Oct. 13 (UPI) — China vowed to retaliate if U.S. President Donald Trump makes good on his threat to impose a 100% tariff on goods from the Asian country, further straining fraught trade relations between the world’s largest economies.
“If the U.S. insists on going the wrong way, China will surely take resolute measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests,” a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said Sunday in a statement.
The back and forth comes after representatives from Washington and Beijing held trade talks in Beijing last month with prospects of further negotiations continuing this month in South Korea.
However, whether those discussions will continue on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Gyeongju remains unclear.
U.S.-China trade relations have deteriorated under the Trump administration, which has repeatedly imposed tariffs on Chinese goods that are being challenged in U.S. courts are at the World Trade Organization.
Late last week, Beijing’s Commerce Ministry announced tighten export restrictions on rare earth items and materials. In response, Trump announced the 100% tariff threat on his Truth Social media platform. China imports are currently subject to a 30% tariff.
The American leader said the import tax would go into effect Nov. 1, along with additional export controls on so-called critical software.
“It is impossible to believe that China would take such an action, but they have, and the rest is History,” Trump said in the statement.
China’s commerce ministry on Sunday accused the United States of hypocrisy, saying Washington in the 20 days since their talks in Madrid has “introduced a string of new restrictive measures,” pointing to Washington putting multiple Chinese firms on the Entity List, expanded the scope of export controls affecting thousands of Chinese companies and other actions.
“The U.S. actions have severely harmed China’s interests and undermined the atmosphere of bilateral economic and trade talks, and China is resolutely opposed to them,” the ministry spokesperson said.
“China’s stance is consistent. We do not want a tariff war but we are not afraid of one.”
The bus, travelling from the Eastern Cape to Zimbabwe and Malawi, tumbled down a steep embankment.
Published On 13 Oct 202513 Oct 2025
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A bus has crashed in a mountainous region in the north of South Africa, killing at least 42 people.
The vehicle veered off a steep mountain road on the N1 highway near the town of Makhado in Limpopo province on Sunday evening, before tumbling down an embankment and landing upside down.
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The vehicle was travelling from Gqeberha in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province to Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Emergency crews worked through the night to pull victims from the wreckage and transport survivors to nearby hospitals.
More than 30 injured passengers received medical treatment. Authorities said some people may still be trapped inside the overturned bus.
According to public broadcaster SABC, the dead included 18 women, 17 men and seven children.
A 10-month-old baby was among the victims, Violet Mathy, a transport official for the Limpopo province, told Newzroom Afrika.
The road, a major highway connecting South Africa to Zimbabwe, remained closed in both directions on Monday as rescue operations continued.
Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba visited the crash site before meeting survivors in hospital.
“Losing so many lives in one incident is painful beyond words,” she said, offering condolences to families in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Authorities are investigating what caused the driver to lose control, with initial assessments pointing to possible fatigue or mechanical failure as potential factors.
The provincial government is providing counselling support to survivors while working with diplomatic missions from Zimbabwe and Malawi to assist bereaved families.
South Africa’s roads are among the most dangerous in the world, with thousands of people dying in crashes each year.
Long-distance buses carrying migrant workers between countries in Southern Africa are frequently involved in serious accidents on the region’s highways.
Hunger is neither a natural condition of humankind nor an unavoidable tragedy: it is the result of choices made by governments and economic systems that have chosen to turn a blind eye to inequalities – or even of promoting them.
The same global order that denies 673 million people access to adequate food also enables a privileged group of just 3,000 billionaires to hold 14.6 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).
In 2024, the wealthiest nations helped drive the largest surge in military spending since the end of the Cold War, reaching $2.7 trillion that year. Yet they failed to deliver on their own commitment: to invest 0.7 percent of their GDP in concrete actions to promote development in poorer countries.
Today, we see situations not unlike those that prevailed 80 years ago, when the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations was created. Unlike then, however, we are not only witnessing the tragedies of war and hunger feeding into each other, but also facing the urgent climate crisis. And the international order established to address the challenges of 1945 is no longer sufficient to address today’s problems.
Global governance mechanisms must be reformed. We need to strengthen multilateralism, create investment flows that promote sustainable development, and ensure that states have the capacity to implement consistent public policies to fight hunger and poverty.
It is essential to include the poor in public budgets and the wealthy in the tax base. This requires tax justice and taxing the superrich, an issue we managed to include for the first time in the final declaration of the G20 Summit, held in November 2024, under Brazil’s Presidency. A symbolic but historic change.
We advocate for this practice around the world — and we are implementing it in Brazil. Our Parliament is about to approve substantial tax reform: for the first time in the country, there will be a minimum tax on the income of the wealthiest individuals, exempting millions of lower-income earners from paying income tax.
During our G20 Presidency, Brazil also proposed the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty. Although recent, the initiative already has 200 members — 103 countries and 97 partner foundations and organisations. This initiative is not just about exchanging experiences, but about mobilising resources and securing commitments.
With this alliance, we want to enable countries to implement public policies that truly reduce inequality and ensure the right to adequate food. Policies that deliver rapid results, as seen in Brazil after we made the fight against hunger a government priority in 2023.
Official data released just a few days ago show that we have lifted 26.5 million Brazilians out of hunger since the beginning of 2023. In addition, Brazil has been removed, for the second time, from the FAO’s Hunger Map, as laid out in its global report on food insecurity. A map we would not have returned to if the policies launched during my first two terms (2003-10) and President Dilma Rousseff’s (2011-16) had not been abandoned.
Behind these achievements lie a set of coordinated actions on multiple fronts. We have strengthened and expanded our national income transfer programme, which now reaches 20 million households and supports 8.5 million children aged six and below.
We have increased funding for free meals in public schools, benefitting 40 million students. Through public food procurement, we have secured income for small-scale family farmers, while offering free, nutritious meals to those who truly need them. In addition, we have expanded the free supply of cooking gas and electricity to low-income households, freeing up room in family budgets to strengthen food security.
None of these policies, however, is sustainable without an economic environment that drives them. When there are jobs and income, hunger loses its grip. That is why we have adopted an economic policy that prioritises wage increases, leading to the lowest unemployment rate ever recorded in Brazil. And to the lowest level of per capita household income inequality.
Brazil still has a long way to go before achieving full food security for its entire population, but the results confirm that state action can indeed overcome the scourge of hunger. These initiatives, however, depend on concrete shifts in global priorities: investing in development rather than in wars; prioritising the fight against inequality instead of restrictive economic policies that for decades have caused massive concentration of wealth; and facing the challenge of climate change with people at its core.
By hosting COP30 in the Amazon next month, Brazil wants to show that the fight against climate change and the fight against hunger must go hand in hand. In Belem, we aim to adopt a Declaration on Hunger, Poverty, and Climate that acknowledges the profoundly unequal impacts of climate change and its role in worsening hunger in certain regions of the world.
I will also take these messages to the World Food Forum and to the meeting of the Council of Champions of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, events I will have the honour of attending today, the 13th, in Rome, Italy. These are messages that show that change is urgent and possible. For humanity, which created the poison of hunger against itself, is also capable of producing its antidote.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
Israeli officials have confirmed that all 20 living captives have been released in Gaza. Under the terms of Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, this should trigger the release of almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
In 1775, the Continental Congress ordered construction of America’s first naval fleet.
In 1792, the cornerstone to the White House in Washington was laid. It would be November 1800 before the first presidential family — that of John Adams — moved in.
In 1903, the Boston Americans (later known as the Red Sox) beat the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the first modern World Series, five games to three.
In 1917, up to 100,000 people gathered in Fatima, Portugal, for the “Miracle of the Sun” and its strange solar activity and, for many, a reported glimpse of the Virgin Mary.
In 1943, conquered by the Allies, Italy declared war on Germany, its Axis former partner.
In 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 carrying 45 people, including a rugby team from Montevideo, crashed in the Andes mountains. It would take 72 days for rescuers to learn the fate of the survivors, and by that time, only 16 were left to tell their story. The survivor’s harrowing story was brought to the big screen in the 1993 feature film, Alive.
In 1972, more than 170 people were killed in a Soviet airliner crash near Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport.
In 1987, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize — the first winner from Central America. Arias was recognized for his work promoting democracy and peace in Central America.
In 1994, two months after the Irish Republican Army announced a cease-fire, the Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Freedom Fighters, the two main paramilitary groups fighting to keep Northern Ireland with its Protestant majority in the United Kingdom, announced a cease-fire.
In 2000, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to South Korean President Kim Dae-jung for his efforts to reconcile his country with North Korea through a summit earlier in the year with counterpart Kim Jong Il.
In 2010, after more than two months entombed half a mile under the Chilean desert, the first of 33 trapped miners was pulled to safety in a narrow passageway drilled through more than 2,000 feet of rock, to be followed in the next 24 hours by the rest of the crew in a dramatic finale to a remarkable rescue mission.
In 2013, a stampede by masses of worshipers crossing a bridge over the Sindh River at a Hindu festival in India’s Madhya Pradesh state killed more than 100 people and injured scores of others. A police official said people panicked as rumors spread that the bridge was collapsing.
In 2019, American Simone Biles became the most decorated gymnast in history with her record 25th gold medal at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
In 2021, Star Trek actor William Shatner, at 90, became the oldest person to go to space. He traveled with three others aboard a Blue Origin capsule and returned 11 minutes after reaching space.
In 2024, SpaceX used a tower with arms to “catch” the 20-story-tall booster for its Starship rocket for the first time.
Thirty-two African nations now spend more servicing external debt than funding healthcare
Published On 13 Oct 202513 Oct 2025
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More than 30 leading economists, former finance ministers and a central banker have called for immediate debt relief for low- and middle-income countries, warning that loan repayments are preventing governments from funding basic services.
In a letter released on Sunday, in advance of next month’s World Bank and IMF annual meetings, the group says countries are “defaulting on development” even when they keep up with debt payments.
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“Countries around the world are paying exorbitant debt servicing costs instead of paying for schools, hospitals, climate action or other essential services,” the letter said.
Among the signatories are Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, former Central Bank of Colombia Governor Jose Antonio Ocampo, and former South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel.
The economists say African governments now spend an average of 17 percent of state revenue on debt servicing. Thirty-two African nations spend more servicing external debt than funding healthcare, while 25 allocate more to debt than to education.
The letter says capping the average ratio of state revenue used on debt servicing at 10 percent could provide clean water to about 10 million people across 21 countries, and prevent approximately 23,000 deaths of children below five years of age each year.
The call comes as healthcare systems across Africa show signs of severe strain.
According to an ActionAid report published earlier this year, 97 percent of health workers in six African countries said their wages were insufficient to cover basic costs. Almost nine in 10 reported shortages of medicines and equipment due to budget cuts.
The public sector funding crisis is exacerbated by shrinking aid budgets. The United States, previously the world’s largest donor, has cut funding this year as the administration of President Donald Trump has shifted priorities away from aid.
The International Rescue Committee said 10 of the 13 countries hit hardest by the US aid cuts are African.
Economists warn that current debt relief efforts have failed. A framework under the auspices of the Group of 20 has so far relieved just 7 percent of the total external debt owed by at-risk countries.
They are calling on leaders to urgently reduce debt burdens, reform how the World Bank and IMF assess debt sustainability, and support a “Borrowers’ Club” so countries can negotiate from a position of strength.
“Bold action on debt means more children in classrooms, more nurses in hospitals, more action on climate change,” the letter concludes.
Cheering broke out among in Tel Aviv it was announced that Hamas had released seven Israeli captives into the custody of the Red Cross, the first to be released as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Christopher Cash (left) and Christopher Berry (right) both deny the accusation of spying for China
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has written to the prime minister asking him to address “unanswered” questions about the collapsed case against two men accused of spying for China.
Charges against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry – who deny the allegations – were dropped in September, prompting criticism from MPs.
The director of public prosecutions (DPP) said the case collapsed because evidence could not be obtained from the government referring to China as a national security threat. On Sunday, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said ministers were “disappointed” it had not proceeded.
In her letter, Badenoch said the government’s account of the situation had “changed repeatedly”.
Sir Keir Starmer previously said ministers could only draw on the last government’s assessment of China – which dubbed it an “epoch-defining challenge” – and his government has maintained it is “frustrated” the trial collapsed.
Badenoch outlined “several key questions which remain unanswered” in her letter on Sunday, and asked that Starmer or a senior minister appear before MPs “to clear things up once and for all”.
She wrote: “This is a matter of the utmost importance, involving alleged spying on Members of Parliament. It seems that you and your ministers have been too weak to stand up to Beijing on a crucial matter of national security.”
The letter queried remarks made by Phillipson to the BBC earlier in the day, in which she said Starmer’s national security advisor Jonathan Powell had no role in the “substance or the evidence” of the case.
Phillipson also said ministers were “deeply disappointed that the case hasn’t proceeded”, and insisted the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was “best placed to explain why it was not able to bring forward a prosecution”.
The Conservatives had suggested Powell, who has sought closer relations with Beijing, failed to give the CPS the evidence it said it needed to secure convictions.
Badenoch questioned Phillipson’s comments: “What does this mean? If he was “not involved” in the decision over months not to give the CPS what they needed, then who was?”
Jonathan Powell, one of Sir Keir’s most senior advisers and political allies, visited China earlier this year
The opposition leader also claimed the government – which had denied ministers were involved in the trial’s collapse before the DPP claimed the necessary material had not been obtained – had sought to “appease China”.
She disputed Starmer’s comments that ministers could only draw on the previous Conservative government’s position, writing: “As various leading lawyers have pointed out, this is not how the law works.”
Starmer had told reporters earlier this week: “You have to prosecute people on the basis of the circumstances at the time of the alleged offence”.
“So all the focus needs to be on the policy of the Tory government in place then.”
Badenoch asked that Starmer clarify whether any ministers knew about the government’s interactions with the CPS in which it “refused” to provide the material being sought.
She also asked if the matter had ever been raised with Starmer, including by Powell, and if an earlier denial of the government’s involvement had been “misleading”.
The Conservatives have submitted an urgent question in Parliament, asking ministers to address MPs on Monday to explain why the trial collapsed.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp told the BBC ministers “must urgently explain why it chose not to disclose the reams of information it has demonstrating China was a threat to national security in the 2021-2023 period”.
He said: “It looks as if Jonathan Powell was behind this decision – and he should resign if he is.”
Meanwhile, several former Conservative ministers and advisers have told the BBC there was no official designation of whether a country amounts to a threat.
They claim there is a document with “hundreds” of examples of Chinese activity posing a threat to the UK at the time of the alleged offences, which could have been given as evidence.
Sources cited the hack on the Ministry of Defence, which ministers suspected China was behind, as one of many incidents.
“I don’t think there is a sane jury in the world that would look at that evidence and conclude China was not a threat,” a source in the last government said.
Former Conservative ministers also point to public statements, including from the former head of MI5 Ken McCallum, who in 2023 said there had been a “sustained campaign” of Chinese espionage on a “pretty epic scale”.
The Liberal Democrats said the government’s approach to China was “putting our national security at risk”.
The party urged the government to block the planning application for a new Chinese embassy in London.
“Giving the green light to the super embassy being built in the heart of the City of London and above critical data connections would enable Chinese espionage on an industrial scale,” Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller said.
Mr Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Mr Berry, were charged under the Official Secrets Act in April 2024, when the Conservatives were in power.
They were accused of gathering and providing information prejudicial to the safety and interests of the state between December 2021 and February 2023.
Under the Official Secrets Act, anyone accused of spying can only be prosecuted if the information they passed on was useful to an enemy.
Last month, the DPP said “the case could no longer proceed to trial since the evidence no longer met the evidential test”.
Skardu, Pakistan – When Wasiyat Khan was woken up by a loud explosion in the middle of the night, he thought “the mountains had burst” and a landslide was on its way.
Accompanied by his family, Wasiyat, a shepherd from Roshan valley of Ghizer, in northern Pakistan’s mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan region, had taken his livestock to elevated land for grazing on a sojourn during the warmer months.
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Soon enough, as the family sought immediate safety, he realised the explosion was the sound of a glacier bursting. As their temporary accommodation was being swept away by the floodwaters, Wasiyat thought of the villages which lay in the water’s path.
At more than 3,000 metres in the darkness of the night, outside help was impossible to get. He immediately jumped across boulders and reached a designated spot where he could get mobile phone signals and alerted the villagers, who numbered about 300.
“Within 30 minutes, we got a call back saying the villagers had evacuated safely and no lives were lost,” Wasiyat told local media. “While they were safe, we were left with nothing, not even a matchstick to keep us warm near the glaciers. It was very cold and we were suffering.
“When we were rescued hours later and taken back to the village, we found out that all our houses and land were covered by mud, but no lives were lost.”
View from a house in Skardu, northern Pakistan, which was affected by a bursting glacier a few years ago [Faras Ghani/Al Jazeera]
The glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a common occurrence in northern Pakistan, home to an estimated 13,000 glaciers. As global warming worsens, the effect of more glaciers melting is “likely to be significant” this year, Pakistan’s disaster management authority, NDMA, had said in March.
In its latest assessment, the NDMA says snowfall across Pakistan in the coming months is projected to be less than average, particularly in areas like Gilgit-Baltistan, reducing overall snow accumulation. A reduced snow cover, it fears, would accelerate glacier retreat by exposing ice earlier in the season, making high-altitude regions more vulnerable to GLOFs.
To prevent such occurrences, the government mainly relies on its early warning systems (EWS), which help in reducing loss of life and injury, economic losses, protecting critical infrastructure, and enhancing climate resilience.
An EWS functions through an interconnected process made up of sensors and gauges that collect real-time data monitored by meteorologists and experts to not only warn of a current hazard, but also predict a disaster. Dozens of EWS sites across the most climate-vulnerable valleys in Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are currently transmitting real-time data to the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
‘Human EWS’
But residents in northern Pakistan say they are more reliant on Indigenous human knowledge instead of the EWS technology.
Mohammad Hussain, a shepherd in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Skardu Valley, told Al Jazeera about an incident when he was inside his stone hut during the summer. After nearly an hour of rainfall, he witnessed strong lightning followed by an unusual roaring sound.
As he stepped out of the hut to gather his cattle, he saw a powerful flash flood, carrying enormous boulders and uprooting large trees. Acting quickly, he alerted the villagers, which ensured safe evacuation before the floodwaters reached.
He recounted stories shared by his grandfather, who said people relied on large signal fires, gunfire or specific sound patterns to alert others. Natural signs such as sudden heavy rainfall, cloud formations, unusual animal behaviour, and distinct roaring sounds are still being used to predict flash floods in the absence of the EWS.
In one incident, he attempted to light a fire to alert villagers below, but, due to daylight and heavy rain, it was ineffective. He then fired his gun three times, a pre-agreed signal indicating danger. Villagers who heard the gunfire raised alarms through the mosque’s loudspeaker, initiating a rapid evacuation.
Although there were significant economic losses, there were no casualties, demonstrating the effectiveness of this “human EWS”.
Pakistan ranks among the top 10 most climate-vulnerable nations, even though it contributes less than 1 percent of global emissions. The World Bank said in 2023 that the mean temperature in Pakistan since the 1950s has risen by 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.34 degrees Fahrenheit), which is twice as fast as the global mean change.
The country’s climate change minister, Musadiq Malik, recently told Al Jazeera that “when these [glacial] floods hit, they cause immense mortality, morbidity and widespread displacement,” adding that “it’s a harsh reality we face.” Pakistan faced nearly 90 such floods between 2019 and 2022.
‘Technology alone won’t save lives’
Despite spending millions on EWS and its implementation, there has been widespread lack of trust placed in it by a number of communities, due to frequent reports of malfunctioning of equipment and lack of follow-ups by the concerned agencies.
A report in Pakistan’s Friday Times in June this year said “despite launching the $37m GLOF-II project in 2017, with new gauges, sirens, and local training, no real-time link connects human sensors in villages to official rescue teams.”
The report warned that “technology alone won’t save lives if SOPs sit buried, rescue checklists gather dust, and trust is missing on the ground.”
Pakistan is home to about 13,000 glaciers [Faras Ghani/Al Jazeera]
Some villagers Al Jazeera spoke to in Gilgit-Baltistan echoed that sentiment, speaking of their lack of trust in the equipment, questioning its effectiveness, and sharing concerns that these systems have not worked. They also slammed officials for falsely taking credit for the system’s effectiveness in saving lives.
“Residents say the EWS in Gilgit-Baltistan have been installed without taking the local authorities and communities into confidence, which was the reason they could not play an effective role,” Zaki Abbas, an Islamabad-based journalist who writes on climate change, told Al Jazeera.
“Last year, I was told by a local activist that up to 20 systems had been installed at various spots, but they had not been operational for different reasons. This controversy surrounding this issue had also echoed in the GB legislative assembly, with the opposition leaders in the region most recently demanding an investigation into the failure of these systems. However, no such probe was ordered.
“Their ineffectiveness can be gauged by the fact that warnings about GLOFs have come from people, most recently a shepherd whose timely call saved an entire village, instead of these systems on which billions of rupees have been spent.”
Addressing the challenges remains a task for the government and partners involved in the implementation of EWS. The UNDP said in February this year that “limited financial resources, technical capacity, data gaps and uncertainties, communication barriers, weak institutional capacities, and complex and evolving climate risks” are just some of the issues facing EWS globally.
When Wasiyat and two other shepherds from Ghizer were given $28,000 each in August by Pakistan’s prime minister as rewards for saving hundreds of lives, they were told that “this act of courage and responsibility will be written in golden words.”
As unpredictable rains, snow patterns and melting glaciers continue to affect Pakistan, especially the northern areas, it seems residents are more likely to rely on these “heroes” in the absence of widespread EWS and the community’s trust in them.
This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center.
Burrell told BBC Sport he also faced prejudice within the England set-up, during a Test career that saw him win 15 caps after his debut in February 2014.
“I’ve had several traumatic experiences within England camp,” he said.
“Some discrimination and some just old-school mentality that’s really unacceptable.”
Racism had become normalised in dressing rooms, in Burrell’s experience.
“It’s something that has been dressed up as banter and that’s been the problem that I’ve personally suffered and seen,” said Burrell, who is of Jamaican descent.
“Over a period of time you just learn to believe that it’s the norm and that is fine and that it’s not malicious, but that’s nonsense.”
Burrell says he was eventually spurred to speak out after a team-mate at Newcastle referred to him as a “slave” and told him to put sun cream on his wrists and ankles “where your shackles were”.
The RFU said Burrell’s revelations had led to “a deeper look at the culture within the elite game and to the implementation of an action plan for the professional game”.
“The RFU has placed significant focus on inclusion and diversity in rugby union and a great deal of work undertaken both before and since Luther Burrell came forward and shared his experiences of racism and classism,” it added.
“We are continuing work with clubs and stakeholders in the professional game to strive for a culture of inclusivity but acknowledge this takes time and is an ongoing process.”
Every Prem and PWR club now has face-to-face education on building inclusive cultures, with its success monitored via individual reports and surveys.
All England players, including age-grade squads, are trained in being “active bystanders” to intervene and protect others from harmful behaviour.
“You should be so proud of what you have done,” Burrell’s mother Joyce told him as part of the BBC iPlayer documentary Luther Burrell – Rugby, Racism and Redemption.
“I know it has had this effect on you and finished your career, but in our eyes, you have done so well. We are so proud of you and to have you as a son.”
Burrell’s father Geoff died shortly after the filming of the documentary, and his sister died earlier this year.
Oct. 12 (UPI) — Search-and-rescue operations were underway Sunday night in Alaska as several people remain unaccounted for while typhoon remnants continue to batter the Last Frontier state.
Alaska State Troopers said in a statement that at least three people were unaccounted for in Kwigillingok, along the west coast of the state. There were also reports of people unaccounted for in nearby Kipnuk, where homes were pushed from their foundations by heaving winds and flooding.
The operation rescued 18 people in Kwigillingok and at least 16 from Kipnuk, the state police force said, adding that both communities were hit with strong winds and heavy flooding Saturday night.
“This is an active and ongoing search-and-rescue mission,” it said adding that the Alaska Air National Guard, Alaska Army National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard were aiding in the effort.
Western Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and Nunivak Island were hit hard by remnants of Typhoon Halong over the weekend, with the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management stating they experienced hurricane-force winds, some areas in gusts in excess of 100 mph. “Significant” storm surges leading to widespread flooding were also recorded, it said.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a disaster declaration on Thursday as the state was already being negatively impacted by the storm. On Sunday, he expanded that order, making available state public and other assistance programs to those affected in the named in the region.
He said Kipnuk and Kwigillingok had been “hard hit” and that rescue aircraft were on their way.
“Every effort will be made to help those hit by this storm,” he said in a Sunday evening release.
In Kipnuk, where water levels reached 6.6 feet above high tide overnight, 172 people had sought shelter, according to the state.
In Kwigillingok, water levels reached a height of 6.3 feet above high tide and more than 100 people required shelter. At least four homes were “inundated,” it said.
The National Weather Service said Sunday afternoon that the storm was continuing to move across Alaska’s west coast, with high wind warnings to remain in effect through Monday Morning for Norton Sound and Kotzebue Sound and through Tuesday morning for the northwest Alaska coast.
For some areas, coastal flooding warnings will remain in effect through Tuesday morning.
US President Donald Trump is considering sending Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, saying it would provide “a new step of aggression” in its war with Russia.
When asked on Air Force One if he would send Tomahawks to Ukraine, Trump replied “we’ll see… I may”.
It follows a second phone call at the weekend between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who pushed for stronger military capabilities to launch counter-attacks against Russia.
Moscow has previously warned Washington against providing long-range missiles to Kyiv, saying it would cause a major escalation in the conflict and strain US-Russian relations.
Tomahawk missiles have a range of 2,500 km (1,500 miles), which would put Moscow within reach for Ukraine.
Trump spoke to reporters as he flew to Israel. He said he would possibly speak to Russia about the Tomahawks requested by Ukraine.
“I might tell them [Russia] that if the war is not settled, that we may very well, we may not, but we may do it.”
“Do they [Russia] want Tomahawks going in their direction? I don’t think so,” the president said.
Kyiv has made multiple requests for long-range missiles, as it weighs up striking Russian cities far from the front lines of the grinding conflict.
In their phone calls Zelensky and Trump discussed Ukraine’s bid to strengthen its military capabilities, including boosting its air defences and long-range arms.
Ukrainian cities including Kyiv have come under repeated heavy Russian bombardment with drones and missiles. Russia has particularly targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing power cuts.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) — The Smithsonian museums and research centers, along with the National Zoo, closed to the public Sunday for the first time during the federal government shutdown and are likely to remain closed until Congress reaches an agreement over national funding.
Though the shutdown officially began Oct. 1, outside funds from donations and endowments allowed a brief extension. Now, its administrators said, the Smithsonian complex must cease public operations until a budget deal.
The closures affect what had been one of the most accessible forms of public education and sightseeing in the United States With 21 museums, 14 research centers and the National Zoo, the Smithsonian is the largest museum and research network in the world.
The absence of open museums cast a palpable gloom over the capital. Though the weekend brought rainy weather that may have suppressed tourism anyway, the lack of activity around the National Mall left the area unusually quiet.
Washington’s reputation as a destination for cultural visitors has long been tied to its museums, and their closure underscores how dependent the city is on federal operations and how vulnerable that model becomes in shutdowns.
Moreover, many district residents work at various Smithsonian complexes, and the shutdown means a majority of Smithsonian staff members have been furloughed. Some essential operations, like at the National Zoo, must continue for animal care, using existing reserves.
The 163-acre public zoo is home to more than 2,200 animals. The private Conservation Biology Institute is in Front Royal Va., 73 miles away. The two employ in total more than 300 staff members and scientists.
For residents and tourists, the museums and zoo had been a “free of cost” option for learning and cultural engagement.
Most of its museums cluster along or near the National Mall, with several other in the D.C. metro area and two facilities in New York City — also closed because of the shutdown.
The portfolio includes institutions devoted to natural history, air and space, African American history and culture, American art and many specialized fields.
In addition to public galleries and exhibitions, the Smithsonian operates research and education centers. These focus on areas like the cnservation Institute, tropical research Institute and conservation biology.
The imminent release of Israeli hostages by Hamas is the focus for most of Monday morning’s papers, with the Times dubbing it an “historic opportunity to end the war in Gaza”. According to the paper, Hamas says they have custody of all 20 living hostages, and will begin releasing them on Monday under the first phase of the ceasefire plan. US President Donald Trump is expected to land in Israel shortly after the first hostages have been freed.
“Hostages set for freedom in key step to end Gaza war” declares the Guardian, reporting that Israeli hostages freed by Hamas will be driven to a military base to reunite with their families, or taken to hospital if medical care is needed. Following their delivery to Israeli soil, Israel is expected to free around 2000 Palestinian detainees in what the paper calls the “crucial next phase” of the ceasefire deal.
“Hope amid the chaos” reads the Mirror’s headline, paired with a photograph of an aid truck in Khan Younis that has been overrun by people desperate for supplies. The paper says Israel and Gaza are on “the cusp of a precarious peace”, but points to concerns that “one wrong move will spell disaster”.
The Mail calls Monday a “day of destiny”, and writes that the “eyes of the world” are on Gaza and Israel as they await the hostage exchange.
“The day they feared would never come” says the Metro, noting that “last minute tensions” remain in Israel despite their agreement to the peace deal negotiated by Trump. The paper says that Israeli special forces are on standby to escort the hostages out of Gaza on Monday, and have orders to disperse crowds using air strikes “if necessary”.
The US president is pictured front and centre of the Telegraph, snapped boarding Air Force One as he departed for Israel on Sunday. The paper reports that Sir Keir Starmer will announce £20m of UK aid for Gaza on Monday, as he joins other world leaders for a “peace summit” in Egypt ahead of the hostage release.
The i Paper also leads on the “historic summit” in Egypt, and reports that former prime minister Sir Tony Blair will join Sir Keir and the leaders of 20 other nations at the signing of the truce on Monday. Sir Tony is expected to take a role on the “Board of Peace” at Trump’s request, which the president says will supervise Gaza’s governance following the ceasefire.
A “revolutionary new MRI procedure” is the lead story for the Daily Express, which reports on “pioneering research” that has led to the development of an MRI scan that could take less than seven minutes. The “breakthrough” could double NHS capacity for the scans, and according to the paper, would boost diagnosis rates for dementia.
US investment banking revenue is expected to top $9bn (£6.7bn) for the first time since 2021, which the Financial Times attributes to the “Trump effect”. The paper says the increase of 13% on last year “reflects growing optimism on Wall Street”.
The Sun reveals that footballer Marcus Rashford has been hit by building delays that could cost up to £15m, as he builds his “dream home” in Cheshire.
The World Conker Championships have been saved by none other than King Charles III, according to the Daily Star. The paper says that the King donated 300 conkers to the competition from his Windsor estate.
A military unit in Madagascar says it is taking control of the country’s security forces as President Andry Rajoelina alleged an “attempt to seize power illegally” was under way.
The CAPSAT contingent, based in the Soanierana district on the outskirts of the capital, Antananarivo, joined thousands of antigovernment demonstrators on Saturday, calling on security forces to “refuse orders to shoot” and condemning police action taken to quell more than two weeks of youth-led protests that have rocked the Indian Ocean island.
The demonstration in the capital, Antananarivo, was one of the largest since the protest movement erupted on September 25, sparked by anger over power and water shortages.
Police used stun grenades and tear gas in attempts to disperse the crowds of several thousand people. Few left as soldiers from the CAPSAT contingent of administrative and technical officers entered the city in army vehicles to join the demonstrators.
They were greeted with cheers from protesters, who called out, “Thank you!” to the uniformed soldiers, some waving Madagascar flags.
On Sunday, Rajoelina released a statement saying: “An attempt to seize power illegally and by force, contrary to the Constitution and to democratic principles, is currently under way.”
“Dialogue is the only way forward and the only solution to the crisis currently facing the country,” he said while calling for unity.
Madagascar is one of the world’s poorest countries and has experienced frequent popular uprisings since its independence from France in 1960.
Faced with near-daily protests since September 25, Rajoelina dismissed his government on September 30 and appointed an army general as prime minister, but the move failed to quell the uprising.
US envoy Steve Witkoff and members of President Donald Trump’s family spoke to nearly half a million people in Tel Aviv who had gathered to celebrate the imminent return of Israeli captives. The crowd booed every time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was mentioned, who they blame for prolonging the war.
Oct. 12 (UPI) — Gunfire erupted close to 1 a.m. at Willie’s Bar and Grill in St. Helena Island, S.C., the sheriff’s office said. Four people were pronounced dead at the scene about an hour north of Savannah.
“It was learned that hundreds of people were in the location when the shooting occurred,” a statement from the sheriff’s office said. “Multiple victims and witnesses ran to the nearby businesses and properties seeking shelter from the gunshots.”
When officers arrived on scene, police confirmed that there were multiple gunshot victims.
Of the 20 victims transported to a local hospital, officials confirmed that four were in critical condition. Some of the victims were transported to Beaufort County EMS, and others arrived separately seeking medical help.
A private security guard hired to police an event at the bar was among the deceased victims, police said.
“This is a tragic and difficult incident for everyone,” the sheriff’s office statement said. “We ask for your patience as we continue to investigate this incident.”
Police have not made any arrests but confirmed they are pursuing a “person of interest.”
New Zealand’s foreign mininster discusses the decision not to recognise a Palestinian state, shifting geopolitical alliances, and diplomacy.
In a shifting world order, New Zealand’s foreign policy faces new tests, from Gaza to the Pacific. Foreign Minister Winston Peters speaks to Talk to Al Jazeera about why his government has stopped short of recognising a Palestinian state, how small nations can stay neutral amid the United States-China rivalry, and whether multilateralism still protects the weak from the will of the powerful.
Oxfam’s Chris McIntosh explains Israel’s war on Gaza has left Palestinians there with little purchasing power, as aid trucks remain stalled at the border despite a ceasefire.
