sets

Israel has conducted more than 1,000 air strikes and more than 400 ground incursions in Syria since al-Assad overthrow.

Israel’s army has renewed its incursions into Syria, setting up a checkpoint in the southern province of Quneitra, according to local media, as it continues daily attacks, destabilises its neighbours and occupies and assaults Palestine.

State news agency SANA reported that two tanks and four military vehicles entered the town of Jabata al-Khashab in the Quneitra countryside on Wednesday, setting up the military post on the road leading to the village of Ain al-Bayda.

Damascus did not immediately comment but has repeatedly condemned Israel’s repeated violations of its sovereignty, highlighting Israel’s failure to adhere to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement that followed the 1973 war.

In that war, Syria was unable to retake the occupied Golan Heights. The 1974 agreement saw the establishment of a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone, which Israel has violated since the fall of Bashar al-Assad last December

Israel has previously said the 1974 agreement is void since al-Assad fled, breaching Syrian sovereignty with air strikes, ground infiltration operations, reconnaissance overflights, the establishment of checkpoints and the arrests and disappearances of Syrians. Syria has not reciprocated attacks.

Back in September, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa stated that Israel had conducted more than 1,000 air strikes and more than 400 ground incursions in Syria since al-Assad was overthrown, describing the actions as “very dangerous”.

Numerous villages in Quneitra, southern Syria, have experienced Israeli incursions, according to Syrian outlet Enab Baladi.

De-escalation discussions

Syria and Israel are currently in talks to reach an agreement that Damascus hopes will secure a halt to Israel’s air strikes on its territory and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.

In the background, the United States has been pushing diplomatic efforts to restore the 1974 deal. On Saturday, Trump’s special envoy Tom Barrack said the two countries are expected to hold a fifth set of de-escalation discussions.

Amid Israel’s continued belligerence and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promotion of his vision for a “Greater Israel“, al-Sharaa has been forging closer ties with the US.

On Monday, he is heading to Washington for talks with President Donald Trump, marking the first visit by a Syrian president to the White House in more than 80 years.

Barrack said on Saturday that Syria is expected to join the US-led anti–ISIL (ISIS) coalition, describing it as “a big step” and “remarkable”.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani said earlier this week that al-Sharaa was also expected to discuss Syria’s reconstruction with Trump.

Adrian Kempe scored his 200th NHL career goal and Drew Doughty broke the Kings record for goals by a defenseman as they beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-0 on Tuesday night.

Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves and Kevin Fiala added a late power-play goal to help the Kings get their first home win of the season in six games.

Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves for the Jets, who dropped their first road game in five tries.

Kempe scored late in the first period to put the Kings in front, getting his sixth goal of the season by attacking the crease to put in Joel Armia’s centering pass from the trapezoid. Kempe is the ninth member of the 2014 draft class to reach 200 goals, getting there in 644 games.

Doughty passed franchise stalwart Rob Blake with his 162nd goal in 1,221 games with an empty-netter with 54 seconds remaining.

The Kings made changes by moving Armia to the top line and reuniting Mikey Anderson with longtime partner Doughty on the first defensive pair, and there were immediate returns as Armia and Anderson had the assists on Kempe’s goal.

Kings forward Corey Perry played in his 1,400th career game, becoming the 44th player in NHL history to do so and joining Brent Burns (1,511), Alex Ovechkin (1,503) and Anze Kopitar (1,464) among active players who have appeared in that many games.

Jets captain Adam Lowry made his season debut after undergoing hip surgery in late May, centering the third line. Lowry had a career-high 18 goals last season.

Oct. 31 (UPI) — The Trump administration will permit a record-low 7,500 refugees into the United States during the 2026 fiscal year, with most spots allocated to White South Africans.

The number, a drastic drop from the 125,000 that the previous Biden administration had set for 2025, is expected to be swiftly challenged by Democrats and human rights and immigration advocates.

The announcement was made Thursday, with the presidential determination being published in the Federal Register.

According to the document, the Trump administration said the number “is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.”

The document specifies that “admissions numbers shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners,” in line with President Donald Trump‘s February executive order that sought to penalize South Africa over a land expropriation law allowing the government to confiscate land if it was in the public interest and in a few specific cases without compensation.

Trump has claimed, without evidence, that Black-majority South Africa would use the law to take land from White Afrikaners. He has said that they were victims of “racial discrimination” and “large-scale killings.”

South Africa has repeatedly refuted the characterization.

In May, the first 49 Afrikaners granted refugee statues by Trump arrived in the United States.

About two weeks later, tensions flared between South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Trump at the White House as the American leader said he had heard “thousands of stories” about violence against White South Africans in the country.

The International Refugee Assistance Project criticized the Trump administration for issuing the decision without consultation with Congress, as required by law. It also rebuked the administration for reserving admissions mostly for Afrikaners, at the expense of at-risk refugees.

It said the Trump administration was valuing “politics over protection.”

“Today’s announcement highlights just how far this administration has gone when it comes to abandoning its responsibilities to displaced people around the world,” IRAP President Sharif Aly said in a statement.

The 7,500 is the lowest since Trump set the refugee limit at 15,000 for fiscal year 2021, during his first term.

The Trump administration will limit the number of refugees admitted to the US to 7,500 over the next year, and give priority to white South Africans.

The move, announced in a notice published on Thursday, marks a dramatic cut from the previous limit of 125,000 set by former President Joe Biden and will bring the cap to a record low.

No reason was given for the cut, but the notice said it was “justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest”.

In January, Trump signed an executive order suspending the US Refugee Admissions Programme, or USRAP, which he said would allow US authorities to prioritise national security and public safety.

The previous lowest refugee admissions cap was set by the first Trump administration in 2020, when it allocated 15,000 spots for fiscal year 2021.

The notice posted to the website of the Federal Register said the 7,500 admissions would “primarily” be allocated to Afrikaner South Africans and “other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands”.

In February, the US president announced the suspension of critical aid to South Africa and offered to allow members of the Afrikaner community – who are mostly white descendants of early Dutch and French settlers – to settle in the US as refugees.

South Africa’s ambassador to Washington, Ebrahim Rasool, was later expelled after accusing Trump of “mobilising a supremacism” and trying to “project white victimhood as a dog whistle”.

In the Oval Office in May, Trump confronted South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and claimed white farmers in his nation were being killed and “persecuted”.

The White House also played a video which they said showed burial sites for murdered white farmers. It later emerged that the videos were scenes from a 2020 protest in which the crosses represented farmers killed over multiple years.

The tense meeting came just days after the US granted asylum to 60 Afrikaners.

The South African government has vehemently denied that Afrikaners and other White South Africans are being persecuted.

On his first day in office on 20 January, Trump said the US would suspend USRAP to reflect the US’s lack of “ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans” and “protects their safety and security”.

The US policy of accepting white South Africans has already prompted accusations of unfair treatment from refugee advocacy groups.

Some have argued the US is now effectively shut to other persecuted groups or people facing potential harm in their home country, and even former allies that helped US forces in Afghanistan or the Middle East.

“This decision doesn’t just lower the refugee admissions ceiling,” Global Refuge CEO and president Krish O’Mara Vignarajah said on Thursday. “It lowers our moral standing.”

“At a time of crisis in countries ranging from Afghanistan to Venezuela to Sudan and beyond, concentrating the vast majority of admissions on one group undermines the programme’s purpose as well as its credibility,” she added.

Refugees International also slammed the move, saying it “makes a mockery of refugee protection and of American values”.

“Let us be frank: whatever hardships some Afrikaners may face, this population has no plausible claim on refugee status – they are not fleeing systematic persecution,” Refugees International said in its statement.

The South African government has yet to respond to the latest announcement.

During the Oval Office meeting, President Ramaphosa said only that he hoped that Trump officials would listen to South Africans about the issue, and later said he believed there is “doubt and disbelief about all this in [Trump’s] head”.

Earlier this year, Ramaphosa signed a controversial law allowing the government to seize privately-owned land without compensation in some circumstances.

While the country does not release race-based crime figured, figures published earlier this year showed that 7,000 people were murdered in South African between October and December 2024.

Of these, 12 were killed in farm attacks and only one of the 12 was a farmer. Five others were farm dwellers and four were employees, who are likely to have been black.

Advocates say new rules let Education Department to politically punish groups working on immigration, transgender care.

The United States Department of Education has finalised new rules that could bar nonprofits deemed to have undertaken work with a “substantial illegal purpose” from a special student loan forgiveness programme.

Those rules, finalised on Thursday, appear to single out certain organisations that do work in areas that President Donald Trump politically opposes, including immigration advocacy and transgender rights.

Under the new rules, set to take effect in July 2026, the education secretary has the power to exclude groups if they engage in activities like the “chemical castration” of children, using a politically charged term for gender-affirming healthcare, including puberty-delaying medication.

It also allows the education secretary to bar groups accused of supporting undocumented immigration or “terrorist” organisations.

The Trump administration has said its decisions “will not be made based on the political views or policy preferences of the organization”.

But advocates fear the move is the administration’s latest effort to target left-leaning and liberal organisations.

Trump has already threatened to crack down on several liberal nonprofits, which the White House has broadly accused of being part of “domestic terror networks”.

Thursday’s rules concern the Public Service Loan Forgiveness programme, created by an act of Congress in 2007.

In an effort to direct more graduates into public service jobs, the programme promises to cancel federal student loans for government employees and many nonprofit workers after they have made 10 years of payments.

Workers in the public sector, including teachers, medical professionals, firefighters, social service professionals and lawyers, are among those who can benefit.

In a statement, the Trump administration defended the updated rules, calling them a necessary bulwark to protect taxpayer funds.

The programme “was meant to support Americans who dedicate their careers to public service – not to subsidize organizations that violate the law, whether by harboring illegal immigrants or performing prohibited medical procedures that attempt to transition children away from their biological sex”, said Education Undersecretary Nicholas Kent.

Critics, however, have denounced the administration for using false claims of “terrorism” or criminal behaviour to silence opposing views and restrict civil liberties.

Michael Lukens, executive director of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, said the new rules weaponised loan forgiveness.

Lukens explained that many of the lawyers, social workers and paralegals who work at his organisation handle cases to stop deportations and other immigration litigation.

They count on public service loan forgiveness to take jobs that pay significantly less than the private sector, he said.

“All of a sudden, that’s going away,” Lukens told The Associated Press news agency. “The younger generation, I hope, will be able to wait this out for the next couple of years to see if it gets better, but if it doesn’t, we’re going to see a lot of people leave the field to go and work in a for-profit space.”

Organisations have raised concerns over the education secretary’s broad power to determine if a group should be barred. Short of a legal finding, the secretary can decide based on a “preponderance of the evidence” whether an employer is in violation.

The National Council of Nonprofits was among the associations criticising the change.

It said the rules would allow future administrations from any political party to change eligibility rules “based on their own priorities or ideology”.

Britain’s Cameron Norrie is “pumped” to face world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the second round of the Paris Masters after beating Sebastian Baez in straight sets.

The world number 31 beat Argentine Baez, ranked 12 places below him, 6-3 6-4 in a match which featured six breaks of serve.

Norrie won the opening three games before having his serve broken to 15 as Baez pulled it back to 3-3.

However, the 30-year-old regrouped to win the next three games, converting his second set point.

Norrie threatened to throw away a 3-0 lead again in the second set, saving a break point in the sixth game, and later saved four more in the 10th game before closing out the match at the first opportunity.

“I was really tight going to serve for the match. I said I was going to pretend it was 0-30 and then it was 0-30 and 0-40,” Norrie told Sky Sports.

“It was about getting the job done and it was nice to face some adversity. It was not a typical match. He fought well.”

Norrie will meet Alcaraz, who exited last year’s tournament in the third round, on Tuesday, with the Spaniard playing his first match on tour since beating Taylor Fritz in the Japan Open final at the end of September.

Alcaraz has won five of their seven meetings, most recently beating Norrie in straight sets in this year’s Wimbledon quarter-finals.

Norrie’s compatriot Jacob Fearnley is in first-round action later on Monday against 12th seed Andrey Rublev.

McLaren’s Lando Norris set the pace in practice at the United States Grand Prix, split from team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg.

Norris, trailing the Australian by 22 points with six races to go, headed Piastri by 0.279 seconds at the start of a sprint weekend at the Circuit of the Americas.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Williams’ Alex Albon.

This was the only session before sprint qualifying at 22:30 BST.

Mercedes’ George Russell was seventh fastest, the first driver to set his fastest time on the medium tyres, ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar and Haas’ Oliver Bearman.

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

Trump appears keen to deliver on pledges to end the war and return dozens of hostages ahead of the second anniversary of the attack on Tuesday. His peace plan has been accepted by Israel and welcomed internationally, but key mediators Egypt and Qatar, and at least one Hamas official, have said some elements need further negotiation, without elaborating.

“An Agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, D.C. time,” Trump wrote Friday on social media. “Every Country has signed on! If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas. THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.”

Trump’s plan would end the fighting and return hostages

Under the plan, which Trump unveiled earlier this week alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas would immediately release the remaining 48 hostages — around 20 of them believed to be alive. It would also give up power and disarm.

In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of the territory, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction. Plans to relocate much of Gaza’s population to other countries would be shelved.

The territory of some 2 million Palestinians would be placed under international governance, with Trump himself and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair overseeing it. The plan provides no path for eventual reunification with the Israeli-occupied West Bank in a future Palestinian state.

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

U.S. and Israel seek to pressure Hamas

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

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

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

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

Trump wrote that most of Hamas’ fighters are “surrounded and MILITARILY TRAPPED, just waiting for me to give the word, ‘GO,’ for their lives to be quickly extinguished. As for the rest, we know where and who you are, and you will be hunted down, and killed.”

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

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

Second anniversary approaches

Thousands of Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, attacking army bases, farming communities and an outdoor music festival, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. They abducted 251 others, most of them since released in ceasefires or other deals.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says women and children make up around half the dead.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

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

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

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

A third of the People’s Assembly of Syria seats will be appointed directly by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Syria will elect a new People’s Assembly on October 5, the first parliament to be chosen since the fall of Bashar al-Assad late last year.

The vote for members of the parliament will take place “across all electoral districts”, the state-run SANA news agency reported on Sunday.

The announcement comes as the new government seeks to rebuild state institutions and gain legitimacy amid regional and international efforts to stabilise the war-battered country.

A third of the assembly’s 210 seats will be appointed directly by President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The rest will be chosen by local committees supervised by the electoral commission. The chamber will be tasked with approving legislation aimed at overhauling decades of state-controlled economic policies and ratifying treaties that could reshape Syria’s foreign policy.

The new parliament is also expected to “lay the groundwork for a broader democratic process” following al-Assad’s removal in December after nearly 14 years of civil war, SANA said. Critics, however, warn that the current system does not adequately represent Syria’s marginalised communities.

Authorities had initially said the vote would take place in September. The electoral commission previously indicated that polling in the provinces of Suwayda, Hasakah and Raqqa would be delayed because of security concerns.

Suwayda witnessed clashes in July between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes, while Hasakah and Raqqa remain partly under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

In March, al-Sharaa’s administration issued a constitutional declaration to guide the interim period until the election.

The document preserves a central role for Islamic law as well as guarantees women’s rights and freedom of expression. Opponents have expressed concern that the framework consolidates too much power in the hands of Syria’s leadership.

Al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander whose Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group played a key role in al-Assad’s fall, has also turned to regional diplomacy to bolster his government and Syria’s security.

He told local media that security talks with Israel are a “necessity”, stressing that any agreement must respect Syria’s territorial integrity and end Israeli violations of its airspace.

Elsewhere, there were eight other medals for Great Britain on day one including two golds.

Poppy Maskill won her first individual world title in the women’s 200m freestyle S14, with Louise Fiddes also finishing on the podium in third place.

There was a British one-two in the Women’s 400m freestyle S8 with Alice Tai edging out Brock Whiston.

Ellie Challis won the 12th world championship medal of her career with a second-placed finish in the women’s 50m breaststroke SB2, while 14-year-old Iona Winnifrith claimed bronze in the women’s 200m individual medley SM7.

And there was another double podium for Great Britain to round off day one, this time in the women’s 100m backstroke S12.

Ela Letton-Jones and Astrid Carroll claimed silver and bronze on their respective world championship debuts, with Brazil’s Carol Santiago, 40, beating them to the finish.

Sept. 18 (UPI) — Australia aims to reduce carbon emissions by at least 62% by 2035, marking an ambitious goal by one of the highest greenhouse gas emission generators in the world.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the new emissions plan Thursday during a press conference, stating “it’s the right target to protect our environment, to protect and advance our economy and jobs and to ensure that we act in our national interest and in the interest of this and future generations.”

According to a release from the prime minister’s office, the goal is to reduce between 62% and 70% of carbon emissions based on 2005 levels. It is a drastic reduction from the 43% reduction it set to be achieve by 2030.

The announcement comes on the heels of the publication of a government-commissioned climate risk assessment report on Monday that found more than 1.5 million Australians will be at risk from sea level rise by 2050. It said nearly 600,000 would be affected by coastal flooding by 2030.

The goal adopted by the Albanese administration came as advice from the Climate Change Authority, which said the 62% to 70% range was “Australia’s highest possible ambition” that was achievable.

“Our recommended target will deliver some of the largest emissions cuts anywhere around the world,” the Climate Change Authority said in a statement.

“On a per-capita basis, the target equates to a 76-81% reduction once projected population growth over the coming decade is included. Australians’ average pollution profile would improve faster than our peers, particularly over the 2031-35 period, as we build momentum beyond the 2030 legislated target.”

To achieve the goal, Australia will increase renewable electricity generation across the economy, lower emissions by adopting electric vehicles, establishing a low-carbon liquid fuels industry, accelerating investments in new technologies and promoting landowners to earn money from adopting practices that store carbon, such as planting trees and regenerating forests.

According to an August 2024 report from Climate Analytics, a global climate science and policy institute, Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions per capita are among the highest in the world, double that of China and nine times that of India. It is responsible for 4.5% of global fossil carbon dioxide emissions, it said.

Australia’s climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, said the global shift to clean energy has usher in the largest economic transformation since the Industrial Revolution, and presents Australia with “our best-ever economic opportunity.”

“If we get it right, if we make the right investments at the right time, we can grow our economy, create good jobs for Australians. And today, the Albanese government decided to seize that opportunity,” Bowen said during the press conference.

Son Heung-min secured his first MLS hat trick on a sliding finish in the 82nd minute and LAFC beat Real Salt Lake 4-1 on Wednesday night.

Salt Lake (10-15-4) has lost four of its last five matches.

Son, who joined LAFC (13-7-8) a month ago from the English Premier League, scored on a breakaway in the third minute for a 1-0 lead. He was left wide open in the middle of the field in the 16th and scored from distance to make it 2-0.

Son ran with Denis Bouanga from midfield on a 2-on-1 breakaway and scored an easy tap-in for a 3-1 advantage. Bouanga scored six minutes later on another breakaway to break a tie with league legend Carlos Vela for the most goals in club history with 94.

RSL missed a penalty kick in the 45th when Rwan Cruz’s attempt hit off the right post and went across the goal line to goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who had gone the other way.

Teenager Zavier Gozo scored on a beautiful bicycle kick for RSL in the 76th.

Departure of the flotilla from Tunisia to Gaza was delayed due to logistical issues.

The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) has begun sailing out of Tunisia, with organisers and participants saying they are determined to break Israel’s siege on Gaza and deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid.

The convoy departed from the northern port city of Bizerte with activists from more than 40 countries aboard. Its departure was delayed after two flotilla vessels came under attack earlier this week.

On Monday, the main ship Family was struck by a drone while docked in Sidi Bou Said, followed by an attack on the boat Alma on Tuesday night.

No casualties were reported in the attacks.

Al Jazeera’s Hassan Massoud, reporting from the Shireen Abu Akleh boat, said: “The global flotilla has set sail from the port in Tunisia to the Gaza Strip, its main destination, without any scheduled stops, 14 days after its departure from Barcelona.

“The ships are carrying food and humanitarian aid towards Gaza. Volunteers and participants have said this mission is non-violent; they only aim to open a corridor to deliver aid towards Palestinian people in Gaza.”

A number of prominent figures have joined the flotilla, including climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, Irish actor Liam Cunningham, and Barcelona’s former Mayor Ada Colau.

At least four Italian members of parliament are also taking part, alongside dozens of other elected officials and activists.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told parliament that Rome had urged Israel to respect the rights of its citizens aboard the flotilla, including parliamentarians.

“Our embassy in Tel Aviv, under my instruction, talked to the Israeli authorities about the respect of the rights for all the fellow citizens who are part of the flotilla, including among them several members of parliament,” Tajani said.

“I also called [Israeli] Foreign Minister [Gideon] Saar to personally make him aware of the matter.”

Tajani said 58 Italians are among the participants and would be provided consular and diplomatic assistance.

Organisers say the Global Sumud Flotilla, named after the Arabic word for “resilience”, represents one of the most determined challenges yet to Israel’s blockade of Gaza’s coastline.

The attempt comes as the United Nations warns that more than half a million Palestinians face catastrophic hunger, with aid groups and legal experts describing Israel’s war on Gaza as a genocide.

The attacks on the convoy follow previous incidents in which flotilla ships were intercepted or targeted at sea.

In early June, Israeli naval forces intercepted the aid vessel Madleen in international waters, seizing its aid cargo and detaining its crew of 12, while in May, another vessel, the Conscience, was hit by drones near Maltese waters, leaving it unable to continue.

Activists from 40 countries sail from Tunisia to defy Israel’s blockade and deliver aid to Gaza.

An international convoy of boats, the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), has set sail from Tunisia, aiming to defy Israel’s siege on Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid.

The GSF, which departed Bizerte Port on Saturday, includes more than 40 vessels carrying between 500 and 700 activists from more than 40 countries, according to Anadolu.

Participants say they are determined to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

Among those joining is Franco-Palestinian lawmaker Rima Hassan, a member of the French National Assembly, who announced her participation after boarding in Tunisia.

“Our governments are responsible for the continuation of the genocide in Gaza,” Hassan wrote on X, accusing European leaders of silence in the face of Israeli attacks on aid convoys. In June, she joined another Gaza-bound boat that Israeli forces seized in international waters.

he flotilla is supported by prominent activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, who has long been vilified by Israeli officials for her solidarity with Palestinians.

The flotilla reported this week that two of its ships – the Family, which had members of the steering committee on board, and the Alma – were attacked while anchored near Tunis.

Activists suspect Israeli involvement, noting that one of the vessels was struck by a drone.

Tunisia’s Ministry of the Interior confirmed a “premeditated aggression” and said an investigation had been launched.

Despite the attacks, flotilla organisers insist they will press ahead. “Faced with this inaction, I am joining this citizens’ initiative, which is the largest humanitarian maritime convoy ever undertaken,” Hassan said.

History of intervention

This is not the first time Israel has moved to stop such missions.

In early June, Israeli naval forces intercepted the Madleen ship in international waters, seizing its aid supplies and detaining the crew of 12 activists. Another vessel, the Conscience, was struck by drones in May near Maltese waters, leaving it unable to continue its journey.

Organisers say the GSF – named after the Arabic word for resilience – represents one of the boldest challenges yet to Israel’s control of Gaza’s coastline.

The attempt comes as the United Nations warns of famine in Gaza, with more than half a million people facing catastrophic hunger.

ABC has found its newest “Bachelorette” in “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” reality star Taylor Frankie Paul.

Paul, who appeared in the popular Hulu series, revealed her upcoming foray into Bachelor Nation on Wednesday’s episode of Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “It has not hit me. Right now in this moment, I’m just thinking about it and it’s not real,” she told Cooper.

She added: “It’s not real. It’s not going to be until I have the limos [full of suitors] pulling up.”

The 31-year-old #MomTok influencer-turned-reality TV personality breaks a longtime norm for the “Bachelor” franchise. Incoming leads on “The Bachelor” or “The Bachelorette” have historically been contestants from previous seasons. Paul, on the other hand, has not.

Don’t mistake her for a reality TV rookie, though.

Paul was announced as the newest “Bachelorette” a year after “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” became a buzzworthy hit. The series follows a group of Utah-based TikTok influencers who became the subject of social media scandal when Paul announced she and her then-husband had participated in “soft swinging” and were going their separate ways. The series’ debut chronicled the fallout and explored how its young, modern stars navigate the traditionalist culture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Speaking to Cooper, Paul said she once thought the “Bachelorette” gig was “unattainable” and shared how she thinks she landed the part. She said she had been open on social media about being single and her fans began making the case for her to become the series’ next star. Ultimately, she received the invitation.

She said she initially hesitated to accept, citing her co-parenting commitments. Paul shares a daughter and son with her ex-husband, and another son with an ex-boyfriend. She explained that she tapped her inner circle to help care for the children, voicing her determination to “make it work.”

Paul is the latest “Mormon Wives” star to cross over to ABC programming. “Dancing With the Stars” announced in July that Paul’s fellow #MomTok-ers Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt would take the dance floor for Season 34. Disney owns both “Mormon Wives” streamer Hulu and “Bachelorette” and “DWTS” home network ABC.

“The Bachelorette” won’t return until 2026, but viewers can catch Paul beforehand when “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” Season 3 premieres Nov. 13 on Hulu.

A P Louise employee has set the record straight after their “manifesting” on a recent live stream saw them “torn apart” by cruel trolls.

Declan was one of those leading the make-up company’s stream over the weekend, when he caused controversy among the thousands watching.

6

6

6

6

Some even went as far as to allege that he looked as though he may have been under the influence of a dangerous substance.

“Glad it wasn’t just me thinking it,” one person commented.

“There was a lot of going off screen, coming back and nose wiping.”

“I was in the live last night, there was definitely something off,” another said.

“Declan couldn’t even get his words out.”

“I cannot believe what I just watched,” a third wrote.

“I was in this live, they didn’t have a clue,” someone else added.

While another claimed Declan was “off his face”.

Others defended him, with Declan then releasing his own video on his TikTok page to set the record straight on what had actually happened.

“In the last 24 hours I’ve been going through a lot of hate and kind of abuse on the internet, on TikTok especially, and it’s been a lot,” he said.

“I just kind of want to talk about things and kind of just where my head’s at.”

He explained that he’d worked at P Louise all day, then gone onto the livestream and worked from 4pm to midnight.

“And from this live, people have been making, you know, I’ve taken videos and taken like screenshots and all this stuff of me manifesting,” he said, referring to a moment where he had closed his eyes and held his hands in a meditative pose.

“And been saying that I’ve been abusing drugs, taking drugs on a livestream, doing all this stuff.

“And it’s like, I just don’t get it. Like this, this has affected me…

“The live just, it turned dark very quickly at one point.”

He also claimed it’s the same “collective of people” that have been “tearing me apart on the Internet” over the past few months that continue to spread the nasty comments and false rumours.

“This isn’t fun. This isn’t easy,” he sighed.

“This is my life… think about what you guys actually put on the Internet.

“Think about what you guys are doing to someone because you don’t actually know what people are going through.

“People don’t know my actual struggles. I don’t owe it to a lot of people what I actually have been through.

“And I’ve been through a lot, okay?”

Declan, who has ADHD, autism and depression, also thanked those who have come out in support of him – including company founder Paige Louise.

And he concluded by saying: “If you guys don’t like me, that’s okay – I know who I am as a person.

“Just think about what you guys are doing.”

“Explaining a few things that’s happened,” Declan captioned the video.

“Must say thank you to everyone that has reached out and supported me.

“And thank you @Paige Louise, love you guys.”

“You’re also absolutely beautiful,” Paige added in response.

“I’ve watched clips and still don’t understand what the hate is about??” someone else wrote in the comments section.

“Please don’t ever let people get you down. You are so much better than them.

“Hold your head high, straighten that crown and show everyone how strong and powerful you are.”

“What a sad world we live in,” a third told Declan.

“My darling you are a beautiful person , with a beautiful soul, with so much to give.

“I am so so proud to have watched you grow into the person you are . This is not okay.

“But you speaking up shows a lot of strength, and also remember how many people you inspire and have inspired.

“Sending love my darling.”

6

6

“I can definitely do that.”

Tiah-Mai Ayton, 19, has set her sights on becoming the youngest ever undisputed champion in the four-belt era across both genders in boxing.

America’s Gabriela Fundora was just 22 when she held all the world titles in the flyweight division in November 2024.

Ayton clearly isn’t shy when laying out her ambitions, but why should she? In over 300 fights across Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu and boxing, just three of those have been defeats – which she later avenged.

She will contest her second professional boxing bout against Lydie Bialic on Saturday.

When the Bristol fighter was told about Fundora’s achievement, her eyes lit up: “I could do that. I can definitely do that.

“That’s going to be a new challenge for me. I’ve got a long time.”

Ayton is right. She does have a long time, but women’s boxing also moves fast – just look at compatriot Nina Hughes.

She won a world title in just her fifth fight as a professional.

Not only is Ayton setting her sights on records, but she’s got her eyes on gold and plenty of it.

“I want to be undisputed in bantamweight and super-bantamweight and then it goes featherweight and super-featherweight,” said Ayton.

“I want to do those four categories, and I want to be undisputed in all four. It’s high expectations but I think I can do it.”

Only one boxer, Claressa Shields, has won all four world titles in three different weights, no one yet has managed it in four.

The likes of Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano have paved the way for women boxers to earn millions of pounds but Ayton isn’t getting carried away despite her youth.

When asked what she would purchase with her first healthy fight purse, the teenager opted against a flash car.

“I want a farm. I want cows, sheep, goats and chickens. That’s my dream,” Ayton said.

“I’ll just live a quiet life on my farm and then when I train, I’ll go into camp, and then go back and be peaceful.”

NEW YORK — Even at age 45, even after two years away from Grand Slam tennis, Venus Williams displayed some big serves and powerful groundstrokes at the U.S. Open on Monday night in front of a supportive crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, before losing 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 to Karolina Muchova.

Williams was the oldest singles player at the hard-court tournament since Renee Richards was 47 in 1981.

“She’s such a legend of our sport,” 2023 French Open runner-up Muchova said about seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Williams, adding that it was an honor “to share a court with her.”

In just the fourth match of a comeback that began last month after more than a year off the tour, Williams didn’t exactly get to ease into things Monday: Muchova, a 29-year-old from the Czech Republic, was seeded 11th in New York and made it to the semifinals there in both 2023 — when she lost to eventual champion Coco Gauff in a match interrupted by a climate protest — and 2024.

Karolina Muchova, left, shakes hands with Venus Williams after their first-round match at the U.S. Open on Monday.

(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)

So perhaps it wasn’t surprising that Williams started slowly, ceding 11 of the initial 13 points and falling behind 2-0. With members of the crowd shouting, “Let’s go, Venus!” and roaring after her winners — and her fiance, Andrea Preti, leaping out of his seat — Williams took three games in a row to go ahead 3-2

Muchova grabbed the next four games to claim that set, which ended with Williams hitting four of her evening’s 10 double-faults to get broken.

But Williams, who smacked serves at up to 114 mph and finished with just one fewer winner than Muchova, broke to begin the second set on her way to tying the match.

In the third set, though, as the contest reached two hours, Muchova was simply too good.

When the match ended, Williams left the court with a wave as fans rose to salute someone whose first U.S. Open title arrived a full quarter of a century ago.

More recently, Williams was off the tennis tour for 16 months until entering a tournament in Washington last month, where she won one match each in singles and doubles. She hadn’t competed anywhere since the Miami Open in March 2024, and had surgery for uterine fibroids later last year.

The U.S. Tennis Association awarded wild cards to Williams for both the mixed doubles event last week and singles.

She hasn’t won a match at the U.S. Open in singles since 2019, when she got to the second round. Since then, Williams exited in the first round in 2020, 2022 and 2023, and missed the tournament in 2021 and 2024.

Venus Williams returns a shot to Karolina Muchova during the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday.

(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)

She won singles championships at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001, and another five at Wimbledon.

Since making her professional debut in 1994, Williams also collected 14 Grand Slam trophies in women’s doubles alongside her younger sister, Serena, plus two in mixed doubles, earned a record five Olympic tennis medals and reached No. 1 in the WTA rankings.

Through the years, both siblings transcended their sport and became much more than successful athletes. Serena, who won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, played her last match at the 2022 U.S. Open.

“She’s Venus Williams. She’s so iconic in so many different ways,” said Frances Tiafoe, an American player who won his first-round match in Ashe earlier Monday. “She’s won so much. And to see how much she loves game still at her age is amazing. It’s amazing to still see her out here.”

It was at the U.S. Open more than a decade ago that Williams revealed she had been diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome, an energy-sapping auto-immune disease that can cause joint pain.

Some thought she might leave her sport because of that, but she remained a leading figure — on and off the court. To her fans — for years, and certainly on Monday night — it never mattered that she now has exited in the first or second round in each of her past 13 appearances at major tournaments.

When she was asked at the Washington tournament in July why she was still competing, she offered a simple reply: “Why not?”

“I want to be my best, and that’s the expectation I have for myself: to get the best out of me. And that’s all any player can ask for,” Williams said Saturday, the day before the start of singles play at the U.S. Open. “I haven’t played as much as the other players, so it’s a different challenge when you’re dealing with that. So I’m just trying to have fun, stay relaxed and be my personal best.”

Fendrich writes for the Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Sunday threatened to expand his military deployments to more Democratic-led cities, responding to an offer by Maryland’s governor to join him in a tour of Baltimore by saying he might instead “send in the ‘troops.’”

Last week, Trump said he was considering Chicago and New York City for troop deployments similar to what he has unleashed on the nation’s capital, where thousands of National Guard and federal law enforcement officers are patrolling the streets.

Trump made the threat to Baltimore in a spat with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who has criticized Trump’s unprecedented flex of federal power, which the Republican president says is aimed at combating crime and homelessness in Washington. Moore last week invited Trump to visit his state to discuss public safety and walk the streets.

In a social media post Sunday, Trump said Moore asked “in a rather nasty and provocative tone,” and then raised the specter of repeating the National Guard deployment he made in Los Angeles over the objections of California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom.

“Wes Moore’s record on Crime is a very bad one, unless he fudges his figures on crime like many of the other ‘Blue States’ are doing,” Trump wrote. “But if Wes Moore needs help, like Gavin Newscum did in L.A., I will send in the ‘troops,’ which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the Crime.”

Moore said he invited Trump to Maryland “because he seems to enjoy living in this blissful ignorance” about improving crime rates in Baltimore.

“The president is spending all of his time talking about me,” Moore said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “I’m spending my time talking about the people I serve.”

After surging National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officers into Washington this month, Trump has said Chicago and New York City are most likely his next targets, eliciting strong pushback from Democratic leaders in both states. The Washington Post reported Saturday that the Pentagon has spent weeks preparing for an operation in Chicago that would include National Guard troops and, potentially, active-duty forces.

Asked about the Post report, the White House pointed to Trump’s earlier comments discussing his desire to expand his use of military forces to target local crime.

“I think Chicago will be our next,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday, adding, “And then we’ll help with New York.”

Trump has repeatedly described some of the nation’s largest cities — run by Democrats, with Black mayors and majority-minority populations — as dangerous and filthy. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is Black, as is Moore. The District of Columbia and New York City also have Black mayors.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, speaking during a religious event Sunday at Howard University in Washington, said the Guard’s presence in the nation’s capital was not about crime: “This is about profiling us.”

“This is laced with bigotry and racism,” he later elaborated to reporters. “Not one white mayor has been designated. And I think this is a civil rights issue, a race issue, and an issue of D.C. statehood.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said there is no emergency warranting the deployment of National Guard troops in Chicago.

“Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he’s causing families,” Pritzker wrote on X. “We’ll continue to follow the law, stand up for the sovereignty of our state, and protect Illinoisans.”

Cooper and Askarinam write for the Associated Press and reported from Phoenix and Washington, respectively.

Northern Superchargers and Oval Invincibles are guaranteed a top-three finish after the Superchargers won the encounter between the two teams in the earlier match at Headingley.

Both teams have 20 points and only Trent Rockets, currently on 16 with two games to play, can match or overtake them.

After Harry Brook’s first half-century of this year’s Hundred and Zak Crawley’s rapid 49 helped Superchargers set a target of 199, Will Jacks’ 11-ball 25 gave the Invincibles a brisk start in their chase.

But Jacob Duffy halted his charge inside the powerplay before Tom Lawes struck twice, dismissing Tawanda Muyeye and the in-form Jordan Cox – who came into the match on the back of three consecutive half-centuries.

When Sam Curran edged Matthew Potts to wicketkeeper Michael Pepper, the Invincibles were reeling at 115-4.

But Donovan Ferreira gave them some hope by hitting three fours and three sixes from seven deliveries before falling for a 15-ball 41 – Duffy ending the chance of a dramatic comeback to set the Superchargers on their way to a crucial win.

Earlier, openers Crawley and Dawid Malan gave the hosts a flying start after being sent in to bat by Invincibles skipper Sam Billings.

Crawley set the tone, helping them race to 49 without loss by the end of the powerplay, before falling just one run short of a fifty.

Captain Brook consolidated the Superchargers’ innings with a 27-ball 56 that included five sixes and three fours, before David Miller added the finishing touches, launching Tom Curran for three consecutive sixes in the final set to take them to 198-4.

Two-time defending champions Invincibles will host London Spirit in their final game on Monday, while Superchargers take on Manchester Originals the following day, live on the BBC.