Fresh headlines and publisher-supplied excerpts from Kenya, Africa and the world—collected in one transparent, attributed briefing.
An air strike hit a gold mine near Sudan’s border with Egypt, killing at least 72 people and injuring more than 50, according to rights groups. No group has claimed responsibility yet.
Read briefingMan City beat Liverpool, but will the result even matter? Al Jazeera’s Rahul Pathak was at Anfield, where fans reminded City of their guilty verdict and asked whether they’d still be in the Premier League come the end of the year.
Read briefingPresident Zelenskyy has responded to Donald Trump’s announcement that Russia and Ukraine agreed to an energy ceasefire, saying Kyiv is ready to stop strikes on energy sites if Moscow reciprocates. Russia is yet to respond to Trump’s claim.
Read briefingFamilies of Syrians detained by Israel protested in Damascus, to demand their release and information about their condition. They say at least six minors are among those held.
Read briefingPakistan has suspended the provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, led by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, after declaring a state of emergency. The move comes as the party prepares to march on Islamabad to demand Khan’s release.
Read briefingA US Marine stationed on Okinawa has been arrested on suspicion of killing a 39-year-old woman.The United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has vowed to cooperate with Japanese authorities investigating allegations that a US Marine murdered a woman in Okinawa, a case that provoked protests and prompted a US military curfew and mandatory training in standards and discipline.The top US diplomat spoke with Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu in a phone call, the US Department of State said in a statement on Saturday following the death of a local woman in a hotel that has renewed tensions over the US military presence.“Rubio expressed sincere condolences over the death of a Japanese national in Okinawa, as well as the United States’ determination to communicate and fully cooperate with the Government of Japan and local authorities as they conduct an investigation,” the department said.Devin Jacob Ballard, stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, was arrested on October 4 on suspicion of robbing and murdering Anna Yagi, 39, in a hotel in the capital Naha, according to local police.The killing triggered outrage in Japan, where crimes involving US forces have been a thorn in relations between the close security allies and have long inflamed criticism of US troops being stationed there. Japan hosts the largest overseas contingent of US forces globally, with most of the 18,000 Japan-based Marines stationed on Okinawa.Following the killing, US military personnel stationed there have been given a monthlong curfew and banned from drinking alcohol while they undergo discipline training.Rubio and Toshimitsu also discussed US sanctions on the International Criminal Court and the upcoming G20 Foreign Ministers meeting in Atlanta, scheduled to begin on October 30.
Read briefingAn Israeli strike destroyed a residential building in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood in Gaza City, sending flames and smoke into the air. The attack comes one year into a US-brokered ceasefire, yet Palestinians continue to face Israeli bombardment.
Read briefingWashington’s sanctions targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC) came hours after one of its former judges, Navi Pillay, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.The ICC was founded in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.It has issued arrest warrants against more than 70 people, including Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.The US has denounced the court in the past, especially after it issued the arrest warrants for Israeli officials.Washington has previously imposed sanctions on its prosecutors and judges, but the latest move seeks to cripple the operations of the court, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.Why is the US so against the ICC? And will Europe defy Washington and defend the court?Reed Brody – International human rights lawyer and member of the International Commission of Jurists, who participated in the 1998 Rome conference that created the ICC and has helped prosecute some of the world’s high-profile defendantsNathalie Tocci – Professor of practice at Johns Hopkins SAIS Europe and a former special adviser to EU High Representatives Federica Mogherini and Josep BorrellSuhail Khan – Republican political analyst, former senior political appointee with the Bush administration and a former policy adviser and counsel on Capitol Hill
Read briefingFresh off final game with Argentina, Messi leads Miami vs DC United in Major League Soccer in the United States.Lionel Messi said his farewell to the Argentina national team earlier this week when he played his final match for the three-time world champions, ending a 21-year international career.Messi’s next task will be to break Inter Miami out of their five-match winless streak in Major League Soccer (MLS) when they host DC United on Saturday.Inter Miami (12-5-10, 46 points) sit in third place in the Eastern Conference despite being tied in points with New England, as the Revolution hold the tiebreaker with 14 wins so far.DC United (6-8-12, 30 points) are in 11th place and need a victory, as they are three points behind the final playoff spot in the conference.Inter Miami won the Campeones Cup on September 16 in their first match under recently hired coach Kily Gonzalez, but they drew with San Diego and lost 2-1 at Columbus last Sunday in two league matches since.Messi has been stellar once again this season, with 21 goals and 13 assists in league play as he chases his third consecutive MLS MVP award, but Miami will need more contributors as it has won only once in its last 10 league matches.“Leo is a person who every day conveys it and passes it on to his teammates, and he demands from all of us that you have to be at 100% in every way,” Gonzalez said on Friday.DC United are also looking to break a three-match winless streak and win their first match since September 9.They lost their first match against Miami, 2-1, on March 7 in Baltimore, in a game where Messi and Rodrigo De Paul each scored.On Tuesday, Messi delivered one last masterclass in the blue and white of Argentina as its most decorated player and captain, by scoring one goal and setting up two others in a 3-0 friendly match against Benin.The 39-year-old’s final bow came in front of more than 85,000 fans at a packed Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires on Tuesday.Messi left as the country’s most-capped player (208) and record scorer, having transformed years of frustration on the international stage into a story of World Cup and Copa America triumphs.
Read briefingVideos show schoolchildren protesting outside schools and boycotting classes after reports that a new ‘secular’ dress code recently introduced by the Azerbaijani government has led to hijab-wearing pupils and teachers being barred from school.
Read briefingRising fuel prices push Delta’s annual fuel expenses up by $6bn, affecting its profit outlook for 2026.Delta Air Lines cut its profit forecast despite heightened demand as fuel costs surge across the air travel sector.The Atlanta-based air carrier said in its third-quarter earnings report released on Friday that it expects its annual fuel costs to jump by $6bn, as ongoing tensions between the United States and Iran have sent fuel prices surging across the global aviation sector.Overall, US airlines spent nearly $43bn on fuel in the first eight months of the year, a $13.2bn increase from the same period a year earlier.On Wall Street, Delta cut its earnings outlook for the year to adjusted earnings per share of $5.10 to $5.60, down from its July forecast of $6.50 to $7.50. The midpoint of the new range is below analysts’ average estimate of $5.46, according to LSEG data.Delta’s stock tumbled in midday trading as the trading week came to a close. It was down 1.1 percent from Friday’s opening price. While the stock has fallen 4.4 percent over the past five days, it has performed well in 2026, gaining nearly 18 percent since the beginning of the year.CEO Ed Bastian said the airline had raised prices by roughly 20 percent this year and said those prices could be sustained even if fuel prices decline.Delta Air Lines is the first of the major US airlines to report earnings and is generally more protected from price fluctuations than its competitors because it owns a refinery in Pennsylvania, which it acquired in 2012.Despite higher prices, demand remains elevated, with 60 percent of flights in the fourth quarter already booked. Delta also announced several new international routes, including Seattle–Tokyo, Japan and Boston–Venice, Italy, as well as Austin-Paris, France, all beginning next year.Bastian told the Wall Street Journal that holiday bookings also remain strong and that premium travel is growing, with premium seat revenue jumping 18 percent for the quarter compared with the same period last year.Broadly speaking, premium flights can be a boon for major airlines, and prices in the segment are rising. Average ticket prices for premium seats across major airlines were up 11 percent compared with the same period last year, according to the Airline Reporting Corporation’s monthly report, which tracks airline ticket transactions.But lower-income consumers are pulling back. US consumer sentiment is slumping, according to the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers, which released its Consumer Sentiment Index on Friday.“Overall, sentiment for lower-income consumers and those with smaller stock portfolios dropped steeply this month, groups that have fewer resources to weather increases in prices,” Joanne Hsu, director of the Surveys of Consumers, said in the release.Delta’s report comes as the US summer travel season draws to a close, following reports that lower-income travellers would pull back amid rising prices. In May, 51 percent of Americans earning less than $100,000 annually said travel would be one of the first expenses they would cut, according to a report from consulting firm Deloitte.United Airlines is the next major carrier expected to report earnings, with results slated for after the market close on October 20. Like Delta, United’s stock was down on Wall Street, falling 0.8 percent from Friday’s opening price.
Read briefingAttorney General says suspect admitted he acted alone after preparing psychologically and physically for the attack.Authorities in the United Arab Emirates say the co-pilot who tried to seize control of a Flydubai aircraft on September 30 was on a “suicide” mission to crash the plane at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.Emirati public prosecutors believe the plan “drew inspiration from the 9/11 attack”, Attorney General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi said in a statement carried by state news agency WAM on Friday, referring to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.WAM reported al-Shamsi’s comments as well as updates on what Emirati investigators had discovered about the alleged plot after launching an inquiry into the incident on October 1.They found that the 29-year-old suspect had used two previous flights to Tel Aviv to “familiarise himself with the flight route and the airport”, WAM reported.The attorney general said the suspect had worked for several airlines in different countries, including Oman Air and Royal Air Maroc, before joining Flydubai in January.Investigators examined Flydubai’s recruiting procedures and found the suspect had met all professional and security requirements, including holding a pilot’s licence and providing a certificate of good conduct.“However, none of the procedures revealed any indications of his extremist views or his intention to carry out a terrorist plot,” the statement said.Al-Shamsi’s statement did not appear to implicate Flydubai in any wrongdoing, and contained the most detailed account yet from prosecutors about what they believe to have happened.UAE officials have not identified the suspect, who is accused of attacking his co-pilot, the captain of the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight that was carrying 174 people on board. But people with direct knowledge of the matter have identified him as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national, both the Reuters and Associated Press news agencies reported.Al-Shamsi said the suspect had told investigators he had prepared psychologically and physically for the attack by viewing material promoting “terrorism” and taking boxing lessons.The findings indicated that “signs of his drift towards extremism and terrorism first emerged in 2017, while he was studying in Australia”, the statement said.It added that the suspect “admitted that he had acted alone, without the involvement of others”, and that he “provided a detailed confession outlining his motives and the stages of planning and execution” in the presence of his lawyer.At 7:05am (03:05 GMT) on September 30, Flight FZ1073 departed Dubai for Tel Aviv, climbing to 34,000ft (more than 10,300 metres), according to Flightradar24. A little more than two hours later, it suddenly began a steep descent.Flight-tracking data showed the plane plunging more than 17,000 feet in about two minutes, before climbing and descending again.A fight had begun in the cockpit between the two pilots after the co-pilot stabbed the Indian captain of the plane, Smit Machchhar.Machchhar later described finding himself seriously wounded on the cockpit floor as the aircraft descended.Passengers and crew members reportedly entered the cabin and overpowered the co-pilot. The aircraft eventually levelled out at about 15,000 feet. Its transponder was subsequently switched to code 7500, signalling unlawful interference.Two reserve pilots who were on board took control of the jet and landed it in Tabuk, northwestern Saudi Arabia. The plane landed safely at 9:45am local time (06:45 GMT).Saudi authorities said both pilots were taken to hospital and were later transferred to Abu Dhabi after being medically cleared.
Read briefingRussia to supply 300,000 tonnes of diesel immediately, followed by 1.5 million more, as prices soar amid the Iran war.United States President Donald Trump said that Russia has agreed to supply 300,000 tonnes of diesel fuel to global markets amid discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.“I have just concluded a highly successful discussion with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, wherein it was agreed that Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.The president added that Russia would deliver an additional 3 million tonnes of fuel “within a short period of time”. He said that the country would supply 500,000 tonnes in November.An envoy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kirill Dmitriev, praised cooperation between Russia and the United States on diesel and energy in a post on X shortly after.“Russia-US cooperation on diesel and energy will benefit the world,” Dmitriev wrote on X.The deal comes despite Ukrainian air strikes, which have taken more than half of the country’s oil refining capacity offline, according to claims made by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence on Sunday.The latest announcement comes a week after the G7 countries agreed to release 100 million barrels amid pressure from the White House.The move also comes as prices of diesel, used in agriculture, heating homes and trucking goods, are near record highs ahead of the November 3 congressional elections that will determine control of Congress.Diesel prices have been elevated in recent months but have started to decline. The average price for a gallon is $6.27 ($1.66 per litre), according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks daily petrol prices. That’s down $0.10 from this time last week, but up $5.94 from this time one month ago.Diesel prices, which can drive inflation, are up 70 percent since the US and Israel’s war on Iran began this year, despite two high-profile recent moves by Trump to boost supplies of the fuel: pressuring allies to release emergency reserves and expanding access to tax-exempt red-dyed diesel, which is normally used for farm equipment.The wars in Iran and Ukraine have triggered an unprecedented global fuel supply crunch.
Read briefingSeveral US allies call to ‘defend’ and ‘protect’ the ICC following Washington’s decision to sanction the judiciary body.The United States has imposed a new set of sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), prompting several countries – including US allies – to condemn the move and reiterate their support for the world’s war crimes tribunal.On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Washington would be banning transactions with the “rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate”, adding that President Donald Trump would “never allow” the Hague to prosecute Americans.The ICC was created in 2002 to prosecute individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity when national authorities are unable or unwilling to do so.The US Treasury Department announced the penalties with a six-month initial grace period and other exemptions that would allow some transactions for telecommunications, software, pension payments and transactions related to detainees.Rubio said the sanctions would give the court and its member states an opportunity to address US concerns and would be adjusted if they did not meet those demands.The Trump administration says the court has exceeded its authority by pursuing officials from countries that are not ICC members, such as Israel. The United States and Israel have never joined the court.In response to the sanctions, the ICC said that the move was an “assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order”. It called on its 125 member states to defend the institution.“The Court cannot stand alone. Its fate now rests also in the hands of the states that created it,” the ICC said in a statement. “This is not just about defending a single institution, but about safeguarding the international order grounded upon the rule of law. History will judge this moment.”The Trump administration sanctioned more than a dozen judges and prosecutors before issuing sanctions on the court itself Friday.Soon after the US announcement, top United Nations officials condemned the move.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “deeply alarmed” by the expected impact of the sanctions on the court as a whole, particularly its ability to carry out its mandate, a statement from his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.“Today’s decision marks a serious blow to our collective pursuit of international criminal justice, of which the ICC is a key pillar,” the statement added.UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk called for immediate measures to protect the ICC. “These sanctions – the latest in a series of retaliatory steps against the ICC and its personnel for the work they do every day to advance accountability for the very worst violations of human rights – are unacceptable,” he said.Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen, whose country hosts the ICC, said the US’s decision was “deeply regrettable”.“We will stand firm in defence of the court. At the same time, it’s important to note that the sanctions will not take effect immediately and that service providers can continue to work for the ICC. The six-month period before the sanctions take effect creates scope for dialogue,” he said.In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Japan said they “regret and strongly disagree” with the sanctions.“If put into effect, these sanctions will have a significant impact on the Court’s work, its dedicated staff and their families … We remain both united in our support for the ICC and committed to engaging in constructive and inclusive dialogue with non-States Parties,” they said.Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot also said Brussels would discuss support for the ICC with European Union foreign affairs colleagues on Monday and at the upcoming European Council.“We will press for concrete protection. The court’s independence cannot depend on whom it investigates. Europe must act. Belgium is calling for the activation of the EU Blocking Statute to protect the court,” Prevot said.Similarly, organisations and rights groups sounded the alarm over the implications of the US decision.Philippe Bolopion, executive director of US-based Human Rights Watch, said the Trump administration had made clear its aim to “destroy” the ICC and “shield US and Israeli officials from facing charges before the court”.“The ICC was created to ensure that no one, no matter how powerful, is above the law. Governments that value human rights and accountability should condemn this outrageous move and take swift action to protect the ICC, its staff, and all those who cooperate with it, starting with the European Union using its laws to mitigate the sanctions’ impact in the region,” he said.The Executive Director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, James Goldston, said the sanctions were a “calculated attack on the rule of law and the principles of judicial independence and equality that underpin it.”
Read briefingCountries including Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Chile have received warnings after the quake.A magnitude 7.7 earthquake has hit southern Panama, triggering tsunami warnings across Central and South America.The US National Weather Service issued tsunami warnings for Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Guatemala on Friday following the quake.Chile’s naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service also issued a tsunami warning.The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was centred about 10km (6 miles) southwest of the remote community of Pitaloza Arriba along the Pacific Ocean coast.Residents of Panama City reported feeling tremors, with buildings shaking and people evacuating into the streets.“We felt it very strongly. It knocked things over in the kitchen, but we’re okay, though we’re very scared,” 60-year-old Rosendo Dominguez, who is from Herrera province, where the earthquake struck, told The Associated Press news agency by phone.Videos shared by newspaper La Prensa showed the tower of a historic building had collapsed along with several balconies of a residential building in Penonome, a city about halfway between the epicenter and Panama City.Panama’s ministry of education ordered schools closed, while President Jose Raul Mulino called for calmIn June, twin quakes hit northern Venezuela, causing widespread devastation and killing at least 6,500 people.In August, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake hit Colombia, killing at least 289 people.
Read briefingFormer Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores face a new US charge over alleged torture of opponents and Americans. The case adds to existing drug-trafficking charges carrying a potential 50-year minimum sentence.
Read briefingSeveral cars torched and foreign-run businesses forced to shut in Johannesburg’s Soweto and coastal city of Durban.Anti-migrant protests in two cities in South Africa have turned violent, with the government blaming disinformation about a court ruling on asylum seekers.Violence erupted on Thursday in Johannesburg’s Soweto township and the east coast port city of Durban, with two dozens cars set ablaze and foreign-run businesses forced to close, police said.The unrest followed demonstrations demanding that refugee centres stop processing asylum applications.Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane on Thursday said 10 vehicles were torched in Johannesburg and 14 in Durban, where three people were arrested.In Soweto, a Reuters reporter saw residents carrying groceries out of a shop they said was owned by a person from Somalia, whom they chased away. Those residents fled after police arrived.In Durban, a Reuters reporter saw cars torched in the urban centre, where foreign-owned shops were also looted. AFP reporters in the city said police opened fire with rubber bullets to disperse protesters who reportedly set alight a business run by foreigners.The protesters are opposed to a July Constitutional Court decision that removes procedural barriers to seeking asylum, including for people who entered South Africa irregularly, lacked asylum transit visas, or missed reporting deadlines.On Thursday, the government’s Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration held an urgent briefing to address overcrowding at asylum offices after implementing the ruling. A day prior, the committee said all its offices were overwhelmed by the number of incoming applications.Government spokesperson William Baloyi said the violence was triggered by people spreading deliberately false information about the constitutional court ruling.Baloyi said the court decision had been widely misrepresented, and that it did not automatically grant refugee status, permanent residence or other legal rights to undocumented migrants.Months of protests by populist, anti-immigrant groups against undocumented foreign nationals, demanding they leave South Africa, have led tens of thousands to flee, some repatriated by their governments.Three decades since apartheid ended, South Africa remains deeply unequal and about a third of people are out of work. Migrants are often blamed for taking jobs, fuelling crime and straining public services, although such claims are not supported by evidence.
Read briefingThe British government says it will retain its presence in occupied East Jerusalem after Israel removed its consulate sign in retaliation for a new wave of UK sanctions. Israel announced that 20 British diplomats, including the consul general, would have to leave the country.
Read briefingFor more than a decade, Yemen has been facing one of the most severe humanitarian crises in the world.The latest round of fighting between the government and the Houthis is worsening the suffering of millions of people.The United Nations migration agency says it is alarmed by the speed of the displacement.Abdusattor Esoev – Chief of Mission for the International Organization for Migration in YemenAmmar Al-Asaadi – Programme Manager at ZOA, an international relief and recovery organisation
Read briefingAs Israeli settlers harvest olives on Palestinian land, farmers face growing violence and the loss of a tradition passed down through generations.Ramallah, occupied West Bank – The video shared in Israeli settler groups shows two men bashing an olive tree with long wooden sticks. Smiling and congratulating one another, they try to knock the olives to the ground. They call the result “Pure Olive Oil”.But as Palestinian activist Bashar Qaryouti explained, the two men don’t own the land, the trees, or the olives.They’re Israeli settlers who set up an illegal settlement outpost on private property in the village of Qaryut, in the northern occupied West Bank, and made their way into this olive grove, some 200 metres (656 feet) away from Palestinian homes.“No one has come near here for about three years, thank God,” one of the two men in the video says in Hebrew.Local Palestinians know the man by name, and he does little to hide. The man is Avichai Suissa, an Israeli settler sanctioned by the European Union, United Kingdom – and previously by the United States – who runs a farm on the outpost. It was established more than a year and a half ago, and videos like this help Suissa raise donations for it.On his campaign page, he says the goal is to rebuild and expand the farm, which was once dismantled by the Israeli army, to prevent it from falling “into enemy hands”.“We’re gradually starting to work our way into the area,” Suissa said in the video.But the land belongs to Palestinians – residents of Qaryut – who have not been able to reach it since the genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023. “A few months ago, farmers tried to plough their land, but the army stopped them,” Qaryouti said.“After we complained, the army declared the area a closed military zone a few days ago, so settlers are going to other lands, to other olives to steal,” Qaryouti explained.Suissa and others are part of a growing movement of settlers who have intensified their campaign against the olive harvest. The campaign, part of a settler pogrom against Palestinians in the West Bank, has turned the olive harvest season in October into a source of fear and danger.Many Palestinians in the occupied West Bank describe this year as the worst yet in terms of settler attacks, and the season has barely started.On Wednesday, armed Israeli settlers on tractors raided lands between the villages of Ramin and Burqa, in the northern occupied West Bank. They opened fire on farmers heading to their trees.Ali Bazzari, a 44-year-old farmer, was killed. His only “crime”, the family says, was trying to pick his olives.Witnesses say the Israeli army prevented ambulances from reaching the wounded. Palestinians had to carry the injured through the mountains to hospitals.The Israeli Rights Group Yesh Din says it documented 109 incidents of violence directly related to the harvest in 75 Palestinian communities between September 27 and October 6, an average of 11 per day.Israeli settlers are increasingly attempting to adopt the rituals of the olive harvest season, while pushing out the Palestinians who have kept those traditions for generations.Several new farms have been set up in the occupied West Bank. One shares videos of olives being pressed. Others invite Israelis to “join in” the experience.Palestinians say the videos circulating show a disregard for the actual owners of the land taken by the settlers, and a clear attempt to appropriate the season, imitating its rituals and claiming them as their own.Those rituals – things like collective picking, singing, and shared meals on the farms – are rooted in a deep connection to the land.The olive harvest season may be an exhausting time of the year for Palestinians, with its hard work and long hours in the sun, but it’s a rewarding one. Olive farmers traditionally gather for family get-togethers, with neighbours and friends volunteering to help one another harvest the olives, in a cultural tradition known as “ouneh”.The season has a light-hearted element, with debates about whose land produces the best oil, who should charge the most, and who knows how to pick the most olives and not drop any to the ground.Older generations pass down lessons from history, such as the best time to harvest and how to nurture the trees – an inherited knowledge of climate, agriculture and the land itself.“They planted so that we can eat. We plant so they [will] eat,” a well-known Arabic saying goes. It highlights the continuity of this inheritance, and the responsibility towards future generations.These trees, which are meant to be protected, nurtured and passed on, are being taken away – not only by settlers, but by soldiers, too.Hazem Sanaf, 61, stood on a nearby hill in the village of Beit Rima and watched as Israeli bulldozers ploughed through his lands in late September, after he had received an Israeli military order. The bulldozers destroyed and uprooted more than 400 trees belonging to Hazem and his neighbour, some of them decades old, and his only source of income.
Read briefingA Gallup survey highlights a deep – and historic – partisan divide over confidence in the country’s elections.With less than a month to go before the United States’ pivotal midterms, a new survey found that most independent voters and supporters of President Donald Trump’s Republican Party do not believe the elections will be honest.Polling from Gallup, released on Wednesday, found 37 percent of Republicans and 35 percent of independents have confidence in the country’s electoral system, significantly lower than US Democrats (63 percent).Overall, 49 percent of Americans said they were confident in the honesty of elections, while 51 percent said they were not. Those figures are unchanged from the country’s last midterm election in 2022.This “marks a change from 2025, the first year of Trump’s second term, when confidence was nominally higher among approvers (51 percent) than disapprovers (45 percent)”, Gallup wrote in a statement highlighting the results of the survey.The numbers highlight a deep, historic partisan divide over confidence in US elections.“Since 2025 and Trump’s return to the White House, the relationship between leadership approval and confidence in elections has disappeared,” Gallup wrote.Gallup said that the US is the only country out of more than 100 polled annually over the past 15 years to show this pattern – trust in US election integrity is markedly higher among those who disapprove of the country’s leadership under Trump (52 percent) than those who approve (41 percent).In more than 100 countries where the polling organisation tracks views of national leadership and confidence in elections, people who approve of their governments have generally been more likely to trust their country’s elections.In 2025, 70 percent of people globally who approved of their national leadership expressed confidence in the honesty of their elections, compared with 30 percent among those who disapproved.“The current US pattern is highly unusual compared with the rest of the world,” Gallup wrote.Under former US President Joe Biden, 81 percent of Americans who approved of the government expressed confidence in elections, compared with just 30 percent of those who disapproved, according to Gallup.Gallup said the unusual divide could have implications for the November elections, raising questions about whether some voters will view the results as legitimate.
Read briefingFormer British consul Sir Vincent Fean says Israel is acting unlawfully by demanding the UK close its East Jerusalem consulate in the wake of a new import ban on goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Read briefingFCC commissioner warns against AI robocalls, citing risks of misinformation before crucial midterm elections.Anna Gomez, the Democratic member of the United States Federal Communications Commission, has urged the federal agency not to allow robocalls generated with artificial intelligence in the lead-up to the midterm elections in early November.On Wednesday, the commissioner pushed back against a petition from Club for Growth, a national conservative fiscal policy organisation, to allow AI-generated robocalls.The petition, filed on August 31, requested that the federal agency allow political groups to make automated phone calls to people without their prior permission. The group said it would limit calls so that the same person would not receive more than three calls over the course of 30 days and would be presented with the option to opt out.The FCC’s public comment period began on September 4, with the deadline for comments on Monday. Responses to those comments are due October 19, and the FCC has yet to decide whether it will approve the request.Robocalls have been used in political campaigns for years. The FCC prohibits such calls to cellphones and pagers without the called party’s prior express consent, but they are permitted to landlines.The concern with the use of AI is that it can sound like a real person and make it easier to impersonate someone. On the back of a rising number of scams using the technology, the FCC, in February 2024, banned it, saying, “this action now makes the act of using AI to generate the voice in these robocalls itself illegal.”“[If] the FCC allows a dark money group to flood Americans’ phones with AI-generated robocalls they never agreed to receive, it would bring chaos so close to Election Day,” commissioner Gomez told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday.She told The Associated Press that removing the FCC’s consent requirement could lead to a rise in unwanted robocalls and misinformation.The concerns are not unfounded. In advance of the 2024 New Hampshire primary, voters received a robocall featuring an AI-generated version in the voice of President Joe Biden, the Democrat incumbent, telling them not to vote.The FCC said that political consultant Steve Kramer, who was working for long-shot primary challenger Dean Phillips, was responsible and could face $6m in fines. He was later acquitted of voter suppression charges.At the state level, Louisiana, Tennessee and Vermont passed laws this year requiring disclosures for AI-generated campaign phone calls. More broadly, 25 states have passed laws concerning the use of AI-generated materials in elections since 2019.Concerns about AI robocalls underscore broader concerns about AI in the run-up to the midterm elections.According to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, 57 percent of registered voters said that the administration of US President Donald Trump has not taken the risks of AI seriously enough, with 54 percent saying the same about congressional leadership.Late last month, the White House convened leaders from leading AI companies, including Anthropic, OpenAI, Meta and Google, to sign a voluntary pact in which the companies agreed to put more safeguards in place around the development of their most advanced AI systems. Its non-compulsory nature has not appeased critics.“The White House Accord on Super Intelligence is ‘morally binding’ only, allowing AI companies to design their own controls, select their own evaluators, and determine whether their own procedures are being followed,” Tom Wheeler, visiting fellow in governance studies with Center for Technology Innovation (CTI) at the think tank Brookings Institution, wrote about the decision.“History suggests voluntary commitments from these companies are unreliable, as Facebook, Google, and Twitter have all walked back or violated previous self-imposed standards.”
Read briefingThe Catholic Church in Australia has been marred by abuse allegations in recent years.A former Roman Catholic bishop has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison for sexually abusing two young indigenous men in Western Australia.Seventy-six year old Christopher Saunders was sentenced by the District Court of Western Australia and showed no reaction during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing.In August, a court found Saunders guilty of one count of sexual penetration without consent and 12 counts of indecent assault.The offences took place between 2010 and 2019 when he was bishop of Broome, a remote diocese in northwestern Australia.Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, issued a statement apologising for the pain and suffering Saunders inflicted on victims, saying their trust had been “profoundly betrayed by a leader of the Church”.Saunders was ordained a priest in 1976 and initially worked at mission stations in outback regions from the 1970s onwards. In the 1990s, he was appointed bishop of Broome by Pope John Paul II.Following the abuse allegations, Saunders suspended his duties in 2020 and in August 2021 Pope Francis accepted his resignation. The clergyman has consistently denied the allegations.He is said to have regularly invited young indigenous Aboriginal men and teenagers to a beach house or a Catholic Church residence, providing them with alcohol and cigarettes, and giving them money and mobile phones.The assaults on the two young men reportedly took place while they were heavily intoxicated.In 2013, Australia’s government set up a Royal Commission, a high-level inquiry into institutional child sexual abuse, after a series of scandals involving the Catholic Church.In 2017, the commission revealed that most of the abuse took place in churches, with seven percent of Catholic priests accused of abusing children in Australia between 1950 and 2010. It said allegations were almost never investigated.It found that 4,444 alleged incidents of child sexual abuse had been reported to church authorities. In some dioceses, more than 15 percent of priests were perpetrators.The commission also heard testimony from the Vatican’s former finance chief Cardinal George Pell, who was found guilty in 2018 of sexually abusing choirboys in Melbourne, Australia in the 1990s.Pell – who had been Pope Francis’s anti-corruption tsar – was released from prison in 2020 after a court quashed his conviction. He died in Rome on January 10, 2023, at the age of 81 due to heart complications following hip surgery.
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