critical

With the second bye behind them and USC’s season at a crossroads, Lincoln Riley has spent the better part of two weeks focusing his team on what’s in front of them — a stretch of three winnable games — and not behind them — a demoralizing defeat at Notre Dame.

In doing so, the Trojans coach borrowed a well-worn rallying cry, one that traces back 2,000 years. Riley told his team, they had to “burn the boats.”

“We’ve put ourselves in great position, and we’ve got to be a really forward-focused team right now,” Riley said. “Things can get pretty fun from here if you really get on a run. This team is capable of that. They know it. We know it.”

Considering the stakes, it’s an apt enough metaphor. Any hope of USC staying alive in the College Football Playoff conversation hinges on leaving Lincoln, Neb., with a win. And that will, at the very least, require presenting a much better product than before the bye, when USC’s defense gave up over 300 yards on the ground to Notre Dame.

That loss has left a notably bitter taste with the Trojans — especially on defense. This week, sophomore linebacker Jadyn Walker said he felt the group “didn’t come out ready to play” and wasn’t “hungry” enough against Notre Dame. Defensive tackle Jide Abasiri said fixing USC’s issues on defense meant “having our minds right.” For the second time in three weeks, USC returned to the basics on defense during the bye in an effort to iron out those issues.

“You study for a test, you’re not gonna be nervous,” Abasiri said. “Just keep studying, I guess.”

The time for studying is over. The final exam for USC and its defense is a five-game gauntlet, starting on the road in one of the Big Ten’s more hostile environments. It’s just as much a critical test for the team as its coach, who has won just two true road games — at Purdue and at UCLA — during the last two calendar years.

“We continue to put ourselves in position to win these, and I feel like we’re doing the things on a daily basis that ultimately lead to winning,” Riley said. “We’re here and we’re pushing that notion, and I just see us getting closer and closer to that as we go on. That’s where my confidence is.”

Here’s what you should watch for when No. 23 USC (5-2 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) faces Nebraska (6-2, 3-2) on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PDT (NBC, Peacock).

A heavy dose of Emmett Johnson

Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson carries the ball against Northwestern on Oct. 25.

(Bonnie Ryan / Associated Press)

After watching Notre Dame’s duo of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price steamroll USC’s defensive front, Nebraska offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen surely smells blood in the water. In Emmett Johnson, he has one of the Big Ten’s best backs, a bruising tackle-breaker who has become a bigger part of the Husker offense as the season has worn on.

He’ll no doubt be a huge part of the plans for Holgorsen, who knows Riley better than most any other coach in college football, save maybe his brother, Garrett, at Clemson. Presumably, Holgorsen will hope to keep the ball out of USC’s hands, grinding out long drives with Johnson.

“We set ourselves up the rest of the season to see a lot of run game,” safety Bishop Fitzgerald said. “This week, making sure we can stop that will be huge for us.”

Johnson isn’t easy to bring down. His 44 missed tackles forced, per PFF, ranks third in the Power Four among running backs.

“He runs really hard,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s usually always going to break the first tackle. He just plays with an edge. He’s not necessarily a blazer, but once he hits that edge, he can make a guy miss and he can get a lot of yards. So I think it’s about stopping him and surrounding the ball.”

It’s just that easy. Or maybe not.

Pick up the pressure

USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn stands on the sideline during the third quarter of a win over Michigan State on Sept. 20.

(Luke Hales / Getty Images)

USC led the nation in sacks through the first month of the season. But in both of the Trojans’ losses, the pass rush — or lack thereof — was part of the problem. After producing 24 pressures in a win over Michigan State, USC tallied just 25 in its next three games combined.

Nebraska offers a golden opportunity to get that right. The Huskers have allowed 26 sacks, second-most in the Big Ten.

“I do think we’ve shown growth and we’ve gotten better,” defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn said of the pass rush. “But we’re not satisfied.”

Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola has been sharper this season than when he came to the Coliseum in 2024. His completion rate is up almost 6%, and he already has 17 passing touchdowns, compared to just 13 last season.

But Raiola has a tendency to hold the ball too long. At times, that has paid off with big plays. Other times, it has derailed drives.

“It puts a lot of pressure on us,” Lynn said. “When he’s holding onto the ball, he’s not looking to scramble. He’s keeping his eyes downfield.”

The key to counteracting that for USC? Putting as much pressure on him as possible.

Something has gotta give

USC has the top passing offense in the nation, averaging 10 yards per attempt and 326 yards per game. Nebraska boasts one of the nation’s best pass defenses, with just one opposing quarterback even reaching the 160-yard mark against them.

The Huskers have yet to face a quarterback quite like Jayden Maiava. Maiava’s first start at USC came last season against Nebraska, and he has improved leaps and bounds since — notably in his ability to avoid crippling mistakes.

That’ll be at a premium against a Nebraska defense that has swallowed up quarterbacks this season.

“He’s making a lot of right decisions right now,” Riley said this week of Maiava. “If he keeps doing that, we’re going to have a chance to win every game.”

As the presidents of China and the US meet in South Korea, Zongyuan Zoe Liu at the Council on Foreign Relations says China may offer concessions on its rare earth minerals.

Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe
Follow us on X : https://twitter.com/AJEnglish
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera
Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/
Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/
Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile

#aljazeera
#aljazeeraenglish
#aljazeeranewslive

Moto3 rider Noah Dettwiler remains in a “stable but still critical” condition after being involved in a serious crash at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Dettwiler, 20, collided with Moto3 world champion Jose Antonio Rueda during a sighting lap before their race.

Moto3 is the entry-level class below Moto2 and MotoGP.

“Noah has undergone several surgeries in the last few hours, which went well,” the rider’s CIP Green Power team and his family said in a statement.

“According to the doctors in charge, his condition is stable but still critical.

“We appreciate your understanding and ask that Noah and his family’s privacy be respected at this time.

“Thank you for all your incredible support and messages.”

“There’s a lot of fingers pointing at him [Netanyahu] saying that the same deal could have been reached a long time ago.”

Executive Director of The Soufan Center, Colin Clarke, explains whether the agreed ceasefire between Israeli and Hamas in Gaza is sustainable.

Reports indicate that the United States has agreed to provide Ukraine with targeting intelligence for its long-range strikes against Russian energy infrastructure. For many months now, Ukraine has been waging a campaign to degrade Russia’s oil and natural gas infrastructure, depriving it of critical resources for its offensive in Ukraine as well as revenue from energy exports.

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, which cites unnamed U.S. administration officials, and another report from Reuters, the new policy is being adopted ahead of a possible transfer of longer-range and harder-hitting weapons that can be used against the same kinds of targets, and potentially others deep in Russia.

The officials who spoke to the WSJ reportedly said that President Donald Trump had recently signed off on the sharing of intelligence for the Ukrainian strikes, although the caveat that only attacks on energy infrastructure are covered is significant. Targeting data will be provided to Kyiv by U.S. intelligence agencies as well as the Pentagon. Meanwhile, U.S. officials are said to be pushing NATO allies to do the same.

This would be the first time, officially at least, that the Trump administration provides Ukraine with this kind of intelligence for its long-range strikes.

In the meantime, Ukraine has been repeatedly using long-range one-way attack drones, and to a lesser degree, cruise missiles of its own design, to hit Russian refineries, pipelines, power stations, and related infrastructure far beyond the front lines.

Videos showing purported Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries in March 2024, involving long-range one-way attack drones:

The hope is that the new U.S.-supplied intelligence will make these raids more destructive.

At the same time, a Ukrainian delegation has arrived in Washington this week to work on a new agreement with the Trump administration that would see Kyiv sharing its drone technology with the United States, in exchange for a so-far undecided compensation, perhaps in the form of additional arms.

As to what might come next in terms of longer-range and more powerful weapons, should the United States agree to provide them, there is already much speculation that the Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile might be included. The prospect of Ukraine getting its hands on the Tomahawk, which can strike targets at a range of almost 1,000 miles, carrying a 1,000-pound unitary warhead, has already caused some alarm among pro-Kremlin military bloggers, as seen in the video below.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed that he had requested Tomahawks from Trump, after which U.S. Vice President JD Vance said that the United States was considering Ukraine’s request.

However, there is no guarantee that the Tomahawk transfer to Ukraine will be approved. As it stands, these highly accurate — and expensive — cruise missiles have only ever been exported to a handful of countries, and only in ship- and submarine-launched form.

The same officials explained that the Tomahawk was just one option being discussed, with others including the Barracuda, from Anduril. This is described by the company as an “expendable autonomous air vehicle,” but is essentially a low-cost, highly modular, air-breathing precision standoff munition. The Barracuda-500, for example, has a maximum range of 500 miles and carries a payload of up to 100 pounds. Currently, it is exclusively for air-launched applications, but it is built to be adapted to ground launch as well.

“Other American-made ground- and air-launched missiles that have ranges of around 500 miles” are also being considered, the officials said.

Washington has already approved the transfer to Ukraine of thousands of Extended Range Attack Munitions (ERAM). These are another new and relatively low-cost standoff missile, although it’s unclear whether Kyiv will be able to use the new weapon to strike targets deep within Russia. Previously, unnamed U.S. officials suggested that such targets are off-limits for American-made weapons, at least for the U.S.-donated Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS).

The ERAMs, which have a range between 150-280 miles and are stated to be air-launched, at least initially, may well have already begun to arrive in Ukraine. The first lot of 840 ERAMs is split between two designs, produced by CoAspire and Zone 5 Technologies, respectively. These are to be delivered by the end of October 2026.

As for the aforementioned ATACMS, Trump halted new deliveries of this ballistic missile, first provided to Ukraine under the Biden administration. There are also now tight controls on Ukrainian ATACMS use, with each strike requiring approval from Washington. At least some requests to use them against targets in Russia have been turned down, although the weapon has seen notable use in the Kursk region, adjacent to the Ukrainian border.

Even without the delivery of additional types of U.S.-made long-range missiles and the approval to use them against targets deep in Russia, the additional intelligence will be very useful to Ukraine. Pinpointing the weakest links in Russia’s energy infrastructure is especially critical if Ukraine continues to rely on lower yield, less capable weapons, like one-way attack drones, instead of advanced cruise missiles that pack heavy warheads.

There remains the possibility that long-range weapons might be provided by Ukraine’s non-U.S. allies.

Germany, for example, has been consistently linked with a transfer of Taurus air-launched cruise missiles to Ukraine, although this has, so far, been turned down by the government in Berlin. Nevertheless, German military officials have supported the idea of sending Kyiv weapons of this kind.

“Ukraine needs assistance in three key areas of confronting Russian aggression: air defenses, the ability to hold the front line, and the ability to strike deep into Russia,” explained Brig. Gen. Joachim Kaschke, responsible for German military aid to Ukraine. “When the Ukrainian defenders are facing a numerically superior adversary, they have to take the fight beyond the front lines,” he added.

Previously, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy have provided Ukraine with Storm Shadow and the similair SCALP-EG air-launched cruise missiles, which have seen extensive use.

Kyiv has used a wide variety of homegrown long-range one-way attack drones to attack Russian energy infrastructure.

It also has available the Long Neptune, an extended-range version of the land-attack version of the Neptune anti-ship missile. Ukraine famously used Neptune missiles to sink the Russian Navy’s Slava class cruiser Moskva in 2022 and reportedly began developing a new land-attack version in 2023. The numbers of these weapons is said to be very limited though.

A first official look at Ukraine’s other operational land attack cruise missile; the Long Neptune.

The Neptune LACM reportedly has a range of roughly 1000km, and has already seen combat this year. pic.twitter.com/cPHJ5sjZlu

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) August 25, 2025

Zelensky has said the range of the Long Neptune is in the region of 620 miles and that it has already been tested in combat.

More relevant for these kinds of strikes is the locally produced Flamingo ground-launched long-range cruise missile, unveiled in August. This weapon has a reported range of 1,864 miles and a powerful 2,535-pound warhead, making it a much farther-reaching and more destructive weapon than any missile or one-way-attack drone available to Ukraine now. Just as significantly, Ukraine is hoping to ramp up manufacturing capacity to build seven Flamingos every day by October of this year, though there are questions about how realistic any expanded production goals might be.

While there have been questions about the survivability of one-way attack drones and the very large and relatively crude Flamingo cruise missile, at the very least, they provide an additional headache for Russia’s hard-pressed air defenses, and it’s clear that a significant proportion of these attacks result in damage to energy infrastructure.

Remarkably clear footage of a Ukrainian attack drone flying untouched through Russian ground fire over Krasnodar Krai this morning, eventually slamming directly into Rosneft’s Tuapse refinery and detonating. pic.twitter.com/7p2U7l53Nr

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) July 22, 2024

Interestingly, it appears that Russia has been stepping up its own attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in recent weeks. This may well signal the start of a new winter offensive, repeating Russian tactics of previous years.

Russia is intensifying its strike campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Footage below shows strikes on 330kV & 110kV electrical substations in the town of Slavutych, Kyiv Oblast, northern Ukraine.

In recent time, the Russians carried out similar attacks on energy… pic.twitter.com/ZEhl8hyoQg

— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) October 2, 2025

The new intelligence-sharing policy and the possibility of new long-range missiles being cleared for transfer to Kyiv appear to indicate a changing approach from the Trump administration.

After he took office in January, Trump made efforts to broker a ceasefire. However, despite offering Russian President Vladimir Putin economic and commercial incentives, this hasn’t gained traction, and a series of meetings between Russian and U.S. leaders have not had any success.

Now, Trump is taking a new and harder line with Putin.

Last week, Trump took to social media to declare, for the first time, that he considers it possible that Ukraine retakes all of its territory that was lost to Russia. He also called upon NATO allies in Europe to shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter alliance airspace.

It seems that, with an eye on the battlefield situation, where Russia continues to make only slow progress, Trump is now turning up the heat on Putin, something that we have discussed in detail in the past.

Of course, approving the delivery of additional long-range weapons would be an even bolder action.

Already, Kremlin officials are talking about the possibility of Tomahawks arriving in Ukraine.

“The question remains: Who can launch these missiles, even if they end up on Kyiv regime territory?” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week. “Can only Ukrainians launch them, or will the American military do so? Who is assigning the targeting to these missiles? This requires a very thorough analysis.”

Whatever decision Washington makes on the long-range weapons, the expanded intelligence-sharing with Kyiv underscores the fact that the United States is willing to provide more support for Ukraine, including its direct strikes deep inside Russia aimed at Moscow’s prized energy production capabilities. It may well also suggest that Trump sees this as the next step in pressuring Russia to sit at the negotiation table.

Contact the author: [email protected]

Ukrainian leader says the plant has been without power for seven days, the longest stretch since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is “critical” as the facility has been without power for seven days.

“It has been seven days now. There has never been anything like this before,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Tuesday.

One of the diesel generators providing emergency power to the plant is no longer working, Zelenskyy said, a week after external power lines went down.

“Russian shelling has cut the plant off from the electricity network,” the Ukrainian leader said.

“This is a threat to everyone. No terrorist in the world has ever dared to do with a nuclear power plant what Russia is doing now.”

The outage is the longest the Russian-occupied plant has gone without power since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

It is also the 10th time since the start of the war that the plant – the largest in Europe – has been disconnected from the power grid.

Russia seized control of Zaporizhzhia in the first weeks of the war, and the plant’s six reactors, which before the conflict produced about one-fifth of Ukraine’s electricity, were shut down after Moscow took over.

But the plant needs power to maintain cooling and safety systems, which prevent reactors from melting – a danger that could set off a nuclear incident.

Russian officials have not commented on the latest statements on conditions at the plant.

But Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of risking a potentially devastating nuclear disaster by attacking the site, and have traded blame over the latest blackout.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’s nuclear watchdog, earlier this week decried the cutoff of the external power lines but assigned no blame to either side.

In a statement on Tuesday, Grossi said he was engaging with officials from both countries to restore offsite power to Zaporizhzhia as soon as possible.

“I’m in constant contact with the two sides with the aim to enable the plant’s swift re-connection to the electricity grid,” the IAEA chief said.

“While the plant is currently coping thanks to its emergency diesel generators – the last line of defence – and there is no immediate danger as long as they keep working, it is clearly not a sustainable situation in terms of nuclear safety,” he added.

“Neither side would benefit from a nuclear accident.”

IAEA monitors are stationed permanently at Zaporizhzhia and at Ukraine’s three other nuclear power stations.

The IAEA is engaging with both sides of the military conflict to help pave the way for the restoration of offsite power to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya NPP as soon as possible, Director General @rafaelmgrossi said today: https://t.co/ODSjkR6fXd pic.twitter.com/SbWEh7TBCq

— IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency ⚛️ (@iaeaorg) September 30, 2025

BRITAIN must square up to Russia over its threats to undersea cables or risk a “catastrophic” attack a report by parliament has warned.

The military is “too timid” defending pipelines and seabed internet cables and must adopt a much more “muscular” approach, it said.

6

6

6

6

The report by Parliament’s National Security Strategy Committee called for “punitive consequences” for saboteurs that go beyond calling them names.

It warned: “Otherwise, aggressors that are content with implausible deniability can cause damage with minimal risk.”

It comes after Navy chief General Sir Gwyn Jenkins warned Russia’s sub-sabotage unit GUGI was “regenerating”.

The committee of 22 MPs and peers warned Russia was the “primary threat” capable of causing severe disruption to the UK.

They cited “numerous allegations” of Russia and China using proxy actors to sabotage subsea cables in the Baltic and Indo-Pacific.

They panned Labour’s former telecoms minister Chris Bryant for dismissing their concerns as “apocalyptic”.

The report said: “The Minister (Bryant) suggested that exploring the risks of a co-ordinated attack on subsea infrastructure was unhelpfully “apocalyptic”.

“We disagree. Focusing on fishing accidents and low-level sabotage is no longer good enough.”

The report warned the UK faces a “strategic vulnerability”.

Proper “defensive preparations” could reduce the chances of a sabotage attack, it added.

Sir David Omand, a former GCHQ spychief, warned Britain would be in Russia’s “crosshairs” in the event of a ceasefire in Ukraine.

He said: “We really must expect the Russians to pick on us.”

Professor Kevin Rowlands, from the Royal Navy’s Strategic Studies Centre, told the committee that Russia’s GUGI had over 50 vessels including submarines that could dive to 6,000 metres.

He raised fears over vessels deliberately dragging their anchors to sever seabed cables and saboteurs armed with axes cut cables on land.

He said: “Dragging an anchor over a well‑plotted cable is easy and deniable.

“Pre-positioning any timed charges is difficult and risky for whoever is doing that.

“Using divers is difficult and, again, is trackable.”

He added: “In the future, one-way uncrewed underwater vehicles are probably a way ahead for any adversary.”

The MoD said it was investing “in new capabilities to help protect our offshore infrastructure, using the latest technology”.

It said: “This includes through the UK-led reaction system Nordic Warden, to track potential threats to undersea infrastructure, the high-tech RFA Proteus and Atlantic Bastion – high tech sensors above and below the seas to track submarines.”

The Sun understands the advice came from lawyers paid by the Ministry of Defence to act on behalf of the SAS and its veterans.

6

6

The Jenna Ortega-fronted Netflix hit Wednesday returned with the first half of its hotly anticipated second series landing on the streaming platform on August 6, with the second half expected next month

Many Netflix fans all have the same complaint after tuning into the second instalment of the hit horror comedy series, Wednesday, which focuses on the character’s exploits at a private boarding school. The first season arrived in November 2022 and was a critical and commercial success, with many praising lead star Jenna Ortega.

The first half of the new season premiered on August 6, with the second half expected to hit the streaming platform on September 3. The show has already been renewed for a third season, much to fans’ delight.

But not all fans are impressed with the show’s set-up and many think it’s inherently flawed due to Wednesday being placed at Nevermore Academy with magical and mythical students, each boasting unusual or fantastical powers.

Wednesday doesn’t have any obvious supernatural abilities at first and much of her charm – and the Addams’ family’s as a whole – is their dark, gothic and macabre nature which contrasts their deep love for one another, all set against the backdrop of “normal” people in a “normal” world.

With Wednesday removed from a standard school setting, she isn’t the odd one out anymore. Her dark nature, her constant melancholy, and Jenna Ortega’s trademark lack of blinking, blends in seamlessly with students at Nevermore who each have their own darkness to contend with.

When murders started happening in the first season, Wednesday was keen to get to the bottom of the mystery. She soon discovered she has psychic abilities, with the power to experience visions of the past, present and future.

Again, in a typical school setting, this would set her apart from her “normal” peers as the gothic girl with unnerving, unnatural powers. At Nevermore, she’s one among many.

The show’s second season looks to be expanding on Wednesday’s world, with more focus on other members of the Addams family clan. This is something many fans can’t quite agree on.

In a Reddit post linking to a review titled “‘Wednesday’ Season 2 Review: Jenna Ortega Gets Lost Amid Addams Family Mayhem in Overcrowded Netflix Return,” fans were keen to share their thoughts.

One person said: “I.e. this series is more of a regular The Addams Family series compared to Season One’s wholly Wednesday-focused affair.”

Another said: “I would imagine a show called Wednesday would be fully focused on said character…. Lol.”

A third shared: “The second season still focuses on Wednesday. Just less than season 1.”

Someone else added: “Which is a good thing. Wednesday is great, but the reason why the movies worked so well is because of the family dynamic. Just following one family member all season is a mistake, and it appears the showrunner agreed.”

And another Netflix fan commented: “There’s also something to be said about the fact that they put Wednesday into a school where everybody is creepy and weird to some degree, which suddenly makes her not all that unique.

“The juxtaposition of the Addamses against normal people who find them off putting is a huge part of what makes the formula work but they took all that away.”

Someone else added: “I mean all I really want is more Addams Family.”

A humanitarian aid convoy has reached Syria’s Druze-majority Suwayda province as the United Nations warns that the humanitarian situation remains critical after last week’s deadly clashes displaced thousands and left essential services in ruins.

Clashes in Druze-majority Suwayda province, which began on July 13 and ended with a ceasefire a week later, initially involved Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes, who have been fighting for decades. Later, government forces joined the fighting on the side of the Bedouin armed groups.

State television reported on Monday that a Syrian Red Crescent convoy had entered Suwayda, showing images of trucks crossing into the region.

State news agency SANA said the 27-truck convoy “contains 200 tonnes of flour, 2,000 shelter kits, 1,000 food baskets” as well as medical and other food supplies.

The effort was a cooperation between “international organisations, the Syrian government and the local community”.

UN warns of critical situation

Although the ceasefire has largely held, the UN’s humanitarian agency, OCHA, said that the humanitarian situation in Suwayda province “remains critical amid ongoing instability and intermittent hostilities”.

“Humanitarian access, due to roadblocks, insecurity and other impediments … remains constrained, hampering the ability of humanitarians to assess need thoroughly and to provide critical life-saving assistance on a large scale,” OCHA said in a statement.

It stated that the violence resulted in power and water outages, as well as shortages of food, medicine, and fuel.

Local news outlet Suwayda24 reported that “the humanitarian needs in Suwayda are dire”, saying many more aid convoys were needed for the province.

It said demonstrations demanding more humanitarian aid were held in several locations on Monday.

On Sunday, Suwayda24 published a warning from local civil and humanitarian groups of a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Suwayda, adding that the province “is under a suffocating, escalating siege imposed by the authorities” that has led to a severe lack of basic supplies.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that government forces were deployed in parts of the province, but goods were unable to enter due to the ongoing closure of the Suwayda-Damascus highway, as government-affiliated armed groups were obstructing traffic.

SANA quoted Suwayda’s provincial Governor Mustafa al-Bakkur on Sunday as saying that aid convoys were entering Suwayda province normally and that “the roads are unobstructed for the entry of relief organisations to the province”.

Deadly clashes displaced thousands

The clashes killed more than 250 people and threatened to unravel Syria’s post-war transition.

The violence also displaced 128,571 people, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration.

During the clashes, government forces intervened on the side of the Bedouin, according to witnesses, experts and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.

Israel intervened and launched air attacks on Syria’s Ministry of Defence buildings in the heart of Damascus.

Israeli forces also hit Syrian government forces in Suwayda province, claiming it was protecting the Druze, whom it calls its “brothers”.

Russia, Turkiye call for respect of Syria’s territorial integrity

Following the Israeli attacks, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin stressed the importance of Syria’s territorial integrity in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Putin, an ally of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, also said that political stability in the country must be achieved through respect for “all ethnic and religious groups’ interests”, a Kremlin statement said.

A senior Turkish official also called for sustained de-escalation and an end to Israeli military attacks in Syria, stressing the need to support Damascus’s efforts to stabilise the war-torn country.

“From now on, it is important to ensure continued de-escalation and Israeli non-aggression, support for the Syrian government’s efforts to restore calm in Suwayda and to prevent civilian casualties,” Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz told the UN Security Council during a meeting on Syria.

“Israel’s disregard for law, order, and state sovereignty reached new heights with its recent attacks on the presidential complex and the Defence Ministry,” Yilmaz said. “The situation has partially improved as a result of our collective efforts with the US and some other countries.”

‘Hospitals are rationing. Ambulances are stalling. Water systems are on the brink,’ UN humanitarian office says.

The United Nations humanitarian office, OCHA, has warned that the fuel crisis in Gaza due to the Israeli blockade has reached a “critical point” and will cause further deaths and suffering in the besieged Palestinian territory.

OCHA said the fuel powering vital functions in Gaza, including water desalination stations and hospitals’ intensive care units, is running out quickly, with “virtually no additional accessible stocks left”.

“Hospitals are rationing. Ambulances are stalling. Water systems are on the brink,” the office said in a statement.

“The deaths this is likely causing could soon increase sharply unless the Israeli authorities allow new fuel in – urgently, regularly and in sufficient quantities.”

Israel has imposed a suffocating siege on Gaza since early March.

Over the past weeks, it has allowed some food into Gaza to be distributed through a United States-backed group at sites where hundreds of aid seekers have been shot dead by Israeli fire.

But fuel has not entered the territory in months.

Senior World Food Programme official Carl Skau also decried the lack of fuel in Gaza.

“The needs are greater than ever, and our capacity to respond has never been more constrained. Famine is spreading, and people are dying trying to find food,” Skau said in a social media post.

“Our teams in Gaza are doing their best to deliver aid and are often caught in the crossfire. We are suffering from shortages of fuel, spare parts and essential communications equipment.”

The director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Muhammad Abu Salmiya, said that the situation at the medical centre is alarming due to the lack of fuel supplies.

“We don’t have enough fuel left until morning. If fuel is not available, generators cannot run, and hospitals find it difficult to provide care,” Abu Salmiya told Al Jazeera.

“Blood banks, nurseries and oxygen stations are not operating because of a lack of fuel. Patients will be doomed to certain death if fuel is not provided to hospitals.”

The health sector in Gaza has already been pushed to the brink under Israeli bombardment and repeated displacement orders.

Aid workers and health experts have been reporting a rise in preventable diseases in the territory amid the dire humanitarian situation.

On Tuesday, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said the enclave is seeing an uptick in cases of meningitis, a potentially deadly disease, especially among children.

“The catastrophic conditions in shelters, the severe shortage of drinking water, the spread of sewage, and the accumulation of waste are driving the health situation to further deterioration,” the ministry said.

Meningitis, which causes inflammation around the brain and spinal cord, can be caused by a bacterial infection.

In addition to the humanitarian crisis, Israel is pressing on with its intense bombardment of the territory. Medical sources told Al Jazeera that Israeli attacks killed at least 95 Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday.

Israeli attacks killed dozens of displaced people in and around tents in the al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis and in Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp.

UN experts and rights groups have described Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza as a genocide.

Are AI chatbots dulling our brains? A new MIT study suggests critical thinking skills are at risk from tools like ChatGPT. What does the science say happens to brains that rely on AI? And how can you use AI tools while protecting your ability to think for yourself?

Canadian Denis Shapovalov, the number 27 seed at Wimbledon, was knocked out by Argentina’s Mariano Navone in the first round.

He was broken six times by his opponent as he suffered his earliest exit at the tournament since 2019.

“The balls are the worst, the grass tour has turned into a joke,” he said after his defeat.

“This isn’t grass anymore, the court is slower than a clay one. It’s not even grass.”

Two-time champion Petra Kvitova said things had changed over the years.

“I’m not sure if it’s only grass,” she said after her final appearance at the All England Club ended in a defeat by 10th seed Emma Navarro.

“Maybe it’s the balls, as well. Overall it’s getting slower.”

Eight top-10 seeded players have exited in the first round – the highest tally at a single Grand Slam event in the Open era.

Among those to be knocked out was American third seed Jessica Pegula, who said the courts at Wimbledon “felt different” but added: “That’s grass – they’re all kind of different. It’s a living surface, they’re not going to play the same.”

Poland’s former world number one Iga Swiatek, who beat Russian Polina Kudermetova 7-5 6-1 in her first-round match, feels the Wimbledon courts are playing slower but expects things to change in the coming days.

“It [Wimbledon] was slower, and kind of more slippery with the movement,” she said.

“But also with the heat and everything the ball bounced differently than how it will in the coming days, so I’m not really focusing on that.

“With the change of the weather we will have to adjust every day to the different conditions.”

Sonia Dhamani, a fierce critic of President Kais Saied, has criticised him for practices against refugees and migrants.

A Tunisian court has sentenced Sonia Dhamani, a prominent lawyer and renowned critic of President Kais Saied, to two years in jail, lawyers have said, in a case that rights groups say marks a deepening crackdown on dissent in the North African country.

Dhamani’s lawyers withdrew from the trial after the judge refused to adjourn the session on Monday, claiming Dhamani was being tried twice for the same act.

The court sentenced Dhamani for statements criticising practices against refugees and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

Lawyer Bassem Trifi said the verdict was “a grave injustice”.

“What’s happening is a farce. Sonia is being tried twice for the same statement,” said lawyer Sami Ben Ghazi, another lawyer for Dhamani.

Dhamani was arrested last year after making comments during a television appearance that questioned the government’s stance on undocumented African refugees and migrants in Tunisia.

The case was brought under the nation’s controversial cybercrime law, Decree 54, which has been widely condemned by international and local rights groups.

Most opposition leaders, some journalists, and critics of Saied have been imprisoned since Saied seized control of most powers, dissolved the elected parliament, and began ruling by decree in 2021 – moves the opposition has described as a coup.

Saied rejects the charges and says his actions are legal and aimed at ending years of chaos and rampant corruption.

Human rights groups and activists say Saied has turned Tunisia into an open-air prison and is using the judiciary and police to target his political opponents.

Saied rejects these accusations, saying he will not be a dictator and seeks to hold everyone accountable equally, regardless of their position or name.

Earlier this year, the country carried out a mass trial in which dozens of defendants were handed jail terms of up to 66 years. Critics denounced the trial as politically motivated and baseless.

The defendants faced charges including “conspiracy against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group”, according to their lawyers.

Among those targeted were figures from what was once the biggest party, Ennahda, such as the leader and former Speaker of Parliament Rached Ghannouchi, former Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, and former Minister of Justice Noureddine Bhiri.

Tunisia had been celebrated as perhaps the only democratic success of the 2011 “Arab Spring” revolutions, with strong political engagement among its public and civil society members, who frequently took to the airwaves and streets to make their voices heard.

The years that followed the revolution, which overthrew long-time autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, saw the growth of a healthy political system with numerous elections declared free and fair by international observers.

But a weak economy and the strengthening of anti-democratic forces led to a pushback, capped off by Saied’s dismissal of the government and dissolution of parliament.

June 25 (UPI) — The World Bank on Wednesday announced a $1.3 billion investment in projects in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria.

The costliest of the three projects will happen in Iraq, as the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $930 million in financing to help improve the country’s railways.

“As Iraq shifts from reconstruction to development, enhanced trade and connectivity can stimulate growth, create jobs, and reduce oil dependency,” said the World Bank’s Middle East Division Director Jean-Christophe Carret of the Iraq Railways Extension and Modernization, or IREM, project, which is intended to improve railway services and infrastructure between the Umm Qasr Port in southern Iraq and Mosul in northern Iraq.

IREM is expected to fix and improve about 650 miles of existing railway, improve the performance of the Iraqi Republic Railways, or IRR, reduce travel time and also allow for an increase in freight volumes, which should give rail users more in the way of reliable transport services.

“The IREM project is vital for transforming Iraq into a regional transport hub and helping achieve the [Iraq Development Road’s] goals of improved connectivity and economic diversification and growth,” Carret added.

The Iraq Development Road project, which was greenlit in 2023, is a regional railway that connects the Gulf region through Iraq to Turkey and then extends into Europe. Once enacted, by 2037 IREM should allow the IRR to carry millions of people and tons of freight through eight of Iraq’s provinces and create nearly 22,000 jobs annually by 2040.

For Syria, the World Bank’s board has approved a $146 million grant to help restore reliable electricity and support the country’s economic recovery via the Syria Electricity Emergency Project, or SEEP.

SEEP is slated to pay for the rehabilitation of high voltage transmission lines that were damaged during years of conflict, as well as repair transformer substations in the areas that receive the highest number of refugees and displaced people while arranging for technical assistance and investment plans.

“Electricity is a foundational investment for economic progress, service delivery and livelihoods,” said Syrian Finance Minister Yisr Barnieh, who noted this project was the first for the World Bank in Syria in almost 40 years.

“We hope it will lay the ground for a comprehensive and structured support program to help Syria on its path to recovery and long-term development,” he added.

According to the World Bank, damage to Syria’s national grid currently limits electrical usage there to only between two and four hours daily.

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors also approved $250 million in financing to support reconstruction and repair to Lebanon’s infrastructure and emergency services.

Conflict in Lebanon over the past two years has damaged buildings and infrastructure that are necessary to effectively serve in several of the nation’s sectors, such as education, health care, energy, transportation and water. The World Bank’s funding will go to the Lebanon Emergency Assistance Project, or LEAP, which is intended to address reconstruction and recovery as quickly as possible.

Director Carret says LEAP “offers a credible vehicle for development partners to align their support, alongside continued progress on the government’s reform agenda, and maximize collective impact in support of Lebanon’s recovery and long-term reconstruction.”

The assassination attempt on the presidential hopeful has rattled the country, which fears a return to darker days.

Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay is reported to be in extremely critical condition after undergoing surgery to tend to a brain bleed, just more than a week after being shot in the head during a campaign event.

The attack was part of an eruption of violence that has stoked fears of a return to the darker days of assassinations and bombings.

The Santa Fe Foundation hospital on Monday said that Uribe was stable after undergoing a “complementary” operation to his original surgery, but remained in serious critical condition.

It added that an urgent neurological procedure had been necessary because of clinical evidence and imaging showing an acute inter-cerebral bleed, but that the brain swelling persisted and bleeding remained difficult to control.

The 39-year-old potential presidential candidate from the right-wing opposition was shot in the head twice on June 7 during a rally in Bogota.

The assassination attempt, which was caught on video, recalled a streak of candidate assassinations in the 1980s and 1990s, a time when fighting between armed rebels, paramilitary groups, drug traffickers and state security forces touched the lives of many Colombians.

Three suspects, including a 15-year-old alleged shooter, are in custody. An adult man and woman are also being held.

The 15-year-old boy, who police believe was a “sicario” or hitman working for money, was charged last week with the attempted murder of Uribe, to which he pleaded not guilty. He was also charged with carrying a firearm.

The adult man, Carlos Eduardo Mora, has been charged for alleged involvement in planning the attack, providing the gun and being in the vehicle where the shooter changed his clothes after the attack, according to the attorney general’s office.

Uribe is a senator for the conservative Democratic Centre party and one of several candidates who hope to succeed left-wing President Gustavo Petro in the 2026 presidential vote.

He comes from a prominent political family. His grandfather, Julio Cesar Turbay, was president from 1978 to 1982, and his mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was killed in 1991 in a botched rescue attempt after being kidnapped by an armed group led by drug cartel lord Pablo Escobar.

The main dissident faction of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group on Friday denied responsibility for the attack on Uribe, though it did accept responsibility for a series of unrelated bomb attacks.

Southwest Colombia was rocked by a series of explosions and gun attacks last week which has left at least seven people dead. The attacks hit Cali, the country’s third-largest city, and the nearby towns of Corinto, El Bordo and Jamundi, targeting police stations and other municipal buildings with car and motorcycle bombs, rifle fire and a suspected drone.

Colombia’s government has struggled to contain violence in urban and rural areas as several rebel groups try to take over territory abandoned by the FARC after its peace deal with the government.

Peace talks between the FARC-EMC faction and the government broke down last year after a series of attacks on Indigenous communities.

June 16 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump participated in a meeting of the G7 in Canada on Monday that had a wide range of pressing issues including the Israel-Iran conflict and trade

He and counterparts from Europe and Japan, as well as six countries not in the group that were invited to attend, will meet for three days.

Ahead of the summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Trump held a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, their second in less than six weeks after the U.S. president hosted Carney in the White House after his unexpected general election victory April 28, attributed in large part due to “the Trump effect.”

Trump had said he expected to ink new trade agreements at the meetings, which are also being attended by the European Union, Ukraine, Mexico, South Korea, South Africa, India and Australia, but ABC News said Israel’s strikes on Iran had “scrambled” the agenda.

The network said there were differences between the U.S. administration and its international allies, with Trump telling ABC he was open to an offer from Russian President Vladimir Putin to mediate between the parties.

French President Emmanuel rejected the idea, saying Putin lacked the necessary credibility due to his country’s military intervention in Ukraine.

The president held a roughly 60-minute call with Putin in recent days in which much of the focus was on the Israel-Iran fighting, and less on Ukraine. However, Trump was scheduled to hold a one-on-one meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the summit.

Uncertainty generated by Trump’s positions on the big geopolitical issues was likely seen as forcing allies to seek reassurance on where he stands, from supporting Ukraine over the longer term to what to do about Iran, as well as looming fears of a global trade war.

Trump is expected to hold a series of bilateral meetings with the key trading partners at the summit, many of them slapped by the United States with hefty goods tariffs and separate tariffs on autos and steel and aluminum. Some have responded in kind.

Canada is among the countries hardest hit, with a 25% tariff on autos imported into the United and 50% on steel and aluminum. Canada also faces tariffs, along with Mexico on imports of goods not exempted by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Trump told reporters as he departed for Canada that deals with the United States’ trading partners were just a matter of formally notifying them “what you’re going to have to pay,” but the summit comes amid Trump’s 90-day pause on “reciprocal” tariffs announced May 12.

The EU, in particular, wants to get a deal done before the July 9 expiration of a 10% tariff reduction implemented by Trump to allow time for negotiations.

So far, the only country with which a deal has been reached, but not implemented, is Britain. That deal announced in May allows Britain to export 100,000 cars annually to the United States at its standard 10% baseline tariff rate.

The deal also allows for British steel and aluminum quotas that will effectively reduce the tariffs to zero, although it currently remains at 25%, but still far below the 50% imposed on all other countries.

Trump is making his first appearance at the summit since attending a meeting in the south of France in 2019. The previous year’s gathering in Canada ended with him withdrawing support for the final communique.