agree

Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of harbouring the Pakistan Taliban, a charge Kabul denies.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to extend a ceasefire for at least another week during talks in Turkiye, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The sides plan to meet again at a higher-level gathering in Istanbul on November 6 to finalise how the ceasefire will be implemented, the ministry said in a statement released on behalf of Pakistan, Afghanistan and mediators Turkiye and Qatar.

“All parties have agreed to put in place a monitoring and verification mechanism that will ensure maintenance of peace and imposing penalty on the violating party,” the statement read.

The two neighbours engaged in a weeklong border conflict earlier this month following explosions in Afghanistan, which the Afghan government blamed on Pakistan.

In the subsequent cross-border strikes, Pakistan’s military claimed it killed more than 200 Afghan fighters, while Afghanistan says it killed 58 Pakistani soldiers.

It was the most serious fighting between the two countries since the Taliban regained control of Kabul in 2021.

After the skirmishes, mediation by Qatar and Turkiye led to a ceasefire signed by the defence ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan on October 19 in Doha.

The two nations — which share a 2,600-kilometre (1,600-mile) frontier — began a second round of talks in Istanbul on Saturday, which broke down Wednesday when both parties failed to reach a consensus on Islamabad’s central demand that Kabul crack down on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an armed group often called the Pakistan Taliban or TTP, which has been long accused by Pakistan of carrying out deadly attacks inside its territory.

The Afghan government has consistently denied that it provides safe haven for the group.

Talks resumed on Thursday, leading to the agreement to maintain the ceasefire until a new round of talks on November 6.

Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement confirming the conclusion of the talks and saying both sides had agreed to continue discussions in future meetings. Pakistan did not immediately comment.

While a ceasefire remains in place, the border between the two countries has been closed for more than two weeks, leading to mounting losses for traders in the region.

In Kandahar on the Afghan side, Nazir Ahmed, a cloth trader, told the newswire AFP both countries “will bear losses.”

“Our nation is tired and their nation is also tired,” the 35-year-old said Wednesday.

Abdul Jabbar, a vehicle spare parts trader in the Pakistani border town of Chaman, said “trade suffers greatly”.

“Both countries face losses — both are Islamic nations,” he told AFP.

Reuters

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Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban government have agreed to an immediate ceasefire, mediated by Qatar and Turkiye. The agreement was reached after a week of deadly clashes and strikes along their disputed border.

South Asian neighbours also agreed to hold follow-up meetings in coming days to ensure peace deal’s implementation.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire after talks mediated by Qatar and Turkiye following a week of fierce and deadly clashes along their disputed border.

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said early on Sunday that Afghanistan and Pakistan had agreed to the ceasefire “and the establishment of mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability between the two countries”.

Doha said the two countries also agreed to hold follow-up meetings in the coming days “to ensure the sustainability of the ceasefire and verify its implementation in a reliable and sustainable manner”.

Earlier, both sides said they were holding peace talks in Doha on Saturday as they sought a way forward, after clashes killed dozens and wounded hundreds in the worst violence between the two South Asian neighbours since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.

Statement | Pakistan and Afghanistan Agree to an Immediate Ceasefire During a Round of Negotiations in Doha#MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/fPXvn6GaU6

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) October 18, 2025

“As promised, negotiations with the Pakistani side will take place today in Doha,” Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had said, adding that Kabul’s negotiating team, led by Defence Minister Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob, had arrived in the Qatari capital.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier that the country’s defence minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, had led discussions with representatives of Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership.

“The talks will focus on immediate measures to end cross-border terrorism against Pakistan emanating from Afghanistan and restore peace and stability along the Pak-Afghan border,” the Foreign Office said.

Cross-border fighting between the one-time allies and Pakistani air strikes along their contested 2,600km (1,600-mile) frontier were triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul rein in rebels who had stepped up cross-border attacks in Pakistan, saying the fighters were operating from safe havens in Afghanistan.

The Taliban has denied giving haven to armed groups to attack Pakistan, and accuses the Pakistani military of spreading misinformation about Afghanistan and sheltering ISIL (ISIS)-linked fighters who have undermined the country’s stability and sovereignty.

Islamabad has denied Kabul’s accusations. Pakistan has accused Kabul of allowing armed groups to reside inside Afghanistan and wage war for years against the Pakistani state in a bid to overthrow the government and replace it with their strict brand of Islamic governance system.

On Friday, a suicide attack near the border killed seven Pakistani soldiers and wounded 13, security officials said.

“The Afghan regime must rein in the proxies who have sanctuaries in Afghanistan and are using Afghan soil to perpetrate heinous attacks inside Pakistan,” Pakistani Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir said on Saturday, addressing a graduation ceremony of cadets.

WASHINGTON — Dozens of reporters turned in access badges and exited the Pentagon on Wednesday rather than agree to government-imposed restrictions on their work, pushing journalists who cover the American military further from the seat of its power. The U.S. government has called the new rules “common sense.”

News outlets were nearly unanimous in rejecting new rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information — classified or otherwise — that had not been approved by Hegseth for release.

Many of the reporters waited to leave together at a 4 p.m. deadline set by the Defense Department to get out of the building. As the hour approached, boxes of documents lined a Pentagon corridor and reporters carried chairs, a copying machine, books and old photos to the parking lot from suddenly abandoned workspaces. Shortly after 4, about 40 to 50 journalists left together after handing in badges.

“It’s sad, but I’m also really proud of the press corps that we stuck together,” said Nancy Youssef, a reporter for the Atlantic who has had a desk at the Pentagon since 2007. She took a map of the Middle East out to her car.

It is unclear what practical effect the new rules will have, though news organizations vowed they’d continue robust coverage of the military no matter the vantage point.

Images of reporters effectively demonstrating against barriers to their work are unlikely to move supporters of President Trump, many of whom resent journalists and cheer his efforts to make their jobs harder. Trump has been involved in court fights against the New York Times, CBS News, ABC News, the Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press in the last year.

Trump supports the new rules

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump backed his Defense secretary’s new rules. “I think he finds the press to be very disruptive in terms of world peace,” Trump said. “The press is very dishonest.”

Even before issuing his new press policy, Hegseth, a former Fox News Channel host, has systematically choked off the flow of information. He has held only two formal press briefings, banned reporters from accessing many parts of the sprawling Pentagon without an escort and and launched investigations into leaks to the media.

He has called his new rules “common sense” and said the requirement that journalists sign a document outlining the rules means they acknowledge the new rules, not necessarily agree to them. Journalists see that as a distinction without a difference.

“What they’re really doing, they want to spoon-feed information to the journalist, and that would be their story. That’s not journalism,” said Jack Keane, a retired Army general and Fox News analyst, said on Hegseth’s former network.

When he served, Keane said he required new brigadier generals to take a class on the role of the media in a democracy so they wouldn’t be intimidated and also see reporters as a conduit to the American public. “There were times when stories were done that made me flinch a little bit,” he said. “But that’s usually because we had done something that wasn’t as good as we should have done it.”

Youssef said it made no sense to sign on to rules that said reporters should not solicit military officials for information. “To agree to not solicit information is to agree to not be a journalist,” she said. “Our whole goal is soliciting information.”

Reporting on U.S. military affairs will continue — from a greater distance

Several reporters posted on social media when they turned in their press badges.

“It’s such a tiny thing, but I was really proud to see my picture up on the wall of Pentagon correspondents,” wrote Heather Mongillo, a reporter for USNI News, which covers the Navy. “Today, I’ll hand in my badge. The reporting will continue.”

Mongillo, Youssef and others emphasized that they’ll continue to do their jobs no matter where their desks are. Some sources will continue to speak with them, although they say some in the military have been chilled by threats from Pentagon leadership.

In an essay, NPR reporter Tom Bowman noted the many times he’d been tipped off by people he knew from the Pentagon and while embedded in the military about what was happening, even if it contradicted official lines put out by leadership. Many understand the media’s role.

“They knew the American public deserved to know what’s going on,” Bowman wrote. “With no reporters able to ask questions, it seems the Pentagon leadership will continue to rely on slick social media posts, carefully orchestrated short videos and interviews with partisan commentators and podcasters. No one should think that’s good enough.”

The Pentagon Press Assn., which has 101 members representing 56 news outlets, has spoken out against the rules. Organizations from across the media spectrum, from legacy organizations like the Associated Press and the New York Times to conservative outlets like Fox and Newsmax, told their reporters to leave instead of signing the new rules.

Only the conservative One America News Network signed on. Its management probably believes it will have greater access to Trump administration officials by showing its support, Gabrielle Cuccia, a former Pentagon reporter who was fired by OANN earlier this year for writing an online column criticizing Hegseth’s media policies, told the AP in an interview.

Bauder writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Laurie Kellman in London contributed to this report.

Reporters must promise not to publish unauthorised material to obtain press credentials.

Major media organisations, including conservative outlets, say the Pentagon is placing unlawful restrictions on journalists and their ability to cover the US military under a new set of reporting guidelines.

The guidelines were first announced in a September memo from the Department of Defense, and said that reporters must sign an affidavit pledging they would not publish unauthorised material – including unclassified documents – to keep their Pentagon press credentials.

Following pushback from the media, the wording was modified last week to say that reporters must simply “acknowledge” the new rules, but many organisations remain critical of the latest version of the rules.

Media companies, including public broadcaster NPR, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNN, and the Reuters and Associated Press news agencies, have all said they will not sign the rules in recent statements.

They also say the rules violate the US Constitution, which offers broad protections for freedom of speech and freedom of the press under the First Amendment. These rights were reaffirmed in a landmark 1971 Supreme Court case, New York Times Co v United States, that allowed US media to publish classified military documents during the Vietnam War.

“The proposed restrictions undercut First Amendment protections by placing unnecessary constraints on gathering and publishing information. We will continue to vigorously and fairly report on the policies and positions of the Pentagon and officials across the government,” said Matt Murray, executive editor of The Washington Post, in a statement on X.

Conservative news outlets The Washington Times and Newsmax, a cable news channel and competitor to Fox News, also said they would not sign the rules.

Newsmax cited “unnecessary and onerous” rules in a statement to Axios.

The Pentagon Press Association, an industry group representing defence reporters, said in a statement on Monday that the Pentagon has the right to make its own reporting rules, but they cannot set “unconstitutional policies as a precondition” to report there.

The association previously said the rules were “designed to stifle a free press”, and could open reporters up to legal prosecution.

The Pentagon reporting rules have been championed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News presenter who was sworn into his post in January under President Donald Trump.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the department had “good faith negotiations” with the Pentagon Press Association, but that “soliciting [military] service members and civilians to commit crimes is strictly prohibited” in a statement on X.

Israel and Hamas may have agreed to the first phase of a United States-backed ceasefire deal, but contentious differences between the two sides still remain, particularly when it comes to the fate of the Palestinian group’s weapons.

Israel has long insisted that Hamas surrender all of its weapons if its two-year war on Gaza is to end, as well as demanding that the group relinquish governance of the Palestinian enclave and dissolve itself as an organisation.

For its part, Hamas has publicly rejected calls to give up its weapons, but experts say that the group has expressed openness in private to hand over some of its arsenal.

“When it comes to disarmament, this is where you have seen the biggest shift in Hamas’s position,” said Hugh Lovatt, an expert on Israel-Palestine with the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).

“[Hamas officials] have said in private to interlocutors that the group may be open to a decommissioning process of Hamas’s offensive weapons,” he told Al Jazeera.

Shaky ceasefire

Negotiations over Hamas’s arsenal could torpedo the ceasefire and prompt Israel to resume its genocidal war on the destitute and beleaguered Palestinian population in Gaza, analysts said.

An armed group has the right to bear arms and resist an occupying power in line with international humanitarian law – the main framework referenced to protect civilians in times of war.

Yet, Israel and its Western allies have historically demanded that Palestinian factions give up armed resistance as a precondition to launching a peace process ostensibly aimed at ending Israel’s occupation over Palestinian territories.

This was the framework underpinning the Oslo Peace Accords in the 1990s, signed by then Palestinian and Israeli leaders.

Israel is likely to try and make similar demands this time around, but Hamas is unlikely to completely disarm, according to Azmi Keshawi, a Palestinian from Gaza and a researcher with the International Crisis Group (ICG).

He said that he could only envision Hamas surrendering some “offensive weapons” such as short-range and long-range missles.

However, he believes Hamas will never give up its small arms and light weapons, nor hand over a map of its sophisticated tunnel network, which it spent decades building to resist Israel.

“[Hamas] will only give up [light] weapons when there is no need for these weapons. This means they will only hand them over to a Palestinian leadership that assumes control of a state after Israel ends its occupation,” Keshawi told Al Jazeera.

Power vacuum?

Hamas was the largest of several armed groups in Gaza before Israel began its war on October 7, 2023, after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

Some of these groups include Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

These groups have long been committed to waging armed resistance against Israel, and it is unclear to what degree they have been degraded by Israel’s relentless carpet bombing over the last two years.

During Israel’s genocide – recognised as such by scholars, the United Nations and human rights groups –  Israel has also propped up notorious gangs to steal and profiteer off the little aid it has allowed into the Gaza Strip.

Many Palestinians in Gaza believe Hamas should preserve some military capabilities to stop these gangs from exploiting a possible power vacuum, Taghreed Khodary, an analyst on Israel-Palestine who is from Gaza, told Al Jazeera.

“Israel created gangs and gave them weapons and guns to kill their own people [in Gaza]. Now Israel wants to expel Hamas, but Hamas is needed to maintain internal security,” she said.

“Hamas is very good at providing security,” she stressed.

Lovatt, from ECFR, added that Hamas may be willing to cooperate with an interim task force deployed to provide security and oversee a partial decommissioning of its weapons.

However, he said that Hamas would only agree to coordinating with such a force if its mandate clearly stipulates that it will not counter “terrorism” in any way.

“I’m sure there is very little appetite in Western capitals to play that ‘counterterrorism’ role, and it certainly wouldn’t be acceptable to Hamas. It would expose the international task force as explicitly serving Israel’s goals,” Lovatt told Al Jazeera.

‘Hamas as an idea’

Throughout Israel’s genocide, Israel has claimed that its war aim is to ostensibly dismantle Hamas. But Keshawi, the ICG researcher, said Hamas will never be fully defeated.

He predicts the group will absorb thousands of destitute and vengeful young men into its ranks in the coming years. To many people, he said, Hamas is not merely an organisation, but an “idea” that symbolises resistance.

“The [group] has set an example for the whole Arab world. They fought a war that nobody thought they could fight, even though the cost was very high,” Keshawi told Al Jazeera.

Still, Lovatt said the group remains pragmatic and is willing to make concessions to extend the ceasefire for as long as possible.

He noted that the sustainability of the ceasefire ultimately hinges on US President Donald Trump and other Western leaders reining in Israel and its maximalist demands.

“There is a very high risk that Israel is able to win the argument in Western capitals … that Hamas must be fully demilitarised [before the occupation ends],” he said.

“If that happens, then it will be a new pretext for Western states to let Israel off the hook as happened under the Oslo Accords,” Lovatt told Al Jazeera.

Gaza ceasefire breakthrough announced on third day of talks in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh on US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace proposal.

DONALD Trump has warned of a “massive bloodshed” if Hamas fails to agree to a peace deal in the coming days.

Trump warned he will “not tolerate delay” from Hamas – and has urged both sides to move quickly towards a deal or else “all bets will be off”.

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Trump revealed indirect talks between Israel, Hamas and other mediators from the Arab countries have been “very positive” – and that he expects the first phase of his proposed peace deal should be completed “this week”.

Taking to his Truth Social platform, the US president said: “There have been very positive discussions with Hamas, and Countries from all over the World (Arab, Muslim, and everyone else) this weekend.

“These talks have been very successful and are proceeding rapidly. The technical teams will again meet on Monday, in Egypt, to work through and clarify the final details.

“I am told that the first phase should be completed this week, and I am asking everyone to MOVE FAST.

“Time is of the essence, or massive bloodshed will follow – something that nobody wants to see.”

It comes after Hamas agreed to some parts of the 20-point US peace plan, including releasing hostages and handing over Gaza governance to Palestinian technocrats.

Though it said it was seeking negotiations on other issues.

Negotiators from both sides will now gather at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing hope that the hostages could be released within days.

The White House said Trump had also sent two envoys to Egypt – his son-in-law, Jared Kushner and Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday urged Israel to stop bombing Gaza ahead of the discussions in Egypt.

“You can’t release hostages in the middle of strikes, so the strikes will have to stop,” Rubio told CBS News talk show “Face the Nation”.

“There can’t be a war going on in the middle of it.”

The radical Islamist fanatics seized 251 hostages during their October 7 attack, 47 of whom are still in Gaza.

Of those, the Israeli military says 25 are dead.

Israel, meanwhile, has continued to carry out strikes.

Gaza’s civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas authority, said Israeli attacks killed at least 20 people across the territory on Sunday, 13 of them in Gaza City.

Trump said a ceasefire and release of hostages will take place “immediately” after Hamas agrees to Israeli forces’ partial withdrawal from Gaza.

He revealed that Tel Aviv agreed to the initial withdrawal line presented to Hamas – and that a peace process will begin as soon as the terror group accepts the proposal.

Hamas has previously rejected a phased Israeli withdrawal, insisting instead on an immediate and full pullout.

Over the weekend, the terror group called for a swift start to a hostage-prisoner exchange with Israel, as negotiators from both sides prepared to meet in Egypt for crucial talks.

However, there is so much that could still go wrong.

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The 20-point peace plan proposes an immediate end to fighting and the release within 72 hours of living Israeli hostages held by Hamas – as well as the remains of hostages thought to be dead.

Nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners will be freed from Israeli prisons in exchange.

Hamas’s political leadership, based in Qatar, are said to be open to accepting it – but with amendments.

Although they have been unable to hold sway, as they do not have control of Israeli hostages – whose fate plays a crucial part in the deal.

Hamas demands that issues over Gaza’s future should be discussed within a comprehensive Palestinian national framework, which it will be part of.

But Trump has ruled that out, with Israel saying in no way can the terror group remain in power for peace to occur.

Senior Hamas mouthpiece Mousa Abu Marzouk said the group will not disarm – one of the key points of Trump’s peace deal – until the Israeli “occupation” ends.

Bibi’s vow

But Netanyahu on Saturday warned that the demilitarisation of Gaza is imminent.

“Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarised – either the easy way or the hard way, but it will be achieved,” he said in his speech.

Hamas 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.”

It has previously offered to release all hostages and to hand over administration of the Gaza Strip to a different body.

A successful ceasefire could then pave the way for 48 hostages – of whom just 20 are believed to be alive – to be released from Gaza terror tunnels after two years in hell.

A truce – if it holds – could also allow vital humanitarian aid to flood into the besieged coastal strip, where Hamas says more than 66,000 Palestinians have died in fighting.

A new “Board of Peace” chaired by the US president and run by former UK PM Tony Blair would then move in to rebuild the strip before peace-loving Palestinians take over.

Earlier this week, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the most senior Hamas military commander still in Gaza, told the BBC that Trump’s plan “serves Israel’s interests and ignores those of the Palestinian people”.

Israel has already backed Trump’s peace plan, which involves an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and Hamas disarmament.

DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — President Trump said Friday that Hamas must agree to a proposed peace deal by Sunday evening, threatening an even greater military onslaught nearly two years into the war sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel.

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 peace plan has been accepted by Israel and welcomed internationally, but key mediators Egypt and Qatar, and at least one Hamas official, have said some elements need further negotiation, without elaborating.

“An Agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, D.C. time,” Trump wrote Friday on social media. “Every Country has signed on! 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.”

Trump’s plan would end the fighting and return hostages

Under the plan, which Trump unveiled earlier this week alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas would immediately release the remaining 48 hostages — around 20 of them believed to be alive. 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. Plans to relocate much of Gaza’s population to other countries would be shelved.

The territory of some 2 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.

A Hamas official told the Associated Press this week that some elements of the plan are unacceptable and need to be amended, without elaborating. Palestinians long for an end to the war, but many view this and previous U.S. proposals as strongly favoring Israel.

U.S. and Israel seek to pressure Hamas

Israel has sought to ramp up pressure on Hamas since ending an earlier ceasefire in March. It sealed the territory off from food, medicine and other goods for 2 1/2 months and has seized, flattened and largely depopulated large areas of the territory.

Experts determined that Gaza City had slid into famine shortly before Israel launched a major offensive aimed at occupying it. An estimated 400,000 people have fled the city in recent weeks, but hundreds of thousands more have stayed behind.

Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian office, said she saw several displaced families staying in the parking lot of Shifa Hospital during a visit on Thursday.

“They are not able to move south because they just cannot afford it,” Cherevko told the Associated Press. “One of the families had three children and the woman was pregnant with her fourth. And there were many other vulnerable cases there, including elderly people and people with disabilities.”

Trump wrote that most of Hamas’ fighters 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.”

Most of Hamas’ top leaders in Gaza and thousands of its fighters have already been killed, but it still has influence in areas not controlled by the Israeli military and launches sporadic attacks that have killed and wounded Israeli soldiers.

Hamas has held firm to its position that it will only release the remaining hostages — its sole bargaining chip and potential human shields — in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu has rejected those terms, saying Hamas must surrender and disarm.

Second anniversary approaches

Thousands of Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 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.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which 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.

The offensive has displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population, often multiple times, and left much of the territory uninhabitable.

Both the Biden and Trump administrations have tried to end the fighting and bring back the hostages while providing extensive military and diplomatic support to Israel.

Shurafa and Khaled write for the Associated Press. Khaled reported from Cairo. AP writer Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.

SEOUL, Sept. 29 (UPI) — The top diplomats of North Korea and China met in Beijing and agreed to develop bilateral ties while resisting “hegemonism” and “unilateralism,” both countries said Monday.

The first one-on-one meeting between North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui and her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, took place on Sunday.

“China is ready to strengthen coordination and cooperation with the DPRK in international and regional affairs, oppose all forms of hegemonism, and safeguard the common interests of both sides and international fairness and justice,” Wang said, according to a readout by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.

“The current international landscape is marked by changes and turbulence, and power politics and bullying acts cause grave harm,” Wang added.

The remarks appear to be directed at the United States, with whom China is locked in a global economic and military competition. North Korea, meanwhile, has long characterized Washington as a hostile, hegemonic power seeking to dominate the Korean Peninsula.

The ministry’s readout quoted Choe as saying that the North is “willing to closely cooperate with China in multilateral affairs, jointly resist unilateralism and power politics, and promote a fairer and more just world order.”

The meeting comes less than a month after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Beijing to attend a military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, where he held his first summit with Xi in six years.

The relationship between the two longtime allies has shown signs of warming after widespread speculation of a rift over Pyongyang’s growing military alignment with Moscow.

North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said that Wang and Choe reached a “complete consensus” in their discussions on regional and international issues.

Choe relayed a message from Kim Jong Un, who said that “the friendship between North Korea and China remains unchangeable” and that further strengthening ties between Beijing and Pyongyang was the North’s “unwavering position.”

Interest has been swirling over what sort of delegation China will send to North Korea for the 80th anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers’ Party of Korea on Oct. 10.

Satellite imagery analyzed by Seoul-based SI Analytics shows that the North is preparing for its largest-ever military parade to mark the occasion. In a report released last week, analysts said that new weapons will likely be unveiled, including the Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile, cruise missiles, tanks and AI-enabled attack drones.

Russia has already announced that its second-in-command, Dmitry Medvedev, will attend. It is unclear whether Xi himself will make his first visit to North Korea since 2019.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds talks with his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son Hui, in Beijing.

China and North Korea have pledged to work together to counter “hegemonism” and “unilateralism” in international affairs, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said, in a veiled reference to the countries’ confrontations with the United States.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son Hui, in Beijing on Sunday, weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un travelled to China to join an event marking the anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War II.

“China is willing to strengthen coordination and collaboration with North Korea on international and regional affairs, oppose all forms of hegemonism, and protect their shared interests and international fairness and justice,” Wang told Choe, according to a readout by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Choe, in turn, told Wang that North Korea viewed China’s concept of a “community with a shared future for mankind”, and its Global Governance Initiative, as important contributions to the “promotion of a multipolar world”, according to the ministry.

“North Korea strongly supports these initiatives and is willing to work closely with China in multilateral collaboration to jointly resist unilateralism and power politics and promote the establishment of a more equitable and just world order,” Choe said, according to the readout.

“North Korea also wishes the Chinese people greater achievements under the leadership of the Communist Party of China through unity and struggle.”

Choe cited Kim as saying that the “bonds of friendship” between Pyongyang and Beijing “cannot be altered,” and that their relations should be developed “in line with the demands of the times”, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.

Beijing is embroiled in a fierce rivalry with Washington, which spans sectors ranging from trade to artificial intelligence.

Pyongyang has been at odds with Washington for decades over its illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Wang and Choe’s talks came after Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korea’s Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared together earlier this month at a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Many observers saw this gathering as a challenge to US dominance in international affairs.

United States President Donald Trump’s administration has announced new restrictions on media outlets’ reporting of the country’s military, including a requirement that journalists pledge not to publish unauthorised information.

Under the new rules unveiled by the Department of War, previously the Department of Defense, reporters could lose their credentials to cover the military if they refused to sign a pledge agreeing to only disclose approved information.

The rules, contained in a memo published by The New York Times following its circulation among media outlets on Friday, stipulate that information must be approved for release by “an appropriate authorising official before it is released, even if it is unclassified”.

The measures also limit the movements of journalists within the Arlington, Virginia-based Pentagon building itself, designating much of the facility off-limits without an escort.

“The ‘press’ does not run the Pentagon – the people do,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a post on X following a report about the changes.

“The press is no longer allowed to roam the halls of a secure facility. Wear a badge and follow the rules – or go home.”

Mike Balsamo, the president of the National Press Club, blasted the changes as an attack on independent journalism “at the very place where independent scrutiny matters most”.

“If the news about our military must first be approved by the government, then the public is no longer getting independent reporting. It is getting only what officials want them to see. That should alarm every American,” Balsamo said in a statement.

“Independent reporting on the military is essential to democracy. It is what allows citizens to hold leaders accountable and ensures that decisions of war and peace are made in the light of day.”

Multiple media organisations, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and the Reuters news agency, joined in the condemnation of the restrictions.

Seth Stern, director of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said that decades of US Supreme Court precedent affirmed the right of the media to publish government secrets.

“That is essentially the job description of an investigative journalist. The law is also clear that the government can’t require people to contract away a constitutional right, like the right to obtain and publish secrets, in exchange for a benefit, like access to government buildings or press credentials,” Stern told Al Jazeera.

“This policy operates as a prior restraint on publication, which is considered the most serious of First Amendment violations. As we learned in the Pentagon Papers case, the government cannot prohibit journalists from public information merely by claiming it’s a secret or even a national security threat.”

The Pentagon Papers case, aka the New York Times Co. v. United States, refers to a 1971 ruling by the Supreme Court that affirmed the freedom of the press by allowing The New York Times and The Washington Post to publish classified documents detailing the history of US involvement in the Vietnam War.

The Trump administration’s new restrictions are the latest in a series of moves by the US government to curtail the media.

On Wednesday, the ABC announced that it had suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s long-running talk show after the head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) threatened regulatory action over remarks the host made about the assassination of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

FCC chair Brendan Carr has signalled that further action to rein in voices critical of the administration could be on the way.

In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Carr, a Trump appointee, said that his agency would continue to hold broadcasters “accountable to the public interest”, and that those who did not like that could “turn their licence in”.

Days before Kimmel’s suspension, Trump filed a $15bn lawsuit accusing The New York Times of defamation, following similar suits against CBS News, ABC News and The Wall Street Journal.

On Friday, a judge in Florida threw out the suit against The New York Times, finding that the complaint relied on “tendentious arguments” and contained “repetitive” and “laudatory” praise of Trump that was not relevant to the case.

Sept. 19 (UPI) — The U.K. government will replace its controversial Northern Ireland Legacy and Reconciliation Act of 2023 with new laws to address killings that occurred during The Troubles era.

Representatives of the U.K. and Irish governments on Friday reached agreements on several proposals that are intended to address losses suffered by Irish families, the BBC reported.

Among points of contention is the 2023 Legacy Act that was approved by the U.K. government and provides amnesty for British military veterans for killings that occurred during The Troubles era.

A new commission and a dedicated unit within the Irish police force will investigate killings that occurred during The Troubles era in Northern Ireland to resolve decades-old cases.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris called Friday’s agreements a “night and day improvement” over the Legacy Act, The Guardian reported.

Harris is among Irish officials who are to make public the agreements and other proposals to address The Troubles and related killings.

The agreements reached on Friday will not end an active interstate case filed by the Irish government in the wake of the Legacy Act’s approval in 2023.

Some British military leaders criticized the agreements for making elderly veterans vulnerable to potential prosecution.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the agreements must be “victim-centered” and comply with human rights law to be accepted, according to the BBC.

The Troubles era refers to centuries-old conflicts in Northern Ireland that culminated in a 30-year conflict from the late 1960s until the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, according to the Imperial War Museums.

The agreement ended fighting that pitted the British military and many Protestants in Northern Ireland against the Irish Republican Army, other paramilitary forces and many Irish Catholics, who wanted to establish an independent Irish state.

The Troubles included many bombings and street fighting that caused the deaths of thousands of Irish civilians until the 1998 cease-fire agreement.

The conflict had its roots in the early 17th century, when Protestants from Scotland and northern England first settled in what would become Northern Ireland.

Arab and Islamic foreign ministers are gathering in Doha after Israel’s unprecedented missile strikes on Qatar that killed five Hamas members and a Qatari officer. The summit aims to formulate a collective regional response, with leaders warning Israel’s attack crossed ‘all red lines’, as Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar explains.

London City Lionesses agreed a £1.4m world record deal to sign Paris St-Germain midfielder Grace Geyoro on deadline day in the Women’s Super League.

The WSL newcomers also activated teenage Spain international Lucia Corrales’ release clause and paid around £430,000 to bring her in from Barcelona.

The addition of Geyoro, once confirmed by the clubs, would mean London City have made 16 permanent signings during a busy summer in which wealthy American owner Michele Kang showed she was willing to invest in her side.

Geyoro’s anticipated arrival comes after London City made a late move for the France international in the window, adding further stardust to an impressive squad.

The agreed fee beats the £1.1m ($1.5m) paid by Orlando Pride to Tigres UANL for Mexico winger Lizbeth Ovalle last month, which at the time was the highest fee paid for a player in the women’s game.

The 28-year-old Geyoro, who has 103 caps for France, was a key player for PSG and has until now spent her entire senior career there, picking up valuable experience in the Champions League.

She is widely considered one of the most exciting midfielders in Europe and started three of France’s four matches at Euro 2025, scoring twice as they reached the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Corrales, 19, who made her full Spain debut in March but was not called up for Euro 2025, joins London City on a four-year deal.

Corrales was one of the first female graduates of Barcelona’s renowned La Masia academy, making her Liga F and Champions League debuts in the 2022-23 campaign, before spending last season on loan at Sevilla.

Since securing promotion, London City have signed several high-profile players including Jana Fernandez from Barcelona, Danielle van de Donk from Lyon, former Manchester United captain Katie Zelem and 74-cap England forward Nikita Parris.

Liverpool have agreed a deal to sign England centre-back Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace.

The 25-year-old will complete the formalities of his move, including a medical, in London on Monday before signing a long-term contract with the Premier League champions.

The deal was agreed after the clubs reached a compromise on the fee for Guehi, with Liverpool having originally tabled an offer of £35m, plus a 10 percent sell-on clause.

Guehi captained Palace to a 3-0 win at Aston Villa in on Monday night in the last of his 162 games for the London club, scoring a spectacular second goal.

Speaking after the match he did not discuss his future.

“All I know is when you score goals like that it is always down to team performance,” he said. “People will try to single out the goal but that was a clear team performance tonight.”

Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a season-long loan deal for Paris St-Germain striker Randal Kolo Muani.

The 26-year-old has been linked with Premier League clubs for several months, with interest from Spurs, Manchester United, Chelsea and West Ham.

He is set to move to Tottenham on transfer deadline day after personal terms were agreed with Thomas Frank’s side.

Kolo Muani spent last season on loan at Juventus, scoring eight goals in 16 Serie A games.

The former Nantes and Eintracht Frankfurt forward joined PSG in September 2023 and has won two Ligue 1 titles.

Kolo Muani also has 31 senior caps for France, scoring in the 2022 World Cup semi-final victory over Morocco and playing in the final defeat by Argentina.

Liverpool have agreed a £125m fee with Newcastle to sign Alexander Isak.

Sources close to the deal have told BBC Sport that an agreement for the Sweden international to join the Anfield club is now in place.

Isak will undergo a medical on Monday ahead of signing a six-year deal at the club.

Liverpool had an original £110m offer rejected earlier this month but they are now set to land their first-choice target of the summer.

More to follow.