly calling for the rapid restart of Viet Nams nuclear programme and identifying nuclear power as a crucial baseload source to stabilise the national grid, according to Lam.

Resolution 70 directs urgent steps to resume the Ninh Thuan 1 and 2 projects [cancelled in 2016], with the selection of advanced technology and partners, and a target of operations between 2030 and 2035. It also mandates a flexible approach including technology mastery, absolute safety, and domestic capacity building.

Nguyen Quoc Viet, former deputy director of the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research, highlighted the resolutions emphasis on a clear roadmap for both large projects like Ninh Thuan 1 and 2, and smaller-scale nuclear initiatives. It also pledges special mechanisms and resources to ensure success.

Petrovietnam, the state-owned enterprise tasked with the Ninh Thuan 2 project, identifies financing as a major hurdle.

Nguyen Thanh Binh, head of Power and Renewable Energy Division, explained that the US$10 billion-plus cost of a 2,000MW plant would exceed the capacity of any single enterprise or domestic bank. Cost overruns, common in nuclear projects globally, would pose further risks.

Beyond finance, challenges include technology selection, safety and developing a certified domestic supply chain. Binh said Petrovietnam was new to nuclear projects, and building such a supply chain would require long-term, coordinated support from both the government and international partners.

Independent natural resources and environment expert To Van Truong added that technology choices would be closely tied to financing. Many suppliers would be willing to offer advanced technology if it comes with preferential financing packages. Without access to large credit sources, Viet Nam would find it difficult to hold competitive tenders among potential supplier countries.

Nuclear power financing is unique, with payback periods stretching over decades, high risks, strict safety requirements, and tight regulatory oversight. Capital costs are typically higher than for conventional power projects, Truong explained.

A further challenge is human resources.

Petrovietnam lacks experience and specialised personnel in nuclear energy, a field that requires highly technical knowledge, skills and processes, Binh said.

He added that building internal capacity, training a workforce, and learning from international experience would be critical for the company to safely and effectively fulfil its role as the project investor.

Special mechanisms needed

Binh said that immediately after being appointed project investor, Petrovietnam set up a steering committee led by the companys chairman and a dedicated project preparation board to professionalise the work.

To address the challenges in implementing the Ninh Thuan 2 nuclear power project, Petrovietnam is gradually rolling out key solutions, according to Binh. These include researching and proposing special policy mechanisms tailored to the projects needs.

The group is also working with the Ministry of Finance to negotiate credit agreements with international partners, while developing detailed financial scenarios for the projects pre-feasibility study. These scenarios are based on special mechanisms already approved by the National Assembly and on financing options proposed by potential partners.

For technology selection, Petrovietnam is working with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to negotiate and determine the projects construction and investment partners.

To secure human resources, Petrovietnam has drafted a long-term workforce development plan, diversified training channels, and introduced incentive policies to attract and retain qualified specialists and engineers.

Equally important is building public consensus. Petrovietnam regularly holds dialogues with residents in the project area, fulfils its social welfare commitments, and prioritises hiring local workers so that communities see tangible benefits from the project.

However, experts caution that enterprise efforts alone are not enough. Viet Nam still needs additional special mechanisms and a coordinated policy framework to meet the urgent goal of putting the Ninh Thuan nuclear power projects into commercial operation in 20302031.

They noted that building a nuclear plant typically takes 1012 years.

Truong observed that globally, most first-time nuclear projects would rely on concessional loans from technology-exporting countries, backed by government guarantees and bilateral support funds.

He recommended that Viet Nam invite leading international nuclear contractors to submit bids and carry out independent assessments.

Still, with limited financial capacity, Viet Nam might have to prioritise technology from countries willing to provide financing and technology transfer, which could lead to EPC contracts being directly awarded instead of competitively tendered.

Some economists have proposed creating a national nuclear power development fund, seeded with State budget resources, ODA and contributions from energy companies. They also suggest government guarantees for international loans to lower borrowing costs, as well as State-backed long-term power purchase agreements to ensure steady cash flow for investors.

In addition, a credit guarantee fund for nuclear projects, a risk insurance mechanism for technology and operations -- potentially with State co-payments -- and a financial liability cap could help mitigate the impact of force majeure events.

Currently, revised investment proposals for the Ninh Thuan 1 project, led by Viet Nam Electricity (EVN), and the Ninh Thuan 2 project, led by Petrovietnam, are being finalised for submission to the relevant authorities.

The National Assembly is expected to review Ninh Thuan 1 in its OctoberNovember 2025 session, while Ninh Thuan 2 is scheduled for consideration no later than May 2026.

Following parliamentary approval, the State Appraisal Council, chaired by the Ministry of Finance, will conduct a final review before submitting the project and site plans to the Prime Minister for approval in 2026. VNS
October 4, 2025: An American citizen was killed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. A second man, a Palestinian, was also killed. Since late 2023, nearly a thousand Palestinians have been killed by settlers. Between late 2023 and the end of 2024, there were nearly 1,900 incidents of settler violence. Thats about four incidents a day. The many Israeli soldiers stationed in the West Bank to keep the peace rarely interfere.

These Israeli civilians have weapons and regularly attack Palestinians and destroy their property. The Israeli military almost never attempts to stop them, and when they do, only three percent of their investigations lead to the conviction of a settler.

This recently became an issue in America because of an attack on a Palestinian Roman Catholic church. This attack took place in the only West Bank village inhabited wholly by Palestinian Catholics. Because of the ongoing war in Gaza, Israeli operations in the West Bank killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced over 20,000 civilians.

The death of an American, beaten to death by settlers, generated a lot of attention in U.S. media. So far, the Israelis are ignoring American calls to protect U.S. citizens who visit the West Bank. Israel depends on the United States for weapons and billions of dollars a year in foreign aid. If that were threatened, it may well propel the Israeli government to do something about the rampaging settlers.

This sort of thing is not unique to Israel. Last year there were numerous efforts to rearrange the ethnic, religious, and political realities of the Middle East. The most visible and endlessly frustrating effort was the destruction of Israel. After that there were calls for the replacement of Arab dictatorships and sham democracies with true democracies. The only functioning democracy in the region is Israel. At the same time, Israelis are frequently blamed for any problems that occur.

This hostility to democracy in the Middle East has long been noted. For example, Britain and France did not intend to establish democracies in the Near East after World War I when the collapse of the Ottoman Empire left Europeans, rather than Turks, in charge of the region. Democracy did not appear to work in the Middle East, at least not for long. Israel was the only exception, and most governments and factions in the region hated Israel for its democracy, stability, and prosperity.

This hatred most recently expressed itself when Hamas, a Palestinian anti-Israel militia, unsuccessfully attacked Israel in October 2023. The Palestinians have, since the 1940s Israeli war of independence, been their own worst enemies and never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

This mess started a century ago after World War I when the victorious Allies had defeated Germany and its Turkish ally. Part of the post-war plan was to reorganize Palestine, the Levant region of Syria and Lebanon, as British- and French-controlled monarchies. That did not work, and Arab nationalists in what is now Israel attacked Jewish settlers from Europe who were seeking to establish a Jewish state in the area. This movement was proposed in the 1890s but was not acted on until 1920, after World War I, with nominal British approval in the Balfour Declaration. This led to increasing Arab violence against Jews.

Then came World War II and the German effort to kill all the Jews in Europe. Six million Jews, and six million other Europeans the Germans considered unworthy, were killed during the war. This led many of the surviving Jews to declare Never Again and [seek] the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. This and British forces leaving the region triggered violence from the surrounding Arab states, who urged the Palestinian Arabs living there to flee Israel. The other Arab states, and Israeli terrorists, urged the Palestinians to flee so they could steal the Palestinians lands in Israel. They mostly succeeded. At the same time the Israeli government urged the Arabs among them to stay. Many did, and currently 20 percent of the Israeli population is Arab, most of them Muslim.

The Israelis defeated forces from Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria who sought to destroy Israel. That was followed by Arab-Israeli wars in 1957, 1967, and 1973. Israel won every time, and that eventually led Egypt and Jordan to make peace with Israel.

The Palestinians refused to settle for anything less than the destruction of Israel and eviction of all the Jews in it, and that refusal has persisted. This intransigence first occurred in 1949 when Israel offered to allow 300,000 Palestinians to return. As part of that deal, the United States agreed to pay for the construction of homes for 200,000 people in Jordan and another 60,000 in Sinai and on the east bank of the Suez Canal. Arab and Palestinian leaders ordered their followers to ignore these offers and continued blaming Israel for the dire situation of Palestinian refugees.

Palestinian radicals, Hamas being one of those groups, insist that Israel be destroyed and replaced by a Palestinian state. These Palestinians ignore the fact that Israel has the strongest military in the region, nuclear weapons, their own ballistic missiles to deliver nuclear warheads, and the wealthiest, most advanced economy in the region.

Despite that, Palestinian radicals continue to promote attacks on Israel. Radicals in other Arab states sympathize with the Palestinians but do little more than demonstrate against Israel in their own countries and often get arrested. The Arab governments see Israel as a lucrative economic partner and, in some cases, a useful partner in counter-terrorism operations. Anti-Israel groups throughout the Arab world are often troublesome for the local Arab governments. Israel shares information about Islamic terrorists with Middle Eastern Arab states and earns a degree of cooperation from these governments.

In the streets it is a different story, with radicals calling for attacks on Israel as well as local governments that are not willing to make war on Israel. Nations in the region regularly claim they are rearranging their relationships with their neighbors. Those claims are rarely fulfilled while the ancient feuds return with new names and occasionally new participants when some other player has disappeared.
HA NOI  The Ministry of Public Security has launched criminal proceedings against Hoang Thi Huong, widely known as Hoang Huong, for violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences.

The 38-year-old businesswoman from Phu Tho Province is the founder of a vast network of companies and household businesses selling functional foods, health supplements and several other products, often promoted through her popular livestreams.

According to the ministrys Investigation Police Agency, the case emerged from an inquiry led by the Environmental Crime Prevention Police Department, which uncovered widespread irregularities in Huongs business ecosystem.

Investigators allege that Huong instructed employees to declare revenue under the names of many household businesses and individuals to evade taxes.

Preliminary findings indicate that from January 2021 to June 2025, Huong failed to record nearly VN1.8 trillion (US$67.97 million) in business revenue and incorrectl reported value-added tax (VAT) turnover of around VN2.1 trillion ($79.3 million).

Five other suspects have also been prosecuted on the same charge.

Hoang Huong became widely known through livestreaming to sell products online, promoting various health-related items, and managing multiple fanpages and social media channels with millions of followers.

Police said the investigation into the case is ongoing and being expanded.  VNS
HA NOI  Provinces in the northern region are ramping up emergency measures as Typhoon Matmo  the 11th storm to hit the East Sea this year  continues to strengthen on its way towards the mainland.

At 4am on Saturday, the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting reported the storms centre was located about 570km east-northeast of the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago, with sustained winds of 103117km per hour (level 11) and gusts reaching level 14.

Matmo is moving west-northwest at 25km per hour and is expected to intensify further before entering the Gulf of Tonkin on Sunday.

By early Monday, the typhoon could make landfall in Quang Ninh Province before weakening into a tropical depression, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to coastal and northern midland areas.

The weather centre warned of waves 68m high, rough seas, and storm surges of up to 0.6m in coastal areas of Quang Ninh and Hai Phong from Sunday evening. Onshore winds could reach levels 910, strong enough to topple trees, damage homes and disrupt power lines.

Rainfall is forecast at 100200mm, with up to 400mm in some mountainous areas, raising the risk of flash floods and landslides.

A disaster on top of disasters

At a meeting of the National Civil Defence Steering Committee on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha described Typhoon Matmo as a disaster on top of disasters, noting that the past two storms had hit Viet Nam in quick succession and left many areas vulnerable.

He warned that extreme weather events were becoming increasingly unpredictable and urged localities not to be complacent.

The Deputy PM directed authorities to urgently reinforce weakened dykes, repair infrastructure damaged by recent storms and identify high-risk landslide areas for early evacuation.

He ordered police and military forces to assist with evacuation efforts and safeguard property, to ensure residents comply with relocation orders.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment was tasked with managing dam and reservoir operations to prevent sudden flooding, while the ministries of Industry and Trade, and Construction were told to inspect power grids, factories and construction sites for safety.

Ha also instructed Ha Noi authorities to prepare temporary water storage zones and improve drainage capacity to reduce the risk of urban flooding.

Two possible tracks

Meteorologist Mai Van Khiem, Director of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, said there are two likely scenarios for Matmos path.

The first, considered most probable, would see the storm tracking slightly northward and weakening before making landfall in Quang Ninh Province, bringing widespread rain to northern provinces.

The second, less likely scenario, would have the typhoon move slightly south and remain over water longer, allowing it to make landfall at stronger intensity, affecting coastal areas from Quang Ninh to Ninh Binh.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Hoang Hiep warned of another flooding wave between October 6 and 9, particularly in Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Cao Bang, Thai Nguyen, Ha Giang, Bac Ninh and Ha Noi. He also cautioned that flood discharge from upstream reservoirs in China could raise water levels in the Lo River basin.

Localities on high alert

In Lao Cai, provincial chairman Tran Huy Tuan said authorities have restored traffic connections after the last storm and pre-positioned food and medical supplies in vulnerable areas. Military Region 2 and local police are on standby to assist in rescue and relief operations.

The province has also proposed lowering the water level at Thac Ba Reservoir to increase flood storage capacity.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Security has ordered a ban on all fishing vessels going to sea and instructed local authorities to coordinate with coastal communities to prevent casualties.

As Typhoon Matmo moves closer to shore, officials warned that flooding, landslides and strong winds could pose severe risks across the northern and north-central regions.

Preparations are under way to evacuate residents, reinforce dykes and secure aquaculture farms before the storm hits.  VNS
A NANG  The a Nang General Hospital has successfully carried out its first-ever liver transplant, a historic milestone marking a major breakthrough in the hospitals medical capacity and the citys healthcare sector.

The operation, conducted with technical support from the Central Military Hospital 108, involved a wife donating part of her liver to save her husbands life.

During a visit on Friday afternoon, a Nang Party Secretary Luong Nguyen Minh Triet congratulated and praised the team of doctors, nurses and staff for their remarkable achievement.

He also expressed deep appreciation to the Central Military Hospital 108 for its dedicated and effective support  not only for this transplant but throughout the long-term collaboration between the two hospitals.

He said the city would continue to facilitate the transfer of advanced medical technologies to ensure more residents can benefit from modern healthcare services.

According to Dr Le uc Nhan, Director of a Nang General Hospital, on August 28 the Ministry of Health officially recognised the hospital as qualified to perform liver transplants using organs from both living and brain-dead donors.

Just over a month later, under the direct technical transfer from the Central Military Hospital 108, the local doctors successfully performed its first transplant from a living donor.

To prepare for this, between 2022 and 2024, the hospital sent 46 medical staff across 12 specialised teams for intensive liver transplant training at the Ha Noi-based Central Military Hospital 108.

In 2025, seven more teams joined advanced courses to strengthen their expertise and master the complex technique.  VNS
Mauro Gasparotti, senior director, SE Asia of Savills Hotels and creator of the MTE series

Vietnam has set an ambitious 2025 target of welcoming 25 million international visitors, a 40 per cent rise compared to 2024. The country continues to actively review and relax visa policies, expand international flight routes, upgrade tourism infrastructure, and strengthen destination marketing, encouraging competitiveness against regional peers.

Vietnam has had a strong rebound in international arrivals and is among the fastest-growing markets in Southeast Asia.

Previously, the hospitality market faced a risk of oversupply in certain destinations, and from 2015 to 2019, new supply increased by 20 per cent compound annual growth rate, outpacing many regional markets. However, post-pandemic, new annual supply growth slowed significantly to only 5 per cent.

Bousserind Comson, senior director of sales, Thailand and Vietnam, hospitality, Amadeus, said that across Vietnam, hotel occupancy rates have been rising, particularly in hot destinations and cities. "Were also seeing a steady increase in ADR (average daily rate) and length of stay, now averaging over two nights. This suggests travellers are exploring multiple destinations within Vietnam during a single trip," she said.

She raised a positive trend growing: direct bookings. "This is great news for hotels, as it is often the most cost-effective channel. Vietnam remains a standout market compared to other Southeast Asian countries, where demand has remained flat or declined."

Vietnam is growing faster than the rest of Southeast Asia in terms of travel demand. Moreover, higher-spending travellers (business class, older demographics) present growing opportunities. "Now is the time to act, Vietnam has momentum. By understanding demand patterns and traveller behaviour, hotels can strategically position themselves to capture this wave of growth," she emphasised.

Michael Kokalari, chief economist, VinaCapital, said that Vietnams tourism market has enjoyed two strong years, mainly driven by a surge in Chinese arrivals. "While we may not see the same explosive growth next year, tourism is expected to remain solid, especially as international stimulus policies (in the US, Europe, and China) spill over into Vietnam," he said.

Domestic tourism, however, has been more sluggish. This is due to middle-class households rebuilding savings post-COVID. That trend is likely to reverse next year, with improving consumer sentiment and a rebound in domestic spending, a positive sign for hospitality businesses.

"For investors and operators in real estate and hospitality, the opportunity is clear: now is the time to act," the economist highlighted.

Mauro Gasparotti, senior director for SE Asia, Savills Hotels, and creator of the MTE series, commented, Vietnam is gradually establishing itself as one of the preferred destinations for Asian travellers. Tourism and accommodation offerings are becoming increasingly diverse, with the entry of new hotel brands across multiple segments catering to different demand groups."

His outlook on upcoming developments includes, "Future supply will remain concentrated in coastal destinations, with Danang and Phu Quoc leading in room count. Hanoi continues to see growth in the upscale and luxury segments, mainly driven by branded international hotels. Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City faces a shortage of new projects, creating opportunities for existing hotels, especially in the upper-upscale and international-branded segment, to sustain performance growth."

During the panel discussion on Vietnams hospitality market, senior representatives from Accor, BIM Group, Masterise Group, T&T Hospitality, Sun Group, and Radisson Hotel Group discussed hotel operations in Vietnam, the momentum of different sectors, and future opportunities.

Speakers emphasised the rise of integrated mixed-use projects near major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, aimed at sustaining investor interest. These developments often combine hotels, resorts, convention centres, retail, and leisure facilities to create multifunctional ecosystems that appeal to both international and domestic markets.

In addition to mixed-use projects, the all-inclusive resort model is also gaining momentum. Its key advantages include access to large land banks, improved connectivity, and growing traveller demand for all-in-one experiences.

At MTE, representatives from VinaCapital and Savills Hotels shared macroeconomic perspectives, an overview of Vietnams hospitality sector, and key movements in the branded residences market. In addition, senior speakers from The Ascott Limited, Dewan Architects + Engineers, Minor Hotels, and Haskoning discussed emerging models such as experience-led social living concepts, the application of AI in design, and creating value through dining, wellness, and premium experiences. They explored opportunities, risks, and global case studies of reclamation projects.

In the real estate-focused sessions, representatives from Savills, Indochina Capital, MIK Group Vietnam, GroupGSA, Club Med, The Ascott Limited, and Kusto Home Vietnam exchanged insights on the essential elements of luxury projects and shared experiences in integrated development. Speakers also evaluated the outlook of branded residences in Vietnam, particularly in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and noted the critical role of branding throughout project development and operations.

The discussion further underlined the importance of sustainability, aiming to deliver holistic experiences in living spaces and service quality. Panellists also noted the growing role of foreign investors in reshaping Vietnams real estate and hospitality landscape. Finally, they emphasised that for the market to grow sustainably, it is vital to build strategic partnerships and enhance the regulatory framework to strengthen investor confidence.

Hospitality and real estate leaders to gather for MTE Hanoi 2025 Meet The Experts (MTE), one of the regions leading hospitality and real estate conferences, is set to return with its Hanoi 2025 edition at a pivotal moment for Vietnams property and tourism sectors.

Vietnam boasts opportunities to attract global high-net-worth investment Against a rapidly changing geopolitical and economic backdrop, global wealth flows continue to evolve as high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and businesses take a more holistic approach to location. Vietnam is emerging as a promising destination, but it must seize the moment with improved policy framework, infrastructure, and living standards.
October 4, 2025: Actually, the North Korean soldiers have not entered Ukraine yet, but according to Ukrainian intelligence sources, they are planning to cross the border soon. Meanwhile, North Korea is sending 30,000 more troops, some of them support forces but most of them trained for combat. These reinforcements are supposed to arrive in three or four months. Up until now, the largest North Korean contribution has been munitions. This includes millions of artillery shells, hundreds of ballistic missiles, and other items the Russian military desperately needs. Most of the first 12,000 North Korean troops have been killed or wounded. None of the 4,000 dead are returning to service, and an unknown number of the wounded were permanently disabled by their wounds.

Russia has paid a high price for this assistance, by giving North Korea technical assistance in improving its nuclear weapons, missiles, and the expanding North Korean submarine fleet. This would be disrupted if the war ended by the end of the year. The Russian army and economy are in bad shape. In that case, Russia would be in debt to North Korea, and that would have a long-term impact on the Russian and North Korean armed forces. One of the things North Korea received for its help was a mutual defense treaty with Russia. Its unclear if this means Russia would be obliged to aid North Korea if it revived the Korean War, or made serious moves to do so.

This all began at the end of 2024, when 12,000 North Korean soldiers arrived in Russia and, after a short amount of additional training, were sent to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine. The North Koreans were first seen in combat during December. The Ukrainian forces facing them estimate that the North Koreans have suffered about 30 percent casualties initially because the Russians were using their Korean troops for frontal assaults. There were few Russian soldiers available for such costly attacks. Most remaining Russian troops were on the defensive. Ukraine had developed attack tactics that relied on self-propelled machine guns and other close-combat weapons, as well as robotic vehicles to clear minefields and even for use in combat. In one case, some Russian troops surrendered to their robot opponents. This was a first, but the Russians learned from it and may eventually copy this technology because they urgently need more soldiers and ammunition.

A year ago, North Korea announced it would send as many soldiers to Ukraine as Russia requires. North Korea has worked with Russia in the past but never to the extent that North Korean soldiers were sent to fight for Russia in Ukraine. In return, Russia finally agreed to upgrade North Korean strategic weapons systems.

In June 2024, Russia and North Korea signed a Strategic Partnership treaty that obliged each nation to assist the other in wartime. In peacetime, the two nations will supply mutual aid in military matters. North Korea wanted assistance in perfecting and upgrading its nuclear weapons and launch platforms, including a modern SSBN. This is a nuclear-powered submarine carrying a dozen or so nuclear warheads. Russia has such submarines, but North Korea does not, and has been trying to develop them on its own.

When the North Korean munitions arrived in Ukraine and Russian troops began using the shells, they noted two things. First, North Korean ammunition was unreliable and inaccurate. Worse, North Korean shells could also be dangerous to use. Some of them detonated after leaving the gun barrel, and eventually some detonated while inside the barrel. At this point, the Russians stopped using the North Korean shells, which had become more dangerous for their Russian users than to the Ukrainians. Meanwhile, the North Korean munitions factories were working overtime to produce new shells to replace the older ones sold to the Russians. This was a good deal for North Korea because they sold their older artillery munitions to Russia and are now replacing them with newly manufactured shellsat least the ones not sold to Russia.

The need for the North Korean treaty stems from the fact that Russian troops in Ukraine have suffered such high losses since early 2022 that the Russian army has run out of soldiers. Russia has lost over a million killed or disabled fighting in Ukraine. Many of the wounded suffered further when they found that the Russian medical system was unable to adequately treat them. This led to many thousands of desertions and millions of military-age men leaving the country.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin thought the Ukraine War would be over in days or weeks. It wasnt, and it is now in its fourth year. Unlike World War II, the Russians invaded Ukraine and are losing. Russias ability to continue the war is clearly less than Ukraines, provided NATO and U.S. support continues. The Russian government pays families of dead soldiers tens of thousands of dollars. For families in rural areas, where most of the dead soldiers came from, this amount of cash is life-changing. Soldiers who were badly wounded in Ukraine get lesser amounts but still enough to greatly improve their lives. Russia is spending nearly 10 percent of the government budget on these payments, and that has reduced the anger over dead or disabled soldiers to manageable levels. These billions, plus even more spent on continuing the war, have forced the government to go into debt. North Korea also compensates the families of North Korean soldiers killed in Ukraine, but not with cash. North Korean families receive economic assistance, new housing, or medical treatments most North Koreans cannot afford.
Toy retailer The Entertainer to close Wrexham store in new year

A leading toy retailer will leave Wrexham in the new year after a change in shopping habits and rising costs made the store no longer commercially viable.

The Entertainer, which has been based on Eagles Meadow since 2015, is expected to close its doors for the final time in the new year.

Speaking at the time the company said its relocation from Henblas Street to the shopping centre was thanks to a period of strong growth, that had seen profits soar nationally in the previous five years.

However, The Entertainer has become the latest retailer to feel the affects of a changing high street, with post-covid shopping habits and rising costs behind the decision to close the Wrexham store.

Andrew Murphy OBE, Group Chief Executive Officer at The Entertainer, said: Its with considerable regret that weve concluded that its not commercially viable to renew the lease for our Wrexham store at the Eagles Meadow Shopping Centre, and we are particularly upset at the impact this has on our colleagues, who have run the store brilliantly.

Sadly, it is a fact of retail life that shops sometimes have to close, as shopping patterns shift and cost growth outstrips sales increases.

We remain committed to serving the people of Wrexham through our successful toy concessions in selected local Tesco stores and our nearby store at Broughton Park.

The adjacent fashion store, River Island, is also set to close by the start of 2026 as part of the companys sweeping restructuring plans.

The Wrexham branch is one of 33 across the country to close as part of plans to save the business from administration.

Speaking in August, a company spokesperson put the closures down to a challenging market and a reduction in sales.
Welsh Government steps up calls for Crown Estate devolution

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Oct 4th, 2025

Deputy first minister Huw Irranca-Davies has pledged to continue to press the case for powers over the Crown Estate amid a growing chorus of calls for devolution to Wales.

Mr Irranca-Davies supported devolving the Crown Estate, which owns much of the seabed around Wales as well as 50,000 acres of land  and has been estimated to be worth 850m.

Wales deputy first minister announced an expert panel will be established to advance the case and consider the practical consequences of how best to devolve the Crown Estate.

In a statement on September 30, he told the Senedd that devolution would be consistent with existing powers in Wales relating to planning, land and seabed management.

Mr Irranca-Davies, whose responsibilities include constitutional affairs, said: We are clear that the Crown Estate should be the responsibility of the devolved government in Wales.

Wealth

He added: Its important the Welsh Government has the powers to pursue net zero in a way that retains wealth in Wales, where Welsh communities have a say and can feel the benefit.

He stressed ministers will continue to make the case for devolution to Labour counterparts in Westminster who have committed to engaging with the expert panel.

Mr Irranca-Davies reminded the Senedd that devolution of the Crown Estate in Scotland did not happen overnight. That took many years to put together, he said. We are learning from this experience in Scotland in making the case ourselves.

The MP-turned-Senedd member told the debating chamber the panels report will provide a solid evidence base, helping to progress the pathway to devolution in the future.

He told the Senedd: We would like the group to have cross-party support, sending a clear message that Wales does not believe the current structures are working for the people and they need to be reformed.

Gamble

Seeking to reassure the renewables industry, Mr Irranca-Davies, who is also climate change secretary, said a devolved Crown Estate would not threaten activity already under way.

All 22 councils in Wales have passed motions calling for devolution of the Crown Estate, a call echoed by an independent commission on Wales constitutional future in 2024.

But Janet Finch-Saunders, the Conservatives shadow climate secretary, reiterated her partys opposition to the gamble of devolving the Crown Estate.

She accused her opposite number of being obsessed with constitutional matters and seeking to appease Plaid Cymru which has propped up the Welsh Government.

Youre not listening to people, she said. They dont want further devolution, they dont want you to have further powers and neither do I. There is no denying the failures that you have been responsible for: why on earth would you devolve the Crown Estate?

Not bothered

She told Plaid Cymru members: You dont like anything with the word Crown on it, arguing people arent bothered by devolution and care more about NHS waiting times.

Mr Irranca-Davies replied: I think we disagree on pretty much everything that youve said, clarifying that the Welsh Government has budgeted 20,000 for the expert panels costs.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said: The block, of course, is Labour in Westminster now. We expect no better from the Conservatives: Janet Finch-Saunders came very close to opposing the principle of devolution itself in her contribution this afternoon.

He added: Its a tale as old as time that what may make commercial sense to the UK Treasury so often comes to the detriment of Wales and our communities.

Mr ap Iorwerth told the Senedd: Resistance to devolving the Crown Estate is political.

Mr Irranca-Davies welcomed gathering momentum but he said: We need to build that consensus strongly and I hope at some point the Conservatives will see the light.

By Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter
Discord has revealed that one of its third-party customer service providers has been compromised in a recent data breach by an unnamed group, raising serious concerns about safety and security.

However, the company defended its platform, saying that the said unauthorized party did not gain direct access to Discord and its servers.

Discord's Third-Party Customer Service Now Compromised

Discord has shared an update regarding their recent reporting of a data breach involving one of its third-party customer service providers, which remains nameless. The company only referred to the threat actors as an "unauthorized party" who gained access to information and data of a limited number of Discord users.

These users were those who had contacted customer service before through the Customer Support channel and the Trust & Safety teams on the platform. Upon learning of this attack, Discord said that it immediately revoked the third-party customer service provider's access to its ticketing system to mitigate the breach.

According to Discord, it has immediately dealt with the issue by launching an investigation, working with a computer forensics firm to help with their probe, looking towards "remediation efforts," and also working with law enforcement.

The company is now in the process of contacting the user accounts whose data and information were compromised by this attack.

Leaked User Info, Photo IDs in Discord Data Breach

Discord's latest update also shared specifics on which data were compromised in the said attack, with information like usernames, emails, and the last four digits of their credit card numbers included. The company also revealed that the threat actors were able to obtain information like IP addresses, messages with their customer service agents, and limited corporate data.

According to The Verge, Discord assures the public that full credit card numbers, passwords, and other sensitive information were not accessed by the unauthorized party.

That said, Discord also shared that a small number of government IDs with the users' photos were also accessed by the threat actors.

Discord also reported that the unauthorized party has been extorting the company for financial ransom for the said data they have on hand.

For now, the company said that it will continue to work with law enforcement officials to investigate the attack and catch the perpetrators. Additionally, the company will also review its threat detection systems as well as the security controls placed for its third-party support providers.

Discord also shares a warning for users to be on the lookout for suspicious messages that they may receive on the platform and to immediately ask for assistance from their service agents for additional support.
OCTOBER 3 UPDATE:

The dust has settled, and 2 News Nevada's own Ryan Canaday has placed second in the first-ever Lip Sync Legends: A Behavioral Health Tribute, losing by a single point.

The event was held at Reno Public Market, and Grant Denton with Karma Box claimed victory.

"It was fun, and we all raised a ton of money," said Ryan Canaday, adding that the event raised $16,000 for Vitality Unlimited, a nonprofit that provides behavioral health and recovery services throughout Northern Nevada.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

The countdown is nearly over ~ and its all in support of mental health awareness and recovery.

This Friday, 2 News Nevadas Your 2 Cents anchor Ryan Canaday will take the stage at Reno Public Market for the first-ever Lip Sync Legends: A Behavioral Health Tribute ~ a high-energy night of music, laughter, and friendly competition ~ all for a good cause.

The event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3, and raises money for Vitality Unlimited, a nonprofit that provides behavioral health and recovery services throughout Northern Nevada.

Canaday will join a lineup of community leaders, advocates, and local personalities in a lip-sync battle where two titles are up for grabs: Lip Sync Legend of 2025 and Top Fundraiser of the Year.

The public helps decide both titles. Voting is simple: $1 = 1 vote, and every dollar goes directly to support Vitality Unlimiteds programs. Voting is open now and continues through the night of the event.

To vote for your favorite performer, visit: https://vitalityunlimited.org/donations-campaigns

Want to support Team 2 News Nevada and help Ryan win? Vote for him directly here: https://vitalityunlimited.org/donations-campaigns/ryan-canaday/

This is more than just a fun night out, organizers said. Its a way for the community to rally around mental health and recovery in a really entertaining and uplifting way.

Tickets are required and can be purchased online. Food and drinks will be available at Reno Public Market, and attendees can also win prizes throughout the evening.

So grab your tickets, cast your votes, and come cheer on Ryan Canaday and all the performers Friday night at Reno Public Market.
LAS CRUCES  New Mexicos State Land Office, which oversees millions of acres of state trust land, said it will soon announce a meeting about a possible land swap between Las Cruces and the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument that has prompted questions among neighboring residents.

Rumors have circulated in recent weeks about a potential exchange of land in a mostly undeveloped area east of city limits with the Mescalero Apache Tribe. Neighboring residents even appeared at a Las Cruces town hall meeting regarding an unrelated land exchange last month, wishing to ask questions about the deal and rumors that a large amphitheater, casino or other commercial development were being contemplated.

The tribe did not respond to queries from the Journal, but Council President Thora Walsh Padilla addressed the issue in a video posted to the tribes Facebook page. She acknowledged the tribal council was exploring an exchange for the plot of land because of its cultural significance, but said no decisions had been made about the transaction or what, if any development, it would pursue.

She did, however, rule out a casino. That is not something we want to pursue, Walsh Padilla said. That would require the tribe to reopen our gaming compact and strategically that is not a good idea at this time.

The State Land Office leases land to earn revenue benefiting New Mexico schools, higher education institutions, hospitals and other beneficiaries, bringing in a reported $12.5 billion since Public Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard took office in 2019. The office also works with New Mexico Tribes and Pueblos seeking to reclaim ancestral lands.

Land office staff at that meeting said they were not prepared to address questions on an exchange with the tribe, but promised a public meeting would be announced in the coming weeks. Nonetheless, Dona Ana County Commissioner Shannon Reynolds weighed in, remarking during the informal session that he was not in favor of the proposal.

Land office documents obtained through public record requests report that the tribe is applying for approximately 288.5 acres representing the northern portion of a 640-acre parcel adjacent to federal land and acres held by New Mexico State University and private owners.

The land is undeveloped and marked by hills and arroyos as well as some unauthorized walking trails, an expanse of cactus, ocotillo, creosote and other desert vegetation with no roadways within the parcel of interest. It is located south of the Tortugas Mountain Recreation Area. Although there are no utilities, meeting notes indicate the presence of gas, electric and fiber-optic lines and a water main nearby.

Public records indicate that representatives of the State Land Office and the tribe met with Dona Ana County senior staff in April for a meeting to discuss the tribal land exchange process and the proposed swap, followed by a visit to the site. The meeting was proposed by the State Land Office in January, indicating in email correspondence that negotiations were in a preliminary stage.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson from the State Land Office said details of the town hall meeting were still being finalized and public notice would follow. The office also confirmed that a meeting with local government officials about the proposal, scheduled for Sept. 29, had been postponed due to the New Mexico Legislatures special session, which opened on Wednesday.

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The Mescalero Apache Tribe proposed a land exchange with the New Mexico State Land Office that would return certain ancestral lands to the Tribe, the office said in a written statement. As with any proposed land exchange, Commissioner (Stephanie) Garcia Richard will be holding public meetings to hear from the community. The State Land Office is still in the early stages of evaluating the parcel proposed for the exchange and gathering more information. No final decisions have been made yet on this proposal. We look forward to meaningful engagement with the public.
Sanae Takaichi Poised to Become Japan's First Female Prime Minister 2

Japans ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Saturday elected conservative nationalist Sanae Takaichi as its new president, positioning her to become the countrys first female prime minister.

Takaichi, 64, secured victory over her closest rival, Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, in a tightly contested race aimed at restoring public trust in the LDP amid mounting economic pressures and declining voter confidence. A parliamentary vote to formally elect the new prime minister, replacing Shigeru Ishiba, is scheduled for October 15.

The LDP, which has dominated Japanese politics for most of the postwar era, faces an uphill task after losing its majority in both houses under Ishibas leadership. Takaichis win comes as the party grapples with voter disillusionment and the growing appeal of opposition forces promising economic revival and stricter immigration policies.

A former internal affairs minister and staunch supporter of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abes Abenomics, Takaichi has pledged to revive growth through aggressive fiscal spending and relaxed monetary policy. Her criticism of recent Bank of Japan rate hikes and calls for renegotiating investment terms with U.S. President Donald Trump suggest a bold, nationalist approach to governance.

Known for her hardline stance on security, Takaichi has regularly visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, a move likely to strain relations with China and South Korea. She has also voiced support for revising Japans pacifist constitution and forming a quasi-security alliance with Taiwan.

If elected, I will travel overseas more frequently to tell the world that Japan is back, she said after her victory.

Takaichi, who has cited former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as her role model, vowed to transform citizens anxieties into hope and restore confidence in Japans future. She is expected to address the media later today.
You could call Rayzas a destination restaurant, and youd be right in more ways than one. Yes, foodies across Lower Alabama have found its worth the drive  but thats nothing compared to the distance its namesake owner covered to find his place there.

Mochamad Rayza was born in Indonesia, to a mother he says took early note of his interest in cooking and predicted hed become a chef. He started his career at a five-star hotel in Jakarta before landing a job in Dubai, where he continued to work under Japanese chefs for another three years; it was in this period that he began to focus on sushi. A cruise-ship job followed.

I always had a dream to come and live in America, he said. He found his first opportunity in Miami, then somehow jumped to New Hampshire, where he learned at some point that a friend of a friend was opening a restaurant in Tuscaloosa and looking for help. Rayza settled in at Hokkaido, a sushi and hibachi restaurant on 15th Street  or at least he did until April 27, 2011, when tornadoes mauled Tuscaloosa and obliterated the restaurant. He was among a group of employees who took refuge in a walk-in cooler, reportedly fighting to hold the door shut as the walls came down outside it.

In the aftermath of the storm, Rayza found work at another Tuscaloosa restaurant, Chucks Fish, and thats where things really began to fall into place. He and his future wife, Laura, met while both were working there, and a few years down the road  after Rayza had taken a brief detour to help friends open a restaurant in Homewood -- the owners of Chucks decided to open a branch in downtown Mobile.

Years after meeting while both worked at Chuck's Fish in Tuscaloosa, Mochamad and Laura Rayza operate Rayza's Restaurant in Daphne. Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com

Rayza and Laura were engaged by that point, so the chance to move back to her hometown was a no-brainer. They married in Mobile in 2016 and Chucks opened in 2017, with Rayza as sushi chef.

The couple say that Chef Rayza had a steady stream of patrons who encouraged him to open his own place, and supporters who said theyd back the venture. But it was a big and daunting step, especially as they navigated the pandemic and started a family.

There was another issue: Rayza had converted to Christianity and had a strong but undefined sense of calling. He attended a ministry school, seeking clarity on how to pursue that.

Somebody at church was like, hey, let me just take you to some buildings, said Laura Rayza. So we did that for four years. Nothing happened. It was scary.

At the end of 2022 they got a look at a former sandwich restaurant on U.S. 90 in Daphne. It wasnt as big as some of the places theyd considered, but it was in good shape, and it fit their budget.

The Jubilee Shrimp, one of the more popular appetizers at Rayza's Restaurant, features Panko-crusted fried shrimp dressed with sweet spicy mayo, sweet soy reduction, sesame seeds and Asian slaw. Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com

Step into Rayzas now and you wont find a trace of the former sub shop. The decor has a clean, modern, almost minimalistic look, with enough wood to give it warmth. The food, meanwhile, reflects both Chef Rayzas multinational background and his insistence that even seemingly simple dishes should have depth.

Consider the Miso soup ($5.50), which was hearty  not a word Id normally apply to Miso. In fact, it was so hearty that I suspected for a moment that there was bacon in it. There wasnt, but asking Chef Rayza about it took me down a rabbit hole of Miso artistry, with points about the use of kombu (kelp) and bonito flakes in the daishi stock and the ratio of white miso to red. And beyond that theres craft to the final steps of preparation: Its no accident that the copious mushrooms retain their fresh taste and texture rather than being cooked down.

It was over my head, frankly. What wasnt over my head was the impression that in Rayzas kitchen, nothing gets taken for granted.

Shrimp & grits is common, shrimp & oysters isn't. Rayza's Restaurant in Daphne is helping change that. Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com

Consider the Oysters & Grits ($22) on the lunch menu. Theres some upfront novelty there, because Shrimp & Grits is a staple of Gulf Coast cuisine and Oyster & Grits somehow isnt.

The idea of throwing some fried oysters on some cheese grits seems obvious. Less obvious is the decision to top those cheddar crits with a panang red curry sauce and sauteed poblano peppers and onions. The result definitely is different, but not as far from your comfort zone as you might think: the sauce has a citrusy tang and a sweet-savory balance akin to a barbecue sauce.

For Rayza, its a callback to meals he ate in his childhood, to dishes of rice porridge with yellow curry and a variety of toppings.

Theres a similar new-but-familiar effect with the Pork Belly appetizer ($14.50). Pork Belly is common in Southern cuisine; glazing it with Gochujang barbecue sauce, sprinkling on sesame seeds and green onion and serving it on skewers is not. It is every bit as decadent as youd think but serving it with an Asian slaw helps balance that out. Thats what its for, to just cut the fattiness, said Rayza. Because its a kimchi. Its a Korean-like flavor. Its regular, basic slaw, but the sauce we mix with the yuzu and the kimchi sauce. Yuzu is Japanese citrus, like, in between lime and lemon.

The Pork Belly appetizer at Rayza's features Gochujang barbecue sauce glaze and is paired with an Asian slaw. Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com

The overall menu is even more diverse than these few selections suggest. At lunch it ranges from Indonesian Fried Noodles ($17) to Coconut Chicken Curry ($18) and Bulgogi Steak ($23). Some dishes are as straightforward as others are frilly: Theres a smashburger ($13) and Indo Chicken Satay, a relatively humble and straightforward dish of grilled chicken thighs in peanut sauce.

There also are bowls featuring ahi tuna, salmon or pork belly and a couple of sandwich options. Word to the wise: The Softshell Crab Banh Mi is not just a simple softshell po-boy.

The dinner menu expands things further with some options that are relatively conventional (Ribeye, fresh catch) and some that are not (Miso Coconut Cream Gnocchi). If youre offered Sweet Potato Ice Cream for dessert, dont stop to think about it, just say yes.

Dry-aged fish on display at Rayza's Restaurant in Daphne. Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com

Given Rayzas background, sushi is a huge part of the menu. Its taken seriously enough that a case of dry-aged fish sits prominently in the dining area, to make sure everybody knows theyre getting the real deal.

A friend and I tested the waters with the Rayza Roll ($28). This turned out to be a massive and elaborate affair. Rayza said he starts with fresh tuna, light cream cheese, avocado, and a little bit of crab salad. Thats breaded with panko and flash fried just enough to give it a crust, while leaving the tuna fresh.

That roll is then sliced like a cake, he said. The pieces are covered with a seafood topping and sauce, lightly baked to toast that up before final sauces are applied. It hits the table as a mountain of layered flavors.

The Rayza Roll at Rayza's Restaurant in Daphne is not your run-of-the-mill sushi roll. Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com

Laura Rayza said the Rayza Roll and the TNT tuna roll ($22) are the bestsellers. But there are nearly 30 rolls to choose from, plus related appetizers, add-ons, and dry-aged sashimi and nigiri.

The restaurant also has recently added omakase dinners with elaborate multi-course chefs choice menus. Interested? See about getting on the waiting list.

In short, Rayzas may be small on the outside, but it will take you a few visits to really get your arms around whats going on inside. Chef Rayza says he likes to think of the restaurant as one-stop shopping for diners, distinguished by the quality of the seafood and the general freshness of the ingredients.

Amberjack tacos with cilantro aoli and mango salsa at Rayza's Restaurant in Daphne, paired with a salad featuring strawberries, red onions and apple. Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com

Theres another layer to the vision. The Rayzas didnt set their mission aside to do the restaurant thing. They set out to make it reflect the sense of mission. That means emphasizing a healthy workplace culture, Chef Rayza said, but it also means directing a portion of sales to an organization that works to get bible translations to people who havent had access to the text in their own languages.

Its not just a restaurant thats going to give you food, but a restaurant where you experience something different, said Laura Rayza. Our food having purpose, you feel that in the environment. I think we give off an energy that other places dont have.

Rayzas is at 9475 U.S. 90 in Daphne. For menus and other information, visit rayzasrestaurant.com.
A Montgomery-based civil rights group recently targeted by FBI Director Kash Patel said it will stand firm in its commitment to document hate groups.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has worked for more than 50 years to shine a light on the threat of hate, extremism and white supremacy, a spokeswoman said in a statement to AL.com.

For decades, we have shared data and analysis with the public to protect civil rights and hold extremists accountable. We remain committed to exposing hate and extremism as we work to equip communities with knowledge and defend the rights and safety of marginalized people.

Patel said Oct. 3 that he would cut ties with the organization, claiming the group had turned into a partisan smear machine.

The SPLC periodically publishes a report on hate and extremism in the United States, which includes a tracker of domestic terrorist groups. The list includes Turning Point USA, formerly run by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was killed at an event in Utah in September.

The map has been criticized by conservatives who claim the SPLCs designations unfairly label right-wing groups as hate groups.

The Southern Poverty Law Center long ago abandoned civil rights work and turned into a partisan smear machine, Patel tweeted Friday. Their so-called hate map has been used to defame mainstream Americans and even inspired violence. That disgraceful record makes them unfit for any FBI partnership.

Elon Musk on Friday called the SPLC an evil propaganda organization and accused it of inciting Kirks assassination.

The FBI also recently severed ties with the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish advocacy group that investigates anti-Semitism.

The Southern Poverty Law Center does not receive any federal funds. It is unclear whether the split will affect any of its current operations.

The organizations over the years have provided research on hate crime and domestic extremism, law enforcement training and other services, but have also been criticized by some conservatives for what they say is an unfair maligning of their viewpoints.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Artificial intelligence technology is in an "industrial bubble," Amazon founder Jeff Bezos told a tech conference in Italy on Friday, but the benefits to society will be "immense".

"Investors don't usually give a team of six people a couple billion dollars with no product... and that's happening today," Bezos told an audience at Tech Week in Turin.

"This is a kind of industrial bubble," said Bezos, who has invested in the American generative AI start-up Perplexity.

But that is not the same as a banking bubble such as the 2008 financial crisis, he argued.

"Those bubbles society wants to avoid. The ones that are industrial are not nearly as bad, it could even be good, because when the dust settles and you see who are the winners, society benefits from those inventions... and that's what's going to happen here."

"This is real," Bezos continued. "The benefits to society from AI are going to be gigantic."

Multiple technologies are in a kind of "golden age," he said, echoing language used by US President Donald Trump. "There's never been a better time to be excited about the future."

"AI is real. And it is going to change every industry... it is going to affect every company in the world."
In 2011, opponents of Alabama's anti-immigration law (HB 56) listened at an event in Birmingham. Tamika Moore

While Alabama politicians have backed President Donald Trumps campaign to arrest and deport thousands of immigrants, an AL.com review found that the state is not enforcing penalties against employers who have hired those immigrants.

In 2011 Alabama made national news by passing one of the strictest immigration laws in the country, HB56. It criminalized employers and landlords who hired or served unauthorized immigrants and made schools check students status. Even giving the wrong person a car ride became a crime.

Immigrant families left the state and farmers reported crops going bad without workers to harvest them.

An AL.com review found no evidence state officials are tracking or going after Alabama employers who fail to follow the law today.

Alabamas Attorney General Steve Marshall did not respond to multiple requests for comment from AL.com.

It doesnt really impose the penalties that you think it would have, said Wendy Madden, an attorney who has closely followed the law.

Alabama lawmakers say they support harsher immigration policy. Gov. Kay Ivey, when told Marshall had not responded to AL.coms inquiries about state enforcement, said she backs the president.

Criminal illegals are simply not welcome in Alabama, Gina Maiola, a spokeswoman for Ivey, told AL.com. Governor Ivey will continue ensuring Alabama is doing all we can to support President Trump in his mission to Make America Safe Again.

What does the law do?

The 2011 sponsor, Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, said at the time that HB56 attacks every aspect of an illegal aliens life.

The law was challenged in a years long court battle. Most provisions were struck down.

But some of the law survived.

Alabama employers must enroll in the federal E-verify system to make sure workers are eligible. Alabama is one of a handful of states in the country that requires this. Federally, E-Verify, the countrys system to track employment of foreign workers, is voluntary.

Hammon said in 2013 that the most important part of the law was preserved with Alabamas E-Verify requirement.

I think the meat of the bill is still intact, Hammon said.

In 2025, about 73,208 of Alabama employers are enrolled in E-Verify.

As federal agents raid an increasing number of businesses to arrest workers, little is publicly known in Alabama about what is happening to the employers who hire them.

The Alabama Attorney Generals office has the power to terminate a state contract or revoke a business license for employers who dont comply as a penalty under the law. Yet there is no evidence it has ever enforced the law.

AL.com repeatedly asked Marshalls office if it had revoked a business license or penalized an employer for not vetting workers through E-Verify.

Among states that require employers to enroll in E-Verify, a 2017 study by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Washington, D.C., found mixed results.

States like Alabama, Mississippi, Arizona and others that mandate employers to enroll in the program had relatively low compliance rates. In 2017, only 62% of Alabama employers had complied.

Freddy Rubio, an immigration attorney, said part of HB56 required the state to track employer compliance and give an annual update to the state legislature about the various parts of the law. That requirement is still on the books.

To my knowledge, not one single report has been given to the legislature as to how many employers have been prosecuted under that database, he said, adding he is curious to know how many affidavits the state has collected from employers.

Where are those kept?

An estimated 2,000 people have been arrested and sent into deportation proceedings from Alabama this year.
The Trump administration plans to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said Saturday.

Pritzker said the guard received word from the Pentagon in the morning that the troops would be called up. He did not specify when or where they would be deployed, but President Donald Trump has long threatened to send troops to Chicago.

This morning, the Trump Administrations Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will, Pritzker said in a statement. It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.

The governors office did not immediately respond to a request for addition details.

The escalation of federal law enforcement in Illinois follows similar deployments in other parts of the country, including in Baltimore and Memphis.

Officials in other states, including Alabama, have said they would welcome troops in some cities. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has said as governor he would deploy the National Guard in Birmingham and Montgomery.

Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles over the summer and as part of his law enforcement takeover in Washington, D.C.

Pritzker called Trumps move in Illinois a manufactured performance that would pull the states National Guard troops away from their families and regular jobs.

For Donald Trump, this has never been about safety. This is about control, said the governor, who also noted that state, county and local law enforcement have been coordinating to ensure the safety of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Broadview facility on the outskirts of Chicago.

Federal officials reported the arrests of 13 people protesting Friday near the facility, which has been frequently targeted during the administrations surge of immigration enforcement this fall.

Trump also said last month that he was sending federal troops to Portland, Oregon, characterizing the city as war-ravaged. But local officials have suggested that many of his claims and social media posts appear to rely on images from 2020, when demonstrations and unrest gripped the city following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

City and state officials sued to stop the deployment the next day. U.S. District Court Judge Karin J. Immergut heard arguments Friday, and a ruling is expected over the weekend.

Trump has federalized 200 National Guard troops in Oregon, but so far it does not appear that they have moved into Portland. They have been seen training on the coast in anticipation of a deployment.
Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli military strike in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana

Israels army said Saturday that it would advance preparations for the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trumps plan to end the war in Gaza and return remaining Israeli hostages.

The army said it was instructed by Israels leaders to advance readiness for the implementation of the plan. An official who was not authorized to speak to the media on the record said that Israel has moved to a defensive-only position in Gaza and will not actively strike. The official said no forces have been removed from the strip.

This announcement came hours after Trump ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza once Hamas said it had accepted some elements of his plan. Trump welcomed the Hamas statement, saying: I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE.

Trump appears keen to deliver on pledges to end the war and return dozens of hostages ahead of the second anniversary of the attack on Tuesday. His proposal unveiled earlier this week has widespread international support and was also endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Friday, Netanyahus office said Israel was committed to ending the war that began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, without addressing potential gaps with the militant group. Netanyahu has come under increasing pressure from the international community and Trump to end the conflict. The official told the AP that Netanyahu put out the rare late-night statement on the sabbath saying that Israel has started to prepare for Trumps plan due to pressure from the U.S. administration.

The official also said that a negotiating team was getting ready to travel, but there was no date specified.

A senior Egyptian official says talks are underway for the release of hostages, as well as hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention. The official, who is involved in the ceasefire negotiations, also said Arab mediators are preparing for a comprehensive dialogue among Palestinians. The talks are aimed at unifying the Palestinian position toward Gazas future.

On Saturday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second most powerful militant group in Gaza, said it accepted Hamas response to the Trump plan. The group had previously rejected the proposal days earlier.

Also on Saturday, Gazas Health Ministry said that the death toll in the nearly two-year Israel-Hamas war has topped 67,000 Palestinians. The death toll jumped after the ministry said it added more than 700 names to the list whose data had been verified.

Gazas Health Ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says women and children make up around half the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

Progress, but uncertainty ahead

Yet, despite the momentum, a lot of questions remain.

Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages  around 20 of them believed to be alive  within three days. It would also give up power and disarm.

In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of the territory, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction.

Hamas said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. Its official statement also didnt address the issue of Hamas demilitarizing, a key part of the deal.

Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general and chairman of Israels Defense and Security Forum, said while Israel can afford to stop firing for a few days in Gaza so the hostages can be released, it will resume its offensive if Hamas doesnt lay down its arms.

Others say that while Hamas suggests a willingness to negotiate, its position fundamentally remains unchanged.

This yes, but rhetoric simply repackages old demands in softer language, said Oded Ailam, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. The gap between appearance and action is as wide as ever and the rhetorical shift serves more as a smoke screen than a signal of true movement toward resolution, he said.

Unclear what it means for Palestinians suffering in Gaza

The next steps are also unclear for Palestinians in Gaza who are trying to piece together what it means in real terms.

What we want is practical implementation. ... We want a truce on the ground, said Samir Abdel-Hady, in Gazas Khan Younis. He worried that talks will break down like theyve done in the past.

Israeli troops are still laying siege to Gaza City, which is the focus of its latest offensive. On Saturday Israels army warned Palestinians against trying to return to the city calling it a dangerous combat zone.

Experts determined that Gaza City had slid into famine shortly before Israel launched its major offensive there aimed at occupying it. An estimated 400,000 people have fled the city in recent weeks, but hundreds of thousands more have stayed behind.

Families of the hostages are also cautious about being hopeful.

There are concerns from all sides, said Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is held in Gaza. Hamas and Netanyahu could sabotage the deal or Trump could lose interest, he said. Still, he says, if its going to happen it will be because of Trump.

Were putting our trust in Trump, because hes the only one whos doing it. ... And we want to see him with us until the last step, he said.
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A brand new episode of the new true-crime series The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher premieres on Oxygen Saturday, Oct. 4 at 9/8c.

During this weeks new episode, Butcher joins forces with seasoned detectives to reconstruct a victims identity with just a handful of clues to go on.

How to watch The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher

Cord cutters hoping to keep up with the weekly episode releases of the latest true-crime show to hit Oxygen can stream the series through DirecTV and Sling.

DirecTV is one of the leading streaming platforms taking the industry by storm. With plans starting at $86.99 after its 5-day free trial, DirecTV offers a plethora of live TV channels, tailor-made genre packs to slim down filler overload, and a load of other appealing features.

Sling is another great streaming platform replacing basic cable. By offering users a stellar selection of popular TV channels, Sling is a great alternative to the hassle of traditional cable. Sling is also introducing day, week and weekend passes which allow users to choose how long they can access the platform. Plans start at just $45.99 a month after the first month and the new passes start at $4.99.

More about this weeks new episode

This weeks episode starts off with an unknown body resurfacing in the icy East River. After the discovery is made, Butcher joins detectives in a race to identify the victim using the few fragile clues left behind. Despite having their hands full with the victim, pressure begins to mount when a report comes in that there may be more victims.
The National Hurricane Center had its eyes on three spots in the tropical Atlantic on Saturday, but the two in yellow (in the Gulf and near Florida) were not expected to develop into tropical storms. The area in orange, however, could become a tropical depression later next week. National Hurricane Center

Two tropical disturbances in the Gulf and near Florida had no chance of becoming named storms, according to forecasters.

But one could help raise chances, at least a little, for much-needed rain in Alabama over the next few days.

A third tropical wave, this one in the eastern Atlantic closer to Africa, could become a tropical depression, but not until later next week, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Forecasters on Saturday highlighted two disturbances it was monitoring near the United States, one in the Gulf and one near Floridas east coast, but neither was expected to develop into a tropical depression or storm.

The first disturbance was a weak area of low pressure in the north-central Gulf. The hurricane center said it was expected to track westward over the next few days and move into Texas on Monday.

However, it wont become a tropical depression because of unfavorable upper-level winds.

Rain chances today will remain low across Alabama today except for areas near the coast, which have a low chance of seeing a shower.

Here is the probability of precipitation forecast through 7 p.m. Saturday:

Most of Alabama will not see any rain today. This is the probability of precipitation forecast through 7 p.m. Saturday. NWS

There will also continue to be a high risk of rip currents along the Alabama and northwest Florida coasts through Sunday.

Here is the rip current forecast:

There is a high risk of rip currents along the Alabama and northwest Florida coasts both today and Sunday. NWS

Rain chances will increase a bit along the coast tonight and into the day on Sunday. Here is the precipitation forecast for Sunday from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.:

There will be slightly higher rain chances along the Gulf on Sunday. This forecast covers from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Sunday. NWS

Rain chances will continue for those in south Alabama on Monday.

Here is the probability of precipitation forecast from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday:

Areas in south Alabama will have a higher probability of precipitation on Monday. This forecast runs from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday. NWS

The second tropical disturbance is in the western Atlantic near the eastern Florida peninsula.

It is also not expected to develop into a tropical storm but could bring heavy rain to parts of eastern Florida over the next few days as it drifts slowly to the west-northwest.

Forecasters originally thought that disturbance would make it into the Gulf. However, forecast models have since backed off on that idea.

That system is not expected to bring any rain to Alabama.
Google is actively refining its Certified Refurbished program, marked by the removal of older hardware and an immediate price drop on the remaining devices. The latest update to the Google Store saw the permanent removal of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro while simultaneously slashing the price of the next-generation refurbished modelsPixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.

This streamlining effort appears to focus the refurbished lineup entirely on devices with longer guaranteed software support.

Google removes the Pixel 6 series from the refurbished store section

The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have been entirely removed from Googles refurbished store page. Previously, the Pixel 6 sold for $339 and the Pixel 6 Pro for $539. This removal follows the earlier discontinuation of the refurbished Pixel 6a, which was pulled after reported battery issues.

The primary reason for removing the Pixel 6 generation is likely its impending end-of-life for major software updates. Its noteworthy that Google extended support for these devices. However, they are still scheduled to lose software support next year. By focusing on newer models, Google ensures that refurbished buyers will get phones that will remain current and secure for longer.

Price cuts for the Google Pixel 7

Alongside the removal of the Pixel 6 series, Google immediately cut the prices for the remaining certified refurbished devices: the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.

Device Previous Refurbished Price New Refurbished Price Pixel 7 $429 $359 Pixel 7 Pro $629 $539

These price cuts position the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro very competitively against newer mid-range devices. With the Pixel 7a remaining at $339, these three phones are currently the only refurbished Pixel devices available. Importantly, the Pixel 7 series is guaranteed to receive software updates through 2027. So, its a much better long-term investment for refurbished buyers.

The mystery of the missing Pixel tablet

In related news, Googles Certified Refurbished page briefly featured the Pixel 8 Pro. This suggests plans to integrate newer flagship devices into the program soon.

However, a separate, mysterious hardware disappearance is also unfolding. The Pixel Tablet with its Charging Dock has been unavailable for several days across the Google Store and major retailers. Currently, the tablet itself is still available for purchase standalone. But it appears the bundle, or perhaps the dock itself, is experiencing an unusual and prolonged outage. It remains to be seen if this points to an inventory issue or a more significant change in the tablets future packaging.
Prime Video's The Girlfriend explores the complicated dynamics between Daniel (Laurie Davidson), his mum Laura (Robin Wright) and girlfriend Cherry (Olivia Cooke). (Amazon Prime Video) (Amazon Prime Video)

When Cherry, a luxury estate agent, meets Daniel, an aspiring trauma surgeon, in Amazon Prime's hit new show The Girlfriend, she thinks her luck is in.

After giving him a tour of various swanky London pads, she not only secures a hefty commission by finding him his ideal place, the pair then... celebrate, exchanging more than just contracts and keys.

It's only later, once they officially start dating and she visits his family home (well, mansion), that she realises things might not be so plain sailing. In fact, if his mother Laura has anything to do with it, it will be a bumpy ride, indeed.

Now, the chances of your life turning into a thrilling  and, tbh, utterly unhinged  drama are slim. But what heterosexual woman can't relate to dating a man who has a close bond with their mother?

Of course, this dynamic isn't typically quite so strange as the one depicted in the series, but even so, it's not always the easiest to navigate.

Cherry finds she has to compete with Daniel's mum Laura for his attention. (Amazon Prime Video) (Amazon Prime Video)

As LJ Jones, a BACP-registered therapist, tells Yahoo UK: "A close bond with a mother can, of course, be a beautiful thing. But, like all relationships, it needs balance and healthy, mindful attachments in place  the sort of parent and adult-child relationship where love for family doesnt come at the cost of intimacy, independence, or respect between partners."

Jones also notes that, if those boundaries aren't respected, it can be especially hard on the partner  particularly when kids are thrown into the mix.

"We hear the tongue-in-cheek saying 'Its time to cut the apron strings'  usually referring to the mother-adult son dynamic  but for some partners of the sons in question, this can be a truly stressful scenario they live through. It can also be unpleasant for the son if it is the mother who is struggling to let go," she says.

So, if you're worried you are part of this sort of dynamic, here are five signs you are dating a so-called "mummy's boy"  and how to cope with the situation.

Five signs you're dating a 'mummy's boy'

Do you have your very own Monster-in-Law? (PA/Alamy) (AJ Pics)

According to Jones, there are five major signs that you could be dating a man who is particularly close with their mother. They are:

1. Excessive dependence

They consult their mother about every decision  big or small  before speaking to you.

2. Prioritisation

Their mothers wishes consistently come before your needs or the relationship.

3. Emotional reliance

They turn to their mother first for comfort or problem-solving, rather than to you.

4. Blurred boundaries

Their mother is overly involved in areas that should remain private between you as a couple, such as finances or living arrangements.

5. Role expectations

They unconsciously expect you to take on motherly duties, such as excessive cooking, organising, or nurturing, rather than relating to you as an equal, romantic partner.

How to navigate this dynamic

When Charlotte married Trey McDougal in Sex and the City, she didn't anticipate how overbearing his mother Bunny would be. (HBO) (HBO)

As the partner:

If you do find yourself in this type of situation, Jones says it's important to first approach the conversation with your partner gently  but firmly.

She advises using "I" statements to outline how you feel, rather than highlighting what they're doing wrong, as this could make them defensive.

"For example, 'When you take your mothers side before hearing me out, I feel dismissed.' Invite them into a conversation about teamwork in your relationship and ask them to imagine how it might feel if it were them in your position."

If they are perhaps relying on you too much to perform "motherly" duties, Jones says to clarify roles kindly but clearly.

"Say, 'I want us to share responsibilities as equal partners, rather than me taking on a mothering role.' Reframe the discussion around building a balanced, respectful dynamic," the expert recommends.

"Following this understanding having been established, you should agree on mutually healthy and respectful, consistent boundaries  such as set visiting times or limits around involvement in decision-making that both of you uphold together.

"Ensure you gently share your feelings and needs before agreeing on necessary and mutual boundaries as a couple. This might mean clarifying what information is shared with parents and what remains private," Jones adds.

If your relationship is like Lucille and Buster's from Arrested Development, you may wish to rethink your parenting styles. (Netflix) (Netflix)

As the mother:

Mothers play an important role in modelling respect and boundaries. Therefore, this is a sometimes testing, but great opportunity to exercise those traits, according to Jones.

"Supporting your sons independence by encouraging him to build his own life skills  cooking, managing finances and certainly emotional regulation  helps him enter relationships as an equal, not a dependent," she says.

"When he does begin dating, its important as the mother to welcome partners with warmth, while allowing space for the new relationship to grow on its own terms. Over-involvement can feel intrusive, while respect fosters stronger bonds for everyone."

For those who may experience "empty nest" syndrome, then, Jones suggests it is the perfect time to explore self-development and reflection. Can you take on new hobbies, return to old ones, or find community and purpose elsewhere?

"It can feel as though you are being left behind and less needed once another woman absorbs your son's love and attention, but with the foundations of healthy attachments, it can be a wonderful time to gain a daughter-in-law and develop as a woman with a new era in their path," Jones concludes.

Read more about relationships:
Anisimova and Gauff shake hands after the 6-1 6-2 win (AFP via Getty Images)

US Open runner-up Amanda Anisimova advanced to her second WTA 1000 final of the year, outclassing defending champion Coco Gauff 6-1 6-2 in the semi-finals of the China Open.

Seeded third in Beijing, Anisimova continued her stellar season, which includes runner-up finishes at Wimbledon and the US Open. The win also gave the 24-year-old American a 2-1 edge in her head-to-head record against compatriot Gauff.

Anisimova bludgeoned her way to a 5-0 advantage in the opening set before second seed Gauff got on the board to make it 5-1.

The second set unfolded in a similar fashion, with Anisimova building a commanding 5-0 lead. Although Gauff fought back to win the next two games, Anisimova sealed the victory in just 58 minutes.

"I was just excited to play here in my first semi-final. I was able to put on a really good performance and I knew I was going to have to play really well against Coco if I wanted to get the win. I'm really excited to be in the final," Anisimova said.

"I've been saying every time I've walked on court and won my match that I love playing here and the crowd support has been so amazing since the first day I got here. I really think that's carried me through this entire tournament.

"Hopefully everyone can come out and support me in the final."

Next up for the world number four is either American fifth seed Jessica Pegula or Czech 26th seed Linda Noskova, who play in the second semi-final later on Saturday.

Reuters
A 19-year-old man has been charged in connection with a crash which caused the death of a British teenager who was jailed in Dubai for having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that 19-year-old Marcus Fakana, from Tottenham, north London, died in hospital in the early hours of Friday after police tried to stop a vehicle.

The force said its officers were attempting to stop a vehicle of interest in Pretoria Road, and after a short pursuit, police temporarily lost sight of the vehicle.

Officers then drove into The Roundway and found the vehicle had been involved in a crash with another vehicle.

Marcus Fakana died in hospital on Friday (PA)

A Met spokesperson said: Police were on patrol at around 00:52hrs when they attempted to stop a vehicle of interest on Pretoria Road, N18.

After pursuing the vehicle for around 60 seconds, police temporarily lost sight before locating the vehicle on The Roundway, N17, where it had been involved in a collision.

Officers were supported by the London Ambulance Service and the London Air Ambulance, and a 19-year-old man was taken to hospital where he sadly died.

He has since been named as Marcus Fakana from Tottenham.

His next of kin are aware and continue to be supported by specialist officers. They wish for their privacy to be respected at this difficult.

The driver was arrested close to the scene of the collision and has since been charged with multiple offences.

Mr Fakana, who was 18 at the time of the relationship, received a royal pardon from Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in July after being sentenced to one year in prison.

Radha Sterling, chief executive of campaign group Detained in Dubai, said she was heartbroken to share the news.

She told the PA news agency: Marcus spent the majority of this year in a Dubai prison, which no doubt caused him long-lasting mental anguish.

Its sad that of all of 2025, he was only free for the three months from the 3rd of July until the 3rd of October.

Mr Fakana had been with his parents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the end of August 2024, when a holiday romance blossomed with another Londoner, who has since turned 18, Detained in Dubai previously said.

After returning to the UK and seeing pictures and messages, the girls mother reported the relationship to Dubai police, who then arrested Mr Fakana at his hotel, it is alleged.

In Dubai, if an adult has a sexual relationship with a person under 18, they can be prosecuted for having a sexual relationship with a minor.

The Metropolitan Police said its officers provided immediate first aid at the scene before paramedics arrived.

The passenger, a man aged 19, had significant injuries, the force said.

He was taken to hospital where, despite the best efforts of emergency services and medical staff, he died a short time later. His next of kin have been informed.

The driver, a man also aged 19, was arrested after the collision on suspicion of failure to stop and dangerous driving. He remains in police custody.

Ms Sterling added: [Mr Fakanas] loss is a painful reminder of how precious life is and how unnecessary imprisonment robs people of time they can never regain.

Every day of freedom matters.
Kirsty O'Connor/PA

Ministers are flying in hundreds of foreign staff to work in the Civil Service, despite a pledge by Sir Keir Starmer to cut down on net migration.

Whitehall departments have sponsored 400 visas for foreign staff and paid 626,000 in fees to allow them to work in the UK in the last year.

The staff, who must earn more than 41,700 a year or the going rate for their role, have been employed in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Department for Transport (DfT), Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the Cabinet Office.

It comes despite the Prime Ministers pledge to cut down on net migration, including through skilled worker visas that were supported by government departments.

In May, Sir Keir said he would increase the education threshold for skilled workers coming to the UK, requiring migrants to hold a university degree unless they are required to fill a temporary shortage in the workforce.

The Government is also planning to hike the cost of supporting visas for employers by 32 per cent in a bid to encourage companies to hire domestic workers.

Under plans in Labours immigration white paper, medium and large companies will be required to pay 1,320 a year to sponsor a skilled worker, up from 1,000 under the current system.

Sir Keir said the measures would bring legal migration back into control and create a selective and fair system, where we decide who comes to this country.

Sir Keir pledged to increase the education threshold for skilled workers - Suzanne Plunkett/AFP

Every area of the immigration system, including work, family and study, will be tightened up so we have more control, he said, adding that some sectors of the economy seem almost addicted to importing cheap labour.

However, Freedom of Information requests by the Sunday Telegraph have revealed that hundreds of skilled workers are actually employed by government departments.

The highest number of foreign staff on visas were employed by the DWP, which sponsored 316 people in the last year.

The visas in that department came at a cost of 458,000, which will be used to fund a national scheme to train domestic staff to fill spaces in the workforce.

The Telegraph previously revealed that the DWP was using government credit cards to pay for visa extensions, which currently cost 500 every six months.

Labour under threat from Reform

Several government departments, including the Ministry of Justice and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, declined to reveal how many staff were employed on skilled worker visas because it would take too long to search HR records.

Sir Keirs crackdown on legal migration has been interpreted as a response to the rise of Reform UK, which is polling 10 points ahead of Labour with the support of 30 per cent of the public.

Reform has pledged to scrap indefinite leave to remain, the legal status given to migrants who have remained in the UK for five years and plan to stay longer.

A government spokesman said: An extremely small proportion of civil servants are employed on visas, with roles across the organisation awarded on merit following competitive hiring processes.

More broadly, we set out our commitment to reducing overall migration levels under the Immigration White Paper, ensuring we end reliance on overseas labour and boost economic growth.
JD Vance piles on Democratic candidate who likened rival to Hitler and said he should be shot

JD Vance and other Trump administration officials have joined calls for the Democratic candidate in Virginias attorney general race to step down after text messages were unearthed in which he suggested his political opponent was worse than Hitler and should be shot.

The vice president, as well as other Republicans including Speaker Mike Johnson and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, condemned the abhorrent messages sent by Jay Jones to another delegate in 2022.

The Democrat candidate for AG in Virginia has been fantasizing about murdering his political opponents in private messages, Vance wrote on X. I'm sure the people hyperventilating about sombrero memes will join me in calling for this very deranged person to drop out of the race.

Vance was referring to the backlash against Donald Trump after the president posted an AI video to his social media depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero and sporting a large mustache. Critics have called the video vulgar and racist, though Vance said that Trump had been joking.

House Speaker Mike Johnson called for Jones to immediately withdraw his candidacy saying the messages were plainly disqualifying for anyone who aspires to public office.

Jay Jones, the Democratic hopeful for Virginia attorney general, has said he will not be dropping out of the race (8News)

There is no conceivable justification for wishing violence against a political opponent and their children. Mr. Jay Jones should immediately withdraw his candidacy, save himself and his party from further embarrassment, and take some time to reflect, Johnson wrote.

In a text exchange with fellow delegate Carrie Coyner in 2022, Jones said that in a hypothetical scenario in which he had a gun and two bullets in a room with Adolf Hitler, Cambodian dictator Pol Pot, and Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, he would choose to shoot Gilbert twice.

Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time, Jones said, according to the National Review.

It really bothers me when you talk about hurting people or wishing death on them, Coyner, a Republican, replied.

Despite multiple calls for him to drop out of the AG race, Jones has refused so far to do so. In a Friday interview, Jones admitted that his text messages about Gilbert were abhorrent and apologized, but said Virginians deserved a leader who would accept when theyve made mistakes.

At the time he sent the text messages, Jones had just stepped down from his position as a state delegate representing Norfolk, Virginia. He announced his campaign for Attorney General in November 2024 and went on to the Democratic primary in June.

JD Vance and Mike Johnson were among those Republicans calling for Jones to drop out of the race following the emergence of the text message exchange from 2022 (2025 Getty Images)

In the same exchange, Jones reportedly suggested that Republican lawmakers needed to experience their children dying to change their policy views. He also described the Gilberts as evil and breeding little fascists.

Speaking to ABC Friday, Jones addressed the messages, saying that such violent rhetoric had no place on our landscape or in public discourse. I sincerely and from the bottom of my heart, want to express my remorse and my regret for what happened and what I said that language has no place in our discourse, and I am so remorseful for what happened, he said.

Jones said he had been in touch with Gilbert and his wife, who were angry and furious about the messages.

What I said was unacceptable, and I accept responsibility for that, and I want them to know, and I want the people of Virginia to know that I am so deeply, deeply embarrassed, and that I understand the gravity of what I said, and I am so apologetic for it, he said.

On his comments about Gilberts children, Jones added: I'm sick to my stomach when I read those words. And certainly they're objectionable, they're abhorrent. They have no place in Virginia, no place in this country's discourse.

However, despite his apologies, Jones said he would be continuing with his campaign for state attorney general.

The uncovered text messages come amid growing concerns about political violence and extreme rhetoric in the wake of the assassination of MAGA activist, Charlie Kirk, last month. A recent poll found that more than 70 percent of Americans believe that political violence is now a very serious problem. (AFP via Getty Images)

Virginians, I think, want and deserve and expect leaders who will accept when they've made mistakes, when they have aired, and again, I have not ever claimed to be perfect, he said.

I don't think any of us are, but I'm before the people of Virginia, offering my apology and offering my word that I'm learning and growing from all of this.

It comes amid growing concerns about political violence and extreme rhetoric, in the wake of the assassination of conservative youth activist, Charlie Kirk, last month. A recent poll found that more than 70 percent of Americans believe that political violence is now a severe problem.

As well as Vance and Johnson, Youngkin said he was outraged by Jones remarks and unconvinced by his apology. This violent, disgusting rhetoric targeted at an elected official and his children is beyond disqualifying, Youngkin wrote online X.

There is no gosh, Im sorry here. Jones doesnt have the morality or character to drop out of this race, and his running mates Abigail Spanberger, Ghazala Hashmi, and every elected Democrat in Virginia dont have the courage to call on him to step away from this campaign in disgrace.
Donald Trump ordered Israel to immediately stop bombing Gaza as he welcomed Hamass partial acceptance of his ultimatum to end the nearly two-year war.

Hamas has agreed to release all hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, as well as surrender governing power in the Gaza Strip, in accordance with Trumps plan.

In a statement on Friday evening, the Palestinian militant group asked for further negotiations on other parts of the plan, and did not say whether it would lay down its arms  a key part of Trumps proposal announced on Monday.

Related: My life in Gaza: We burned our copy of Nineteen Eighty-Four to bake bread. What would Orwell think of us now?

Despite the qualified response by Hamas, Trump said in a post on Truth Social: Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE.

Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, its far too dangerous to do that.

We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East.

In a brief video message posted separately Trump said it was a very special day and added that Everybody will be treated fairly.

The unprecedented order from Trump underlined that Israel and Hamas are the closest they have been in two years to achieving an end to the war in Gaza.

After the Hamas response, the office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, issued a statement cited by local media saying Israel was preparing for an immediate implementation of the first stage of the plan for the immediate release of all hostages.

We will continue to work in full cooperation with the president and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles laid out by Israel, which correspond with Trumps vision for ending the war, the statement said, making no mention of Trumps demand that Israel stop bombing Gaza.

Trump is widely seen as the only international leader with the power to compel Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire deal.

Netanyahu later on Saturday vowed to disarm Hamas, either through the plan proposed by Trump or by military means, and said he hoped to bring home the hostages being held in Gaza in a matter of days.

Hamas will be disarmed  it will happen either diplomatically via Trumps plan or militarily by us, Netanyahu said.

Gazas civil defence agency said on Saturday that Israel had carried out dozens of airstrikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City despite Trumps appeal.

It was a very violent night, during which the [Israeli army] carried out dozens of airstrikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City and other areas in the strip, despite president Trumps call to halt the bombing, a civil defence spokesperson, Mahmud Bassal, told AFP. He said 20 homes were destroyed in the attacks.

Gaza Citys Baptist hospital said it had received casualties from a strike on a home in the citys Tuffah neighbourhood, including four dead and several wounded, while Nasser hospital in Khan Younis said two children were killed and eight people wounded in a drone strike on a tent in a camp for displaced people.

In a statement earlier on Friday night, Hamas said it was giving its approval of releasing all occupation prisoners  both living and remains  according to the exchange formula contained in president Trumps proposal, with the necessary field conditions for implementing the exchange.

Hamas also said it was prepared to turn over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independent technocrats based on Palestinian national consensus and supported by Arab and Islamic backing.

However, the group said other issues in Trumps proposal would need to be discussed further within a unified Palestinian national framework. The unspecified issues would probably include arms, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and international guarantees for a permanent ceasefire.

A senior Hamas official told Al Jazeera that the group would not disarm before Israels occupation of the territory ends, comments that underscored the gap between the parties.

Trumps plan called for an immediate end to fighting in Gaza, an exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners within 72 hours of the deals signing, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and a transitional authority led by Trump.

The deal also stipulated an increase of aid to Gaza, parts of which are experiencing famine, and the reconstruction to the mostly demolished strip.

An AFP journalist in the Gaza Strips coastal area of al-Mawasi said they heard celebratory cries of Allahu Akbar! (God is the greatest) rise from tents housing Palestinians as news of Hamass response filtered through.

The moment I read the news  my body trembled and shivered. A feeling came over me, like: Oh Allah, at last relief has come to us, Samah al-Hu, a displaced Palestinian in al-Mawasi, said.

The deal was largely seen as unfavourable to Hamas and, if agreed in full, would probably spell the groups end as an armed Palestinian faction while demanding few concessions from Israel. International pressure on the group to accept the plan has been intense, with most regional and international powers welcoming the Trump initiative.

The catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, with Israels continued aid blockade and daily bombing, also puts pressure on the group to reach an agreement to end the war.

Though Hamas did not immediately agree to disarm, its acceptance of a hostage handover will be seen as significant. The 48 hostages have been used as leverage throughout the war. Giving them up would leave the group with few bargaining chips.

Israels war in Gaza has killed at least 66,288 Palestinians and wounded about 170,000, according to the Gaza health authority, mainly civilians. The figure does not include the thousands buried under the rubble or those killed by indirect consequences of the war.

Related: Egypt foreign minister urges Hamas to accept Trump Gaza plan and disarm

A UN commission of inquiry and many human rights experts have concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Netanyahus government says it has acted in self-defence.

The war was launched by Israel in response to Hamas-led militants killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages in Israel on 7 October 2023.

The Qatari ministry of foreign affairs also welcomed Hamass response, and said it had begun working with its fellow mediator Egypt to coordinate with the US on negotiations towards ending the war in Gaza.

A spokesperson for the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said he urges all parties to seize the opportunity to bring the tragic conflict in Gaza to an end, while the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, called for the Trump plan to be implemented without delay, saying Hamass acceptance of it was a significant step forwards.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, wrote on social media that the release of all hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza are within reach!, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said that after almost two years, this is the best chance for peace.

With Reuters and AFP
A senior police officer has declared "enough is enough" after exhausted officers arrested hundreds of people at a Palestine Action protest in London, days after the Manchester synagogue attack.

Met Police said 492 people were arrested at the protest in support the proscribed group, which was classed by the UK government as a terror organisation earlier this year.

The bulk of the arrests were made at Trafalgar Square, where around 1,000 protesters sat silently, some holding signs backing Palestine Action, despite calls by Sir Keir Starmer and police chiefs to stay away following the terror attack in Manchester.

Amnesty International, meanwhile, said it should not be the job of the police to arrest people peacefully sitting down, and that the arrests amounted to a breach of the UKs human rights obligations.

The Met said many of those arrested had to be carried out of the square after refusing to walk, with each person taking up to five officers to move away safely. Some were pictured holding their hands in the air defiantly.

Police officers detain a protester during a mass demonstration organised by Defend our Juries, against the British government's ban on Palestine Action (REUTERS)

Paula Dodds, chair of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said officers were physically exhausted but continue to be called on to facilitate these relentless protests. And we are coming under attack for doing so. How can this be right? she asked.

She added: There arent enough of us. Hard-working police officers are continually having days off cancelled, working longer shifts and being moved from other areas to facilitate these protests.

Our concentration should be on keeping people safe at a time when the country is on heightened alert from a terrorist attack. We are emotionally and physically exhausted. What are politicians and senior police officers going to do about it?

Kerry Moscogiuri, director of campaigns at human rights group Amnesty International UK, said: Arresting hundreds of people for peacefully sitting down and holding these signs is not the job of police.

The Met Police said many of those arrested refused to walk away, meaning they had to be carried (AFP via Getty Images)

These arrests are in breach of the UKs international human rights obligations and should not be happening.

Event organiser Defend Our Juries estimated around 700 protesters joined the demonstration. Among those arrested, the group said, was 79-year-old Elizabeth Morley, a Jewish woman and daughter of a Holocaust survivor.

In what it called the biggest ever defiance of the ban on Palestine Action, people of a mixture of ages sat for the silent vigil, before taking out pens and writing signs in support of the group. Some read: I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.

The names of Palestinian children killed in Israels war on Gaza were also read out.

Meanwhile, around 100 people gathered in Manchester city centre for a similar demonstration, organised by Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine.

Protesters taking part in a demonstration in support of Palestine Action in Trafalgar Square (Maja Smiejkowska/PA Wire)

The prime minister had urged protesters to respect the grief of British Jews, while Jewish figures have called the action phenomenally tone deaf after two people were killed in the attack in Manchester on Thursday.

Politicians and senior police officers joined calls for the events not to go ahead. Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley warned the rallies would likely create further tensions and some might say lack sensitivity in the wake of the attack, while Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Sir Stephen Watson urged would-be attendees to consider whether this is really the right time.

Sir Mark added that protests are drawing valuable resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most. Police forces have deployed extra officers to synagogues and other Jewish buildings to offer protection and reassurance in the aftermath of the attack, with hundreds of extra officers around Manchester in particular.

In a statement issued on X (Twitter) on Saturday night, the Met said 492 people were arrested, with 488 of the arrests were for supporting a proscribed organisation. The remaining four were for being drunk and disorderly, common assault, a public order offence and being wanted for an unrelated matter, the force said.

Earlier, the force said: The arrest phase takes time. Many of those arrested wont walk out of the square and need to be carried, something that requires a minimum of five officers to do safely.

In what it claimed was the biggest ever defiance of the ban on Palestine Action, organisers Defend Our Juries said more than 1,000 people sat for the silent vigil in central London in protest at the proscription of the group (Reuters)

Speaking to Sky News, policing minister Sarah Jones said: "We have a right to protest, to speak our mind, to speak out on behalf of issues that we care about, but we do not have a right to disrupt, communities in major significant ways.

But Richard Burgon, Labour MP for Leeds East, said the arresting of peaceful protesters was an absurd situation, while calling the decision to designate Palestine Action a terror organisation wholly disproportionate.

A vicar, who had been sitting with her eyes closed and holding a poster saying I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action, was among those arrested and carried out by police. Some people in the crowd called police shameful and one said to officers thanks for protecting us as the woman was taken away.

Two elderly men were also seen being carried by each limb to the south-west corner of the square, where officers and police vehicles were waiting to process the arrests.

Meanwhile, a crowd who had gathered outside Manchester Cathedral listened to speeches before moving off en masse to march through the city centre. As they banged drums and chanted free Palestine, a group of counter-protesters got ahead of them, marching in front and holding a flag saying F*** Hamas and shouting release the hostages.

A protester holds a sign during a demonstration in Manchester calling for an end to Israeli occupation (Reuters)

The governments former adviser on political violence called Saturdays protests a callous insult to thousands of grieving Jews. Speaking to The Independent, Lord Walney also warned they may prove a major tactical blunder for their campaign.

Referring to Saturdays protests, Dave Rich, director of policy at the Community Security Trust, a charity that provides security to the Jewish community, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I think its phenomenally tone deaf, to say the least, for so many people who claim to care about human rights and care about freedoms, to be taking police resources away from protecting the rights and freedoms of Jewish people to live their lives and go to synagogue in safety, all to support a proscribed terrorist organisation, which is not the same thing as supporting the Palestinians.

Sir Keir said events could cause further turmoil for families of victims and the Jewish communities following Thursdays attack.

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and Lady Victoria Starmer during a visit to Manchester where two people died in a terror attack on Thursday (PA Wire)

Writing in The Jewish Chronicle and The Jewish News, the prime minister said: I urge anyone thinking about protesting this weekend to recognise and respect the grief of British Jews this week. This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain.

But a member of the group behind the London protest said it would be unwise to heed calls to cancel it.

Speaking to Today before the protest started, human rights campaigner Sir Jonathon Porritt added: I have no doubt whatsoever that everyone taking part in the Defend Our Juries silent vigil today will demonstrate huge respect and real grief for those affected by the absolute atrocity at Heaton Park. But I dont think that means that we should be asked to give up on our right to stand up for those who are being devastated by an ongoing, real-time genocide in Gaza.

The police investigation continues at the scene near Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall (PA Wire)

Greenpeace UK described the arrests over Palestine Action support as a waste of police time and called for a judicial review on the proscription of the group to go ahead.

Co-executive director of the charity, Areeba Hamid, said: Police officers must be wondering why they are carrying out these performative arrests instead of protecting our communities after one of the worst antisemitic terror attacks to take place on British soil.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp argued for stronger powers to prevent pro-Palestine marches, saying that allowing antisemitism any space at all can lead to attacks such as the Manchester synagogue killing.

Worshipper Adrian Daulby (left) and security guard Melvin Cravitz were killed during the terror attack in Manchester

Meanwhile, counter-terror police were granted warrants giving them extra time to question four people arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts following Thursdays attack, with another two also in custody.

Jihad al-Shamie, 35, who was on bail for an alleged rape, was shot dead by police as he targeted the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Three men remain in hospital after the car and knife attack. Adrian Daulby, 53, is believed to have been shot dead by police. Melvin Cravitz, 66, was also killed, with both men having attempted to stop al-Shamie.

Visiting the scene of the attack on Saturday afternoon, Kemi Badenoch said Jewish people in the UK must be given greater security as some are leaving to go to Israel.

The Tory leader told reporters: Right now, what were seeing is people exercising their rights, but not responsibilities.

Jewish people right now are telling me that they are leaving to go to Israel. Israel is at war. How can people be leaving the UK to go to a war zone and think that theyll be safer there?

Ms Badenoch added: This should not be happening in Manchester. Our country has always been a sanctuary for Jewish people and always should be.
A solidarity with Palestine demonstration in Dublin on October 4 2025

Whenever hostilities do end, the arc of history will show that some countries made a real contribution towards peace. Other countries actions may well have helped prolong the conflict.

In the positive column, the United Arab Emirates is a beacon of hope in the Middle East. When many so-called diplomats, most representing dictatorships and autocracies, staged a theatrical walk out last month at the UN during a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, the UAE representatives, like those of the largest Muslim country Indonesia, stayed and listened. The Emirati Foreign Minister even had a productive meeting with Netanyahu in the sidelines of the General Assembly.

But in the negative column we have Spain. In the last few weeks alone the Spanish Prime Minister spoke of wishing he had nuclear weapons so he could threaten Israel, sent a naval gunboat to protect Greta Thunburgs flotilla (presumably in between siestas), and has now banned the United States from using its bases in Spain to deliver arms to Israel  even though the Spanish were themselves buying Israeli arms for the Spanish Army until a few months ago.

Then we have Ireland, a country amongst the most hostile states regarding the state of Israel and the Jewish community, according to Israels Minister for Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli.

The Irish Governments latest wish is to enact discriminatory legislation to boycott Israel. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris recently introduced legislation to prohibit the import of goods and services originating from territories under Israeli administration.

There are fewer than 3,000 Jews living in the whole of Ireland today. Thats 0.05 per cent of their population. And Jews amount to only about 0.2 per cent of Spains population. One wonders how comfortable those tiny populations feel in their country. After all, both the Spanish and Irish Governments spend a lot of time thinking of ways to project their hate towards the worlds only Jewish state.

Spain spends only 1.2 per cent of its GDP on its defence and Ireland spends even less, 0.9 per cent. Yet these two countries are as bellicose as Lord Palmerston on a bad day when it comes to the worlds only Jewish state, and their hostility often sounds quite deranged.

France and the United Kingdom have sadly also been an impediment to peace. Recognising a Palestinian state when terrorists still hold hostages will be a long lasting stain on British foreign policy. This Governments one sided stance against Israel can be summed up by the fact that Hamas praised their moves as representing a victory for Palestinian rights and the justice of our cause which would send a clear message to Israel. So a savage terrorist group which murders babies, rapes women and throws gays off roofs, openly welcomed UK support.

Hate destroys those it infects more than those against whom it is directed. The youth of both Spain and Ireland are, according to polls, miserable and directionless  despite their advantages. Youth unemployment in Spain is currently 26.6 per cent and Irish youth were in the bottom half of a Unicef table for mental wellbeing this year  so you would think Madrid and Dublin would focus a little closer to home.

Israelis meanwhile are amongst the happiest people on earth, despite their travails.

Those countries which have been praised by Hamas in this conflict have been on the wrong side of history. Peace in the Middle East may be coming, but the legacy of being on the wrong side will have a lasting effect.

Sir Michael Ellis KC is a former attorney general
Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from Israel, on Saturday as hope is raised for a peace plan to end the war (REUTERS)

Civilians in Gaza and families of hostages in Israel said they were holding onto a glimmer of hope for a peace plan, as Israel continued to pound the Strip despite Donald Trump urging for an immediate ceasefire.

Overnight, Mr Trump called on Israel to immediately stop bombing Gaza, saying Hamas was ready for lasting peace after the militant group accepted some elements of his 20-point peace plan  including the release of all remaining hostages held in Gaza.

On Saturday night, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped to announced the release of hostages in coming days as the countrys army said it had been instructed to prepare for the first phase of the US proposal.

But in Gaza, United Nations officials and civilians told The Independent that while there had been a lessening of fire in the north, and some displaced families were attempting to return home, Israels shelling and bombing had continued  with wounded families and children pouring into hospitals.

People are obviously desperate for a ceasefire, but we havent seen a lot of change on the ground. There has been heavy shelling, missile and small arms fire all day, said James Elder, spokesperson for the UNs child agency UNICEF, speaking to The Independent from southern Gaza.

He said that on Saturday, he had seen a girl aged 10 with horrific shrapnel wounds from air strikes as she attempted to collect water, and another boy who had been shot in the knee while trying to access aid from one of the militarised distribution points.

The people need to see concrete evidence on the ground  which means concrete not falling from the sky, he added.

In central Gaza, Marwan Sabita, 45, a father of five, said that news Hamas and Israel had apparently agreed to parts of a deal represented a glimmer of hope. He said: I ask God that it will be a ray of hope  and that the bloodshed will actually end now.

Buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations are engulfed by smoke following an Israeli military strike in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday (Leo Correa/AP) (AP)

In Israel, families of the remaining 48 hostages  both alive and dead  said it was a time for action not words urging Israel to stand together and demand loudly: do everything possible to bring our brothers and sisters home.

Ruby Chen, whose son Itay an Israeli soldier was killed on 7 October and his body held by militants in Gaza, spoke of cautious optimism.

We are feeling cautious optimism and have a lot of questions, but the fact Hamas is willing to front-load and release all the hostages is very positive. Mr Trump is leading the way and taking ownership of the process  which is a very positive development, he added.

Last week, Mr Trump unveiled a 20-point plan to end the war on Gaza: a conflict that has dragged on for nearly two years since the bloody Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, during which over 250 people were taken hostage.

Since then, Israeli bombardment and siege have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza, razed swathes of the enclave to the ground, displaced most of its two million residents, and triggered famine, according to the UN-backed hunger monitor. Last month, a UN special inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide, something Israel vehemently denies.

The international community welcomed news that Mr Trumps plan for an end to the war has apparently been endorsed by both Mr Netanyahu and Hamas.

In the version of the plan shared by the White House, Hamas would hand over all 48 remaining hostages within 72 hours, disarm, relinquish control of Gaza under an amnesty agreement. The plan stipulates that Israel will not be permitted to occupy or annex Gaza or forcibly displace its inhabitants. The Strip would be governed by an interim technocratic authority presided over by a Board of Peace headed by Mr Trump and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Mr Trumps plan for the end of the war has apparently been endorsed by both Mr Netanyahu and Hamas. (Getty Images)

Both Hamas and Netanyahu appeared to endorse parts of the plan although Netanyahu added additional stipulations including that Israel retain security responsibility for Gaza at press conference, and senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera the proposal "cannot be implemented without negotiations".

Mr Trump, who has campaigned as a peacemaker president, warned on social media that all hell would break loose if this agreement was not reached by the end of Sunday.

He wrote on Truth Social: Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the hostages out safely and quickly!

Mr Trump appears keen to deliver on his pledges to end the war and return the hostages ahead of the second anniversary of the attack on Tuesday. His proposal has received widespread international support.

On Saturday, Sir Keir Starmer labelled Hamas's partial acceptance of Mr Trumps peace plan as a significant step forward and called for an agreement without delay.

In a statement, he said that this was an opportunity to end the fighting, for the hostages to return home, and for humanitarian aid to reach those who so desperately need it. We call on all sides to implement the agreement without delay.

Displaced Palestinians flee northern Gaza, by vehicle and on foot, carrying their belongings along the coastal road near Wadi, last month (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

On Saturday, in his brief statement, Mr Netanyahu said he has sent a delegation to Egypt "to finalise technical details" of the US plan to end the war, adding that "our goal is to contain these negotiations to a timeframe of a few days".

In Gaza, families said they were desperate for good news but also worried about the apparent differences in interpretation of the deal between Israel and Hamas.

The general atmosphere is tense for me, and I have no optimism because Hamass response doesn't match what Netanyahu is demanding. I hope the opposite of what I think will happen, said Ali Hassan, 42, displaced from the north to Deir al-Balah.

Unicefs James Elder said there was no time to lose as families were at breaking point in the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. He said an Unprecedented level of support  for the international community is needed to push this through.

I have failed to understand how the reports of 19,500 girls and boys killed since the horrors October 7 - does not capture the world leadership every single day. It's a thousand babies, he said.
A swimmer diving into the mixed bathing pond on Hampstead Heath. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

A consultation has been launched on transgender swimmers access to Hampstead Heath ponds, which could result in them being banned from using the pools for the gender they identify as.

The Kenwood Ladies and Highgate Mens ponds are gender-segregated, with trans people currently able to swim in whichever they feel most appropriate, or use the heaths mixed-gender pond instead.

The consultation, by the City of London Corporation (CLC), is now presenting six options for gender inclusivity in the historic institution, one of which would ban trans people from using their preferred ponds.

It comes amid a battle between groups who swim in the natural pools, with a protest in 2018 in the mens pond by women wearing fake moustaches and beards to draw attention to the organisations refusal to ban trans women from the ladies pond.

While this was unsuccessful, the Kenwood Ladies Pond Association (KLPA) rejecting a motion among its 200 members last year that only those born female in sex can use the pond, pressure has since mounted after the supreme court ruled earlier this year that trans women were not legally defined as women.

The consultation appears to have come in response to threatened legal action by the campaign group Sex Matters.

The organisations chief executive, Maya Forstater, said the association needed to change the rules after the supreme court ruling. She said: Women who choose to swim at the ladies pond rather than the mixed pond are choosing a female-only environment for a variety of personal reasons, including privacy and dignity. Allowing men with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment to enter means that it is no longer a female-only environment.

Trans people called the campaigners cruel and judgemental and said they had been using the space for decades with no issues.

On social media, they also argued that it was not always easy to tell what gender someone had been assigned at birth and that the measures could result in a transgender man, who had undergone gender-affirming surgery and was taking testosterone, using facilities for women.

They said it could create complications where people were being challenged on their eligibility to use the space based on physical characteristics such as their height or the shape of their jaw.

Announcing the consultation Chris Hayward, the chair of policy at the CLC, said: We recognise the sensitivity surrounding this issue. Our consultation will help ensure that everyones voice is heard, and that decisions are made in a fair, respectful and transparent way, in line with the law.

While the consultation will be an important source of insight, it is not the only factor. The views we receive will sit alongside our wider responsibilities  including meeting legal requirements, assessing equality impacts, ensuring safeguarding, and considering how any decisions could be implemented in practice.
In the half-destroyed apartment blocks of Tel al-Hawa, dark windowless rooms offer soldiers a few minutes rest from the threat of snipers.

Outside, the troops are tense, choosing to stand in the shade of a Merkava tank or Namer armoured personnel carrier amid the thump and boom of artillery fire.

Deep in this neighbourhood of Gaza City, said by Benjamin Netanyahu to be Hamass final stronghold, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dominate but lack total control.

As well as snipers, soldiers have been killed by rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) fired from some of the many shattered buildings in recent weeks.

As the world waited to see if Hamas would accept Donald Trumps plan to disarm and agree to his peace deal, The Telegraph gained rare access to this patch of the city where Israel is fighting a new generation of fanatical young militants, a senior official said.

Although a little green, and without the tactical experience of their predecessors, most of whom were killed in late 2023 and early 2024, the new crop were fighting hard, the official said, operating as a system, identifying and punishing weak points in the IDF advance.

We destroyed most of their battalion before, but they replaced their commanders and recruited young ones, the senior official said.

So they are a little bit less professional, but they are still fighting and they are pretty brave.

Hamas did not say whether it would agree to a stipulation that it disarm, a demand by Israel and the US that it has previously rejected - Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Mr Trump has warned Hamas to accept his plan for peace in Gaza by Sunday night or face being quickly extinguished.

The US presidents 20-point proposal, to which Mr Netanyahu signed up last week, offers amnesty to the terror group providing they disarm and release the hostages.

On Friday, Hamas said it would agree to parts of Mr Trumps plan to end the Gaza war, including releasing hostages and handing over administration of the enclave, but that it would seek negotiations over many of its other terms.

The US president has not said whether the terms would be subject to negotiation, as Hamas is seeking.

Notably, Hamas did not say whether it would agree to a stipulation that it disarm, a demand by Israel and the US that it has previously rejected. A divide has reportedly emerged between Hamass political wing, based in Qatar, and its military wing in Gaza, over how to proceed.

The Israeli prime minister has ordered the IDF to conquer Gaza City, the enclaves largest conurbation, against the military advice of his defence chiefs, presenting it as a final offensive to extinguish the terror group.

However, the IDF has not been screening the hundreds of thousands of people evacuating the city.

The official said this would take months and acknowledged that many Hamas fighters may have left with their families, raising the prospect of further fighting in the refugee camps in the south.

Last week, Israel Katz, the defence minister, said the city was all but surrounded and warned the remaining population  potentially more than half a million people  that if they did not leave they would be considered terrorists or terrorist sympathisers.

The senior official suggested that ministers might decide to seal off the city in the coming days.

Its not our decision, its a government decision, he said. Were not sure that we will not close it in the next few days.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), has condemned the threat as foreshadowing the massacre of innocents.

Labelling the nearly 250,000 people currently trapped in Gaza City and the north as terrorists or terror supporters by the government of Israel is a statement suggesting planned large-scale massacres: killing more women, children, elderly and vulnerable people unable to move out, Mr Lazzarini said.

Mr Trump has echoed the order for civilians to leave. Writing on his Truth Social platform, he said: I am asking that all Palestinians immediately leave this area of potentially great future death for safer parts of Gaza.

Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu set out the plan on Monday - JIM LO SCALZO/EPA/Shutterstock

In contrast to much of the Strip, where nearly all structures have been purposefully demolished, many of the multi-storey apartment blocks that dominate Tel al-Hawa still stand.

However, all are damaged, with a large proportion completely uninhabitable.

It is in this landscape that the IDF has taken casualties in recent weeks, with Hamas snipers able to sit in buildings and pick off troops, while observers coordinate attacks.

A company commander in the 36th division was killed by an RPG near this location two weeks ago.

They are still fighting as a system, you can see it, said the senior official. Observers watch us, looking for weak spots.

He said the attacks were not as sophisticated as when the IDF first conquered Gaza City in 2023, due to the relative inexperience of the new fighters.

The IDF believes there are now fewer than 3,000 fighters left in Gaza City.

On Friday, it presented evidence of what it claimed was a Hamas tunnel complex under the recently evacuated Jordanian hospital in the city.

Officially run by the Amman government, the complex also housed a subterranean rocket-making factory and a command-and-control centre, the Israelis said.

They claimed it had housed between 50 to 80 Hamas members and that they had evacuated to the south, using the Jordanian hospital staff as cover.

The aftermath of an IDF strike on Omar al-Mukhtar Street in Gaza City - Saeed MMT Jaras/Anadolu via Getty Image

Israels international reputation is in tatters over the death and destruction it has wrought on the civilian population in Gaza. Public support for Israel in the West has drained away over the two years it has been at war  its longest ever.

The Trump plan, although politically uncomfortable for Mr Netanyahu, given his ultra-nationalist coalition partners, appears to satisfy Israels war aims of returning the hostages and stopping Hamas ever threatening Israel again.

The US president has made no secret of his wish to build on the plan, with an international stabilisation force and interim authority  possibly run on a day-to-day basis by Sir Tony Blair  to foster better relations between Israel and its Arab partners.

However, if a deal is not struck, those hopes could be dashed for a generation if Israel presses ahead with its offensive. It could leave civilians trapped and facing expulsions if the far-Right members of Mr Netanyahus cabinet get their way.

The latest reports suggest Hamass political leadership in Qatar will respond positively to the plan, but with a counter-proposal against disarmament, and the full withdrawal from the Strip of Israeli forces.

This week, ordinary Gazans who spoke to The Telegraph were broadly sceptical about the chances of a deal.

Many thought it was unfair in principle, arguing that it satisfied Israeli concerns while only making vague commitments to a long-term viable independent state for Palestinians.

Maged Qudaih, a 45-year-year-old currently displaced in Al-Mawasi, said: I believe and expect it will reject some of the terms of the agreement, most importantly the surrender of weapons, which they consider a red line. They always believe that if they surrender their weapons, the Israeli army will continue its aggression against Gaza, even if international guarantees are provided.

Al Saqa, 48, from Gaza City, but currently displaced in the south, said: The proposed Trump plan does not serve the people of Gaza specifically, nor the Palestinians in general.

However, we in Gaza support any proposal that stops the bloodshed. We have nothing to lose more than the lives, homes, and lives we have already lost.

Therefore, stopping the war today, at any price, is better than stopping it tomorrow at a more severe price for Gaza and its people, who have already paid a heavy price in lives and property.
Tommy Robinson has been invited to Israel ( Lucy North/PA)

Israel has been accused of sowing division in the UK after inviting Tommy Robinson to visit the country.

Amichai Chikli, Israels minister for the diaspora and combating antisemitism, said he was proud to host British patriot Robinson in mid-October, following the terror attack at a Manchester synagogue.

He lauded the far-right activist as a courageous leader on the front line against radical Islam.

Former Tory cabinet minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi criticised the irresponsible and deeply dangerous behaviour by Israel in inviting a man with multiple convictions for violence and fraud.

Baroness Warsi hit out at the irresponsible behaviour (PA Archive)

Lady Warsi, the peer who was the first Muslim woman to serve in cabinet, wrote on X: The Israeli Minister inviting Tommy Robinson a man with multiple convictions for violence and fraud to Israel in response to the horrific Manchester attack.

Let that sink in.

At a time all communities in the UK are uniting to support our Jewish community as they grieve, the State of Israel is sowing division in our country, supporting and promoting those that platform hate and making our country unsafe.

Its time for all right thinking people to call out this irresponsible and deeply dangerous behaviour from Israel.

Sunder Katwala, director of the think tank British Future, said: Tommy Robinson is a voice of prejudice and division. There should be cross-party and multi-faith pressure on the Israeli government to withdraw its invitation.

The Israeli Minister inviting Tommy Robinson a man with multiple convictions for violence and fraud to Israel in response to the horrific Manchester attack.

Let that sink in.

At a time all communities in the UK are uniting to support our Jewish community as they grieve, the https://t.co/lu91Bnq2bf  Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) October 4, 2025

Most British Jewish voices have consistently been clear that they reject Robinsons bogus claim to be an ally of their community. It is important that we hear that again now.

Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley Lennon, confirmed that he would accept the Israeli ministers invitation.

Robinson, who has previously been jailed for contempt of court, said Thursdays assault that left two people dead has strengthened my conviction that the United Kingdom and Israel are fighting the same battleagainst the scourge of Islamic jihad.

Mr Chikli wrote on X: In the wake of the horrific Manchester terrorist attack, Israel and the Jewish people stand firmly with our allies in the United Kingdom.

On behalf of the State of Israel, I am proud to host British patriot @TRobinsonNewEra (Tommy Robinson) who will visit Israel in mid-October.

Tommy is a courageous leader on the front line against radical Islam.

At a time when Jews across Europe face rising antisemitism, it is vital to strengthen bonds with allies who refuse to be silent.

He has proven himself a true friend of Israel and the Jewish people, unafraid to speak the truth and confront hate.

Israel will always stand with the Jewish community and our allies worldwide. Together with friends like Tommy Robinson, we will build stronger bridges of solidarity, fight terror, and defend Western civilization and our shared values.

In a post on X responding to the Israeli politician, Robinson said he would travel to Israel immediately following my October 13th trial.

The Tommy Robinson-led Unite the Kingdom rally in central London on September 13 (Harry Stedman/PA)

He said he would visit Jerusalem, the West Bank, the site of the Nova Festival and other October 7 locations, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre Yad Vashem, the Jabotinsky Institute and Christian holy sites.

He said: I will visit the Knesset and meet with leaders of the Israeli government, including Minister Amichai Chikli, Israels Diaspora Minister who invited me, as well as many others.

I also hope to get into Gaza, he added.

Robinson last month organised a Unite the Kingdom rally in central London attended by between 110,000 and 150,000 people.

More than 150 reports of anti-Muslim hate were made to the Tell Mama charity monitoring the issue in the seven days following the rally.

Robinson, who founded the English Defence League, was previously sentenced for contempt of court after repeating false allegations about a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him for libel.

He also served time in prison in 2019 for putting grooming trials in Huddersfield at risk by breaking reporting restrictions that were in place to ensure the proceedings were fair.

Mr Chikli has been a vocal critic of the Labour Governments response to antisemitism, as well as the UKs recent recognition  alongside other western allies  of Palestinian statehood.

Other senior Israeli politicians also suggested Sir Keir Starmers administration bore responsibility for the deadly attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester.

Foreign minister Gideon Saar accused the Government of failing to curb rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement in Britain and demanded a change of course on tackling it.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he plans to announce the release of all hostages from Gaza "in the coming days", as indirect talks with Hamas look set to continue in Egypt on on Monday on a new US plan to end the war.

In a brief statement on Saturday, Mr Netanyahu confirmed a delegation had been sent to Egypt "to finalise technical details", aiming to "contain these negotiations to a time frame of a few days".

He spoke after Hamas said it had accepted some elements of the US plan.

Donald Trump welcomed the Hamas statement, but on Saturday warned that "Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off".

The US president later said the ceasefire would begin immediately once Hamas confirms the "initial withdrawal line" in Gaza. A map with his social media post appeared to show much of Gaza still open to Israeli forces.

Benjamin Netanyahu with Donald Trump at the White House last week (Getty)

Earlier, Mr Trump had ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza. Some in Gaza City reported a notable easing of Israeli strikes on Saturday, although hospital officials said at least 22 people were killed, including women and children.

Israel's army said leaders had instructed it to prepare for the US plan's first phase. Israel has moved to a defensive-only position in Gaza and will not actively strike, said an official who was not authorised to speak to the media on the record.

Still, an Israeli strike on Gaza City's Tuffah neighbourhood killed at least 17 and injured 25 others, said Al-Ahli hospital director Fadel Naim. The strikes are still ongoing, Mr Naim said. Israel's military said it struck a Hamas member and regrets any harm caused to uninvolved civilians.

Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiyah earlier on Saturday said Israeli strikes killed five Palestinians across Gaza City.

Mr Trump appears determined to deliver on pledges to end the war and return all hostages ahead of the second anniversary on Tuesday of the attack that sparked it. His proposal unveiled earlier this week has widespread international support. On Friday, Mr Netanyahu's office said Israel was committed to ending the war that began when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023.

The indirect talks on Monday are meant to prepare the way for the release of hostages from Gaza and Palestinians from Israeli detention, mediator Egypt said.

A senior Egyptian official said US envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Egypt to head the US negotiating team. The talks also will discuss maps showing the expected withdrawal of Israeli forces from certain areas in Gaza, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorised to brief the media.

The official also said Arab mediators are preparing for a comprehensive dialogue among Palestinians aimed at unifying their position toward Gaza's future.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second most powerful militant group in Gaza, said it accepted Hamas response to the Trump plan. The group had rejected the proposal days earlier.

Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages  around 20 of them believed to be alive  within three days. It would also give up power and disarm.

In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of Gaza, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction.

President Donald Trump made an address about the Gaza conflict on Saturday (AFP/Getty)

Hamas said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. Its statement also didn't address the issue of Hamas demilitarising, a key part of the deal.

Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general and chair of Israels Defense and Security Forum, said while Israel can afford to stop firing for a few days in Gaza so the hostages can be released, it will resume its offensive if Hamas doesn't lay down its arms.

Others said that while Hamas suggests a willingness to negotiate, its position fundamentally remains unchanged.

This yes, but" rhetoric "simply repackages old demands in softer language", said Oded Ailam, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.

Still, two vocal members of the right-wing bloc of Mr Netanyahus coalition, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, criticised the plans progress but didnt threaten to immediately leave the government.

And some speakers at the weekly rally in Tel Aviv over the war expressed a cautious hope not heard for months.

A group representing some families of hostages said the prospect of seeing loved ones return has never been closer. They appealed to Mr Trump to keep pushing with full force and warned that extremists on both sides will try to sabotage the plan.

Meanwhile, protests have erupted across Europe calling for the war's end.

Palestinians in Gaza tried to piece together what the plan means in real terms.

We want practical implementation. We want a truce on the ground, said Sameer Qudeeh in Khan Younis. He worried that talks will break down again.

I hope Hamas ends the war, because we are truly tired, said Mohammad Shaat in Khan Younis, as anxious Palestinians roamed the shattered streets.

On Saturday, Israel's army warned Palestinians against trying to return to Gaza City, calling it a dangerous combat zone".

Two residents said that since the morning, Israeli tanks and troops had not advanced but artillery shells and airstrikes were still heard.

We can still see the quadcopters everywhere, Mohamed al-Nashar said.

In southern Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said its Saraya field hospital received 10 bodies and over 70 injured after Israeli strikes on Saturday afternoon.

Gazas Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the war has topped 67,000. The toll jumped after the ministry said it added more than 700 names to the list whose data had been verified.

The Health Ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says women and children make up around half the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the UN and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
LA City Hall evacuated after driver with note addressed to Trump crashes into steps and barricades himself

The Los Angeles City Hall was evacuated Friday afternoon after a man drove onto its steps and displayed a note that appeared to be addressed to President Donald Trump.

Officers received reports of a suspicious vehicle and responded to the building just after 4 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The driver barricaded himself inside the car and displayed hand-written signs that read Dont Want To Hurt No Body and I NEED UR HELP D TRUMP U.S. VET, KTLA reports. The driver also appeared to be holding an oxygen tank.

A SWAT team tried to establish communication with the driver, an adult male, after he refused to leave the vehicle, the LAPD said. After speaking with LAPD crisis negotiators, the driver was seen getting out of the car and walking toward officers with his arms raised, according to KTLA.

Two hours after he drove onto the steps, the man was taken into custody without further incident, the LAPD said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries following the crash, police said (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)

Police said there were no immediate reports of injuries. The surrounding streets and freeway off-ramps were also closed as officers responded to the scene, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The police investigation is complete, the LAPD said at 8 p.m. local time. All streets will be open shortly.

Officials have not released the drivers identity.

Officers arrested the driver, an adult male, about two hours after he drove his car onto the steps of the Los Angeles City Hall (AP)

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she was briefed on the incident and that City Hall had been evacuated out of an abundance of caution. She later confirmed the situation was resolved safely.

The suspect outside of City Hall is now in custody and the LAPD bomb squad is on the scene, she wrote on X. Thank you to all of the brave first responders who safely resolved this situation with compassion and urgency.
(Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Jamie Redknapp has pinpointed Liverpools problems at full-back as a reason behind their mini-blip.

Liverpool slumped to their third straight defeat across all competitions after conceding a late goal against Chelsea on Saturday evening.

The result means Arne Slots side go into the October international break second in the Premier League table as a result of Arsenals 2-0 win over West Ham earlier in the day.

Attempting to explain Liverpools dip in form, Redknapp believes Trent Alexander-Arnold is proving to be a big miss for the Merseyside outfit and that Milos Kerkez is struggling to settle following his summer move from Bournemouth.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Redknapp said: "They've also got problems at full-back, it's apparent they are missing Trent.

"Look at how they are playing, since the Burnley game they have not played the same right-back.

"They've gone with [Dominik] Szoboszlai, [Jeremie] Frimpong and Conor Bradley.

"Today, Bradley had a difficult 45 minutes and gets taken off. It's a problem area for them.

"Even at left-back, Kerkez looked like he was going to be a fantastic signing but he hasn't adjusted yet for whatever reason.

"The expectation of playing for Bournemouth then you come to Liverpool is completely different and he is finding it hard to settle.

"It might be a reason to give Andy Robertson a run."
A MAGA reporter who was arrested in Portland, Oregon, has claimed he was detained by police for being a conservative.

Nick Sortor claimed that he had done nothing to provoke his arrest and had been harassed himself by a group of people described by his supporters as Antifa thugs.

The 27-year-old, who is a regular guest on Fox News and whose X profile has more than 1 million followers, was arrested Thursday night with two other people outside the citys Immigration and Customs Enforcement building.

It is not precisely clear why Sortor or the others were arrested. Portland police said they moved into the crowd to make arrests as fights broke out. They arrested Sortor and two others.

They say when they make arrests based on observed behavior, Sortor said, recalling the incident to Fox News Saturday. I believe, in these circumstances, that observed behavior was being a conservative, if Im being totally honest with you.

Portland Police load onto a van as people protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, Friday October 3 (AP)

You saw the video, there was another video that came out yesterday showing a close up of what happened.

Video from Thursday showed Sortor grabbing an American flag that had been set on fire and stamping out the flames. In another, he was seen being verbally abused by protesters as he walked down the street.

Nobody, even my biggest detractors, cannot take that video and say I was the aggressor in that situation, simply trying to walk down the sidewalk with my camera, Sortor continued.

I get up and I walk over to the Portland police, not to report anybody because, honestly, I didnt expect anything to be done anyway. I just walk over there for a little safety, you know, calm down for a few minutes.

It was previously reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth considered deploying an elite Army unit to Portland to address what the president had called lawless mayhem (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

But instead I sit there, 7 or 8 minutes, and a sergeant walks up and points to me and says to the officers, Cuff him. No reason given, the officers didnt know what they were doing.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later blasted the arrest, calling it extremely troubling. Speaking to reporters, she said that Sortor had been ambushed by Antifa and was defending himself from these assaults.

But instead of arresting these violent mob members night after night after night who are ravaging this community, the police arrested a journalist who was there trying to document the chaos, and everyone in this room should be extremely concerned about that, she said.

The Independent has contacted Portland police for comment about Sortors arrest.

Federal agents walk into the street as people protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, Friday, October 3 (AP)

Before his arrest, Sortor had been posting consistently on social media about Portland, which he described as a third world hellhole. Antifa is in full control out here. President Trump NEEDS to step in, he wrote.

It was previously reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth considered deploying an elite Army unit to Portland to address what the president had called lawless mayhem.

High-ranking Trump administration officials exchanged messages about potentially deploying the Armys 82nd Airborne, a division historically sent into combat in both World Wars, Vietnam, and Afghanistan, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Any move to send the unit domestically would likely face legal challenges under federal restrictions on the use of military forces within the United States.
Tony Long was accused of murder after he shot suspected gang member Azelle Rodney in 2005. He fought the charges for a decade before he was found not guilty in 2015.

I awoke Thursday still reeling from watching the Panorama documentary about a toxic culture at Charing Cross Police Station the previous evening. As a former police officer I was struggling to come to terms with yet more devastating revelations about a force Id once been proud to serve, when shortly after nine my phone started ringing. TV and radio shows wanted my opinion and former colleagues asked, had I heard the news from Manchester?

My phone held the answers and I found myself watching unedited footage from a phone with the owners voice giving a passionate but ill-informed commentary while other members of the public displayed an unbelievable lack of situational awareness, virtually stepping over an elderly member of the public who was clearly seriously injured or dead. Meanwhile, two ARV [Armed Response Vehicle] officers tried to maintain cover on a downed suspect while simultaneously trying to get a reluctant public to safety.

I realised that the prostrate figure lying in front of the building was clearly the suspect and that hed already been engaged by one or both of the officers. The frontage of the synagogue appeared to be completely taken up with large heavily tinted black windows and I wondered where the entrance was. Then without warning the figure on the floor started to push himself up, there were shouts of alarm and then a single, final shot.

Terror attacker Jihad Al-Shamie was shot by police

My initial reaction, aside from sadness for the obvious loss of innocent life, was one of pride.

These two men had sped to confront a suicide bomber, put themselves in front of the public and way inside the potential blast range of an IED. Like the armed officers that confronted killers in Woolwich, Borough Market, Westminster Bridge and London Bridge, they were heroes and deserved the highest praise.

We now know that two of the congregation inside the synagogue had been hit by police rounds and one has sadly died as a consequence. Medical teams would probably have identified their injuries as gunshot wounds at the scene and the officers may have been told the terrible news even before leaving the scene themselves.

I can only imagine the emotional rollercoaster they would have gone through to believe, one minute, that theyd survived a close-range confrontation with a suicide bomber and had neutralised the threat, exactly as they had been trained to do, only to then be told that their actions had resulted in the death of an innocent.

I revisited the video several more times and only then noticed the synagogues black glass doors blended in with the rest of the glass frontage. Id watched that video at least 10 times in the comfort of my kitchen and hadnt noticed the doors or the steps.

A firearms officer should always be aware of his backdrop, but with adrenalin coursing through their veins, perceptual distortion and a suspect, just metres away, that may clack himself off at any second, tragedy is never far away. Perhaps the terrorist moved just as they fired, perhaps a round passed through the suspect before penetrating the door.

Whatever happened, its not the critic that counts, youre still heroes.
Germany Drone AirportA sign prohibiting drones is seen at the Munich Airport on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (Enrique Kaczor/dpa via AP) ((c) onw-images)

Mystery drone incursions into European Union airspace have sparked considerable alarm among both the public and political figures in recent weeks.

These incidents, which extended to NATO airspace, reached an unprecedented scale last month, with some officials attributing them to Russia. Such actions have been interpreted by some European officials as Moscow testing the alliance's defensive capabilities, prompting concerns over NATO's readiness against potential Russian aggression.

On Sept. 10, a swarm of Russian drones flew into Poland's airspace, forcing NATO aircraft to scramble to intercept them and shoot down some of the devices. It was the first direct encounter between NATO and Moscow since Russia launched its all-out war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Days later, NATO jets escorted three Russian warplanes out of Estonias airspace.

Since then, flyovers have occurred near airports, military installations and critical infrastructure, among other locations, elsewhere on the continent and prompted European defense ministers to agree to develop a drone wall along their borders to better detect, track and intercept drones violating Europes airspace.

A person presents the interception of a drone by the A1-Falke interception drone from Argus Interception on the second day of the large-scale German forces Bundeswehr exercise "Red Storm Bravo" in Hamburg, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (Marcus Golejewski/dpa via AP) ((c) Copyright 2025, dpa (www.dpa.de). Alle Rechte vorbehalten)

Russia has been blamed for some of them, but denies that anything was done on purpose or that it played a role. European authorities haven't released much detail about the drone intrusions, with some not acknowledging the overflights publicly until days later.

Other times, authorities were unable to confirm a report of a sighting. At one point, Danish authorities were flooded with 500 tips of sightings over 24 hours  some of which turned out to be just stars in the sky.

Countries are scrambling to figure out how to respond in the moment, including weighing whether to allow authorities to shoot the drones down.

Here's what we know about some of the recent drone sightings:

Airport closures across Europe

Germanys Munich Airport reopened Saturday morning after authorities shut it down the night before for the second time in less than 24 hours after two additional drone sightings. Delays were expected to continue throughout Saturday and at least 6,500 passengers were impacted by the overnight closure.

Drones have been spotted at airports and military installations across Germany over the past two days, Bild newspaper quoted a confidential police report as saying, suggesting sightings this week at Munich Airport were the tip of the iceberg.

Quoting the confidential police report which it said it had seen, Bild said on its website the drones spotted at Munich Airport were "used militarily", without giving further details or saying where they had come from.

This photo shows Munich Airport, Germany Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (Ehsan Monajati/dpa via AP) ((c) Copyright 2025, dpa (www.dpa.de). Alle Rechte vorbehalten)

Other sightings in the past three days, it said, included a drone seen on Friday morning flying about 700 metres (0.4 miles) from Frankfurt Airport, Germany's largest hub, and a small aircraft reported flying over an ammunition depot in northern Germany on Friday afternoon.

Three drones were also seen the day before, seemingly flying in formation, above a base of the Federal Police's airborne unit near the northern town of Gifhorn, it said.

A 41-year-old Croatian man has been detained and is being investigated for public order violations in connection with the Frankfurt incident, the newspaper said.

The German defence ministry confirmed a media report that drones had been spotted flying over Erding military base near Munich Airport at around the time of the airport's first closure on Thursday evening.

The Erding base is home to some of the German armed forces' drone research and development.

Police have disclosed no details about the nature or origin of the drones. Those sightings left about 11,500 passengers stranded over two evenings and caused dozens of flights to be cancelled, diverted or postponed.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, hosting a migration-focussed summit of European interior ministers in Munich on Saturday, told reporters he would equip police with a drone defence unit.

"We are in an arms race," he said. "We want to rise to that challenge." European aviation has repeatedly been thrown into chaos in recent weeks by drone sightings and air incursions.

Dobrindt has promised legislation making it easier for the police to ask the military to shoot drones down.

In Denmark, drones flew over Copenhagen Airport on Sept. 22, causing a major disruption to air traffic in and out of Scandinavia's largest airport.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that Russian involvement couldnt be ruled out, calling it the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date.

Meanwhile, a report of a drone sighting occurred the same evening at Norway's Oslo Airport, forcing all traffic to one runway. Authorities were investigating whether there was a link between the two major airports.

Drones also flew over four smaller Danish airports between Sept. 24 and Sept. 25, including two that serve as military bases. Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said that a professional actor was likely behind the systematic flights.

In the same time frame, several Danish media outlets reported that one or more drones were seen near or above the Karup Air Base, which is Denmarks biggest military base.

A sign prohibiting drones is seen at the Munich Airport on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (Enrique Kaczor/dpa via AP) ((c) onw-images)

The defense ministry refused to confirm the sighting at Karup or elsewhere, and said that for reasons of operational security and the ongoing investigation, the Defense Command Denmark does not wish to elaborate further on drone sightings.

In Germany, authorities are investigating claims that unidentified drones may have spied on critical infrastructure in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein. Multiple drones were spotted on Sept. 25 over a power plant in the state capital of Kiel, as well as near a university hospital and a shipyard in the port city, according to a Der Spiegel report.

Regional Interior Minister Sabine Sutterlin-Waack told a committee of the state parliament that flying objects of various types and sizes had been spotted. Chief Public Prosecutor Stephanie Gropp said an investigation was underway.

Der Spiegel said that two small drones had been seen over the Kiel factory premises of TKMS, a maritime defense technologies provider.

Later, a combined drone formation was observed over the university hospital and a power plant, and other drone sightings were reported over governmental buildings and the Heide oil refinery in the area, the report said.

Further suspicious drones were spotted over a military base in Sanitz, in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state to the east, the weekly reported.
Benjamin Netanyahu has said he never gave up on bringing the hostages home

Benjamin Netanyahu has said that all the Israeli hostages in Gaza will be released in the coming days.

Hailing Donald Trumps plan to end the war in a televised address to the nation, the Israeli prime minister vowed that all the living hostages, thought to number at least 20, would be brought home during the Jewish festival of the Tabernacles, or Sukkot, which runs from Oct 6 to Oct 13.

Mr Netanyahu said: At the beginning of the war, one of our officials said, We doubt if well be able to bring even one hostage back alive.

But I never gave up on the others nor achieving the other objectives of the war.

The Israeli leader, 75, said it was his resistance to international calls to stop the fighting that had helped to eradicate Hamas and apply the necessary military pressure on the terror group to hand over the hostages.

On Saturday, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) called a halt to the invasion of Gaza City and ordered troops to prepare for the release of the captives.

In his first public response to the US presidents 20-point peace plan, Mr Netanyahu signalled that he had achieved the expansive war goal of destroying Hamas  something that could smooth progress to a final deal.

IDF troops operate in Gaza City in late September - Israel Defence Forces

He praised the heroes of the IDF for their sacrifices inside the Strip and said Israels achievement will be written down in the annals of history.

Mr Netanyahu, who was an hour late to speak, said that the deal was not final but that Israel was on the brink of a very big achievement.

On Monday, an Israeli delegation will hold indirect talks with Hamas in Cairo. Also in attendance will be Steve Witkoff, the US special representative to the Middle East, and Jared Kushner, the US presidents son-in-law.

Trump: Netanyahu has no choice on peace plan

Earlier on Saturday, Mr Trump said he had told Mr Netanyahu that he had no choice but to go along with the peace plan.

I said, Bibi, this is your chance for victory, he told the Axios news website. Hes got to be fine with it. He has no choice.

In his speech, Mr Netanyahu cast the moves towards peace as his own decision, saying he co-ordinated the plan with the US president in a diplomatic move that turned the situation on its head.

The IDF will remain deep in Gaza as the hostages are released, he said, adding that Hamas would be forced to disarm either the easy way or the hard way.

In its own response to Mr Trumps peace plan, the terror group had agreed to release the hostages but refused to commit to disarming or staying out of post-war governance.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Hamass political wing based in Doha was open to the proposal, but Izz al-Din Haddad, the groups leader inside Gaza, wanted to keep assault rifles and other defensive weapons, while surrendering rockets.

Other militant commanders said they would be unable to take weapons away from young recruits who joined Hamas after the death of parents or family members in the war.

In an apparent attempt to soothe Israeli concerns that Hamas would drag out the release of the hostages, Mr Trump released a statement on his Truth Social platform warning he would not tolerate any delays.

Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off, he said. I will not tolerate delay... or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again.

Far-Right ministers criticise peace deal

In the hours before he spoke, the far-Right Israeli leaders who help to prop up Mr Netanyahus coalition government hit out at the peace deal without immediately saying that they would resign.

Itamar Ben Gvir, the national security minister, said his party would withdraw from government if after, the release of all the hostages, the Hamas terrorist organisation continues to exist.

In the initial phase of the deal, Hamas will release the hostages in a 72-hour window, including the remains of at least 25 who have died in captivity.

In exchange, Israel will free 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences, along with 1,700 detained since the start of the war.

Hostage families held protests in Tel Aviv and other cities on Saturday night aimed at preventing any attempt by Israeli politicians to sabotage the deal.

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held in Gaza, said that we have never been so close to getting the hostages back.

She added: And I know that as long as we get closer, Ben Gvir, [finance minister Bezalel] Smotrich, and Netanyahu will do everything to sabotage my chances to hug Matan.

Netanyahu: All hostages will be back in coming days

Israels prime minister has said he hopes to bring all Gaza hostages back in the coming days.

I hope that in the coming days we will be able to bring back all our hostages... during the Sukkot holidays, he said in a televised statement.

He added that it was military and diplomatic pressure that made Hamas agree to free the hostages.

The Jewish holiday of Sukkot begins on Monday and lasts until the following Monday.

At least 57 killed in Israeli strikes since dawn, Gaza officials say

Gazas civil defence agency said Israeli bombardment had killed at least 57 people since dawn on Saturday, even after US President Donald Trump urged Israel to halt its attacks on the territory.

The death toll from the ongoing Israeli bombardment since dawn today stands at 57, including 40 in Gaza City alone, Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency under Hamas authority, told AFP news agency.

Trump: Peace deal is very close

We are very close to a Gaza peace deal, Donald Trump told Axios on Saturday.

I said, Bibi, this is your chance for victory. He was fine with it, the president said in a phone call referring to his 20-point plan, the US outlet reported. Hes got to be fine with it. He has no choice. With me, you got to be fine.

Mr Trump also said that his administration would work to return support to Israel that it had lost over the war in Gaza.

Bibi took it very far and Israel lost a lot of support in the world. Now I am gonna get all that support back, he said, according to Axios.

Netanyahu to speak shortly

Israels prime minister is set to issue a statement shortly on the progress of the deal.

Peace talks set for Sunday and Monday

Hamas and Israel will engage in indirect talks in Cairo on Sunday and Monday to secure the release of hostages and detainees, Egyptian media has reported.

Al-Qahera News, which is closely linked to Egypts intelligence service, said both delegations have begun moving to launch talks in Cairo tomorrow and the day after, to discuss arranging the ground conditions for the exchange of all detainees and prisoners, in accordance with Trumps proposal.

Children reported dead in airstrike on Gaza City

Arabic media outlets are reporting that at least 10 people including children have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a district of Gaza City on Saturday.

The IDF said earlier on Saturday that they have ceased all offensive operations after Hamas signalled its willingness to accept parts of a peace proposal put forward by Donald Trump.

Al Jazeera, Qatars state media outlet, puts the death toll at 17 in the airstrike on the al-Tuffah neighbourhood, reporting that seven children were among the victims.

Trump says he wont tolerate delay

Donald Trump, the US president, has posted to Truth Social, saying that all bets are off if Hamas doesnt quickly agree to his peace proposal.

I appreciate that Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed, he wrote.

Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off. I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again. Lets get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!

Up to 20 Gazans killed in air strikes on Saturday

Despite Trumps demand that the fighting in Gaza stops, hospitals have reported several dead due to airstrikes and other acts of war.

Qatars state broadcaster Al Jazeera reports that 20 people, including children, have died in airstrikes carried out on Saturday, while AP reports five dead due to bombing in Gaza City.

Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiyah told the AP that Israeli strikes killed five Palestinians across Gaza City, while bombing had significantly subsided.

Smoke rises from Gaza on Saturday, despite US President Donald Trumps call to immediately stop the attacks on the territory - Anadolu/Anadolu

Witkoff and Kushner head to Egypt for hostage talks

President Donald Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner and a senior US envoy are heading to Egypt Saturday to finalise hostage release details, a White House official said after Hamas reacted positively to a peace plan to end two years of war.

A White House official confirmed that Kushner and Trumps envoy Steve Witkoff are heading to the Middle East to address the finalisation of details on the release of hostages and to discuss the deal pushed by Trump to bring an end to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group.

After Hamas said it was ready to release all hostages and discuss details on the peace plan, Trump urged an immediate halt to the fighting in Gaza.

Over a hundred more flotilla activists deported

A further 137 members of the flotilla that attempted to break the naval blockade of Gaza have been deported, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.

According to Israel, some of the activists are deliberately obstructing the legal deportation process, while some foreign governments have shown reluctance to accept flights that would return these provocateurs.

The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail last month, carrying politicians and activists  including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg  toward Gaza, with the stated aim of delivering aid to the territory, where the United Nations says famine is taking hold.

The Israeli navy began intercepting the boats on Wednesday. An Israeli official said the following day that vessels carrying more than 400 people had been prevented from reaching Gaza.

According to Israel, Italy and Greece had offered to deliver the aid, but the offers were rejected by the activists. The small quantity of aid they actually carried on their boats shows that their true goal was provocation in the service of Hamas, not humanitarian assistance, the foreign ministry said in a statement posted to X.

According to Adalah, an Israeli group providing legal assistance to flotilla members, some detainees were denied access to lawyers, water, and medication, as well as the use of toilets.

Adalah also said activists were forced to kneel with their hands zip-tied for at least five hours, after some participants chanted Free Palestine.

No such deal on table until now: Israeli govt source

The deal on the table  and the fact that Hamas has agreed to part of it  offers Israel a significant advantage over previous proposals to end the fighting, a senior source inside the Israeli government told local broadcaster Channel 12.

No such deal was on the table until now, the unnamed official said. Until now, Hamas demanded that Israel fully withdraw [from Gaza], and only then would the final hostages be freed.

The official said that the hostages could be returned within a few days if talks proceed smoothly.

The source added that Trumps plan was a great achievement for Netanyahu, since it represents the possibility of getting all the hostages back home without Israel having capitulated to Hamass demand for a full withdrawal from the Strip.

Erdogan claims Hamas are ready for peace

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday welcomed Hamass positive reaction to a peace deal proposed by US President Donald Trump, and said the group was ready for peace.

Hamas has shown, as it has done many times before, that it is ready for peace. Thus, a window of opportunity has opened for lasting peace in our region, Erdogan told a ceremony in Istanbul.

UN rights chief calls Trump plan vital opportunity for peace

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said he hopes the current talks will pave the way for a permanent cessation of hostilities, followed by recovery and reconstruction, in line with international human rights and humanitarian laws, and the much-needed two-state solution.

This is a vital opportunity for all parties and influential States to pursue in good faith, Turk said, urging them to stop  once and for all  the carnage and the suffering in Gaza, to flood the Strip with humanitarian aid, and to ensure the release of the hostages and numerous detained Palestinians, he said.

70,000 march against Israel in Barcelona

Tens of thousands of people are marching in Barcelona, as Spain, Italy, and Portugal see a wave of mass demonstrations against Israels war in Gaza.

In Barcelona, police estimated around 70,000 people joined a demonstration on Saturday.

Protesters packed the citys central Passeig de Gracia boulevard, waving Palestinian flags, wearing pro-Palestine shirts, and carrying signs reading Gaza hurts me, Stop the genocide, and Hands off the flotilla.

Italy saw its own massive turnout on Friday, when more than two million people across the country joined a one-day general strike in solidarity with Gaza residents. Portugal is also preparing for large-scale rallies this weekend.

In Spain, demonstrations were organised weeks in advance for both Barcelona and Madrid, while calls for protests in Rome and Lisbon intensified after Israel intercepted a humanitarian aid flotilla that had departed from Barcelona in an effort to break the blockade of Gaza.

More than 40 Spaniards, including a former Barcelona mayor, were among the 450 activists detained and removed from the flotillas boats by Israeli forces earlier this week.

Protesters march at a demonstration against Israels war in Gaza on Saturday in Barcelona. - Lorena Sopena/REUTERS

IDF tells troops to stay on high alert

Israels military is making preparations for the hand over of hostages in Gaza, as it tells its soldiers to stay alert to any threats that arise during the coming days.

Military chiefs have instructed the army to advance readiness for the implementation of the first phase of the Trump plan for the release of the hostages, the IDF said in a statement posted to X.

The statement said that all IDF capabilities will be allocated to the Southern Command to ensure the protection of the troops and that given the operational sensitivity, all troops must maintain high alertness and vigilance.

An image of the statement by the IDF general staff.

Hamas delegation to head to Cairo tonight

Unnamed sources told Saudi Arabias Al-Hadath TV network that a Hamas delegation is expected to arrive in Cairo tonight for talks on a ceasefire and hostage-release agreement based on Trumps proposal.

Hamas have said that they are prepared to release all the remaining hostages although they remain non-committal on other points in Trumps 20-point plan.

Palestinian president welcomes Hamas constructive response

Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, has called for the immediate commitment to a complete ceasefire, the release of all hostages and prisoners, the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid through UN organisations.

Abbas said he welcomed Hamas response to Trumps peace plan as it signals a willingness to release all hostages and adopt a constructive approach during this critical stage.

Abbas authority is limited to the West Bank after Hamas ousted his Fatah movement from Gaza in a short Civil War in 2007.

Trumps 20-point plan: where we are now

Monday, Sept. 29th  At a press conference with Netanyahu at the White House, Trump announced a 20-point peace plan that included the release of all hostages within 72 hours of Israel accepting the agreement. The plan also offered amnesty to Hamas fighters who laid down their arms and outlined proposals for a technocratic government in Gaza, to be overseen by an international committee. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would be a member of that committee.

Netanyahu signalled his acceptance of the plan but warned that Israel will finish the job if Hamas rejects the plan or fails to follow through. The plan received backing from key mediators Qatar and Egypt, as well as Hamas ally Turkey and other Middle Eastern governments. It was also supported by several European countries, which urged Hamas to accept the proposal.

Friday, Oct. 3rd  Hamas released a statement saying it agreed to release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, according to the exchange formula contained in President Trumps proposal. However, the statement made no mention of disarmament. Trump responded positively to Hamass statement, posting on Truth Social: I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE.

Saturday, Oct. 4th  Israel halted offensive operations in Gaza City and announced it would advance readiness for the implementation of the first phase of the plan, under which all hostages would be released.

Despite peace proposals, fighting and death continue

Smoke rises following explosions in Gaza City on Saturday. - REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Relatives mourn after seven die in Israeli strike on Deir al-Balah settlement in Gaza. - Anadolu

Palestinians moving south near the town of Nuseirat on Saturday. - EYAD BABA/AFP

Hamas response doesnt signal change in position: Israeli analysts

Israeli security experts have expressed doubts that Hamass response to Trumps peace plan  in which the group agreed to release hostages but said further negotiations were needed  represents any significant change in its position.

Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general and chairman of Israels Defense and Security Forum, said while Israel can afford to stop firing for a few days in Gaza so the hostages can be released, it will resume its offensive if Hamas doesnt lay down its arms.

Others say that while Hamas suggests a willingness to negotiate, its position fundamentally remains unchanged.

This yes, but rhetoric simply repackages old demands in softer language, said Oded Ailam, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.

The gap between appearance and action is as wide as ever and the rhetorical shift serves more as a smokescreen than a signal of true movement toward resolution, he said.

IDF tells Palestinians not to return to Gaza City

The Israeli armys Arabic-language spokesman has told locals not to return home despite the IDF stopping offensive operations in Gaza City.

IDF troops are still encircling Gaza City, and returning there is very dangerous, said spokesman Avichay Adraee.

For your safety, avoid returning north or approaching areas where IDF troops are operating anywhere in the Strip  even in its south, he said.

Egypt to host conference on post-war future

A senior Hamas official has said that Egypt will convene a conference bringing together Palestinian factions to decide Gazas post-war future, following the groups agreement to release hostages under a US-brokered ceasefire plan.

The official told AFP on Saturday that Egypt would host an intra-Palestinian dialogue on unity and the future of Gaza, including the administration of the Gaza Strip.

On Friday, Hamas announced it would free hostages held in Gaza as part of US President Donald Trumps ceasefire plan, but the statement made no mention of disarmament or the groups potential withdrawal from the territory after the war.

Far-right Israeli ministers shut out of consultations

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israels prime minister, convened cabinet ministers and defence chiefs for emergency consultations on Hamas response to Trumps peace deal overnight, but didnt invite two far-right cabinet ministers.

Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, the ministers of finance and interior, are opposed to ending the war but were not asked to join the meeting, according to local media.

In attendance were Israel Katz, the defence minister, and Ron Dermer, the strategic affairs minister, as well as security chiefs.

Hamas dont know where all the bodies are

Hamas have said that they dont have access to the remains of all the dead hostages that should be given back as part of Trumps plan to end the war in Gaza.

Some of the bodies have been buried while others are in locations where occupation forces are present, Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official, said on Saturday, according to a Hamas-affiliated Telegram account.

The immediate release of all hostages is a central condition in Donald Trumps 20-point peace plan.

There are believed to be 48 hostages still being held in Gaza, 28 of whom are thought to have died.

Islamic Jihad backs Hamas reply to Trump plan

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas which took part in the October 7th massacres in Israel, has endorsed the groups response to the US plan to end the war in Gaza.

Hamas (reaction) to Trumps plan represents the position of the Palestinian resistance factions, and the Islamic Jihad participated responsibly in the consultations that led to this decision, the terrorist group said in a statement on Saturday.

Islamic Jihads approval of the plan could help facilitate the release of hostages held by both groups in Gaza.

Hamas split over whether to accept peace plan

A divide has emerged between Hamass political wing, based in Qatar, and its military wing in Gaza over how far to go in accepting Trumps 20-point peace deal.

Arab officials from countries mediating with Hamas told The Wall Street Journal that the group has not yet reached an internal consensus on disarming or on the conditions under which it would release the hostages.

The political leadership in Qatar is reportedly open to far-reaching concessions.

However, Ezzedin al-Haddad, who took charge in Gaza after Israel killed Yahya and Mohammed Sinwar, is prepared to hand over rockets and other offensive weapons but wants to keep small arms such as assault rifles, which Hamas regards as defensive.

The internal divisions led to cautious wording in Hamass initial reaction to the plan, which could create difficulties in negotiating a final deal.
JIM LO SCALZO/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock

President Trumps 20-point peace plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip is most likely a non-starter. In this way, it is like dozens of previous Western proposals for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which began back in the 1880s with the emergence of Arab resistance to Zionist immigration to and settlement in the Land of Israel-Palestine.

Since then, in 1937 (the proposal of the British Peel Commission), 1947 (UN General Assembly Resolution 181), 2000 (the Barak-Clinton proposals) and 2007-2008 (the Olmert proposals), the Palestinian leadership has successively rejected international and Israeli peace plans. They have instead believed (and sometimes explicitly argued) that all of Palestine belongs to the Arabs, and that the Jews have no right to sovereignty in any part of it.

Trumps plan implicitly proposes Israeli-Palestinian peace on the basis of a two-state compromise after a resolution of the conflict in Gaza. That is the meaning of the plans proposal, ultimately to bring about Palestinian Authority (PA) rule in Gaza. The PA, which partially administers the West Bank alongside the Israeli military, has always said, at least to Western interlocutors, that it is amenable to a two-state compromise.

But Trumps plan is a non-starter because the raison detre of Hamas, the terrorist organisation that now dominates Palestinian politics and continues to rule the populated areas of the Gaza Strip, is the destruction of the Jewish state and the Islamisation of Palestine (as expounded in the groups foundational Charter of 1988).

It is also a non-starter because the main ideological strut of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-Right cabinet is preventing the emergence of a Palestinian state and eventually annexing the Palestinian-inhabited territories: the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

For Netanyahu the issue is also highly personal. Because his reputation was mauled by the successful, bloody Hamas onslaught on southern Israel on October 7 2023, destroying the terror group and preventing the ultimate Palestinian victory  the establishment of a state  is a psychological-political imperative.

Last month, Netanyahu  against the advice of his generals and security chiefs  launched the IDF on a final offensive to take Gaza city, the Strips capital, and cleanse it of the legion of Islamist fundamentalist fighters.

President Trumps peace plan was ostensibly designed to avert the mass slaughter of Gaza civilians, IDF soldiers and Israeli hostages that many predict would be the end-result of this latest IDF offensive if it were to be pursued to its logical conclusion.

Trumps plan envisions the de-radicalisation of Gaza and Israel, the disarming and neutering of Hamas, the release of the remaining 50-odd live or dead Israeli hostages, IDF withdrawal from the Strip. It also involves the replacement of the Israelis and Hamasniks in the Strip by a temporary transitional government of apolitical Palestinian technocrats and international experts supervised by an international transitional body, the Board of Peace, chaired by Trump and manned by former heads of state, including Tony Blair.

This government, which will administer the territory and begin converting the rubble and devastation that is currently Gaza into a functioning polity and economy, will ultimately be replaced by a reformed Palestinian Authority (PA), which many Palestinians see as a collaborator with Israel. Meanwhile, an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) will be deployed in the Strip to assure or implement demilitarisation and the withdrawal of the IDF.

The problem with the plan is that it is not much more than pie in the sky. It offers no timetables for its worthy objectives. But more importantly, Hamas  like Lebanons Hezbollah  has from the first said it will never give up its arms, and Netanyahu has said that he will never agree to anything less than Hamass political and military demise; he has consistently ruled out PA control of Gaza.

Trumps plan nowhere explains how Hamas will be disarmed or who will do it. Few observers believe that any Arab force  the PA, the UAE, Saudi Arabia  will engage in battle against Hamas to disarm it. Any who try to do so will immediately be branded by their own people as collaborators with Israel.

Hamas, meanwhile, flatly opposes the idea of disarmament not merely because it wishes to continue the fight against Israel. It is also a matter of deterring or defending itself against its Palestinian opponents, both inside the Strip (many of the inhabitants have accounts to settle with these murderous Islamists) or coming from without (the PA forces or others). It is also a matter of honour, a very important in the Arab world; you do not give up your Kalashnikov in the face of a mortal enemy.

One of the plans most interesting parts, Point 12, states that no one will be forced to leave Gaza  We will encourage people to stay and promises that those leaving will be allowed to return. This clause completely reverses Trumps proposal from last February  quickly endorsed by Netanyahu  that Gazas 2.3 million inhabitants be encouraged or prodded to leave the territory.

That proposal was quickly rejected by the Arab world, and primarily by Egypt, the main prospective Trump-Netanyahu destination for the transferees. Egypt even hinted that it would scrap its 1979 peace treaty with Israel if such a transfer was tried.

The February proposal flew in the face of Palestinian history and psychology. The trauma of Palestinian flight and expulsion in the 1948 War when some 700,000 became refugees, the Nakba (literally, the catastrophe), is always with them; and no Palestinian politician or fighter will today endorse a second uprooting of Palestinians from Palestinian soil.

Indeed, most Palestinians are already calling the devastation of Gaza and the forcible shift of its inhabitants from place to place inside the Strip these past two years a second Nakba.

In one of its throwaway lines, tucked away toward its end, the Trump plan posits an inter-faith dialogue based on tolerance and peaceful co-existence to try to change the mindsets and narratives of Palestinians and Israelis. This means mutual de-radicalisation. But who can reasonably expect such a process  which would take decades if not generations to succeed or begin to succeed  actually to take root among two populations so severely traumatised by the Palestinian assault of October 7 2023 and the Israeli counter-assault that began the following day.

So Netanyahu may have said that he accepts the Trump Plan, and Hamas seems to be saying, yes, but. But neither side is ready for the grand compromise that alone could bring peace to at least this little patch of the Holy Land.

Benny Morris is a leading Israeli historian and author of The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited
Police officers detain a demonstrator in Trafalgar Square during a protest in support of Palestine Action on October 4, 2025 in London, England - Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images

After the horror of the Heaton Park synagogue terror attack in Manchester last week, common decency would have appeared to have dictated at least a pause in the constant drumbeat of pro-Palestine protests in London, let alone in Manchester.

Jewish communities in the capital, and most certainly in the North, are grieving and vulnerable. Diverting police resources to control demonstrations which could easily have been delayed was a selfish act.

To hold the latest in a series of anti-Israel protests, marked for repeated incidents of anti-Semitism and intimidating behaviour towards Jews, is despicable. Crowds in Manchester chanted from the river to the sea; protesters in Trafalgar Square offered support to the proscribed group Palestine Action.

It is hard to explain this behaviour without the suspicion of an explicit desire by some to inflict further misery on suffering communities. Even as crowds gathered in Britain, Israel had ordered a halt to offensive operations in Gaza City, while Hamas had indicated its willingness to release Israeli hostages. By this evening, Hamass leaders were heading to Cairo for talks on finalising the first phase of the peace plan proposed by Donald Trump.

In other words, most of what these crowds profess to desire is now on the table, if Hamas will commit to laying down its arms. Under these circumstances, the focus of those who claim to stand for Palestine should be on urging the terror group to stand down and make way for peace.

As the last year has made abundantly clear, however, many protesters are motivated less by compassion for Gaza than by hatred for Israel, the result of a warped Left wing ideology that views the Jewish state as a colonial European endeavour to be dismantled, and the land returned to the indigenous Palestinians.

The absurdity of this position is made clear by the slightest thought about the causes the Left professes to care about. Israel is a state where gay men and women can live freely, where women are free to pursue their dreams, which protects religious and ethnic minorities, and which functions as a democratic society. Gaza under Hamas is not.

Todays protests should have made clear to all the true nature of those involved, and their priorities. Their behaviour has brought shame on this nation.
As the seemingly unremarkable ZZ-343 aircraft taxies along the apron at RAF Brize Norton, it passes the vibrant union flag livery of its distinctly more glamorous twin the Vespina, emblazoned with the words United Kingdom.

The planes are fine examples of these islands genius for compromise. Theyre passenger carriers that are also airborne fuel tankers, known as Voyager. Vespina is fitted out to carry royalty and other British VIPs  but put to better use by the military most of the time.

On this autumnal evening, ZZ-343 left her sibling on a once almost unimaginable mission. Part of Operation Eastern Sentry, she is carrying fuel to Typhoon fighter jets patrolling the skies over Poland to see off Russian invaders.

Inconceivable at the end of the 20th century, Eastern Sentry is now what passes for a norm. The hybrid Voyager aircraft is now engaged in hybrid warfare with Russia thats heating up and defining the early decades of this century.

Still in British air space, ZZ-343 begins to carve ovals in the dark sky. Two Typhoons emerge from the gloom, green lights on their sides and tails flashing. Pulling alongside the Voyager, the fighters fill up before racing off to Poland as part of the Nato-wide response to Russias drone assaults there.

A Royal Air Force FGR4 Typhoon, armed with ASRAAM air-to-air missiles, is seen from inside an RAF Voyager air-refuelling tanker (PA Wire)

One struggled to latch on, rearing and bucking in turbulence as it approached a pipe that has been wound out of the left wing of the Voyager. Its companion is already guzzling on the right wing.

It takes nerve to force the Typhoon jet hard through the churning air  a fireball in the sky the only consequence of a miscalculation of margins measured in inches.

The Voyager feeds about two tonnes of fuel into each of the fighters who stay alongside the mothership before darting away into the black. Below the North Sea glistens  a few patches of orange light spatter its surface  with ships thousands of feet below.

Some, perhaps, are part of Russias shadow fleet of tankers, smuggling fossil fuels to sell for cash that helps power Vladimir Putins old-fashioned war on the ground in eastern Ukraine.

The RAF Voyager Vespina, used by the prime minister and the royal family, is identical to the less imaginatively named ZZ-343, which has been refuelling RAF Typhoons over Polish skies this week (PA Archive)

Last weekend, French commandos raided and captured the Baracay, a ship suspected of being used by Russia as a platform for drones that had disrupted Danish airspace. It had already been under sanctions for fuel smuggling.

This week, Danish intelligence said they had multiple examples of Russian warships tracking their aircraft with weapons systems.

Danish Defence Intelligence Service director Thomas Ahrenkiel explained: Russia is using military means, including in an aggressive way, to put pressure on us without crossing the line into armed conflict.

Late last month, Estonian airspace was violated by three Russian fighters for 12 minutes. And before that, Poland saw some 23 Russian drones fly into its airspace. They turned out to be unarmed and some were shot down.

This penetration of sovereign airspace is both a warning, a threat and a test by Russia.

For all of these incursions, Natos response has been swift, with the mobilisation of a multinational effort over Poland to reassure Warsaw and show the Kremlin that the alliance remains robust and healthy.

An image released by the Swedish air force shows a Russian MIG-31 fighter jet flying above the Baltic sea after violating Estonian airspace (Swedish Airforce)

But Putins hybrid warfare has been effective in inflaming existing political infections across the West. His support for Brexit, far-right parties in Europe, the magnification of extremist perspectives by Russian bot farms, and useful idiots on both sides of the Atlantic have all combined to weaken Western democracy and alliances.

Russias population is roughly a third of the European and UKs combined. Its economy amounts to about a tenth of the size of the EU plus UK.

But the Kremlins efforts to undermine Western institutions have allowed it to punch well above its weight.

In response, the UK has sanctioned Russian spy agency the GRU and several of its spooks.

In July the Foreign Office said that the GRU routinely uses cyber and information operations to sow chaos, division and disorder in Ukraine and across the world with devastating real-world consequences.

Donald Trump has, until recently, indicated more support for Putins campaigning in Ukraine than he has for defending democracy.

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin shake hands after delivering a joint press conference in Alaska (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Ironically his wavering leadership of the West has meant that Nato and other allies have hardened their own efforts at defence.

Trump has demanded that Natos members outside the US contribute a bigger, and fairer, share of their budgets to defence. Theyve mostly committed to upping their efforts from below 2 per cent of GDP to 3.5 per cent and are making noises about going to five.

So the RAF Voyager flights in support of Typhoons are just part of Natos hardening of its conventional defences.

Many in the alliance hope that such efforts will be the end of friction, but in hybrid warfare there are only beginnings.
More than 400 people were arrested at a pro-Palestine protest in central London today, held in defiance of calls to cancel the demonstration following the terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester.

Elderly people, relatives of Holocaust survivors, and those with disabilities were among the 492 arrested in Trafalgar Square, as protesters voiced their support for banned terror group Palestine Action.

The final arrest total for todays public order policing operation in central London is 492. 488 of the arrests were for supporting a proscribed organisation, Met Police said.

The remainder were for being drunk and disorderly, common assault, a public order offence and being wanted for an unrelated matter. The youngest person arrested was 18, the oldest was 89.

297 remain in custody, the rest have been bailed.

Police officers detain a protester (REUTERS)

Hundreds of protesters sat outside holding placards which read I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action, as police moved through the crowds making arrests. Six people were detained for unfurling a banner backing the proscribed group on Westminster Bridge.

It comes after two Jewish people were killed and three left in a serious condition after a car ramming and stabbing attack outside a synagogue in Manchester on Thursday. The victims were named as Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66.

The suspect, Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by police at the scene.

Elizabeth Morley, 79, at the protest today (REUTERS)

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had urged protesters to "respect the grief of British Jews", while Jewish figures have called the action "phenomenally tone deaf" following Thursday's killing of two people in the terror attack.

But the demonstration went ahead despite calls for protests to be postponed.

Elizabeth Morley, 79, who lives in Wales, was arrested at the protest. This marks the third time shes been detained in support of Palestine.

She told The Standard: I was accosted on the street of London by a man walking towards me, pointing at my badge, and he said, How dare you? and I said, Pardon?

Protesters hold placards during a mass demonstration (REUTERS)

After what happened in Manchester, how dare you?

And its unbelievablehe was associating that badge with a terrorist attack in Manchester, at a synagogue. Whats that got to do with it? Whats Palestine got to do with some idiot who attacked people in Manchester?

He didnt give me a chance to tell him Im the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. Im Jewish.

Never again means never again for everybody, she added.

Protesters at Trafalgar Square (PA Wire)

Organisers Defend Our Juries said more than a thousand people had gathered at the central London landmark to hold a mass, silent vigil protesting the proscription while the names of Palestinian children killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict were read out.

A vicar, who had been sitting with her eyes closed and holding a poster saying "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action", was among those arrested and carried out by police.

Some people in the crowd called police "shameful" and one said to officers "thanks for protecting us" as the woman was taken away.

Two elderly men were also seen being carried by each limb to the south-west side of the square, where officers and police vehicles were waiting to process the arrests.

Police remove protesters taking part in the protest today (Maja Smiejkowska/PA Wire)

Amnesty International UK condemned the arrests and said it continued to be upsetting and shocking to witness elderly people and those with disabilities hauled from the streets into police vans.

Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty International UKs Director of Campaigns and Communications, said: These arrests are in breach of the UK's international human rights obligations and should not be happening.

Amnesty International has deployed observers to the demonstration today to monitor police conduct and whether the right to protest is upheld. The UK Government should not be criminalising and demonising these peaceful demonstrators to distract from their failure to take meaningful action to end Israels genocide.
The Prince is travelling to Rio De Janeiro this November for the annual awards ceremony - Kensington Palace

The Prince of Wales hailed those working to save the planet as the heroes of our time as he unveiled the finalists for his Earthshot Prize.

The Princes annual environment prize is being held in Rio De Janeiro in November and aims to achieve vital global goals that will improve and secure lives and livelihoods for all of us.

Fifteen finalists will compete for the opportunity to win 1m each in five categories.

Announcing this years finalists, the Prince said: I sat under this oak tree five years ago, soon after we launched the Earthshot Prize.

The planet, the only home we have, needed our help, as scientists made it clear that we had to make significant changes by 2030.

Back then, a decade felt a long time. George was seven, Charlotte five and Louis two; the thought of them in 2030 felt a lifetime away.

The Earthshot Prize was founded because this decade matters. 2030 is a threshold by which future generations will judge us; it is the point at which our actions, or lack of them, will have shaped forever the trajectory of our planet.

The ceremony, which coincides with COP30, the UN climate event, aims to highlight Earthshots goal of protecting 30 per cent of the planets land and sea by 2030.

This year, a host of celebrities are involved, including David Beckham, Heidi Klum, Billy Porter, Hannah Waddingham and Robert Irwin, alongside Brazilian stars Cafu, Maju Coutinho, Marcos Palmeira and Mauro Silva.

Leading with hope and optimism

Jacinda Ardern, an Earthshot trustee and former prime minister of New Zealand, complimented the Prince on his relentless optimism and unwavering quest to raise expectations.

Over the past five years, Ive seen my friend, Prince William, shape the Earthshot Prize into something incredible, she said.

He reminds us that when it comes to the challenges facing our planet, our job isnt to give in to despair. It is to lead  with hope, optimism, urgency and energy.

She added: Optimism is not naive, its a choice that says we expect better, and we expect more. Its a choice that we all need to make.

The Prince set up the Earthshot Prize five years ago in the hope that forthcoming finalists would help save the planet.

The finalist categories include Revive our Oceans, Fix our Climate, Build a Waste-free World, Protect and Restore Nature, and Clean our Air.

In 2023, the awards were held in Singapore, with Cate Blanchett, the Oscar-winning actress and Earthshot council member, praising the prize for recognising innovations that are not only game-changing but rapidly scalable.

The Prince previously visited an Earthshot Prize finalist with Cate Blanchett - Eddie Mulholland

The Prince said: I am deeply proud of what the Earthshot Prize has done in its first five years and Im enormously excited for the next five.

They are moving us towards achieving vital global goals that will improve and secure lives and livelihoods for all of us  goals such as protecting 30 per cent of our land and sea by 2030.

It is impossible to hear these finalists stories, to see the impact they are already having and not feel encouraged by their energy and momentum.

For me, it is that urgent optimism that has been at the heart of this prize from the beginning. And it feels unstoppable.

The Prince explained previously that the stated purpose of the initiative is to find, support and celebrate those who turn bold ideas into real solutions to repair our planet.

Jason Knauf, the Earthshot Prize CEO, said finalists had significantly contributed to efforts to act with urgency and optimism.

He said: Their progress is exceptional, their potential is vast and their momentum is now unstoppable.

Mr Knauf added that previous finalists had pulled back species from the brink of extinction, created marine protection areas twice the size of India, protected and restored one million kilometres of land and ocean.

The prize aligns with the Kings long-standing commitment to environmental sustainability and climate change.
The Prince of Wales will travel to South America in November to announce the winners (PA Wire)

The Prince of Wales has declared the urgent optimism at the core of his environmental Earthshot Prize unstoppable, following the announcement of the 2025 finalists.

Prince William established the prize to recognise and scale up ideas aimed at "repairing" the planet, with five winning finalists each receiving 1m to advance their concepts.

Winners will be unveiled at the fifth Earthshot Prize awards in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday, 5 November. The prize champions solutions from diverse geographies, sectors, and developmental stages, all dedicated to solving the planets greatest challenges.

The event in 2025 marks the halfway point in the Earthshot decade, with William pointing out that at the time of its launch in 2020, scientists made clear significant changes had to be made by 2030.

Prince William established the Earthshot prize to recognise and scale up ideas aimed at repairing the planet (Reuters)

In a video message posted on social media, William, who will be travelling to Brazil in November, said: Back then, a decade felt a long time. George was seven, Charlotte five and Louis two; the thought of them in 2030 felt a lifetime away.

But today, as we stand halfway through this critical decade, 2030 feels very real.

The Earthshot Prize was founded because this decade matters. 2030 is a threshold by which future generations will judge us; it is the point at which our actions, or lack of them, will have shaped forever the trajectory of our planet.

He said he is deeply proud of what the Earthshot Prize has done in its first five years and is enormously excited for the next five.

Not just for the new finalists well welcome into our network, but to see the continued impact of our 60 existing finalists, he said.

Together, they are moving us towards achieving vital global goals that will improve and secure lives and livelihoods for all of us  goals such as protecting 30 per cent of our land and sea by 2030.

It is impossible to hear these finalists stories, to see the impact they are already having and not feel encouraged by their energy and momentum.

For me, it is that urgent optimism that has been at the heart of this prize from the beginning. And it feels unstoppable.

The people behind these projects are heroes of our time, so let us back them. Because, if we do, we can make the world cleaner, safer and full of opportunity  not only for future generations, but for the lives we want to lead now.

Concluding his message, William said: The journey to 2030 is still ours to define. With the vision of these finalists and the support of all of us, a flourishing planet is already a reality.

Among the 15 finalists is a British company, Matter, headquartered in Bristol, whose simple washing machine filters remove the greatest cause of microplastics in the ocean.

Adam Root, chief executive and founder of Matter, said: Being a finalist for the Earthshot Prize and representing Matter at the awards ceremony in Rio is like winning an Olympic gold medal in innovation.

Matters mission is to create impact at a size and scale that meets the enormity of the microplastic pollution challenge.

Being at the ceremony in Rio provides an excellent platform to talk about that ambition and impact on a global stage  hopefully connecting us with some of the worlds most progressive companies so they can integrate our solutions into the largest supply chain.

Cate Blanchett is also an Earthshot Prize council member (Alamy)

Actress Cate Blanchett, an Earthshot Prize council member, said: Five years with the Earthshot Prize has shown me that optimism isnt abstract  its something made real by people bold enough to act now.

What Im especially proud of this year is the way in which entire categories of finalists are challenging our expected views and behaviours  the way we enjoy fashion, how we buy electronics, protect forests, even wash our clothes could be fundamentally different by 2030 because of them.

To serve on the prize council alongside Prince William and my fellow members is a privilege, and Im excited for the debates ahead as we choose our winners.
Russian drone strike hit passenger trains in Ukraine's northern Sumy region killing one person and injuring about 30 others, officials said.

At least 30 people were hurt in the strike on a railway station in Shostka on Saturday.

Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X: "A savage Russian drone strike on the railway station in Shostka, Sumy region.

"All emergency services are already on the scene and have begun helping people. All information about the injured is being established.

"So far, we know of at least 30 victims. Preliminary reports indicate that both Ukrzaliznytsia staff and passengers were at the site of the strike.

Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of deliberately conducting the two strikes on passenger trains.

"This is one of the most brutal Russian tactics  the so-called double tap, when the second strike hits rescuers and people being evacuated," he said in a statement.

A train heading to Kyiv had been hit along with a local commuter service, authorities said.

A savage Russian drone strike on the railway station in Shostka, Sumy region. All emergency services are already on the scene and have begun helping people. All information about the injured is being established. So far, we know of at least 30 victims. Preliminary reports pic.twitter.com/ZZoWfPmpL5  Volodymyr Zelenskyy /   (@ZelenskyyUa) October 4, 2025

Zelensky shared footage of the strike, adding:  The Russians could not have been unaware that they were striking civilians. And this is terror the world must not ignore. Every day Russia takes peoples lives. And only strength can make them stop.

Weve heard resolute statements from Europe and America  and its high time to turn them all into reality, together with everyone who refuses to accept murder and terror as normal. Lip service is not enough now. Strong action is needed.

Moscow has stepped up its air strike campaign on Ukraine's railway infrastructure, hitting it almost every day over the last two months.

Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians in its war in Ukraine, although many thousands have been killed by its military.

In a video interview from a train en route to the strike site, the CEO of Ukraine's state rail company Oleksandr Pertsovskyi told Reuters that the drones had targeted locomotives, also damaging the carriages attached to them.

"In essence, they are hunting for locomotives," he said, adding that Russia was increasingly deploying this tactic.

The rail chief added that there was only civilian traffic at the station, and that he believed this was an attempt to make areas like Shostka, which is about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Russian border, unsafe for passenger traffic.

"They are doing everything to make frontline and border areas uninhabitable, so that people are afraid to go there, afraid to board trains, afraid to gather at markets, and so that students are afraid to return home."
Nancy Bass Wyden (left) claims her late assistant, Brandon O'Brien, systematically embezzled more than $650,000 from her over the course of two years (Getty Images; GoFundMe)

Nancy Bass Wyden, wife of U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and owner of legendary Manhattan bookstore The Strand, claims her late assistant, who died by suicide last spring, embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from her, allegedly stealing not just money but also rare books, family heirlooms, and countless pieces of designer clothing that wound up for sale on Poshmark.

Beyond hocking her personal property online  a pair of Dior sneakers for $800, in one example  Brandon OBrien, 35, used Bass Wydens credit cards to finance a high-flying lifestyle for himself and his husband, buying everything from gym memberships to an annual Disney Incredi-Pass, the highest tier of the Walt Disney World Passes, according to an explosive new lawsuit obtained by The Independent.

In it, Bass Wyden describes a breathtaking array of criminal acts, even accusing OBrien of stealing her Amazon rewards points, as well as a coveted emerald pendant that had belonged to her late mother. When the piece mysteriously disappeared from Bass Wydens residence in New York City, she initially believed she had lost it, her complaint states.

However, it goes on, Bass Wyden eventually discovered the emerald pendant in OBriens office among his personal affairs.

The thievery commenced in or about August 2022, the complaint alleges. Plaintiff Nancy Bass Wyden had no knowledge of this thievery when it occurred.

Bass Wyden, seen here with husband Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) arriving at a state dinner at the White House in 2023, is suing her former personal assistant over hundreds of thousands of dollars in alleged theft (Getty Images)

Bass Wyden reported OBrien to police, who dropped the case after his suicide, according to the complaint.

Wydens suit, which was filed Friday morning in New York State Supreme Court, comes roughly three weeks after OBriens husband, Thomas Maltezos, sued Bass Wyden over allegations her two young children drove OBrien to suicide by subjecting him to relentless homophobic slurs and comments.

Maltezos, who is in the process of being named the executor of OBriens estate, claimed in his suit that Bass Wydens 10-year-old daughter engaged in highly inappropriate sexual behavior directed at Mr. OBrien, such as exposing herself, making sexually explicit comments, and inquiring into Mr. OBriens intimate life.

Maltezos also accused Bass Wydens teenage son of calling OBrien a f****t, a homo, and a zest kitten, according to his complaint. In one instance, Maltezos claims the boy became so physically aggressive and violent toward OBrien that Bass Wyden maced her son to restrain him but inadvertently maced Mr. OBrien.

Yet, Bass Wyden took no corrective action, according to Maltezos.

Attorney Reyna Lubin, who is representing Maltezos, told The Independent that Bass Wydens lawsuit is baseless, contending it was brought as retaliation for our clients refusal to drop his wrongful death claims and his late husbands employment discrimination claims.

Thomas Maltezos (left) and Brandon O'Brien, Nancy Bass Wyden's former assistant. She is now suing Maltezos to recoup what she claims O'Brien stole from her before he died by suicide earlier this year (GoFundMe)

It is shocking that a U.S. senators wife would try to use her power to bring down a family already suffering from the loss of suicide, Lubin said on Friday. Instead of addressing the documented homophobic slurs directed at Brandon O'Brien, Ms. [Bass] Wyden (has) chosen to pursue these false allegations. Nearly a year after their NYPD report, Mr. OBrien was never even questioned  much less arrested. This is a calculated attempt to destroy Mr. OBriens character because he stood up against discrimination, and we will vigorously defend this family against further harm.

In an email, Bass Wyden told The Independent that she is seeking accountability for the egregious misconduct directed at me and my family by OBrien and Maltezos. She said the claims in the wrongful death suit filed against her by Maltezos are not only baseless but calculated to divert attention from OBriens systematic theft and manipulation of both me and our impressionable children, who were only 14 and 9 years old when OBrien began working for me.

Even more disturbing is what we now know to have been a deliberate effort by O'Brien to ingratiate himself with the children over time, gaining their trust in order to twist isolated interactions and steal from me and my family, Bass Wyden said.

Maltezos played a complicit role in the alleged scheme, aiding and abetting OBrien, according to Bass Wyden, who said his current efforts to deflect from the theft do not lessen the deplorable nature of his actions. She also emphasized the critical importance of mental health support in our society, in light of OBriens death, claiming he struggled with longstanding mental illness.

Bass Wyden is the third-generation owner of the Strand Bookstore, an iconic New York City retailer that has been operating for nearly 100 years (Getty Images)

In June 2022, Bass Wyden hired OBrien to be her personal assistant, according to her complaint. It describes her as the third-generation owner of the near century old New York City icon, Strand Book Store, which is the largest independent bookstore in New York City and home to many rare books. Bass Wyden worked out of an office several floors above the shop on lower Broadway, and installed OBrien in an office close to hers, the complaint says.

Over the course of two years and four months, OBrien managed various aspects of Plaintiff Nancy Bass Wydens personal, family, and business life, according to the complaint, which lists OBriens duties as having included picking up dry cleaning, scheduling, grocery shopping on Amazon Prime, general Amazon shopping, providing financial information to relevant persons, child-care, caring for Plaintiff Nancy Bass Wydens nonagenarian aunt, social media, and party planning (including for The Strand).

Accordingly, Bass Wyden gave OBrien access to her personal credit card, personal email, Amazon Prime account, and her Manhattan home, the complaint continues.

OBrien succeeded in ingratiating himself with both Plaintiff Nancy Bass Wyden and her children, evidenced by the Wydens inclusion of not just OBrien on family trips, holidays, and celebrations, but also O'Brien's spouse, Defendant Maltezos, and Defendant Maltezos' mother, according to the complaint.

Although OBrien appear[ed] trustworthy, Bass Wyden says in her complaint that he instead used his position to steal systematically from her.

The first step in the alleged scheme occurred when OBrien encouraged Bass Wyden to let him purchase a signature stamp that he could use to sign business checks on her behalf, according to the complaint.

Bass Wyden says her belongings began to show up on Poshmark, after which she claims she discovered her trusted assistant was running the account with his husband (NYS Supreme Court)

In the period that followed, OBrien wrote more than 100 checks to himself from Bass Wydens personal Fidelity brokerage account, signing them with the signature stamp, the complaint alleges.

It says the proceeds, totalling nearly $600,000, were deposited in a bank account in OBriens name, and claims OBrien concealed the ongoing theft from Bass Wyden by deleting emails from Fidelity notifying her of the expenditures.

As her trusted helper, OBrien had the code to open the front door at Bass Wydens apartment, the complaint states. Still, it says, she didnt suspect him when things started to disappear.

Plaintiff Nancy Bass Wyden sent for dry cleaning a gown and a blouse skirt set with a coveted emerald pendant (it belonged to her late mother) attached to the set, according to the complaint. Plaintiff Nancy Bass Wyden initially believed she lost the gown, blouse, and pendant. Plaintiff Nancy Bass Wyden eventually discovered the emerald pendant in OBriens office among his personal office affairs.

Other personal items that went missing from Bass Wydens residence included jewelry, shoes, designer clothing, and a new sealed Monopoly Star Wars game, worth more than $14,000 in total, the complaint states. All of it ended up on Poshmark, listed on an account run by OBrien and Maltezos, according to the complaint, which includes screenshots of the listings.

Bass Wyden says in court filings that her personal assistant convinced her to get a signature stamp for 'business' use, which he allegedly then used to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from her (NYS Supreme Court)

To confirm her suspicions, one of Bass Wydens associates used an assumed name to purchase an item from the Poshmark account allegedly run by OBrien and Maltezos, which was mailed from their Manhattan address, the complaint states.

From there, the pilferage escalated, the complaint says. In October 2022, Bass Wydens Saks 5th Avenue credit card expired and a new one was mailed to her. The complaint accuses OBrien of stealing the card while picking up Bass Wydens mail, linking it to Bass Wydens Fidelity account and enabling autopay, then spending more than $35,000 on mens designer luxury clothing items that were then put up for sale on Poshmark.

On or about October 4, 2024, Plaintiff Nancy Bass Wyden learned of these purchases when she received an e-mail from Saks notifying her that she had amassed points for shopping, the complaint states. At that time, Plaintiff Nancy Bass Wyden did not know she had a new Saks card.

The thefts went on, unabated, according to the complaint. A collection of rare books The Strand had acquired from an estate disappeared before they could be inventoried, then showed up for sale on Poshmark, along with a pricey Strand-branded Bottega Veneta bookmark, the complaint alleges.

O'Brien's alleged thefts from Bass Wyden began with forged checks made out to himself, drawn on her Fidelity account (NYS Supreme Court)

Of the 37 books taken by O'Brien and listed on Maltezos and O'Brien's Poshmark account, 20 had been sold, 3 had been removed, and 14 were still actively listed for sale, according to the complaint.

It says OBrien used Bass Wydens Amazon account to pick up nearly $1,000 worth of merchandise, which he mailed to himself on the Disney World vacation he allegedly took with her money. Bass Wyden also claims OBrien used her Amazon points to send himself gift cards each week, from Amazon, hotels.com, Nordstrom, and Uber Eats, for a total of $42,034.40.

The cards were sent to an email address associated with an account OBrien maintained on a site called RentMasseur.com, according to the complaint.

There were unauthorized purchases on a Visa card linked to Bass Wydens Fidelity account, which the complaint says OBrien made on a Disney World Incredi-Pass, for $1,648.62. 91, a monthly membership at the YMCA, for $1,428, and various expenditures on an Apple Music account OBrien allegedly set up with another credit card that Bass Wyden gave him to buy her daughter a new cell phone.

Those charges went on until December 18, 2024, some 2.5 months after OBrien resigned  which is when Bass Wyden went to the cops.

After O'Brien quit Bass Wyden found thirty Folio books from the aforesaid estate sale that O'Brien had hidden in his office in filing cabinets or Dior boxes, the complaint alleges.

The complaint says the Manhattan District Attorneys Office became involved in the investigation, but that it was closed when OBrien took his own life on May 24, 2025.

Two weeks prior, OBrien and Maltezos held a yard sale at Maltezoss mother's Pennsylvania home, where they sold more of Bass Wydens belongings, according to the complaint.

Bass Wyden's longtime personal assistant held a yard sale at his husband's mom's house in order to sell off some of the items she claims he stole from her, according to court filings (NYS Supreme Court)

Bass Wydens complaint says Maltezos had actual knowledge of OBriens fraud and provided substantial assistance by receiving and assisting OBrien to monetize the stolen property. To that end, it contends, Maltezos must be divested of the benefits of his wrongdoing.

Bass Wyden is seeking compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial, but not less than $655,000, plus pre-judgment interest, as well as punitive damages in an amount sufficient to punish Defendant Maltezos and deter similar conduct, restitution and disgorgement of all ill-gotten gains, and attorneys fees and court costs.

Our children remain my top priority, and I will continue to vigorously defend myself in court, confident that the truth and facts will prevail, Bass Wyden told The Independent.

Maltezos, who raised more than $7,500 on GoFundMe following OBriens suicide, now has roughly three weeks to file a formal response to Bass Wydens allegations.
A protest in London last weekend against the proposed building of a new Chinese embassy in Tower Hamlets. Photograph: Joanna Chan/AP

In 2018, a prime piece of real estate near the Tower of London that was once home to a Cistercian abbey and later became the historic manufacturing site for British coins was sold to the Chinese government.

The 255m deal, brokered by Eddie Lister, one of Boris Johnsons closest aides, provided China with a site to build a new diplomatic complex stretching across 20,000 square metres. Chinas then ambassador, Liu Xiaoming, expressed hopes that the deal would write a new chapter for a China-UK golden era.

But over the seven years that followed, this controversial super-embassy plan  staunchly opposed by local residents, human rights campaigners and backbench MPs  was plunged into the deep freeze.

Its troubles began in December 2022, when Tower Hamlets unexpectedly refused to grant permission for the project, citing concerns about its impact on the area and its residents.

Frustrated with the quagmire of the English planning system, Chinese officials wanted the UK central government to intervene. But Conservative ministers, under pressure from their hawkish backbenchers, refused to get involved. So did the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

The plans seemed doomed until July 2024 when, days after Labour came to power, China resubmitted its application for planning permission to Tower Hamlets council. Chinas president, Xi Jinping, raised the matter directly with Keir Starmer in their first phone call on 23 August 2024.

Soon afterwards Angela Rayner, then housing secretary, used her powers to take the decision out of the councils hands and into her own. This triggered a planning inquiry, which concluded on 10 June 2025, when its recommendation landed on Rayners desk. She has since been replaced in her role by Steve Reed, a close ally of the prime minister who is tasked with making the final decision.

This is no run-of-the-mill planning matter for the government. The fate of the super-embassy has become a test of good faith for Beijing in its relations with London.

But green-lighting the plans will draw a backlash from opponents, including residents who are already exploring the possibility of a judicial review. Critics say the sites proximity to the City of London presents a security risk, while pro-democracy Hongkongers living in the UK say the super-embassy will become a tool for the Chinese Communist party to harass and even detain its political opponents.

Ministers have pushed back the deadline for taking a decision to 21 October after China refused their request to send unredacted drawings of its plans. Ahead of the government verdict, the Guardian can disclose details of Beijings behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign to overturn the block on its proposals  before Labour ministers stepped in.

***

The decision by Tower Hamlets council to block the super-embassy proposal in 2022 came as a surprise to everyone, not least Beijing.

The councils planning officers had recommended that the project go ahead. But elected councillors, who had received representations from residents, including Hongkongers who had moved to the area to escape Beijings oppression, felt otherwise. Tower Hamlets is home to the largest Muslim population of any borough in England, and Chinas treatment of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang was a matter of community concern.

China began exploring ways to challenge the councillors decision. Over the coming months and years Chinese embassy officials in London would hold a succession of meetings with influential community figures in Tower Hamlets as they looked for a way through.

These private discussions centred on ways for the Chinese embassy to improve engagement with the Tower Hamlets community in an effort to overcome local opposition to the plans. They also touched on the avenues open to overturn the decision, whether via legal challenge or government intervention.

In late December 2022 and early January 2023 Chinese embassy officials held their first two meetings with two Tower Hamlets community figures at an address on Welbeck Street in Soho, where a company called the UK International Innovation Centre (UKIIC) is based.

Present at the first of these meetings was Yang Xiaoguang, then minister-counsellor at the Chinese embassy in London. The second meeting was attended by Xia Yuzi, the more junior official in charge of the embassy application.

Others attending included Yu Xiong, a professor in business analytics at the University of Surrey and former director at the UKIIC, who had held leadership roles in groups connected to the Chinese Communist party, and Manzila Pola Uddin, a non-affiliated member of the House of Lords who is a former Labour councillor in Tower Hamlets and has publicly expressed support for the embassy plans.

In early March 2023 Xiong asked one of the community figures invited to the meetings to produce a business proposal  including costs and timeframes  for advising the embassy on how to challenge the councils decision. There were two formal routes for doing so: submitting an amended application seeking to address the councils concerns or escalating the matter by seeking a judicial review.

Xiong said he never passed this proposal on to the Chinese embassy and strongly denied acting as an interlocutor between the embassy and other parties.

Meanwhile, China used the Royal Mint Court site to host cultural events, including traditional live music performances and dance workshops. Beijing began to raise the matter of the stalled planning application with UK politicians and officials as it sought a high-level intervention from the government.

In February 2023 Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, declined to step in. Faced with questions about whether they would intervene, Conservative ministers stalled for months. When the deadline to appeal against the councils planning decision finally expired in August, the Chinese embassy issued a statement accusing the UK of failing to meet its diplomatic obligations.

After this point Chinas only avenue to reviving the plan was to submit a fresh application to the council, but Beijing wanted assurances that this time ministers would step in to progress it. None was forthcoming. To the public eye, this impasse appeared to have killed off the plans.

***

Behind the scenes, Chinese officials resumed their meetings with Tower Hamlets community figures as they tried to engineer a breakthrough.

In October 2023 Uddin sent a WhatsApp message discussing the need to sit alongside Professor Yu Xiong with regards to the Chinese embassy. Uddin, who denied ever advising the embassy on its plans or raising the matter with Tower Hamlets council, said through her lawyer that this message may have related to the embassys community impact. She and Xiong attended a buffet lunch with Chinese officials at Royal Mint Court on 20 December 2023. The pair of them travelled to China and Bangladesh together in the months that followed.

On 20 February 2024, after another meeting, a Chinese embassy official, Dingkun Zhu, emailed a third party saying: Thank you for the meeting yesterday, that was very helpful for us. Please find attached some detailed information about the new embassy project for your reference. He included documents related to the application, including details of the Chinese embassys efforts to engage with the local community by distributing more than 23,000 flyers and organising public exhibitions.

On 11 March a lunch meeting with Chinese officials was held at the Cinnamon Club, a restaurant in Westminster, with Xiong and Uddin both present. Zhu messaged the third party afterwards and said he would organise a meeting with a planning consultant.

The intended meeting never happened: it was superseded by events. Four months later Labour had won a landslide election victory; China quietly resubmitted its application to the council, and ministers responded to Beijings requests to intervene. Starmer told Xi on the margins of the G20 summit in Brazil in November 2024: You raised the Chinese embassy building in London when we spoke on the telephone. We have since taken action by calling in that application.

The super-embassys opponents claim that Labour ministers must have privately given China assurances that they would approve it, otherwise it would not have re-submitted an application to the council. This argument  and Starmers on-camera suggestion that he intervened after being urged to by Xi  could form the basis for a judicial review if ministers give the embassy the go-ahead.

Whichever way the government jumps, this saga is far from over.
Storm Amy hounded Scotland, with the weather front set to continue on Saturday (PA Wire)

Storm Amy has claimed a life in Ireland and prompted a new nationwide weather alert across the UK, as its disruptive effects persist.

Authorities in Ireland confirmed a man's death in a "weather-related" incident in Letterkenny, County Donegal, on Friday afternoon, shortly after 4.15pm.

Concurrently, the Met Office has issued a yellow wind warning, encompassing the entirety of the United Kingdom. Further disruption, including travel chaos, power outages, and flooding, is anticipated for Scotland throughout Saturday as the storm continues its path.

The north of Scotland will face a new amber warning for damaging winds with gusts of more than 90mph in some areas.

Most of Scotland, apart from the east coast, will be covered by a yellow warning for rain while a yellow wind alert will be in place across the UK.

A yellow Met Office warning has been issued for the whole of the UK (PA Graphics)

Further travel disruption is likely to follow after several flights, rail and ferry services were cancelled.

A building collapsed in Glasgow on Friday, falling onto a car, and leading to road closures in the city centre.

Power cuts were also reported in the Highlands and a number of islands  the areas facing some of the worst weather.

Fraser Wilson from the Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks spoke on BBC Radio Scotlands Good Morning Scotland programme where he said the network was working to restore power on Saturday morning.

He said that 100mph winds had affected power and while some people had their power restored there were still thousands without it.

He said: Work will continue this morning to get 62,000 people reconnected. We expect because of the extent of damage to the network and conditions we are still going to be facing today that this will take some time, this storm is not over by any means.

Road closures also impacted drivers and the Forth Road Bridge was shut to all traffic.

Amber wind warnings are in place across parts of North and West Scotland from 5pm on Friday until 9pm on Saturday.#StormAmy is expected to cause dangerous conditions and disruption in affected areas. pic.twitter.com/fMvth2GTy4  Scottish Government (@scotgov) October 3, 2025

The Tay Road Bridge reopened early on Saturday with a 30mph speed restriction and remained closed to high-sided vehicles, as were the Skye Bridge, Queensferry Crossing and Clackmannanshire Bridge.

CalMac Ferries said it expected many services to be disrupted on Saturday, with many routes cancelled, and into Sunday.

The Scottish Government urged people to delay travel if they can and to check ahead if heading out.

On Sunday, the north, north-east, Orkney and Shetlands islands will also continue to fall under a yellow warning for wind until 9am that morning.

Mark Ilderton, ScotRail service delivery director, said there will be considerable disruption to train services on Saturday.

He said: Were sorry to customers who have been impacted by the disruption caused by Storm Amy.

Network Rail and ScotRail teams will work flat out to recover services as quickly as possible, but considerable disruption will continue through Saturday morning.

Were advising customers to check their journey before they travel via the ScotRail website, mobile app, or social media feeds.

Network Rail said the storm had a greater impact than predicted.

The transport organisation said: Storm Amy has hit parts of the country much harder and more quickly than expected.

A car in a flooded carpark in Galway during Storm Amy (PA Wire)

We have experienced over 60 incidents on the network during the first two hours of the storm, with flooding, trees falling on to the overhead lines and debris on the tracks.

The safety of passengers and colleagues is priority, which is why all services to and from Glasgow Central have been suspended at this time.

We have crews out surveying damage where it is safe to do so and we will do our best to clear lines overnight, but we do expect some disruption tomorrow morning.

We apologise to people who were wishing to travel tonight and now need to make alternative arrangements.

Met Office chief forecaster Neil Armstrong said: Storm Amy will be an impactful autumn storm for many in Scotland and Northern Ireland, though impacts will also spread to north-west England and Wales, as well as a more widespread windy period for the rest of the UK.

Within the Amber warning areas, damaging gusts of around 100 mph are possible for a time on Friday evening for parts of western Scotland, especially Skye, Tiree, Barra and western Lochaber.

This could lead to significant disruption, and brings the risk of power cuts and damage to buildings and trees.

Elsewhere, gusts of 60-80 mph are expected more widely in the Amber warning areas, and slightly lower figures for those covered by yellow warnings.

Rainfall is an additional hazard, in particular over western Scotland, where totals could exceed 30-50mm in six to nine hours, increasing the risk of flooding for some.

A number of warnings have been issued covering the rainfall risk for the coming days.
Sean Diddy Combs in court on Friday. Photograph: Jane Rosenberg/Reuters

Sean Diddy Combs held his head in his hands and appeared to be stunned when a judge handed down a 50-month sentence in a New York courtroom on Friday for prostitution-related offenses.

It was a sentence far less than the life term he potentially faced at the start of his sex-trafficking conspiracy trial back in May, but Combs appeared shocked by the outcome. The judgment came just minutes after Combs had pleaded with Judge Arun Subramanian that he took full accountability and responsibility for his actions, and stating that he was a changed man who would, if released, devote himself to his family and community.

Related: Sean Diddy Combs sentenced to more than four years in prison on prostitution-related charges

The sentence came down with barely a noise in the courtroom. Combs family members and supporters had been warned by a court clerk to keep any expression of their feelings in check.

After the sentence was delivered, Combs appeared surprised to find two court marshals behind him, ready to lead him back to Metropolitan detention center in Brooklyn, where he has been incarcerated since his arrest 13 months ago.

Outside the courtroom, there was a palpable sense of deflation as neither prosecutors nor Combss defense had got the result they wanted. A trial that had heard graphic accounts of sexual abuse, which the defendant had claimed was consensual, ended in a kind of whimper. The sentence handed down  four years, two months - was 10 months less than a sentencing panel recommended and less than half of the 135 months, or 11 years, prosecutors requested.

Combs is likely to spend only three more years behind bars, with time he has already served subtracted. But the sentence was also, clearly, far longer than Combs and his supporters had wanted, and perhaps even expected.

Combs was convicted of two counts of transportation to engage prostitution in July, charges stemming from forcing girlfriends to engage in elaborate freak-offs involving male prostitutes. But on the more serious charges  of running a mafia-like conspiracy that prosecutors claimed were designed on to fulfill a need for power and control  he was found not guilty.

No matter what anybody says, I know that Im truly sorry, he told Subramanian. I got lost in excess, I got lost in my ego. Because of my decisions, I lost my freedom. I beg your honor for mercy.

Combss lawyer had spent much of the day arguing that his client was a devoted family man who had lost control of his life after surgery in 2000 that left him addicted to painkillers as his life spiralled out of control. Combss six adult children spoke on his behalf.

But the judge was unmoved by the defense arguments that Combs should be released, effectively, on time served. They left no stone unturned in that effort, making arguments based on racial justice, childhood trauma, and his former position as a business and Black community leader.

Subramanian appeared unpersuaded by Combss testimony that he was a reformed man, pointing out that he had engaged in an abusive freak-off with Jane, a witness in the trial, even after he posted an Instagram apology following the release of video showing him beating another former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.

The judge pointed to testimony offered by Jane, an influencer, in which Combs had directed her to take this fucking pill, get out there, suck his dick [referring to an escort]. Youre not going to ruin my night.

You abused them, physically, emotionally and psychologically, Subramanian told Combs. Why did it happen for so long? Because you had the power and resources to keep it going, and because you didnt get caught.

He lavished praise on Ventura and Jane for coming forward, calling them strong women.

Nothing about this case is good, the judge lamented, except for the victims who came forward.

But even in its denouement, the trial of Sean Combs had an air of a carnival. In court, family members came dressed elaborately, while outside federal court in lower Manhattan supporters and influencers each seemed to shout more loudly than the next into live-streaming phones, each propelled by excitement induced by proximity to Combss celebrity.

However Combss trial will be remembered  as an overreach by prosecutors who bet on turning a sex-trafficking case into a mafia-like conspiracy, or as an episode in long story about brutal coercion involving money, sex and power  Diddy himself may have said it best: he told the hearing his behavior had been disgusting, shameful and sick.
Asking the Supreme Court to allow Trump to executive his agenda via the shadow docket has become the go-to method for the administration to get what they want (REUTERS)

The Department of Education has been gutted of its staff, critical National Institute of Health research has been canceled, 16,000 federal workers have been fired, and $4 billion allocated by Congress is going ignored  these are just a few of the unprecedented changes President Donald Trump has made with permission directly from the Supreme Court.

Over the last few months, the Supreme Courts justices have helped expand Trumps presidential power over critical aspects of American life, without offering any explanation for their actions through the mysterious shadow docket.

The shadow docket, a cryptic name for the courts time-sensitive, emergency requests, was coined in 2015. Its perhaps most well-known for hosting 11th-hour requests from death row inmates hoping to stop executions.

But Trump has specifically turned the docket into something else  a place where a president can quickly request intervention without lengthy legal review and justices can issue consequential decisions in three sentences without providing context.

The rulings are often temporary, but the consequences are permanent.

In some cases, they have allowed Trump to fire workers, leaving some scrambling to make payments. In others, undocumented immigrants have been thrown into emotional turmoil while separated from their children.

Without providing any explanation, the Supreme Court justices will often agree to Trumps requests to unprecedentedly expand his presidential power (The Independent/Getty/iStock)

Over the 16 years between the Bush and Obama administrations, the government submitted eight emergency requests. President Joe Biden requested 19 emergency applications.

During Trumps first administration, the government submitted 41 emergency applications. Nine months into Trumps second administration, there have been 28 requests  20 of which the Supreme Court has agreed to.

As a new Supreme Court term gets underway this week, the impacts have been tangible. Via the shadow docket, Trump has been permitted to continue his quest to end birthright citizenship, fire those in charge of independent agencies, end protections for migrants seeking asylum, roll back transgender rights, and more.

Glaringly, the Supreme Court has allowed the administration to cut $800 million in funding to NIH, a key aspect of the government whose research has led to the creation of mRNA vaccines such as Covid-19 vaccines, breakthroughs in cancer research, a deeper understanding of Alzheimers disease, and more.

Justices have permitted Trump to issue sweeping cuts to the federal workforce, temporarily  but those rulings have real consequences for the people being impacted (AFP via Getty Images)

Traditionally, the Supreme Court case process is tedious and drawn out, taking months for the court to hear a case on what is known as merits. Decisions in those cases tend to be dozens of pages and contain thorough explanations with references to precedent, past cases, the law, and implications.

Dennis Fan, a clinical law professor at Columbia University, compared an emergency request to that of a person fighting to save their home from being bulldozed. Rather than go through the long process on merits, when their home is at risk, they can request an emergency injunction that will stop their house from being leveled while litigation continues.

The original purpose of the shadow docket, in its most generous form, is to deal with those sorts of emergencies, Fan told The Independent.

But the Supreme Court has set a precedent and allowed cases that do not appear to be emergencies.

Fan, a former appellate attorney for the Justice Departments Civil Division, points to Trumps firing of the heads of independent agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission and the National Labor Relations Board, as an example.

Individual firings of agency heads at that point you kinda think, Well, I dont know. If this is just one individual that the president cant fire for the next couple of months, how big a deal is that? Is that worth emergency intervention? he said.

Most Americans do not think the Supreme Court is doing a good job and a record number, 43 percent, believe it is too conservative (Getty Images)

In June, the Department of Homeland Security asked the Supreme Court for help deporting undocumented immigrants, specifically a group of eight men to South Sudan, a war-torn country plagued by violence and a deepening humanitarian crisis that seven of the migrants had never been to.

The department wanted to remove the men in that case, as well as other migrants, to a third country. But a lower court judge prevented them without giving the immigrants proper notice about where they were being deported to and a chance to dispute it by showing they face the risk of violence.

Twenty-six days later, in an unsigned order that offered zero explanation, the justices lifted the lower court ruling, allowing Trump to deport the men and other migrants to third countries.

Supreme Court justices have allowed the Trump administration to deport undocumented immigrants to third countries without abiding by traditional due process (US Government)

Where did the Government find the authority to disregard Congresss carefully calibrated scheme of immigration laws? Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her 19-page dissent. ...this Court should not decide without briefing, argument, or time for reflection.

The court has had no hesitation in taking up dozens of Trumps requests for intervention from the shadow docket  mainly thanks to the conservative majority, three of whom, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, were appointed by Trump himself.

People have the feeling, and probably a relatively accurate feeling, that the current Supreme Court is more amenable to emergency requests by one administration  mainly a Republican administration than a Democratic administration, Fan says.

The courts recent string of granted requests has proved unpopular. Already, Americans have developed a deep mistrust of the Supreme Court, with 52 percent of people disapproving of the justices and 43 percent saying its too conservative.

Trump has verbally attacked lower court judges who do not rule for him for being radical or rogue and turned to the Supreme Court for help, which hasnt defended those lower court judges against the presidents attacks (Middle East Images/AFP via Getty)

The courts recent decisions have also created chaos in lower courts.

With justices refusing to provide a thorough legal explanation, experts say it has been difficult for judges to apply the emergency application rulings.

Judges in the trenches need, and deserve, well-reasoned, bright-line guidance, an unnamed federal judge told NBC News in September. Too often today, sweeping rulings arrive with breathtaking speed but minimal explanation, stripped of the rigor that full briefing and argument provide.

Ten days after the brief emergency ruling in the third country case, the Supreme Court was forced to issue a separate opinion explaining its decision to clear up confusion in the lower court.

A lower court judge continued to block DHSs request to deport the eight men to South Sudan, believing the Supreme Courts emergency ruling did apply since the original plaintiffs in the case were four undocumented immigrants living in Massachusetts.

Via the shadow docket, the Supreme Court has allowed 20 of Trumps emergency requests to move forward. (Getty Images)

To give the Supreme Court some credit about this, I think theyre trying to figure out what to do about it, Fan says of the shadow docket.

I think a lot of justices realize theres some issue with doing things in this manner because you kind of rush out decisions with half-thought-out thoughts about a case.
A road closed' sign at Cranbourne Gate in Windsor Great Park, where preparations are taking place for the Prince and Princess of Wales to move in. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA

For almost two decades Tina has enjoyed early morning walks through Windsor Great Parks ancient-oak studded open fields with the freedom to let her dog off the lead.

In recent weeks, however, she has noticed disturbing changes: fencing appearing around her regular route near Cranbourne Gate, trenches being dug, hedges planted and CCTV cameras erected.

Last week she saw three men carrying a no public entry sign. So, I walked up to them and said: Oh, are you going to close this area? And one guy sticks the sign behind his back, and said: Were just checking the size of the sign for somewhere else. Then they all clammed up.

The next day she had her answer. Windsor Great Park announced an exclusion zone of about 60 hectares (150 acres) of previously publicly accessible land to accommodate the latest home of the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children.

Due to the pending designation of part of the Great Park as a Socpa (Serious Organised Crime and Police Act exclusion area), access via Cranbourne Gate will permanently cease on Monday 29 September 2025. As a result, Cranbourne car park will be permanently closed from 7pm on Sunday 28 September 2025, the park management announced.

In an interview this week with the Canadian actor Eugene Levy at Windsor Castle for the Apple TV+ series The Reluctant Traveler, William spoke of his desire to protect his family from the press intrusion that he and his brother had experienced as children. Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven, did not have mobile phones, he said.

William said of the insatiable media he experienced growing up: They wanted every bit of detail they could absorb and they were in everything, literally everywhere. They would know things, theyd be everywhere.

And if you let that creep in, the damage it can do to your family life is something that I vowed would never happen to my family.

Forest Lodge, an eight-bedroomed Grade II-listed Georgian mansion, has been chosen by the couple as their forever home. Not all locals are happy, especially those who regularly use the area now closed off by a 2.3-mile perimeter no-go zone.

To the people who lose it, its a big loss. There are so many houses they could have chosen, why choose one where the public has to lose such a big chunk of the park for their private benefit, said Tina, who declined to give her surname. I am very upset.

She added: I do think its outrageous, the way it was done. I think its a selfish act.

There is a lot of deference to the royal family in these parts. Some, indeed, believed the royal family owned the Great Park, Tina said. Today about half of the land is private and half publicly accessible.

Royal links stretch back to approximately 1070 to William the Conqueror, who used the area as a hunting ground and built a residence here. While parts were briefly privatised by Oliver Cromwell to help pay for the English civil war, the area was enhanced in the 17th century during the Restoration.

It remained the personal fiefdom of the monarch until George III in 1760 surrendered revenues from crown lands to parliament in exchange for the fixed annual civil list payment. The park, and Forest Lodge, is now owned by the crown estate, a public body whose revenues go to the Treasury. Which means it belongs to you and me, said Tina.

The Waleses are relocating from four-bedroomed Adelaide Cottage four miles away. They also have 10-bedroomed Anmer Hall on the Sandringham estate, 21-roomed Apartment IA in Kensington Palace, London, and Tam-Na-Ghar cottage at Balmoral which was given to the prince by the Queen Mother.

Kensington Palace and the Home Office declined to comment when approached by the Guardian, on the grounds they never discuss security matters. A royal source has previously said that in recent years the couple have lived through some really difficult times at Adelaide Cottage. With Catherine in remission after her cancer diagnosis, the move would afford them a fresh start and a new chapter and allow them to leave some of the more unhappy memories behind.

While some people in Windsor, including on Facebook, have expressed their frustration, others are more sanguine. One dog walker, Tom Bunn, a mechanical engineer who walks his dog in the park about twice a month, told the Sun: I completely understand the safety of William, Kate and their family is paramount so we should make sure they can live happily here.

Windsor Great Park has said parking will remain available at Rangers Gate car park, located just down the road. But for dog walkers it is not the same, as the route crosses roads and a village and would mean dogs being on and off lead. At the moment I can walk off the lead all around the Cranbourne Gate, thats the joy of it, said Tina.

A spokesperson for Windsor Great Park said: A security boundary is being introduced by the Home Office and Thames Valley police in a small area of Windsor Great Park to support enhanced protective measures. This does not affect the vast majority of public access to the park and efforts have been made to reduce the impact on users of the park as far as possible.

It is not the first time a Windsor estate property for a royal has caused controversy. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex repaid 2.4m of public money spent refurbishing Frogmore Cottage as their marital home after criticism they had lived in it for less than a year before leaving the UK.

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Chris Philp says that Nigel Farage kicks MPs out of his party if they start to steal the limelight - Geoff Pugh for The Telegraph

Chris Philp has said that Conservatives like Danny Kruger who defect to Reform will soon find out there is only room for one star in the party.

A day before the Conservative Partys conference gets under way in Manchester on Sunday, the shadow home secretary comes out fighting amid deepening concerns over Kemi Badenochs leadership and the partys woeful position in the polls.

In withering attacks on Nigel Farage, Mr Philp castigated him as a Putin apologist who writes his policies on the back of a fag packet.

And he said he expected recent defectors to see the error of their ways and to return chastened to the Tory fold.

Reform is just a one-man band, and any time anyone looks like they might steal any of the limelight, he kicks them out, like Rupert Lowe, says Mr Philp in his Commons office, overlooking Speakers Court.

Anyone who joins Reform will find pretty quickly there is only room for one star in that party, and thats Nigel Farage. And unfortunately for Danny, hes going to discover that pretty quickly.

Nigel Farage has been accused of being a Putin apologist - Carl Court/Getty

Mr Kruger, who served as Boris Johnsons political secretary, left the Tories three weeks ago, declaring the party is over. He followed in the wake of a string of former MPs such as Nadine Dorries and Andrea Jenkyns.

In a message to Conservatives considering following suit, Mr Philp warned: Slogans written in a pub on the back of a fag packet, which is what Nigel Farage offers, are not going to fix our countrys problems. If people want a party that has the resolve to fix these problems and has got a serious plan, that is only us.

Reform are not a serious party, and people whove joined them may come to regret that.

Asked whether some could return to the Tories, he replied: I wouldnt rule that out, because it will become clear over time  Im not saying in the next week or the next month, but over time  that Reform is not a serious party.

Mr Philp referred to Reforms policy launch last month, when it pledged to end indefinite leave to remain but had to admit this did not include European Union citizens, as evidence of the partys lack of seriousness.

They come up with these slogans, which sound attractive, but they fall apart within like minutes of being announced, he says.

Im deeply troubled by the fact that Nigel Farage seems to be a Vladimir Putin apologist. He said he admired Putin, and at one point he said Putin had played a blinder in Syria by supporting a brutal dictator who used chemical weapons against his own people. As recently as last year, he said it was somehow Ukraines fault that Russia had invaded.

Unfortunately for the Conservatives, however, Reform shows no sign of stalling in the polls. A YouGov MRP survey last week showed the Tories on just 17 per cent, 10 points behind Mr Farages party. This would be enough to see Reform as the largest party in the Commons, with the Tories pushed into fourth place with a meagre tally of 45 seats.

For many, the problem is Mrs Badenochs lacklustre leadership, and that party fortunes might revive if she were replaced by someone more charismatic and imaginative.

Mr Philp, who backed her in last years leadership campaign, is not one of those, and he comes out with a fulsome defence.

Leading the opposition following a really bad election defeat is probably the hardest job in politics, and back in 1975 even Margaret Thatcher had to work hard, he warned. Those who criticise Kemi are not adequately appreciating just how difficult that job is.

Rather than a change of leader, the shadow home secretary is pinning his hopes on the party conference to turn things round, with a blitz of policy announcements to prove they are a more credible alternative to Reform.

Earlier this week, Mrs Badenoch announced the Conservatives would scrap the Climate Change Act and the 2050 net zero target, a decision condemned by her predecessor Baroness May. (I respectfully disagree with Theresas view, said Mr Philp).

And on Friday afternoon the shadow cabinet rubber-stamped Mrs Badenochs decision to campaign on a pledge to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The time has come for the United Kingdom to leave the ECHR because it is preventing the democratically elected parliament and government from doing what the public sent us here to do, which is to protect our borders, deport illegal immigrants and foreign criminals, he said.

The ECHR started off as quite a noble endeavour. It was designed to stop the repetition of the horrors of the Second World War.

And if you read the actual articles, they are quite reasonable. But theyre also very vague, things like a right to a family life, and over the years, judges have stretched the meaning of what those articles in practice specify, to the point that its totally unrecognisable from the document that the original framers agreed.

So youve now got to the ridiculous situation where the people who are mostly protected by the ECHR are foreign criminals and illegal immigrants... Its become, frankly, farcical when foreign criminals and illegal immigrants are the ones being protected, not British citizens.

Mr Philp rejected the suggestion that leaving would make the UK as bad as Russia and Belarus, the only other European countries not to be a member of the group: The United Kingdom has led the world in human rights.

And he does not accept the argument that it would be a stain on the legacy of Winston Churchill, who helped draft it: He had in mind preventing the horrors of the Holocaust or Nazi concentration camps. He didnt intend that document to be used to allow dangerous foreign criminals to stay in the UK.

Mr Philp would not speak in detail about a series of other policy announcements to tackle immigration, but did hint that he wanted Britain to learn from Donald Trump, who has initiated a controversial campaign of mass deportations.

Neither what Australia did in 2013 nor what the USA has done in the last six or seven months would have been possible inside the ECHR, he said. Well have some more to say about that in the very, very near future. But clearly it is not acceptable for people who enter this country illegally or foreign criminals to stay here.

However, there is concern among centrist Tories that the party is moving too far to the Right in a desire to out-Reform Reform, and that the new policies could put off moderate voters who may switch their support to the Liberal Democrats, as thousands did at the last election.

Mr Philp urged them not to jump ship: They have no reason to do that, because were not proposing to abolish human rights. There are plenty of ways that human rights get secured, in our common law, in our domestic legislation.

Everyone has to get behind it

But he would not go as far as his Cabinet colleague Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, who suggested that Conservatives who did not agree with leaving the ECHR should not be able to stand for the party as an MP. Thats ultimately a question for the leader, he said, but I think the policy is absolutely fundamental. I think everyone has to get behind it.

Kemi Badenoch has announced that the Conservatives would scrap the Climate Change Act - Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Speaking of Mr Jenrick, Mr Philp was tight-lipped about concerns over his barely concealed leadership ambitions, which have led to criticisms that he is straying beyond his brief.

Asked repeatedly about the man many see as a rival round the Cabinet table, he said merely: We are real colleagues working constructively together.

As he prepared to leave for Manchester, Mr Philp said the Tories needed to be able to demonstrate to a sceptical public that they had a set of substantial policies that could get Britain back on the right track.

I think we need to show we have a set of bold ideas that will fix our countrys problems, but bold ideas that are properly thought through, he argues.

Youve got a Labour government that is failing catastrophically: huge tax increases, economic growth declining, illegal immigration out of control.

Reform has nothing to say on the economy: in fact they would actually make the economy worse by increasing welfare spending when we clearly cant afford it. On immigration, while Reform have slogans, they dont have substance.

What we have to demonstrate at this conference over the next few days is that we have substance. If we get to Wednesday lunchtime and the public have got that message, then we will have succeeded.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth considered deploying an elite Army unit to Portland, Oregon, to address what President Donald Trump called lawless mayhem, according to text messages shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Last weekend, in a crowded public setting, high-ranking Trump administration officials reportedly exchanged messages about potentially deploying the Armys 82nd Airborne, a division historically sent into combat in both World Wars, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.

Any move to send the unit domestically would likely face legal challenges under federal restrictions on the use of military forces within the United States.

Ultimately, the administration opted to deploy 200 federalized National Guard troops to Portland rather than active-duty Army forces. The state of Oregon and the city of Portland have filed suit in federal court seeking to block that deployment.

While traveling in Minnesota, Anthony Salisbury, deputy to White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, reportedly used the private messaging app Signal to send the texts, which were visible to people nearby.

Salisbury reportedly told Weaver and officials in the texts that Hegseth sought Trumps approval before sending troops into Portland (Getty Images)

Concerned by the public discussion of sensitive military plans, a source, fearing retaliation, anonymously provided the Star Tribune with images of the texts. The newspaper confirmed Salisbury as the sender using photos, video, and facial recognition, while verifying the authenticity of the messages, it reports.

Over dozens of messages, Salisbury spoke candidly, sometimes profanely, with Hegseths adviser, Patrick Weaver, and other officials, claiming that Hegseth wanted Trumps explicit approval before sending troops into the city.

Between you and I, I think Pete just wants the top cover from the boss if anything goes sideways with the troops there, Weaver allegedly wrote.

Soldiers from the Army 82nd Airborne Division, dressed in World War I era uniforms, march past the reviewing stand and President Donald Trump during a military parade commemorating the Army's 250th anniversary, coinciding with his 79th birthday, in June (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

He recognized the political risks of sending Army troops to a U.S. city, adding that Hegseth preferred deploying the National Guard instead.

82nd is like our top tier [quick reaction force] for abroad. So it will cause a lot of headlines, Weaver added. Probably why he wants potus to tell him to do it.

When approached for comment, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended Salisbury, noting he was in Minnesota to serve as a pallbearer at his uncles funeral.

Despite dealing with grief from the loss of a family member, Tony continued his important work on behalf of the American people ... Frankly, this story just shows the entire Trump Administration is working around the clock  and even through funerals  to make America safe again.

The statement was also critical of the reporting around the leak, claiming reporting outlets are choosing to exploit a private moment of grief for clicks.

The Trump administration deployed 200 National Guard troops to Portland this week as Oregon sought a court block (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told The Independent in a statement, The Star Tribune has acted in bad faith by repeatedly refusing to provide photos or a transcript of the messages in order to create their own narrative. This is not new information and only proves that the entire Trump Administration is working around the clock to Make America Safe Again.

The Department of War is a planning organization and does not speculate on potential future operations. The Department is continuously working with other agency partners to protect federal assets and personnel and to keep American communities safe, Parnell added.
Relatives of unaccompanied minors deported from the US await updates outside La Aurora international airport, in Guatemala City on 31 August 2025. Photograph: Moises Castillo/AP

The Trump administration wants to offer immigrant children $2,500 to self-deport, according to a memo obtained by the Guardian.

The memo, sent by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to legal providers representing unaccompanied children and reviewed by the Guardian, says that immigration officials have identified unaccompanied immigrant children 14 years of age and older in government custody who have expressed interest in voluntarily departing the US.

The government will provide a one-time resettlement support stipend of $2,500 to these children in exchange for their voluntary departure, the memo states. It notes that unaccompanied minors from Mexico will not be eligible.

DHS confirmed the details of the memo and its plans to offer children money in a statement to the Guardian on Friday.

The effort by the administration is a significant departure from longstanding immigration policy related to minors in US custody, according to experts. Although voluntary departure for unaccompanied immigrant children has always been an option, it typically requires consultation with attorneys and approval by a judge. The administrations decision to incentivize children to engage in self-removal is new.

The administrations message is confusing and seems to fly in the face of established laws and protocols that Congress passed to protect children from cyclical trafficking risks, said Shaina Aber, executive director of the Acacia Center for Justice, in a statement. We are concerned by messaging from the Department of Homeland Security that suggests children who were trafficked against their will into the US by cartels will be part of an incentive program aimed at getting children to waive their legal rights under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.

Immigration lawyers and advocates have expressed alarm at the potential ramifications for children and their families. We are mindful that this $2,500 incentive being offered to children in exchange for giving up their legal claims and accepting voluntary departure has the potential to exploit their unique vulnerabilities as unaccompanied minors in government custody, said Marion Mickey Donovan-Kaloust at the Los Angeles-based legal aid group Immigrant Defenders Law Center, or ImmDef.

This policy pressures children to abandon their legal claims and return to a life of fear and danger without ever receiving a fair hearing, said Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition. The chaos built into this policy will devastate families and communities  and it is targeted to hurt children.

Children who arrive in the US or at a border without a parent or guardian are classified as unaccompanied minors, and are placed in the custody of the office of refugee resettlement (ORR), which is under HHS. Children are placed in federal government-run shelters until they can be reunited with family members vetted by the ORR, or with foster families, a process outlined in federal law.

Since the Trump administration came into office, it has engaged in efforts to remove immigrant children from the US. The administration has attempted to roll back legal representation for minors, cutting back a federally funded program that provided legal aid for unaccompanied children.

In late August, the administration prepared to hastily deport dozens of Guatemalan children. Many of the children had pending immigration cases and had not elected to leave the US, according to their lawyers.

Dozens of children were roused from their beds at shelters and taken to an airport in the early morning hours and ushered onto flights  and were only released after a judge temporarily blocked the deportations.

We urge the public not to lose sight of the broader context in which this program is unfolding: a sustained assault on childrens access to legal counsel, dramatically prolonged detention periods, the expedited processing of deportation cases, and, most disturbingly, children being dragged from their beds in the middle of the night last month and threatened with deportation, said Donovan-Kaloust.

Members of Congress also have expressed concern about the treatment of immigrant children in US government custody. This week, led by the representative Delia Ramirez, those members wrote a letter to DHS opposing efforts to return immigrant children to their countries of origin.

The letter, which has not previously been reported on, was submitted before the newest Trump administration memo incentivizing children to voluntarily return to their countries of origin. The members of Congress requested that DHS provide information on its push to return immigrant children to their home countries.

Given that we know the Trump Administration has no concern for keeping families together, we expect that DHSs new policy will deprive children of due process and place them in grave danger of trafficking and other harm, the members wrote.

The newest directive was sent to ORR legal service providers on Friday morning, four days after the congressional letter.

Dina Francesca Haynes, executive director of the Orville H Schell Jr Center for International Human Rights at Yale, said she questioned how children who are not old enough to enter into contracts on their own could be expected to consent to a legally complicated immigration decision.

She said she is also concerned that the program will fuel family separations. Already, the Trump administration has issued stringent new restrictions on who can take custody of unaccompanied minors, requiring US identification, proof of income and in many cases a DNA test of family members seeking to reunite with children in ORR shelters or foster care. The new limits have made it especially difficult for immigrant families, and undocumented immigrants, to take custody of children.

Haynes said she worries that children would feel pressured to accept a voluntary departure in order to protect their family members from being targeted or deported.

Its just so astonishing that this is something that [the US] would be doing as a policy, she said. Its coercing children who are already traumatized.

Earlier on Friday, rumors began spreading regarding the administrations efforts to target children and incentivize them with money to voluntarily depart.

According to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the voluntary option gives UACs [unaccompanied children] a choice and allows them to make an informed decision about their future. Any payment to support a return home would be provided after an immigration judge grants the request and the individual arrives in their country of origin.

The offer is being made to 17-year-old unaccompanied children first, DHS said, despite the memo outlining that the deal is being offered to children as young as 14.

The stipend program to urge children to depart the US echoes a similar scheme that the government devised to incentivize adults to self-deport. In May, the administration announced it would offer a $1,000 incentive to immigrants who self-deport using a government-designed app.

Related: Trump revives family separations amid drive to deport millions: A tactic to punish

Following the launch of that self-deportation program, it was unclear how many people partook in the scheme and whether any of them actually received the promised $1,000, Haynes said. So I dont know that the funds would actually be an incentive, she said.

Advocates have also raised alarm that children are increasingly being used as pawns in an effort to locate and deport their family members. Earlier this year, the Guardian reported that DHS was beginning to seek out unaccompanied immigrant children in operations nationwide in an attempt to deport them or pursue criminal cases against them or their adult sponsors.

A recent Guardian investigation found that immigrant families are being threatened with separation from their children in order to coerce immigrants and asylum seekers to leave the US. In several cases, officials have forcibly separated immigrant children from their parents, and misclassified the children as unaccompanied minors, in an apparent effort to retaliate against families who have challenged deportation orders or insisted on their right to seek asylum.

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(Truth Social)

Friday night brought flickers of what almost everyone  bar Benjamin Netanyahus extreme right, warmongering cabinet ministers  has been desperate for. News of a ceasefire, and a possible plan to free Gaza from the slaughterhouse it has become over the last two years.

Hamas tentatively welcomed Donald Trumps efforts, as well as those of the international community and Arab states, to end the devastating war.

The militant group, responsible for the bloody attacks on 7 October 2023, agreed to release all the remaining 48 hostages  both dead and alive  according to the exchange formula in Trumps 20-point plan.

This, they added, would be done in a manner that achieves an end to the war. It followed Netanyahus endorsement of Trumps plan last week, albeit with his own interpretations.

So, is this the moment millions have been dreaming of and campaigning for? The end to mass slaughter in Gaza? To what the UN Commission of Inquiry concluded was genocide? To the two-year-long nightmare for the families of Israeli hostages and captives? The end to a region-wide war that has pushed the world to the brink?

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators take part in a sit-in protest to condemn the Israeli forces' interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla vessels (Reuters)

Trump, who has campaigned as the peacemaking president and has eyed up the Nobel Peace Prize, certainly thinks so: Based on the statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the hostages out safely and quickly! This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long-sought PEACE in the Middle East, he wrote on Truth Social.

The devil, however, is (as always) in the detail. And so far, neither Netanyahu nor Hamas has agreed to every specific point in the plan. Instead, both have publicly declared their own interpretations of the proposal and vowed to support that.

The problem is that the 20-point plan is vague. So vague, in fact, that it has allowed Trump, Netanyahu, Hamas, and key figures in the region to effectively release and promote their own interpretations of it.

The statements accompanying each endorsement paint such entirely different pictures, you wonder whether they were even looking at the same document. And this, I fear, will be the issue when it comes to actually trying to implement it and achieve the much sought-after peace.

For a start, Hamas said that it would be willing to hand over all the hostages and captives within 72 hours, a significant breakthrough, adding that it would immediately be open to discussions on the details.

Responding to Trumps plan, it welcomed the full withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners, the immediate entry of aid, the rejection of the occupation of the Strip, and the rejection of the forcible displacement of Palestinian people.

Smoke billows following an Israeli strike in Gaza City, on 2 October (AFP via Getty)

Hamas also said it was willing to hand over administration of Gaza to a Palestinian body of independent technocrats, as outlined in Trumps document.

But crucially they also said that Hamas would remain part of the Palestinian national frameworks and would contribute with full responsibility. In other words, Hamas is not going to simply disappear.

Also telling is Hamass failure to agree to disarm  or even to mention the demilitarisation of the besieged Strip  which was specified in Trumps plan and was a key demand reiterated by Netanyahu at the press conference that accompanied its release. Point six of Trumps plan says Hamas members would be granted amnesty, and those who wish to leave Gaza would be provided with safe passage; Hamas also did not acknowledge this.

Pouring fuel on the fire is the fact that Trumps plan contains no provisions or guarantees for the creation of a Palestinian state.

Instead  somewhat confusingly  it states that after the removal of Hamas, if the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank is reformed enough to be allowed back into some role of power, then the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.

But again: no guarantees. At the press conference announcing the plan, Netanyahu jumped on this. He said he welcomed Donald Trumps rejection of a Palestinian state, and added that recognising one would, in the context of the October 7th attacks, reward terrorists, undermine security and endanger Israels very existence.

He also added a few more caveats, including to the PAs reform that are not listed in Trumps 20-point proposal  such as ending lawfare against Israel at the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice (in other words, impunity), stopping incitement in the media, and the PA recognising a Jewish state.

Once again, were looking at interpretations of a vague text that directly contradict one another.

The question remains: can these disparate statements  cherry-picking and interpreting different aspects of the vague 20-point plan  translate into meaningful, long-term peace?
Trump announces Israel has agreed to initial withdrawal line in Gaza - but Hamas has not confirmed

Israel has agreed to an initial withdrawal line in Gaza, President Donald Trump announced Saturday.

After negotiations, Israel has agreed to the initial withdrawal line, which we have shown to, and shared with, Hamas, the president wrote on Truth Social.

Hamas has not confirmed, the president added. But if Hamas does, the ceasefire will be effective immediately and the hostages and prisoner exchanges will begin, Trump continued, adding that we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal, which will bring us close to the end of this 3,000 YEAR CATASTROPHE.

Trump had earlier warned all hell will break loose if an agreement is not reached by the end of Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expanded on the plans. Our goal is to limit the negotiations to just a few days. Trump made it clear: We will not tolerate stalling tactics or evasions, Netanyahu said Saturday.

Israel has agreed to an initial withdrawal line in Gaza, President Donald Trump announced Saturday. Hamas has not yet confirmed, he added (REUTERS)

Netanyahu then laid out a multi-phase plan. First, Hamas will release the hostages while the Israeli military maintains control of all of the dominant areas deep inside the strip, he said.

Then, Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarized. This will happen either through the diplomatic path by the Trump plan or through the military path, but it will be achieved, the Israeli prime minister added.

On Friday, Trump called on Israel to immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, he wrote in a Truth Social post.

Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, its far too dangerous to do that, Trump said.

Israel launched dozens of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip just hours after Trump called for an immediate ceasefire, Palestinian officials claimed. At least 36 people in Gaza have died since Trumps demand.

Hamas said Friday it would agree to some aspects of Trump's plan to end the Gaza war, including releasing hostages and handing over administration of the enclave, but that it would seek negotiations over many of its other terms.

The group agreed to release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, according to the exchange formula contained in President Trump's proposal, so long as the field conditions for the exchange are met.

Hamas appreciates the Arab, Islamic, and international efforts, as well as the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump, calling for an end to the war on the Gaza Strip, the exchange of prisoners, [and] the immediate entry of aid, the statement read.

As the war nears the second-year mark, demolished buildings and piles of rubble are almost ubiquitous in Gaza, satellite images show. The conflict has led to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza; more than one million people have been displaced and more than half a million are trapped in famine. Since the war began, 67,000 people in Gaza have been killed, the Gaza health authorities said this week.

The October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas in southern Israel killed around 1,200 people. There are 48 Israeli hostages remaining of 251 people who were taken  but only 20 of them are believed to be alive, Israel has said.
Democratic senators claimed Donald Trump was betraying American values - Jim Watson/Getty Images

Donald Trump is planning to slash refugee admissions to a record low.

The US president is preparing to set a new admission cap of 7,500 refugees per fiscal year that prioritises white South Africans, sources told Reuters.

The target is a climbdown from the 125,000 ceiling on annual refugee admissions set by the Biden administration and would effectively close the door on thousands of families fleeing war and famine from across the world.

Democratic senators have condemned the move, claiming that Mr Trump is betraying American values.

Despite repeated outreach from Democratic and Republican committee staff, the Trump administration has completely discarded its legal obligation, leaving Congress in the dark and refugees in limbo, senators Dick Durbin of Illinois and Alex Padilla of California said in a statement.

The consequences are dire, they added, claiming that the closure of the refugee programme was betraying the nations promise as a refuge for the oppressed.

Limit would halve previous record low

On his first day back in office, Mr Trump signed an executive order suspending the US governments refugee programme, claiming it was detrimental to the interests of the United States.

He has also attempted to introduce an asylum ban on the US-Mexico border that has been blocked by judges.

The new limit on refugee admissions would halve the previous record low of 15,000 arrivals, set by Mr Trump before leaving office in 2020.

After returning to the White House in January, he froze the refugee programme, claiming the country does not have the resources to take in the record number of migrants who entered the country under Joe Biden.

As a result, around 130,000 refugees who were in the process of moving to the US remain in limbo, according to figures from The New York Times.

Instead, Mr Trump has refocused resettlement efforts on Afrikaners, whom he claims have been racially persecuted by the South African government. After scrapping refugee admissions, the president signed an executive order stating that an exemption would be created for Afrikaners.

During an extraordinary Oval Office meeting with Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African president, in May, Mr Trump forced his counterpart to watch a video showcasing what he called a genocide of white farmers in the country.

Credit: Reuters

The first group of 59 Afrikaner refugees arrived in May and were resettled to New York, Alabama and North Carolina, among other states. A total of 138 more have arrived since, according to government figures.

John Slocum, the executive director of Refugee Council USA, urged elected officials to push Mr Trump to bring in more refugees, arguing that such a low limit would be jeopardising peoples lives, separating families, and undermining our national security and economic growth.

At a side event at the United Nations General Assembly last week, senior US officials called on other nations to join a global campaign to roll back asylum protections.
President Donald Trump will host a large Navy celebration this weekend while the military goes without pay during the government shutdown.

Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday evening, THE SHOW MUST GO ON! when announcing his trip to Norfolk, Virginia, on Sunday to honor our brave men and women of the United States Navy for its 250th birthday, which will be on October 13.

Trump said he will be joined by first lady Melania Trump, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan to mark decades of what the president called maritime dominance.

This will be the largest Celebration in the History of the Navy, Trump said, adding that thousands of active-duty servicemembers and military families are expected to be in attendance.

President Donald Trump will host a large Navy celebration this weekend while the military goes without pay during the government shutdown (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

But unlike the president, these servicemembers wont be getting paid this weekend thanks to the ongoing government shutdown.

Active-duty servicemembers are required to work unpaid during the shutdown. Their paychecks will stop coming on October 15 if the Senate doesnt pass a funding bill by then, the Military Times reports.

While the president does get a paycheck during a government shutdown, Trump said in August that he donated a portion of his salary to help with White House renovations.

Many government workers, including servicemembers, should expect to receive backpay once the government shutdown comes to an end.

Trump joins Naval Academy cadets during the Army v. Navy American Football game in Philadelphia on December 14, 2019 (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Republicans and Democrats have blamed each other for the shutdown, which started Wednesday at midnight.

Democrats have demanded the reversal of Medicaid cuts from Trumps big, beautiful bill and an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies in exchange for their support on a funding bill to keep the government open.

For their part, Republicans have pushed for a funding bill without such provisions and claimed Democrats healthcare demands are to give undocumented immigrants free healthcare, despite the group not being eligible for federal healthcare programs aside from emergency services.

Republicans and Democrats have blamed each other for the shutdown, which started Wednesday at midnight (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

In his Truth Social post announcing this weekends Navy event, Trump accused Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, and the other Minority Radical Left Democrats of trying to destroy this wonderful celebration of the U.S. Navys Birthday with the shutdown.

The U.S. Navy has been planning this event for many months and, despite the Democrats incompetence, I refuse to let them down as their Commander-in-Chief, Trump wrote.

Trump is known to enjoy a military celebration. In June, he hosted a military parade in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the Armys 250th birthday, which coincided with his 79th birthday. An Army spokesperson later told The Hill the grand celebration cost $30 million.
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike near Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Thursday. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA

Donald Trumps son-in-law and a senior envoy are heading to Egypt to begin ceasefire negotiations, the White House has said, as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he hoped to bring all remaining hostages home in the coming days.

A White House official said the US president was sending his envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, to Egypt on Saturday to finalise the technical details of a hostage release and discuss a lasting ceasefire deal a day after Hamas said it was ready to free hostages under Trumps plan to end the two-year war. In an interview, Trump said we are very close to reaching an agreement.

Egypt will also host delegations from Israel and Hamas on Monday to discuss the proposed exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, the countrys foreign ministry said.

The talks come a month after Israel derailed ceasefire negotiations by launching an extraordinary airstrike on Hamas negotiators in Qatar that killed six people, although not its targets.

Scores of Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Saturday, according to local health officials, despite Trumps demand that Israel stop bombing in response to Hamass declaration.

At least 17 were killed, mostly women and children, in an Israeli attack on a home in the al-Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City on Saturday evening, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. Another 20 were missing under the rubble and dozens were injured, it reported.

Earlier in the day Israeli drones targeted a gathering of people near a bakery in central Gaza City, killing dozens, Wafa reported, while at least six Palestinian civilians, including two children, were killed in separate Israeli strikes on a house in Gaza City and a tent housing displaced people in al-Mawasi, which Israel has previously designated a safe zone.

Hamas said in a statement that the continuation of the occupations bombing and massacres exposes Netanyahus lies about reducing military operations against civilians.

Earlier in the day, Israeli army radio had reported that operations in Gaza would be reduced to the minimum, with troops meant only to carry out defensive strikes, while Trump said in a Truth Social post that he appreciated Israels having temporarily stopped the bombing.

Related: I feel like we are in a trap: Gaza residents hopeful but wary of Trumps plan

In the same post the US president warned he would not tolerate delay from Hamas, urging the group to move quickly towards a deal or else all bets will be off.

Netanyahu meanwhile said in a televised statement on Saturday, I hope that in the coming days we will be able to bring back all our hostages ... during the Sukkot holidays, referring to the Jewish festival that begins on Monday and runs for one week.

He also insisted in his remarks that Hamas will be disarmed ... either diplomatically via Trumps plan or militarily by us.

Hamas had drawn a welcoming response from Trump on Friday by saying it accepted certain key parts of his 20-point peace proposal, including ending the war, Israels withdrawal, and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian captives.

But the group left some issues subject to further negotiation, as well as questions unanswered, such as whether it would be willing to disarm, a key demand from Israel.

Trump posted later on Saturday: After negotiations, Israel has agreed to the initial withdrawal line, which we have shown to, and shared with, Hamas. He said that once Hamas agrees to it, a ceasefire would take effect, the Hostages and Prisoner Exchange will begin, and we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal. He did not elaborate.

Separately, Trump said in an interview with Axios on Saturday that we are very close to a deal in Gaza and that was he pushing to finalize an agreement between Israel and Hamas in the coming days.

The US president recounted a conversation he had with the Israeli prime minister as the proposal took place.

I said: Bibi [Netanyahu], this is your chance for victory. He was fine with it, Trump told Axios. Hes got to be fine with it. He has no choice. With me, you got to be fine.

Trump told Axios: We had great receptivity for our plan  every country of the world in favor. Bibi is in favor. Hamas went a long way  they want to do it. Now we will need to close it.

He said Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, had been very helpful in pressing Hamas to agree to release hostages.

Erdogan helped a lot. He is a tough guy, but he is a friend of mine and he was great, Trump said.

Trump also said he intended to help rehabilitate Israels global image, which has suffered as its military intervention has killed at least 67,074 Palestinians and wounded about 170,000, according to the Gaza health authority, mostly civilians. The number does not include the thousands thought to be buried under the rubble or those killed by the indirect consequences of the war.

A UN commission of inquiry, as well as the worlds leading association of scholars on genocide, have concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Israel rejects the finding, claiming it has only acted in self-defence.

Bibi took it very far and Israel lost a lot of support in the world. Now I am gonna get all that support back, Trump said.

Reuters and Agence France-Press contributed reporting
Credit: X/@WhiteHouse

US forces have killed four people in a strike on a boat off Venezuela that was allegedly smuggling drugs.

The attack marks the fourth US military strike since September on boats in international waters that Washington says are involved in narco-trafficking, leaving 21 people dead in total.

Footage of the strike shows a boat skimming across the ocean waves before erupting in a cloud of black smoke, leaving behind a burning wreck.

Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike, Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, said. Our intelligence, without a doubt, confirmed that this vessel was trafficking narcotics, the people onboard were narco-terrorists, and they were operating on a known narco-trafficking transit route.

He added that the vessel was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics - headed to America to poison our people.

These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over!!!! he continued.

Donald Trump shared the footage on his Truth Social platform, claiming it was transporting enough drugs to kill 25 To 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE.

The strike comes after Mr Trump said that the US is in an armed conflict with drug cartels, in a memo to Congress.

Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, said those on board were trying to poison Americans - Reuters

The president allegedly labelled the gangs non-state armed groups whose activities constitute an armed attack against America.

His comments appeared to be an attempt to co-opt sweeping wartime powers to legitimise continued military strikes on drug smugglers.

Based upon the cumulative effects of these hostile acts against the citizens and interests of the United States and friendly foreign nations, the president determined that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organisations, the memo read, according to The New York Times.

The memo was sent after a previous strike on September 15.

Under international law, countries in an armed conflict can kill enemy fighters who pose no immediate threat and detain them without trial.

But Washington has not released evidence to support its assertion that the targets of its strikes are drug smugglers, and experts say the summary killings are illegal even if they target confirmed narcotics traffickers.

An abuse of power

Geffrey S Corn, the armys former senior adviser for law-of-war issues, told The New York Times that drug cartels were not engaged in hostilities with the US and said that Mr Trumps strikes were an abuse of power.

This is not stretching the envelope, he told the newspaper. This is shredding it. This is tearing it apart.

The latest deadly strike was met with glee from Stephen Cheung, the White House director of communications, who said that traffickers and their deadly drugs have been turned into stardust.

It is likely to further inflame tensions with Nicolas Maduro, Venezuelas hardline president, who said on Tuesday that he is preparing to declare a state of emergency to rebuff potential military strikes from the US.

Following the strike, Venezuela said it had detected an illegal incursion by five US fighter jets flying off its shores, with Vladimir Padrino, the defence minister, denouncing the alleged flights as a provocation and a threat to our national security.

Mr Trump last month sent warships to the Caribbean and dispatched ten F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico to conduct operations against drug cartels, marking the biggest military build-up in the region in over three decades.

Colombia brands attack murder

The USs bellicose stance has also drawn the ire of Gustavo Petro, the Colombian president and a fierce critic of Mr Trump, who branded the latest attack murder.

Mr Petro claimed that South American drug traffickers are not the principal suppliers to America, writing on X that the narcoterrorists dont go in the boats - the narcos live in the US, Europe and Dubai.

There were poor Caribbean youths on that boat, Mr Petro wrote, adding that striking vessels that could instead be intercepted violates the universal judicial principle of proportionality, and therefore is murder.

Gustavo Petro, Colombias president, said the US action was disproportionate - Reuters

After two Venezuelan military planes buzzed an American naval vessel last month, Mr Trump warned Caracas that its jets would be shot down if there was any repeat of the incident.

Trump administration officials are seeking to topple Mr Maduro from power and have cited a grand jury indictment for Mr Trumps first term accusing the Venezuelan leader of narco-terrorism as a reason.

The US is offering a $50 million reward for his capture.
Russian military aircraft have strayed into EU airspace this past week, testing reactions in nations that used to be Soviet affiliates. But further south, an even graver and more immediate Russian intervention has just been identified and blocked.

The Republic of Moldova, a small Eastern European nation nestled between Romania and Ukraine, has long found itself at the crossroads of competing geopolitical interests. The countrys parliamentary elections have, over the past decade, drawn not only domestic attention but also that of the Russian Federation. Russias influence campaign in Moldovas parliamentary elections is part of a broader strategy employed throughout the region to shape political outcomes, destabilise pro-European movements and maintain a sphere of influence in the post-Soviet space.

We should make no mistake: if the Kremlin had succeeded in tiny Moldova, its next target would have been EU member Romania next door, where Russian meddling led to a court-ordered annulment of the 2024 presidential election and where a RomExit from the EU remains a hot topic.

Moldovas historical and cultural ties to both Romania and Russia make it a unique battleground for influence. Following its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova has struggled to define its foreign policy orientation, oscillating between pro-European integration and maintaining close relations with Moscow. The countrys political landscape is deeply fragmented, with parties advocating divergent paths  some seeking closer ties with the European Union, others favouring alignment with Russia.

For Russia, Moldova represents more than just a neighbouring state; it is a linchpin in its effort to regain influence over the former Soviet bloc. The Kremlins interests are multifaceted: preserving its cultural and linguistic ties, protecting the Russian-speaking population, and maintaining leverage over the strategically significant region of Transnistria, a breakaway territory within Moldova that functions as a de facto Russian outpost.

Russias campaign to sway Moldovas parliamentary elections was characterised by a blend of overt and covert tactics, drawing on the full spectrum of modern influence operations.

The parliamentary elections in Moldova over the past decade have repeatedly illustrated Russias enduring influence. In the 2019 elections, for example, Russian media outlets flooded Moldovan airwaves with stories highlighting alleged corruption among pro-European politicians, while boosting the credentials of the Socialist Party, widely regarded as Moscows preferred partner. Social media bots and troll farms amplified these narratives, creating an echo chamber that reached even rural communities with limited access to independent news.

Similarly, in the lead-up to the 2021 parliamentary elections, cyber attacks targeted the Central Electoral Commission, temporarily disrupting voter registration systems and raising fears of manipulation. Investigations by Moldovas security services later attributed these attacks to actors with links to Russian intelligence. Meanwhile, pro-Russian parties received suspiciously large donations, some traced back to offshore accounts with connections to Russian entities, highlighting the financial underpinnings of the influence campaign.

Maia Sandu, Moldovas president and a prominent pro-European leader (AFP via Getty Images)

The ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) is solidly pro-EU. But it faced opposition from a coalition of right-wing parties called the Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP). The BBC reported last week that the BEP was being backed by a secretive pro-Russia organisation financed by sanctioned Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor.

The cumulative effect of Russias influence operations has been to undermine the credibility of Moldovas democratic institutions. Public trust in the electoral process has eroded, with many citizens sceptical of the fairness and transparency of elections. This scepticism is further fuelled by persistent rumours of vote-buying, voter intimidation, and the manipulation of electoral rolls. The polarisation of Moldovan society along geopolitical lines  East versus West  has deepened, making consensus and effective governance increasingly elusive.

Moreover, the presence of Russian troops and arms in Transnistria serves as a continual reminder of Moldovas vulnerability to external pressure. The regions unresolved status provides Moscow with a lever to intervene whenever Moldovan politics threaten to move out of its orbit.

Maia Sandu, Moldovas president and a prominent pro-European leader, articulated the gravity of the challenge in a 2022 address: We are facing unprecedented attempts to undermine our society and democracy from external actors. The resilience of our people and our institutions is being tested, but we remain committed to a democratic and European future for Moldova.

Russias influence campaign on Moldovas parliamentary elections is a microcosm of broader trends in Eastern Europe, where external actors seek to shape domestic politics through a combination of soft power, hybrid warfare, and subtle coercion. For Moldova, safeguarding its democracy requires not only technical fixes but also a recommitment to transparency, accountability, and civic engagement. International partners can help, but ultimately, the resilience of Moldovas institutions will determine whether the country can resist foreign interference and chart its own course.

PASs win on Sunday demonstrates that the electorate understood what was at stake and made a decisive choice. But we need to hope Romania will take lessons from this and learn from its little neighbour that vigilance, reform, and unity are essential in the face of persistent external pressure. The fate of European democracy hangs in the balance, shaped not just by its own citizens but by the invisible hand of Vladimir Putin, trying to revive the USSR.

Sir Nick Harvey, a former defence minister, is CEO of the European Movement, founded by Winston Churchill to promote European unity
A US border patrol agent in suburban Chicago on Friday. Photograph: Tom Hudson/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock

Donald Trump has moved to deploy the national guard in another city by authorizing 300 troops to protect federal officers and assets in Chicago, where the government said border patrol agents shot and injured a woman while firing at someone who tried to run them over.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson confirmed that the president had authorized using Illinois national guard members, citing what she called ongoing violent riots and lawlessness that local leaders have not quelled.

President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities, Jackson said.

The Democratic Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, said the guard had received notice from the Pentagon early in the day. He called the move unnecessary and a manufactured performance  not a serious effort to protect public safety.

Related: White House official inadvertently reveals plans to send elite army unit to Portland

This morning, the Trump administrations Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will, Pritzker said in a statement. It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.

He added: They will pull hard-working Americans out of their regular jobs and away from their families all to participate in a manufactured performance  not a serious effort to protect public safety. For Donald Trump, this has never been about safety. This is about control.

This demand follows unprecedented escalations of aggression against Illinois citizens and residents.

Trumps plan to deploy troops comes just as a severe crackdown on immigration by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) is happening in Chicago, with the operation being met with fierce outrage from local civic groups and opposition by local Democrats.

In his statement, Pritzker also noted that local, state and county law enforcement have been coordinating to ensure the safety of the Ices Broadview facility on the outskirts of Chicago.

Federal officials reported the arrests of 13 people protesting Friday near the facility, which has been frequently targeted during the administrations surge of immigration enforcement this fall.

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged the shooting of a woman on the south-west side of Chicago.

It said in a statement that border patrol agents on patrol were rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars, and when they got out of their trapped vehicle, a suspect tried to run them over, forcing the officers to fire defensively.

The woman who was shot was a US citizen and was armed with a semi-automatic weapon, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said, noting that the woman was accused in a US Customs and Border Protection intelligence bulletin last week of doxing agents.

The woman was treated and released in the afternoon, according to Mount Sinai hospital. No officers were seriously injured, McLaughlin said.

The shooting comes after federal immigration agents last month shot and killed a Mexican immigrant in a Chicago suburb after he allegedly attempted to flee a traffic stop and struck an officer with his car.

Chicago is one of a slew of US cities where Trump has deployed or threatened to deploy the national guard and other troops in order to help police the immigration crackdown  or, in some cases, to respond to inflated claims about crime levels.

Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, and Gregory Bovino, a border patrol sector chief, on Friday visited the Broadview Ice facility in suburban Chicago, which has become the site of escalations by federal agents against protesters and journalists.

Noem vowed on social media on Saturday afternoon to send additional troops to Chicago: I am deploying more special operations to control the scene. Reinforcements are on their way. If you see a law enforcement officer today, thank them.

The Trump administration has targeted Chicago with federal law enforcement starting in August, falsely claiming there had been a rise in crime in the city in recent years.

Since then, there have been reports of increasingly aggressive Ice enforcement in communities, including helicopters hovering over apartment raids and arrests of local officials and candidates for office who protest against the operations.

Trump has also repeatedly deployed national guard troops to cities across the US, from Los Angeles to Washington DC, despite federal law generally prohibiting the use of the military for domestic law enforcement. The continuous pattern of military occupations on American soil has raised widespread concern about the politicization of the US military.

A federal judge on Saturday blocked the Trump administration from deploying the national guard to Portland, Oregon, according to court documents.

In the restraining order released on Saturday, US district judge Karin Immergut  nominated by Trump  concurred with Oregons assertion that Trump deploying federalized national guard troops to Portland would likely inflame rather than calm protests, just as it did in 2020.

With Associated Press
A U.S. citizen was shot Saturday on Chicagos South Side after Border Patrol agents said they were rammed by 10 cars and became boxed in during a confrontation in the Broadview section of the city.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a news release that federal agents fired defensive shots at an armed U.S. citizen during routine patrolling.

Agents were unable to move their vehicles and exited the car. One of the drivers who rammed the law enforcement vehicle was armed with a semi-automatic weapon, McLaughlin stated.

Law enforcement was forced to deploy their weapons and fire defensive shots at an armed US citizen who drove herself to the hospital to get care for wounds.

McLaughlin continued, The armed woman was named in a @CBP intelligence bulletin last week for doxing agents and posting online Hey to all my gang lets fk those mother fers up, dont let them take anyone.

A group of 10 cars reportedly ran into ICE agents Saturday in Chicago, resulting in them firing at an 'armed' woman (Getty Images)

No officers were seriously injured, McLaughlin said.

The woman was found near 39th Street and Pershing Road and transported in fair condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, Chicago Sun-Times reports, citing Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Merritt.

Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem addressed Saturdays shooting on X, writing, Today in Chicago, members of our brave law enforcement were attackedrammed and boxed in by ten vehicles, including an attacker with a semi-automatic weapon.

I am deploying more special operations to control the scene. Reinforcements are on their way. If you see a law enforcement officer today, thank them.

The woman who was shot reportedly attempted to drive herself to the hospital before being located by law enforcement (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Noem continued in a follow-up post, Our brave men and women of law enforcement are being targeted and attacked by violent anarchists who seek to tear down America.

I want each and every member of law enforcement to know this: President Trump and I have your backs. Stand with ICE as they continue to protect and defend our homeland, she said.

Since August, the Trump administration has deployed federal law enforcement to Chicago, citing a disputed rise in crime. ICE enforcement has grown more aggressive, including helicopter surveillance of raids and arrests of local officials and activists who oppose the operations.

Protests against ICE raids have occasionally turned violent as Saturdays incident follows the fatal shooting of Mexican immigrant Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez by an ICE officer in September.

More troops are on the way to Chicago, Kristi Noem said Saturday, amid protests against ICE raids (Getty Images)

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker revealed Saturday that the Department of War gave him an ultimatum.

Call up your troops, or we will, Pritzker said on X, announcing that the Trump Administration intends to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard.

I want to be clear: there is no need for military troops on the ground in the State of Illinois, Pritzker wrote.
A gang of small boat migrants have been jailed after taking part in a violent attack on a group of friends in a shop in Boscombe, Dorset.

Four Kurdish migrants from Iran and Iraq were sentenced to a combined 22 years at Winchester Crown Court after they had committed roaming street violence armed with machetes and knives.

Kurwan Ali, a Kurdish business owner, and three friends were attacked by a gang of 10 men, leaving one with life-threatening lung injuries after he was stabbed.

Hana Hassan, 22, was sentenced to seven years in prison, while Osama Qadir, 21, Dawan Mantik, 28 and Yosef Shaban, 24, received jail terms of six, five and four years respectively.

(L-R) Hanah Hassan, Dawan Mantik and Osama Qadir were jailed for seven, five and six years respectively. - Dorset police

Sentencing them, Judge Paul Dugdale told them it is not what we are about in this country, adding that their future in all likelihood lies within the Home Office.

The incident is understood to have stemmed from a disagreement between Mr Ali and the two main instigators of the attack, Ahmed Omar and Rahel Omer, that took place at Bar So in Bournemouth in the early hours of Jan 27 last year.

A court was told that Omar and Omer rallied the troops and two days later arrived at Mr Alis shop in Boscombe accompanied by 10 people armed with machetes and knives, including the four defendants.

Mr Ali and three of his friends were subjected to a ferocious and frighteningly violent attack in which one of the victims, Sepan Qasim, was stabbed twice and suffered a collapsed lung. The other men sustained cuts and bruises after being kicked during the assault.

Local business owners Omar and Omer have not been seen since the incident and are believed to have fled to Kurdistan to escape the justice system. They had provided accommodation and work for the defendants.

All four of the sentenced men were migrants from Kurdistan who had arrived in the UK on small boats. Hassans address was given as the Britannia Hotel in Bournemouth, which is being used as accommodation for asylum seekers.

The Britannia Hotel in Bournemouth, where Hana Hassan had been staying, provides accommodation for asylum seekers

The four appeared at Winchester Crown Court charged with various offences including grievous bodily harm, violent disorder and the possession of violent weapons arising from roaming street violence. Six other defendants had previously been acquitted.

The defendants wore suits in the dock and showed little emotion during the sentencing, which followed a nine-week trial. They will serve two-thirds of their sentence in custody.

The people of Boscombe just want to live their lives peacefully and do not want this sort of behaviour to take place, said judge Dugdale. People want to walk down the road without being scared.

It is not what we are about in this country. It causes fear in the community and makes people scared to go out. People who carry out this sort of violence will have to deal with the consequences.

This is not a violent country. It is a country where people can walk freely in the street, and we want to keep it that way.
A protester is escorted by police at the protest in Trafalgar Square - James Veysey/Shutterstock

Hundreds of Palestine Action supporters were arrested in London after they defied calls to offer the Jewish community respite following the Manchester synagogue terror attack.

Politicians, police chiefs and charities had implored organisers to cancel demonstrations, claiming they would be phenomenally tone deaf following the killing of two people on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

But more than a thousand pro-Palestine protesters descended on London on Saturday, holding placards in support of the proscribed terror group in Trafalgar Square and unfurling a banner over Westminster Bridge which read: I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.

On Saturday night some protesters chanted long live the Intifada outside No10 Downing Street.

A man wearing a hoodie emblazoned with a swastika inside a Star of David was hauled away by police, while a woman described Hamas as freedom fighters.

Protesters also cheered outside Manchester Cathedral as a speaker called for the dismantling of the Zionist state.

Zionism is the disease, resistance is the cure, another speaker declared over a megaphone, adding: We are the intifada. We will resist until every inch of Palestine is liberated.

Crowds at the rally organised by Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine chanted from the river to the sea as they marched through the city centre, despite Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watsons plea to consider whether this is really the right time.

Critics say the pro-Palestine protests are draining police resources - Jamie Lorriman

Police intervened when counter-protesters approached the rally outside the cathedral, shouting: F--- Hamas, and: God bless the IDF.

In London, almost 500 people were arrested over the course of the day.

The Metropolitan Police said: The final arrest total for todays public order policing operation in central London is 492.

The force said 488 arrests were for supporting a proscribed organisation, the remainder were for being drunk and disorderly, common assault, a public order offence and being wanted for an unrelated matter.

The Met said the youngest person arrested was 18 and the oldest was 89.

As of Saturday night, some 297 were in custody and the rest had been bailed.

The number of arrests falls short of the 890 people detained at the Sept 6 rally opposing the ban on Palestine Action.

The organisers, Defend Our Juries, claimed more than a thousand people gathered in Westminster to hold a silent vigil.

On Saturday, a 73-year-old woman, who refused to give her name, said that Israels treatment of Palestinians meant that the Oct 7 massacre had been inevitable.

She said: Its outrageous we were being asked not to protest. Two people got killed. I mean its terrible.

But theyre letting this genocide carry on  thats thousands of people.

When asked if Hamas were a terrorist organisation, she said: I dont know enough about Hamas. But its up to the Palestinians what they have in their country.

She added: I think theyre freedom fighters, a lot of them.

When asked about Oct 7 2023, she said: It was bound to happen. These people are being imprisoned. Its a concentration camp.

A man is arrested and carried away from the demonstration during which 442 people were detained - Jamie Lorriman

Hilary Callam, 83, from Hampton Court, west London, said she had nearly been convinced to stay away.

The arguments not to come this week were convincing and heartfelt. I was in two minds. But I wouldnt want to let terror win, she said.

An elderly disabled couple were arrested for holding signs supporting Palestine Action.

The 85-year-old man, who gave his name as Paul, told The Telegraph: I am being arrested for holding an illegal sign. The law is an ass.

Nearby, a woman holding a cardboard sign face down on her lap was approached by officers who asked her to show it to them.

After turning it over to reveal it said I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action, she was arrested and taken away.

Sir Keir Starmer had urged protesters to respect the grief of British Jews while Jewish figures condemned the staging of pro-Palestine protests.

Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, has also pleaded with pro-Palestine protesters for at least a few days of respite to give the Jewish community time to grieve.

Lord Walney, a former Labour MP and anti-extremism tsar, said the decision to press ahead with the protest may well backfire.

He said: This was not only a callous insult to thousands of grieving Jews, it may also prove to be a major tactical blunder for their campaign.

Many people who might otherwise have been sympathetic to the idea that proscribing Palestine Action went too far will be repulsed by the sight of yet another stunt going ahead despite pleas that the police are flat out protecting synagogues from the risk of copycat attacks.

The pro-Palestine protest in Trafalgar Square on Saturday - Toby Melville/Reuters

Luke Akehurst, the Labour MP for North Durham, was also dismayed by the organisers decision to go ahead with the protests.

He said: The right to protest is an important one, but its in sadly predictable extremely poor taste that pro-Palestinian demos are going ahead even as the British Jewish community is in mourning after a terror attack.

These repeated demos on the same subject feature an extremist fringe, make Jewish people feel unsafe, and waste millions in policing costs.

The chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation has sounded the alarm over the mental and physical toll of policing abusive protests.

Paula Dodds, who represents 30,000 officers in the capital, said police should be protecting communities but were instead being sent to protests where they receive abuse.

She said: Enough is enough. Our concentration should be on keeping people safe at a time when the country is on heightened alert from a terrorist attack. And instead officers are being drawn in to facilitate these relentless protests.

On Saturday, Kemi Badenoch visited the site of the terror attack with the mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham.

The Tory leader told reporters: Right now, what were seeing is people exercising their rights, but not responsibilities.

Where is the responsibility to make sure that people are not intimidated? Where is the responsibility to make sure that people are treated equally under the law?

Jewish people right now are telling me that they are leaving to go to Israel. Israel is at war. How can people be leaving the UK to go to a war zone?

Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, said the protests risked endorsing anti-Semitism.

Thats all for today

Thank you for following our live coverage on a day when 442 people were arrested with that figure likely to rise.

Heres a recap from today:

In London, protesters unfurled a banner over Westminster bridge and staged a silent vigil in Trafalgar Square.

In Manchester, protesters attended a rally by the cathedral before marching through the city centre chanting from the river to the sea.

Paula Dodds, chair of the Metropolitan Police Federation, warned that relentless abusive protests are taking its toll on officers.

Kemi Badenoch visited the Heaton Park synagogue which was targeted in the terror attack on Thursday, later warning that Jewish people must be given greater security or they will leave the UK.

Earlier, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said it was disgraceful that protests were going ahead.

David Rich of the Community Security Trust said those marching today were phenomenally tone deaf and remarkably self-absorbed.

Police arrest supporters of the banned Palestine Action group in Trafalgar Square - TAYFUN SALCI/EPA/Shutterstock

We are going to win this battle, says blind protester

A protester supporting Palestine Action said we are going to win this battle as he waiting to be arrested in Trafalgar Square.

Mike Higgins, 62, who is blind and uses a wheelchair, said he expects to be arrested for holding a poster supporting the banned group as police continue to detain activists.

Asked why he did not heed Sir Keir Starmers calls to postpone or cancel todays action, he said: Well, I didnt think he negotiated with terrorists. Were supposed to be terrorists, arent we Sir Keir now, either we are or were not.

If were not terrorists, then leave us alone. Let us protest. Let us demonstrate for the right to freedom of speech.

He added: We are going to win this battle, by the way, theres no doubt about that. The problem for me is that I want to win it now to try and bring an end to the suffering in Palestine.

355 arrested so far

Police said 355 people had been arrested for supporting a proscribed organisation by 5.20pm.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police added: The majority of people still remaining in Trafalgar Square are onlookers who are holding placards in support of Palestine Action. Arrests continue.

A protester in Trafalgar Square - Jamie Lorriman

People hold a banner in Trafalgar Square - Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu

Daughter of a Holocaust survivor amongst those arrested

Police have arrested more people for supporting banned group Palestine Action in Trafalgar Square.

Amongst those yet to be arrested is Mike Higgins, 62, who is blind and uses a wheelchair.

Defend Our Juries, which organised the event, said 79-year-old Elizabeth Morley, a Jewish woman and daughter of a Holocaust survivor, is among the 175 to be arrested.

The campaign group said this is the third time Ms Taylor has been arrested at such a protest.

Protesters are being lifted one by one in a systematic production line of arrest - Guy Smallman/Getty

A police officer speaks to a man holding a placard in Trafalgar Square - JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP

This is the biggest surge in Jew hatred since the Nazis, says British actor

Sacha Baron Cohen has said the terror attack at a Manchester synagogue is not a one-off but rather a symptom of a wider surge in anti-Semitism.

The British actor, best known for his roles in Borat, Bruno and The Dictator, wrote on Instagram: Its part of the biggest surge in hatred of Jews since the Nazis.

No one should have to risk their lives to pray.

Processing pen reaches capacity

A pen being used to process people who have been arrested for supporting Palestine Action appears to be full.

A police officer was heard telling officers no more through here as more than 20 arrestees waited inside the pen.

Many are lying on the concrete as officers search their belongings while they wait to be formally processed,

Met Police, you decide: Justice or genocide, protesters chanted.

A man lies waits patiently during a protest in Trafalgar Square - Anadolu/Rasid Necati

Protsters have been systematically removed throughout the afternoon - Anadolu/Rasid Necati

Protests are callous insult to grieving Jews which may well backfire

A former Labour MP and anti-extremism tsar has said the decision to press ahead with the protest may well backfire.

Lord Walney said: This was not only a callous insult to thousands of grieving Jews, it may also prove to be a major tactical blunder for their campaign.

Many people who might otherwise have been sympathetic to the idea that proscribing Palestine Action went too far will be repulsed by the sight of yet another stunt going ahead despite pleas that the police are flat out protecting Synagogues from the risk of copy cat attacks on the first Sabbath since the Heaton Park killings.

The ring leaders of this campaign tell each other they are modern day Suffragettes but they have shown themselves up as self-centred, over-privileged exhibitionists who will now be shunned by most decent Palestine supporters.

Lord Walney has campaigned to give police the powers to forbid marches in certain circumstances.

175 people arrested so far

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that 175 people have been arrested in London.

The police said its policing operation in Trafalgar Square continues but 175 arrests had been made for supporting a proscribed organisation as of 3.45pm.

A spokesman added: The arrest phase takes time. Many of those arrested wont walk out of the square and need to be carried, something that requires a minimum of five officers to do safely.

Protesters hold up a sign calling for the abolition of terror laws - Jamie Lorriman

Manchester march disperses

The march and protest in Manchester has ended outside the Central Library.

Crowds gathered and stood in silence as the names and ages of some of the children killed in the Gaza conflict were read out, before protesters dispersed.

Greater Manchester Police have not said if any arrests were made during the protest.

People take part in the demonstration in Manchester - Ryan Jenkinson/PA

Blind man taken into custody

A blind man and his partner have been arrested as they sat in Trafalgar Square holding signs supporting banned group Palestine Action.

The blind man using a white cane was escorted by a police officer to be processed and his partner walked behind him.

Meanwhile, a counter protester who chanted Free, free Palestine from Hamas near to where arrestees are being processed was taken into the police pen, before he was allowed back out into Trafalgar Square.

Pro-Palestine supporters shouted arrest him.

Man in hoodie emblazoned with swastika and Star of David arrested

A man wearing a hoodie emblazoned with a swastika in a Star of David is amongst those arrested in central London.

The man was led away from Trafalgar Square by police officers.

A Defend Our Juries spokeswoman said: That man was an onlooker. He was not a protester as he was not holding one of our signs or taking part in the vigil in any way and had nothing to do with it.

Nearby, a woman holding a cardboard sign face down on her lap was approached by officers who asked her to show it to them.

After turning it over to reveal it said I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action, she was arrested and taken away.

Crowds encouraged her as she was taken away.

Badenoch: Jewish people must be given greater security or they will leave

Kemi Badenoch has said Jewish people in the UK must be given greater security as some are leaving to go to Israel.

After a visit to the scene of the Manchester synagogue terror attack, the Tory leader told reporters: Right now, what were seeing is people exercising their rights, but not responsibilities.

Where is the responsibility to make sure that people are not intimidated? Where is the responsibility to make sure that people are treated equally under the law?

Jewish people right now are telling me that they are leaving to go to Israel. Israel is at war. How can people be leaving the UK to go to a war zone and think that theyll be safer there?

We need to bring back safety to our streets.

Andy Burnham and Kemi Badenoch near Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue - Peter Byrne/PA

Hamas are freedom fighters and Oct 7 was bound to happen, says protester

A 73-year-old woman has said that Israels treatment of Palestinians meant that Oct 7 was bound to happen.

The woman, who refused to give her name said she was supporting Palestine Action and described Hamas as freedom fighters.

Wearing a shirt which said Plasticine Action, she said: Its outrageous we were being asked not to protest.

Two people got killed. I mean its terrible.

But theyre letting this genocide carry on - thats thousands of people.

When asked if Hamas were a terrorist organisation, she said: I dont know. I dont know enough about Hamas. But its up to the Palestinians what they have in their country.

When asked if she thought they were terrorists, she said: No, not necessarily.

She added: I think theyre freedom fighters, a lot of them.

Look at the history at how Israel was established.

When asked if what she said could be considered controversial, she said: Its true though.

When asked about Oct 7 2023, she said: It was bound to happen.

These people are being imprisoned. Its a concentration camp.

She said she did not support it but if she was there she might have been involved.

Credit: Jamie Lorriman for The Telegraph

Green Party forms red line for Palestine along beach

Green Party MPs, members, activists and supporters have formed a red line for Palestine along Bournemouth beach.

Zack Polanski, the party leader, stood behind a sign reading Sanctions Now: Stop Arming Israel as the Greens ventured to the beach for the second day of their party conference.

A woman waves a flag in front of the red line for Palestine stunt - Finnbarr Webster/Getty

Yesterday Zack Polanski accused the Government of being an active participant in the murdering of Palestinians - Finnbarr Webster/Getty

Polanski has called for the ban on Palestine Action to be lifted - Finnbarr Webster/Getty

Disabled couple arrested

An elderly disabled couple have been arrested for holding signs supporting Palestine Action.

The 85-year-old man, who gave his name as Paul, told The Telegraph: I am being arrested for holding an illegal sign.

The law is an ass. We need to stand up.

An elderly disabled couple arrested in London

A police officer later said: They are really lovely people.

Dozens of protesters remain seated in Trafalgar Square holding signs showing support for the proscribed group.

Some campaigners started singing protest song We Shall Not Be Moved as police moved through the crowd.

Dozens of protesters sit patiently - Alishia Abodunde/Getty

Palestine Action supporters have been removed one by one - Jamie Lorriman

Pro-Palestine demonstrations are in extremely poor taste, says Labour MP

A Labour MP has said it is sadly predictable that pro-Palestinian demonstrations have gone ahead despite the British Jewish community being in mourning.

Luke Akehurst, the MP for North Durham, said: The right to protest is an important one, but its in sadly predictable extremely poor taste that pro-Palestinian demos are going ahead even as the British Jewish community is in mourning after a terror attack.

These repeated demos on the same subject feature an extremist fringe, make Jewish people feel unsafe, and waste millions in policing costs.

It was never the intention of the laws around demos that you could just come back weekend after weekend to cause huge disruption repeatedly making the same point.

Attendance of 700 so far, say organisers

Around 700 protesters have so far gathered in Trafalgar Square, according to an organiser for Defend Our Juries.

Several protesters have already been arrested and are being taken to the south-west side of Trafalgar Square, where officers and police vehicles are waiting to process the arrests.

From the river to the sea rings out by Manchester Cathedral

Pro-Palestine protesters have been delivering speeches outside Manchester Cathedral, calling for the dismantling of the Zionist state.

Chants of from the river to the sea were met with shouts of traitors!, F*** Hamas and God bless the IDF from a small group of counter-protesters.

A counter-protester wears a Make Britain Great Again hat - Hannah McKay/Reuters

Police officers intervened before the demonstrators started marching through the centre of Manchester.

The pro-Palestine protesters vowed to march again in Manchester on Oct 7, the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.

Protesters started marching in Manchester after hearing speeches by the cathedral - Hannah McKay/Reuters

Badenoch visits Manchester synagogue

Kemi Badenoch has visited the scene of the Manchester synagogue terror attack.

The Tory leader was joined by Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, and Assistant Chief Constable John Webster, as she visited Crumpsall.

Badenoch previously described the attack as outrageous and called for rising anti-Semitism to be quelled - Peter Byrne/PA

The Tory leader said the attack raises questions about the state of the UK - Christopher Furlong/Getty

I was in two minds about coming, but we cant let terror win

A protester said she was in two minds about turning out to protest.

Hilary Callam, 83, from Hampton Court, west London, is set to be arrested for the first time in her life.

The arguments not to come this week were convincing and heartfelt. I was in two-minds. But I wouldnt want to let terror win, she told The Telegraph, adding: I have never been arrested before.

I would not rule out coming back. I am not worried about being arrested today. I dont care. I have no consequences.

Hilary Callam pictured with her signs in Trafalgar Square

Crowds clapped and cheered for each protester forcibly removed from the square.

City of London police officers have arrived to support the Metropolitan Police, while welfare volunteers weave through the demonstration handing out custody advice cards.

Going floppy requires an officer on each limb to haul a person away - JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP

More people sat holding signs saying I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action have been carried out of crowds by police officers - JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP

Officers start making arrests at scale

Police have started to make arrests on a larger scale with some protesters being carried away.

Others are being dealt with more leniently, with police saying Its nice to meet you before arresting them.

In a post on X, a spokesman for the Met Police said; Officers have begun making arrests in Trafalgar Square where people are displaying placards in support of Palestine Action.

The square is busy, but quite a few people in the crowd appear to be observing/supporting but not carrying placards themselves.

Protesters display signs supporting Palestine Action - Jack Taylor/Reuters

Finlay Hoskins, 26, from Southampton, is aware that he is in line to get arrested.

He told The Telegraph: I have my sign which supports Palestine Action. I dont care. Im scared. But its the right thing.

Hoskins, who is on disability benefits, added: I dont support the government. What happened on October 7 is horrible. What happened in Manchester is horrible.

Sarah, 76, a care worker from Hastings, could not bring herself to describe Hamas as terrorists.

She said: I have come because of the injustice in Gaza and the Government trying to shut us up.

Most of us are not here for anti-Semitic reasons.

The Met Police have said they will arrest those with signs supporting the proscribed terror group - Jack Taylor/Reuters

When asked, are Hamas terrorists, Sarah said: I think Palestine people badly treated since 1944, with guns sometimes

7/11 was the cork that came out of the bottle.

When asked if that could be considered offensive, she said: Yes.

Bridget, 73, a retired health service worker from Yorkshire, has been arrested.

She said: I dont care. I welcome it. The police have been very pleasant.

Manchester was horrific. But it wont stop me being here today.

Defend Our Juries hopes 1,500 people will show - Jack Taylor/Reuters

Pictured: Protesters go floppy

Protesters have been photographed lying on the floor and being carried away from Westminster Bridge after a banner was unfurled declaring support for Palestine Action.

Six people have been arrested for the stunt which appeared to incorporate tactics of going floppy - purposefully remaining limp to raise the number of officers needed for your removal.

A banner was unfurled as part of a demonstration organised by Defend our Juries - Stefan Rousseau/PA

Met Police said they had responded to the stunt quickly - Stefan Rousseau/PA

Six protesters have been arrested for supporting a proscribed organisation - Stefan Rousseau/PA

Trafalgar Square braces for protest

Dozens of police officers are lined up next to Nelsons Column in central London awaiting the expected arrival of hundreds of protesters supporting banned group Palestine Action.

Protesters holding signs reading I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action have started to filtering in to Trafalgar Square.

One arrest has been made so far - a man for being drunk and disorderly and refusing to give his name who was shouting free, free Palestine.

Martin Dawson, 56, an office manager from central London, said he is set to get arrested.

He said: I dont care. Free Palestine.

Police officers gather in Trafalgar Square ahead of a planned protest in support of Palestine Action - Alishia Abodunde/Getty

Protesters hold signs on Trafalgar Square - Toby Melville/Reuters

Six people arrested for banner stunt

Six people have been arrested for unfurling a banner in support of Palestine Action on Westminster Bridge, police have confirmed.

A group of six people unfurled a banner in support of Palestine Action on Westminster Bridge.



Officers were quickly on scene, the banner had been removed and the six people involved have been arrested for supporting a proscribed organisation. pic.twitter.com/NQOz3GEvsk  Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) October 4, 2025

Protesters take to the streets in Manchester

Around 50 pro-Palestine supporters have gathered in Manchester City centre ahead of a march on Saturday, defying calls to offer the Jewish community respite after the synagogue terror attack.

A handful of counter protesters were also present along with a number of police keeping watch.

Many of the pro-Palestinian group stood sheltering under umbrellas to shield from the relentless rain falling on Saturday afternoon.

Supporters of Greater Manchester Friends gather on Saturday - Ryan Jenkinson/PA

Banner unfurled over Westminster Bridge

Protesters have draped banners over Westminster Bridge in support of banned group Palestine Action.

The campaigners from Defend Our Juries initially struggled to get the banners out in the wind, but managed to hold two banners over the north side of the bridge which read I oppose genocide and I support Palestine Action.

The group said it expects 1,500 to attend a protest in Trafalgar Square at 1pm.

Defend Our Juries shared an image of the banner on Westminster Bridge

Relentless protests taking toll on our officers, warns Met Police Federation

The chair of the Metropolitan Police Federation has sounded the alarm over the mental and physical toll of policing abusive protests.

Paula Dodds, who represents 30,000 officers in the capital, said police should be protecting communities but are instead being sent to protests where they receive abuse.

She said: Enough is enough. Our concentration should be on keeping people safe at a time when the country is on heightened alert from a terrorist attack. And instead officers are being drawn in to facilitate these relentless protests.

And we are coming under attack for doing so. How can this be right?

This appalling level of abuse will not be tolerated and we expect the stiffest sanctions for the perpetrators.

Police scuffled with pro-Palestine protesters in Whitehall hours after the Manchester synagogue attack - Guy Smallman/Getty

Ms Dodds said the police had been making sacrifices to ensure that protests are contained but warned this could not go on forever.

There arent enough of us. Hard-working police officers are continually having days off cancelled, working longer shifts and being moved from other areas to facilitate these protests, she said.

We are emotionally and physically exhausted.

What are the politicians and senior police officers going to do about it?

Police at a protest on 6 Sept in London where 890 people were detained - Martin Pope/Getty

Marches made me realise attack was coming, says Lammy heckler

A heckler who shouted shame on you at David Lammy at a vigil on Friday said she had sensed a terror attack was coming since witnessing a pro-Palestine march.

Joanne Lazarus, 61, from Whitefield, Bury, said: I cant take these marches every single Saturday.

Ive been into town on a Saturday and have been told Im a baby killer and to go home.

That hatred is felt through the whole of the UK and through what happened here yesterday. I knew it would happen.

Joanne Lazarus heckling David Lammy at the vigil - Hannah McKay/Reuters

Patrols stepped up at Manchester synagogues

Police have stepped up patrols at synagogues across the Manchester area following the terrorist attack which killed two people.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said it had increased patrols to reassure the community.

He said: Were continuing to respond effectively to emergencies in the region while ensuring that every available officer in Greater Manchester is currently deployed to provide reassurance, particularly amongst our Jewish communities, at what is a time of profound distress and sorrow.

We have been patrolling places of worship across the city-region, with a particular focus on providing a high-visibility presence within our Jewish communities in north Manchester, Bury and Salford.

Police patrol outside the Reading Hebrew Congregation on Thursday - Andrew Matthews/PA

UK must tackle poisonous anti-Semitic movement, says Israel

Israels foreign minister has warned that the UK is at a crossroads for preserving its character and must do more to quell anti-Semitism.

Gideon Saar said he had spoken with Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, yesterday to inform her that the rabid incitement of pro-Palestine marches was disturbing Jewish communities.

In a post on social media site X, he said: This is a decisive moment in the UKs own history, for preserving its character, and it requires relentlessly combating the poisonous anti-Semitic movement.

I raised the need to fight the pro-Palestinian marches and protests, which bear anti-Semitic traits, and at times include explicit support for terror.

I said that this rabid incitement rightly disturbs the Jewish community in Britain deeply.

Demonstrators scuffle with police officers in Whitehall on Thursday - Jack Taylor/Reuters

Anti-Semitism has been allowed to flourish in UK, says Jewish security charity

Ant-Semitism has been allowed to flourish in the UK, a leader of the Community Security Trust has said.

Dave Rich, director of policy at the charity which provides security to the Jewish community, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The levels of anti-Jewish hatred and extremism and incitement have been allowed to grow over the last few years.

I think thats where the outrage should be directed.

I think there are a lot of people who could step up and do better. I think you look across Government and police is where people first look. But I think you could look at regulators as well. I think you could look at some of the sermons in mosques after October 7, which were really off the charts with the incitement.

I think you could look at what goes on on social media every single day. If people knew how much, how many people went online every single day to talk about killing Jews, theyd be absolutely horrified. And social media platforms do less now than they even did in the past to deal with that.

And I think more broadly, across civil society and across parts of industry, there is an inability to recognise antisemitism or a reluctance to deal with incitement in ways that have just allowed it to grow.

And I think the anger is directed there and I think a lot of Jewish people will be saying okay, the sympathy is great, but wheres the action?

Do the responsible thing and refrain, says Manchester police chief

The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police has urged would-be attendees at pro-Palestine protests today to consider whether this is really the right time.

Sir Stephen Watson said: I am directly appealing to all those who might be intending to protest this weekend to consider whether this is really the right time.

You could do the responsible and sensitive thing and refrain, on this occasion, from protesting in a manner which is likely to add to the trauma currently being experienced by our Jewish community.

He added: I would call upon the common decency and humanity of all people across Greater Manchester to aid us in seeking to support our Jewish communities following such a horrific attack.

Sir Stephen Watson attends a vigil in Manchester on Friday - Danny Lawson/PA

Unwise to call off the protests, says human rights campaigner

A human rights campaigner has said it would be unwise for protest organisers to heed calls to cancel marches.

Sir Jonathon Porritt, a member of the group behind a pro-Palestine protest in London on Saturday, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I have no doubt whatsoever that everyone taking part in the Defend Our Juriess silent vigil today will demonstrate huge respect and real grief for those affected by the absolute atrocity at Heaton Park.

But I dont think that means that we should be asked to give up on our right to stand up for those who are being devastated by an ongoing, real-time genocide in Gaza.

Asked about calls from politicians to delay the protest, he said: I think that would be an unwise move for Defend Our Juries. Weve been persistent in trying to bring these concerns to the attention of the Government.

There would be nothing disrespectful about the silent vigil, whose attendees would have the deepest concern about growing levels of anti-Semitism in the UK, Sir Jonathon said.

Respect the grief of British Jews, Starmer tells pro-Palestine protesters

Sir Keir Starmer has urged pro-Palestine protesters to recognise and respect the grief of British Jews, but fell short of demanding the marches be called off.

Writing in the Jewish Chronicle yesterday, the Prime Minister acknowledged that protests planned just a few days before the anniversary of the Oct 7 attacks would cause distress.

I urge anyone thinking about protesting this weekend to recognise and respect the grief of British Jews this week, he said, adding: This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain.

Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Lady Victoria Starmer meet members of the Jewish community in Manchester - ADAM VAUGHAN/EPA/Shutterstock

Sir Keir said hate towards the Jewish community was on the rise but insisted that peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy and there was justified concern about the suffering in Gaza.

The Prime Minister said there was a minority who had used the protests to stoke anti-Semitic tropes.

He added: This is still the country that was proud to be a refuge during World War Two. This is still a country that prides itself on its values of tolerance, diversity and respect.

A country that welcomes all people, no matter their faith, to stand under the same flag together, as neighbours and friends.

In a post on the social media site X this morning, the Prime Minister added that hatred and violence will never win.

I urge anyone thinking about protesting this weekend to recognise and respect the grief of British Jews.



This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain. It is a time to stand together.



We are a country that welcomes all people, no matter  Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) October 4, 2025

Pro-Palestine protesters clashed with police hours after attack

Pro-Palestine protesters clashed with police outside the gates of Downing Street within hours of the terror attack at a Manchester synagogue.

The Met Police arrested 40 people after the gathering in central London turned violent on Thursday evening.

Credit: X/@NatashaC/LBC

An attendee at the protest in Westminster told The Telegraph that the terror attack in Manchester pales in comparison to the plight of Greta Thunbergs flotilla.

Fiona Smith, 42, said: I dont give a f*** about the Jewish community right now. I thought about it and Im sorry about what happened, but the whole story and why were here is because of what happened yesterday [with the flotilla].

Some vessels in the Global Sumud Flotilla, which have been sailing towards Gaza carrying aid, were boarded by the Israeli military on Thursday morning.

People chant in Parliament Square to demand protection for the Gaza flotilla - Jack Taylor/REUTERS

Ms Smiths friend, Sibilla Todaro, 39, who lives in London, added: The fact that theyve been attacked doesnt mean that weve been attacked as well.

Weve been attacked for three years. The fact that were here does not mean that we do not respect them and we do not feel sorry for what happened, which is obviously a tragic incident. But we shouldnt [stop everything] the show must go on.

None of us are against the Jewish community - were against Zionism. Theres a lot of Jewish people here with us protesting, which clearly means they condemn what happened today as well as they support this. Theyre not mutually exclusive.

This is an emergency protest because there has been an attack yesterday - theyve taken and effectively kidnapped a bunch of people in the flotilla from different countries in international waters and thats a crime.

But no ones doing anything against Israel, because Israel is supported by the United States.

A demonstrator speaks through a megaphone in Parliament Square on Thursday evening - Jack Taylor/REUTERS

Those marching today are phenomenally tone deaf, says Jewish security charity chief

It is phenomenally tone deaf for pro-Palestine protests to go ahead in the wake of the Manchester synagogue attack, a leader of the Community Security Trust said.

Dave Rich, director of policy at the charity which provides security to the Jewish community, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I think its phenomenally tone deaf, to say the least, for so many people who claim to care about human rights and care about freedoms, to be taking police resources away from protecting the rights and freedoms of Jewish people to live their lives and go to synagogue in safety, all to support a proscribed terrorist organisation, which is not the same thing as supporting the Palestinians. The two are not the same.

And I think its remarkably self absorbed and insensitive to say the least.

Standing in the Manchester rain, survivors grief turned to anger

Heavy rain fell on this October evening. Yet hundreds of people gathered, water pouring from their umbrellas, to pay their respects, just yards from where the Manchester synagogue terror attack took place.

Silencing the crowd with his presence, Rabbi Daniel Walker took to the stage.

The rabbi, who helped usher worshippers to safety less than 36 hours before, stood with the family of Yoni Finlay, one of the heroes of the attack.

He told the crowd how Mr Finlay was recovering in hospital from terrible wounds, sustained when he blocked the terrorist with his body, holding shut the shul doors as the attacker fought to get inside, alongside fellow congregation member Andrew Franks.

Rabbi Daniel Walker from Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue speaking during the vigil - Danny Lawson/PA

However, not long after, the mood would turn, from one of solemn reflection to an unmistakable ire.

It was the sight of Mr Lammy, who stood under a black umbrella held by an aide, which sparked fury among the mourners.

Cries of shame on you and blood on his hands forced a painful pause in proceedings.

And when it was clear the jeering and heckling would not die down on its own, Mark Adlestone was forced to intervene.

Read the full report here.

Three more arrested over Manchester synagogue terror attack

Last night we found out the number of people arrested in the wake of the Manchester synagogue terror attack has risen to six.

Laurence Taylor, head of Counter Terrorism Policing, said a man and two women, aged between 18 and mid-40s, had taken into custody at an address in Bolton.

Police previously announced that two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s had been arrested.

Mr Taylor said Al-Shamie did not appear to have been known to Counter Terrorism Policing, but confirmed the terrorist did have a criminal history.

It was revealed earlier on Friday that the 35-year-old Syrian-born British citizen was on bail accused of rape when he carried out the attack.

Mr Taylor added: At this stage, we believe Al-Shamie may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology.

Jihad Al-Shamie drove a black Kia Picanto into worshippers at the Heaton Park synagogue and stabbed congregants on Thursday.

Two men were killed and three seriously injured in the terror attack which took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Disgraceful that marches are going ahead, says Philp

It is disgraceful that Pro-Palestine marches are set to go ahead in the wake of the deadly Manchester synagogue attack, the shadow home secretary Chris Philp has said.

I dont think these protests should go ahead at all, he told BBC Breakfast.

I think its extremely insensitive, grossly insensitive to the Jewish community in Manchester, but across the whole United Kingdom, who are still grieving following the appalling murder that we saw on Thursday morning.

And secondly, both the police in Greater Manchester, but also the Metropolitan Police in London have said that the resources, the police resources required to police these protests mean they may not be able to properly protect synagogues and the Jewish community at this obviously very sensitive time.

So for those two reasons, I think the organisers should call off these protests.

I think its frankly disgraceful that they have not done so.

Chris Philp said allowing any space at all for anti-Semitism can lead to attacks - Jonathan Brady/PA

Good morning

Welcome to our live coverage.

We will be bringing you all the latest updates and analysis as pro-Palestine protesters prepare to take to the streets two days after the Manchester synagogue attack.

Here is a recap from yesterday:
Ralph Daniel/Explore Georgia The Russell-Brasstownn Scenic Byway surrounded by fall foliage.

Key Points

The Russell-Brasstown Scenic Byway in North Georgia is a 40-mile loop known for waterfalls, overlooks, and sweeping Blue Ridge Mountain views.

Peak foliage usually arrives from mid-October through mid-November, making this one of the best fall drives in the South.

Stops like Brasstown Bald, Raven Cliffs Falls, and the Bavarian-style town of Helen add hiking, history, and local charm to the trip.

As you start to plot out some leaf-peeping adventures for the fall, consider adding North Georgiaspecifically, the Russell-Brasstown Scenic Bywayto your travel plans.

While the North Georgia mountain roads offer a plethora of scenic opportunities to view the changing autumn landscape, there are few that compare to the Russell-Brasstown Scenic Byway, Jake Scott, co-owner of Wander North Georgia, tells Travel + Leisure. This route offers a bit of everythingfrom cascading waterfalls and roadside bluffs to unobstructed views of the southern Blue Ridge Mountains and access to Georgias tallest mountaincrosses the Appalachian Trail, and drops into the historic little Bavarian-style town of Helen, showing off the glorious fall colors along the way.

Historically, peak fall foliage in North Georgia typically arrives in mid-to-late October and can last until mid-November at lower elevations. The National Scenic Byways elevation varies, but one of the points of interest just off the 40.6-mile byway is the Brasstown Bald Visitors Center; it sits atop Georgia's highest mountain, Brasstown Bald, at 4,784 feet above sea level. Here, panoramic mountain and valley views are plentiful.

The Russell-Brasstown Scenic Byway is a looped route, one that meanders through the Chattahoochee National Forest and encircles the headwaters of the Chattahoochee River. Without stopping, the drive takes between 1.5 and two hours, but youll definitely want to give yourself more time to check out all of the scenic stops and natural beauty along the way. Pro tip: According to Scott, the best time to make the drive is mid-week. The crowds can be overwhelming during peak season on the weekends, he warns.

Inspired Vision/Adobe Stock Green foliage around Waterfall at Raven Cliffs Falls.

Best Things to See and Do

One of the highlights of the Russell-Brasstown Scenic Byway is its access to hiking trails, so make sure to bring decent walking or hiking shoes and a warm layer or two. It is rare that we travel the byway without stopping at Raven Cliffs Falls, says Scott. This is an easy hike to one of the most unique waterfalls in the area and well worth the walk through the fall canopy.

You dont necessarily have to do much hiking to enjoy all that the byway has to offer, though. Scott describes Hogpen Gap as arguably the prettiest overlook on the byway and a stop that cant be missed. Without having to walk too far from your car, youll get to witness an excellent view of the southern Appalachian foliage.

Scott calls Brasstown Bald the crown jewel of the route. To access the visitor centers 360-degree observation deck, pay the $8 entrance fee and either hike half a mile to the top or take the shuttle. Weather permitting, you may even be able to see four states: Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. This is also one of our go-to places to view the starry night sky, adds Scott.

For a bit of classic road trip nostalgia, stop by Freds Famous Boiled Peanuts, which has been selling boiled peanuts since 1982. Freds is located on the byway between Helen and Unicoi State Park, and we never pass without picking up a bag of boiled peanuts and a Coke to enjoy along the ride, says Scott.

Kristina Blokhin/Adobe Stock Bavarian architecture inn Helen, Georgia.

What to Do in Helen

If youre coming from out of town and plan on spending a few days in the area, make Helen, Georgia, your base camp. The Bavarian-style town of Helen is a unique and incredibly popular town that is located at the southern portion of the byway and is the perfect way to start and finish your ramble along the byway, says Scott.

While there, he recommends stopping at Bettys Country Store, a staple of the area, to stock up on snacks and other goodies, and relaxing in one of the towns Oktoberfest-style tents, enjoying a cold beer at the end of our day and allowing the kids to play games and walk in and out of the many shops in town. Helen is known for the longest-running Oktoberfest in the U.S., and you can participate in the festivities between Sept. 4 and Nov. 2.

SeanPavonePhoto/Adobe Stock The bridge to Anna Ruby Falls in the fall.

Other Nearby Stops

Since youll only need a half-day or so to drive and explore the Russell-Brasstown Scenic Byway, you may want to fill out your itinerary with a few other nearby points of interest. In Sautee, a town south of the byway, youll find the Old Sautee Store.

The store has been functioning since the late 1800s and is a time capsule, says Scott. You walk into the store and are greeted with items from years gone by. The original counters, products, registers, etc., are still there for you to experience. Then you walk into the main store and must experience the farmer cheese on a gingersnap and warm wassailchildhood memories flood in with each bite.

If youre searching for more outdoorsy things to do, he recommends Unicoi State Park and Anna Ruby Falls. These are located just off the byway and offer beautiful views of the small mountain lake and the gorgeous Anna Ruby Falls, as well as trout stream, hiking trails, and camping, he says.

Read the original article on Travel & Leisure
Reviewed by Dietitian Mandy Enright, M.S., RDN, RYT

Ted + Chelsea Cavanaugh

Key Points

The ideal scrambled eggs have a soft, velvety texture with medium-sized curds.

Chefs like using fresh, farm-sourced, cage-free eggs for better flavor and nutrition.

Mix yolks and whites before cooking, use low heat, stir a lot and use the correct size pan.

Scrambled eggs are one of those seemingly simple, underrated dishes that can immediately rustle up warm memories. For most, its one of the first things we learn to cook. I remember helping Mom with breakfast before I was tall enough to reach the stove, learning how to use a fork, then chopsticks, to turn eggs into a thick yellow curtain that would blur into a whirlpool in a mixing bowl.

A platter of scrambled eggs can make me think of Saturday mornings with my grandma and cousins. As a teen and college student, they were midnight cheap eats at the diner after a night out or bleary-eyed morning cure-alls. The quality can remind me of past vacations, from resort buffets to room service, or the catch-up brunches with friends that dont seem to happen enough in adulthood.

Eggs are more than just an affordable source of nutrition, the base of many a delicious breakfast recipe, or an easy thing to meal prep. When eggs are scrambled just right, its a connection that can fill you up as figuratively as it does literally.

We asked five renowned and professional chefs from across the country how to make the perfect scrambled eggs, and key aspects included the ideal scrambled texture and curd size, the use of farm-fresh cage-free eggs, cooking technique, pan size and more.

Whats the Perfect Texture?

For our panel of chefs, its all about texture.

I like a soft scramble just barely set, says James Beard Award-winner Anne Quatrano of Bacchanalia. What that means to Ritz-Carlton Dallas, Las Colinas Chef de Cuisine Alex Mobsby is light, fluffy and what I call a pillow consistency. Executive Chef of Hartley Kitchen & Cocktails at the Kimpton Shane Hotel Mark Alba says it comes down to velvety texture with no hard-cooked pieces or edges [where] all curds are not tiny, but more medium-sized and have the same consistency. Kyle Mendenhall, senior director of culinary innovation at popular brunch chain-with-a-conscience Snooze A.M. Eatery, agrees that curd size is important, since the smaller the curd is, the lighter the texture will be when eating.

On the other hand, Eggs cooked quickly on high heat taste overcooked with an unpleasant mouthfeel, Alba says, which can make them verge on rubbery or tough. As Mendenhall describes it, theres a bounce to the bite. But with a softer scramble, the flavor that emerges is naturally creamy, buttery and savory, per Remi Granger, executive chef of The Select in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina.

Does the Type of Egg Matter?

Across the board, a unanimous yes. Quatrano serves only eggs from her farm, Summerland, which directly correlates with Mobsbys advice to try to source locally, if you can, sustainable free-range eggs.

Farm eggs are the best because of their freshness, and they have more flavor, Granger says, while Alba stresses that free range is the most humane way to raise chickens, on open pastures with no hormones and antibiotics. When he cant get farm-fresh eggs, hell look for the Nellies Free Range brand, he confides.

At Snooze, we always use cage-free eggs that adhere to our Snooze-Approved standards, Mendenhall says, a pledge that the provider takes a responsible stance on issues such as fair labor standards, ethical animal treatment, business integrity, climate change and toxins. These eggs are not only more sustainable, but theyre also better in taste and quality than the average carton of eggs youll find in the grocery store, he explains.

As for color, the intense orange Alba loves to see in his yolks is the only one that matters to him when it comes to choosing eggs. Theres actually no nutritional difference between white and brown eggs. The hens breed determines the color of the eggs. For example, breeds like Leghorn, White Rock and Cornish lay white eggs, while Rhode Island Reds are known for laying brown eggs. Some eggs can even be blue!

What Cooking Techniques Are Best?

The first and most important one begins outside the pan.

A common mistake that leads to dense, less-fluffy scrambled eggs is that the raw yolk and white are not mixed together enough before cooking, Mendenhall says. They cook very differently and will have different textures, so its important to make sure the two are combined well before pouring [them] into a pan. And while a fork or a whisk is typically used, I was delighted to find that my mom and grandma were onto something, as he shared that he, too, personally prefers to use chopsticks. After that, low heat, constant movement and a nonstick pan are your best friends for restaurant-quality scrambled eggs.

The ratio of egg per pan size is important as well. More surface area in a large skillet for a small number of eggs (two, for example) will cook your scrambled eggs too quickly, Alba explains. For two to four scrambled eggs, its best to use an 8-inch pan versus a 10- to 12-inch pan and allow a thicker level of raw egg to cook more slowly.

Then use butter versus oil to cook, which will add richness to the eggs. Alba recommends clarified butter or ghee, as it does not contain fat solids, which also makes it a heart-healthier choice and easier for those with lactose sensitivities to digest. But if you must use oil, I suggest avocado oil, he offers, which is a good oil for cooking due to its neutral flavor and high smoke point.

After that, put away the whisk and add eggs and gently move with a spatula or wooden spoon from the outside of the pan inward until all just barely set, Quatrano advises. Its important to keep the eggs in motion, as the introduction of air will help them achieve that pillowy texture, and dont forget to pull the egg off the edges of the side of the pan as well, Alba says. According to Alba, two scrambled eggs should take 3 to 6 minutes to reach a soft scramble.

The time to add a pinch of salt and pepper will be while its still cooking, Quatrano and Mobsby say; Mobsby recommends using freshly cracked pepper to release those natural oils.

Do You Add Water or Milk?

This practice is where our panel of experts break their solidarity. No water! No way! exclaims Granger. Please do not add water, as it will reduce the flavor, Mobsby pleads, adding, If you want them more liquid-based, please use butter or cream.

However, Mendenhall argues that while Some chefs will caution you against adding water or dairy products for various reasonrunniness, compromising flavor, etc.you can achieve lighter, fluffier scrambled eggs by adding a tablespoon of water or milk per egg into your mixed liquid eggs before you start to cook them. The added moisture will keep the eggs from curdling too fast, and as the water evaporates, the eggs will cook lighter. The caveat, though, is that its important to ensure youre adding the right amount of water or milk.

Any Tricks for Zhuzhing Up a Scramble?

Albas secret for a well-beaten egg mix? Room-temperature eggs whipped in his Vitamix blender. It seems to increase the cooking volume for even lighter cooked eggs, he says, with virtually no unwanted cooked white bits in your eggs.

Mendenhall finds that finishing scrambled eggs with a little butter or olive oil helps lift the curds as well. For 3 eggs use about 1 tablespoon of butter. Just before the eggs are done cooking and are removed from direct heat, stir in the butter. This adds flavor and gives the eggs a smooth tasty texture. Creme fraiche or a little sour cream will also yield creamier, delicious eggs.

To avoid overcooking, he recommends starting on low heat, not high, and removing the eggs from the heat one level below where you want them to finish on your personal done-ness scale as the residual heat left in the pan will finish the cooking process. Dont be afraid to pull your scrambled eggs off the heat even if they look a little runny; wetter, less cooked scrambled eggs will eat lighter! Granger adds, You can add butter or cream at the end to stop the cooking process.

Finally, save your salt, pepper, chives, chili crisp or other flavor enhancers for the end only. Quatrano says. With low heat, lots of butter and well-whisked eggs seasoned at the end, anyone can make perfect scrambled eggs!



Our Expert Take

All five chefs interviewed agreed that the type of egg used is crucial, with fresh, cage-free eggs being the most flavorful option. They emphasized the importance of thoroughly mixing the egg yolk and white before pouring them into the pan. While one chef prefers using chopsticks, another swears by using room-temperature eggs mixed in a Vitamix blender for this task. Additionally, the size of the pan plays a significant role; cooking too few eggs in a large pan will not produce a creamy curd. Finally, cooking over low heat is recommended for achieving the best results, and removing the pan just before it's done is best, as the egg will continue to cook even after being removed from the heat. And each chef had suggested ingredients to add more flavor, including finishing the eggs with butter or adding creme fraiche or a little sour cream.

Read the original article on EatingWell
A protester wearing a Georgian flag walks towards police officers blocking the street during an opposition rally on the day of local elections in Tbilisi, Georgia October 4, 2025. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze

A protester wearing a Georgian flag walks towards police officers blocking the street during an opposition rally on the day of local elections in Tbilisi, Georgia October 4, 2025. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze

By Lucy Papachristou and Felix Light

TBILISI (Reuters) -Georgian riot police used pepper spray and water cannon to force protesters away from the presidential palace on Saturday as the opposition staged a large demonstration on the day of municipal elections.

The governing Georgian Dream (GD) party said it had clinched victory in every municipality across the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million in an election boycotted by the two largest opposition blocs.

Shortly before polls closed on Saturday, a group of demonstrators attempted to force entry to the presidential palace in the capital Tbilisi, a Reuters witness said, after opposition figures called for a "peaceful revolution" against GD, which they accuse of being pro-Russian and authoritarian.

PROTESTS UNDER WAY SINCE LAST OCTOBER

Georgia's pro-Western opposition has been staging protests since October last year, when GD won a parliamentary election that its critics say was fraudulent. The party has rejected accusations of vote-rigging.

Once one of the most pro-Western nations to emerge from the ashes of the Soviet Union, Georgia's ties with the West have frayed since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine.

The government froze accession talks to the European Union soon after last year's vote, abruptly halting a longstanding national goal and triggering large demonstrations that have continued since.

On Saturday, thousands of protesters gathered on Tbilisi's central Freedom Square and Rustaveli Avenue, waving Georgian and EU flags.

Davit Mzhavanadze, who attended the demonstration, said the protests were part of "a deep crisis which is absolutely formed by our pro-Russian and authoritarian government."

"I think this protest will continue until these demands will be responded to properly from our government," he said.

A smaller group of demonstrators marched to the presidential palace and were repelled by police after attempting to break into the building. Some of them then barricaded a nearby street, lighting fires and facing off with riot police.

Georgian Dream, which is widely seen as controlled by founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, the country's richest man and a former prime minister, denies it is pro-Moscow. It says it wants to join the EU while preserving peace with Russia, its huge neighbour to the north.

(Reporting by Lucy Papachristou and Felix Light; Editing by Mark Potter and Timothy Heritage)
A specialist trader works at the post where BlackRock is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Ross Kerber

(Reuters) -Minnesota power regulators on Friday approved a $6.2 billion plan for a BlackRock unit and Canada Pension Plan to buy utility owner Allete, parent of Minnesota Power, saying recent modifications by the parties should address concerns about rates and clean-power investments.

The 5-0 vote by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission may reassure investors that BlackRock will be able to address regulatory and antitrust concerns as its Global Infrastructure Partners unit, which it bought last year, presses for more deals.

Earlier this week, people familiar with the matter said the infrastructure unit was in talks to buy utility group AES. Separately, on Friday two people said the unit was in talks to buy a data center business backed by Macquarie.

Company executives said the Minnesota deal, first announced last year, would help Allete to transition to clean energy sources.

Opponents, including the environmental group Sierra Club, business customers and State Attorney General Keith Ellison, had raised concerns the agreement could lead to higher rates and did not guarantee that Minnesota Power could meet a requirement for state electricity to be carbon-free by 2040.

At Friday's meeting, which was webcast, commissioners said recent modifications helped to ease their previous skepticism towards the deal. A filing from the companies indicates recent term changes will add benefits worth up to $258 million for utility stakeholders, including through a clean technology fund and via bill credits for consumers.

Commissioner Hwikwon Ham, in comments made before the decision, said those modifications gave him confidence in the agreement and that the commission could review company rates "if they misbehave."

Commission Chair Katie Sieben said Minnesota Power needs massive new investments to pay for projects such as a new transmission line to bring in hydropower from Manitoba.

In a securities filing, leaders of BlackRock and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board praised the decision and said that, with all required regulatory approvals now secured, the transition is expected to close in late 2025.

"We are committed to preserving Allete's legacy of intense community focus as it continues to provide safe, reliable, and affordable energy which is increasingly carbon-free for Northeastern Minnesota," said Global Infrastructure Partners' founding partner Jonathan Bram in the filing.

Allete CEO Bethany Owen said the agreement positions the company "to meet the significant infrastructure demands of the clean-energy transition" without compromising service, reliability, or affordability.

Several groups voiced criticism towards the decision, including the Private Equity Stakeholder Project and the Sierra Club, which said it remains concerned about rates and that it is not certain the investors would provide capital for less-polluting energy.

(Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
Ilha da Queimada Grande, better known as Snake Island, sits off Brazils coast and holds a reputation unlike any other. The island is overrun with golden lancehead vipers, a snake species that exists nowhere else. Their venom is so dangerous that Brazil has closed the island to the public. Outside of occasional visits by scientists and the navy, no one is allowed to set foot there.

A Deadly Home to the Golden Lancehead

Image via Getty Images/Caio Acquesta

The golden lancehead, or Bothrops insularis, is the star (or rather, the terror) of Snake Island. This venomous pit viper is closely related to the Fer-de-lance, one of the deadliest snakes in the Americas. The golden lanceheads venom is incredibly potent, capable of causing severe internal bleeding, muscle damage, and even brain hemorrhages. If untreated, the venom can kill a person within hours. While the snakes venom is primarily designed to immobilize birds, its effects on humans can be devastating.

The golden lancehead is the only species of snake found on Snake Island. This exclusivity is due to the islands isolation, which began after the last ice age, when rising sea levels separated the island from the mainland. This separation allowed the golden lancehead to evolve in a unique environment, adapting to a specific niche where it preys on migrating birds.

How Many Snakes Live on Snake Island?

Though it covers only 106 acres (about 430,000 m), Snake Island holds an estimated 2,400 to 2,900 golden lanceheads. Older claims put the number in the hundreds of thousands, which gave rise to the myth of a snake for every square meter. The reality is far less dramatic: food is limited, and fewer migratory birds reach the island today, which keeps the population lower than legend suggests.

The population of golden lanceheads is critically endangered. Habitat destruction, poaching, and fewer migrating birds have all contributed to the species decline. The snakes are highly sought after in the black market, where they can fetch up to $30,000 each. However, despite these threats, Snake Island remains off-limits to the general public, with access granted only to a select few researchers under strict government supervision.

Myths and Legends

Image via Getty Images/mayo5

Over the years, Snake Island has become the subject of many myths and legends. One of the most popular stories is about the last lighthouse keepers on the island. It is said that the snakes staged a coordinated attack on the keepers, entering their bedrooms through the windows and killing them as they tried to flee. While this sounds like something out of a horror movie, there is no evidence to support it. The real danger lies in the number of snakes and the potency of their venom, which makes Snake Island a terrifying place for anyone who dares to set foot on it.

Local fishermen are also wary of the island, with some claiming they would die if they attempted to visit. However, these tales are more a result of fear and superstition than actual incidents. Still, the danger posed by the snakes is very real, and its no wonder that Snake Islands reputation has only grown over the years.

Why Can't We Visit?

Visiting Snake Island is prohibited by the Brazilian government, and for good reason. The island is not only home to a population of venomous snakes but also lacks the necessary infrastructure and medical facilities to treat snake bites. The Brazilian navy is responsible for maintaining the lighthouse, and they make regular trips to the island for repairs, but other visits are strictly controlled. Researchers who wish to study the golden lanceheads must obtain special permission, and doctors and safety teams usually accompany them.

The Brazilian governments efforts to restrict access are meant to protect both the snakes and the people. Without these regulations, the islands already fragile ecosystem could suffer further, and poaching would likely increase. Though some criminals, known as bio pirates, have been reported attempting to smuggle snakes off the island, the risks are so high that only the most daring or desperate would attempt such a venture.

A Dangerous and Mysterious Place

Image via Getty Images/Brett Charlton

Snake Island is a place that seems to belong more to legend than reality. Its isolation has allowed the golden lancehead to evolve into a unique and deadly species, but it has also put the species at risk of extinction. The myths surrounding the island add to its mystique, but the truth is that it is a treacherous and unforgiving place where humans are unwelcome.

With the Brazilian governments ban on visitors, Snake Island remains a mystery to most. The golden lancehead may be one of the most venomous snakes in the world, but its home is also one of the most fascinating. However, the risks of encountering these snakes up close are simply too great, and its probably best to admire this eerie island from the safety of a screen. After all, some places are meant to be left alone.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, pictured here in August, will meet with US President Donald Trump next week, according to the prime minister's office. - Omer Messinger/Getty Images

Canada announced Friday that Prime Minister Mark Carney is heading to Washington next week to meet with US President Donald Trump for what is being billed as a working visit.

While a statement from the prime ministers office says the visit on Tuesday will focus on shared priorities in a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the U.S., Carney is under pressure at home to negotiate some tariff relief for Canada as sectoral tariffs on autos, steel, aluminum, lumber, and energy continue to bite.

President Trumps tariff regime has hit the Canadian economy hard, with unemployment hitting 7.1% in August, the highest level since May 2016, excluding the pandemic period, according to Canadian government data.

Carney won an election in April with a strident message for Canadians, warning that their relationship with America would change dramatically in the coming years.

The old relationship we had with the United States, based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation, is over, Carney said in March, shortly after Trump imposed a 25% tariff on cars and parts. Its clear the US is no longer a reliable partner.

To that end, Carney has pursued closer relations with other Western countries, courting the UK and France in his first visits abroad as prime minister and collaborating with Australia on new radar systems for the Arctic.

Respect for Canada

Carney indicated in the months following his election that he asked for and received respect from Trump, asking that the president drop any suggestion that Canada should become the 51st state.

But President Trump recently resurrected the idea in a speech to military leaders on Tuesday when he spoke of his proposed Golden Dome missile defence system that could potentially protect both Canada and the US.

Canada called me a couple of weeks ago. They want to be part of it. To which I said, well, why dont you just join our country? Become 51, become the 51st state and you get it for free, Trump said.

Earlier this week, Canadas top trade negotiator Dominic LeBlanc said Canada still had leverage in any trade negotiation as the trade war was also hurting American businesses.

We are confident that the domestic pressure from senators, governors, business leaders, union leaders, in the United States will also create potentially an opportunity for us to come to an agreement with the American administration, said LeBlanc while testifying to a Canadian parliamentary committee.

In addition to sectoral tariffs, Canada, the US and Mexico have started consultations on renewing the trade agreement negotiated by the first Trump administration and launched in 2020. It is set to expire in 2026.

During the Canadian prime ministers first visit to the US in May, Trump almost immediately brought up annexation while meeting with Carney in the Oval Office, pronouncing a union between Canada and the US as meant to be.

As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale, Carney told the president. Never say never, Trump replied.

The annexation question appeared to subside for a time afterwards. In July, Carney claimed in an interview with CNNs Christiane Amanpour that Trump is no longer interested in annexing Canada. He admires Canada, Carney told Amanpour. I think its fair to say, maybe for a period of time (he) coveted Canada.

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Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty; Bettmann/Getty Charlie Hunnam (left) and Ed Gein

NEED TO KNOW

Charlie Hunnam tells PEOPLE how he embodied Ed Gein in the new season of Netflix's Monster

He explains that he tried to understand the murderer better by learning about his trauma and changing his own physical appearance

Monster: The Ed Gein Story is available to stream on Netflix

It was no small feat for Charlie Hunnam to transform into a serial killer for the new season of Monster.

In the third iteration of the hit Netflix series, the actor, 45, plays infamous murderer Ed Gein  who went on a killing spree in the 1950s and robbed graves to use human remains to craft household items and clothing.

During a conversation with PEOPLE at the New York City premiere, Hunnam shares how he prepared for the intense role.

I mean, finding the truth was the whole process, he reveals. We were much more interested in why Ed did what he did, rather than exploring what he did. Everybody sort of knows what he did, and it's been chronicled in many films that he inspired and then direct adaptation to his life.

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Charlie Hunnam

He adds: We, I think, felt confident that if we remain true to that, of just trying to find the truth in reflecting back this bizarre, tiny, dark corner of the human condition that he manifested, that we were staying true to the traditions of storytelling, which is to try to help us understand ourselves because were all so bizarre, even the most normal of us. But Ed was very bizarre.

Along with tapping into a different mental state, Hunnam says he also made physical changes to more accurately embody Gein.

He'd been abused, he was left in isolation, so he had no real social context to reflect back to him, normal behavior, the Sons of Anarchy alum notes. And he was a very skinny, malnourished type of guy. So I mean, first of all, basically the basic first step was losing 30 pounds so I could look like him.

Something else that Hunnam dug deeper into was Geins relationship with his mother, who told him every day of his life that she hated him because he wasn't born the girl, the daughter that she always wanted.

Imagining what the consequence of that would be when she was the only person he had a relationship with, Hunnam continues. That really informed the voice work that we did and how he would interact with his mother and the world, which was really trying to really be the daughter that she wanted.

Courtesy Of Netflix Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein in Monster: The Ed Gein Story

Despite having to take on such a dark and traumatic role, Hunnam admits he never felt like it weighed on him outside of filming. In fact, he says the energy on set could not have been different from the story they were telling.

There's the subject matter and then there's the actual process, he explains. We all felt really good about the work we were doing, and so actually in terms of the experience we had of trying to make this show every day, just the actual putting our craft into effect, it was actually really joyous and light. We were proud of ourselves and we were reaching for something."

"And not every day, but more often than not, managing to grab a hold of it," Hunnam shares. "So it was really actually, I don't want to say a fun experience  that's just going to be a terrible headline, that I think that this was fun, this impossibly bleak story  but it was a very satisfying and beautiful experience for me to get to work with [director] Max [Winkler], my dear friend.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Monster: The Ed Gein Story is available to stream on Netflix.



Read the original article on People
Displaced Palestinian children shelter on the side of a raod, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a U.S. plan to end the war, in the central Gaza Strip, October 4, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) -Dozens were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza on Saturday, local health officials said, despite a demand from U.S. President Donald Trump for Israel to stop bombing in response to a declaration by Hamas that it was ready to free hostages under his plan to end the two-year-old war.

At least 36 people were killed in bombardments and airstrikes in the devastated Palestinian enclave since Trump demanded Israel halt its attacks late on Friday.

Eighteen people died in sporadic incidents, while 18 people, including children, were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli strike on a house in the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City, medics said. The attack damaged several buildings nearby.

Israel said it had targeted a Hamas militant who had posed a threat to its troops in the area, and that reports of casualties were under review.

The military "regrets any harm caused to uninvolved civilians and works to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians as much as possible," it said in a statement.

TRUMP URGES HAMAS TO MOVE FAST ON HIS GAZA PLAN

On Saturday, Trump said he appreciated that Israel had "temporarily stopped the bombing," and he urged Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, to move quickly on his plan "or else all bets will be off."

"I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again. Let's get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!" Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

Hamas had drawn a welcoming response from Trump on Friday by saying it accepted certain key parts of his 20-point peace proposal, including ending the war, Israel's withdrawal, and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian captives.

But the group has left some questions unanswered, such as whether it would be willing to disarm, a key demand from Israel to end the war.

In Washington, a White House official said on Saturday that Trump was sending his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to Egypt to finalize the technical details of the hostage release and discuss a lasting peace deal.

Egypt will also host delegations from Israel and Hamas on Monday to discuss the anticipated exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation late on Saturday after the Sabbath ended, confirming that negotiators would be sent to Egypt, and said the intention was to limit negotiations to a few days.

Netanyahu said he hoped to announce the return of the captives, all while the Israeli military remained deep in Gaza.

Hamas would be disarmed and Gaza demilitarized, Netanyahu said, according to his remarks carried by Israeli media, warning that it would happen either politically or militarily.

Trump's plan sees the military eventually withdrawing to Gaza's perimeter but does not lay out any time frame.

The prime minister spoke as tens of thousands took to the streets in Tel Aviv in support of a deal to end the war.

Hamas' response to the plan drew a chorus of optimistic statements by world leaders, who urged an end to the deadliest conflict involving Israel since its creation in 1948 and called for the release of Israelis still held in the enclave.

Another possible boost to peace hopes came with a supportive statement from the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which is smaller than Hamas but seen as more hardline.

The group, which also holds hostages, on Saturday endorsed Hamas' response  a move that could help pave the way for the release of Israelis still held by both parties.

PALESTINIANS LOOK FOR 'RAY OF HOPE' AFTER HAMAS RESPONSE

Hamas' stance, and its backing by Islamic Jihad, may raise the spirit of Gazans, who had watched one ceasefire effort after another fail as Israeli strikes hit the strip over the past two years, creating a humanitarian crisis and displacing millions.

"May the suffering lift off the people of Gaza, the people of Gaza are among the oppressed of the earth, and any ray of hope for the oppressed people is a victory," said Sharif al-Fakhouri, resident of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.

Some Palestinians expressed fear that Netanyahu, who heads Israel's most far-right government ever, will ultimately withdraw from any plan to end the war.

"What is important is that Netanyahu does not sabotage this, because now that Hamas agreed, Netanyahu will disagree, as he usually does," said Jerusalem resident Jamal Shihada.

WORLDWIDE SUPPORT FOR END TO 'HORRIFIC WAR'

Israeli media reported that the country's political echelon had instructed the military to reduce offensive activity in Gaza.

Trump has invested significant political capital in efforts to end the war that has left U.S. ally Israel increasingly isolated on the world stage.

Trump said on Friday he believed Hamas had shown it was "ready for a lasting PEACE" and he put the onus on Netanyahu's government.

Domestically, the prime minister is caught between growing pressure to end the war  from hostage families and a war-weary public  and demands from hardline members of his coalition who insist there must be no let-up in Israel's campaign in Gaza.

Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on X that halting attacks on Gaza was a "grave mistake," saying it would play into Hamas' "time-wasting."

Israel began attacking Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel says 48 hostages remain, 20 of whom are alive.

Israel's campaign has killed more than 67,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.

"It's time to end this horrific war and bring every single hostage back home. We are for rebuilding and the rehabilitation," said Efrat Machikawa, an active member of Israel's hostage families forum and the niece of Gadi Moses, a hostage who was released in January.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Torokman, Mussa Qawasma, Pesha Magid, Rami Amichay, Alexander Cornwell and Maher Hatem; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Susan Fenton, William Maclean, Rod Nickel)
Barbara Eden already has an iconic legacy to leave behind thanks to the success of I Dream of Jeannie, though she recently revealed how she wants to be remembered by fans in the far future.

While speaking to People in an interview published on Saturday, October 4, Eden, 94, said she wants to be remembered for the way she made fans "laugh, made them happy, took them to another place."

"I have so many people that come up to me and tell me that they had an awful childhood and that the only thing that helped them out was to go in their room and pretend it was a bottle," she said, referencing her iconic character Jeannie's tiny home.

Eden went on to state that hearing about the show from fans always "makes me sad and happy at the same time."

She starred as the titular 2,000-year-old genie opposite Larry Hagman, who starred as astronaut Tony Nelson on the sitcom, which ran on NBC from 1965 and 1970.

While the show premiered 60 years ago, Eden still makes appearances at comic-cons and fan events around the world.

"I think I had nothing to do with it. It was the audience," she said of the show's longtime success. "I didn't realize, actually, how popular Jeannie was until several years after, and it still amazes me."

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Eden also said that she "can't believe" the lasting legacy the show has had. "I have mail from Russia. Can you imagine?" she told the outlet. "I have fan mail from Russia and China and Japan, Poland, Italy, a lot from Germany and South America, the U.K.  and if you had told me that when we were shooting, I wouldn't have believed it."

While reflecting on fan encounters, Eden said that she's often asked to do Jeannie's signature move to cast a spell for them. "It's magic. They always want magic," she shared. "Magic is good."

Eden reflected on the show's success one week after she opened up about her chemistry with Hagman on the show.

It was immediate, and I have no idea why, but it was, she told People of their chemistry in a September 25 interview. We just were on that same carpet, if you will. I believed him, and he believed me when we were working.

In addition to starring on the show for five seasons, Eden appeared in two follow-up TV films. However, Hagman did not appear in either of the movies due to conflicts with his role as J.R. Ewing on the prime time soap opera Dallas.

We couldnt connect time where we were both free, she said of why Hagman, who died at the age of 81 in 2012 from cancer complications, didnt appear in the spinoff films. I cannot remember. I remember the shows and doing them, but I dont remember things happening.

The actress continued, I think they stand on their own. Yeah, I do. Im really sorry Larry couldnt do them, but he was very busy with Dallas.

This story was originally reported by Parade on Oct 4, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
People walk in front of the Department of Education building, amid reports that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration will take steps to defund the federal Education Department, in Washington, U.S., February 4, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) -A federal workers' union filed a lawsuit on Friday challenging the Trump administration's alteration of furloughed U.S. Department of Education employees' out-of-office email messages to include language blaming Democrats in the U.S. Senate for the government shutdown.

The American Federation of Government Employees in a lawsuit alleged the administration violated employees' free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment by co-opting their email correspondence to force them to "recite partisan words that they would not have spoken otherwise."

The complaint filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., said the out-of-office email responses are crafted to appear as if the employees are speaking in the first person, suggesting the language should be ascribed to the furloughed workers.

The employees belong to a department that Republican President Donald Trump says should be dismantled. Some of the employees were already on administrative leave due to pending mass layoffs at the Education Department, the lawsuit said.

Others were furloughed after Congress failed to enact spending legislation to avert a government shutdown that began on Wednesday and is set to continue into next week. The Education Department had planned to furlough about 87% of its employees if a shutdown occurred, the complaint said.

The lawsuit said that after the shutdown began, many Education Department employees discovered that the language in the out-of-office messages they had set had been modified to blame Senate Democrats.

"Unfortunately, Democrat Senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations," the messages said, according to the complaint. "Due to the lapse in appropriations I am currently in furlough status. I will respond to emails once government functions resume.

Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, the liberal legal group representing the union, in a statement said, "Posting messages without consent to broadcast messages on behalf of a partisan agenda is a blatant violation of First Amendment rights."

An email by Reuters to the Education Department's press team generated an automatic reply that mirrored the message the lawsuit cited, similarly blaming "Democrat Senators" for the lapse in appropriations.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Leslie Adler)
A view of a sign warning that the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center is closed, with the U.S. Capitol dome visible in the background, on the first day of a partial government shutdown, in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 1, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Thousands of U.S. federal employees stopped working on Wednesday when the government shut down due to a budget impasse in Congress.

Following are the longest shutdowns since 1980, when U.S. administrations started furloughing some federal workers when budgets expire.

2018-2019 - 35 days

The longest shutdown on record started December 22, 2018, during President Donald Trump's first term in the White House. Democrats in Congress refused to back a spending bill that included Trump's $5.7 billion request for fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border. Lawmakers eventually approved a spending bill without border wall money that Trump signed into law on January 25, 2019, ending the shutdown.

1995-1996 - 22 days

The government partially shut down on December 16, 1995, as part of a clash between the Republican-controlled Congress and then-President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, over how to balance the budget. Clinton signed a bill to re-open the government on January 6, 1996. Some polls showed the public largely blamed Republicans in Congress for the shutdown and some analysts said the spat helped Clinton win re-election in 1996.

2013 - 16 days

Government workers started furloughs on October 1 after Republicans demanded cuts or delays to a health care law championed by then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat. The shutdown was part of a broader impasse over the national debt, with the government at risk of defaulting on its obligations without congressional authorization for further borrowing. Obama signed a bill re-opening the government shortly after midnight on October 17, with legislation that also authorized more borrowing.

1995 - 6 days

In a prelude to the longer shutdown at the close of 1995, government workers started furloughs on November 14 after Clinton vetoed a spending bill backed by Republicans. Washington reached a deal November 19 to re-open the government, but another shutdown was only weeks away.

2025 - 4 days

The shutdown currently under way now ranks as the fifth longest. Democrats have blocked spending legislation in the Republican-controlled Congress, saying that any funding package must also expand pandemic-era healthcare subsidies due to expire at the end of December. Republicans say that issue should be dealt with separately.

1990 - 3 days

Republican President George Bush vetoed a spending bill over a fight on how to reduce deficits, leading to a partial shutdown on October 6 that closed national parks and other landmarks. Lawmakers passed a measure to re-open the government in the early hours of October 9.

2018 - 3 days

Democrats in the Republican-controlled Congress blocked a spending bill, triggering a shutdown on January 20, partly as a way to shield from deportation immigrants who entered the country without authorization as children. Congress approved a bill ending the shutdown on January 22 without addressing the fate of the young undocumented immigrants.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Scott Malone, Alistair Bell and Leslie Adler)
The killer of a 6-year-old boy has been released on parole after serving only half his sentence  and the slain childs father issuing a dire threat to the freed man.

Ronald Exantus, 42, stabbed the entire Tipton family as they slept in their Versailles, Kentucky, home on Dec. 7, 2015  but focused most of his rage on little Logan, who he slashed repeatedly in the head with a kitchen knife.

Poor Logan Tipton was stabbed repeatedly in the head during the random Kentucky home invasion in 2015.

When Logans father, Dean Tipton, confronted the knife-wielding intruder, the dad was stabbed and tossed 10-15 feet, he told WLKY.

Daughter Dakota described the harrowing scene to the outlet, He stabbed me in the back. And then stomped on my head, she said.

And I remember waking up across the room, not where I was at, and I looked and he was killing Logan and Logan was screaming.

Exantus was released on Oct. 1 serving just seven years in prison following his sentencing in 2018. Kentucky Online Offender Lookup

Exantus, a former dialysis nurse, was sentenced to only 20 years in 2018 for assault charges because a jury found that he was not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, WLKY reported.

He was released on parole on Oct. 1 after serving just 8 years due to good behavior and education credits, according to local outlets.

His parole ends on June 18, 2026, according to the Kentucky Department of Corrections.

Tipton expressed outrage over the release and vowed to avenge his sons killing if he ever sees Exantus again.

Exantus at the time of his arrest at the Woodford County Detention Center. AP

He told [Dakota] that he was going to kill every one of us. So now Ive gotta be on extra guard to protect my kids because I will not lose another one, Tipton told local Fox56.

Ive had my talks with God cause Im not afraid to tell you all, I told the court  if I ever cross paths with him, I will kill the man. I will kill him where he stands, he told WKYT.

Logans mother expressed her own disbelief that the man who killed her son while he slept is now a free man less than a decade later.

Its infuriating that a six-year-old was killed sleeping in his bed and someone literally only did ten years in prison and he didnt even do the time for that, he did time for assault charges, Heather Tipton told Fox 56.
A federal judge has ruled that noncitizens have the same freedom to express opinions and exercise their free speech rights that citizens have.

The Sept. 30 ruling came from a lawsuit brought against the Trump administration by a professional association and labor union representing professors and teaching faculty members at Rutgers, Harvard and New York University.

The suit was filed in response to a spate of visa revocations and high-profile arrests of foreign students who spoke out against Israel's military campaign in Gaza in connection with the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, a student-led movement that swept the nation last spring. Among those arrested were green card holder Mahmoud Khalil, who was among the leaders of campus protests at Columbia University

The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Association of American University Professors, or AAUP, along with its chapters at the three universities, and the Middle East Studies Association, or MESA, a Washington, DC-based group. They sued senior figures in the administration and the Cabinet, including President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem and acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons, in March.

The lawsuit argued that the Trump administration was wielding an "ideological deportation policy" that "chills noncitizens from speaking and, by extension, robs these organizations and their U.S. citizen members of noncitizens perspectives on a matter of significant public debate."

"The First Amendment means that Government has no power to thwart the process of free discussion," wrote Massachusetts federal Judge William Young, granting the AAUP and MESA claim that "political speech on its own" was not a legitimate reason to expel the students.

"Plaintiffs have shown that Secretaries Noem and Rubio are engaged in a mode of enforcement leading to detaining, deporting, and revoking noncitizens visas solely on the basis of political speech, and with the intent of chilling such speech ... Such conduct is not only unconstitutional, but a thing virtually unknown to our constitutional tradition," Young wrote, in a 161-page opinion that also noted Trump's own use of social media and his posts on X, formerly Twitter, to stoke public feeling against students who criticized Israel.

The opinion referred to interviews with the media in which Rubio and other administration officials describe many of the students as supporting terrorist organizations, without offering clear evidence.

Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish University doctoral student at Tufts University who wrote an op-ed in the student newspaper criticizing the universitys rejection of student government resolutions related to the Middle East war, was arrested on March 25 by masked immigration officers on a sidewalk in Somerville, Massachusetts. She spent 45 days in ICE detention in Louisiana before being released, said the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing her. Her case is ongoing.

The AAUP filed its lawsuit the same day.

Earlier that month, on March 5, the State Department revoked the student visa of Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian national and doctoral student at Columbia. On March 8, Khalil, a Columbia University student and green card holder married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested by ICE officers. Around that time, ICE agents also informed Yunseo Chung, a Korean native and green card holder studying at Columbia University, that her permanent resident status was revoked.

Our courageous noncitizen members stepped up and shared their experiences of losing their ability to speak freely because of the chilling effect of Trump administration policy, Rutgers AAUP-AFT President Rebecca Givan said in a statement. Our unions and associations are fighting for our rights, while higher ed institutions are failing to do so. Its a sad state of affairs when a ruling that merely affirms all of our First Amendment rights feels like a tremendous victory.

The government engaged in "a kind of intentional ratcheting-up of 'President Trump's Executive Orders instructing his administration to target antisemitic harassment and violence," wrote Young, the judge, and it encroached upon free speech rights by using "a definition of antisemitism that encompassed protected political speech."

The ruling "is historic, not because the decision itself is groundbreaking but because we are in a historic moment when the federal government is seriously distorting and abusing the First Amendment and is attacking immigrants and anyone that disagrees with them," said Elly Brinkley, an attorney at PEN America, an anti-censorship and free expression advocacy group and think tank. "It's such a strong affirmation of principles and values that seem intuitive."

The Anti-Defamation League, another group advocating for free speech, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Judge rules in favor of campus unions suing Trump over free speech
Antoni Lallican in Beirut in October 2024. - Courtesy Raghed Waked

French photojournalist Antoni Lallican was killed by a drone in Ukraine on Friday, according to his employer and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Lallican, 38, was on assignment for the Hans Lucas photo agency when he was killed Friday morning, according to the agency.

The attack also injured a Ukrainian journalist, Heorgiy Ivanchenko, according to the International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ), which added that both journalists were wearing bulletproof vests marked Press.

In a statement to CNN, the Hans Lucas Agency said that Lallican was an award-winning photographer who had worked for the company since 2018.

His work focused on social and societal issues, with a particular focus on conflict zones and human rights, the statement said. Particularly committed to the conflict in Ukraine, he had been traveling there regularly since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.

Macron said on social media that Lallican was accompanying the Ukrainian army on the front of resistance and was a victim of a Russian drone attack.

I learned with deep sadness of his death, a victim of a Russian drone attack, Macron wrote as he extended his heartfelt condolences to Lallicans family.

Ukraines Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha also expressed his condolences in a post.

Lallican was killed by a Russian first-person view (FPV) drone, according to a social media post by Sergiy Tomilenko, president of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU).

Currently, the main threat to journalists, as well as to all civilians, is Russian drones hunting people, Tomilenko wrote.

CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment.

Civilians in Ukrainian cities near the front lines have previously told CNN that Russian FPV drones are a constant threat, with virtually no target off limits: pedestrians, cars, buses and even ambulances have suffered attacks.

Russia has repeatedly maintained that it does not target civilians.

Not counting Lallican, at least 16 journalists have died reporting on the war in Ukraine since the Russian invasion, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The vast majority were killed during the first year of the war.

CNNs Joseph Ataman contributed.

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Germany's Munich Airport reopened Saturday morning after authorities shut it down the night before for the second time in less than 24 hours after two additional drone sightings, officials said. An airport in Lithuania also later closed for several hours overnight Saturday due to a possible sighting of balloons.

The closures are the latest after mysterious drone overflights in the airspace of European Union member countries.

The airport, one of Germany's largest, reopened gradually beginning at 7 a.m. local time on Saturday. Planes typically begin taking off at 5 a.m.

Federal police said two drone sightings were confirmed shortly before 11 p.m. Friday near the airport's north and south runways, the agency said in a statement Saturday. The drones flew away before they could be identified.

Delays were expected to continue throughout Saturday, the airport said in a statement. At least 6,500 passengers were impacted by the overnight closure from Friday into Saturday.

The previous closure, Thursday night into Friday, affected almost 3,000 passengers.

Authorities were not immediately able to provide any information about who was responsible for the overflights.

A sign prohibiting drones is seen at the Munich Airport on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (Enrique Kaczor/dpa via AP) / Credit: Enrique Kaczor / AP

Meanwhile, Lithuania's main airport also briefly closed for several hours overnight Saturday into Sunday due to a "possible series of balloons," Agence France-Presse reported.

Vilnius International Airport said in a Facebook post that it had received official information at 10:16 p.m. local time on Saturday that air traffic was being temporarily suspended. It was unclear where the balloons originated from and whether they were located or identified.

The airport later announced that its airspace had reopened at 4:50 a.m. local time Sunday.

The incidents were the latest in a series of incidents of mysterious drone sightings over airports as well as other critical infrastructure sites in several European Union member countries. Drones were also spotted overnight in Belgium above a military base.

Last weekend, the Danish defense ministry said that "drones have been observed at several of Danish defense facilities" overnight Friday into Saturday. The renewed drone sightings come after there were several drone sightings in the Nordic country earlier this week, with some of them temporarily shutting down Danish airports.

A drone incident in Oslo, the capital of Norway, which is a NATO member but not part of the EU, also affected flights there late last month.

It wasn't immediately clear who has been behind the flyovers. European authorities have expressed concerns that they're being carried out by Russia, though some experts have noted that anybody with drones could be behind them. Russian authorities have rejected claims of involvement, including in recent drone incidents in Denmark.

Alexander Dobrindt, Germany's interior minister, said he and some European counterparts would discuss the drone incursions and a "drone detection and defense plan" at a meeting this weekend in Munich.

"We are in a race between drone threat and drone defense. We want to and must win this race," he said in the western city of Saarbrucken, where he joined German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron at a ceremony to mark the 35th anniversary of Germany's reunification.

Police officers patrol Munich Airport after the airport shut down operations due to possible new drone sightings Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Munich. (Enrique Kaczor/dpa via AP) / Credit: Enrique Kaczor / AP

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FILE PHOTO: People gather on a boat from a flotilla that had been carrying aid to Gaza until it was intercepted by Israel, docked in the port of Larnaca, Cyprus October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo

By Ece Toksabay and Alvise Armellini

ANKARA/ROME (Reuters) -Some 137 activists detained by Israel for taking part in a flotilla seeking to deliver aid to Gaza arrived in Istanbul on Saturday after being deported, according to Reuters reporters at the airport.

The individuals included 36 Turkish nationals, as well as citizens from the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Switzerland, Tunisia and Jordan, ministry sources added.

The Turkish Airlines flight landed at Istanbul Airport.

MORE THAN 450 ACTIVISTS DETAINED

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said 26 Italians were on board, with another 15 still held in Israel and set to be expelled over the next few days - along with activists from other nations.

Israel has faced international condemnation after its military intercepted all of about 40 boats in a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza and detained more than 450 activists.

"I have once again given instructions to the Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv to ensure that the remaining compatriots are treated with respect for their rights", Tajani wrote on X.

A first group of Italians from the flotilla - four parliamentarians - arrived in Rome on Friday.

"Those who were acting legally were the people aboard those boats; those who acted illegally were those who prevented them from reaching Gaza", Arturo Scotto, one of the Italian lawmakers who took part in the mission, told a press conference in Rome.

"We were brutally stopped ... brutally taken hostage", said Benedetta Scuderi, another Italian parliamentarian.

ZIP-TIED ON THEIR KNEES FOR HOURS

Israel's foreign ministry wrote on X that all detained activists were "safe and in good health", adding it was keen to complete the deportations "as quickly as possible".

In a separate X post, it accused some flotilla members of "deliberately obstructing" the deportation process, without providing evidence. Reuters was unable to independently verify the allegation.

According to Adalah, an Israeli group offering legal assistance to flotilla members, some of them were denied access to lawyers, and denied access to water and medications, as well as the use of toilets.

Activists were also "forced to kneel with their hands zip-tied for at least five hours, after some participants chanted 'Free Palestine,'" Adalah said.

Israel denied the allegations. "All of Adalahs claims are complete lies. Of course, all detainees ... were given access to water, food, and restrooms; they were not denied access to legal counsel, and all their legal rights were fully upheld," a foreign ministry spokesperson told Reuters.

The flotilla, which set sail in late August, marked the latest attempt by activists to challenge the Israeli naval blockade of the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, where Israel has been waging a war since Palestinian militant group Hamas' deadly attack on Israel in October 2023.

Israeli officials repeatedly denounced the mission as a stunt and warned it against violating a "lawful naval blockade".

(Reporting by Ece Toksabay in Ankara, Alexander Cornwell in Tel Aviv and Alvise Armellini in Rome. Additional reporting by Pesha Magid in Jerusalem. Editing by Susan Fenton and Mark Potter)
Greg Bishop

(The Center Square)  After an ominous warning from President Donald Trump, Hamas has reportedly agreed to release the remaining Israeli hostages; however, they have yet to agree to the presidents proposed 20-point peace plan.

The peace plan announced on Monday during a joint press conference between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was agreed to by the Jewish State, as well as several Arab and European countries.

In a Truth Social post, Trump told Hamas leaders that they have until 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, Washington, D.C. time, warning this is their last chance or all HELL will break loose.

The president warned Hamas that they will be hunted down, indicating that Israel is waiting for his approval to attack.

If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas, the president posted.

In response, Hamas responded saying they are keen to end the aggression and genocide being carried out against our steadfast people in Gaza.

In a statement from the terror group, it referred to itself as the Islamic Resistance Movement, saying that it has conducted in-depth consultations within its leadership institutions, broad consultations with Palestinian forces and factions, and consultations with brothers, mediators, and friends, in order to reach a responsible position in dealing with U.S. President Donald Trumps plan.

The group made its decision and issued a response through its mediators, by thanking the Arab, Islamic, and international efforts, as well as the efforts of Trump to bring an end to the war.

Hamas specified the exchange of prisoners, the immediate entry of aid, the rejection of the occupation of Gaza and the rejection of the displacement of our Palestinian people from it.

The 20-point plan calls for the return of the remaining surviving Israeli hostages within 72 hours of approval of the deal. It also calls for the return of Hamas prisoners.

Within this framework, and in a manner that achieves an end to the war and a full withdrawal from the Strip, the movement announces its approval of releasing occupation prisoners  both living and remains  according to the exchange formula contained in President Trumps proposal, with the necessary field conditions for implementing the exchange. In this context, the movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter, through the mediators, into negotiations to discuss the details, according to the groups statement.

Hamas said that it approves the handing over of administration of Gaza to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats) based on Palestinian national consensus. The group concluded its statement by demanding that Hamas be included and will contribute with full responsibility to the future of Gaza.

Any involvement by Hamas in the future of Gaza will likely be a sticking point to the deal, as it underscores that Hamas will have no role in the governance of Gaza, adding that regional partners will ensure that Hamas, and the factions, comply with their obligations.

However, it would ensure that Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza.

To oversee the success of the plan, the president said that if it is accepted, he would lead it.

Trump issued a response to Hamas on Friday afternoon, indicating the willingness by Hamas to negotiate promising.

"Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing in Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, it's far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East," the president posted to his Truth Social account.

Both Trump and Netanyahu warned the terror group of grave consequences if the deal is rejected.

If Hamas rejects your plan  then Israel will finish the job by itself. This can be done the easy way or it can be done the hard way. But it will be done. We prefer the easy way, but it has to be done, the prime minister told reporters. Trump said that he would support Israel if Hamas failed to agree to peace, Netanyahu said during Mondays joint press conference.
Displaced Palestinian children shelter on the side of a raod, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a U.S. plan to end the war, in the central Gaza Strip, October 4, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) -Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a hardline ally of Hamas that also holds hostages, on Saturday endorsed the group's response to a U.S. plan to end the war in Gaza  a move that could help pave the way for the release of Israelis still held by both parties.

Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, on Friday accepted certain key parts of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan, including ending the war, Israel's withdrawal and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian captives.

Hamas's response triggered a chorus of optimistic statements by world leaders urging an immediate cessation of the deadliest conflict involving Israel since its creation in 1948, and demanding freedom for the Israelis still held in the enclave.

A further possible boost to hopes for peace came with a supportive statement from Iran-backed Islamic Jihad, which is smaller than Hamas but seen as more hardline.

PALESTINIANS LOOK FOR 'RAY OF HOPE' AFTER HAMAS RESPONSE

"Hamas' (reaction) to Trump's plan represents the position of the Palestinian resistance factions, and the Islamic Jihad participated responsibly in the consultations that led to this decision," the group said.

Hamas' stance, and its backing by Islamic Jihad, may raise the spirit of Gazans, who had watched one ceasefire effort after another fail as Israeli strikes hit the strip over the past two years, creating a humanitarian crisis and displacing millions.

"May the suffering lift off the people of Gaza, the people of Gaza are among the oppressed of the earth, and any ray of hope for the oppressed people is a victory," said Sharif al-Fakhouri, resident of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.

Amid the optimism several issues remain unresolved, such as whether Hamas will agree to disarm, one of Israel's main demands.

Some Palestinians were cautious, expressing fear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who heads the most far-right government in Israel's history, will ultimately withdraw from any plan to end the war.

"What is important is that Netanyahu does not sabotage this, because now that Hamas agreed, Netanyahu will disagree, as he usually does," said Jerusalem resident Jamal Shihada.

The Israeli military's Arabic spokesperson issued a warning on Saturday for residents of Gaza City, saying it remained a "dangerous" combat zone.

He urged residents in a post on X to avoid going north in the enclave or nearing any areas where the military operates.

News website Axios earlier reported that the Israeli military would shift to defensive operations in Gaza and halt its plan to seize Gaza City.

Israeli airstrikes persisted early on Saturday but they were less intense, after U.S. President Donald Trump had called for a halt to the bombing saying Hamas was ready for peace.

In its daily update, the Gaza health ministry said Israeli fire killed at least 66 Palestinians across the enclave in the past 24 hours.

WORLDWIDE SUPPORT FOR END TO 'TERRIBLE WAR'

Netanyahu's office said Israel was preparing for "immediate implementation" of the first stage of Trump's Gaza plan for the release of Israeli hostages following Hamas' response.

Shortly after, Israeli media reported that the country's political echelon had instructed the military to reduce offensive activity in Gaza.

Trump's plan and Hamas' reaction won support around the world, from Australia to India to Canada and European capitals.

"An end to this terrible war is within reach," said Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof.

Hamas responded to Trump's 20-point plan after the U.S. president gave the group until Sunday to accept or face grave consequences.

Trump, who has cast himself as the only person capable of achieving peace in Gaza, has invested significant political capital in efforts to end the war that has left U.S. ally Israel increasingly isolated on the world stage.

Trump said on Friday he believed Hamas had shown it was "ready for a lasting PEACE" and he put the onus on Netanyahu's government. "Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Domestically, the prime minister is caught between growing pressure to end the war  from hostage families and a war-weary public  and demands from hardline members of his coalition who insist there must be no let-up in Israels campaign in Gaza.

Israel began attacking Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel says 48 hostages remain, 20 of whom are alive.

Israel's campaign has killed more than 67,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.

"It's time to end this horrific war and bring every single hostage back home. We are for rebuilding and the rehabilitation," said Efrat Machikawa, an active member of Israel's hostage families forum and the niece of Gadi Moses, a hostage who was released in January.

"We're fed up with the war. We don't want any revenge. We want to concentrate on life."

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Torokman, Mussa Qawasma and Rami Amichay; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Susan Fenton, William Maclean)
Ts/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock John Candy, 1992

NEED TO KNOW

In the documentary John Candy: I Like Me, the comedian's closest family and friends revisit his enduring legacy and deepest struggles

He had this sort of tendency to act like he was running out of time, Ryan Reynolds, who produces the film tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. Unfortunately, in Johns case, he was

John Candy: I Like Me premieres on Oct. 10 on Prime Video

After his death in 1994, John Candys family and closest friends  among them Catherine OHara, Bill Murray and Martin Short  gathered to honor the legendary comedian, who died at 43 from a heart attack while filming in Mexico.

The outpouring of love extended far beyond the walls of the Los Angeles church where his funeral was held. In a rare moment of reverence, the 405 freeway was shut down in his honor. Its only been done twice before  once for the Pope, once for the President, Eugene Levy, a pallbearer at the funeral, recalls in the new documentary John Candy: I Like Me. You know youve made it when theyre closing freeways for you.

Now, 31 years later, those who knew and loved the Canadian star are gathering once again in a new documentary  premiering Oct. 10 on Prime Video  that revisits his enduring legacy and deepest struggles.

courtesy everett collection Bill Murray and John Candy in Stripes, 1981

Described by Dan Aykroyd as a titan of a gentle, golden man, Candy is remembered only with affection. I wish I had some more bad things to say about him, but thats the problem when you talk about John. He was good to people, Murray, 75, Candys costar in Stripes, says in the documentary.

I have a vivid memory of him at my parents wedding, actor Colin Hanks, the director of the film and son of Tom Hanks  who costarred with Candy in Splash and Volunteers  tells PEOPLE in this weeks issue. He took the time to make sure I was doing okay and having a good time. Because I was pretty much one kid surrounded by a whole bunch of adults. Thats the kind of man John was.

Candys instinct to care for others was born out of early tragedy. Raised in Toronto, he was just five years old when his father, Sidney, died suddenly of a heart attack at age 35  on his son's birthday. John took over being the dad, recalls Rose Candy, the stars wife from 1979 until his death. He was the child that made everyone happy. That loss shaped his humor, which became both a gift and a shield. In high school, he took on the role of the funny kid, a persona that, in part, masked the grief he still carried. I was probably still in shock from all the tragedies I think that we dealt with, Candy, who found refuge in performing, says in an old interview shown in the film.

Moviestore/Shutterstock John Candy and Macaulay Culkin in Uncle Buck

As his fame grew  with standout roles in Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Uncle Buck  so did public scrutiny, particularly around his weight, an ever-present sensitive subject. There was something about John where he played off of his own vulnerability and real-life insecurities, Ryan Reynolds, who produced the film, tells PEOPLE.

While he devoted himself to making others feel good, Candy often neglected his own health and well-being, quietly struggling with rising anxiety and worsening physical health. He had this sort of tendency to act like he was running out of time, Reynolds, 48, adds. Unfortunately, in Johns case, he was.

While filming Wagons East!, Candys crippling, chronic anxiety reached a peak. He had an anxiety attack on his way to set but kept it to himself. Not long after, he died in his sleep. When I heard how they found him, and it looked like he had sat up on the side of the bed and opened up the Bible and was reading from it and just passed away on the bed, I remember thinking how he was trying to find home, recalls longtime friend Don Lake in the film.

courtesy candy family Jennifer, John, Rose and Chris Candy, 1986

His children still vividly remember the shock of the news. Its a day that youll never forget. I was studying for a social studies test at school, Jennifer Candy, 45, who was 13 at the time, tells PEOPLE. Adds Chris Candy, 41: I was 8. Its a lifetime of dealing with it.



This movie feels nice because we get to say goodbye again, this time in a celebratory manner, Chris adds. Now we get to laugh and enjoy who he was, and that part is such a gift. Reynolds continues: Its a documentary on his life, not his death. Its kind of an ode to joy.

Read the original article on People
WASHINGTON  A Simi Valley resident was sentenced to eight years in prison for the "harrowing experience" of trying to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Maryland sentenced Sophie Roske of Simi Valley on Oct. 3 for flying across country to Kavanaugh's house with a gun and other weapons.

Roske, who had faced a maximum of life in prison after pleading guilty in April, had told the judge in a handwritten note that therapy and medications helped her recognize that "violence (political or otherwise) is not the solution."

"I have been portrayed as a monster, and this tragic mistake I made will follow me for the rest of my life," Roske told the judge Oct. 1.

The case was another example of growing political violence threatened or carried out against public figures in an increasingly polarized country.

Other examples include the assassinations of conservative advocate Charlie Kirk in September and two Minnesota lawmakers in June, two assassination attempts against President Donald Trump when he was a candidate in July and September 2024, arson at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's home in April and a kidnapping plot against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in October 2020.

In a September interview with USA TODAY, Justice Amy Coney Barrett voiced concern about violence against public figures.

"But violence or threats of violence should not be the price of public service, and certainly not against family members," Barrett said. "So something needs to change in our culture."

Roske apologized for 'harrowing experience' for Kavanaugh

Roske apologized for putting Kavanaugh and his family through the incident in a five-page, handwritten note submitted to the judge Sept. 19.

I put them through a harrowing experience and for that I am truly sorry, Roske wrote. I am also sorry for contributing to a trend of political violence in American politics.

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh listens to remarks at Vice President JD Vance's residence during a visit by Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheal Martin, ahead of St. Patrick's Day, in Washington, D.C., on March 12, 2025.

Roske was upset about a leaked Supreme Court draft decision overturning the right to abortion. Roske described mental health issues in the note and said the plan was to kill Kavanaugh and then herself, but that therapy and medications have helped her.

While there are many things in the world that I am still upset about, I now recognize that violence (political or otherwise) is not the solution, Roske wrote.

Prosecutors sought at least 30 years; Roske's lawyers asked for 8

Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of at least 30 years based on a history of Roske's Google searches and chats on the Discord app, which mentioned plans to kill up to three justices.

The defendants actions and intent  which were determined, focused, and undeterred for months  were extremely dangerous to the lives of multiple sitting judges, their family members, and the Constitutional judicial order, prosecutors said in a filing.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Justice Brett Kavanaugh look on, on the day of U.S. President Donald Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress, in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., March 4, 2025.

Roskes lawyers proposed an eight-year sentence. They argued that prosecutors downplayed Roskes surrender and provided only perfunctory analysis of Roskes mental health issues.

As any internet user knows, Googling and doom-scrolling, even in dark corners of the internet, does not equate to criminal intent, the defense lawyers said in a filing.

Roske flew to Kavanaugh's home with weapons, then surrendered

Roske had flown from Los Angeles to Dulles International Airport near Washington in June 2022 with a firearm and ammunition, according to court records. Roske took a taxi to Kavanaughs house in suburban Maryland.

Two deputy U.S. Marshals guarding the house saw Roske arrive about 1 a.m. in black clothing with a black backpack and suitcase, according to court records. The marshals got out of their vehicle as the suspect walked down the street and called the Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center to report having homicidal and suicidal thoughts.

County police responded and arrested Roske. Besides the gun and a total of 27 rounds of ammunition, Roske had pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, screwdrivers, duct tape, lock-pick tools and other items.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brett Kavanaugh's attempted assassin from Simi Valley gets 8 years
FILE PHOTO: Kilmar Abrego, the migrant whose wrongful deportation to El Salvador made him a symbol of U.S. President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration policies, appears for a check-in at the ICE Baltimore field office three days after his release from criminal custody in Tennessee, in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., August 25, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) -A federal judge ruled on Friday there was a realistic likelihood that the criminal charges the U.S. Department of Justice brought against Kilmar Abrego, the alleged gang member who was wrongly deported by President Donald Trump's administration to El Salvador, amounted to a vindictive prosecution.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw in Nashville, Tennessee, cited statements administration officials made celebrating the charges brought against Abrego as evidence the indictment may have been pursued in retaliation for a lawsuit he brought in Maryland challenging his wrongful deportation.

Crenshaw pointed to "remarkable statements" Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche made on Fox News that prosecutors started investigating Abrego after a judge in Maryland questioned his removal and found the government "had no right to deport him."

Blanche during the June 6 interview said Abrego was not returned to the United States for any other reason than to face justice."

Crenshaw said those statements could directly establish that the motivations for Abrego's charges stem from the exercise of his rights to bring suit against the administration over his deportation, "rather than a genuine desire to prosecute him for alleged criminal misconduct."

Federal law allows for the dismissal of criminal charges if a judge determines they were brought to punish someone for exercising their due process rights. Such requests rarely succeed.

But Crenshaw, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, said Abrego had carried his burden of showing he was likely vindictively prosecuted. He said Abrego was entitled to obtain further evidence from the government and have a hearing to decide whether the case should be dismissed.

Representatives for Abrego and the Justice Department declined to comment.

Abrego, a native of El Salvador who had been living in Maryland, was deported and imprisoned in El Salvador in March despite a 2019 judicial ruling that he could not be sent there because of a risk of gang persecution.

Abrego challenged that deportation in a civil lawsuit before a federal judge in Maryland. The U.S. Supreme Court in April upheld an order from the Maryland judge that the Trump administration facilitate Abrego's return.

In June, Abrego was returned to the U.S. after prosecutors secured an indictment in Tennessee accusing him of transporting migrants in the U.S. illegally as part of a smuggling ring. Abrego has pleaded not guilty and has disputed that he was a gang member.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Leslie Adler)
A man found dead several yards outside an Arkansas campsite had sent pictures of a bear to his family Tuesday, the Newton County Sheriff's office said in a statement Thursday.

Sheriff Glenn Wheeler said his office was called on Thursday from the man's son. He told law enforcement his father  a 60-year-old man from Missouri  was camping at Sam's Throne near the town of Mt. Judea and hadn't checked in with his family in several days. A deputy sheriff went to the campsite and found the man's truck and campsite.

"The campsite had been disturbed and there was evidence of a struggle and injury. There were also drag marks leading from the campground into the woods," the statement said.

The man was found several yards outside the campsite, and his body had extensive injuries consistent with those expected from a large carnivore attack. The name of the victim has not been released.

"We know without a doubt that a bear was in camp with our victim and the injuries absolutely are consistent with a bear attack. This is a highly unusual case," Wheeler said.

The sheriff said his office was working with multiple law enforcement agencies, dogs and hunters in an effort to locate the bear, which appears to be a young male from the photos. He asked residents to keep an eye out because once bears behave in a predatory manner, it tends to continue.

But the sheriff cautioned, it is "very early in the investigation," and he doesn't want it to become "open season" on any bear that someone may see.

The Sam's Throne campsite has been closed until further notice.

A 72-year-old Arkansas man died in September after being attacked by a bear in Franklin County, the second death in less than a month. Bear attacks in Arkansas are rare, with the Encyclopedia of Arkansas reporting the last bear attack in the state being in 2006 and the last fatality from a bear attack in 1892.

Fatal bear attacks in the United States are rare, with fewer than 60 people being killed from 1900-2009 in North America. The National Park Service recommends staying calm when encountering a bear and moving away in the same direction from arrival  and never approach a bear.

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BACKGRID Meghan Markle in Paris on Oct. 4.

NEED TO KNOW

Meghan Markle made her Paris Fashion Week debut on Oct. 4

The Duchess of Sussex was a regular at New York and Toronto fashion events during her time on Suits

Next week, Meghan and Harry will travel to N.Y.C. to accept Project Healthy Minds Humanitarians of the Year Award

Meghan Markle is making her very first appearance at Paris Fashion Week.

On Saturday, Oct. 4, the Duchess of Sussex, 44, attended the annual event, wearing a white oversized cape over a button-down shirt of the same color.

Meghan paired the light attire with black pointed-toe heels. She kept her hair in a slicked-back bun.

BACKGRID Meghan Markle in Paris on Oct. 4.

While this marked Meghans debut at Paris Fashion Week, she was a familiar face at New York and Toronto Fashion Weeks during her Suits years, attending multiple shows between 2013 and 2015.

Although Meghan, 44, has regularly appeared on red carpets since stepping back from royal life with Prince Harry, 40, in 2020, a fashion week appearance had remained elusiveuntil now.

BACKGRID Meghan Markle in Paris on Oct. 4.

Meghan's style has also evolved in recent years, as she's become a Montecito mother of two to Prince Archie, 6 and Princess Lilibet, 4. She remains a style icon since her days as a working royal, when she championed a variety of designers, including sustainable, socially-conscious Australian brand Outland Denim. Her style choices still resonate today, selling out accessories and outfits from La Ligne and Cesta Collective.

In a season one episode of her Netflix series With Love, Meghan, the duchess explained her "lewk" to guest Mindy Kaling, noting that she likes a balance of "high-low" in her ensembles. That day, for example, she was wearing pants from Zara, a shirt by Italian luxury brand Loro Piana and a sweater from California designer Jenni Kayne.



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Next week, Meghan, 44, and Harry, 40, will travel to New York City to accept Project Healthy Minds Humanitarians of the Year Award at the nonprofit's World Mental Health Day Gala on Thursday, Oct. 9.

PEOPLE exclusively announced the honor, which is being presented to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their work to make the online world a safer place for families and young people, in addition to their strides to advance mental well-being globally.

In a statement, Harry and Meghan said, "Working with families and young people to prioritize safety online has been some of the most meaningful work of our lives. As parents ourselves, we have been moved to action by the power of their stories and are honored to support them. Were proud to be long-time partners of Project Healthy Minds as we work together to shine a light on what remains one of the most pressing issues of our time."

Before heading home to California, Harry and Meghan will also attend Project Healthy Minds' fourth annual World Mental Health Day Festival on Friday, Oct. 10.

Read the original article on People
Sommie Maduagwu/Instagram Somtochukwu Sommie Maduagwu

NEED TO KNOW

A news anchor in Nigeria died after jumping from the third floor of her apartment to escape armed robbers on Sept. 29

Somtochukwu Sommie Maduagwu was 29 years old and a beloved colleague at Arise News

The local police commissioner has called the incident a cruel and senseless act that has no place in a sane society

A news anchor in Nigeria has died after jumping from the third floor of her apartment in an attempt to escape armed robbers.

Somtochukwu Sommie Maduagwu, 29, tragically lost her life during an armed robbery incident at her residence in Abuja during the early hours of Monday, Sept. 29, per a press release from Commissioner of Police Ajao S. Adewale of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command.

Maduagwu, who was an anchor and producer for Nigerian news channel Arise News, jumped and fell three stories in an attempt to evade armed robbers, according to police, per The Mirror, The Sun and Vanguard Nigeria. She was found unconscious on the ground below and rushed to the hospital, but ultimately succumbed to her injuries, per the outlets.

PEOPLE reached out to the Nigerian Police Force and the Federal Capital Territory Administration for comment on Saturday, Oct. 4, but did not receive immediate responses.

Adewale described the incident as a cruel and senseless act that has no place in a sane society, adding that a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident has been ordered.

Sommie Maduagwu/Instagram Somtochukwu Sommie Maduagwu

He further stated that police have deployed intelligence and operational assets to identify, track, and apprehend those responsible for the heinous crime, per the release.

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Arise News station management called Maduagwu a beloved colleague in a statement shared on Instagram on Sept. 29, adding that she was a vibrant voice who engaged and connected with our viewers.

Beyond the airwaves, Sommie was a lawyer who was a professional and supportive colleague and a friend to many, they continued, adding, Sommies voice is now silent but her spirit, passion and legacy will endure as part of our collective memory. We remain in shock and call for a speedy investigation, apprehension and prosecution of the culprits.

Benjamin Kalu, deputy speaker of Nigerias House of Representatives, posted about the tragedy on Instagram on Sept. 30, stating that he was shocked and deeply saddened by the devastating news.

He continued, I join His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR on the call to all security agencies to thoroughly investigate this tragic incident and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice, before adding that he extends his heartfelt condolences to Maduagwus family, friends and colleagues.



Read the original article on People
Pictures of Maria Niotis and Isabella Salas, and an insert of Vinnie Battiloro.

Those furious a 17-year-old accused of fatally mowing down two teenage girls this week is being charged as a juvenile and still allowed to sleep in his own bed instead of a jail bunk may soon get some satisfaction next week  when experts told The Post he may be tried as an adult.

Vinnie Battiloro has been accused of killing Maria Niotis and Isabella Salas Monday in an intentional hit-and-run in Cranford, and now faces two counts of first-degree murder.

The girls, both 17, were sharing an e-bike when police say Battiloro rammed his Jeep into them. Battiloro, whose father and uncle are local law enforcement officers, was questioned after the fatal incident, and released.

He was formally charged and arrested Wednesday.

Maria Niotis and Isabella Salas, both 17, died Monday when they were struck by a Jeep. GoFundMe

Cops said Battiloro was driving 70 mph when the vehicle slammed into the e-bike. One of the victims was found 100 feet from the impact point.

Soon, prosecutors will seek a waiver, transferring the case to adult criminal court, where the possible penalties are much stiffer, onetime Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Alissa Hascup, now in private practice, told The Post.

I would be shocked if the state didnt apply for a waiver, offered Hascup, a partner at Einhorn Barbarito. As part of the waiver application, prosecutors provide a written statement of reason, setting forth the facts of the case with an explanation as to how the evaluation of those facts supports a waiver for the particular juvenile.

Vinnie Battiloro, as seen during his YouTube live stream Monday night. VinnieBat118/YouTube

Once that waiver is filed, its incredibly difficult to overcome on the defense side, according to Hascup. And most of the time, they are granted  unless the court is clearly convinced the prosecutor is abusing their discretion in filing the waiver motion.

Would Hascup represent Battiloro at trial? It would be a hard no, she said, because of the live stream the accused killer hosted within hours of his release  a live stream in which spoke crassly about his alleged crime.

A memorial to the teens continues to grow in Cranford. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post

If prosecuted as a juvenile, the proceedings would be closed to the public, and its outcome, kept secret, Hascup said.

Dr. Jason Williams, a Justice Studies professor at Montclair State University, said it isnt unusual for bail to be granted to juvenile defendants  even in high-profile cases involving more serious crimes.

New Jersey overhauled its bail system in 2017, and state law mandates detention hearings must be held for youths charged with serious offenses, like vehicular homicide, before they can be released.

Each decision is made on an individual basis, using current bail standards rather than relying solely on the type of charge, he added
Courtesy of Apple Eugene Levy with Prince William

NEED TO KNOW

Prince William is revealing which of actor Eugene Levy's comedy films he most enjoyed

The comment came during a conversation with Levy in the Apple TV+ series The Reluctant Traveler

The Prince of Wales told the actor says he watched the movie with "lots of my friends"

Prince William is revealing which of actor Eugene Levy's comedy films he's a major fan of  and his top choice happens to be a raunchy sex comedy.

In the third season of Levy's Apple TV+ series The Reluctant Traveler, the Prince of Wales, 43, speaks at length with the actor, reflecting on his family's history and how he's making things different for the next generation of royals.

But at the outset of their conversation during an episode titled Living the Royal Life in the U.K.," William first jokes, "I heard you were in town, so I thought, why not get you over here? I was a big fan of your earlier films, Eugene, all the American Pies."

He goes on to explain, "Im afraid I was, I was of that generation."

Levy then asks who watched American Pie, released in 1999 with sequels following in the early 2000s, with him.



"Lots of my friends," Prince William explains.

The duo later headed to a local pub to continue their conversation. While there, they discussed the health status of William's wife, Kate Middleton, and his father, King Charles.

Asked how they're both doing now, William says, "Things are good. Everything is progressing in the right way, which is all good news. But, its been, Id say 2024 was the hardest year that Ive ever had. Trying to sort of balance protecting the children, Catherine. My Father needs a bit of protection, but hes, you know, hes old enough to do that himself as well."

Courtesy of Apple Prince William with Eugene Levy

"But its important my family feel protected and have the space to process a lot of the stuff thats gone on last year, and that was tricky trying to do that and keep doing the job," he continues. "But you know, we all have challenges that come our way and its important to keep going."

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A press release from Apple TV+ notes, "The eight-episode season follows host Eugene Levy as he sets out to discover what the 'ultimate travel bucket list' is all about, and he gets a little help from a very special guest, the Prince of Wales."

The Reluctant Travelers U.K. episode will debut on Apple TV+ on Friday, Oct. 3. New episodes will be released weekly.

Read the original article on People
Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino,center, was seen directing protesters and media away from a Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois. - Bill Kirkos/CNN

At least 18 people were arrested outside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near Chicago Friday, where protesters have gathered several weeks in a row amid bubbling tensions as the Trump administrations larger immigration enforcement efforts continue.

Protesters filled the streets outside the facility Friday as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was perched on the rooftop of the controversial building, surrounded by armed agents and a camera crew, according to CNN affiliate WLS. Fridays protests mirror demonstrations seen at the ICE facility in recent weeks.

Broadview police officers and Cook County sheriffs deputies held the line near a large group of protesters and were instructed at one point to put on gas masks. The crowd briefly diminished during the afternoon hours but regained size in the evening as a crowd took hold of the corner across from the facility.

At least five people have been arrested for aggravated battery to a police officer and resisting and obstruction, the Cook County Sheriffs Office told CNN. DHS reported 13 additional arrests Friday evening.

Following the protests at the Broadview ICE facility and the arrest of conservative influencer Nick Sortor near an ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, Noem has requested assistance from the Pentagon, she said while speaking with right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson.

Were not just going to be rolling out of Chicago here, but were sending in the Department of War at the request that I made to Secretary Hegseth. Theyre going to be rolling in here within the next 24 hours. Theyll be coming to Chicago too, I put in a request in today for them to come to Chicago, Noem told Johnson. What we saw happen to that journalist will not happen again, she said in reference to Portland.

There are no written orders for the National Guard to be deployed to Chicago, and there is no unit preparing for that mission, a US Northern Command spokesperson told CNN.

Later in the day, Noem said that she and her team were blocked from entering the Village of Broadview Municipal Building, calling the incident absolutely shameful in a post on X.

We were stopping for a quick bathroom break. This is a public building, Noem said in the post. The building is less than a mile from the local ICE facility.

This is how JB Pritzker and his cronies treat our law enforcement, she said in the post.

Village of Broadview spokesperson David Ormsby told CNN in a statement, We are distressed to hear that the bathrooms are unavailable at the ICE facility.

Noem visited Broadviews Village Hall unannounced to ask for a meeting with Mayor Katrina Thompson, who was out at the time, the spokesperson said.

The mayor returned her visit, Ormsby said. Mayor Thompson went to the ICE center, accompanied by the Broadview Police Chief Thomas, and officers, to ask for the illegal fence to be dismantled. The mayor was told by agents at the gate the secretary was unavailable to meet.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was seen at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois on October 3, 2025. - WLS

The facility, about 10 miles west of Chicago, has been the site of demonstrations against ramped-up ICE enforcement and aggressive tactics for several weeks. Similar protests have flared across the country, including this week in Portland, Oregon, as the White House has aimed to crack down on crime more broadly in Democratic-led cities, often citing the need to protect ICE sites.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker warned of a constitutional crisis during a speech Friday, saying the Trump administration wants people to get used to the idea of the military roaming our streets.

Our house is on fire, and our firefighters are using their hoses to water the lawn outside, Pritzker said while speaking at a fundraiser held by Georgia Democrats. My message of alarm is that the constitutional crisis is not on its way; it is here, and we all better start acting like it.

The protests near Chicago began after local leaders got word in early September that a large-scale enforcement campaign would soon be underway in the Windy City as part of the Trump administrations sweeping immigration agenda.

People protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Broadview facility in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., October 3, 2025. - Jim Vondruska/Reuters

The Midway Blitz Operation has resulted in more than 1,000 arrests, the Department of Homeland Security said in a news release Friday.

Federal agents reporting to Secretary Noem have spent weeks snatching up families, scaring law-abiding residents, violating due process rights, and even detaining U.S. citizens, Pritzker wrote on Facebook on Friday.

Federal agents are also acting with impunity, the governor said in a statement provided to CNN.

In addition to their inhumane tactics on immigration enforcement, they have grossly mishandled and incited tensions at the Broadview facility. This includes firing chemical agents at protesters and media, arresting a reporter, slamming people to the ground, and wreaking havoc on Broadview residents and nearby businesses, the statement said in part.

The governor criticized Noems visit to the state in the Facebook post, saying she should no longer be able to step foot inside the State of Illinois without any form of public accountability.

Its been nearly 45 days since Secretary Noem has held an official press conference, so its time she faces the public and takes questions from the press to be held accountable for the Trump Administrations gross misconduct, Pritzker said in the Facebook post.

Local, state and federal agencies have a large presence at the facility, and have closed multiple streets, including 25th Avenue, a major street in Broadview.

Protesters outside the facility Friday morning held signs and chanted. One sign read, ICE melts under resistance, meanwhile another said, Hate has no home here.

Protester Nicole Bandyk lives in a nearby suburb and decided to join the demonstrators after watching coverage of the protests in news reports and online.

Im not gonna look back and say I sat at home and did nothing, Bandyk told CNN. Its wrong  Its just wrong what theyre doing. We are becoming a fascist authoritarian state and its wrong.

El Centro Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino accompanied Noem on the roof, according to WLS, and was later seen on the ground directing protesters and media away from the area.

Protests have been building for weeks

The latest round of arrests come two weeks after a Democratic Chicago-area mayor running for Congress in Illinois said federal agents teargassed him outside the same facility.

Daniel Biss, the mayor of Evanston, Illinois, spoke about the incident in a video on his X account, saying: Not only did they come with weapons and violence, show of force and drive a van into us, but then they teargassed us, and I have to tell you, it was terrifying.

At least one other person, who identified herself on social media as Kat Abughazaleh, a former journalist also running for Congress, landed on the ground during that same protest after she was pushed by a federal law enforcement agent in a camouflage uniform wearing a full face covering, sunglasses and a helmet, video by CNN affiliate WBBM showed.

We stood in front of the van and they (an officer) came out and picked me up and threw me on the ground, Abughazaleh told CNN at the time, adding that federal agents fired pepper balls at her and weaponless protesters carrying signs.

Sidney Wright IV, Kara Devlin and Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this report.

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In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Railway press office, a passenger train is engulfed in flames following Russia's drone attack on a railway station in Shostka, Sumy region, Ukraine, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (Ukrainian Railway via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Russian drones struck a Ukrainian railway station on Saturday, killing one and wounding dozens, as Moscow stepped up strikes on Ukraine's rail and power grids before the fourth winter since its all-out invasion.

At least 30 people were wounded in the savage attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said following the attack on Shostka, a city in the Sumy region northeast of Kyiv that lies about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the Russian border. Hours later, local prosecutors said that a 71-year-old man was found dead in one of the wrecked carriages.

Russia struck two passenger trains in quick succession, first targeting a local commuter service and then one bound for Kyiv, said Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraines deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister. He said that the second drone hit while an evacuation was underway.

The head of Ukraine's national rail operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, Oleksandr Pertsovsky, called the strike a vile attack aimed at stopping communication with our front-line communities.

This is one of the most brutal Russian tactics  the so-called double tap, when the second strike hits rescuers and people who are evacuating, said Ukraine's top diplomat, Andrii Sybiha, according to a Telegram post by the Foreign Ministry.

Both Zelenskyy and local Gov. Oleh Hryhorov posted what they said were photos from the scene showing a passenger carriage on fire. The drone strikes also knocked out the power supply in Shostka, home to more than 70,000 people before the war, and surrounding areas, according to Hryhorov.

Elsewhere in the Sumy region, a Russian drone struck a fishing boat on a lake near the border, killing a 63-year old man and wounding his 65-year old companion, local prosecutors said Saturday.

Ukraine's rail and power networks hit

Moscow has recently stepped up airstrikes on Ukraines railway network, which is essential for military transport, hitting it almost every day over the past two months. As in previous years since the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the Kremlin has also ramped up attacks on Ukraine's power grid, in what Kyiv calls an attempt to weaponize the approaching winter by denying civilians heat, light and running water.

Overnight into Saturday, Russian drones and missiles pounded Ukraines power grid again, a Ukrainian energy firm said, a day after what officials described as the biggest attack on Ukrainian natural gas facilities since the war began. Friday's strike damaged energy facilities near Chernihiv, a northern city west of Shostka, and sparked blackouts set to affect about 50,000 households, according to regional operator Chernihivoblenergo.

The attack was the biggest so far targeting natural gas facilities run by Ukraines state-owned Naftogaz Group, Ukrainian officials said.

Naftogazs chief executive, Serhii Koretskyi, said Friday that the attacks had no military purpose, while Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko accused Moscow of terrorizing civilians. Moscow claimed the strikes targeted facilities that support Kyivs war effort.

Russian forces overnight launched a further 109 drones and three ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian military reported. It said 73 of the drones were shot down or sent off course.

Russia faces fuel shortages

The Ukrainian military on Saturday reported it again hit one of Russias largest oil refineries. It said a nighttime drone strike caused blasts and a fire at the Kirishi refinery near St. Petersburg, more than 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The refinery, operated by Russian oil major Surgutneftegas, produces close to 17.7 million metric tons per year (355,000 barrels per day) of crude, and is one of Russias top three by output.

Telegram news channels from Russia and Ukraine posted videos they said had been sent in by residents near the city of Kirishi. They show drone-like objects whizzing against a night sky lit up by an orange glow, as blasts thunder in the background.

Local Gov. Alexander Drozdenko on Saturday reported that seven drones were shot down overnight near Kirishi. He said that a fire had been put out in its industrial zone, without specifying what was hit or commenting on damage.

Ukraine has repeatedly struck the Kirishi refinery, with the most recent strike on Sept. 14 also sparking a blaze, according to Russian officials.

Russia remains the worlds second-largest oil exporter. But Moscow moved to pause gasoline exports after a seasonal rise in demand and sustained Ukrainian drone strikes have caused shortages in recent months.

Russian forces shot down 117 Ukrainian drones during the night, and at least 37 more on Saturday, the Defense Ministry in Moscow reported that day. A married couple and two other civilians were injured in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, after a drone struck an unspecified commercial facility, according to regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov.

French journalist killed

Elsewhere, a Russian drone strike killed a French photojournalist late Friday as he was reporting from the front lines in eastern Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian military.

Antoni Lallican, 37, died near the town of Druzhkivka, in the Donetsk region, according to a Facebook post by the 4th Separate Mechanized Brigade. The strike also wounded Hryhory Ivanchenko, a Ukrainian photographer who accompanied him, the military unit said.

Lallican's work had been featured by numerous French and international media outlets, including Le Monde, Le Figaro, Der Spiegel and Die Zeit. He was nominated for the RSF press photography award in 2024.

He is the 14th reporter and fourth French national to be killed while covering Russias full-scale invasion.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images

This morning, Grand Duke Henri abdicated the Luxembourg throne in favor of his eldest son, Guillaume. Even though its a very privileged life, its also a kind of golden cage, Grand Duke Henri said earlier this year. He and his wife, Maria Teresa, will move to Fischbach Castle in Luxembourg.

Luxembourg, which has been a Grand Duchy since 1815, now welcomes its tenth monarch, the new Grand Duke Guillaume. Last year, Henri announced his plans to step down, following the tradition of his father and grandmother. He joins a small but growing list of monarchs to abdicate their thrones this century.

Henri officially abdicated at the Grand Ducal Palace this morning, and Guillaume was sworn in. After, the Grand Ducal family of Luxembourg appeared on the balcony of the Palace, and tonight, there will be a gala dinner. In attendance are numerous Luxembourg dignitaries, including Prime Minister Luc Frieden and Mayor of the City of Luxembourg, Lydie Polfer, and royals from the Netherlands and Belgium, and the entire Luxembourg royal family.

Here, see all the best pictures from the day:



Grand Duke Henri arrives with Grand Duchess Maria Teresa for his abdication ceremony at the Grand Ducal Palace.

NICOLAS TUCAT - Getty Images

The couple were ready to step down.

Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images

Henri passes the throne to his eldest son, Guillaume (second from right).

Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images

Queen Mathilde, King Philippe, and Princess Elisabeth of Belgium were there for the ceremony.

Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images

Queen Maxima, King Willem-Alexander, and Princess Catharina-Amalia attended the ceremony.

Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images

Catharina-Amalia looked lovely in maroon.

NICOLAS TUCAT - Getty Images

Grand Duke Guillaume and Grand Duchess Stephanie at their swearing-in ceremony.

NICOLAS TUCAT - Getty Images

The new Grand Ducal couple with their sons wave from the balcony of the palace.

NICOLAS TUCAT - Getty Images

Guillaume's brothers Prince Sebastien, Prince Felix, and Prince Louis, and his sister-in-law Princess Claire.



Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images

The whole family pictured on the Grand Ducal palace balcony.

Read more: The Luxembourg royal family tree, explained

Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images

Princess Catharina-Amalia and Princess Elisabeth, two future queens, spent time together.

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U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., February 17, 2022. REUTERS/Jon Cherry

By Patricia Zengerle and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on Friday he will introduce legislation to deter aggression against Taiwan by identifying targets for economic measures that could be deployed rapidly if China acts against the island.

Republican Senator Jim Risch of Idaho said his "Deter PRC Aggression Against Taiwan Act" would create a State and Treasury Department-led task force that would identify Chinese military and non-military targets for sanctions, export controls and other economic measures to use against Beijing in case of Chinese aggression against Taiwan.

"Using lessons learned from the challenges in U.S. and partner country sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, this legislation will ensure America is prepared to hit China where it hurts should China follow through on its threats to use violent force against Taiwan," Risch said in a statement.

An aide said he planned to introduce the measure on Monday.

The Chinese foreign ministry, in a statement in response to Reuters questions, said the United States should strictly abide by the one-China principle - under which China claims the democratically governed Taiwan as its own - and stop undermining bilateral relations and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

"The Taiwan issue is China's internal affair," the ministry said. "How to resolve it is solely China's own business and does not tolerate any external interference."

News of the proposed bill comes ahead of an expected meeting this month between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, with the U.S. leader seeking to conclude a major trade deal with Washington's biggest economic and geopolitical rival.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Beijing has stepped up military and political pressure against Taiwan in recent years.

The U.S. is Taipei's main foreign backer and some foreign policy experts and people in Taiwan are concerned that Trump may not be as committed to defense of the Chinese-claimed island as past U.S. presidents and might be willing to offer Beijing concessions to secure a significant trade deal.

The U.S. State Department says the U.S. position on Taiwan has not changed and that Washington opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side.

Analysts say China would particularly like the Trump administration to state explicitly that it opposes Taiwan's independence rather than say, as did the Biden administration, that it did not support it.

Risch's bill is one of several legislative initiatives in the Senate and House of Representatives that supporters say underscore support in Congress for continuing to take a hard line against any Chinese moves on Taiwan.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and David Brunnstrom; Additional reporting by Ryan Woo in Beijing; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
Washington  The Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for the Trump administration to end temporary legal protections for more than 300,000 Venezuelan migrants.

The high court agreed to freeze a lower court decision that found the Department of Homeland Security illegally terminated the Temporary Protected Status program for Venezuelan migrants, which allowed them to live and work in the U.S. without the threat of immediate deportation.

By halting the September ruling from U.S. District Judge Edward Chen, the Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to move forward with rolling back the legal protections for Venezuelans. This is the second time the high court has green-lit the Department of Homeland Security's move to strip hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans of their temporary legal protections.

"Although the posture of the case has changed, the parties' legal arguments and relative harms generally have not," the Supreme Court said in an unsigned order. "The same result that we reached in May is appropriate here."

Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor said they would have denied the Trump administration's request for emergency relief, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

"We once again use our equitable power (but not our opinion-writing capacity) to allow this Administration to disrupt as many lives as possible, as quickly as possible. I view today's decision as yet another grave misuse of our emergency docket," Jackson wrote in a dissenting opinion.

DHS called the order a "win for the American people and commonsense" in a post on X.

"Temporary Protected Status was always supposed to be just that: Temporary. Yet, previous administrations abused, exploited, and mangled TPS into a de facto amnesty program," the agency said.

The National TPS Alliance, one of the plaintiffs in the case, criticized Friday's order.

"It is heartbreaking that the justices rubber-stamped this administration's unlawful cancellation of TPS. This decision will upend the lives of hundreds of thousands of law-abiding, hard-working TPS holders like myself," plaintiff and National TPS Alliance member Cecilia Gonzalez, who has lived in the U.S. since 2017, said in a statement.

In seeking emergency relief from the Supreme Court, Solicitor General D. John Sauer had argued that the lower court could not review Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's decision to cancel an extension of TPS status for Venezuela and then revoke the country's designation.

Sauer wrote in a filing that the district court's ruling "impedes important immigration enforcement policies" by allowing 300,000 Venezuelan migrants to stay in the U.S. despite Noem's determination that doing so is "contrary to the national interest."

The Trump administration's request for emergency relief is the latest in which it has accused lower courts of ignoring Supreme Court orders issued during earlier stages of cases. In this instance, the high court in May allowed the Trump administration to end the TPS program for Venezuelans while legal proceedings moved forward. That decision stemmed from a preliminary order from Chen, who went on to decide the full merits of the case last month.

The judge ruled the Trump administration's attempt to strip TPS from Venezuelans living in the U.S. was illegal. Chen wrote the Supreme Court's May decision, which he said lacked "any specific rationale," did not bar him from adjudicating the case on the merits and issuing a final decision providing relief.

"This case arose from action taken post haste by the current DHS Secretary, Kristi Noem, to revoke the legal status of Venezuelan and Haitian TPS holders, sending them back to conditions that are so dangerous that even the State Department advises against travel to their home countries," Chen wrote in his ruling. "The Secretary's action in revoking TPS was not only unprecedented in the manner and speed in which it was taken but also violates the law."

But Sauer, the solicitor general, accused the district judge of disregarding the Supreme Court's earlier order, which he said was binding.

"Lower courts cannot treat this Court's orders as good for only one stage of only one case by gesturing at irrelevant distinctions, subjectively grading the persuasiveness of the Court's perceived reasoning, or faulting the Court's terseness," he wrote.

Congress created the program known as TPS in 1990 to provide temporary immigration protections for migrants from countries beset by wars, natural disasters or other "extraordinary and temporary" conditions that make it dangerous for deportees to return. Migrants from a country designated for TPS cannot be removed from the U.S. and are authorized to work for the length of the designation, which can last for up to 18 months.

The Biden administration designated Venezuela for TPS in March 2021, and it was later extended. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also re-designated Venezuela for TPS.

But after the second Trump administration came into power, Noem canceled her predecessor's extension and then rescinded the program for Venezuela, finding that allowing migrants to temporarily stay in the U.S. would be "contrary to the national interest." The secretary said that the TPS program had allowed a significant number of Venezuelan migrants without a path to legal immigration status to settle in the U.S., straining local resources.

The Trump administration urged Venezuelans shielded through the program to self-deport before the protections would end in April.

But in February, a group of TPS beneficiaries and the National TPS Alliance challenged the Trump administration's move and sought to have the legal protections reinstated. They succeeded in securing preliminary relief in March and then prevailed on the merits last month.

The Trump administration asked a federal appeals court to pause the district court's decision while it appealed, but the request was denied.

In its bid for emergency relief from the Supreme Court, the Trump administration said federal immigration law forbids courts from second-guessing Noem's decision to end the TPS program for Venezuela.

"[T]he Secretary determined that even a six-month extension of TPS would harm the United States' 'national security' and 'public safety,' while also straining police stations, city shelters, and aid services in local communities that had reached a breaking point," Sauer wrote. "Moreover, delay of the Secretary's decisions threatens to undermine the United States' foreign policy, which involves complex negotiations with Venezuela."

But lawyers for the plaintiffs, led by the National TPS Alliance, called the Trump administration's assertion that the district judge ignored the Supreme Court's earlier order "baseless and dangerous."

They also said that the Supreme Court's earlier order, which allowed the administration to end the temporary deportation protections, caused significant harm to Venezuelans.

"People lost their jobs, were jailed, and ultimately deported to a country that remains extremely unsafe," lawyers wrote in a Supreme Court filing. "The summary judgment order below has provided respite from that harm by restoring the status quo. Disturbing it now will cause massive injuries to Plaintiffs and their loved ones, including many American children."

The TPS beneficiaries told the court that Noem has exercised "unprecedented authority to vacate a TPS extension at any time, for any reason," which they said violates the TPS system created by Congress.

Since President Trump returned to the White House, his administration has sought to end programs allowing certain migrants to live and work in the U.S. The Supreme Court has allowed many of the president's immigration policies to move forward, including its cancellation of a program benefiting roughly 500,000 Cubans, Nicaraguans, Haitians and Venezuelans.

It has also let federal immigration authorities resume sweeping enforcement stops in the Los Angeles area, conducted as part of the campaign to carry out mass deportations of people in the U.S. unlawfully.

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A demonstrator dressed in an inflatable frog costume stands infront of law enforcement officers during a protest outside of the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) headquarters in south Portland, Oregon, U.S., October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

A demonstrator dressed in an inflatable frog costume stands infront of law enforcement officers during a protest outside of the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) headquarters in south Portland, Oregon, U.S., October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

By Gram Slattery and Jonathan Allen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump has directed his team to review federal aid to Portland, Oregon, that can be cut as his anger with the city's anti-government and anti-fascism protesters mounts, the White House said on Friday.

"We will not fund states that allow anarchy," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters. She gave no details about what funds Trump, a Republican, might try to block.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly use threats of withholding federal funding, which is mandated by Congress, to punish those he views as his political opponents, including Democrats in state and local government and elite universities, which he views as overrun by Marxists.

The streets of downtown Portland, the largest city in Oregon, have been filled sporadically in the last few years with left-wing protesters, most recently focused on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carrying out Trump's plan to arrest and deport more migrants.

Portland city officials said the Trump administration was threatening to withhold federal funding from the city without formal notice or justification.

The move would "siphon vital funding from our economy during a government shutdown that is already hurting cities like ours across the nation," Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, a Democrat, said in a statement.

"We will use every legal and constitutional tool at our disposal to protect our residents, uphold our values, and defend the rights of every Portlander," he said.

Leavitt also said she was dismayed that a conservative independent journalist was among three people arrested by Portland police at a demonstration outside ICE's offices.

"This incident is part of a troubling trend for Portland, where left-wing mobs believe they get to decide who can visit and live in their city," Leavitt told reporters. "It is not their city, it is the American people's city."

Police said the journalist Nicholas Sortor was arrested along with two others for fighting at the protest and charged with disorderly conduct. Video showed Sortor arguing with protesters and he said on Friday he had acted in self-defense.

Leavitt said she had spoken with Sortor and that the U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights division was examining whether Sortor was a victim of "viewpoint discrimination" by Portland police.

Last week, Trump said he considered the city's anti-fascism protesters, sometimes referred to as "antifa," to be "domestic terrorists" and that he was sending soldiers there to protect ICE agents and facilities. This week, he said he was taking control of the Oregon National Guard, the state's militia.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, also a Democrat, said in a written statement that she would "not be bullied into allowing the president to disregard Oregonians right to govern themselves."

"Pulling federal funding would harm the people of Oregon and be a dereliction of the presidents duty to solve real problems," Kotek added.

In response to the arrest of Sortor, the Portland Police Bureau said in a statement it enforced the law impartially.

"As with all such situations, arrests are based on observed behavior and probable cause  not political affiliation or public profile," the police statement said.

Wilson and other leaders in Oregon have denounced efforts to militarize policing in Portland and say Trump is violating the U.S. Constitution.

As with other states, most federal aid to Oregon helps fund healthcare, education and transportation infrastructure.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen; Writing by Katharine Jackson, Jonathan Allen and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Cynthia Osterman)
Soybeans are harvested on the Warpup Farm in Warren, Ind., in September. (Michael Conroy / AP file)

The humble soybean is the latest flashpoint in the Trump administrations campaign to reshape global trade.

Used in everything from animal feed to fuel, soybeans regularly rank among the most valuable U.S. agricultural exports, towering over higher-profile crops like corn and cotton.

More than $30 billion worth of American soybean products were exported in fiscal year 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

For American soybean farmers, their top overseas market has long been China, which bought around a third of the export crop  approximately $12 billion worth of American soybean products  in the last calendar year, USDA data shows.

But not anymore.

As President Donald Trumps trade war leaves U.S.-China relations somewhere between frosty and openly hostile, Americas soybean farmers appear to be an early casualty.

An embargo in all but name

So far, China has not purchased any U.S. soybeans during this years main harvest period, with sales falling to zero in May.

This has pushed many American farmers reliant on soybeans nearly to the breaking point.

It has also complicated the Trump administrations plans to provide billions in foreign economic aid to Argentina.

Buenos Aires recently sold more than 2.5 million metric tons of soybeans to Beijing, after briefly suspending its export tax on the soy products.

Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday. (Greg Baker / AFP - Getty Images)

U.S. officials blame China for the looming crisis facing American soybean producers.

Its unfortunate the Chinese leadership has decided to use the American farmers, soybean farmers in particular, as a hostage or pawn in the trade negotiations, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday on CNBC.

Farmers view the situation differently, however. They want Trump to reach a trade deal with China that ends the unofficial embargo on soybeans. But instead, what they see is the White House preparing to bail out one of their chief rivals for the Chinese export market.

The frustration is overwhelming, American Soybean Association President Caleb Ragland said in a recent statement.

Meanwhile, China  the worlds biggest buyer of soybeans indicated last week that it wont resume U.S. purchases unless more Trump tariffs are lifted.

As for soybean trade, the U.S. side should take proactive steps to remove relevant unreasonable tariffs, create conditions for expanding bilateral trade, and inject more stability and certainty into global economic development, Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yadong told reporters in Beijing.

Emergency relief is coming

The Trump administration will announce new support for farmers, especially the soybean farmers, on Tuesday, Bessent said.

Were also going to be working with the Farm Credit Bureau to make sure that the farmers have what they need for the next planting season, he added.

Bessent personally owns as much as $25 million worth of farmland in North Dakota that produces corn and soybeans, according to his recent financial disclosures.

He said soybeans would be a topic of discussion at the upcoming meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum later this month.

Mark German loading soybeans into a truck in Dwight, Ill., in August. (Scott Olson / Getty Images file)

Trump is also aware of the impact his trade policies are having on American farmers, starting with soybean growers.

The Soybean Farmers of our Country are being hurt because China is, for negotiating reasons only, not buying, the president posted Wednesday on Truth Social.

Weve made so much money on Tariffs, that we are going to take a small portion of that money, and help our Farmers, Trump added.

The question is whether this aid will come soon enough to save this years massive harvest of soybeans.

At the center of the firestorm is Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who warned this week that this moment of uncertainty in the farm economy is real. Speaking on Fox Business Network, she emphasized that Trump has long supported U.S. farmers.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins outside the White House on Tuesday. (Aaron Schwartz / Sipa USA via AP)

President Trump and Secretary Rollins are always in touch about the needs of our farmers, who played a crucial role in the Presidents November victory, the White House said in a statement Thursday. He has made clear his intention to use tariff revenue to help our agricultural sector, but no final decisions on the contours of this plan have been made.

The Argentina factor

The current U.S.-China stalemate over soybean exports is also complicating another American foreign policy conundrum: what to do about Argentinas faltering economy.

As U.S. soybean exports to China screech to a halt, Argentinas farmers jumped at the opportunity to sell China their own soybeans.

From their perspective, a potential U.S. economic aid package has nothing to do with their soybean exports, and everything to do with the personal and political alliance between Trump and libertarian President Javier Milei.

Milei was the first foreign leader to visit Trump after his 2024 election victory, and he has become a familiar face at U.S. political events attended by the presidents MAGA supporters.

At a Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, D.C. in February, Milei gifted then-Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk a red chainsaw.

Musk then waved it around onstage, calling it the chainsaw for bureaucracy.

Elon Musk holding a chain saw at a CPAC conference in Oxon Hill, Md., in February. (Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

Eight months later, Mileis popularity with voters has plunged, raising doubts about the future of his market-friendly economic reforms and strict austerity measures.

Local elections in early September dealt a blow to Mileis party, triggering massive turmoil in Argentinas stock and currency markets.

A few weeks after the market plunge, Bessent announced on social media that the U.S. was prepared to deploy billions of dollars to support the South American country.

A presidential delegation from Buenos Aires is expected to visit the White House next week to finalize the U.S. foreign aid deal.

This has infuriated the soybean farmers.

U.S. soybean prices are falling, harvest is underway, and farmers read headlines not about securing a trade agreement with China, but that the U.S. government is extending $20 billion in economic support to Argentina while that country drops its soybean export taxes to sell 20 shiploads of Argentine soybeans to China in just two days, Ragland said.

President-elect Donald Trump with Argentine President Javier Milei at the America First Policy Institute gala at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., in November. (Carlos Barria / Reuters file)

Meanwhile, Milei has also secured a currency swap line for Argentina from China, a situation that gives pause to some in Washington.

In response, Milei has said Argentina will maintain its mutually beneficial trade and economic relationship with China.

Tensions inside the Trump administration over China, Argentina and the soybean farmers broke into the open last week.

While attending the U.N. General Assembly, Bessent received a text message from a contact labeled BR.

We bailed out Argentina yesterday  and in return, the Argentines removed their export tariff on grains, reducing their price, and sold a bunch of soybeans to China at a time when we would normally be selling to China, read the message, widely presumed to come from Rollins.

Soy prices are dropping further because of it. This gives China more leverage on us, the message concluded.

Spokespeople for Bessent and Rollins did not respond to questions about the text message exchange.
The Clean Canaveral liquefied natural gas bunker barge completed its first barge-to-ship bunkering of a cargo vessel at Port Canaveral, Fla on July 20, 2023. Facebook / Port Canaveral

(The Center Square)  U.S. LNG exports hit a record high in September at 9.4 million metric tons, up from a previous record 9.3 million metric tons in August, according to preliminary data from financial firm LSEG.

The United States was the world's largest liquefied natural gas exporter in 2024, with Louisiana accounting for about 61% of total LNG shipments. Texas, the second biggest exporter, was the source of about 31% of the U.S. LNG shipped overseas in 2024.

Weekly data compiled by Bloomberg shows 81 LNG tankers departed Louisiana export terminals between Sept. 3 and October 1, representing 67% of total U.S. shipments during the four-week period. The data shows 35 LNG tankers departed Texas export facilities during the same four weeks, while three shipments left terminals in Virginia and Georgia, according to Bloomberg.

Cheniere Energys Sabine Pass facility in Cameron Parish, the worlds largest export terminal with capacity of 29.5 million tons per year, shipped 32 cargos in September.

Louisiana is leading the nation in LNG exports and it is crucial that our leaders continue to support the policies that have unleashed this dominance, said Tommy Faucheux, president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association. Louisianas energy industry is revitalizing our states economy and creating the opportunities that will keep our kids here in Louisiana, Faucheux said.

Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has advanced U.S. "energy dominance" through executive orders and policies that streamline the permitting process on LNG projects and reduce regulatory burdens on existing export facilities.

Commonwealth's LNG facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, was authorized in February to export up to 1.21 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to non-FTA countries and in August Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass LNG project was approved for an increase in liquefaction capacity from 12.0 to 12.4 million tons per year.

In May, the DOE issued a final authorization to Sempra Energys Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project that allows exports to countries that do not have free trade agreements with the United States.

Trump has also taken actions to advance U.S. energy dominance through trade deals, such as such as a recent agreement with the European Union for the purchase of $750 billion of American energy products.

Record overseas purchases of U.S. LNG in September was driven by strong sales to Europe and Asia, according to LSEG. Europe, the most popular destination for U.S. exports in September, received about 6.22 million metric tons, or about 66% of all LNG shipments from American ports. Asian nations received about 1.63 million metric tons in September, about 17% of total U.S. exports.

Africa and Latin American nations received a combined 1.63 million metric tons in September, representing about 15% of U.S. LNG exports.
This story was updated to include Crump and the Rodriguez Zavala family's statements.

Universal Orlando's Stardust Racers is reopening at Epic Universe on Saturday, Oct. 4, a little over two weeks after a theme park guest died.

Kevin Rodriguez Zavala, 32, was found unresponsive on the Stardust Racers roller coaster after riding it late Sept. 17. In a letter sent to Universal team members that was shared with USA TODAY, resort president Karen Irwin first offered her condolences to Rodriguez's family and loved ones.

Irwin shared that their comprehensive technical and operational review confirmed the ride systems functioned properly throughout the boarding process, the duration of the ride, and upon the ride vehicles return to the station. They also added that team members followed procedures throughout.

Are theme park rides safe? What you should know about accidents

"Our extensive review was conducted working closely with local officials, and the State of Florida observed the testing and reviewed the results," Irwin states. "In addition, the ride system manufacturer of record and an independent, third-party roller coaster engineering expert conducted their own on-site testing and validated our findings."

Irwin said safety is the top priority and, to further assist guests in determining whether they can or cannot ride an attraction, the park is "updating operational procedures and attraction signage to reinforce existing ride warnings and physical eligibility requirements at Stardust Racers and other rides."

This comes days after the Rodriguez Zavala family and attorney Ben Crump held a press conference claiming that Universal Orlando missed "multiple warning signs" ahead of Rodriguez's death and added that they were aware that there were concerns about the ride's safety.

"The multiple Stardust Racers riders who have come forward to the family and our office lead us to believe that Kevin's case was not an isolated incident," Crump said on Tuesday, Sept. 30.

What happened to Kevin Rodriguez Zavala? What was the cause of death?

Kevin Rodriguez Zavala, 32, of Kissimmee died after being found unresponsive on Epic Universe's Stardust Racers roller coaster after riding it on Sept. 17. His family set up a GoFundMe to cover the funeral and memorial expenses.

Rodriguez, 32, was visiting the park near Orlando and was found unresponsive on the roller coaster after riding it. In an incident report shared with USA TODAY Network-Florida on Friday afternoon, an Orange County Sheriff's Office deputy responded to a medical emergency at the theme park at around 9:20 p.m.

In audio shared by the Orange County Sheriff's Office, a deputy at the scene told the OCSO communication center that they were responding to a guest (later identified as Rodriguez) who had a laceration and was "not breathing."

Universal Orlando Health Services and OCFRD were performing CPR on Rodriguez when deputies arrived. The OCSO said Rodriguez was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead at 10:05 p.m.

The Orange County Medical Examiner told USA TODAY on Thursday evening that "multiple blunt impact injuries" are the cause of death. It has been ruled an accident. The sheriffs office incident report noted Rodriguez Zavala had a pre-existing spinal injury and was taking medication.

Attorney Natalie Jackson, co-director of litigation for Crumps Central Florida office, said last week that, our investigation so far has confirmed that Kevin suffered repeated head injuries during the ride and was unconscious for the majority of the duration of the ride. They confirmed that Rodriguez had lacerations.

According to the family, they said multiple eye-witnesses described a chaotic scene with Rodriguez slumped over and blood everywhere. Many also claim that employees weren't helpful and seemed unprepared to address an emergency.

Crump said he has requested that Universal provide videos of the incident, but has been denied so far.

Has Crump, Rodriguez Zavala family addressed the ride reopening?

Crump and the Rodriguez Zavala family shared a statement to USA TODAY Florida on Oct. 3.

Stardust Racers is evidence in an active death investigation. Reopening the ride before our experts can examine every component is unadulterated spoliation of evidence, a grave risk to public safety, and puts profit over peoples lives. Universal reportedly told employees the ride functioned as intended. If that is accurate, then the design itself is deadly. We are demanding that Universal pause the reopening, preserve all evidence, and allow our experts to inspect it. If they refuse, we will address Universals callous actions in court, said Crump.

Kevins parents, Carlos Rodriguez Ortiz and Ana Zavala, said: By rushing to reopen this ride as if nothing happened, Universal is showing great disrespect for Kevins life, our familys pain, and the safety of every rider who steps onto that coaster. We are horrified that Universal would put the ride back into operation so quickly.

What is Stardust Racers? Where is Stardust Racers located?

Stardust Racers is a dueling coaster in Universal Epic Universe's Celestial Park. You never know which side will win.

Stardust Racers is a dual-launch racing coaster located in the Celestial Park section of Epic Universe. It reaches speeds of 62 mph, rises to 133 feet in the air, and runs along 5,000 feet of track.

The beginning of the coaster features two powerful launches, with another one toward the end of the ride. The two tracks glide between each other many times throughout the ride, including during the "Celestial Spin."

How long has Stardust Racers been closed to the public?

The ride was closed after the incident on Sept. 17 and had not been reopened.

The family of Rodriguez Zavala requested that the attraction remain closed while they conduct a thorough investigation into what happened and ensure that this incident does not happen again. It is unknown if that investigation has been completed or not.

Universal settles a different lawsuit over Stardust Racers injuries

A notice of settlement and a notice of voluntary dismissal with prejudice as to the defendant were filed on Sept. 26 in a different lawsuit regarding Stardust Racers, WESH TV reported.

Sandi Streets filed a negligence lawsuit against Universal City Development Partners Ltd. on Sept. 24 in Orlando, seeking damages exceeding $50,000. The lawsuit alleged that she sustained an injury from riding the Stardust Racers roller coaster.

According to the complaint obtained by USA TODAY Network-Florida, Streets was invited to Epic Universe on April 30, weeks before it officially opened to the public on May 22. While on Stardust Racers, it says Street's head shook violently and slammed into the seats headrest throughout the ride, causing permanent injuries.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Epic Universe coaster returns after death sparks safety concerns
FILE PHOTO: A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, U.S., June 1, 2024. REUTERS/Will Dunham/File Photo

By John Kruzel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear a challenge to a Hawaii law restricting the carrying of handguns on private property that is open to the public such as most businesses, giving the justices a chance to further expand gun rights.

The justices took up an appeal by three Hawaii residents with concealed carry licenses and a Honolulu-based gun rights advocacy group of a lower court's determination that Hawaii's measure likely complies with the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

The Hawaii law requires concealed carry licensees to get an owner's consent before bringing a handgun onto private property open to the public.

The Supreme Court is due to hear arguments in the case during its new nine-month term that starts on Monday. The court did not take up an aspect of the legal challenge that focused on the law's provisions banning the carrying of handguns at beaches, bars and other sensitive places.

The plaintiffs sued to challenge Hawaii's restrictions weeks after Democratic Governor Josh Green signed the measure into law in 2023. The challengers argued among other things that the measure violates their Second Amendment rights.

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals largely ruled against the plaintiffs, prompting their appeal to the Supreme Court.

President Donald Trump's administration filed a Supreme Court brief backing the challengers in the case.

Alan Beck, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said Hawaii's law "effectively bans the carry of firearms in metropolitan areas."

"I believe the Supreme Court will find this onerous law violates the Second Amendment," Beck said.

Neal Katyal, who represents Hawaii's attorney general in the dispute, said, "We look forward to the Supreme Court's consideration of this important case."

In a nation bitterly divided over how to address persistent firearms violence including frequent mass shootings, the Supreme Court often has taken an expansive view of Second Amendment protections. The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, widened gun rights in three major rulings in 2008, 2010 and most recently in 2022.

The plaintiffs in the Hawaii case have cited that 2022 ruling's holding that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense. That landmark 6-3 decision, called New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, was powered by the court's six conservatives, over dissents from the three liberal justices.

The Bruen decision invalidated New York state's limits on carrying concealed handguns outside the home. In doing so, the court created a new test for assessing firearms laws, saying that restrictions must be "consistent with this nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation," not simply advance an important government interest.

The court in 2024 ruled 8-1 that a federal law that makes it a crime for people under domestic violence restraining orders to have guns satisfied the court's stringent history-and-tradition test.

(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham)
CANTON  The Stark County Prosecutor's Office wants someone else to oversee the case against two Canton police officers charged in connection with the death of Frank Tyson.

Senior Assistant Prosecutor Megan E. Starrett on Oct. 3 asked visiting Judge James L. Kimbler  who was appointed after Stark County Common Pleas judges recused themselves  to appoint a special prosecutor for the trial of officers Beau Schoenegge and Camden C. Burch.

They are charged with reckless homicide, accused of causing Tyson's death during an April 2024 arrest.

Starrett said Alliance attorney Jeffrey R. Jakmides is willing to serve as special prosecutor. He was seated in Common Pleas Court during the pretrial hearing when she made the request.

She said prosecutors have to work closely with the Canton Police Department, and some issues have occurred between the prosecution and some of the police officers since Burch and Schoenegge were indicted.

"The state of Ohio feels that is creating a conflict in our ability to work closely with them and appropriately with them," Starrett said.

She said the Ohio Attorney General's Office declined to take the case.

Kimbler said he believes the judge picks a special prosecutor. He asked Starrett whether her office had asked any other elected county prosecutors whether they would be willing to handle the case.

Starrett said it had not.

The judge asked Starrett to state which section of the code of professional responsibility for attorneys would mandate the withdrawal of the Stark County Prosecutor's Office.

"I cannot tell you off the top of my head," Starrett said.

Kimbler, a retired Medina County Common Pleas judge, gave Starrett two weeks to file a written motion and memorandum about the request for a special prosecutor. Defense attorneys will have two weeks to reply. Starrett will have a week to reply to their response.

"But I will tell you this ... I'm aware of other county prosecutors who have filed, who have sought and obtained indictments from the grand jury against police officers who have not used that as a basis to get off the case," Kimbler said.

He noted that the case has been pending since a November 2024 indictment, and asked Starrett why the prosecution had not realized before Oct. 3 that it wanted a special prosecutor.

Starrett said her office was exploring potential special prosecutors. She said the office was aware of the issue before Kimbler was appointed, but wanted to wait until the issue could be brought to him.

Kimbler was appointed following the Sept. 12 recusal by Stark County Judge Kristin G. Farmer. The other four judges in the general division also recused themselves. The Oct. 3 hearing was the first for Kimbler.

The judge said he wants the trial to begin on its scheduled date of Jan. 26, if at all possible. He noted the incident occurred in April 2024.

"I think this case needs to be resolved," Kimbler said. "I don't think it's getting better with age, not like a fine wine."

A final pretrial conference is scheduled for Jan. 21.

Starrett said her co-counsel, Prosecutor Kyle L. Stone, did not attend the Oct. 3 hearing due to a prior commitment.

Tyson, a 53-year-old Black man from Canton Township, died April 18, 2024, after a struggle with city police officers inside the AMVETS building on Sherrick Road SE. He'd entered the club after crashing a vehicle into a nearby utility pole, prompting calls to 911.

Schoenegge and Burch left Tyson on the floor face-down for several minutes before the officer who handcuffed Tyson realized he couldn't feel a pulse.

Recusal: Stark judge steps down from reckless homicide case against 2 Canton police officers

Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Judge asked to appoint special prosecutor for Frank Tyson case
The closed main entrance and only vehicle entrance to Great Falls Park, seen on Friday. - Brian Todd/CNN

Several visitors just couldnt wait for the weekend to get into Great Falls Park in northern Virginia.

They drove up to the parks main gate on Friday morning, and, seeing a closed entrance and three layers of barricades, parked illegally along the narrow road leading to the park. Many of them moved over and around the barricades to enter the park on foot.

Americas national parks  including this small piece of federal land outside Washington, DC  will stay partially open during the government shutdown that began Wednesday, according to the Department of the Interior, leading to limited entrances, amenities and staffing. While its not illegal to access parks on foot during the shutdown, the scene at Great Falls illustrates park advocates safety concerns and visitors frustrations.

Visitors walking toward the entrance of Great Falls Park after moving past barricades on foot on Friday. - Brian Todd/CNN

We are about to head into a very beautiful weekend. You better believe Im extremely nervous, Ed Stierli, Mid-Atlantic senior regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association, told CNN in a phone call Friday.

Stierli is particularly concerned with the situation at Great Falls, where trails and picturesque cliffsides along the Potomac River attract many visitors, especially with this weekends pleasant weather.

We are encouraging people not to go to the parks right now, Stierli said. Now is not the time to climb over closed gates and risk your safety. Its not good for the park and its not good for visitors.

During the shutdown  which has no end in sight  park roads, trails and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible, but many visitors centers will be closed. And the furlough of more than 9,000 National Park Service employees will create a dearth of park rangers to ensure safety and guide visitors.

Stierli is worried that without park rangers at Great Falls to monitor visitors, many will put themselves in danger by climbing on rock formations atop cliffs over the river, many just a few feet away from hiking trails.

This is a park that has one of the most dangerous stretches of the Potomac River, Stierli said. The currents there are deadly.

Because of the lack of staff and visitor centers, Stierli said, the National Parks Conservation Association thinks that national parks should be completely closed during the shutdown. Earlier this week, other park advocacy groups such as the Coalition to Protect Americas National Parks and the Association of National Park Rangers criticized the decision to keep the parks partially open, calling it dangerous and irresponsible. The Association of National Park Rangers warned of an increased risk of vandalism and poaching.

Stierli said during the last major government shutdown, from December 2018 to January 2019, an arrowhead on display at an entrance to Shenandoah National Park was stolen.

Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of the NPCA, said in a statement that during that same shutdown, Parks were left open without enough staff. Landmarks were graffitied, artifacts stolen, Joshua Trees destroyed, fragile landscapes damaged by illegal off-roading, wildlife poached, and trash and human waste overflowed.

Frustrated hikers and out-of-state visitors

Many visitors to national parks in the Washington, DC, region on Friday were just irked with the lack of services and poor communication.

CNN went to three parks in the DC region: Great Falls Park and Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia, as well as Greenbelt Park in Maryland. At all three, visitors centers were closed, bathrooms were inaccessible and very few employees were visible.

I think its a little confusing and they should be more clear on entries and hours, and if were even allowed to come in, said Linda Mamoud, a medical student from Herndon, Virginia, who was hiking at Great Falls.

Mamoud said when she drove up to the barricades on Friday and saw the entrance closed, I went on to Reddit threads and people said to just park at River Bend Park and then walk 40 minutes here on a different trail. She said the websites for Great Falls and the Park Service didnt give specifics on how to access the park on foot.

Steve Hildreth, 84, traveled from Idaho Falls, Idaho, to visit his son in northern Virginia and was taken aback when they couldnt get into the visitors center at Manassas National Battlefield Park.

The padlocked door to the visitors' center at Manassas National Battlefield Park on Friday. - Brian Todd/CNN

Steve Hildreth, 84, and his son sitting outside the visitors center at Manassas National Battlefield Park after not being able to enter the visitors center today on Friday. - Brian Todd/CNN

Its a disappointment, after being here for the first time and not being able to see it, he said. Hildreths wife, Lee, said Its extremely disappointing, because this is probably the only time Ill get to DC.

Another visitor to Manassas said he had hoped to use the visitors center as a guide to navigate the park and learn where the soldiers were positioned during the Civil War battles there but gave up and left when he saw the closed visitors center.

Three adults among a family of 15 who were camping in Greenbelt Park  who didnt want to give their names  said they noticed that Park Police officers, who they said are often diligent about roving around the park and checking on campers safety, were not patrolling on Thursday and Friday. Some of us have a small concern about safety, one said.

The closed ranger station at Greenbelt Park in Maryland, seen on Friday. - Brian Todd/CNN

CNN has reached out to the National Park Service regarding these concerns.

Wendy, a hiker in Great Falls Park who only wanted to give her first name, said she had to walk into the park on Friday, two miles from where she would normally enter. A furloughed government employee, she summed up the exasperation of many park visitors who spoke to CNN.

Its frustrating. I mean, I pay to be a National Park member, she said. I mean, its supposed to be for all of us.

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Honolulu Police Department via AP ; Honolulu Police Department Eric Thompson ; Jon Tokuhara.

NEED TO KNOW

Jon Tokuhara was found dead next to thousands of dollars in cash inside his Hawaii acupuncture clinic in January 2022

Police arrested Eric Thompson a month later, claiming that he shot the acupuncturist for sleeping with his wife

Thompson was sentenced for the murder, but is now appealing his conviction

Hawaiian acupuncturist Jon Tokuhara was found shot to death in his clinic, a killing authorities tied to a love triangle. But defense attorneys for the convicted defendant argued police overlooked other potential suspects with deadly motives.

In January 2022, Lilly Tokuhara found her son lying dead on the floor of his office with $3,900 in a wrapper labeled "herbs" next to him, per the Hawaii Tribune Herald. He had been shot three times in the head, according to Hawaii News Now.

Surveillance footage led detectives to Eric Thompson, who had discovered six months earlier that his wife was having an affair with Tokuhara. He was arrested a month after the alleged murder.

During Thompsons 2023 murder trial, deputy prosecutor Benjamin Rose argued he killed the acupuncturist for sleeping with his wife, calling it a story as old as time. Thompson's attorneys argued that the victim "had a track record of cheating" and that police ignored other potential leads who would have shared Thompson's motive.

Though his first trial resulted in a hung jury, Thompson was convicted at his second in February 2025, Hawaii News Now reported.

So where is Eric Thompson now? Here's everything to know about his life after he was convicted of the murder of Jon Tokuhara.

Thompson learned of his wifes affair in July 2021

KHON2 News Joyce Thompson.

During his second trial, Thompson told the court that his wife, Joyce Thompson, began displaying odd behavior in July 2021, according to Hawaii News Now. When he confronted her about it, he alleged that she confessed to having an affair with Tokuhara, who had been treating her for infertility, per the Hawaii Tribune Herald.

I was sad at first,  because my suspicions were confirmed," he said on the stand. "I was pissed, like ... why would this happen or like what did I do to deserve this?  It was just really confusing."

Thompson admitted he had considered confronting Tokuhara but never did, saying he and his wife chose to focus on repairing their marriage instead. He testified that the affair was in the rearview mirror by the time of Tokuharas murder.

According to the criminal complaint, a text message between Tokuhara and Thompson's wife seemed to confirm their affair ended around July 2021.

Six months later, Tokuhara was shot in his acupuncture shop

honolulu PD Jon Tokuhara

On Jan. 13, 2022, Tokuhara was found dead inside his clinic in Waipahu, Hawaii, by his mother. According to the criminal complaint obtained by Hawaii News Now, she became concerned after her son stopped responding to her text the night before and failed to show up for dinner.

Police recovered three bullet casings at the crime scene as well as surveillance footage that showed a man in a white Chevrolet Silverado entering the clinic on the day Tokuhara was murdered. He was inside for about 45 seconds.

During the second trial in 2025, Thompsons attorney, David Hayakawa, revealed to the court that $3,900 in large bills had been found next to Tokuhara's body. The money was in a wrapper that was labeled with the word "herbs," per the Hawaii Tribune Herald.

Thompson was arrested in February 2022

In the criminal complaint, police stated that they identified 53 vehicles similar to the one in the surveillance video. Of all the owners, Thompson was the only one who allegedly didn't have an alibi.

Hawaiian authorities also recovered a hat that the man in the security footage had dropped after leaving Tokuhara's clinic. DNA testing could not exclude Thompson from the profile found on the hat, per the Hawaii Tribune Herald.

The Thompson home was searched on Feb. 1, 2022, and reportedly turned up a dozen firearms. Thompson was arrested weeks later and charged with individual counts of second-degree murder and carrying or using a firearm in the commission of a separate felony.

Thompson's defense attorneys claimed multiple people had motives to kill Tokuhara

KHON2 News Eric Thompson.

During Thompson's second trial in February 2025, Hayakawa told jurors that his client's wife wasn't the first woman the victim had cheated with. He described Tokuhara as having "a track record of cheating" and claimed that he also had a gambling addiction, per the Hawaii Tribune Herald.

However, he alleged that the police were "suspect-centric" and ignored "evidence that pointed to other leads."

Two men whose ex-partners had been engaged in affairs with Tokuhara also took the stand, per Hawaii News Now. They both denied any involvement in his death.

"I knew Id never be able to trust her again because that was a huge part for me as a person," John Demarco, one of the men, testified of his relationship. "I was just like good riddance. I called him up and we werent yelling or anything. Im not a fighting type."

Thompson's first trial resulted in a hung jury

Hawaii News Now Eric Thompson.

In August 2023, a court declared a mistrial in Tokuhara's case when jurors couldn't reach a unanimous verdict, per Hawaii News Now. Thompson was retried over a year later in February 2025, and the prosecution pointed out inconsistencies from his 2023 testimony.

He was found guilty of both second-degree murder and carrying or using a firearm in the commission of a separate felony.

"Tokuhara was not a homewrecker," Elton Escobido, a friend of Tokuhara, told Hawaii News Now. Hes a nice guy. I mean, he gives back to the community."

Where is Eric Thompson now?

Honolulu Police Department via AP Eric Thompson.

Four months after he was convicted, Thompson was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. KITV reported that he must serve a minimum of 15 years before he's eligible for parole and noted that the Hawaii Paroling Authority could set a longer term.

The prosecution confirmed to KITV that they planned to ask for a higher minimum sentence.

Since his June 2025 sentencing, Thompson has been serving time at the Halawa Correctional Facility in Aiea, Hawaii. His defense team told Hawaii News Now that he planned to appeal.

Read the original article on People
A man holds an American flag as law enforcement officers guard the enterance to ICE headquarters in south Portland, Oregon on Friday. - Carlos Barria/Reuters

A federal judge in Oregon has granted a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard into Portland after the president announced he would send in troops to protect what he calls a war-ravaged city.

The ruling by the Trump-nominated judge marks the latest setback to White House efforts to crack down on Democratic-led cities it claims are stricken by crime and disorder, often in part by citing the need to protect ICE facilities from riotous protesters.

District Judge Karin Immergut found that Oregon and the city of Portland are likely to succeed on their claim that the President exceeded his constitutional authority and violated the Tenth Amendment, Immerguts opinion reads.

Recent incidents cited by the Trump administration of protesters clashing with federal officers, are inexcusable, but they are nowhere near the type of incidents that cannot be handled by regular law enforcement forces, the judge said.

The Trump administration made a range of arguments that, if accepted, risk blurring the line between civil and military federal powerto the detriment of this nation, the judge wrote.

The temporary restraining order expires in 14 days on October 18. The state plans to request an extension, according to Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield.

The Trump administration said in a new filing it will appeal the judges decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The administration had called for the federalization of 200 members of Oregons National Guard, who officials had previously said were still training as of Friday evening and not in Portland.

The order places the National Guard back under the command of Gov. Tina Kotek, Rayfield said.

State and city officials on Saturday night applauded the judges decision, saying it reaffirms there was no rebellion in the city or significant disruption in the weeks leading up to the administrations directive.

Todays ruling is a healthy check on the presidents power, and as the president, you must have actual facts based on reality, not social media or just your gut feeling, if you want to mobilize the military, Rayfield said at a news conference.

Oregons governor called the judges decision a a step in the right direction.

We would hope that President Trump respects the court decision and the rule of law, Kotek said. We would hope he reverses course.

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.

The Trump administration has been pointing to renewed unrest in both Portland and Chicago to justify a deployment of federal troops to the two Democrat-led cities, seizing on new rounds of protests and the recent arrest of a conservative influencer.

President Donald Trump has authorized 300 members of the Illinois National Guard to protect federal officers and assets in Chicago, the White House said, after protests at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near the city led to more than a dozen arrests on Friday.

Heres what else we know about the situations in the two cities.

Federal agents, including members of the Department of Homeland Security, and the Border Patrol, hold back protesters outside a downtown U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility yeseterday. - Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Portland attorneys argue perception versus reality problem

Oregon and Portland officials jointly sued the administration this week after President Donald Trump announced he would send the National Guard to protect the city. The state says the order is illegal and has called the presidents portrayal of the city wildly hyperbolic.

Ive said from the very beginning the number of federal troops that are needed or wanted is zero, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said at a Saturday news conference.

The president and his administration have cited weekslong demonstrations outside the Portland ICE facility, framing them as violent riots tied to Antifa domestic terrorists. Local officials dispute that characterization, claiming in the lawsuit that protests were small until Trumps National Guard announcement brought renewed attention to them.

On Friday, Judge Immergut heard nearly two hours of testimony over the legality of a possible National Guard deployment to the city.

US Deputy Assistant Attorney General Eric Hamilton cited a variety of incidents he said make the National Guard deployment necessary.

Hamilton accused demonstrators of blocking the entrance to the ICE facility, following ICE agents home and throwing incendiary devices, rocks and bricks at law enforcement. The facility closed for three weeks over the summer because of the violence, he said. CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE for more details on the facility closure.

But Caroline Turco, an attorney for the city of Portland, said what ultimately is happening in Portland is a perception versus reality problem.

The presidents perception is its World War II out here. The reality is, its a beautiful city and a sophisticated police force that can handle the situation, Turco said.

Judge Immergut on Saturday sided with the Oregon attorneys, saying theyve shown substantial evidence that the protests at the Portland ICE facility were not significantly violent leading up to the presidents directive.

Oregon state attorneys also argued the use of Oregons National Guard for civilian law enforcement does not fall within the narrow circumstances  including rebellion or invasion by a foreign nation  under which the president has the power to call state troops into federal action.

Federal law also orders this type of action to be made through state governors. Gov. Kotek has fiercely opposed the deployment.

In her opinion Saturday, Immergut said the President was federalizing the Oregon National Guard absent constitutional authority and protests in Portland did not pose a danger of a rebellion

During the hearing Friday, the judge had asked the federal government lawyers whether Trumps use of his Truth Social platform to announce a Portland military operation constituted an official executive action.

A social media post is going to count as a presidential determination that you can send the National Guard to cities? I mean is that really what I should be relying on? Immergut asked the defense.

These posts reflect his decision-making which Secretary Hegseth carried out, the federal governments lawyer responded.

Oregon Attorney General Rayfield said using social media was very fitting with the administrations previous actions.

A court of law is meant to be based in fact, not on social media trolling and gossip, and so I thought it wasvery illustrative for this administration to quote social media as facts to a judge, Rayfield said.

Protests have continued outside the ICE facility in Portland this week, with Trump officials promising a surge of federal resources to the city and the DOJ launching an investigation into potential viewpoint discrimination by Portland police after the arrest of Nick Sortor, a 27-year-old conservative influencer, during protests.

Comparisons to California

Trumps attempted crackdown in Portland follows similar efforts in Washington, DC, Los Angeles and Memphis  an effort met with impassioned pushback from Democratic leaders nationwide who argue the moves are politically motivated and lack justification.

Last month, a federal judge in California ruled that the Trump administration broke the law when it deployed thousands of federalized National Guard soldiers and hundreds of Marines to suppress protests against ICE actions in Los Angeles.

The decision barred troops from carrying out law enforcement in the state, but the White House has appealed the decision.

Judge Immergut in her opinion said incidents in Portland are categorically different from the violence seen in Los Angeles when the president federalized troops there.

Neither outside the Portland ICE facility nor elsewhere in the City of Portland was there unlawful activity akin to what was occurring in Los Angeles leading up to June 7, 2025, the judge wrote.

The temporary restraining order for Portland could potentially be extended at a hearing on October 17, Rayfield told CNN Saturday night. The judge could then issue a preliminary injunction at a merits hearing set for October 29.

Oregon officials say theres a possibility the Trump administration will appeal the decision and seek a stay of the temporary restraining order as the case makes its way through the judicial system. The administration sought a stay of the temporary restraining order in Californias National Guard court battle in June.

Demonstrators march along the Magnificent Mile protesting the agenda of the Trump administration on September 30. - Scott Olson/Getty Images

Rayfield said its too early to tell how Saturdays ruling in Portland might impact how National Guard cases unfold in other states.

All of these cases are very factually dependent, he said. The facts in each jurisdiction will control on how the judge will rule in each jurisdiction.

Rising tensions in Chicago as Trump authorizes National Guard troops

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Saturday expressed outrage over the plans to federalize 300 troops in the coming hours.

This morning, the Trump Administrations Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will. It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will, Pritzker said in a statement.

The governor said there is no need for military troops on the ground in the State of Illinois.

CNN has reached out to the Department of Defense for more information.

The White House accused local leaders, including Pritzker, of refusing to quell ongoing violent riots and lawlessness in the state.

Demonstrators protest downtown in Chicago after recent ICE raids in the city. - Scott Olson/Getty Images

Protests near Chicago have grown increasingly tense since beginning weeks ago  after local leaders got word that a large-scale enforcement campaign would soon be underway in the Windy City as part of the Trumps sweeping immigration agenda.

Officers in Chicago opened fire Saturday on an armed US citizen who allegedly tried to run them over when they exited their vehicle after they were rammed by vehicles and boxed in by at least 10 cars, according to DHS.

No officers were seriously hurt in the incident, officials said.

On Friday, the latest round of protests outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, resulted in the arrests of at least 18 people, as tensions over federal involvement in the state were set in relief by a visit from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

And in a separate incident that day, Alderperson Jessie Fuentes said she was handcuffed by agents for a brief period of time at a hospital in Chicago after getting a call about ICE officers at the emergency room and a detainee with a leg injury.

Fuentes said she asked the officers if they have a warrant, and, Not only do they refuse to respond, but they respond with violence by shoving me in the emergency room.

Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary, told CNN Friday that a detainee who complained of a leg injury was taken to the hospital for treatment and nearly 30 protesters, attempted to break into where the detainee was receiving medical care.

A sweeping overnight raid carried out by federal authorities at a Chicago apartment building earlier this week has also drawn condemnation. The multiagency operation led to the arrest of 37 undocumented immigrants  but also left the buildings tenants and neighbors shaken.

Adults and children alike were pulled from their apartments, crying and screaming, during the raid, which one neighbor characterized as a military-style invasion.

CNNs Whitney Wild, Dalia Faheid, Bill Kirkos, Alejandra Jaramillo, Zoe Sottile and Sarah Dewberry contributed to this report.

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The domes of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque are accented with 24-carat gold. Photograph by Annapurna Mellor

This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).

Less well known than its wild-child sister  Dubai, which lies 80 miles north east along the coast  the capital of the United Arab Emirates is rapidly becoming one of the regions most exciting cities. While its still the cradle of the Emirates oil industry, with all the glass towers, designer-filled malls and corporate headquarters to match, lately it has built a reputation for offering travellers an authentic glimpse of Emirati heritage. And now is the time to plan a visit, with a glittering crop of new galleries and museums set to open soon  and plenty more adventurous options for those keen to explore.

The beach is never far away here. Spread across several isles in a natural archipelago, the city offers the chance to kick off your shoes and paddle off Saadiyat Islands golden sands, go kayaking in the mangroves or simply unfurl a picnic blanket on the Corniche  a waterfront promenade and one of its loveliest sunset spots. Much of the coast is a dedicated wildlife reserve frequented by dolphins, turtles and migrating flamingos. The islands here are connected by several bridges and you can traverse the entire city in as little as 20 minutes by taxi.

Downtown Abu Dhabis skyscrapers can feel impersonal and hard to appreciate initially. But persistence is rewarded: its magic lies in its less polished corners. Theres the WaveBreaker promenade where Emirati couples spend long afternoons feeding the seagulls, and the family-run sweetshops at Mina Market near Zayed Port, whose proprietors wont let you leave without fistfuls of complimentary medjool dates.

As well as Emiratis, Abu Dhabi is populated by people from more than 200 countries, and multiculturalism is in its DNA. Every evening, the cafes on Saadiyat Islands Mamsha Beach fill with countless languages as groups of locals gather over Turkish coffee and Indian samosas. Its seafront is busy with rollerbladers, joggers and e-scooting Emiratis, their kandura robes billowing in the breeze.

The UAEs heritage is also a source of immense pride and perhaps easier to tap into here than in Dubai. Take Qasr Al Hosn, an 18th-century fort sitting incongruously amid Downtowns glass and steel, where Emirati women demonstrate traditional palm-weaving and thread-spinning crafts. Dressed in flowing abaya robes and battoulah face-coverings, they keep the old ways alive  a glimpse of the nation before its 1960s oil boom, back when locals relied on fishing, trading and pearl-diving to make a living.

Ever-growing, the citys focus is currently on Saadiyat Island, which later this year is set to open a Guggenheim designed by Frank Gehry and a vast museum dedicated to Sheikh Zayed, the nations founding father. They will join the teamLab Phenomena contemporary art gallery, which opened in April, and the celebrated Louvre Abu Dhabi.

What to see and do

Saadiyat Island: Not content with having the best beach in the city, Saadiyat Island is also the epicentre of Abu Dhabis art scene  home to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and soon the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and the Zayed National Museum. The Louvres exhibits range from Van Goghs brooding Self Portrait (1887) to Ai Weiweis striking Fountain of Light, amid 23 themed galleries. Its all set beneath a giant dome of 7,850 stars.

The Corniche: On Abu Dhabi island, running the length of its main waterfront, the Corniche is a traffic-free haven of leafy parks, golden sands and immaculately kept trails. If you enjoy staying active, this is an energising setting for running and walking, with a formidable backdrop of skyscrapers.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque: A short taxi ride east from the Corniche, the UAEs largest mosque dazzles with crystal chandeliers, intricate geometric patterns and lashings of 24-carat gold  but its spiritualism shines through, too. It can host up to 50,000 worshippers, and also welcomes non-Muslims with informative tours of its jaw-dropping architecture, and Islamic art workshops for all ages. The exterior is an opus of 82 pure white marble domes and soaring gold-tipped archways.

Qasr Al Watan, the presidential palace, is frequented by both locals and visitors. Photograph by Annapurna Mellor

The gardens at Qasr Al Watan overlook the Corniche. Photograph by Annapurna Mellor

Qasr Al Watan: With its marble columns, buffed gold leaf and glittering mosaics, Abu Dhabis city-centre presidential palace elevates traditional Arabic design. When youre done taking in the decor, browse its gallery of diplomatic gifts from other nations, which include silver daggers, and see the lavish quarters where the sheikhs host visiting rulers. Military bands perform outside every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 4pm.

Mina Zayed: To appreciate Abu Dhabis maritime heritage, visit one of its most historic quarters  Mina Zayed. Mina means port in Arabic, and this is where youll find the dhow harbour where traditional wood-built fishing boats rest, as well as Mina Markets sweets, dates and nuts shops, and the busy seafood restaurants surrounding its fish market. Its located on the main islands northernmost tip and is all walkable.

Jubail Mangrove Park: You dont have to venture far from the city to embrace Abu Dhabis wild side. A five-minute taxi ride from Saadiyat Island, this natural mangrove forest is a haven for sea turtles, herons, flamingos  and adventure-seeking travellers. Its rangers lead nature-watching walks on its overwater promenade, as well as kayaking trips on the water.

On a kayaking trip through Jubail Mangrove Park, eagle-eye visitors will spot turtles. Photograph by Annapurna Mellor

Ether by Cloud Spaces is a concept store in Yas Mall that stands out for its Emirati-designed homeware and clothing. Photograph by Annapurna Mellor

Where to go shopping

Mina Market: Next year, this charmingly ramshackle food market will move to a souk-styled new-build  so the time to visit is now. Its around eight minutes drive from the Corniche. One street specialises in dates and Arabic sweets (go to Green Lawn Dates for the plumpest medjools), while the hectic fruit market is piled high with Yemeni mangoes, Iranian pomegranates and more.

Ether by cloud spaces: On Yas Island, amid Yas Malls prolific high-street names, this shop stands out for its Emirati-designed and crafted homewares, clothes and ceramics. It stocks over 100 brands, many of which are found nowhere else in the city: think candles infused with oud fragrance and hand-painted Arabic coffee cups. Prices are reasonable.

Abu Dhabi Heritage Village: Thread-spinning, pottery-throwing and twisting palm fronds into handbags, fans, trinket boxes and more: these are the UAEs time-honoured crafts, preserved in Abu Dhabis Heritage Village. Its on the opposite side of the water from the Corniche and designed to look like a traditional neighbourhood  complete with mudbrick towers and palm-woven market stalls. You can buy pieces directly from the Emirati women who made them.

Traditional crafts take centre stage at Abu Dhabi's Heritage Village. Photograph by Annapurna Mellor

Breakfast at Grand Beirut is a celebration of Emirati flavours, including za'atar flatbreads and fresh mint juice. Photograph by Annapurna Mellor

Where to eat

Phsphorus Kadoura Seafood: Adjoining the fish market at Port Zayed, Kadoura puts the UAEs bounty of fresh seafood in the spotlight  and the feast begins with complimentary cups of fish chowder. Giant shrimps and chilli-dusted hammour fish are served on smoking charcoal grills, alongside platters piled high with fattoush salads, velvety hummus and fried calamari. Superb value.

Grand Beirut: On weekend mornings, Grand Beiruts terrace is packed with Emirati families brunching on Lebanese dishes and enjoying views of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Dip your saj flatbread into garlicky ful medames (fava beans), creamy labneh yoghurt, and chickpeas stewed in cumin and lime  and finish with the signature mille-feuille dessert, topped with pistachio-dusted candy floss.

Al Fanar: Al Fanar specialises in home-style Emirati cooking, such as plump prawns smothered in tomato-rich magli sauce, and chicken machboos (a rice dish) simmered with dried lemon and cardamom. Save room for the sweet legaimat dumplings, served drizzled in date syrup. Its located in Yas Mall and its vintage UAE photographs, eclectic crockery and ornate archways make it feel like a time capsule.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is best visited in the early morning before the crowds arrive. Photograph by Annapurna Mellor

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque also runs Islamic art workshops, taking inspiration from the features found around the building. Photograph by Annapurna Mellor

Like a local

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque: Try to be first in the queue for the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, as it quickly gets busy with tour groups later in the day. Or wait until its quieter after dark, when its lit up in colours that reflect the lunar phases  white light around a full moon, becoming bluer as it wanes. For the best chance of taking panoramic photos of the mosque, head to Wahat Al Karama war memorial across the road, which has the ideal view; entry is free.

Yas Marina Circuit: When its not filled with screaming supercars and crowds of loudly cheering fans for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Yas Marina Circuits three-mile race track opens to walkers, cyclists and joggers on Monday and Wednesday evenings. Its completely free to visit, and youll be exercising alongside local people from all walks of life.

Qasr Al Hosn: At the 18th-century fortress of Qasr Al Hosn, be sure not to miss the House of Artisans next door  your ticket grants entry to both. Here, local Emirati women demonstrate traditional palm-frond weaving, talli thread-spinning and the time-honoured ritual of preparing Arabic coffee from scratch. Check the demonstration timings when you enter Qasr Al Hosn for more on whats on that day.

Abu Dhabi's oldest stone building, Qasr Al Hosn, still stands proud as a historical landmark. Photograph by Annapurna Mellor

After hours

Rays Bar: On the 62nd storey of Conrad Etihad Towers near the western end of the Corniche, Rays Bar is one of Abu Dhabis top spots for sundowners. Its Cachuca Sour cocktails, with tangy passion fruit and jalapeno-infused cachaca, are just as enlivening as the city-wide views. This hotel bar is open to non-guests.

Yas Bay: From October to May when the weather is loveliest, this seafront promenade hosts night markets, live music and cultural festivals, and its popular restaurants spill out onto the pavement. Its also a five-minute walk from Etihad Arena, which hosts the biggest names in pop, rock and comedy.

Al Quaa: If youve got time for a night away from the city, do as locals do and drive south into the desert for an hour to reach Al Quaa  known as the Milky Way spot for its minimal light pollution and magnificent celestial views. Arabian Wanders offers desert camping trips with gear, guides and meals provided, plus a stargazing session and campfire games.

Where to stay

Courtyard World Trade Center: Within walking distance of Qasr Al Hosn and the Corniche, this budget-friendly hotel has a pool on its rooftop  ideal for cooling off while admiring Downtowns glass skyscrapers. Breakfast features Middle Eastern and Indian specialities  dont miss the cardamom-spiced chai.

Fairmont Bab Al Bahr: On Khor Al Makta creek, with views across the water to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the Fairmont is well placed for sightseeing. A sandy beach runs the length of the hotel, and there are local touches like Arabic coffee in the lobby and shisha on the terrace.

Jumeirah Saadiyat Island: On Abu Dhabis most popular beach  a reserve where turtles nest from March to June  this swish resort is just a 10-minute taxi ride from Saadiyat Islands cultural district. There are multiple pools, a watersports centre for paddleboarding and kayaking, and a beach bar: the ideal sunset spot after a day exploring the Louvre neighbours.

Published in the October 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).



To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
Samantha Boyd, 57, was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty and endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person. (Suffolk County District Attorney )

A certified wildlife rehabilitator for the state of New York was arrested and charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty after more than 200 wild and domestic animals  including flying squirrels, hedgehogs, pigeons and chipmunks  were found living in unsanitary conditions in her home, according to the Suffolk County District Attorneys Office.

Samantha Boyd, 57, of Northport, was also charged with endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person after a 95-year-old woman was discovered living at the premises, the district attorneys office said. Boyds partner, Neal Weschler, 61, was charged with animal cruelty.

The district attorneys Biological, Environmental and Animal Safety Team, known as BEAST, executed a search warrant at Boyds home on Fort Salonga Road on Wednesday after receiving a complaint of possible animal hoarding.

Animals in cages found at the New York home. (Suffolk County District Attorney )

On-site investigation allegedly revealed numerous animals living in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, the district attorneys office said.

The domestic and wild animals  206 in total  included roosters, squirrels, ducks, pigeons, quail, rabbits, crows, starlings, geese, chipmunks, doves, chickens, hamsters, ferrets, guinea pigs, hedgehogs, voles, flying squirrels, parakeets, parrots, cockatoos, chinchillas, cats, tortoises, dogs, turkeys and other species.

District Attorney Raymond Tierney called the case a deeply distressing situation.

Animal cruelty and neglect will not be tolerated in our county, he said in a statement.

The animals were allegedly found in cages containing piles of waste and filth and unsanitary water and food, the district attorneys office said. The house was also allegedly infested with insects, spiders, and other pests, as well as cluttered with wall-to-wall debris, garbage, and household waste, making certain areas impassable.

A dog found at the home. (Suffolk County District Attorney )

The 95-year-old woman was found on the second floor of the home, allegedly trapped by the debris, the district attorneys office said. It is unclear what relationship she has to Boyd or Weschler.

All of the animals were rescued from the home by the BEAST unit and several nonprofits, prosecutors said.

A ferret found at the home. (Suffolk County District Attorney )

Boyd was charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person and five counts of neglecting an impounded animal, according to court records. She has since been arraigned and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

According to the New Yorks Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), wildlife rehabilitators aid in the care and recuperation of injured or sick wild animals. A license for the role could take anywhere from one to five years to obtain, according to its website.

DEC said it assisted in wildlife identification and operational duties at the house after it received a request from BEAST.

"DEC will continue to work with Suffolk County to uphold the proper treatment of wildlife and that licensed wildlife rehabilitators properly care for the animals in their possession," DEC told NBC News in a statement.

State authorities have been notified of the alleged findings in Boyds home. It is unclear if she has an attorney at this time.

Weschler was charged with multiple counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty, prosecutors said. It is also unclear if Weschler has been arraigned or has an attorney.

Many of the animals rescued from Boyds home will be available for adoption soon, according to the district attorneys office.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference on September 29. - Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

The gathering was inside the Brooklyn home of a Jewish film director. The crowd, according to several people in attendance, was skeptical.

Zohran Mamdani had arrived to greet approximately 60 people, at least half of them Modern Orthodox, who for the most part are more religiously observant than the progressives in Mamdanis base.

Some guests, according to sources who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity to discuss the private mid-August event, wondered if a potential Mamdani administration would stop dispatching the New York Police Department to stand watch at synagogues when needed. Mamdani, without hesitation, said he would provide the security.

One of the attendees told him that their friend, a Jewish woman, had recently been harassed and called a slur while pushing a stroller down a city street.

Mamdani told them he was sorry about what they had experienced and said he believed it wasnt helpful to either the Israeli or Palestinian causes if people supporting either side felt like they couldnt walk outside without fear.

And while he reaffirmed his support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting the Israeli government and economy, Mamdani also promised he would keep in place police protection for the citys annual parade honoring Israel.

Its obvious that he grew up around Jews and that he is comfortable, he can crack a culturally relevant joke, he recognizes people in the crowd, said one person who attended the gathering.

Mamdani is both a prominent and unapologetic critic of Israel as well as the front-runner to be the next mayor of New York, home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel. Ever since his stunning victory in Junes Democratic primary, Mamdani has built alliances with politically liberal Jewish officials while meeting with and listening to some of his most strident critics.

Among some Jewish New Yorkers already on edge from the spike in antisemitism and attacks in recent years, fears highlighted by a deadly attack Thursday on a British synagogue, some of Mamdanis positions and perceived lack of sensitivity to their concerns have bred suspicion and anxiety.

Those feelings cut across lines of age, religiosity and geography, even among otherwise committed progressive voters, and persist even as he has emphasized his commitment to fighting antisemitism. Facing pressure and persistent media questions, Mamdani has condemned Hamas and discouraged use of the phrase globalize the intifada.

Jewish New Yorkers are by no means a monolith, and Zohran has made clear that hes eager to meet with every part of the Jewish community, whether they disagree with him or helped power him to victory in the primary, said Jeffrey Lerner, a campaign spokesperson, in a statement to CNN.

New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani attends service at Lab Shul, a non-denominational Jewish congregation, on Wednesday for Yom Kippur. - Gili Getz

In recent months, Mamdani has visited synagogues and sat for Friday evening Shabbat services. His campaign receives informal advice from some of the more progressive Jewish groups in the city. But he also in recent weeks met with Hasidic leaders, including two prominent rabbis from Williamsburgs Satmar community, an ultra-Orthodox sect with its own set of demands of city government.

During Rosh Hashanah, Mamdani attended service at Kolot Chayeinu, one of Brooklyns most progressive synagogues. For Yom Kippur, considered the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, Mamdani attended service at Lab Shul, a non-denominational Jewish congregation. He was accompanied by Rep. Jerry Nadler and City Comptroller Brad Lander, both prominent Jewish politicians in New York who have endorsed Mamdani.

Mamdani received loud applause, according to three people in attendance, as he was seated in the front row while Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie delivered the sermon.

But one thing is consistent: There is a general skittishness even from left-leaning groups about publicly admitting they have hosted Mamdani. Some synagogues have welcomed him but have not wanted to publicize it. None of the mainstream Jewish organizations who met with Mamdani would disclose details about their meetings on the record.

Phylisa Wisdom, executive director of the New York Jewish Agenda, a nonpartisan advocacy organization that has met with Mamdani, said there is no single Jewish feeling about this candidate.

The divisions are increasingly painful for us, but the fact that we would have voted for different candidates is not new for us, Wisdom said. Should he be mayor, which polls suggest is a very likely outcome, I would encourage him to continue to reach out to all parts of New Yorks Jewish community and also encourage all parts of our community to be receptive to meeting with him.

Its best for us all if he has a real familiarity with the full diversity of our community, she added.

For some, Mamdanis visits, meetings and private conversations are evidence he has worked to deliver on a promise he made on primary night when he told the crowd he would work to understand the perspectives of those with whom I disagree and to wrestle deeply with those disagreements.

But for others, Mamdani has fallen short, not doing enough to publicly assure the Jewish community that he is committed to their safety and well-being if elected mayor. They argue Mamdani has only met with audiences who are most likely to be friendly, which his campaign disputes.

At the Brooklyn meeting, people wanted to know if Mamdani planned on holding his future top hires to ideological litmus tests. He responded by telling them he did not care if his future sanitation commissioner  or any other bureaucrat  disagreed with him on Israel.

Instead, he said, he planned to hire whoever would be the best person to oversee pickup of the 44 million pounds of waste the city produces every day.

New York mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo on September 9. - Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Why Mamdani has stirred anxiety and how Cuomo is trying to capitalize

While no sitting New York City mayor has an explicit role in foreign policy, Israel remains a constant theme in the mayoral race. The conversation has become even more focused in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks and Israels subsequent offensive in Gaza.

Mamdani, a Muslim who was born in Uganda to parents of Indian origin, has called Israels offensive a genocide and said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces a warrant from the International Criminal Court, should be arrested.

Democrats and younger Americans across the political spectrum have grown more negative toward the Jewish state, even as support for Israel remains key for many Jewish voters.

Some of Mamdanis Jewish critics also point to his agenda and connections to the Democratic Socialists of America. Mamdani wants to raise taxes on the rich and freeze rent hikes in city-stabilized apartments, a challenge to the real-estate industry, though several prominent developers and investors who oppose him cite his positions on Israel and antisemitism.

Related Companies CEO Jeff Blau last month convened a meeting of real-estate leaders to hear from Andrew Cuomo, who lost to Mamdani in the June primary and is now running as an independent.

During a different private meeting, a prominent CEO grilled Mamdani over his defense of the phrase globalize the intifada, which Mamdani has not himself used and has since said he would discourage others from using.

Since Mayor Eric Adams announced he was dropping his re-election bid, Cuomo has ramped up his efforts to court the citys Orthodox Jewish community, which was seen as largely supportive of Adams.

In a video posted to social media, Cuomo issued an apology for his response during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic when he was governor. In the video, posted on the eve of Yom Kippur, Cuomo said he regretted placing limits on the size of religious gatherings during the pandemic. Orthodox communities interpreted those limits as unfairly singling them out.

Days earlier, Cuomo had secured the endorsement of a Crown Heights Jewish group representing Orthodox communities.

Cuomo has long aligned himself with pro-Israel groups. Last year Cuomo said he was joining a legal defense team for Netanyahu. During the primary, Cuomo was critical of Mamdanis support for the BDS movement, pressing him multiple times during a primary debate about whether Israel should exist as a Jewish state. Mamdani has said Israel should provide equal rights to all residents.

But Cuomo himself has pivoted since losing the primary, calling for an end to the war in Gaza while continuing to accuse Mamdani of fueling antisemitism.

I think this whole thing speaks more about the psychology of the American Jewry and their organizations right now than (Mamdani), said a board member of a prominent national organization that does not endorse in local elections but recently met with Mamdani. His position is a winning one and it could be like a canary in a coal mine that this is going to play out even more in national politics, and it wont be comfortable.

CNNs Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed to this report.

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Bryn Lennon - Getty Images

Both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz have been disqualified from the qualifying session ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, after their rear wings were found to be non-compliant with the FIA F1 Technical Regulations.

Both Williams drivers were summoned to the Stewards after the FIA F1 Technical Delegate, Jo Bauer, issued a report stating that the gap between the rear wings on both cars exceeded the maximum limit of 85 mm on each side.

The rule for rear wings DRS deployment states that "At all points along the span, when the DRS is in the state of deployment, the two sections of the rear wing profiles (as defined under Article 3.10.1) must have a minimum gap of between 9.4mm and 85mm."

The gap on the rear wings of the Williams FW43 was found to be outside the maximum limit of 85 mm on the outer area when DRS was deployed. This is the exact infringement that sent both Haas cars to the back of the grid in Monaco in 2024.

The Williams drivers were set to start in 12th and 13th, both being knocked out in the second round of qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix. They will now start at the back of the grid in Sunday night's scorching round 18.

Williams told the Stewards at the hearing for Albon and for Sainz that they measured before qualifying and found the component to be within tolerance. The British team will not contest the FIA's measurement, procedure, or methodology and will accept the disqualification.

Williams submitted a plea for both No. 55 of Sainz and No. 23 of Albon to be allowed to start in the Singapore Grand Prix after failing to produce a qualifying lap, and The Stewards accepted and both Williams cars will start at the back of the grid.

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The Supreme Court wont consider the fate of President Trumps blanket tariffs until November, but the White House already appears to be making adjustments that could keep as many duties as possible in place if the administration loses.

It's a refocusing of sorts on the tariff authority derived from Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows the president to target sectors of the economy based on national security considerations, in a series of moves already leading to another bout of uncertainty in the business world.

Those powers are more legally established than presidential authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA), a separate law Trump used to impose his Liberation Day tariffs six months ago. His use of IEEPA is at the heart of the case now before the Supreme Court.

Trumps pivot to Section 232 can be found on his Truth Social feed, which has been marked by a slew of sector-specific tariff promises on industries ranging from pharmaceuticals to semi-trucks to furniture.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House on September 30. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI via Getty Images)

More sectors are likely close behind, with long-promised semiconductor tariffs the biggest shoe yet to drop. And of course, trade talks with China are set to heat up before a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi at the end of this month.

The early lessons so far? Sectors could be in for plenty of whiplash.

"The challenge with tariffs is they create a ton of uncertainty," notes Natasha Sarin, the co-founder of the Budget Lab at Yale.

"That isn't uncertainty that is likely to be resolved by the court," she added. "Even a ruling against the administration means you'll likely see them turn to other trade authorities down the road.

Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet

'We don't know exactly what plan B is yet'

As for the question of when uncertainty may fade, "its probably going to be a while," Stifel Chief Washington policy strategist Brian Gardner told Yahoo Finance this past week.

Gardner's expected timeline is lengthy, given that Trump is in the process of building out his plan B. But "we don't know exactly what plan B is yet" as well as Trump's likelihood of using tariffs as a tool of foreign policy for his entire term.

Up first is the new Supreme Court term, which begins by law on the first Monday in October. The justices will hear tariff arguments on Nov. 5 and have signaled that a decision could be in hand before the end of the year.

That ruling could either uphold these IEEPA powers or invalidate the duties and perhaps even mandate the administration to offer refunds.

President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs were first unveiled in April and based in legal authority that the Supreme Court is now reviewing. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI via Getty Images)

That's why Trump and his team have been hard at work building out this insurance policy of sorts around 232 tariffs, which have been used for years by presidents in both parties and are seen as relatively secure from legal challenges.

Trump had already used the 232 authority this term to impose tariffs on things like steel, aluminum, and copper.

More tariffs under that authority have been promised in recent weeks, ranging from 25% to 100% on goods from pharmaceuticals to semi-trucks to kitchen cabinets and furniture. Some are already in place, and others are coming later this month.

The Trump administration also broke with some government shutdown precedents by declaring this past week that ongoing tariff investigations are essential government functions and could continue.

The effect there is to keep the wheels turning on active Section 232 investigations, which would then keep the future implementation of duties on goods from critical minerals to semiconductors on track.

Areas ranging from robotics to medical devices to personal protective gear could follow after the administration recently opened new investigations in these areas.

A possible lesson from the pharmaceuticals rollout

Meanwhile, a lesson from this past week around pharmaceuticals suggests that the effect of these sector-specific tariffs may be harder to predict.

At the very least, they will be subject to a lot more back-and-forth with Trump and his team.

As recently as this summer, the president was promising what sounded like broad-based pharmaceutical tariffs, including that companies "are going to be tariffed if they have to bring the pharmaceuticals into the country at a very high rate, like 200%."

That rate then fell to 100%, and more importantly, exception after exception was offered.

First, it was that any pharmaceutical company "building" in the United States would be exempt from tariffs. Then, exemptions were extended to any drugs imported from a nation where a trade deal has been struck.

President Donald Trump and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, far left, are seen in the Oval Office this week for the announcement of a deal with Pfizer to lower Medicaid drug prices. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) (Win McNamee via Getty Images)

Then early this past week, the president announced Pfizer (PFE) is in line for a three-year exemption from tariffs as part of a deal in which the company agreed to slash some of its drug prices.

At the event with Pfizer, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested that those drug price talks mean exceptions for other companies.

"While we are negotiating with these companies, we're going to let [the talks] play out," Lutnick said, adding that tariff enforcement for now is "standing by."

It means these tariffs are fully on hold while the administration launches new talks with the industry on bringing their plants to the US, as well as their prices.

It has clearly set up an unpredictable situation for drug companies that could stretch for months or even years and be a template for other sector tariff rollouts to come.

But it might not be all bad for investors and business leaders. After all, this week's turmoil saw pharmaceutical stocks have their best week in 16 years.

Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.

Click here for political news related to business and money policies that will shape tomorrow's stock prices

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
Trump administration officials who celebrated the arrest of Kilmar Abrego Garcia may be enough direct evidence to throw out a criminal case against the wrongfully deported Salvadoran immigrant for vindictive prosecution, according to a federal judge.

The judge overseeing his criminal prosecution argued that the government likely brought the case against him for vindictive reasons and will hear more evidence before reaching a final decision on whether to dismiss it altogether.

Attorneys for Abrego Garcia argued that he was singled out by administration officials in retaliation for his high-profile legal battle challenging his wrongful arrest and removal to a brutal Salvadoran prison.

Despite admitting in court that he was wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March, government lawyers and top administration officials spent weeks insisting Abrego Garcia would never be allowed back into the country. He was returned to the United States in June only to face a criminal indictment that was introduced weeks after he was mistakenly deported.

Potential evidence of that retaliatory prosecution includes celebratory statements from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi and their subordinates, according to Tennessee District Judge Waverly Crenshaw.

A federal judge says statements from Trump administration officials appear to show that a case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia was brought for vindictive reasons in retaliation for his high-profile legal battle challenging his deportation (AP)

But most tellingly, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche strikingly admitted in a Fox News interview that prosecutors were investigating him after a judge in Maryland had questioned the administration and accused the government of doing something wrong, Crenshaw noted.

To remove any doubt, Deputy Attorney General Blanche said that the criminal case was brought to return [Abrego Garcia] to the United States, Crenshaw wrote. This could be direct evidence of vindictiveness.

Blanches remarkable statements could be enough to establish motivations for the criminal case against him to be considered illegal retaliation for the exercise of his constitutional and statutory rights to sue the government, rather than a genuine desire to prosecute him for alleged criminal misconduct, the judge said.

That timing also suggests a realistic likelihood that senior officials at the Department of Justice and Homeland Security may have induced federal prosecutors to charge Abrego Garcia in retaliation for the Maryland lawsuit, Crenshaw added.

More evidentiary hearings will get to the bottom of those questions, the judge said.

A federal judge singled out statements from Deputy Attorney Todd Blanche the could be direct evidence that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was prosecuted for vindictive reasons (AP)

Abrego Garcia is entangled in a series of overlapping federal court cases at the center of Donald Trumps anti-immigration agenda.

He remains in Immigration and Customs Enforcement Custody as he seeks to have his immigration case reopened to request asylum in the United States. The immigration court judge overseeing that case denied his request this week; Abrego Garcia has 30 days to appeal.

In August, his lawyers admitted that motions to dismiss criminal cases on grounds of selective or vindictive prosecution are rarely granted but if there has ever been a case for dismissal on those grounds, this is that case.

The government is attempting to use this case  and this Court  to punish Mr. Abrego for successfully fighting his unlawful removal. That is a constitutional violation of the most basic sort, they said.

A two-count indictment in Tennessee accuses Abrego Garcia of participating in a years-long conspiracy to illegally smuggle undocumented immigrants from Texas to other parts of the country. He faces one count of conspiracy to transport aliens and one count of unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens.

But in their request to keep him in jail before trial, federal prosecutors also claimed he is a member of transnational gang MS-13, and personally participated in violent crime, including murder.

Prosecutors also claim he abused women and trafficked children, firearms and narcotics, and there is also an ongoing investigation into solicitation of child pornography.

Abrego Garcia is not facing any charges on those allegations and Judge Crenshaw previously ruled that the government failed to link those allegations to evidence that implicates him.
Credit: ESPN

The 2025 WNBA Finals are getting underway on Friday night, but the story of the night is likely to be that of league commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

The commish met with the media for the first time since Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier dropped a bombshell of a prepared statement in which she claimed Engelbart said players should be on their knees thanking her for the leagues media deal. She also allegedly stated that Caitlin Clark should be thankful for the WNBAs opportunities, which allow her to earn a substantial amount of money from endorsements.

Engelbert has a chance to put these allegations to bed on Friday night in her pre-Finals press conference. However, instead of directly answering whether or not she said what Collier claimed, she mostly discussed generalities about inaccuracies and how the reporting around this was affecting her family.

When asked directly by ESPNs Malika Andrews if she said what Collier claimed about WNBA players, Engelbert said, Theres a lot of inaccuracy out there through social media and all this reporting, and that I just think theres a lot of inaccuracy out there.

ESPNs Andraya Carter noted the deflection during WNBA Countdown.

When you are asked a question, you should probably answer that question. And when Malika asked, Did you say and then quoted Cathy, Cathy didnt say, No, I didnt say that.'- ESPNs Andraya Carter pic.twitter.com/6AFT65prwG  Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 4, 2025

When you were asked a question, you should probably answer that question, said Carter while discussing the comments with Andrews and Chiney Ogwumike. When Malika asked, Did you say? and then quoted Cathy, Cathy didnt say, No, I didnt say that. I think that should be the first. If you didnt say that, you should say that you didnt say that. She said, instead, there have been a lot of inaccurate statements.

Now Im already I just have questions. I have more questions because if you said it or you didnt say it, what is the answer? Its a yes-or-no question.

Then. same thing when she asked, Do you think youre the right fit to continue this leadership? I think the first answer should be Yes. Im just not feeling confident. What word did you use? Tepid? Im just not feeling the confidence in those answers.

To be fair to Engelbert, she was very direct when asked if she said what Collier claimed about Caitlin Clark, saying, Obviously, I did not make those comments. But in a way, that makes it even more odd that she wouldnt do the same for the other alleged comments.

There have been reported that Engelbert is likely to leave her post once the CBA agreement between the league and players is in place. In this moment, it feels hard to imagine she would be doing herself and the league any favors by staying in the role beyond that.

In the meantime, credit to ESPN for being direct and forceful with their questions and commentary about Engelbert. Even though theyre a primary media rights holder, they havent shied away from their role in reporting on this significant story.
4 October 2025 13:15 (UTC+04:00)

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Between January and September 2025, Azerbaijan imported $127.05 million worth of grains, legumes, oilseeds, and related products from Turkiye, marking a significant increase compared to the same period last year, Azernews reports, citing the Turkish Exporters Assembly.

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4 October 2025 00:05 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has shared a post on his social media on the fifth anniversary of the liberation of Jabrayil from Armenian occupation, Azernews reports.

Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention.

Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis.

By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more.

Subscribe

You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper

Thank you!
4 October 2025 14:20 (UTC+04:00)

Baku Slavic University hosted the VI International Forum on New Challenges in Education, attracting education officials, Ministry of Science and Education representatives, and international experts, Azernews reprots. The forum, dedicated to the Year of Constitution and Sovereignty, was held under the motto Towards a More Educated Future.

Distinguished participants included Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); prominent Turkish psychologists Acar and Zuhal Baltas of the Baltas Group; Carolyn Wright, CEO of the British Educational Suppliers Association; and Roman Aliyev, Director of Riga Classical State Gymnasium, who shared their expertise and experiences.

The forum focused on balancing emotional intelligence and artificial intelligence in education, emphasizing the development of students and educators into their best possible versions.

In his address, Baku Slavic University Rector Anar Nagyev highlighted that education in Azerbaijan has also returned to Garabagh, noting the universitys efforts to prepare students for the modern labor market and promote inclusive education.

Deputy Minister of Science and Education Idris Isayev stressed that literacy in Azerbaijan is nearly 100% and underscored the central role of education in social development, human capital growth, and the preservation of national values. He emphasized that digital skills and the use of AI as an educational tool are increasingly essential for youth.

Andreas Schleicher added that collaborative teaching strengthens professional confidence and effectiveness, and that AI integration should enhance, not diminish, teachers creativity.

The forum continued with in-depth discussions and exchanges on the future of education in Azerbaijan and beyond.
4 October 2025 08:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva

Samsung Electronics has announced plans to revamp its foreign language evaluation system and introduce new incentives aimed at strengthening employees' global competencies, industry sources revealed on Friday, Azernews reports, citing Korean media.

Starting January, the tech giant will expand its current four-level foreign language speaking assessment by adding three new top tiers. Employees who achieve these highest levels will be rewarded with incentives ranging from 200,000 won ($142) to 500,000 won, according to the sources.

Language proficiency will be evaluated through external speaking tests, with eligible languages including English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Russian, and Spanish.

In addition to the revamped evaluation, Samsung plans to support employees' language learning by covering exam fees up to twice a year, encouraging continuous improvement.

This initiative aligns with Samsungs broader strategy to cultivate global talent capable of thriving in an increasingly interconnected world.

Chairman Lee Jae-yong has frequently emphasized the importance of foreign language skills, highlighting how learning a new language fosters deeper understanding of a countrys mindset, values, and history.

I regret not studying foreign languages more. I continue to practice English and Japanese, and wish I had studied Chinese and French as well, Lee told new employees during a speech in February 2023.

Samsungs move not only reflects the growing need for cross-cultural communication in global business but also signals the companys commitment to investing in its workforce to maintain its competitive edge internationally.
4 October 2025 18:05 (UTC+04:00)

U.S. President Donald Trump is considering visiting South Korea later this month just ahead of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Azernews reports, citing Yonhap.

Government circles speculate that Trump may hold bilateral summits with South Korea and China before the APEC gathering opens and depart without attending the main session of the summit, slated for Oct. 31-Nov. 1 in the southeastern city of Gyeongju.

"President Trump is expected to arrive on Oct. 29 and visit Gyeongju," a ruling party official told Yonhap News Agency by phone. "However, his schedule has yet to be finalized and is still being coordinated between South Korea and the U.S."

Trump is expected to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur from Oct. 26-28 before heading to Japan for talks with the country's new prime minister.

He is then likely to travel to South Korea after his Japan stop, diplomatic observers said, raising the possibility of a one-day trip.

"As for when he will depart after arriving on the 29th, nothing has been confirmed at this point," a government official said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier said Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a "pull-aside" meeting in South Korea late this month.

A ruling party official, meanwhile, downplayed the possibility of Trump's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
4 October 2025 21:20 (UTC+04:00)

Afghanistans Taliban foreign minister will visit India this month after the UN Security Council Committee temporarily lifted a travel ban, Kabuls foreign ministry confirmed to AFP on Saturday, Azernews reports, citing Arab News.

Amir Khan Muttaqi will become the first senior Taliban leader to visit India since they returned to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of the US military.

The foreign ministry told AFP the minister would go to India after the Moscow summit on October 7, which includes representatives from China, India, Iran and Central Asian nations.

The UN Security Council Committee has granted an exemption to the travel ban on Muttaqi, who is under UN sanctions, to allow him to visit New Delhi between October 9 and 16.

Indias point-person on Afghanistan Anand Prakash visited Kabul in April to discuss political and trade relations.

Russia is the only country so far to have officially recognized the Taliban government, which has imposed a strict version of Islamic law.

The Taliban government, which recently released several American and British prisoners, says it wants to have good relations with other countries, notably the United States, despite the 20-year war against US-led forces.

Most countries advise against travel to Afghanistan.

The announcement of the India visit comes just days after the Taliban authorities shut down Afghanistans Internet and mobile networks.

The authorities still have not commented on why they imposed a telecoms blackout for 48 hours.
Celestial Drama Ahead: Orange Supermoon, Two Meteor Showers for Washington, Oregon

Published 10/03/25 at 7:45 a.m.

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Newport, Oregon)  The skies above the Pacific Northwest have been getting a bit of a treat unknown to us mortals down here. There was some amount of Northern Lights and a bit of meteor showers sparking above lately, although clear skies were lacking on the coastlines of Oregon and Washington  or those inland in Portland, Tacoma or Madras.

The celestial drama will continue, with two meteor showers peaking soon. In the midst of it, according to OMSI astronomy expert Jim Todd, there's a special full moon coming up that will be quite colorful.

Stargazers are in for a good shot of luminosity October 6, as the Super Harvest Moon rises over the eastern horizon just after 6:22 p.m. This years Harvest Moon - so named for its proximity to the autumn equinox - is also the first of four supermoons spanning late 2025 into early 2026, Todd told Oregon Coast Beach Connection.

Astronomy News, Updates from Oregon Coast, Washington Coast

A supermoon occurs when the Moon reaches its closest point to Earth, or perigee, during its elliptical orbit. This makes the lunar disk appear up to 8% larger and 16% brighter than average. The remaining supermoons will follow on November 5, December 5, and January 3, 2026.



Harvest Moon above Waldport in 2014

The orange color of a moon near the horizon is a true physical effect, Todd told Oregon Coast Beach Connection. When looking toward the horizon, we are actually looking through a greater thickness of Earths atmosphere than when looking directly overhead. The atmosphere scatters blue light (the reason the sky looks blue). The thickness of the atmosphere in the direction of a horizon scatters blue light most effectively, but it lets red light pass through.

It's not unlike the atmospheric phenomenon that creates the Green Flash at Sunset on Washington or Oregon beaches. Strange Weather Cousins on the Oregon Coast: Green Flash and the Novaya Zemlya

Todd said the this years moon will be especially striking.



Manzanita - Oregon Coast Beach Connection

Adding to the spectacle, Saturn will be visible just to the right of the Moon, offering a bonus planetary pairing for skywatchers.

While the Moons apparent size near the horizon may seem unusually large, experts say its an optical illusion. Known as the moon illusion, this phenomenon tricks the brain into perceiving distant objects as larger than those overhead.

Then, according to NASA, get ready for some fireworks from space.

The Draconid meteor shower, active from October 610, peaks around October 8. It comes from debris left by comet 21P Giacobini-Zinner.

These meteors originate from nearby the head of the constellation Draco the dragon in the northern sky and the shower can produce up to 10 meteors per hour, NASA said.

Later in the month, the Orionid meteor shower promises a more robust display. Peaking October 21, the Orionids are spawned from Halleys Comet. You could catch up to 20 meteors per hour. The best viewing window is between midnight and 2 a.m., when skies are darkest and the Moon less intrusive.

For those seeking deeper insights into the Harvest Moon and other interstellar events, OMSIs Kendall Planetarium offers daily presentations of Starry Night Live! Visit OMSI.edu for showtimes and ticket information.

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Razor Clamming Back Today on N. Oregon Coast's Clatsop Beaches After 3-Month Closure

Published 10/01/25 at 6:45 p.m.

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff





(Seaside, Oregon) - Razor clam harvesting has resumed today - October 1 - along the Clatsop beaches of the north Oregon coast, after the annual conservation closure that began July 15. The reopening marks a seasonal shift for recreational diggers and maybe a reason to whoop it up (if you're a clam fan). Officials say there are promising signs for future harvests based on recent population surveys. (Photo Seaside Aquarium)

During the summer closure, shellfish biologists from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) conducted assessments of razor clam populations along Clatsops shoreline, which accounts for roughly 90 percent of the Oregon coast's total razor clam harvest. Biologist Matt Hunter reported a strong showing of juvenile clams, with an average of 1.47 clams per square meter - nearly double the 20-year average of 0.75. These young clams are expected to drive a large-scale harvest season in 2026.

The total clam count, including both juvenile and adult specimens, reached 2.47 clams per square meter, the third-highest figure recorded since ODFW began monitoring in 2004. Most clams currently measure between two and a half and three inches, with an average length of three and a half inches. Few exceed four inches.

They are still on the small side. Hunter advises diggers to be selective this fall, however.

For the best chance to find a larger clam, target only the large clam shows - the ones that are bigger than a nickel, he said. Once the young clams start growing in spring 2026, digging could be much more successful. But you still need to focus on the biggest shows to find those larger clams.

ODFW reminds harvesters that only the first 15 clams dug - regardless of size or condition - may be kept. Before heading out, diggers should check for biotoxin advisories by calling the Shellfish Safety Hotline at 1-800-448-2474 or visiting the Oregon Department of Agricultures Recreational Shellfish Biotoxin webpage.

The Clatsop regions razor clam abundance is attributed in part to nutrient-rich outflows from the Columbia River and Necanicum River, which also support high concentrations of diatoms - microscopic algae that form the base of the food chain. These conditions not only favor razor clams but also contribute to the proliferation of sand dollars in areas like northern Seaside. While the exact combination of factors remains somewhat mysterious, fewer human disturbances and consistent nutrient input appear to play key roles.





Nearby, Washingtons Long Beach also supports a significant razor clam population, making this part of the Pacific Northwest a hotspot for shellfish enthusiasts as fall digging season begins.

The Washington side of the coast just gave the go-ahead for more clam dig dates.

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Andrej Babis, who earned the nickname "the Czech Trump" in a previous term is returning to power, with an impressive win for his populist nationalist anti-immigration ANO party in the Czech parliamentary election, soundly defeating the currently governing traditional conservative coalition led by the Civic Democrats. ANO means "Yes" in the Czech language and stands for the party's full name "Action of Dissatisfied Citizens."

ANO exceeded poll predictions, winning 34.6% of the vote and 80 seats in the 200 seat parliament. Babis has announced he intends to form a coalition with two other populist nationalist anti-immigration parties, Freedom and Direct Democracy which won 15 seats, and Motorists for Themselves, which won 13 seats. All three parties campaigned against illegal immigration and against the European Union's climate policy. Freedom and Direct Democracy openly calls for a referendum to leave the EU.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/2117215/czech-elections-andrej-babis-european-union?int_source=nba

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/andrej-babis-returns-as-ano-tops-czech-elections/

https://rmx.news/commentary/we-are-so-back-babis-win-in-czechia-is-a-huge-victory-for-european-conservatives/

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/czech-trump-andrej-babis-wins-election-returns-prime-minister-latest-european-populist

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/babis-kicks-off-coalition-talks-after-weekend-win/

________________________________________________________________________________________

Original post:

In his first stint as prime minister, Andrej Babis was nicknamed "the Czech Trump". Now the last poll prior to Saturday's parliamentary election shows Babis poised to return to power in the Czech Republic with his populist nationalist anti-immigration ANO Party holding a ten point lead over its nearest rival, the currently governing traditional conservative coalition built around the Civic Democrats. ANO means "Yes" in the Czech language and is the initials of the party's full name, Action of Dissatisfied Citizens.

Babis has focused his campaign on two issues, rejecting illegal immigration, and rejecting the European Union's climate agenda which he calls "green madness". He is a staunch eurosceptic. Those policies are resonating with Czech voters.

Overall, the poll gives parties of the populist nationalist anti-immigration right 51% of the vote, the traditional right 31%, the traditional left 10%, the populist nationalist left 7%, and others 1%. The once powerful Social Democrats who held the prime minister's post just before Babis' prior term have totally imploded.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/eurosceptic-babis-on-track-for-election-comeback-in-czech-republic/

ANO leads with 31%, followed by the Civic Democrat led coalition, SPOLU at 21%. In third place, with 13%, is an even more strident populist nationalist party, Freedom and Direct Democracy, whose anti-immigration platform even calls for banning mosques in the country and also calls for a referendum to leave the EU. Tied for fourth at 10% each are another traditional conservative coalition, STAN and the more or less traditional left Pirate Party. The only other party of the left in the running is Stacilo, a populist nationalist left party that also wants a referendum to leave the European Union and has said it is willing to join an ANO-led government. Stacilo is in sixth place at 7%. In seventh, at 5%, right at the threshold to be awarded seats, is another populist nationalist right party, Motorists for Themselves who are fiercely opposed to EU climate policies and wokeness generally. Falling below the threshold at 2% in eighth place is the populist nationalist anti-immigration Prisaha Party.

It is expected that ANO and Freedom and Direct Democracy will be the core of the new government. If a third party is needed for a majority and it succeeds in passing the 5% threshold, Motorists for Themselves would round out the government If not, Stacilo would probably fill that role. They would be a better fit as the traditional conservative parties are too tied to the EU establishment.
A federal district judge in Massachusetts has refused to issue an injunction to stop the Trump administration for cutting off federal funds to cities that have declared themselves sanctuary cities for illegal aliens. This will allow the administration to move to cut off those funds to sanctuary cities.

Sanctuary cities and counties refuse to honor federal detainers on illegal aliens who have been convicted of crimes so these criminal illegal aliens can be picked up for deportation. Instead, the sanctuary city or county releases the criminal illegal alien back into the community at the end of their sentence to prey on more Americans. The illegal alien gang member who murdered Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, for example was released from jail by sanctuary city New York instead of being turned over to ICE for deportation. He then moved to Georgia and murdered Riley when he should have been returned to his home country instead.

https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2025/10/03/judge-rules-against-sanctuary-cities-will-not-stop-trump-cutting-federal-funds/

In another key court ruling, the US Supreme Court struck down the order of a California Obama judge that had blocked the administration from revoking the "temporary protected status" of over 300,000 migrants from Venezuela. That now makes them eligible for deportation.

https://dailycaller.com/2025/10/03/supreme-court-allows-trump-admin-to-end-protected-status-for-venezuelan-migrants/

Meanwhile a poll by the liberal New York Times finds that 52% of Americans support President Trump's deportation policies on illegal aliens while only 24% are strongly opposed. Support has remained the same since April while opposition has dropped by 2 points.

https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2025/10/01/poll-trumps-deportation-policy-holds-majority-support/
By Rev. Mark Creech

RevMarkCreech.org

Scroll through the headlines and you can feel the tension. Protesters clash on college campuses. Neighbors glare at one another over yard signs. Social media seethes with accusations. Families split apart at Thanksgiving over politics. The rifts are not merely about policies but basic definitions of reality and identity. In such an atmosphere, people retreat into tribes, political, racial, sexual, ideological  seeking security and belonging, yet when tribes rise against tribes, as the headlines attest, hostility escalates as each struggles to prevail over one or all of the others.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene recently gave voice to that frustration when she called for a national divorce, arguing that conservatives and progressives are so far apart that reconciliation is impossible. Her lament reflects a genuine reality: our nation is deeply divided. Many of her critics rushed to condemn her rhetoric; many of her supporters quietly agreed. Both camps missed that she was naming something most Americans feel in their bones: we are living through a season of estrangement unprecedented in our lifetime. Yet Christians cannot stop at diagnosis. Where some see irreparable separation, the Gospel offers a remedy. The cross does not deny division; it overcomes it. It is one thing to lament the chasms in our society. It is another to stake our lives on a power great enough to bridge them.

The late Dr. D. James Kennedy captured this vision in his sermon What if America Were a Christian Nation Again. He said, If all the Christians in America simply led one person to Christ this year, this nation would once again be overwhelmingly Christian, and most of all societys problems would vanish like snow before the rising sun. If Christians would become involved in our culture and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, this nation and this world would be transformed almost overnight. It would be glorious.

Kennedys words are a clarion call: the answer to national fracture is not withdrawal but a fresh surge of evangelism and engagement. He believed that a nations divisions could melt like snow before the rising sun if the Church did what Christ commissioned her to do.

The confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh beautifully illustrates that Gods truth swallows up falsehood. When Moses cast down his staff, it became a serpent. Pharaohs magicians threw down their staff, and they became serpents, too. But then something remarkable happened: the serpent from Moses staff swallowed up the serpents of Pharaohs magicians. Gods sign didnt merely match the counterfeit; it didnt simply make peace with it and live alongside it; it consumed it. This is what the Gospel does.

The apostle Paul wrote that in Christ God has broken down the dividing wall of hostility and created one new humanity (Ephesians 2:14-15). In the first century, the cross brought Jew and Gentile together  something completely unthinkable at that time. The Gospel can do the same now as it did then. It can still bridge our twenty-first-century chasms. Our neighbors are weary of division and hungry for belonging. They are searching for an identity that cannot be canceled, revoked, or lost. That is precisely what the Gospel offers: forgiveness, adoption, a new name, a new family, and a new citizenship in the kingdom of God.

Skeptics will say, That sounds idealistic. Society is too far gone. But history gives us living parables of this very thing. In community after community, darkness loses its grip when the Gospel is proclaimed with power and lived with integrity. Gods truth swallows up the devils lies.

After all, the Hebrides Islands off Scotlands northwest coast were once marked by spiritual lethargy and cultural drift. In the late 1940s, two elderly sisters began praying fervently for spiritual awakening under the ministry of Duncan Campbell. Meetings spread from parish churches to barns and fields. People walking to pubs or dance halls were suddenly gripped with a sense of sin and turned aside to pray. Entire villages gathered spontaneously for worship, often lasting until the early morning. Police records showed a dramatic drop in crime. Taverns were emptied, family prayer was returned to homes, and young people who had been disinterested in religion were converted en masse. Gods power didnt merely offset the darkness; it swallowed it up.

In the 1990s, Rwanda was drenched in blood after one of the worst episodes of ethnic slaughter in modern times. Yet thousands of Rwandans, including many perpetrators, entered church-based reconciliation and forgiveness programs. Evangelical and Catholic leaders taught repentance, confession, and forgiveness rooted in the Cross of Christ. Today, some of the very people who killed their neighbors worship alongside surviving family members. It is not utopia; nevertheless, it is a living picture of Christ breaking down the dividing wall of hostility.

In the 1970s and 80s, communist regimes across Eastern Europe tried to suppress Christianity. Yet underground churches kept evangelizing. By the time the Berlin Wall fell, vibrant evangelical, Catholic, and Orthodox networks were ready to fill the moral vacuum. Christian movements and leaders were at the forefront of peaceful protests in several countries. When the political Pharaoh lost its grip, the Gospel infrastructure was already there to start the healing. A re-emerging faith in Christ swallowed up the counterfeit serpents of Marxist ideology.

Even on American streets, we have seen the same principle on a micro scale. Programs like Teen Challenge, Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, and Nicky Cruzs outreach showed hardened gang members becoming believers, reconciling with rivals, and mentoring the next generation away from violence. We used to mark our streets with blood, one former gang leader said. Now we mark them with prayer. The phony serpents of hate and revenge were devoured by a new life in Christ.

These stories of what happened are not utopian myths. They are documented episodes of Gods Spirit at work in the world. They show that an entire culture can be turned around when the Church does what Christ called her to do  pray, proclaim, disciple, and forgive. Crime can drop. Hatreds can be healed and abandoned. Ideologies can crumble. Addictions can break. Enemies can embrace.

Mosess serpent still swallows the magicians serpents. In each case, the transformation didnt begin with governments, policies, or programs. It started with ordinary believers  often anonymous, praying, evangelizing, and refusing to give up on Gods power to change hearts. This is the hope of our nation.

America in 2025 is not ancient Egypt, but it is a place where fakery abounds. Ideologies, identities, and movements promise liberation yet deliver only new forms of bondage. However, the most significant problem in our nation is that the Gospel of Christ is not generally being preached. Mainline churches, in pursuit of cultural approval, have surrendered the authority of Scripture, rebranded sin as virtue, embraced false sexual ethics, mingled the Gospel with worldly ideologies, and silenced the call to repentance, abandoning the offense of the Cross for the fleeting applause of men.

The frightening reality is that a church may continue holding services, maintaining programs, and maintaining buildings yet be of no effect because the Lord has already removed its candlestick (Revelation 2:5). Without His Spirit, the glow of Gospel witness is extinguished. All that remains is a religious shell with no power to transform as the Lord intended.

Before we pronounce a national divorce, we should remember the Gospel of Christ reconciles sinners to God and, through changed hearts, to one another. Gods truth always swallows up the devils lies, and His power to transform society has not diminished in the slightest. Suppose Christians, even being a minority, take seriously their call to evangelize and courageously live out the Gospel. In that case, we will yet see the rising sun melt our nations divisions like snow, and the serpent of truth will swallow up every counterfeit. That would indeed be glorious! This is the path forward, not a national divorce. God forbid!

https://revmarkcreech.org/before-we-pronounce-a-national-divorce-lets-test-the-power-of-the-cross
By Dr. Mark Creech

Return America

A little more than a week ago, North Carolina lawmakers reconvened for a couple of days. Although various piecemeal actions were taken on the budget, the House and Senate have yet to agree on resolving their differences. Without a final budget, the legislature has attempted to pass mini-budgets or stopgap spending measures to fund critical or high-priority areas such as Medicaid, health programs, and disaster relief while overall negotiations continue. The central sticking point between the two chambers is over issues such as tax cuts, teacher pay levels, the scope of spending cuts or reallocations, and how to fund vacant positions. Because of this delay, many proposed pay raises, new program expansions, and other spending changes are on hold until a final budget agreement can be reached.

Lawmakers are slated to reconvene on October 20, 2025.

In the meantime, state legislators moved several bills that many Christian patriots would consider significant. Return America actively supported two of these measures, while the others were carefully monitored.

Lets examine six bills whose provisions are especially relevant to Christian who ground their political convictions in biblical truth.

HB 307  Irnyas Law.

Irynas Law was written after the recent brutal murder of a young Ukrainian woman, Iryna Zarutska, on a Charlotte light rail train. The bill makes North Carolina tougher on violent criminals by ending cashless bail, forcing judges to look at an offenders past record before release, and requiring stricter rules like bonds, house arrest, or electronic monitoring for repeat offenders. It also requires mental health evaluations for violent defendants with a history of mental illness, and it speeds up death penalty appeals so that capital punishment, stalled in North Carolina for nearly 20 years, can actually be carried out again. The bill makes public transportation crimes even more serious. The initiative is meant to stop dangerous people from slipping through loopholes and hurting others again.

HB 307 passed both chambers and was sent to the Governor on September 23, 2025. The Governor had 10 days to either sign or veto a measure. Governor Josh Sein signed the bill into law on October 3, 2025.

Return America actively supported this legislation and communicated with lawmakers as recently as October 2, 2025. You can read the communication sent here: History, Justice, and the Duty of NC Lawmakers.

This was another huge win for Return America!

HB 192  Defund Planned Parenthood & Cost Transparency.

Any bill related to the practice of abortion should be a top-tier concern for Christians. A bill aiming to defund Planned Parenthood strongly resonates with pro-life convictions.

The first part of the measure deals directly with Planned Parenthood. It requires the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to remove Planned Parenthood and all of its related organizations from the states Medicaid program. This means Planned Parenthood can no longer get Medicaid money for services in North Carolina. The bill also ends any contracts Medicaid might have had with Planned Parenthood and tells the state to find other medical providers to take over the care that Planned Parenthood used to provide for low-income patients. In short, the law cuts off taxpayer-funded Medicaid dollars from going to Planned Parenthood in North Carolina.

The second part of the bill deals with hospitals and surgical centers, adding new rules to make hospital and surgical center billing fair and transparent for patients.

Return America actively supported the passage of HB 192. It passed the Senate and was sent to the House, where it now resides in the House Rules Committee for later consideration.

HB 87  Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA).

Christian families often want the ability to send their children to Christian schools or homeschool with less financial burden. School choice is a significant issue for those who see Christian education as vital.

HB 87 allows North Carolina to join a federal program that gives people tax credits when they donate to scholarship organizations. Those groups then use the money to provide scholarships that help families cover private school or homeschooling costs. For Christian families, this means more financial support to choose an education that reflects their values and faith rather than being limited to the public school system. The bill also requires the state to publish a list of approved scholarship groups so donors know their contributions qualify.

This legislation passed both chambers in July of this year, but Governor Josh Stein vetoed it. He argued that the measure would divert billions of dollars away from public schools. He believes this would hollow out public schools instead of strengthening them.

Conservatives argue that school choice programs help low- and middle-income families the most. Moreover, for many Christian conservatives, this is ultimately about protecting the right to raise children with moral and biblical values. Public schools are increasingly shaped by unacceptable secular and progressive ideologies.

HB 87 was scheduled for a veto override on September 22. However, apparently, there werent enough votes present in the chamber to secure an override. So, the bill was withdrawn from the calendar and sent to the House Rules Committee.

HB 87 has been calendared for a veto override in the House on October 20, 2025.

HB 171, SB 227, and SB 588 aim to eliminate the use of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs in North Carolinas government and schools.

HB 171  Equality in State Agencies/Prohibition on DEI. This bill focuses on state agencies and prohibits them from using DEI policies in hiring, training, or operations. DEI promotes progressive ideologies on race, gender, and sexuality that run contrary to a biblical view of humanity and justice. This bill is seen as a way to keep government functions neutral and free from political or ideological agendas.

SB 227  Eliminating DEI in Public Education, eliminates DEI in K-12 public education, while SB 558  Eliminating DEI in Public Higher Ed, applies to eliminating DEI from higher education (universities and community colleges). Together with HB 171, these bills ban DEI offices and programs across K-12 and higher education in North Carolina.

For many Christian parents, this is especially significant because they see DEI as a vehicle for indoctrinating children with unbiblical ideas about identity, morality, and truth. By removing DEI from public schools, the bill protects children and young adults from being pressured into accepting ideologies undermining their familys faith and values.

Together, these bills represent a broad push to roll back DEI across government and education, ensuring that taxpayer dollars arent used to advance agendas that faithful Christians believe contradict biblical principles.

Governor Josh Stein vetoed these three bills in July. The Governor argued that DEI is necessary for fairness, effectiveness, and freedom while portraying these bills as divisive, censoring, and damaging to education and government.

Unfortunately, the Governor defends an ideology that injects politics into our schools and agencies. At the same time, conservatives believe true fairness means protecting students, employees, and taxpayers from divisive agendas that undercut biblical truth and equal opportunity.

All three bills have been calendared for a veto override in the House on October 20, 2025.

https://revmarkcreech.org/from-the-budget-stalemate-to-recent-bold-legislation-in-the-ncga-a-christian-response
UPDATE: Vice President J. D. Vance has called for Jones to drop out of the race after these disgusting remarks became public.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/10/04/vp-vance-speaker-johnson-demand-va-dem-ag-candidate-drop-out-after-texts-mention-shooting-speaker-his-children-dying/

The Virginia Democrat running for governor, Abigail Spanberger, has been repeatedly calling for Democrats to show "rage" during her campaign. After those comments, two Republican legislators received death threats. Now it has come out that her running mate for Attorney General has engaged in some rage of his own.

Former legislator Jay Jones, now Virginia Democrats' candidate for Attorney General, emailed other legislators suggesting the assassination of then House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican. Jones also said he wished death upon Gilbert's children. He compared Gilbert to Hitler.

It is clear that Democrats have a major rage and violence problem in Virginia and nationwide.

https://thefederalist.com/2025/10/03/virginia-dem-ag-candidate-fantasized-about-assassinating-republican-wished-death-on-his-kids/

https://spectator.org/yes-virginia-jay-jones-is-evil/

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/jay-jones-virginia-attorney-general-candidate-text-messages-todd-gilbert-14be35fe?st=vNbuy2
Ann-Marie Fallon, co-director of the UK Passivhaus Trust, shares some key facts and busts some myths about the low-energy building standard

Passivhaus is an international quality assurance building standard delivering high levels of air quality and comfort, while radically reducing energy use from buildings. Passivhaus homes and buildings are healthy, comfortable, warm, peaceful and with ultra-low energy bills.

The Passivhaus Trust outlines eight key Passivhaus principles

Core principles of approach

Detailed performance and comfort criteria

Accurate modelling in PHPP (Passivhaus Planning Package software)

Rigorous quality assurance

Building principles

Insulation

Airtightness

Ventilation with heat recovery

Minimised thermal bridging

High-performance triple glazed windows

Together, these eight principles form an integrated whole that reliably delivers performance, comfort and durability.

Five building principles of Passivhaus

Passivhaus is not just for houses

It has become common to see Passivhaus self-builds featured on Grand Designs and Passivhaus is being adopted for large scale social housing projects, but Passivhaus is a building standard that can be applied to all kinds of buildings. Fermanagh & Omagh District Council is currently building a Passivhaus swimming pool and leisure centre  the Lakeland Forum Redevelopment project in Enniskillen. Another non-domestic project underway is DAERAs Campuses of the future 160m redevelopment of two College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) campuses, which will be built to the Passivhaus premium standard.

Passivhaus is not just about energy bills

In the face of the cost-of-living crisis and growing public demand for climate-conscious choices, Passivhaus offers a proven, practical solution of delivering drastically reduced heating bills and carbon emissions. Post-monitoring data demonstrates that these homes perform as designed, with no performance gap.

Brilliant as this is, Passivhaus also applies building physics principles to occupant health and comfort. The Passivhaus standard includes criteria that help address summer comfort, elimination of mould, avoidance of draughts, and good indoor air quality.

Passivhaus is affordable

Many Passivhaus myths get bandied about, but the Passivhaus is too expensive one is the most frustrating! The Passivhaus standard and methodology have now been actively rolled out in the UK for over 15 years, and across Europe for over 30 years. The early pioneering projects will have cost more due to lack of supply chain and the initial steep learning curve. But through many iterations, the Passivhaus community has honed its designs and approaches to keep costs down, with an emphasis on simplicity of design.

Passivhaus Trust research shows an approximate cost uplift of only 4-8% over building regulations. Social housing providers rolling out Passivhaus at scale have found that, if youre working with an experienced Passivhaus designer who understands building physics and form factor and orientation, it is possible to really drive down the cost to little or no additional premium. Proof positive of this is the fact that two major housebuilders  Cairn in Ireland and Barratt London in the UK  have now committed to rolling out Passivhaus at scale.

Passivhaus is taking off in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is seeing something of a Passivhaus upsurge with large-scale projects including Weavers Hall Passivhaus student accommodation in Belfast, currently under construction for Queen's University Belfast, the CAFRE Campuses of the future scheme, Enniskillens Passivhaus swimming pool, and ambitious Belfast housing schemes. Passivhaus is really beginning to take off in Northern Ireland, which is why we wanted to come to Belfast and shine a light on whats happening.

As Andrew Haley, Chairperson of the Ministerial Advisory Group for Architecture and the Built Environment in Northern Ireland, said recently: "Passivhaus is rightly drawing the attention of developers, social housing, Executive departments, and local authorities, as well as policymakers. It offers huge opportunities for Northern Ireland, in terms of tackling fuel poverty and achieving climate goals."

Belfast is hosting the UK & Ireland Passivhaus Conference next week from 7-8 October at the ICC Belfast as well as online. For more information, see ukphc.org.uk
A former senior prison official in Northern Ireland has died.

Finlay Spratt, who was in his late 70s, passed away on Thursday.

A funeral notice said he died peacefully at Causeway Hospital, Coleraine, surrounded by his family.

From the Limavady area, he was best known as the chair of the Prison Officers Association, becoming the public spokesman for staff in the prison system.

Mr Spratt quit the role in December 2016 after losing the support of members.

He joined the Prison Service in 1976 and only left active service in April 2018, when he stepped down after being in charge of Magilligan Prison.

He led a successful campaign to keep the Co Londonderry prison open when it was threatened with closure more than a decade ago.

In December 2018, he was awarded an MBE for his public service and charity in the Queens New Year Honours list.

In an interview at the time, he recalled: I had more threats on my life than breakfasts. I lived in volatile times and was under threat by paramilitaries from both sides. But I always stuck to my guns and spoke my mind in the media, even when prison management would not do it.

The common thread of what I said was that the paramilitary attacks on prison officers were pointless because we did not make the policy. We were only there to do a job.

A family notice said: Gone from our sight but never from our hearts. A life well lived, a father well loved.

A service of thanksgiving will take place in Christ Church, Limavady on Monday at 2pm, followed by burial in the adjoining graveyard.
Kemi Badenoch insisted she could turn the Tories fortunes around, after setting out plans to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The Conservative leader arrived for her partys conference in Manchester saying weve got a great story to tell.

But her party has seen support collapse in opinion polls in recent months, consistently trailing third behind Nigel Farages Reform UK and Sir Keir Starmers Labour.

Asked if she could turn things around for her party, she said: Absolutely, and this week were going to be showing what our plan is.

Were the only party with a credible plan to deliver both a stronger economy and stronger borders.

The announcement the party would leave the ECHR is an attempt to show they can be tough on tackling migration  the international convention has been blamed for making it harder to deport people from the UK.

Mr Farage has already committed Reform to leaving the ECHR if he wins power, and his party picked up another defection from the Conservatives as London Assembly Member for Havering and Redbridge Keith Prince jumped ship.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp insisted there was a massive difference between his partys plan and Reform UKs.

He told BBC Breakfast: Reform have slogans. They shoot from the hip. They write down slogans on the back of a fag packet.

He said the Conservatives have a very, very carefully thought-out position which had taken months of legal work.

We know exactly what the implications are for things like the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, the Trade and Co-operation Agreement.

We know exactly how we can then use the freedom outside the ECHR to get control of our borders.

Kemi Badenoch arrives in Manchester ahead of the Conservative Party conference (Ryan Jenkinson/PA)

Mrs Badenochs decision followed the conclusion of a months-long review by shadow attorney general Baron Wolfson of Tredegar, which found the ECHR had limited the Governments ability to address immigration issues, as well as policies in a host of other areas.

Mr Philp said the review, as well as another detailed set of proposals explaining how border security would be tightened, would be published on Sunday.

Lord Wolfson, who was commissioned to carry out the review by Mrs Badenoch in June, said that withdrawal from the ECHR was the only feasible option to gain full control of UK borders.

He said he did not believe the Good Friday Agreement, the UK-EU trade agreement, and the Windsor Framework negotiated to ease post-Brexit trading arrangements, were barriers to leaving the ECHR.

But critics say that quitting the treaty would jeopardise the Good Friday Agreement, which ended Northern Irelands Troubles, and would strip UK citizens of fundamental rights.

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Amnesty International UKs chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said: We should all be very cautious of politicians who try to take away the very rights that hold politicians themselves to account.

Take this convention away and people will be vulnerable to the political whims of those who seek to undermine and deny them their rights.

Scapegoating people fleeing persecution and other migrants as an excuse to gut this countrys human rights protections is not courageous, but cowardly.

Stripping ordinary people of these protections will leave us all smaller, more divided, and less safe.

Richard Atkinson, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, said: The Conservative Party is putting political interest above the public good.

Without the backstop of the ECHR, governments of whatever party will be able to erode our rights with no come-back.

Sir Keir Starmer said this week that the Government was considering how Article 3 and Article 8 are interpreted.

The Prime Minister said international laws such as the ECHR would not be torn down, but that their legal interpretations would be reviewed in an effort to curb asylum claims.

Article 3 of the ECHR, on protection from torture and inhumane and degrading treatment, and Article 8, on the right to private and family life, have been used to halt deportation attempts.

Mrs Badenoch said on Friday: I have not come to this decision lightly, but it is clear that it is necessary to protect our borders, our veterans, and our citizens.

The issue became a dividing line between Mrs Badenoch and rival Robert Jenrick during last summers Conservative Party leadership election.

Mr Jenrick put withdrawing from the ECHR at the heart of his unsuccessful campaign, while Mrs Badenoch said the move would not be a silver bullet for tackling immigration.

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In response to the pledge to leave the ECHR, a Labour Party spokesperson said: Kemi Badenoch has adopted a policy she argued against in her own leadership campaign because she is too weak to stand up to her own party in the face of Reform.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the move would do nothing to address issues with border control in the UK.

A Reform UK spokesman said: The Conservatives had 14 years in government to leave the ECHR. Since then, its taken them 14 months to even decide what their policy is.

Nobody trusts a single word they say any more. The Conservative Party is finished.
Sir Keir Starmer says Hamas partial acceptance of a peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump is a step forwards (Leon Neal/PA)

Sir Keir Starmer has labelled Hamas partial acceptance of a peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump as a significant step forwards and called for an agreement without delay.

Hamas said it has accepted elements of the plan to end the nearly two-year war, including being willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians.

Further negotiations were needed on other areas, according to senior Hamas officials.

In a statement, the Prime Minister said: Hamas acceptance of the US peace plan is a significant step forwards.

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We strongly support President Trumps efforts, which have brought us closer to peace than ever before.

There is now an opportunity to end the fighting, for the hostages to return home, and for humanitarian aid to reach those who so desperately need it.

We call on all sides to implement the agreement without delay.

He said the UK was ready to support further negotiations and work towards sustainable peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations are engulfed by smoke following an Israeli military strike in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday (Leo Correa/AP)

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said this was a moment that must be seized.

She said in a statement: After nearly two years of agony, this is a moment that brings the chance to free the hostages, stop the suffering in Gaza and finally bring this war to an end, and it is a moment that must be seized.

The UK stands ready to play its full part in that effort, and we all urge all parties to now implement the agreement in full.

Mr Trump welcomed the Hamas statement, posting on social media: I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE.

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Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, its far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out.

Israel earlier said it accepted Mr Trumps plan and in a statement on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would work in full cooperation with Mr Trumps plan and was preparing to implement the first phase concerning the release of hostages.

Among the issues Hamas did not agree to were disarming and the future of the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rights, which it said should be agreed with other groups and using international law.

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Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera the proposal cannot be implemented without negotiations.

Mr Trumps plan, which he unveiled earlier this week alongside Mr Netanyahu, called for the release of the remaining 48 hostages  20 of whom are believed to still be alive  in three days, ahead of the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks, which started the war.

In a video posted on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump called it a very special day and said the end of the war was very close.

The plan called for Hamas to give up power and disarm, while Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of the territory, release Palestinian prisoners and allow humanitarian aid and end plans to relocate much of Gazas population.

The territory would be placed under international governance overseen by Mr Trump nd former British prime minister Sir Tony Blair.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the release of all hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza are within reach! while a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged all parties to seize the opportunity.
Its not hypocrisy: Loyalist defends use of Irish on murals while railing at council plans for bilingual signs

Former Red Hand Commando prisoner Bimbo Wilson sets out reasons for grievances

Jim 'Bimbo' Wilson

John Toner Sat 4 Oct 2025 at 20:08

Former loyalist prisoner Jim Bimbo Wilson has defended the use of Irish on loyalist murals amid the row over dual-language street signs.
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An exhibition of upcycled wearable art by designer Deborah Carter and her intern Aidan Mack is on display through Dec. 31 at Kimball Farms in Lenox.
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The most devastating losses to fraud involve relationship or romance scams. While there is no single victim profile, there are some commonalities. The intended victim is someone who recently lost a companion, close friend, or is seeking new companionship. A second commonality is that the individual is using online connections (social media) to create and build the new relationship.
PITTSFIELD  The federal government may be shut down, but Pittsfields Silvio O. Conte Federal Building is still open  for the most part.

The 78 Center St. building houses offices for the Social Security Administration, the Veterans Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and one of U.S. Rep. Richard Neals two district offices.

In March, the U.S. General Services Administration listed the building, which houses the only VA offices in Berkshire County, among multiple Massachusetts locations being considered for possible sale by the Trump administration  though it was removed the following day.

For now, most services remain available. The Social Security Administration office continues to help residents apply for retirement or disability benefits, replace or correct Social Security cards, and update personal records. The Veterans Administration office and its outpatient clinic also remain open, providing primary care, specialty health services and treatment for conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder.

But not every office is staffed. The USDA office has turned off its lights and closed its doors, with a sign posted that reads: The U.S. Department of Agriculture Office is currently closed due to the lapse in federal government funding. The office will reopen once Congress restores funding.

That closure leaves local farmers without a key resource. Typically, the Pittsfield office provides assistance with farm loans, conservation programs, disaster relief and property management. It also helps landowners with design practices, provides them with scientific information to improve land health and productivity.
Berkshire Museum chief curator says he was fired after making complaints about executive director Jesse Kowalski, who was in the process of curating an exhibition about the Holocaust and antisemitism set to open in spring 2027, said that he was fired for unprofessional behavior and damage to the museum.

After the public relations nightmare of a deaccession decision that still stares at Berkshire Museum in the rearview mirror, the last thing this critical cultural institution needs is a new scandal after spending years getting over the last one.

So its sad to hear of fresh controversy hamstringing this historic museum in the wake of the firing of the museums former chief curator.

Jesse Kowalski told The Eagle his dismissal came after he complained to the museums human resources department and board of directors that Executive Director Kimberly Bush Tomio repeatedly made antisemitic comments. Mr. Kowalski was working on a new exhibit titled Light in the Darkness: Stories from the Holocaust slated to open in 2027. He said that Ms. Bush Tomios comments arose during one-on-one discussion about the exhibit and included comparisons of the Holocaust to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Jewish conspiracy theories.

Mr. Kowalski, who is not Jewish, told The Eagle he consulted with Rabbi Daveen H. Litwin and Dara Kaufman of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, who are consultants on the exhibition, before expressing his concerns to the board and HR department. After Mr. Kowalski lodged his complaints, museum leaders hired an outside firm to investigate the comments. In a statement, Board of Trustees President Jeffrey Belair confirmed the third-party investigation and said it concluded the allegations were unfounded.

Berkshire Museum might have hoped that would be the end of it, but for many observers, the issue is still a live one. In recent weeks, weve received and published quite a few letters to the editor from readers concerned about the incident and what it means for the museums future. While some might have already drawn conclusions about one or more of the parties in this dispute, we cant reasonably do so simply because of the amount of unknowns still lingering in what is now a very public spat. Was this an instance of prejudice at an important Berkshire institution or a nothing-burger? Was this an unproductive injection of contemporary politics into what should be apolitical historical curation, or was it a misunderstanding? Like many things in life, the truth might fall somewhere in between in a gray space that defies neat definition. But at this point, the public, while transfixed, simply cant know.

Museum leadership needs to face this reality that many in the community are either jumping to conclusions or yearning for more information about what could reasonably be construed as a he said/she said drama, and theres one method that always works in such a situation: Be as transparent as possible. Sunlight is the best disinfectant is a cliche for a reason. Berkshire Museum is a private entity, and so unlike a government agency they are under no obligation to meet a demand for transparency, no matter how reasonable. Still, wed urge museum leaders to consider the downside of needless opacity here.

By all accounts, it seems leadership acted swiftly and responsively by pursuing an independent probe when confronted with a serious internal concern. Thats an improvement on the lack of openness and responsiveness shown by the museum during the deaccessioning fiasco. However, museum leadership must consider how it sounds to essentially say this was investigated, the concern was unfounded and theres nothing to see here.

Given the incendiary nature of this controversy  a recently scandal-scarred institution roiled by an accusation of antisemitism as that vicious form of bigotry is unfortunately on the rise  its understandable that museum supporters and community stakeholders are going to react with a strong desire to know more. If the report substantively demonstrates the concerns were unfounded, the museum should have a clear interest in publicizing that as much as reasonably possible. If most of the remarks in question originated in one-on-one conversations, then there shouldnt be much privacy concern outside of the central two figures whose profiles have already been thrust into the public eye. If there are reasonable concerns of privacy or liability, then light redactions could be made to a public-facing version of the investigative report.

Yet Berkshire Museum has not even confirmed what firm it contracted with to conduct the investigation. By our lights, theres a lot more room and a compelling argument for transparency here  that is, if Berkshire Museum would prefer to clear things up for perplexed observers rather than let them draw their own conclusions in the fog of controversy.
Lupin strengthens global specialty ophthalmology business with acquisition of VISUfarma from GHO Capital

October 04, 2025 | Saturday | News

VISUfarma's established European operations will provide market expansion opportunities

image credit- shutterstock

Mumbai-based pharma major Lupin Limited has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Nanomi B.V., has signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of VISUfarma B.V., a portfolio company of global healthcare specialist investor GHO Capital Partners LLP.

The acquisition of VISUfarma, with its broad portfolio of innovative eye health products and established commercial infrastructure, aligns with Lupin's strategy to expand its European business and footprint and to advance the company's global specialty franchise.

By integrating VISUfarma's established commercial operations, Lupin will tap into the attractive ophthalmology market, which is experiencing significant global growth driven by an aging global population, the increasing incidence of diabetes-related eye complications, and growing awareness of preventive care.

VISUfarma's established European operations will provide market expansion opportunities, direct presence and further business diversification across major European countries, including Italy, the UK, Spain, Germany and France.

In addition, VISUfarma's broad portfolio of 60+ branded ophthalmology products will present growth opportunities to accelerate Lupin's expansion into the specialty segment across regions, and is projected to drive growth in Europe as well as in other markets.

With the integration of VISUfarma, Lupin will offer a complete portfolio of products in the areas of dry eye, glaucoma, eyelid hygiene, blepharitis, retinal health and highly focused nutraceuticals prescribed by ophthalmologists.

Lupin will finance the acquisition with existing cash on balance sheet. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Lupin's growth and margin profile. The transaction is projected to close by the end of 2025, subject to certain closing conditions.
A variety of stories feature on Saturday's front pages, including multiple on Storm Amy.

The Irish Times lead with tax cuts in Tuesday's 2026 budget being ruled out and gardai being frustrated by gangland criminals having enhanced security measures, including fortified doors and bulletproof glass, which slow their entry during surprise raids.

The Irish Examiner lead with tax bands remaining unchanged in Budget 2026, 6,500 hotel rooms already being booked for the 2027 Ryder Cup, and the Taoiseach claiming that Catherine Connolly could cause "serious" damage and impact on the Irish economy by likening German rearmament to the 1930s.

The Echo lead with Don O'Leary, a past member of Cork City Council and former director of the Cork Life Centre, passing away aged 68.

The Irish Independent lead with the woman convicted of gun offences who was employed in Catherine Connolly's Dail office in January 2019, attending the Ard Fheis of Eirigi that month.

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The Herald lead with a court hearing that a teenager drove a stolen car at 200km/h.

The Irish Daily Star lead with Storm Amy and gardai appealing for people not to take part in a viral AI prank after victims panicked and called 999.

The Irish Daily Mail lead with companies owned by former GAA manager and businessman Seamus 'Banty' McEnaney and his family members having been paid more than 231 million for housing asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees.

The Belfast Telegraph and Irish Daily Mirror lead with Storm Amy.
Israels army said that it would advance preparations for the first phase of US President Donald Trumps plan to end the war in Gaza and return all the remaining hostages, after Hamas said it accepted parts of the deal while others still needed to be negotiated.

The army said it was instructed by Israels leaders to advance readiness for the implementation of the plan.

An official who was not authorised to speak to the media on the record said that Israel has moved to a defensive-only position in Gaza and will not actively strike.



Displaced Palestinians flee northern Gaza carrying their belongings along the coastal road near Wadi Gaza (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)

The official said no forces have been removed from the strip.

This announcement came hours after Mr Trump ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza once Hamas said it had accepted some elements of his plan.

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Mr Trump welcomed the Hamas statement, saying: I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE.

The president appears keen to deliver on pledges to end the war and return dozens of hostages ahead of the second anniversary of the attack on Tuesday.

His proposal unveiled earlier this week has widespread international support and was also endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Friday, Mr Netanyahus office said Israel was committed to ending the war that began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 2023, without addressing potential gaps with the militant group.

Mr Netanyahu has come under increasing pressure from the international community and Mr Trump to end the conflict.

The official told the AP that Mr Netanyahu put out the rare late-night statement on the sabbath saying that Israel has started to prepare for Mr Trumps plan after pressure from the US administration.



President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House (Alex Brandon/AP)

The official also said that a negotiating team was getting ready to travel, but there was no date specified.

A senior Egyptian official says talks are under way for the release of hostages, as well as hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention.

The official, who is involved in the ceasefire negotiations, also said Arab mediators are preparing for a comprehensive dialogue among Palestinians.

The talks are aimed at unifying the Palestinian position towards Gazas future.

On Saturday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second most powerful militant group in Gaza, said it accepted Hamas response to the Trump plan.

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The group had previously rejected the proposal days earlier.

Also on Saturday, Gazas Health Ministry said that the death toll in the nearly two-year Israel-Hamas war has topped 67,000 Palestinians.

The death toll jumped after the ministry said it added more than 700 names to the list whose data had been verified.

 Progress, but uncertainty ahead

Despite the momentum, a lot of questions remain.

Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages  around 20 of them believed to be alive  within three days.



People look at photos of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, in Jerusalem (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

It would also give up power and disarm.

In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of the territory, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction.

Hamas said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians.

Its official statement also did not address the issue of Hamas demilitarising, a key part of the deal.

Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general and chairman of Israels Defence and Security Forum, said while Israel can afford to stop firing for a few days in Gaza so the hostages can be released, it will resume its offensive if Hamas does not lay down its arms.

Others say that while Hamas suggests a willingness to negotiate, its position fundamentally remains unchanged.
Munich Airport reopened on Saturday after German authorities shut it down the night before for the second time in less than 24 hours after more suspected drone sightings.

The closures are the latest after mysterious drone overflights in the airspace of European Union (EU) member countries.

The airport, one of Germanys largest, reopened gradually, beginning at 7am local time on Saturday. Planes typically begin taking off at 5am.

Delays were expected to continue throughout Saturday.

At least 6,500 passengers were impacted by the overnight closure Friday into Saturday, the airport said.



Screens at Munich Airport show diverted and cancelled flights (Enrique Kaczor/dpa via AP/PA)

The previous closure, Thursday night into Friday, affected almost 3,000 passengers.

Authorities were not immediately able to provide any information about who was responsible for the overflights.

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The incident was the latest in a series of incidents of mysterious drone sightings over airports as well as other critical infrastructure sites in several EU member countries. Drones also were spotted overnight in Belgium above a military base.

A drone incident in Norwegian capital Oslo, which is a Nato member but not part of the EU, also affected flights late last month.

It was not immediately clear who has been behind the flyovers.

European authorities have expressed concerns that they are being carried out by Russia, though some experts have noted that anybody with drones could be behind them.

Russian authorities have rejected claims of involvement, including in recent drone incidents in Denmark.

Alexander Dobrindt, Germanys interior minister, said he and some European counterparts would discuss the drone incursions and a drone detection and defence plan at a meeting this weekend in Munich.

We are in a race between drone threat and drone defence. We want to and must win this race, he said in the western city of Saarbrucken, where he joined German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron at a ceremony to mark the 35th anniversary of Germanys reunification.
Russian drones struck a Ukrainian railway station on Saturday, killing one and wounding dozens, as Moscow stepped up strikes on Ukraines rail and power grids ahead of the fourth winter since its all-out invasion.

At least 30 people were injured in the savage attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said after the attack on Shostka, a city northeast of Kyiv about 43 miles from the Russian border.

Hours later, local prosecutors said that a 71-year-old man was found dead in one of the wrecked carriages.

All emergency services are already on the scene and have begun helping people. All information about the injured is being established, Mr Zelensky he said in a post on X.

Russia struck two passenger trains in quick succession, first targeting a local service and then one bound for Kyiv, said Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraines deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister.

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Medical teams have already transported the injured to hospitals and are providing necessary assistance.

Others (who were at the site) are in shelters overseen by rescuers, Mr Kuleba wrote on Telegram on Saturday.





A savage Russian drone strike on the railway station in Shostka, Sumy region. All emergency services are already on the scene and have begun helping people. All information about the injured is being established. So far, we know of at least 30 victims. Preliminary reports pic.twitter.com/ZZoWfPmpL5  Volodymyr Zelenskyy /   (@ZelenskyyUa) October 4, 2025

He said an air raid alert was ongoing at the station.

Both Mr Zelensky and local governor Oleh Hryhorov posted what they said were photos from the scene showing a passenger carriage on fire.

Moscow has recently stepped up airstrikes on Ukraines railway network, which is essential for military transport, hitting it almost every day over the past two months.

As in previous years since the full-scale invasion on February 24 2022, the Kremlin has also ramped up attacks on Ukraines power grid, in what Kyiv calls an attempt to weaponise the approaching winter by denying civilians heat, light and running water.

Overnight into Saturday, Russian drones and missiles pounded Ukraines power grid again, a Ukrainian energy firm said, a day after what officials described as the biggest attack on Ukrainian natural gas facilities since Moscows all-out invasion more than three-and-a-half-years ago.

The strike damaged energy facilities near Chernihiv, a northern city west of Shostka that lies close to the Russian border, and sparked blackouts set to affect some 50,000 households, according to regional operator Chernihivoblenergo.

The head of Chernihivs military administration, Dmytro Bryzhynskyi, confirmed a night time Russian attack on the city caused multiple fires, but did not immediately say what was hit.

The day before, Russia launched its biggest attack of the war against natural gas facilities run by Ukraines state-owned Naftogaz Group, Ukrainian officials said.

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Russia fired a total of 381 drones and 35 missiles at Ukraine on Friday, according to Ukraines air force, in what officials said was an attempt to wreck the Ukrainian power grid ahead of winter and wear down public support for the three-year-old conflict.

Naftogazs chief executive, Serhii Koretskyi, said on Friday the attacks had no military purpose, while Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko accused Moscow of terrorising civilians.

Moscow claimed the strikes targeted facilities that support Kyivs war effort.

Overnight into Saturday, Russian forces launched a further 109 drones and three ballistic missiles at Ukraine, the Ukrainian military reported.

It said 73 of the drones were shot down or sent off course.
At least 175 people have been arrested over pro-Palestine protests in London which is taking place in defiance of calls by politicians and police bosses to reconsider after the Manchester synagogue terror attack.

The Metropolitan Police arrested protesters for offences including supporting the banned terror group Palestine Action.

The arrests include six people who were detained for unfurling a banner backing the proscribed group on Westminster Bridge.

The bulk of the arrests occurred in Trafalgar Square, where protesters held placards showing their support for Palestine Action.

Police remove protesters taking part in a demonstration in support of Palestine Action in Trafalgar Square (Maja Smiejkowska/PA)

Organisers Defend Our Juries said more than a thousand people have gathered at the square to hold a mass, silent vigil protesting the proscription while the names of Palestinian children killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict are read out.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had urged protesters to respect the grief of British Jews, while Jewish figures have called the action phenomenally tone deaf following Thursdays killing of two people in the terror attack.

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A vicar, who had been sitting with her eyes closed and holding a poster saying I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action, was among those arrested and carried out by police.

Our policing operation in Trafalgar Square continues.



As of 3.45pm officers had made 175 arrests for supporting a proscribed organisation, including the six on Westminster Bridge earlier.  Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) October 4, 2025

Some people in the crowd called police shameful and one said to officers thanks for protecting us as the woman was taken away.

Two elderly men were also seen being carried by each limb to the south-west side of the square, where officers and police vehicles were waiting to process the arrests.

In a statement on social media, the Metropolitan Police said: As of 3.45pm, officers had made 175 arrests for supporting a proscribed organisation, including the six on Westminster Bridge earlier.

The arrest phase takes time. Many of those arrested wont walk out of the square and need to be carried, something that requires a minimum of five officers to do safely.

Protesters unfurled a banner on Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Dave Rich, director of policy at the Community Security Trust charity which provides protection for the Jewish community, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I think its phenomenally tone deaf, to say the least, for so many people who claim to care about human rights and care about freedoms, to be taking police resources away from protecting the rights and freedoms of Jewish people to live their lives and go to synagogue in safety, all to support a proscribed terrorist organisation, which is not the same thing as supporting the Palestinians.

And I think its remarkably self-absorbed and insensitive, to say the least.

But Kerry Moscogiuri, director of campaigns at human rights group Amnesty International UK, said: Arresting hundreds of people for peacefully sitting down and holding these signs is not the job of police.

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These arrests are in breach of the UKs international human rights obligations and should not be happening.

The Met had urged the group to call off its plans, with Commissioner Mark Rowley saying: At a time when we want to be deploying every available officer to ensure the safety of those communities, we are instead having to plan for a gathering of more than 1,000 people in Trafalgar Square on Saturday in support of a terrorist organisation.

By deliberately choosing to encourage mass law-breaking on this scale, Defend Our Juries are drawing valuable resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most.

Policing minister Sarah Jones said many of those attending the event want to be arrested, that is their aim.

She said: We believe in peoples rights to protest. This protest here in London is a different order of event because people are supporting a proscribed organisation and the police have to step in in that case.

Police removing a protester at the Trafalgar Square demonstration (Maja Smiejkowska/PA)

A similar event held by Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine also took place on Saturday.

After a crowd of about 100 pro-Palestinian supporters gathered outside Manchester Cathedral to listen to speeches, they moved off en masse to march through the city centre.

As they banged drums and chanted Free Palestine!, a group of counter-protesters got ahead of them, marching in front and holding a flag saying F*** Hamas and shouting release the hostages.

Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Stephen Watson urged would-be attendees at the protest to consider whether this is really the right time.

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Police forces have deployed extra officers to synagogues and other Jewish buildings to offer protection and reassurance in the aftermath of the attack.

Starmer said events could cause further turmoil for families of victims and the Jewish communities.

Writing in The Jewish Chronicle, and The Jewish News, the Prime Minister said: I urge anyone thinking about protesting this weekend to recognise and respect the grief of British Jews this week.

This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain.
A serving police officer at Charing Cross police station in London has been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice after Metropolitan Police officers were secretly filmed making racist and sexist comments.

The footage, gathered undercover for a BBC Panorama documentary, appears to show some officers at a central London police station call for immigrants to be shot and brag about using violence against suspects.

Now the Met has confirmed that a sergeant attached to the Central West Basic Command Unit was arrested following an incident on Thursday, October 2nd, and they had since been bailed and suspended from duty.

A force spokesman said: The allegation relates to an incident that took place at Charing Cross Police Station on 2 October and is linked to matters disclosed in BBC Panorama.

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The investigation is ongoing so it would not be appropriate to go into further detail at this time.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is independently investigating allegations in relation to Charing Cross, has been informed.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley (Yui Mok/PA)

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Valentine said: We have been extremely clear we will be unrelenting in our approach to tackling issues at Charing Cross, and anywhere else across the Met.

This fresh matter came to light through our internal reporting mechanisms and we continue to encourage and support all our officers and staff to report allegations of criminal and conduct behaviour so we can act swiftly.

Professional standards officers immediately acted to make the arrest and the officer has been suspended from duty.

We will not hesitate to take rapid action around any further allegations, as part of our deeper probe into corruption and ridding the Met of those who are not fit to serve the people of London.

Reacting to the documentary earlier this week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, Ive not yet seen the footage, but Ive had it described to me, and its shocking, and Im glad the commissioner is responding.

He needs to be very robust in his response.

Met Commissioner Mark Rowley said people in London could trust the vast majority of the forces officers, and added he was horrified by the documentary.

Nine serving and one former officer, and one designated detention officer who is a civilian member of staff, are all under investigation for gross misconduct by watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

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Allegations include excessive use of force, making discriminatory and misogynistic comments, and failing to report or challenge inappropriate behaviour.

One constable is facing a criminal investigation for allegedly perverting the course of justice.

The footage shows one officer, Pc Phil Neilson, referring to an immigrant who had overstayed his visa while off-duty, saying: Either put a bullet through his head or deport him.

And the ones that shag women, rape women, you do the cock and let them bleed out.

While drinking at a pub off-duty, he also tells undercover reporter Rory Bibb that Algerians and Somalians are scum, and makes reference to there being an invasion of the UK by migrants.

Another officer, Pc Martin Borg, brags about a colleague stamping on a detainees leg, and laughs about the suspect screaming.

He also appears to say he offered to fill in a false witness statement about the incident.
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NationalQueenslandCourts Oppression: ATO investigator found to have lied in fraud case Cloe Read October 4, 2025  3:59pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

An investigator with the Australian Taxation Office has been found to have lied and tampered with evidence during a lengthy legal battle against a Queensland medical researcher who was accused of fraud. The researcher was interviewed by the ATO, and was advised to answer questions and was told if she did not, she would be committing an offence. She therefore did not have a right to silence. The ATOs conduct was lambasted as oppression by Justice Paul Smith, who ordered for her fraud case to be stayed on Friday. A Queensland judge found an ATO investigator lied and tampered with evidence in an alleged fraud case against a medical researcher. Luis Enrique Ascui Smith handed down his judgment in the years-long case, involving the medical researcher, referred to as Julie Clarke in documents, after she requested a pseudonym.

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Clarke had wished to develop a therapeutic using the chemical (R)-3-hydroxybutyric acid (also known as D-3-hydroxybutyric acid). It was intended to treat conditions such as cancer and obesity. The case involved investor group The Brisbane Angels, who decided to invest $185,000 in 2016. Clarke had approached the group for funding relating to cancer trials. Brisbane Angels said they were not interested, but would consider it if it was a weight-loss drug. Two promising pilot studies were done and the $185,000 was invested. The group later withdrew from the project after being informed it would be a protracted and expensive process. There was a civil dispute between Clarke and the group, with the former wanting the return of the intellectual property, and the investors wanting their money. An application was lodged with the ATO the following year, with Clarke claiming she had spent $11,380,900, on product development. The ATO considered the claim to be false, and believed she only spent $11,380.90. The ATO then proceeded to audit the case, and Clarke was interviewed.

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Smith said the researcher was directed by the ATO to answer questions; otherwise she would be committing an offence, and as such she did not have a right to silence. The court found that the substantial purpose of the interview was to question Clarke about the alleged fraud, which is a criminal offence. Smith concluded that Clarke was unlawfully subjected to a hybrid audit and criminal interview, and she had been deprived of her forensic choices in the way in which she could defend herself at trial. Court documents said both the ATO and Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions had improperly brought two prosecutions against Clarke, and as such the proceedings had become oppressive, and both included the use of an unlawful compulsory interview. Court documents state ATO investigator Anthony Rains obtained documents from Brisbane Angels in 2018, and formed the view Clarke had defrauded them of the $185,000, believing it was spent on a personal loan and holidays.

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The court found Rains referred the state fraud matter to the Queensland Police Service without any complaint by Brisbane Angels and failed to provide exculpatory material to police, including that Clarke was entitled to a consulting fee and other information that showed the money had been spent on legitimate expenses. In his judgment, Smith said Rains engaged in multiple acts of misconduct, including that he deliberately altered the expenses sheet Clarke sent to Brisbane Angels, and provided misleading information to obtain search warrants, which subsequently misled several judicial officers. The court found he also lied in a briefing note to the Queensland Bar, and failed to disclose emails between himself and Brisbane Angels before the state fraud trial in 2020. Smith said: I consider Mr Rains exceeded his authority by being heavily involved in the investigation of the state charge and it is doubtful there was ever a case to answer as alleged. I have found an abuse of process occurred here. Smith said Clarke was subjected to considerable stress and expense in having to defend the state charge whilst also defending the Commonwealth case.

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He said Clarke must have been absolutely fearful of being unjustly convicted on the state fraud charge which would carry a sentence of several years in jail and she must have felt no one was listening to her. He also said: The court should not tolerate this type of conduct by this ATO investigator or the ATO more broadly, or any government authority for that matter. Smith said the justice system would be put at significant risk if courts could not rely on the integrity of government investigators and institutions. Smith ordered for the prosecution against Clarke to be stayed. Get alerts on significant breaking news as happens. Sign up for our Breaking News Alert.
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Exclusive NationalWAGuns More than 100 guns seized in police raids on sovereign citizens Hannah Murphy October 4, 2025  7:30pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share 27 View all comments

More than 100 guns have been seized by Western Australian police in raids on so-called sovereign citizens in an operation sparked by the shooting deaths of two Victorian officers. Gun owners known for espousing sovereign-citizen ideology were targeted in the five-day operation last week across metropolitan and regional WA. WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the operation was conducted for both public safety, and ensuring officers were safe on the beat. The recent murder of two serving police officers in country Victoria was allegedly committed by a sovereign citizen, he said.

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Porepunkah shooting Death knock: From mountain murders to a massive manhunt Following this tragedy, I instructed my officers to conduct a review and risk assessment of those individuals in Western Australia who are licensed firearm holders and whose beliefs align with sovereign citizen ideologies. Sovereign citizen Dezi Freeman has been on the run since August 26 after allegedly murdering two police officers with his wifes firearms in Victorias High Country while they were executing a search warrant at his remote property. Freeman has eluded hundreds of police who have been scouring dense alpine bushland in Mount Buffalo National Park in Victorias north-east. Sympathisers have been warned they could face jail if they harboured Freeman. Sovereign citizens are anti-government activists who believe they are immune from the law, and often use social media platforms to discuss how to evade car, birth and gun registrations.

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WA officers executed 70 searches at different addresses across suburban Perth and regional towns. Police said they had seized 135 firearms and cancelled or suspended 44 firearm licences. Officers also inspected 26 firearm storage units. Whispers of the raids began appearing on Telegram, a social media platform frequented by those with sovereign-citizen ideologies, earlier this week. Blanch said gun owners had been integral in completing the operation without incident. It was not without risk, but its successful completion reduces future risk to our community and blue family, he said.

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I want to thank our community, and in particular, our firearms community. A substantial portion of the intelligence we used to inform this operation came from responsible members of our firearms community here in WA, who came to us with concerns about the behaviours of a very small number of firearm owners. Alleged gunman Dezi Freeman has been on the run since late August after two officers were fatally shot in Victorias High Country. Nine It is worth noting that this operation ran concurrently with our normal firearms compliance checks and a number of law abiding and responsible owners were also visited during this period. I would like to thank those responsible firearm owners we visited for working with us. Gun laws came into effect at the end of March in WA requiring strict licensing protocols and registration, and limiting the number of guns people can own.

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WA Police Minister Reece Whitby said the operation was an important step toward protecting the public. No one is above the law, and that includes anyone who declares they are a sovereign citizen and thereby oppose the laws that are the cornerstone of a free and democratic community, which has the potential to threaten public safety, he said. This operation is about protecting Western Australians against individuals who pose a threat to the public. By removing their legal access to firearms were a step forward toward a safer community.
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Exclusive NationalCrime Why female teachers sexually abuse students Sally Rawsthorne October 4, 2025  7:30pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

Female teachers who sexually abuse their students are seeking intimacy, emotional connection and to form a relationship, not just sexual gratification, says a top child abuse investigator. Women make up a small but statistically significant portion of child sexual abusers  about one in 100 or one in 200, according to NSW child abuse squad commander Detective Superintendent Linda Howlett. Teachers Monica Young (top left), Helga Lam (top right), Ella Clements (bottom left), Gaye Grant (bottom right) have been accused of sexually abusing their students. Female sexual offending in regards to students we dont see a great deal. The ones I have seen and weve arrested, they seem to want to form a relationship, she said. Research shows while most child sex offending takes place within families, we know a lot does take place in institutions, the University of Sydneys Professor Rita Shackel, who researches childrens access to justice, said.

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Female sexual abuse is perpetrated by someone with usually quite a close relationship with the child, or someone well known to them, like a teacher or family member, Shackel added. Tayla Brailey is facing charges over child sexual abuse. Nikki Short Last week, St Augustines Brookvale drama teacher Ella Clements was charged over her alleged sexual abuse of a 15-year-old student which was discovered by the boys father when he saw inappropriate texts on the childs mobile phone. She remains on bail and will return to court next month. Also before the courts is married PE teacher Tayla Brailey, who was last year charged with sexually abusing two male students, aged 16 and 17.

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Courts Private apology from top prosecutor after failed sex abuse case Brailey and Clements follow in the ignominious footsteps of a range of Sydney teachers who have come before the courts for sexually abusing male students. Western Sydney teacher Monica Young was jailed in 2021 for raping a 14-year-old boy two months into her first teaching job at 23. Former teacher Helga Lam was accused of sexually abusing four boys aged as young as 13 in the late 1970s, but has always maintained her innocence. Her child abuse trial collapsed in 2024 when the Court of Criminal appeal ruled the law at the time of the alleged abuse only applied to men. Former teacher Gaye Grant was jailed in 2022 after pleading guilty to maintaining a years-long unlawful sexual relationship with a primary school student in the Illawarra in the 1970s. She was released from prison last year after she was acquitted on the same grounds as Lam. Howlett thinks the real number of female sexual offenders could be higher because male victims of female perpetrators are less likely to report abuse. Its a bit of a shame factor, she said.

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People seem to think its a bit salacious, rather than child abuse. When its turned the other side and its a female offender, a lot of people dont see it as an offence, she said. NSW Police child abuse squad Commander Detective Superintendent Linda Howlett. Janie Barrett While boys remain resistant to reporting to police, wed encourage any victims whatsoever to come forward to report, Howlett said. Changes in the way we think about sexual abuse may have led to more reporting, Shackel said. The Royal Commission [into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse] really had a big impact in terms of community education, she said.

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It might be recorded more, there might be more of a tendency by the criminal justice system to prosecute those reports. If you prosecute more cases youre going to get more convictions, but really, we dont know if were seeing more [female sexual abuse of children] or more disclosures, she said. Open conversations with children, including male children, checking childrens devices and their settings and knowing where your child is going, what they are doing and who they are with are all key steps parents can take to mitigate the risk of sexual abuse, said Howlett. Any suspicions should immediately be reported to police and not the institution, which puts its own interests first, Howlett said. Do not report to the school or childcare educators, who may want to protect the integrity of their schools. The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.
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Updated WorldAsiaJapan How a pink-haired heavy metal rocker turned into Japans Iron Lady Lisa Visentin Updated October 5, 2025  7:47am ,first published October 4, 2025  5:11pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share 12 View all comments

Singapore: From a pink-haired, heavy metal rocker in her youth to one of Japans leading arch-conservative lawmakers, Sanae Takaichi found her political idol in Britains Margaret Thatcher. Now she is poised to emulate Thatcher and shatter the ultimate glass ceiling by becoming her countrys first female prime minister, and shifting her partys political agenda to the right. My goal is to become the Iron Lady, Takaichi said recently as she made her third attempt to win the presidency of Japans ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Sanae Takaichi, the newly-elected leader of Japans ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party, takes her place in the party leaders office on Saturday. AP Her critics in the partys more moderate ranks allegedly have a different nickname for her  Taliban Takaichi, due to her hardline conservative views.

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The former economics security minister was successful at a party leadership ballot on Saturday after two rounds of voting by lawmakers and rank-and-file members. She defeated the more centrist frontrunner, agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi who, at age 44, was vying to be Japans youngest leader in more than a century. Takaichi will replace Shigeru Ishiba, Japans prime minister, who stepped down last month after less than a year in the job after the LDP suffered historic election defeats and lost its majority in both houses of parliament on his watch. Sanae Takaichi is set to become Japans first female prime minister. AP She is widely expected, although not guaranteed, to be confirmed as the next prime minister when the Diet, Japans national parliament, votes on the matter next week. Her bid could be thwarted by opposition parties, but they are seen as too fractured to unite behind a different candidate. She will confront the immediate challenge of dealing with the unpredictable Trump administration and navigating a 15 per cent US tariff deal negotiated by her predecessor that requires Japan to invest $US550 billion ($833 billion) in the American economy.

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But it is domestic obstacles that will be most testing. Takaichi takes the helm of a party in crisis amid a voter backlash over a stagnant economy, rising prices, and growing public anxiety over the numbers of foreign workers and inbound tourists. Newly-elected leader of Japans Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Sanae Takaichi bows in front of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after winning the LDP leadership election. Getty Images Her election reflects the triumph of the conservative guard who believe the LDP needs to move to the right to win back public support after it lost the upper house election in July and the far-right Sanseito party gained ground. But analysts say she has not laid out a clear vision for party reform, particularly when it comes to campaign finance and addressing the slush fund scandal that embroiled the LDP in 2023, which eroded public trust. For the public, it looks like business as usual and, for a lot of them, thats no longer acceptable, Jeff Kingston, a political scientist at Tokyos Temple University, said.

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A socio-economic malaise is gripping Japan and that has made a lot of voters sceptical of the ruling elite and not enthusiastic about the status quo. Nonetheless, her victory marks a significant milestone for the LDP and Japans political system in general, where women comprise about 15 per cent of the lower house. The former economics security minister was successful at a party leadership ballot on Saturday after two rounds of voting by lawmakers and rank-and-file members. AP She has vowed to promote more female cabinet ministers  there are currently just two in the 20-member cabinet  but she doesnt have a track record of supporting womens issues and there is plenty of scepticism that she represents a turning point for gender politics in Japan. She has opposed calls to legally allow married couples to have separate surnames as well as reforms to allow female succession in Japans imperial family, and is against same-sex marriage.

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Most dues-paying grassroots members of the LDP are men, and tend to be older men. Shes crafted her persona in a way that appeals to that audience very well, said Kenneth McElwain, a politics professor at the University of Tokyo. I dont know how much that will play with the general public, including with women voters. Once a drummer in a metal band and a motorcycle enthusiast in her student days, Takaichi was first elected to the Diet, Japans national parliament, in 1993 and rose through the ranks as an ally of Shinzo Abe, Japans longest serving prime minister who was assassinated in 2022. She is a strong proponent of his Abenomics economic vision centred on government stimulus and low-interest rates, is known as a China hawk who supports revising Japans pacifist constitution, and has advocated for stricter immigration controls. She has also made regular visits to the Yasukuni shrine to Japans war dead, where 14 convicted war criminals are enshrined  a practice that is seen as antagonistic in China and South Korea.

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In her victory speech, she put her colleagues on notice that there was a hard road ahead to resurrect the LDP, which has governed Japan for most of its post-war history. Everyone will be required to work  work like a horse. I will abandon the notion of work-life balance. Work, work, work, work, work, she said. Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on whats making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
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WorldEuropeProtests Police arrest hundreds at pro-Palestine protest, days after UK synagogue attack David Crowe Updated October 5, 2025  4:15am ,first published October 5, 2025  3:49am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

London: Protesters have defied political leaders and police by rallying to support banned activist group Palestine Action on the streets of London and Manchester, days after a terror attack on a synagogue heightened warnings about hatred against Jews. Police arrested 488 protesters in London on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) for declaring their support for Palestine Action, a proscribed terrorist group, after the rally went ahead despite calls for people to stay home and respect the grief of the Jewish community. Police officers detain a demonstrator in Trafalgar Square on Saturday. Getty Images Protesters also gathered in the centre of Manchester to rally against the war in Gaza, as the organisers declared they were not being antisemitic when criticising Israel and opposing the ban on Palestine Action. The arrests came two days after a British man of Syrian descent attacked security staff and worshippers at a Manchester synagogue, leaving two dead and four in hospital. The assailant, Jihad al-Shamie, was shot dead by police.

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Police raised concerns the attacker was influenced by extreme Islamist ideology and revealed he had been charged with rape and released on bail. Related Article Violence The police tape in Manchester marks a line that should not be crossed  but it was With tensions running high over the terror attack and the war in Gaza, news reports also revealed that al-Shamies father, surgeon Faraj al-Shamie, had issued a series of social media posts praising Hamas and welcoming its attack on Israel in October 2023, when 1200 people were killed. One day before the protests, the Metropolitan Police urged the demonstrators to stay home because officers were needed for community safety including additional security for Jewish schools and synagogues. Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley criticised the protest organisers, Defend Our Juries, for gathering 1000 people in Trafalgar Square days after the terrorist attack.

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By deliberately choosing to encourage mass law-breaking on this scale, Defend Our Juries are drawing valuable resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most, he said. People have been debating for the last two years whether pro-Palestinian protests are simply a call for peace, or have an implicit intention to stir up antisemitism. Police remove a protester after a banner was unfurled on Westminster Bridge, London, as part of the protest. AP Continuing such protests within hours of Thursdays awful terrorist murder of British Jews, when communities are most fearful, will likely create further tensions and some might say lacks sensitivity. Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also called for a halt to the protests, saying this is a moment of mourning and not a time to stoke tension. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch visited the site of the Manchester on Saturday and warned against rising antisemitism in Britain.

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Jewish people right now are telling me that they are leaving to go to Israel, she said. The UK parliament voted to proscribe Palestine Action by 358 to 26 votes on July 2 after its members broke into a Royal Air Force base, sprayed red paint into the jet engines of two large aircraft and caused further damage with crowbars. Defend Our Juries opposes the ban and said police resources should not be wasted on its enforcement at the protests. The danger of the proscription not only to our rights to free speech and protest, but to the safety of the public at large, was completely foreseeable and forewarned, the group said.

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Police said they arrested 488 people at the London protests on Saturday for supporting a proscribed organisation. Another four were arrested for other offences. The youngest person arrested was 18, the oldest was 89, the police said. 297 remain in custody, the rest have been bailed. Many protesters held up saying: I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action. Because the group is proscribed, public support for it is an offence. Adrian Daulby, 53, (left) and Melvin Cravitz, 66, died during the Manchester synagogue attack. Greater Manchester Police The Israeli government strongly rejects the claims of genocide. A United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry said last month that Israel was responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza but the government dismissed this as a narrative serving Hamas and its supporters.

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The synagogue attack resulted in the deaths of two men: Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66. Police said al-Shamie rammed his car into the synagogue grounds, killing Cravitz, who was providing security. They believe Daulby was helping to barricade the doors of the synagogue and died from a bullet fired by police officers at the attacker as he tried to enter the building. The terrorist wore a bomb-like device around his waist and police later confirmed it was a fake. At this stage, we believe Al-Shamie may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology, the Greater Manchester Police said on Friday, local time. Three men and three women, ranging in age from 18 to 61, have been arrested in the wider Manchester area on suspicion of aiding the terror attack  and four of them face extended questioning. We have been granted warrants of further detention for four individuals currently in custody. This means they can remain in custody for up to a further five days, the police said at 2.43pm on Saturday, local time (11.43pm, AEST).

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Everyone in custody has been arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism. Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on whats making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
Director Daniel Kreizberg will unveil his second animated short, anyone lived in a pretty how town, at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival on October 31. The eight-minute film, based on one of E.E. Cummings most beloved poems, was narrated and executive produced by Dr. Jane Goodall, the legendary ethologist and conservationist who passed away this week. The films world premiere will be presented in her honor.

The film will screen in the Professional Animated Shorts competition at Savannahs landmark Lucas Theatre. Its painterly 2D animation draws directly from Cummings own impressionistic oils and watercolors, while its score features the late Yakov Kreizbergs widely praised recording of Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending, the final work captured by the celebrated conductor and the directors father.

For Kreizberg, the project has always been deeply personal, bridging art, family legacy, and ecological reflection. Using my late fathers final recording as the films musical and emotional foundation felt like a true collaboration together, he said. The process has built a bridge to him across the seeming boundary between life and death  it is the realization of an impossible dream.

In Honor of Jane Goodall

Goodalls involvement gave the film an emotional resonance that now feels all the more poignant in light of her death. Reflecting on her contribution, Kreizberg tells us:

Early in the production, we had a discussion about who we might like to narrate the film. We had in mind a voice with warmth, wisdom, tenderness, and musicality. After some time, I had the idea for Jane, a guardian of the planet and champion of life, to give voice to Cummingss story of love, mortality, and the enduring human spirit. Having seen my previous film, Tahlequah the Whale, she generously agreed to narrate this one. I think I can say we all felt her narration elevates the films emotional impact enormously, and we worked extensively to weave a fitting visual landscape around the gift of her voice. Just ten days before she passed away, I had the opportunity to meet with her and express our appreciation for her participation in our film. In those moments together, I felt a profound connection with her that I will never forget. It is a testament to the shining light she embodied, a light she illuminated in people around the world. I am honored that our film will be one of many ways that her beautiful voice will continue to resound. With deepest gratitude, we dedicate the World Premiere screening of anyone lived in a pretty how town to Jane.

The film marks one of Goodalls final creative collaborations. Known globally for revolutionizing our understanding of primates and championing environmental stewardship, she also lent her voice to select artistic projects that underscored humanitys bond with nature, a theme that resonates deeply in Kreizbergs adaptation.

A Global Collaboration

The project brought together an international team: visual development was handled by New Yorks The Studio, led by chief creative officer Mary Nittolo, and frame-by-frame character animation was provided by Lithuanias Meinart Animation Studio, headed by producers Akvile Bliujute-Januse and Meinardas Valkevicius. Distribution is handled by Mailuki Films.

Support was provided by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the Princess Grace Foundation, the Societe de Gestion des Auteurs Monaco, the Jane Goodall Institute, and the Alex Nair Bhak Foundation.

Meditation on Love and Legacy

Blending poetry, romantic orchestral music, and hand-crafted digital animation, anyone who lives in a pretty how town explores the love story of anyone and noone against the backdrop of a small town becoming alienated and industrialized. Kreizberg describes the film as a social and ecological fable for our times, one that invites viewers back to something deeply human.

Already a premiere that was sure to turn heads, the SCAD screening will carry an added layer of significance this year with the recent passing of Dr. Goodall, whose voice carries the film through every frame.


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The City of Lakesite has given its support for Loftis Middle School by donating $2,000 towards a new sound system for the school's music program. In 2024, the city had previously presented the Loftis Music Program with a check for $1,500 to support music education initiatives at the school.Loftis Middle School provides music education to about 50 percent of the student population through various programs, including the Musical Theater Program. This after-school program runs year-round and is open to all students in sixth through eigth grade, providing equal opportunities for them to learn and perform.The program culminates in five community performances at the end of the school year.Officials said, "Approximately 50 percent of the entire student body participates in band and chorus, with at least 25 percent of these students involved solely in chorussignificantly exceeding national averages. This after-school program creates a space for children to learn and grow, helping them develop real-world skills while offering a creative physical outlet for their minds and bodies."Lakesite is proud to be home to two exceptional schoolsLoftis Middle and McConnell Elementaryboth with outstanding programs, said Lakesite Commissioner Wayne Behlau. We are excited to support the band, choir, and multimedia presentations in the gym through this donation. We commend the excellence of their music programs and wish them continued success.Loftis Middle School Band Director David Daniels and Music Theater Program teacher Carrie Brock both expressed their appreciation to the Lakesite Commission for their support.Not only does this donation help us raise the quality level of our programs, but it allows us to teach students to use professional-grade equipment, and frees up much-needed funds for other uses beyond basic necessities, said Mr. Daniels.
The Governors Council for Judicial Appointments is now accepting applications to fill a vacancy on the Tennessee Supreme Court following the retirement of Justice Holly Kirby on June 30, 2026.

Qualified applicants must be licensed attorneys who are at least 35 years of age, have been residents of the state for five years, and must reside in the Eastern or Western Grand Division of Tennessee. Applicants must complete the Governors Council for Judicial Appointments application, which is available at www.TNCourts.gov, and submit it to the Administrative Office of the Courts by 12:00 p.m.

CDT on Wednesday, October 22, 2025.

Applicants must submit by the deadline: (1) the original signed and unbound application (updated version posted on November 28, 2022) with writing samples; and (2) a digital copy of the application (updated version posted on November 28, 2022) with writing samples in order to have his/her name placed on the list of candidates for consideration for the judicial vacancy. Complete application instructions can be found at: www.tncourts.gov/ administration/judicial- resources . The Council encourages all candidates to submit applications as soon as possible.

The Council will meet on Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 9 a.m. CST in the courtroom of the Nashville Supreme Court Building located at 401 7th Avenue North, Nashville.

Please submit application questions to AOC Assistant General Counsel Laura Blount at 615-741-2687 or laura.blount@tncourts.gov.
A man who vowed to a girl that her brother "is not going to exist after this day" is facing a life prison sentence after a Hamilton County Grand Jury found him guilty of first-degree murder.

The girl, who was 16 at the time of the Nov. 26, 2023, incident, said less than five minutes later she saw Edwin Mendez-Perez's hands covered in blood, and he was carrying a gray pocket knife that was also bloody.

Rosalio "Charlie" Gomez-Gutierrez was taken to the hospital with several stab wounds. He died at the hospital.

Prosecutor Paul Moyle said the TBI tested the doorknob to the sisters bedroom door and found blood and the defendant's DNA.

Mendez-Perez took the witness stand and admitted to stabbing the victim in the victims bedroom where he did not have permission to be. He also admitted to disposing of the murder weapon and then fleeing to the city of Wyoming, Mich., where he had relatives. He also admitted to being high on crystal when asked if he meant crystal meth he said, "I think so."



The incident happened on Garfield Street.
Home News Forcing Catholic schools, parents to sign LGBT policy for pre-K not unconstitutional: court

A federal court has ruled that requiring participants in Colorados universal pre-K program to abide by an LGBT nondiscrimination statement doesn't violate the U.S. Constitution as Catholic schools seek to enroll students under the program while adhering to their religious beliefs.

In an opinion released Tuesday, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit unanimously rejected the request of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver, two Catholic schools and parents of pre-school aged children to issue a ruling declaring that the requirement for all schools participating in Colorados universal pre-K program to sign a nondiscrimination agreement violates the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Catholic schools in the archdiocese are seeking to participate in the universal pre-K program, which allows students to attend pre-K free of charge at participating schools. Other plaintiffs in the suit include parents seeking to enroll their children in a pre-K program offered by a Catholic school.

The LGBT nondiscrimination agreement at the center of the litigation requires participants in the universal pre-K program to provide eligible children an equal opportunity to enroll and receive preschool education regardless of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, lack of housing, income level, or disability, as such characteristics and circumstances apply to the child or the childs family.

The plaintiff schools argue that abiding by the LGBT nondiscrimination agreement would force them to set aside their deeply held religious beliefs about gender and sexuality by forcing them to enroll trans-identified students and children of same-sex couples. The archdiocese has warned that admitting trans-identified students and children of same-sex couples was likely to lead to intractable conflicts in light of Catholic schools efforts to instill in children Catholic Church teachings about gender and sexuality.

The federal appellate court concluded that The nondiscrimination requirement exists in harmony with the First Amendment and does not violate the Parish Preschools First Amendment rights.

The case went before the Tenth Circuit after a lower court judge declined to issue a ruling protecting the Catholic schools policies pertaining to admissions decisions, requiring teachers to adhere to Catholic beliefs on marriage and sexuality, and requiring students and their families to also adhere to Catholic beliefs on marriage and sexuality and allowing the school to ) operate "in accordance with their religious beliefs.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which has represented the plaintiffs throughout their litigation, reacted to Tuesdays decision by stating, Becket remains committed to ensuring that every preschooler in Colorado has access to quality, affordable education. This suggests that Becket is likely to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

As mentioned in Tuesdays opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a multitude of rulings in recent years with favorable outcomes for religious liberty advocates. In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in Carson v. Makin that the state of Maine cannot exclude religious schools from a program that allows students who live in towns without public schools to attend private schools using state tax dollars.

In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled in Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer that churches cannot be excluded from state aid programs.
Home News Pastor says woman who set fire to church, sent death threats 'possessed by demon'

A woman has been arrested after a church in Austell, Georgia, was burned, and officials say she sent messages threatening to kill the pastor and his wife. She faces multiple felony charges, including arson and making terroristic threats.

Investigators say the blaze consumed the congregation's building late on Monday, destroying roughly 20,000 square feet and leaving the structure in rubble, CBS News reported, citing court documents.

Fire crews fought flames for hours after they were called to Prayer City Eagles Chapel. Authorities found a plastic container of ignitable liquid at the scene and say the suspect entered the building without permission.

Pastor Raphael Grant said he learned of the blaze after a leader called him, and he drove immediately to the scene.

I received a call from one of my leaders asking me, What happened? Is everyone OK? She told me the church is on fire, its on the news, Grant was quoted as saying. He said the building was destroyed and added that the congregation had only recently finished rebuilding after earlier flood damage.

This is the house of God. Ive been here for 10 years now, Justice Asante, head of media for the congregation, was quoted as saying. Asante added that the members intended to continue meeting and that the building was an integral part of the churchs life.

Members said they had received threatening text messages in the days before the fire from a woman who had attended services there, and investigators allege those messages warned that the building would be burned and that people would be shot.

Jacky Tamo, the wife of an assistant pastor, said the texts included lines that the building was gone, and at first, members thought the messages were a joke.

The 26-year-old woman, identified as Aries Maliah Jordan, was taken into custody Wednesday and a judge said he could not set bond because of the seriousness of the charges.

You have to be possessed by a demon to do something like that. You cannot be a logical, rational human being to do that, Grant said, according to Atlanta News First.

Court records say the fire occurred between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., and that the damage left the auditorium in rubble.

The magistrate court warrant lists counts including first-degree arson, burglary, vandalism of a place of worship, criminal damage, possession of tools for the commission of a crime and making terroristic threats, citing the alleged texts and the physical evidence recovered at the scene.

Investigators say the act could have endangered worshipers and staff had people been inside.

Crews from the local fire department battled the blaze for several hours.

The congregation has posted an online fundraiser on GoFundMe seeking $4 million to rebuild the facility and to replace damaged flooring, the roof, furniture and equipment. The campaign page, signed by Grant, says, The God of heaven will give us success.
Home News ISIS in Mozambique documents beheading, shooting Christians, burning churches; over 30 beheaded: report 6,200 people slaughtered, over 1 million displaced

Over 30 Christians were beheaded in a series of recent attacks in northern Mozambique by Islamic State-affiliated terrorists who also released graphic photographs showing executions, shootings and widespread arson. The group targeted multiple villages across Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces, setting fire to churches and homes in a campaign of violence against civilians.

The Islamic State Mozambique Province, or ISMP, released a 20-image photoset this week, documenting its operatives executing civilians by beheading and close-range gunfire, and burning down homes and churches, MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) reported.

The group claimed responsibility for several attacks throughout the last week of September, including last Thursdays beheading of two Christians in Chiure-Velho, Chiure District.

ISMP operatives also claimed responsibility for last Fridays raid on Nacocha village in Chiure District, where a Christian was shot and killed, and two churches were burned. The same day, they attacked Nacussa village, also in Chiure, and set fire to two more churches.

On Sunday, fighters raided Macomia Town, killing four Christians and looting their belongings before withdrawing without casualties, according to ISMPs statement.

On Monday, ISMP said its operatives had beheaded a Christian in Macomia District. The following day, the group reported an assault on Nakioto village in Nampula Provinces Mimba District, burning over 100 Christians' homes and one church. In nearby Minhanha village, in Memba District, they reportedly destroyed one church and 10 homes. The group said its militants returned to their bases after torching the Christians' homes.

The Defense Post report quoted one resident as saying that gunmen entered the neighborhood around 8 p.m., killing four and kidnapping four others, including a woman and her two daughters. Another said a young man was shot dead after refusing to surrender his fathers belongings.

The violence is part of an escalation that has displaced tens of thousands of civilians and prompted a renewed security alliance between Mozambique and Rwanda, according to ADF magazine.

On Aug. 27, Mozambiques Defense Minister Cristovao Artur Chume and Rwandan Defense Minister Juvenal Marizamunda signed a Status of Force Agreement in Kigali to extend the Rwandan Defence Forces deployment in Cabo Delgado.

ISMP reportedly conducted attacks across six districts in September, from Balama in the southwest to Mocimboa da Praia in the north, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. In a rare assault on Mocimboa da Praia on Sept. 7, fighters reportedly moved door to door identifying victims. This marked only the second such attack on the town since September 2021.

Mozambican and Rwandan military leaders met in Pemba on Sept. 12 to evaluate joint operations. Rwandas defense authorities stated that the meeting aimed to assess progress in stabilizing the most affected northern regions and agreed to intensify coordinated efforts to restore peace. ISM had previously launched simultaneous attacks in northern and southern Cabo Delgado in July, with 60 fighters entering Ancuabe and Chiure districts unopposed.

An August update from ACLED described the groups movement into Chiure as a tactical expansion rather than a retreat. The report noted that the militants propaganda campaign had successfully maintained their presence in public perception, even as earlier in the year, the United Nations estimated ISMs strength had dropped from 2,500 fighters to 280.

Rwandan troops, first deployed to Cabo Delgado in July 2021, have been supporting Mozambique in counterinsurgency operations since.

According to an August update by Grey Dynamics, the Islamic State has been staging operations from the central districts of Cabo Delgado and pushing offensives southward, encountering little resistance along the MacomiaAwasse highway. Mozambiques Defense Minister admitted recent operations had failed to contain the insurgents.

The violence had forced the displacement of at least 50,000 people from Chiure district in recent weeks, said the update. Abductions and forced recruitment had also been reported during raids on remote villages.

Doctors Without Borders suspended operations in Mocimboa da Praia following the violence and launched an emergency response to assist thousands of displaced people now sheltering in camps across Chiure, The Associated Press reported. The U.N. migration agency said over 46,000 people were displaced in just eight days in late July, with nearly 60% of them being children.

The Mozambican insurgency, active since 2017, has led to the deaths of at least 6,200 people.

The ongoing conflict has also halted TotalEnergies $20 billion natural gas project near Palma in 2021 after militants attacked the area, killing over 800 people. A lawsuit was filed against the French energy company in 2023 by subcontractors and victims families.

The U.N. estimates that more than 1 million people in northern Mozambique have been displaced since the conflict began, due to a combination of militant violence, prolonged drought and extreme weather events.
Home News Trump: Hamas is ready for peace, terrorists say they'll release all Israeli hostages given right conditions Israel said to view Hamas' partial response negatively, feels pressured by Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Hamas has agreed to his proposal for ending the war in Gaza, declaring that he believed the terror group is ready for a lasting PEACE in a social media post late Friday evening.

Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, its far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East, Trump wrote.

Earlier, Hamas had issued a response that didnt embrace all aspects of the proposed deal, but claimed it affirms its readiness to immediately enter, via the mediators, into negotiations to discuss the details.

In Israel, the statement was widely interpreted as a Yes, but, instead of a full agreement.

Israels Channel 12 reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was surprised by Trumps interpretation of the response. His statement was cautiously worded to state that Israel is preparing for the immediate implementation of the first stage of President Trump's plan without committing itself fully.

Senior Israeli officials told Army Radio that Israel does not view Hamas response as a full agreement, saying Trump left Israel no choice. The officials added that the issue will be resolved within a few days, indicating that Israel is not ready to resume broad and lengthy negotiations.

Despite his enthusiastic statement in text, Trump is apparently aware of Hamas questionable formulation. In a later video statement, he noted that We have to get the final word down in concrete.

This is a big day. Well see how it all turns out, Trump said, We were given a tremendous amount of help. Everybody was unified in wanting this war to end and seeing peace in the Middle East, and were very close to achieving that.

Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nounou told AFP that Trumps statements on the immediate cessation of Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip are encouraging, and Hamas is ready to immediately begin negotiations to achieve a prisoner exchange, end the war and ensure the withdrawal of the (Israeli) army from the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad affirmed in a statement that Hamas response expressed the position of the Palestinian resistance forces, signaling it would follow the larger terror groups lead.

The mediators also praised Hamas statement.

Qatars foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said Qatar and its fellow mediator Egypt have begun talks in coordination with the U.S. to complete discussions on the plan to ensure an end to the war.

Egypts foreign ministry said Hamas response reflected the terror groups willingness to spare additional Palestinian civilians and to end a dark period in the regions history.

On Saturday, an Israeli negotiating team was preparing to set out for Cairo (not Doha) for new talks, while White House envoy Steve Witkoff was reportedly on his way as well.

Channel 12 reported that Israeli security officials had already begun drawing up the list of prisoners who are set to be released by Israel in exchange for the hostages. The details of the withdrawal maps are also still in dispute.

In its statement, Hamas said that it had conducted in-depth consultations within its leadership bodies, extensive consultations with Palestinian forces and factions, and with the brotherly mediators and friends, to reach a responsible position regarding Trumps plan.

The group noted it valued the efforts of Trump, as well as the Arab and Muslim states to end the Gaza War.

In this context, and in a manner that ensures the end of the war and the complete withdrawal from the Strip, the movement announces its approval to release all Israeli captives  both living and deceased  in accordance with the exchange formula outlined in President Trump's proposal, and conditional upon the provision of field conditions necessary for the exchange process, the group said, adding it was ready to immediately discuss the details.

Hamas also renews its approval to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body composed of independents (technocrats), based on Palestinian national consensus and supported by Arab and Islamic backing.

Notably, the terror group did not mention any willingness to disarm, but added that regarding other issues mentioned, they would be discussed within a comprehensive Palestinian national framework, in which Hamas will participate and to which it will contribute responsibly.

This statement was enthusiastically welcomed by Western leaders. French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X: The release of all hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza are within reach!

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz agreed that peace in Gaza and the release of the hostages are within reach, adding that Trumps plan is the best chance for peace.

On Saturday morning, Israeli media reported that the Israel Defense Forces were ordered to halt offensive operations as part of Operation Gideons Chariots II.

The IDF announced that the political echelon had instructed it to advance readiness for the implementation of the first phase of the Trump plan for the release of the hostages.

The Chief of Staff noted that, given the operational sensitivity, all troops must maintain high alertness and vigilance, in addition to reinforcing the need for a rapid response to neutralize any threat.

This article was originally published at All Israel News
BROOK PARK, Ohio  A Rocky River man, 52, was arrested Sept. 20 after he threatened another driver and slammed his car into the other drivers pickup truck.

The victim, a 59-year-old North Olmsted resident, said it happened at about 1:30 p.m. He was stopped at a red light on Ohio 237 northbound at Eastland Road when he exchanged words with the man. The man threatened to kill the victim

When the light turned green, the man pulled his car in front of the victims truck and stopped. However, once other drivers began honking, the man continued driving northbound.

The man then sideswiped the victims truck, causing damage to both vehicles. The cars rear bumper fell onto the road. The man sped away but several other drivers chased him.

The victim and a witness gave police the mans license plate number. After tracing the number to the Rocky River man, Brook Park police asked Rocky River police to pull over the mans car.

Then a witness returned to the crash scene. He told police that he followed the mans car to Travelodge by Wyndham, 14043 Brookpark Road. The man parked his car and inspected it for damage.

Rocky River police stopped the mans car on Hilliard Boulevard. Brook Park police drove there to question the man.

The Rocky River man admitted that he had been involved in a road-rage incident but said it was the victim that sideswiped his car. He said he drove away because he didnt want to get into a fight with the victim.

The man was charged with assault and aggravated menacing, both misdemeanors.
Nicholas Roske, who admitted plotting to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, was sentenced to just more than eight years in prison, below the Department of Justices recommendation. Eric Lee/Getty Images

A California man who admitted flying across the country with a gun and burglary tools to assassinate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was sentenced Friday to just more than eight years in federal prison, far less than prosecutors sought.

Nicholas John Roske, 29, of Simi Valley, California, received a 97-month sentence and lifetime supervised release after pleading guilty to attempting to kill a justice. The Department of Justice had urged a sentence of 30 years to life, calling the punishment woefully insufficient.

Roske admitted that in June 2022, he flew from Los Angeles to Dulles International Airport, then traveled to Montgomery County, Maryland, armed with a firearm, ammunition, zip ties and burglary tools. His target, prosecutors have said, was Kavanaugh.

Authorities said Roske was motivated by anger over a leaked draft decision on abortion and the Uvalde school shooting. He was arrested near the Kavanaughs home after calling 911 and confessing his homicidal intent.

Officials condemned the plot as an attack on judicial independence.

Politically motivated violence has no place in our society, U.S. Attorney Kelly OHayes said in a statement. The attempt to assassinate a Supreme Court Justice is an extreme, unconscionable act that must be met with the full weight of the law. We, along with our federal partners, are committed to relentlessly pursuing, prosecuting and punishing anyone involved in planning and executing these brazen, violent crimes. Violence against others will not be tolerated.

The DOJ plans to appeal the sentence.
Our readers had plenty of thoughts about the speeches by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, center, and President Donald Trump to all of the nation's military leaders this week. Most said the speeches were inappropriate. sitting with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) AP

Northeast Ohio readers had a lot to say about the military under President Donald Trump after he and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the nations top officers.

We asked: What do you think of the direction of the military todayand, if youre concerned, what exactly are your concerns? The nearly 200 responses to our daily From the Editor text messages ranged from alarm about politicization and domestic deployments to praise for restoring a warrior ethos.

What follows is a summary of themes, organized by people who identified as veterans, as family members of service members, and as civilians.

What veterans told us

The core refrain from veterans was the oathto the Constitution, not to any person. Many described deep unease with calls to use the armed forces at home or to make American cities into training grounds. Several invoked the Posse Comitatus Act, warning that domestic missions blur lines that protect civil liberties and public trust.

One veteran wrote, I was trained as an MP For most in the training was the Posse Comitatus Act which bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement except when expressly authorized by law. Another said, The U.S. military should never be used against US citizens- period! Others worried that the administration is trying to politicize the military to conform to his ideals.

A number of vets said the speeches to the assembled generals were insulting or counterproductive. The command appearance they had to endure was humiliating and embarrassing, one veteran wrote, adding that leaders have resisted politicization so far. Another offered: Sad and ridiculous meeting with the platoon leader and the draft dodger This makes me sick, angry, depressed and worried about where we are heading.

That said, a significant minority of veterans endorsed sharpening standards and discipline. Training should be hard and combat standards should not have waivers, one wrote. Another added, I am FOR tighter standards, more discipline, no fat soldiers, tougher boot camp, and one standard for every job slot, while making clear they were TOTALLY against the use of fed troops in our cities. Still others put it more simply: Yes, we need a strong, ready military!

Veterans split on questions of inclusion and personnel policy. Some praised the contributions of women and minorities and condemned misogyny and racism, while others insisted the military is no place for social experiments, and said everyone has the same fitness requirements no exceptions. Even those who backed stricter standards often faulted the tone: The message was insulting and also absolutely unnecessary.

Several veterans drew historical comparisons. A Vietnam-era MP said the current approach is unconstitutional, while Ohio National Guard memories of Kent State surfaced repeatedly: The standing military NEVER should be used against the people of our country We experienced Kent State when Gov Rhodes exceeded that guideline. Another veteran wrote, Its easy for me to say but I would not obey an order for a law enforcement deployment.

What family members of service members told us

Families voiced pride, fear, and a red line against turning troops inward. Some framed it personallyMy husband served We hope they decide to stand down rather than hurt Americansand several wondered how their loved ones would process a directive that felt political rather than strategic. One said: With several family members in the military, they have been dismayed at the direction of the military in the past few years.

World War II memoriesoften a fathers or unclesanchored many notes. My father and uncle served honorably in WWII We are horrified watching the effort to turn the military into another of Trumps vicious toys. Another reader remembered a relative who kept a Purple Heart in his underwear drawer, a symbol of quiet sacrifice and the expectation that civilian leaders show humility before those who bear the costs of war.

As with veterans, families were divided on culture-war touchpoints. One wrote, We believe in peace through strength The world only understands a fist, not a hug, criticizing past woke policies. Another said flatly, Making the military male oriented again is the wrong direction, and called domestic training ideas bull crap. Families also questioned the practical impact of rhetoric: What will those thinking of signing up be encouraged by? They humiliated military. To fight their fellow Americans?

What civilians told us

Among civilians, two broad currents emerged. The first, more common in our inbox, was alarm at what many called authoritarian drift.

This entire presidency feels like Germany in the 30s, one wrote. Another called talk of using troops in Blue cities pure politics, while others put it tersely: Unbelievable, Its insanity, and Not a veteran however Trump and Hegseth and the rest HAVE GOT TO GO. A number asked whether generals would stand up to a president who asks them to do something against the Constitution.

The second current applauded what they saw as a needed course correction. Military heading back to a stronger place, one wrote. The military is in so much better shape Recruiting goals are being met. The military is no place for social experiments. Another said the speeches sounded like common sense focus on the military being the best in the world, with Leadership who are overweight need to lose weight and set an example.

Even some who endorsed tougher standards balked at staging a mass, made-for-television lecture. What a complete lack of respect for our armed forces, one reader wrote, while another called the gathering a remarkable departure from our entire history that should have drawn banner headlines. Others homed in on cost and logistics: The latest meeting was a waste of time and money and could have been done by a Zoom type call.

A handful of readers supported domestic deployments as a deterrent to crimeit might prevent a few car jackingsand one urged a return to a draft: make service mandatory. More often, civilians argued the opposite: The military exists to protect the citizens of our country from a foreign adversary. The police are here to enforce domestic laws. Another asked, How is the use of military going to correct the problem after they leave?

Points of tensionand common ground

Across all three groups, the sharpest point of tension is between advocates of a stripped-down, combat-focused force and those who see inclusion and professionalism as mutually reinforcing strengths. Some echoed warrior ethos language and one standard for physically demanding jobs. Others insisted the armed forces are fitting examples of what an officer should be, and warned that purges of women and minorities would weaken readiness and morale.

But there was also notable common ground. Respect for service was near universal. So was the expectation that civilian leaders respect the apolitical character of the military and the chain of command that runs through the Constitution. Many respondentssupporters and critics of the administration alikedoubted the wisdom of using active-duty forces in domestic roles.

One reader captured both pride and a boundary: Our military is the most capable fighting force in the world, but its purpose is not domestic law enforcement or political intimidation. Another distilled the underlying fear: It is frightening and dispiriting to pull the military under his control for use inside the US and potentially against US citizens.

The takeaway

Veterans, families, and civilians brought different vantage points but converged on a pair of expectations: keep the force lethal and ready, and keep it outside the nations political fights.

Many veterans framed their answers through the oath they took; many families measured today against relatives service in World War II, Vietnam, and beyond; and many civilians judged by first principles of American civil-military tradition.

Whether praising tougher standards or condemning domestic talk as authoritarian, most readers agreed on one bedrock idea: the U.S. military defends the nation and its Constitutionnot any leaders ego or partisan end.

Note: Artificial intelligence assisted in the production of this story
The Sri Lankan government has reinstated its Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system, announcing that all tourists must obtain the approval prior to entering the country, starting October 15. The move was confirmed by the Department of Immigration in an official statement released on October 4. The ETA system had been temporarily replaced in April 2024 with a new eVisa platform.However, the country's Supreme Court later ordered a rollback of the system following legal disputes, ultimately suspending the new platform. The failure to comply with the court's directive led to the imprisonment of the former head of the Department of Immigration and Emigration last month, after being found guilty of contempt of court.As the government addresses administrative restructuring in tourism and immigration, it is also grappling with growing religious backlash over recent efforts to promote inclusivity in the tourism sector  particularly around LGBTIQ-related initiatives. Buddhist and Catholic leaders have voiced strong objections to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority's recent recognition of diversity programmes led by an NGO.The protest was sparked after the island nation's tourism department, in a letter dated September 9, commended the NGO Equal Ground for its contributions to promoting diversity in the tourism industry in the run-up to World Tourism Day 2025. Religious groups swiftly reacted, accusing the tourism authority of endorsing "unethical homosexual practices".The four chief of prominent Buddhist sects jointly addressed a letter to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, condemning what they described as actions "to promote unethical homosexual practices". The statement came shortly after Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, head of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka, criticised attempts to introduce what he called "new, unacceptable cultural practices"."Action to promote unethical homosexual practices" was the wording used by the Buddhist clergy in urging the President to intervene and halt such initiatives, which they claim go against Buddhist teachings and traditional values.Under current Sri Lankan laws, homosexuality remains criminalised. Article 365 of the Penal Code considers sexual conduct that is "against the order of nature"  including consensual same-sex relations  to be a punishable offence.The Sri Lankan government wants to revive its tourism sector, with calls for inclusivity, reinforcement of the electronic travel authorisation visa and the cultural divide over LGBTIQ tourism efforts to boost tourism in the island nation.
Four Caribbean nations are making it easier for their citizens to pack up and move to neighboring countries to start a new life without the need for visas or work permits. Barbados, Belize, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines signed a free movement agreement that went into effect on October 1.Officials said that when citizens from any of the four participating countries travel to another participating country, their passports will be stamped or a digital record will be made, indicating indefinite stay is allowed. Measures for incoming travellers to officially register for education, health care and other services also are in place, according to Caricom, a regional 15-member trade bloc spearheading the initiative.With crime a major problem in several Caribbean countries, authorities in Barbados said proper guardrails and vetting systems are in place to keep criminals out. Any government may refuse entry to a person who poses a genuine threat to national security, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said in a national address on Tuesday night.Previously, nationals of Caribbean countries that are members of Caricom were only allowed free movement for economic purposes, which include skilled workers obtaining jobs without need for a work permit. If nationals from a certain country werent travelling for the specified economic purposes, they were authorised to stay for up to six months, but without permission to work.While the previous arrangement remains in place for other Caricom countries that arent part of the new deal, nationals of Barbados, Belize, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines can now relocate for leisure. If you can move for work, but your spouse or children cannot access education or health care, the right is hollow, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said Monday.Caricom and regional leaders have long sought unrestricted movement across the Caribbean.In March 2022, a protocol was adopted that made the new deal possible, allowing three or more Caricom countries to deepen cooperation even if there isnt consensus. Jamaica has said it is committed to implementing free movement, but it hasnt set a date.A similar free movement arrangement exists for citizens of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States  an intergovernmental organisation made up of certain Caribbean countries, including Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. However, its a first for Caricom countries Belize and Barbados.
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A beach umbrella is a vital bit of equipment if youre going to be spending any time at the beach, but between carting it across the sand, getting it set up and then making sure it doesnt blow away using one can be a frustrating experience.

No matter how well a beach umbrella is secured its hard to have peace of mind, especially when they can be such a danger if they blow across a crowded beach.

Shibumi aims to solve these problems with its Shade product, a part tent that uses the wind to cast shade over a spot of beach. We tested it out to see whether it can replace the trusty umbrella.

Shibumi Shade Classic      Product Specs Weight 4 lbs What we love Lightweight Weighs 4 lbs

Essentially windproof Handled exceptionally high winds

Easy to use Easy setup and take down What could be better Not allowed on some beaches Due to space and sight-obstruction concerns

Expensive Not a budget choice

Our verdict

While not perfect, the Shibumi Shade is the best beach shade I have used. It's relatively easy to put up, casting a large section of shade, and after testing it in exceptionally high winds, it gave me confidence it is as windproof as a shade can be.

It is a lot lighter and a much better shape to carry than an umbrella, easier to pack into a car and comes with wind assists to help keep it working in the unlikely event that there is no coastal breeze.

My only concern is that there are some beaches local to me that dont allow the use of them (more on that later) but it is still a fantastic beach shade - as long as you are allowed to use it.

Shibumi Shade review

Performance

Before getting it to the beach it stands out for being light and portable. The whole package wraps up into a bag of 26" x 5" making it easier to get into a car than the long poles of an umbrella and weighing just 4 lbs I could even get one of the kids to agree to carry it to the beach itself.

Setting it up does take a little getting used to, but if youve ever put up a tent its a pretty familiar process. There is one pole that folds out and connects like a standard tent pole using an internal elastic cord. This is then threaded through the shade material and there are rubberized straps to wrap around the pole to hold the fabric in place.

You then bend the pole into an arc (and ensure the face of the arc is facing the direction of the wind) and push the poles into the sand.

The single pole bends into an arch to support the shade fabric

There are rubberized straps to wrap around the pole to hold the fabric in place.

The bag doubles as a sand anchor to keep the shade grounded

The bag everything came in can then be used as an anchor by filling it with sand and placing it in front of the shade to hold it upright (I found turning it inside out before filling it with sand worked best when it came to emptying it out later). And then you are done.

Depending on the height of the sun, it will throw a different amount of shade, but the classic model produces more shade than any umbrella I have used before. Shibumi claims it provides 150 sq ft of shade, enough for 8 people.

In terms of wind resistance it is pretty much peerless. One of the first days we tested it there was the tail winds of a hurricane from out at sea blowing over the beach and while others tried to put various types of shade up, the Shibumi was the only one left standing, and it hadnt budged an inch.

As it is powered by the wind it does make a bit more noise than a standard umbrella, but the latest fabric they are using is a lot quieter and is akin to a flag fluttering in the wind, I actually found the sound quite pleasant rather than a distraction.

It also includes wind assists to help keep the shade working if there is no wind, but unfortunately throughout our testing the wind was never low enough for the shade not to work on its own so we couldnt put these to the test. These work by clipping bags that you can fill with sand to hold the fabric further back.

Value for money

The Shibumi shade doesnt come cheap with the classic costing $295, especially when compared with pretty decent standard umbrellas available for around the $50 mark. It is a certainly a premium product, and one almost in a category of its own, so if you are shopping to a budget Id recommend looking at something like the Tommy Bahama umbrella with sand anchor.

Design

The Shibumi looks great, with the fabric divided into two blue tones and everything else kept minimalistic. The build quality of each part feels great and best of all the weight is very low which is a huge benefit when carrying it alongside all your other beach essentials.

How does it rate online

The vast majority of reviews online are very positive with lots of people talking about how easy it is to set up and take down as well as it being a much better option than umbrellas. Some do say it is a bit overpriced and it isnt suitable if the wind direction switches a lot, but this is greatly outweighed by the positive sentiment.

Are Shibumi Shades banned on some beaches

The other issue raised by some users is that their local beach doesnt allow the use of these shades. There are some areas that have banned the use of any shades other than traditional umbrellas, either in high season or throughout the year, so ensure you check your local or intended destination before purchase.

According to Shibumis website, the only beaches that currently ban the shade are Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, and Horry County in South Carolina, Rehoboth and Bethany Beach in Delaware, and Long Beach Township, Beach Haven and Manasquan in New Jersey. Of these, Myrtle beach and North Myrtle Beach only restrict the shades between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Why are Shibumi shades banned on some beaches?

The main concern that led to the shade being banned on some beaches was that they took up too much space or obstructed the view of life guards or beach patrols to swimmers in distress. Some beaches have since rolled back their bans.
Exactly a month ago, I joined thousands from Britains Jewish community to march through London to draw attention to the rising tide of anti-Semitism  online, on our airwaves and on our streets. For all of us on that march, the terrorist attack on Heaton Park synagogue will have been shocking, horrific, heart-wrenching. But not surprising.

Because in Britain, Jew-hatred has been mainstreamed. The people who were the victims of humanitys greatest crime now fear for their lives on this countrys streets. After the Holocaust, the world swore never again. But it is happening again. Jewish undergraduates on campus are shunned by their peers, Jewish school students  children  have to disguise their religious affiliation if they use public transport.

Jewish community buildings are daubed with faeces. Every single Jewish place of worship  and school  has security guards in place when open. When the Jewish community warned last month that the tide of hate was now so powerful it was overwhelming the defences they had in place, the Government paid no heed.

No minister accepted the invitation to address the march against anti-Semitism last month, calm fears and respond to concerns. Now the blood on Manchesters streets reminds us, and we should need no reminder, where anti-Semitism always and inevitably leads.

How has it come to this? The late Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explained that anti-Semitism is a virus which mutates.

In the Middle Ages it was a religious prejudice  and Jews were targeted for forced conversion.

In the late 19th and early 20th century it became a racial prejudice against Jews as individuals  and that unchecked hatred took us to the industrial slaughter of Belsen and Auschwitz.

In our own time, anti-Semitism has morphed again and finds its most widespread and virulent expression in the desire to delegitimise, punish and ultimately eliminate the Jewish peoples homeland  Israel.

Children in the concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. After the Holocaust, the world swore never again. But it is happening again, says Michael Gove

Two years ago, on October 7, 2023, Israel endured the greatest loss of life in its history  and the most bloody slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust  when Hamas terrorists attacked innocent civilians. Hamas is, itself, a totalitarian Islamist group that wants to wipe out the whole state of Israel and leave no Jew alive on what they consider to be Islamic land. It is not fighting for Palestinian self-determination but Jewish extermination.

Yet within hours  hours  of that atrocity, campaigners in the UK were organising a march in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance. It took place within days, with participants demanding

Palestine be free from the river to the sea. They meant liberating the whole territory from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea from Zionists.

In other words, a world with Israel erased from existence and the Jewish home  created to provide a shelter after the Holocaust  becoming a land of ghosts.

There were, I am sure, sincere and peaceable people on those early marches. But as they went on, fortnight after fortnight through the streets of our capital and other major cities, it would have been impossible to ignore the ugly cries emanating from every corner  equating Jews with Nazis, celebrating terror groups, indeed calling directly for the yahud (Jew) to be killed. These were not humanitarian protests but festivals of Jew hate.

In government, I, along with Suella Braverman and, particularly, Kemi Badenoch, called for restrictions on these marches. The Governments adviser on political violence, the brave and principled former Labour MP Lord (John) Walney, made recommendations on how to counter the hatred being spread. But the marches continued, with the police reluctant to act more firmly for fear of provoking civil disorder.

The most visible example of an individual actually being dealt with on the marches was not the apprehension of anyone advocating terrorism but an Iranian counter-protester, who was manhandled by the authorities out of the way, simply for holding a sign pointing out the simple fact that Hamas were terrorists. Telling the truth merited police action. Glory in slaughter and you walk on by.

And on Thursday evening, while the blood was not yet dry on the steps of Heaton Park synagogue, protesters again took to the streets  in London, Edinburgh, Brighton and even Manchester itself. They demanded justice. But not for the victims of that days atrocity. Instead it was the Jewish state they said should be punished.

Members of the community comfort each other near Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester following the terrorist attack

They did not mourn the loss of Jewish lives. Instead, with the chants of, death, death, to the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces), they called for more Jews to be killed.

Online, the enablers of hate were out in force. Social media influencers whove been given platforms on mainstream broadcasters said the blame for the killings in Manchester lay squarely with the Israeli government. Jews dead? Its the Jews fault.

The extremist Islamist website 5Pillars, which has more than 200,000 followers on YouTube, explained that the attack on Heaton Park came because the synagogue was pro-Israel and therefore supportive of genocide.

Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, rightly called out the grotesque response to the killings as wrong, indeed un-British.

But the reason why the haters, the anti-Semites and the Islamist ideologues dont just maintain their campaigns but escalate them is because they look beyond the words politicians utter and see the actions. And they conclude that they are winning.

The Government was warned repeatedly that if it chose to recognise a Palestinian state at this time  with Hamas in arms, pledging to destroy Israel and still holding hostages it took in October 2023  it would be seen as a reward for terror.

The Chief Rabbi, the relatives of the hostages, the Conservative leader and countless figures from civil society argued that such a step  which was never taken during years of peace and which was now embarked on after Islamist slaughter  would be taken by Hamas and its supporters as a vindication of violence.

And so it was, with Hamass own leaders greeting this move as victory on the world stage. If those who it see as their mission to kill Jews see that action rewarded, can it really be a surprise that more killing of Jews follows?

Demonstrators gather outside Downing Street following a protest in Parliament square against Israeli forces attacking the Gaza flotilla on Thursday

And that is not the only sign of weakness which emboldens the Islamist extremists and their fellow travellers. For decades now, including under governments of which I was a member, the response to extremism has been weak, temporising and accommodationist.

I wrote about those questions as a backbencher in a book, Celsius 7/7, published in 2006. I warned about the dangers of appeasing extremism, drew attention to rising anti-Semitism and set out the ways in which the radical Left made common cause with Islamists. I was encouraged by the warm response to my arguments from David Cameron, but once in office I found others in government much less supportive.

When I argued that it was not enough just to stop terror attacks on the eve of execution and we needed to drain the ideological swamp which nurtured this hatred, I was rebuked. When, later, I tried to implement a counter-extremism strategy to deny Islamist and far-Right groups freedom of manoeuvre, I faced obstruction, delay and sabotage from within the Civil Service.

The individuals and groups I was seeking to counter saw my efforts, and those of other ministers such as Kemi and Suella, frustrated and drew the appropriate conclusion  the State was not serious about facing them down.

The level of ignorance across Whitehall, the whole public sector and much of the media about the nature of the extremist threat we face is scandalous.

When we have faced past totalitarian threats, such as the Communist menace during the Cold War, the nature of the Soviet regime and the ideology of Marx, Lenin and Stalin was widely understood. I once asked in a Cobra meeting convened to deal with extremism how many of those present had even heard of the ideological guiding lights of Islamism  Hassan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb and Abul Ala Mawdudi. Only two out of 20 could answer.

Brave officials who have tried to deal with the question  such as former prison governor Ian Acheson who I commissioned to investigate radicalisation in our jails  were marginalised. I know of others who faced malicious leaking from colleagues simply for trying to ask necessary questions about why we werent doing more to call out extremism.

And in the Foreign Office there seemed to be precious little understanding that the hostility directed towards Israel from many international quarters was not a consequence of its actions but its very existence.

White House avenue near the scene of the Manchester attack is blocked off by police

For those on the radical Left who clothe themselves in the keffiyehs of anti-colonial sentiment, Israel has to be delegitimised as an apartheid or settler state, even though it was founded by refugees and asylum seekers. But because Israel is a success, not least because it is a democracy governed by the rule of law, with free markets, free speech, gay pride marches and a vigorous opposition, it is demonised by those  leaders and ideologues  opposed to these virtues.

The rulers of other Middle Eastern states, blessed with natural resources but without a commitment to Western values, and the radical Left who have made anti-Westernism their new crusade, unite to demonise the country because it proves that their worldview is wrong, and dangerously so.

Of course, Israel should be criticised, like any other country, when it makes mistakes and commits crimes. But that is precisely the point. It is not criticised like any other country. It is accused of genocide for defending itself in the way any state might. Its very existence  Zionism  is equated in international fora with racism.

Jews are told, as they have been by anti-Semites for centuries, that they can only live on terms set by others. Jews who die may be mourned, although even that is a principle honoured less and less. Jews who fight to defend themselves are criminals.

And so the defenceless worshippers of Heaton Park are left to mourn this weekend. And more and more British Jews now fear they cannot be defended properly in the country they grew up in, and darkness is visible. This is a shaming moment for Britain.

It is an iron law of history that the safer the Jewish community feels in any country, the more liberal and advanced that nation is: Holland in the 17th century, America in the 20th, Britain until recently. And it is an equally certain truth that when Jews feel increasingly unsafe  as they did in medieval Spain, 19th-century Austria, 20th-century Germany and Russia after Putins ascent  the candle of freedom is guttering and going out.

Do we want it to be extinguished in our time? Let us pray, and fight, to ensure it is not.
On Wednesday evening, the start of the 25 hours of fasting and prayer to mark the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, my son Gabriel was on the rota of volunteers protecting my thriving local synagogue at Richmond-upon-Thames.

Wearing a protective stab vest, with a yellow hi-viz jacket and a walkie-talkie, it was his job to guard the glass-doored entrance.

Fortunately, his 45 minutes on duty passed without incident, but when I heard for the first time about the horrifying events that had taken place in Manchester on Thursday morning, I couldnt help reflecting on the vulnerability of my son and his brave colleagues on the synagogues security rota.

And my thoughts immediately went out to the families of the volunteers doing the same job as Gabriel at the Heaton Park synagogue.

Kol Nidrei  the eve of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)  is the only day of the Jewish year when synagogues are filled to the rafters.

In our community, first word of the terrifying attack in Manchester filtered through from the supervisor of our security rota, who happens to be one of the worlds foremost experts on airport security, in the early afternoon.

He had received a message from the Community Security Trust (CST), a Jewish charity which works closely with the police and security services.

The rabbi and his honorary officers decided to carry on with services normally, with special prayers, including Psalm 121, which includes the line, I lift up my eyes to the mountains, being recited in honour of the victims and wounded. By the end of services, at 7.25pm, special arrangements were in place for us to exit the synagogue safely. People left in small groups, and Metropolitan Police officers were standing by the front gate and on the cul-de-sac leading to the main road.

Members of the local Jewish community stand in the street outside Heaton Park synagogue following the terrorist attack

Police block off White House Avenue near the scene of the stabbings in Manchester

Until Thursday, the worst thing that had happened in our civilised suburban London enclave since the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, was the daubing of a swastika on an external wall. It was a worrying incident but quickly dealt with with the help of neighbouring non-Jewish friends.

But following Thursdays outrage there is an acute realisation that our security volunteers are not just there for show, but represent the last line of defence against the anti-Semites.

Inside my Richmond Shul, Philip Spencer, emeritus professor of holocaust studies and genocide at Kingston University, led a question-and-answer session on genocide.

An esteemed member of our community, Spencer reflected that most members of generations brought up after the Holocaust believed the memory of the industrialised killing of six million Jews served as a kind of protection against anti-Semitism. It was such an appalling act of barbarism that it couldnt happen again.

But when more than 1,000 Israelis (some British) died in the unspeakable October 7 assault in which many victims were disembowelled, dismembered, or raped, some sections of the broadcast media  along with Left-leaning newspapers, UN human rights organisations and a number of politicians  responded by accusing Israeli forces rather than Hamas of perpetrating atrocities.

In fact, the members of the Israel Defence Forces are soldiers at war and, if there have been excesses, it is not a question of genocide but a matter for discussion by experts on infringements of the rules of war.

Yet in the heart of London, Manchester, Leeds, Brighton and other cities with sizeable Jewish populations, anti-Semitism  the worlds oldest hatred  is alive and well. It has been fomented by jihadist groups but supported by ordinary British citizens. Neighbours, friends and women who were once at school with my wife have bought into a pernicious narrative.

For me, the first-generation scion of a family abused, gassed and incinerated in the ovens of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the reappearance of Jew hatred could not be more disturbing and upsetting. Growing up in Brighton, I encountered occasional anti-Semitism. There was the pig-ignorant art master, for example, who shouted: Jewish boys cant paint. If only I had known then of Chagall, Pissarro, Kandinsky and all the other Jewish masters.

But prejudice against Jews was no more threatening than that faced by Roman Catholics schoolkids. How different it is today. The central London pro-Palestinian marches on the Jewish Sabbath, deliberately passing the doors of synagogues, could have been taking place in 1920s or 1930s Germany.

As a member of the Western Marble Arch Synagogue adjacent to Hyde Park, where earlier this year a Brummer family celebration took place, I was horrified to hear about the struggles of the communitys brilliant rabbi, Daniel Epstein.

He described over a Sunday morning breakfast how he had had to engage a leading firm of lawyers to persuade the Metropolitan Police and local authorities to divert a march away from the synagogue doors. If anti-Israel sentiment is not anti-Semitism, why on earth should such hostile processions be routed past places where Jews are at prayer?

On returning from the synagogue on Thursday evening, I switched on the BBC and Sky News channels. None of the broadcasters made any connection between events in Manchester and the national dialogue on Gaza and the Palestinians.

The cruel truth, as drawn to my attention by a non-Jewish colleague in an email, is that Keir Starmer and David Lammy, in his previous role as Foreign Secretary, had legitimised terror attacks when they recognised the state of Palestine. In effect, they were declaring that Hamas terrorism, despite the ordeal of 42 remaining hostages (many already dead), was acceptable.

This, even though Hamas advocates wiping out Israel  home to six million or so Jews and two million Palestinian Israelis. My dear late father Michael, a courageous refugee from the Holocaust, was a patriot whose belief in the tolerance of the British people was unshakeable.

I thank the Lord that he is not around to witness how that belief has been fatally eroded today.
The Heaton Park synagogue was my familys place of worship for decades. On Jewish festivals and sporadic Sabbath days, my late mum, my sister and I would put on our best dresses and go to the synagogue where Mum would steer us to her preferred seats (upper left-hand side, just above the ornate cabinet that housed sacred Torah scrolls).

Back then, no one had any concerns about security and, during the long Yom Kippur services of my childhood, groups of us would slip outside and scamper around the synagogue grounds searching for conkers that had fallen from the overhanging horse chestnut trees.

Above all, Heaton Park lingers in my heart because it was where, almost 35 years ago, I married my husband, Martin.

The synagogue is a large, airy building with a huge glass frontage  perfect for a bride, even one in a pudding of a dress, to make an entrance.

And I vividly recall standing under the traditional Jewish canopy, peeping nervously through a long, gauzy veil, as the cantors voice swelled in song.

But now all these memories are viewed through a lens splintered by shock, sorrow, and burning fury  an anger focused most strongly on Keir Starmer, a timorous Prime Minister, more concerned with appeasing the extreme pro-Palestinian voices in his party than protecting the Jewish community.

Look no further than his inability to curtail the hate marches, which have effectively rendered parts of the country no-go zones for Jewish people.

Even on Thursday evening, while bereaved families were reeling from the appalling horrors that had taken place at Heaton Park, demonstrations intent on demonising Israel  and in the process amplifying anti-Semitism  spilled on to the streets of Manchester and London.

Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria visit the Heaton Park synagogue following the attack

Rather than confront the fact that these demonstrations often descend into raw Jew-hatred, with chants of From the river to the sea  a clarion call for the eradication of Israel  Starmer has been utterly ineffectual.

But it was the Prime Ministers recognition of a prospective Palestinian state, without making such a move contingent on the release of hostages or the disarming of Hamas, that handed the Jew-haters a loaded gun.

For, in doing so, he rewarded bloodthirsty jihadists for their acts of terror, leading Hamas to observe with monstrous satisfaction that such recognition was the fruit of its terrorist outrage on October 7, 2023.

Now that reward has come home to roost in the heart of the UKs second-largest Jewish community  the place I have always called home and in a synagogue so close to my heart.

Yet when the holiest day in the Jewish calendar began on Wednesday night  in Judaism days are counted from sunset to sunset, rather than from midnight to midnight  we had no idea what the coming hours would bring.

As is usual for high holidays, there was an enhanced security presence on the streets near my home. Its something we have become used to. Paid guards, together with brave volunteers from the Community Security Trust (CST), have long protected our communal buildings or patrolled our streets.

It is now a matter of routine that our children attend schools protected by CCTV, guards and high wire fences.

Perhaps it is because Judaism is a fundamentally optimistic religion, with a belief predicated on the sanctity of human life and a desire for human beings to be the best versions of themselves, that the possibility of any kind of major attack existed only as an abstract concept rather than a horrific inevitability.

Martin and I first became aware that something had happened when low-flying helicopters began circling relentlessly above our home, just a five-minute drive from Heaton Park.

The streets were thronged with police, security officers, CST members and PCSOs. Many observant Jews, like myself, do not use phones on the Sabbath or holy days, so news spread slowly.

When we heard later that morning that a brave security guard was killed doing his job, along with a congregant caught up in the chaos, it was almost impossible to process. It still is.

No doubt the monster who carried out this heinous crime was dismissive of the values of this country. In contrast, Jewish people in the UK are enormously patriotic. Many, like me, are descendants of refugees who came here seeking sanctuary and, in return, worked hard to make a contribution to the prosperity of the country.

My own grandfather came to Britain at the start of the last century after fleeing persecution in his native Ukraine. When the First World War broke out, he enlisted immediately as a stretcher-bearer, driven by a profound sense of gratitude and a determination to give something back.

A gifted musician, he also served as choirmaster at the Heaton Park synagogue.

What would this kind, gentle, patriotic man have felt, if he had known that a century later the synagogue he had once filled with joyous music would become a place of death because of the same Jew-hatred he had sought to escape as a teenager?

As my community adjusts to the horrors of the past couple of days, conversation often turns to whether we even have a future here.

To which I say: Not with Keir Starmer as Prime Minister. He has failed the Jewish people. His weakness once simply encouraged hatred. Now it has cost lives.

Yet I love this country deeply and I know, from the wonderful messages of support from my non-Jewish friends, colleagues, and even complete strangers, that decency, not extremism, is Britains default setting.

I will not be driven from my home  the home of the Heaton Park synagogue and all those cherished wedding memories  because of Keir Starmer. It is he who has to go.

For it is not putting it too strongly to say the Prime Minister has blood on his hands  specifically the blood of two innocent people slaughtered on Thursday in the beautiful synagogue that has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember.
On Friday I spoke to a senior member of the Jewish community. Hed been in his synagogue as the Manchester terror attacks began. And contrary to reports circulating on social media, he and other members of his congregation were only too aware of the horrors unfolding. We all knew, he said. We were being kept informed by our own security team as it was happening. We were locked in and told we couldnt leave.

Hes been a Labour member for decades, a significant donor, and a supporter of Keir Starmer. And he wanted to deliver a sombre and heartfelt message: This is it now. If Keir doesnt act, people are going to leave. Its not an emotional spasm. We are talking about a genuine exodus from the country.

In the wake of the Heaton Park atrocity, the Prime Minister tried to give my friend, and the rest of Britains Jews, the reassurance they were anxiously seeking. I promise you that I will do everything in my power to guarantee you the security that you deserve, he said.

But it was an empty promise. Keir Starmer does not know how to protect the Jewish community. He has no intention of protecting the Jewish community. And in fact, his actions  and inaction  since taking office have directly increased the threat to that community.

The Prime Minister is a basically decent man. He personally feels the pain of Britains Jews through his wife Victoria.

Sir Keir Starmer visits the scene of the deadly terror attack in Manchester with his wife, Victoria

But he is utterly impotent. Emasculated by the internal politics of a Labour movement totally infested with pro-Palestine extremism, and beholden to a support base now fracturing in the direction of every minority party that embraces the Palestinian cause, he is virtually incapable of action. And on those rare occasions he does act, it is invariably to the detriment of British Jewry.

Two weeks ago, Starmer moved to recognise a Palestinian state. And he was warned. It is a reward for terrorism, while the hostages remain in chains, and has been celebrated by Hamas as one of the fruits of October 7, the Chief Rabbi wrote, as he begged him to change course.

But the Prime Minister ignored him. And on Thursday we saw with barbaric clarity what happens when people are encouraged to think they can advance the Palestinian cause through violence.

Its not a difficult principle to grasp. If you gift those who kill Jews premature concessions, then they and their deranged supporters are inevitably going to be incentivised to kill more Jews.

And until recently Sir Keir recognised that fact. In October 2023 he told a conference at Chatham House: A ceasefire always freezes any conflict in the state where it currently lies Hamas would be emboldened and start preparing for future violence immediately. But Hamas are still attacking Israel. And he has handed them their propaganda coup anyway.

The reason? Just one. The domestic political imperatives confronting the Prime Minister have changed. Back then he judged it in his partys interest to stand by Israel. Now he has calculated Israel needs to be cast adrift.

Regardless of the impact on the Jewish community. That community should rightly not be held accountable for the actions of the Israeli government. But as we saw last week, that is not a distinction currently being drawn by those Islamist extremists who want to Free Gaza by butchering Jews.

The Jewish community has had its fill of warm words

And yet Keir Starmer and his colleagues still refuse to take a stand. At the Labour conference, Sir Keir and his ministers rose in righteous unison to condemn the extremism of the far-Right.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood specifically singled out supporters of Tommy Robinson who had marched through London, branding them heirs to the skinheads and P***-bashers of old. And while she conceded not everyone chanted racist slogans, the fact some did made it clear that in their view of this country, I have no place.

On Thursday evening, as Britains Jews were starting to mourn their dead, the racists again took to the streets, this time under pro-Palestinian banners. They chanted for the death of Jews, and the eradication of Israel as a Jewish state.

The reaction to this orgy of hate from Starmer and his ministers? Mealy-mouthed appeasement. Just take a step back, Mahmood pleaded. Sometimes some love and friendship to other people is required.

Intimidate and threaten any other minority group, and Keir Starmers Labour will brand you a P***-basher. But intimidate and threaten Jews, and you will receive saccharine homilies about friendship and love.

The Jewish community has had its fill of warm words. They tentatively took on faith Keir Starmers pre-election promise that the anti-Semitism had been exorcised from his partys soul. And they now know their trust has been betrayed.

If you want to understand the true scale of the Prime Ministers cowardice and perfidy, look no further than his stance on claims Israel is prosecuting a genocide in Palestine.

Police investigate the area outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester

The intelligence services are clear the Gaza conflict has significantly raised the UK terror threat. And that, in turn, claims of genocide are acting as a source of dangerous radicalisation.

Some people may wish to claim  for whatever reasons  Israels actions do meet that ghastly threshold. And thats their right. But the Prime Minister and his government do not think that.

Earlier this year, David Lammy was pressed by Parliaments International Development Committee to formally clarify whether Israel was committing genocide. Three weeks ago he slipped out a response. The Government has not concluded that Israel is acting with that intent, he said.

This issue goes to the very heart of the toxic debate raging over Israels response to the October 7 atrocities. So did Keir Starmer make a statement to Parliament confirming his Governments assessment? Did he make a major address? Did he write a prominent newspaper article? Did he reference it all in last weeks conference speech?

No. He stayed silent. The formal conclusion of His Majestys Government that Israel is not, as its critics claim, prosecuting genocide has been effectively buried by the British Prime Minister.

And why? Because he knows that even though it might just give a brief second of respite to a Jewish community that is literally fighting for its life, its not what his pro-Palestinian activists want to hear. So Britains Jews are deemed expendable.

We are now entering the endgame of Keir Starmers callow, spineless premiership. But at this late hour he still has time to take a stand in defence of the nations Jewish community.

And hed better take it. Because if he doesnt, a bloody new exodus of British Jews will be his sole, sordid legacy.
Are we in fact at war with Russia? Has our ambassador to Moscow, Nigel Casey MVO CMG, been quietly warned to have his bags packed and his passport ready for a rapid departure? Will his beautiful residence be shuttered? Will the residences Union Jack  visible from the Kremlin across the Moscow river  be pulled down after almost 100 years of annoying whoever rules Russia?

How would we know? Nobody actually declares war any more. This country was the last nation to do so. In 1942, we declared war on Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. Since then, such formalities have gone out of style. So it might in fact have happened.

The former head of the British secret police, MI5 (well, theyre not spies, so what else are they?), Eliza Manningham-Buller, seems to think so. She has mused publicly that Britain may already be at war with Russia.

She thinks this is because of the depth and intensity of cyber attacks, sabotage and other hostile activity orchestrated by Moscow against the UK. Fiona Hill, the White Houses chief Russia adviser during Donald Trumps first term, also recently argued that Russia is at war with Britain.

Then there was the curious event at Gatwick airport on September 27 when the former MP George Galloway was detained by counter-terror police as he returned, via Abu Dhabi, from a visit to Russia.

Now I have many times clashed with Mr Galloway on public platforms, especially on his readiness to defend gruesome regimes such as Cuba or the old Soviet Union. And he once made a personal attack on my late brother which was so ferociously rude that it would always prevent me from being on friendly terms with him.

British Ambassador to Russia Nigel Casey leaving the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow

But this still looks like the heavy hand of the state to me. If the police have any evidence against Mr Galloway, let them put it to the CPS and, if necessary, the courts.

That is what happens in free countries. What they did to Mr Galloway looks more like what they do to dissenters in, well, Russia. The powers revealed are quite frightening.

I was glad to see the former Tory minister Jacob Rees-Mogg was equally disturbed, saying on Twitter: It is important to defend free speech for people with whom one very strongly disagrees.

Police said Mr Galloway was stopped under schedule 3 of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019.

This is another of those fishy catch-all laws Labour and Tory governments have slipped through Parliament on the pretext of fighting terror, since 2001. It allows an officer to stop, question, search and detain a person at a port to determine if they have engaged in hostile activity.

It gives me the creeps, alongside the similar tyrannical sanctioning of video-blogger Graham Phillips, another man I do not like, for holding the wrong opinions on the Ukraine war. Have we quietly crossed a line from peace to war?

I preferred the days when our leaders had to declare war and explain why they were doing this dangerous, hard, uncertain thing. I suspect they do not do so because they do not really know why.

I confess that I do not know why either, and I have tried to understand the reason for many years now. What are the air raid sirens like in your town these days?

Blue Lights turns into a soap opera

Dearbhaile McKinney in Blue Lights. The BBC series is on its third season

I have been terribly seduced by the BBC series on policing in Belfast, Blue Lights. It has attractive characters, fast-moving scripts, good jokes and plenty of adventures in the unique conditions of beautiful Northern Ireland.

But the latest third series may be enough. For I am also feeling browbeaten by all sorts of liberal propaganda.

How have they turned a horrible IRA Godmother into a goodie? Can social workers really be that nice? Then there are the improbable soap opera pairings of individual officers with all the resulting soppiness. TV proves it again and again. Every good idea is milked until long after it is dry.

On a journey to the south coast, mainly to visit the graves of my forebears, I found myself back in beautiful Chichester, wandering like a ghost through streets transformed in 60 years, yet recognisable.

Peter Hitchens visited the Shippam's factory with school, where he was given a free jar of bloater paste

There was the opticians where I learned my eyesight wasnt good enough for the Navy, so causing me to alter course radically. There was the council office where my mother took me without warning to receive an anti-diphtheria injection from a huge silver syringe.

They say tastes and smells trigger memories most powerfully, but in this case it was a museum exhibit on the fishpaste empire of the Shippams company, now mysteriously vanished. My school was once taken on a tour of their smelly factory. I got a free jar of bloater paste. I know the phrase fish paste makes some shudder but we liked it then. Its a measure of how different we are now from what we were.

Now others are joining the dots on cannabis

Apart from being against murder, I refuse to have any detailed opinions about the Manchester synagogue atrocity.

Police, and most media, remain brainlessly uninterested in the worldwide correlation between rampage attacks and growing use of marijuana. So they dont investigate it.

If it is present here, we may never know. But others are waking up. In The Wall Street Journal last week, reporter Allysia Finley joined some dots. The recent Dallas shooter, Joshua Jahn, was a marijuana user.

He often posted on a Reddit forum for cannabis users. In April 2016, he pleaded guilty to trafficking marijuana. Next year, he moved to Washington state  one of the first to legalise cannabis for recreational use  to work on a pot farm. Likewise Robin Westman, who attacked a Minneapolis school church service, worked in a marijuana dispensary. Mass shooters Nikolas Cruz, Jared Lee Loughner and Devin Patrick Kelley were heavy marijuana users.

Yet, as Ms Finley bitingly pointed out, everyone is worrying about the supposed ill-effects of paracetamol. Thats just as well for the Big Pot lobby.
I wasn't the person sneaking vodka into my morning coffee. I wasn't hiding bottles in cupboards or drinking every day just to function.

I was the fun one - the party girl. The kind of drinker who started on Thursday night and went hard until Sunday, then pulled it together for work on Monday.

Here in Australia, we celebrate that person - the drunkest in the room, the one who doesn't know when to stop. That was me. People laughed with me about it; I laughed too.

It felt like freedom. It felt normal.

But this is what no one told me: you don't have to be a 'full-blown alcoholic' to do lasting damage. Fifteen years of social binge drinking wrecked my brain.

Ten years after I quit, I'm still forgetting whole conversations, blacking out memories that never come back, and trying to patch together a life that alcohol stole from me.

We think it's all fun and games, until it isn't.

The price is steep.

Reformed binge drinker Jacintha Field reveals the lasting health effects of her weekend habit

I had always been a happy little girl, but somehow felt slightly out of step.

By the age of seven I'd developed my first addiction: sugar. I would sneak $2 from my mother's wallet and buy sweets to soothe feelings I didn't know how to name. That pattern of numbing myself set the tone.

By high school, I had gained 20kg (44lbs or 3st), then swung back the other way and became frighteningly thin. I wrestled with my body, never feeling comfortable in my own skin.

At 17, I entered a toxic relationship. And at 18, I started drinking.

From the beginning, I went too far. When I lived in Munich and worked in a bar, I ended up in hospital after one night's drinking.

Deep down, I knew alcohol was dangerous, but I pushed the thought away. Party culture in Australia made it easy to dismiss.

My pattern wasn't drinking every day. I could go Monday to Wednesday without touching a drop. But once I started, I couldn't stop.

Every Thursday, the conversations would begin: Where are we going? What are we doing? By Friday, I was in full flight. I drank to fit in. I drank to belong. From Thursday to Sunday, I would drink and drink and drink.

'When I lived in Munich and worked in a bar, I ended up in hospital after one night's drinking'

I thought it was hilarious. I thought being 'the drunkest one' made me bold and likeable.

What I didn't know was that drinking until I couldn't remember anything was my brain shutting down. I didn't know that every time I laughed about forgetting the night before, I was losing pieces of myself that I'd never get back.

When I fell pregnant with my son Axel, I stopped.

I stayed sober throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding. For the first time in years, my body was free of alcohol. And I noticed how good that felt.

But old habits die hard. When Axel was 18 months old, I went out for dinner with friends. Lychee martinis. Espresso martinis. I fell straight back into my old pattern and kept drinking.

That night ended with me violently ill, throwing up outside my Uber. The sickness in the days that followed was brutal.

That was my line in the sand. I decided I was done.

Now I'm 10 years sober - but I have cognitive problems that will likely never improve

'I grieve the life I might have had without alcohol. I imagine being more secure, more confident, a mother who could share memories more vividly with her son'

I quit cold turkey. The hardest part wasn't the cravings, it was the loneliness. My identity had been built on being the party girl - once I stopped, I wasn't invited out. Friends didn't know what to do with me anymore.

I didn't know what to do with myself either.

So I made plans for the day after a night out to keep me motivated. I drove to events so that I couldn't drink. I still went to nightclubs and danced - only this time, sober. Slowly, I built a new version of myself.

Writing helped me process the pain of that transition.

And for a while, sobriety felt incredible. I'd never known such clarity. I thought the hardest part was over.

But as the years went on, I noticed something that shook me: I wasn't just forgetful, I was losing whole chunks of my life.

I would promise to return a friend's plate, then days later completely forget about it. I would listen blankly as people recounted nights we'd shared together. Zero recollection. Not hazy, not fuzzy just gone.

One of my best friends often brings up key moments in our friendship - moments that we lived through together. She'll laugh and reminisce, then ask me, 'You remember that, right?' And I'll have to say no.

My son had a major accident recently, and she reminded me of a time years earlier when her son had gone through the same thing.

She insisted that I was there, that we had talked about it, that I had comforted her. I couldn't pull a single shred of that memory back. It's like it never existed in my mind.

People think I'm rude, or careless, or simply don't care. The truth is, the memories are gone.

Even after ten years of sobriety, I live with cognitive damage every day.

I need alarms for everything - meetings, school reminders, appointments. If it isn't written down and backed up by reminders, I'll forget it.

In a professional setting, it can be humiliating. I've missed meetings. I've blanked on commitments. I over-explain, because I worry that people will think I'm being dismissive. I've learned to be upfront about it. 'It's not you,' I tell them. 'It's my brain.'

Doctors tell me the same thing: alcohol damages the hippocampus and the frontal lobes. Some recovery is possible, but much of it is permanent.

I research endlessly, try every tool I can: fish oil, walnuts, blueberries, meditation, sleep. But deep down I know I'll never get back all I've lost.

And it isn't just memory.

My gut was ruined. It has taken years to heal from the inflammation that alcohol caused. When my gut is off, anxiety spikes, my mind fogs and I spiral.

Depression and anxiety have been constant companions, too.

In 2020, I went through a separation. It would have been easy to relapse. Instead, I leaned into breathwork, meditation and art therapy. I slipped back into sugar at times, but I stayed sober.

To this day, I grieve the life I might have had without alcohol. I imagine being more secure, more confident, a mother who could share memories more vividly with her son. I know that childhood insecurity set me on this path - always trying to be someone I wasn't, always thinking I needed something outside myself to shine.

But I also know this: sobriety gave me Axel's mum. It gave me self-love, purpose, and the courage to create Happy Souls Kids, the platform I built to help children process their emotions in ways that I never could.

I still live with memory gaps. I still lose moments. But I'm here, I'm present, and I'm proof that you don't need to drink every day to destroy yourself. Sometimes the damage is done one 'fun' weekend at a time.

If you take one thing from my story, I hope it is this:

We often think the only people who pay the price are the ones drinking every day, hiding bottles, unable to function. That wasn't me. I was just a social drinker who always went too far. And I'm the one living with brain damage, ten years after I quit.

It was all fun and games - until it wasn't. The price of those years has been heavy. But the gift of sobriety is knowing I'll never have to pay it again.
The K-pop star was awkwardly 'snubbed' at Paris Fashion Week this week

Rose is rumored to be campaigning for a Grammy at next year's awards show

The BLACKPINK star who was at the center of a 'mean girl' controversy at Paris Fashion Week is tipped to sweep next year's Grammy Awards.

Roseanne Park, better known by her stage name Rose, dominated headlines this week after K-pop fans accused fashion magazine Elle UK of shading her in a social media post.

On top of that, Saint Laurent ambassadors Hailey Bieber, Zoe Kravitz, and Charli XCX were also accused of snubbing the 28-year-old hitmaker.

As the controversy continues online, Rose has quietly been plotting to make history at the 2026 Grammys.

The songstress has submitted her chart-topping Bruno Mars collaboration APT to all the major Grammy categories, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Music Video, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

Additionally, her debut solo album Rosie has been submitted for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, as well as in the smaller categories like Best Album Cover, Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, and Best Recording Package.

She's also submitted her ballad, Toxic Till the End, for Best Pop Solo Performance.

Although Rose hasn't specifically said that she's chasing gold at the Grammys, her actions over the past month indicate that she may be in the midst of a campaign.

BLACKPINK star Rose who was at the center of a 'mean girl' controversy at Paris Fashion Week is tipped to sweep next year's Grammy Awards

Rose has submitted her Bruno Mars collab APT in all the major Grammy categories, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Music Video, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

She randomly popped up on The Howard Stern Show last month to perform a 20-minute acoustic set, which included both APT and Toxic Till The End as well as covers of Oasis and Lana Del Rey.

Next, Rose performed another set at the Global Citizen Festival in New York, where she delivered a similar set, with the inclusion of a cover of The Cranberries' Linger.

The star also teelingly discussed the Grammys in a cover story with this week's The Hollywood Reporter.

'Im getting chills right now. Its still a dream for me. Its still a fantasy. A moment that proves to myself so many things,' she said humbly.

Her APT collaborator Bruno Mars was less modest in an emailed quote to the publication, saying, 'Big Bad Rosie was destined to do great things no matter what.'

He continued, 'Im so proud of her, and thankful that I got to be a part of the conversation that led to APT and the birth of a brand new K-pop juggernaut named Bruno Mars.'

APT has indeed been one of the biggest hits of the year so far.

It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was crowned Song of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards.

APT has been one of the biggest hits of the year and won Song of the Year at the MTV VMAs

The track has also surpassed 2 billion streams on Spotify alone.

If APT leads to Grammys glory, Rose will become the first K-pop artist to ever win a Grammy.

Billboard has already called it a 'likely contender' to pick up a nomination at next year's ceremony.

It comes after Elle UK issued an apology after being slammed for cropping Rose out of a group photo.

The New Zealand-born star was attending the Saint Laurent Women's 2026 S/S Collection show for Paris Fashion Week when she was apparently 'snubbed'.

She posed for a photo with Charli XCX, Hailey Bieber and Zoe Kravitz, but was later cropped out of the picture when Elle UK shared it to Instagram.

After receiving massive online backlash, the company has now deleted the original post and uploaded an apology to its Stories.

'We sincerely apologise for a recent post from Paris Fashion Week in which Rose of Blackpink was cropped from a group photo for size,' the message read.

'We did not mean to offend anyone,' they continued.

'The post has been removed and Elle UK remains committed to ensuring our future coverage represents the full spectrum of our audience we so greatly respect.'

It comes after the K-pop star was supposedly 'shaded' by Zoe, Hayley and Charli, after an awkward interaction between the group was caught on camera

Elle UK also came under fire for cropping Rose out of a group photo

The bizarre omission outraged fans and followers on Thursday, particularly because Rose had attended the runway show as an official global Saint Laurent ambassador.

'I'm not a fan of Blackpink but I respect Roses artistry and being a brand ambassador with 84M+ followers,' one commented.

'She actually has more [followers] than all those girlies combined. This is deliberate cropping. They just don't like her I guess.'

Another added: 'Funny how shes the Global Ambassador of YSL, but somehow shes missing from all the photos you shared. That cant be a coincidence, right?'

A third echoed the sentiments of many, saying: 'Elle UK, please show some respect and apologize to Rose for the rudeness of cutting her out of the photo.'

Attempting to redress the balance, the publication then uploaded a series of photos showing Rose solo.

Rose, who grew up in Melbourne, has been the fashion house's global ambassador since 2020 and, in January, was named global ambassador for YSL Beaute.

The apparent snub comes after the pop star was brutally shaded by Zoe, Hayley and Charli, after an awkward interaction between the group was caught on camera.

All four of the stars were sitting front row at the Saint Laurent fashion show in Paris, on Monday.

But when videos of them all chatting together were shared online, some social media users felt like Rose was deliberately excluded from the conversation.

After receiving massive online backlash, the company deleted the original post and uploaded a public apology

Soon, rumours erupted that there were tensions between Rose and the other women.

One clip showed Zoe, 36, Hailey, 28, and Charli, 33, all animatedly engaged in conversation as Rose sat beside them in silence.

What made things worse was that Charli, who was beside Rose, had her back turned to the K-pop star to face Zoe and Hailey.

Rose looked towards the women before she awkwardly lowered her gaze to the ground.

The video went viral, sparking fierce speculation that the three stars were purposely 'ignoring' Rose.

The rumours were only heightened when Charli took to Instagram after the show to share some snaps showcasing her outfit.

One showed her sitting in the front row alongside Hailey, Zoe, and Rose - but Rose was under a dark shadow while the rest of the girls had a bright light on them.

It sparked even more speculation that there was an alleged feud and led to Charli facing immense criticism from Rose's fans.

Others, however, defended Charli and insisted that her post likely wasn't meant to be shady and was probably just a case of bad lighting, pointing out that Charli and Rose are actually long-time friends.
GPs at hundreds of practices are seeing fewer than 10 patients a day on average, a Daily Mail investigation suggests.

Family doctors in the busiest surgeries, meanwhile, appear to be churning through at least 100 appointments each day  four times above 'safe' limits.

Campaigners today demanded an end to the 'postcode lottery' experiences endured by millions as they warned that rushing patients out of the door can lead to symptoms of serious illnesses being missed.

And they bemoaned how GPs  who pocket 120,000 a year, on average, before tax  are underutilised in swathes of England.

Our audit exposing the situation in all 6,000 practices across the nation comes as family doctors hinted they could strike over changes to make it easier for patients to book appointments.

Use the Daily Mail's search tool to find how your practice is faring, simply type your full postcode into the search bar below.

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GP surgeries in England are now required to keep online forms open for the duration of their working hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries and admin requests.

Officials said the move, introduced nationwide on October 1, would be 'subject to necessary safeguards in place to avoid urgent clinical requests being erroneously submitted online'.

But the British Medical Association (BMA), which warns doctors that carrying out more than 25 appointments a day is dangerous, has dangled the threat of a formal dispute. Union chiefs said safeguards were never put in place and no additional staff were brought in to manage what it predicts to be a 'barrage of online requests'.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has vowed to not back down over the changes, in a row that raises the prospect of GPs capping daily consultations to the BMA safe limit  described as 'arbitrary' by NHS bosses.

NHS Digital figures, crunched by the Mail, named 49 Marine Avenue Surgery in Whitley Bay as being the quietest in the country, with just 189 appointments over the period split between 3.1 FTE GPs, the equivalent of 59.2 each.

It, however, went through a merger and was only technically open for one day during the three month period between 1 May and 31 July  skewing its figures.

Behind 49 Marine Avenue Surgery came Benfleet Surgery in Castle Point, Essex.

Despite having 2,547 patients on its books in July, it recorded performing just 168 appointments either with a GP or 'unknown' professional between the start of May and end of July.

Separate workforce stats show Benfleet Surgery, which shuts on weekends, employed 1.6 full-time equivalent GPs  defined as working 37.5 hours a week  in July.

This would equate to an equivalent of 108 appointments per doctor over the course of 64 working days over three months  or just 1.6 each per day, if the figures the practice submitted to NHS Digital are correct.

Mail analysis showed GPs at 13 practices carried out the equivalent of fewer than five appointments a day. In total, 378 did no more than 10.

At the other end of the scale was the Old School Surgery in Canterbury.

Over the same three-month period, it recorded 9,536 appointments.

But NHS staffing records show the practice had the equivalent of 1 FTE GP.

That would mean, if the NHS figures were recorded accurately, all appointments were seen by one GP and would equate to 149 per day.

At the typical 37.5-hour week, that would equate to one every three minutes.

The Roserton Street Surgery in London's Tower Hamlets area ranked second (8,679 appointments per FTE GP), followed by Heathrow Medical Centre in Hillingdon (8,501).

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NHS Digital says the figures it publishes do 'not show the totality of GP activity/workload'.

When they are not seeing patients, GPs triage requests, process prescriptions and carry out other admin tasks as well as visiting care homes and undertaking training.

Dennis Reed, director of senior citizen campaign group Silver Voices, told the Daily Mail: 'The varying practices across the country can offer far more face-to-face appointments depending on where you live, some are full up and others appear to hardly see any at all.

'If you go into quite a few waiting GP surgery rooms, theres hardly anybody there at all because appointments are done either over the phone or virtually.

'We are very worried about the postcode lottery on access to GPs and that's all been brought into relief by the changes to GP availability announced this week.'

He added: 'The industrial action is a real counterintuitive move because people are being forced into online appointments, which doctors said not long ago they wanted more of. You really do wonder sometimes whether they want to see patients at all.'

Shimeon Lee, policy analyst at the Taxpayers Alliance, told the Daily Mail: 'Taxpayers won't be surprised at the yawning disparity between the most productive and efficient GP practices and the least, with this pattern being found in NHS services right across the board.

'But what is troubling is that this isn't delivering value for money for the NHS given funding for GPs is calculated on a per patient, not per appointment basis.

'This suggests that some particularly quiet practices may be taking the mickey with the number of patients they're seeing.

'Ministers need to explore ways to match up unusually busy GP practices with unusually quiet ones to ensure the best allocation of patients around the system. And for all reforms ministers need to be willing to stand up to unions standing in the way of necessary improvements.'

Under the BMA guidance, anything above 1,600 appointments per doctor between the beginning of May and the end of July would technically be unsafe and equate to an average of more than 25 a day. Some days will, however, be busier than others.

Nearly three quarters of practices (73.2%) fell short of that figure.

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Access to GP appointments has been a bugbear of patients for years, with getting a slot likened to securing a ticket to Glastonbury because of the hated 8am phone line scramble.

In total, there are now over 28,000 fully-qualified full-time GPs in England. Numbers have dwindled over the past decade despite attempts to recruit thousands more.

Many are retiring in their 50s, moving abroad or leaving to work in the private sector because of soaring demand, paperwork and aggressive media coverage of the NHS.

At the same time, the population has also grown, exacerbating the problem.

Patient satisfaction has plunged to its lowest level in four decades as a result of the never-ending appointments crisis.

Mr Streeting has vowed to make it easier for patients to access their GP practice.

Defending his changes to make all surgeries allow patients to book appointments online, he said there were 'clear' safeguards already in place.

He added that it was 'absurd' people can book a haircut online but some GPs still refuse to let patients make appointments in the same way.

Many surgeries already have a system that allows patients to request consultations online, with staff reviewing these and booking appointments accordingly.

But the Department of Health says there is a lack of consistency, with some surgeries choosing to switch the function off in busier periods.

Stephen Kinnock, care minister, said: 'We promised to tackle the 8am scramble and make it easier for patients to access their GP practice  and through our Plan for Change, that's exactly what we're delivering.

'We are bringing our analogue health service into the digital era, giving patients greater choice and convenience. We've learned from GPs who are already offering this service and reaping the rewards.

'We've invested an extra 1.1billion in general practice  the biggest increase in over a decade - and hired an extra 2,000 GPs across England.

'There's more to do, but this government is fixing the front door to the NHS.'

The British Medical Association (BMA) disputed the analysis, calling it a 'simplistic and crude' interpretation.

General practitioners committee England chair Dr Katie Bramall said: 'Of course there is a wide variation in the types of practices we see across the country and the populations they serve.

'For example, practices in university towns may be much busier with one-off appointments, compared with those in rural villages with an older population, who may have fewer, but longer appointments with patients living with long-term conditions.

'There are also specialist practices that deliver particular services to specific patient groups, such as those for homeless or vaccine clinics.

'We have lost one in four surgeries since 2010 and have 1,000 fewer GPs compared with 2015.

'However, GPs are working tirelessly to meet demand and ensure patient needs are met across the country.'

Helen Maguire, Liberal Democrat primary care and cancer spokesperson, said: 'Millions of people are being left to anxiously wait for weeks just to see their GP, after the Conservatives left our NHS primary care in crisis.

'Instead of helping GPs hire more staff where theyre desperately needed, the Governments ill-thought through National Insurance contributions (NICs) tax is forcing already struggling surgeries to cut back.

'Liberal Democrats have been calling on the Government to guarantee patients the right to see their GP within a week or 24 hours in urgent cases and unless we fix primary care and cut GP wait times, there will only be further pressure on A&E departments, costing the NHS even more money.'

Figures analysed by the Mail include all appointments with either a GP or 'unknown' professional but excludes the 'other' category, which might cover nurses, health visitors, physiotherapists, chiropodists or councillors, to name a few.

Under the NHS's own definitions, a GP working 37.5 hours per week who is absent due to sickness for a week 'is still a member of the practice's workforce and is counted in the statistics with an FTE and headcount of one'.

Some FTE calculations are also 'partial estimates' calculated by the NHS as a result of incomplete or invalid data supplied by the practices.

The NHS said there were 64 working days between May and July. Thousands of appointments do happen on Saturdays and Sundays but they make up around 0.3% of the total.

Some practices may have merged during the timeframe which would alter the figures for appointments carried out over the three-month period.

NHS figures also appear to indicate that the summer of 2025 will be the busiest on record for general practice teams.

The figures were averaged across GPs. For instance, one might have done the bulk of the work.

Additionally, patients can still have multiple appointments booked with other clinicians at their practice where necessary, for example with the practice nurses and pharmacists.

Finally, flawed NHS data collection has been persistently reported by organisations and individuals in the health sector for years.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We are reversing more than a decade of neglect in GP practices and are already seeing rising patient satisfaction.

'We have recruited more than 2,000 extra GPs in the past year  more than double the 1,000 promised, delivered a record 1 billion boost and funded vital upgrades to surgeries, as well as cutting red tape so doctors can spend more time caring for patients.

'As part of the contract agreed with the BMA we are bringing in a requirement for all GP practices to offer online requests for appointments, alongside phone and walk in requests to tackle the postcode lottery.

'GPs are at the heart of our shift to neighbourhood health services as part of our 10 Year Health Plan and will benefit from a growing share of NHS funding that is properly targeted at those areas most in need.'

What the GP surgeries named said

Dr Ben Davies of the Jesmond Health Partnership said: 'We have been utilising an online consulting tool (which the Government has been keen to see implemented across the country) for nearly five years.

'This innovation allows us to provide a very responsive service to our patients with 94% of Patients describing is as a service they would Highly Recommend / Recommend. 80% of all our patient contacts are resolved on the day we receive them. We receive over 2.5k requests for advice and support from on a weekly basis.

'Unfortunately, these tools do not directly feed data into the systems that the Government has historically used to collect the data you have cited and therefore the number of appointments in the dataset you provided will be a significant underestimate of the patients we help on a daily or weekly basis.'

A spokesperson for NHS Birmingham and Solihull said: 'In Birmingham and Solihull, we have already seen significant improvements in primary care including increases in the number of appointments and the number of GPs working in the system.

'But we know there is more to do and have a plan, developed alongside GPs, to deliver further improvements over the coming weeks and months.

'Through our unique GP Provider Support Unit, we work alongside primary care staff and are already working with these practices. Both have challenges in the way data for appointments and number of WTE GPs are reported and have acknowledged that.

'We are working with them to improve their processes to ensure that future data gives an accurate picture and we expect that to show an improvement.'

Dr Steven Edgar, a Partner at Millbrook Surgery, in Somerset, said: 'Our consulting rooms are full from the start to the finish of the working day and we deal with many issues over the phone and online as part of our approach to great patient access.

'GP patient survey data shows 90% of patients describe our practice as good, and the proportion of patients who say they usually get to see or speak to their preferred healthcare professional is far higher than the national average.

'We have a fantastic team of specialists and professionals and we have a good record of making sure our patients see the right clinician for their needs.'

A spokesperson from NHS South Yorkshire said: 'The data provided is not recognised and appears to be incorrect. There are significant differences between practice appointment mapping and counting so some practices count all online consultation activity as appointments and elsewhere is not yet captured the same with enhanced access appointments, therefore this will show a significant difference in data recording.'
Millions of Americans are unknowingly being exposed to cancer-causing forever chemicals that are contaminating the nation's largest water supply.

Three states in the Great Lakes region have issued 'do not eat' alerts for local wildlife and fish after tests revealed the animals were laced with alarming levels of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), toxic chemicals also linked to thyroid problems and developmental issues.

There have been no alerts issued for drinking water from the lakes, although in May Michigan told residents to avoid foam on the surface of the water, saying this could also contain PFAS.

In Wisconsin, the warning over the contamination is so broad that it covers an arm of Lake Michigan called Green Bay, equivalent to 1,600 square miles.

Residents have been advised not to eat fish or other aquatic life, as well as wildlife in the area, which may be toxic from drinking PFAS-contaminated water. They have also been warned to avoid eating fish or deer around lake systems in the north of the state.

In neighboring Minnesota, residents are also being advised to avoid eating fish caught in 10 counties, including one on the coast of Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes, after testing showed they contained high levels of PFAS.

And in Michigan, 98 of the state's 11,000 inland lakes now have warnings in place for people not to eat fish caught from them, triple the number last year.

It is not clear what has caused the contamination, but experts say PFAS can seep from factories, landfills and wastewater plants into streams and rivers that then carry the compounds into the Great Lakes.

Testing has detected PFAS in each lake, with Lake Ontario and Lake Michigan reported to contain the highest levels of the substances.

Residents of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin have been warned to limit consumption of fish and certain hunted animals in the Lake Michigan area (file photo)

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Responding to the reports on Facebook, one resident wrote, 'clean it up!', while another said, 'it's almost as if these creatures can't fly between other areas'.

A third added, 'maybe [officials] should have done something to keep these PFAS out of the bay before we got to this point', and a satirical post online branded the local duck population the 'cancer ducks'.

The Great Lakes region is the largest body of freshwater in the US and supplies an estimated 40million homes in America and Canada with drinking water.

But officials are particularly concerned at this time of year because it is the start of the duck hunting season, which lasts until late November, while the fall period is also considered an excellent time to catch salmon and trout.

The alerts recently raised have specifically been for Lake Michigan and surrounding areas, although PFAS has also been detected in fish in the other Great Lakes.

PFAS are microscopic chemicals used in dozens of manufacturing processes, from cookware to clothes, carpets, food packaging and makeup.

The chemicals can seep into the environment, where they take thousands of years to break down and can enter water and the food supply.

Researchers have already warned that exposure to the chemicals may raise the risk of cancer, as the substances can disrupt the natural processes in cells and cause damaging mutations.

Scientists are also investigating a potential link between the chemicals and reduced fertility and autoimmune disorders.

And Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has vowed to get the chemicals out of the public food and water supply.

Speaking to reporters in April this year while visiting a farm in Texas, he told WFAA that the administration would aim to end the production of PFAS chemicals.

The above map shows the area of Lake Michigan where residents are being advised not to consume, or to limit consumption, of ducks caught there

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also reduced its safe limit for PFAS exposure amid growing evidence of the potential harms from about 70 parts per trillion in a lifetime in 2022 to four parts per trillion today.

In Wisconsin, officials are warning people not to eat any ducks caught on Lake Michigan directly next to the city of Green Bay, home to 100,000 people.

For the rest of the bay, they are advising residents not to consume more than one mallard duck per month or one wood duck per week due to the contamination, based on the levels of PFAS detected in the animals.

Overall, about 330,000 people live around Green Bay in Wisconsin, while there are an estimated 73,000 waterfowl hunters in the state.

Residents in Stella, a town in northern Wisconsin home to less than a thousand people, are being advised not to eat fish from the Moen lake system or deer within five miles of the town.

In Minnesota, residents are being warned not to consume fish caught in 10 of the state's 83 counties, including in the Twin Cities area, home to about 3.7million people, over the contamination.

Officials have not put in place a warning for ducks at this time as they said they do not have the resources to track PFAS in the animals.

Hunters in three Great Lakes states have been warned not to consume everything they catch (stock image)

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In Michigan, state authorities are also warning people not to eat fish caught in 98 of the state's inland lakes and water systems over concerns they are contaminated with PFAS.

Ducks may be contaminated with PFAS by drinking water containing the substance or consuming aquatic life, such as insects or plants, that contain PFAS.

Over time, regularly consuming organisms contaminated with PFAS can cause the chemicals to accumulate in their bodies, often to high levels.

In Stella, Wisconsin, officials have blamed the Rhinelander Paper Mill for the widespread contamination, noting an inspection from last month that found the plant was releasing the chemicals onto the soil.

The owner of the mill, Ahlstrom Rhinelander LLC, says it is 'carefully reviewing' the inspection report that led to the suggestion.

PFAS is used in paper mills to help apply grease, oil and water resistant properties to paper products, particularly food packaging.

PFAS chemicals have been detected in the Great Lakes region since the early 2000s, and have repeatedly triggered alerts warning people not to eat wildlife.

Officials say it is still safe to wade in waters, hunt animals or go for walks or hikes in the area, just that it is not safe to consume the local animals.

Hunters are being warned not to eat ducks amid the start of the area's duck hunting season (stock image)

There are also no warnings in place over drinking water drawn from the lakes, which may be filtered to remove the PFAS contamination.

The states are tracking PFAS levels in animals by analyzing tissue samples submitted to them by hunters every year.

The warnings came ahead of this year's duck hunting season, which starts this month and lasts until late November.

Roger Hanson, President of the Green Bay Duck Hunters Association in Michigan, told Fox11News: 'This is probably the last thing that you want to read about or hear about... [before] the opening of the south zone duck season.

'The mallard is the staple of the duck population, and that's what duck hunting is all about.'
The UK could be hit by a 'quin-demic' of winter virusesCovid, flu, RSV, rhinovirus and norovirusputting 'extreme' pressure on the NHS, experts warn.

Two new Covid variants, Stratus and Nimbus, are already fuelling a surge in infections, with cases doubling since August.

Hospital admissions are also rising, with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reporting Covid test positivity increasing from 7.6 to 8.4 per cent in a single week, while hospitalisations jumped from 2.0 to 2.7 per 100,000 people.

Flu is also climbing earlier than expected, the Daily Mail can now confirm.

In children aged five to 14, positive flu tests more than doubled in just a weekfrom 1.9 to 4.1 per 100,000as pupils returned to school. RSV, rhinovirus and norovirus are also in circulation, with rhinovirus cases almost doubling since late summer.

This convergence has led experts to warn of a 'quin-demic' this winter.

Last year the UK and countries worldwide experienced a similar 'perfect storm' of infections, with record levels of flu and RSV pushing hospitals to breaking point and forcing the cancellation of thousands of operations.

Doctors fear a repeat this year could worsen delays in treatment and pile further strain on an NHS already stretched by record waiting lists.

A leading virologist has warned a surge in Covid and other respiratory illnesses could put immense pressure on the NHS, leading to longer wait times and cancelled surgeries

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Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick University, told the Daily Mail: 'The rise in cases and hospitalisations is worrying so early in the autumn.

'If flu takes off soon, and people don't come forward for their Covid or flu jabs, then we could be in some trouble.

'Flu season was particularly bad in Australia this year, which means the UK's will be too.

'A combination of flu and Covid could put more pressure on already stretched NHS services.

'When that happens, it disrupts routine care and causes delays for people on waiting lists. Something like this could put extremely severe burdens on the service.'

Experts say the return to school after the summer holidays is likely to be driving flu transmission.

Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, fatigue, cough, headaches, nausea and loss of appetite. In children, ear pain and unusual tiredness are also common.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a leading cause of chest infections in young children, is also rising.

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UKHSA data shows cases increased from 0.27 to 0.44 per 100,000 in mid-September.

For most people RSV is no worse than a heavy cold, but it can be dangerous for babies under six months, the over-75s, smokers and people with lung or heart problems.

In severe cases it can lead to bronchiolitis or pneumonia.

Warning signs include rapid breathing, poor feeding in babies, wheezing and shortness of breath.

Rhinovirus, the most common cause of the everyday cold, is also spreading rapidly. Cases rose from 8.5 to 14.8 per 100,000 between August and September.

While most people recover quickly, the virus can trigger asthma attacks or more serious illness in vulnerable groups.

Norovirus cases remain low for now, but after last winter's surge left hospital wards closed and thousands off work, experts fear it could flare again.

The highly contagious stomach bug causes sudden vomiting, watery diarrhoea and cramps.

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In healthy people it usually passes in a couple of days, but in the elderly and frail it can lead to serious dehydration.

Doctors say the challenge this winter will be distinguishing between these illnesses, which often share symptoms.

The NHS advises seeking medical help if symptoms worsen, drag on beyond 10 days, or are accompanied by chest pain, severe breathlessness, confusion or, in children, difficulty feeding.

When should you see a doctor? If you're suffering with a common cold, you'll likely recover in a few days, but if any of the following applies to you, the NHS says you should see a GP You have a high temperature for more than 3 days

Your cold symptoms get worse

Your temperature is very high or you feel hot and shivery

You feel short of breath or have chest pain

You're worried about your child's cold symptoms

Your cold symptoms do not get better after 10 days

You have a cough for more than 3 weeks

You get cold symptoms and you have a long-term medical condition (for example, diabetes, or a heart, lung or kidney condition)

You get cold symptoms and you have a weakened immune system (for example, because you're having chemotherapy) Advertisement

The new Covid variants, Stratus and Nimbus, are thought to be no more deadly than earlier strains but may spread more easily due to genetic changes.

Symptoms remain largely the samecough, runny nose, headachebut patients also report a hoarse voice, razor-blade sore throat and, in the case of Stratus, persistent dry cough, fever and fatigue.

Health chiefs have launched the winter vaccination campaign, urging millions to come forward for flu and Covid jabs.

Over-75s, care home residents, pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems are eligible for the booster.

Children are also being offered nasal spray flu vaccines, with toddlers for the first time able to get them at community pharmacies. Some high street chemists are offering private Covid jabs for up to 99.

Professor Young said: 'The risk is that without high uptake, we will see waves of both Covid and flu at the same time. That's when the NHS comes under immense strain, operations are cancelled and waiting lists grow even longer.'

NHS leaders have already warned that this winter could be one of the most challenging in recent memory, with record waiting lists, staff shortages and strike action still a possibility.

Professor Young added: 'The message is clear: if you're offered a flu, RSV or Covid jab, take it. And if you're unwell, don't shrug it off.

'Stay home, rest, and avoid passing it on. These small steps can make the difference between a service coping, and a service in crisis.'
The Intruder is available now

THE INTRUDER by Freida McFadden (Poisoned Pen Press 9.99, 336pp)

CASEY, a young woman with a mysterious past, has taken refuge in a cabin in the woods of a wilderness when a hurricane strikes. The roof shakes, an elderly tree is swaying dangerously and the wind is howling.

Then there is a knock at the door. An even younger woman is standing there, covered in blood and brandishing a knife. For a time she refuses to say a word, but gradually it emerges that the girl, called Ella, has a horrifying story to tell of an abusive childhood  and the two women may have more in common than either of them realise.

Intense and gripping.

Sharp Force is available now from the Mail Bookshop

SHARP FORCE by Patricia Cornwell (Sphere 22, 400pp)

BEST-SELLING Cornwell has become an international star since her first story about medical examiner Kay Scarpetta in 1990. This is her 29th featuring the obsessive, sometimes fussy doctor. It is the early hours of Christmas morning when she discovers that the Phantom Slasher, a serial killer who has been terrorising Northern Virginia for months, has struck again.

He stalks his female victims with ghostly holograms that appear by magic, paralysing them with fear, before murdering them in their beds. Then Scarpetta is summoned to a local psychiatric hospital where two patients have been brutalised.

Things get worse when the doctor herself sees a hologram. Brilliant, scary storytelling.

Cry Havoc is available now from the Mail Bookshop

CRY HAVOC by Jack Carr (Simon & Schuster 9.99, 560pp)

JAMES Reece, the hero of Carrs previous books including The Terminal List, which became a hit TV series starring Chris Pratt, was a navy veteran who took on the world. This is the story of his father Tom, who guided his sons life as a justice fighter.

The year is 1968 and Tom is a US navy SEAL attached to a shadowy undercover group charged with operating behind enemy lines across the border from Vietnam in Laos. Toms group is compromised  someone has sold them out  but can he survive and discover who?

Add in an ambitious adviser in the Kremlin anxious to rock the White House with a plan with consequences that stretch far beyond SouthEast Asia and you have all the ingredients of a first-rate geopolitical thriller with a real hero at its heart.
The enormous multi-billion financial bets being taken on artificial intelligence (AI) roll in.

Latest to emerge is BlackRock's mooted takeover of Macquarie-owned Aligned Data Centres in a deal valued at $40billion (30billion).

Aside from the high price, investors in funds managed by BlackRock have reason to be fearful of the vampire-kangaroo Macquarie which has a history of selling duff utilities such as Thames Water.

The deal comes hard on the heels of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund's $55billion (41billion) takeover of listed gaming trailblazer Electronic Arts and the outsized $100billion (74billion) injection of capital by Microsoft into OpenAI.

Private equity (PE) is splashing the cash even though it is desperate to dispose of past, stuck projects.

The biggest PE players pass them on to secondary funds in a weird, fresh kind of alchemy. The lengthening list of deals, out of sight of public markets, should be a sell signal. Serious voices are becoming ever more concerned about bubble prices, especially for anything laying claim to being an AI champion.

Dangerous speculation: The enormous multi-billion financial bets being taken on artificial intelligence are rolling in

This has all the look of the period leading up to 2000 when all that was required was for firms to add '.com' to their operations for valuations to soar. The question for stock market investors and those indirectly putting money into private equity through pension funds is whether this is the end of a cycle of dangerous speculation. Authoritative voices are starting to fear a crash. The timing and trigger is unknown. Or as the International Monetary Fund says 'uncertainty about uncertainty'.

Economist Austan Goolsbee, president of the Chicago Federal Reserve is fearful of AI over-exuberance. Writing in the FT, Ian Harnett, chief investment strategist at Absolute Strategy Research, warns the AI bubble is nearing its endgame. He argues that the hyper-scalers of tech are a portent of the bust to come. It is impossible to disagree. Equities continue their dazzling progress. The US government has shut down because of a debt row. Here, Chancellor Rachel Reeves finds herself trapped in a deficit and debt vice by the Office for Budget Responsibility. It will end in tears.

Irish stew

Money talks. Ireland has been at the vanguard of criticism of Israel's war on Hamas and was among the first Western democracies to bat for Palestinian statehood. In support of the policy, it has been seeking to impose sweeping economic sanctions on Israel.

Even before the shockwaves from the Manchester synagogue killings, Dublin was showing signs of a retreat. Some 11 per cent of Ireland's workforce is employed by US firms, including Silicon Valley heavyweights.

An estimated one-third of the tax take comes from US corporations. Business groups fear that penalising Israel settlements could imperil new investment in Ireland and lead to an exit of tech giants which have affiliated themselves to Donald Trump.

A retreat from an aggressive anti-Israel stance may prove realpolitik.

Pint sized

As beer dispenser of choice and hero to working people and younger imbibers, Wetherspoons chief Tim Martin faces extraordinary obstacles to keeping prices low. The latest burden, on top of soaring energy costs, is the 'extended producers responsibility', a green packaging levy hitting hospitality and food hard. Add to that the stealth levy for new nuclear.

Profits down the hatch!
Gravity-defying is an apt description of shares in Rolls-Royce. The aero-engineering company's value recently hit 100billion, in the wake of US President Donald Trump's policy change on Ukraine.

The price may have slipped a little, but over the past three years it has leapt by 1,594 per cent to stand at 1,190p  to the delight of thousands of private investors who have backed this British success story.

The 106 per cent increase in the shares since the start of January has, by far, outpaced the FTSE 100, even though the index has been hitting record highs in recent days.

The performance of Rolls-Royce's stock reflects the turnaround at the Derby-based company whose shares tumbled to as low as 35p in 2020 when the pandemic forced planes to be grounded.

The company is worth 98.8billion, making it the fifth-largest name in the FTSE 100, after AstraZeneca, HSBC, Shell and Unilever.

This new elite status is the result of Nato countries ramping up defence spending in response to war in Ukraine and mounting geopolitical tensions elsewhere. There's also been a rebound in holiday travel by plane.

This means more demand for Rolls-Royce engines from manufacturers of civil and defence aircraft like Airbus and Boeing  despite the issues that have dogged some of these engines for more than a decade and are appearing in some cases with newer models.

Influence: Tufan Erginbilgic has turned the firm's fortunes around since taking over

At the same time, the US tech titans are laying out billions to win the artificial intelligence (AI) race. This is fuelling a data centre construction boom, spurring extra demand for Rolls's back-up power generators.

Rolls-Royce is gearing up to feed for data centres' voracious appetite for energy.

The company already makes reactors for nuclear submarines but will be building three small modular reactors (SMRs)  at the cost of about 1.5bn each  for the Government.

This week brokers UBS predicted that Rolls-Royce shares could have further to go, setting a target price of 1,350p. There is even talk of 2,000p, which would endow Rolls-Royce with the kudos of being 'a 20 share'.

Backing Rolls-Royce is a bet on Britain  and on an uncertain world, where conflict and tensions are mounting, meaning more defence expenditure. It is also a gamble on families prioritising a sunshine getaway by plane in tough times. Here's what you need to know.

THE TUFAN EFFECT

CHIEF executive Tufan Erginbilgic believes that nuclear could turn Rolls-Royce into the number one member of the FTSE 100  a role occupied by AstraZeneca whose market capitalisation is 193billion. In August Erginbilgic told the BBC: 'There is no private company in the world with the nuclear capability we have. If we are not the market leader globally, we did something wrong.'

These confident pronouncements are in marked contrast to the mood when Erginbilgic, a former BP top manager, took over at Rolls-Royce in 2023. In a now-famous phrase, he called the battered firm a 'burning platform'.

The speed he deployed in putting out the flames led to his nickname 'Turbo Tufan'.

Late last year, he spelled out his aim to turn Rolls-Royce into 'an execution machine', in pursuit of his 17 strategic initiatives for the business. These initiatives seem not to have been separately listed anywhere, but the seriousness of Erginbilgic's intent can be seen in the company's management line-up. Rolls-Royce has a CTO  chief transformation officer  Nicola Grady-Smith.

THE FLIGHT PATH

The huge leap in the share price since Erginbilgic's arrival  up 991 per cent  has not been sufficient to satisfy his ambitions.

At present Rolls-Royce dominates the wide-body jet market, thanks to its family of Trent engines. But Rolls-Royce will be moving into the $1.6 trillion market for narrow-body engines. This week it was revealed that Rolls-Royce was in discussion with Boeing which requires engines for its planned replacement to its 737 Max model.

Erginbilgic also wants Rolls-Royce to lead the worldwide market in SMRs which is tipped to be worth $1 trillion by 2050.

THE NUMBERS

The fruits of Erginbilgic's efforts were on show in Rolls-Royce's half-year results which observers declared to be 'high-flying'.

As travellers took to the skies, revenues were 11 per cent up on the same period of 2024 at 9.1billion, while operating profit was 41 per cent above expectations at 1.9billion.

Rolls-Royce raised its full-year operating profit forecast to 3.1billion-3.2billion. The free-cash flow estimate is 3billion-3.1billion which, if achieved, would be an indication of great financial health. The company makes most of its money from maintaining and servicing its engines, based on the time that those engines spend in the air. In the first half of the year, EFHs (engine flying hours) were at 109 per cent of 2019 levels which cheered investors. But Aarin Chiekrie of Hargreaves Lansdown said that EFHs are not guaranteed to continue their upward trajectory, given the engine issues that led to the cancellation of holidays at the end of 2024.

He said: 'Attempted fixes are in the pipeline, but if the group can't iron out these issues, it could eat into future profits.'

BLUE SKIES AHEAD?

Rolls-Royce is the top holding at the Invesco Global Equity investment trust. Stephen Anness, Invesco's head of global equities, said: 'The outlook remains bright, as free cash flow generation continues to grow. Management is ahead of schedule on key initiatives, and the business is well positioned to fund future growth from areas like narrow body engine programmes. The share price may have moved up. But we can still forecast a good total return for this business.'

Only one of the 17 analysts that follow Rolls-Royce rate the shares a 'sell'. Among the rest, ten have a 'buy' recommendation, while six think the shares are a 'hold' or will outperform their sector.

Despite the confidence in the prospects, you should be ready for some turbulence ahead if you buy now or opt to stay invested. Rolls-Royce may not be a thrill-ride share, but the journey could have unsettling periods.

OTHER HIGH-FLIERS

If you want more of a stake in the booming aero-engine sector, the 237billion GE Aerospace group is one option. This business was spun last year from the break-up of GE, the US conglomerate that came to grief in the global financial crisis of 2008.

GE was rescued by Larry Culp, who heads GE Aerospace and appears to be almost as admired as Erginbilgic.

Gerrit Smit, manager of the Stonehage Fleming Global Best Ideas Equity fund calls Culp 'a world-class corporate leader'.

GE Aerospace makes a very good income from servicing its 70,000 engines installed in planes. It is also the leading player in the narrow-body engine sector through CFM International, its partnership with the French group Safran.

Its shares have increased by 80 per cent this year to $301 (224). This may not equal the rise at Rolls-Royce, but analysts are similarly positive about the prospects, rating the shares a 'buy'. This month brokers Jefferies raised their target price to $350 (260).

Safran shares have also prospered this year, up by 44 per cent to 304 (265). Safran aspires to double its defence revenues which come from missiles, navigation systems and 'eyes in the sky' optronics technologies. The average analysts' target for the shares is 340 (296).

Again, it may be up, up and away for these shares. But still be prepared for tense moments.
A pick-up in business activity over the summer has been dismissed as 'a flash in the pan' after the economy ground to a halt last month.

In a report that will make bleak reading for Rachel Reeves, S&P Global said its index of private sector output fell from 53.5 in August to just 50.1 in September.

That was the lowest level for five months and only marginally above the 50 mark that separates growth from decline, suggesting the economy is flatlining ahead of the Chancellor's Budget in November.

Households and businesses are fearful over another round of punishing tax rises as the cost of last October's Budget  which included a 25billion National Insurance raid on employers  continues to take its toll. The report noted that the private sector shed jobs for a 12th month in a row in September  'and at a solid pace'  as firms struggled to deal with rising costs.

Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global, said: 'This summer's acceleration in output growth is now looking like a flash in the pan as elevated political and economic uncertainty has reasserted itself as a constraint on service sector performance.

'Many survey respondents suggested that corporate clients had deferred spending decisions until after the Autumn Budget, while households were also hesitant about major purchases.'

Hands up: S&P Global said its index of private sector output fell from 53.5 in August to just 50.1 in September, which will be a blow to Rachel Reeves

Business leaders are urging Reeves not to hit them with further tax hikes. Tesco boss Ken Murphy this week declared: 'Enough is enough.'

But Reeves is facing a black hole in her Budget plans of some 30billion on some estimates  making more tax rises seem inevitable given Labour's failure to cut spending.

The S&P Global report showed activity in the services sector 'increased marginally' in September 'but manufacturing production fell to the greatest extent for six months'.

Matt Swannell, chief economic advisor to the EY Item Club, said: 'Businesses are still feeling the effects of April's rise in employers' National Insurance contributions, which continues to put pressure on costs.'

Thomas Pugh, chief economist at consulting firm RSM UK, said: 'The economy is doing little more than muddling through.

'The risk is that intense speculation about potential tax rises in the Budget weighs heavily on consumer confidence and business sentiment.'
An expert has revealed what's hidden inside secret caves in Arizona created by the self-proclaimed prophet of a polygamous cult.

In preparation for the end of the world, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, led by Warren Jeffs, began digging caves underneath the compound that housed his enormous 'family'.

Jeffs is currently serving a life sentence for aggravated sexual assault and a further 20 years for another count of sexual assault.

'Not only were they preparing for the end of the world from a religious standpoint, but they were temporarily preparing for it,' veteran investigator Mike King told NewsNation.

'And they started digging caves that I heard about all the years I was investigating out there, but I could never prove (their existence), I could never find it when I talked to members of the FLDS.'

The church, a radical Mormon denomination of around 13,000, had mostly previously denied the existence of the caves.

Members told King 'weve heard about it, but [the caves] dont exist'.

'I would talk to leaders in the church who fell away and said, "No, it doesnt exist,"' King added.

Investigator Mike King (pictured) got a first glance in the secret cave system built by a polygamous cult

The leader and self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Warren Jeffs (pictured in 2006), is currently serving a 20 year sentence for the sexual abuse of underage girls

King documented his exploration of the caves, believed to have been designed to protect the leaders of the church possibly from a potential raid or the end of the world

Some of Jeffs' wives are pictured next to a photo of him on the wall

The caves went undiscovered, until King was presented with the key and coordinates by one church member as he was allowed to stay in the compound where Jeffs and his 85 wives were set to live out their days.

'At six o'clock the next morning I hear a tap on my door... I open up the door and there's one of his wives standing in her prairie dress, the typical FLDS hairstyle,' King said.

'She hands me a key and a set of coordinates and said "Willy said you could go inside," and I went inside the secret caves.'

King documented his exploration of the caves, believed to have been designed to protect the leaders of the church. He discovered them stuffed full of survival materials including food, clothes, and church records.

The caves were believed, by King, to also potentially have been created to protect cult leaders from another potential raid after the church was raided by law enforcement in 1953.

'They were not gonna risk their lifestyle to be shackled, and they weren't gonna risk having their children taken from them again,' King said in his documentation video on YouTube.

'I suspect that the construction of the caves started immediately following that raid on Short Creek in 1953 and it would have taken many years, if not decades, to complete this work project.'

As a result of the raid, 122 adults were served warrants. The men were arrested and jailed, most of the women were forcibly moved to Phoenix, and their children were placed in state custody, TIME reported.

King said that many modern day members weren't even aware of the cave system and added that 'those that did... only knew the cave was there but he never had been inside of it and had no idea what was held inside those caves'

The church, a radical Mormon denomination of around 13,000, mostly denied the existence of the caves

Warren Jeffs pictured in mugshots during his time in custody. Left in 2011, and right in 2006

The raid was seen as a warning to similar organizations across the country, and has been said to have directly contributed to many secretive polygamous sects that 'went way underground', according to the outlet.

King said that many modern day members weren't even aware of the cave system and added that 'those that did... only knew the cave was there but he never had been inside of it and had no idea what was held inside those caves.'

According to the former criminal investigator, fewer than two percent of church members, then around 15,000 people, knew of the cave system and of those that did, 'only a handful had ever been inside'.

'This was a well kept secret, and they were not gonna share it. In their terms it was holy ground and it was something nobody else needed to know about,' King said on YouTube.

'The cave also provided a level of preparation against future conflicts that might come against the FLDS community, because the cult had this "Us vs. Them" mindset they harbored resentment and distrust toward the government and frankly any other group or organization that didn't believe in the same ideologies that they had,' he added.

The caves were found to be full of weapons and explosives, potentially for protection from law enforcement or for the end of the world.

'There is evidence that they actually dug this cave by hand... you'll even see places where they drilled as they prepared to put explosives into the rock to continue digging,' King said.

As he entered, video showed the length of the caves fitted with doors leading into other spaces. It remains unclear what the sectioned off rooms were intended for.

An air-flow hole had been drilled into the ceiling, reaching 400 feet up to the top of the mountain above the cave system

Explosives and weapons were found stored within the caves, potentially for protection or for aiding the continuation of the caves construction

An air-flow hole had been drilled into the ceiling, reaching 400 feet up to the top of the mountain above the cave system and spanning around 18-inches in diameter, according to King.

'The idea was that the leaders of the FLDS would go here if the apocalypse or if there was a raid,' King explained as the video showed areas sealed by steel doorways.

'They did [have electricity] at one point,' he added, displaying lights strung across the cave system.

'There's both a men's and women's bathroom in there,' he continued, both featured a porcelain toilet and sink.

'Looking through the gates as a young boy I had no idea how much there was, how far back it went,' a former member of the church, Sam Zitting Wyson, told the investigator as he looked onto the system for the first time.

'The caves truly exist, that they're deep and cavernous, that they were well thought out and planned,' King explained.

'It validated the fact that it was a place where they stored all kinds of survival gear.'

'It was a place that should have been concerning to us,' he added, pointing at that rumors of the caves existence were troubling to investigators.

King discovered the caves stuffed full of survival materials including food, clothes, and church records

Jeffs is estimated at having 85 wives. A number of the 'celestial marriages' involved underage girls

The church officially formed in 1929 after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints abandoned polygamy in 1890 and excommunicated members who refused to give up the practice of plural marriage.

In the 19th century, many members began practicing plural marriage - entailing one man's marriage to multiple women. It was officially introduced into their manifesto in 1890 by President Wilford Woodruff.

However, the members who disagreed broke off and created the fundamentalist movement. The mainstream church has made many attempts to clarify they do not engage in polygamy, and said those that do are not affiliated with their religion.

FLDS's first formal leader was John Y. Barlow until his death in 1949. It was Rulon Jeffs, Warren's father, who embraced the position of the 'one-man rule' and was the first to declare himself the prophet of God in the 1980s.

Rulon Jeffs, had around 75 wives and 65 children before he passed away in 2002 and his position was handed over to Jeffs.

The FLDS holds polygamy as a fundamental belief, and its men take multiple wives in what are termed 'celestial marriages', each performed in a ceremony called a 'sealing'.

Jeffs is estimated at having 85 wives. A number of the 'celestial marriages' involved underage girls.

In graphic video, the court during Jeffs trial heard the self-proclaimed prophet tell his victims that if they refused to have sex with him, in what he dubbed 'heavenly sessions,' they would be 'rejected by God'.

The FLDS holds polygamy as a fundamental belief, and its men take multiple wives in what are termed 'celestial marriages,' each performed in a ceremony called a 'sealing'

Jeffs is pictured with one of his underage wives

He was sentenced in 2011 after being convicted of sexual assaulting two children, ages 12 and 15.

Jeffs was also accused of sexually abusing his own children, as well as his niece and nephew.

Throughout the years that he ran FLDS - which has bases in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, collectively known as Short Creek, as well as one in Eldorado, Texas, which is called the Yearning for Zion Ranch - Jeffs brainwashed, imprisoned, and abused multiple women and children, earning him a spot on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted List.

In 2005, he was charged with sexual assault of a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual misconduct with a minor after he allegedly forced a then-14-year-old girl to marry her 19-year-old cousin.

During the trial, the young girl claimed that her husband raped and impregnated her numerous times, however, the charges were eventually dismissed.

According to CNN, the case was dropped in 2010 by the prosecutor, after Jeffs was arrested for 'much more serious charges'.

In 2006, he was also charged with felony accomplice to the rape of a teenage girl. He was found guilty, however, the conviction was later overturned by the Utah Supreme Court, who claimed there was a mistake in jury instructions.

Police stormed the Zion Ranch in 2008 and arrested Jeffs for a third time, after they found over 400 children at the ranch and evidence of 'sexual, physical, and psychological abuse,' Rolling Stone reported.

He is currently serving a life sentence plus 20 years for the charges, however, it's been reported that Jeffs has continued to preach to FLDS' remaining members from his prison cell.

Jeffs is eligible for parole in July 22, 2038.
America's most prestigious universities have been accused of handing cutting-edge military technology to Beijing in a series of shady partnerships.

Lawmakers warn these deals are turbocharging China's rise as the world's most dangerous superpower rival.

A bombshell congressional report says US taxpayer-funded research projects - many bankrolled by the Pentagon - are being exploited by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to develop stealth fighters, nuclear weapons, hypersonic missiles and surveillance tools.

The revelations come as Chinese nationals on US campuses are arrested in alarming numbers for spying, smuggling biological materials and violating export controls.

Together, the scandals paint a picture of a higher-education system that has become a front line in the battle for global supremacy between Washington and Beijing.

The 39-page document, titled How the CCP Exploits US University Partnerships to Empower China's Military and Repression, was released this month by Republican members of a House select committee on rivalry with Beijing.

It lays out more than 100 academic tie-ups that lawmakers say create 'serious national security risks' - including projects in submarine engineering, stealth aircraft power systems, missile technology, hypersonics, robotics and quantum computing.

John Moolenaar, chairman of the select committee, slammed them as a 'pipeline for the CCP's military ambitions.'

US colleges are helping China's leader Xi Jinping develop a formidable cutting edge military, skeptics say

Some 280,000 Chinese students are enrolled at US universities. A staggering fifth of Harvard's foreign intake is from China

'These collaborations empower China's military and exploit research paid for by American taxpayers,' Moolenaar said.

Central to the problem are so-called 'joint institutes' - satellite campuses or research centers established in China with US partners.

On paper, they look like normal exchange-student initiatives. In reality, investigators say, they are tightly controlled by Beijing.

Boards are dominated by CCP loyalists, with party officials embedded in leadership roles.

Research agendas are dictated by Beijing's strategic priorities, it is claimed. Academic freedom and free speech are severely restricted.

The committee says these institutes funnel US expertise directly into China's military build-up while placing strict limits on what American academics can say or publish.

Eight universities, including UC Berkeley, Georgia Tech and the University of Michigan, have recently shut down their joint institutes amid growing alarm.

But many others - including Duke, the University of Arizona, NYU, the University of Miami and SUNY Stony Brook - have refused to act.

The report lists dozens of collaborations with Chinese universities and companies directly linked to Beijing's defense sector, some of which are under US sanctions.

Among the most troubling:

Submarine research: The University of Houston is working with Dalian Maritime University, supervised by a Chinese defense agency and partnered with naval weapons conglomerates.

Stealth fighter jet technology: Southern Illinois University offers a dual degree in aircraft power engineering with Shenyang Aerospace University, overseen by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, builder of Beijing's J-20 stealth jet.

Missile development: Saint Martin's University in Washington state has a joint program in mechanical design and automation with the North China Institute of Aerospace Engineering, tied to firms producing China's Long March rockets and ballistic missiles.

Defense-focused campuses: Several US universities maintain partnerships with the so-called 'Seven Sons of National Defense' - institutions handpicked by the CCP to spearhead military research.

'These partnerships must end,' the report said.

US schools are helping China develop everything from communications gear to stealth fighters, nuclear weapons, hypersonic missiles and surveillance tools

Students at Beihang University in Haidian, Beijing, one of the institutes most closely connected with China's military

Republicans on the US House select committee on the CCP say US colleges must stop helping to arm Washington's chief rival

They create a 'direct pipeline between US innovation and China's military-industrial complex,' it adds.

The committee uncovered 1,400 research papers published between June 2023 and June 2025 that acknowledged Pentagon funding and were coauthored with Chinese partners.

Together, they were backed by 700 defense grants worth more than $2.5billion.

Shockingly, more than half of the papers involved Chinese organizations tied to Beijing's defense-industrial base.

Research covered hypersonics, AI, advanced materials, next-gen propulsion and semiconductors.

In one case, a geophysicist at Carnegie Science in Washington, DC, conducted Pentagon-funded work on high-energy materials while also holding appointments at Chinese state institutions.

Lawmakers warned the research had clear applications for nuclear weapons.

Carnegie defended itself, insisting the research was 'fundamental, unclassified and related to planetary science.'

In another project, Arizona State University and the University of Texas worked with Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Beihang University on high-stakes decision-making - a field with applications for electronic warfare and cyber defense.

The report lands amid a string of sensational arrests of Chinese students and researchers in the US, accused of stealing secrets, smuggling sensitive materials and spying on American facilities.

Among them:

Shi Fengyun, a University of Minnesota student, pleaded guilty last year to spying charges after he was caught flying a drone over naval shipyards to photograph classified construction projects.

A researcher at Harvard University was indicted for allegedly hiding funding from Beijing while receiving millions in US grants.

Customs officers have intercepted Chinese students attempting to smuggle biological samples and pathogens out of American labs.

National security officials warn these are not isolated incidents, but part of a systematic campaign by Beijing to exploit US academia.

Shi Fengyun was caught flying a drone over US naval shipyards to photograph classified projects

University of Michigan postdoctoral fellow Yunqing Jian, 33, was charged over the sinister bioweapon plot

Armed Chinese units have been experimenting with drones for combatting terrorists and more complicated military operations

Suspect US-China research peaked in 2018 but remains alarmingly high, the report warns

The Trump administration has zeroed in on the 280,000 Chinese students enrolled at US universities, warning many could be fronts for espionage.

The White House has floated revoking visas for those linked to the CCP or studying in 'critical fields' like aerospace, nuclear physics or AI.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration 'will not tolerate the CCP's exploitation of US universities or theft of American research to grow its military power, conduct intelligence collection or repress voices of opposition.'

Lawmakers are now pushing to cut off US taxpayer funding for any institution that collaborates with Chinese military-linked entities.

The proposed SAFE Research Act of 2025 would:

Ban federal STEM funding for researchers working with 'foreign adversary-controlled' institutions.

Prohibit Defense Department grants to universities with suspect partnerships.

Require stricter disclosure of foreign ties, travel and affiliations.

The bill passed the House earlier this month as part of the 2026 defense budget.

A second measure, the DETERRENT Act, would impose stiff penalties on universities that fail to disclose foreign gifts or contracts. It cleared the House in March and is awaiting Senate action.

Some US universities insist their collaborations are harmless, describing them as fundamental, unclassified research.

They warn against a 'witch hunt' that could stifle academic freedom and isolate American science from global progress.

Michigan Republican John Moolenaar warns of a 'pipeline for the CCP's military ambitions'.

Members of China's special forces carry out a comprehensive anti-terrorism training at night

Pentagon-funded research papers with China covered everything from AI to biotech

Beijing has also pushed back hard. The Chinese Embassy in Washington blasted the congressional report as 'groundless,' insisting that scientific exchange is 'mutually beneficial' and helps the world tackle global challenges.

But Republican leaders say the risks are too high.

Education and Workforce Committee chair Tim Walberg echoed the alarm.

'No American university should be helping the CCP through dangerous research partnerships masquerading as purely academic,' he said.

The congressional report concluded that the US must 'draw a bright red line' between genuine scholarly collaboration and research that strengthens the military of a hostile power.

As arrests mount and the spotlight widens on US-China academic links, lawmakers warn that America's classrooms could become Beijing's laboratories.
England's most overcrowded primary schools can today be named as figures show 660,000 pupils are taught in cramped classrooms.

Figures analysed by the Daily Mail show almost 60% of state schools in parts of the country exceeded pupil capacity in 2023/24. Nationwide, one in six operated above their limits.

Our new search tool, built with Department for Education (DfE) figures, lays bare the situation in every school and local authority. It shows the number of places available, as well as how many pupils are on roll.

Teachers warn children in packed classrooms get less one-on-one time, which may disrupt their education. Pupils can also find it harder to concentrate.

Despite official data laying bare current overcrowding in primary schools, fuelled by spiralling immigration and a post-millenium baby boom, industry leaders fear falling birth rates will force hundreds to close because of a lack of funding.

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England will have 400,000 fewer school pupils by the end of the decade, according to the Education Policy Institute (EPI).

London is already bearing the brunt of the crisis, the thinktank says, exacerbated by an exodus of young families fleeing because of cost-of-living pressures.

Nine of the ten authorities that have seen the biggest decline in primary school pupil numbers over the past five years were in London, led by Westminster (15.9% fewer).

Schools in the home counties, Kent and the West Midlands have recorded an uptick since 2020/21, however.

Central Bedfordshire witnessed the biggest increase in the country, jumping 6.5% to 24,400.

Coventry was the authority with the most overcrowded schools. Forty-nine of its 85 schools, or 58%, were overcapacity in 2023/24, according to DfE figures.

Foston CoE VC Primary School, 10 miles north of York, topped the tables in terms of individual schools. It had 55 pupils on its books, despite only having 30 spaces  an overcrowding rate of 83%.

Capacity is calculated based on the number and size of usable spaces available for teachers and pupils in the building.

Across the 17,000 state primary schools in England, 16% were at or over capacity in 2023/24.

Although jam-packed classrooms put pressure on staff, oversubscription can actually be a sign of the school's popularity and good reputation.

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England's 10 most overcrowded primary schools 1. Foston Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, North Yorkshire: School places: 30 Pupils on roll: 55 Percent over capacity: 83% 2. Rodmersham School, Kent: School places: 76 Pupils on roll: 136 Percent over capacity: 79% 3. Howes Community Primary School, Coventry: School places: 105 Pupils on roll: 171 Percent over capacity: 63% 4. Gatton (VA) Primary School, Wandsworth: School places: 420 Pupils on roll: 627 Percent over capacity: 49% 5. St Thomas More Catholic Primary School, Coventry: School places: 210 Pupils on roll: 296 Percent over capacity: 41% 6. Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Primary School, Bury: School places: 140 Pupils on roll: 196 Percent over capacity: 40% 7. Tilstock CofE Primary and Nursery, Shropshire: School places: 70 Pupils on roll: 98 Percent over capacity: 40% 8. Clifford Primary School, Herefordshire: School places: 70 Pupils on roll: 96 Percent over capacity: 37% 9. Archbishop Sumner Church of England Primary School, Lambeth: School places: 210 Pupils on roll: 288 Percent over capacity: 37% 10. Nun Monkton Primary Foundation School, North Yorkshire: School places: 30 Pupils on roll: 41 Percent over capacity: 37% Source: Department for Education, 2023/24 Advertisement

Parents tend to want their child to attend schools that offer better educational outcomes, which correlates with lower levels of disadvantage and poverty.

Professor Stephen Gorard, of Durham University's Evidence Centre for Education, told the Mail: 'They're not compelled to take pupils above the planned admission number, so it must be the school's choice.'

Schools can't refuse a pupil up to that number  but they can always take more than the planned admission number if they think they can cope with it.

Some may up their capacity by building portakabins and hiring more teachers.

State schools also include academies, which are not controlled by the council. This means local authorities are powerless to intervene in their population numbers.

Professor Gorard thinks that academies, often multi-academy trusts, view pupils as 'punters', whom they aim to expand their client base to.

Although it may seem damaging to kids to attend an overcrowded school, Professor Gorard claimed there isn't much evidence on the subject.

He said: 'There's very weak evidence that it makes any difference at all to attainment.

'It might be good for socialisation, it might be good for many things.

'It's probably not good for the teachers, because obviously they're dealing with larger numbers.'

Schools are funded on a per-pupil basis, receiving around 8,210 per child. As such, any decline in pupil numbers can scupper their budgets.

The most overcrowded school in the county was Foston Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School in rural North Yorkshire, which has only 30 pupil spaces but 55 on the roll, giving it an overcrowding rate of 83%

Experts warn that children in bulging classrooms have poorer educational outcomes due to it being harder to concentrate, as well as having less contact time with teachers

Jon Andrews, head of analysis and director for school system and performance at the EPI, said: 'Schools with falling pupil numbers face increasing financial pressures, which can ultimately threaten their long-term viability.

'There is frequent speculation about the causes of London's falling primary school enrolments, with much of the focus on declining birth rates.

'While that is undoubtedly a key factor, our analysis shows that the trend also reflects broader shifts in where and how young families are choosing to live.

'With primary enrolments expected to continue declining, it is essential that policymakers and admissions authorities adopt data-driven strategies to adapt school provision and funding to a changing educational landscape.'

Lily Wielar, co-author and EPI researcher, said the analysis shows falling pupil numbers cannot be explained by declining birth rates alone.

'Wider factors, such as the cost of living, housing pressures, and regional differences in school provision and quality, are also likely to be shaping where families live and the choices they make,' she added.

Over the next five years, Islington, Lambeth and Southwark are expected to experience the largest declines in pupil numbers from 14% to 20%.

A population bulge in England has been moving into secondary schools, but the Department for Education said in July that it expected pupil numbers to peak in 2026/27.

Earlier this year, a former education secretary called for school funding to no longer be judged on a per-pupil basis because of falling rolls.

Conservative MP Damian Hinds said the decline in the number of children in schools meant the per-pupil basis was no longer a good reflection of whether funding was increasing or decreasing.

The DfE said in state-funded secondary schools, average classes have 22.5 pupils, whilst the average primary class size has remained broadly stable at 26.6 pupils.

Legislation limits the size of an infant class to 30 pupils per schoolteacher but there is no limit on the size of classes of older children.

The government said it is up to schools to decide how to organise classes based on local needs and circumstances to ensure all children can be supported to achieve and thrive.

A spokesperson for the department said: 'Local authorities are legally responsible for ensuring there are enough school places for children in their area and the vast majority of schools are operating below or within 10% of their reported capacity.

'This government is taking per pupil funding to its highest ever level, putting an additional 3.7bn into the schools' budget this year, with a further 4.2bn increase by 2028-29.'

A spokesperson for Coventry City Council said 2023/24 saw an 'unprecedented surge' in pupil admissions, which caused demand to peak.

It said it has a legal duty to provide places for children, and parents have the right to appeal placement decisions.

Since September 2024, it has added 300 primary places and 270 secondary places across the city by investing in school infrastructure.

North Yorkshire council said Foston Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is no longer overcrowded.
A liberal homeowner sparked outrage after stringing up mannequins that resemble ICE agents hanging from the gallows.

Now the Daily Mail has found that Mark Rodriguez has a long history of similarly twisted political stunts dating back to 2014.

The real estate firm owner past displays include dummies of Donald Trump hanging from a noose and being dismembered by a lawnmower.

Astonishingly, police said they never received a single complaint from neighbors in the working-class Second Ward in east Houston.

Then last month, Rodriguez erected perhaps his most incendiary display yet: Mannequins some claimed looked like immigration agents dangling lifeless from a gallows, a Mexican flag flying above them.

His stunt was the same month as an attack on ICE officers in Dallas that killed two detainees and wounded two others.

The 56-year-old told the Mail his displays were political, but denied the latest stunt depicted ICE agents.

But his social media shows a long history of attacking right-wing figures and immigration policies.

A liberal Texan sparked outrage last month after stringing up mannequins of ICE agents hanging from the gallows

Now the Daily Mail has found that Mark Rodriguez (pictured) has a long history of similarly twisted political stunts dating back to 2014

Rodriguez's house on the estate in Houston is heavily decorated for Halloween each year

Photos on his Facebook show that, in 2015, a dummy clearly representing Trump was hung from a noose alongside a dark-haired woman in a blazer, jeans and boots.

Another photo showed the Trump mannequin being dragged behind Rodriguez's pickup truck.

Then in the weeks before the 2016 election, an upgraded Trump dummy, this time with bright yellow hair, a suit and a red tie, was hanging alone.

Rodriguez reused the dummy as a Trump Santa in his Christmas decorations that year, which were almost as elaborate as Halloween.

A year later, he appeared to have the same dummy on the gallows, but with its head covered by a white KKK-style hood.

In 2022 he put up one of his most outrageous anti-Trump displays.

On the lawn was a skeleton with a Trump mask being run over by a ride-on lawnmower driven by a skeletal Biden, his exposed ribs crushes and severed limbs splayed across the grass.

The real estate mogul's past displays include dummies of Donald Trump hanging from a noose and being dismembered by a lawnmower (pictured)

Photos on his Facebook show that, in 2015, a dummy clearly representing Trump was hung from a noose alongside a dark-haired woman in a blazer, jeans and boots

A year later, he appeared to have the same dummy on the gallows, but with its head covered by a white KKK-style hood

That same year he also displayed a dummy in a wheelchair and MAGA hat representing Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, with a defaced lawn sign planted next to him.

Finally, last year had a twist on the theme as several mannequins were hung from a tree instead of gallows, but it wasn't clear what they represented.

But it this year's edition that has sparked the most controversy.

The dummies, which still hang there today, are dressed in black shirts and khaki pants with masks and red caps, with files marked 'Epstein' shoved in their pockets.

A third figure in a colorful poncho and wide-brimmed hat stands next to them, as if the hangman, and the gallows flies a Mexican flag.

Photos and videos Rodriguez posted of his decorations quickly went viral and were followed up by local news reports - and intense online backlash.

Trump supporters furiously claimed the dummies were ICE agents and hanging them was not only in bad taste but a 'hate crime' inciting violence.

Rodriguez insisted the stunt was not meant to depict ICE agents, and the red hats he picked up for 99c at a dollar store weren't stand-ins for MAGA gear.

'By no means do I think they're ICE agents, I've never said that,' he told the Daily Mail in response to the furor.

'I mean, I have friends who are ICE agents.

'The Red Sox wear red hats, the Bloods (street gang) wore red hats... one lady got upset about them and I told her, 'would you prefer they were blue hats?''

A picture from early on in his decorating for this year's Halloween shows one of the mannequins scantily dressed

That same year he also displayed a dummy in a wheelchair and MAGA hat representing Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, with a defaced lawn sign planted next to him

Not all the hanged figures are political - the 2018 and 2020 editions didn't appear to resemble anyone in particular

But despite claiming the hanged figures were no one in particular, he freely admitted the outrageous display was a commentary on US immigration policy.

'I don't think the ICE agents are the problem, they're just doing their jobs. I think we have a broken immigration system,' he said.

'I'm all for good government, but our community lives in fear, and I live in a predominantly Hispanic community.'

He said school enrolments were down and local churches, restaurants, and business were empty because people were too afraid to go out.

Rodriguez also fears for his father, a 92-year-old Korean War veteran, being racially profiled as an undocumented immigrant.

'Imagine if he was at Home Depot and somebody grabbed him asking him for his passport. He can barely hear, he don't deserve to get thrown on the ground,' he said.

Rodriguez, an American of Mexican descent who has lived in the house since he was born, may deny he is trying to stir up violence, but he is clearly man very engaged in politics, with his social media filled with left-wing and anti-Trump memes.

But he explained his views were more moderate than they appeared, and the immigration issue had him riled up.

Rodriguez, an American of Mexican descent who has lived in the house since he was born, may deny he is trying to stir up violence, but he is clearly man very engaged in politics, with his social media filled with left-wing and anti-Trump memes

But he explained his views were more moderate than they appeared, and the immigration issue had him riled up

Weeks before the 2016 election, an upgraded Trump dummy, this time with bright yellow hair, a suit and a red tie, was hanging alone

'I have some Republican beliefs because I don't think people should live on the government,' he said.

'But I have some Democrat ones too because I don't think just because you're a billionaire, you should be able to own four Ferraris and write them off on tax.'

However, he is strongly pro-police, pro-free speech, favors small government, worries about crime, and doesn't want more affordable housing near him.

Rodriguez even sparred with his liberal friends over a post he made in the wake of Kirk's murder.

'Even though I don't support Trump, it's wrong to end somebody's life for expressing how they feel,' he wrote.

A friend commented: 'Don't see you crying for the other people dying in this country in the hands of racists.'

Rodriguez replied: 'Our country has a lot of problems. I don't think it's right if you're a Republican or a Democrat to take somebody's life for speaking how they feel.'

The friend then complained that Rodriguez didn't make a similar post when Minnesota state lawmaker Melissa Horton and her husband were murdered by a right-wing terrorist on June 14.

Rodriguez even sparred with his liberal friends over a post he made in the wake of Kirk's murder

Rodriguez reused the dummy as a Trump Santa in his Christmas decorations that year, which were almost as elaborate as Halloween

Rodriguez goes all out for his Halloween decorating every year

'I have so many concerns with the way our country's being run... immigration, gun violence, violence in schools... Look how this administration has divided our country,' he countered.

Rodriguez said like Kirk, he was just exercising his own First Amendment rights through his Halloween decorations.

'Even though I don't believe in what his thoughts were, I don't think he deserved to lose his life over it,' he told the Daily Mail.

'I don't think his wife deserves to be a widow. I don't think his, kids deserve not to have a father for him speaking how he felt.

'Some people can fly a Confederate flag, but it seems to upset people that I have a Mexican flag on my own property.'

Rodriguez said he even got positive comments from city plumbing and maintenance contractors, when he dropped off his daughter at school, and even from strangers in restaurants.

'All bulls**t aside, I have not got one negative comment, no one driving by yelling FU or any of that,' he said.

His message for those who don't like it? 'It's a Halloween decoration. After Halloween I'm gonna take it right down.'
Behind the glimmering image of a city built on luxury and excess lies a community where finding something as basic as fresh fruit or a loaf of bread has become a daily struggle.

The city, nicknamed America's Playground, is a seaside escape of glitzy casinos, celebrity-chef restaurants and endless buffets that drew 24 million tourists in 2024, according to the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism. Last year alone, gambling operators raked in $5.8 billion.

But in the shadow of the boardwalk's neon lights, the city's 38,000 residents face a grim reality: Atlantic City has not had a proper full-service supermarket in nearly 28 years, and it now ranks as New Jersey's second-worst food desert, according to a 2022 state study by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

'Atlantic City doesn't have a supermarket and that's unacceptable,' Mike Suleiman of South Jersey Forward, a regional think tank that studied food insecurity in the area, told WHYY.org. 'It's important for the city to designate someone for food insecurity.'

For many residents, the simple act of grocery shopping turns into a grueling journey, from bus rides over bridges to expensive Ubers, or relying on the kindness of relatives.

'Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, chicken, meats  you can't really get that at the corner stores, at the little bodegas, but that's mostly all we have here,' Ori Reyes, a teenager who has spent her life making the 18-mile trek with her family to a Walmart in Egg Harbor Township, told NJ.com.

'Usually, to find healthy food that's affordable, you don't have much of an option, you have to go to other towns.'

Only 13 percent of households in the Atlantic City-Hammonton area own a vehicle, 2021 U.S. Census data shows.

Food insecurity has left Atlantic City ranked among the worst food deserts in New Jersey

Atlantic City is known as America's Playground with its beaches, fairground rides and casinos

Families already struggling to find fresh food in Atlantic City say reductions to SNAP benefits could push many deeper into hunger

Despite billions flowing through Atlantic Citys casinos and tourist restaurants each year, residents say they cant even buy fresh groceries in their own city

For residents like Rosetta Butler, a 58-year-old who lives in the Atlantic Marina housing complex, salvation comes in the form of a 40-foot converted bus.

Operated by Virtua Health, the 'Eat Well' mobile grocery store pulls into her block on Fridays.

'This right here, it's a godsend,' she told NJ.com, showing off a bag filled with bread, peanut butter, and vegetables.

'It's a really big blessing for people like me, who can't make it to the market easily you know, for people who can't drive, are older, or have health issues.'

In 2021, officials gathered for a triumphant groundbreaking of an $18.7 million ShopRite supermarket at Baltic and Indiana Avenues. Governor Phil Murphy hailed it as a turning point.

But within a year, the deal collapsed. The operator, Village Super Market, pulled out after the Casino Redevelopment Investment Authority (CRDA) rejected its request for subsidies. Residents were left blindsided.

'Not having a supermarket after telling residents there would be one is devastating,' Mayor Marty Small Sr. told NJ.com. 'But our supermarket dreams are just delayed, not dead. We continue to strive to find a permanent solution.'

Advocates warn that looming cuts to federal food assistance (SNAP) could deepen the crisis.

Community groups and mobile markets are stepping in to provide fruit, vegetables, and dairy to struggling families (Pictured: Event offering social services to homeless veterans at All Wars Memorial Building, in Atlantic City Wednesday May 17, 2017)

Nonprofits and churches are feeding hundreds each week as demand for help continues to grow

'This is hurting single mothers and others across the country and in pockets of New Jersey, it's going to be very bad,' U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman told NJ. com.

The Washington-based Food Research & Action Center has also sounded alarms, writing: 'SNAP is not just a safety net for vulnerable residents - it's a critical economic driver and stabilizing force for entire communities'.

Grassroots groups are filling the gaps. Alicia 'Lisa' Newcomb, head of the nonprofit C.R.O.P.S., has worked with farmers and corner stores to stock healthier options, even securing new refrigerators for small grocers.

'Grocery shopping looks different in different neighborhoods,' she told WHYY.org. 'We worked with one corner store to get multiple new refrigerators and that owner said he wanted to be the place where his customers can get good food.'

State officials are also experimenting with creative fixes. Tara Colton, chief economic security officer at the NJEDA, points to refrigerated grocery lockers, akin to Amazon pick-up boxes, as a possible model.

'Just like there's no one cause to food insecurity  there's also not only one solution,' Colton told NJ.com.

Meanwhile, the operator of Atlantic City's Save A Lot, Shawn Rinnier, hopes to expand by 7,000 square feet. 'If we're able to pull it off, it'd be a really nice store with a lot more variety,' he told NJ.com. 'And I think people here would be really happy with it.'

At Sister Jean's Kitchen, the reality is plain. Dozens line up daily for meals. Reverend John Scotland, the executive director of the nonprofit. who runs the community kitchen, said demand never goes away.

All the fun of Atlantic City's boardwalk and piers is seen above

Restaurants on Atlantic City's boardwalk are seen above

'Today, we are open three days a week for three hours a day and we're busy the whole time,' he told WHYY.org.

'We will feed people because they are hungry. We make no judgment of whether they are worthy or not. That is what we will continue to do.'
As 2025 dawned a 40-year-old Norwegian man called Jrgen set out his hopes for the coming year.

In particular, he spoke about his dismay at increasing polarization and the 'rise of autocratic political tendencies' around the world.

'More concerning was the erosion of freedom of expression even in democratic nations,' he complained. 'In the United States, President Donald Trump launched more than 100 verbal attacks on the media during his election campaign.'

Such sentiments might be expected from a liberal speaking in Scandinavia but the man's words have reverberated inside the White House.

They were spoken by Jrgen Watne Frydnes who, above all others, will determine whether President Trump is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

Frydnes, a human rights advocate, is the Secretary General of PEN Norway, a charity defending freedom of expression, and was appointed by the country's parliament as the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the Nobel Peace Prize.

At 11am local time on October 10, he will make the announcement at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo.

The winner is decided by Frydnes and four other members of the committee, also appointed by parliament. If they cannot reach a consensus, it will be decided by a majority vote.

A Daily Mail analysis of past statements by the five voters suggests three are likely to be against Trump.

However, despite that, there is still a chance it could go his way.

The vice chair of the committee has previously expressed sentiments that could be viewed as sympathetic by the White House.

And where the fifth vote stands is unclear, but it is held by an anti-EU former politician who is not considered a liberal in Norway.

President Trump says it will be an 'insult' to America' if the Nobel Peace Prize goes elsewhere

Nobel Peace Prize committee member Gry Larsen in 2020 wearing a MAGA-style hat saying 'Make Human Rights Great Again,' which has been interpreted as a criticism of the president

Trump's stock has risen further following the historic announcement this week of a breakthrough peace deal he brokered in Gaza and the imminent release of hostages.

Oddsmaker Ladbrokes in the U.K. now has Trump as joint-favorite for the prize with Sudans Emergency Response Rooms .

According to the prediction website Kalshi, other top contenders include Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the International Court of Justice, and Doctors Without Borders.

Adding spice to the mix an extraordinary war of words has been going on behind th scenes between the influential left-wing husband of one of the Nobel committee members and the vice chair.

The anti-Trump sentiment on the committee is perhaps not surprising, considering the president's lack of popularity in Norway.

Research by Statista shows only 10 percent of Norwegians would have cast a ballot for Trump over Kamala Harris in the 2024 election if they had been eligible to vote.

A Nobel committee vote not expected to go to Trump belongs to Gry Larsen, the former leader of the Norwegian Labour Party's Workers' Youth League.

On November 2, 2020, the day before the US election, Larsen posted a picture of herself on Facebook wearing a Trump-style red hat, but emblazoned with the words 'Make Human Rights Great Again.'

Earlier, in 2017, writing on X about Trump's abortion policies, she said: 'Trump is putting millions of lives at risk.'

Jrgen Watne Frydnes, head of the Nobel Peace Prize committee, has previously accused President Trump of 'eroding freedom of expression'

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, 2025. From left: Anne Enger, Kristian Berg Harpviken (non-voting secretary), Gry Larsen, Kristin Clemet, Asle Toje (vice chair), Jrgen Watne Frydnes (chair)

A third vote considered unlikely is Kristin Clemet who, even though she has been a prominent figure in Norway's Conservative Party, seems to have made her opinion of Trump clear on social media.

The day after the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S, Capitol she wrote on social media: 'Strange to hear that no one has understood that Trump is dangerous.'

In 2022 she posted that an 18-year-old had said: 'I'm happier that we can have a king and queen than that we could have such presidents who can suddenly wreck the country.'

In May this year she wrote: 'After just over 100 days as president (Trump) is well underway in dismantling American democracy and he is doing everything he can to tear down the liberal and rules-based world order.'

But there is hope for Trump yet.

In 2017 Asle Toje, an academic now the vice chair of the committee, wrote an article headlined: 'Trump is no Hitler.'

In it, he said: 'The American president is part of a broader change. It is the liberal order that is falling.'

An employee of the Norwegian Nobel Institute holds a replica of a Nobel Peace Medal in the Institute in Oslo, Norway

President Trump is ahead of Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg in betting for who will win the Nobel Peace Prize

Since then he has been on the receiving end of a barrage of criticism from Clemet's husband, Michael Tetzschner, a major figure in the Conservative Party and the former mayor of Oslo.

In April, Tetzschner savaged Toje in an article in Norway's biggest newspaper, Aftenposten, suggesting he would 'thrive well' in right wing European movements like the Alternative for Germany (AfD) or with French politician Marine Le Pen.

'The anxiety of America's allies and best friends that the values that the United States and the rest of the West have built on are now being attacked daily by Trump and his circle,' Tetzschner wrote.

'When Toje is silent about this, I perceive him as a supporter of a political direction that the Americans themselves will distance themselves from when the dust has settled, as they also did after the McCarthy era.'

Tetzschner went on: 'True friends of the United States should be concerned that the United States...has been given a leadership that undermines its own institutions.

'It treats allies as enemies, endangers the economy and people's savings, and strengthens the enemies of the United States and the rest of the West. That Toje is not worried speaks for itself.'

A bust for Alfred Nobel stands outside the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway

A month earlier, at the Conservative Party's national conference, Tetzschner called Trump 'frighteningly incompetent.'

But there remain signs that Trump is not out of the running.

Last month, Toje said the ultimate winner ends up being 'very rarely anyone's first choice.'

Asked by a newspaper in Dubai about the prospects of a 'political figure' getting the prize, he pointed out that one of the first Nobel Peace Prizes was awarded to President Theodore Roosevelt for brokering peace between Russia and Japan in 1905, and that it had been 'hugely controversial.'

Toje added: 'Even then there was so much tension about the dangers of giving the Nobel Peace Prize to politicians. But ultimately, it is practicing politicians who have the power to bring about change.

'It is one of the challenges we are always facing. You would be right in saying the prizes awarded to practicing politicians have been most controversial but also most important.'

Toje did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Mail.

The fifth vote on the committee belongs to Anne Enger, 75, a former acting Prime Minister of Norway.

She previously led the Centre Party which, as its name suggests, is in the political middle and also particularly represents the interests of farmers.

Enger also led the 'No to EU' campaign against Norway joining Europe in a referendum in 1994.

She appears to have never made any public comments about Trump. President Trump himself has spoken many times about the Nobel Peace Prize.

Previous US Presidents who have won it are Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt.

But Trump. perhaps having been made aware of the makeup of the committee, seems resigned to not winning.

He recently said he had solved eight wars in eight months, including a potential nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan.

'That's pretty good. Nobody's ever done that. Would you get the Nobel Prize? Absolutely not,' he said.

'They'll give it to some guy that didn't do a damn thing, they'll give it to a guy that wrote a book about the mind of Donald Trump and what it took to solve the war.

'But we'll see what happens. But it's be a big insult to our country. I don't want it. I want the country to get it, should get it.'

President Barack Obama poses on the podium with his diploma and gold medal during the Nobel ceremony at the City Hall in Oslo on December 10, 2009

There are 338 nominees for the prize in 2025, consisting of 244 individuals nd 94 organizations

According to the 1895 will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel the prize should go to 'whoever 'has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses.

Kristian Berg Harpviken, the committee's secretary, who takes part in the deliberations but does not vote, said: 'They will look at the world, see what is happening, what are the global trends, what are the main concerns, what are the most promising processes that we see.

'And processes here can mean anything from a specific peace process to a new type of international agreement that is under development or that has recently been adopted.'
A Melbourne father has sharply criticised the Victorian government's 'authoritarian' push to rezone parts of his inner-city suburb for high-rise apartment blocks, accusing bureaucrats of failing to listen to locals.

James Patto, 36, told the Daily Mail he accepts that Australia is in the grips of a housing crisis, but argued that Jacinta Allan's government push would fundamentally change the character of the suburb of Thornbury.

'We're not anti-development and we're not NIMBYs,' he said. 'But 12-storey towers on High Street and six-storey buildings in quiet residential streets will completely change this suburb.'

The government has earmarked the inner-north suburb as one of 50 areas across the city targeted for population growth, as part of a plan to build 300,000 new homes by 2051.

The Allan Government would allow 12-storey apartments on the suburb's main road, High Street, and up to six-storeys on surrounding residential streets, as part of its so-called 'Activity Centres' plan.

It comes amid a similar push by the NSW government to increase housing to cope with sustained mass immigration and rising property prices.

Mr Patto, who lives in east Thornbury with his wife and young son, has collected more than 500 signatures on a petition launched on Change.org. He does not oppose development altogether and jokingly describes himself as a 'FIMBY', or, 'fair increases in our backyard'.

Mr Patto's petition calls for height restrictions to be brought down to a maximum of six-storeys on High Street and four-storeys in certain surrounding areas.

Thornbury father James Patto has launched a petition to oppose the Allan Government's plans to dramatically increase housing in his suburb. He is pictured delivering pamphlets

The Victorian Government has earmarked Thornbury for higher-density housing. Pictured is High Street in Northcote, which runs north through Thornbury

Mr Patto said community consultations in Thornbury have been rushed and ineffective, with many locals unaware their homes were included in the rezoning.

The consultations consist of a two-step process. A community reference group is brought together to gather views from residents before draft maps are released for feedback.

Mr Patto attended his area's community reference group meeting and said the draft maps showed no sign the state government had listened to the concerns of residents.

'It feels like they're saying: "We're just going to make these changes and there's nothing you can say about it",' he said. 'It feels very authoritarian, to be honest.'

Mr Patto and fellow campaigners have distributed some 3,000 flyers to raise awareness of the push.

'People love Thornbury's low-rise, village feel,' he said.

'That's what came through clearly in earlier surveys, and it's being ignored.'

He warned that the plan risks replacing the area's much-loved small shops with larger developments, undermining the street's culture.

Thornbury will be redeveloped for towers up to 12-storeys high (stock)

'You end up with big consolidated sites and businesses that don't bring life to the street,' he said.

Residents are also concerned infrastructure planning is lagging behind the rezoning push, with no clear answers on parking, schools, childcare or medical services.

He believes that the proposal ignores Darebin City Councils own housing strategy, which identified more nuanced areas for growth.

Darebin City Council chief executive Anne Howard told the Daily Mail the council welcomed the state government's plans and said its housing strategy would continue to guide local developments.

Residents of other so-called activity centres, chosen for their proximity to transport hubs, have been similarly outraged.

A mob of protesters turned out to oppose Allan's urban housing plan when she first announced it within the well-heeled suburb of Brighton, led by a local MP.

The Premier spruiked the activity centres as a way to usher workers and families into desirable suburbs closer to public transport routes.

Stephen Glackin, senior research fellow in urban planning at Swinburne University of Technology, agrees, adding that building closer to existing transport and services makes sense.

Premier Jacinta Allan has defended the urban development strategy as a way to open desirable, inner-city areas to young Victorians

'Densities create foot traffic which creates the capacity for more commercial activity,' he told the Daily Mail.

'More people will simply add to the level of amenity, as the higher population will make more venues and services commercially viable.

'You have to consider the city as a whole, not just by council. Greater Melbourne needs this kind of planning.'

But property experts doubt the builds will be commercially viable, with development costs likely to outstrip what buyers are willing to pay.

Richard Temlett, national executive director of property advisory Charter Keck Cramer believes the apartments would have to go for $875,000 to $1.05m to turn a profit.

His research indicates buyers likely wouldn't spend more than $775,000, leaving a gulf of at least $100,000.

'The Activity Centre policy is a great idea and policy but the current costs of delivery in many markets is higher than the prices buyers can afford,' he told the Daily Mail.

'If you break down the costs you can see that government taxes and charges make up to 40 per cent of the costs of delivery which is a major handbrake at present.

'Should some or all of these be removed the costs will be lower than the price points and new apartments will once again be able to be delivered.'

The Victorian government began the rollout of the redevelopment program with ten pilot centres in areas including Broadmeadows, Frankston and Ringwood.

The height limits for certain areas within those pilot activity centres were lowered following public consultations.

'Victoria continues to build and approve thousands more homes than any other state in the country  but we know there is more to do,' a Victorian Government spokesperson told the Daily Mail.

'This is about making it easier to build more homes in areas that are well-connected to public transport - areas where Victorians have been locked out of for far too long.

'Were prepared to make changes that reflect the feedback we get. Thats exactly what we did with the first ten pilot centres.'
As a Londoner I pride myself on never having had my phone snatched.

That's for tourists and people fresh off the train from the Home Counties, I would sneer, stunned that anyone could be so naive.

So when I was minding my own business at Barry's Bootcamp ahead of a class and a glam woman dressed in pastel lycra stood next to me ordering a protein shake, theft was the last thing on my mind.

I, like many, had come to think of a typical London thief as a young man riding a bike or moped with their hood up.

But how wrong I was.

As it turns out, it's the Lulu Lemon wearing, matcha enthusiasts, that I identify with, who have paved the way for a new criminal - the middle-class thief.

According to police, middle-class shoplifters are increasingly targeting high-end shops 'for the thrill of it' as shoplifting rates reach a record high this year.

There I was, stranded without any of my cards, any cash and close to having a meltdown.

I quickly called the police who, predictably, said there was nothing they could do.

But as the feelings of helplessness subsided another emotion started to bubble up inside of me - rage.

I decided to do what the hapless Met Police refused to - track my wallet thief down.

Pictured: My middle-class thief dressed head-to-toe in designer clothing in the upmarket bagel shop, Kleinsky's

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Pictured: My middle-class thief tucking into an artisanal bagel

But before I regale you with how I launched my hunt, I must go back to where and when the theft took place.

I was standing in Barry's on Kingly Street in Soho, paying for my class when I caught my thief-to-be out of the corner of my eye.

Dressed head-to-toe in a matching lycra gym set she sauntered in, not to attend a class, but to simply buy a protein shake.

While this is not common practice I didn't bat an eyelid. I then made my way to the changing room where once again I saw the classy lady.

But I thought nothing of it and assumed she just needed the loo, so I headed to the studio for my 5.30pm class none-the-wiser.

An hour later, hyped off endorphins and Charlie XCX I was buzzing for the rest of my evening, until I noticed that my locker door had been flung open.

Frantically, I checked my bag and was relieved to find my phone, keys and headphones still inside, devastatingly the only thing missing was my wallet.

I checked my phone to find my two cards had been used in Zara, Tottenham Court Road, at 5.46pm and 5.47pm for 79.99 - luckily the transactions were rejected.

Both debit cards were swiftly cancelled and I was left in a frenzy freaking out about my drivers licence and press pass.

After shedding a few tears and being told the studio were not liable for any lost items I ran out, shoving past tourists, to make my way to Zara as fast as I could.

Pictured: The receipt for my thief's blazer that I convinced the Zara manager to show me

Stop 1: Barry's Bootcamp Soho. My wallet was stolen out of the lockers

I managed to convince the manager to show me the checkout history, turns out my thief fancied a brand new Zara blazer.

Honestly, I was mainly unimpressed by the item choice.

I was shown a receipt after the thief bought the item with a third card but it did not bring me any closer to her.

As the manager looked at me with slightly condescending sympathy I took it upon myself to return home.

Once I arrived home and consumed a large glass of wine with my flatmate I decided to make peace with the situation.

That was until I got another notification, the thief had tried to buy something in Waitrose in South Kensington at 8.30pm.

That was it, if the thief wasn't going to give up, neither was I.

The next day I closely monitored my Monzo app and at 4.15pm struck gold when I saw she had attempted another transaction at Kleinsky's, an upmarket bagel shop in Mayfair.

My first thought was pure jealousy, this woman was living my life while I'm at work and having a great time doing it.

Stop 2: Zara, Tottenham Court Road. The thief attempted to buy a Zara blazer

Stop 3: Kleinsky's bagels. The thief had a leisurely lunch, enjoying a bagel

Maybe in another life we could have been enjoying smoked salmon bagels together.

But then I came to my senses and called up the store and the extremely sympathetic shopkeeper, not only described a glamorous 5.5ft ashy blonde-haired woman dressed head to toe in designer clothing, but she also sent me a picture.

Nothing was more satisfying than realising that the woman in the picture was the original lady with the bouncy blowout from the gym.

Unable to make my way to the store and confront her I did feel a shred of satisfaction.

So was justice served? Not really.

I have spent the past week in a frenzy constantly checking my Monzo app, watching the shameless woman attempt to use my frozen card.

For some reason she has resorted to solely using it on the tube, concealing her location from me.

I have asked for CCTV from Barry's, Zara and Waitrose, but their only response has been offering to hand it to the frankly useless police.

My only hope is based on what I can only describe as a turn of fate, if this woman shares my tastes, maybe I'll catch her in my next Soul Cycle class.

But for now I will be wary of the put-together woman decked in designer clothes I see in an independent coffee shop.
Just two miles from the house used in supernatural horror movie The Conjuring, a man placed one of the most horrifying 911 calls you will ever hear: He claimed a 'skinwalker' had leapt into the bed of his truck.

North Carolina driver Tyler Long said he encountered something resembling the 'shapeshifting urban legend' - stemming from Navajo folklore - while riding along Highway 210 in Atkinson.

A Pender County sheriff's office command log, reviewed by the Daily Mail, said Long first placed the call after spotting what he thought was a bleeding man on the side of the road.

Long's voice can be heard evolving into bloodcurdling screams throughout the call - which has recently been circulating on TikTok, sparking a new wave of interest in the bizarre and terrifying incident, and leading many to believe something supernatural was at play.

While officials have never been able to figure out what Long saw, the Daily Mail reviewed the 911 audio and command log to find out everything there is to know about the paranormal encounter.

On the call, placed at 11.04pm on July 31, 2021, Long said: 'When I drove by, I had my high beams on, and all I could see was just some streaks of red going down his body, starting at his head.'

He said the man was 'in the middle of the woods' near Moores Creek National Battlefield.

Suddenly, the conversation was interrupted by a loud thud.

A North Carolina man claimed that a non-human creature had jumped into his truck while driving on North Carolina Highway 210 near Battleground Road in Atkinson (pictured above)

A command log from the Pender County sheriff's office described Tyler Long saying he had seen something similar to a 'skinwalker.' Pictured: Sheriff Alan W Cutler of Pender County

Long could be heard yelling, 'What the f**k?'

The operator shot back: 'What was that, sir?'

At that point, Long began to scream. 'That's not human! That's not human!' he cried.

'There's something in the bed of my truck!'

Long explained that he had turned on his truck's bed lights and saw 'something.'

Moments later, Long said, he had 'slammed on the brakes,' knocking the 'creature over the roof,' 'onto the hood' of his 2003 Chevrolet 2500 HD and then onto the road.

Then, he took off.

Long, who said on the call that he had served in the US Army, remained at a loss for words when the 911 operator asked him to identify what he had seen.

Pictured: The exterior of The Conjuring house. A driver was on a road near the home when he reported seeing a very scary looking figure

Long was driving 'in the middle of the woods' near Atkinson, North Carolina

'Was it a turkey - or perhaps, a deer?' the operator asked.

Long replied, 'I don't know what the hell that was! That wasn't a turkey because I was driving 50 miles an hour!'

He said the non-human creature 'did not have feathers' and 'looked pale, almost.'

He added that it 'scared the absolute hell' out of him, and that he was waiting to get 'further away' to check on any damage to his truck.

The unsettling call continued with Long trying to articulate the sequence of events from moments earlier while simultaneously driving away.

'I don't see it anymore!' he eventually said. 'I don't see it in the distance or anything!'

'I'm f**king shaking,' he said moments later.

Long was heard yelling: 'That's not human! That's not human!' (Stock image)

The 911 call placed him near Moores Creek National Battlefield (Stock image)

Finally, Long pulled over at Malpass County Corner Store, telling the operator that he had a Ka-Bar knife and an ax in his truck that he was 'thinking about getting out now.'

While assessing the damage over the phone, Long described 'some chips on the inside of the bed' of his truck and 'somewhat noticeable' scratches on the roof.

The Pender County operator could be heard on the call asking Long if he wanted to file a report. Long was unsure, but said he did want his truck examined. It is unclear whether he filed a report.

The command log revealed that Long had shown authorities a TikTok video of a skinwalker-like creature previously caught on a security camera.

According to EBSCO, Navajo culture considers these mythological figures to be 'dangerous witches' that can shape-shift into animals. The resource claims the beings 'are believed to harness dark forces for malevolent purposes,' have been recorded by 'various Native American tribes' and 'are seen as the epitome of harmful witchcraft.'

Long said what he saw that night was similar to what was captured in the security footage.

The log indicated that officials went to examine the area, but no one located 'anyone or anything that was struck by a vehicle,' and that a drone search was also unsuccessful.

The incident was closed at 2.05am on August 1, 2021, just three hours after the call was placed.

The incident happened close to the haunted house seen in The Conjuring and Moores Creek National Battlefield

Pictured: Another view of The Conjuring home. One X user said: 'If you have been in the woods camping alone or with someone else, you know the feeling that there is more out there than we know'

Now, four years later, social media users can't get enough of the encounter - it has dominated conversations on multiple platforms over roughly the past month.

After hearing about Long's experience, one Reddit user asked: 'Anyone notice the conjuring 1 house is like feet from where this happened.'

Another user weighed in: 'That just seems a bit too weird of a coincidence to me.'

Some folks gave some words of support for Long - and for anyone else who may have had a similar experience.

An X user commented: 'I feel things go underreported due to people being afraid of being called 'crazy.' If you have been in the woods camping alone or with someone else, you know the feeling that there is more out there than we know. You can just feel it.'

Another wrote about a similar situation happening to them: 'I have had this happen two times New Mexico. I was parked in a pull out next to an arroyo.

'TWO DIFFERENT PLACES I did not see it but SOMEONE jumped on the hood of my jeep. Next time my cargo carrier/tailgate. It was heavy. It was huge. Not a dog. Cat. Coyote. HUGE TERRIFYING.'

The Daily Mail has reached out to Sheriff Alan W Cutler of Pender County for further comment, but has not heard back.

The Daily Mail's attempts to reach Tyler Long for comment have been unsuccessful.
Booking one of the 10 sets at Yoshii's Omakase restaurant at Crown Sydney can take more than two years and the Japanese dining experience will set you back a minimum $380.

That's no problem for Chinese heiress LanLan Yang, whose Instagram account once featured a visit to the restaurant where she indulged in a $1,000 bottle of Dom Perignon.

In the week before Christmas last year, Chanel hosted a private performance of The Nutcracker at the Sydney Opera House and dinner at Bennelong restaurant for big-spending clients and other guests.

Among the 'Very Very Important Persons' to receive an invitation that summer evening was 23-year-old Yang, as well as Liam Hemsworth, his partner Gabriella Brooks, and actors Leila George and Phoebe Tonkin.

Yang is the mysterious mega-wealthy student who allegedly ploughed her $1.5million Tiffany blue Rolls-Royce Cullinan into a Mercedes van driven by Kyle Sandilands's chauffeur in Sydney's east.

The crash, which took place about 3.20am on July 26 at Rose Bay, left George Plassaras with devastating injuries and Yang facing serious criminal charges which could land her in prison.

It also catapulted Yang into an almost instant celebrity-like status, particularly among Chinese Australians who have been intrigued and mystified by her obvious wealth.

Daily Mail has previously revealed Yang lives in a multimillion-dollar penthouse at Watsons Bay where she keeps a second Rolls-Royce - this one a white Ghost convertible worth up to $800,000 - in her garage.

LanLan Yang (above) is the mysterious mega-wealthy student who allegedly ploughed her $1.5million Tiffany blue Rolls-Royce Cullinan into a Mercedes van driven by Kyle Sandilands 's chauffer in Sydney's east

Yang was on the guest list when fashion house Chanel hosted a private performance of The Nutcracker at the Sydney Opera House, as well as dinner at Bennelong. She is pictured at the event

LanLan Yang (left) was allegedly behind the wheel of her Tiffany blue Rolls-Royce Cullinan in the early hours of July 26 at Rose Bay when she smashed into chauffeur George Plassaras

Neighbours have said Yang decorated the dashboard of her Rolls-Royce Cullinan, which is believed to have cost $1.5million after all options were fitted, with scarce Labubu collectible plush toys.

We can now publish further details of the petite young woman's luxurious lifestyle in Sydney with insights from another Chinese Australian student who is part of the same affluent group of friends.

Yang called herself Cynthia on Instagram and was known to her peers as Yang Lanlan, with her family name written first.

Since the head-on collision, which police allege occurred when Yang crossed double yellow lines, she has deleted her local social media accounts.

Yang's barrister John Korn disclosed some of his client's background when her case was mentioned for the second time in Downing Centre Local Court on October 26.

Mr Korn said Yang's parents had sent her to Australia to attend school when she was 14, she had rarely returned to China, and was now a permanent resident. He also said Yang 'hardly leaves her home' and had 'considerable' mental health issues.

One of Yang's contemporaries told Daily Mail she was only aware of Yang having been in Australia since 2021. She said Yang was enrolled in a business course at the University of Sydney but 'she never actually goes to school herself'.

'We move in the same friend circle and have many mutual friends,' the acquaintance said. 'She only socialises within the Chinese community because her English is poor.'

A woman who moves in the same circles as Yang (left) said she used the name Cynthia on Instagram and was obsessive about obscuring her face in social media posts

Yang bragged about dining at the 10-set Yoshii's Omakase restaurant at Crown Sydney, where a meal costs a minimum $380, in a post which featured a $1,000 bottle of Dom Perignon

The acquaintance said Yang's Instagram had been filled with images of her 'shopping crazy' and visiting some of the best restaurants in Sydney but she was obsessive about obscuring her face in posts.

'She eats fine dining every single day,' the acquaintance said of Yang's life before the collision.

'She also frequently shops at Chanel and Louis Vuitton, sometimes renting out the entire store for herself.'

Yang's Instagram account promoted Italian restaurant LuMi Dining at Pyrmont, Korean eatery Allta in the city as well as Yoshii's Omakase - all of which have two hats in the 2025 Good Food Guide.

Whenever Yang has been seen in public over the past two months she has been dressed head to toe in designer clothing - particularly Chanel, Hermes and Louis Vuitton.

Her acquaintance said Yang had been invited to Chanel's performance of The Nutcracker due to the amount of money she spent with the French fashion house.

'Chanel hosted a private dinner in Sydney exclusively for their VVIP clients, and she was among the invited guests,' she said.

'Chanel VVIP clients are typically those who spend over one million Australian dollars a year with the brand.'

The only time Yang has been seen without a hat was on Wednesday when she donned a $16,000 purple Chanel vest to report to Rose Bay police station (above)

Neighbours said Yang decorated the dashboard of her Rolls-Royce Cullinan with scarce Labubu collectible plush toys. The vehicle is pictured on Sydney's Broadway

Yang is pictured wearing a vintage Chanel jacket worth more than $18,000, matching $3,000 cap, $1,500 Chanel Camelia pumps and $750 Miu Miu sunglasses

Chanel has been contacted for comment.

Yang wears a face mask when she expects to be the subject of attention. The only time she has been photographed without one is when Daily Mail snapped her with a friend dining at the Museum of Contemporary Art last month.

Yang met a female companion at the gallery shortly before midday on September 3 and the pair made their way to the fourth-floor Canvas eatery, where they chose a table next to a window looking out over the harbour.

She arrived without wearing a mask, but wore both a white one and a black one during her time at the restaurant - the second with a slit across the mouth, allowing her to eat.

On that occasion, Yang wore a $4,326 Louis Vuitton jacket, $3,000 Louis Vuitton cargo pants, $2,600 Hermes ankle boots and $1,220 Louis Vuitton Iconic cap.

The only time Yang has been seen without a hat was on Wednesday when she donned a $16,000 purple Chanel vest to report to Rose Bay police station as part of her bail conditions.

During another visit to the same cop shop six weeks ago Yang wore a vintage Chanel jacket worth more than $18,000, matching $3,000 cap, $1,500 Chanel Camelia pumps and $750 Mui Mui sunglasses.

Yang's devotion to high-end labels extends to pet accessories. Her Shiba Inu - named Wangzai - wears a $990 Celine collar and has its own Louis Vuitton pillow and Hermes blanket.

Yang's pet Shiba Inu - named Wangzai - wears a $990 Celine collar and has its own Louis Vuitton pillow and Hermes blanket (above)

'That dog probably owns more designer stuff than I do,' an acquaintance of Yang's said. 'And it's literally living better than [any chauffeur]'

Wangzai is a Chinese brand of bite-size milk buns coloured like a Shiba Inu, the Japanese hunting dog which generally sells in Australia for $5,000-$6,500 as a pup.

'That dog probably owns more designer stuff than I do,' the acquaintance said. 'And it's literally living better than [any chauffeur].'

The crash reportedly left Mr Plassaras with injuries including a broken spine, two broken hips, two broken femurs, a ruptured spleen and torn-open abdomen.

The most serious charge Yang faces is dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm - an offence which carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail.

A back-up charge of negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm was recently added. She is also accused of failing to submit to a breath test and not giving her particulars to police.

Yang has not made any comment about the crash and has not appeared in person either time her case has been mentioned in court.

When Yang's matter was first listed on August 15 scores of Chinese Australians lined up outside the John Madison Tower court complex to catch a glimpse of the camera-shy moneybags.

On that day, Yang disappointed her huge new fan base by appearing only briefly on screen from her lawyer's office.

Yang's Instagram had been filled with images of her 'shopping crazy' at exclusive fashion outlets. She is pictured in a Celine fitting room

Speculation about Yang has surged in China, where wildly inaccurate claims have circulated on platforms such as Douyin and Weibo, as well as in mainstream media

One onlooker told the Daily Mail: 'It's very rare to see, or have the opportunity to see, someone in person who is ultra wealthy and has power.'

'You don't see 23-year-olds who can drive two Rolls-Royces.'

When Mr Korn appeared on Yang's behalf on September 26 more than 20 spectators turned up to see the object of their curiosity but she had been excused.

Speculation about Yang has surged in China, where wildly inaccurate claims have circulated on platforms such as Douyin and Weibo, as well as in mainstream media.

Friends of Mr Plassaras have said he might never work again and would certainly not be able to resume his previous employment.

Some Chinese Australians have expressed dismay that Yang's alleged actions might impact upon how their community was perceived.

'I just hope she doesn't tarnish the image of us permanent residents in Australia,' one Chinese-born student told the Daily Mail.

'I simply feel compassion for the [alleged] victim of the incident.'

Yang was required to surrender her passport as part of her bail. She must stay at her Watsons Bay residence, report to police once a week and not occupy the driver's seat of any vehicle.

Yang is due back in court on October 17, when she will be required to enter pleas to all charges.
A woman has filmed the disturbing moment her 'creepy' Uber driver made a vulgar comment after giving her a ride back to her place.

Sydney woman Bianca, 33, had been out eating dumplings and drinking when she ordered an Uber.

She had reached her destination and was about to leave when the driver made an inappropriate remark about her body.

'Show me something,' he said.

'I'm not showing you s***,' Bianca responded. 'Get the f*** out of here.'

She then called the driver a 'freak' and threatened to report him.

Bianca tried to make light of the situation and told the driver to 'give me money'.

'You want me to report you? Give me money,' she said.

Sydney woman Bianca, 33, had been out eating dumplings and drinking when she ordered an Uber ride home

The driver eventually gave Bianca a half-pack of cigarettes and she safely got inside her apartment where she reported his behaviour to Uber.

Bianca explained the situation further in a follow-up video.

'I had a bikini top on but I had a shirt over it and pants,' she said.

'I wasn't blacked out, but my eyes were closed. I'd just eaten 15 dumplings, I was drunk, I needed to go to bed.

'I always have my phone in my hand whenever I'm in an Uber. I always record Uber conversations when they start talking to me, just in case they're weird.'

Bianca added acting unfazed was her go-to response to vulgarity.

'There's no point arcing up at these guys because then it puts you in a dangerous situation,' she said.

'But being unbothered and kind of funny about it is, in my opinion, the safest way to handle these situations.

Bianca said she had reported her driver's behaviour to Uber (stock image)

'We don't love it, we don't want it, we don't ask for it but if it falls into our lap - I'm just going to be like, "You're a joke, give me your money".'

Social media users praised Bianca for the way she handled the situation.

'I loved how you flipped the script and told him give me something. You made a mistake, sir, with the wrong person. Now he pays. I love that!' one wrote.

'Good on you, stay safe,' another said.

'Oh, how the tables turned on him,' another wrote.

Other commenters were just disturbed the driver felt entitled to make the blunt request.

'Males would never understand how often this happens to females - because it never happens to them,' one said.

'That's actually really scary,' another wrote.

'Be careful, girl,' another said.

Daily Mail has contacted Bianca and Uber for comment.
A Porsche-racing Colorado socialite has been accused of ripping off two contractors in yet another scandal in the fallout of her messy divorce from her restaurant tycoon ex-husband.

Renee Brinkerhoff, 69, allegedly owes brothers Gene and Clark Atkinson $4.5 million, according to two separate lawsuits filed over the summer.

The Atkinsons are longtime associates of Renee and her ex-husband William Brinkerhoff, 71, and have been instrumental in the expansion of their La Loma restaurant chain.

The socialite, whose claim to fame was becoming the first person to race a car across all seven continents driving a 1965 Porsche, won a hefty $29.5million settlement and half her husband's restaurants in the split 10 months ago.

But upon acquiring the restaurants, she promptly fired Gene's construction firm PAFC from the projects, leaving him $3.5 million short according to his lawsuit.

Clark is also suing Renee over a wrangle about a $1 million loan his company gave to William and the couple's firm Water Street Holdings (WSH), for work on several restaurants.

Renee must pay the sum back as she inherited WSH's liability when she acquired it during the split, his lawsuit claims.

It's just wrong for this super wealthy woman who got awarded, from what I understand, close to $30 million in assets with some liability, but shes refusing to pay,' he told Daily Mail. 'She's living a rich, high life.'

Renee Brinkerhoff (pictured), 68, has been accused of ripping off two contractors

Renee split from restaurant tycoon William Brinkerhoff ten months ago and secured a massive settlement plus several locations at his La Loma chain

'For nearly a decade, my family and I have poured our hearts, creativity and financial resources into building some of the most beautiful and remarkable restaurants in Denver, three of which Renee received,' Gene added.

'The idea that [Renee] is struggling financially does not reflect reality.'

Clark said the bust up with Renee kicked off when he notified her of the debt he claims in his lawsuit is owed to his firm, ISE LLC.

Renee then sued Clark in June, claiming that he was wrong to demand repayment of the loan from her due to changes to the original agreement.

This prompted Clark to counter-sue for $1 million.

'It is Ms. Brinkerhoffs individual obligation to pay the debts of the entities that she was awarded as part of her divorce from Mr. Brinkerhoff,' the filing states.

The socialite also hit back against Gene with a countersuit, alleging that Gene's work on the restaurants was purposely delayed and poor quality and that the invoices were fabricated.

In the filing, she claimed Gene was already paid $2.9 million, so the most she could owe was roughly $732,000.

Pictured: Renee Brinkerhoff with children William Jr, Juliette, Christina and Mark Brinkerhoff (L-R) in a childhood photo

'(Gene Atkinson) believed and intended that this leverage would create a situation in which William would have the ability to either retake control of the La Loma entities,' according to a September 19 lawsuit obtained by Daily Mail.

Both Gene and Clark said they are disheartened by Renee's suggestion that their efforts were ill-intended.

'What hurts most, is now facing Renees false allegations that we are conspiring to take something from her,' Gene told the Daily Mail.

'The truth is that I compromised my familys financial security to ensure these projects were completed with excellence, integrity, and lasting success. My intent has always been to help her succeed; not to scheme or withhold.'

The 10-month court battle weighed on William, Clark said. As a courtesy to their friend and good business partner, Gene and William decided not to urge him to pay off this debt until the legal storm had passed.

But the situation took a turn when the divorce court judge ruled that half of the couple's assets - and their liabilities - be awarded to Renee.

Renee assumed the Parker, DTC and McGregor La Loma locations, as well as the property associated with the loan.

Pictured: The grand opening of the Greenwood Village La Loma location

With the La Loma spots nearly completed, Clark said Gene had offered to finish up the projects for Renee.

Clark claimed she was cordial at first, but 'then she started playing games, and then she just refused to pay it.'

Gene said in a statement that he was never alerted of any of the 'supposed defects' Renee references in her lawsuit.

But Renee has fiercely disputed claims that she has been avoiding paying off her debt.

In her June filing against ISE LLC, she claimed the loan agreement was entered by William himself, and had nothing to do with her.

She also noted that the three restaurants she was awarded in the divorce, 'have significant debt.'

'Sadly, the accusations made against me and my character are patently false and are a purposeful and deliberate mischaracterization of my life and person, as is the $3.5 million figure PAFC is claiming it is owed,' Renee told the Daily Mail.

The socialite went on to claim that PAFC has 'ignored requests' to share copies of the construction contracts and accounting records for work done on the restaurants.

The charity Porsche racer (center) denies ripping off her contractor and stiffing his brother over a $1 million loan

William's daughter-in-law, Johana Mendoza Brinkerhoff, told the Daily Mail William will no longer be sharing public comments on the ongoing legal conflict with Renee.

'Her current claims are offensive and are an attempt to extort money from Gene (PAFC), who gave everything to ensure her success in some of her and our families' darkest times,' Johana said.

She went on to commend William for always supporting Renee's philanthropy through her nonprofit Valkyrie Racing, which aims to combat human trafficking.

Johana said: 'If Renee were truly committed to philanthropy, she would instead spend the millions of dollars she is pouring into attorneys into actually rescuing children.'

In the aftermath of the divorce, Renee claimed in a lawsuit that William tried to swindle her out of her half of the business and painted him as controlling and adulterous.

In March, she sued her ex-husband over allegations he stole business shares, after the judge in their divorce found that he had used a 'series of concealed machinations' to ice her out.

The scandal is the latest fallout from the couple's messy divorce and the fight over their restaurant chain

But the pair's children and William fiercely denied these statements.

Clark said he and his brother have no intentions of backing down against Renee, claiming she has offered each of their companies 'insulting' settlements.

'As far as we're concerned, we own those restaurants,' Clark said. Adding that while William is an 'honest' person, he 'can't say the same about Renee.'
Here's the ugly truth about the Gaza-era social media discourse.

Sensationalist labels have replaced real debate, and uneducated pile-ons too often result from disinformation.

Abbie Chatfield might be the latest case study. Her former friend Heath Kelley is suing her for defamation over an Instagram blast tied to his 'pro-Israel' stance.

It stems from a private exchange the pair had that she made public. How charming.

The courts will decide the legalities, but the bigger issue goes beyond their dispute: once again, social media is being weaponised to turn disagreements into reputational napalm - particularly when it comes to Palestine.

Which brings us to the PM, who gave a 90-minute interview on Chatfield's podcast earlier this year. Leaders shouldn't launder political messaging through outrage influencers who show a willingness to torch private citizens and use their own personal dramas as clickbait to earn a crust.

It normalises pile-on politics and, frankly, demeans the office of the Prime Minister.

Defenders of the inflated rhetoric around Palestine say that strong words fit the horrors of Gaza. Many Australians agree that what's happening is horrific - but branding your opponents 'genocide supporters' isn't going to win hearts and minds.

Left-wing influencer Abbie Chatfield's former friend Heath Kelley (pictured together in 2019) is suing her for defamation over an Instagram blast tied to his 'pro-Israel' stance

Chatfield had received private messages from a friend she once claimed to love - then publicly shamed him. Is that what discourse on Israel and Palestine has come to in 2025?

It comes across as performative, preaching to the converted and blind to nuance. It also shrinks the space for good-faith disagreements.

Chatfield had received private messages from a friend - whom she once claimed to love - about Israel's record on gay rights and women's rights, and she decided to use them as part of a public-shaming ritual.

Is that advocacy? Or personal betrayal? I'll let you decide.

The fact that a court must now adjudicate on the matter is just sad.

But Chatfield isn't alone. Grace Tame's posts are also often a textbook example of escalatory rhetoric. Atrocity labels such as 'genocide' and 'ethnic cleansing' are repeatedly used in her public statements, framing support for Israel as 'legitimisation of Jewish supremacist ethnonationalism'. Talk about a word salad.

Nike ended Tame's ambassador deal in June after reviewing some of her more inflammatory posts. It's hardly surprising really.

You don't need to be a defender of Israel to see how much of the language used in this debate pours petrol on an already out-of-control fire. Nuanced understandings are lost in the modern online world, often replaced by blunt insults designed to shock.

The inevitable result is polarisation. The middle (where persuasion usually happens) simply walks away. For them, it is too negative and nasty to engage with.

Chatfield isn't alone. Grace Tame's (pictured) posts are also often a textbook example of escalatory rhetoric. They probably cost her a lucrative Nike ambassadorship, too

We've been here before.

Remember the Sydney Opera House furore? Viral clips ricocheted around claims that protesters had chanted 'gas the Jews'. A forensic analysis by NSW Police later found no evidence that phrase was ever used. Apparently, audio tracking found that the chant was 'where's the Jews?'

Offensive, yes. An example of poor expression, certainly. But the more incendiary version - now proven to be false - drove the narrative for months. By the time the correction arrived, it almost no longer mattered.

The courts are increasingly left to mop up social media beefs - and let's face it, who among us seriously trusts the judicial system? But it's all we have when disputes become intractable.

Brittany Higgins lost her defamation case against Linda Reynolds over Twitter/X posts, and significant damages were ordered. The lesson is simple: social media isn't a lawless town square in Australia.

The rules of engagement when using social media really shouldn't be controversial.

Anthony Albanese thought Chatfield's 'It's a Lot' podcast was an acceptable medium for his pre-election pitch to young voters. Perhaps he should choose his platforms more wisely

Chatfield is in a relationship with musician Adam Hyde, best known as one half of Peking Duk

Draft what you post first, then take a break before hitting send. If you wouldn't (or couldn't) splash it across a newspaper front page or say it to a defamation lawyer, then maybe don't spray it out to your half a million followers, either.

Argue with substance rather than resort to extreme insults that are invariably inaccurate.

I mean - really - how does pointing out that Israel has a better track record on gay rights than Hamas make you a supporter of genocide? Come on.

If you think someone has got it wrong on Gaza, explain why with good reasoning, rather than simply condemn them as moral monsters.

And if you're the nation's political leader, pick platforms that elevate arguments rather than just get a thumbs-up from your media team.

Yes, free speech includes the freedom to be intemperate. But if the aim is to persuade those in the sensible centre, performative fury is a dead end.

The causes people care about deserve better than possibly defamatory slurs - and leaders who legitimise the whole circus by climbing into its tent.

Courts can award damages after the fact, but they can't rebuild reputations and undo the damage of intemperate posting.

They certainly can't rebuild trust in a public square now wired for permanent outrage.
A vile Chicago woman was filmed smearing dog poop over a man's Donald Trump-themed Cybertruck.

Dorothy Owen, the owner of a local doggy daycare, has been identified by as the prime suspect for the disgusting act.

She allegedly set upon the Tesla vehicle as it was parked up in the city's Northalsted neighborhood on Wednesday.

Owner John Evans was attending a conference at the time and came back to his car trashed and a video of a woman wiping dog feces across the truck's bodywork.

'It's crazy that something like this upsets somebody so much that they decided, 'Oh, I'm going to ruin that person's day,' Evans, who was visiting from Savannah, Georgia told Fox 32. 'Well, the shoe is on the other foot now.'

Evans believes the vandalism may have been triggered by the design of his vehicle.

'On the tailgate in Gold Leaf, there is a representation of the signature of President Trump,' he explained.

'And I think that may have further inflamed the mental illness of the person that decided to do this to my vehicle.'

A Georgia man says his Trump-themed Cybertruck was smeared with dog feces while parked in Chicago

The Cybertruck is wrapped in an American flag and bears Donald Trump's signature in gold leaf on the tailgate

Evans posted the pictures to X, where users quickly claimed to have identified the woman as 'Dorothy,' who is apparently affiliated to a Chicago doggy daycare called Renegade Dog Services.

Online records indicate that the company is owned by Matthew Tatone along with a woman named Dorothy Owen.

On Friday, the doggy day care's Instagram posted an image of the excrement-smeared Tesla with the caption: 'Lets be honest, that could be anyones sh*tty tattoos and saggy t*ts.

'Also, #f**kmontana #f**ktrump #f**kice #chingalamigra #hogwatch.'

Daily Mail reached out to Owen for comment and received a picture of a dog's private parts in response.

Negative reviews have since begun appearing online for the business.

'I think that America is happy to help other Americans with accountability for bad actors,' Evans said.

Despite the damage to his vehicle, Evans said he does not plan to file a police report.

Evans says he won't press charges, believing online backlash is punishment enough

When Daily Mail contacted Owen for comment a picture of a dog's private parts was sent in response

He believes the public backlash is punishment enough and that police resources should go toward more serious crimes.

When asked what message he had for the woman, Evans replied: 'I would say, we are Americans, you have an obligation to do better...when you do something like this, you're making the problem worse.'

Looking ahead, Evans said he hopes the incident serves as a reminder that people on both sides of the political aisle need to find a way to get along.
A Bronx mother receiving lifesaving treatment at a New York City hospital was beaten to death in her sleep by her hospital roommate.

Cynthia Vann, 55, had been undergoing treatment for liver complications at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx and was asleep when the attack happened.

As she lay resting in her hospital bed on the night of September 10, her roommate launched a violent assault that left her fighting for her life.

The roommate has with a known history of violent behavior, according to grieving relatives and law enforcement sources.

Vann sustained devastating blunt-force trauma to the head and was rushed into emergency surgery, but despite doctors' efforts, she succumbed to her injuries 17 days later, dying on September 27.

The city medical examiner has ruled her death a homicide.

'It's heartbreaking. I'm broken inside,' Vann's only daughter, Taneisha Vann, told News 12 through tears.

'It's very difficult. My mom was my support system. She was really all I had.'

Taneisha said she should have been planning for her mother's birthday, but is instead planning her funeral

Vann's only daughter, Taneisha Vann, pictured, says she is devastated over her mother's death

Hospital officials informed the family that the assailant, whose identity has not yet been released publicly, had a documented history of violent behavior, Taneisha said.

Her daughter is now planning her mother's funeral instead of a birthday celebration and is demanding accountability from the facility entrusted with her mother's care.

'She didn't deserve this. No one deserves to be assaulted at a hospital while you're sleeping,' she said.

'You're supposed to feel safe.'

Police sources have said the suspect may now be on the run.

NYC Health + Hospitals have not released a public statement explaining why a patient with a violent history was placed in a shared room, or whether appropriate safeguards were in place.

Cynthia Vann, 55, had been receiving lifesaving treatment at a New York City hospital when she beaten to death in her sleep by her hospital roommate

Vann, 55, had been undergoing treatment for liver complications at NYC Health+Hospitals Lincoln in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx and was asleep when she was attacked

Cynthia Vann's attacker is said to be on the run following the homicide

It remains unclear whether criminal charges have been filed but the NYPD have confirmed the case is being investigated as a homicide.

Taneisha her mother was a 'kind, supportive' woman who had survived struggles with her health, only to be attacked in her most vulnerable state.

'I'm angry with the hospital that allowed this situation to happen,' she added. 'She has a birthday coming up on the 9th October. She'll be 56 and that's difficult as well. It's just she didn't deserve that.'
When he tells John Swinney about the pressures on families during their weekly sparring sessions at First Ministers Questions, Russell Findlay is talking from personal experience.

The Scottish Tory leader has been a single father since his now 20-year-old daughter was only four, and is well used to the strain of juggling parenting and a full-time job, cobbling together a childcare plan and carefully managing household finances.

Having worked over those 16 years as an investigative journalist before being elected as an MSP and now party chief, he is clear that no job will ever be more important to him than his role as a single parent.

After quietly marking his first anniversary as leader, the normally private West Scotland MSP talked in detail about his family life for the first time, and admitted it gives him a different perspective than Holyroods other political leaders.

Mr Findlay said: I was quite unusual in that respect, being a single father, which is still, I suppose, a bit of a rarity. It was, and will always be, the privilege of my life and frankly a more important job than the one I am doing now.

To be blessed with having a child, any parent can relate to the fact that the responsibility lies with you as a parent to ensure they get the best possible start in life, that they have the opportunities and the chance to thrive. Thats what I sought to do.

I was working full-time, Id be working quite long hours in newspapers, quite antisocial hours, and I really had to do everything possible to not neglect my primary duty as a parent.

Russell Findlay had to strike a careful balance between his career and parenthood

Despite success as Tory leader, he doesnt see himself as a career politician

I cant answer for my daughter but I think she has expressed that she understood our circumstance as well, which was slightly unusual, and appreciates that she did get the opportunities in life her contemporaries did.

Mr Findlay has sought to highlight that he is not a career politician, following a 28 year journalism career, which saw him specialising in investigating organised crime.

Its a role which led to a shocking 2015 acid attack on him on the doorstep of his Glasgow home by a hitman with a knife, an incident so serious that he feels extraordinarily lucky not to have been killed.

The 52-year-old told the Scottish Daily Mail that his own situation has helped him understand why parenting duties have driven many MSPs  mostly women  to quit Holyrood, as they struggled to juggle the job and childcare, with the most notable recent example being Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, who will stand down at next years election.

Mr Findlay, whose daughter recently joined the Conservative Party, said: I can completely relate to that. If this was 15 years ago I just couldnt do this job as a single parent, it would be impossible. You would be reliant on not seeing your child for days on end.

He admits it was a slog juggling working full-time with being a single parent, and he cobbled together childcare such as after-school clubs and childminders, as well as guiltily dashing from the office earlier than colleagues.

I knew I did a shift, I knew that with a mobile phone in my pocket as a journalist you are effectively working at all times, he said.

I suppose there was that slightly old-fashioned feeling that you are skiving, or seen to be skiving, but if I had to go I would go because I knew that being a parent came first.

He believes single parenting is now a perfectly normal family dynamic and there is no longer the stigma attached to it that there was in the past, although he acknowledges that being a single father is more unusual.

Mr Findlay said: I dont think there was any overt questioning of the hours I was working, for example. Sometimes youd pick up on something subtle, youve heard of presenteeism  people that think that by coming in first and leaving last they are somehow a better employee or a more valuable employee but I dont hold to that.

I didnt really feel under pressure but you dont want to just rush in at night and it to be a gesture at parenting  you know, the meals made, the homeworks done, and then the baths run and then it is bedtime.

You want it to be enjoyable, you dont want it to be a chore and it was enjoyable. I defy anyone who has had a child to find anything better at the end of the day than to read a bedside story to a child, it was magical.

Ive still got all her old books in a drawer somewhere, which I could probably remember word for word, with of course the improvisations and the comedy accents applied to characters.

Mr Findlay believes that his experience as a single parent has to some extent shaped his approach as a politician. He said: I know what it is like to work hard to pay the bills, you are reliant on a single income, you are trying to be the breadwinner while simultaneously being a parent who is able to provide all the support and opportunities. Youre doing a lot more in that respect.

That wasnt a complaint, the situation was as it was and I was glad of it. I slightly mourn the ending of childhood, I think thats a typical parenting response as well  the empty nest syndrome.

On the day his professional and personal life collided in such a dramatic way, his daughter, who was only ten at the time, not only witnessed the acid attack on him but also alerted neighbours who called police while her father grappled with the attacker.

Reflecting on how she responded, he said: Im really, really proud of her. The fact that she raised the alarm during the attack was magnificent.

That could have deeply troubled a young child. God forbid she could have come downstairs to find me either dying or dead. I mean, if the attacker had managed to use the knife which he was carrying, that is the reality.

So the fact that she not just witnessed this unfolding but had the amazing ability to raise the alarm, and then between us we dealt with the whole messy aftermath of police investigations and court cases, and she has not been troubled and affected by that is, I think, testament to her character.

In his first year as leader, Mr Findlay has had to deal with the fallout from the Conservatives general election drubbing across the UK and has seen a wave of defections.

He has already lost three of his MSPs  Graham Simpson to Reform UK, Jamie Greene to the Liberal Democrats and Jeremy Balfour, who now sits as an independent  but current polling indicates that many more are in danger of losing their seats next May, while Reform UK could become a major force at Holyrood, and perhaps even the main opposition party.

Mr Findlay is open about his partys struggles but adamant that he is in the job for the longer term.

He had his one year anniversary, which passed quietly last weekend, marked up in his kitchen calendar, but didnt do anything to celebrate the occasion.

Mr Findlay launching his bid to become Scottish Tory leader in 2024

Fellow Tory Meghan Gallacher congratulates Mr Findlay after he is announced as party leader

In many ways its a so what?, he said. Its just a date in the calendar. I suppose getting a year under my belt isnt cause for any celebrations but it is certainly notable in some ways and it feels like Ive done a shift over the past year.

Ive never exactly been a slacker but the past year feels sometimes like Ive lived two or three years in one, with the intensity of what we are trying to do.

Mr Findlay will use the Conservative Party conference in Manchester to fire the starting gun on his partys Holyrood election campaign, saying the vote will be a referendum on the SNPs mismanagement of the economy.

And he believes that his personal experience as a single parent gives him a clear understanding of the impact of SNP decisions on families, and also drive his anger about the mismanagement of public finances.

He said: I always lived with the rule of what I earn was what I lived by. I abhor personal debt  I know some people might not have that luxury and Im not saying Ive not been indebted  but I always ensured I worked to the finances at my disposal.

The way in which governments, especially the SNP government, so casually sanction the spending of money on stuff that has no material benefit the State that the SNP has built is so vast and dysfunctional, there is so much waste.

If any householder, any parent or anyone running a household budget was to take a look at government spending and forced them to apply the same rules as a household would apply, wed live in a much better place.
The Conservative Party is here to stay but its current decline is set to continue, its Scottish leader has claimed.

Russell Findlay warned that he expects the Tories will go backwards before we can go forwards again following the dire results in last years general election and this years local elections.

He acknowledged the danger that the party could be stuck in opposition across the UK for a decade but denied that would be an existential threat, saying the Tories are here to stay.

He also said he has no interest in seeing the party work with Nigel Farages Reform UK at Holyrood or Westminster  and claimed that those defecting are shamelessly opportunistic and simply looking after their own short-term interests.

Speaking to the Mail ahead of addressing the Conservative conference in Manchester on Sunday, Mr Findlay bluntly warned that the party has not yet hit rock bottom.

Asked if he is in it for the long run as leader or would stand down if the party goes backwards in next years election, he said: Im determined to do my very best in this job. I cant begin to speculate what the future holds. Im committed to doing the job for as long as I believe I can make the difference.

It might be that post general election we are going to go backwards before we can go forwards again. Weve got great difficulties, nobody is pretending that we do not have massive problems right now both in Scotland and across the United Kingdom.

Russell Findlay has warned that he expects his party The Scottish Conservatives will go backwards before we can go forwards again

Mr Findlay said he has no interest in seeing the party work with Nigel Farages Reform UK

Mr Findlay said MSP Graham Simpson who defected from the Tories to Reform UK had been voted in because he was on the Scottish Conservatives list of candidates

He said the party was previously written off in Scotland when it only had one MP but managed to bounce back and can do so again.

On whether people in the UK party need to now accept they are facing a decade out of power, he said politics is cyclical and highlighted forced outwith our control from the US which is causing political turbulence here.

He insisted that there will be better days ahead after the current turbulence and denied there is an existential threat to the party if it is in opposition for a decade or more, saying: I dont think so. I think inevitably a lot of our opponents are using some quite extreme language. We are here to stay. We have never been more important than we are now.

A long line of opinion polls indicate the Tories are on course for major losses of seats in next years Holyrood election, while Reform is battling Labour for second place.

Mr Findlay said Reform is not a conservative party or a unionist party, and claimed people are playing with fire to think they are the answer.

On the prospect of working with Reform, he said: Ive got no interest in working with a party whose leaders stated aim is the destruction of the Conservative Party, Kemi has also made that quite, quite clear. Ive got no interest in that whatsoever.

Asked if he would support John Swinney leading an SNP minority government above working with Reform, he said: I would do nothing whatsoever to put John Swinney back into Bute House, or to put it another way I will do everything possible to remove John Swinney from Bute House.

Several MSPs have already deserted the Tories ahead of the election, with Graham Simpson becoming Reforms first MSP in the current parliament, while Jamie Greene has switched to the Liberal Democrats and Jeremy Balfour is now sitting as an independent. There has also been a wave of councillors switching to Mr Farages party.

Hitting out at the defectors, Mr Findlay said: Anyone can see that many of them are shamelessly opportunistic and simply looking after their own short-term interests.

Anyone that has been voted into office as a Conservative should recognise that it was Conservative voters that put them there. To suddenly jump ship is disloyal and inexcusable.

He said there have been reports that Mr Greenes local association were not entirely impressed with his work ethic, while Mr Simpson might like to think the voters voted for him for his sparkling personality and immense intellect but it wasnt for that, it was for the fact he was on the Scottish Conservative list of candidates.

He added: Who knows if they would have come back (as Tory candidates) or not, nobody knows and that will be decided on May 7, 2026. But it does seem to me that theyve decided that theyve got a better chance elsewhere, and it does beg the question primarily about loyalty, which I think is of fundamental importance.

Responding to the comments, Mr Simpson said: I am looking forward to engaging in a positive campaign next year and wish all my former party colleagues the very best of luck.

Mr Greene said: On current polling, Russell Findlay looks set to lose his own seat in Holyrood, so its no surprise hes gone into panic mode and is attacking fellow MSPs instead.

If Mr Findlay hadnt lurched his party into a Reform-lite, climate change denying, right-wing mess then maybe I and other one nation conservatives wouldnt have left in the first place.
An exotic dancer who was paid to have 'freak offs' with Diddy and ex Cassie Ventura said he was near tears when he saw the disgraced mogul's children plea for their father's life.

Sharay Hayes was back in court on Friday for the Bad Boy rapper's sentencing at New York federal court, but this time as an observer.

Hayes, known for his performer name 'The Punisher', told the Daily Mail he wanted to be in the audience for his own 'closure' after being thrust into the spotlight after he testified in May.

Hayes, 51, described during his testimony how he was paid around $2,000 to take part in a dozen 'freak offs' from 2012 onwards with Ventura and Combs.

On Friday, Hayes said watching Combs' adult children, especially daughters Chance, Jesse and D'Lila, sob in front of the judge moved him.

Hey, look, I'm a grown, tough guy named 'The Punisher' and even I was about to ask for some tissue,' Hayes said. 'It was, very, very hard. Felt very heart wrenching. Its very eye opening and it's making me look at this situation from a different lens.'

Sharay Hayes, aka 'The Punisher', attended Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sentencing on Friday holding his book, In Search of Freezer Meat, where he details his 'freak off' experience with the rapper and his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura

Hayes said he was moved when he heard Combs daughters Jesse, Chance and D'Lila provided their statements begging the judge for mercy for their father

Combs was facing up to 20 years behind bars for two lesser charges of transportation for prostitution, but was acquitted of the more significant counts of racketeering and two sex-trafficking counts.

The prosecution asked the judge for a sentence of at least 11 years. Combs' defense attorneys, however, argued the Bad Boy mogul should be released with time served.

An emotional Diddy addressed Judge Arun Subramanian and said he was 'broken to his core' and begged for mercy.

'I understand the severity of it and Im having to deal with the consequences,' Combs said. 'I take full accountability and responsibility.

'I know that the prosecution wants you to make an example of me. I want you to think about making an example of what a person can do if they get another chance.'

After nearly 8 hours listening to both sides, Subramanian handed down a sentence of 50 months and slapped the disgraced music mogul with a fine of $500,000.

Combs also will be under five years of supervised release after he is released from federal prison.

'Why did it happen so long? Because you had the power and the resources to keep it going and because you weren't caught,' Subramanian said to Combs.

'You were no John. You were more than that. Even if you currency was satisfying your sexual desires more than money, but the coercion was the same, if not worse.'

Combs was arrested in Sept. 16 2024 months after a 2016 video of him brutally attacking Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel was released by CNN

Before Combs learned his fate, Hayes said defense attorney Jason Driscoll did a 'very good job' comparing Combs case to other Mann Act convictions and why the rapper should be sentenced to a lower term.

I understand the law, and everything depends on precedence,' the dancer said. 'Driscoll was able to rip the prosecutions argument apart because all of the people that the prosecution used as examples had multiple offense and profited from their crimes.

'He [Driscoll] pulled up cases of people that was similar to Combs' case, and they were getting 12 months and a day, maybe 6 months. Even the people who got 27 months were convicted of having sex with minors.

'How does somebody commit prostitution with a minor and get 24 months, but the prosecution is asking for 11 years? It's such an excessive disparity.

Hayes walked into the courthouse carrying his book, In Search of Freezer Meat, which explores the topic of erectile dysfunction.

Although he didn't name the couple in his now best-selling book, Hayes includes a six-page description of his sordid encounters with the hip-hop mogul and Ventura.

Hayes had told the Daily Mail he initially didn't know the man who paid him was Combs because Diddy would wear a black burka that covered his face. He also said he didn't know his trysts with the couple were recorded until he heard Ventura's testimony.

Hayes testified he was paid around $2,000 to take part in a dozen 'freak offs' from 2012 onwards with Ventura and Combs. He is pictured above

Hayes said while he thinks the sentence the prosecution asked for was an overreach, he also thought about Ventura and the other victims.

'I don't want to invalidate anything the victims I went through, and I have been thinking of Cassie,' he said 'This this is a man who did terrible things.

'But the world is so harsh because everybody thinks his remorse is not real. This guy's life  his fall from grace  is a devastating circumstance. I have a ton of empathy, and I actually feel very sorry for the guy.'

Hayes said the time Combs has already spent in jail and the public embarrassment were enough.

'I believe there's a genuine remorse,' Hayes said of Combs.

When asked about his reaction when prosecutors alleged Diddy had an event booked this weekend under the belief that he would walk out of court on Friday, Hayes said, I'm not even mad at him. Youve got to project what you want to happen in life, and hes the master of that.

Diddy looked visibly distraught as he watched his children address the judge in court during his sentencing on Friday

Hayes said since he testified, he finally had time to process about participating in one of the biggest cases in the country.

'I was kind of like hiding in the house and wasn't coming outside,' he said. 'Although I've done a bunch of interviews to try to create a different narrative about myself, I think subconsciously I just felt like, "Man, I'm in the middle of all this stuff." It wasnt easy.

But coming out here in public, and I have to say, the majority of people are responding to me positively. There are some people that you know, turn their face up at me when they see me, or whatever. It is what it is.

'But I think I needed to just experience this head on because it is coming to a place of closure for myself. '
Ethan Scott Brown's proud mum had made meticulous preparations for his graduation day last December.

Tracy Scott had booked a restaurant in Glasgow for a post-ceremony meal. She'd ordered a cake, bought balloons and wrapped up the new watch she'd bought her son to mark the momentous moment  the culmination of four years of academic slog.

A nurse, Tracy had not been to university herself and didn't mix 'in those circles'. She'd agonised over her own outfit, desperate not to let down the bright, brilliant son who the family jokingly called The Prof.

'I remember saying to Ethan, "Is this OK? You won't be ashamed of your mother wearing this?",' she says, wiping her eyes.

'He said, "No, mum, you look good".'

Tracy had left some of the detail to Ethan because, as she says, 'when they are grown-ups, you have to, don't you?'

She had transferred money to his account to hire a graduation gown and book a slot with a photographer. And she had offered to iron Ethan's shirt for him.

'He said he'd already done it. I said, "Let's see", and he had. His good suit was hanging up. I went to bed thinking everything was ready.'

Devastated: Tracy Scott with a photograph of her son Ethan

Happy child: Ethan Scott Brown in his school days

The next morning, she was up and dressed early, 'hair curled and everything', when she shouted to Ethan that he should be up by now.

'You'd usually get a grunt from him or something, but there was no reply at all, so I just went into his room. But as soon as I opened the door, I saw. I knew. Then I screamed.'

There would be no graduation. Aged just 23, Ethan had taken his own life.

He had never been on the list of students who were graduating that day. The suit, the shirt, the gown hire  it had all been a sham.

Having failed to complete a module, he had been told by Glasgow University that he would not be awarded his coveted Honours degree.

'And we think  or we thought then  that he was too ashamed to tell us he had failed,' says Tracy.

'There were so many opportunities where he could have told us.'

His planning had been as meticulous as his mother's. Ethan was a tidy soul who could not bear anything out of place.

Four suicide letters  'pages of them', says Tracy  sat neatly on the very desk where Ethan had carried out his studies.

One was for the police, two were for his family and one was for his best friend Kyle.

In them, Ethan apologised for his actions, but explained that he thought he had let everyone down.

The detail was vague at that point about his reasons but, in that moment, no one cared much about the whys.

Today, Ethan's stepfather Colin is with Tracy in their solicitor's office. It was Colin who followed the 999 operator's instructions on the morning Ethan had been found  December 13  and gave him CPR, even though they knew it was pointless.

'Even the woman on the phone was crying as she was telling me what to do,' he says.

What an incomprehensible loss.

Ethan's mother, Tracy (left), and stepfather Colin Scott (right), alongside their solicitor Aamer Anwara (centre) at a press conference at the law firm's office in Glasgow

Ethan was Tracy's second child  her only son. It had been his life's dream to study at Glasgow University, just like his Auntie Marilyn, Tracy's sister

Ethan was Tracy's second child  her only son. It had been his life's dream to study at Glasgow University, just like his Auntie Marilyn, Tracy's sister.

In his primary school year book, he had written about where he saw himself in ten years' time.

'Still begging Glasgow University to accept me,' he wrote.

But Ethan's death is more than a family tragedy. It is a national scandal.

Earlier this week, the family held a press conference, making public the truth behind Ethan's death  which they had had to piece together themselves.

There was 'no help at all from the university, which didn't even send a note of condolence, and which has acted as if Ethan didn't exist', says Colin, bitterly.

Their solicitor Aamer Anwar, a former rector of Glasgow University, goes further. 'Callous,' is how he sums up the way the family has been treated.

In fact, Ethan had not 'failed' his degree, as he had gone to his grave believing. He had been the victim of a series of errors by staff at the university.

Ethan himself had contacted the university several times, querying what had happened and asking to be allowed to graduate.

He had also 'reached out', says his mum, about mental health issues, particularly after the loss of his grandmother.

'Ethan never wanted to accept help. He was so independent. But he asked for it from the university. He tried to sort this all out himself.

There was a stage  when he learned he didn't have enough credits to graduate and he just didn't understand it  when I said, 'Do you want me to ring the university?' And he said, 'No, mum. I can't have my mum phoning up'.'

How she now wishes she had picked up the phone.

Only after his death were questions asked about Ethan's state of mind and about how a capable student can suddenly 'fail' his degree  despite being on track to do well.

An investigation was launched and it emerged that there had been a catastrophic series of administrative errors. Ethan, who was studying geography, should actually have been awarded a 2:1.

The University of Glasgow where Ethan studied Geography

'How could no one have noticed?' asks his mother. 'How did no one care?

'Ethan fell through the cracks in this system and he can't be the only one.'

An internal report, written by Professor Jill Morrison, pinpointed where mistakes had been made. She concluded that this was a 'systemic' problem, rather than an error by an individual.

Glasgow University has since apologised to the family, saying: 'We are profoundly sorry that this terrible event occurred and understand the deep distress it has caused.'

It also insisted that the error in relation to Ethan's marks was an 'isolated one and that no other students have been affected'.

Tracy is outraged. 'Did they forget we have read the internal report? You don't need a degree to know that a 'systemic problem' is a big deal.' The report makes for devastating reading.

While it records that the university staff who were interviewed about the events leading up to Ethan's death were 'visibly upset', it says: 'Staff expressed regret that they had not known the student and felt the circumstances of his time at the university meant that he was less well known than many other students.'

What does this mean? How can a student  a good and capable student  not be known to his own tutors and lecturers?

'This is what I don't understand,' says Tracy. 'Ethan was a good student. He went to all his classes. He loved it. But the big decisions about his future weren't made by tutors who knew him.

'It was all done by people who are called Professional Non-Academic Staff. I didn't even know what this meant. At some point, he was just lost in the system. He fell through the cracks. He was just a number to them.'

Ethan began his university course in 2019. Glasgow was only a short train journey from his family home in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, so he lived at home, commuting in every day.

His 'in person' studies were interrupted by the Covid pandemic. But Tracy says: 'Still, when it was optional to either go in or do lectures remotely, he tended to go in. I think he went in more than most.'

Ethan probably wouldn't have been the loudest person in the class, but he was known for his cheeky sense of humour and wide smile. He loved fancy dress parties  his mum laughs about the time he got a perm.

Ethan took his own life after he was told he was not eligible to graduate from the University of Glasgow

He didn't have a girlfriend. When he died and the family were looking for answers, Tracy says she wondered whether there was 'some great unrequited love or something that we'd known nothing about. There wasn't'.

She thought he had taken to university life like a duck to water. 'He still had his home friends,' she says, 'but he made a new group of uni friends'.

Ethan spent his third year abroad, delighted to be picked to go to Stockholm to study.

'I was worried sick about how he'd manage, but he had a great time,' Tracy says.

But she adds: 'When he came back, he tried to register for his final year. He couldn't. The university didn't know who he was, they didn't remember him and had no record of him.

'Then they said he couldn't register for his final year because he hadn't completed his third year.

'We laughed about it at the time because it was so ridiculous. Ethan ended up having to get proof  transcripts I think  himself. He wasn't the sort to make a fuss about it. He just kind of rolled his eyes.'

However, when he finally settled into his final year, things started to go wrong.

Tracy insists she saw no sign of depression, but he was deeply affected by the death of his grandmother around this time.

'He had to hand in a dissertation in the December and he asked for an extension,' she explains.

'In the email, he cited mental health issues.

'This extension wasn't granted and he had to scramble to get the dissertation done. I think he submitted it three hours late, but he did get it done and he wasn't penalised. He did well in it, too.

'After that there were another couple of pieces of work that he was struggling with and he did ask for extensions for those. This time they were granted.

'My point is this: why did a red flag not go up then? Why did no one get in touch to ask, 'Ethan, is everything OK?'.'

So were there any signs at home that he was losing his grip, I ask her. 'No and we've racked our brains since, thinking, 'How could we have missed this?'. But Ethan would never have wanted to make a fuss or for us to worry.'

Ethan's final exams took place in spring last year and he should have graduated in the summer.

But he received word from the university  via a cursory email, his mother believes  that he had failed to gain a required ten credits. His family were aware of 'some issue' but Ethan downplayed it.

'He was upset that he wasn't going to be graduating in the summer but he said he was sorting it and he'd be able to graduate in December,' Tracy says.

'To this day, I don't know if he genuinely thought the university would sort it all out in time. But the point is he reached out to them and he got nowhere.'

It wasn't until a few weeks after his death that Ethan's family discovered that he had never been due to graduate.

'We were devastated,' says Tracy. 'We never considered that the university would be at fault. We just thought Ethan had failed and had been too ashamed to tell us.'

Ethan's mother, Tracy said her son was failed by the University of Glasgow

It wasn't until three months later that his aunt  who has more knowledge of university systems  started digging, getting Tracy's permission to ask the university about these missing credits.

The family had tried to access Ethan's emails but it hadn't been possible. 'Before he did what he did, he wiped his laptop, restoring the factory settings so I could use it,' she says. 'He told me that in his letter. He was trying to be helpful.'

Tracy says is it unforgivable that the university let the family believe for three months that Ethan had failed his degree.

'Even when they heard he was dead, did no one think, 'This seems odd'? We had to fight them to get any information at all. This wouldn't even have come out if we hadn't pushed.'

Quite how depersonalised the system seems is shocking.

Tracy says she had no contact from university staff after Ethan died  not even his immediate tutors or advisers. 'There wasn't a phone call or a letter of condolence, nothing.'

There is proof, however, that Ethan did reach out himself several times before he died.

The report says that there were two requests for extensions  in December 2023 and February 2024  which detailed 'deteriorating health and distress'.

Professor Morrison says these 'could have alerted staff to a student with deteriorating wellbeing and provide an opportunity for communicating with him. As far as I could ascertain there was no follow-up contact with the student'.

On the issue of the missing credits, there was 'misunderstanding or confusion'  with even staff at the university not being aware of what should happen if a student fails to complete an assessment.

There was only one essay that Ethan had failed to submit and even without the marks for it, he had reached the bar necessary to gain a 2:1.

But when his marks were recorded on a spreadsheet, the computer said he hadn't. And no member of staff intervened to say, 'This cannot be right'.

Even when Ethan sent emails  and there were at least two requesting clarification about the process for getting his degree  he was 'fobbed off', Tracy says.

'He was told someone would get back to him and they didn't. They just abandoned him.'

The report recommended that changes should be made to how marks are recorded and that students 'individual circumstances are discussed'.

But it is astonishing to Ethan's family that this level of contact with a student would not be carried out routinely.

Their solicitor Mr Anwar says: 'One of the issues and one that is continually raised by university students and staff  not just in Glasgow but in all large-scale universities  is that these are huge money-making operations now.

'When I was at university, you had tutors who knew you by name. There were regular meetings, contact. There was a way of catching you if you had troubles.'

Tracy nods. 'Ethan should have been caught and they let him fall,' she says.

Ethan's university books are still sitting in his bedroom in a neat pile just as he left them. The watch his mum bought him is there, too, still wrapped.

There will never be a graduation picture on the wall, but there will be his degree certificate.

Glasgow University has agreed that the family will be able to collect it at a ceremony.

'And we will, because he worked so hard for it,' says Tracy, her pride in her son undiminished.
A Metropolitan Police sergeant at Charing Cross police station has been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice after officers were caught being racist and misogynistic in undercover footage.

A group of Scotland Yard officers were recorded dismissing rape victims and revelling in the use of force in videos captured by a reporter working as a member of station staff.

The footage, gathered for a BBC Panorama documentary, also showed officers calling for immigrants to be shot and making sexual comments about women being detained.

Sir Mark Rowley vowed that nine serving officers, one ex-officer and a designated detention officer would be kicked out of the force within weeks if found guilty of gross misconduct on 'incontrovertible evidence' of racism, misogyny, anti-Muslim sentiment and bragging about excessive use of force.

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that a sergeant attached to the Central West Basic Command Unit was arrested following an 'incident' on Thursday October 2.

The officer has since been bailed and suspended from duty.

A force spokesman said: 'The allegation relates to an incident that took place at Charing Cross Police Station on 2 October and is linked to matters disclosed in BBC Panorama.

'The investigation is ongoing so it would not be appropriate to go into further detail at this time.

A police sergeant has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice following an undercover investigation at Charing Cross Police Station (pictured)

A screengrab from the BBC's undercover report into Charing Cross Police Station. Pictured: Sgt Joe McIlvenny who described sexual encounters to colleagues

'The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is independently investigating allegations in relation to Charing Cross, has been informed.'

The BBC's Rory Bibb spent seven months up to January this year as a designated detention officer in the custody suite of Charing Cross police station in central London amid widespread concerns of cultural problems within the force.

Despite the Met's vow to stamp out institutional racism and sexism, the reporter found that racist and misogynistic attitudes continued to be displayed by officers.

During the filming, one off-duty officer said about immigrants: 'Either put a bullet through his head or deport him.

'And the ones that s***, rape women, you'd do the c*** and let them bleed out.'

He described an 'invasion' of migrants, adding: 'The Somalians are scum. Any foreign person is the worst to deal with.'

Another officer detaining a woman wearing police fancy dress said: 'Ah awesome. I've paid money to go to clubs and see women dressed like this.'

On another occasion, an off-duty officer remarked: 'Islam is a problem. A serious problem I think. Muslims hate us. They f****** hate us. Proper hate us.'

During the programme one officer described how, if suspects refuse to have their fingerprints taken, he could pull two of their fingers hard to snap the tendons.

'I love taking fingerprints by force,' he said.

One constable allegedly offered to make a false statement blaming a suspect for lashing out after he saw another officer on the suspect's leg.

In the programme, one of the officers was filmed saying Algerians were 'scum' and Somalians were 'f****** ugly'.

In an undercover Panorama programme, officers were caught on camera sharing racist views about Muslims, making sexual comments about women being detained and dismissing rape victims

Officers have also been accused of being heavy handed and revelling in the use of force

He added: 'I've seen too many Islamics committing crimes. Their way of life is not the correct way of life.

'You do find that the ones that are causing the most crime are Muslim.'

Undercover cameras captured several officers laughing about police brutality and bragging about gratuitous violence they had inflicted on suspects.

In one incident, an officer boasted about tormenting a 17-year-old autistic teenager, pushing on pressure points on his body in a police van.

When the teenager later threw a pillow at officers, he was restrained by up to eight officers and held on the floor for two hours.

One of the accused sergeants was already under investigation at the time of filming for allegedly telling an Asian suspect that she should be in the 'massage business'.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Valentine said: 'We have been extremely clear we will be unrelenting in our approach to tackling issues at Charing Cross, and anywhere else across the Met.

'This fresh matter came to light through our internal reporting mechanisms and we continue to encourage and support all our officers and staff to report allegations of criminal and conduct behaviour so we can act swiftly.

'Professional standards officers immediately acted to make the arrest and the officer has been suspended from duty.

'We will not hesitate to take rapid action around any further allegations, as part of our deeper probe into corruption and ridding the Met of those who are not fit to serve the people of London.'

One police officer described how he loved taking fingerprints by force

Reacting to the documentary earlier this week, the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: 'I've not yet seen the footage, but I've had it described to me, and it's shocking, and I'm glad the commissioner is responding.

'He needs to be very robust in his response.'

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said people in London could trust the 'vast majority' of the force's officers, and added he was 'horrified' by the documentary.

Nine serving and one former officer, and one designated detention officer who is a civilian member of staff, are all under investigation for gross misconduct by watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Allegations include excessive use of force, making discriminatory and misogynistic comments, and failing to report or challenge inappropriate behaviour.

One constable is facing a criminal investigation for allegedly perverting the course of justice.
David Lammy was booed and heckled by mourners at last night's vigil for the victims of the synagogue terror attack.

In astonishing scenes, the Deputy Prime Minister was told by furious members of Manchester's Jewish community that he had 'blood on his hands'.

Amid chants of 'shame on you', Mr Lammy was also accused of allowing anti-Semitism to grow on the streets, and urged to 'stop the marches' by pro-Palestinian groups.

Ministers will face fresh anger today as a protest in support of banned terror group Palestine Action will go ahead after organisers ignored pleas from the police and Government to call it off.

On an extraordinary day following the attack on Heaton Park synagogue by an Islamic terrorist:

Police admitted that one of the two worshippers killed was accidentally shot by officers;

The family of shooting victim Adrian Daulby, 53, said he died a hero;

Stabbing victim Melvin Cravitz, 66, was described as a friend to his Muslim neighbours who was 'always smiling';

It emerged that terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie was on bail for alleged rape and had a criminal record;

His father Faraj Al-Shamie condemned his son's 'heinous act'  but has praised the October 7 attacks;

The rabbi leading the Yom Kippur service, Daniel Walker, told how 'very, very brave men' helped him hold the doors to the synagogue shut;

Keir Starmer was accused by Nigel Farage of 'emboldening' protesters by recognising a Palestinian state;

David Lammy was booed and heckled on Friday as he spoke at a vigil for the Manchester terror attack victims

A woman shouts during a vigil organised by the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester

Mr Lammy, who as Foreign Secretary over the past year imposed restrictions on arms sales to Israel and twice summoned its ambassador to criticise its handling of the conflict in Gaza, addressed a hostile crowd of hundreds who had gathered in torrential rain to pay tribute to the victims.

He faced calls of 'go to Palestine, leave us alone' and 'shame on you'. One man shouted: 'You are all guilty. You have allowed Jew hatred in Manchester, on the streets.'

Mr Lammy had to pause several times as he was interrupted by cries of 'stop the marches' and 'you have blood on your hands'.

Heckler Geraldine Simon, a decades-long friend of Mr Cravitz, said Mr Lammy was booed because the Labour Government had 'let the Jewish community down'. The 67-year-old told the Daily Mail: 'His opening words addressed the crowd as 'friends' and that was like a red rag to a bull.

'I shouted 'Platitudes! Platitudes!' And 'We don't need you' when he said he was here with us. I just couldn't help snorting with derision.'

Joanne Lazarus, a 61-year-old grandmother who was married in Heaton Park synagogue, said: 'When I heard David Lammy was speaking, a passion from within overtook me and I just had to say something to him.

'Enough is enough. The marches have been allowed to spread hatred for too long. I hope he heard me.'

And father-of-three Tony Levene, 50, said: 'When I saw David Lammy, I was filled with disappointment and anger. The Labour Government is responsible for what happened yesterday.

The justice secretary faced calls of 'go to Palestine, leave us alone' and 'shame on you'. One man shouted: 'You are all guilty. You have allowed Jew hatred in Manchester, on the streets'

'They have allowed hatred on our streets. They allow hatred on campus. They let people chant 'intifada'. They have rewarded a terrorist regime.'

It came after outrage at pro-Palestinian groups staging protests across the country only hours after the atrocity in Manchester.

Forty people were arrested during a demonstration outside Downing Street, six of whom

were held for assaults on police officers, while there were also clashes in Manchester.

Reform UK leader Mr Farage described Thursday night's 'vile scenes' on the streets as a symbol of 'Broken Britain' and claimed those involved were 'actually celebrating'.

He said: 'Will this Prime Minister do anything about it? No. In fact, he's emboldened these people by his recognition of Palestine two weeks ago.

'Now there is a big, big march planned in London this Saturday, and I think the only way we can describe it is a hate march. Whether the Home Secretary and the police decide they've got the powers to stop it, I don't know.'

Independent reviewer of terrorism legislation Jonathan Hall KC said there may be a case for a new law to allow protests to be banned if they would overwhelm police. Sir Keir admitted last night that protests planned for this weekend, ahead of the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks, would cause further 'distress'.

Attendees held a banner reading 'No more words, we demand action' during Friday's vigil

He wrote in the Jewish Chronicle: 'I urge anyone thinking about protesting this weekend to recognise and respect the grief of British Jews this week. This is a moment of mourning.'

His plea came after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said of the Trafalgar Square demo planned by protest group Defend Our Juries: 'I don't think they do their cause any favours.' She also described Thursday night's protests as 'fundamentally un-British' and 'dishonourable'.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he had no legal power to ban the protest and was forced to beg organisers to call it off.

He added: 'People have been debating for the last two years whether pro-Palestinian protests are simply a call for peace, or have an implicit intention to stir up anti-Semitism.

'Continuing such protests within hours of Thursday's awful terrorist murder... will likely create further tensions and some might say lacks sensitivity.'

But Defend Our Juries vowed to go ahead with the demonstration.

Counter-terrorism police last night announced the arrest of three more people in connection with the attack, bringing the total to six. A man and two women, aged between 18 and 45, were in custody on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.
A beloved New Orleans chef was shot and killed while waiting to pick up his two-year-old son from daycare by a carjacker who then dumped his body and sped away in his car.

Carl Morgan, a sous chef at the famed Brennan's restaurant in the French Quarter, was ambushed outside the Abeona House Child Discovery Center in Mid-City on Tuesday evening.

The suspect, identified as 21-year-old Raymond Wells, was later tracked to Interstate 10 in Metairie, where officers found him inside Morgan's vehicle with a gunshot wound to the head.

'Mr. Wells is currently in extremely grave condition at University Hospital,' Deputy Chief Nicholas Gernon said at a press conference, according to Fox 8. 'Overnight, our detectives were able to secure an arrest warrant for one count of first-degree murder.'

Authorities told the New York Post that Wells had been cruising the neighborhood earlier, firing at cars and attempting other carjackings before killing Morgan.

Witnesses recalled a chaotic scene outside the daycare as shots rang out.

'I just saw a guy walking right there - he just started unloading his gun,' local resident Luke Gower told WDSU.

'I don't think he even knew the person. He just aimed at the car and started shooting at it. His gun jammed, according to the homeowner. There I was - the next car in line - so I just feel lucky, I guess.'

Carl Morgan, 45, a sous chef at Brennan's Restaurant in the French Quarter, was shot and killed while waiting to pick up his young son from daycare

Brennan's Restaurant, where Morgan worked as a sous chef, will honor him this weekend at the Fried Chicken Festival by serving his signature fried chicken sandwich

The shooting sent daycare teachers scrambling to protect children.

'What happened was one of the teachers heard the gunfire on Bienville and said 'let's get inside,' and they immediately moved all the children inside,' Pastor Shawn Anglim of First Grace United Methodist Church told Fox 8.

Morgan's death has devastated his loved ones, who described him as a devoted father and a talented chef whose life revolved around his child.

'What was most important was his son and how much of a dad he was,' Brennan's General Manager Christian Pendleton told Fox 8.

'He was the biggest teddy bear. He was just the happiest dad - so tickled to be a dad. He loved moments with his son. He was a huge Raiders fan.'

Morgan's partner and the mother of his child, Lisa Marie Lienberger, told WDSU: 'I just want people to remember Carl for how much he cared about everyone he interacted with. He was a very loving person.

'A jolly, talkative, very funny, and silly person. Most of all, he loved food, and that was what we really bonded over.

'I hope that he will be remembered for all of the skills he passed on to other people he worked with in the city. We love him very much, and I will do my best to make sure he's remembered in everything we do. I wish he was here.'

Morgans partner, Lisa Marie Lienberger, said she will do everything she can to keep his memory alive for their 2-year-old son

Pendleton said Brennan's will honor Morgan at this weekend's Fried Chicken Festival, where he had been preparing to lead the restaurant's offerings.

'When he made his fried chicken sandwich, people looked forward to it. We'll do that for him,' Pendleton told WDSU.

'A man lost his life. A child lost his father. A partner lost her love of her life, and we all lost a vibrant light in the city of New Orleans,' Anglim told Fox 8.
The moment a helicopter carrying a trainee pilot and his instructor lost control and plummeted to the ground has been captured in terrifying new footage.

The Robinson R22 helicopter is seen ripping through trees just seconds before it crashed-landed on top of a car in dashcam footage captured by a nearby vehicle.

The pair had been mid-way through a low-level aerial exercise class when the helicopter clipped a power pole and lost control, hurtling to the ground.

The car sustained a massive dent to the boot from the impact of the crash.

Police and paramedics were called to the confronting scene at Bankstown Airport car park on Birch Street about 1.30pm on Friday.

The 50-year-old instructor died at the scene.

He is yet to be formally identified.

The trainee pilot, a 19-year-old boy, suffered serious injuries and was rushed to Liverpool Hospital, where he remains in a serious condition.

The moment a helicopter carrying a trainee pilot and his instructor lost control and plummeted to the ground has been captured in terrifying new footage (pictured)

The Robinson R22 helicopter is seen ripping through trees just seconds before it crashed-landed on top of a car (pictured) in dashcam footage captured by a nearby vehicle

The car sustained a massive dent to the boot from the impact of the crash (pictured)

An owner from a neighbouring business said he heard a loud bang.

'People start running, running along those with were scared, looking up. Maybe a bomb happened like, you know, in the plane,' he said.

'Like in, uh, went into fire or something. So I told the boys to stay away a little bit.'

Police established a crime scene with officers from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau who are expected to turn on Saturday.

'Planned activities include site and wreckage examination, mapping of the site, and recovery of any helicopter components for further examination at the ATSB's technical facilities in Canberra,' the bureau said in a statement.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.
Sentebale has dropped polo matches from its fundraising activities after Prince Harry walked away from the charity in a row over racism and bullying.

The African youth organisation, which was set up by the Duke of Sussex in 2006, has seemingly begun to distance itself from the royal with the move - as the prince was personally fond of the sport and produced a poorly received documentary with Netflix.

Prince Harry resigned as patron of Sentebale in March after the new chair, Dr Sophie Chandauka, made a series of incendiary allegations about his behaviour.

Polo events that Prince Harry personally took part in have constituted a major source of the charity's income. The Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup raised 18 per cent of funds last year.

But a report into the charity's accounts which was published on Friday revealed that the sport has now been ditched as its flagship fundraiser - because of their 'high cost' and issues related to the events themselves.

They included a drop in income because of a last minute venue change to 'accomodate a commercial filming request from one of the charity's former patrons' that resulted in a $136,000 shortfall for Senteable.

A polo challenge was also deferred due to severe illness, resulting in the charity missing out on an estimated 500,000 of income.

It is thought that the move is part of a wider effort to rebrand Sentebale as it approaches its 20th anniversary next year.

Prince Harry resigned as patron of Sentebale in March after the new chair, Dr Sophie Chandauka, made a series of allegations about his behaviour. They are pictured together

In an introduction to the report, Dr Chandauka (pictured with Prince Harry last year) described her tenure as chair since July 2023 as a 'grueling and humbling period'

The charity is hoping to cut 1million annually and attract more investment from organisations, rather than through highprofile individuals and celebrities.

Sentebale previously received a 1.2million donation from the Duke of Sussex following the publication of his memoir Spare, which it said had 'masked' structural weaknesses in the charity's financial model.

The report noted that the changes were 'necessary in order to reduce dependence on eventsbased fundraising, particularly polo, which was heavily reliant on participation of one former patron who had expressed a desire for the charity to reduce its reliance on him for several years'.

Friday's report revealed that Sentebale's total income last year was 3.35million, down from 3.41million in 2023. It has already secured 70 per cent of its funding goals for next year.

In an introduction to the report, Dr Chandauka described her tenure as chair since July 2023 as a 'grueling and humbling period'.

She said, however, she has been left with 'profound gratitude, pride and conviction in the future of Sentebale'.

Commenting on the accounts, Dr Chandauka said: 'This 16month period marks Sentebale's bold transformation: building stronger programmes, governance, and financial resilience.

'We tackled structural weaknesses headon: slashing our cost base by 1m through workforce restructuring and contract renegotiations, while protecting 92 per cent of our vital Africabased staff who power our highperforming regional team.

Dr Chandauka is pictured with the Sussexes at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge last April

Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho quit as patrons of the charity they had founded in solidarity with trustees who said they could not carry on under Dr Chandauka

'We retained 100 per cent of our institutional funders and secured over 70 per cent of 2026 funding goals.'

'As we reach our 20th anniversary next year, Sentebale is poised to soar, empowering even more children and young people across southern Africa to claim their futures,' she added.

Sentebale was set up to help orphans with Aids in the impoverished kingdom of Lesotho in memory of Prince Harry's late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

The name means 'forget me not' in the country's official language.

Prince Harry, however, walked away from the charity following a damning report into an explosive race row sparked by Dr Chandauka.

The UK Charity Commission had launched a probe into the acrimonious boardroom battle  but criticised both sides in its findings.

The probe said it could find 'no evidence' of 'widespread or systemic bullying or harassment, including misogyny or misogynoir' at Sentebale following the allegations made by Dr Chandauka.

But it also criticised the trustees, who included Harry, who resigned en masse in March after the row was made public.

The Charity Commission criticised both sides for the 'damaging internal dispute'. Pictured: Dr Chandauka with Prince Harry last October

Scores of donors  loyal to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex  allegedly stopped donating to the charity, costing hundreds of thousands of pounds in essential funding.

The watchdog acknowledged the 'strong perception of ill treatment' felt by all parties, including Dr Chandauka, and the impact this may have had on them.

It ruled that failures leading up to, and following, the dispute had led to 'mismanagement in the administration of the charity'.

But, despite the Commission urging both sides in the dispute to take a step back from playing out their problems 'in the public eye', both sides remained entrenched.

In a further escalation of the war of words, a spokesman for the prince said it was 'unsurprising' that the report makes no findings of wrongdoing in relation to himself, or evidence of bullying or racism.

The statement also hit out at the Charity Commission itself whose report he claimed fell 'troublingly short in many regards'.

In her statement, Dr Chandauka emphasised that it was she who first privately raised concerns about the charity's governance with the Commission in February this year.

It was only after she did this, she stressed, that 'those who resigned' in March launched an 'unexpected and adverse media campaign' that had gone on to cause 'incalculable damage' to the charity's work.
JD Vance shut down liberal trolls wondering why Donald Trump hadn't been seen in three days with a photo alongside the president and their wives.

The vice president wrote on X: 'It's always a good time when you get to have the boss over for dinner!'

'Usha and I were so grateful that President Trump and our lovely First Lady, Melania, could join us for dinner at the Vice President's Residence last night,' he added.

The picture shows Trump and Vance's wives beaming in elegant ensembles, while the president and vice president grinned in suits and ties.

Melania wore a leather dress, while the Second Lady appeared in a black top and blazer with a white and black-patterned long skirt.

Trump making no public appearances on Wednesday and Thursday drove some on the left - including top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries - to hysterics.

'Throughout this week, Donald Trump has been missing in action. He remains in the presidential witness protection program,' the New York Democrat said Friday at a press conference on Capitol Hill.

During her Friday afternoon briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked to respond to Jeffries' dig.

JD Vance (pictured center right) shut down liberal trolls wondering why Donald Trump (pictured center left) hadn't been seen in three days with a cherry photo alongside the president and their wives

Trump making no public appearances on Wednesday and Thursday

'That's just more ridiculous fodder from Team Jeffries,' she replied.

'As you all know, because you're here every day, the president is literally working around the clock right now,' she continued. 'He has a swearing-in ceremony, or he already did. He has several meetings on the books today. He literally works 24/7. Anyone who works in this place or covers this place, as you all do, knows that to be true.'

'And Hakeem Jeffries and the Senate Democrats should get back to work in a few minutes and vote to reopen the government,' she scoffed.

Leavitt was also asked if Trump was personally making calls to Democratic senators - as five more need to be peeled off to end the shutdown.

'The Senate Republicans are speaking directly with moderate Democrats,' she answered.

'I understand those conversations have become very serious and we hope positive in the right direction so that Democrats can do the right thing,' she added.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai pointed out to the Daily Mail that Trump 'did multiple press conferences and in the last two days did an hour long sit-down interview and secured a historic peace agreement in the Middle East, which is something neither Joe Biden nor any other Democrat could ever dream of accomplishing.'

Specifically addressing the claims that Trump has been 'missing' he answered: 'Whats missing is the Democrats' concern for everyday Americans who are reeling from the Democrats' government shutdown.'

President Donald Trump (right) was seen in video footage Friday posted by longtime aide Margo Martin at the conclusion of a swearing-in ceremony for U.S.'s ambassador to Sweden, Christine Toretti (center). He's held no public events since Tuesday

Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann stoked speculation that something was awry with President Donald Trump, who hasn't been in front of the press during all three days of the government shutdown

'Democrats should do some soul searching about why they care more about free health care for illegal aliens than American citizens,' he added.

That didn't stop some liberals from asking outrageous questions regarding Trump's whereabouts.

'Once again, we bury the lede even after [Karoline] confirms the essence of it: The camera-obsessed narcissist president is... where?' asked former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann on X on Friday. 'How long has Trump BEEN missing?'

Trump last appeared in front of the press on Tuesday, ahead of this week's government shutdown that started at midnight.

On Wednesday, Thursday and now Friday, Trump held no public events.

On Thursday evening, the conservative One America News broadcast a sit-down interview with the president that had been pre-taped the day before.

Also on Thursday, the president took his motorcade to the Naval Observatory to have dinner with Vance.

Reporters didn't get a chance to peak into the dinner.

On Thursday evening, the conservative One America News broadcast a sit-down interview with the president that had been pre-taped the day before

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized President Donald Trump for being MIA amid the government shutdown, saying at a press conference Friday that 'he remains in the presidential witness protection program'

On Friday, Trump was briefly captured seated at the Resolute Desk by longtime aide Margo Martin, as she shared a video of Vance performing the swearing-in of the U.S.'s ambassador to Sweden, Christine Toretti.

Toretti's swearing-in stayed closed to press, after she was twice rejected by the Senate during Trump's first term after being nominated to be the U.S. ambassador to Malta.

Later Friday afternoon, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a photo of Trump taping a video in the Oval Office relaying the latest news on Gaza.

Reporters were not invited into the Oval for the taping.

In late August, Trump went several days before the Labor Day holiday without holding public events, sparking false rumors online that he had died.

The 79-year-old president has made several cracks about it since.

'I want to thank the media. They've been very nice lately. Although - I'm still here,' the president said during a September dinner with tech leaders.

During his sit-down with OAN this week, he was asked if he had big plans ahead of the 2026 midterm races.

'I have big plans, I want to survive,' the president said laughing.
A British teenager who was jailed in Dubai after having sex with a UK tourist has been killed in a car crash - just months after being set free following a royal pardon.

Marcus Fakana, 19, died in Tottenham, north London, at around 1am on Friday after a car he was a passenger in failed to stop when being blue-lighted by the Metropolitan Police.

Officers say they 'temporarily lost sight of the vehicle' after tailing it for around 60 seconds, before discovering its involvement in a huge smash with another car at The Roundway.

Marcus was left seriously injured as a result of the crash and received first aid treatment at the scene, but he died shortly after being rushed to hospital.

The driver, a man also aged 19, was arrested after the crash on suspicion of failure to stop and dangerous driving. He remains in police custody.

Marcus's death came exactly three months after he was released from prison in the Gulf state, thanks to a pardon from Dubais ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

He was arrested and sentenced to one year in a maximum-security prison last year over a consensual holiday relationship with another British tourist who was just a few months younger than himself - a fact he was not aware of at the time.

The girl was one month away from turning 18, but sex with anyone under the age of 18 is an offence in Dubai. They met when both their families were staying at a luxury hotel.

Marcus Fakana, 19, who was jailed in Dubai after having sex with a UK tourist has been killed in a car crash - just months after being set free following a royal pardon

Marcus died after a car he was passenger in crashed at The Roundway in Tottenham (Pictured: general view of the street)

While in prison, Marcus's family had campaigned to bring him home and had hoped for a pardon from Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum (protesters pictured January 4)

The girl's mother reported Marcus - who was aged 18 at the time - to the UAE authorities after seeing messages between the two when she had returned to the UK.

In a devastating vigil for the young boy, dozens of friends and family gathered at a home were seen sobbing, as many also put their heads down to commemorate their loved one.

His case drew widespread attention and outrage, highlighting the UAE's harsh laws that criminalise personal relationships which critics say disproportionately target foreign nationals.

Radha Stirling, Founder and CEO of Detained in Dubai, who helped Marcus in the Gulf state, told the Daily Mail she was 'deeply saddened' to learn of his death.

She said: 'I came to know Marcus as he faced one of the most frightening experiences of his life, and I witnessed his strength and courage throughout.

'He was grateful for the compassion shown to him by the British public, and his experiences gave him a renewed focus on Christianity and prayer.

'Marcus was thankful to have regained his freedom and was looking forward to building a positive future. My heartfelt condolences go to his family and friends at this difficult time.'

She added: 'Marcus spent the majority of this year in a Dubai prison which no doubt caused him long lasting mental anguish. Its sad that of all of 2025, he was only free for the three months from the 3rd of July until the 3rd of October.

'It wasnt necessary for him to be in prison at all. He could have been deported instead. David Lammy and the FCDO caused Marcus and his family no end of grief, refusing to effectively help him as the Foreign Minister.

'Its sad that he had to go through this in what would be the last months of his life.'

Raphaella Stirling, Detained in Dubai's Crisis Manager, added: 'Marcus had only been released from prison earlier this year.

'Despite everything he endured, he was grateful for the kindness of the British public, and he embraced his freedom with renewed faith, joy, and hope for the future.'

Raphaella Stirling, Detained in Dubai's Crisis Manager, said 'he was grateful for the kindness of the British public'

Radha Stirling, Founder and CEO of Detained in Dubai, who helped Marcus, shared a post online to say she was 'heartbroken' following the death of her former client

Marcus (left) is pictured with his family who battled for his release from Dubai - he had been home with them for three months before his death

Further tributes poured in online for the teenager following his tragic death.

In a post shared on Facebook, one said: 'I fought for you to be released from prison in Dubai, I did my best and this is how it ended.

'My condolences to papa crispin and ya marie.'

One heartbroken person close to the family said: 'God give Crispin and Marie strength, the pain is too much. Rip Marcus you left your mummy in pain baby.'

Another commented below the post: 'I know some people might say it doesn't matter how he passed away, but all I know is that we all hoped and prayed for him to pull through, and then suddenly he was gone. Please, make it make sense. I'm confused.'

'Too young to die. When I heard that sad news early on tonight. My heart just sunk in pain, felt useless.

'Ooh God! I feel for your your dad, mum, your uncles, your aunties, your cousins, your sisters n brother. May your soul rest in perfect peace Marcus,' a third added.

His death has come as a shock to many, as one wrote: 'Omg this poor boy went though hell. So sad how long had he been out R.I.P.'

His release followed sustained pressure from Detained in Dubai's legal and advocacy teams, as well as public support, behind-the-scenes diplomatic discussions and a royal pardon application.

The family confirmed his arrival and expressed immense gratitude for the support received throughout the campaign.

When Marcus appealed for a pardon, Ms Stirling said: 'This has been the most traumatic and life-altering experience imaginable for Marcus.

'He is barely an adult himself, and never intended to break any law. What happened was legal in the UK and consensual. But now he is facing permanent damage to his mental health and future prospects because of it.'

She said Marcus was only able to call his family sporadically for short periods, adding that the isolation had been mentally and emotionally devastating for both him and his loved ones.

Marcus was arrested and sentenced to one year in a maximum-security prison last year over a consensual holiday relationship with another British tourist who was just a few months younger than himself - a fact he was not aware of at the time

Marcus had been serving his sentence at the Al Aweer jail, which is also known as the Dubai Central Prison for Men (pictured)

Marcus's family marched in Westminster earlier this year to demand his release from Dubai

His family held signs reading 'Justice for Marcus' and 'Bring our boy back home!' in January

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail from the UAE where he faced 12 months in a hellhole jail, the then 18-year-old begged: 'Please give me my life back.'

Marcus apologised for breaking the law and described his 'devastation' at the year long sentence.

He said: 'Today I was sentenced to one year in Dubai prison. My family and I are devastated and in shock.

'I never intended to break the law. It didn't occur to me at the time and for that, I'm sorry.

'I am asking His Highness, Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum to please forgive me and pardon me. Let me go home. Please give me my life back'.

His parents had been urgently appealing to Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the British Embassy in Dubai for assistance in advocating for his release.

After finally arriving home, Ms Stirling had said Marcus 'is currently recovering'.

She added: 'His case has attracted significant public attention due to concerns about the criminalisation of tourists and disproportionate sentencing.

'We believe this case highlights the urgent need for expedited legal processes for foreign nationals and safeguards against unnecessary custodial sentences.'

The construction apprentice's nightmare ordeal began in August last year after he and a 17-year-old girl, just a month short of her 18th birthday, began a holiday romance in the 210-a-night Hilton Dubai Palm Jumeirah, where their families were both staying.

After the girl and her family returned to the UK, her mother reported Marcus to the Dubai authorities after finding birth control pills in her daughter's luggage, according to legal documents seen by the Daily Mail.

Initially, Marcus was accused of rape, but was only cleared when police reviewed hotel CCTV footage which showed the girl going into his hotel bedroom at 4am.

It is not clear whether the accusation of rape originally came from the girl's mother or was due to a misunderstanding or mistranslation by police officers, but the term 'raped by force' in Arabic appeared on the initial police report.

Although never charged with rape, the fact that the girl was 17 put her under Dubai's age of sexual consent and Marcus was convicted of having under-age sex.

The Met have asked for any witnesses to the crash Marcus was involved in, or those who may have dashcam footage of the incident, to get in touch with them via 101 quoting CAD 214/03OCT.

The force say the Directorate of Professional Standards was informed about the incident, as was the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), in line with standard practice.
The trial of two alleged spies was secretly sabotaged by Labour who refused to brand China an 'enemy', it has been reported.

Christopher Cash, 30, from Whitechapel, east London, and Christopher Berry, 33, of Witney, Oxfordshire, were each charged with the offence of spying under the Official Secrets Act.

They were set to face trial in October, but proceedings against them were stopped on Monday, sparking criticism from Downing Street and MPs.

The pair were accused of passing information about the Government's foreign policy to a high-ranking member of the Chinese government.

Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman described it as being 'extremely disappointing' that the two men would not face trial.

Under the Official Secrets Act 1911, Mr Cash, who worked for Tory MPs, and Mr Berry, a teacher, were accused of collecting and passing information that would be 'directly or indirectly useful to an enemy'.

However, according to the Telegraph, the case collapsed after ministers withdrew a star witness who was set to testify that China was an 'enemy' of the UK.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was under the impression that a senior civil servant would give evidence to establish that Beijing was an enemy of Britain, which was needed for a successful prosecution, following previous assurances from the Conservative government.

Parliamentary aide Christopher Cash, 30, (pictured above in April arriving at Westminster Magistrates Court) and British teacher ChristopherBerry, 33, were each charged with the offence of spying under the Official Secrets Act

They were set to face trial in October, but proceedings against them were stopped on Monday, sparking criticism from Downing Street and MPs. Pictured: Christopher Berry (right)

There were also plans in place for intelligence officials to testify in a closed court to protect their identity.

However, prosecutors were told that Labour ministers were no longer willing to describe China as an enemy in court, causing the case to collapse.

Last month, Dan Jarvis, the Labour security minister, told Parliament the decision to drop the case was 'independent' from the government and it was 'not for any government minister to speculate on the reasons behind it'.

Speaking to The Times, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said the decision effectively gave Beijing 'licence to operate' within Parliament, after the men were alleged to have targeted the China Research Group of MPs.

The official who commissioned the research has since been named in media reports as Cai Qi, a senior aide to Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.

Mr Cash and Mr Berry have denied any wrongdoing. Mr Cash's lawyer has said his client is 'entirely innocent and should never have been arrested, let alone charged'.

Sir Lindsay, the director of public prosecutions said there was no 'outside pressure' influence the decision to drop the charges.

'As Speaker, I take the security of this house incredibly seriously. I believe this leaves the door open to foreign actors trying to spy on the House,' Sir Lindsay said.

'This door must be closed hard. We must pursue all avenues to ensure the protection of members and people that work within the House of Commons. It will not be tolerated.'

Speaking to The Times, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said the decision effectively gave Beijing 'licence to operate' within Parliament, after the men were alleged to have targeted the China Research Group of MPs

Stephen Parkinson, the chief prosecutor in England and Wales, said he shared 'the disappointment, and indeed frustration, expressed by many Parliamentarians, as well as members of the public, that this prosecution had to stop'.

He said the CPS, which he leads, had determined the case had to be stopped because of 'an evidential failure'.

However, Alicia Kearns, a Conservative MP who employed Mr Cash, said the decision to withdraw a witness raised 'serious questions about constitutional impropriety'.

She said: 'Starmer must answer: was it no longer in the public's interest to prosecute, or more likely he and his Labour Government don't have the mettle to defend the British people and our great democracy?'

Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, said the Government's decision to withdraw a witness was 'deeply alarming'.

'This really creates serious questions for the Government, and calls for them to be much more transparent and honest about their entire involvement in this case,' she said,' she said.

A government spokesman said: 'It is disappointing the individuals will not face trial, given the seriousness of the allegations.

'The decision not to proceed with prosecuting under the Official Secrets Act was made by the Crown Prosecution Service, entirely independently of government.

'National security is the first duty of government and we remain steadfast in upholding this responsibility.

'We will continue to use the full range of tools and powers to guard against malign activity. The introduction of the National Security Act has strengthened our ability to protect the UK, and to detect, disrupt, and deter any state activity seeking to undermine our democratic institutions.'
A man accused of killing a Long Island father in a high-speed crash nearly two decades ago has been extradited from India and is now behind bars in New York.

Ganesh Shenoy, 54, fled to Mumbai just two weeks after a fatal 2005 car crash that killed 44-year-old Philip Mastropolo.

Shenoy was finally returned to the US after a years-long international legal battle.

He was arraigned on second-degree manslaughter charges on Friday and ordered held without bail, prosecutors said.

Mastropolo, a maintenance engineer and family man, was T-boned and killed just minutes from his Hicksville home on April 11, 2005.

'He thought he got away with it, but not anymore,' Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.

'Ganesh Shenoy will be held responsible for his alleged actions, and my office will get justice for Philip and his family.'

Shenoy is charged with second-degree manslaughter and has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces between five and 15 years in prison.

Ganesh Shenoy, 54, fled to Mumbai two weeks after a fatal 2005 car crash that killed Philip Mastropolo, 44. Shenoy was returned to the US after a years-long international legal battle

Shenoy allegedly drove through a red light in Hicksville on Long Island and crashed into a Cadillac driven by 44-year-old Philip Mastropolo who was heading to work

Philip Mastropolo was 44 years old when Ganesh Shenoy slammed into his car and killed him in April 2005

The crash happened shortly after 6am at the intersection of Old Country Road and Levittown Parkway.

Shenoy, then a 33-year-old student at SUNY Old Westbury, was allegedly driving a 1993 Volvo at twice the speed limit when he ran a steady red light and slammed into Mastropolo's Cadillac.

'The impact of the crash was so violent that it launched Philip's car 65 feet into the front of a Freightliner box truck,' DA Donnelly said. 'Philip Mastropolo was pronounced dead at the scene.'

Surveillance footage and witness accounts confirmed that Shenoy had run the red light. Initially, he claimed he had the green light but his lie quickly unraveled.

He was taken to a nearby hospital for minor injuries but refused treatment.

Despite police seizing both his New York driver's license and Indian passport, Shenoy boarded a flight out of JFK Airport just 14 days later and on April 25, 2005 vanished into India leaving behind a grieving family and a host of unanswered questions.

'He wanted a quick getaway,' Donnelly said. 'And in the days that followed, it became clear why.'

An indictment was handed down on August 8, 2005, and both an arrest warrant and Interpol Red Notice were issued.

Mastropolo, a maintenance engineer and family man, was T-boned in his car and killed just minutes from his Hicksville home on April 11, 2005

Shenoy, then a 33-year-old student at SUNY Old Westbury, was allegedly driving a 1993 Volvo at twice the speed limit when he ran a steady red light and slammed into Mastropolo's Cadillac

Surveillance footage and witness accounts confirmed that Shenoy, Volvo, pictured, had run a red light. Initially, he claimed he had the green light but his lie quickly unraveled

But for the next 18 years, Shenoy fought extradition in Indian courts, living freely in Mumbai, beyond the reach of US law enforcement.

Meanwhile, the Mastropolo family, a widow and two children, spent nearly two decades in emotional limbo.

'His family deserved more time with the man they loved,' Donnelly said. 'Instead, they have lived with the pain of his loss for the last 20 years.'

On Friday, Mastropolo's now-adult children watched their father's alleged killer finally face justice on American soil.

'They were elated,' said Assistant District Attorney Michael Bushwack. 'And the defendant was expressionless.

'The first thing the family said was, "We never thought this day would come,"' Donnelly added.

'Philip Mastropolo was a great husband and father whose life was taken too soon under circumstances that we still believe deserve answers, accountability, and closure.

'We're hopeful that justice may finally be within reach after 20 years. We ask for privacy and respect as we navigate this emotional time,' the Mastropolo family said in a statement.

'He thought he got away with it, but not anymore,' Nassau County DA Anne Donnelly said

The crash happened just after 6am at the intersection of Old Country Road and Levittown Parkway

Shenoy's extradition required extensive international cooperation and is the first from India to the United States since 2017.

India rarely grants extradition requests, and the process can take decades even with diplomatic pressure.

DA Donnelly credited the US Department of Justice, the US Marshals Service, the US Embassy in New Delhi and the Office of International Affairs for bringing Shenoy home to face trial.

'After decades of evading law enforcement and dodging prosecution, my office finally returned this defendant to the United States,' Donnelly said.

'Prosecutors in this office never give up on a case, because justice, no matter how long it takes, is always worth fighting for. We got him,' she said. 'And he's not getting away from us again.

'Let this be a message to anyone who thinks they can commit a crime and vanish,' Donnelly added. 'We don't stop. We don't forget. And we don't give up.'
Rachel Reeves wants to take the axe to Britain's bloated asylum bill as she seeks to fill a 30billion black hole in her Budget

The Chancellor yesterday received the initial economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) watchdog telling her how much she needs to raise to balance the books.

Sources have told the Daily Mail she believes there are still huge savings to be made in wasteful public spending  yet she is not expected to make more cuts to Whitehall departments in the statement next month.

Instead the Treasury is targeting areas such as support for Channel migrants, where spending can be reduced without making a politically damaging return to austerity.

Ms Reeves is expected to set out in her Budget plans to curb the use of costly hotels to house new arrivals, having previously only vowed to close them by 2029.

She may also announce further restrictions on what public services asylum-seekers can access and when, after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said at the Labour Party conference that migrants must in future prove they have not claimed benefits before they can gain the right to permanent settlement.

A Treasury source told the Daily Mail: 'For years we have been saying that stagnant productivity has been holding working people back and that there is too much wasteful spending in government  with asylum spending at the top of the list. We are getting on with tackling that.'

Figures show the cost of the asylum system reached 5.4billion in 2023-24 but could rise still further as record numbers of migrants have crossed the Channel since Labour came to power.

Rachel Reeves (pictured) wants to take the axe to Britain's bloated asylum bill as she seeks to fill a 30billion black hole in her budget

Migrants try to board a crowded smuggler's boat off the coast of northern France on September 19 in a bid to cross the English Channel

The National Audit Office predicted this year that asylum accommodation alone will cost 15.3billion over a decade, triple the original estimate, as more are put up in hotels.

As of June there were still 32,059 asylum seekers in hotels, up 8 per cent in a year, but Ms Reeves said at her Spending Review she wanted to close them all by the end of this Parliament, expected in 2029, saving 1billion a year.

Last month Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted to 'bring that forward' after a summer dominated by protests outside hotels around the country, which ended with the Home Office successfully appealing against a High Court ruling that the Bell Hotel in Epping should be shut down.

It emerged this week that the Army is on standby to build new camps to house migrants, despite the problems the Conservative government had finding suitable sites, as well as moving them into disused student blocks.

Another 176 migrants were brought in to Dover having left France in three dinghies on Thursday, taking the tally for the past week to 2,213. In total 57,643 have arrived since the election in July 2024.
A rail firm has been fined 1million over the death of a woman who was killed by a tree branch while she stuck her head out of an open train window.

Bethan Roper, 28, died after hitting her head on an overhanging tree branch on a Great Western Railway (GWR) train travelling at 75mph near Twerton, Bath, in 2018.

The charity worker was returning home from a day out with friends Christmas shopping in Bath when she poked her head out of the window.

The London Paddington to Exeter service was using carriages fitted with droplight windows which enable passengers to use the handle on the outside when they needed to leave the train at the platform.

The rail safety watchdog's chief inspector said the death was 'a preventable tragedy' and fined GWR 1m as well as 78,000 in costs after prosecution by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

In 2016, a passenger died in a similar incident near Balham, south London and Ms Roper's death came after GWR failed to implement multiple safety recommendations about windows on high speed trains.

'Although GWR was already aware of a number of previous incidents, the company did not produce a written risk assessment for droplight windows until September 2017, the regulator said.

'However, ORR later found the assessment to be neither suitable nor sufficient and wrote to GWR to highlight its shortcomings.

Bethan Roper, 28, died after hitting her head on an overhanging tree brach on a Great Western Railway (GWR) train travelling at 75mph

She had been returning home on from a day out with friends Christmas shopping in Bath. Pictured: The tree branch sticking out of undergrowth

'The assessment was not revised in light of ORR's concerns, and the actions GWR had identified to reduce the risk were not implemented before the fatal accident in 2018.'

'That assessment identified the hazard as one of the most significant passenger safety risks.'

Richard Hines, ORR's Chief Inspector of Railways, said: 'Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Bethan Roper.

'Her death was a preventable tragedy that highlights the need for train operators to proactively manage risks and act swiftly when safety recommendations are made to keep their passengers safe.

'Our investigation found that GWR fell short in its responsibilities, and this prosecution reflects the serious consequences of that failure. We welcome the actions taken since by GWR and the wider industry to reduce the risks. Safety must always remain the first priority across Britain's railways.'

All trains with droplight windows have since either been withdrawn from service or fitted with controls to prevent windows being opened while trains are moving.

A spokesperson for GWR said: 'Bethan Roper's death was a tragic incident, and our thoughts remain with her family and friends.

'We accept the judge's decision and remain committed to continuously improving passenger and colleague safety across our network.

'In sentencing, the judge recognised our strong safety record both before and after this incident, and the safety of our passengers and colleagues remains our highest priority.
A boy aged four is feared dead after he went missing in the Australian Outback.

August 'Gus' Lamont vanished from his grandparents' home near Adelaide last Saturday afternoon.

Locals believe he may have fallen into an disused, unmarked mine. After a massive search effort, police have no significant clues regarding Gus's whereabouts  apart from a footprint found almost half a mile away from the house.

South Australian Assistant Police Commissioner Ian Parrott yesterday admitted the boy's chances of survival were slim  not least because of freezing overnight temperatures in the state.

He said: 'We're confident that we've done absolutely everything we can to locate Gus within the search area. Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to locate him and, unfortunately, we are now having to scale back this search for Gus.'

Australia's Outback is a notoriously remote and inhospitable terrain but police still hold some slim hopes Gus will be found alive despite such conditions.

He was last seen at 5pm last Saturday by his grandmother playing outside at the property, which is near Yunta  200 miles north-east of Adelaide. When she went to call him inside half an hour later, the boy had vanished.

Gus was wearing a grey hat, a blue Despicable Me-themed shirt, light grey trousers, and boots at the time of his disappearance.

August 'Gus' Lamont, 4, vanished from his grandparents' home near Adelaide last Saturday afternoon.

Despite a massive search operation, the emergency services have been unable to locate Gus, with locals voicing fears that the youngster may have falled down one of the abandoned wells and mines that pockmark the area

Police believe he simply wandered off and was not taken.

Mr Parrott added: 'While those involved in the search have been hoping for a miracle, over the past 48 hours the search has shifted to a recovery operation.

'The investigation will now be managed by the Missing Persons Investigation Section. This is where all long term cases such as this are managed and investigated and is standard practice.

'We will now continue to pursue ongoing lines of inquiry, and we will not rest until we can try to find the answer to why Gus has gone missing and hopefully for the family, return him to them.'

Police Superintendent Mark Syrus previously said it was 'unusual' for Gus to wander as he 'normally stays within the confines of the area'.

'But who knows what goes through a four-year-old's mind?' he added. 'We understand he's a pretty quiet sort of lad, but he is a country lad and he's pretty adventurous as well. Moving out of the area is a little bit unusual.'

One local said Gus may have fallen into a mine.

'I would be more worried about the unmarked wells and mines he may have fallen into,' he said. 'That's the talk.'

The state is dotted with mines and wells from more than a century ago. They were used as water sources for livestock and those hunting gold, with many being invisible to the naked eye.

A picture of a footprint that police believe may have been left by Gus

Family friend Bill Harbison issued a statement on the family's behalf earlier in the week.

It read: 'This has come as a shock to our family and friends, and we are struggling to comprehend what has happened. Gus's absence is felt in all of us and we miss him more than words can express.

'Our hearts are aching, and we are holding on to hope that he will be found and returned to us safely.

'At this time, we kindly ask for privacy as we focus all our energy on supporting the search and working closely with the police.'
An Aboriginal leader has launched a scathing attack on police after the search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamon was scaled back.

Clinton Pryor, also known as Spirit Walker, demanded South Australian Police explain why they had 'given up' on Gus, who was last seen on September 27.

The little boy disappeared from his grandparents' remote homestead, about 40km south of Yunta, north-east of Adelaide in the afternoon.

On Friday, SAPOL Assistant Police Commissioner Ian Parrott said it was unlikely that Gus would be found alive and that search efforts would be scaled back.

Police had gained no significant clues regarding Gus's whereabouts, apart from a footprint located 500metres from the property.

Search teams will now focus their efforts closer to his grandparents' homestead, where they believe the four-year-old is more likely to be found.

But Mr Pryor said any officers should be 'ashamed' of themselves in an expletive-laden Facebook post on Friday.

'To everyone and to those who call off the search on little Gus, you need to have good f***ing look at this photo and tell me why you chose to give up,' he began.

Clinton Pryor, also known as Spirit Walker, demanded South Australian Police explain why they had 'given up' on finding Gus, who was last seen on September 27

Little Gus went missing from his grandparents' homestead in the afternoon of September 27

'You are not calling off the search for cop killer Dezi Freeman [since] he killed two cops [and] that's more important than trying to find a four-year-old child.

'You never call off the search on little Cleo Smith in WA years' back. The police went door to door smashing area down to the ground to find her and they did.

'So why the f*** you SA police force and those who call off the search on a four-year-old boy, just give up like that. You all f***ing a-hole need to be ashamed of yourself giving up on this little angel.

'He could of been still alive if we look longer, you didn't even go knocking door to door asking people questions and start searching in another area or people house.

'You left him out there to die or didn't take the next step on if he got kidnap.

'And you only search for him only one week f***ing disgrace the SA police force.

'I having my 2 cents and don't care what you all think of me right now. I'm man that care that all. I been doing my part trying help find little Gus by creating awareness.

'I'm just piss[ed] of right now.'

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Gus was last seen playing on a mound of dirt around 5pm before he suddenly vanished

Cleo Smith vanished from a remote Blowholes camping site on October 16, 2021.

After an extensive search operation and investigation Cleo was found playing with toys in a house belonging to the man who had abducted her 18 days later.

Accused cop-killer Dezi Freeman vanished after allegedly shooting two police officers and then fleeing into rugged mountainous terrain.

ADF personnel were stood down from the search for Gus on Friday afternoon.

The number of police vehicles surrounding the property was significantly reduced.

Commissioner Parrott said the decision was based on scientific and professional advice on how long a four-year-old could survive alone in remote terrain in freezing overnight temperatures.

Officers still hold slim hope that they will find Gus alive and return him to his family.

Police believe Gus wandered off and was not taken, as the only people who travel on the nearby road are station owners.
BBC bosses are calling for the defence budget to be used to help pay for the World Service as aspects of its work are vital for national security, it has been reported.

Senior executives at the broadcaster are said to be in discussions over whether parts of the radio network's service, such as its anti-disinformation work, should qualify.

It comes as the BBC is facing cuts that could reach up to tens of millions of pounds.

In May, it emerged that the Labour government was calling on the BBC to draw up budget plans up to 70million lower than what the broadcaster thinks it needs.

The head of the World Service, Jonathan Munro, is now looking at ways to 'spread the burden' of spending across different departments, The Guardian has reported.

He said: 'There are quite difficult rules about what counts as defence spending, but things that count as stability and conflict spending are now also built into that space.'

Sources told the publication that the broadcaster is seeking to dip into money from the defence budget, which has recently been increased.

This is due to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's promise of increasing the proportion of GDP spent on defence to 2.5 per cent by 2027.

BBC bosses are calling for the defence budget to be used to help pay for the World Service as aspects of its work are vital for national security

BBC World Service boss Jonathan Munro (pictured) says he wants to 'spread the burden' of the budget across government departments to avoid cuts

The BBC's World Service, which delivers news in 42 languages to a global audience, has a 400million budget that is largely funded by the licence fee alongside grants from the government, which make up a third of its income.

All grant money is currently taken from the Foreign Office's budget - with 80 per cent of this qualifying as overseas aid.

However, this source of funding was put at risk earlier this year when Starmer called for the aid budget to be slashed in half.

With the Foreign Office's finances being squeezed, corporation bosses are hoping to shift some of their needs over to defence.

They are reportedly calling for the work the World Service does monitoring foreign media and countering propaganda to be seen as vital for national security.

A spokesperson for the BBC said: 'The BBC World Service delivers unparalleled UK cultural influence around the world, and as well as bringing economic benefits to the UK, plays an important role in national security and global stability.

'We are making the case to the Foreign Office about our funding and will continue our discussions with the government.'

Earlier this year, the BBC slimmed down its international output as part of plans to save 6million. Some 130 job losses were also announced on the World Service.
The massive fire that broke out Thursday night at one of California's largest oil refineries is set to send gas prices climbing almost immediately across the Western US.

A jet fuel unit within the two-square-mile Chevron facility in El Segundo, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, exploded into a fireball that was visible for miles at around 9:30pm local time.

Residents were initially worried for their safety as the blaze burned brightly for hours, but now, with multiple production units going offline on Friday, they are now more concerned with the prices they'll pay at the pump.

Matt McClain from GasBuddy.com, a tech company that tracks gas prices all over the country, said the fire will likely cause Californians to pay 'a nickel to 15 cents a gallon' more in the coming days.

'This particular refinery, anytime it shuts down, it impacts prices all along the western coast of the United States, and even into places like Vancouver, British Columbia, other aspects in Canada,' McClain told KABC.

The refinery, which opened in 1911, produces about one-fifth of motor vehicle fuel and 40 percent of jet fuel that is consumed in Southern California.

And since the state already has a limited number of operational refineries, many of which are undergoing renovations, any problems with the Chevron facility can wreak havoc on the gasoline market.

McClain said when the damage looked worse, he was hearing estimates of a 30 to 90-cent hike per gallon. But since the fire was brought under control relatively quickly and contained a limited area of the refinery, experts have revised their predictions.

Pictured: Firefighters attempt to put out the fire on Thursday at the Chevron oil refinery in El Segundo, which is just south of LAX

Expert Matt McClain warned that gas prices in California could go up by five to 15 cents in the coming days

'As long as the initial reports of the extent of the damage remains, it's actually a very positive thing for gasoline consumers,' he said.

Although a gasoline unit was not affected in the fire, the mere appearance of damage often spikes wholesale spot prices, which can trickle down to local gas stations in a matter of days.

Economist Severin Borenstein told the Los Angeles Times that the length of time production units are down will significantly impact price movement.

If it lasts for a few weeks, gasoline could get prohibitively expensive, he said. Imports and gasoline that is being held in storage could alleviate the worst of it, but imports typically take a month to arrive.

The price of a regular gallon of gas in the Los Angeles area is $4.718, up from $4.639 a month ago and $4.543 a year ago.

This comes as two major refineries plan to wind down operations in the near future.

The Phillips 66 twin refinery complex in Los Angeles County is closing this quarter, and Valero's Bay Area facility is shutting down early next year.

These two operations account for about 20 percent of the state's oil refining capability, which has led to further concern about prices skyrocketing.

Pictured: The fire at the Chevron facility continued to burn throughout the night, but was gotten under control relatively quickly, which experts believe staved the worst price increase scenario

Pictured: The Chevron facility is seen on Friday morning with the fire completely extinguished

Governor Gavin Newsom has been blamed for this by Republicans, and in recent weeks, he has signed a number of bills that look to address affordability issues.

He approved a bill last month that will allow 2,000 new oil wells per year through 2036 in Kern County. It's a huge departure from his goal of phasing out oil extraction by 2045.

He also signed a bill this week that will allow gas stations to sell cheaper gas with 15 percent ethanol. The typical cocktail is 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline.

Ethanol 15, as it's called, has not been fully reviewed by California air regulators and some environmental groups say it has the potential to create more smog.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel was preparing to initiate the 'first stage' of Donald Trump's peace plan.

Netanyahu's government had told the Israeli Defense Forces to stop its invasion of Gaza City and to reduce activity in Gaza 'to a minimum,' Israeli Army Radio reported.

The IDF order to halt offensive operations marks a remarkable U-turn in the war against Hamas since the terrorist group's invasion of Israel on October 7 two years ago.

They have been ordered to only act if in defense and will stop their plan to occupy the city and evacuate remaining residents.

It comes after Hamas announced it has agreed to release all Israeli hostages and return the remains of the deceased under Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza.

'In light of the Hamas response [to the Trump peace plan], Israel is making preparations for the immediate implementation of the first phase of the Trump plan which is the immediate release of all of the hostages,' Netanyahu said in a statement.

'We will continue to fully cooperate with the president and his team in order to end the war in accordance with the principles that Israel laid out and which are in line with President Trump's vision.'

On Friday afternoon, Trump posted a video celebrating the deal, though he similarly was waiting to get it 'in concrete' with Hamas and Israel.

He thanked Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey alongside others for having 'helped me put this together.'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was prepared for the implementation of the 'first stage' of Donald Trump's peace plan, apparently referring to the release of hostages

It came after Trump posted a video celebrating the deal, though he similarly was waiting to get it 'in concrete' with Hamas and Israel

'So many people fought so hard, this is a big day, we'll see how it all turns out, we have to get the final word down in concrete,' he said.

'Most importantly, I look forward to having the hostages come home to their parents and having some of the hostages, unfortunately you know the condition they're in, come home likewise to their parents, because their parents wanted them just as much as if that young man or young woman were alive.'

He called the deal brokered between the two sides 'maybe unprecedented' and said it was 'a special day.'

'Thank you all and thank you all to those great countries that helped, we were given a tremendous amount of help. Everybody was unified in wanting this war to end and seeing peace in the Middle East and we're very close to achieving that,' Trump added.

The announcement comes just hours after the US president threatened to unleash 'all hell' on the jihadists if they did not agree to his peace proposal which was backed by Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.

'The movement announces its approval to release all occupation prisoners, alive and dead, according to the exchange formula mentioned in President Trump's proposal,' Hamas said in a statement.

The terrorists also agreed to hand over administrative control of Gaza to an independent body of Palestinian technocrats. It claimed those technocrats will be 'based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support.'

Trump responded on his Truth Social platform that he believes Hamas are acting in good faith and demanded that Israel 'immediately stop the bombing of Gaza so that we can get the hostages out.'

Trump and Netanyahu at the White House on Monday

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Hamas fighters secure an area before handing over three Israeli hostages to a Red Cross team in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on Saturday on February 8

'Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE,' the president said.

The terror group rejected Trump's proposed chairmanship of a 'Board of Peace' that would rule over Gaza, with other leaders such as ex-British prime minister Tony Blair suggested as members. It also refused to completely disarm.

Hamas chief Mousa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera: 'We will never accept anyone who is not Palestinian to control the Palestinians. We can't bring someone like Tony Blair to be governor in Gaza because this man, he destroyed Iraq'.

The Islamists said that other elements of Trump's 20-point peace plan regarding the future of Gaza 'will be discussed through a comprehensive Palestinian national framework in which Hamas will participate and contribute responsibly.'

The jihadists praised Trump in its announcement, writing: 'Hamas appreciates the Arab, Islamic, and international efforts, as well as the efforts of US President Donald Trump, calling for stopping the war on the Gaza Strip, exchanging prisoners, immediate entry of aid, rejecting the occupation of the Strip, and rejecting the displacement of our Palestinian people from it.'

Twenty hostages are thought to still remain in Hamas captivity, as well as the bodies of another 28 it has refused to send home to Israeli families since its barbaric attack on October 7, 2023.

Hamas' statement comes a few hours after Trump issued a warning on Truth Social demanding the group accept his peace plan outlined earlier this week.

Trump threatened that 'all hell' will break out on the militants if they did not accept his plan by 6pm on Sunday. The deal includes that all remaining hostages are released within 72 hours of an agreement.

This handout picture released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Israeli hostage Emily Damari (2nd L) embracing a relative welcoming her at the Sheba medical center in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, on January 19

Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday: 'Hamas has been a ruthless and violent threat, for many years, in the Middle East! They have killed (and made lives unbearably miserable), culminating with the October 7th MASSACRE, in Israel, babies, woman, children, old people, and many young men and women, boys and girls, getting ready to celebrate their future lives together.'

Trump met Netanyahu earlier this week at the White House along with some of the Israeli PM's top team, and agreed on a new peace deal for Gaza.

The White House released a 20-point plan, which included increasing aid to Gaza and an economic development proposal that includes preferred tariffs and access rates.

Hamas is pushing back against disarming, according to Arab mediators in Doha, Qatar, stating that they must retain defensive capabilities.

The terror organization said it would be willing to handover offensive weapons to Egypt and the United Nations for storage.

Hamas has also reiterated its demand for a timeline for Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.

Previous attempts to pressure the Islamists into agreeing a peace deal, including threats from US envoy Steve Witkoff, have failed to yield an outcome.

Negotiations almost collapsed last month after Israel's strike on Qatar, which has been a crucial mediator in the discussions.

Since then, Trump has managed to gain support from Netanyahu as well as the key Arab power brokers in the region.
Footage released from police in New Mexico captures the moment officers had to reach into an upside down, burning car to pull out a man after the car he was in crashed during an illegal street race.

The Farmington Police Department shared the video of the September 26 wreck to 'highlight the dangers of street racing'.

A surveillance camera caught a white sedan flying down the road, before it clipped the side of another moving vehicle.

That was enough to cause the car to spin around nearly 90 degrees, collide with a parked car, and flip over into a nearby parking lot.

It exploded on impact while two male occupants were inside, police said.

While this was all playing out, the other vehicle identified by police as involved in the race, a red Toyota Supra, was seen speeding after the crashed car and stopping right near it.

The driver of the Toyota, 22-year-old Kalynn Kenworthy, was later charged with racing on highways.

Officers immediately arrived on the scene because they had been aware of the race and had tried to stop the white car, which fled from them.

Pictured: The white car in the middle of the intersection is in the middle of a street race. Moments later, it collides with the white car slightly ahead and veers into a parked car

Pictured: The white car, which had two people inside, exploded on impact

Pictured: Police pull this 20-year-old man out of the still-burning car with his sweatshirt visibly emitting smoke

Police body camera footage shows an officer pulling Kenworthy away from the burning car as she was telling her friend to, 'Grab my hand! Grab my f***ing hand!'

The person inside, later identified as a 20-year-old man, was screaming in pain as the officer yanked him out. The back of his sweatshirt was on fire for several seconds before it got stamped out from him lying on the asphalt.

The man stayed face down in the parking lot of a local grocery store for several minutes while the police waited for paramedics to arrive.

In that time, he told them he was the passenger and that his friend was the driver. The driver was discovered among a crowd of bystanders and was told to sit down near where the cops had set up.

It's unclear how the driver got out of the car, but police said charges are pending against him. They have only identified him as a 27-year-old man.

At one point, Kenworthy tried to check on her injured friend as he repeatedly begged police to call his grandma.

'I'm just making sure that he's okay,' she said as officers tried to get her to stay back. 'All I care about is him, I don't give a f*** about that, I don't give a f*** about my car.'

When asked, the man said his hands and face hurt. His nose was visibly gushing blood, and he believed it was broken during the crash.

'Dude, I'm f***ed up,' he said. 'I don't want to die.'

Pictured: The car continues to burn in the background as the injured man lay on the ground of the parking lot where he was pulled to safety

An emotional Kalynn Kenworthy, the 22-year-old driver of the red Toyota Supra police say was involved in the race, tries to get past police to check on her friend

Kenworthy, who has a history of street racing and speeding violations, was arrested and booked into the San Juan County Detention Center the morning of September 27, the day after the crash

Both men, the driver and the passenger, were taken to the San Juan Regional Medical Center for treatment, police said.

Kenworthy, who was not injured, was booked into the San Juan County Detention Center the morning of September 27, the day after the crash.

It was also revealed that she has an extensive history of traffic violations. She has been cited for racing in 2023 and in August 2025, a month before this incident.

She also has more than seven speeding citations within the past four years, and each time, she was clocked going more than 15 miles per hour over the speed limit.

Farmington police responded to 2,672 crashes in 2024, which combined left 463 people injured and seven dead.

Police Chief Steve Hebbe has called the street racing 'kind of in the fabric of Farmington' and a '20-year problem'.
Rogue Liberal Andrew Hastie has defended his decision to sensationally quit the party's leadership team and ruled out a tilt for the top job.

Announcing his resignation from shadow cabinet on Friday, the former SAS soldier said he wanted the freedom to be more outspoken on immigration policy by sitting on the back bench.

Shadow cabinet is bound by solidarity when it comes to policy and members can't cross the floor to vote against an established position, while backbenchers can.

'We're also going through a period of renewal as a party and I want to be able to speak up on issues I care about,' Mr Hastie told reporters in Perth on Saturday.

'In order to uphold the principle of shadow cabinet solidarity, I had to step back.

'On the back bench, I'll continue to advocate for things I believe in.'

Mr Hastie was the opposition's home affairs spokesman, which typically includes immigration as a junior portfolio.

Liberal senator Paul Scarr, the coalition's immigration spokesman, offers a more moderate voice as he pushes greater focus on multiculturalism and repairing damaged ties with migrant communities.

Rogue Liberal Andrew Hastie (pictured) has defended his decision to sensationally quit the party's leadership team on and ruled out a tilt for the top job

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley (pictured) is presiding over a divided Liberal Party

It's somewhat different to the more hardline stance of Mr Hastie and conservative-leaning MPs including recently demoted Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who have issued a clarion call against mass migration.

Senator Price was removed from the shadow ministry after refusing to apologise for comments disparaging Indian Australians, claiming Labor was bringing in more of the diaspora to bolster its vote.

Ms Ley and Mr Hastie are at odds over his resignation, with the West Australian saying he quit because he wasn't being given a big enough say in policy.

But Ms Ley said he didn't raise policy matters when he called to inform her on Friday.

Asked about specifics, Mr Hastie said he wouldn't get into the details.

The Liberals have not locked in any immigration policies as they undertake a major review following their crushing election defeat in May.

The resignation came just days after Ms Ley wrote to her senior team, outlining policy priorities in their portfolios and her expectations about solidarity, including in public.

Mr Hastie denied he intended challenging Ms Ley's leadership and said no one had approached him to.

Mr Hastie (pictured) ruled out a a tilt for the top job following his resignation

'I support Sussan. I tried to do this in good faith,' he said.

'I want to give her the clear air and the opportunity to build a policy platform for the 2028 election.'

Asked if the move undermined Ms Ley, who has been dealing with an outspoken backbench, he said the political profession was one 'where convictions matter'.

'Everyone knows politics is full of uncertainty and this is just one of those moments,' he said.

Liberal frontbencher James Paterson said he respected Mr Hastie's decision and his resignation 'shows integrity' but cautioned the party would eventually need to unify.

'It's not surprising after the largest defeat in the Liberal Party's history... there's a period of debate and introspection and discussion about the future direction of the party.

'But that can't go on forever. That's something that is appropriate at the start of the term but if we're still doing this in a year or two's time... that will be to our political detriment.'

Liberal senator Jane Hume said while losing Mr Hastie from the front bench was a blow, 'we're such a small and depleted team after the last election, everybody... has to stump up and pull their weight'.
The MP was reportedly dining with a woman

Latham was escorted by two police officers

Mark Latham has been escorted by police from a members-only restaurant at Royal Randwick Racecourse.

In a photo obtained by the Daily Telegraph, Latham is seen leaving the Grand View Restaurant flanked by two police officers about 1.45pm on Saturday.

It's understood the 64-year-old former Labor leader was asked to leave by management, who then contacted police.

The Grand View restaurant is managed by the Australian Turf Club (ATC), which had previously put a 12-month good behaviour bond and suspension on Latham's membership.

Members are no longer allowed to attend races during their suspension period.

A spokesman for the ATC said Latham had been asked to leave the restaurant because of his ban from NSW racetracks.

'We can confirm an incident occurred regarding a former member who had been subject to disciplinary proceedings,' he told the publication.

'He was asked to leave the racecourse.'

In a photo, obtained by the Daily Telegraph, Latham is seen leaving the Grand View Restaurant flanked by two police officers on Saturday afternoon (pictured)

It's understood the 64-year-old politician was allegedly asked to leave by management, who then contacted police (pictured, Royal Randwick Racecourse)

A NSW Police spokesperson said ATC officials asked that a 64-year-old man be removed from the members area about 1.45pm on Saturday.

'The man complied and there is no further police action,' the spokesperson said.

The Daily Mail has contacted Latham for further comment.

The incident comes after the ATC recently passed a resolution prohibiting suspended members from attending races.

The ban also applies to those who have resigned their membership.

Latham resigned his membership in June, after the ATC argued he breached the conditions of his suspension that prohibited him from criticising the club.

He took to X to slam the ATC for its 'lousy customer service, incompetent management and a complete lack of collegiality'.

'In all honesty, it's not much of a club for the money we pay,' he said. 'I would not have renewed my membership anyway, so this act of spite simply brings it forward.'

Latham was asked to attend a Racing NSW disciplinary hearing last month after he allegedly verbally abused a staff member at the Rosehill Racecourse in April.

He is still awaiting the results of the hearing.


Six former teachers are demanding compensation from an Adelaide private school, claiming they were wrongly sacked for failing to show proof of their Covid vaccinations.

The ex-staff from Temple Christian College, Adrian Siegfried, Mark Treloar, Karen Chang, Andrea Mitchell, Christopher Pappas and Stewart Robertson, say the school had no valid reason to fire them on the spot in 2021.

Mr Pappas had served as the school's head of mathematics.

Mr Treloar had taught there for more than 37 years, while Mr Siegfried had been on staff for more than 17 years.

The college sacked them after they failed to submit their vaccine proof before the deadline given to them by the school.

The group has taken their fight to the SA Employment Tribunal, arguing the school and its principal, Marcel Rijken, breached their enterprise agreement by refusing to pay them 12 weeks' notice.

Last month, the school's attempt to have the cases of Mr Siegfried and Mr Treloar struck out, was denied by a Magistrate.

The school had claimed the pair's terminations had already been dealt with through a prior settlement, calling their new legal action frivolous.

The six teachers were former staff at the Temple Christian College in Adelaide (pictured)

But the magistrate disagreed, ruling that more evidence was needed before a decision could be made.

Mr Robertson, a legal studies and workplace practices teacher, had already won a separate case against the school, after the tribunal ruled he should have been paid in lieu of notice.

The court previously heard that in November 2021, Mr Rijken sent an email to all staff warning they had six days to provide proof of vaccination or face the sack.

The next day, he followed up with personal emails to the affected teachers, including Mr Robertson, Mr Treloar, Mr Pappas and Mr Siegfried.

Temple Christian College, a coeducational school with campuses in Paralowie, Mile End and Marion, had 42 of its 196 staff either unvaccinated, undecided or yet to disclose their status by the cut-off.

The Advertiser revealed that Mr Rijken sent emails to the staff the day following the deadline, which included Mr Robertson, Mr Treloar, Mr Pappas and Mr Siegfried.

'You may have already notified me that you do not intend to be vaccinated or will not meet the requirements,' the email said.

'If this is the case, I regret to inform you  your employment will cease from 11 December 2021 and you will be paid all your leave entitlements within seven days.'

Temple Christian College principal Marcel Rijken (pictured) sent an email to sacked staff

The teachers did not meet the deadline to submit their proof of vaccine to the school (stock)

The case will return to court later this year.

Earlier this year, a group of Queensland teachers and small business owners won the right to challenge the state's Covid vaccine mandates, after the Court of Appeal granted them leave to appeal.

The case involved seven teachers who were sacked for refusing to get vaccinated and 12 small business owners who say the mandates devastated their livelihoods.

In 2024, a judge ruled that Queensland Police and Ambulance policies about vaccine mandates breached part of the state's Human Rights Act.
At least 492 people have been arrested at a pro-Palestine protest in central London after organisers refused to cancel the demonstration following the synagogue terror attack earlier this week.

The Prime Minister had urged groups behind the demonstrations in Manchester and London along with attendees to 'respect the grief of British Jews' as he said the events could cause further pain to mourners.

However, a protest in central London campaigning against the proscription of Palestine Action went ahead, after organisers from group Defend Our Juries had a public spat with the Metropolitan Police and refused to call it off.

By 3.45pm on Saturday, Met Police officers had arrested 175 people for expressing support for the proscribed group, mostly for holding signs that read: 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action'.

A Daily Mail analysis shows that the Met Police has so far arrested at least 1,984 people in London for allegedly supporting Palestine Action since it was proscribed on July 5.

Meanwhile, a march held by Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine, which has taken place regularly over the last two years, also went ahead in the face of counter-protesters who held Union flags.

And vast swathes of people turned out at pro-Palestinian rallies across Europe on, calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and the release of activists on board a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the territory.

The Manchester marches were referenced by members of the public who heckled Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy when he spoke at a vigil near the attack on Friday.

Police remove a protester after a banner was unfurled on Westminster Bridge as part of a demonstration organised by Defend our Juries, in support of Palestine Action, in London on Saturday

People take part in a demonstration organised by GM Friends of Palestine at Manchester Cathedral on Saturday

Around 50 pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered at a rally in Manchester on Saturday

How many in London have the Met Police arrested for supporting PA? A Daily Mail analysis of contemporaneous news reports and official police figures shows that the Met Police has arrested at least 1,984 people for allegedly supporting Palestine Action since it was sanctioned. The group was made a proscribed terrorist organisation on July 5 after its activists broke into RAF Brize Norton and vandalised a plane. The government's move was heavily criticised by civil liberties groups as a gross overreach of the state that conflated protest with terror. Despite the proscription, thousands still took to streets across the country to show their support for both Palestine Action and the people of Gaza. The Met has been slammed for alleged overzealousness in its arrests. At a protest in London's Parliament Square on August 9, Brighton engineer Miles Pickering was arrested for wearing a T-shirt that read 'Plasticine Action'. Advertisement

It comes after a protest in support of members of a flotilla attempting to reach Gaza, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, held in Whitehall, central London just hours after the fatal attack on Thursday evening descended into chaos.

Early on Saturday afternoon, a group of people attending the Defend Our Juries protest unfurled a banner on Westminster Bridge which read: 'We oppose genocide. We support Palestine Action.'

Six people were arrested after unfurling the banner for expressing support for a proscribed organisation, the Met said.

Officers from the Met Police then began making arrests amongst protesters who were declaring their support for Palestine Action.

An estimate from organisers Defend Our Juries suggested around 700 people gathered in Trafalgar Square, half the number they had predicted. A statement on the group's social media pages later said 1,000 had gathered.

At 1pm, many unveiled signs which said they supported Palestine Action.

Dave Rich, director of policy at the Community Security Trust charity which provides protection for the Jewish community, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I think it's phenomenally tone deaf, to say the least, for so many people who claim to care about human rights and care about freedoms, to be taking police resources away from protecting the rights and freedoms of Jewish people to live their lives and go to synagogue in safety, all to support a proscribed terrorist organisation, which is not the same thing as supporting the Palestinians.

'And I think it's remarkably self-absorbed and insensitive, to say the least.'

But Kerry Moscogiuri, director of campaigns at human rights group Amnesty International UK, said: 'Arresting hundreds of people for peacefully sitting down and holding these signs is not the job of police.

'These arrests are in breach of the UK's international human rights obligations and should not be happening.'

A protester is escorted by police at a 'Lift the ban' protest by pro-Palestine group 'Defend our Juries' Pro-Palestine march in London on October 4

People stage a protest to demand the British government to lift its ban on Palestine Action in Trafalgar Square on Saturday

Protesters hold signs declaring their support for Palestine Action during a protest in Trafalgar Square, central London today

A protester is taken away by police officers after being arrested in central London

Protesters unfurl a banner on Westminster Bridge as part of a demonstration organised by Defend our Juries, in support of Palestine Action in Trafalgar Square

As officers made arrests, others in the crowd chanted: 'Free, free Palestine.' Among those detained is understood to be 79-year-old Elizabeth Morley, a Jewish daughter of a Holocaust survivor.

Another person arrested was 83-year-old retired priest Sue Parfitt, who has now been detained for supporting Palestine Action for the third time.

Bristolian Parfitt was led away while holding a sign that read: 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action'.

When the elderly woman was arrested at a protest in July, Met Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley defended the action by saying: 'The law doesn't have an age limit'.

A protester supporting Palestine Action said 'we are going to win this battle' as he awaited arrest in Trafalgar Square.

Mike Higgins, 62, who is blind and uses a wheelchair, said he expects to be arrested for holding a poster supporting the banned group as police continue to detain activists.

He told the PA news agency he is here again 'because of the genocide, the absolute, dreadful inhumanity of the Israeli state in the way that is treating the people of Palestine'.

Asked why he did not heed Sir Keir Starmer's calls to postpone or cancel today's action, he said: 'Well, I didn't think he negotiated with terrorists. We're supposed to be terrorists, aren't we Sir Keir now, either we are or we're not.

Police officers arrest a protester on a mobility scooter in Trafalgar Square who was holding a placard stating 'I Oppose Genocide, I Support Palestine Action'

Hundreds of thousands of citizens take to the streets of Rom to march in solidarity with Gaza, the Palestinians and the Global Sumud Flotilla on October 4 2025

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather in Rome's San Giovanni Square, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators take part in a national protest for Gaza, in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025

A demonstrators wears a mask with the words '2 years' on it in support of Palestinians during a national protest, ahead of the two year anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas from Gaza, in Dublin, Ireland, October 4 2025

'If we're not terrorists, then leave us alone. Let us protest. Let us demonstrate for the right to freedom of speech.'

He added: 'We are going to win this battle, by the way, there's no doubt about that. The problem for me is that I want to win it now to try and bring an end to the suffering in Palestine.'

The Met released a statement on Saturday afternoon saying arrests were still ongoing.

A spokesperson said: 'The final arrest total for todays public order policing operation in central London is 492.

'488 of the arrests were for supporting a proscribed organisation.

'The remainder were for being drunk and disorderly, common assault, a public order offence and being wanted for an unrelated matter.

'The youngest person arrested was 18, the oldest was 89. 297 remain in custody, the rest have been bailed.'

One protester who gave her name only as Bridget, is a 73-year-old retired health service worker from Yorkshire.

After being arrested by officers, she told the Mail: 'I don't care. I welcome it. The police have been very pleasant.

'Manchester was horrific. But it won't stop me being here today.'

Hilary Callam, 83, from Hampton Court, west London, said she was prepared to be arrested for the first time in her life.

She said: 'I have very strong feelings against this ban. We are not direct action. We're not violent.

'The arguments not to come this week were convincing and heartfelt. I was in two minds. But I wouldn't want to let terror win.

'I have never been arrested before. I would not rule out coming back. I am not worried about being arrested today.'

Police officers detain a demonstrator in Trafalgar Square during a protest in support of Palestine Action on October 4, 2025

An activist is arrested for holding an illegal sign in Trafalgar square on October 4, 2025 in London, England

Members of the Jewish community attend a pro-Palestine demonstration in Manchester on Saturday

A small number of counter-protesters, some holding Union Jacks, gathered in Manchester today

A man holding a Union Jack flag faces off with police officers and pro-Palestine protesters in Manchester city centre on Saturday

Finlay Hoskins, 26, from Southampton, is also prepared to be arrested today.

Mr Hoskins, who is on disability benefits, said: 'I don't support the government. What happened on October 7 is horrible. What happened in Manchester is horrible.

'I have my sign which supports Palestine Action. I don't care. I'm scared. But it's the right thing.'

One elderly woman sat away from crowds at the Palestine Action protest with her sign face down, but was still arrested for showing support for the banned group.

The woman had the cardboard sign on her lap and was approached by officers who asked her to show it to them.

After turning it over to reveal it said 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action', she was arrested and taken away. She was thanked by crowds who clapped and cheered as she walked away.

As the Met began making arrests in London, the force said in a statement: 'Officers have begun making arrests in Trafalgar Square where people are displaying placards in support of Palestine Action.

'The square is busy, but quite a few people in the crowd appear to be observing/supporting but not carrying placards themselves.'

One man at the protest in London who was arrested by police wore a hoodie with the Star of David and a Swastika

A woman is carried away from Trafalgar Square during today's protest in London

Police officers form a pen around a woman as they place her under arrest

Finlay Hoskins, 26, from Southampton, is spoken to by police at a pro-Palestine protest in central London. He was later seen being carried away by officers

Met Police officers detain a female protester in Trafalgar Square in London on Saturday

Police have started arresting pro-Palestinian protestors (pictured) after organisers refused to cancel the demonstration after a synagogue terror attack earlier this week

Police officers detain a protester during a mass demonstration organised by Defend our Juries

Police officers gathered in force before beginning to make arrests in Trafalgar Square on Saturday

Demonstrators hold up placards in Trafalgar Square during a protest in support of Palestine Action on Saturday, October 4

In Manchester, between 50 and 100 people turned out in the rain to protest

One man was pictured wearing a custom hoodie with the Star of David and a Swastika imprinted on it.

A 73-year-old woman, who refused to give her name, said she was supporting Palestine action, adding: 'It's outrageous we were being asked not to protest.

'Two people got killed. I mean it's terrible. But they're letting this genocide carry on.'

When asked if Hamas were a terrorist organisation, she said: 'I don't know. I don't know enough about Hamas. But it's up to the Palestinians what they have in their country.'

When asked if she thought they were terrorists, she said: 'No, not necessarily. I think they're freedom fighters, a lot of them.

'Look at the history at how Israel was established.'

In Manchester, between 50 and 100 pro-Palestine supporters gathered in the city centre ahead of a march on Saturday. A handful of counter-protesters holding Union Jack flags were also present along with a number of police officers keeping watch.

Many of the pro-Palestinian group stood sheltering under umbrellas to shield from the relentless rain falling on Saturday afternoon.

A general strike in support of the Global Sumud Flotilla and the Palestinian people takes place in Turin, Italy, on October 1, 2025

Some activists in Manchester held signs depicting emaciated children with the phrase 'starved by Israel'

Reverand Sue Parfitt is escorted away by police officers after protesting in support of Palestine Action - Defend Our Juries said she had been arrested for the third time at similar protests

Among the group were members of the Jewish community, who held a sign reading 'Jewish action for Palestine'.

One speaker outside Manchester Cathedral ended with a vow to 'dismantle the Zionist state' to cheers and applause from the crowd. Those gathered were heard chanting 'from the river to the sea'.

Protesters were told a national march is planned in London next week and in Manchester they will march again on October 7, the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel in which around 1,200 Jews were killed and 240 hostages were taken.

The protesters then moved off en masse to march through the city centre. As they set off, a group of counter-protesters shouted 'f*** Hamas' and 'release the hostages'.

The march and protest ended outside Manchester Central Library, where the crowd gathered and stood in silence as the names and ages of some of the thousands of children killed in the Gaza conflict were read out, before protesters dispersed.

The Prime Minister was among politicians, including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who said the protests should be delayed or cancelled.

And the shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called for the 'disgraceful' protests to be banned.

The leaders of the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police had said covering protests would stretch resources.

A Palestinian Solidarity March in Rome on October 4 2025

People take part in a demonstration organised by GM Friends of Palestine at Manchester Cathedral

Protesters hold up a sign at a 'Lift the ban' protest by pro-Palestine group 'Defend our Juries'

Police carry a man in handcuffs from Trafalgar Square after his arrest

Police forces have deployed extra officers to synagogues and other Jewish buildings to offer protection and reassurance in the aftermath of the attack.

However Defend Our Juries rejected the calls.

A spokesman said the group 'stood in solidarity' with the Jewish community over the attack.

He said: 'It couldn't be clearer that tomorrow's action, which is in Trafalgar Square and not near any synagogue, is about defying the Government's absurdly authoritarian proscription of Palestine Action and the Government's complicity in the genocide being committed by the Israeli government.

'Yesterday's attack was actual terrorism and we join others across the country in condemning it unreservedly and we urge the Home Secretary and the police to prioritise protecting the community, instead of arresting entirely peaceful protesters.

'Cancelling peaceful protests lets terror win.

'It's more important than ever to defend our democracy, including our fundamental rights to peaceful protest and freedom of speech, and to take a stand tomorrow against killing and against oppression, and for peace and justice for all.'

In a statement on social media, the group spoke about what the Met should do if it is concerned about the resources arresting protesters will take up: 'Don't arrest us then'.

A general strike in support of the Global Sumud Flotilla and the Palestinian people takes place in Turin, Italy, on October 1, 2025

Melvin Cravitz, 66 (pictured) was killed in the terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester yesterday

On Saturday, the chairwoman of the Metropolitan Police Federation claimed 'enough is enough' as she said officers policing another protest in London are 'emotionally and physically exhausted'.

Paula Dodds said: 'Enough is enough. Our concentration should be on keeping people safe at a time when the country is on heightened alert from a terrorist attack. And instead officers are being drawn in to facilitate these relentless protests.

'And we are coming under attack for doing so. How can this be right?

'This appalling level of abuse will not be tolerated and we expect the stiffest sanctions for the perpetrators. We are supporting officers as best we can.'

She added: 'There aren't enough of us. Hard-working police officers are continually having days off cancelled, working longer shifts and being moved from other areas to facilitate these protests.

'We are emotionally and physically exhausted. What are politicians and senior police officers going to do about it?'

Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, were killed following the attack outside Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester on Thursday morning.

Greater Manchester Police admitted yesterday that one of the deceased men was shot by officers, adding a second victim sustained a non-life threatening gunshot wound.

Adrian Daulby, 53, was also killed in the attack after being accidentally shot by police

The scene outside the Heaton Park Synagogue, pictured early on Friday morning, as a police investigation continues into the attack

The victims had been standing behind the synagogue door at the time. It is believed both were trying to stop the Islamic terrorist from gaining entry.

The tragedy occurred as they shot dead attacker Jihad al-Shamie, 35, who had driven his car at members of the public stabbing people with a knife while wearing a fake suicide vest.

In a statement, Greater Manchester Police said it is not believed that attacker Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was armed with a gun.

A source told the Times a bullet scraped one man's leg and entered the stomach of a second, who died.

Rabbi Daniel Walker confirmed on Friday that it was Mr Daulby who was accidentally shot by police.

Syrian-born Al-Shamie, who came to the UK as a young child and was granted British citizenship in 2006, was also shot dead by police. He was not known to counter-terror police or security services prior to Thursday's attack.

A total of six other people have been arrested by police on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.

Greater Manchester Police referred itself to the police watchdog, the IOPC, over the incident, and the body has launched an independent investigation.

Hero worshippers can be seen in the windows behind Jihad Al-Shamie as they barricaded the doors at Heaton Park Synagogue before police opened fire during Thursday's terror attack

Sir Keir had said pro-Palestine protests could cause further turmoil for families of victims and the Jewish communities.

Of particular concern is the event in London, which is expected to follow a similar pattern as recent weeks and see protesters sit peacefully while displaying signs in support of Palestine Action, which was proscribed as a terror group in July.

Saturday could see one of the largest-ever gatherings at Trafalgar Square in central London in support of Palestine Action. More than 1,500 people have pledged to descend on the capital in support of the group, risking arrest as they do so.

Writing in The Jewish Chronicle, and The Jewish News, the Prime Minister said: 'I urge anyone thinking about protesting this weekend to recognise and respect the grief of British Jews this week.

'This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain.'

Meanwhile the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Sir Stephen Watson urged would-be attendees at the protest to 'consider whether this is really the right time'.

He added: 'You could do the responsible and sensitive thing and refrain, on this occasion, from protesting in a manner which is likely to add to the trauma currently being experienced by our Jewish community.'

Police were seen scuffling with Pro-Palestine protesters at the south end of Whitehall following Thursday's protest in Parliament Square

Police clash with protesters at the south end of Whitehall following a protest in Parliament square on Thursday

On Friday the Deputy Prime Minister and former Foreign Secretary David Lammy was booed by members of the Jewish community at a vigil for the victims of the terror attack.

In astonishing scenes, the Deputy Prime Minister was told by furious members of Manchester's Jewish community that he had 'blood on his hands'.

Amid chants of 'shame on you', Mr Lammy was also accused of allowing anti-Semitism to grow on the streets, and urged to 'stop the marches' by pro-Palestinian groups.

Mr Lammy, who as Foreign Secretary over the past year imposed restrictions on arms sales to Israel and twice summoned its ambassador to criticise its handling of the conflict in Gaza, addressed a hostile crowd of hundreds who had gathered in torrential rain to pay tribute to the victims.

He faced calls of 'go to Palestine, leave us alone' and 'shame on you'. One man shouted: 'You are all guilty. You have allowed Jew hatred in Manchester, on the streets.'

The 1,500 people expected to turn out in London include 'priests, vicars, pensioners and healthcare workers', according to organisers.

Pro-Palestine protests in central London have seen thousands attend since Hamas's attack on Israel in October 2023.

A demonstration near Downing Street on Thursday saw 40 people arrested after clashes with police.

Met Police officers faced off with protesters, some of whom wore face masks and scarves, outside Westminster on Thursday

A pro-Palestinian supporter is escorted away by police during a protest in London on Thursday

Six arrests were 'for assaults on police officers', the Metropolitan Police said.

The proscription of Palestine Action has become a focal point of the campaign for activists in recent months.

The previous two events have seen a total of 1,422 people arrested, the majority for supporting a proscribed organisation.

The Met has continued to urge the group to call off its plans, in a statement which echoed the earlier sentiments of Ms Mahmood.

In a statement, the force's Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: 'At a time when we want to be deploying every available officer to ensure the safety of those communities, we are instead having to plan for a gathering of more than 1,000 people in Trafalgar Square on Saturday in support of a terrorist organisation.

'By deliberately choosing to encourage mass law breaking on this scale, Defend Our Juries are drawing valuable resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most.'

He added: 'Continuing such protests within hours of Thursday's awful terrorist murder of British Jews, when communities are most fearful, will likely create further tensions and some might say lacks sensitivity.'

Sir Stephen urged protesters in Manchester to reconsider.

The Met Police hit out at pro-Palestine activists for defiantly vowing to stage their marches this weekend, saying it will 'draw resources away' from the capital 'when they are needed most'

David Lammy was booed and heckled on Friday as he spoke at a vigil for the Manchester terror attack victims

The Chief Constable said: 'I am directly appealing to all those who might be intending to protest this weekend to consider whether this is really the right time.

'You could do the responsible and sensitive thing and refrain, on this occasion, from protesting in a manner which is likely to add to the trauma currently being experienced by our Jewish community.'

He added: 'I would call upon the common decency and humanity of all people across Greater Manchester to aid us in seeking to support our Jewish communities following such a horrific attack.'

And speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning, Chris Philp, shadow home secretary told BBC Breakfast: 'I think it's extremely insensitive, grossly insensitive to the Jewish community in Manchester, but across the whole United Kingdom, who are still grieving following the appalling murder that we saw on Thursday morning.

'And secondly, both the police in Greater Manchester, but also the Metropolitan Police in London have said that the resources, the police resources required to police these protests mean they may not be able to properly protect synagogues and the Jewish community at this obviously very sensitive time.

'So for those two reasons, I think the organisers should call off these protests.

'I think it's frankly disgraceful that they have not done so.'

A person walks near a burning vehicle during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025

People attend a vigil organised by the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region to honour the victims of the Manchester synagogue attack, in Manchester, Britain, October 3, 2025

Attendees held a banner reading 'No more words, we demand action' during Friday's vigil

He added he would 'go further that saying simply they should step back', adding: 'I think the way these protests have been organised, which are static, means that the police under the Public Order Act 1986 don't have the power in law to prevent them.

'So I do think we should follow the advice of John Woodcock, Lord Walney, who is reviewing the law in this area, to say that it should be widened to allow static demonstrations to be banned if it would cause serious public disruption.'

He backed crossbench peer Lord Walney's advice that if there is 'a significant cumulative impact on a particular community, in this case, the Jewish community, that should be taken into account as well'.

Mr Philp added: 'If you allow anti-Jewish sentiment, antisemitism any sort of space at all, then you find sometimes it leads to tragedies like the one on Thursday.'

But human rights campaigners disagreed.

Sir Jonathon Porritt, who was one of the organisers of today's protests, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I have no doubt whatsoever that everyone taking part in the Defend Our Juries's silent vigil today will demonstrate huge respect and real grief for those affected by the absolute atrocity at Heaton Park.

'But I don't think that means that we should be asked to give up on our right to stand up for those who are being devastated by an ongoing, real-time genocide in Gaza.'

Asked about calls from politicians to delay the protest, he said: 'I think that would be an unwise move for Defend Our Juries. We've been persistent in trying to bring these concerns to the attention of the Government.'

People burn flares as they take part in a pro-Palestine demonstration to show support for Gaza and the Palestinian people, in Rome, Italy, 04 October 2025

Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, who was shot dead minutes after he targeted Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester on Thursday. It is believed he was a father and is pictured holding a child

Worshippers are seen peering out from the synagogue's windows moments before Al-Shamie, pictured wearing a non-viable suicide belt, was shot dead by police

There would be 'nothing disrespectful' about the 'silent vigil', whose attendees would have the 'deepest concern about growing levels of antisemitism' in the UK, Sir Jonathon said.

Organisers of the protest in Rome said hundreds of thousands of people had turned out for a fourth day running, after Israel intercepted the 45-strong flotilla seeking to reach Gaza earlier this week.

Some 70,000 people, according to police, took to the streets in Barcelona, in one of several pro-Palestinian protests to take place across Spain.

Elsewhere, several thousand people marched through the centre of the Irish capital, Dublin, to mark what organisers said was 'two years of genocide' in Gaza.

With Ireland, Spain is one of the fiercest European critics of Israel's military offensive in Gaza, which was sparked by Hamas militants' October 7, 2023, attack on Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip.

But in Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government has been criticised for its inaction on the siege of the Palestinian territory.

On Saturday, Meloni accused demonstrators of defacing a statue of Pope John Paul II with graffiti in front of Rome's main train station, calling it a 'shameful act'.

'They claim to take to the streets for peace, but they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace,' she said in a statement.

A total of six people have since been arrested over the terror plot

A bomb disposal expert from the British Army's 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment is seen investigating the device worn by the terrorist

Protesters in the Italian capital, including families with children, shouted, 'We are all Palestinians', 'Free Palestine' and 'Stop the genocide', with many carrying Palestinian flags and wearing black-and-white chequered keffiyehs.

'Usually, I don't appreciate large-scale demonstrations, but today, I couldn't bring myself to stay home,' Donato Colucci, a 44-year-old scout leader accompanying 150 youths from a secular association, told AFP.

'I think countries like Italy, France, and Spain have developed a culture of resistance and democratic values more than others because they experienced dictatorship and violence.'

In Barcelona, Marta Carranza, a 65-year-old pensioner demonstrating with a Palestinian flag on her back, said Israel's policy 'has been wrong for many years and we have to take to the streets'.
Horrified locals have demanded authorities take action after a violent brawl between Brits and fellow tourists in a Vietnamese bar.

Shocking footage shows bystanders at a Da Nang restaurant screaming as a fight erupts - with one man accidently hitting his own mother in the chaos.

The video begins with a man appearing to pull a woman off her stool, trapping her in a chokehold before tackling her to the floor.

Another man then enters the frame, and the pair repeatedly beat the woman while she lies on the ground - with one of them even managing to kick his own mother by mistake.

Glass can be heard smashing as the person filming screams 'Oh my God do you want to go to jail?' and 'He just hit his own mum'.

Witnesses say the duo reportedly attacked anyone who tried to intervene, using pool balls as weapons and threatening to kill anyone who got in their way.

One victim reportedly needed stitches after the attack, while another suffered a concussion.

Footage of the scuffle - which allegedly broke out after one of the men disputed their bill - has been widely shared online.

Locals have since called for international attention, urging police to step in and ensure the perpetrators are punished to deter future violence.

Horrified locals have demanded authorities take action after a violent brawl between Brits and fellow tourists in a Vietnamese bar

Shocking footage shows bystanders at a Da Nang restaurant screaming as a fight erupts - with one man accidently hitting his own mother in the chaos. Footage of the scuffle - which allegedly broke out after one of the men disputed their bill - has been widely shared online



Witnesses say the men reportedly attacked anyone who tried to intervene, using pool balls as weapons and threatening to kill anyone who got in their way

One victim reportedly needed stitches after the attack, while another suffered a concussion

The pair repeatedly beat the woman while she lies on the ground - with one of them even managing to kick his own mother by mistake

Commenting on a clip of the fight shared on X, one person wrote: This is absolutely horrendous! What vile people, they should be given a taste of their own medicine and thrown in prison to rot.

'I sincerely hope the police get involved and deal with them - this kind of thing should not be allowed to happen.'

Another added: 'This is terrible and unacceptable'.

A third commented: 'Show the video to the police. Get them kicked out of Vietnam. Coward hitting women!

'He's very lucky I wasn't present, I'd of tuned him right in for that!'

The incident comes as the government scrambles to protect Da Nang's reputation as a safe tourist destination, amid rising concerns about brawls in other holiday hotspots.

Earlier this year a drunk holidaymaker in Thailand was filmed lifting a bar worker in the air and harassing another female staff member before being knocked to the ground by a bouncer.

Meanwhile, in Spain this summer police arrested two Brits on suspicion of attempted homicide following a violent altercation in a nightclub near the Majorcan resort of Magaluf.

The unnamed venue where that attack occurred is located in Palmanova, next to Magaluf.
Sacha Baron Cohen has condemned the terrorist attack on a Manchester synagogue as 'part of the biggest surge in hatred of Jews since the Nazis'.

The North London-born actor and comedian, who is Jewish, voiced his concern to his 1.2million followers on Instagram just days after Islamist terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, targeted Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester on Thursday.

Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, both members of Manchester's Jewish community, were killed during the murderous rampage, which coincided with Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Another three people remain in hospital.

In an update last night, police said six people are now in custody on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack - comprising three men and three women aged between 18 and 60.

Taking to Instagram to share his thoughts, Baron Cohen said the attack had occurred amid rising levels of antisemitism and warned it was 'not a one-off' - as antisemitism advocates said today that 'extremism and incitement have been allowed to grow' in the UK.

According to Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors antisemitism rates in the UK, there were 1,521 antisemitic incidents between January to June 2025 - the second-highest total of anti-Jewish hate incidents ever recorded by CST in the first half of any year.

The largest number ever recorded came in the first six months of 2024, which saw 2,019 antisemitic incidents reported in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel.

Baron Cohen wrote: 'The murder of Jews at a Manchester synagogue is not a one-off. It's part of the biggest surge in hatred of Jews since the Nazis.'

Sacha Baron Cohen has condemned the terrorist attack on a Manchester synagogue as 'part of the biggest surge in hatred of Jews since the Nazis'

Taking to Instagram to share his thoughts, Baron Cohen said the attack had occurred amid rising levels of antisemitism and warned it was 'not a one-off'

The 53-year-old, best known for his comedic alter-egos Borat and Ali G, added: 'No one should have to risk their lives to pray.'

His comments came as Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was booed and heckled by mourners at last night's vigil for the victims of the synagogue terror attack.

In astonishing scenes, the Deputy Prime Minister was told by furious members of Manchester's Jewish community that he had 'blood on his hands'.

Amid chants of 'shame on you', Mr Lammy was accused of allowing anti-Semitism to grow on the streets, and urged to 'stop the marches' by pro-Palestinian groups.

It also emerged yesterday that Al-Shamie was on bail for alleged rape when he carried out the attack, while Greater Manchester Police revealed that one of the attack victims was shot dead by the force's armed officers.

Another injured worshipper, who remains in a serious condition, additionally suffered a gunshot wound. Both are believed to have been standing behind the synagogue door trying to stop Al-Shamie from gaining entry.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has confirmed they were investigating the use of lethal force by Greater Manchester Police firearms officers.

Ministers will face fresh anger today as a protest in support of banned terror group Palestine Action will go ahead just days after the attack after organisers ignored pleas from the police and Government to call it off.

Baron Cohen's comments add to a growing number of celebrities who have condemned Thursday's attack.

JK Rowling told her followers on X in that she feels 'appalled and ashamed' that Jewish people in Britain no longer feel safe following yesterday's terrorist attack on a synagogue. Ms Rowling had retweeted online influencer Laura Marcus, who commented: 'I wonder how most Brits feel when they hear Jews say they no longer feel safe in the UK?

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch visited the scene of the terror attack near Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester

Badenoch was seen with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham (left) as the Conservative leader spoke to police officers amid the ongoing investigation

A forensic officer continues to investigate the scene at Heaton Park synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, on Saturday morning

In an update last night, police said six people are now in custody on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack - comprising three men and three women aged between 18 and 60. Pictured: Forensic officers continue their investigation at the scene on Saturday morning

JK Rowling was responding to sentiments shared by online influencer Laura Marcus

Stacey Solomon revealed her 'heartbreak' at news of the attack on a synagogue in Manchester

Broadcaster and barrister Rob Rinder's moving post on the attack to his X followers

High alert: Additional security and a police presence were seen outside a synagogue in Hale Barnes, Altrincham on Saturday morning

A police officer with a guard dog provides a presence outside a synagogue in Hale Barnes, Altrincham, as synagogues beef up their security following Thursday's attack

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TV personality Stacey Solomon revealed that being Jewish felt 'scary' and 'heartbreaking' in the wake of the attack.

In a statement on Instagram, she wrote: 'It is heartbreaking to hear of the attack at a synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur. My thoughts & prayers are with everyone affected,' she wrote.

'I'm also thinking of anyone right now who feels scared for themselves & their loved ones just because of who they are. Being Jewish feels scary & that is heartbreaking.'

Stacey also acknowledged her support for Palestinians in Gaza, adding: 'It goes without saying, although I've said this before, my thoughts are also with the innocent people in Gaza.

'Being proudly Jewish & being against the horrific attack today does not cancel the other.

'I realise no matter what I say. Someone somewhere won't like it. But all I really have to say is that none of this is ok.'

Meanwhile broadcaster and barrister Rob Rinder, 47, whose grandfather fled to Britain after his family was wiped out in the Holocaust, echoed similar calls for solidarity with the UK's Jewish community.

Melvin Cravitz, 66, (left) and Adrian Daulby, 53 (right) both died during Thursday's terror attack

The attacker, Jihad al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by officers at the scene just seven minutes after the first 999 call

The road where the first three arrests took place was cordoned off and put under armed guard

In a tweet, he criticised those who still allowed anti-Semitism to cloud their view on a horrific attack that left two worshippers stabbed to death on Yom Kippur - the most sacred and solemn day in the Jewish calendar.

'Some still answer this atrocity with 'what about'', he said.

He also urged: 'If you believe in Britain (wherever you're from & whatever your faith) you must stand with us.

'Many Jews cannot imagine a future here and history tells us what follows when that happens.'

Amid outrage over the attack, a leading antisemitism advocate said more action was needed to combat the issue.

Dave Rich, director of policy at CST, said incitement has been 'off the charts' in mosque sermons since the October 7 attacks.

He claims social media platforms, regulators and politicians had failed to take action to stop the spread of antisemitic messaging.

Mr Rich told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'The levels of anti-Jewish hatred and extremism and incitement have been allowed to grow over the last few years.

Al-Shamie, 35, targeted Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester on Thursday. It is believed he was a father and is pictured holding a child

'I think that's where the outrage should be directed.'

He said the Government, police and regulators needed to 'step up and do better.'

Mr Rich added: 'I think you could look at some of the sermons in mosques after October 7, which were really off the charts with the incitement.

'I think you could look at what goes on on social media every single day.

'If people knew how much, how many people went online every single day to talk about killing Jews, they'd be absolutely horrified. And social media platforms do less now than they even did in the past to deal with that.

'I think more broadly, across civil society and across parts of industry, there is an inability to recognise antisemitism or a reluctance to deal with incitement in ways that have just allowed it to grow.

'I think the anger is directed there and I think a lot of Jewish people will be saying "OK, the sympathy is great, but where's the action?"'
Dramatic images show the moment a young man was rescued after spending three days adrift at sea on a jet ski in Spain's Canary Islands.

23-year-old Layonel Ramirez Collado had been missing since Monday night off the coast of San Bartolome de Tirajana after a night out with friends went disastrously wrong.

Mr Collado had been on a nighttime boat trip with his friends when his jet ski came loose of the boat.

Jumping in to retrieve it, he then attempted to drive back to the Castillo del Romeral dock on his own - when the jet ski broke down.

Mr Collado's friends alerted emergency services at around 11pm after he failed to reach their agreed meeting point.

The high winds and strong currents dragged him out to sea, where he floated adrift on the jet ski for three days.

A frantic search mission followed, with patrol boats, helicopters, and shoreline teams being deployed as well as Mr Collado's friends and family appealing for help.

But on Wednesday around midday he was miraculously spotted alive and signalling for help by the rescue services, who called for a boat to come to the area.

Dramatic images show the moment Layonel Ramirez Collado was spotted off the coast of San Bartolome de Tirajana in Spain's Canary Islands

Despite being adrift at sea for three days, the 23-year-old was found conscious and in generally good conditions

Mr Collado became lost at sea after a night out with friends took a turn for the worse when he jumped in to save a jet ski that had come loose from the boat they were on

Shortly afterwards, he was picked up and taken back to land, as those waiting back on shore cheered his unexpected but joyous reunion.

Mr Collado was found 16 nautical miles (about 30km) southwest of Gran Canaria, and was transported to the port of Arguineguin where he was medically assessed.

The young man's miraculous plight had only left him with minor injuries from spending long hours lying across the craft and he was described as being conscious and in generally good condition, all things considered.

Mr Collado's family had expressed frustrations with the rescue operation, which they criticised for having a lack of nighttime searches and being too focused on areas near the coast - despite the strong winds and their fears being later confirmed by the fact that he was found 16 miles from the coast.

Authorities had also rejected the participation of private boats volunteered by people for safety reasons.

But the miraculous survival of Mr Collado after three days adrift brought enormous relief, with the 23-year-old's mother saying: 'I said it - my son was holding on to the moto, and the moto saved him.'
A 14-year-old boy has been arrested after six people were shot on a busy street in Sweden.

Gunfire broke out at around 2am on Saturday on Gavle, an area lined with bars and restaurants, sparking a huge emergency response.

Photos show police swarming the city centre and cordoning off the street as victims were carried to ambulances.

The teenager is being held on suspicion of attempted murder and is due to be questioned later today, police confirmed.

The victims, mostly young adults but including people under 18, were all taken to hospital, spokesman Tobias Ahlen-Svalbro said.

The extent of their injuries has not been revealed but at least three people with gunshot wounds ran into a restaurant for shelter as the attack unfolded, according to local reports.

Mr Ahlen-Svalbro added: 'So far we are working broadly and I cannot confirm that there is any connection to the criminal network environment.

Photos from the scene show police swarming the city centre and cordoning off the street as victims were carried to ambulances

'I can't go into any possible theories. We don't initially suspect it's terror-related.

'The incident is being investigated as attempted murder. We have a large resource on site in the area, so our assessment is that there is no danger to the public, so I understand that people may be concerned.

'It is quite close in time after the incident that the boy was taken into custody. The boy is suspected of attempted murder.'

Police also said there was no immediate danger to the public.

Residents described their shock, with one woman telling local radio: 'You don't really want to be out late at night.

'You're worried about your children. What a society we've created. It's crazy.'

Another witness added: 'It feels terrible. Six people are being shot a few meters away from me.'

Gavle, home to around 80,000 people, is 86 miles north of Stockholm and is Sweden's 13th largest city.
This is the horrific moment a gunman walks up to his victim and ends his life during a shocking daylight shooting in the Costa del Sol holiday resort of Puerto Banus.

Police confirmed late last night the 25-year-old man targeted had died in hospital from the injuries he sustained in yesterday's ambush.

And today, the first video footage of the assassination emerged, showing the killer walking up to his victim as he smoked a cigarette and chatted on his mobile phone and firing off several bullets from close range.

The assassin appeared to pick a moment when the cafe terrace where the shooting occurred was empty, although several tourists in the vicinity heard the shots ring out and dived for cover.

He emerged from behind a black van and appeared to discard a cigarette he had also been puffing on, while he hid his gun in the other hand behind his back, before felling his victim with his first bullet and continuing to fire as his target made a desperate attempt to shelter on the ground between the terrace table and chairs.

Both men were wearing T-shirts and shorts like the other holidaymakers in the busy resort.

The distressing footage showed the attack happened at 2.31pm yesterday.

Police confirmed the suspect had been arrested shortly after the shooting as they confirmed the death of the victim.

He emerged from behind a black van and appeared to discard a cigarette he had also been puffing on, while he hid his gun in the other hand behind his back

The assassin appeared to pick a moment when the cafe terrace where the shooting occurred was empty

A spokesman for the National Police in Malaga, which covers the Marbella area where the savage assassination occurred, said last night around 8.15pm local time: 'We can confirm a 38-year-old man has been arrested over the fatal shooting of another man in Puerto Banus.

'The investigation is ongoing and we cannot offer any more details at this stage.'

Officers said they could not give out any information about the mens' nationalities, although one unconfirmed local report pointed to both the alleged killer and the victim being Swedish passport holders and the gunman being of Afghan origin.

Today, it emerged the assassin had been caught after witnesses to the shooting recorded the number plate of his getaway vehicle and lockdown police roadblocks were set up to stop and trap him as part of an operation involving every police officer available in the area called Operation Cage.

The suspect was held as he tried to drive onto a nearby motorway by a residential estate.

One witness to the attack told local paper Sur overnight: 'I was going to have a coffee and always pass the place where the shooting happened on that pavement.

'It's a miracle I didn't get shot. It was only because I was walking faster than normal.

'People began to run when they heard the shots ring out.

'It sounded like they came from a very powerful weapon. Six or seven shots were fired.'

The injured man, believed to have ended up trying to take refuge inside the cafe he was shot outside, was rushed to the Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella a 10-minute drive away but died there despite the efforts of medics to save him.

Shootings in Puerto Banus and surrounding areas over the past few summers have led to high-profile high-season police operations in the area which have included raids on upmarket clubs, following criticism from locals the port area has become like the 'Wild West.'

In June last year, Manchester City star Erling Haaland was caught up in a dramatic police raid at a beach club called Playa Padre in Marbella.

The unnamed man was shot yesterday and later died in hospital from his injuries

The Norwegian international was filming putting his hands into his pocket to pull out his ID after cops in balaclavas demanded to know who he was.

The surprise raid, which happened the weekend after Haaland was filmed dancing alongside a DJ at the beach club during a previous visit, resulted in the arrest of an Iranian fugitive.

One of the shootings last year in Puerto Banus, which forms part of the municipality of Marbella, included a March 11 attack on British-run eatery La Sala that led to the arrests in April of a British man and Irish national described by police as having links to organised crime.

Kerry Katona later claimed she had U-turned on a decision to move to the famous Costa del Sol resort with her family including then-fiance Ryan Mahoney because she no longer felt safe about the prospect following the violent incidents there.

Contract killers from Sweden have been blamed for an orgy of violence around Europe including the Costa del Sol and resorts like Marbella which has been dubbed the United Nations of Crime because of the number of violent gangs operating there.

Bomb blasts on the famous coast in October 2018 led to the arrests of three 'hitmen' in Sweden and Marbella.

Spanish National Police added in a statement three months later as they revealed the detentions: 'The police and Civil Guard investigations led to a connection which linked the incidents to a criminal organisation of contract killers based in Sweden with connections to several European countries, including Spain.

'This organisation is believed to be behind a number of violent incidents in Sweden in which explosives have been used.

'Several members of the organisation, all aged between 20 and 30, were identified and evidence established linking them to the bomb blasts.

'Two were in the Swedish city of Malmo where they were arrested in a well-planned police operation.

'The third individual was held in Marbella.'

The so-called Mocro Maffia have also been identified as a problem on the Costa del Sol.

A 17-year-old Belgian youngster working for the feared organisation was arrested last month and accused of flying to the resort of Fuengirola to assassinate a Dutchman next to a cannabis club in December last year.

Police have described it as the first case in Spain in which an underage hitman is the main suspect.
The father of the terrorist who attacked members of the Jewish community outside a Manchester synagogue on Thursday said he would 'sip Arabic coffee and watch' the end of Israel in a series of online posts that also praised Hamas.

Syrian-born Faraj Al-Shamie, father of 35-year-old Islamist attacker Jihad Al-Shamie, has posted regularly on social media since before the Syrian civil war, often referencing Israel.

The surgeon, who has worked in several war zones and who moved to the UK with his family more than 25 years ago, separated from his wife and moved out of the family home in Prestwich, Manchester to France a decade ago.

After it emerged his son had been behind an Islamist terror plot which left two people dead and four injured, he shared a statement distancing himself and his family from the 'heinous act'.

But it was reported yesterday that Faraj Al-Shamie had praised Hamas fighters in the aftermath of October 7, describing them as 'men of God on earth'.

Now it can be revealed that during extensive posts amid the Syrian civil war, the surgeon posted about celebrating 'the end' of Israel, adding the hashtag 'the beginning of Israel's demise'.

In translated posts, Mr Al-Shamie wrote that the Israeli state would last no longer than eighty years and said: 'As for us, we will sip Arabic coffee and watch once again... the end of your nation.'

The comments came just six months prior to the October 7 attacks.

Syrian-born Faraj Al-Shamie posted about celebrating 'the end' of Israel, adding the hashtag 'the beginning of Israel's demise'

Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, who was shot dead minutes after he targeted Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester on Thursday

Police officers walk towards the scene at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, as investigations continue on Saturday

During the civil war in Syria as early as 2015, Mr Al-Shamie also praised Hamas fighters, specifically their 'spirit, determination, faith and steadfastness'.

Hamas was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK in 2001.

And in 2012, he described Israel as an 'arch-enemy', adding the state is 'the head of the snake and the source of destruction, division and injustice in our countries'.

Later posts saw him compare crimes committed by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad to those committed by Adolf Hitler.

He wrote that 'history will apologise' to Hitler, seeming to argue his actions were not as bad as those of the Syrian regime.

Mr Al-Shamie did condemn the actions of terrorist group ISIS in Syria and appeal for murders by their fighters to end. But in April 2015 he suggested he might support the group 'for one day' after victories over the Assad regime - although he quickly returned to condemning the violence inflicted upon the world by the terror organisation.

Yesterday it was reported that Faraj Al-Shamie also praised the October 7 attacks by Hamas.

On October 7, 2023, the trauma surgeon who came to the UK from Syria, urged the Hamas terrorists to 'take good care of your weapons and aim them accurately for your brothers' hours after the fighters began their bloodthirsty siege of Israel.

Mr Al-Shami wrote: 'Men like these prove that they are men of God on earth and regardless of who leads them, they are the real compass of men who are confident of their victory.

Melvin Cravitz, 66 (pictured) was killed in the terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester yesterday

Adrian Daulby, 53, was also killed in the attack after being accidentally shot by police

Hero worshippers can be seen in the windows behind Jihad Al-Shamie as they barricaded the doors at Heaton Park Synagogue before police opened fire

'Oh men of Allah (...) take good care of your weapons and aim them accurately for your brothers (...) may God protect Palestine and its heroic people.'

He also expressed support for the Iranian missile attacks on Israel, which killed dozens of innocent civilians, writing: 'we are waiting for more'.

But he did also condemn Hamas for taking elderly prisoners, writing: 'Release the elderly and children.

'What you [Hamas] have done so far is a miracle by all standards. Do not harm them in a moment of anger. They have no place in war.'

Following the Heaton Park Synagogue terror attack in Crumpsall, Manchester on Thursday, the surgeon put out a statement on social media distancing the rest of the family from his son's actions.

It read: 'The news from Manchester regarding the terrorist attack targeting a Jewish synagogue has been a profound shock to us. The Al-Shamie family in the UK and abroad strongly condemns this heinous act, which targeted peaceful, innocent civilians.

'We fully distance ourselves from this attack and express our deep shock and sorrow over what has happened. Our hearts and thoughts are with the victims and their families, and we pray for their strength and comfort.

'We kindly request that all media outlets respect the familys privacy during this very difficult time and refrain from using this tragic event in any context that does not reflect the truth.

The scene at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, on Saturday

The investigation has seen specialist units including sniffer dogs and bomb disposal attend the scene

Floral tributes have been left near the Heaton Park synagogue by members of the local community

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'May God have mercy on the innocent victims, and we pray for the swift recovery of the injured.'

It came after Jihad Al-Shamie drove his car at members of the Jewish community before attacking them with a knife and attempting to force entry inside the synagogue.

An eyewitness has told how they heard Al-Shamie shout: 'This is what you get for killing our children,' as he launched the attack.

The 35-year-old, who was on bail for an accusation of rape at the time, wore a fake suicide belt and was shot dead by police within seven minutes of the first 999 call.

It is understood he was not known to police or security forces prior to the attack and had not previously been referred to Prevent.

Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, were killed outside Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester on Thursday morning.

Greater Manchester Police admitted yesterday that Mr Daulby was accidentally shot by officers as they targeted Al-Shamie, adding a second victim sustained a non-life threatening gunshot wound.

Three people remain in hospital with serious injuries while a fourth has been discharged.

Among the injured is said to be Yoni Finlay, who worshippers said was the second person hit by a stray police bullet.

Security guard Bernard Agyemang, who was guarding the synagogue at the time, is also said to be in hospital.

The IOPC has launched an independent investigation into the police response.
Pro-Palestine protest organisers have ignored appeals from the Prime Minister and police chiefs to call off scheduled events today in Manchester and London today following the Manchester synagogue terror attack.

The Prime Minister urged groups behind the demonstrations and attendees to 'respect the grief of British Jews' as he said demonstrations could cause further pain to mourners.

And Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said continuing with protests this weekend is 'un-British', after 40 activists were arrested just hours after Thursday's terror attack.

The Metropolitan Police said a protest from Defend Our Juries in Trafalgar Square in London today should not go ahead  but the group vowed to hold it anyway.

Around 1,500 people are expected to show up to show support for proscribed group Palestine Action.

The organisers, Defend Our Juries, said: 'Cancelling peaceful protests lets terror win.'

Meanwhile a march held by Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine, which has taken place regularly over the last two years, is also due to take place.

But what do you think - should the planned pro-Palestine marches go ahead in the wake of the attack? Vote in the Daily Mail's latest poll below.

In yesterday's poll, Daily Mail readers were asked: 'Should the Government ban planned pro-Palestine marches in the wake of synagogue terror attack?' Out of 43,000 votes, 93 per cent said 'yes' and 17 per cent said 'no'.
This is the dramatic moment the coastguard launched a rescue bid to save a dog who fell off a 300ft cliff onto a narrow ledge.

The officers from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency rushed to Nose's Point in the town of Seaham, County Durham, to help the pooch's despairing owner.

She called the government body after her pet, called Marley, tumbled over the edge of the crag on a walk - fortunately landing on an outcrop around 20ft below.

Shocking footage shows the small pup in real distress as the wind whips around her and the sea churns below the notoriously loose and crumbly rocks.

The life-saving squads who rushed to her aid faced a race against time in their daring cliff rescue, amid fears the dog could fall further - with fatal consequences.

But luckily, the officers from Seaham and nearby Sunderland had a particularly useful Coastguard Rescue Officer (CRO) on their side.

Andy Heppell has a reputation on his Coastguard Rescue Team (CRT) as 'the dog whisperer', known for his amazing success with rescuing hounds in trouble.

The mission features in the third episode of the third series of Channel 5 documentary Coastguard: Search & Rescue SOS, set to air at 9pm on Wednesday.

This is the dramatic moment the coastguard launched a rescue bid to save a dog who fell off a 300ft cliff onto a narrow ledge

The officers from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency rushed to Nose's Point (pictured) in the town of Seaham, County Durham, to help the pooch's despairing owner

The mission (pictured) features in the third episode of the third series of Channel 5 documentary Coastguard: Search & Rescue SOS, set to air at 9pm on Wednesday

A clip of the moment was shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, in which the terrified owner's call to the maritime emergency service can be heard.

She explains: 'I'm at Seaham, at Nose's Point. My little dog has gone over the edge of the cliff. Oh, I can hear her. She, she's obviously, she'll be scared.'

The agency jumps into action, with the call handler responding: 'We're going to get some coastguards moving to your location straight away.'

'Please, nobody put themselves into any danger.'

Rescuers, including Mr Heppell, soon descend on the scene, quickly preparing specialist equipment for carrying the dog once recovered.

'Can we get a CRO to start getting the animal bag prepped please?', one calls out.

The famed 'dog whisperer' bravely abseils down the cliff face, shouting out, 'Stop, stop!', as he reaches the precipitous outcrop Marley landed on.

The poor dog is barking and howling in fear, as the officer reaches out to grab her from the rocky shelf, saying: 'She's freaking out.'

A clip of the moment (pictured) was shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, in which the terrified owner's call to the maritime emergency service can be heard

Rescuers, including Mr Heppell, soon descend on the scene (pictured), quickly preparing specialist equipment for carrying the dog once recovered

They had a particularly useful officer on their side. Andy Heppell has a reputation on his team as 'the dog whisperer', known for his amazing success with rescuing hounds in trouble. He bravely abseils down the cliff face to reach Marley, bringing the pooch to safety

The owner and members of public watch on as the daring operation unfolds.

Although not shown in the preview clip, the full episode next week will thankfully show both Mr Heppell and Marley making it back up to the clifftop safely.

The documentary follows the work of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency across the country, which is responsible for maritime law, safety and anti-pollution work.

It looks specifically at the work of its emergency rescue division, HM Coastguard (HMCG), which has more than 300 teams across the UK coast.

The series depicts its some 3,500 volunteer officers and more than 400 specialist staff keeping people safe at sea.

Their work involves responding to emergencies, coordinating search and rescue missions, inspecting vessels and investigating incidents.

The service responds to more than 36,000 incidents every year.

Coastguard: Search & Rescue SOS airs on Channel 5 at 9pm next Wednesday.
The Democratic governor of North Carolina finally took action following the brutal killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska as she traveled on a train in the state.

Zarutska, 23, was murdered in Charlotte on August 22 after being stabbed in the neck. Career criminal Decarlos Brown is accused of killing her in the frenzied attack.

On Friday, Governor Josh Stein signed into law a criminal justice measure in direct response to the horrific stabbing of Iryna, naming it 'Iryna's Law' in her memory.

It will increase checks on criminals being let out on bail, brings an end to cashless bail for some violent crimes and most repeat offenders.

It also limits the discretion magistrates and judges have in making pretrial release decisions, gives the state chief justice the ability to suspend magistrates and seeks to ensure more defendants undergo mental health evaluations.

Republicans in the state and even President Donald Trump had blamed the death of Zarutska on Democrats and their soft on crime policies. The outrage intensified with the release of security video showing the attack.

Brown, 34, was well-known to law enforcement having spent most of his life in and out of prison on a litany of offences.

He was charged with misusing 911 in January, when he told cops he believed someone had given him a 'man-made' material that controlled his actions.

Zarutska, seen here, was murdered in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 22 after being stabbed in the neck, suspect Decarlos Brown is accused of killing her

The outrage from Republicans only intensified with the release of security video showing the attack, seen here

He was released on no bail and was pending trial when he allegedly stabbed Zaruska to death.

Stein said he supported the bill because it would examine 'people who may post unusual risk of violence before determining their bail'.

He did criticize parts of it, saying lawmakers in the Republican-controlled state legislature had failed to approve his own public-safety proposals which included a pay rise for police officers.

'I'm troubled by its lack of ambition or vision,' Stein said during a short video statement. 'It simply does not do enough to keep you safe.'

He also blasted a portion of a section that seeks to restart executions in North Carolina, where capital punishment was last carried out in 2006.

That amendment was tacked onto the bill last month at the last minute by leader of the State Senate Phil Berger.

It forced some Democrats in the Senate to walk out in protest. The amendment said if lethal injections can't be procured, the state would execute an inmate by another method 'adopted by another state'.

This would open the door for the electric chair, nitrogen hypoxia or firing squads, which have recently been used in South Carolina.

Governor Josh Stein signed into law a criminal justice measure in direct response to the horrific stabbing of Iryna, naming it 'Iryna's Law' in her memory

Charlotte-area Republican state Rep. Tricia Cotham said: 'Finally, we are getting dangerous criminals off our streets so we can make sure no one else suffers the heartbreak that Iryna Zarutska's family endured.'

The state NAACP chapter condemned Stein's bill-signing, saying that he 'chose cruelty over justice, and the legislators from both parties who pushed it forward are equally responsible for this shameful failure of leadership.'

Zarutska had only recently arrived in the US 'seeking safety from the war and hoping for a new beginning', her family said on a GoFundMe page.

Brown, meanwhile, is a career criminal who has spent most of his life in and out of prison, a Daily Mail review of police records found.

He served five years in prison for a 2014 armed robbery and was released in September, 2020 - when he quickly resumed a life of crime.

Just months after his release from prison, on February, 2021, Brown was arrested for assaulting his sister in Charlotte and leaving her with minor injuries, according to police records obtained by the Daily Mail.

Decarlos Brown has spent most of his life in and out of prison. Brown served five years in prison for a 2014 armed robbery and was released in September, 2020 - when he quickly resumed a life of crime

That same month, he was also arrested for injury to personal property and trespassing.

A police report from that incident said Brown 'returned to the address after being told he was not allowed back and kicked and damaged the front door of the listed victim's residence'.

In July 2022, Brown was then arrested again for a domestic disturbance.

'[Brown] was arrested for disorderly conduct. The suspect was yelling and cursing, causing a disturbance and drawing the attention of multiple tenants while on the property the call for service was located,' read the police report.

Brown's arrest records go as back as 2007, when he was still a minor.

Over the next seven years, he was arrested at least six times for crimes including felony larceny, robbery with a dangerous weapon and communicating threats.

According to the Charlotte Observer, most of the charges he faced during that time were dropped.
Houston residents launched their own Scooby-Doo style investigations to find an unconfirmed serial killer after the discovery of six bodies since September 15 bringing the total found in the citys bayous area to 22 this year.

Rumors of a mystery mass murderer came to a peak in the community in late September after officials announced that five dead bodies had been found over a five-day period.

Police said that had brought Houstons total for the year to 14, but KPRC-TV reported using medical examiner records that the real number for 2025 was actually 22.

Various bayous scattered around the city were listed as their places of death.

This latest development came as Houston locals launched their own far-fetched efforts to track down the supposed serial killer.

TikTok user Darius Stcyr said: Lets set up a trap. As you know, we have a serial killer on the loose.'

He continued: Just the thought that could possibly be my baby girl one day [who] gets snatched up and found in a bayou. That really bothers me, you know?

'The police is clearly having a problem doing their job. Im not understanding after the first body. Why arent there people staking out and watching?

Some Houston residents believe that a serial killer is on the loose in their city

Jade McKissic, 20, was a student at the University of Houston

Another user, identified as Drae, promised payback on the supposed mass murderer.

He said: To the Buffalo Bayou killer, Im going to be in your hood.

'Im gonna take a small, little, slow walk through the night time - and if youre real, you wont bring a gun.

'If youre real, youll just pull up with your hands.

A third user, JD, joined in on the threats. A grainy, low quality TikTok video showing a bayou is captioned, 'Houston Bayou Killer we outside tonight.

Houston has more than 2,500 miles of waterways, including bayous.

The so-called serial killer 'hunts' in America's fourth-largest city were captured across all forms of social media.

But others were more scared to join in.

Rumors of a mystery murderer reached a fever pitch after five dead bodies were discovered over a five-day period. Pictured: Buffalo Bayou and skyline of Houston above in a file photo

Houston is the fourth largest city in the US. A file photo of the skyline is seen above

NotVgBouba on TikTok said: There seems to be a serial killer on the loose in Texas right now.'

He added: What the f**k is going on, bro? Seriously. Every day, its something else.

A user with the screen name Joseph posted a video quickly moving through Houston titled: Cant catch me if I run fast.

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences - which serves as the medical examiner - identified at least 19 of the individuals who were found dead in the bayous, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Those bodies were: Douglas Swearingen, 44, found on January 11; Carl Newton, 24, on February 14; Rodolfo Salas Sosa, 56, on March 22; Anthony Azua, 33, on March 30; Juan Garcia Loredo, 69, on March 31; Kenneth Jones, 34, on May 7; George Grays, 54, on May 9; Culcois Racius, 39, on May 9; Anthony Curry, 35, on May 17; Shannon Davis, 14, on May 30; Ernest Armstrong, 62, on June 9; Brent Brown, 28, on June 12; Raymond Hatten, 30, on July 7; Latrecia Amos, 57, on August 21; Jamal Alexander, 31, on August 27; Jade McKissic, 20, on September 15; Rodney Chatman, 43, on September 15; and Michael Rice, 67, on September 20.

The Daily Mail reached out to Houston police and the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences for further comment.

Police said that had brought Houstons total for the year to 14, but KPRC-TV reported using medical examiner records that the number for 2025 was actually 22. Pictured above: A file photo of a broken bicycle path from bank erosion along Buffalo Bayou, Houston

Users took to social media to discuss the ongoing buzz in Houston about a supposed serial killer. Pictured above a file photo of the Buffalo Bayou flooded by heavy rain from Hurricane Beryl in July 2024

Houston authorities denied the possibility of a serial killer in a press conference.

Mayor John Whitmire said on September 23: 'Enough of misinformation [and] wild speculation by either social media, elected officials, candidates, the media.

'We do not have any evidence that there is a serial killer loose in Houston, Texas.'

Krista Gehring, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Houston-Downtown, also ruled out the possibility of a serial killer and pointed out to Daily Mail the clues that usually point to a mass murderer.

She said: 'When serial killers kill an individual, there's a cooling off period - so to find multiple bodies all at once or one day after the next is not characteristic.'

Serial killers also have repeat 'signatures' with how they kill and tend to prey on vulnerable people, Professor Gehring added.

However, she told the Daily Mail, the only pattern in Houston appeared to be that 'these bodies show up in a bayou'.

Gehring added that serial killers are rare and rumors about them usually start because of pop culture trends like Netflix shows or true crime documentaries.

Jade McKissic's body was found on September 15 around 10am in Brays Bayou

The first body found last month was Jade Elise McKissic, 20, a student at the University of Houston.

She had been seen leaving a local bar four days earlier, leaving her cellphone behind and going to a gas station next door to buy a drink, the Houston police's homicide division said.

McKissic then walked towards Brays Bayou, which is where her body was found on September 15 around 10am.

Police said there were no signs of trauma or foul play.

Lauren Johnson, who sang with McKissic in her youth church's praise team, previously told the Daily Mail: 'Jade was such a light in our room. She was talented and always had a smile on her face.

'Jade was also a great friend to me, whom I looked up to for her ambition and her "go-get-it" attitude. I miss her so much, and I hope her family finds closure on everything regarding her loss.'

The second body was found in at 13400 East Freeway around 11.50am on the same day - September 15 - as McKissic.

Its nickname is the 'Bayou City' because of the many waterways where residents paddle, kayak around the metropolis

Some are calling for increased safety measures around Houston's bodies of water to prevent future deaths. A police boat is seen in White Oak Bayou in this file photo

KHOU reported the body was Chatman's.

Seth Hansen was then discovered on September 16 in White Oak Bayou at 2200 White Oak Drive at about 1.25pm.

Two days later, Arnulfo Alvarado was found in Buffalo Bayou at 400 Jensen Drive at about 2pm.

Rice was found on September 20 in Buffalo Bayou at 900 North York Street at about 8.25am.

Authorities did not find 'any kind of typical pattern' in the five bodies found between September 15-20, police captain Salam Zia said.

He added: 'It runs the gamut [of] genders, ethnicities, age range.'

Police said that 24 bodies had been found in 2024, meaning that only two less have been found this year with about three months left in 2025.

There have been calls for greater safety measures around Houston's bodies of water to prevent future deaths - especially after the recent discoveries.

Whitmire pointed to the existing barricades and said: 'I don't know of a fail-safe way when bayous are such a part of our lifestyle and our environment, other than everyone should be smart [and] we should look out for each other.

'But I think when the facts are reported from these instances, you're going to see each one was very unique.'

Still, the call for Houston officials to provide concrete answers is rising.

City council member Letitia Plummer said: 'This community wants answers and we will deliver them.

'We dont want assumptions. We dont want rumors. Families deserve the truth.'

Plummer added that locals should stay 'vigilant.'

She said: 'I am saying what we normally should do living in an urban city. We are living in the fourth-largest city in the nation.'
Hampstead Heath's famous bathing ponds could soon ban transgender swimmers from using single-sex spaces under proposals now out for public consultation.

The City of London Corporation (CLC), which manages the ponds, has launched a review setting out six possible approaches to gender inclusivity.

One option would bar trans people from using ponds that match their gender identity, restricting them instead to the Heath's mixed pool.

Currently, trans men and women are allowed to use whichever single-sex pond they feel is most appropriate.

But the policy has sparked years of tension among swimmers, with campaigners demanding a return to strict sex-based segregation.

In recent years, women have staged high-profile protests, including in 2018 when campaigners donned fake beards and moustaches to storm the men's pond, and again this May when around 30 women chanting 'no goolies in our poolies' tried to enter the male-only space in defiance of the rules.

The row has escalated further since campaign group Sex Matters threatened legal action after a Supreme Court ruling defined the legal meaning of 'woman' as biological sex.

Critics say the ponds' current system undermines women's rights to privacy and dignity.

But trans swimmers and their allies argue they have used the ponds for decades without issue, calling the push for exclusion 'cruel and judgemental'.

One of the protesters pictured with a fake beard in the protest at proposed gender laws

Woman rights campaigners swim in The men's pond at Hampstead Heath

They warn the rules could backfire, forcing trans men with facial hair and masculine features into the women's pond and leading to humiliating confrontations, the Guardian reports.

Maya Forstater, chief executive of Sex Matters, said: 'Women who choose to swim at the ladies' pond rather than the mixed pond are choosing a female-only environment for a variety of personal reasons, including privacy and dignity. Allowing men with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment to enter means that it is no longer a female-only environment.'

Announcing the consultation, Chris Hayward, the CLC's chair of policy, said: 'Hampstead Heath is one of London's most cherished open spaces, and the bathing ponds are an integral part of the Heath.

'We want to hear directly from users and other stakeholders about how they value these unique facilities and how they believe they should operate in the future, and I encourage everyone with an interest to take part in the consultation.

'We recognise the sensitivity surrounding this issue. Our consultation will help ensure that everyone's voice is heard, and that decisions are made in a fair, respectful, and transparent way, in line with the law.

'While the consultation will be an important source of insight, it is not the only factor.

'The views we receive will sit alongside our wider responsibilities  including meeting legal requirements, assessing equality impacts, ensuring safeguarding, and considering how any decisions could be implemented in practice.'

In 2018, women staged a protest in the men's pond, wearing fake moustaches and beards to highlight the organisation's refusal to ban trans women from the ladies' pond.

Tensions flared again in May this year when women's rights campaigners stormed the male pond with around 30 female protesters, wearing false beards, wigs, and moustaches, demanded to be let in on Bank Holiday Monday, claiming to self-identify as male.

'They were blocked by security guards and police, who locked gates and reminded them protests were not allowed.
A member of the Bush family dynasty who is poised to announce his gubernatorial campaign in Maine has a dark past involving domestic violence and sexual harassment.

Healthcare entrepreneur Jonathan Bush is believed to be set to enter the 2026 race as soon as next week after hosting a fundraising dinner inside the Bush family compound in August.

The 56-year-old is cousins with former President George W. Bush and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the two headlined that event in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Bush had previously confessed to 'numerous physical alterations' with his ex-wife Sarah Seldon.

This included him 'repeatedly slamming his closed fist into her sternum [breastbone]', while in the presence of their child who was a baby at the time.

His actions plunged the political dynasty into crisis after the details emerged as part of a 2006 custody battle over the couple's five children that were uncovered in 2018.

The former Mrs Bush alleged that Bush had 'struck her on numerous occasions, once causing a black eye'.

A second submission claimed that Bush's behavior had become 'more and more aggressive and hostile'.

Jonathan Bush (pictured) is set to enter the 2026 race as soon as next week after hosting a fundraising dinner inside the Bush family compound in August

The 56-year-old is cousins with former President George W. Bush and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, he is seen here with the former commander-in-chief in this 2014 photo

It says that he had 'screamed at her, directly into her face, calling her a 'whore' while pushing her into the wall and repeatedly slamming his closed fist into her sternum.

His hand landed just inches from their baby who was crying. His wife testified that she was very afraid for her own safety and that of the child in her arms.

The court papers included an acknowledgment from Bush who agreed 'that such an incident took place'.

The documents at the time said that his wife filed for an emergency motion to have Bush vacate their home. Since then he has married and divorced for a second time.

After his disturbed behavior was uncovered, Bush said in a statement that he took 'complete responsibility for all these regrettable incidents' involving his ex-wife.

'They occurred during a particularly difficult personal time in my life. I have worked very hard since then to demonstrate my remorse', he added.

Seldon said: 'Like many families, ours is not perfect. Neither of us are proud of the events that occurred during our divorce.'

Not long after his history of violence was uncovered, a video captured in 2017 showed Bush at a healthcare industry event dressed up as a race car driver.

Bush was pretending to be the title character of the 2006 comedy 'Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby', portrayed by Will Ferrell.

After his disturbed behavior was uncovered, Bush said in a statement that he took 'complete responsibility for all these regrettable incidents'

Bush had previously confessed to 'numerous physical alterations' with his ex-wife Sarah Seldon, seen here

Bloomberg first reported on the clip, saying that he was seen telling one of his female employees that he wanted to 'jump down on her and do inappropriate things'.

After a brief pause, the exec cleared his throat and said: 'Uh, but obviously that's totally inappropriate and would never happen or be said on a microphone.'

Two complaints were also filed against Bush in 2007 and in 2009, alleging inappropriate conduct with female employees.

The first complaint, obtained by the outlet, was filed by a female Athenahealth manager with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

In the complaint, the woman said that although she was given positive performance reviews, she was fired and told she was 'destructive to the team'.

The woman alleged that Bush 'engaged in highly inappropriate conduct regarding a female employee at an awards banquet in or around early 2005'.

He also faced a complaint in 2009 by another former female employee who said she left Athenahealth due to the 'sexually hostile environment which I was forced to work in'.

In the complaint, she claimed that Bush stared at her breasts, commented on his sex life and made sexual remarks about her and other female employees.

He held a fundraiser at the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, in August. The property is seen here

The case was settled shortly thereafter and the woman, who spoke to the New York Post anonymously, called Bush 'a friend, a good man [and] a good leader'.

In a news release this week, Bush said he'd be making a 'major announcement' on Wednesday.

'Ive had conversations with people all over the state, and Im hearing the same thing almost everywhere,' Bush said in a written statement to the Portland Press Herald.

'Mainers want a leader who will shake up the status quo in Augusta. They want a proven job creator who will make sure our kids dont have to leave the state to achieve the American Dream. I cant wait to gather with friends next week and talk about the next step in this exciting journey.'

The event will take place on the campus of Athenahealth, the multi-billion-dollar company he founded in 1997.

He stepped down as CEO in 2018 over the reports that emerged involving his behavior towards his ex-wife before the company sold for $17 billion in 2022.

Bush, assuming he runs as a Republican, is not likely to align himself with the MAGA movement, as he has called President Donald Trump 'personally troubled'.

Trump largely took over the GOP with his shock win in the 2016 Republican primary, a contest Jeb Bush was initially forecasted to do well in, and his defeat of Hillary Clinton in the general election.

Jonathan could be set to follow in the footsteps of family members former President George W. Bush and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, while Jeb's son has his own success as commissioner of the Texas General Land Office from 2015-2023

Many believed that the Bush dynasty was dead when George P. Bush, the son of Jeb Bush, lost in a landslide to Ken Paxton in the 2022 GOP primary for Texas Attorney General.

in December 2023, he donated $50,000 to a super PAC that was in support of Nikki Haley, Trump's main rival in the 2024 Republican primaries.

He has not given much to Maine politicians but has supported Senator Susan Collins, a moderate Republican who voted against Trump's Big Beautiful Bill.

Bush has also praised Maine's incumbent Democratic Governor Janet Mills, who will not be running next year because of term limits, for keeping the 'the lunatic fringe' of her party at bay.

If Bush were to win next year, he would be putting his family back in the spotlight after a very quiet decade.

Bush grew up in New York City and spent his summers in North Haven, a small island community of the coast of Maine. He moved to Cape Elizabeth in 2021.

Daily Mail has reached out to Jonathan Bush for further comment.
Former Labor leader Mark Latham has vowed to take legal action after being escorted out of a members-only restaurant at Royal Randwick Racecourse on Saturday afternoon.

The 64-year-old, now a NSW Upper House MLC, was photographed leaving the Grand View Restaurant flanked by two police officers at around 1.45pm, in an image obtained by the Daily Telegraph.

It's understood management asked Latham to leave before contacting police, citing a ban imposed by the Australian Turf Club (ATC).

Late on Saturday night, Latham launched into a blistering online tirade, branding the ATC's actions 'outrageous' and threatening legal action.

'Thanks to the loving genius who sent this to me. Unlike those I will be suing for the decisions they took today,' he wrote on X.

He claimed an ATC director had greeted him warmly earlier in the day, making 'no mention of any problem whatsoever' with him being on course.

'I have never been notified of such, had a hearing or process about my rights as a guest of an ATC member, as I was today,' he said.

Latham argued he had attended Randwick as a guest of a member with a valid pass and revealed he had visited Rosehill Racecourse, operated by the ATC, just weeks earlier.

Mark Latham leaving the Grand View Restaurant flanked by two police officers (pictured)

'I was at Rosehill four weeks ago as a guest of a member, not a word said all day,' Latham wrote.

In another post, Latham slammed the timing of the confrontation.

'The first I heard of a concern was when an ATC staffer came up during the running of a race (sacrilegious) to say "there's a board decision showing that you're not welcome here",' he said.

'I replied that can't be true because less than an hour earlier, one of four ATC directors greeted me warmly, asked for my advice and did not say a word about any such decision.'

He claimed the staffer 'couldn't produce any document to support his claim,' so he refused to leave until police arrived. 'I didn't leave because the request was BS,' he wrote.

The ATC confirmed the incident, saying Latham had breached conditions prohibiting suspended members from attending races.

'We can confirm an incident occurred regarding a former member who had been subject to disciplinary proceedings,' a spokesman said. 'He was asked to leave the racecourse.'

Latham (pictured) said he would be 'suing' the ATC over the incident at Randwick Racecourse

Police later confirmed they were called by ATC officials to remove a 64-year-old man from the members' area.

'The man complied and there is no further police action,' a NSW Police spokesperson said.

The drama follows a 12-month good behaviour bond and suspension placed on Latham's membership earlier this year.

The ATC recently passed a resolution banning suspended or resigned members from attending race meetings.

Latham resigned his membership in June after accusing the club of 'lousy customer service, incompetent management and a complete lack of collegiality' in a fiery post on X.

Latham was asked to attend a Racing NSW disciplinary hearing last month after he allegedly verbally abused a staff member at the Rosehill Racecourse in April.

He is still awaiting the results of the hearing.
Security footage from a Utah gas station revealed alleged Charlie Kirk assassin's whereabouts in the 33 hours before he was arrested.

New video obtained by Fox News Digital showed Tyler Robinson, 22, at a gas station in Cedar City, Utah one day after the right-wing influencer was shot.

Kirk was gunned down at a Turning Point USA event on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem on September 10.

Authorities suspected that Robinson had dumped evidence at the Maverick gas station 215 miles away from the university.

Police went to the gas station in response to the tip, which prompted them to uncover the footage.

However, it also led them to confirm that he did not dump anything in the gas station's trash while he was there.

The video showed Robinson arriving at the gas station on September 11 at 7.15am in his Dodge Challenger less than 24 hours into the manhunt.

He exited his vehicle and paid with a credit card before pumping fuel into his car.

He then got back in his vehicle and drove away, staying at the gas station no more than a few minutes.

Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin was spotted at a gas station 215 miles away from where the conservative influencer was shot

The Cedar City Police Department described the video: 'Once the tank was full, he removed the nozzle, closed the gas cap, got back into his vehicle and left the gas station.

'At no time did Tyler approach or use any trash cans to dispose of items.'

The video does give insight into Robinson's getaway route from Orem, Utah to St. George, Utah where he was arrested on September 11.

Robinson was taken into custody after he 'implied' guilt to his parents, friends, and roommate.

The day before, Robinson returned to the crime scene to retrieve his weapon, likely in hopes of getting away without a trace, according to the New York Post.

Robinson was taken into custody after a 33 hour manhunt

Robinson allegedly told authorities scoping out the scene that he'd left something near the parking garage and needed to go get it.

This description was very close to where police eventually found the weapon.

At the time, Robinson remained unsuspicious to police, because hundreds of people had dropped their things and fled to safety amid the gunshots.

Officers still did a routine check of his license plate, which later helped them link the encounter to the suspect.

Text messages revealed by prosecutors read: 'If I am able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence.

Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on September 10

'Going to attempt to retrieve it again, hopefully they have moved on. I haven't seen anything about them finding it.'

Although, some social media users noted the awkward, almost scripted nature of the text and suggested it was fake.

Police found the weapon on September 11 and Robinson was arrested just hours after he was recorded at the Cedar City gas station.

He now faces charges of aggravated murder, two counts of obstruction of justice, felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of witness tampering, and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child.

Prosecutors have said that they plan on seeking the death penalty in Robinson's case.
An Iowa superintendent arrested by ICE for being in the country illegally has extensive criminal history in the US, including several hidden guns, narcotics sales and fraudulent documents.

Ian Roberts, 54, the former Des Moines Public Schools superintendent, was taken into custody by ICE last month on a fugitive warrant after authorities identified him as an 'illegal alien from Guyana' with pending weapons charges.

The following day, the district board unanimously placed Roberts on paid leave, noting that his detainment made him unable to fulfill his responsibilities for the 30,000-student district.

On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released new details about Roberts, exposing an extensive criminal and immigration record in the US.

'He should never have been serving in a role overseeing children in Iowa's largest school district,' the agency said in a statement.

ICE agents monitored Roberts home on September 26 as they were aware that he was illegally in the US and had been under an active deportation order since May 2024.

According to a criminal complaint filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ), a search of Roberts Jeep Cherokee revealed a firearm hidden under the drivers seat, wrapped in a towel.

Authorities identified the weapon as a Glock 9mm pistol, which was chambered and fully loaded. They also discovered a fixed-blade hunting knife and $3,000 in cash.

Ian Roberts (pictured), the 54-year-old Iowa superintendent arrested by ICE for being in the country illegally, was found to have an extensive criminal history and immigration record in the US

The former Des Moines Public Schools superintendent was taken into custody by ICE last month on a fugitive warrant after authorities identified him as an 'illegal alien from Guyana' with pending weapons charges

A DOJ criminal complaint revealed that agents discovered a firearm hidden under the drivers seat of Roberts' car, wrapped in a towel (pictured)

ICE agents then executed a federal search warrant at Roberts home and uncovered three more hidden guns scattered around the property.

One firearm found beneath a living room seat cushion was a loaded and chambered 9mm pistol, another was a loaded rifle stored in the master bedroom closet, and the last was a shotgun discovered behind the beds headboard.

Multiple firearm magazines, assorted ammunition, and a book titled 'Concealed Carry and Home Defense' were also discovered inside, according to the DOJ.

DHS reported that Roberts criminal history includes a dismissed 1988 charge for unauthorized vehicle use in New York and 2012 charges in Maryland for reckless driving, unsafe operation and speeding.

Records also showed that in 1996, he was charged in New York with criminal possession of narcotics with intent to sell, criminal possession of narcotics, and possession of a forged instrument.

According to the agency, Roberts was convicted in 2022 of unlawful firearm possession in Pennsylvania and had faced multiple weapon-related charges in 2020, including second, third, and fourth-degree criminal possession.

The criminal complaint revealed that Roberts has a sealed restraining order from Missouri in 2023 as well, though the reasons behind it have not been disclosed.

Authorities also found that he was illegally registered to vote as a Democrat in Maryland, adding to worries about the integrity of the states voter registration system.

Three more guns were found inside Roberts' home. One was a loaded and chambered 9mm pistol found beneath a living room seat cushion (pictured), another was a loaded rifle stored in the master bedroom closet, and the last was a shotgun found behind the beds headboard

In 1996, Roberts was charged in New York with criminal possession of narcotics with intent to sell, criminal possession of narcotics, and possession of a forged instrument

His arrest has sparked fierce protest among his supporters who accused ICE of racism

'Ian Andre Roberts, a criminal illegal alien with multiple weapons charges and drug trafficking charges, should have never been able to work around children,' DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

'Under Secretary Noem, ICE will continue to arrest the worst of the worst and put the safety of Americas children FIRST,' she added.

Roberts, who last entered the US on a student visa in 1999, has a long and complicated immigration history, with two visas, four denied Green Card applications and several entries into the country, according to DHS.

He reportedly first arrived in the country in 1994 as a 'visitor for pleasure,' leaving at an unknown time before returning prior to his 1996 drug charges.

Roberts LinkedIn page also lists several schools and degrees, including attendance at Morgan State University from 2003 to 2007.

The university confirmed Roberts attended but noted he 'did not receive a degree,' and there was no record of him in the MIT Executive MBA program, despite his claim of being an incoming candidate, according to Fox News.

Even with Roberts' charges and status, he has occupied multiple top positions in public education across Baltimore, Washington, DC, St. Louis, California, Pennsylvania and Iowa.

During his tenure as superintendent of Millcreek Township School District from 2020 to 2023, three gender discrimination lawsuits were filed against the district.

The criminal complaint revealed that Roberts pictured) has a sealed restraining order from Missouri in 2023 as well, though the reasons behind it have not been disclosed

Roberts, who last entered the US on a student visa in 1999, has a long and complicated immigration history, with two visas, four denied Green Card applications and several entries into the country (pictured: protest)

Roberts tried to flee in a school-issued car when agents attempted to stop him, speeding into a wooded area and abandoning the vehicle. Iowa State Patrol later found him hiding in brush just south of the car (pictured left, 2020, right, 2025)

One male employee claiming that Roberts showed a preference for women in top roles.

The district has shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle these lawsuits.

Roberts tried to flee in a school-issued car when agents attempted to stop him, speeding into a wooded area and abandoning the vehicle. Iowa State Patrol later discovered him hiding in brush just south of where the car was found.

He was held in the Woodbury County Jail in Sioux City, in northwest Iowa, about 150 miles from Des Moines.

After his arrest, Roberts resigned from his latest superintendent position - a job hed held since 2023 - where he raked in a staggering $305,000 salary.

The controversy has spurred Republicans in the state legislature to open an investigation into Roberts hiring process.

His arrest also sparked protests, with more than 200 Des Moines residents rallying downtown.
A practising barrister has claimed the Israeli government 'orchestrated' an Islamist terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester - and that it is now 'plotting to assassinate' King Charles - provoking widespread outrage.

Sham Uddin, who describes himself on LinkedIn as 'a barrister-at-law, accredited mediator, writer, and philosopher', posted a video making the claims to his social media accounts just 24 hours after Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, targeted Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester on Thursday.

Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, both members of Manchester's Jewish community, were killed during the murderous rampage, which coincided with Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Another three people remain in hospital.

In his video, Uddin - who has 24,000 followers on TikTok and 30,000 on Facebook - said: 'Breaking news - it is rumoured that the Israeli government orchestrated the attack in the synagogue in Manchester yesterday, October 2, 2025.

'The Israeli government has sleeper cells in the UK and the USA and they activate them at their will.'

He then went on to explain his claim by mentioning Mossad's pager attack on Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah in September 2024 - adding that 'the Israeli government have sleeper cells in the United Kingdom'.

Uddin then made a second claim declaring the Israeli government is plotting to kill King Charles as a way of 'creating a race war in the UK'.

In the video, he said: 'It is rumoured that King Charles is on the Israeli government's target list to be assassinated.

Barrister Sham Uddin has claimed the Israeli government 'orchestrated' an Islamist terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester - and it is now 'plotting to assassinate' King Charles

Uddin claimed the Israeli government is also plotting to kill King Charles as a way of 'creating a race war in the UK'

'They will assassinate him just before the elections in order to get the right wing activated and in order to create a race war in the UK. You have been warned.'

According to the Bar Standards Board (BSB), Uddin formally qualified in March 2015 and currently has a valid licence to practise until April 2026.

His primary practice address, at Greenvern Law Chambers, is listed at a premises in Great Barr Birmingham, nestled between Nails World pedicure bar and the Beaufort Arms pub.

Uddin is also listed at another address in Tyseley, Birmingham, which is located opposite several furniture stores and a Chinese restaurant.

He practises across family, civil and criminal law, according to the prominent sign placed on his chambers, alongside a picture of Uddin dressed in his barrister wig and gown.

Uddin has previously shared anti-Israel posts to his social media, including an October 7 conspiracy theory that the government allowed the attacks to take place in a bid to 'expel' Palestinians.

In a post shared previously on Linkedin, Uddin said: 'There is evidence that in my opinion that this attack by Hamas was done with the connivance of certain parts of the Israeli government, which was to expel the Palestinians from Gaza in order to bury the two-state solution.'

In another post he said: 'This is not a conspiracy theory but reality.'

Forensic officers continue to investigate the scene of an Islamist terrorist attack at Heaton Park synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, on Saturday morning

Kemi Badenoch was seen with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham (left) as the Conservative leader visited the scene on Saturday

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He went on to describe the October 7 Hamas massacre as a 'false flag operation' and said it was 'an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party'.

Uddin formerly stood for election as an independent MP in 2024 in the east London constituency of Bethnal Green and Stepney. He subsequently lost against Labour's Rushanara Ali, who won her seat with 15,896 votes against his 325.

After his latest video emerged, advocacy group Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) described Uddin's claims as 'deranged conspiracy theories'.

CAA called on the Bar Standards Board to suspend and investigate Uddin over his 'delusional allegation', adding that Uddin's views could risk 'sparking violence' and 'hatred'.

A spokesperson for CAA said: 'Less than a day after Jews were murdered outside their synagogue, a barrister is circulating deranged conspiracy theories that the Jewish state carried out the attack.

'This is not some anonymous troll but a practising barrister. His delusional allegation that Israel is plotting to assassinate the King is grotesque, incendiary and dangerous.

The Manchester synagogue attacker, Jihad al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by officers at the scene just seven minutes after the first 999 call

'When Jews are being killed in Britain, this kind of bile risks sparking violence. Yet still, extremists are indulged while the Jewish community buries its dead.

'How much longer are the authorities going to sit on their hands as hatred metastasises into violence?

'The Bar Standards Board must immediately suspend Sham Uddin and investigate without delay. The police must urgently examine this material too.

'Failure to act will send a clear signal that even regulated lawyers can incite against Jews with impunity.'
An Oregon federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from sending the National Guard into Portland, as the city contends with hundreds of protestors at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.

It's a major blow to Trump, who called Portland a 'war-ravaged' city under siege by Antifa terrorists, when he announced last week that federal agents would be deployed there.

U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, made the ruling after the city and the state sued the federal government.

The temporary restraining order expires in 14 days on October 18, Immergut wrote in her order.

The Department of Defense has been ready to federalize 200 members of Oregon's National Guard for the next 60 days to protect the ICE facility, which has been a site for protests throughout the summer and into the fall.

On Saturday, about 400 people participating in a 'No National Guard in Portland' rally marched from Elizabeth Caruthers Park to the ICE facility.

As they marched, a helicopter continually followed them. And once they arrived at the facility, federal agents shot tear gas into the crowd and made six arrests, The Oregonian reported.

It's not yet clear who was arrested or why they were taken into custody.

A judge ruled that Trump could not federally activate 200 members of Oregon's National Guard to quell protests at an ICE facility in Portland (Pictured: Law enforcement officers stand in front of the facility on Saturday with a mass of protestors opposite them)

Pictured: Protestors are seen holding their shirts over their noses after federal officers deployed tear gas

Pictured: A man is arrested by law enforcement during the protests. A total of six people were arrested during Saturday's demonstration

Two arrests were made during Friday night protests at the facility as well. Thomas Wayne Allen and Cortez Carl Williams, both of Portland, were taken in after engaging in aggressive behavior toward each other.

Both were booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree.

Allen was in possession of a can of chemical spray, which appears to bear spray according to images, and a collapsible metal coil baton, authorities said.

The police added: 'There were individuals who gathered to confront one another and passionately debate their opposing points of view.

'The police presence, targeted arrests, and announcements from the Portland Police Bureau Sound Truck were effective in suppressing any physical fights breaking out.'

This week's chaos began on Tuesday, when more than 100 rioters stormed the ICE center, injuring several agents in the process, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Six people were arrested on Tuesday which then prompted further protests on Wednesday night.

Wednesday night's protest was the second day of unrest at the facility after officers were forced to fire pepper balls from the roof in an attempt to dispel crowds which gathered on Tuesday.

A lone protestor with a gas mask stands amid the red smoke that was thrown by authorities

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It also broke Saturday that Trump is planning to take control of 300 of Illinois National Guard troops after an attack on federal agents in Chicago

Anti-ICE sentiment has seemingly spread to other cities as well, most notably in Chicago, where law enforcement officers were rammed by 10 vehicles and boxed in on Saturday morning.

According to DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, the agents were unable to move their vehicles.

This led them to get out of their vehicles and fire 'defensive shots at an armed US citizen who drove herself to the hospital to get care for wounds'.

The woman, who had a semi-automatic weapon, was part of an internal threat bulletin circulated after allegedly doxxing law enforcement officials online.

The posts, made under the name La Maggie, were shared to Facebook and involved an agent in Chicago. Daily Mail has approached the DHS for further comment on the person pictured on that account.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said Saturday that Trump is about to take control of 300 of his National Guard troops.

'This morning, the Trump Administration's Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will,' Pritzker said in a statement. 'It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.'

Trump first threatened to send soldiers to Chicago last month in a Truth Social post accompanied by an AI image of himself in cowboy hat flanked with military helicopters.

'I love the smell of deportations in the morning. Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of WAR,' Trump wrote.
New Orleans experienced its deadliest week since January, as Louisianas Republican governor asked for the National Guard to be deployed into the Crescent City.

Nine people were murdered in New Orleans across nine neighborhoods last week, igniting concerns about local safety.

The deaths included a beloved chef who was waiting to pick up his two-year-old son from daycare when he was carjacked and a mother and hospital worker who was visiting New Orleans to celebrate her birthday.

Carl Morgan, a sous chef at Brennan's restaurant in the French Quarter, was ambushed outside the Abeona House Child Discovery Center in Mid-City on Tuesday evening.

The suspect was identified as Raymond Wells, 21, and tracked to Interstate 10 in Metairie. Police told Daily Mail Wells remains in hospital Saturday morning being treated for injuries.

Officers found Wells inside Morgan's vehicle with a gunshot wound to the head.

Authorities said to the New York Post that Wells had been cruising the neighborhood earlier, firing at cars and attempting other carjackings prior to murdering Morgan.

Nine people were murdered in New Orleans last week, including sous chef Carl Morgan (pictured)

Morgan was killed outside the Abeona House Child Discovery Center in Mid-City on Tuesday. Scene of the shooting is seen above

Morgan's loved ones described him as a devoted father and a talented chef whose life revolved around his son.

Brennan's General Manager Christian Pendleton told Fox 8: 'He was the biggest teddy bear.

'He was just the happiest dad - so tickled to be a dad. He loved moments with his son. He was a huge Raiders fan.'

Wells was charged with first-degree murder, deputy chief Nicholas Gernon said at a press conference.

Days earlier, Jessica Williams, 33, was killed in a shooting on Bourbon Street.

Williams was only in New Orleans celebrating her birthday, having turned 33 about two hours before her tragic death.

New Orleans police arrested Mekhi Jarius Andry, 20, and Dontrell Bradley, 19, in connection with Williams's death.

Jessica Williams, 33, was killed in a shooting on Bourbon Street

Williams was visiting New Orleans from Chicago for her birthday

Officers originally responded to shots fired at 2.22am on September 28 and found two adult females and one adult male shot, a press release said.

Police determined that Andry had fired gunshots toward Bradley, who was 'struck and returned fire'.

Williams was declared dead on the scene, while the remaining woman and man were taken to a local hospital.

Later, a third woman with a graze gunshot wound was found and also hospitalized for treatment.

Governor Jeff Landry has asked for up to 1,000 Louisiana National Guard troops to be activated in his state, which Donald Trump previously appeared receptive to.

The US president said in September: 'Do we go to a place like New Orleans where we have a great governor, Jeff Landry, who wants us to come in and straighten out a very nice section of this country that's become quite tough, quite bad?

'So we're going to be going to maybe Louisiana. You have New Orleans, which has a crime problem. We'll straighten that out in about two weeks. It'll take us two weeks.

'Easier than DC.'

The Trump administration previously sent the National Guard into Democrat-led Los Angeles and Washington DC as part of their campaign to fight crime.

Landry is a Republican but New Orleans is a blue city in a red state.

Governor Jeff Landry has asked for up to 1,000 Louisiana National Guard troops to be deployed

Landry posted that he would take the government's help 'from New Orleans to Shreveport!'

In a statement released by his office on September 30, Landry said: 'Since taking office, we have made real progress in driving down crime across Louisiana  but the job is far from finished.

'Federal partnerships in our toughest cities have worked, and now, with the support of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, we are taking the next step by bringing in the National Guard.'

Landry added that his request was about 'saving lives and protecting families'.

He said: 'To the criminals terrorizing our communities: your time is up. Law and order are back in Louisiana.'

The Louisiana National Guard 'acknowledged' that the mission 'in support of law enforcement' was 'pending approval' of federal Title 32 funding.

That means the troops would be under state control but the federal government would cover their salaries and operating expenses.

The Louisiana National Guard met with New Orleans police and state police on Friday 'to conduct preliminary contingency planning to improve public safety', according to WGNO.

In September, Landry posted on X that he would take the government's help 'from New Orleans to Shreveport!'

Preliminary crime statistics published by New Orleans police showed less crime in 2025. Pictured: The scene of the carjacking above

Murders dropped by 13 percent this year, according to data released by New Orleans police. Pictured: The scene of the carjacking

The most recent preliminary crime statistics published by New Orleans police showed less crime this year.

Murders dropped by 13 percent, first and second degree rape dropped by 29 percent and armed robbery dropped by 26 percent.

Police also noted a 19 percent decrease in arrests for illegal possession of a firearm, as well as a 43 percent decrease in firearm seizures during criminal investigations.

The nine murders in New Orleans last week were the most since Shamsud Din Jabbar, 42, killed 14 and injured 57 others when he drove a Ford F-150 into crowds in the French Quarter on New Year's Day.

The youngest victim then was 18 years old and the oldest 63. Most were in their 20s and were from across the US and the world.

Jabbar was killed in a firefight with police.

A 'review' of Jabbar's electronics showed that he had scoured the internet for similar massacres and researched how to access a balcony on Bourbon Street, as well as information on 'several shootings in the city.'

The National Guard has recently been deployed in Louisiana on other occasions, including after the New Year's terror attack.

New Orleans experienced its deadliest week since January. Carl Morgan (pictured_ was among those killed

That mobilization consisted of approximately 100 troops.

More than 5,400 guardsmen from 11 states were deployed in Louisiana in 2021 to respond to the devastating effects of Hurricane Ida.

Three years later, the Louisiana National Guard was deployed by Landry to respond to the threat of Hurricane Francine.

Landry's press release said that past National Guard missions had 'cut crime by 50 percent in early 2025'.
The family of a British teenager who was killed in a car crash three months after being released from a hellhole Dubai jail are in 'too much' emotional pain - as a man is charged with causing his death.

Marcus Fakana, 19, spent seven months languishing in Al Awir prison over a holiday relationship with another British tourist before being granted a royal pardon by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Marcus, then 18, had struck up the relationship with the girl, then 17 and just a few months younger than him - a fact he was not aware of at the time.

Despite the relationship being consensual, Marcus was sentenced due to the Gulf state's laws that sexual intercourse with anyone under the age of 18 is an offence.

After relentless campaigning by his family, Marcus was freed from the prison - which is often dubbed the 'Middle East's Alcatraz' - on July 3 this year, and had been reunited with his loved ones after the nightmare ordeal.

But in the early hours of Friday morning, Marcus tragically died after a car he was a passenger in smashed into another vehicle while it was being tailed by the Metropolitan Police in Tottenham, north London.

The Metropolitan Police said that Marcus died in hospital in the early hours of Friday after police tried to stop a 'vehicle of interest' in Pretoria Road and, after a short pursuit, officers temporarily lost sight of the vehicle.

Officers then drove in to The Roundway and found the vehicle had been involved in a crash with another vehicle.

Marcus Fakana (above) died in the car crash exactly three months after being freed from prison

Marcus died after a car he was passenger in crashed at The Roundway (above, general view)

Marcus's family campaigned (above) to bring him home earlier this year while he was in prison

Marwaan Mohamed Huseen, of Argyle Road, Tottenham, appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court on Saturday charged with causing death by dangerous driving, driving without insurance and driving without a licence, said a Met spokesman.

He was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on October 30.

The spokesman added that a further charge of failing to stop was discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service.

But for Marcus's family, the pain has been described as 'too much' by one heartbroken person close to them.

They wrote online: 'God give Crispin and Marie strength, the pain is too much. Rip Marcus you left your mummy in pain baby.'

Another commented below the post: 'I know some people might say it doesn't matter how he passed away, but all I know is that we all hoped and prayed for him to pull through, and then suddenly he was gone. Please, make it make sense. I'm confused.'

'Too young to die. When I heard that sad news early on tonight. My heart just sunk in pain, felt useless.

'Ooh God! I feel for your your dad, mum, your uncles, your aunties, your cousins, your sisters n brother. May your soul rest in perfect peace Marcus,' a third added.

Marcus (left) is pictured with his family who are said to be in 'too much' emotional pain now

Raphaella Stirling (above) said Marcus was 'grateful for the kindness of the British public'

Radha Stirling said she was 'heartbroken' following Marcus's death after assisting him in Dubai

His death has come as a shock to many, as one wrote: 'Omg this poor boy went though hell. So sad how long had he been out R.I.P.'

In a devastating vigil for the young boy, dozens of friends and family gathered at a home were seen sobbing, as many also put their heads down to commemorate their loved one.

Marcus's death has sparked an outpouring of grief among those who followed the case of his imprisonment, which came about after the mother of the girl he was in a relationship with discovered messages between the pair.

She then reported Marcus to the UAE authorities bringing widespread attention and outrage, highlighting the Gulf state's harsh laws which critics say criminalise personal relationships and disproportionately target foreign nationals.

But with the help of his family campaign - which saw them march through the streets of Westminster - and his lawyers in the UAE and Detained in Dubai, Marcus was released in July.

At the forefront of assisting him was Detained in Dubai founder and lawyer, Radha Stirling, who today told the Daily Mail she was heartbroken to hear of the teenager's death.

She said: 'I came to know Marcus as he faced one of the most frightening experiences of his life, and I witnessed his strength and courage throughout.

'He was grateful for the compassion shown to him by the British public, and his experiences gave him a renewed focus on Christianity and prayer.

Marcus (above) spent seven months in Al Awir prison before being granted a royal pardon

Marcus was freed from the prison - dubbed the 'Middle East's Alcatraz' in July this year

'Marcus was thankful to have regained his freedom and was looking forward to building a positive future. My heartfelt condolences go to his family and friends at this difficult time.'

Ms Stirling added: 'Marcus spent the majority of this year in a Dubai prison which no doubt caused him long lasting mental anguish.

'Its sad that of all of 2025, he was only free for the three months from the 3rd of July until the 3rd of October.

'It wasnt necessary for him to be in prison at all. He could have been deported instead.

'David Lammy and the FCDO caused Marcus and his family no end of grief, refusing to effectively help him as the Foreign Minister.

'Its sad that he had to go through this in what would be the last months of his life.'

Raphaella Stirling, Detained in Dubai's Crisis Manager, added: 'Marcus had only been released from prison earlier this year.

'Despite everything he endured, he was grateful for the kindness of the British public, and he embraced his freedom with renewed faith, joy, and hope for the future.'

Marcus's family marched in Westminster earlier this year to demand his release from Dubai

His family held signs reading 'Justice for Marcus' and 'Bring our boy back home!' in January

During his nightmare ordeal, Marcus also spoke exclusively to the Daily Mail from the UAE where he begged Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum: 'Please give me my life back'.

Marcus apologised for breaking the law and described his 'devastation' at the year long sentence.

He said: 'My family and I are devastated and in shock. I never intended to break the law. It didn't occur to me at the time and for that, I'm sorry.

'I am asking His Highness... to please forgive me and pardon me. Let me go home. Please give me my life back'.

His parents had been appealing to Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the British Embassy in Dubai for assistance in advocating for his release.

After arriving home this summer, Ms Stirling had said Marcus was 'recovering'.

She added: 'His case has attracted significant public attention due to concerns about the criminalisation of tourists and disproportionate sentencing.

'We believe this case highlights the urgent need for expedited legal processes for foreign nationals and safeguards against unnecessary custodial sentences.'

Marcus's nightmare ordeal began when in August after he and the 17-year-old girl, just a month short of her 18th birthday, began a holiday romance in the 210-a-night Hilton Dubai Palm Jumeirah, where their families were both staying.

After the girl and her family returned to the UK, her mother reported Marcus to the Dubai authorities, where he was initially accused of rape - which was cleared after police reviewed hotel CCTV footage which showed the girl going into his hotel bedroom at 4am.

The Met say the Directorate of Professional Standards was informed about the car crash, as was the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), in line with standard practice.
Two children were killed and two others critically injured after an early morning shooting.

The shooting happened on Saturday morning in Angleton, Texas, with police being called to a gas station at 5am - although police said it was not the site of the shooting.

According to the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office, two kids aged 13 and 4 were fatally shot, with two others aged 8 and 9 transported away by an air ambulance in a critical condition.

Investigators told KHOU11 that an adult woman has since been taken into custody, her relationship to the children remains unclear at this time.

A statement from the Sheriff's Office said: 'Investigators are collecting evidence and working to determine exactly what happened.

The shooting happened on Saturday morning in Angleton, Texas , with police being called to a gas station at 5am

Investigators told KHOU11 that an adult woman has since been taken into custody, her relationship to the children remains unclear at this time

'All individuals believed to be involved have been detained, and there is no ongoing threat to the community.

'While details are still developing, the loss of two children in such a manner is a tragedy.

'Our thoughts are with the family and everyone affected as we continue to learn more about this heartbreaking situation.'

Law enforcement sources also told KHOU11 that the two children currently in hospital are expected to survive the disturbing ordeal.
The drones that forced Munich airport to close on Thursday and Friday evening in the middle of Oktoberfest were 'military', a report has confirmed.

German news outlet Bild reported that the drones spotted hovering over the travel hub were military in nature, as flights resumed 'progressively' today with visitors to the city still affected by delays.

Yesterday saw the second evening of drone scares cause the airport to shut down again, with 23 incoming flights diverted and 12 bound for Munich being cancelled.

The airport said in a statement on its website that 'because of unconfirmed drone sightings air traffic has been cancelled until further notice' - the latest in a spate of such incidents heightening security fears in Europe.

The operator said that over 6,500 passengers were affected, while 46 departures from the airport had to be cancelled or delayed until today, causing yet more delays as Germany remains on high alert.

The disruption came as the country celebrated German Unity Day on Friday - a national holiday - and as Munich geared up for the final weekend of Oktoberfest, which draws hundreds of thousands of people the city every day.

Airports in Denmark, Norway and Poland have also recently suspended flights due to unidentified drones.

Romania and Estonia have pointed the finger at Russia, which has brushed off the allegations.

Munich Airport was closed on Thursday and Friday evening after drone sightings, causing delays and affecting thousands of passengers

The airport closure comes as revellers flock to Munich ahead of the final weekend of its world famous Oktoberfest Beer Festival

A police spokesman said that there were 'two simultaneous confirmed drone sightings by police patrols just before 11pm (on Friday) around the north and south runways.

'The drones immediately moved away, before they could be identified.'

The first disruption due to drone sightings, on Thursday, had caused more than 30 flights to be cancelled there and left nearly 3,000 passengers stranded.

Police said drones were spotted throughout that day in areas close to the airport, including the towns of Freising and Erding.

Erding plays host to an airfield used by the German military. It was reported in German media that some of the drones were spotted flying over the facility, although police could not confirm this.

The sightings caused the closure of both runways.

Police helicopters were deployed but authorities said they had no information about the type or number of drones involved.

Early on Friday German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the first night's incident was a 'wake-up call' on the threat from drones.

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A soldier of the German armed forces demonstrates a HP 47 drone jammer during the defence exercise 'Red Storm Bravo' in which civilian and military coordination is trained and led by German army Bundeswehr in Hamburg, Germany, September 26, 2025

'The race between the threat from drones and the defence against drones is becoming more and more difficult,' he told Bild, adding that 'more financing and research' on the issue was urgently needed at the national and European levels.

German Aerospace Industries Association (BDLI) CEO Marie-Christine von Hahn said the incident proved the need to develop an anti-drone defence system as quickly as possible.

'We now need to act quickly, together with politics, industry and security authorities,' she said, adding that 'We as an industry are ready to do our part in this security partnership.'

The German government is expected on Wednesday to sign off on plans for a change in the law to let the army shoot drones down if necessary.

The Bavarian interior ministry has requested surveillance support from the German army, a military spokeswoman told DLF radio station.

The drone sightings in Denmark and high-profile aerial incursions in Estonia and Poland have heightened fears that Russia's assault on Ukraine could spill over Europe's borders.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Europe on Thursday that the recent drone incursions showed Moscow was looking to 'escalate' its aggression.

Germany is now on high alert, saying a swarm of drones had flown over the country last week, including over military and industrial sites.

A severely damaged house in the village of Wyryki in eastern Poland, where one of the Russian drones that breached Polish airspace collided with the building

Denmark also raised the alarm, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reiterating last week that only one country 'poses a threat to Europe's security - and that's Russia.'

Moscow said it 'firmly rejects' any suggestion of involvement, with Russian President Vladimir Putin accusing Europe of stoking 'hysteria' to justify rising military spending.

Yesterday morning, the Federal Police's drone detection system reported a drone in the western area of Frankfurt Airport - approximately 700 metres away. The Hesse Police immediately initiated extensive search measures.

Officers were able to arrest a 41-year-old Croatian man who was piloting the drone.

He is now facing administrative offence proceedings and an investigation is underway into why he was at the airport with the drone.
Donald Trump has warned Hamas to 'move quickly' and release the hostages in Gaza or 'all bets will be off' amid efforts to broker a peace deal with Israel.

The president took to Truth Social on Saturday morning, issuing a sharp warning to the terrorist group to get the operation 'done FAST'.

Twenty hostages remain in Hamas custody, along with the bodies of 28 others which the group has refused to return to Israeli families since its brutal attack on October 7, 2023.

Now Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed the Israeli Defense Forces to stop their advance in Gaza City and scale back operations 'to a minimum,' signaling a major shift.

'I appreciate that Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed,' Trump wrote.

'Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off,' he added. 'I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again.'

'Let's get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!'

On Monday, Trump hailed what he called, 'potentially one of the great days ever in civilization,' unveiling plans to rule Gaza as part of his initiative for 'eternal peace in the Middle East'.

Donald Trump warned Hamas to 'move quickly' and release the hostages or else 'all bets will be off' amid efforts to broker a peace deal to end the violence in Gaza

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed the Israeli Defense Forces to stop their advance in Gaza City and scale back operations 'to a minimum'

Netanyahu ordered IDF soldiers to limit their actions to self-defense and abandon plans to occupy the city or evacuate its remaining residents

He vowed not only an 'immediate end to the war' in the Gaza strip, but the full resolution of 'the whole deal' to halt a conflict that has devastated the region for 'thousands of years'.

Trump met Netanyahu at the White House with key cabinet officials on Monday, where an agreement on a new peace deal was reached.

The White House released the 20-point plan, which included increasing aid to Gaza and an economic development proposal that includes preferred tariffs and access rates.

He also demanded that Hamas release the bodies of dead Israeli captives before the Sunday deadline.

Hamas quickly agreed following Trump's stark warning that 'all hell' would break loose if they did not comply.

The terror group further agreed to hand over Gazas administration to a panel of independent Palestinian technocrats, claiming the body would operate with 'Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support'.

Netanyahus office said early Saturday that Israel was set to launch the 'first stage' of the plan.

IDF soldiers have been ordered to limit their actions to self-defense and abandon plans to occupy the city or evacuate its remaining residents.

Trump met Netanyahu at the White House with key cabinet officials on Monday (pictured), where an agreement on a new peace deal was reached

The White House released the 20-point plan, which included increasing aid to Gaza and an economic development proposal that includes preferred tariffs and access rates (pictured: Gaza City)

Following Trumps stark warning that 'all hell' would be unleashed on Hamas if they did not comply to the proposal, the group quickly agreed to free all Israeli hostages and return the bodies of the deceased (pictured: Israeli hostage Emily Damari returning)

Twenty hostages are believed to remain in Hamass custody, along with the bodies of 28 others that the group has refused to return to Israeli families since its brutal attack (pictured: Gaza City air strike)

'In light of the Hamas response [to the Trump peace plan], Israel is making preparations for the immediate implementation of the first phase of the Trump plan which is the immediate release of all of the hostages,' Netanyahu said in a statement.

'We will continue to fully cooperate with the president and his team in order to end the war in accordance with the principles that Israel laid out and which are in line with President Trump's vision,' he added.

On Friday afternoon, Trump shared a video celebrating the deal, though he said he was still waiting to get the agreement 'in concrete' with both Hamas and Israel.

The president thanked Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey alongside others for having 'helped me put this together'.

'So many people fought so hard, this is a big day, we'll see how it all turns out, we have to get the final word down in concrete,' Trump said.

'Most importantly, I look forward to having the hostages come home to their parents and having some of the hostages, unfortunately you know the condition they're in, come home likewise to their parents, because their parents wanted them just as much as if that young man or young woman were alive,' he added.

Hamas (pictured) agreed to hand over Gazas administration to a panel of independent Palestinian technocrats, claiming the body would operate with 'Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support'

Netanyahus office said early Saturday that Israel was set to launch the 'first stage' of the plan (pictured: displaced Palestinian children)

On Friday afternoon, Trump shared a video celebrating the deal - though he said he was still waiting to get the agreement 'in concrete' with both Hamas and Israel

Following Hamass agreement, Trump took to Truth Social, declaring that he believes the group is acting in good faith.

'Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE,' the president said.

Hamas rejected Trumps plan to establish a 'Board of Peace' to govern Gaza - even with figures like former British Prime Minister Tony Blair proposed as members - and refused to completely disarm.

Hamas chief Mousa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera: 'We will never accept anyone who is not Palestinian to control the Palestinians. We can't bring someone like Tony Blair to be governor in Gaza because this man, he destroyed Iraq.'

The Islamists said that other elements of Trump's 20-point peace plan regarding the future of Gaza, 'will be discussed through a comprehensive Palestinian national framework in which Hamas will participate and contribute responsibly.'

In an announcement, the jihadist group praised Trump, writing: 'Hamas appreciates the Arab, Islamic, and international efforts, as well as the efforts of US President Donald Trump, calling for stopping the war on the Gaza Strip, exchanging prisoners, immediate entry of aid, rejecting the occupation of the Strip, and rejecting the displacement of our Palestinian people from it.'
Her life as a presenter for a host of TV and radio shows sees her spend her days in busy newsrooms.

However, Anne McAlpine longs for a life more in tune with the nature and landscape of her childhood in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis.

And her recent return to the island has sowed the seed of an idea that could one day see her ditch the fast-paced life of journalism for crofting.

Her paternal grandparents Murchadh and Ishbail Morrison ran a croft in the tiny village of High Borve in north-west Lewis.

And Ms McAlpine recently returned to the island for a special crofting episode for BBC Scotland show Landward.

She said: To me, as an islander, crofting is much more than just a way of life. Its an expression of identity, culture and heritage.

'Id like to think maybe one day it could be in my future, who knows, once the telly work dries up.

She added: My dad talks about a time where they would wash their clothes outside before washing machines and it just feels like a whole other world.

Anne McAlpine went back to island where she grew up

Anne has a go at shearing a sheep in Landward episode

BBC Scotland presenter Anne on Reporting Scotland

The eldest of four daughters, Ms McAlpine, 39, moved to Glasgow to pursue her media career, having established herself on Gaelic language productions for the BBC.

She lives in the city with cameraman husband Ken, who she married in 2022.

However, despite considering themselves outdoorsy people, Ms McAlpine is aware that there is a romanticism to crofting far detached from its demands.

She said: My husband and I are so soft, I dont think wed be able to keep livestock with any sort of profit because we would get too attached to them.

In the upcoming episode of Landward, due to air this week, Ms McAlpine looks at the history of crofting and its place in modern Scotland.

She also meets with young crofter Christina Mackenzie, 17, who takes her through her familys daily life on their Harris croft and her hopes of taking up the reins while pursuing her dream of becoming a vet.

The trip also sees Ms McAlpine have a go at shearing a sheep  albeit with some difficulty.

She said: Its actually quite tricky, you need to really just go for it.

Landward is on BBC Scotland at 8.30pm on Wednesday and on BBC iPlayer.
Counter-terror police have been granted warrants giving them extra time to question four people arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, with another two also in custody.

Three men remain in hospital after the car and knife attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, on Thursday.

Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, who was on bail for an alleged rape at the time of the attack, was shot dead by police as he targeted the place of worship on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Adrian Daulby, 53, is believed to have been accidentally shot dead by police while attempting to prevent Al-Shamie entering the synagogue during the attack.

Melvin Cravitz, 66, from Crumpsall, a worshipper who helped prevent the attacker from entering the premises, also died in the attack.

The police operation is being led by Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW). They were granted the warrants on Saturday, meaning they can detain four of the suspects for a further five days.

The warrants are in relation to two men, aged 30 and 32, and a woman, 61, all arrested in Prestwich, and a 46-year-old woman arrested in Farnworth.

Also under arrest are an 18-year-old woman and a 43-year-old man who were arrested in Farnworth and remain in custody for questioning.

Police officers outside a home in Farnworth area of Bolton which was raided in connection with the terror attack at a Manchester synagogue

Police arrested two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s in Prestwich after the attack on suspicion of planning acts of terrorism (Pictured: Counter-terrorism officers detain a man in Prestwich on Thursday)

Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, who was shot dead minutes after he targeted Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester on Thursday - he was on police bail over a rape allegation at the time

A Greater Manchester Police (GMP) statement said: 'Our investigation into the appalling terrorist incident that took place outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue is continuing at pace.

'The investigation is being led by Counter Terrorism Policing North West supported by resources from across the national Counter Terrorism Policing (CPT) network and Greater Manchester Police.

'Significant resources from across CTP have been mobilised in order to establish the full picture into what has happened.

'We have been granted warrants of further detention for four individuals currently in custody. This means they can remain in custody for up to a further five days.

'Everyone in custody has been arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.

'Inquiries are ongoing.'

On Saturday, the force said three men remain in hospital with serious injuries, including a security guard with car-impact injuries and a Community Security Trust (CST) worker with stab wounds.

On Friday the police watchdog, which is investigating the incident, said it was examining the use of lethal force by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) firearms officers.

Melvin Cravitz, 66 (pictured) was killed in the terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester yesterday

Adrian Daulby, 53, was also killed in the attack after being accidentally shot by police

The scene outside the Heaton Park Synagogue, pictured early on Friday morning, as a police investigation continues into the attack

A bomb disposal expert from the British Army's 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment is seen investigating the device worn by the terrorist

Hero worshippers can be seen in the windows behind Jihad Al-Shamie as they barricaded the doors at Heaton Park Synagogue before police opened fire

The investigation would include 'whether police may have caused or contributed to the death' of Mr Daulby.

A GMP spokesman said they had increased patrols to reassure the community.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who visited the scene on Friday, urged people planning to protest in Manchester and London this weekend to 'respect the grief of British Jews', and said demonstrations could cause further pain to mourners.

Writing in The Jewish Chronicle and Jewish News, Sir Keir said: 'This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain.'

But the protest went ahead anyway, with hundreds of people in Trafalgar Square turning out with signs that read: 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.'

By 3.45pm, the Met Police announced it had arrested 175 people for expressing support for a proscribed organisation, including six who unfurled a banner on Westminster Bridge.

Dave Rich, director of policy at the Community Security Trust, said that incitement has been 'off the charts' since the October 7 attacks.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I think more broadly, across civil society and across parts of industry, there is an inability to recognise antisemitism or a reluctance to deal with incitement in ways that have just allowed it to grow.

'I think the anger is directed there and I think a lot of Jewish people will be saying 'OK, the sympathy is great, but where's the action?''

A minute's silence will be held at Old Trafford on Saturday during Manchester United's match against Sunderland, in tribute to the victims, and players are expected to wear black armbands.

Head of counter-terrorism policing Laurence Taylor said on Friday that a 'suspicious device' attached to Al-Shamie's torso had been confirmed to be fake, and that police believed he 'may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology'.

He added: 'Based on some fast-time assessments conducted on our systems, this individual does not appear to be known to counter-terrorism policing, however he does have a non-CT (counter-terror) related criminal history.

'This includes a recent arrest for rape, which resulted in him being bailed.'
They're the hulking hardware of a fossil fuel industry being blamed for climate change.

But now scientists have discovered that North Sea oil rigs are being used as migratory stop-off points by insects that could help make our crops more resilient.

Researchers found hoverflies heading to Scotland from northern Europe are congregating on the megastructures to break up journeys of hundreds of miles.

And, crucially, they are laden with pollen that can help plants such as potatoes and wheat become hardier in the face of global warming.

The curious relationship between nature and the offshore industry has been uncovered by a new study from Exeter University and University College London.

Biologists were alerted by engineers to thousands of hoverflies regularly gathering on a rig in the Britannia oil field, some 120 miles off Aberdeen.

By modelling wind trajectories it was found that they had likely flown in from Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, covering distances of up to 300 miles during their migrations north.

A hoverfly pictured on an oil rig in the North Sea during its migration. Photo by Craig Hannah

North Sea oil rigs are being used as migratory stop-off points bythe long-distance insects

Workers noticed that swarms of the insects were gathering on sections of oil rigs

After a few hours break, they would head off towards mainland Scotland, Shetland and Norway.

The team analysed 121 bugs and the vast majority were carrying pollen belonging to 102 plant species, many of which have Scottish strains, including onions, cabbages, broad beans, wheat and potatoes.

Their report, published in the Journal of Animal Ecology, claims hoverflies importing continental pollen could help our crops evolve into stronger, healthier plants.

By mixing in the genes of continental crops already thriving in hotter conditions, the process should help our own plants keep pace with warmer temperatures. The report said: With such high pollen loads, these hoverflies have the potential to provide long-range pollination services.

The study was sparked by sightings of hoverflies by rig inspector and wildlife photographer Craig Hannah. He said: I find the hoverflies journey amazing. But since man has sailed on the ocean, birds have landed on vessels for a rest or shelter from stormy weather.

Oil rigs offer stepping stones for the birds, insects and even bats which migrate, as well as winter roosts for sea birds.

The subsea structure also acts like a reef and attracts fish, crustaceans and marine vegetation.

Hoverflies are one of the UKs most prolific pollinators and, unlike bees, they undertake vast seasonal migrations. The study stated: We approximate the distance travelled to be between 265 and 500km (165-311 miles) from the last point of land to the oil rig, with a flight time of between 9.6 and 19.6 hours.

It added: Forward wind trajectories show that hoverflies have the potential to make landfall after leaving the oil rig, with a likely destination of the Shetland Islands and mainland Scotland.
Eight people have been injured in an explosion on a 'tourist boat' in the Costa del Sol resort of Fuengirola.

Three of the casualties have sustained what are being described as serious wounds and have been taken to hospital.

The incident occurred as the motorboat, described locally as a tourist boat, was leaving the marina in Fuengirola. It is not yet clear whether any British nationals were among those hurt.

Footage from the scene showed firefighters in the marina dousing the flames with hoses from the closest point on dry land after locals on jet skis and other boats went to the aid of the stricken passengers and helped try to put out the fire.

The alarm was sounded around 12.20pm this afternoon with several witnesses calling the emergency services as a black plume of smoke rose into the air which was clearly visible from nearby beaches.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the explosion.

A fisherman working in the area told a local paper: 'It was an open boat made of polyester, which is a very bad combination with fuel because it burns very quickly.' The boat sank as a result of the fire on board.

The incident occurred as the motorboat, described locally as a tourist boat, was leaving the marina in Fuengirola on Spain's Costa Del Sol?

The area where it went down has now been sealed off as an investigation into the incident gets underway.

Fuengirola Town Hall said this afternoon in a statement: 'The Rescue and Lifesaving Service, the Fire Department, and the Local Police of Fuengirola, as well as the Civil Guard, responded today to a fire on a boat sailing in the marina, near the mouth of the harbor.

'For reasons which are still unclear there was an explosion and the boat caught fire. Within minutes, rescue workers from the Rescue Service reached the crew and brought them to safety.

'A total of eight people were on board. All of them were injured, three of them seriously, and they were placed in the care of emergency medical responders. 'As a result of the explosion, the boat sank and officials from the Andalusian Ports Agency are closely monitoring the situation to assess the need for anti-spill measures.'

Four Brits were rescued after their motor yacht caught fire before sinking off the Menorcan capital Mahon in September last year. The blaze broke out in the engine room before spreading rapidly to the rest of the vessel.

Dramatic footage released at the time showed coastguards who went to the rescue trying to put out the fire with high-pressure water jets as a huge plume of black smoke rose into the air.

Emergency responders had initially planned to tow the 40-ft boat to Mahon Port so firefighters could tackle the blaze with more sophisticated equipment. But coastguards eventually decided to take it further out to sea to minimise the risk of explosion before it sank.

In June last year a British couple were injured in a boat explosion in Majorca. They were rushed to hospital with second-degree burns following the incident on June 16 in the Port of Palma.

Three of the casualties have sustained what are being described as serious wounds and have been taken to hospital

The 44-year-old man and 30-year-old woman were said to have been handling the engine of a Zodiac-type semi-rigid boat when the blast occurred and sent them flying into the water.

Another vessel alongside it also ended up catching fire as a result. As well as burns to their face and arms, the injured pair also suffered less serious burns to other parts of their body.

Five days earlier a British holidaymaker was among three people injured when a boat exploded in a pleasure port in Cabo Roig near Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca.

The 37-year-old was rushed to Torrevieja Hospital along with a 31-year-old Lithuanian woman after suffering facial burns.

A third person, a Spanish man aged 34, was airlifted to a hospital in Valencia after suffering severe burn injuries.

Police described the incident as an accident afterwards but said at the time they were still investigating.

Footage showed concerned Good Samaritans rushing towards the spot where the explosion occurred after seeing a ball of flames rise into the air.

The unnamed Spanish man, the most seriously injured of the three casualties, was described locally as a workman who was cleaning the vessel.

He suffered serious burns to the bottom half of his body.
Kemi Badenoch insisted she could 'absolutely' turn her party's fortunes around as she arrived at the Conservative conference in Manchester today.

The Tory leader was greeted by a crowd of activists outside the Midland Hotel on Saturday afternoon.

She insists her party are the only one with a 'credible plan' on the economy and immigration after pledging to quit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if elected.

She said: 'I'm really excited to be here in Manchester for conference.

'We've got a great story to tell, we are the only party that has both the competence and the experience to get rid of this terrible Labour Government and this appallingly weak Prime Minister.'

Asked if she could turn things around for her party, she said: 'Absolutely, and this week we're going to be showing what our plan is.

'We're the only party with a credible plan to deliver both a stronger economy and stronger borders.'

However, the Conservative leader's plan to exit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has been condemned by rights groups as a senior Tory denied the party were following Reform UK's lead.

Kemi Badenoch (pictured) insisted she could 'absolutely' turn her party's fortunes around as she arrived at the Conservative conference in Manchester on Saturday

The Party announced ahead of its conference in Manchester that it would withdraw the UK from the international treaty if it won the next election in an effort to curb immigration.

The Tories said so-called 'lawfare', including lawyers using the ECHR to halt deportation attempts, had 'frustrated the country's efforts to secure its borders and deport those with no right to be here'.

The move has been called a 'cowardly' attempt to 'gut this country's human rights protections' by rights groups.

The traditional party of the centre-right has also been accused of lurching to the right and mimicking Nigel Farage, who has vowed to quit the ECHR if he enters office.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp insisted there was 'a massive difference' between his party's plan and Reform UK's.

He told BBC Breakfast: 'Reform have slogans. They shoot from the hip. They write down slogans on the back of a fag packet.

'You remember last week Nigel Farage had some announcement, and it fell apart within about 10 minutes because he had forgotten about European Union citizens.

'What we have here is a very, very carefully thought-out position. It's taken months of legal work. We know exactly what the implications are for things like the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, the Trade and Co-operation Agreement.

'We know exactly how we can then use the freedom outside the ECHR to get control of our borders.'

Tory leader Mrs Badenoch's decision followed the conclusion of a months-long review by shadow attorney general Baron Wolfson of Tredegar, which found the ECHR had limited the Government's ability to address immigration issues, as well as policies in a host of other areas.

Mr Philp said the review, as well as 'another detailed set of proposals' explaining how border security would be tightened, would be published on Sunday.

Lord Wolfson, who was commissioned to carry out the review by the Conservative leader in June, argued that withdrawal from the ECHR was 'the only feasible option' to gain full control of UK borders.

He added that he did not believe the Good Friday Agreement, the UK-EU trade agreement, and the Windsor Framework negotiated to ease post-Brexit trading arrangements were barriers to leaving the ECHR.

But critics say that quitting the treaty would jeopardise the Good Friday Agreement that ended Northern Ireland's Troubles and strip UK citizens of fundamental rights.

Amnesty International UK's chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said: 'We should all be very cautious of politicians who try to take away the very rights that hold politicians themselves to account. Take this convention away and people will be vulnerable to the political whims of those who seek to undermine and deny them their rights...

'Scapegoating people fleeing persecution and other migrants as an excuse to gut this country's human rights protections is not courageous, but cowardly. Stripping ordinary people of these protections will leave us all smaller, more divided, and less safe.'

Richard Atkinson, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, said: 'The Conservative Party is putting political interest above the public good...

'Without the backstop of the ECHR, governments of whatever party will be able to erode our rights with no come-back.'

Sir Keir Starmer said this week that the Government was considering how Article 3 and Article 8 are interpreted.

The Tory leader was greeted by a crowd of activists outside the Midland Hotel - and insists the Conservatives are the only party with a 'credible plan' on the economy and immigration

The Prime Minister said international laws such as the ECHR would not be 'torn down', but that their legal interpretations would be reviewed in an effort to curb asylum claims.

Article 3 of the ECHR, on protection from torture and inhumane and degrading treatment, and Article 8, on the right to private and family life, have been used to halt deportation attempts.

Mrs Badenoch said on Friday: 'I have not come to this decision lightly, but it is clear that it is necessary to protect our borders, our veterans, and our citizens.'

The issue became a dividing line between Mrs Badenoch and rival Robert Jenrick during last summer's Conservative Party leadership election.

Mr Jenrick put withdrawing from the ECHR at the heart of his unsuccessful campaign, while Mrs Badenoch said the move would not be a 'silver bullet' for tackling immigration.

Her change of heart comes as she seeks to reverse her party's dire poll ratings at the annual gathering starting on Sunday.

On the eve of the conference, her party suffered the latest in a slew of defections to Reform, as London Assembly Member for Havering and Redbridge Keith Prince jumped ship to Mr Farage's outfit.

In response to the pledge to leave the ECHR, a Labour Party spokesperson said: 'Kemi Badenoch has adopted a policy she argued against in her own leadership campaign because she is too weak to stand up to her own party in the face of Reform.'

'Badenoch now thinks she is both incapable of negotiating changes to the ECHR with our international partners, and a sufficiently accomplished diplomatic operator to renegotiate the Good Friday Agreement, despite not even knowing some of the most basic facts about Northern Irish politics as recently as yesterday.

'This is a decision that has been forced on her and not thought through.

'While the Tories and Reform fight amongst themselves, this Labour Government is cracking down on people-smuggling gangs, deporting foreign criminals and bringing forward workable and decisive solutions to bring order to Britain's borders.'

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the move would do 'nothing' to address issues with border control in the UK.

Sir Ed said: 'Kemi Badenoch has chosen to back Nigel Farage and join Vladimir Putin by leaving the European Convention on Human Rights - a proud British creation championed by Churchill that protects everyone's rights and freedoms.'

A Reform UK spokesman said: 'The Conservatives had 14 years in government to leave the ECHR. Since then, it's taken them 14 months to even decide what their policy is.

'Nobody trusts a single word they say any more. The Conservative Party is finished.'
BEIJING, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- At an NEV super factory in Beijing's suburban Miyun District, metal sheets are precision-pressed into body panels with microscopic accuracy, while robotic arms assemble components amid a flurry of welding sparks.

This highly intelligent facility, operated by the Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation, reflects the advanced state of China's new energy vehicle (NEV) industry, which continues to set global benchmarks in terms of both scale and innovation.

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the country's NEV production volume surged 37.3 percent year on year to over 9.625 million units in the first eight months of 2025, while sales reached 9.62 million units, a 36.7-percent increase, highlighting robust manufacturing capacity and strong market demand.

China produced more than 12.88 million NEVs and sold 12.86 million of them in 2024, and has led the world in NEV production and sales for the past ten consecutive years.

INNOVATION FUELS GROWTH

The NEV sector's impressive performance is underpinned by relentless technological innovation and a complete industrial chain in China.

A flurry of technological breakthroughs have emerged across the industry this year, spanning power batteries, intelligent driving systems, ultra-fast charging and ecosystem integration, underlining the sector's dynamism.

Earlier this year, China's CATL, a global leader in battery production, announced that its all-solid-state battery research and development had entered the pre-mass production stage, featuring an energy density more than 30 percent higher than traditional liquid lithium batteries and a lifecycle exceeding 2,000 charges.

Meanwhile, BYD, another Chinese NEV pioneer, recently unveiled its super E-platform, providing a charging speed that enables a 400-kilometer driving range with just a 5-minute charge.

Furthermore, Chinese automakers are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to transform vehicles from traditional mechanical products into "smart mobile terminals," with learning, decision-making and interactive capabilities.

At the 2025 Shanghai International Auto Show in April, multiple automakers showcased their intelligent driving advances. Huawei presented its latest intelligent driving system Qiankun ADS 4.0, which reportedly cuts end-to-end latency by half and improves traffic efficiency by 20 percent, while Xpeng Motors unveiled its Turing AI autonomous driving chip.

According to Xin Guobin, deputy minister of Industry and Information Technology, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), the country has kept formulating industrial development plans at the national level. Enterprises within the NEV industry have stepped up investment, tackled a series of major technological challenges, and achieved substantial improvements in product quality and performance.

Xin cited examples such as the average range of Chinese-made electric passenger vehicles elevating to nearly 500 kilometers, the unit cost of power batteries dropping by 30 percent and their lifespan increasing by 40 percent, as well as charging speed improving more than threefold.

SUPPLY CHAIN POWERS PROGRESS

A robust, deeply integrated, and open supply chain, from raw material processing and battery manufacturing to vehicle assembly and software development, continues to underpin the sector's momentum.

Industry giants like CATL and BYD are complemented by a dense network of suppliers, many of whom are clustered in industrial hubs across the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, facilitating efficient collaboration and rapid iteration.

The Yangtze River Delta, for instance, has built a "4-hour industrial ecosystem," where any NEV plant can obtain all required parts within a four-hour drive.

Within this collaborative cluster, Shanghai in east China offers the industry a technological "brain" comprised of chips and software. Changzhou in Jiangsu Province, also in east China and some 200 kilometers to the west of Shanghai, supplies the "heart" in the form of power batteries, while Ningbo in east China's Zhejiang Province, 200 kilometers to the south of Shanghai, contributes the "body" of vehicles via advanced integrated die-casting machines.

Changzhou has established an NEV industrial chain covering more than ten sectors, including powertrain, braking system, steering system, electrical instrumentation, lighting, vehicle bodies and interior trim. Over 3,000 related manufacturing enterprises have gathered in this city, generating an output value of 300 billion yuan (approximately 42.2 billion U.S. dollars).

ECOSYSTEM CROSSES BORDERS

The openness of China's industrial ecosystem has attracted leading international automakers.

At the 2025 World New Energy Vehicle Congress recently held in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, Sean Green, president and CEO of BMW Group Region China, showcased the veteran carmaker's partnerships with China's domestic leaders in batteries, driver-assist systems and AI foundation models.

Green highlighted joint projects with battery giant CATL to co-design large cylindrical cells, a partnership with Chinese self-driving startup Momenta to develop driver-assist software, and a collaboration to integrate Alibaba's AI foundation model and Huawei's intelligent-vehicle stack into BMW cars.

"This goes beyond conventional partnerships," said Green, adding that such projects form "a symbiotic ecosystem that benefits both sides." Green also expressed the view that "technology openness is the valuable experience we took from China's success."

Toyota, meanwhile, signed an agreement with the Shanghai municipal government in April 2025 to invest 14.6 billion yuan in establishing an NEV company to produce Lexus-branded electric vehicles and Toyota power batteries.

Building on its domestic strength, China's NEV industry is going global and forging partnerships with automotive supply chains worldwide to achieve shared growth.

In Thailand, BYD's new Rayong plant features advanced flexible production, boosting local industrial capabilities. In Malaysia, Geely's investment is helping revive local automaker Proton and transform Tanjong Malim into an ASEAN car manufacturing hub by jointly developing an automotive high-tech valley.

Through such efforts, Chinese NEV manufacturers are exporting an entire industrial ecosystem to their partners, fostering local automotive development and enabling collaborative growth worldwide.


A 'savage' Russian drone strike on a Ukraine railway station has killed a pensioner and injured 30 others.

The attack was in Shostka, a city northeast of Kyiv, where a 71yearold man was found dead in one of the wrecked carriages.

Putin's drones struck the Ukrainian railway station on Saturday as Moscow stepped up strikes on the country's rail and power grids ahead of the fourth winter since its allout invasion.

In a chilling video posted to X by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a decimated carriage is seen engulfed by flames with shattered glass and splintered iron.

He said: 'A savage Russian drone strike on the railway station in Shostka, Sumy region.

'All emergency services are already on the scene and have begun helping people. All information about the injured is being established.'

He added: 'The Russians could not have been unaware that they were striking civilians. And this is terror the world must not ignore.

'Every day Russia takes people's lives. And only strength can make them stop. We've heard resolute statements from Europe and America  and it's high time to turn them all into reality, together with everyone who refuses to accept murder and terror as normal. Lip service is not enough now. Strong action is needed.'

A 'savage' Russian drone strike on a Ukraine railway station has killed a pensioner and injured 30 others

The attack was in Shostka, a city northeast of Kyiv, where a 71yearold man was found dead in one of the wrecked carriages

Smoke rises over a passenger train hit by today's Russian drone strike

Russia struck two passenger trains in quick succession, first targeting a local service and then one bound for Kyiv, said Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine's deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister.

The injured passengers were rushed to hospital and others who were at the site are in shelters overseen by rescuers, Mr Kuleba wrote on Telegram on Saturday.

He said an air raid alert was ongoing at the station.

Moscow has recently stepped up airstrikes on Ukraine's railway network, which is essential for military transport, hitting it almost every day over the past two months.

Overnight into Saturday, Russian drones and missiles pounded Ukraine's power grid again, a Ukrainian energy firm said, a day after what officials described as the biggest attack on Ukrainian natural gas facilities since Moscow's allout invasion more than threeandahalfyears ago.

The strike damaged energy facilities near Chernihiv, a northern city west of Shostka that lies close to the Russian border, and sparked blackouts set to affect some 50,000 households, according to regional operator Chernihivoblenergo.

The day before, Russia launched its biggest attack of the war against natural gas facilities run by Ukraine's stateowned Naftogaz Group, Ukrainian officials said.

Russia struck two passenger trains in quick succession, first targeting a local service and then one bound for Kyiv

A decimated carriage is seen engulfed by flames with shattered glass and splintered iron

Russia fired a total of 381 drones and 35 missiles at Ukraine on Friday, according to Ukraine's air force, in what officials said was an attempt to wreck the Ukrainian power grid ahead of winter and wear down public support for the threeyearold conflict.

Naftogaz's chief executive, Serhii Koretskyi, said on Friday the attacks had no military purpose, while Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko accused Moscow of 'terrorising civilians'.

Moscow claimed the strikes targeted facilities that support Kyiv's war effort.

Overnight into Saturday, Russian forces launched a further 109 drones and three ballistic missiles at Ukraine, the Ukrainian military reported.

It said 73 of the drones were shot down or sent off course.
Dem Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is facing a new wave of backlash after claiming that Donald Trump one day decided to just make sure that kids are dying amid the ongoing government shutdown.

The New York congresswoman was accused of promoting frenzied hysteria after her latest comments.

One X user wrote: AOC is using fear to fundraise - when you frame stalled funding as kids dying, the real victims are truth and accountability.

Another posted: She is the least productive member of Congress, although she has a ton of competition from her brain dead left wing of the Democrats.

Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic Socialist, said that the current dispute over the government shutdown was about people being able to insure their children.

She told MSNBC: I will say, because I saw some senators speculating about this, and I saw some Republican members of Congress saying, Oh, well, if we have this shutdown, its because of AOC.

Well, if thats the case, my office is open and you are free to walk in and negotiate with me directly, because what Im not going to do is tolerate four million uninsured Americans because Donald Trump decided one day that he wants to just make sure that kids are dying because they dont have access to insurance.'

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is facing criticism after her latest remarks about Donald Trump

Ocasio-Cortez said the US president one day decided to just make sure that kids are dying

A White House spokesperson responded to her latest comments about Trump.

Kush Desai told the New York Post: 'If AOC really cared about Americas kids, she would stop drumming up baseless hysteria and tell her fellow Democrats to re-open the federal government and restore confidence for the millions of children who rely on WIC and other federal programs.'

Ocasio-Cortez's comments came as she looks to keep growing her campaign dollars.

The 35-year-old lawmaker raised more money than any other member of the House of Representatives this year.

Ocasio-Cortez raked in about $15.4million, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Speculation has swirled that Ocasio-Cortez could be targeting a more senior position in Democratic leadership soon.

She has been touted as a possible contender to run against Chuck Schumer for his New York Senate seat.

Ocasio-Cortez raised more money than any other member of the House of Representatives this year

Some are predicting Ocasio-Cortez to run for president in 2028, which would see her succeed Trump

Others are predicting the Democratic Socialist to aim higher and run for US president in 2028.

A new survey from the Pew Research Center of nearly 3,500 U.S. adults found that 50 percent of respondents held an unfavorable view of Schumer, and just 21 percent expressed a favorable view.

Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez is one of her party's most popular figures.

In her latest video alongside Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that 'a lot of Americans are going to be in danger' due to the ongoing government shutdown.

The US government has been closed since October 1 after lawmakers did not strike a deal to extend funding before the deadline.

Republicans said that Democrats want to restore 'taxpayer-funded free health care for illegal aliens'.

US vice president JD Vance wrote on X: 'Democrats shut down the government to give health care money to illegal aliens. It's really that simple.'

Vance also posted an image showing a 'new health insurance option for undocumented immigrants over 65' in New York state.

That image referred to a state government program, which Rhode Island senator Sheldon Whitehouse accused Vance of 'conflating.'

The vice president added: 'When an illegal accesses health care, it drives up the cost for everyone.

'So New Yorkers are paying a higher price for medical services, and the federal government is subsidizing those higher prices.'

Ocasio-Cortez's remarks came amid the ongoing government shutdown

The government has been closed since October 1

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries denied Vance's claims: 'Federal law prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars to provide medical coverage to undocumented individuals.

'That's the law. And there is nothing in anything that we have proposed that is trying to change that law.'

Democrats said they want to extend Affordable Care Act premium tax credits and will not pass a reconciliation bill unless Republicans agree to their healthcare demands.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that 'thousands' of workers on the federal payroll would be fired during the funding gap.

Trump said he was meeting with Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought to determine which 'Democrat Agencies' would face 'temporary or permanent' cuts.

The US president posted on Truth Social: 'I cant believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity.

'They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'

Since 1981, there have been 10 government shutdowns lasting three days or less, and four that have lasted 15 days or more.

The most recent shutdown before this was under Trump and started on December 21, 2018, and lasted 35 days.
Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will bring home all of the hostages held by Hamas 'in the coming days' in a speech this evening.

The Israeli prime minister claimed that 'military and diplomatic pressure' had compelled the Palestinian group to agree to release the captives.

In his televised statement from Jerusalem on Saturday, Netanyahu said he has sent a delegation to Egypt 'to finalise technical details', adding that 'our goal is to contain these negotiations to a timeframe of a few days'.

However, despite the push for peace by Donald Trump, Netanyahu made clear that Israel would retain the option to use force if necessary.

Despite the US president's order on Friday night that Israel 'immediately' stop bombing Gaza, air strikes appeared to have continued in the region overnight into Saturday.

Gaza's civil defense agency said at least 57 people have been killed since dawn in Israeli strikes, including 40 in Gaza City alone.

Netanyahu said that Hamas would transfer administration of Gaza and the region would be demilitarised 'either the easy way or the hard way'.

'In the second stage, Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarised  either the easy way or the hard way, but it will be achieved,' he said

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel 'will bring all of the hostages home' as part of a new peace plan, in a televised speech on Saturday evening

Hamas has agreed to hand over Gaza's administration to a panel of independent Palestinian technocrats, claiming the body would operate with 'Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support'

In a post on Truth Social on Saturday morning, the US president warned Hamas that they 'must move quickly, or else all bets will be off'

'I hope that in the coming days we will be able to bring back all our hostages... during the Sukkot holidays.'

The Jewish holiday of Sukkot begins on Monday and lasts until the following Monday.

The speech was delayed for over an hour, as Netanyahu reportedly sought to pacify hardliners within his own government who have threatened to walk away if Hamas are allowed to continue to exist.

In the address, Netanyahu sought to present an image of a victorious campaign for the Israelis, presenting Hamas's announcement that they would release the hostages and transfer power in the Gaza Strip as a vindication of his own tactics.

'We have brought back 207 hostages, but I never gave up on the others or of achieving the other objectives of this war,' Netanyahu said.

'At the beginning of the war one of our officials said I doubt we'll be able to bring a single hostage alive.'

He argued that while some people had argued the only way to ensure the hostages' return was to evacuate Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, the decision to launch a large scale offensive against Hamas had been the correct one.

'It was important for us to enter the stronghold of Hamas in Gaza. We isolated Hamas and with this immense pressure, Hamas will release all our hostages and the IDF will deploy themselves in a way that they can control all of the areas run by Hamas,' Netanyahu said.

'What bought this change was the military and political pressure that we wielded.

'Without that we would not have eradicated the 'nuclear threat' against the state of Israel - a 'historic achievement'.

Both Israel and Hamas have signaled support for the new US plan to end the war in Gaza and release all remaining hostages there - although some of the details remain blurry.

Trump's proposal calls for a halt to hostilities, the release of hostages within 72 hours - a detail that Hamas seemingly ignored - and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza alongside Hamas's disarmament.

In accordance with Trump's deal, Hamas has agreed to release hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails being returned.

Hamas has also expressed its willingness to surrender power in the Gaza Strip and transfer the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independent technocrats, 'based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support'.

The group has governed the Gaza Strip since its takeover of the territory from the rival Fatah-ruled Palestinian Authority (PA) on June 14, 2007.

They were responding to a 20-point peace plan outlined in a meeting between Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night.

Hamas said that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians.

Its statement also did not address the issue of the group demilitarising, a key part of the deal.

However, Israeli military sources now believe that Hamas is a hugely depleted force as the IDF's onslaught approaches its second anniversary.

A plan for peace in the region was outlined in a meeting between Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night

The US president has warned Hamas to 'move quickly' and release the hostages in Gaza or 'all bets will be off' amid efforts to broker a peace deal with Israel.

The president took to Truth Social on Saturday morning, issuing a sharp warning to the terrorist group to get the operation 'done FAST'.

Twenty hostages remain in Hamas's custody, along with the bodies of 28 others which the group has refused to return to Israeli families since its brutal attack on October 7, 2023.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly directed the Israeli Defense Forces to stop their advance in Gaza City and scale back operations 'to a minimum,' signaling a major shift.

Israel says it has began the 'first phase' of the peace plan, which it claims will restrict military operations to purely defensive manoeuvres. However, no forces have been removed from the territory, one official said.

'I appreciate that Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed,' Trump wrote.

'Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off,' he added. 'I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again.'

'Let's get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!'

On Monday, Trump hailed what he called, 'potentially one of the greatest days ever in civilization,' unveiling plans to rule Gaza as part of his initiative for 'eternal peace in the Middle East'.

A photo taken while embedded with the Israeli Army and cleared by Israeli military censors shows damaged and destroyed buildings in the vicinity of the Jordanian Field Hospital in Gaza City on October 3, 2025

The release of the 48 hostages, 28 of whom are believed to be dead, now occupies a central place within internal Israeli politics - including the ruling government.

While some of the hardliners within Netanyahu's government like finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and minister of national security Itamar Ben-Gvir caution the Israeli prime minister from making any deal with Hamas, moderates within the Knesset are adamant that everything should be done to ensure the hostages' release.

Ben Gvir, who heads up the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, has threatened to pull out of the government if Hamas 'continues to exist' following the hostage release under Trump's proposals.

Donald Trump's son-in-law and a senior envoy were heading to Egypt Saturday to finalize hostage release details, as the US president warned he would 'not tolerate delay' by Hamas in implementing a peace plan with Israel.

A White House official confirmed that Jared Kushner and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are traveling to the region to address the finalization of details on the release of hostages and to discuss the deal pushed by the US president to bring an end to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Egypt's state-run broadcaster Al-Qahera News, which is close to security agencies, reported that indirect talks between Hamas and Israel will start on Sunday.

The talks also will discuss maps showing the expected withdrawal of Israeli forces from certain areas in Gaza, said the official.

The representative involved in the ceasefire negotiations also said Arab mediators are preparing for a comprehensive dialogue among Palestinians aimed at unifying their position on Gaza's future.

Netanyahu faced challenges to the Trump plan from hardliners in his government such as minister of national security Itamar Ben Gvir, who heads up the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, and threatened to pull out of the government if Hamas 'continues to exist' following the hostage release

In an interview Saturday with Axios, Trump - highlighting his behind-the-scenes diplomacy including with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - said a peace deal in Gaza was 'close' and that he will push to have it finalized in coming days.

'I said, "Bibi, this is your chance for victory." He was fine with it,' Trump told the US publication.

'He's got to be fine with it. He has no choice. With me, you got to be fine.'

Trump also said his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan was 'very helpful' in urging Hamas to agree to the release of hostages.

'Erdogan helped a lot. He is a tough guy, but he is a friend of mine and he was great,' Trump said.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second most powerful militant group in Gaza, said it accepted Hamas's response to the Trump plan. The group had rejected the proposal days earlier.

Palestinians in Gaza tried to piece together what the plan means in real terms.

'We want practical implementation. We want a truce on the ground,' said Sameer Qudeeh in Khan Younis. He worried that talks will break down again.

'I hope Hamas ends the war, because we are truly tired,' said Mohammad Shaat in Khan Younis, as anxious Palestinians roamed the shattered streets.

On Saturday Israeli troops were still laying siege to Gaza City, the focus of its latest offensive.

The IDF warned Palestinians against trying to return to the city, calling it a 'dangerous combat zone'.

Two Gaza City residents told the AP that since the morning, Israeli tanks and troops had not advanced but artillery shells and airstrikes were still heard.

'We can still see the quadcopters everywhere,' Mohamed al-Nashar said.

In southern Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said its Saraya field hospital received 10 bodies and more than 70 injured after Israeli strikes on Saturday.

Gaza's Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the war has now topped 67,000.

The Health Ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants but it claims women and children make up around half the dead.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, but the UN and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
People have been left outraged after a judge admitted to taking Brett Kavanaugh's attempted assassin's identity as a trans woman into account during the sentencing.

Sophie  formally Nicholas  Roske was sentenced to eight years in prison for attempting to murder the Supreme Court Justice.

The Department of Justice had hoped that Roske would face at least 30 year in prison, according to Fox News Digital.

Judge Deborah Boardman said that Roske's actions were 'reprehensible' and that she considered several factors in the sentencing including that Roske 'confessed to and cooperated with police'.

The 29-year-old pleaded guilty in April to attempting to kill Kavanaugh in 2022.

Boardman said: 'I believe Ms. Roske understands that what she did was terribly wrong. I find her remorse sincere.'

Roske's attorneys clarified that while her legal name is still Nicholas, Roske uses female pronouns and goes by the name Sophie.

Boardman explained that she factored Roske's identity into her sentencing as well.

Brett Kavanaugh's attempted assassin was handed eight years in jail

Sophie Roske (pictured) made it clear that while her legal name is still Nicholas, she goes by 'Sophie' and uses female pronouns

Judge Deborah Boardman said she was considering multiple factors when it came to Roske's sentencing

She cited Trump's recent executive order which requires transgender inmates to be held in prisons that correspond with their sex at birth.

According to the Marshall Project, transgender women housed in men's prison facilities are at much higher risk for sexual assault and being forced into sex work than other prisoners.

The decision has left many conservative Americans outraged, and they took to social media to express their anger at the sentencing.

One person wrote on X: 'The man who attempted to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh needs to get the death penalty.'

Another said: 'This is how you know the left lives in an alternate reality. It was a MAN pretending to be a woman that tried to kill Brett Kavanaugh.'

Several people on social media suggested that Roske should have received the death penalty for Kavanaugh's attempted assassination

A third added: 'The Supreme Court is the highest order of law in the US. Therefore, the highest order of consequence "is" the death penalty. This will be justice for Brett Kavanaugh.'

The maximum sentence for attempting to murder a Supreme Court justice is life in prison.

A fourth assessed: 'The judge gave 8 years to a guy for an assassin plot. He got a reduced sentence because he is transgender.

'A woman would have received a harsher sentence. The patriarchy has come full circle.'

Appearing in court, Roske apologized to Kavanaugh for 'contributing to the fear judges experience as a result of doing their jobs'.

She said: 'I have been portrayed as a monster, and this tragic mistake I made will follow me for the rest of my life.'

Roske arrived at Kavanaugh's home in 2022 with a pistol, knife, lock picking set, duct tape, hammer, crowbar and tactical gear

On June 8, 2022, Roske flew from California to Virginia and took a taxi to Kavanaugh's Maryland home in the middle of the night.

She was armed with a pistol, knife, lock picking set, duct tape, hammer, crowbar and tactical gear, with intent to harm the Supreme Court Justice.

But shortly after arriving to Kavanaugh's address, Roske called 911.

She reported being 'deeply mentally ill and suicidal' at the time and told police that she planned to kill Justice Kavanaugh to give her own life a sense purpose.

Roske was motivated by a leaked Supreme Court documents suggesting that Kavanaugh and other conservatives had plans to overturn the federal right to abortion.

Roe v. Wade was overturned later that month.
Harrods has reported a financial loss for last year after setting aside millions of pounds for fund to compensate women allegedly abused by the department store's one-time owner, Mohamed Al Fayed.

The retail giant reported a pre-tax loss of 34.3million in the year to February, following a profit of 111.5million the year before, according to company accounts.

Part of the loss includes 62.3million spent on 'employee welfare redress and related expenses on historic allegations', according to the Financial Times.

More than 100 women accused the disgraced former owner of rape and sexual assault.

Five brave survivors alleged in a BBC documentary that they had to barricade doors with chairs to get away from Al Fayed.

Former employees said he would fly them to Paris under the guise of a work trip, take away their passports and put them in hotel rooms without locks.

Chilling claims say he monitored them with CCTV in their own homes, phone tapping and he threatened their families if they ever dared to speak out about the abuse.

The billionaire Harrods tycoon died aged 94 in 2023 as one of Britain's most notorious alleged sex offenders.

Harrods is suffering major losses as the millions in compensation to the women Mohamed Al Fayed allegedly sexually abused is sinking the company into the red

The huge retail giant reported a pre-tax loss of 34.3million in the year to February, compared with a profit of 111.5mn the year before, according to company accounts. Fayed pictured with his brother Salah

Mohamed Al Fayed was said to have ordered his security team to flood the iconic store in Knightsbridge with video cameras and listening devices

Fayed sold Harrods, which is headquartered in Knightsbridge, London, to Qatar for 1.5billion in 2010.

More than 100 of the victims are set to be paid up to 200,000 compensation for general damages.

They are allowed to apply for multiple claims of up to 150,000 for for loss of employment opportunities resulting from sexual assault.

Michael Ward, who worked alongside Al Fayed for five years said he did not know of any of the abuse at the time.

He said in a statement: 'Awards and interim payments began being issued to eligible survivors at the end of April and the scheme will remain open until March 31.'

Harrods also put the losses down to weaker beauty trading and modernising some of its systems.

But Mr Ward has said he is 'confident in the strength of the business, and the resilience of the luxury sector'.

It comes after Fayed's former bodyguard revealed in an explosive book in June that the boss spied on customers using the changing rooms at Harrods for decades.

More than 100 women accused the disgraced former owner of rape and sexual assault

In the Monster of Harrods, a bodyguard known only as Biggie said the store was awash with cameras which also recorded inside the female staff toilets and locker rooms.

'People don't talk about this - there were cameras right up to the entrance and slightly inside the changing rooms used by Harrods customers, which meant if you were in a Harrods changing room during the Fayed era, there was a good chance that he was watching you,' Biggie revealed.

The installation of cameras, as well as bugging telephones, was said to have been ordered by the head of security ex-detective John Macnamara so Fayed could keep tabs on and seek out potential victims.

'The guys looked at the screens as if their lives depended on it. But they also realised that many of the questions Macnamara asked were about females who had caught Fayed's eye, so there was also a lot of sniggering as they watched women in changing rooms and toilets,' Biggie added.
A Daily Mail analysis shows that the Met Police has arrested at least 1,984 people for allegedly supporting Palestine Action since it was sanctioned.

The group was made a proscribed terrorist organisation on July 5 after its activists broke into RAF Brize Norton and vandalised a plane.

The government's move was heavily criticised by civil liberties groups as a gross overreach of the state that conflated protest with terror.

Despite the proscription, thousands have taken to streets across the country to show their support for both Palestine Action and the people of Gaza several times.

The force arrested 857 people at a protest in London on September 6 for supporting the group in the Met's biggest sweep since the July proscription.

And today, officers picked up an additional 493 people who took to central London, just days after they were called to cancel the demonstration in light of the synagogue terror attack in Manchester earlier this week by Jewish groups still reeling from the tragedy.

The Met has been slammed for allegedly overzealousness in its arrests.

At a protest in London's Parliament Square on August 9, Brighton engineer Miles Pickering was arrested for wearing a T-shirt that read 'Plasticine Action'.

Police remove a protester taking part in a demonstration organised by Defend our Juries, in support of Palestine Action in Trafalgar Square, London on October 4

Police scuffle with protestors at the south end of Whitehall following a protest in Parliament square against Israeli forces attacking the Gaza flotilla on October 2, 2025 in London

The T-shirt had an image of the stop-motion character Morph with two thumbs up inside the the letter 'O', along with text that reads: 'We oppose AI-generated animation'.

Pickering told the Guardian shortly after his arrest that it only took a glance from a cop to lead to his detention: 'I'm like: 'Well, there you go, Plasticine Action.' He looked down and he said: 'Right, you're nicked.' And I thought: 'Oh, here we go'.'

He said that after he was brought to a makeshift booking suite outside the Met's headquarters, several protesters cheered in solidarity.

'They were all cheering us, and I was cheekily pointing to my T-shirt and going 'Plasticine Action!' to everyone, so they were taking photos of me, and everyone was laughing at how silly it was that I was getting arrested for being a Plasticine terrorist', said Pickering.

The August 9 protest saw the Met arrest a total of 532 people, 522 of whom were taken in for allegedly supporting Palestinian action while the other 10 were detained for other assaulting, obstructing or racially aggravating officers or breaching Public Order Act conditions placed on the area.

An analysis of the arrest figures at that rally showed that half of the people detained by cops were over the age of 60.

Of the 519 people arrested who confirmed their dates of birth, 49.9% were 60 or older.

Nearly 100 people at that demonstration were in their 70s, while 15 were in their 80s.

At a protest in London's Parliament Square on August 9, Brighton engineer Miles Pickering (pictured) was arrested for wearing a T-shirt that read 'Plasticine Action'

People stage a protest to demand the British government to lift its ban on Palestine Action in Trafalgar Square on Saturday

People take part in a demonstration organised by GM Friends of Palestine at Manchester Cathedral on Saturday

Among those arrested that day was Sir Jonathon Porritt, 75, a former government adviser who has repeatedly rallied against the erosion of civil liberties by successive governments.

He said Palestine Action's proscription was 'a measure of the government's desperation' and 'entirely inappropriate'.

Porritt added: 'I thought this was overreach by the home secretary, trying to eliminate the voices of those who are deeply concerned about what is happening in Gaza,' he said.

'This was an absolutely clear case of a government using its powers to crush dissenting voices when it is the government itself that is most reprehensible for what continues to be an absolute horror story in the world.

'What we are seeing now in Gaza has just utterly shocked people and it's completely abhorrent that we are living through a genocide on our TV screens.'

Many others at today's protests voiced similar concerns.

Mike Higgins, 62, who is blind and uses a wheelchair, said he expects to be arrested for holding a poster supporting the banned group as police continue to detain activists.

He told the PA news agency he is here again 'because of the genocide, the absolute, dreadful inhumanity of the Israeli state in the way that is treating the people of Palestine'.

A woman is carried away from Trafalgar Square during today's protest in London

Members of the Jewish community attend a pro-Palestine demonstration in Manchester on Saturday

Police officers detain a demonstrator in Trafalgar Square during a protest in support of Palestine Action on October 4, 2025

Asked why he did not heed Sir Keir Starmer's calls to postpone or cancel today's action, he said: 'Well, I didn't think he negotiated with terrorists. We're supposed to be terrorists, aren't we Sir Keir now, either we are or we're not.

'If we're not terrorists, then leave us alone. Let us protest. Let us demonstrate for the right to freedom of speech.'

He added: 'We are going to win this battle, by the way, there's no doubt about that. The problem for me is that I want to win it now to try and bring an end to the suffering in Palestine.'

Hilary Callam, 83, from Hampton Court, west London, said she was prepared to be arrested for the first time in her life.

She said: 'I have very strong feelings against this ban. We are not direct action. We're not violent.

'The arguments not to come this week were convincing and heartfelt. I was in two minds. But I wouldn't want to let terror win.

'I have never been arrested before. I would not rule out coming back. I am not worried about being arrested today.'

Finlay Hoskins, 26, from Southampton, was also prepared to be arrested today.

An activist is arrested for holding an allegedly illegal sign in Trafalgar square on October 4, 2025 in London, England

Police officers arrest a protester on a mobility scooter in Trafalgar Square who was holding a placard stating 'I Oppose Genocide, I Support Palestine Action'

Protesters hold signs declaring their support for Palestine Action during a protest in Trafalgar Square, central London today

Mr Hoskins, who is on disability benefits, said: 'I don't support the government. What happened on October 7 is horrible. What happened in Manchester is horrible.

'I have my sign which supports Palestine Action. I don't care. I'm scared. But it's the right thing.'

But today's protest was harshly criticised, as it came just a few days after Al-Shamie, 35, drove into a group of people before stabbing a man outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall.

Al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead at the scene wearing what appeared to be a suicide vest. The device was later discovered not to be viable.

Dave Rich, director of policy at the Community Security Trust charity which provides protection for the Jewish community, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I think it's phenomenally tone deaf, to say the least, for so many people who claim to care about human rights and care about freedoms, to be taking police resources away from protecting the rights and freedoms of Jewish people to live their lives and go to synagogue in safety, all to support a proscribed terrorist organisation, which is not the same thing as supporting the Palestinians.

'And I think it's remarkably self-absorbed and insensitive, to say the least.'
Donald Trump will deploy 300 members of the National Guard in Illinois, state governor JB Pritzker said on Saturday.

'In the coming hours, the Trump Administration intends to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard,' Pritzker said in a statement.

He added: 'They will pull hardworking Americans out of their regular jobs and away from their families all to participate in a manufactured performance - not a serious effort to protect public safety.

'For Donald Trump, this has never been about safety. This is about control.'

Pritzker called the Trump administration's actions 'outrageous and un-American'.

The Illinois governor claimed that his state had been given an ultimatum: to 'call up your troops, or we will.'

Pritzker said there was 'no need for military troops on the ground' in Illinois.

Illinois governor JB Pritzker announced on Saturday that Donald Trump would deploy 300 members of the National Guard in the state

Trump had said that his administration would be 'going into Chicago very soon'

Pritzker called the National Guard's deployment 'outrageous and un-American'

He also added: 'This demand follows unprecedented escalations of aggression against Illinois citizens and residents.

'Yesterday, Kristi Noems and Greg Bovinos masked agents threw chemical agents near an elementary school, arrested elected officials exercising their First Amendment rights, and raided a Wal-Mart.

'None of it was in pursuit of justice, but all of it was in pursuit of social media videos.'

On Tuesday, Trump said that his administration would be 'going into Chicago very soon'.

The US president's remarks came as he addressed military generals and admirals in Quantico, Virginia.

Trump said then about Pritzker: 'That's a big city with an incompetent governor. Stupid governor.'

The US president has long implied that he could mobilize the National Guard in Illinois.

Trump posted a meme about himself on Truth Social: 'I love the smell of deportations in the morning. Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of WAR'

Trump previously called Pritzker an 'incompetent' and 'stupid' governor

Pritzker said that 'none of what Trump is doing is making Illinois safer'

In September, Trump posted a graphic of him with the words 'Chipocalypse Now' as he 'wore' a cowboy hat with explosions and military helicopters behind him.

The Truth Social post said: 'I love the smell of deportations in the morning.

'Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of WAR.'

Trump also warned the 'weak and pathetic Governor' Pritzker to 'straighten it out FAST.'

The US president previously sent the National Guard into Democrat-led Los Angeles and Washington DC.

Louisianas Republican governor Jeff Landry has asked for up to 1,000 Louisiana National Guard troops to be activated in his state.

Earlier this week, Pritzker said that the Illinois National Guard 'received word that the Department of Homeland Security has sent a memo to the Department of War seeking the deployment' of troops to Illinois.

The mobilization, Pritzker said, was for the 'protection of ICE personnel and facilities.'

Pritzker added: 'What I have been warning of is now being realized.

'One thing is clear: none of what Trump is doing is making Illinois safer.'

A woman identified only as La Maggie, according to her Facebook page, was shot by Border Patrol agents in Chicago on Saturday

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The National Guard's deployment is just one of the Trump administration's recent actions in Chicago.

The Department of Homeland Security announced on Wednesday that ICE and US Border Patrol officers had arrested 'more than 800 illegal aliens,' including the 'worst of the worst' as part of Operation 'Midway Blitz' in Chicago.

The operation started on September 8 and is intended to 'target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets,' the DHS said in a press release.

On Friday, Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought announced that $2.1billion in Chicago infrastructure projects had been frozen to 'ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting.'

Pritzker's announcement regarding the National Guard's mobilization happened on the same day that officials said Border Patrol agents in Chicago shot a woman after officers were 'rammed by ten cars.'

According to a statement released by the DHS, one of the drivers was a woman armed with a semi-automatic weapon, forcing officers to open fire.

Their statement added that the woman in question was part of an internal threat bulletin circulated after allegedly doxxing and threatening law enforcement officials online.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said: 'Unfortunately, JB Pritzker's Chicago Police Department is leaving the shooting scene and refuses to assist us in securing the area.

'There is a crowd growing and we are deploying special operations to control a growing crowd.'

Images captured at the scene showed a large presence of federal agents, who blocked out a road using their vehicles as a crowd of protestors formed.

A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department told Daily Mail: 'The Chicago Police Department responded to the 3900 block of S. Kedzie Ave Saturday morning for a call of a person shot.

'CPD responded to the scene to document the incident. CPD officers were also on-scene to maintain safety and traffic control for all living and working in the area.
The host of a popular political podcast posed an intriguing question last week: 'Where is the lesser-spotted Angela Rayner?'

Spending time with her neglected constituents? Plotting a comeback? Or making the best of last week's sunshine with a trip to the Sussex seaside? All of them, to an extent, were true.

After being spotted in her Manchester constituency last weekend, she swerved the Labour Party conference in Liverpool and headed straight for the south coast.

Here, as The Mail on Sunday can reveal, she has been keeping her head down at her luxury flat in Hove  the scene of the 'crime', so to speak, as it was the purchase of this seaside property that led to her downfall and self-imposed purdah over unpaid stamp duty.

Ms Rayner was joined by her boyfriend, former Labour MP-turned-lobbyist Sam Tarry, who attended the annual jamboree before travelling to join her. Although absent from Liverpool for obvious reasons, Angela's spirit (her ghost, critics would say) loomed large over the main hall.

Sightings of the 'lesser-spotted' Rayner since her resignation as Deputy Prime Minister a month ago have been rarer than hen's teeth. So, understandably, there has been fascination, not just among Westminster-watchers, about her whereabouts and her future.

Judging by the rapturous applause and cheers the very mention of her name elicited from the conference audience, many are asking whether a sensational comeback is perhaps on the cards? Even in her absence the dethroned Red Queen managed to hog the headlines.

But what will her next move be? Can she afford to keep the Hove apartment, the cause of all her problems, or will she be forced to sell? Will there be a leadership challenge?

These questions will be addressed shortly.

After being spotted in her Manchester constituency last weekend, Angela Rayner swerved the Labour Party conference in Liverpool and headed straight for the south coast

Ms Rayner pictured with her boyfriend, former Labour MP-turned-lobbyist Sam Tarry, at Parklife Festival in Heaton Park earlier this year

For the moment, though, the enduring  and colourful  soap opera that surrounds Ms Rayner has been overshadowed, and put tragically into perspective, by the terrible events at a Manchester synagogue, not so far from where she was brought up in Stockport.

Her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency, where her two sons live with her ex-husband in the former marital home, is on the other side of the city to Crumpsall, where the atrocity occurred.

'I am horrified and appalled at the attack on worshippers at a synagogue in Manchester on the holy day of Yom Kippur,' Ms Rayner posted on X, from her residence on the Sussex coast. 'My thoughts are with the victims and their families.'

She turned up in Hove late on Tuesday in a BMW SUV driven by a protection officer, according to neighbours, just hours after her former boss delivered his tub-thumping speech to the rank and file in Liverpool.

A specialist unit within the Met provides security for senior politicians to which Ms Rayner is seemingly still entitled because, locals believe, the walls of the Victorian mansion block, which contains her first-floor flat, along with a piece of construction chipboard across the road, were daubed with offensive graffiti ('Tax Evader').

Yet the removal of those words by council workmen prompted complaints that Ms Rayner received special treatment from some in the neighbourhood where, despite the stamp duty scandal, she has been warmly welcomed.

In fact, the clean-up operation, to avoid any doubt, was paid for by a member of the public (Ms Rayner herself, surely).

She has spent most of the past week in her flat, 'a piece of coastal paradise', to quote the original marketing blurb, after being seen (for the first time since losing her job) in her constituency last weekend.

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On one of the few occasions she ventured out with her boyfriend, again in the BMW, according to neighbours, they left early in the morning and returned under cover of darkness. What a stark contrast to her arrival in this corner of the south coast just a few months ago when she announced herself with a much-publicised appearance on the beach in a camo pink Dryrobe, sipping a glass of chilled wine on the pebbles and vaping in a kayak.

Her jolly summer by the sea has now, in more ways than one, turned into an overcast autumn.

Ms Rayner's reduced financial circumstances after leaving the Cabinet, when her salary was cut from 161,409 to 93,904, has led to speculation that she might be forced to sell the 800,000 Hove apartment.

Actually, she has no intention of selling it  not for the moment anyway, the MoS has been told by one of her associates, who reveals: 'She desperately wants to keep the flat. She loves it. It could be where her life is after politics.'

Tarry, 43, has a home close to his former wife and young children in neighbouring Brighton, which is why Ms Rayner moved to the city, using her life savings  150,000 from the sale of her stake in the family home in Greater Manchester  as a deposit on the property.

Indeed, on Wednesday, a carpenter turned up just before lunch and then proceeded to carry a large wooden kitchen worktop through the front entrance, before reappearing on her terrace where he sanded and sawed for much of the afternoon.

'She's obviously carrying out improvements to the flat to make it hers,' said a local who saw the 'chippy' pulling up in his van before going to work inside. 'He was very busy sorting it out and left late in the afternoon.

'There were many of us who thought she may end up putting the property on the market and move away from the area after the controversy which led to her losing her job, but this very much suggests she is here to stay.'

Ms Rayner allegedly avoided 40,000 in stamp duty by telling the taxman that her new 800,000 property in Hove (pictured) was her main home

Designating her primary residence for council tax purposes as Ashton meant Ms Rayner avoided having to pay council tax on her third home, her grace-and-favour flat in Admiralty House (pictured), central London

A few weeks ago, two men were also seen taking measurements for what looked to be new blinds or French doors.

In any event, Ms Rayner faces a hefty bill from Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs for dodging 40,000 in stamp duty which she will have to repay with 1,000 interest, say financial experts and, an expected penalty, likely to be somewhere between 6,000 and 12,000 for 'careless behaviour'.

Total bill: more than 50,000.

The upshot is Ms Rayner's mortgage repayments could be as high as 4,000 a month against an income after tax of 5,400 a month. She has the support of Mr Tarry, sacked as Shadow Transport Minister in 2022 for joining striking railway workers on the picket line before losing his Ilford South seat in the General Election last year. He now advises lobby consultancy group Henham Strategy.

Henham pays well. One adviser, for example, banked 4,000 a month for just 15 hours' work with the company, which is a nice gig if you can get it.

Many of the consultancy's clients fell under Ms Rayner's brief when she was in charge of the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. Henham stressed Tarry 'worked on a number of areas unrelated to that department to ensure no conflicts of interest arise'.

Maybe so. But Henham's website points out that the firm 'leverage' the contacts of their team to 'help clients engage and influence key decision makers'.

Few could have imagined when Angela Rayner was in her pomp just a few months ago  resulting in her being called 'Three Pads Rayner'  that her financial situation would now be the subject of national discussion and gossip.

One consequence of her being banished to the back benches is that, like her fellow MPs, she is encouraged to stay in a hotel when in London on parliamentary business with an allowance of up to 230 a night  which is better value for taxpayers than MPs renting second homes on expenses. You can find comfortable enough accommodation with 230 but it won't come close to Admiralty House, the grace-and-favour flat which came with being Deputy Prime Minister and was once the Whitehall residence of Winston Churchill.

Ms Rayner enjoyed other perks, too. She accepted donations for clothes from Labour peer Lord Alli and has stayed in his New York flat with Mr Tarry. There was also, among other things, 1,000 worth of free tickets to Brighton Pride.

All that has gone. For the moment, at least.

She will be buoyed, however, by what happened in Liverpool when she was name-checked by speaker after speaker. 'We need her back,' declared Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, a line apparently ad-libbed; not cleared, therefore, by No 10.

They were sure, Downing Street said afterwards, that the Prime Minister would have approved.

On Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer added his voice of support, telling LBC radio that Rayner will continue to be a 'major voice' in British politics and hinting that she could return to front-line politics sooner rather than later.

Such a public vote of confidence for one who was forced to resign for breaking the Ministerial Code by 'failing to maintain the highest standards of proper conduct'!

'She was the most talked-about person in the bars in the conference centre, apart from Farage,' said someone who was at the Labour jamboree, which is saying something considering how much time was devoted to demonising the Reform UK leader ('enemy' of Britain, 'snake oil salesman', 'racist' immigration policies).

Might the show of support provide the platform for her comeback? It would seem so. 'I hear she's plotting  of course she is  her people are plotting,' said another person who was at the conference. 'There are many people here [at the Labour conference] who want her to be plotting.'

It is a widely held view.

Ms Rayner was pictured campaigning with Andy Burnham in March last year ahead of the Manchester Mayoral election which he won. And the two were filmed singing karaoke together at a previous party conference, raising the prospect that they could join forces to mount a leadership challenge. 'It's nonsense,' said the associate of Rayner who told us she would not be selling the Hove flat. 'She will be making a comeback, though.'

'It will start with a mea culpa interview on TV,' said the well-placed source. 'It will be with a woman. It will be tearful. It will be emotional. And it will stress her working-class credentials.'

She gave a similar interview to Sky shortly before she resigned last month.

Raised on a Stockport council estate, remember, she left school with no qualifications, was pregnant at 16 and became a grandmother at 37. You've heard it all before, not just from Angela herself but from her many admirers at the Labour conference last week.

She would not have far to look for a campaign manager if she decides not just to make a comeback  which seems inevitable  but also to challenge for the leadership. Her boyfriend has the relevant experience, after all.

Sam Tarry was Jeremy Corbyn's leadership campaign director. He was also sacked as a Shadow Minister by Sir Keir, so there's no love lost there.

Watch this space.

Additional reporting by Tim Stewart
Angela Rayner was accused of a 'shameless' waste of public money after her taxpayer-funded bodyguards ferried her partner around in an 80,000 car and helped move belongings into her second home.

Pictures published exclusively in the Mail on Sunday show two close-protection officers helping Ms Rayner's on-off partner Sam Tarry move bags and boxes in a BMW X5 between their two homes.

The highly trained security experts and their specialised SUV are paid for from the public purse to protect Ms Rayner at a cost of thousands of pounds a day.

But the former Deputy Prime Minister was nowhere to be seen as the bodyguards drove Mr Tarry and a series of boxes from her 800,000 seaside flat in Hove, East Sussex, to his 450,000 flat in Brighton around three miles away.

The bodyguards then loaded the car up with bags taken from Mr Tarry's home and whisked them back to Ms Rayner's flat.

Ms Rayner's spokesman confirmed the protection officers helped Mr Tarry move 'a small number' of the former Cabinet minister's possessions and said they may have decided to do so for security reasons.

Ms Rayner, 45, dramatically resigned from Keir Starmer's Cabinet last month after a sleaze watchdog found she broke the Ministerial Code when she underpaid about 40,000 in stamp duty on the three-bedroom flat, which is about 250 miles from her Greater Manchester constituency.

But she now faces questions over why bodyguards on the public payroll were apparently being used to help with her domestic arrangements last week.

A female bodyguard loads the car up with bags taken from Sam Tarry's home before whisking them back to Ms Rayner's flat

A close-protection officer helps Mr Tarry move bags and boxes in a BMW X5

Tory MP Ben Obese-Jecty said: 'Highly trained close-protection officers shouldn't be moonlighting as removal men.

'The public will be astonished at this outrageous waste of taxpayers' money and appalled at such shameless behaviour.

'Angela Rayner's arrogance has already cost her her ministerial career. Her sense of entitlement shows calls by senior Labour figures last week to bring her back are very poorly judged.'

Richard Tice MP, deputy leader of Reform UK, said: 'Rayner's Removals shouldn't be funded by the taxpayer.'

John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, added: 'It's right that politicians in need of security are provided with it. But with that comes a responsibility not to abuse that system.

'Given the details of this story, it's clear there needs to be an investigation to check that no rules were broken.'

A female close protection officer, who the MoS is not naming, was spotted carrying several empty boxes out of Ms Rayner's home and into the waiting BMW at 11.38am on Thursday.

Forty-five minutes later Mr Tarry, 43, and the bodyguard got into the vehicle and drove to his home, about 15 minutes away.

A female bodyguard helps load the car with boxes from Mr Tarry's Brighton home

The same bodyguard with Ms Rayner in Downing Street

'The female bodyguard came out of Angela's flat and carried the boxes out to the BMW,' an onlooker said. 'It went around the block for a bit and then came back to pick up a man. It was all very cloak-and-dagger.'

In Brighton, Mr Tarry, the woman and a second taxpayer-funded bodyguard, a man, unloaded the boxes before loading the car up again with bags brought from Mr Tarry's house. The BMW was later believed to have returned to Ms Rayner's flat.

A day later the same two bodyguards flanked Ms Rayner as she attended a vigil in Manchester for victims of the terror attack at the Heaton Park synagogue.

Despite no longer being a Government Minister, Ms Rayner has retained close protection officers because of the security risk she faces. Graffiti calling her a 'tax evader' and a 'b****' appeared on a white wall outside her Hove property.

The MoS understands the guards are provided by private firm Mitie Security and paid from a security fund administered by Parliamentary authorities.

Security experts say specialised close-protection officers can each cost around 1,500 per day.

A spokesman for Ms Rayner said: 'Angela has a heightened and active security risk, and her property in Hove has been attacked with misogynistic and extremist graffiti.

'Mindful of the ongoing risks facing Angela, the security team facilitated her partner moving a small number of her possessions into a vehicle to minimise risk to her security.

'The close-protection team may undertake tasks based on the assessment of the situation and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the person they are protecting.'

Ms Rayner and Mr Tarry at Parklife Festival at Heaton Park in 2022, when they first dated

The MoS has established that the female bodyguard is a former soldier in the British Army who last year worked as a security consultant for the Labour Party.

She was regularly photographed accompanying Ms Rayner before her resignation on September 5.

Mitie, which employs around 100 close protection officers who guard Government ministers and other VIPs, declined to comment and referred enquiries to the House of Commons.

A Commons spokesman said: 'We do not comment on individual MPs' security arrangements.'

Mr Tarry, a former Labour MP, began a relationship with Ms Rayner in 2022 following her divorce from union boss Mark Rayner. Tarry had split from his wife of five years, Brighton paediatrician Julia Fozard, mother to their two young boys.

The former MP for Ilford South was sacked from his role as Shadow Transport Minister in July 2022 by Sir Keir Starmer after giving an unauthorised interview from a picket line. He now works as a lobbyist.

Ms Rayner made their relationship official in March by declaring Mr Tarry her partner in the Register of Ministers' Interests.

In August the MoS revealed that Ms Rayner  who was also Housing Secretary  had bought the Hove flat in May, when her department was cracking down on second-home owners.

It later emerged that she told HM Revenue and Customs that the house was her main residence, meaning she avoided a hefty surcharge normally applied on second homes.

She quit the Government last month after Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister's ethics adviser, said she had breached the Ministerial Code because she had failed to meet the 'highest possible standards of proper conduct' over the issue.

After leaving the Cabinet she lost her grace-and-favour flat in Admiralty House, Central London, while her annual salary dropped from 161,409 to 93,904, leading to speculation that she might be forced to sell the Hove apartment.

Ms Rayner has kept a low profile since her resignation and was absent from last week's Labour conference in Liverpool, where rumours swirled that she would return to the Government. Health Secretary Wes Streeting told delegates: 'We want her back.'
Two teenage girls were killed in a suspected subway-surfing tragedy in New York City.

Around 3.10am Saturday, officials were called to a Brooklyn subway station where they found the girls unconscious and unresponsive on top of a train.

They were pronounced dead on the scene.

Subway surfing consists of train passengers climbing on top of subway cars and riding on top of them as they pull into above ground stations.

One victim was 13, and the second was believed by police to be between 13 and 18 years old. They have not been publicly identified.

In a statement obtained by the New York Post, the NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow said: 'Its heartbreaking that two young girls are gone because they somehow thought riding outside a subway train was an acceptable game.

'Parents, teachers, and friends need to be clear with loved ones: getting on top of a subway car isnt "surfing" its suicide.

'Im thinking of both the grieving families, and transit workers who discovered these children, all of whom have been horribly shaken by this tragedy.'

Subway surfing has already take the lives of five people in 2025 (file image)

The illegally trend has taken social media by storm, leading to the arrests of hundreds of New Yorkers (file image)

Witnesses said police were talking with three teen boys at the subway station. They drove away with two of them in a police car.

Emergency responders were also seen carrying a plastic bag and a police car out of the station. It's unclear if the items belonged to the victims.

The girls were a part of a group of roughly 15 teens who were running around the train before they were found on the roof.

MTA officials have pleaded with parents, begging them to ward their children against subway surfing.

However, New York City has been plagued with the deadly trend for years after it caught on thanks to social media.

Five died in 2023. The death toll in 2023 was equivalent to the total number of deaths between 2018 and 2022.

In February 2023, Zackery Nazario died subway surfing after his head hit a steel beam and he was thrown off the train and ran over by a carriage. He was 15 years old.

The MTA has been running public service announcements warning against riding on top of the train for years (file image)

Alam Reyes (left) and Zackery Nazario (right) were both victims of subway surfing

A file photo shows a train conductor walking between subway cars in January

Six people died attempting the dangerous stunt in 2024, all of them were between 11 and 15.

January 2024, Alam Reyes, 14, fell off a train in Brooklyn and died at the scene. His half-brother said he ditched school that day and went subway surfing with a friend

So far, the toll in 2025 has been brought up to five.

NYPD data shared with the Daily Mail showed more than 415 people have been arrested for subway surfing between January 2023 and April 2025.The MTA has been running 'Ride Inside', Stay Alive' public service announcements since 2023. However, the trend has been traced back to the 1980s.

Despite the MTA's constant efforts, it seems that the trend is here to stay.
A US-style Removals Force would be set up to hunt down and deport more than 750,000 migrants if the Tories win power, the party announced last night.

The new Trumpian unit is the most eye-catching measure in Kemi Badenochs Borders Plan, which the Tory leader hopes will revive her flagging political fortunes as she arrives in Manchester for a crunch Conservative party conference.

The seven-point plan is designed to maximise the new freedoms Ms Badenoch says will result from leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) announced yesterday after a long, intense debate in the party.

Robert Jenrick, the frontrunner to succeed Ms Badenoch, led the calls to quit the treaty  which has been used by lawyers to thwart deportations  during last years Tory leadership contest.

At the time, Ms Badenoch rejected the idea, saying: Leaving the ECHR is not a silver bullet. We need to rewire the whole system from end to end. Its broken. Easy answers today just mean bigger problems tomorrow.

But with Nigel Farages Reform UK leading the Conservatives by a margin of two to one in the polls, the party has been left with little option but to match Mr Farages muscular approach to the issue.

The Removals Force is modelled on Americas Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), set up in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks to track down illegal immigrants.

President Trump used his One Big Beautiful Bill Act this year to turn it into the largest and best-funded federal law enforcement agency in the countrys history.

A US-style Removals Force would be set up to hunt down and deport more than 750,000 migrants if the Tories win power, the party announced last night. Pictured: Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch

The new Trumpian unit is the most eye-catching measure in Kemi Badenoch s Borders Plan, which the Tory leader hopes will revive her flagging political fortunes. Pictured: Badenoch greeting supporters waving Union Jacks as she arrives into Manchester for a crunch Conservative party conference

The Tory plan also includes a ban on asylum claims for illegal entrants; an end to legal aid and Judicial Review for immigration cases; repeal of the Human Rights Act; a pledge to deport all illegal arrivals and all foreign criminals within a week; new returns agreements with other countries; and support for allies to prevent illegal entry to Europe.

Under the plan, Britain would also quit the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (ECAT)  which will anger former prime minister Theresa May who has argued it is essential to help combat the problem.

However, Ms Badenochs allies say the convention is used too frequently as a legal device to thwart deportations.

Announcing the measures last night, Ms Badenoch  who used an interview to dismiss Mr Farage as offering a pastiche of Tory values  said: We must tackle the scourge of illegal immigration into Britain and secure our borders.

That is why the Conservatives are setting out a serious and comprehensive new plan to end this crisis. The next Conservative Government will withdraw from the ECHR and ECAT, create a new Removals Force to deport all illegal arrivals and end the legal merry-go-round of tribunals and appeals.

We will deal with those who have already arrived, create a strong deterrent to those who try and come, and tackle swiftly any who still manage to cross the Channel. She added: Labour offer failed gimmicks like one thousand in, one out with France. Reform have nothing but announcements that fall apart on arrival.

Our stronger borders plan is serious and credible and backed by comprehensive legal analysis.

Thats the difference the next Conservative Government will deliver.

Party strategists say that banning asylum and other protection claims for illegal entrants will send a clear signal that no one who has entered illegally can ever obtain asylum, creating the same deterrent effect as that achieved by President Trump

Party strategists say that banning asylum and other protection claims for illegal entrants will send a clear signal that no one who has entered illegally can ever obtain asylum, creating the same deterrent effect as that achieved by President Trump.

The Removals Force would replace immigration enforcement teams in the Home Office, with funding doubled from 800million a year to 1.6billion.

Its target will be to increase the number of removals from 34,000 to 150,000 a year, building to a total of at least 750,000 removals over the course of a Parliament.

It would be funded from the closure of asylum hotels and cuts to the 4.76billion annual cost of the asylum system.

Domestic modern slavery laws will be amended to stop them being abused by human rights lawyers  though officials insist they would still protect genuine victims and criminalise trafficking.

Domestic legislation would be amended to raise the threshold for claims covered by the Refugee Convention, with Parliament interpreting the convention rather than the courts.

And the UK would limit visa rights and withdraw aid for countries that will not agree to take back their nationals  as the US has done with countries in Latin America.

Dismissing comparisons with Reform, a Tory source said that Mr Farage offered nothing but a hastily cobbled together series of press releases with zero real plans to deliver  his policies fall apart at the first scrutiny.

By comparison, the source said, we have spent our time in opposition forensically analysing every element of our immigration system and produced a serious and deliverable policy that will make the legal and structural reforms necessary to tackle this crisis.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Paymaster General and Minister for EU Relations, said: Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch offer the same isolationist fantasy: withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and pretend the problem goes away.

Its the fake fix of mediocre politicians  waving wild decisions as genius because theyve run out of ideas, are out of options and out of their depth. Both the Tories and Reform have all but admitted they cant handle the complexity of global migration.

Badenoch talks tough but seems incapable of negotiating real reform with our allies. Farage cant bring himself to have any relationship with Europe.'
The Prince of Wales has said he is 'deeply proud' of his Earthshot Prize finalists - as the innovative environmentalists compete for millions of pounds.

The 2025 finalists have been announced for the award, which was set up as a global platform by Prince William to recognise and scale up ideas to discover and accelerate ground-breaking solutions to 'repair' and regenerate the planet.

The five finalists are vying for a 1 million prize pot awarded to each winner of five categories, with the money earmarked to develop their ideas.

Winners will be announced at the fifth Earthshot Prize awards in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday November 5.

The prize recognises solutions from different geographies, sectors and stages in their life cycle, and is dedicated to solving the planet's greatest challenges.

The event in 2025 marks the halfway point in the Earthshot decade.

In a video message posted on social media, William, who will be travelling to Brazil in November, said: 'Back then, a decade felt a long time. George was seven, Charlotte five and Louis two; the thought of them in 2030 felt a lifetime away.

'But today, as we stand halfway through this critical decade, 2030 feels very real.

The Prince of Wales has said he is 'deeply proud' of his Earthshot prize which awards innovative environmentalists millions of pounds

In a video message posted on social media, William, who will be travelling to Brazil in November, said he is 'deeply proud' of what the Earthshot Prize has done in its first five years and is 'enormously excited' for the next five

'The Earthshot Prize was founded because this decade matters. 2030 is a threshold by which future generations will judge us; it is the point at which our actions, or lack of them, will have shaped forever the trajectory of our planet.'

He said he is 'deeply proud' of what the Earthshot Prize has done in its first five years and is 'enormously excited' for the next five.

'Not just for the new finalists we'll welcome into our network, but to see the continued impact of our 60 existing finalists,' he said.

'Together, they are moving us towards achieving vital global goals that will improve and secure lives and livelihoods for all of us - goals such as protecting 30% of our land and sea by 2030.

'It is impossible to hear these finalists' stories, to see the impact they are already having and not feel encouraged by their energy and momentum.

'For me, it is that urgent optimism that has been at the heart of this prize from the beginning. And it feels unstoppable.

'The people behind these projects are heroes of our time, so let us back them. Because, if we do, we can make the world cleaner, safer and full of opportunity - not only for future generations, but for the lives we want to lead now.'

Actress Cate Blanchett, an Earthshot Prize council member, said: 'Five years with the Earthshot Prize has shown me that optimism isn't abstract - it's something made real by people bold enough to act now.

'What I'm especially proud of this year is the way in which entire categories of finalists are challenging our expected views and behaviours - the way we enjoy fashion, how we buy electronics, protect forests, even wash our clothes could be fundamentally different by 2030 because of them.

'To serve on the prize council alongside Prince William and my fellow members is a privilege, and I'm excited for the debates ahead as we choose our winners.'

Prince William and actress Cate Blanchett (an Earthshot Prize council member) visited 2025 Earthshot Prize Finalist Colorifix, a UK based company in Norwich which creates sustainable dye for clothing

Prince William's (pictured) Earthshot Prize awards ceremony was last year held in an eco-dome in Cape Town

Prince William and Kate at the 2022 Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony in Boston, Massachusetts

Concluding his message, William said: 'The journey to 2030 is still ours to define. With the vision of these finalists and the support of all of us, a flourishing planet is already a reality.

Earthshot Prize innovators each tackle one of five environmental goals: Fix Our Climate, Protect and Restore Nature, Build A Waste-Free World, Revive Our Oceans, and Clean Our Air.

Among the 15 finalists is a British company, Matter, headquartered in Bristol, whose simple washing machine filters remove the greatest cause of microplastics in the ocean.

Adam Root, chief executive and founder of Matter, said: 'Being a finalist for the Earthshot Prize and representing Matter at the awards ceremony in Rio is like winning an Olympic gold medal in innovation.

'Matter's mission is to create impact at a size and scale that meets the enormity of the microplastic pollution challenge.'

The Earthshot raised a record 24million in one year, its highest to date, according to accounts just filed at Companies House.

More than 23 million came in donations, including 5 million from The American Friends of the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princes of Wales  William and Catherine's other charitable organisation whose income rose to 12 million in the last financial year.

The Earthshot was separated off from the Royal Foundation in 2022, since when it has pulled in a total of 66 million.

Last year, the awards ceremony was held in an eco-dome when the glittering event is staged in Cape Town.

The heir to the throne undertook a four-day visit to South Africa, called Earthshot Week, which showcased young African environmentalists and included a meeting with the country's prime minister, Cyril Ramaphosa.
The Manchester synagogue attacker groomed a young woman and made her watch Isis terror videos, it has been revealed.

The woman, who was reportedly in a relationship with Jihad Al-Shamie, said she was 'groomed into a controlling relationship' with him.

She left the country after the four-month on-off relationship ended but said he had pushed 'extreme' views and repeatedly attacked her after meeting her through the Muslim dating app called Muzmatch.

She recalled one occasion when Al-Shamie, 35, suggested he wanted to join the terror organisation Isis. She was horrified by his extremism but never believed he would act on his beliefs.

While pushing 'extreme views' on her, Al-Shamie would tell her to be 'dedicated to the cause'.

She said: 'He used to say, 'I want you to be dedicated to the cause', and he used to sit there and make me watch videos  like extreme videos  that I had no interest in. I am Muslim and of course I love to learn more. But this stuff was things that I have been raised to not agree with.

'He used to always say I was taught the wrong way and I wasn't taught right. He was basically just trying to groom me into what he thought,' she told the Manchester Evening News.

The woman also claimed she kept some messages from Al-Shamie, sent to her on banking app Revolut after she blocked him from contacting her.

One message from the attacker allegedly said: 'We had a good year or so. I enjoyed destroying you hundreds of times. In your prime.'

Meanwhile, an NHS mental health carer is among those arrested by police over the attack that left two dead, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, who was shot dead minutes after he targeted Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester on Thursday

A woman, who was reportedly in a past relationship with Al-Shamie, said she was 'groomed into a controlling relationship' with him and that he forced her to watch extremist content

The 46-year-old white British woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is said by neighbours to be a recent convert to Islam. She was one of three men and three women arrested by counter-terrorism police after Al-Shamie launched a vehicle and knife attack outside the Heaton Park Synagogue on Thursday.

Her home in Bolton was raided on Friday night by dozens of armed officers and uniformed police, with neighbours in the peaceful street reportedly hearing 'screams and shouts'.

The woman is a peer support worker for an NHS hospital in Manchester. Such carers provide emotional support to those who are suffering from mental health traumas or illnesses.

An Asian neighbour who gave his name as Wajid, said: 'I was doing such a course, and she told me she was a peer support worker herself. She said she travelled to Manchester for her shifts at a hospital.'

It is not known how she knows Al-Shamie, who lived 20 miles away in Prestwich. But one neighbour, who did not want to be named, said he saw Al-Shamie on the street a few months ago. Unemployed Al-Shamie, a British national of Syrian descent, was shot dead outside the synagogue.

Two men aged 30 and 32 and a 61-year-old woman were arrested at a house in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, hours after the attack. On Friday night, the 46-year-old woman was arrested at her house in the Farnworth area of Bolton.

They were arrested on charges of 'suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.'

An 18yearold woman and 43yearold man who were arrested in Farnworth in connection with the investigation into the terror incident have been released.

Kemi Badenoch was seen with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham (left) as the Conservative leader visited the scene on Saturday

On Saturday, Greater Manchester Police said that it obtained a warrant of further detention for the 46-year-old NHS worker and the three arrested on Thursday, who can now be detained for a further five days under terrorism powers.

Al-Shamie is believed to have been married to a British Pakistani woman in Manchester with whom he has a child, who is now two years old.

However, the couple are understood to be separated, with his wife living with her parents in the Burnage area of the city. This weekend, a family member of the woman came out of the house and told the MoS: 'We are as distressed as anyone else about this. We do not want to talk, sorry.'

It has also emerged that Al-Shamie was under investigation for a recent rape claim against him. On Saturday, Greater Manchester Police refused to give more details, except confirming that the alleged victim was not a minor.

He has convictions for other offences, but was not known to counter-terrorism police or Prevent, the Government's deradicalisation programme.
A barrister sparked outrage after he accused Israel of 'orchestrating' the synagogue terror attack in Manchester.

Ferrari-driving Sham Uddin also suggested that Mossad, the country's foreign intelligence agency, has sleeper cells in the UK and is plotting to assassinate King Charles to 'create a race war'.

Campaigners and politicians derided his 'deranged conspiracy theories' and called for him to be struck off.

His claims were among a series of public outbursts in the past 48 hours which Jewish groups say highlight the failure to halt the rising tide of anti-Semitism on Britain's streets and online.

NHS doctor Rahmeh Aladwan, already being investigated for anti-Semitic tweets, posted a photo of Britain's Chief Rabbi with the words 'Rabbi Genocide' on his forehead.

Dr Aladwan, a trauma and orthopaedics specialist, has previously escaped censure despite allegedly refusing to condemn the October 7 attacks, calling Israelis 'worse than Nazis', and describing two Palestinian gunmen who carried out a fatal bus shooting as 'martyrs'.

On Saturday, Keir Starmer was warned Thursday's attack on Heaton Park synagogue by an Islamic terrorist which left two people dead was a 'sign of where the tolerance of anti-Semitism leads'.

Crossbench peer Lord Walney, former adviser to the Government on political violence, said: 'It has long been deeply alarming for British Jews to see so many people in senior positions spouting vile anti-Semitic hate speech and who often receive only the lightest level of challenge or censure.

'It ought to be as unacceptable to say these kind of things as it would be to be a white supremacist in British public life.'

Barrister Sham Uddin sparked outrage after he accused Israel of 'orchestrating' the synagogue terror attack in Manchester.

NHS doctor Rahmeh Aladwan posted a photo of Britain's Chief Rabbi with the words 'Rabbi Genocide' on his forehead

Dr Aladwan, a trauma and orthopaedics specialist, is already being investigated for anti-Semitic tweets

A protest in support of banned terror group Palestine Action went ahead in Trafalgar Square, central London, on Saturday despite pleas to respect the grief of British jews.

Among the 422 arrests was a man wearing a hoodie bearing a swastika over the Israeli flag.

Protesters at a similar event in Manchester cheered as a speaker called for the 'dismantling of the Zionist state'.

Alex Hearn, of Labour Against Antisemitism, said: 'The sickening Palestine protests this weekend, despite appeals to show compassion for the grief of the Jewish community, reveal the true ugly face of this movement

'Using the swastika  the banner under which 6million Jews were industrially slaughtered  is grotesque and racist.'

Mr Uddin's video sparked outrage and demands he be struck off by the Bar Standards Board.

Birmingham-based Mr Uddin says: 'It is rumoured the Israeli government orchestrated the attack on the synagogue in Manchester the Israeli government has sleeper cells in the UK and the USA and they activate them at their will.

'It is rumoured that King Charles is on the Israeli government's target list... They will assassinate him just before the elections in order to get the right wing activated and in order to create a race war in the UK. You have been warned.'

When The Mail On Sunday challenged Mr Uddin, he claimed he was merely repeating internet rumours rather than stating them as facts.

'People are putting these rumours about based on the actions of the Israeli government,' he said.

'They attacked people in Qatar and [Israeli PM] Netanyahu said they would attack anywhere.

'A lot of people in Israel are against the government. I've seen Jewish people attending pro-Palestinian marches.' Mr Uddin, who stood as an independent in Bethnal Green and Stepney in the general election, previously said Israel was involved in the October 7 attacks.

Police scuffle with protestors at the south end of Whitehall following a protest in Parliament square against Israeli forces attacking the Gaza flotilla on October 2, 2025 in London

Hours after the synagogue attack, Dr Aladwan described Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis as a 'joker', claiming he 'is genocidal as ever' and the Jewish community 'has a serious extremism problem'.

And another of her posts read: 'The son of the Chief Rabbi is an IOF terrorist and he's proud of it.'

IOF stands for Israeli Occupation Forces, a term used by pro-Palestinian campaigners for the Israel Defence Forces.

After the President Trump-brokered Gaza peace plan was announced, Dr Aladwan wrote: 'Allahu Akbar. Glory to the Palestinian armed resistance. Death to 'israel' (sic).'

Previously, she has referred to the Royal Free Hospital in London as a 'Jewish supremacy cesspit'.

The GMC later told a hearing of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service that Jewish patients would not feel safe in her care.

But it ruled she is free to practise during the ongoing GMC investigation.

Consultant neurologist Dr Rehiana Ali, suspended last year over her social media thread but later cleared by the GMC, posted that Sir Ephraim 'should be arrested'

She also seemed to fuel conspiracy theories that Israel was behind the synagogue attack by comparing the named attacker, Jihad Al-Shamie, to the notion of Jihad as a fight against Islam's enemies.

'Very conveniently named too,' she wrote. 'Seriously... could it not be a little more subtle?'

Mr Hearn said: 'These sickening comments by people in positions of power must not continue to go unpunished. Regulators need to get a grip and strike them off or the government must intervene.'

The Manchester synagogue attacker, Jihad al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by officers at the scene just seven minutes after the first 999 call

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Itai Gal, of Stop The Hate, said: 'We are outraged by the torrent of misinformation, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and even open celebration of terror expressed by Dr Rahman Aladwan and Sham Uddin.

'Their rhetoric has fuelled an atmosphere where violence against Jews is seen as acceptable.

'This is intolerable. The authorities must act decisively.'

The Campaign Against Antisemitism described Mr Uddin's claims as 'deranged conspiracy theories' and called on the Bar Standards Board to suspend and investigate his 'delusional allegation.'

A spokesman said: 'This is not some anonymous troll but a practicing barrister. His delusional allegation that Israel is plotting to assassinate the King is grotesque, incendiary and dangerous.'

Department of Health sources insisted that Dr Aladwan was not currently working in the NHS.

But on X, Health Secretary Wes Streeting wrote: 'I fail to see how medics using such language with impunity doesn't undermine confidence in the medical profession.'

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said today: 'The Secretary of State has been repeatedly clear the current system is not working and in need of serious and swift overhaul.

'A number of options are under consideration, all with the goal of eradicating the evil of racism from our health service.

'We will set out the next steps in this process to root out racism in the NHS in short order.'

A Government source said that the plans would make it easier to kick racists out of the NHS and could lead to faster action in cases where doctors have made anti-Semitic statements online.
Sir Keir Starmer is facing hard questions over his government's role in the collapse of the trial involving allegations that a parliamentary assistant was spying for China.

Christopher Cash, 30, from Whitechapel, east London, and teacher Christopher Berry, 33, of Witney, Oxfordshire, were each charged with the offence of spying under the Official Secrets Act.

They were set to face trial in October, but proceedings against them were stopped on Monday, sparking criticism from Downing Street and MPs.

The pair were accused of passing information about the Government's foreign policy to a high-ranking member of the Chinese government.

Though Sir Keir Starmer's spokesperson earlier described the trial's collapse as 'extremely disappointing', it has since emerged that top Whitehall officials allegedly met to discuss the trial and how China would be presented.

The meeting is said to have included Jonathan Powell, the UK's national security adviser, and Sir Oliver Robbins, the permanent secretary at the Foreign Office.

According to the Sunday Times, Powell is said to have told attendees of the meeting that Matthew Collins, the deputy national security adviser set to give evidence for the prosecution, would not describe China as an enemy, but rather as a 'challenge'.

This term has its roots in the National Security Strategy 2025 report, a document that sets out the major security risks the UK faces.

However, a spokesperson for the Cabinet Office told the Mail: 'This is completely false. There has been no material change provided by the government, nor were any of the witnesses limited in the sources upon which evidence could be based.'

This limitation presented a severe problem for the trial, as prosecutions under the Official Secrets Act require proof that defendants acted in the interests of an enemy.

Parliamentary aide Christopher Cash, 30, (pictured above in April arriving at Westminster Magistrates Court) and British teacher Christopher Berry, 33, were each charged with the offence of spying under the Official Secrets Act

They were set to face trial in October, but proceedings against them were stopped on Monday, sparking criticism from Downing Street and MPs. Pictured: Christopher Berry (right)

Though it isn't clear who exactly made the decision to limit what Collins could say, witnesses were reportedly told it came from 'the very top', a claim that the Cabinet Office said last night was 'completely false'.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was under the impression that a senior civil servant would give evidence to establish that Beijing was an enemy of Britain, which was needed for a successful prosecution, following previous assurances from the Conservative government.

There were also plans in place for intelligence officials to testify in a closed court to protect their identity.

However, prosecutors were told that Labour ministers were no longer willing to describe China as an enemy in court, causing the case to collapse.

Last month, Dan Jarvis, the Labour security minister, told Parliament the decision to drop the case was 'independent' from the government and it was 'not for any government minister to speculate on the reasons behind it'.

Speaking to The Times, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said the decision effectively gave Beijing 'licence to operate' within Parliament, after the men were alleged to have targeted the China Research Group of MPs.

The official who commissioned the research has since been named in media reports as Cai Qi, a senior aide to Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.

Mr Cash and Mr Berry have denied any wrongdoing. Mr Cash's lawyer has said his client is 'entirely innocent and should never have been arrested, let alone charged'.

Speaking to The Times, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said the decision effectively gave Beijing 'licence to operate' within Parliament, after the men were alleged to have targeted the China Research Group of MPs

A meeting involving top Whitehall officials allegedly concluded that China would not be described as an 'enemy' (pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping)

Sir Lindsay, the director of public prosecutions said there was no 'outside pressure' influence the decision to drop the charges.

'As Speaker, I take the security of this house incredibly seriously. I believe this leaves the door open to foreign actors trying to spy on the House,' Sir Lindsay said.

'This door must be closed hard. We must pursue all avenues to ensure the protection of members and people that work within the House of Commons. It will not be tolerated.'

A Cabinet Office spokesperson told the Daily Mail of the Sunday Times report: 'This story is full of fundamental inaccuracies. The decision not to proceed with prosecution under the Official Secrets Act was made by the Crown Prosecution Service entirely independently of government.

'There has not been a material change in the evidence provided by the government. As a matter of fact, any evidence submitted for this case can only be from the time that the alleged offences took place (2021-2023), rendering the National Security Strategy 2025 unrelated.'
When Prince Harry first announced his engagement to Meghan Markle in 2017 it was hoped that the former Suits actress would form a blossoming bond with Kate, the then Duchess of Cambridge.

But over the course of the following six months, rumours were rife of a fiery feud between the two sister-in-law that saw the quick demise of the short-lived Fab Four.

In his explosive 2023 memoir Spare, Harry claimed that in the build up to their big day there had been several disagreements between the two Royal women over issues that included borrowing lipgloss and bridesmaid dresses.

Their frayed bond was showcased in a seemingly uncomfortable girl's day out to Wimbledon, while body language experts suggested that cracks had begun to form over Meghan's unconventional veer into politics.

So, when Harry and Meghan tied the knot at St George's Chapel in Windsor in May 2018, the nation held their breath to see if Kate would play an integral part in their fairytale ceremony.

As Meghan, who donned a floor-length gown crafted by Givenchy and Clare Waight Keller, walked towards the historic chapel, eagle-eyed viewers noted that she was missing one crucial element: her bouquet.

Using both of her hands to hold up her 100,000 dress, Meghan was followed by a cathedral-length, five-metre-long veil, trimmed with lace which depicted flora from each of the 53 Commonwealth countries.

Then, in almost miraculous speed, she was suddenly captured holding a bridal bouquet, including Forget-Me-Nots, Princess Diana's favourite blooms, as she walked herself down the aisle.

When Meghan walked up towards St George's Chapel in Windsor as she married Prince Harry in May 2018, eagle-eyed viewers noted that she was missing her bouquet

In almost miraculous speed, Meghan was suddenly captured holding a bridal bouquet, including Forget-Me-Nots, Princess Diana's favourite blooms, as she walked down the aisle

While it appeared that the camera had deliberately sought to conceal the sudden flower exchange, unearthed online footage caught a glimpse of a mystery woman handing Meghan the flowers as she entered the chapel.

Even more perplexing for many was that the woman in question appeared, based on the dress and headpiece, to have been Kate.

Had the two Royal figures managed to put their differences aside for the long-awaited nuptial? Was their frosty relationship now a thing of the past?

In fact, the truth was quite the opposite, with tensions still simmering following a heated disagreement over Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress fitting.

But some shoddy camera work and acute physical similarities had made it appear as though Kate was bearing the bouquet-hander role.

The woman in question was seen wearing a light coloured ensemble that bore an incredible resemblance to the off-white Alexander McQueen outfit donned by Kate on the royal wedding day.

Both the shape and size of her headpiece also appeared incredibly alike, while the mystery woman seemed to have dark brown hair colour, another key resemblance to the Duchess.

However, footage of Meghan's procession showed that Kate was already sat at her front-row seat, alongside the now Queen Camilla, before Meghan had even reached the altar.

Unearthed online footage caught glimpse of a mystery woman handing Meghan the bouquet as she entered the chapel. Even more perplexing for many was that the woman in question appeared, based on the dress and headpiece, to have been Kate

The woman in question was seen wearing a light coloured ensemble that bore an incredible resemblance to the off-white Alexander McQueen outfit donned by Kate on the royal wedding day. Some suggested that the bouquet handler could have been royal aide Samantha Cohen, who worked for the Royal Household for almost 20 years. From a distance, her outfit for the big day held similarities with the mysterious bouquet holder

But footage of Meghan's procession showed that Kate was already sat at her front-row seat, alongside the now Queen Camilla, before Meghan had even reached the altar. This meant that it would have been near impossible for her to hand Meghan the bouquet

This meant that it would have been near impossible for her to hand Meghan the bouquet. She would have needed to sprint down the side of the church to beat the bride before she reached Prince Harry at the altar.

So, the baffling question remained: Who was the obscure woman that passed over the bouquet to Meghan?

Some suggested that the bouquet handler could have been royal aide Samantha Cohen, who worked for the Royal Household for almost 20 years.

As former private secretary to the late Queen, Ms Cohen later took on the role as a royal aide to Meghan, helping her to adjust to life in the Firm by ensuring she underwent a series of 'duchess bootcamp'-style sessions.

In addition to attending the long-awaited wedding of Harry and Meghan, Ms Cohen also appeared at numerous events with the Duchess of Sussex, therefore making her a very likely choice to handle the bridal bouquet.

From a distance, Ms Cohen's outfit for the big day held similarities with the mysterious bouquet holder as she adorned a pale pink lace midi-dress and a pair of block heels.

But the real truth remained uncertain and for many months royal fanatics, who continued to speculate about what had truly taken place in that incredibly swift handover.

Those hoping for a reconciliation between the two women clung onto the slight belief that Kate had taken on the role, while cynics maintained this would be a sadly unrealistic scenario.

Using both of her hands to hold up her 100,000 dress, Meghan was followed by a cathedral-length, five-metre-long veil, trimmed with lace which depicted flora from each of the 53 Commonwealth countries

Then, one year on, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex took to Instagram to post a series of intimate images from their incredible day. One key image finally solved the bouquet mystery: Prince Harry's then assistant Clara Madden was captured handing Meghan the flowers

Then, an entire year on from the event, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex took to Instagram to post a series of intimate images from their incredible day as they marked their one year wedding anniversary.

Littered amongst the sea of incredible shots was one key image that finally solved the floral mystery.

In one spectacular image, Prince Harry's then assistant Clara Madden was captured beaming as she passed over the bouquet of freshly picked flowers to Meghan.

Ms Madden, of New Zealand, was no stranger to the royal family, having previously worked as a trusted adviser for Kate and William.

Indeed she was deemed so valuable that the Royal pair made a point of meeting her parents when they visited New Zealand in 2014, with her mother revealing afterwards: William said to me that Clara is the star of the office.

However, her career has not been without controversy - in 2016 she caused quite a stir in the Palace when she began dating Nick Loughran, media adviser to Kate and William, within months of him splitting from Rebecca Deacon, then the Duchess right-hand woman.

In 2015, Ms Madden moved over to work for Prince Harry and, following the announcement that his whirlwind romance with Meghan had led to an engagement, she was tasked with the key role of projects manager, playing a vital role in ensuring that the day went smoothly.

She accompanied the Sussexes on their royal tour of New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific in October of that year.

Ms Madden, pictured at Harry and Meghan's wedding, was no stranger to the royal family, having previously worked as a trusted adviser for Kate and William. In 2015, she moved over to work for Prince Harry

While the slideshow video revealed touching moments shared between members of Harry and Meghan's family, there was one clear absence. Kate was the only member of the Cambridge family who attended the wedding but was not seen in Harry and Meghan's post

Then, after the pair stepped back from royal duties in early 2020, Ms Madden was awarded a key position at Prince Harry's Invictus Games Foundation.

While the slideshow video revealed touching moments shared between members of Harry and Meghan's family, alongside others who played key roles on the day, there was one clear absence.

Crucially, Kate was the only member of the Cambridge family who attended the wedding but was not seen in Harry and Meghan's post.

She was at the event but not part of the bridal party and sat with other royal guests for the service.

Kate's absence from the reflective post fuelled ongoing controversy that tensions remained high between both her and Meghan following an infamous bridesmaid dress fitting ahead of the wedding that had ended in tears.

Early reports in 2018 had suggested that Meghan had made Kate cry during the heated row, which Meghan later denied.

In his book Revenge, Tom Bower claimed unnamed sources told him Kate and Meghan disagreed over the length of Charlotte's hemline and the fit of her dress.

He also claimed that Meghan's 'insistence' was 'supported' by bridesmaid Jessica Mulroney, adding: 'Some would say that Meghan compared Ivy [Mulroney's daughter] favourably against Charlotte'.

Clara Madden, pictured, accompanied the Sussexes on their royal tour of New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific in October of that year. Then, in early 2020, Ms Madden was awarded a key position at Prince Harry's Invictus Games Foundation

Kate's absence from the reflective post fuelled ongoing controversy that tensions remained high between both her and Meghan following an infamous bridesmaid dress fitting ahead of the wedding that had ended in tears

Meanwhile, Tom Quinn, writing in his book Yes, Ma'am: The Secret Life Of Royal Servants, claimed that both women were left 'really upset' by the incident.

A former member of staff told the author: 'The truth is that during the discussions about the bridesmaid's dress Meghan said a few things she regretted and Kate said a few things she later regretted but it was all in the heat of the moment.

'Both women were crying their eyes out!'

The unnamed employee went on to explain that the incident was 'subtly altered' and 'made more significant than it really is' by the media.

This resulted in the disagreement becoming a 'marker for all the other problems that Meghan had with Kate, William and other members of the family'.

However, Meghan gave a different version of events in her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, claiming that it was the other way around and adding: 'She (Kate) was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologised. And she brought me flowers'.

She continued: 'It wasn't a confrontation, and I actually think it's... I don't think it's fair to her to get into the details of that, because she apologised.

'What was hard to get over was being blamed for something that not only I didn't do but that happened to me.

In his book Revenge, Tom Bower claimed unnamed sources told him Kate and Meghan disagreed over the length of Charlotte's hemline and the fit of her dress prior to the wedding

Early reports in 2018 had suggested that Meghan had made Kate cry during the heated row, which Meghan later denied. Though the bridesmaids dress incident continues to be disputed, it remains one of the most talked-about moments leading up to the Sussexes' wedding

'And the people who were part of our wedding were going to our comms team and saying, "I know this didn't happen. I don't have to tell them what actually happened".'

The discussion served as yet another example of Queen Elizabeth's famous phrase, 'recollections may vary,' which she famously used in response to the concerns raised by Harry and Meghan regarding racial issues.

At the time, royal expert Katie Nicholl claimed that Kate found it 'mortifying' that their disagreement had reached the press, as she never wanted it to become public knowledge.

Though the bridesmaids dress incident continues to be disputed, it remains one of the most talked-about moments leading up to the Sussexes' wedding - and a lingering factor in the family's rift.

While Meghan's interview sought to put the rumours to rest, Harry reignited the discussion in his memoir, Spare, providing new details about the dispute.

According to Harry, Kate had sent Meghan a message in the days leading up to the wedding, expressing concerns about the bridesmaid dresses - specifically Charlotte's.

Meghan suggested that Kate take Charlotte to a tailor at the palace for adjustments.

Later, when the two women spoke in person, Kate reportedly insisted that Charlotte's dress was too big and had made her cry when she tried it on.

In a shock revelation laid bare within Prince Harry's explosive memoir Spare, a chat over tea and biscuits at Kensington Palace in June 2018 was said to have descended into conflict after the Duchess of Sussex told Kate that she must have 'baby brain because of her hormones'

Prior to the wedding, rumours were rife of a fiery feud between the two sisters-in-law that saw the quick demise of the short-lived Fab Four

Meghan, already overwhelmed by wedding preparations, was distressed by the conversation.

Harry wrote that when he returned home, he found his fiancee sobbing on the kitchen floor, overcome with stress.

However, he also noted that Kate later came to their house with a card and flowers as an apology.

Meanwhile, in another shock revelation laid bare within Prince Harry's explosive memoir Spare, a chat over tea and biscuits at Kensington Palace in June 2018 was said to have descended into another conflict after the Duchess of Sussex told Kate that she must have 'baby brain because of her hormones'.

William then called Meghan 'rude' to her face and 'pointed a finger at her' and explained: 'These things are not done here'.

In an excerpt, Meghan then told William: 'If you don't mind, keep your finger out of my face'.

Meghan gave a different version of events in her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, claiming that it was the other way around. She said: 'She (Kate) was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologised. And she brought me flowers'

Defending his wife, Harry writes in his new book: 'Meg said that she had never intentionally done anything to offend Kate and that if she had, she begged her to let her know so she could avoid a reoccurrence'.

In Spare, Harry states that Meghan had decided to raise the question of their relationship and tensions going back to when she started dating Harry, suggesting there had been crossed wires when Kate thought Meghan wanted to use her connections in the fashion industry, when in fact she already had her own.

In Spare, Harry states that Meghan had suggested there had been crossed wires between her and Kate when Kate thought Meghan wanted to use her connections in the fashion industry, when in fact she already had her own

Meghan suggested that these problems had been magnified by the wedding preparations and the discussions over bridesmaid dresses.

Harry then claims that Kate became upset and demanded an apology from Meghan for offending her when she mentioned her hormones after giving birth and suggested it had affected her memory.

Meghan initially said she couldnt remember but then added: 'I remember: you had forgotten something and I said that it didnt matter, that it was because of pregnancy. Because you just had a child. Because of the hormones.'

Harry said Kate replied: We are not close enough for you to talk about my hormones'.

The detail about the fight between the two women gives the fullest account yet of how the bitter rift between Harry and William extended to their wives.

Within the explosive memoir, Harry also reveals that Meghan had asked to borrow lipgloss from Kate ahead of their appearance at the first Royal Foundation forum summit in February 2018.

He wrote that Kate was surprised, but rummaged around in her bag before offering it to Meghan.

A source said: 'Harry doesn't hold back on William. He writes that William told him: "Meg is difficult, she's rude, she's abrasive. She's been rude to the staff"'

Harry also revealed that Meghan had asked to borrow lipgloss from Kate ahead of their appearance at the first Royal Foundation forum summit in February 2018, pictured. He then claimed that Meghan had applied a little gloss before Kate made a 'disgusted' face

Bridesmaid dress-gate! How reports of Kate and Meghan arguing ahead of wedding unfolded May 2018 - Meghan Markle and Prince Harry tie the knot in St George's Chapel in Windsor The bridesmaids, including Jessica Mulroney's daughter Ivy and Princess Charlotte, have bare legs November 2018 - The Telegraph's royal editor Camilla Tominey wrote she had 'spoken to two separate sources who claim Kate was left in tears following a bridesmaids dress fitting for Princess Charlotte'. May 2020 - Tatler reports the two argued over protocol around young bridesmaids' tights March 2021 - Meghan confirms there was a disagreement in her bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview but says the Duchess of Cambridge actually made her cry. Royal expert Katie Nicholl says Kate 'never wanted' reports of a rift to come out in the press and has found the situation 'mortifying' January 2023: Harry's memoirs reveals new rifts between the Sussexes and the Wales' Advertisement

He then claimed that Meghan applied a little gloss to her finger and rubbed it across her lips before Kate made a 'disgusted' face.

The event served as the informal royal 'working debut' of Harry's then-fiancee, American actress Meghan, and the all-smiling team sat down for what would be a 22-minute joint interview.

But beneath the surface, the cracks in the relationship between the brothers and wives were beginning to appear.

At the time, Harry said 'working as family does have its challenges', but insisted 'we're stuck together for the rest of our lives'.

But according to reports, it was an 'awkward' affair as Meghan took up the majority of the airtime, which apparently did not sit well with Kate.

Meghan had also unknowingly veered into the most fundamental rule of being a royal - to stay out of politics.

She promoted the viral #TimesUp campaign, which aimed to create laws to punish companies which tolerated sexual harassment in wake of the Harvey Weinstein Hollywood scandal.

Although it was a noble cause, the creation of laws would obviously mean input from politicians, which is a big royal taboo and caused traditional royalists to raise an eyebrow.

Analysing the intricacies of the Fab Four's on-stage debut, body language expert Judi James told the Daily Mail: 'There was a soft-focus filter over this "Fab Four" meeting of minds at the time, as Harry rather coldly and incorrectly put it: "We're together for life".

'The expectation was that we had a new friend and "sister" for Kate in much the same way that Fergie and Diana paired off, plus a very glamorous royal quartet to team up for their campaigns and charities.

'There was a powerful difference between the more cautious, careful and rather slow-hand-on-the-tiller campaign approach of William and Kate and the warp-speed urgency, drive, passion and energy of Meghan.'
At the Sussexes final engagement as working royals, Prince William, Kate and even Harry sat forlorn, with relations appearing painfully frosty between the once cheery trio.

Yet Meghan, who had joined the Royal family less than two years prior, donned an 'indestructible perma-smile' that almost never wavered, according to a body language expert.

In a striking video clip, captured during a service held at Westminster Abbey to mark Commonwealth Day on March 9, 2020, barely a word was exchanged between the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as they both gazed blankly into the distance.

In contrast, Harry and Meghan held a seemingly animated conversation before sharing a mutual grin.

Just two months prior, the Royal couple announced that they were to step back from senior Royal duties, revealing in a statement that they wished to 'focus on the next chapter'.

During their final outing, Meghan's beaming visual represented, body language expert Judi James claims, 'an important public signal to announce she had achieved success in terms of retaining the affection and loyalty of the royal she was in love with'.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, she said: 'Arriving in her perky beret and a superhero-style bright green cape, Meghans body language for this tense final royal public outing before Megxit oozed strength and resilience.

'As Harry visually dissolved, from his anxious self-soothing body and jacket touch rituals to his scowling and even tearful appearance towards the end of the service, Meghan appeared to draw on muscle memory to sit smiling throughout.'

At the Sussexes' final engagement as working royals, Meghan, who had joined the Firm less than two years prior, donned an 'indestructible perma-smile' that almost never wavered, according to a body language expert

Speaking to the Daily Mail, body language expert Judi James described Harry as appearing, at times, 'haunted-looking' and 'in need of support as he seemed to suddenly realise that the line of backs of heads in front of him was the family he was saying goodbye to'

Ms James adds that Meghan's unwavering smile, which 'endures as the family fractured before our eyes' may have been a last-ditch attempt at proving that she 'really did have what it takes to be a royal'.

She explains that 'perma-smiling under pressure is a key skill that the late Queen, Queen's mother and Kate always excelled at'.

And Meghan's short-lived TV stint in Deal or No Deal and years of acting training was bound to have equipped her 'with the endurance-test level of smiling skills' that were 'vital' to 'survive this last event'.

Yet Harry, whose entire life until this point had been littered with numerous Royal engagements, appeared to be somewhat struggling with presenting such an outwardly positive image.

She described Harry as looking, at times, 'haunted-looking' and 'in need of support as he seemed to suddenly realise that the line of backs of heads in front of him was the family he was saying goodbye to'.

Ms James added: 'While the other royals sat stony-faced and still, Meghan was animated and chatty with Harry. Their heads leaned together in a gesture of trust and exclusivity and when they used eye contact both emerged with re-energised smiles as though Harry was feeding off his wifes positivity.

'Its as though she was taking the lead and offering him a gesture to mirror because without it he was mirroring the sad expression of his brother here.'

She explains that Meghan's 'smile and wave' technique appears to have a mere short-term impact on Harry, noting that 'every time she looked away, Harry seemed to struggle'.

Ms James notes that in one particularly 'tragic body language gesture', the Royal brothers, Harry and William, are 'sitting in identical poses'. Described as 'subliminal mirroring', Ms James shares that the heartbreaking comparison serves as a devastating reminder of their former brotherly 'double act'

In contrast to a beaming Meghan, Ms James notes that the occasion looked to be 'much more painful for both Harry and the front-row royals'. She added: 'While the other royals sat stony-faced and still, Meghan was animated and chatty with Harry'

In contrast to a beaming Meghan, Ms James notes that the occasion looked to be 'much more painful for both Harry and the front-row royals'.

While both Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, then the Countess of Wessex, appeared to play the signature role of 'royal-row buffers', appearing both relaxed and chatty, William and Kate appeared to be both 'saddened and even stricken'.

Kate, in particular, appears to hold acute tension displayed 'in her slightly huntched and tightly-clasped pose', while her 'unsmiling expression involved some licking of her lips to hint at inner stress'.

And Ms James notes that in one particularly 'tragic body language gesture', the Royal brothers, Harry and William, are 'sitting in identical poses, wearing identical facial expressions, with both staring ahead apparently lost in reflection'.

Described as 'subliminal mirroring', Ms James shares that the heartbreaking comparison serves as a devastating reminder of their former brotherly 'double act'.

Perhaps in a desperate bid to stop himself from pondering on the past and the imminent loss of his brother from Royal protocols, William 'even seemed to shake himself a little', as he desperately tried to 'pull himself out of a train of thought'.

The notorious final engagement, which exemplified the demise of relations between Harry and Meghan and their Royal counterparts, was also previously analysed by lip reader Jeremy Freeman.

Mr Freeman paid close attention to the moment the Sussexes and then Cambridges met for the first time since 'Megxit', noting that William and Kate chose to busy themselves with greeting Edward and Sophie instead.

Ms James explains that Meghan's 'smile and wave' technique appears to have a mere short-term impact on Harry, noting that 'every time she looked away, Harry seemed to struggle'

While both Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, then the Countess of Wessex, appeared to play the signature role of 'royal-row buffers', appearing both relaxed and chatty, Ms James said that William and Kate appeared to be both 'saddened and even stricken'

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Finally, turning to acknowledge his brother, all royal fans could make out was a curt 'Hello Harry' from William, to which the younger prince replied: 'Hello'.

With a smile on her face, Meghan was seen saying hi to her sister-in-law Kate before offering a gentle smile and a hello to William, who didnt appear to see her the first time.

Mr Freeman told the publication that Harry turned to his wife and said: 'At least they acknowledged, unlike last time'.

Meanwhile William's response was vastly different. He looked relieved as he took his place in the front row and whispered to his wife: 'That was executed well.'

Continuing to confide in Kate, the future King said: 'It's quite good to connect instead of holding things back like always.

'I know it's bad, I ought to have words with him. He'll shout and God knows what but things'll change, won't it?'

Writing in his book 'Battle of the Brothers', royal expert Robert Lacey revealed that prior to the frosty moment, William had attempted to extend 'a small but sensitive gesture of peace' to Harry at his last public outing.

According to the author, Harry was told he and Meghan would not be allowed to take part in 'The Procession of The Queen' at the Commonwealth Day Service - as they had done the year prior.

Writing in his book 'Battle of the Brothers', royal expert Robert Lacey revealed that prior to the frosty moment, William had attempted to extend 'a small but sensitive gesture of peace' to Harry at his last public outing

Instead, only Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Duchess Camilla, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge were set to take part - a snub which was printed in the Order of Service for all 2,000 members of the congregation to see.

Mr Lacey wrote: 'Harry and Meghan were not included in this senior royal group.

'As "junior" royals they would have to shuffle their way to their seats that afternoon like any other member of the congregation and take their places on the sidelines alongside their fellow "juniors", Edward and Sophie Wessex.'

The prince was reportedly 'furious' at being 'shunted aside on this final appearance'.

So, fearing another highly public royal skirmish, William and Kate stepped in at the last moment in a bid to defuse the situation and offered to join emotional Harry and Meghan as they waited in their seats for the Queen, Charles and Camilla to arrive.

'It was a small but sensitive gesture of peace,' Mr Lacey wrote.

'Within minutes of each other, the two princes and their wives slipped quietly into their seats, and both couples then sat waiting with everyone else for the Queen and Prince Charles to process in senior splendour down the aisle to open the ceremony'.

Yet, Ms James's previous analysis of William's eleventh-hour olive branch suggested that it was still not enough to ease the ill-feeling between the feuding family - describing the engagement as 'not exactly the warm reunion we were hoping for'.

'The tension in Harry's body language especially was palpable,' Ms James said. 'When Harry arrived, the minute he and Meghan had to drop hands, he immediately reached for his wedding ring which is a self comfort.

'Even when she was beside him after they had stopped holding hands, he was missing her, needing her support.

'As Harry walked up the aisle to his seat, they both waved at the children, but his face otherwise was quite tense and unsmiling.'

But after the ceremony when Kate and William drove away, Ms James said the public saw a 'different Harry altogether'.

She added: 'Laughing and joking with the people outside, Harry's relief looked so tangible that his sudden eyes to heaven and raised hands looked awfully like a signal of thanks.'
Meghan Markle cut a stylish figure on Saturday as she was pictured in Paris for Fashion Week, marking her first visit to Europe in more than two years.

The Duchess of Sussex, 44, was all smiles as she was seen leaving her hotel on her way to the Balenciaga show in the French capital.

It was her first trip to Europe since the 2023 Invictus Games, which took place in Dusseldorf, Germany.

She was snapped wearing a stylish white oversized cape over a white button-down shirt with matching trousers.

Meghan paired it with black pointed-toe heels and simple accessories, giving off a vibe of effortless elegance, topped off with a sleek, slicked-back bun.

It marks her very first appearance at Paris Fashion Week.

Meghan paired her outfit with black pointed-toe heels and simple accessories, giving off a vibe of effortless elegance, topped off with a sleek, slicked-back bun

Crowds had gathered outside Meghan's hotel in a bid to catch a glimpse of the royal

Meghan was previously a regular at New York and Toronto Fashion Weeks whilst working as an actress on US drama series Suits.

Crowds had gathered outside Meghan's hotel in a bid to catch a glimpse of the royal.

But Prince Harry was nowhere to be seen as his wife was flanked by security who escorted her to a waiting car.

A source close to the Sussexes told the Daily Mail: 'The couple always like to make sure that either mum or dad is at home to put the kids to bed'.

It comes amid revelations that the estranged prince lambasted 'men in grey suits' at Buckingham Palace, accusing aides of trying to sabotage his reconciliation with the King.

The Duke's furious broadside is an extraordinary echo of his mother Princess Diana's criticism of shadowy royal courtiers  who she also derided as 'the men in grey suits' and accused of undermining her.

Harry is understood to be infuriated at what he sees as a concerted campaign by unnamed Palace officials to torpedo his efforts to strike a rapprochement with his father by giving hostile briefings to newspapers.

'The relationship between the Duke and His Majesty The King is a matter for the two of them and the two of them only,' a source close to the Duke told The Mail on Sunday.

'The men in grey suits should stay out of it.'

The Duchess of Sussex was all smiles as she was seen leaving her hotel on her way to the Balenciaga show in the French capital

Meghan Markle cut a stylish figure on Saturday as she was pictured in Paris for Fashion Week while being flanked by bodyguards

She was snapped wearing a stylish white oversized cape over a white button-down shirt with matching trousers

Earlier, he said he 'would love' to spend more time in the UK going forward and has told his delighted father it could even be every few months in 2026

But the Duke of Sussex insists that he will never move back to Britain because 'he's genuinely very happy in California'.

In response, King Charles is said to have been 'absolutely clear' that his youngest son cannot be a half-in, half-out working royal - and Harry is said to swear blind that there is 'no move' being made 'to be back in the institution'.

The monarch desperately wants a relationship with his youngest son - and especially his grandchildren Lilibet and Archie - with insiders claiming Charles may even be willing to offer the Sussexes their own pied-a-terre in Britain.

Earlier this week, Meghan's estranged father declared he is 'fine' after fears a huge earthquake had trapped him on the 19th floor of his Philippines apartment block.

Thomas Markle, 81, said 'please don't worry about me, everything is okay' after it was revealed he was unable to leave this home. He then thanked 'everyone' for their 'concern'.

The worry was sparked by Duchess of Sussex's half-sister, Samantha Markle, who posted on social media that her father was unable to leave his flat after the 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit 10pm local time (3pm BST, 10am ET) on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Meghan recently gave fans a rare glimpse inside the $14million mansion she shares with Prince Harry and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, in California.

She took to her Instagram account last Friday to show off what appeared to be her cosy living room in her Montecito home.

Sharing a clip on her Stories with her 4.2million followers, the mother-of-two showcased an elegant floral arrangement and her beagle, Mia, sleeping on a stunning cream armchair and matching cushioned footstool.

Prince Harry was nowhere to be seen as his wife was flanked by security who escorted her to a waiting car

Meghan was previously a regular at New York and Toronto Fashion Weeks whilst working as an actress on US drama series Suits

The duchess had an outfit change later into the night, stepping out in a black gown that featured one arm exposed

She kept her head down as she left her car while being flanked by her security team

The eye-catching flowers were placed in a white stone vase, embellished with the logo from Meghan's lifestyle brand, As Ever.

It was recently revealed that Meghan and Prince Harry are heading to New York City this month, where they will accept an award for their mental health advocacy.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been given the Project Healthy Minds Humanitarians of the Year Award in recognition of their campaigns to make the online world a safer place for families and young people, according to PEOPLE magazine.

They will reportedly accept the special honour at the nonprofit organisation's World Mental Health Day Gala on October 9 in New York City, before stepping out for another engagement together the next day.

On October 10, the Montecito-based couple will attend Project Healthy Minds' fourth annual World Mental Health Day Festival, where their Archewell Foundation is co-producing conversations with those making a difference in the mental health sector.
Lori Perkins' fully furnished four-bedroom Outer Banks home is on the brink of being swallowed by the Atlantic, joining eight others that collapsed this week alone.

The home's pilings are buckling, the decks are cracking, and inside there's pool table, couches and family photos that could float away.

The entire four-bedroom home is set to collapse into the sea at any minute.

'Now I'm waking up with a sense of dread,' Perkins told Daily Mail.

As she monitors the daily updates on the house, through local news and friends who send updates, she's also spotted the nasty comments people are leaving about the homes.

One said they were 'placing bets' with friends to see if her house would fall next.

Another responded to someone praying for Perkins, saying 'Keep on saying prayers until you drown stupid.'

'For all the people saying you're an idiot, I feel the need to say be kind,' Perkins said.

Lori Perkins home was battered so hard from storms it is at risk of being swallowed up by the ocean any minute now

Lori Perkins called the four-bedroom beach home she owns in North Carolina 's Outer Banks 'a dream come true for her and her family and would often lend it to friends for free

'I have been going to the Outer Banks since I was in my teens and I'm 56 now, and I have beautiful memories,' Lori Perkins told Daily Mail

'We didn't buy it in the ocean and we didn't put it in the ocean, and a lot of people are asking 'why did you build in the water?' Well, we didn't.

'Some of these people are so hateful. What happened in their childhood to make them act like this?'

She bought the sea green, four-bedroom oceanfront retreat filled with coastal touches like shell art, huge windows with sandy views, and a hammock hanging on the front porch, for $550,000 in 2021.

'I have been going to the Outer Banks since I was in my teens and I'm 56 now, and I have beautiful memories,' Perkins told Daily Mail.

'Then I introduced my husband to the Outer Banks and we said 'one day we're gonna get a house in the Outer Banks.

'So I started looking online and this house spoke to me. The second I went inside I just melted.'

The morning after she saw it, she made an offer.

Up until August, Perkins used the home for family trips, rented it out, and generously lent it for free to friends who needed a respite.

The home is still filled with her favorite comfort items, like pictures of friends and family, a plush couch for movie nights, and beach-themed artwork from local artists.

In anticipation for summer, she refinished a 12-person wooden table meant for dinner parties, and was 'so proud' of how it turned out.

Lori Perkins keeps seeing messages like this one, with commenters saying they have no sympathy because she bought a house too close to the water

The Outer Banks in North Carolina has been battered so badly by hurricanes homes there are buckling and floating out to sea, like Lori Perkins green home seen here about to topple

Up until August, Lori Perkins used the home for family trips, rented it out, and generously lent it for free to friends who needed a respite. Locals watch to see if it will topple

A home in Outer Banks is condemned but still standing as chaos unfolded this week as eight houses gave way to the tide

Homes like this one that were condemned in 2023 now sit empty as owners cannot collect insurance until they fall into the ocean

'You'll feel truly blessed when you surround yourself with family and friends for a beach vacation at Lucky Stars,' Perkins wrote in the rental description of the home.

Perkins came up with the name because whenever she fell asleep to the sound of the waves there, she thanked her 'lucky stars.'

'You'd go to sleep to the sound of the waves and wake up to watch the sun rise,' she said. 'People call it the home with the ten million dollar view.'

'If I have to look at that dining table floating out to sea, that's when it'll feel real.'

It'll join the fate of eight other homes lost in just days this week on Hatteras Islands.

If Perkins' home does fall, the total number of Hatteras Island homes lost to the sea since 2020 will hit 21. Hurricanes Erin, Humberto, Imelda, battered the barrier islands, eroding the shoreline.

'We had 50 feet of beach erosion in one year, I never thought it would happen this quickly,' Perkins said.

The view shows how weak the remaining houses look after being bashed by hurricanes and storms for the past few years, which have eroded the shoreline

Once a row of summer rentals, the stretch of beach now looks more like a disaster zone than a relaxing vacation spot

Piles of debris including wood, glass and furniture need to be cleaned up by the owners, who have to pay contractors to come in and remove it

A man surveys the damage done on Outer Banks, where eight homes fell into the ocean just this week alone. More are expected to fall

Crews were called in to clear debris, as planks, nails, and electrical wires litter the public beach that was destroyed after eight homes fell into the sea

Locals survey the damage after homes began falling into the sea after they grew weak form hurricanes Hurricanes Erin, Humberto and Imelda

Hurricanes Erin, Humberto and Imelda, slammed the beachside homes repeatedly with relentless 12-foot waves.

What people fail to realize, Perkins said, is that in 2021, the house was set back more than 200ft from the water, and the area it was in was considered environmentally safe.

She even thought she had bought time when the county completed a beach nourishment project in 2022 that was designed to combat coastal erosion by pumping extra sand to the beaches to widen them.

'We were excited that we were gonna have a big beach and everything would be OK,' she said.

While Perkins was able to use her home this past summer, the others that fell this week were condemned back in 2023. Once valued at around $400,000 each, the homes had lost all their worth by the time they toppled.

Homeowners there do get an insurance payment for their loss, but only after the home falls into the ocean, and it caps out at $250,000.

The owners are also responsible for cleaning up the debris the home leaves in the water, a cost that runs into the thousands.

'Ours was just about the only one that was not condemned,' she said.

Lori Perkins said she's watched the shoreline move dozens of feet inland over the past year, with no signs of slowing

Outer Banks has been slammed by storms taking homes into the Atlantic Ocean, a house once stood here and all that's left is a staircase

Homes were condemned in 2023 in Outer Banks because they are close to falling into the ocean after hurricanes battered the shoreline

Piles get beaten in the Atlantic in Outer Banks, North Carolina, where eight houses have been swallowed by the ocean this week

'Even when we had something come off or stairs fall off or what have you, the damage was never catastrophic.

'We usually get through the damage OK, but this time I just had a bad feeling. 'We thought that falling in the ocean could happen at some point  but not now.'

Perkins is determined to save the home any way she can.

She's already made two sets of calls-- one to schedule a surveyor and a contractor for debris cleanup, which will cost her over $5,000.

'Worst case scenario, it falls in the ocean. We've got a contractor on standby for cleanup,' she said.

The other call was a Hail Mary.

'When the area is safe to enter, we're going to see if we could potentially lift the house up, so I called a contractor who would demolish the current foundation and rebuild a new one. Then put it back in the same spot.

Lori Perkins is forced to watch her home teeter on the edge of the ocean day by day as she waits for it to fall in so she can collect insurance and start over

Local residents walk along the shoreline, inspecting debris from a collapsed home that washed up overnight

Eight homes along the Outer Banks coastline have collapsed this week, as coastal erosion and strong surf continue to eat away at the shoreline

The interior of Lori Perkins home, about to fall into the sea and take everything inside with it, including couches, furnishings, and everything else

The home's piles are buckling and cracking more each day, and the fully furnished escape with vaulted ceilings, a pool table, and four decks is about to be swallowed whole by the Atlantic

Lori Perkins' home looks like it's about to buckle and join the eight others that have fallen into the Atlantic Ocean this week in the Outer Banks

'People might think that's ridiculous but they will do another re-nourishment, but we haven't committed to that yet.

'The other option is buying a new lot, building a new foundation and potentially moving the house.'

She's heartbroken the area is suffering, calling it 'the most wonderful place to be.' 'The house was a dream come true.'

The Outer Banks are special to everyone in the area, Perkins added, it's a place where your neighbors look out for you and it never grew as touristy as other US vacation spots, like the Hamptons.

The sunrises and sunsets over the islands are stunning, and the natural wildlife like the Spanish mustangs that roam the beaches of Corolla are a treat for locals.

Locals love the land so much they set aside volunteer days for beach cleanups and wildlife habitat protection.

For now, the state is looking to help expand the National Flood Insurance Program to help move or demolish homes before they fall into the ocean, easing the burden on the owners and sparing the ocean from debris.

Once a beach paradise, Outer Banks has turned into a nightmare for residents who are forced to watch their homes fall into the Atlantic

Lori Perkins installed a hammock for lazy days at her home called Lucky Stars in Outer Banks, which is about to fall into the ocean

The view from Lori Perkins' home in Outer banks, where she would watch the sunrise whenever she woke up there

The home's piles are buckling and cracking more each day, and the fully furnished escape with vaulted ceilings, a pool table, and four decks is about to be swallowed whole by the Atlantic

The home is still filled with her favorite comfort items, like pictures of friends and family, a plush couch for movie nights, and beach-themed artwork from local artists

The kitchen of Lori Perkins' home in Outer Banks, which she may never see again if the house falls into the Atlantic

Lucky Stars sat dangerously close to the water's edge and is now at risk of collapsing as the piling buckle underneath the house

Many people who own beach homes in the Outer Banks are not wealthy, Perkins added.

Some don't even have the money to clean up after their home falls to the sea.

North Carolina law also bans structures like sea walls from being put on the beach.

For now, more beach replenishment is the only option, but it only buys so much time.

For Perkins, she's just trying to figure out how to save her house.

'Mainly to take my mind off things so that I'm not sitting here twiddling my thumbs if my house falls in the ocean,' she said.
Newly built luxury homes in the Hamptons are being raffled off for shockingly low prices in an exclusive lottery for first-time home buyers.

From now through October 20, first-time home buyers can apply for the chance to own a luxury new build for just $535,875 usually on the market for $2million.

The four condos up for grabs are part of the 38-unit town house complex Watermill Crossing on Long Island's South Fork, with access to a clubhouse, a pool and a fitness center.

JS Squared, the developer of the complex, set aside the four homes in compliance with the Long Island Workforce Housing Act following calls for more affordable housing.

The act called for at least ten percent of new residential developments to set aside affordable or workforce housing to combat housing shortages and affordability gaps.

Kara Bak, the director of housing and community services in Southampton, told Newsday that the homes offer a new option for workers on the East End.

'We desperately need affordable housing out here for the workforce,' Bak said.

'We dont get that many units that come up on the east side of the Shinnecock Canal.'

One of the beautiful homes up for grabs in Watermill Crossing on Long Island's South Fork is seen above

Through October 20, first-time home buyers can apply for the chance to own a luxury new build for just $535,875. Pictured: The Windmill in Water Hill, Long Island

Water Mill is located close to Southampton on Long Island's South Fork

A file photo of the 5th annual Hamptons Interactive Brunch at a private residence in Water Mill in June last year. Whoever wins the housing lottery will be neighbors with some of the wealthiest residents in New York

The four lottery condos up for grabs are part of the 38-unit town house complex Watermill Crossing (pictured) with access to a clubhouse, a pool and a fitness center

Eligible applicants must have an annual household income from 80 percent to 130 percent of the area median income. Individually, eligible applicants would annually earn $92,350 to $150,050.

A family of four, at 80 percent average median income, would have a household income of $131,900 to $214,350.

James Britz, chief operating officer at the Long Island Housing Partnership, told the outlet: 'It's a big reduction in pricing and a great opportunity for people who are in that income range.'

They also must have 'adequate resources and credit' to secure their own mortgages and have three percent of the purchase price in savings, checking accounts or verifiable liquid assets for a down payment.

Successful applicants will have to make the lottery home their primary residence and won't be able to enjoy the same home equity gains as full-price owners.

Any future sales will also be capped at the price the home was purchased for plus the rate of increase of the Consumer Price Index during ownership of the home.

'We want to keep it affordable for the next buyer,' Peter Elkowitz, CEO of the LIHP, told the outlet.

They will also be responsible for estimated monthly fees including $1,088.50 in common charges and $91.61 for real estate taxes.

JS Squared, the developer of the complex, set aside the four homes in compliance with the Long Island Workforce Housing Act following calls for more affordable housing. Pictured above The Water Mill Museum in the town

A red Porsche is seen in the town Water Mill on Long Island's South Fork

Flying Point Beach (pictured) in Southampton is one of the closest beaches for Water Mill residents to enjoy

Eastland Farms in Water Mill is seen above in this file photo of the town

One of the rooms inside one of the four homes that are up for grabs in the housing lottery

A 3,400 square foot home on the complex, with four bedrooms and four bathrooms, is listed for $2,995,000, according to Saunders & Associates.

The affordable housing lottery comes as houses in the Hamptons soared by 6.7 percent in August from last year, selling for a median price of $1.4 million, according to Redfin.

In the Hamptons, median home prices sit at around $1.9 million and $735,000 on Long Island, Newsday reported.

Housing shortages drove house prices through the roof, as Long Island saw a 7.4 decrease is single-family homes listed at the end of August, according to the outlet.

Huntington native Emily Gazzola told Brooklyn News 12: 'I'm not able to buy a house at this point in time.'

'It's good for their generation. Not as good for our generation,' she added while comparing the market to when their parents were first-time buyers.

'It's tough. It's a beautiful place to live. Obviously, a lot of people want to live here.'
New York City's public housing is coming under fire in more ways than one.

An entire chunk of a 20-story public housing building in the Bronx crumbled away on Wednesday morning due to a gas explosion.

A chimney connected to do the building's boiler system was damaged by the explosion, and that shaft ran up the side of the apartments and essentially blew out  leaving a 20-story gash down the corner.

The dramatic collapse happened at the New York City House Authority's (NYCHA) Mitchel Houses at 205 Alexander Avenue near East 137th Street in the Mott Haven neighborhood.

While there were thankfully no reports of injuries, the incident left locals feeling concerned and vulnerable.

New Yorkers are left wondering if their building is next, and some experts warn that it very well could be.

'Some 300 to 500 buildings could be at risk  and the government could make a case for 3,000 to 5,000 requiring investment,' Grant Cardone, CEO of property investment company Cardone Capital, told the Daily Mail.

'The Bronx collapse is another painful wake-up call to New York that its priorities have forgotten the people. The market has almost as many aging buildings as illegal immigrants,' he said.

Experts are concerned that new York City's iconic skyline is at risk of tumbling down

The blast caused the incinerator shaft to collapse inside 205 Alexander Ave in the Bronx borough of the city

'These buildings need hundreds of billions of dollars invested to make them safe but investors can't do that because the leadership regulates owners from raising rents, collecting rents, excessive regulation and over taxing.'

According to Cardone, tenants, landlords, investors, lenders, property owners and the future of New York City are all at risk: 'The problem is owners can't reinvest in what they have.'

Cardone says this will end with a contagion of foreclosures and failures resulting in lower property values, higher insurance, failed investments, and bank failures.

This will push people out of New York City and into younger cities like Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Naples, Austin, Nashville, and Raleigh  which have modern infrastructure, according to the investor.

In order to fix the issue, Cardone says New Yorkers need to, 'quit electing politicians and put business people in charge of New York City' to reduce regulations and provide tax incentives for infrastructure rebuild and new housing.

Meanwhile, Michael Horgan, press secretary for the New York City Housing Authority, insisted the collapse was an 'isolated incident'.

'The collapse at Mitchel Houses was a very unfortunate, isolated incident. This continues to be an active, multi-agency investigation,' he said.

'NYCHA has over 1,000 boilers across its 335 developments that operate year-round to provide hot water service to residents. NYCHA's heating technicians check and monitor all heating plants daily and perform regular maintenance throughout the year.'

Grant Cardone (pictured with his wife), CEO of property investment company Cardone Capital, estimated that anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 buildings in New York City could be at risk

The entire corner of the multi-story building collapsed on Wednesday morning

However, despite the department's claims that heating plants are well looked-after, experts say this can't be the case, given Wednesday's collapse.

Huiming Yin, a civil engineering professor at Columbia University, told the Mail that the explosion suggests that staff at the high-rise may not have been strictly following the established rules put in place to keep residents safe.

'Gas leakage is not unusual but it was rare to make such a big damage to a tall building, which was a miracle without a human loss,' Yin said.

'The public including residents, neighbors and kids are at risk, as their life safety is jeopardized and normal life routine is disturbed,' he added.

This public housing high-rise collapse was reminiscent of the Grenfell Tower Fire in London in 2017, when a fire broke out in a kitchen and rapidly engulfed the 24-story public housing tower, leaving 72 dead.

There was also the Pruitt-Igoe Housing Project in St Louis, MO, that had to be demolished in 1976 less than 20 years after being built because the living conditions were so awful for residents.

These scenarios call into question how buildings that are supposedly thoroughly regulated and highly monitored by governments are seeing such frightening disasters.

According to the city's Department of Buildings, inspections are done according to schedules set by the city: facades must be inspected every five years, parking garages every six years, retaining walls every five years, gas piping every four years, boilers annually, and elevators twice a year.

There were thankfully no reports of injuries, but the incident left locals feeling concerned

Inspectors with the city's Department of Buildings are on the scene alongside crews from Con Edison

But nonetheless, in New York City, things have been bad for those living in public housing for quite some time.

Residents of the city's public housing face freezing winters without heat, mold, pests, and long wait times for basic repairs.

In fact, back in 2015, a comptroller's audit found that over 50,000 repair requests were backlogged, including thousands outstanding for over a year.

A Department of Investigation report found in 2016 that NYCHA maintenance workers frequently ignored inspections or falsified documents. In one tragic case, smoke detectors were nonoperational in a fire that killed two children.

Then, in a 2019 audit, it was revealed that 88 percent of sampled roofs (35 roofs across 13 developments) had visible defects (pooling water, damaged masonry, blisters/cracks) despite being under warranty.
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World's most advanced humanoid says 'humans have nothing to fear'
Hurricane season still isn't over as experts report two more developing tropical systems that could bring misery in the South as they terrorize the Gulf of Mexico.

The Weather Channel reported a 'tropical wave' that has made its way from the African Coast through the Atlantic.

Over the next week, the brewing weather could combine with another waiting weather system and gradually develop into a full-blown storm.

Experts say it has a 40 percent chance of developing over the next week.

A second weather system off the coast of Florida stands to move into the Gulf, dumping buckets of rain on Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Fortunately, the Gulf has combined factors to work against a true tropical storm developing.

Its strong wind and dry air could tamper down the brewing weather's efforts.

Rain is still expected, along with localized flooding.

Meteorologists are keeping a watch on two weather systems in the Atlantic

The potentially dangerous storms come after hurricanes Humberto and Imelda terrorized the Caribbean

This latest tropical wave could cause high winds, flooding, heavy rain fall, and rough surf

Storms off of Florida are expected to create heavy rainfall regardless of development

These weather threats come shortly after hurricanes Humberto and Imelda worked together to terrorize the Caribbean and the East Coast.

The double hurricane threatened North America during the first week of October. First Humberto, and then Imelda.

Hurricane Humberto developed into a category three hurricane and struck the Bahamas with heavy wind and rainfall.

With 160 mph winds, it also caused intense surf, flooding, and deadly rip currents on the East Coast of the US, but did not make landfall.

At one point last week, Imelda sustained winds of 85 mph, eventually reaching 100 mph. The storm caused dangerous rip currents, rough surf and flooding in Bermuda and the Carolinas.

The category two storm damaged homes, telephone wires, and buildings in its path. It even caused Bermudan schools and businesses to close in preparation for the storm.

Bermuda's minister of national security Michael Weeks warned of its severity: 'I cannot overstate the seriousness of this threat. This is not, I must stress, a passing squall.'

One of the current tropical threats travel from Africa through the Atlantic and now has a 40% change of developing next week

Meteorologists are on high alert for more of the strong winds and heavy rainfall that Imelda and Humberto brought last week

Hurricane Imelda caused schools, businesses, and airports to close in Bermuda as residents braced for impact

Imelda caused dangerous winds and rip currents, damaging infrastructure in Hamilton, Bermuda

Swells from both storms did moderate damage on the Bahamas, Bermuda, and the East Coast.

AccuWeather meteorologist told the Daily Mail that is probably wouldn't be the last of the severe weather.

He said: 'We'll probably see a couple of more storms develop between now and the end of the hurricane season.'

The brewing weather in the Atlantic and off the coast of Florida could be an example of these potentially developing storms.

Even if these storms do pass, tropical storm season hasn't passed just yet.

Meteorologists stay on the lookout until November 30.

Regardless of when the next Atlantic tropical storm develops, it will be named Jerry.
Eric Dane revealed the harrowing injury he suffered when he was set to present an award at the Emmys.

The 52-year-old actor, who announced his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis six months ago, revealed that he fell down in his kitchen and had to go to the hospital instead of the award show.

He told The Washington Post in an interview published on Thursday that he was 'getting stitches put in my head.'

Accident: Eric Dane revealed the injury he suffered when he was set to present an award at the Emmys

Condition: The 52-year-old actor, who announced his ALS diagnosis just six months ago, fell in his kitchen and had to go to the hospital instead of the award show. Pictured in June

He was slated to reunite with his Grey's Anatomy co-star Jesse Williams onstage at the award show on September 14, but his absence led to his former castmate presenting alone.

Williams did not mention Dane nor explain the Euphoria star's absence when he took the stage last month.

'ALS is a nasty disease,' he added. 'I missed an opportunity I was really looking forward to.'

'It would have been great to see Jesse and get reunited with some of my peers, and to be able to present in front of my colleagues, I thought would have been a special moment,' he said.

This comes after he powerfully vowed to 'fight until last breath' in his battle with ALS after being seen in wheelchair and struggling to speak.

Shortly after the Emmys took place last month, his wife Rebecca Gayheart revealed how their family is handling his ALS diagnosis.

She said that their teenage daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13, are talking to therapists as their father battles with the progressive neurodegenerative disease.

'I mean, it's heartbreaking,' she told People in an interview published on Saturday. 'My girls are really suffering, and we're just trying to get through it. It's a tough time.'

Though their family is 'really struggling,' she said they are 'taking it day by day.'

'We have some professional therapists who are helping us, and we're just trying to have some hope and do it with dignity, grace and love.'

About her own state of mind, she admitted: 'I don't think I'm at a place yet where I can pull out a positive nugget. I'm not there yet.'

Appearance: He was slated to reunite with his Grey's Anatomy co-star Jesse Williams onstage at the award show on September 14

Wound: He told The Washington Post in an interview published on Thursday that he was 'getting stitches put in my head'

He added: 'ALS is a nasty disease. I missed an opportunity I was really looking forward to'

Vow: He said he would 'fight until last breath' in his battle with ALS. Pictured in January 2022

Couple: Pictured with his wife Rebecca Gayheart in February 2016

Reaction: She said that their teen daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13, are talking to therapists as their father battles the disease. Pictured in May 2024

The actress, 54, married Dane in 2004. They were married for 14 years before she filed for divorce in 2018; however, the pair called off the split seven years later.

Dane's announcement about his diagnosis came a month after Gayheart requested to dismiss her divorce filing.

'I mean, we're definitely dealing with something that has brought us all together, and Eric will always be my family, whether we're married or not, or living in the same house or not, but yeah, we are closer, but we don't like the reason why,' she said.

She added: 'It's a horrible disease, and I wish that there was a cure. I hope they find one soon, because it is just so sad.'

ALS, also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to loss of muscle control and paralysis as it gets worse over time.
A British family who grew so fed up of dreary UK life and moved to Cyprus have revealed how much happier they are with their new life.

Sarah, 48, and James Moore, 47, relocated from Middlesbrough with their two children, nine-year-old Bea and Miles, five.

They now live on just one salary, and ditched their 60-hour work weeks in the UK and 400-a-month heating and council tax bills.

IT technician James had lived in Cyprus in his 20s while working in the military and suggested the family move there.

They were hoping to find better schools, improved work life-balance, lower crime rates, and more affordable living.

The Moores made the big move in April, after James was offered remote a job in Protaras, Cyprus, but on on a UK wage with a UK company, in November last year.

James works less hours but earns enough that they can live on just one income.

Now, the family of four spend more time together and were 'instantly happier' soon after they relocated.

Sarah, 48, and James Moore, 47, relocated from Middlesbrough with their two children, nine-year-old Bea and Miles, five

They now live on just one salary, and ditched their 60-hour work weeks in the UK and 400-a-month heating and council tax bills

The cost of living in Cyprus has worked out in their favour, as the Moores now rent a villa that costs the same as their mortgage payments back home despite having more space, a beachfront location and a pool.

The mother-of-two explained: 'James and I were working such long hours but life is so expensive in the UK.

'James applied for a job in Cyprus almost on a whim. We thought, if it didn't work out, we'd call it an adventure and then move back home.

'But everything is amazing and the place is absolutely beautiful. It's a dream I never thought would be possible.'

Now, they live in a three-bed house with a pool, just a stone's throw from the beach in a family-friendly neighbourhood.

It costs just 1,500-a-month (1,311) and James works 20 less hours than what he did in the UK.

Sarah does not work due to her visa, but the Moores are still able to live comfortably.

She said: 'We can afford the life on just one income. The council tax here costs for the year what we paid per month in England.

The cost of living in Cyprus has worked out in their favour, the Moores now rent a villa that costs the same as their mortgage payments back home despite having more space, a beachfront location and a pool

'Petrol is definitely cheaper too - and you don't even fill your car yourself, someone comes and fills it for you!

'We go out for a meal once a week and what would cost 100 in England costs just 68 here.'

Sarah, a former teacher, explained how their two children were 'unhappy' in the UK education system.

She said: 'In the UK schools there is so much pressure on the kids and they were both unhappy.'

Bea in particular struggled with the pressure and even struggled to sleep at night as a result.

The stay-at-home mother added: 'Bea is very intelligent but the environment - well, oppressive is too strong a word, but it was not enjoyable.

'In my experience over 20 years of teaching at several UK schools, it's the same everywhere.'

Now, Sarah revealed her daughter is much happier in school and everything is more child-oriented.

Sarah, a former teacher, explained how their two children were 'unhappy' in the UK education system

Miles will be in pre-school to 'learn through play' until the age of seven, rather than four or five in the UK - with a maximum class size of 20.

Sarah said: 'English is widely spoken but the kids learn Greek too - my son's class is entirely bilingual.

'Everyone is absolutely lovely - a wide variety of nationalities - the teachers, parents and our neighbours are so friendly and make an effort.'

For Sarah, their new lifestyle is better than she thought it would be.

She said: 'It's beautiful with gorgeous beaches and more family time than I ever imagined.

'The kids get home at 2pm and my husband is home by 3pm so we can go for a lovely walk, or the beach or in the pool after school.

'On the weekends, we go to the beach, visit lovely villages or go to attractions like the waterparks or camel park.'

They love it so much they can never see a move back to the UK for themselves.

Sarah does not work due to her visa, but the Moores are still able to live comfortably

'It's a dream I never imagined would be possible,' Sarah added.

'What we've gained in terms of lifestyle and family time leaves me seeing no reason to return to the UK.'

It comes after a five-star hotel in Cyprus announced it's offering a 'sunshine guarantee' for everyone that stays there.

It's also offering a free stay if there's rain during your holiday at the resort.
Travellers in Amsterdam are being warned about being approached by people in the Dutch city who appear in need - but could actually just be trying to extort money from them.

Recent posts on social media have documented reports of tourists being asked by strangers, who seem to be in visible distress, for help.

On Reddit, in September, one visitor enjoying a break in Amsterdam said they'd been targeted by a crying woman who claimed to be Ukrainian and that she'd lost her boyfriend and was trying to get back to the city's Centraal station.

After initially offering to help, the traveller said the woman's plight felt 'weirdly rehearsed' and that her story 'started to make less and less sense', saying she claimed her phone was dead but that they'd spotted it was working.

After becoming suspicious, the tourist decided they were no longer prepared to help, but soon spotted the woman approaching others.

They wrote: 'We just cut her off completely, then saw that she went up to other tourists and started doing the same thing, we warned these tourists what she was doing and then her "boyfriend" pretty much just appeared and ushered her off.'

Those responding said it was a variation of a common scam in lots of European cities, where kind-hearted tourists are persuaded to hand over money to people who appear to be lost or without money.

A recent visitor to Amsterdam said they thought they'd seen the same woman trying a similar scam.

Amsterdam remains one of Europe's most popular city breaks but tourists have been warned about a potential trick being used by fraudsters in the Dutch capital

They wrote: 'Identical story. The Dutch guy who she was doing this to offered to call the police for her, which she refused. Told her how to get to Centraal Station. Exact same scenario. Obviously a scam of some kind. Crazy hearing it told like this.'

One person said they'd also had experience of a similar scenario, saying: 'Honestly. Not even that new of a scam. It's one of those where they get you hooked on something, and then just ask for money or something.

'Basically a derivative of "I will help you find your hotel" and then intimidate you to pay for the services.'

They added: 'Unfortunately, it's hard to trust anything that people say in the centre of Amsterdam. Makes you even not trust situations where help might actually be needed.'

Others said that sometimes you have to just trust what a person is saying is true, recounting how he'd bought a transport ticket for someone who said they'd lost their bank card, and the next day the funds had been transferred as agreed.

They wrote: 'I bought him the ticket. He thanked me profusely, and we went our separate ways. The next day, the exact amount for the ticket hit my bank account.

'Conclusion, not every sketchy story is someone trying to get over on you. Sometimes people just have some bad luck and need help.'

Those targeted said they'd been approached in the street by a stranger who appeared in distress and was asking for help

The historic Dutch capital, known for its quaint cobbled streets and art masters - but also the Red Light District and its cannabis cafes, has been trying to clean up its image in recent months.

In June, city officials said the city would get rid of its notorious prostitution area with a controversial plan to build a five-storey 'mega brothel' in the suburbs.

Under proposals backed by the mayor, the city touted the hub as a safer alternative for sex workers that also improves the image of the historic centre.

Amsterdam City Council has been considering relocating legal prostitution away from its historic red light district for years, and in February 2023 announced three possible locations for the centre. They hoped to agree a location by the end of 2024.

The city eventually plans to shut down the centuries-old red light district, known for the neon-lit windows in which sex workers stand as they try to attract customers.

The regulation of sex work in Amsterdam ensures industry workers, including but not limited to sex workers, are safer and reliably paid, generating steady tax revenues for the city.

Sex workers are also eligible for health insurance, unemployment and invalidity benefits, and can access STI checks.
The Northern Lights is one of the most sought-after sights - and sees many tourists flock to spot them each year.

As the aurora season has now kicked off in the Northern Hemisphere, it's unsurprising that hordes of travellers are heading to such countries as Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Plenty of people are looking to be blown away by the views.

And others are looking for the perfect snapshot to show their friends back home.

Capturing the Northern Lights on camera can be challenging.

But Iceland-based photographer Jan Dancak has revealed that photographing the Northern Lights is easier than most people think - if you follow his simple steps.

Jan, known as Jan in Iceland, told photo-curation app Popsa the first thing to do is check the aurora forecast.

He said: 'The only site I rely on is vedur.is - the Icelandic Meteorological Office. It gives you two key pieces of information: cloud cover (green means cloudy, white means clear) and the aurora forecast (a scale from zero to nine showing the expected strength).

The Northern Lights is one of the most sought-after sights - and sees many tourists flock to spot them each year

'My rule of thumb: anything rated two or higher is worth going out for.'

He added that picking the right season is key.

Jan explained: 'For aurora hunters, the best time is from September to March. Personally, I love September and October because the nights are long enough, but the temperatures aren't brutally cold yet.

'Plus, without snow on the ground, there's less reflection from moonlight, making the sky appear darker and the aurora stand out even more.'

And 2025-26 are particularly worthwhile years to see them due to the solar maximum - when the sun is at the height of its 11-year solar cycle, producing stronger solar activity resulting in brighter and more frequent auroral displays.

Jan also said escaping the city lights can help you get the perfect photo.

He said: 'Light pollution can wash out the display. Find a dark, open location away from streetlights, then wait - or better yet, take a quiet nighttime walk.

'Dress warmly and be patient - sometimes the lights appear in bursts, and the wait makes the payoff even more magical.'

But Iceland-based photographer Jan Dancak has revealed that photographing the Northern Lights is easier than most people think

And one tip that might surprise you - you can use your phone.

Jan said: 'Newer iPhones (14 and up) and Android flagships handle low light very well. Here's how to set them up: disable the flash, enable Night mode, and use the longest exposure time available.

'Hold your phone steady or place it on a tripod and set a timer to avoid shaking the shot. For best results, use the primary lens, not the ultra wide.'

But if you have a GoPro or another action camera, you can still capture the northern lights with the right settings.

Jan said: 'Switch to Night mode, set the shutter to around 15 seconds, and keep ISO below 800 to reduce noise. Always shoot in RAW if possible. A tripod is essential, as even the slightest shake will blur the image.'

He also advises being prepared before it gets dark - and choosing smaller tour groups if going on a guided tour.
A woman who has travelled to more than 50 countries has revealed the best holiday destinations for tourists hoping to avoid the EU's new fingerprint system.

With the Entry/Exit System (EES) coming into force on October 12, many sunseekers are worried about potential teething problems.

The scheme is designed to strengthen border security and ultimately make travel smoother - but there are concerns it could lead to long queues when travellers first register.

Fortunately, Metro travel writer Alice Murphy has shared her top recommendations for destinations where holidaymakers can dodge EES altogether.

Under the new system, instead of manually stamping passports at borders, non-EU nationals - including Brits - will have to provide biometric data, such as fingerprints and a facial photo, automating the registration of entries and exits.

Instead of the manual stamping of passports at borders, the new systems means non-EU nationals (including Brits) will be asked to hand over biometric data such as fingerprints and a photo, automating the registration of entries and exits.

EES applies to all non-EU nationals entering the Schengen Area, which covers 25 EU member states and four non-EU countries  Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

Metro travel writer Alice Murphy (pictured) has shared her top recommendations for destinations where holidaymakers can dodge EES altogether

By April 2026, every airport, train station, and seaport in the Schengen zone will have the system up and running.

The only EU member states not affected are Ireland and Cyprus, though several nearby non-Schengen destinations are also exempt.

Ms Murphy, who has visited 25 of the 27 EU countries as well as most neighbouring nations, has revealed her top three destinations that are close to the UK and unaffected by the new rules.

Tbilisi, Georgia

Ms Murphy's first recommendation is Tbilisi, the ancient capital of Georgia, which she says 'has it all' - from world-leading wine and trendy restaurants to an enchanting Old Town and rich history.

With easyJet and British Airways both launching direct flights to Georgia earlier this year, it's now easier than ever to get there.

Non-stop routes from London take around five hours, running on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Georgia is also remarkably affordable by Western standards, and visitors from over 90 countries can stay visa-free for up to a year.

Ms Murphy's first recommendation is Tbilisi, the ancient capital of Georgia, which she says 'has it all' - from world-leading wine and trendy restaurants to an enchanting Old Town and rich history

English is widely spoken in the capital, particularly in the Kala, Mtatsminda, Vera and Chughureti districts.

Just a 40-minute drive away is Mtskheta, a former Silk Road outpost and Georgia's ancient holy capital.

Today it's a UNESCO World Heritage site, home to three striking churches and riverside restaurants serving 'excellent' lobio (kidney bean and walnut stew).

Return flights: From 180 in November, flying from London Luton to Tbilisi with easyJet.

Buyukada, Istanbul, Turkey

Next on Ms Murphy's list is Buyukada, in Turkey's Istanbul - a city famous for its dazzling mosques, bustling markets and irresistible street food.

She describes Istanbul as 'ancient, decadent, and at times, overwhelming.'

Most tourists there head straight for the Hagia Sophia, Galata Tower and Blue Mosque, often battling huge crowds.

But just an hour's ferry ride across the Marmara Sea lies Buyukada, a tiny island of pine forests and pristine beaches.

Next on Ms Murphy's list is Buyukada, in Turkey's Istanbul - a city famous for its dazzling mosques, bustling markets and irresistible street food

With no cars, no cinemas and no theatres, Ms Murphy says the island feels 'like another planet.'

Visitors can spend their days walking through nature, sipping fresh pomegranate juice and swimming with the city skyline in the distance.

Though far quieter than Istanbul, she notes it can get busy in summer, so she chose to visit in September, when it was 'lively yet peaceful.'

Return flights: From 56 in November, flying from London Gatwick to Istanbul with Wizz Air.

Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ms Murphy's final pick is Mostar, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country she says she 'loves everything about' - from its warm people and breathtaking scenery to its turbulent, fascinating history.

Known as the 'Heart of the Balkans,' it was recently crowned one of Europe's best-value city break destinations.

She describes Mostar as a 'truly fascinating place' and recommends staying at the Old Town Hotel, ideal for exploring the ancient alleyways and wartime museums.

Next on Ms Murphy's list is Turkey's Istanbul - a city famous for its dazzling mosques, bustling markets and irresistible street food. She describes it as 'ancient, decadent, and at times, overwhelming'

She also suggests visiting the Museum of War and Genocide Victims, which offers a 'powerful and at times emotional glimpse' into the conflict and ethnic cleansing that scarred the country in the 1990s.

A short walk from there takes you to the Old Town Mosque  climb its minaret for a spectacular view of the Stari Most (Old Bridge), a UNESCO World Heritage site built in the 16th-century Ottoman era and painstakingly reconstructed in 2004 after being destroyed during the war.

For a taste of Bosnia's natural beauty, Ms Murphy recommends a day trip to Kravice, where visitors can swim beneath waterfalls and in the region's iconic turquoise lake.

Return flights: From 42, flying from London Stansted to Sarajevo with Ryanair.
This is the brand new European train station that looks more like a portal to another world, dubbed 'mystical inferno', than a place to catch a train.

Designed by world-renowned sculptor Anish Kapoor, who is also behind Chicago's famous Cloud Gate and London's Olympic Park tower, The Monte Sant'Angelo Station has opened just outside Naples in Italy.

He was first asked to design the station back in 2003. More than 20 years later, it's finally open, and commuters can't believe their eyes.

The jaw-dropping entrance is made from weathering steel, swelling up from the ground in a huge oval shape that looks like a gateway to the underworld.

Step inside and you'll find escalators plunging down to the platforms  though once you're below, it's business as usual with tiled walls and trains rolling in.

Mr Kapoor said: 'In the city of Mount Vesuvius and Dante's mythical entrance to the Inferno, I found it important to try and deal with what it really means to go underground.'

And it's not just a pretty face  the new stop is part of Naples' massive urban and cultural regeneration project.

The jaw-dropping entrance is made from weathering steel, swelling up from the ground in a huge oval shape that looks like a gateway to the underworld

The new stop is part of Naples' massive urban and cultural regeneration project.Pictured: Anish Kapoor

The station links the western side of the city with the centre and connects to the Cumana and Circumflegrea railways

Built on the University of Naples Federico II campus, the station links the western side of the city with the centre and connects to the Cumana and Circumflegrea railways, the Montesanto funicular and Line 2 of the metro.

The station actually has two striking entrances: the main university one, which balloons up from the ground, and the Traiano entrance, which twists inside out with smooth tubular steel.

It's the latest addition to Europe's growing collection of jaw-droppingly beautiful metro stops, joining the likes of Lisbon's colourful Olaias station and London's futuristic Westminster Tube.

But Naples may just have stolen the crown  with a station that makes your morning commute look like a trip into another dimension.
Netflix fans have been left 'too scared to sleep' after tuning into a brand new 'terrifying' thriller series that's impossible to look away from.

Wayward, which follows a town that's built on dark secrets, quickly soared up Netflix's Top 10 rankings after its release last week.

It's written by Canadian comedian Mae Martin, who previously wrote hit Channel 4 series Feel Good - a comedy about love and addiction.

The new eight-parter it set in the idyllic looking town of Tall Pines, which has an academy at the centre that is supposed to be a haven for 'troubled teens'.

Instead by the experiences of actress and writer Mae, 38, a 'wayward teen in the early 2000s', the series sees her transform into a police officer.

Mae's PC Alex crosses paths with best friend duo Abbie and Leila, who have been busy plotting their escape from the Tall Pines Academy.

Netflix fans have been left 'too scared to sleep' after tuning in to a brand new 'terrifying' thriller series from Mae Martin

The new eight-parter it set in the idyllic looking town of Tall Pines, which has an academy at the centre that is supposed to be a haven for 'troubled teens' led by Toni Collette's Evelyn

Alex, who is a non-binary trans man and uses they/them pronoun, then finds out that the home for the teens is actually rife with abuse, and starts to question everything.

The character vows to help the pair break out, and expose the very sinister truth about the school, which is run by Toni Collette's Evelyn Wade.

The show's synopsis teases: A small-town cop suspects that the local school for troubled teens and its dangerously charismatic founder may not be all it seems.

Since it's release on the streaming service, viewers have taken to social media to flood the series with praise, saying they are 'hooked'.

Since the shows release last week, Netflix viewers have flocked to social media to share how hooked they are by the series.

One penned: 'Just finished episode 1 of #Wayward and WOW. I sense another sleepless night,' as another agreed: 'Its absolutely terrifying tf out of me I gotta watch The Office just to go to sleep.

A third said: 'This is day 2 of watching #Wayward and Im hooked,' as a fourth added: 'Just started watching Wayward & its actually really good... Im hooked.'

A fifth chimed in: Wayward on Netflix is a 10/10 from start to finish. Its so detailed. The characters backstories are well explained.

Alex, who is a non-binary trans man and uses they/them pronoun, then finds out that the home for the teens is actually rife with abuse and helps two girls try to escape

'To top it off Toni Collettes performance was excellent. Definitely will pull you in & have you binge watching real bad.'

It comes after a new suspense-packed Netflix thriller soared up the charts just days after release, as the streaming service dropped all six episodes at once.

Angela, which stars Spanish actress Veronica Sanchez, tells the story of a woman who has it all: a huge house by the sea, and a well-respected husband.

Angela's other half Gonzalo, played by The Cavern Crimes star Daniel Grao, has taken in her three daughter from a previous relationship as his own.

Main character Alex works to expose the very sinister truth about the school, which is run by Toni Collette's Evelyn

But soon, things take a nasty turn as it's revealed that Angela is in an abusive relationship, made worse since Angela reported Gonzalo to the police.

Angela starts talking to flower delivery man Edu, played by See You In Another Life star Jaime Zatarain, who says he recognises her from school.

When Edu notices the bruising around Angela's neck that she'd been covering up with make-up, the pair grow closer and she shares the horrifying reality of her marriage.

So when husband Gonzalo comes home, Edu is forced to share an uncomfortable, and twisted truth with Angela that turns everything upside down.

Wayward is available to stream on Netflix now.
A House Of Dynamite (15, 112 mins)

Matthew Bond

Rating:

Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow is the absolute queen of cinematic tension, as anyone who saw The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty can attest.

But anyone who saw those compelling films  the first detailing the terrifying work done by an American bomb disposal squad during the Iraq War, the second recreating the hunt for Osama bin Laden  also knows that she likes to keep it real, very real.

She does both to dizzying, almost paralysing effect with A House Of Dynamite.

This, in short, is the brief story of how the world might be reduced to a pile of glowing, radioactive rubble, certainly with bangs but also with a series of technical and human failings.

Pausing only to remind us what deep down we already knew  that the Cold War is over and that we live in far more dangerous times  it begins like any other ordinary day.

In Alaska, the soldiers of a missile defence battalion are preparing for another shift in front of their monitors.

Kathryn Bigelows new thriller is the queen of cinematic television (Rebecca Ferguson as Captain Olivia Walker)

I recommend it highly. You certainly wont forget it. (Gabriel Basso as Jake Baerington)

And in Washington Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson), a wife and mother, is getting ready to go to work. It turns out she runs the White House Situation Room.

Somewhere in the background of monitors and displays, we note that we are at Defcon 4, one up from the level representing normal peace.

Judging by the banter, it might be something to do with the North Koreans unpredictable programme of missile testing.

So when a new missile is picked up by the Alaska team, thats what everyone assumes it is.

Except the launch has somehow been missed by American spy satellites and appears to have been at sea.

The North Koreans dont have a submarine armed with nuclear weapons. Do they?

Then suddenly there is no time to find out. Were at Defcon 2.

I dont want to say much more except that this is a brilliant film, shot and edited to truly chilling effect and skillfully underplayed by a cast led by Ferguson, Jared Harris and Idris Elba.

I recommend it highly. You certainly wont forget it.

Brian Viner

Rating:

How might the United States respond in the event of a nuclear attack, with less than 20 minutes before an incoming missile lands on Chicago?

Even with all the sophisticated satellite technology at their disposal, US military intelligence chiefs have no idea which of their countrys enemies launched the missile, only that it began its potentially cataclysmic journey somewhere in the Pacific.

That is the alarmingly plausible crisis at the heart of Kathryn Bigelows breathlessly pacy thriller A House of Dynamite, comfortably the most exciting movie I saw at this years Venice Film Festival.

Bigelow was the first woman to be crowned Best Director at the Academy Awards, for the 2008 action thriller The Hurt Locker, set during the Iraq War.

She is still (with Chloe Zhao and Jane Campion) one of only three women to win the coveted prize and I wouldnt bet against her becoming the first to win it twice.

A House of Dynamite is certainly good enough to win a raft of Oscars.

It is divided into three main acts, each chronicling the same events from a different perspective. We dont see the US President (Idris Elba) until the third act, when, after being hurriedly ushered out of a cheerful visit to a school (echoing the moment George W Bush was told about the 9/11 attacks), he must decide whether or not to retaliate before Chicago is obliterated.

But retaliate against who? China? Russia? North Korea? Iran? All the above? The Russians are aware of the missile but say its nothing to do with them. Maybe it was even launched by accident, a scenario that inspired a terrific film at the height of the Cold War, Sidney Lumets 1964 thriller Fail Safe, starring Henry Fonda.

Then as now, the world stands uneasily on the brink of disaster. If this is a coordinated attack, can the US afford not to respond? Which cataclysm does POTUS choose?

The world stands uneasily on the brink of disaster. If this is a coordinated attack, can the US afford not to respond? Which cataclysm does POTUS choose? (Anthony Ramos as Major Daniel Gonzalez)

Bigelow wisely keeps her film under two hours and wisely resists the temptation to tell us too much about the personal lives of her protagonists (Kyle Allen as Captain Jon Zimmer)

Some 10 million people will die in Chicago if the missile detonates, hundreds of millions more around the world if he activates the nuclear codes.

These are carried by a fresh-faced lieutenant-commander (Jonah Hauer-King) whose job is to advise his boss on the various magnitudes of response open to him. Its like a diner menu, says the President, with gallows humour.

Bigelows film superbly evokes the furnace of decision-making that such an agonising dilemma might ignite. There is a clanging ring of truth to the conflicting advice the President gets, from a gung-ho army general (Tracy Letts) insistent that there absolutely must be some kind of response before its too late, to the startlingly young Deputy National Security Advisor (Gabriel Basso), thrust into the frenzy because his boss cannot be reached, who counsels restraint.

The excellent screenplay is by Noah Oppenheim, a former television executive, indeed president of NBC News, who doubtless tapped his White House contacts for insight.

Commendably, he and Bigelow do not talk down to their audience. There is some expository dialogue but it is sensibly kept to a minimum as abbreviations and acronyms fly. This alphabet soup adds to the authenticity. They know that EKV stands for Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle, and DE for Designated Evacuee. We dont need to.

In some ways all this plays like the finest feature-length episode of The West Wing you ever saw. But much as I admired Aaron Sorkins hit TV drama, there was a rat-a-tat-tat glibness to the dialogue that is wholly lacking here. Nobody on this white-knuckle ride has time to be a smart-aleck.

Also, like all the scariest white-knuckle rides, it doesnt last too long. Bigelow wisely keeps her film under two hours and wisely resists the temptation to tell us too much about the personal lives of her protagonists.

Instead, we learn just enough. The commander of a military base in Alaska (Anthony Ramos) is having some unspecified domestic issues. Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson), who takes charge in the White House Situation Room, is a loving wife and mother.

Elsewhere, a key expert on North Korea (Greta Lee) is spending her day off with her son at a reconstruction of the US Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, gently rebuking him when he calls the spectacle awesome. There were 50,000 killed at Gettysburg in three days, she notes. Its the only clunky line in the entire film. Clearly were meant to compare what constituted huge wartime casualties then, with now.

A House of Dynamite was released in cinemas on October 3, and on Netflix a week later.
The Celebrity Traitors series two is reportedly 'a done deal' ahead of their spin-off debut.

Before the first season has aired, another year of celebrity spin-off of popular BBC show is already said to be 'in the bag', according to The Sun.

This year will see a range of A-listers including Paloma Faith, Alan Carr and Kate Garraway as they will enter Claudia Winkleman's castle begin on Wednesday.

Bosses are expecting the first season to be a hit as the last civilian run, which aired in January, attracted huge ratings of seven million per episode.

Before the series airs on BBC One, bosses are believed to have already started eyeing up the next line up.

It remains to be seen who will be Faithful and who will be a dreaded Traitor this time around, but given the personalities involved, we're expecting fireworks.

The Celebrity Traitors series two is reportedly 'a done deal' ahead of their spin-off debut

Before the first season has aired, another year of celebrity spin-off of popular BBC show is already said to be 'in the bag', according to The Sun

Host Claudia Winkleman has already stipulated that there will be no special treatment for celebs, so no doubt they'll be put through their paces with the usual array of wacky challenges.

A source told the publication: 'The Celebrity Traitors is landing at the very peak of the format's popularity, it's the biggest show on the box, globally, and the cast is exceptional.

'Everyone knows something would have gone incredibly wrong if this didn't become the TV event of the year.

'The official message is that a formal recommission depends how well series one does, but in reality it's all but a done deal.'

The Daily Mail has contacted the BBC for a comment.

Charlotte Church, Tom Daley and will join the likes of Ruth Codd and Celia Imrie as part of a 19-strong celebrity line-up to compete to win 100,000 for a charity of their choice.

Similar the civilian version, Faithfuls will attempt to avoid being murdered whilst hunting out the Traitors hiding in their midst.

The Celebrity Traitors begins on Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One, with episode two to follow on Thursday and will air across five weeks.

Before the series airs on BBC One, bosses are believed to have already started eyeing up the next line up

Host Claudia has previously revealed that bosses ignored her when she made a plea not to make a celebrity version.

As the programme prepares to broadcast its first special she added: 'My bosses, thank goodness, ignored everything I said.'

Claudia, who has won a Bafta for presenting the show, has hosted the TV game since 2022.

She has also confessed that it was 'scarier' presenting a celebrity version.

She said: 'I could barely breathe when I saw them all in the Highlands. I'm such a fan of every single one of them.

'The whole team were just in awe, it was hard not to scream 'You're here!' When I talked to Stephen Fry I almost welled up, I told him, 'This was my dream'.

'Each one of them is tremendous.'
A blonde bombshell from the 1980s cut a sprightly figure when she was spotted out and about in Los Angeles this week at the age of 61.

She broke through with a star turn opposite Charles Bronson and went on to act with some of the era's most enduring names, such as Patrick Swayze and Jane Fonda.

In her more recent career, she has held guest spots on beloved television shows ranging from Gilmore Girls and Will & Grace to ER and 24.

This week she was spotted on a casual outing with her husband of nearly three decades, along with one of their grandchildren.

Last year on Instagram she gushed about her current stage in life, writing: 'Friends with adult children, there is nothing in this world like a grand kid falling asleep in your arms. You have so much to look forward to.'

Can you guess who she is?

A blonde bombshell from the 1980s cut a sprightly figure when she was spotted out and about in Los Angeles this week at the age of 61

She is none other than Kathleen Wilhoite, whose breakthrough role was a tart-tongued jailbird opposite Charles Bronson in the 1968 crime thriller Murphy's Law.

When she was glimpsed this week in Los Angeles, she was accompanied by her husband David Harte, whom she has been married to since 1997.

Through their son James and his wife, the longtime couple share two grandchildren, and Kathleen often proudly posts pictures of the tykes to her Instagram.

They brought their beloved granddaughter along for their latest outing, and Kathleen was seen sweetly gathering the little girl up into her arms.

Born in Santa Barbara, Kathleen caught the acting bug as a child, recalling years ago that she felt 'pitifully ugly' at first but later came into her own in school productions.

'I was a clown. I liked to make people laugh, even if it was at my own expense,' she explained in an interview with the fan site Retro Junk.

'I'm sure I was a grotesque prima-donna when it came to theater. I know this because it's what I'm now told at all of my reunions. In general, I had a lot of laughs.'

Her movie debut came with the 1983 cult classic Private School, starring Phoebe Cates and Matthew Modine as two teens on a quest to consummate their romance.

This week she was spotted on a casual outing with her husband of nearly three decades, along with one of their grandchildren

She is none other than Kathleen Wilhoite, whose breakthrough role was a tart-tongued jailbird opposite Charles Bronson in the 1968 crime thriller Murphy's Law

In 1989 came another one of her beloved movies, the action comedy Road House starring Patrick Swayze as New York bar bouncer James Dalton

When she was glimpsed this week in Los Angeles, she was accompanied by her husband David Harte, whom she has been married to since 1997

Through their son James and his wife, the longtime couple share two grandchildren, and Kathleen often proudly posts pictures of the tykes to her Instagram

Born in Santa Barbara, Kathleen caught the acting bug as a child, recalling years ago that she felt 'pitifully ugly' at first but later came into her own in school productions

'I liked to make people laugh, even if it was at my own expense,' she explained in an interview with the fan site Retro Junk

'I'm sure I was a grotesque prima-donna when it came to theater,' she confessed: 'I know this because it's what I'm now told at all of my reunions'

However her big break was Murphy's Law in 1986, starring Charles Bronson as an alcoholic detective framed for murder by a woman he once put in prison

Kathleen featured in Murphy's Law as a thief the Bronson character finds himself in custody with, prompting the pair to escape together and become unlikely allies

However her big break was Murphy's Law in 1986, starring Charles Bronson as an alcoholic detective framed for murder by a woman he once put in prison.

Kathleen featured as a thief whom he finds himself in custody with, prompting the two characters to escape together and become unlikely allies.

She later recalled that Charles Bronson was 'Fantastic' and 'Everything you'd imagine. He was smart, funny, tight-lipped, and a really good actor.'

'He was kind to me and we joked around a lot. I stayed out of his way though and never got too familiar with him. I had a healthy respect that I felt was well deserved.'

That same year she starred in another thriller called The Morning After, helmed by 12 Angry Men director Sidney Lumet and starring Jane Fonda and Jeff Bridges.

In 1989 came another one of her beloved movies, the action comedy Road House starring Patrick Swayze as New York bar bouncer James Dalton, who winds up working at a small-town nightclub in Missouri.

Kathleen also guested on such classic series as Gilmore Girls, ER, Family Guy, 24, Twin Peaks, Mad About You, Will & Grace and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

She has multiple projects in the pipeline now, including a Hulu miniseries about the Alex Murdaugh murder case starring Patricia Arquette and Jason Clarke

As he tries to keep his gruesome past shrouded in mystery, he finds himself confronted with the corrupt, violent underbelly of his new stomping grounds.

Kathleen featured as a slightly gawky bartender at the club, amid a cast including Sam Elliott, Kelly Lynch and Broadway legend Ben Gazzara.

A few year ago, Kathleen remarked that the movie's lasting draw to fans was 'Patrick, Sam and all the good old fashion redneck a** kicking.'

She added: 'It's a theme the men in my life will never tire of. I love it - the mysterious millionaire philosopher, but what he's really passionate about is being a bouncer.'

Her career continued apace in the 1990s, including with the tearjerker Lorenzo's Oil starring Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon at the peak of their stardom.

Kathleen also guested on such classic series as Gilmore Girls, ER, Family Guy, 24, Twin Peaks, Mad About You, Will & Grace and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

She has multiple projects in the pipeline now, including a Hulu miniseries about the Alex Murdaugh murder case starring Patricia Arquette and Jason Clarke.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban put on a frosty display during their final outing before news of their split emerged.

But the sighting was worlds away from their intense public displays of affection they had showcased at red carpet events and premieres over the years.

Back in 2017, the Australian actress, 58, and musician, 57, couldn't keep their hands off each other in an awkward exchange at the Oscars.

After arriving at the event, Keith was seen patting Nicole's bottom as they sauntered down the ruby rug.

The former couple also shared a very passionate kiss in front of the cameras, locking lips like no one was watching.

Speaking to Mail Online's red carpet correspondent Baz Bamigboye on the night, Nicole referred to herself as a gentle 'kitten'.

Back in 2017, the Australian actress, 58, and musician, 57, couldn't keep their hands off each other in an awkward exchange at the Oscars

After arriving to the event, Keith was seen patting Nicole's bottom as they sauntered down the ruby rug

'Lioness? No. I'm a kitten,' the actress laughed.

Keith quipped: 'Kitten? I don't know about that.'

Months later, Nicole and Keith were at it again as they shared another intimate exchange at the Cannes Film Festival.

The longtime lovebirds were seen holding hands and Nicole appeared to wipe away tears at one point.

At the time, Woman's Day reported that the moment saw Keith 'asking for Nicole's hand for the second time'.

'In a beautiful show of commitment, Keith took his wife's hand and told her how much he wants to reaffirm his devotion to her,' the publication described.

According to the publication, Nicole was 'overwhelmed' with emotion due to having 'feared for their marriage'.

In 2020, Nicole and Keith's cringe-worthy encounter at the Golden Globes made headlines as they posed for photos together on the red carpet.

Nicole and Keith were at it again as they shared an intimate exchange at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017

The longtime lovebirds were seen holding hands and Nicole appeared to wipe away tears at one point

Wrapping an arm around Keith's neck, Nicole pulled the country musician close in a playful embrace.

The couple held hands, before Keith stepped back to let his wife enjoy her moment in the limelight.

She later returned the gesture by motioning dramatically towards Keith, who had stepped over to the side.

The actress and musician also weren't afraid to pack on the PDA in 2022 as they arrived to the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles.

They ensured all eyes were on them as they lovingly gazed at each other while posing for photos.

They kept close to one another as other guests awkwardly watched on.

In 2023, Nicole and Keith were back at it once again as they shared a passionate kiss while their assistants awkwardly watched on from the sidelines at the Academy Awards.

Nicole stroked the country music star's cheek as he wrapped his tattooed hands around her waist, pulling the Oscar-winning actress in closer.

In 2020, Nicole and Keith's cringe-worthy encounter at the Golden Globes made headlines as they posed for photos together on the red carpet

The actress and musician also weren't afraid to pack on the PDA in 2022 as they arrived to the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles

They ensured all eyes were on them as they lovingly gazed into each other's eyes while posing for photos

When they had finally finished canoodling, the Hollywood lovebirds turned to face the photographers, giving fans a look at their glamorous outfits.

In May this year, Nicole and Keith cuddled during their final red carpet appearance at the 60th Academy of Country Music Awards at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

This outing was the last time the couple was seen together before news of their split became public.

Nicole and Keith's separation was confirmed by Daily Mail on Monday, with the couple ending their 19-year marriage and life together with two children.

Nicole filed for divorce on Tuesday  citing irreconcilable differences.

A source claimed to the Daily Mail that there is speculation that Keith has already moved on with a younger woman in the music industry.

Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban for comment and has yet to hear back.

The former couple share daughters Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 14.

In 2023, Nicole and Keith were back at it once again as they shared a passionate kiss while their assistants awkwardly watched on from the sidelines at the Academy Awards

Nicole stroked the country music star's cheek as he wrapped his tattooed hands around her waist, pulling the Oscar-winning actress in closer

Nicole was previously married to Tom Cruise, 63, for 11 years from 1990 to 2001. They adopted two children together: Isabella, 32, and Connor, 30.

At this time, Keith  who is renting a home in Music City  is reportedly showing no interest in reconciling.

Those close to Nicole say that even the suggestion that he may be seeing someone else has been difficult for her to process.

The country star has been away for much of the year on his High and Alive World Tour.

Nicole and the children, meanwhile, have remained in Nashville, where the couple owns a $4million compound.

In July, Keith dropped a hint that all was not well between the pair when he dramatically hung up during a phone interview with a radio station after a crude question about Nicole's raunchy recent scenes, such as in her movies Babygirl and A Family Affair.

For her part, and while promoting her Netflix series The Perfect Couple in September last year, Nicole admitted there was no such thing as a 'perfect' marriage.

'There's no perfect anything,' she said.

'Anything that's presented as perfect forget it.'
They were once regarded as two of the 'nicest' Aussie guys in showbusiness.

Keith Urban, 57, and Hugh Jackman, 56, have always been praised for their innate talent and seemingly unwavering commitment to their spouses.

Keith was married to Nicole Kidman, 58, for 19 years, while Hugh and ex-wife Deborra-Lee Furness, 69, were together for a remarkable 27 years  a true rarity in Hollywood.

That has all since changed, with both couples shocking fans by filing for divorce this year.

Nicole filed to end her 19-year union with Keith on Tuesday  citing irreconcilable differences  as a source claimed to the Daily Mail that Keith had already moved on with a younger woman in the music industry.

'The rumour is that he's with a younger woman in the business. It's all everyone is talking about,' they said.

Keith Urban , 57, and Hugh Jackman , 56, have always been praised for their innate talent and seemingly unwavering commitment to their spouses. Keith is pictured with Nicole Kidman in 2023

That has all since changed, with both couples shocking fans by filing for divorce this year. Pictured: Hugh Jackman and ex-wife Deborra-Lee Furness

Meanwhile, Keith shocked fans by changing the lyrics of his song about Nicole to include the name of his female guitarist.

A clip of Keith performing The Fighter at a recent show came to light with fans noticing one major difference in the lyrics.

The footage was shared by his guitarist Maggie Baugh, 25, on Instagram on Saturday, and shows Keith singing: 'When they're tryna get to you, Maggie I'll be your guitar player.'

The original lyric goes: 'When they're tryna get to you, baby I'll be the fighter'.

The 2016 song, which originally featured Carrie Underwood, is about the early stages of a relationship when things could go either way.

It is not known how Maggie originally captioned the clip, yet after Keith's split from Nicole was made public she edited the wording.

The new caption, uploaded on Wednesday, read: 'Did he just say that,' alongside mind-blown emojis.

Both the clip and his sudden split from Nicole have somewhat tarnished Keiths reputation among fans.

Keith shocked fans by changing the lyrics of his song about Nicole to include the name of his female guitarist

Pictured: Maggie Baugh

Angry fans took to the comment section of the post to slam the move.

'Wow, that song was made for Nicole. For him to do that tells us what hes really all about,' one wrote.

Another added: 'OK, dumping Nicole is looking more suspect,' while a third added that the clip gave them the 'ick'.

'It is so trashy to do this to a song inspired by his wife. Its the ultimate ick,' they wrote.

Even before the clip surfaced, fans were already slamming the country star, with his Instagram inundated with fans begging him to return to his A-lister ex.

'Are you crazy? Nicole is a total babe. You should be so lucky to have a gorgeous legend A-lister,' wrote one person.

'I'm sorry, but Keith was never the perfect husband for me. Nicole cried over him more than once. And confusing her films with their lives is simply absurd. Nicole, I'm rooting for you,' said another.

Someone else chimed in: 'Try and work it out. The grass is not greener on the other side. Your kids will be badly affected by it.'

It was a similar story for Hugh, after it was revealed that he had split with wife Deborah-Lee Furness (pictured) before sparking a romance with his much younger co-star Sutton Foster.

Amid the divorce drama, romance blossomed between Hugh and Sutton, with the Wolverine star spotted in the audience to watch Sutton in Once Upon A Mattress at the Ahmanson Theatre in California back in January

While there was never any suggestion that the romance bloomed while Hugh and Deborra-Lee were still together, fans wasted no time in slamming The Greatest Showman

While there has been no official reason given for the split, Nicole is said to have felt 'betrayed' over Keith's decision to leave her and their children Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 14.

'Nicole's hurt and feels betrayed. It's devastating to her. She's shocked,' an unnamed source told People on Tuesday.

The insider also claimed that Nicole 'didn't want this and has been fighting to save the marriage.'

It was a similar story for Hugh Jackman, after it was revealed that he had split with wife Deborah-Lee Furness before sparking a romance with his much younger co-star Sutton Foster.

Hugh and Deborra-Lee announced their split via a joint statement in September 2023, with the actress officially filing for divorce in May 2025.

Amid the divorce drama, romance blossomed between Hugh and Sutton, with the Wolverine star spotted in the audience watching Sutton in Once Upon A Mattress at the Ahmanson Theatre in California back in January.

Just days later the couple were spotted passionately kissing in a car at a San Fernando In-N-Out restaurant.

Though there was no indication that the romance began before Hugh and Deborra-Lee separated, save for a busy rumour mill, fans were quick to criticise The Greatest Showman star.

Following her decision to file for divorce in May, Deborra-Lee threw some not-so-subtle shade on her ex husband. Addressing the split in a statement to Daily Mail, Deborra-Lee referred to the shock uncoupling as a 'journey of betrayal'

Meanwhile, Nicole filed to end her 19-year union with Keith on Tuesday  citing irreconcilable differences  as a source claimed to the Daily Mail that Keith had already moved on with a younger woman in the music industry.

'I respect Hugh's work, but I no longer respect him,' one crestfallen fan said.

Another replied with a long-winded post explaining why they thought Hugh's new relationship was so triggering for fans.

'What people aren't getting/understanding is WHY his fans are upset at him. Hugh literally built his brand/image being the respectful, supportive husband/family man,' they began.

'People believed he was real and separated him from the normal Hollywood BS behaviour. He showed ppl that he was DIFFERENT.'

Another chided: 'Bro...you look pathetic. 56 years old and doing this nonsense.'

Following her decision to file for divorce in May, Deborra-Lee threw some not-so-subtle shade at her ex-husband.

Addressing the split in a statement to Daily Mail, Deborra-Lee referred to the shock uncoupling as a 'journey of betrayal'.

'My heart and compassion goes out to everyone who has traversed the traumatic journey of betrayal,' she said.

'Nicole's hurt and feels betrayed. It's devastating to her. She's shocked,' an unnamed source told People on Tuesday

'Its a profound wound that cuts deep, however I believe in a higher power and that God/the universe, whatever you relate to as your guidance, is always working FOR us.'

She continued, 'This belief has helped me navigate the breakdown of an almost three-decade marriage.

'I have gained much knowledge and wisdom through this experience. Even when we are presented with apparent adversity, it is leading us to our greatest good, our true purpose.

'It can hurt, but in the long run, returning to yourself and living within your own integrity, values, and boundaries is liberation and freedom.'
Rebel Wilson has denied the accusation she ordered the creation of 'malicious websites' about The Deb producer, Amanda Ghost, amid her latest legal battle.

Lead actor of the film, Charlotte MacInnes, has launched a defamation case against Wilson, 45, in the NSW registry of the Federal Court over a series of social media posts.

The posts, made by Wilson, allegedly claimed MacInnes, 26, lied when denying she made a complaint about Ghost, 51, which included accusations of sexual harassment and engaging in unacceptable behaviour, according to court documents seen by NewsWire.

Wilson is also accused of implying MacInnes 'changed her story' about the alleged complaint in order to achieve a lead movie role in one of Ghost's productions, as well as a record deal.

MacInnes claimed the posts are 'false and seriously defamatory', with fresh allegations emerging that Wilson requested her publicist create a 'series of malicious websites' about Ghost.

These allegations were detailed in a statement of claim released by the Federal Court and seen by NewsWire.

Rebel Wilson, 45, (pictured) has denied the accusation she ordered the creation of 'malicious websites' about The Deb producer, Amanda Ghost, 51, amid her latest legal battle

Lead actor of the film, Charlotte MacInnes, 26, (pictured) has launched a defamation case against Wilson in the NSW registry of the Federal Court over a series of social media posts

The alleged websites were said to have the URLs 'amandaghost.com' and 'amandaghostsucks.com'.

They are also said to have made false and malicious claims against MacInnes and Ghost.

A text message about the websites, shared between employees at the PR agency representing Wilson, is said to have read: 'Oh my god lol OK this one will be fun.'

When approached by Daily Mail for comment about the websites, Wilson denied having anything to do with their publishing and said her legal team was 'instrumental' in getting the websites taken down.

'I obviously had nothing to do with the creation or publishing of any websites,' she said.

'In fact, my legal team was instrumental in getting these sites taken down by providing the other side with a way of doing thisclaiming unauthorised copyright use of a photograph of ME.

'This is how these websites were removed from public view. Trying to assert I had anything to do with these websites is just another way they are trying to deflect from their own, in my opinion, dodgy behaviour.

'They know I had nothing to do with these websites. However, it is important to note that in my opinion, is the information on these websites probably true?'

The posts, made by Wilson, allegedly claimed MacInnes, 26, lied when denying she made a complaint about Ghost (pictured) which included accusations of sexual harassment and engaging in unacceptable behaviour, according to court documents seen by NewsWire

It comes after Wilson's co-producers on her musical comedy The Deb alleged the actor is sabotaging the film's long-delayed release so she can buy them out at a reduced cost, which she denied. Pictured L to R: Natalie Abbott, Rebel Wilson, Stevie Jean and Charlotte MacInnes

'Yes, I feel like it most likely is true with the information I'm aware of after speaking to so many people. You don't need to search very far to find a chequered history of Ghost!' she added.

MacInnes's legal representation issued a concerns notice to Wilson in August and later launched proceedings on September 22 when Wilson allegedly failed to respond within 28 days.

It comes after Wilson's co-producers on her musical comedy The Deb alleged the actor is sabotaging the film's long-delayed release so she can buy them out at a reduced cost.

She is now the subject of three legal claims related to the film's stalled release, including a threat of defamation action by The Deb's leading actor, MacInnes.

The Pitch Perfect star is already being sued for defamation by three of the film's producers in the US and production company AI Film is seeking damages in the NSW Supreme Court.

The Deb was a joint production between AI Film and Wilson's company Camp Sugar, featuring Wilson both in the director's chair and on-screen in a starring role.

A joint venture between Wilson and AI Film called Dunburn Debutantes Commissioning Company (DDCC) was formed to hold the rights to The Deb and split all revenue.

The project imploded after Wilson allegedly made a series of derogatory Instagram posts about fellow producers Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden in mid-2024.

Rebel used social media pages to accuse the trio of sexual harassment, embezzlement and obstructing her directorial debut's release in cinemas, all of which they have vehemently denied.

AI Film alleges in its Australian legal claim that Wilson has engaged in conduct 'for the purpose of damaging [its] business and reputation', according to court documents filed in the NSW Supreme Court.
Kelly Rutherford made a rare public appearance with her son during a Paris Fashion Week outing on Friday.

The 56-year-old Gossip Girl alum, 56, was seen with 18-year-old Hermes, whom she shares with ex-husband Daniel Giersch.

They were clad in coordinating navy blazers while attending the Vetements womenswear spring/summer 2026 show.

Kelly was fashion-forward in a pinstriped suit jacket with dramatic shoulder pads and matching trousers.

In some moments she added a glamorous pair of glossy, dark sunglasses and the look was finished with pointy-toe heels.

Meanwhile, her son layered a crew neck white shirt under his one-button blazer and teamed the look with faded black jeans.

Kelly Rutherford made a rare public appearance with her son during a Paris Fashion Week outing on Friday

The 56-year-old Gossip Girl alum, 56, was seen with her 18-year-old child Hermes

Kelly was fashion-forward in a pinstriped suit jacket with dramatic shoulder pads and matching trousers

In addition to their son, exes Kelly and Daniel are also parents to 15-year-old daughter Helena.

The mother-son duo were also recently spotted at Biosil's 30th Anniversary Celebration at Fouquet's New York.

And over the summer, the actress and her son posed for the cover of Harper's Bazaar Netherlands.

Kelly recently sat down for an intimate conversation with Gwyneth Paltrow on her Goop podcast.

During the interview she admitted she felt like her 'heart had been ripped out' during her contentious $2 million international custody battle with Daniel, 50.

She opened up about 'learning from making mistakes' and revealed she was thankful to be filming the hit television show Gossip Girl at the time.

The mother-of-two described her time working on the series as a 'good distraction' and said 'everyone was so supportive' on set.

Gwyneth asked, 'The custody battle that was in the news  as a mother you feel like you've had your heart ripped out  how did you keep your perspective?'

Kelly pictured with her son and daughter Helena in July 2015

The Hollywood actress shares her children with ex-husband Daniel Giersch, a German businessman; pictured in 2006)

'Yeah for sure that is exactly how it feels,' Kelly agreed.

She continued: 'I don't think I always did, but, like anything, it is a challenge that you aren't prepared for and you learn along the way and make mistakes and you get up and do your best. It's a process. Like most things, it's [about] focus.'

Gwyneth later asked: 'How did you get through being away from your children on set, how would you get through the day?'

The Hollywood vet answered, 'I was so thankful to be on set because it was a good distraction, otherwise I don't know what I would have done. But it was a blessing in a way because I had to focus and show up.'

She reflected, 'It doesn't matter what's going on in your life, but everyone was so supportive. I was thankful and dealt with it day by day and you learn a lot about yourself.'

Kelly wed Daniel in 2006 and they split in 2009.

She was granted joint custody of their children by a judge in Monaco when Hermes was just two-years-old and while she was pregnant with Helena.
Kaia Gerber put on a leggy display in a silky black dress as she joined Heidi Klum and her daughter Leni at an afterparty at Costes hotel in Paris on Friday.

The model, 24, whose parents are Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, looked effortlessly chic in the mini dress.

She layered her garment over a pair of sheer black tights as she slipped into a pair of shiny black heels.

To accessorise, Kaia completed her look with a pair of black-tinted sunglasses and toted around her belongings in a black lather handbag.

Heidi cut a sophisticated display in a long black and white striped trench coat and large black sunglasses.

She was joined at the glitzy event with her daughter, Leni, 21, who stepped out in a double layered skirt which she paired with a black, gloved top.

Kaia Gerber put on a leggy display in a silky black dress as she joined Heidi Klum and her daughter Leni at an afterparty at Costes hotel in Paris on Friday

Heidi (pictured with daughter Leni) cut a sophisticated display in a long black and white striped trench coat and large black sunglasses

Leni paired her unique ensemble with black, pointed, kitten heels and a small black handbag.

Heidi and Leni were spotted front row at the event alongside Bill Kaulitz and Matteo Sinet.

Arriving alongside Kaia, Italian model Vittoria Ceretti, 27, looked classy in an ankle-length sheer black dress.

Her boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio was later spotted leaving the Grand Palais party, covering his face with a cap and a face mask.

He kept a low profile as he left the event wearing a black bomber jacket and blacker trousers.

Paris Fashion Week runs from Monday, September 29 to Tuesday, October 7, with a host of stars expected to be heading to the French capital for shows.

Designers including Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Givenchy will showcase their latest collections, while Victoria Beckham will present her always-anticipated show in Paris on Friday.

It emerged this January that Kaia was dating Lewis Pullman, after news had broken that her relationship with Austin was over after three years.

'I really feel like if you have the opportunity to date a friend, do it, because it just is so much better,' she said on the Therapuss podcast hosted by her pal Jake Shane.

She also bared her soul about the problems she had with her exes, saying she would 'completely just change my personality and my values for someone.'

Model, Kaia, 24, whose parents are Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber , looked effortlessy chic in the mini dress

She layered her garment over a pair of sheer black tights as she slipped into a pair of shiny black heels

To accessorise, Kaia completed her look with a pair of black-tinted sunglasses

Meanwhile Heidi was joined at the glitzy event with her daughter, Leni, 21, who stepped out in a double layered skirt which she paired with a black, gloved top

The 'nepo baby' supermodel explained: 'I always dated people that were older than me, so I was very willing to give up everything. I was like: "I can show you I love you by completely giving up my life for you, which is actually not how you build respect and trust, and is not good in the long run.

She noted that 'you then you start to bring a little bit more of who you really are into the relationship and theyre like: No, I liked that person before."

However she took an evenhanded view of the situation, saying that her propensity to alter herself for men was 'not their fault, its my fault, but yeah.'

Kaia then gushed over Lewis, saying: 'I was literally talking about this the other day with Lew, where we were like: "The amazing thing about you is the person that ends up loving you is gonna be so obsessed with you, because you are such a specific person, that theyre just gonna like die for you, and die for every single part of you."'

Her advice to Jake, who has never been in a relationship, was: 'I really feel like if you have the opportunity to date a friend, do it. Cause it just is so much better.

Arriving alongside Kaia, Italian model Vittoria Ceretti, 27, looked classy in an ankle-length sheer black dress

Leonardo DiCaprio was later spotted leaving the Grand Palais party, covering his face with a cap and a face mask

He kept a low profile as he left the event wearing a black bomber jacket, blacker trousers and white trousers

Kaia elaborated: 'Like I never wanna fight with my friends. I never wanna be mad at my friends.

'I respect my friends. It just is like a whole other thing and I think sometimes you forget that you like someone when you love them.'

Her tip is to 'date someone that you would be friends with anyways. Dont date someone just cause youre sexually attracted to them and are in lust with them.'

The Bottoms actress playfully added: 'You should sleep with those people for sure, but you dont need to make them your partners.'
Dee Salmin and Darcy Moore looked loved-up on Friday night as they walked the black carpet at the 2025 E.W. Copeland Trophy awards night.

The AFL WAG and Collingwood captain, both 29, were seen cuddled up at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne as they posed with their arms around each other.

The Triple J presenter slipped into a black and white corset bodice with a draping black skirt she paired with matching knee-high boots.

Dee pulled her blonde locks back into an up-do, leaving out her neat micro-fringe as she accessorised with a lavish gemstone necklace and earrings.

Meanwhile, her beau of two years looked dapper in a classic black suit and tie.

Their outing comes after Dee fired back at a vile online comment about her relationship with the Collingwood captain.

Dee Salmin and Darcy Moore, both 29, looked loved-up on Friday night as they walked the black carpet at the 2025 E.W. Copeland Trophy awards night

The radio star attended the Brownlow Medal count with Darcy last month, where the couple drew attention for their serious expressions on the red carpet.

After Dee shared a photo of herself with her footy star partner at the exclusive Melbourne event, one troll left a crude remark: 'They look like they do a Welcome to Country before f***ing.'

Dee wasted no time in serving up a tongue-in-cheek reply.

'Thanks, but it's actually an Acknowledgment [sic] of Country,' she quipped.

Her witty comeback quickly drew praise from fans in the comments.

'My woke King and Queen. Love youse!' one person wrote.

'Hahahah get 'em girl,' a second added.

Dee has developed a reputation for speaking out about her very 'woke' views.

Their outing comes after Dee fired back at a vile online comment about her relationship with the Collingwood captain

After Dee shared a photo of herself with her footy star partner at the exclusive Brownlow Medal event in Melbourne, one troll left a crude remark: 'They look like they do a Welcome to Country before f***ing'

In July last year, she was labelled incredibly woke for her explanation of why she doesn't want to live with the premiership-winning Collingwood skipper, Darcy.

Dee, who hosts Triple J radio's The Sunday Hook Up sex education programme, went into detail about their romance on the ABC show, Ladies, We Need To Talk... Back.

'I don't live with my partner at the moment and we have such different, independent, busy lives,' she said.

'We get to have so much of what we had when we were still single in our relationship. But I wonder how much you can actually upkeep that when you do end up living together.

'So much of it is hetero-dynamic learnt behaviours you might fall into.'

To clarify, it appears she was using those five key words to indicate she and Darcy don't conform to the heterosexual gender stereotype of women taking on the bulk of housework and domestic duties when they live with a partner.
David Beckham has posted a gushing tribute to wife Victoria following her Paris Fashion Week show as the family sat united in the front row without Brooklyn.

The clan turned out for mum Victoria's big show in the French capital on Friday, which was attended by star-studded guests.

At the end of the show, Victoria, 51, beamed as she was greeted with applause from the gathered VIPs including her youngest child Harper, 14.

Her children all posted tributes on social media - apart from eldest son Brooklyn, 26, who was noticeably absent from the event.

Brooklyn has not been pictured with his family since December last year, with sources previously telling how he is 'no longer on speaking terms' with his parents and siblings.

David, 50, took to Instagram where he paid tribute to his wife, penning: 'To say we are proud of you is an understatement, to see you bring this all together once again in the most elegant, professional, technically perfect and militant way is just incredible and you & your team need to realize it's special...

David Beckham has posted a gushing tribute to wife Victoria following her Paris Fashion Week show as the family sat united in the front row without Brooklyn

Brooklyn was noticeably absent from this year's Fashion Week show and did not publicly support his mother like the rest of his siblings

At the end of the show, Victoria beamed as she was greeted with applause from the gathered VIPs including her youngest child Harper, 14

'It's special because the team that you have love and adore you because you treat them the right way and that's called leadership... Congratulations once again you are amazing plus you had Knight Rider as the opener WOW @victoriabeckham.'

Bursting with pride, Victoria also took to her socials where she shared a snap of her family sitting in the front row.

The sweet capture showed David sat beside former Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, with his daughter Harper sat on the other side beside her brothers Romeo and Cruz, who brought his girlfriend Jackie Apostel.

Victoria simply said: 'I love you all so much... I couldnt do it without you! xx'

In his own social media tribute, Cruz, 20, posted a snap from the show where he said: 'So proud of you mum.'

Romeo also shared a snap of himself posing with Harper, as he tagged Victoria while writing: 'Soooooo good @victoriabeckham.'

Whilst the rest of the Beckham siblings all supported their mother publicly, Brooklyn chose to support himself.

In snaps taken on Friday, he decided to publicly promote his own business, Cloud 23.

David, 50, took to Instagram where he paid tribute to his wife as he celebrated her success and her 'special' team

Victoria took to Instagram to share the united family snap

Victoria couldn't stop smiling as the room erupted into applause for her as the show came to an end on Friday evening

Victoria had pulled her proud husband David in for a passionate kiss at the end of her show, as she boasted a big smile

Victoria wore an oversized grey baggy suit for the evening, with a white lowcut top underneath

Taking to social media, Cruz, 20, posted a snap from the show where he said: 'So proud of you mum'

After the show, Romeo posted his own tribute tribute to his mother as he posed with sister Harper for a social media snap

The tributes for Victoria continued as Jackie Apostel reposted a snap that Harper had taken of her and boyfriend Cruz

Brooklyn promoted his hot sauce brand as he headed out for lunch in Los Angeles on Wednesday wearing a personalised T-shirt of the brand.

Victoria had pulled her proud husband David in for a passionate kiss at the end of her show, as she boasted a big smile.

It was a break from tradition for the designer, who typically holds a stern look whilst in public.

Victoria wore an oversized grey baggy suit for the evening, with a white lowcut top underneath.
Kim Kardashian was spotted stepping out in a glamorous ensemble for a rainy evening out in Paris on Friday.

The reality TV star, 44, turned heads as she arrived at the Ritz Hotel in a floor-length fur coat layered over a ribbed, sleeveless turtleneck top and matching, tight-fitting pants.

The striking display came after Kim announced the US release of a documentary she co-produced about Elizabeth Taylor, which was oddly timed on the same day that her longtime nemesis Taylor Swift released her blockbuster new album The Life Of A Showgirl.

Even more curious is the fact that Taylor's album features a song about Taylor.

However, a source told the Daily Mail that the announcement's timing was not decided by Kim.

The reality star strutted into her Paris hotel in shiny, baby blue pumps and wore oversize sunglasses as she made a failed attempt at staying low-key with her entourage surrounding her.

Kim Kardashian was spotted stepping out in a glamorous ensemble for a rainy evening out in Paris on Friday

The reality TV star, 44, turned heads as she arrived at the Ritz Hotel in a floor-length fur coat layered over a ribbed, sleeveless turtleneck top and matching, tight-fitting pants

Amid Paris Fashion Week, the SKIMS founder stepped out in a monochromatic, all-black outfit and mixed different textures in her fashion forward look.

For her fashion show look, the star of The Kardashians slicked back her raven black hair into a polished bun and appeared to be rocking a light, dewy makeup look.

Her return to Paris was her first in five months since she testified in the trial related to her infamous hotel robbery and jewelry heist in 2016.

Around the same time, her longtime friend and former employer Paris Hilton also touched down in Paris and was spotted arriving at the EE72 launch party.

She was eye-catching in a animal-printed dress with a plunging, low-cut neckline and a mermaid-tail skirt.

She paired the ruched, figure-hugging dress with massive diamond jewelry and a pair of oversize, bug-eye sunglasses.

The last time Kardashian was in Paris was to give evidence in the trial earlier this year in May.

After she went on the stand at the courthouse earlier this year, Kardashian was joined by her BFFs Lauren Sanchez and Katy Perry for a girls night out.

She strutted into her hotel in shiny silver pumps and wore oversize sunglasses as she made a failed attempt at staying low-key with her entourage surrounding her. Amid Paris Fashion Week, the SKIMS founder stepped out in a monochromatic, all-black outfit and mixed different textures in her fashion forward look

Her return to Paris was her first in five months since she testified in the trial related to her infamous hotel robbery in 2016

Around the same time, her longtime friend and former employer Paris Hilton also touched down in Paris and was spotted arriving at the EE72 launch party. She was eye-catching in a animal-printed dress with a plunging, low-cut neckline and a mermaid-tail skirt

She paired the ruched, figure-hugging dress with massive diamond jewelry and a pair of oversize, bug-eye sunglasses

Nearly two decades ago, Kardashian went through a traumatizing experience when she was robbed at gunpoint in her hotel room.

She was also in the City of Love for Paris Fashion Week at the time of the heist.

Back then, she was staying at the No Address Hotel when five robbers broke into her hotel room in the middle of the night.

She previously opened up about the harrowing experience as she recalled how she was tied up at gunpoint and locked in the bathroom while the robbers stole millions of dollars worth of jewelry from her.

During her testimony in the case against the 10 suspects, who were nicknamed the Grandpa robbers by French media outlets due to their older ages, Kardashian recalled how she feared for her life at the time.

'I absolutely did think I was gonna die,' she said during her testimony, per the BBC.

She also said she was wearing nothing but a robe during the incident and recalled the robe 'exposing everything on my body' when one of the men pulled her towards him.

'I was sure that I was going to be raped,' she said before the robbers tied her legs together instead, according to NBC News, during her testimony.
Selena Gomez gave her fans a glimpse as she wrote her wedding vows shortly before saying 'I do' to Benny Blanco last week.

The 33-year-old actress  who tied the knot with the record producer during a romantic Santa Barbara ceremony  jumped to her main Instagram page on Friday to share BTS photos from the past weekend.

'From writing my vows to leaving my wedding a little earlier than most..,' she wrote in the caption to her 417 million followers.

In one image, the former Disney channel star was pictured sitting on a bed as she wrote inside a notebook.

Gomez donned a pink satin robe while her brunette locks were swept up into a chic up do, allowing loose strands to border the left side of her face.

The Rare Beauty founder also flashed a cheerful smile while sporting a dark blue dressing gown with floral details in another snap.

Selena Gomez, 33, gave her fans a glimpse as she wrote her wedding vows shortly before saying 'I do' to Benny Blanco over the past weekend

In one image, the former Disney channel star was pictured sitting on a bed as she wrote inside a notebook

She sat on a bench in front of a large bed while joined by other close pals and added a short, white veil on top of her head.

While spending time in Santa Barbara for the nuptials, both Gomez and Blanco had the chance to explore the nearby area.

In another image, the couple enjoyed a relaxing stroll along the sandy shore of a quiet beach.

Gomez wore a sleeveless black dress and linked arms with the Eastside hitmaker for the lowkey outing.

The pair were later pictured holding a lighthearted conversation while lounging on a comfy bench on an outdoor patio.

The Only Murders In The Building actress hinted that both she and Blanco left their wedding reception early and she could be seen heading towards a parked vehicle at the venue.

The record producer - who proposed to Gomez late last year in December - poured champagne into a glass while sitting in the back of a limo.

The newlyweds also indulged in tasty treats during the wedding extravaganza, such as chocolate-covered strawberries.

While spending time in Santa Barbara for the nuptials, both Gomez and Blanco had the chance to explore the nearby area

The pair were later pictured holding a lighthearted conversation while lounging on a comfy bench on an outdoor patio

The Only Murders In The Building actress hinted that both she and Blanco left their wedding reception early and she could be seen heading towards a parked vehicle at the venue

The record producer - who proposed to Gomez late last year in December - poured champagne into a glass while sitting in the back of a limo

The newlyweds also indulged in tasty treats during the wedding extravaganza, such as chocolate-covered strawberries

Last week on Saturday, Gomez married Blanco in Santa Barbara - after the pair began dating two years earlier in 2023.

A number of guests were in attendance such as the actress's close friend Taylor Swift as well as Paris Hilton, Eric Andre and her Only Murders In The Building castmates Steve Martin and Martin Short.

The Rare Beauty founder has uploaded other sweet photos from both the rehearsal dinner and the big day.

The dinner appeared to have taken place at a mansion on a vast 1,863-acre estate in Goleta's tony Hope Ranch neighborhood, nestled in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains.

In snaps from the rehearsal dinner that the actress shared, Gomez and Blanco cozied up and at one point, strolled hand-in-hand as they made their way across the scenic venue.

The nuptials took place at the El Encanto hotel and the actress was walked down the aisle by her maternal grandfather.

Blanco also shared more pictures which appeared to have been taken after the lovebirds said 'I do.'

Gomez could be seen wearing a different white gown with an intricate lace overlay and sheer veil that flowed down behind her.

The Rare Beauty founder has uploaded other sweet photos from both the rehearsal dinner and the big day

Gomez could be seen wearing a different white gown with an intricate lace overlay and sheer veil that flowed down behind her

The record producer - who has worked with other music artists such as Ed Sheeran and Rihanna - wore a black suit as well as a white dress shirt and a black bowtie for the ceremony.

The couple snapped the mirror selfie while cozying up on a couch, and another photo was taken of their hands as they showed off their wedding rings.

A source gave insight into the A-list wedding and told People that, 'There was so much love in the room.'

The wedding ceremony itself 'moved guests to tears. They wrote their own vows, which were both funny and sentimental.'

The insider added, 'At the reception, everyone was letting loose and celebrating them well into the night. The vibe was so much fun.'

For the ceremony itself, Gomez donned a white lace gown and changed into a different ensemble designed by Ralph Lauren for the lighthearted reception.

A number of stars gave speeches at the bash, such as Martin Short and Steve Martin. Taylor Swift also gave a sweet speech to her close pal while Mark Ronson was the DJ for the reception.

And on Tuesday, Gomez shared more pictures from the wedding weekend and further showed off her custom Ralph Lauren dresses.

The wedding ceremony itself 'moved guests to tears. They wrote their own vows, which were both funny and sentimental'

Taylor Swift also gave a sweet speech to her close pal while Mark Ronson was the DJ for the reception

She walked down the aisle in a halter-styled gown with an intricate sheer overlay as well as a corset-styled bodice.

A long sheer veil was placed at the back of her brunette locks and flowed down behind the star.

The lace wedding gown also paid a loving tribute to the newlyweds and had the letters 'S+B' embroidered inside a heart on the fabric.

Fans were also offered a glimpse at the lighthearted reception and the couple shared a kiss as they grooved on the dance floor.

Another image showed a heart-shaped cake covered in a white sugary icing with 'Just Married' written on the top in black icing.
Terri Irwin has apparently been busy trying to set her son Robert up with the daughter of a huge Hollywood star.

Sources told Woman's Day on Friday the Irwin matriarch, 61, is set to catch up with John Travolta over dinner to play matchmaker for her son, 21, and the movie star's model daughter, Ella.

The Grease star, 71, who has long been a friend of the Irwins, is also said to be a fan of Robert on Dancing With The Stars US, with the insider speculating Terri won't have a hard time convincing him of her plan to set up Ella and Robert on a date.

'Terri would love it if Robert dated a girl like Ella and thinks they have a lot in common and have been through similar life experiences,' the insider said.

'They've both grown up in the spotlight and they both lost a parent at a young age and grieved publicly.

'Terri knows how that never leaves you and it's not something everyone can understand. Robert and Ella have that connection.'

Terri Irwin, 61, has apparently been busy trying to set her son Robert, 21, up with the daughter of a huge Hollywood star

Sources told Woman's Day on Friday the Irwin matriarch is set to catch up with John Travolta, 71, over dinner to play matchmaker for her son and the movie star's model daughter, Ella, 25

The source went on to claim Terri may not have a tough time convincing John of the love match, as the actor is said to be a fan of Robert on DWTS US.

Daily Mail has reached out to representatives of the Irwin family for comment.

It comes after Robert opened up about his relationship status after another stunning turn on the dance competition with his partner Witney Carson last week.

Robert's post-dance interview with E! News piqued interest when the Aussie hunk revealed he is single, while offering a clue that left many Aussie fans heartbroken.

'We are still looking for the American girl,' Robert said, before revealing Witney had been assisting in his quest for love along with his sister, Bindi.

'Well you have to go through kind of a screening process, so submit your applications through my DMs,' Witney said.

'And then I will forward them to Bindi, and then we'll see about the American tourist.'

Witney then gave Robert a stark warning after he declared he now has two protective older sisters.

The Grease star is also said to be a fan of Robert on Dancing With The Stars US, with the insider speculating Terri won't have a hard time convincing him of her plan to set up Ella and Robert

John has long been a friend of the Irwin family. Pictured with Terri and her daughter Bindi in 2008

'And you'll be single forever,' she said, which elicited a 'woah' from Robert.

Robert also gave potential applicants an insight into what he looks for in a romantic partner.

'I think more than anything else, just genuine kindness,' he said.

'Thats so important, to surround yourself with people who are genuinely kind.'

Robert last publicly dated Rorie Buckey, the niece of the late actor Heath Ledger, but the pair called it quits in February 2024 after 18 months of dating.
They tied the knot in a extravagant, star-studded fashion in Venice less than three months ago.

And it seems Jeff Bezos and his new wife Lauren Sanchez couldn't wait to return to Italy.

The couple were back in the European country on Friday for Italian Tech Week 2025, held in the city of Turin.

When Jeff, 61, wasn't on stage delivering remarks, the newlyweds stayed close to one another as they milled through the convention.

The A-listers sweetly wrapped their hands around one another, with Lauren, 55, flashing a beaming smile as they took a photo.

They also looked every inch the power couple as they walked about hand in hand, an unflappable expression on their faces.

Jeff Bezos and his new wife Lauren Sanchez returned to Italy for Italian Tech Week in Turin, less than three months after their Venice wedding

Sunglasses over her eyes, Lauren looked chic and sophisticated in a white turtleneck, matching slacks, and cream Celine belt.

Jeff kept it smart and sharp with a blue button down shirt, jeans, and leather footwear. Beaded bracelets were looped around his left wrist.

The couple's appearance comes almost three months after she said 'I do' to Bezos during their Venice nuptials.

Described as the 'wedding of the century,' the Amazon founder and former journalist exchanged vows in front of almost 200 VIP guests on San Giorgio Maggiore island.

Following the ultra-exclusive ceremony, the billionaire couple threw a star-studded reception attended by high-profile guests, including the Kardashian sisters, Oprah Winfrey, Ivanka Trump, Usher, and Orlando Bloom.

The extravagant affair - reportedly costing $20million and drawing ire from locals - was capped off with an eyebrow-raising gift from the bride.

The wedding, held two years after Bezos proposed to Sanchez aboard his $500 million superyacht, was described as 'extremely intimate' with a strict no-phone policy - around 70 of the 200 guests were family members.

During wedding week, Sanchez debuted her stunning Schwartz ring while stepping out in a Schiaparelli gown.

The couple were in Turin, Italy on Friday for Italian Tech Week

They looked every inch the power couple as they strolled through the convention hand in hand, an unflappable expression on their faces

The couple said 'I do' in front of friends and A-listers alike in a lavish Venice ceremony back in late June

Bezos was among the list of speakers at the event

Bezos shared the stage with John Elkann the chairman and CEO of Exor

The Amazon CEO was in Italy just a few months earlier for his wedding to Lauren

Courtesy of celebrity jeweler Lorraine Schwartz, the ring is believed to be around 30 carats - valued between $1.5 million and $3 million.

'We don't have a lot of traditions that we're keeping,' Sanchez told Vogue ahead of the big day. 'I mean, I love traditions, but for a 55-year-old woman, it's a little different.'

While her Dolce earrings served as the traditional 'something borrowed,' Sanchez gave 'something blue' a cosmic twist - carrying an artifact from her recent 11-minute space journey.

The wedding was held two years after Bezos proposed to Sanchez aboard his $500 million superyacht

'Blue Origin,' Sanchez said. 'It's something from my space flight.'

She carried a secret, nearly unattainable souvenir from space, explaining it was 'because it was literally one of the most profound experiences I've ever had in my life.'

'Seeing Earth from space, I came down and I couldn't describe it,' she told Vogue. 'It was the greatest experience I've ever had. Jeff said, "It's gonna change you more than you think," and it completely has, visually, spiritually.'

But the lavish celebrations also ruffled some feathers, with the nuptials facing backlash from locals as well as activists.
Eric Dane revealed the harrowing injury he suffered when he was set to present an award at the Emmys.

The 52-year-old actor, who announced his ALS diagnosis just six months ago, revealed that he fell down in his kitchen and had to go to the hospital instead of the award show.

He told The Washington Post in an interview published on Thursday that he was 'getting stitches put in my head.'

He was slated to reunite with his Grey's Anatomy costar Jesse Williams onstage at the award show on September 14, but his absence led to his former castmate presenting alone.

Williams did not mention Dane nor explain the Euphoria star's absence when he took the stage last month.

'ALS is a nasty disease,' he added. 'I missed an opportunity I was really looking forward to.'

Eric Dane revealed the harrowing injury he suffered when he was set to present an award at the Emmys

The 52-year-old actor, who announced his ALS diagnosis just six months ago, revealed that he fell down in his kitchen and had to go to the hospital instead of the award show; pictured in June

'It would have been great to see Jesse and get reunited with some of my peers, and to be able to present in front of my colleagues, I thought would have been a special moment,' he said.

This comes after he powerfully vowed to 'fight until last breath' in his battle with ALS after being seen in wheelchair and struggling to speak.

Shortly after the Emmys took place last month, his wife Rebecca Gayheart revealed how their family is handling his ALS diagnosis.

She said that their teenage daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13, are talking to therapists as their father battles with the progressive neurodegenerative disease.

'I mean, it's heartbreaking,' she told People in an interview published on Saturday. 'My girls are really suffering, and we're just trying to get through it. It's a tough time.'

Though their family is 'really struggling,' she said they are 'taking it day by day.'

'We have some professional therapists who are helping us, and we're just trying to have some hope and do it with dignity, grace and love.'

About her own state of mind, she admitted: 'I don't think I'm at a place yet where I can pull out a positive nugget. I'm not there yet.'

He was slated to reunite with his Grey's Anatomy co-star Jesse Williams onstage at the award show on September 14, but his absence led to his former castmate presenting alone

He told The Washington Post in an interview published on Thursday that he was 'getting stitches put in my head'

'ALS is a nasty disease,' he added. 'I missed an opportunity I was really looking forward to.'

This comes after he powerfully vowed to 'fight until last breath' in his battle with ALS after being seen in wheelchair and struggling to speak; pictured in January 2022

Shortly after the Emmys took place last month, his wife Rebecca Gayheart revealed how their family is handling his ALS diagnosis; pictured in February 2016

She said that their teenage daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13, are talking to therapists as their father battles with the progressive neurodegenerative disease; pictured in May 2024

The actress, 54, married Dane in 2004. They were married for 14 years before she filed for divorce in 2018; however, the pair later called off the split seven years later.

Dane's announcement about his diagnosis came a month after Gayheart requested to dismiss her divorce filing.

'I mean, we're definitely dealing with something that has brought us all together, and Eric will always be my family, whether we're married or not, or living in the same house or not, but yeah, we are closer, but we don't like the reason why,' she said.

She added: 'It's a horrible disease, and I wish that there was a cure. I hope they find one soon, because it is just so sad.'

Earlier this year, Dane announced he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease.

ALS is a nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to loss of muscle control and paralysis as it gets worse over time, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Lauren Dunn looked almost unrecognisable this week when she stepped out at Bondi Beach to attend a fashion launch.

The Married At First Sight star, 34, who shot to fame on the 2024 season of the matchmaking show, sported a new glamorous look at Ravesis Hotel on Wednesday.

Looking very different from her days on reality TV, the budding socialite flaunted her figure in a pink maxi dress by the event host, Beginning Boutique.

The strapless, form-fitting frock featured large prints of pink orchids.

Lauren paired the dress with a pair of sandals embellished with pink flowers, flashing her fresh pedicure.

She accessorised her new look with several pieces of gold jewellery, including numerous rings and stacked bracelets to pair with her burgundy nails.

Lauren Dunn looked almost unrecognisable this week when she stepped out at Bondi Beach to attend a fashion launch

The former MAFS star added a soft curl to her long brunette tresses, giving her a more bronzed appearance than her blonde look on the show.

Lauren's outing comes after the Perth businessman who is currently suing her for defamation was arrested for alleged possession of cocaine.

Aidan Murphy will face a Magistrates Court on October 17 for allegedly possessing cocaine on August 20, and for allegedly breaching a family violence restraining order.

Murphy, 37, pleaded not guilty to the FVRO breach, which allegedly took place between June 15 and 16, and also pleaded not guilty to the drug possession charge.

The offences allegedly took place in Applecross, the WA suburb where Murphy lives.

When Daily Mail approached Murphy for comment, he declined to comment about the alleged cocaine possession and alleged FVRO breach.

'Sorry, no comment. You'll have to speak to the lawyers about that one,' he said. Further details of that interaction can be found here.

Just weeks earlier, Murphy filed a defamation lawsuit against MAFS star Dunn over social media posts made in July.

Looking very different from her days on reality TV, the budding socialite flaunted her figure in a pink maxi dress by the event host, Beginning Boutique

Murphy alleges Dunn posted malicious and false comments about him on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook between July 14 and July 21.

The summons was filed with the WA Supreme Court on August 15, WA Today reported.

In it, the managing director claimed Dunn defamed him and, by extension, the business he works for, Unite Resourcing.

Dunn told WA Today her posts were a reaction to negative remarks Murphy allegedly made about her in relation to her ex-boyfriend, former AFL player Ryan Crowley.

Crowley is currently facing a series of domestic violence charges related to his relationship with Dunn in 2019 and 2020.
Louis CK has defended his decision to perform at a comedy festival in Saudi Arabia in an interview with Bill Maher as the host took a shot at Dave Chappelle for saying America had less freedom of speech.

The comic, giving his first interview since his #MeToo exile, defended the move by claiming the country is opening up and what he and other comics are doing can be 'a positive thing'.

'I've been talking to them, the comedians who've been there, and they've been really surprised by what's going on,' CK said.

He cited a lesbian Jewish comedian who had performed at the festival to a standing ovation as 'stuff going on that's unexpected in this thing'.

CK then cited a recent film festival held in the kingdom as a sign that the nation is progressing.

'When I heard it's opening, I thought that was awfully interesting. It just feels like a good opportunity.'

He says he believes that standup has the power to enact change in Saudi society.

'I love stand-up comedy, and I love comedians. So, the fact that that's starting to open up and starting to bud, I wanna see it, I wanna be part of it. I think that's a positive thing.'

Louis CK defended his decision to perform at a controversial comedy festival in Saudi Arabia in an interview with Bill Maher

His comments came after Dave Chappelle (pictured) said that it was 'easier to talk' about controversial issues in Saudi Arabia

Maher said he had mixed feelings about the festival and called it 'a great idea' but slammed fellow comic Dave Chappelle who said it was 'easier to talk' about controversial issues in Saudi Arabia than America.

'Yeah, I don't know if that's true,' cracked CK.

'Oh, it's not true,' exclaimed Maher, who suggested Chappelle tell jokes about Islam and see if there were consequences. 'Do your hunk on Muhammad, Dave.'

It was one of many comments regarding free speech Chappelle made during his standup show in Riyadh, where he reportedly told a crowd of 6,000: 'Right now in America, they say that if you talk about Charlie Kirk, that you'll get canceled.'

'I don't know if that's true, but I'm gonna find out.'

CK also addressed criticism from fellow comics, like podcast titan Marc Maron and former Arrested Development star David Cross.

He noted that both were once friends and in the case of Cross, even roommates and called their discussion 'worthy' and said he was 'grateful' to them for slamming it.

'I'm glad these guys brought this stuff up, I'm glad people are challenging this thing because you shouldn't just pretend it's something it's not, so don't fool yourself'.

Maher slammed Chappelle for suggesting there was more free speech in Saudi Arabia than America

The festival - which has booked major acts like Chappelle, CK, Kevin Hart and Bill Burr - has drawn the ire of many for taking the repressive Saudi kingdom's money while complaining of ' cancel culture ' at home

'I'm grateful for what he said because you should say that side, too. Everything that's being said, that's a worthy discussion. I have mixed feelings, too'.

Maher quickly replied: 'You're doing the right thing'.

It comes after Chappelle was called 'soulless' and a hypocrite for performing in front of the Saudi royals and joking about Kirk.

'Dave Chappelle who went to Africa to avoid his show becoming a soulless grab for a millionaire and Dave Chappelle now are not the same guys,' wrote critic one.

Chappelle, who converted to Islam when he was 17, was apparently unmoved by any potential outrage.

'It's easier to talk here than it is in America,' he said.

Chappelle even said he feared reprisal over material critical of Israel's response in Gaza to the October 7 terror attack.

'They're going to do something to me so that I can't say what I want to say,' Chappelle said.

'I'm grateful for what he said because you should say that side, too. Everything that's being said, that's a worthy discussion. I have mixed feelings, too,' CK told Maher

Social media referred to the comedian as 'soulless' and a hypocrite for performing in front of the Saudi royals

The audience appeared to take notice at the comedian's material.

'I found it so interesting to hear political jokes targeting Trump and Charlie Kirk,' one person in attendance said of the comic's set.

The comic, who has often spoken of being canceled over his stances on transgender rights, also criticized the suspension of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel, The New York Times reported.

Critics called him 'soulless' and a hypocrite dared him to take on the likes of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman for the brutal 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Fellow performer Bill Burr confirmed on his podcast earlier this week that comics had negotiated with the government to make it so that they could say anything they wanted, except for 'the royals and religion.'

The festival - which has booked major acts like Chappelle, Louis CK, Kevin Hart and Bill Burr - has drawn the ire of many for taking the repressive Saudi kingdom's money while complaining of 'cancel culture' at home.

Some comedians have pulled out of the festival or been removed by the organizers due to criticism of the Saudi government.

Comedian Tim Dillon bragged he is being paid $375,000 for his appearance, and claimed some of his rivals were pocketing up to $1.6million.

Chappelle said: 'Right now in America, they say that if you talk about Charlie Kirk, that you'll get canceled'

US comedian Tim Dillon bragged he is being paid $375,000 for his appearance, and claimed some of his rivals were pocketing up to $1.6million

'I am doing this,' he said, 'because they're paying me a large sum of money  enough money to look the other way.

'A lot of people are doing it. They [the Saudis] bought comedy. So what? Listen, what's your problem? 'Well, they have slaves and they kill everyone...' Hey, get over it. Do I have issues with some of the policies towards women, towards the gays? Well, of course I do... But I believe in my own financial well-being and I always have.'

Dillon, who is gay, was later dropped for making jokes about migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.

Australian comedian Jim Jeffries was also removed from the festival after making critical comments on Theo Von's podcast.

Bill Burr, who performed at the festival, defended his appearance and praised the atmosphere.

'It was great to experience that part of the world and to be a part of the first comedy festival over there in Saudi Arabia,' Burr said on his podcast.

'The royals loved the show. Everyone was happy. The people that were doing the festival were thrilled. The comedians that I've been talking to are saying, 'Dude, you can feel [the audience] wanted it. They want to see real stand-up comedy.' It was a mind-blowing experience. Definitely top three experiences I've had. I think it's going to lead to a lot of positive things.'

Burr said that the rules had been negotiated by the comics down to two taboos: 'Don't make fun of royals [and] religion.'

Comedian and former Arrested Development star David Cross has lambasted the comics who chose to perform at the festival in an open letter.

'I am disgusted and deeply disappointed in this whole gross thing, that people I admire, with unarguable talent, would condone this totalitarian fiefdom for  what, a fourth house? A boat? More sneakers? We can never again take seriously anything these comedians complain about.'

The festival is taking place from September 26 to October 9, 2025, at Boulevard City in Riyadh.

Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, has been eager to rehabilitate his global image after the killing of Khashoggi, which U.S. intelligence officials accused him of ordering.

He's also seeking an economic revival for the kingdom to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, and the occasion was an opportunity to demonstrate that the floodgates for investment were open again.
Jackie 'O' Henderson appears to have shaved decades off her visage as she appeared to look very different in new family photos taken on the Gold Coast.

The radio star, 50, stunned followers on Saturday when she posted to her Instagram grid for the first time in weeks, looking like a 'real life Barbie doll'.

Posing with her mother, Julie, and daughter, Kitty, the blonde beauty looked decades younger than her years, appeared to flaunt a slimmer jawline than usual.

Jackie also seemed to have larger eyes and a fuller pout as she flaunted her toned frame in a brown tank top and white, ruffled skirt.

'Special week away with my mum and daughter,' Jackie wrote in the caption.

'Staying at the stunning Mondrian Hotel has been next level, truly an unforgettable experience. Floating on cloud 9!'

Jackie 'O' Henderson, 50, appears to have shaved decades off her visage as she appeared to look very different in new family photos taken on the Gold Coast

Posing with her mother, Julie, (centre) and daughter, Kitty, (right) the blonde beauty looked decades younger than her years, appeared to flaunt a slimmer jawline than usual

Fans were shocked by the blonde beauty's transformation, taking to the comments of the post to comment on her 'glow up'.

'How does ones face change so much? Like how do I lose the bulkiness in my jawline like you have?' one person asked.

'I was wondering what happened to youwelcome back and looking hotter than ever! x,' said another.

'Beautiful! Looking younger and younger,' a third noted, as someone else commented: 'The glow up of Jackie is iconicwow.'

'Omg you actually look like a real-life barbie doll,' yet another user wrote.

'Guys Shes knocked off another 10 years again,' another joked.

It comes after Jackie revealed the secret behind her youthful appearance in February.

The radio star confessed her beauty secret on The Kyle and Jackie O Show as her co-workers lavished her with compliments.

Jackie also seemed to have larger eyes and a fuller pout as she flaunted her toned frame in a brown tank top and white, ruffled skirt

Fans were shocked by the blonde beauty's transformation, taking to the comments of the post to comment on her 'glow up'

'I just get Botox,' she told them.

'I've gotten lucky with that. I do have lines though. I definitely do,' she added, saying she has smile lines.

In addition to using Botox, which removes wrinkles by temporarily paralysing facial muscles, Jackie splashes out on various spa treatments.

She also shared her recent luxury pampering session at an upmarket spa.

The Venustus day spa, located in the Sydney inner-city suburb of Paddington, offers pricey packages for those seeking to unwind.

The KIIS FM star explained she opted for the Intuitive Package, which included breath work, a massage and a sound bath.

The massage alone is priced at $353 while the two-hour package, which Jackie took part in, comes to $707.
Paris Fury's wedding plans for her daughter Venezuela have been 'revealed' after her 'shock' engagement to her boxer boyfriend Noah Price.

The engagement was announced by Tyson's wife on Instagram last week, with the proposal taking place during Venezuela's 16th birthday party.

'Congratulations to @venezuelafuryofficial and @7noahprice on getting engaged,' Paris wrote.

'Both only young but when you know you know! Still in shock but very happy for you both.

'Me and your Dad couldn't be prouder xxx.'

Now, its been reported that while Paris is thrilled for her daughter, she was still left shocked by the engagement.

Paris Fury 's wedding plans for her daughter Venezuela have been 'revealed' after her 'shock' engagement to her boxer boyfriend Noah Price

The engagement was announced by Tyson's wife on Instagram last week, with the proposal taking place during Venezuela's 16th birthday party

A source told the Mirror: 'Paris was shocked when the engagement happened, but she's delighted and is really going for it when it comes to the wedding.'

Revealing plans for the wedding, the source said: 'Paris wants to show what a party she can put on.

'She wants to have the best and the biggest knees-up with as much glitz and glamour as possible.'

Daily Mail has contacted Paris' representative for comment.

It comes after Venezuela posed for a photo with her proud dad Tyson at her 16th birthday after he hit back at critics who questioned her relationship.

Her engagement to her boyfriend Noah Price was announced by Paris last week, with the proposal taking place during the party.

Giving a further insight into the night on Thursday, Paris uploaded a series of snaps to her Instagram Story.

Venezuela's news has echos of her parents' romance, after first meeting when Tyson was 17 and Paris was 15 - before reconnecting and beginning a romance at her 16th birthday.

It comes after Venezuela posed for a photo with her proud dad Tyson at her 16th birthday after he hit back at critics who questioned her relationship

Giving a further insight into the night on Thursday, Paris uploaded a series of snaps to her Instagram Story

Later in the week, former heavyweight world champion Tyson appeared to respond to the criticism on Instagram.

He shared a video by minaret minds, an Instagram account which states that it focuses on 'Islamic reminders, stories and reflections.'

In the video, the narrator states '50 years ago people got married at 18 and stayed together until death. Today people wait until 30 to get married and divorce within three years.

'Back then, couples had nothing but built everything together. Now couples have everything but can't build anything together. Our grandparents shared one small room and called it paradise. We have five bedroom houses and call them prisons.

'The only difference is we now call commitment settling and call running away finding yourself.'

The post added: 'Who convinced us that love expires, that compatibility is instant, that marriage should feel like a Disney movie every day.

Later in the week, former heavyweight world champion Tyson appeared to respond to the criticism on Instagram

'If we question ourselves, we might stop expecting perfection and start building connection.

'I ask have we become on focused on finding the one that we forgot how to become the one.'

Venezuela's engagement had echoes of Tyson and Paris' romance, with the couple having met when they were 17 and 15 respectively.

They reconnected and began a romance at her 16th birthday.

Paris and Tyson married in 2008 when she was just 19 and he was 21-years-old during a ceremony in Doncaster. They later renewed their vows in April 2013 in New York City.

In August the couple married for the third time, with a ceremony held in the South of France, attended by their seven children.
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Kelsey Parker is reportedly 'struggling' to help her two children navigate through the grief of her stillborn baby Phoenix, as it 'brings back' the loss of her late husband Tom.

The media personality, 35, first faced tragedy in 2022 when Tom died from a brain tumour and again in June of this year when Phoenix was tragically stillborn.

She was expecting her third child with partner Will Lindsay, who she found love with two years after Tom's death.

The entrepreneur shares Aurelia, 6, and Bodhi, who is five this month, with Tom.

And now, three months since the devastating loss of her baby boy, a source claimed Kelsey is firmly convinced her late husband is 'up there, looking after baby Phoenix'.

'Kelsey has not only lost Phoenix but is having to deal with it in the public eye. The grief of losing the baby has brought back the grief of losing Tom and it's such a tricky thing to navigate with the kids,' a telly source told OK!

Kelsey Parker revealed she is 'struggling' to help her two children navigate through the grief of her stillborn Phoenix, as it 'brings back' the loss of her late husband Tom

The media personality, 35, first faced tragedy in 2022 when her husband, The Wanted band-member Tom Parker (pictured together) died from a brain tumour and again in June of this year when her baby son Phoenix was tragically stillborn

'But she truly believes he is up there looking after her and baby Phoenix - but it's such a cruel blow to deal with so much grief in one lifetime.. She's dealing with such a lot.'

Daily Mail has contacted Kelsey's representatives for a comment.

The podcaster candidly admittd she struggled to find the 'right explanation' for her eldest daughter Aurelia, who had been excited at the prospect of a younger brother.

'Time has been really tough. Because Aurelia is six, I wasn't giving her the right answer to what she wanted. I said, 'Phoenix has died and Phoenix is with daddy now,' the former dancer said.

Kelsey recenty returned to the Mum's The Word podcast she hosts with McFly star Danny Jones's wife Georgia for the first time since Phoenix's death.

During the chat, Kelsey opened up about how her children have coped with the loss of their baby brother.

Of Aurelia's grieving process, Kelsey said: 'She was relentless. I'd say to anyone you don't need therapy when you've got Aurelia, because she is a therapist. She actually makes you talk about it, right?'

'I knew that they needed to go through it and process it,' Kelsey added.

She was expecting her third child with partner Will Lindsay (pictured together) who she found love with two years after Tom's death; their baby Phoenix was born at 39 weeks

'Kelsey has not only lost Phoenix but is having to deal with it in the public eye. The grief of losing the baby has brought back the grief of losing Tom and it's such a tricky thing to navigate with the kids,' a telly source told OK!

'Time has been really tough. Because Aurelia is six, I wasn't giving her the right answer to what she wanted. I said, 'Phoenix has died and Phoenix is with daddy now,' the former dancer said (Tom and Kelsey pictured with Aurelia)

'If we all talk about it, then we're going to get through this as a family. But now I have to say to Aurelia stop, because she goes on and on about death.'

The day before, Kelsey revealed the heartbreaking words Aurelia uttered about her father Tom after her baby brother's stillbirth.

Appearing on Tuesday's episode of Loose Women, Kelsey spoke about how she explained Phoenix's passing to Aurelia and Bodhi.

She said: 'Time has been really tough. Because Aurelia's six, I wasn't giving her the right answer to what she wanted. I said, "Phoenix has died and Phoenix is with daddy now".'
Opinion / Columnist

Miniyothabo Baloyi is a Ndebele woman who dared what many would not - marrying a man with a reputation as dark and violent as General Constantine Chiwenga. His legacy should repel intimacy, yet she chose it. Miniyothabo is brave. But she is not alone. Eva Braun stood by Adolf Hitler until the end, committing suicide with him in Berlin. Women are extraordinary, and Miniyothabo Baloyi is one of them - no less.It's now clear why many in Mashonaland have exonerated Chiwenga. He murdered people in Matabeleland and the Midlands - not Shonas. For Mashonaland, Gukurahundi is history. For Matabeleland, it's trauma etched into the nervous system. Chiwenga is spoken of as an angel who staged a coup - but not a coup. And it's not ignorance. The people defending him are educated, respected, and influential. Just read Nkululeko Nkomo's article.Three recent articles on Bulawayo24, including one by Gabriel Manyati, reveal glaring contradictions. Manyati claims Miniyothabo has civilized" Chiwenga, softened his image, and made him approachable. Mashonaland now sees Chiwenga as a lesser evil compared to Mnangagwa. But they committed genocide together - Gukurahundi, farm invasions, Murambatsvina, the 2008 elections, and the 2018 post-election shootings. Chiwenga was central to those orders.Manyati's article is long, repetitive, and carefully constructed to sanitize Chiwenga's bloodstained legacy. Behind every successful man is a good woman," he writes. But this is not about success - it's about erasure. The article reads like a commissioned PR piece to elevate Mrs. Chiwenga amid leadership scuffles.Let's not forget: Chiwenga personally reported to Mnangagwa as commander of the Fifth Brigade. He oversaw massacres in Matabeleland. Miniyothabo is no heroine - she's a gold digger who saw a bachelor with $7 billion in his bank account. Diamonds are forever, and she followed the money.Manyati writes:"Miniyothabo Baloyi's quiet influence has positioned Chiwenga as a lone voice against corruption."What nonsense. Who started corruption in post-independence Zimbabwe? Who stole $15 billion in Marange diamond revenues alongside Mugabe? Chiwenga. He preaches water and drinks wine.They construct narratives to sanitize genocide. They've used guns to silence us. In 2018, Chiwenga authorized the shooting of six demonstrators - all from Mashonaland. Now he's the angel poised to replace Mnangagwa?Other articles echo Manyati's, portraying Miniyothabo as the brain behind Chiwenga - a clever military strategist. But what Chiwenga is fighting to reclaim was once offered by Mugabe. Chiwenga declined, saying Mnangagwa first, then him. Politics doesn't work like that, Generali.Baloyi-Chiwenga is in danger. She's accused of mobilizing former G40 members - excluding Jonathan Moyo - in a covert campaign to take over the presidency. Recruits allegedly include Saviour Kasukuwere, Walter Mzembi, Kerina Mujati, Munyaradzi Shoko, Agrippa Masiyakurima, and others - funded with allowances and operational support. Reports suggest Chiwenga is subtly backed by the Geza revolution. These accusations are deadly in ZANU PF.Colonel Miniyothabo Baloyi is said to have leveraged her military networks to enlist at least 10 serving officers, including military intelligence. Meetings are allegedly held at private farms, 3 Brigade, and Dzivarasekwa Presidential Guard facilities. DMI Colonel Mandaza is named as her chief of staff.She's accused of using social media to portray Chiwenga as a principled anti-corruption figure - aligned with war veterans, civil servants, and the disabled - while painting Mnangagwa as compromised by Zvigananda-linked interests. She allegedly meets with corporate leaders, including Star Car Rentals' Tawanda Marwizi, and trains with Matrix Security in preparation for street-level resistance.Reports claim she organized a key meeting on September 30 along Old Mazowe Road, attended by 21 individuals including ZACC officials, military intelligence officers, and retired generals. USD130,000 was allegedly released for mobilization, with debate over whether to strike during or after the ZANU PF Conference.Disturbingly, some sources allege plans to eliminate or politically neutralize the Police Commissioner General and the CIO Director General - through staged accidents or engineered rifts. Two CIO officials from Branch 5 are reportedly monitoring high-profile figures like Wicknell Chivhayo and Kuda Tagwirei - flagged for arrest, humiliation, or worse. Retired soldiers - said to be 37 - are allegedly on payroll, gathering explosives under the guise of illegal mining.Social media strategist George Charamba and influencer Lynetta (aka LynneM) are said to be amplifying the narrative online, helping Baloyi sow division within Mnangagwa's camp and pave the way for Chiwenga's ascendancy.These tactics are familiar to anyone who understands ZANU PF. They create fake files to destroy you later. If Chiwenga falls in the leadership battle, his wife will not survive. She's already marked. The accusations will be reread before her execution. This is ZANU PF.Women, when they eat and drink abundantly, often lose sight of consequences. Miniyothabo never asked why other wives left Chiwenga. What's fundamentally wrong with him? Merry is not the only one. If Miniyothabo is as good as Manyati claims, why hasn't she helped Chiwenga's children visit their mother? That's basic decency.Manyati writes:"Baloyi's handling of scandals shows her natural role in improving Chiwenga's image."Fake. Chiwenga could have improved his image by showing humanity - by allowing his children to see their mother after seven years. What does Miniyothabo say about that?"Her stylish persona appeals to urban youth and traditionalists alike."Flawed. The Second Lady is far from exemplary - she's toxic. Her skin is whiter than a middle-class European. Her complexion is artificial, the result of bleaching creams. Her hair reaches her backside. Is this what African youth should emulate?Nkululeko Nkomo's article crucifies Miniyothabo. She won't recover. One comment reads: Lapha uBaloyi uzanindwa ngobubende engayidlanga." She will regret the day she said I do" to a man with blood on his hands.Miniyothabo is a disgrace to Matabeleland, Midlands, and all Shona people massacred for being ZAPU members. Comrade Dabulamanzi, a Karanga, was murdered during Gukurahundi for his ZAPU affiliation. Thousands of genocide victims lie in shallow graves, surfacing with the rains.Indlela ibuzwa kwabaphambili - ask those who came before. She should have asked what we know about ZANU PF before and after independence. If Miniyothabo is a Gen Z who discovered a diamond mine in an oldie Chiwenga, she must know the atrocities committed by the man she shares intimacy with. The irony is excruciating.Young women in Matabeleland South will envy her opulence. They'll dream of becoming Miniyothabo. Her complexion and long Indian hair are the fantasy of many African girls growing up.
Kylie Jenner showed her boyfriend Timothee Chalamet what he was missing as she dashed around Paris Fashion Week with her sister Kim Kardashian.

The 28-year-old lip kit mogul and the 29-year-old actor have rarely been seen in each other's company in the past months, fueling a burst of breakup rumors.

However it has since emerged that he has been out of the United States for work, with a source informing the Daily Mail she 'secretly jets off to see him when she can.'

They were last glimpsed together in August when she flew to Budapest to visit him during the filming of his upcoming sci-fi extravaganza Dune: Part Three.

Now the sizzling sensation is back in Europe for Maison Margiela's Paris show, modeling a sheer white blouse that scarcely contained her ample endowments.

Her top featured an asymmetric hem cut at mid-thigh for a skirt-like effect, as well as a textured pattern matching the one on her skintight trousers.

Kylie Jenner showed her boyfriend Timothee Chalamet what he was missing as she dashed around Paris Fashion Week

The 28-year-old lip kit mogul and the 29-year-old actor have rarely been seen in each other's company in the past months, fueling a burst of breakup rumors

Kylie's outfit emphasized her hourglass figure and shapely legs as she strutted her stuff into the Maison Margiela womenswear spring/summer 2026 show.

Letting her luxurious raven hair tumble over her shoulders, she brought out her luminous complexion with makeup for her latest day out.

She tucked a boxy black handbag under one arm and accessorized with matching shades as she teetered around on a towering set of white stilettos.

With Timothee absent from her side, Kylie attended the show in the company of her half-sister Kim Kardashian, who sported a shocking short-cropped gamine hairdo.

The reality TV icon - who is currently suing her sex tape co-star Ray J for defamation after he said a federal RICO case against her and her mother Kris Jenner would be 'worse than Diddy's - served up a generous helping of cleavage in a coat dress.

Kim and Kylie got in a bit of mingling with Italian fashion mogul Renzo Rosso, the president of Maison Margiela's parent company OTB Group.

They also hobnobbed with Renzo's wife Arianna Alessi, who draped her impressively svelte frame in a rose pink dress with dark lace trim.

Kylie was last seen with Timothee when they stopped by a Budapest coffee shop as she visited him during the filming of Dune: Part Three.

Kim Kardashian and Kylie got in a bit of mingling with Italian fashion mogul Renzo Rosso, the president of Maison Margiela's parent company OTB Group

They were last glimpsed together in August when she flew to Budapest to visit him during the filming of his upcoming sci-fi extravaganza Dune: Part Three

They were last glimpsed together in August when she flew to Budapest to visit him during the filming of his upcoming sci-fi extravaganza Dune: Part Three

Her top featured an asymmetric hem cut at mid-thigh for a skirt-like effect, as well as a textured pattern matching the one on her skintight trousers

Letting her luxurious raven hair tumble over her shoulders, she brought out her luminous complexion with makeup for her latest day out

She tucked a boxy black handbag under one arm and accessorized with matching shades as she teetered around on a towering set of white stilettos

They also hobnobbed with Renzo's wife Arianna Alessi, who draped her impressively svelte frame in a rose pink dress with dark lace trim

With Timothee absent from her side, Kylie attended the show in the company of her half-sister Kim Kardashian, who sported a shocking short-cropped gamine hairdo

Kylie was last seen with Timothee when they stopped by a Budapest coffee shop as she visited him during the filming of Dune: Part Three

A couple of starstruck employees at the cafe managed to get a selfie with the celebrity couple, which surfaced on the Instagram page Budapest Baristas.

'Today Kylie Jenner and Timothee Chalamet just walked in to our coffeeshop at Buda we were so in confusion, we could barley concentrate, but i think you can see on our face,' wrote the woman who runs the account.

'Thank god everyone look at them not us. They were super nice and kind thank you for coming @kyliejenner @tchalamet,' she concluded with a heart emoji.

Prior to Kylie's Budapest trip in August, she and Timothee had not been spotted together since a July yachting trip off St Tropez.

Fans began fretting that the couple might have gone their separate ways, only for a source to reveal that his work was what kept them in separate countries.

'Timothee is busy making a movie and the schedule is grueling because he is in so many scenes, he is the star. So he has to be very focused and together to do his best work,' the insider shared with the Daily Mail.

'She helps him out as much as she can, like give him space to work and have her private jet on standby in case he needs to go somewhere fast.'

The source added: 'Kylie is a good girlfriend to him. She is always there and wants him to be happy, and if that means he has to be overseas for a few months, she is OK with it, she will wait. She also secretly jets off to see him when she can.

However the insider acknowledged: 'Of course she misses her man and her heart hurts when he is not near, but she makes it work.'
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are proving just how in sync they are as newlyweds  stepping out in near-identical outfits during a Paris getaway barely three months after their lavish Italian wedding.

The Amazon billionaire, 61, and his stunning TV presenter wife, 55, turned heads on Saturday, following a quick pit stop in Turin the day before.

The couple held hands and rocked matching light grey ensembles that looked like sleek business suits, complete with jackets sporting the same button-down detail.

Lauren shared on Instagram that her outfit was straight from a 1995 John Galliano runway show, but even that high-end nod couldnt compete with Jeffs singular threads, which drew just as many eyes.

The pair looked perfectly in sync as they stepped out of the Ritz Paris, both sporting dark sunglasses that only amplified the 'twinning' vibe.

The Paris outing comes nearly three months after the couple tied the knot in Venice, a nuptial described by many as the 'wedding of the century.'

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are proving just how in sync they are as newlyweds  stepping out in near-identical outfits during a Paris getaway barely three months after their lavish Italian wedding

The Amazon billionaire, 61, and his stunning TV presenter wife, 55, turned heads on Saturday, following a quick pit stop in Turin the day before

On the picturesque San Giorgio Maggiore island, Bezos and the former journalist exchanged vows in front of almost 200 VIP guests.

The Paris outing also came shortly after Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos rubbed elbows with Hollywood A-listers like Salma Hayek and Dakota Johnson at the Kering Foundations fourth annual Caring for Women Dinner.

Sanchez turned heads of her own, posing for photos with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and effectively silencing any lingering critics.

The appearance followed backlash over her digital Vogue cover at the time of her Venice wedding  and fueled rumors that Bezos might one day purchase Vogues parent company, Conde Nast.

Wintour had officially stepped down as Vogue editor-in-chief in late June, just one day before Sanchez and Bezos said 'I do.'

Despite the timing, the pair appeared on excellent terms in photos Sanchez shared from the event, even snapping a moment alongside director Baz Luhrmann and mingling with other celebrity guests.

Back in June, Sanchez had graced Vogues digital cover wearing her custom Dolce & Gabbana wedding gown from the Venice nuptials.

That three-day celebration reportedly drew an A-list crowd including Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Brady, Kim Kardashian, and Orlando Bloom.

The couple held hands and rocked matching light grey ensembles that looked like sleek business suits

The look was complete with jackets sporting the same button-down detail

Lauren shared on Instagram that her outfit was straight from a 1995 John Galliano runway show, but even that high-end nod couldnt compete with Jeffs singular threads, which drew just as many eyes

The pair looked perfectly in sync as they stepped out of the Ritz Paris, both sporting dark sunglasses that only amplified the 'twinning' vibe

While Wintour was invited, she couldnt attend due to prior travel commitments  though she reportedly played a key role in helping Sanchez pick her gown.

Insiders have long noted Wintours influence on Sanchezs fashion choices.

Ahead of a Met Gala appearance, Wintour reportedly weighed in to ensure Sanchezs outfit met her standards, telling biographer Amy Odell that the media executive believed Sanchez had 'poor taste' and needed guidance  a rare level of personal involvement for the former editor.

The rumors about Bezos potentially acquiring Conde Nast surfaced shortly after the wedding.

A source told The Mail on Sunday at the time, 'The rumor that Jeff is going to buy Conde Nast is all anyone's talking about in the fashion industry and inside Vogue.'

Industry chatter suggested Sanchezs Vogue cover might have been partly influenced by the Newhouse family trying to court Bezos, with Wintour herself reportedly involved in brokering any potential deal, thanks to her equity stake in the company.

A separate insider noted, 'Bezos is one of the very few people with deep enough pockets. And Lauren is no airhead  shes a sharp cookie. There have been conversations.'

After all, Bezos previously made headlines for purchasing The Washington Post outright for $250 million in 2013.

Following Wintours departure, Chloe Malle stepped in as the new editor-in-chief of U.S. Vogue, marking the next chapter in the magazines storied leadership.
The Celebrity Traitors star David Olusoga has confessed that he has rewatched 36 hours of the show to prepare as he revealed his strategy to win.

The producer, 55, revealed that he has had to disassociate from his producer instincts and has taken some inspirations from Russian KGB spies.

This year will see a range of A-listers including Paloma Faith, Alan Carr and Kate Garraway as they enter Claudia Winkleman's castle on Wednesday.

Ahead of the series debut, David confessed: 'I've watched all of the series before. As a producer myself, one thing I'm trying to do is stop trying to second guess the producers.

'Because, of course, when I watch these programmes, I'm thinking, well, what would I do as a producer? And that's just not going to get me anywhere.

'So I've got to stop. I've got to unlearn thinking that way. The KGB, Russian spies used to use this phrase, "the forest of mirrors." And I've always loved that phrase.

The Celebrity Traitors star David Olusoga has confessed he has rewatched 36 hours of the show to prepare as the upcoming contestants reveal their strategies to win

The producer revealed that he has had to disassociate from his producer instincts and has taken some inspirations from Russian KGB spies in order to win against his other A-lister competitors

'I think you'll get trapped in the forest of mirrors if you think you can second guess.'

And David was not the only one who walked in with a strategy as fellow contestant Cat Burns confessed she would go under the radar if she was chosen to be a traitor.

She revealed: 'My strategy, if I am a Traitor, would be to just try and go under the radar, not draw too much attention to myself, but also give out names of people who I think could be Traitors.

'I think you run a risk if you don't say anybody's name at all of arousing suspicion. If I am a Faithful, I think I will just try and observe without looking weird, because I'm a massive observer.

'I stare at people anyway, so I'd need to figure out a way to stare at people when they don't know that I'm staring at them!

'I think that would be my best way of working out what game a person might be playing, observing people's mannerisms and stuff, try to suss out whether they're a bit nervous or they're up to something!'

Despite the first series of the spin off not yet airing, The Celebrity Traitors series two is reportedly 'a done deal' ahead of their spin-off debut.

Another year of celebrity spin-off of popular BBC show is already said to be 'in the bag', according to The Sun.

The Celebrity Traitors series two is reportedly 'a done deal' ahead of their spin-off debut

Bosses are expecting the first season to be a hit as the last civilian run, which aired in January, attracted huge ratings of seven million per episode.

Before the series airs on BBC One, bosses are believed to have already started eyeing up the next line up.

It remains to be seen who will be Faithful and who will be a dreaded Traitor this time around, but given the personalities involved, we're expecting fireworks.

Host Claudia has already stipulated that there will be no special treatment for celebs, so no doubt they'll be put through their paces with the usual array of wacky challenges.

A source told the publication: 'The Celebrity Traitors is landing at the very peak of the format's popularity, it's the biggest show on the box, globally, and the cast is exceptional.

'Everyone knows something would have gone incredibly wrong if this didn't become the TV event of the year.

'The official message is that a formal recommission depends how well series one does, but in reality it's all but a done deal.'

A Traitors Spokesperson told DailyMail: 'It would be foolhardy for any faithful to foreshadow what the future could entail.'
Freddy Brazier has revealed he will name his child after his late-mother Jade Goody if his pregnant ex-girlfriend welcomes a daughter.

The son of Jeff Brazier and the late Jade announced he was set to become a father with his ex back in August.

And now speaking for first time since he announced the happy news, he revealed to The Sun that the baby is due in April 2026.

He told the publication: 'I think Jade would be a good name, if it's a girl, after my mum.

'But I have some unique and nice name ideas too. The baby is due next year, in April, it's really exciting, I can't wait to be a father.'

He also explained that him and the mother of his child are not in a relationship but are 'civil' and they both want to create a 'nice life' for their first child.

Freddy Brazier has revealed he will name his child after his late-mother Jade Goody if his pregnant ex-girlfriend welcomes his first daughter

The son of the late Jade (pictured in 2006) and Jeff Brazier announced he was set to become a father with an ex-girlfriend last week, and has now revealed they are back together

Freddy also explained that his father, Jeff, 'fully supports him' but his brother Bobby, was 'a bit shocked' by the news.

Freddy and his ex's brief relationship was understood to have ended acrimoniously following a string of rows but it was previously said they had discussed reconciling their differences if possible, to become parents together.

Last month the pair looked as though they had got back together as he shared his first photo with his 'baby mother-to-be'.

Sharing a sweet video to TikTok, Freddy uploaded a photo with his partner and wrote: 'Off the market.'

Another photo showed his girlfriend with their pet dog, which he titled: 'My little family so far.'

Freddy captioned the update: 'My Riches, my happiness and my reasons to keep on growing!'

The dad-to-be has now put those rumours to bed in his latest interview.

In an Instagram post earlier this month, the model wrote and repeated in a video: 'Im actually a DILF to be!' - an acronym for an attractive dad, as he announced the news.

Freddy and his ex's brief relationship was understood to have ended acrimoniously following a string of rows but it was previously said they had discussed reconciling their differences

Jeff and Freddy have spent much of the last year estranged, only to be reunited some weeks ago after the baby announcement

In a previous Instagram post, the model wrote and repeated in a video: 'Im actually a DILF to be!' - an acronym for an attractive dad, as he announced the news

Freddy's older brother Bobby has also spoke about becoming an uncle for the first time at the NTAs.

Bobby told Daily Mail: 'I'm excited to become an Uncle, it's going to be a team effort, like raising anything is.

'My dad has been super supportive and we're going to raise the baby together.'

But when asked if it was going to be a healing force between his family who have recently been experiencing a rift after his brother fell out with his father Jeff, Bobby said: 'I'm not sure about healing but we're going to raise it together.

'At first I thought it could have been a prank when I heard about it,' Bobby admitted.

The Strictly star revealed he first heard about it when the Mail on Sunday broke the story last month and he called up his father who confirmed the revelation.

Jeff and Freddy have spent much of the last year estranged, only to be reunited by the baby announcement.

The baby news would have made Big Brother star Jade, who died of cervical cancer in 2009, a grandmother for the first time (pictured with sons Bobby on left and Freddy right in 2006)

'There was only one person that Freddy could have turned to,' a source told the Mail on Sunday. 'His dad.'

While relations had been strained for some time, particularly when Jeff hired lawyers in a bid to stop Freddy seeing his notoriously unstable grandmother, he always knew that his father would be there for him if a crisis arose.

The source continued: 'He has been in close contact with Jeff ever since, and has been taking his advice.

'It came as a shock to Freddy that he is going to be a dad and he needed some help navigating it. Jeff has been amazing and is helping him so much.'
A Southern Charm alum was sentenced Friday after last years DUI incident in South Carolina landed her behind the wheel of trouble.

Kathryn Dennis, 34, was handed a 30-day jail term and taken into custody Friday at 6:54 p.m. local time, according to Berkeley County Sheriffs Office records obtained by WCBD TV-2.

Dennis did not immediately respond to DailyMails request for comment.

The reality star was at the center of a three-vehicle crash on Monday, May 20, 2024.

Bystanders at the scene told officers Dennis might be impaired, and authorities reportedly detected the smell of alcohol.

When approached, the reality star appeared to have glossy eyes, according to the incident report.

Southern Charm alum Kathryn Dennis was sentenced Friday after last years DUI incident in South Carolina landed her behind the wheel of trouble

Kathryn Dennis, 34, was handed a 30-day jail term and taken into custody Friday at 6:54 p.m. local time, according to Berkeley County Sheriffs Office records obtained by WCBD TV-2

When authorities checked Dennis car, they reportedly found an unopened mini-Fireball bottle on the drivers side floor and an empty pink tumbler, according to the incident report.

The responding officer said he detected the smell of alcohol on Dennis and asked whether she had been drinking or taking any medication, to which she denied both.

In a cache of footage, obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com, the former Southern Charm belle can also be seen flunking her field sobriety test earlier that evening  wobbling shoeless in the headlights of the patrol car called to the scene.

In the video, the officer takes the Fireball bottles out of the bag one by one, before coming across a single can of Coke. He eventually throws them all in the trash.

According to the incident report obtained by DailyMail.com, the first officer to speak to Dennis observed her 'glossy eyes' and 'the odor of alcohol emanating from [her] person.'

The officer also noted 'an unopened bottle of Fireball on the driver's side floorboard' and a 'pink tumbler cup in the center console which was empty'.

The officer noted that Dennis refused a breathalyzer test but agreed to undergo a field sobriety test.

Captured by the dashcam video of his patrol car the extent to which Dennis flunked the test is painfully evident.

According to his report the first test the officer carried out was the 'Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test,' in which a person is asked to track an officer's finger while the cop looks for the tell-tale involuntary eye jerking which happens when someone under the influence of drugs or alcohol looks to the side.

As well as smelling the alcohol on Dennis, the officer noted four out of six clues suggesting intoxication while conducting the test including a 'lack of smooth pursuit' on Dennis's part.

The next test was a walk and turn for which she chose to remove her sandals. Here the officer noted she could not even keep her balance while standing in the starting position, used her arms and hands for balance as she walked and missed the heel to toe requirement of the walk on numerous occasions.

She was also unable to balance on one leg without wind-milling her arms to keep her balance.

Later, oblivious to her performance, Dennis can be heard telling herself: 'I passed that f***ing field sobriety test. This is some b******t. Like, I literally am not drunk.'

The former Southern Charm belle can be seen flunking her field sobriety test - wobbling, shoeless, in the headlights of the patrol car called to the scene

New video shows a police officer emptying bottles of Fireball whiskey out of Dennis's Louis Vuitton dog bag after her DUI arrest

Dennis was traveling with her golden doodle puppy 'Lil Gucci' whom she had placed in the back of the police patrol vehicle during these tests

Videos show the reality star handcuffed after failing sobriety tests. She tells the cops: Y'all are ruining my life'

Dennis was traveling with her golden doodle puppy 'Lil Gucci' whom she had placed in the back of the police patrol vehicle during these tests. When officers searched the pup's dog carrier they found, 'several mini bottles of Fireball, some of which were opened and empty.'

Indeed, footage of the search of that bag as she was booked into Berkley County Detention Center some hours later shows an officer removing at least ten miniature bottles from the bag  some are empty, some are open and appear half empty, others are full and still bound together by the plastic wrap of the multipack in which they were bought.

Patrol car footage of the drive from the scene to the detention center reviewed by DailyMail.com shows Dennis running the emotional gamut in attempts to derail the due process of her arrest.

At times she pleads, at others she wails in fury at being separated from her 'child' by which she means her dog.

At some points she threatens the officers with legal action, saying she will 'ruin' them, at others she attempts to chat more calmly and elicit sympathy.

When she sobs her tears appear to be out of frustration and anger that none of her tactics have any impact on the cops.

She accuses the officer of touching her inappropriately as he reaches across her to fasten her safety-belt across her lap while her hands are cuffed behind her back.

She then accuses the officer of trying to 'gaslight' her 'like my ex.'

Dennis's tumultuous relationship with disgraced former congressman Thomas Ravenel which resulted in two children and ended in 2018 when he was hit with sexual assault charges by three women, was the predominant plotline or her eight seasons with Bravo reality show, Southern Charm.

The reality star was also booked for driving with an open container

Dennis's tumultuous relationship with disgraced former congress man Thomas Ravenel ended in 2018. They share son St. Julien Rembert, eight, and daughter Kensington Calhoun, 10

At one point during her transportation to the detention center Dennis pleads for leniency from the officer arresting her saying, 'I'm going to lose custody of my children, please!'

But Dennis lost custody of Kensington 'Kensie' Calhoun, 9, and St. Julien 'Saint' Rembert, 7, to their father following a protracted and bitter custody battle as she repeatedly failed the court-mandated drug testing on which her rights to her children depended.

She now has supervised visitation with them every other Saturday and Sunday.

At another point she says, 'I'm never going to get my kids back. Thanks guys. There's literally no reason for me to be here. So congratulations it's f***ing b******t.'

Vacillating wildly, Dennis seems lucid at times, before lurching into a rage and threatening the officers, 'I will f***ing ruin you,' when they explain her dog will be taken into a pound until someone can come and collect him.

Later, in a moment of apparent resignation and exhaustion she says, 'There's no way to go back now is there?'

Her bond was set at $1,199.50 for the DUI and $257.70 for transporting an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle.
With Annabels, Mayfairs most exclusive nightclub, culling its 3,750-a-year membership list to keep out the riff-raff, the wise move would be to try to stay on the right side of its owner.

However, reality TV star Amanda Cronin appears to have burned her bridges with Richard Caring after slating the nightspot on air.

Long story short, on episode one of Real Housewives Of London, I called it Chav-abels, Amanda tells me.

That is what people call it. I didnt make it up! Then I get an email and I see, Were not renewing your membership.

Her membership was actually with sister club George, which king of Mayfair Caring also owns.

But its not the first run-in Amanda  who revels in the nickname The Longest Legs In Belgravia  has had with Annabels.

The model-turned-skincare entrepreneur, right, who once dated Wham! star Andrew Ridgeley, tells me she was denied entry to the club last year, despite wearing a very expensive outfit.

I had boots on from Gucci, a beautiful catsuit, perfect make-up, fine jewellery and a Gucci bag to match  all new, she says.

Reality TV star Amanda Cronin (pictured) appears to have burned her bridges with Richard Caring after slating the nightspot on air

The receptionist makes me wait there like an idiot, then says, I cant let you in. You are wearing leggings.

I called, I complained, I emailed Richard, I texted, and I said, Are you joking? You turned me away because I was wearing a stretchy catsuit? I was deeply upset and deeply embarrassed.

Amanda now says she will be spending her time at new restaurant Carbone instead.

Although near impossible to get a reservation at the celebrity haunt, she insists: I can get a table whenever I like.

Annabels, George, it is not my status. My status is much, much higher than this group.

A source has said of the cull: Annabels is globally famous for its exclusivity and elegance. This will ensure it remains so.

Carings representative was contacted for comment.

Picture perfect relationship

They've been together 16 years, but actor Jason Statham, 58, and model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 38, looked frosty at last weeks Burberry show, sitting stiffly side by side at Kensington Palace, jaws clenched and with no eye contact.

Until, that is, camera flashes fired up and the pair, right, struck a loved-up pose  for as long as lenses were looking.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Jason Statham attend the Burberry Summer show together

Daisy's fallen for a scan

I hear the Countess Mountbatten of Burmas granddaughter has joined the 22,000-long list of people waiting for the trendy full body MoT-like scan at Neko Health.

But the latest Swedish wellness fad comes at a price, as fashion designer Daisy Knatchbull, right, will have to pay 300 for the pleasure.

A healthy sum, indeed!

Best stick to fashion Trinny!

Don't expect to see beauty mogul Trinny Woodall on the Great British Bake Off any time soon.

Trinny was supposed to be cooking a meal for her best mate and former TV sidekick Susannah Constantine last week but managed to produce a dish, right, so blackened it was unidentifiable.

Not only is Trinny a brilliant and tireless businesswoman but she is also a fabulous cook, Susannah joked.

Trinny Woodall was supposed to be cooking a meal for her friends but managed to produce a dish, right, so blackened it was unidentifiable

Hollywood heart-throb Gosling's organic haul

It must be nice to work at Daylesford Organic in Notting Hill.

I hear staff at the upmarket grocer and cafe have been enjoying the presence of Hollywood heart-throb Ryan Gosling recently.

The Barbie star apparently keeps things low-key, arriving without any security and often with his family in tow, and will always leave a generous tip to his lucky server.

His most recent gratuity? A hefty 120.

It's nepo dad!

Forget nepo babies  here come the nepo dads.

Actor James Norton handed his father Hugh a blink-and-youll-miss-it cameo in his new Netflix drama, House Of Guinness.

Hugh plays a protester fighting for Irish independence, directly opposed to Jamess character, Sean Rafferty, a loyalist foreman for the Guinness family.

On Instagram, the actor, who often lands his dad small roles in his projects, joked it was bring your dad to work day as he shared a snap of them in hats and cravats, left, on social media.
Strictly was back and bigger than ever for Week Two as the couple's descended on the dancefloor once again.

While the celebrities didn't face the public vote last week, this week will see the two lowest scoring pair's fight for their survival in the dance off on Sunday night.

And the night didn't come without its dramas after a series of trips, on and off the dancefloor, a new dark horse emerging, and Thomas Skinner's bizarre salsa.

Meanwhile, Ross King was overcome with emotion as he shed a tear at the end of his waltz after dedicating it to his home country of Scotland.

Last minute addition to the lineup Amber Davies also returned with a sizzling Samba as she found herself at the top of the leaderboard.

The former Love Islander was celebrating her 29th birthday on Saturday night and after scoring a whopping 29 for her Samba on only week two, she now has a combined score of 56 following last week's scores.

Strictly returned for Week Two on Saturday as birthday girl Amber Davies topped the leaderboard after her incredible Samba

Ross King was overcome with emotion as he shed a tear at the end of his waltz after dedicating it to his home country of Scotland and dancing to The Proclaimers

At the other end of the leaderboard, Ross found himself at the very bottom with 25.

However, the meaning of the dance meant more than any score after he performed a waltz to The Proclaimers ballad Sunshine On Leith.

After taking his partner Jowita to visit Scotland during training this week, the journalist was overwhelmed as he shed a tear at the end of his performance as his girlfriend watched from the audience.

Elsewhere, viewers were left reeling after Thomas Skinner's salsa routine went viral for all the wrong reasons.

The TV personality, 34, took to the dancefloor with Amy Dowden, 35, performing to Dizzee Rascal's hit track Bonkers as his wife Sinead proudly watched on from the audience.

However, within seconds of the performance kicking off, fans flocked to X (formerly Twitter) to blast Thomas's dance skills, exaggerated facial expressions, and his constant tongue movements.

One unimpressed viewer fumed: 'Watching Tom Skinner try and dance is actually making me feel sick. PUT YOUR TONGUE AWAY PLEASEEE.'.

Skinner's wife Sinead shared a snap from the Strictly studio before the show kicked off as she turned out in support of her husband.

The former Love Islander was celebrating her 29th birthday on and after scoring a whopping 29 for her Samba, she now has a combined score of 56 following last week's scores

Ross found himself at the very bottom with 25. However the meaning of the dance meant more than any score after he performed a waltz to The Proclaimers ballad Sunshine On Leith

Viewers were left reeling after Thomas Skinner 's salsa routine went viral for all the wrong reasons as he danced to Dizzee Rascal's hit track Bonkers

However, within seconds of the performance kicking off, fans flocked to X (formerly Twitter ) to blast Thomas's dance skills, exaggerated facial expressions, and his constant tongue movements

And it seems there are also a few new dark horses in the competition after both Vicky Pattison (pictured) and George Clark also received very unexpected praise from the judges

Shirley was particularly impressed as she commented that the former reality star is 'going to go far' with Vicky unable to contain her shock

After a powerful Paso Doble, social media star George found himself third on the leaderboard with 54

Neighbours star Stefan Dennis survived his Cha Cha Cha, despite struggling in training, yet it was the stairs up to host Claudia Winkleman that caused him to trip

Neighbours star Stefan Dennis survived his Cha Cha Cha, despite struggling in training, yet it was the stairs up to host Claudia Winkleman that caused him to trip

As he made his way up the star missed his footing as partner Dianne Buswell steadied him as she exclaimed: 'Golly gosh. Be careful, be careful.'

And it seems there are also a few new dark horses in the competition after both Vicky Pattison and George Clark also received very unexpected praise from the judges.

After joining the competition as a bag of nerves, Vicky proudly performed a Foxtrot to fellow Geordie Sam Fender's hit track Rein On Me.

And Shirley was particularly impressed as she commented that the former reality star is 'going to go far'.

Holding back tears, Vicky later said: 'I am proud to come from the North East and I don't think I have always done them proud, especially at the start of my career, so it is nice to know I have turned a corner with Strictly'.

Later, after a powerful Paso Doble, social media star George found himself third on the leaderboard with 54.

Karen Carney revealed she has suffered from a spinal condition since childhood, and has shared how it affects her ability to perform on the show

Karen and her professional dance partner Carlos Gu, 32, performed a Tango set to Dua Lipa's hit Training Season

Just below Emmerdale Lewis Cope, Shirley exclaimed: 'I think Lewis better watch his back,' as she implied the pair could be fierce competition.

Before her turn on the dance floor, Karen Carney revealed a childhood health condition that would likely impact her dancing abilities.

The former footballer, 38, and her professional dance partner Carlos Gu, 32, were seen rehearsing for their second live performance - a Tango set to Dua Lipa's hit Training Season.

She then told cameras: 'I have this thing called Scheuermann's, I've had it since I was a kid.

'It's a curve in my spine, it's really, really hard for me to open my back up to certain elements that I just won't be able to do as well as I'd love to, but Carlos is really supportive, really encouraging.'

As the second week came to an end, Claudia and Tess revealed that Motsi Mabuse will have the deciding vote this week.

The twist - previously announced - will see head judge Shirley Ballas' once sole responsibility shared amongst her counterparts for this series.
Shoppers who regularly flock to Aldi for bargain groceries may be surprised to learn the budget chain's name actually has a hidden meaning - and a dramatic history stretching back more than a century.

The German supermarket giant, which now has more than 10,000 stores worldwide and plans to have around 3,200 US locations open by 2028, began life in 1913 when Anna Albrecht opened a small grocery store in Essen, Germany.

After World War II, her sons, Karl and Theo, returned from military service - both having survived brutal stints as prisoners of war after fighting for Hitler - and took over the family business.

By the mid-1950s, they had expanded to more than 100 stores across Germany, standing out in a post-war economy with a ruthless focus on frugality.

They cut costs by avoiding advertising altogether, stripping shelves of slow-selling items, and pricing goods around 20 per cent lower than rivals.

In 1961, the brothers rebranded the chain under a new name: Aldi - a shortened version of Albrecht-Diskont, or 'Albrecht's Discount'.

They simply combined the first two letters of each word.

Shoppers who head to Aldi for cut-price groceries may be surprised to learn the name hides a deeper meaning - and a dramatic history going back more than 100 years. Pictured above a stock photo of its Williamsport, Pennsylvania, store

The very first Albrecht family store in Essen, Germany, which later inspired the name Aldi

Inside an Aldi supermarket in Alhambra, California, pictured above

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That low-key decision marked the birth of one of the most successful retail empires in the world. But the Albrecht brothers' story was far from ordinary.

Theo, who once fought under Desert Fox Erwin Rommel in North Africa, was kidnapped in 1971 and held hostage in a cupboard for 17 days until a ransom of 1.5 million ($2 million) was paid - half of which was never recovered. Famously frugal, he even tried to claim the ransom as a business expense for tax purposes.

Karl, who nearly lost his leg after being wounded on the Russian front, became known for designing the layout of Aldi stores himself, and once admitted he found visiting different locations 'a lot of fun'.

Theo was known for wearing pencils down to the nub and policing the thickness of office photocopier paper. Karl, slightly less austere, allowed himself an afternoon nap.

Their empire eventually split into two divisions: Aldi Nord, led by Theo in northern Germany, and Aldi Sud, overseen by Karl in the south.

Aldi arrived in the US in 1976 under Karl's Aldi Sud when a Giant Food grocery store in Iowa City, Iowa, unexpectedly closed and was reopened as the inaugural stateside Aldi.

The UK's more than 1,000 branches also fall under Aldi Sud.

Both were among the richest men in the world when they died, Theo in 2010 and Karl in 2014, with a combined fortune of $38.8billion.

Aldi is known for its Cuthbert cake. Pictured above its limited edition gender reveal party Cuthbert cake

The Albrecht brothers, who survived prisoner-of-war camps in World War II, went on to found Aldi - a retail empire built on frugality and secrecy (Pictured: Karl Albrecht)

Karl and Theo Albrecht turned their mother's corner shop into one of the world's biggest supermarket chains by sticking to a ruthless formula of low prices and no frills (Pictured: Theo Albrecht)

This handout image dated 1930 provided by ALDI shows an inside outside view and employees of Karl Albrecht Spiritousen and Lebensmittel shop, at Huestrasse 89 in Essen-Schonnebeck, Germany. The small store in a suburb of Essen was founded by the mother of Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1913

Their legacy lives on through Aldi, although there have been some spats along the way.

When Theo's wife Cacilie died, her will called for her and five of her grandchildren to be excluded from future business decisions.

She accused them of financing their luxury lifestyles by spending money in a way that was out of line with the family's frugal lifestyle, saying: 'With this document I undertake to ensure the preservation of the philosophy of our family, which is to serve the consortium Aldi Nord and to foster this, at the same time as setting aside selfinterests and practicing a modest and abstemious way of life.'

So while customers may now find plenty of avocados on Aldi shelves, the name above the door still reflects the brand's enduring roots: a family-run 'discount' store with a legacy built on survival, thrift, and resilience.
Kevin O'Leary had a strong message for recently engaged couples, warning that opting not to have a prenuptial agreement was 'moronic' and the 'stupidest idea ever'.

When asked on a recent episode of Moneywise whether couples should get a prenup before getting married, O'Leary vehemently promoted the concept.

He blasted those who advised against the agreements: 'Anybody that does that is crazy. And so, don't do that. I highly advice you don't do that. That's a very stupid thing to do to yourself,' he said.

'A woman should never ever give up her financial independence. That advice is moronic'.

O'Leary then revealed that he had a prenup with his current wife, Linda, whom he has been married to since 1990.

However, O'Leary confessed that the agreement essentially becomes 'irrelevant' once the couple has children.

'A prenup means nothing after kids,' he explained, adding that children create a dual responsibility for the marriage.

'There's two forms of marriage. There's the euphoric phase, where you go in because you love each other, and that's a wonderful time, but then reality strikes about 24 months later, and you start contemplating family,' O'Leary said.

Kevin O'Leary said it was 'moronic' not to get a prenup and that it was 'crazy' not to protect yourself financially before marriage

O'Leary revealed during the interview that he did have a prenup with his wife, Linda (pictured), but that it became 'irrelevant' after having children

O'Leary had previously invested in a company called HelloPrenup, which pitched their company to the investor on Shark Tank

'And when that happens, you'd better have money at the table'.

He then referenced a Shark Tank company he had invested in, called HelloPrenup, which was created to help middle and working-class couples draft their agreements.

O'Leary went on to say that couples should start discussing money as early as the third date, over a bottle of wine.

'When you talk about money, actually, it makes it even more romantic. It means that you're really interested in that person and you're thinking about a future with them. That's extremely romantic,' he argued.

However, not all financial experts share O'Leary's perspective, as radio show host Dave Ramsey offered conflicting advice during an episode of his syndicated radio show, The Ramsey Show, last year.

Ramsey said that prenups would be a 'slam dunk' if people could separate financial advice from spiritual and relationship ideologies, but it's impossible to do so.

He clarified that financial experts who advocate for prenups shouldn't be discredited; however, they're only advising through a singular lens.

Ramsey argued that prenups could 'stunt' the couple's growth because they're not working together on finances.

'Don't get married if you love your stuff more than you love her,' Ramsey said bluntly.

'I believe you're planning your divorce. I believe you're asking for trouble, and you know, it cheapens the whole affair and puts a dollar figure to it [marriage]. And I'm not doing that,' Ramsey concluded.

Financial advisors often disagree over whether couples should enter into a prenup; however, the practice has become more popular among younger generations.

An Axios survey from 2023 found that 50 percent of adults in the US at least somewhat supported prenups, even though only one in five married couples have one.

Data collected by the dating app, The League, shared with the publication, found that 66 percent of their users said they'd be open to signing one.

The notable financial advisors offered conflicting advice on prenups, with O'Leary saying it was 'moronic' not to get one, but Ramsey arguing that it 'cheapens' the marriage

Theresa Viera, a family law attorney, contested the idea that prenups preempt divorce, telling NPR: 'We're not preconceiving that a divorce is going to occur. We're discussing important financial issues that come up in every marriage'.

She noted that prenups prevent couples from being subjected to state laws if they decide to divorce.

However, author and attorney Laurie Israel told The Cut that prenups are often overreaching and unfair to the less-wealthy spouse.

'The result is that it sets up a very unequal power dynamic, which is damaging to the relationship and the marriage from the beginning,' she argued.

'I believe that marriage is about sharing, and the more you share, the more likely your marriage is to thrive'.
Chief Justice of India BR Gavai on Friday said the Indian legal system is governed by the rule of law and not by rule of the bulldozer. Delivering the inaugural Sir Maurice Rault Memorial Lecture 2025 in Mauritius on Rule of Law in the Largest Democracy, he referred to his own verdict deprecating bulldozer justice.

Highlighting the principle of the rule of law and its expansive interpretation by the Supreme Court of India, Justice Gavai, who is on a three-day official visit to the island nation, said, The judgment sent a clear message that the Indian legal system is governed by the rule of law, not by the rule of the bulldozer.

In the judgment in the bulldozer justice case, the top court held that demolition of houses of the accused in response to alleged offences bypasses legal processes, violates the rule of law and infringes upon the fundamental right to shelter under Article 21. It was further held that the executive cannot assume the roles of judge, jury, and executioner simultaneously, the CJI said.

He delivered the lecture in the presence of the President of Mauritius Dharambeer Gokhool, Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam and Chief Justice Rehana Mungly Gulbul, among others. In his address, the CJI referred to various landmark judgements of the top court, including the 1973 Kesavananda Bharati verdict that had brought the basic structure doctrine and clipped the powers of Parliament to amend every bit of the Constitution.

Over the past 75 years, since the adoption of the Indian Constitution, the concept of the Rule of Law has evolved far beyond legal texts, permeating social, political, and constitutional discourse alike, he said. Justice Gavai said in the social sphere, laws have been enacted to redress historical injustices and marginalised communities have frequently invoked them, and the very language of the rule of law to assert their rights against entrenched systems of oppression.

In the political arena, the rule of law serves as a benchmark of good Governance and societal progress, standing in stark contrast to misGovernance and lawlessness, where institutions and public officials might otherwise evade accountability, he said. Referring to the contributions of Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar, Justice Gavai said their vision demonstrated that in India the Rule of Law is not a mere set of rules. It is an ethical and moral framework designed to uphold equality, protect human dignity, and guide Governance in a diverse and complex society, he said.

The CJI referred to recent notable verdicts including the one that abolished the practice of instant triple talaq among Muslims. He also highlighted the judgments in the case challenging the law on adultery and the electoral bond scheme. Taken together, these four judgments demonstrate how the Supreme Court has

developed the rule of law as a substantive principle, using it to strike down laws that are manifestly arbitrary or unjust, he said. Justice Gavai also emphasised the importance of the judgment which held the right to privacy as a fundamental right.

This articulation underscores that, when understood as a core principle of constitutionalism, the rule of law operates on both procedural and substantive levels: it restrains arbitrary action by the State, guarantees equality before the law, and embeds democratic accountability across all branches and levels of Governance, he said.

Justice Gavai said the principle has animated the legal discourse as the top court repeatedly invoked the language of the rule of law to both legitimise and explain its constitutional role, as well as the constitutional roles of other branches of the state.

The rule of law is thus not a rigid doctrine but a conversation across generations, between judges and citizens, parliaments and peoples, nations and their histories. It is about how we govern ourselves in dignity and how we resolve the inevitable conflicts of liberty and authority in a democratic society, he said.
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Opinion / Columnist

The mausoleum built for the late Robert Gabriel Mugabe at the National Heroes Acre stands completed, gleaming in its hut-shaped grandeur of glass, stone and symbolism. Yet, it remains an empty shrine - a monument in search of a body. It is a haunting metaphor for Zimbabwe's unresolved relationship with its founding father, a man who liberated the country only to later preside over its political and economic decline.President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration seems determined to exhume Mugabe's remains from Zvimba for reburial at the shrine. The question is: why now, and at what cost?The mausoleum itself is rich in symbolism. Its design, with the Zimbabwe Bird atop and roof patterns reminiscent of Great Zimbabwe, was clearly intended to immortalise Mugabe as a national icon. But the very fact that Mugabe's family refused to release his remains for burial there makes the structure feel like an elaborate stage set for a play that may never be performed.One cannot help but speculate on the motives behind this project. Was it meant as an olive branch to those within ZANU-PF who remain loyal to Mugabe's legacy? Or is it an attempt by Mnangagwa to tether Mugabe's historical stature to his own administration, thereby cementing a narrative of continuity? The decision to push forward despite family objections hints at a political project dressed up as cultural reverence.The legal wrangling that followed Mugabe's burial only deepens the mystery. Chief Zvimba's ruling in 2021  fining Grace Mugabe and demanding exhumation  was as much political theatre as it was customary pronouncement. Mugabe's children countered it in court, insisting their father wanted a private burial in Zvimba. Who, then, does the mausoleum serve? The family, certainly not. The people, perhaps only in appearance. The ruling elite, most likely.There are whispers, too, that the mausoleum's completion was not simply about honouring Mugabe but about securing contracts, supplying rare materials, and creating yet another opaque state project where public funds vanish with little scrutiny. If true, the shrine is not just empty of Mugabe's body but also of sincerity.For all the rhetoric of respecting the founding father," Mugabe's final resting place remains in Zvimba, surrounded by the soil of his ancestors. Unless his remains are forcibly moved  an act that would likely provoke outrage and deepen mistrust between the government and ordinary citizens  the mausoleum risks becoming a hollow relic, an architectural ghost of contested history.Perhaps this is the most fitting legacy of Robert Mugabe himself: a leader who embodied contradictions, who fought for freedom yet clung to power, who preached unity yet sowed division. His mausoleum, now complete but empty, mirrors those contradictions  a place of honour that dishonours his last wishes, a shrine that stands but does not rest.Until Mnangagwa decides whether to risk the political and cultural fallout of exhumation, the mausoleum will continue to loom over Heroes Acre as a silent question: is this a tribute to Mugabe, or a monument to the state's inability to let him go?
Opinion / Columnist

If South Africa coughs, the entire SADC catches a cold. Should a coup d'etat erupt in South Africa, Zimbabwe will follow. The infighting between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga has reached boiling point. Minister in the ANC Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, recently hinted at the possibility of a coup, stating that the government is monitoring a situation ripe for upheaval.There is concrete evidence that the SADC region is fragile. Last year, Mozambique was rocked by post-election protests amid allegations of rigging. Eswatini saw mass demonstrations aimed at dismantling its medieval monarchy. After Jacob Zuma's incarceration in 2021, South Africa experienced its worst unrest since apartheid. These protests were not random - they were messages to leaders who have failed their people. The region demands a complete political overhaul. Governments that serve the people are needed - urgently.The death of Ambassador Nkosinathi Mthethwa in Europe is no coincidence. It reflects the deep-seated corruption within the ANC government. Unpacking South Africa's rot is a disservice for an outsider - it's too convoluted. Almost simultaneously, Julius Malema was convicted for illegal gun possession and public discharge. If upheld, he faces a minimum 15-year sentence.According to The Daily Maverick, the South African government had lost R700 billion in public funds by 2015. Ten years later, how much more has been embezzled by ministers and top civil servants?What a continental embarrassment - an ambassador commits suicide in Europe. Mthethwa's death and Malema's conviction are not isolated events. They expose the ANC's corruption, which plays directly into the hands of white establishments both locally and globally. Even the EFF, once a voice for economic justice, is tainted. Malema's gun-toting is a symptom of rogue politics.The ANC is politically unsalvageable. It will sink, unelectable and unfit for coalition. The EFF will lose its radical edge if Malema is imprisoned. It has already lost key intellectual pillars. Zuma's Umkhonto We Sizwe party is no alternative - it's a family enterprise, not a national movement.The black independence that Nelson Mandela and millions fought for has come to naught. Black communities are worse off than during apartheid. Is that not shameful?> "It is better to misgovern ourselves than to be misgoverned."I grew up reciting this mantra. But what does it mean? If asked to explain, I'd struggle. It's a haunting question.The Democratic Alliance is emerging as the only party without glaring corruption in parliamentary conduct. That's telling. White South Africans have long claimed that blacks are incapable of governing a complex economy. With access to public funds, black officials enriched themselves - developing private estates with public money. Zuma did it. Mthethwa did it.Zimbabwe's situation is equally dire. Citizens want ZANU PF gone. They want a new dispensation that benefits the people - not Chinese investors. But change won't come easily. Something must give. The winds of change are blowing across South Africa and Zimbabwe.What happens if coups erupt in both countries simultaneously? Who will rescue the region from chaos? Political events are spiraling. The Mkhwanazi allegations - dating back to 2010 - have exploded, implicating Mthethwa, who served as Police Minister under Zuma. The rot may run deeper than social media suggests.President Ramaphosa's muted response to Mthethwa's death is disturbing. He should be alarmed by the death of an ambassador abroad. His body language says otherwise. Was it suicide - or assassination?If police and army departments collude with criminals, who protects the citizenry? How could the ANC disappoint so profoundly? Independence was hard-won - even supported by global citizens. If R500 billion was stolen by ANC elites, who will clean up the mess?The DA has found its moment. Did we not say South Africa would become a colony again? It's happening in our lifetime.There are 4 million white South Africans. If a coup occurs, Afrikaners will seize control of key institutions, claiming to restore law and order - what the ANC failed to do. The ambassador's death is the scandal of a lifetime, smearing Africa as a whole.Gogo Matshiqi once said: African governments are a curse to this continent - from Cape to Cairo. There's no evidence South Africa has a president on the ground. It remains an entity floated on the New York Stock Exchange.The economy is white capital. Ramaphosa is its manager. Can we imagine a president stashing millions of US dollars in sofas and mattresses? Ramaphosa must have learned from Mnangagwa, who allegedly hoards bales of cash. Ramaphosa's jovial photo ops with China and Russia give me goosebumps. In China, he'd have faced a firing squad long ago.Major corruption reveals the black ruling class's desire to live like the white elite. But colonizers have amassed wealth for centuries. Government wages are meager. Ramaphosa's Phala Phala case remains unresolved. His high-profile corruption charges await the right moment to politically finish him.It took seven years to charge Malema. Why so long? Black politicians are deliberately exposed to corruption - to prove the point: "A black man is corrupt." The evidence is everywhere. General Mkhwanazi is exposing ANC rot block by block.Meanwhile, former colonialists laugh: "Did we not say it? An African is corrupt through and through." African leaders haven't mastered basic civil administration. What was Uhuru for? What socialism did the ANC promise during the liberation struggle? What happened to the Freedom Charter?In Zambia, we sang with South Africans: "Freedom in our lifetime." Where is that freedom?Former Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith once said: "Not in a thousand years can an African master good governance." In black governments, children play in open sewage and don't recognize the smell. This is happening in Harare and Bulawayo. In Tshabalala Township, where I grew up, sewage is reportedly out of control.In German, I'd say: "Warten und Tee trinken" - wait and drink tea. The coups are imminent. What will life after ZANU PF look like?Hapana chisinga peri ka.