News Desk

The UN agency says funding shortages threaten to reverse ‘modest and fragile’ progress on food security.

The ⁠World Food Programme (WFP) has announced ⁠major cuts to its Gaza response due to a funding shortage, leaving about ‌500,000 people without critical support as much of the ⁠population of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory struggles to get enough to eat.

In a statement on Monday, the United Nations agency said it received less than half as much funding for its Palestine operation in 2026 as in previous years. It said it urgently needs a further $450 million to maintain critical operations in the occupied Palestinian territory over the next six months.

As a result, the WFP said it would reduce ⁠the number of people receiving monthly assistance in Gaza from 1.6 ‌million to 1.1 million. Rations will be cut from two food parcels per family to one, and bags of flour will be smaller.

The UN agency said it would also reduce the number of hot meals provided, from 250,000 to 150,000 a day. Families living in hard-to-reach areas, including near the so-called “yellow line” demarcating Israeli military control, will receive a hot meal every other day instead of daily.

More than three years of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, have brought the collapse of education, healthcare and the economy, while access to food, water, shelter and other basic necessities has become a daily struggle.

More than 74,245 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

UN estimates show more than 80 percent of people are unemployed and unable to afford fresh or protein-rich foods when they are available. Only one in five children consumes a sufficiently diverse diet while access to health services remains limited.

An estimated 1.4 million people, or 67 percent of Gaza’s population, are experiencing acute food insecurity at crisis levels or worse. This figure is down from 1.6 million people, or 77 percent of the population, at the end of 2025, however the WFP said the improvement “remains modest and fragile.”

Funding shortfalls had already affected operations in the occupied West Bank, where the number of people receiving assistance was halved in September, from 400,000 to 200,000.

Watching a film on Netflix can take you a few hours, but this movie is so good – people will happily watch it over and over again in one day. So have you seen it?

Scrolling through your Netflix can take ages to find something that’ll have you glued to your seats until 6am. Landing on a new series to watch is one thing, but what if you only have time for a film?

The streaming platform has a variety of genres to pick from – like comedy and horror. Sometimes people manage to watch one film, then decide to blitz through its sequels. But lately people can’t stop raving on about a movie which is about two hours long, so much so, they’re watching it multiple times in one day. So have you seen it?

Kim shared a snippet of the Tyler Perry film Doing Life which she rated a 10 out of 10. She captioned the clip: “I cried so much from beginning to end.”

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And it seems she’s not the only one to have glowing reviews of the 2026 film as one wrote in the comments: “I wish it was longer, a TV show or something. It was so good, I watched it TWICE today.”

Another admitted: “Try up to 4 times, I loved it. I can recite lines now.”

What is Doing Life about?

Starring Naomi Baker, Jay Reeves and Tamberla Perry, this Tyler Perry movie follows a single mum and prisoner forge an unlikely bond through heartfelt letters.

The romantic drama deals with real-life issues, like the cycle of poverty, absentee fathers, single mothers and incarceration. It was released on Netflix on October 2 and has already proven to be a hit.

Directed and written by Tyler Perry, along with Angi Bones and Tony L. Strickland as producers, this film is Perry’s seventh from his creative partnership with the streaming giant.

Speaking about the film, Perry said: “I was inspired by… the idea that sometimes the people we least expect can understand each other in ways no one else can.

“I wanted to tell a story about two people who, on the surface, seem like complete opposites, but who discover a deep commonality in the struggles they’re facing.”

Since its release at the start of the month, the American drama holds a 6.6 out of 10 score on IMDb, with a 69% approval rating based on general audience and social media reviews.

Meanwhile it pulled 9.3 million views in its first three days on Netflix, debuting at no.3 on the global English-language movie chart and reaching no.1 in the US.

You can watch Doing Life on Netflix UK now with a runtime of 1 hour and 48 minutes. So will you be watching it more than once in day?

Doha, Qatar — Qatar’s deputy prime minister has warned that global energy shockwaves from the US-Israel war on Iran have yet to reach their peak, raising concerns about further disruption to supplies, international trade and economic growth.

Speaking at the Global Security Forum in Doha on Monday, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as Minister of State for Defence Affairs, identified several threats facing Qatar and the wider Gulf, including risks to sovereignty and disruptions to energy supplies.

“We haven’t reached the peak with respect to energy,” he said, warning of further repercussions “in the coming days and months”.

His remarks come amid continued instability in the Strait of Hormuz – a vital waterway for global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments – following the US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes across the region.

Iranian strikes on Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial complex in March damaged facilities, with repairs expected to take several years.

“We were surprised,” Al Thani said when asked about the attack, adding that there had since been “a lot of discussion with Iran”.

He said Qatar had drawn lessons from the strikes, “to make sure that all of our assets will be protected from any unexpected attack”.

Al Thani also warned against imposing tolls on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Transit fees should not be applied,” he said, adding that uncertainty over the waterway would ultimately affect consumers worldwide.

‘We never stop our communication’

Despite the attacks, Al Thani said Qatar continued to maintain contact with Tehran.

“We never stop our communication,” he said, adding that the two countries remained in touch at different levels despite their disagreements.

He described Qatar’s relationship with Iran before the attacks as one of trust, pointing to their shared offshore gasfield and longstanding economic interests.

Al Thani expressed hope that mediation efforts involving Qatar, Pakistan and Oman would help produce an agreement between the United States, Iran and other parties, including Israel.

He said a sustainable settlement would require broader regional dialogue involving Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Pakistan and Turkiye, in consultation with international allies.

“We need to build this on trust,” he added.

Al Thani also suggested developing economic ties with Iran to prevent future conflicts, citing cooperation between France and Germany following decades of hostilities.

“Iran is our neighbour. We need to find ways to live with them,” he said.

US defence ties

Al Thani also highlighted Qatar’s longstanding defence partnership with Washington, saying that “more than 90 percent” of attacks had been prevented through shared expertise and military capabilities developed over the past three to four decades.

He said Qatar was continuing to develop Al Udeid airbase, which hosts US forces and military personnel from other partner countries.

The base was itself targeted by Iran during the conflict, with Qatar reporting that it had shot down two Iranian warplanes during an attack in early March.

Al Thani also announced plans for a new regional defence partnership, saying Qatar was prioritising several aspects including air defence, counter-drone measures and cybersecurity.

“I’m happy to announce today also that soon we’re going to announce a new partnership,” he said, without naming the regional partners involved.

The deputy prime minister stressed that Qatar’s mediation efforts did not diminish its commitment to defending its territory.

“Mediation doesn’t mean that we should not be ready for any defensive action from our side,” he said.

The Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) exchanged artillery and missile fire from their positions in Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri, while a UN official warned that famine is threatening the country.

Army forces bombed RSF sites in the Riyadh neighbourhood and Sports City, south of Khartoum.

From their positions east of Khartoum, the RSF launched artillery shelling, targeting army camps in the capital and the General Command.

This comes as the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), led by Abdel Aziz Al-Hilu, resumed its bombing of the city of Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan State, after having ceased for weeks.

SPLM bombed the city with artillery and Katyusha rockets from the east and north.

In South Darfur state, about 80 people were killed over the last three days in the tribal conflict between the Beni Halba and Salamat tribes near the city of Buram. The conflict between the two tribes has broken out several times and led to the death and injury of dozens.

A UN official has warned that the ongoing conflict could mean more than six million people face the threat of famine.

The deputy head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHOA) in Sudan said that the general situation in the country is catastrophic.

READ: Sudan medics warn that cholera and dengue fever are spreading

Sudanese medical sources reported that 18 people died and 265 were infected with cholera in the state of Gedaref, bordering Ethiopia, while medics warned of an outbreak of cholera and dengue fever across the country with the start of seasonal rains and the effects of the war on the health system there.

The Sudanese Medical Association reported that 3,398 cases of dengue fever were recorded in the states of Gedaref, Red Sea, North Kordofan and Khartoum from mid-April to mid-September.

The war has forced more than 4.2 million people to flee their homes and about 1.2 million to cross into neighbouring countries.

EXCLUSIVE – boss of hit Disney+ show Rivals says plans are well underway for filming of Season three and he was able to discuss some big story ideas with Jilly before her sad death in 2025.

Rivals bosses have confirmed Season three is heading to Disney+ in 2027 – with more changes expected from the book’s storylines.

Fans of the hit series, based on Jilly Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles novels, are eagerly awaiting episodes 7-12 of Season two which will launch on the streaming platform on November 11. And now it seems there won’t be too long to wait for even more episodes.

Speaking at a special tribute night to Jilly Cooper at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, Rivals executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins praised the cast and crew for being so close and creating a fantastic atmosphere on set. He also says big upcoming storylines already had Jilly’s approval before her death.

Dominic said: “I’ve never worked on a show where everyone has come back for season two. All the heads of department came back. Almost everyone is coming up with season three. That just doesn’t happen. But we are ambitious, and we look at every scene rigorously and say, how could it be better?”

“We had Jilly’s notes for season one and all the way through season two. We talked to her about our plans for season three and beyond. So she’s checking on us, and we’ve got her seal of approval on big, things, big story points. We start filming in March and it is odd writing without Jilly.”

Referring to Jilly, who died in October last year, he added: “She was a friend and she became a sort of fairy godmother to all of us. And how lucky we were to have Jilly Cooper as our friend.”

Rivals has been a huge success since it launched in October 2024 with cast including David Tennant, Alex Hassell, Aidan Turner, Emily Atack and Katherine Parkinson.

At the same event Jilly’s daughter Emily Tarrant added that her mum had loved Rivals and the way it gave her books a new lease of life. She added: “She was joyous about it, so thrilled to see all her characters come to life.”

Disney+ have said Season Three will see the stakes become even higher for some of the characters. Announcing Season Three earlier in the year they said: “New romances blossom, old flames rekindle and shocking secrets will be spilled in this third series which takes everyone’s favourite rivalries to the next level. In a world of power, passion and betrayal, everyone has something to lose.”

Jilly’s agent Felicity Blunt, who also acts as en executive producer on Rivals, insisted the late writer understood that the TV version of her books couldn’t be exactly the same and would feature shock deaths or new characters.

Felicity said: “She really understood what it takes to take a book and translate it to screen, and then it can’t be this sort of slavish reproduction of what works in the text, like it has.

“There is a totally different three-dimensional quality to making a piece of great television, and she was the first person to bless any decision that deviated from the book, and really understood why.”

* Rivals Rivals Season 2, Part 2 will premiere on Wednesday, November 11 on Disney+.

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Interior Minister Laurent Nunez acknowledges that police ‘lost control’ during weekend protests.

French ⁠President ⁠Emmanuel Macron has declined Interior Minister Laurent Nunez’s offer to resign ⁠after nationwide demonstrations by students protesting educational conditions and groups angry over the high cost of living turned into widespread riots and looting, the Elysee presidential office says.

Macron said Nunez should stay in his position to ensure the chain of command is maintained within the police and security forces and asked the interior minister ⁠to establish new methods to deal with looters, the Elysee said in a statement on ⁠Monday.

The president also asked Nunez to “take all necessary steps to ensure transparency over the failures in planning and intelligence that led to the violence”, the statement added.

The Ministry of the Interior said more than 2,300 people were arrested and almost 1,000 police and gendarmes injured in protests on Saturday. Injuries were also reported among protesters, with one demonstrator’s hand blown off by a police crowd-control grenade.

The nationwide demonstrations brought together students demanding better conditions in the French education system and residents protesting against the high cost of living and faltering public services.

More than half a million people took part in the protests on Saturday. Looting, arson and damage to property occurred in many cities, with masked rioters attacking town halls, police stations and other government buildings.

Nunez acknowledged on Monday that police “lost control” during the protests.

“On Saturday in some major cities, you couldn’t look shopkeepers in the eye after hundreds of shops had been looted and tell them we hadn’t lost control,” Nunez said.

Nunez acknowledged a “lack of anticipation” in the deployment of security forces on Saturday, saying their numbers were insufficient to deal with the large crowds of rioters and looters on the fringes of the demonstrations.

He estimated that 60,000 law enforcement personnel were deployed across the country that day.

“Given the damage that has been caused, it was only right that I should hand in my resignation,” Nunez said.

Looting continued on Sunday, and Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said on Monday that about 30 shops had been targeted in the capital the previous day, describing the scenes as “unbearable”.

Nunez said about 350 people were arrested in Paris on Sunday and overnight.

Nationwide, more than 2,330 people were taken into police custody over the weekend, 70 percent of whom were adults, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

The violent weekend demonstrations followed weeks of protests by high school students against overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and underinvestment in education, the biggest youth-led protest movement in the country in recent memory.

SEBASTIAN Croft has opened up about how he was cruelly ‘bullied’ and ‘ostracised’ back in school.

The Celebrity Traitors star, who is known for appearing in series such as Game of Thrones, quit school at 16 after facing backlash over his sexuality.

“I had a really difficult few years,” said Sebastian – who is affectionately known as Bash – in a new interview with the i Paper.

The star, who is openly queer, explained that he was “outed” by a classmate he was having a secret relationship with.

“I don’t blame the other boy who did it, because he was obviously just also trying to navigate the fact that he was getting chipped for being gay.

“But it was a really lonely and difficult time in my life. I would leave school and be an actor and be doing the thing I loved the most, and be with other like-minded people, and feel so liberated in myself, and then I go back to school and be bullied and ostracised,” said Sebastian, who is now 24.

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The actor attended a boarding school just outside of Oxford, where he grew up.

Sebastian rose to prominence after having his TV debut on Game Of Thrones as a young Ned Stark.

Playing the younger version of Sean Bean’s character, he appeared in Winterfell via Bran Stark’s greenseeing flashbacks in the episodes Home and The Door.

He later bagged a spot in Netflix’s Heartstopper.

Here, he began a romance with co-star Joe Locke which lasted three years – but the pair never went public about the relationship.

Over the years, he has earned acclaim for his roles, including a BAFTA Children’s Award nomination for his starring turn as Atticus in Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans.