urges

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 (UPI) — Farmers for Free Trade, a nonprofit group that advocates for lower tariffs and expanded global market access, wrapped up its “Motorcade for Trade” tour Tuesday in Washington to urge policymakers to ease trade tensions and support struggling producers.

Dozens of farmers joined at different points along the route to participate in town halls and farm stops, contributing to discussions on trade priorities, export markets and challenges.

The organization has prioritized five issues, including tariff reductions, exemptions for agricultural necessities, such as fertilizer and equipment, and a timely review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

The caravan began Sept. 5 in Dorchester, Neb., with a cooperative event between farmers and Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb. The next three stops included sessions with Reps. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, and Jim Baird, R-Ind.

Although the Farmers for Free Trade team did not live in its RV, the group named it Ruth after driving more than 2,800 miles with it, spending many hours inside planning and being interviewed with their furry companion, a dog named Huckleberry.

“It’s really about getting information from farmers throughout the Midwest to understand what impact the administration’s trade and tariff policies have had on individuals,” said Brent Bible, an Indiana grain farmer. “It’s had an individual impact, not just on producers, but on communities throughout rural America,”

The caravan made 10 stops — in Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington.

“We hosted events throughout the Midwest — everything from meetings with members of Congress to farmer roundtables and tariff town halls,” said Brian Kuehl, the Farmers for Free Trade executive director.

Between the fourth and fifth stop, Kuehl said, it became increasingly difficult to set a schedule.

“Our No. 1 one priority was to meet with members of Congress, and a lot of times you wouldn’t know their schedule until a few days in advance. Then, in the middle of the tour, we had the government shutdown. A bunch of members we had events with canceled because they had to be in D.C.,” Kuehl said.

His team then pivoted to hosting listening sessions and trade talks with farmers, along with visiting the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin and various farms.

Despite some adjustments, Kuehl shared his team’s optimism for the tour.

“One of the things that’s so cool about agriculture is how diverse it is throughout the United States,” he said. “In the Midwest, you’re looking at soybean and corn farms. As we moved east, we saw more dairies and hog farms. We even visited a winery in Pennsylvania. Pretty much the trade disruptions are impacting them all negatively.”

In Indiana, Bible said, “Our input costs have gone up dramatically because of tariffs on imports — fertilizer, equipment, steel, aluminum. If we need a replacement part or a new tractor, all of those things are impacted. We’re getting squeezed at both ends, and when that happens, there’s nothing left in the middle.”

In Ohio, corn, soy and cattle farmer Chris Gibbs said, he’s felt that squeeze firsthand. After more than 40 years in agriculture, he described 2025 as “a cash flow and working capital crisis,” noting that he’s paying well above production costs for major crops.

“We’re about $200 per acre under the cost of production for corn and about $100 under for soybeans,” Gibbs said.

Because of the shutdown — now the longest in history — the U.S. Department of Agriculture “is essentially not functioning,” Gibbs said. “They normally release reporting information that the market relies on, but that hasn’t been occurring. Farmers are having to make major business decisions without the data we depend on.”

Gibbs added: “I’ve been farming almost 50 years, and I’m struggling, If I’m having to move money around just to stay afloat, what happens to the young farmers who don’t have savings yet? They’re hanging on by a thread.”

Farmers strategically planned the finale of their motorcade to be in Washington this week in alignment with the Supreme Court of the United States’ schedule. The high court plans to hear oral arguments Wednesday on whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act authorizes President Donald Trump to impose tariffs to the extent he has.

“We’re in a commodity business,” Bible said. “If we have a truly free, functioning market, we can be competitive. But that hasn’t been the case. Prices have been artificially manipulated by policy decisions and retaliation from other countries.”

Anyone travelling abroad is advised to consult Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office guidance before setting off

Heathrow Airport has issued an important message to any Brits planning to travel abroad soon. The London-based facility posted its alert on X, formerly Twitter, earlier today, encouraging prospective travellers to sign up for key alerts.

“Looking to book your next trip from #Heathrow?”, the post read. “Whether you’re relaxing on the beach or engaging in extreme sports, make sure to check the latest @FCDOtravelGovUK travel advice for your destination and sign up to http://GOV.UK email alerts.”

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, or FCDO, is the UK Government department responsible for handling the country’s foreign affairs and providing advice to citizens abroad. Online, it offers an A-to-Z list of 226 countries and territories, including details on ongoing incidents, safety, entry requirements, and other essential travel information.

Similar travel guidance related to health can also be found at the TravelHealthPro site, operated by the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC). This offers specific details on disease outbreaks and ongoing concerns, along with vaccination guidance.

Travellers are generally advised to check health advisories and vaccination details at least eight weeks before their departure. Beyond this, the FCDO encourages Brits to use its foreign travel checklist to ensure they are fully prepared.

The checklist, available on the FCDO website, details the following key points:

• Research your destination and check the latest advice and warnings.
• Get insured as soon as you book the trip.
• Check you have all the necessary documents for travel.
• Consider your health, including relevant vaccination advice and rules on taking medication abroad.
• Prepare for the unexpected and have backup plans for accessing key information abroad.
• Know that you can contact the FCDO in London 24 hours a day on 020 7008 5000 for advice. You may also contact your nearest British embassy abroad.

Despite this, the Government’s website warns: “Our foreign travel checklist aims to help you plan for a trouble-free trip. It is not exhaustive. No foreign travel can be guaranteed as safe, and you take personal responsibility for your own travel.”

For more information, head to the FCDO’s travel advice website or TravelHealthPro here.

What counts as a liquid in luggage when travelling abroad?

The UK Government’s full list of what is considered hand luggage liquids on flights is below:

• Cosmetics and toiletries, including creams, lotions, oils, perfumes, mascara and lip gloss
• Liquid or semi-liquid foods, for example, soup, jam, honey and syrups
• Any other solutions and items of similar consistency
• Sprays, including shaving foam, hairspray and spray deodorants
• Contact lens solution
• Pastes, including toothpaste
• Gels, including hair and shower gel
• All drinks, including water

Liquid carry-on rules differ depending on the airport. Before your trip, verify the regulations at your departure airport, any airports you’ll pass through, and on your return journey.

The Government’s advice adds: “At most airports, you cannot take liquids in containers larger than 100ml through security. This still applies if the container is only part full. Some airports may allow you to take liquid in containers that hold up to two litres of liquid.

“Check for exemptions if you’re taking baby milk or food, medicines, food for special dietary requirements or liquids bought in duty free.”

Nov. 1 (UPI) — Federal Aviation Administration officials on Friday night urged Congress to approve government funding as more air traffic controllers call in sick amid the shutdown.

The nation’s nearly 13,000 air traffic controllers and additional Transportation Security Administration agents are deemed essential, but they are not being paid during the government shutdown that started on Oct.1.

Now in its 32nd day on Saturday, the FAA said the strain on unpaid employees is causing many to call in sick due to other obligations, such as supervising children, and out of frustration, The Hill reported.

“A surge in callouts is straining staffing levels at multiple facilities, leading to widespread impacts across the [National Airspace System,” FAA personnel posted on X.

“Half of our Core 30 facilities are experiencing staffing shortages, and nearly 80% of air traffic controllers are absent at New York-area facilities.”

The FAA post said the “shutdown must end” so that air traffic controllers can get paid and to ensure the safety of more than 50,000 daily operations across the country.

When experiencing staffing shortages, the FAA reduces the amount of air traffic to maintain safety, which could cause flight delays or cancellations, the post said.

Such staffing shortages caused delays at airports in Boston, Dallas, Nashville and Newark, N.J., among several others, according to ABC News.

The shutdown is the second-longest in U.S. history, but it is poised to exceed the current record-holder of 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019.

During that shutdown, air traffic controllers again worked without pay until the government reopened and they received back pay.

Air traffic controllers earn a median salary of $150,000 annually, but new hires are paid about $50,000, aviation industry labor expertJake Rosenfeld of Washington University in St. Louis told ABC News.

The Senate has failed 13 times to obtain the 60 votes needed to overcome the Senate’s filibuster rule and fund the federal government while continuing to work on a 2026 fiscal year budget.

The Senate reconvenes on Monday, which is one day short of the record 35-day shutdown.

World Health Organization says 41 critical patients evacuated yesterday as Rafah border remains shut, despite ceasefire.

Elon Musk’s $56bn pay package from Tesla should have been restored by a vote of the company’s shareholders last year, a Tesla attorney has said to the Delaware Supreme Court in the United States.

The Tesla lawyer made his arguments on Wednesday as one of the biggest corporate legal battles entered its final stage after a lower court judge had in January 2024 rescinded the Tesla CEO’s record compensation. The company is also appealing a ruling by the lower court that rejected as legally invalid a vote by shareholders to restore the pay package.

“This was the most informed stockholder vote in Delaware history,” Jeffrey Wall, an attorney for Tesla, told the justices. “Reaffirming that would resolve this case.”

The case’s outcome could have substantial consequences for the state of Delaware, its widely used corporate law, and its Court of Chancery, a once-favoured venue for business disputes that has recently been accused of hostility towards powerful entrepreneurs.

The Court of Chancery ruling striking down Musk’s pay has become a rallying cry for Delaware critics. Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick ruled that the Tesla board lacked independence from Musk when it approved the pay package in 2018 and that shareholders lacked key information when they voted overwhelmingly in favour of it. As a result, she applied a demanding legal standard and found the pay unfair to investors.

Musk did not attend the arguments, which were held in a special court to accommodate the 65 people in attendance, mostly lawyers.

The defendants, current and former Tesla directors, denied wrongdoing and said McCormick misinterpreted the facts and the law.

Dexit

Tesla argued in Dover, Delaware that the five justices on Delaware’s high court had three avenues to reverse the lower court ruling.

They could find that Musk, who owned 21.9 percent of Tesla stock in 2018, did not control the board pay negotiations and that shareholders were fully informed when they voted to approve it that year. They could determine that rescinding the pay was an improper remedy because it did not undo the work that Musk had done or the gains that shareholders had received. Or they could determine that last year’s vote demonstrated shareholders wanted to accept the pay deal, despite the legal flaws.

“Shareholders in 2024 knew exactly what they were voting for,” Wall said.

Greg Varallo, an attorney for Richard Tornetta, the small investor who brought the case in 2018, said if the court accepted ratification, it would allow a party to change the outcome after a court case had run its course. “Lawsuits would be interminable”, he told the justices.

Varallo tried to convince the justices the lower court ruling was a result of careful fact-finding and based on settled law. “There is nothing extraordinary about this trial opinion,” he said. “What makes it truly extraordinary is that it addresses the largest pay package in human history, awarded to the richest man on earth, who is also one of the most powerful men on earth.”

After the Musk pay ruling, large companies, including Tesla, Dropbox, and the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, switched their legal homes to Texas or Nevada, where courts are friendlier toward directors. Delaware lawmakers responded to the corporate departures, a trend known as “Dexit,” by overhauling its corporate law.

If Musk loses the appeal, he will still reap tens of billions of dollars in stock from the electric vehicle (EV) company, which agreed in August to a replacement deal if his 2018 plan is not restored. Tesla has said the replacement plan will cost $25bn or more in accounting charges.

The company said the replacement award was meant to focus the attention of Musk, who said earlier this year that he was forming a new US political party, on transitioning Tesla to robotics and automated driving. Tesla is now incorporated in Texas, where it is far more difficult for a shareholder to challenge board decisions.

New pay plan

Tesla’s board last month proposed a $1 trillion compensation plan, highlighting confidence in Musk’s ability to steer the company in a new direction, even as Tesla loses ground to Chinese rivals in key markets amid softening EV demand.

The justices are considering the appeal of the pay ruling as well as the $345m legal fee that McCormick ordered Tesla to pay to the attorneys for Tornetta, who held just nine Tesla shares when he sued to block the pay deal. The court typically takes months to rule.

Tesla estimated in 2018 that the stock options plan would be worth $56bn if the company met operational and financial goals, which it did. Because the stock continued to appreciate, the options are currently worth closer to $120bn, by far the largest executive compensation ever. Musk is the world’s richest person with a fortune of around $480bn, according to Forbes.

The defendants have argued that McCormick erred in finding social and business ties to Musk compromised their independence, and said Tesla shareholders were informed of the economic terms of the pay deal before they approved the plan. The directors said she should have reviewed the pay package under the “business judgment” standard, which protects directors from second-guessing by courts.

The directors have long argued the pay package performed as hoped – it focused the attention of Musk, a serial entrepreneur, and he transformed Tesla from a startup into one of the world’s most valuable companies.

“Cigars and champagne, who cares about that?” US President Donald Trump urged Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial in three corruption cases. In one case, Netanyahu’s accused of accepting gifts including cigars, jewellery and champagne from businessmen.

Ukraine’s president praises Trump’s efforts to secure Gaza ceasefire, says other wars ‘can be stopped as well’.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Donald Trump to broker peace in Ukraine like in “the Middle East” during a phone call, saying if the United States president could stop one war, “others can be stopped as well.”

Saturday’s call came a day after Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy grid, knocking out power to parts of the capital, Kyiv, and nine other Ukrainian regions, which have since been restored.

Diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have slowed in recent weeks, in part because global attention has shifted to brokering a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, Kyiv said.

Trump, who announced the first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday, met Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks in August but failed to secure progress on a ceasefire in the European war.

“I had a call with US President Donald Trump. A very positive and productive one,” Zelenskyy said on Facebook, congratulating Trump for his “outstanding” ceasefire plan in the Middle East.

“If a war can be stopped in one region, then surely other wars can be stopped as well, including the Russian war,” Zelenskyy added, calling for Trump to pressure the Kremlin into negotiations.

Relations between the two leaders have warmed dramatically since February when they sparred during a televised meeting at the White House.

Trump has since grown more hostile towards Moscow while expressing sympathy for Ukraine.

In September, he wrote on Truth Social that Kyiv should try to “take back” all its occupied territory with Europe’s and NATO’s help.

US first lady Melania Trump said on Friday that she had secured the release of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia after establishing an extraordinary back channel of communication with Putin.

Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least five people on Saturday and cut power to parts of southern Ukraine’s Odesa region, according to Ukrainian officials.

Two of the people died inside a church in Kostyantynivka when it was hit by a strike, according to local authorities.

Using ‘Russian assets’

Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said “the main work to restore the power supply” was completed but some localised outages were still affecting the Ukrainian capital after Friday’s “massive” Russian attacks.

Ukrainian drone attacks, meanwhile, killed two people in Russia, according to regional officials.

In the Russian border region of Belgorod, a truck driver was killed by a Ukrainian strike, according to local officials.

Moscow has targeted Ukraine’s energy grid each winter since it launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, cutting power and heating to millions of households and disrupting water supplies in what Kyiv says is a brazen war crime.

Russia denies targeting civilians and says Ukraine uses the energy sites to power its military sector.

Both countries have accused each other in recent months of frustrating progress towards a peace deal.

Russia blames Kyiv and its European allies for the impasse, accusing them of undermining peace negotiations with Washington. Ukraine and Europe accuse Russia of playing for time so it can seize more Ukrainian territory.

Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Friday that Russia was taking advantage of the world being “almost entirely focused on the prospect of establishing peace in the Middle East” and called for strengthening Ukraine’s air defence systems and placing tighter sanctions on Russia.

“Russian assets must be fully used to strengthen our defence and ensure recovery,” he said in the video, posted to X.

Illinois urged a judge Thursday to order the National Guard to stand down in the Chicago area, calling the deployment a constitutional crisis and suggesting the Trump administration gave no heed to the pending legal challenge when it sent troops overnight to an immigration enforcement building.

The government “plowed ahead anyway,” attorney Christopher Wells of the state attorney general office said. “Now, troops are here.”

Wells’ arguments opened an extraordinary hearing in federal court in Chicago. The city and the state, run by Democratic elected leaders, say President Trump has vastly exceeded his authority and ignored their pleas to keep the Guard off the streets.

Heavy public turnout at the downtown courthouse caused officials to open an overflow room with a video feed of the hearing. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson got a seat in a corner of the courtroom.

Feds say Guard won’t solve all crime

U.S. Justice Department lawyer Eric Hamilton said the Chicago area was rife with “tragic lawlessness.” He pointed to an incident last weekend in which a Border Patrol vehicle was boxed in and an agent shot a woman in response.

“Chicago is seeing a brazen new form of hostility from rioters targeting federal law enforcement,” Hamilton said. “They’re not protesters. There is enough that there is a danger of a rebellion here, which there is.”

He said some people were wearing gas masks, a suggestion they were poised for a fight, but U.S. District Judge April Perry countered it might be justified to avoid tear gas at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Broadview, outside Chicago.

“I, too, would wear a gas mask,” the judge said, “not because I’m trying to be violent but because I’m trying to protect myself.”

Hamilton also tried to narrow the issues. He said the Guard’s mission would be to protect federal properties and government law enforcers in the field — not “solving all of crime in Chicago.”

Guard on the ground at ICE site

Guard members from Texas and Illinois arrived this week at a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood, southwest of Chicago. All 500 are under the U.S. Northern Command and have been activated for 60 days.

Some Guard troops could be seen behind portable fences at the Broadview ICE building. It has been the site of occasional clashes between protesters and federal agents, but the scene was peaceful, with few people present.

Wells, the lawyer for Illinois, described the impact of Trump’s immigration crackdown in Chicago, noting that U.S. citizens have been temporarily detained. He acknowledged the “president does have the power, and he’s using that power.”

“But that power is not unlimited,” Wells added, referring to the Guard deployment. “And this court can check that power.”

Perry told the parties to return to court late Thursday afternoon.

Guard on court docket elsewhere

Also Thursday, a federal appeals court heard arguments over whether Trump had the authority to take control of 200 Oregon National Guard troops. The president had planned to deploy them in Portland, where there have been mostly small nightly protests outside an ICE building.

U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut on Sunday granted a temporary restraining order blocking the move. Trump had mobilized California troops for Portland just hours after the judge first blocked him from using Oregon’s Guard.

Two dozen other states with a Democratic attorney general or governor signed a court filing in support of the legal challenge by California and Oregon. Twenty others, led by Iowa, backed the Trump administration.

The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military’s role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.

Troops used in other states

Trump previously sent troops to Los Angeles and Washington. In Memphis, Tenn., Mayor Paul Young said troops would begin patrolling Friday. Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee supports the role.

Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said she hoped the Guard would be used to direct traffic and have a presence in retail corridors, but not used for checkpoints or similar activities.

Davis said she doesn’t want Memphis to “feel like there is this over-militarization in our communities.”

The Trump administration’s aggressive use of the Guard was challenged this summer in California, which won and lost a series of court decisions while opposing the policy of putting troops in Los Angeles, where they protected federal buildings and immigration agents.

A judge in September said the deployment was illegal. By that point, just 300 of the thousands of troops sent there remained on the ground. The judge did not order them to leave. The government later took steps to send them to Oregon.

Fernando and Thanawala write for the Associated Press. AP writers Ed White in Detroit, Geoff Mulvihill in Philadelphia and Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tenn., contributed to this report.

ROME — Pope Leo XIV urged labor union leaders from Chicago on Thursday to advocate for immigrants and welcome minorities into their ranks, weighing in as the Trump administration crackdown on immigrants intensifies in the pontiff’s hometown.

“While recognizing that appropriate policies are necessary to keep communities safe, I encourage you to continue to advocate for society to respect the human dignity of the most vulnerable,” Leo said.

The audience was scheduled before the deployment of National Guard troops to protect federal property in the Chicago area, including a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building that has been the site of occasional clashes between protesters and federal agents.

Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, who accompanied the labor leaders, said that Leo was well aware of the situation on the ground. In an interview with the Associated Press, Cupich said Leo has made clear, including in recent comments, that migrants and the poor must be treated in ways that respect their human dignity.

“I really didn’t have to tell him much at all, because he seemed to have a handle on what was going on,” Cupich told the AP afterward.

He said that Leo had urged U.S. bishops in particular to “speak with one voice” on the issue. Cupich said he expected the November meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops would make immigration a top agenda item.

“This has to be front and center right now. This is the issue of the day. And we can’t dance around it,” Cupich said.

Catholic leaders in the U.S. have denounced the Trump administration’s crackdown, which has split up families and incited fears that people could be rounded up and deported any time. The administration has defended the crackdown as safeguarding public safety and national security.

Leo “wants us to make sure, as bishops, that we speak out on behalf of the undocumented or anybody who’s vulnerable to preserve their dignity,” Cupich said. “We all have to remember that we all share a common dignity as human beings.”

Cupich said he was heartened by Leo’s remarks last week, in which the pope defended the cardinal’s decision to honor Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin for his work helping immigrants. The plans drew objection from some conservative U.S. bishops given the powerful Democratic senator’s support for abortion rights, and he ultimately declined the award.

It was the second meeting in as many days that history’s first American pope has heard firsthand from a U.S. bishop on the front lines of the migration crackdown. On Wednesday, El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz brought Leo letters from desperate immigrant families.

Cupich was in Rome for Vatican meetings and to also accompany a group of Chicago schoolchildren who got a special greeting from Leo during his Wednesday general audience. The kids had staged their own “mock conclave” in school this past spring, and footage of their deliberations went viral online as the real conclave unfolded in Rome. They arrived at the audience Wednesday dressed as cardinals, Swiss Guards and the pope himself.

Winfield writes for the Associated Press.

Al Jazeera Director General Sheikh Nasser bin Faisal Al Thani says ‘protecting journalists is protection of the truth.’

The Director General of Al Jazeera Media Network has stressed the importance of protecting journalists working in conflict zones and called for more solidarity between media organisations and human rights groups.

In his first public address since he was appointed director general of the Doha-based network last month, Sheikh Nasser bin Faisal Al Thani said on Wednesday that Al Jazeera has made the protection of journalists a firm priority and the network conducts training and mentorship of its journalists to ensure this.

“The press has never been a party to the conflict, but has been a tool for getting information to the people,” Sheikh Nasser told the Conference on The Protection of Journalists in Armed Conflicts, a two-day event held in Doha, Qatar.

He said it is critical to ramp up measures to safeguard journalists in war zones. “Otherwise, war crimes will remain unwritten” about.

He called for the implementation of human rights regulations and enhanced solidarity among media organisations and human rights organisations.

“Silencing free speech will not stop the truth,” Sheikh Nasser said. “Protecting journalists is protection of the truth itself.”

‘Journalists are being killed’

The first day of the conference comprised several sessions, where speakers included journalists who had reported in conflict zones, such as Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh, who was wounded in an Israeli attack on Gaza in late 2023.

Dahdouh has campaigned to raise awareness of the unsafe conditions for journalists working in Gaza since Israel launched its war on the Palestinian territory on October 7, 2023.

At least 300 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza during the two-year war, according to the Shireen Abu Akleh Observatory. This includes 10 journalists from Al Jazeera.

“Journalists are being killed and genocide is being committed against them,” Dahdouh told the conference.

Other speakers included legal experts and workers associated with nonprofit organisations that work for the safety of journalists, such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). A spokesperson for the International Criminal Court (ICC) also spoke at one of the sessions.

The discussions focused on attacks against journalists and the imprisonment of journalists in Gaza and around the world.

Several speakers throughout the day highlighted the importance of treating journalists like civilians. Speakers added, however, that international law provisions that lay down safeguards for civilians might not apply similarly to journalists. They pressed on the need for international laws that specifically focus on safeguarding journalists and media organisations.

“The civilian can go away from the combat field but the journalist has to stay. To assimilate the war journalist with the civilian is not right,” Omar Mekky, the regional legal coordinator for the Near and Middle East Region for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said.

Speakers also asserted the importance of countries stepping in and putting pressure on the governments that are targeting journalists.

The conference will continue for its second day on Thursday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Though it said it was seeking negotiations on other issues.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Of those, the Israeli military says 25 are dead.

Israel, meanwhile, has continued to carry out strikes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bibi’s vow

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

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

Hamas said it was ready “to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats) based on Palestinian national consensus and supported by Arab and Islamic backing.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sudan’s transitional Prime Minister Kamil Idris told the 80th United Nations General Assembly Sudan’s civil war has killed 150,000 and displaced 12 million. He urged lifting chemical weapons sanctions he called “political,” condemned foreign mercenaries, and demanded an end to the siege of el-Fasher.

United States President Donald Trump has urged pregnant women to avoid Tylenol, the brand name for paracetamol, over the painkiller’s unproven links to autism, prompting a swift backlash from doctors and scientists.

Trump issued the warning on Monday as the US drug regulator announced plans to add a label to paracetamol warning of an increased risk of autism and ADHD in children.

“Don’t take Tylenol. Don’t take it,” Trump said during a news conference at the White House while flanked by top public health officials.

“Fight like hell not to take it,” Trump said.

“There may be a point where you have to, and that you’ll have to work out with yourself.”

Trump also cast doubt on the medical consensus on childhood vaccines, suggesting that inoculations for measles, mumps and rubella should be administered separately instead of in the combined MMR shot.

“This is based on what I feel. The mumps, measles – the three should be taken separately,” Trump said.

“And it seems to be that when you mix them, there could be a problem.”

Trump’s comments drew condemnation from medical bodies, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG), which have long recommended paracetamol as one of the few painkillers that is safe for women during pregnancy.

About half of pregnant women worldwide are estimated to take paracetamol – which is sold in different countries under brand names including Dyman, Panadol and Panamax – for pain relief and to reduce fevers, which can be potentially dangerous to both the foetus and the expectant mother.

ACOG president Steven J Fleischman called the suggestions of a link between paracetamol and autism “irresponsible”.

“When considering the use of medication in pregnancy, it’s important to consider all potential risks along with any benefits,” Fleischman said in a statement.

“The data from numerous studies have shown that acetaminophen plays an important – and safe – role in the well-being of pregnant women,” Fleischman said, using the name for paracetamol in the US.

While some research has found evidence of an association between paracetamol and neurological conditions such as autism, medical experts have cautioned that more robust studies have found no link, and that causation remains unproven.

One of the biggest population-based studies, published by Swedish researchers last year in The Journal of the American Medical Association, found no link when comparing children who had been exposed to the painkiller with siblings who had not.

Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, described the Trump administration’s moves as “hugely negative” for public health.

“The big reveal about autism was a total bust full of misinformation, a lack of evidence, bad advice and a bogus answer about the cause,” Caplan told Al Jazeera.

“I think mainstream medicine will ignore what he said today,” Caplan said.

“I think patients can’t trust federal science in the USA and must turn to other reputable sources.”

Catherine Lord, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA who specialises in autism, said studies showing a link between paracetamol use and autism were limited by the presence of confounding factors that are difficult to control for.

“I think the medical community will be firm that Tylenol in pregnancy does not cause autism, but will probably tell pregnant women they should always be careful about medication,” Lord told Al Jazeera.

“But they also need to realise that having a high fever or being in pain is not good for a growing baby either, so they should consult their doctor.”

In its updated guidelines announced on Monday, the US Food and Drug Administration cited evidence of a “correlation” between paracetamol use and autism, and noted studies suggesting a heightened risk when the drug is taken “chronically” throughout pregnancy.

Still, the drug regulator was notably less emphatic than Trump, noting that a causal relationship had yet to be established, and the existence of “contrary studies in the scientific literature”.

“It is also noted that acetaminophen is the only over-the-counter drug approved for use to treat fevers during pregnancy, and high fevers in pregnant women can pose a risk to their children,” the regulator said, using the other generic name for paracetamol.

Autism has no known single cause, but is believed to be related to an interplay of genetic and environmental factors, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

United States President Donald Trump has said he is ready to sanction Russia, but only if all NATO allies agree to completely halt buying oil from Moscow and impose their own sanctions on Russia to pressure it to end its more than three-year war in Ukraine.

“I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, which he described as a letter to all NATO nations and the world.

Trump proposed that NATO, as a group, place 50-100 percent tariffs on China to weaken its economic grip over Russia.

Trump also wrote that NATO’s commitment “to WIN” the war “has been far less than 100%” and that it was “shocking” that some members of the alliance continued to buy Russian oil. As if speaking to them, he said, “It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia.”

NATO member Turkiye has been the third-largest buyer of Russian oil, after China and India. Other members of the 32-state alliance involved in buying Russian oil include Hungary and Slovakia, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

If NATO “does as I say, the WAR will end quickly”, Trump wrote. “If not, you are just wasting my time.”

As he struggles to deliver on promises to end the war quickly, Trump has repeatedly threatened to increase pressure on Russia. Last month, he slapped a 50 percent tariff on India over its continued buying of Russian oil, though he has not yet taken similar actions against China.

Trump’s social media post comes days after Polish and NATO forces shot down drones violating Polish airspace during Russia’s biggest-ever aerial barrage against Ukraine.

Poland and Romania scramble aircraft

Polish airspace has been violated many times since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but never on this scale anywhere in NATO territory.

Wednesday’s incident was the first time a NATO member is known to have fired shots during Russia’s war in Ukraine.

On Saturday, Poland said it and its NATO allies had deployed helicopters and aircraft as Russian drones struck Ukraine, not far from its border.

Poland’s military command said on X that “ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached their highest level of alert”, adding that the actions were “preventative”.

Also on Saturday, Romania’s Ministry of National Defence said that the country’s airspace had been breached by a drone during a Russian attack on infrastructure in neighbouring Ukraine.

The country scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to monitor the situation, tracking the drone until it disappeared from the radar” near the Romanian village of Chilia Veche, said the ministry in a statement.

Little sign of peace

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed the prospect of penalties on states still doing business with Moscow.

In an interview with the US media outlet ABC News last week, Zelenskyy said, “I’m very thankful to all the partners, but some of them, I mean, they continue [to] buy oil and Russian gas, and this is not fair… I think the idea to put tariffs on the countries that continue to make deals with Russia, I think this is the right idea.”

Last month, the US president hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss an end to the war, in their first face-to-face meeting since Trump’s return to the White House.

Shortly afterwards, he hosted Zelenskyy and European leaders in Washington, DC, for discussions on a settlement.

Despite the diplomatic blitz, there has been little progress towards a peace deal, with Moscow and Kyiv remaining far apart on key issues and Russia persisting in its bombardment of Ukrainian cities.

Russia claims advances

Russia on Saturday said it had captured a new village in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region, which Moscow’s forces say they reached at the beginning of July.

The Russian Ministry of Defence said its troops had seized the village of Novomykolaivka near the border with the Donetsk region – the epicentre of fighting on the front. The AFP news agency was unable to confirm this claim.

DeepState, an online battlefield map run by Ukrainian military analysts, said the village was still under Kyiv’s control.

At the end of August, Ukraine had for the first time acknowledged that Russian soldiers had entered the Dnipropetrovsk region, where Moscow had claimed advances at the start of the month.

The Russian army currently controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory.

The Kremlin is demanding that Ukraine withdraw from its eastern Donbas region, comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as a condition for halting hostilities, something that Kyiv has rejected.

The Dnipropetrovsk region is not one of the five Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Crimea – that Moscow has publicly claimed as Russian territory.

On Friday, Zelenskyy said that Putin wanted to “occupy all of Ukraine” and would not stop until his goal was achieved, even if Kyiv agreed to cede territory.

Tehran, Iran – Iran’s authorities are discussing what comes next following an agreement with the global nuclear watchdog, as they urge the region to go beyond issuing statements in reaction to Israel’s attack on Qatar.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is heading to an emergency meeting of the parliament’s national security commission on Saturday evening, with hardline lawmakers looking for answers as to whether the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be allowed to access nuclear sites bombed by the United States and Israel in June.

He is expected to reassure the hardline-dominated parliament that no access will be given to the IAEA without strict permission from the top echelon.

Araghchi had reached an agreement with the IAEA in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday, to try to resume cooperation that had been suspended after Tehran accused the nuclear watchdog and its chief, Rafael Grossi, of having paved the way for the strikes.

Grossi told the IAEA Board of Governors on Wednesday that the technical agreement includes “all facilities and installations in Iran” and “contemplates the required reporting on all the attacked facilities, including the nuclear material present”.

But Araghchi told Iranian state television that agency inspectors have no access to Iranian nuclear sites beyond the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.

He said case-by-case permission would have to be granted by the country’s Supreme National Security Council, which includes the president, parliament and judiciary chiefs, several ministers, military commanders and those appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Araghchi also confirmed that Iran’s high-enriched uranium is “under the rubble of bombed facilities”, and said the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran is investigating and assessing whether the sites are accessible or contaminated.

Europe’s ‘snapback’ and Iranian threats

Amir Hayat Moghadam, a hardline member of the parliament’s national security commission, claimed that Araghchi said Iran will leave the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if United Nations sanctions are reinstated against the country, according to the state-linked Tabnak news website, ahead of the meeting on Saturday.

Araghchi and the foreign ministry have confirmed that legislation is in motion aimed at abandoning the global non-proliferation pact, but that finalising such a move would only potentially come if the “snapback” mechanism of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers is abused by European countries.

France, Germany and the United Kingdom triggered the snapback mechanism in late August and were slammed by China and Russia, the other signatories to the landmark nuclear accord that the US unilaterally abandoned in 2018.

The European countries, known as the E3, gave Iran one month to reach a new agreement over its nuclear programme or face international sanctions.

Iran maintains that the three would lose legitimacy if they go through with the threat, and will “empower the US and marginalise Europe in future diplomatic engagements”.

Despite the rising tensions, Araghchi announced on Thursday that Iran and France are close to agreeing on a prisoner swap and expressed hope that an exchange would happen “in the coming days”.

Iran’s top diplomat did not detail which French prisoners held in Iran would be released, but said the exchange would include Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian woman arrested in France over posts about Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Esfandiari, a translator living in the French city of Lyon since 2018, was arrested in February, with French authorities accusing her of incitement to and glorification of “terrorism” and “hate speech” against Jewish people over posts on Telegram.

Tehran calls her a “hostage”, employing the word used by France and other European countries that have accused Iran for decades of holding foreign and dual-national citizens in relation to espionage charges.

‘Joint operation room against Israeli madness’

Fighting off surging pressure from the US and its allies, Iranian authorities have tried to warm ties with China and Russia, and to find common ground with regional players, particularly Arab neighbours, over Israel’s aggressions.

After Israel attacked Qatar for the first time this week in a failed attempt to assassinate the top leadership of Hamas, Iran joined the chorus of regional and international condemnation.

Ali Larijani, who was appointed Iran’s security chief last month, went further on Saturday and issued what he called a “warning to Islamic governments”.

“Holding a conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation filled with speeches without any practical outcome (as happens in UN Security Council meetings) in truth amounts to issuing a new order of aggression in favour of the Zionist entity!”, he wrote on X in Arabic, in reference to Israel.

“At the very least, form a ‘joint operations room’ against the madness of this entity,” Larijani said, adding that “you have done nothing for the hungry and oppressed Muslims in Palestine, at least take a modest decision to avert your own annihilation”.

Qatar announced on Saturday that it will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday in Doha, preceded by a preparatory meeting of foreign ministers on Sunday.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari said in a statement that “the summit will discuss a draft statement” on the Israeli attack.

Iran said President Masoud Pezeshkian will represent the country in the summit.

Sept. 9 (UPI) — NASA invited the public on Tuesday to grab a boarding pass and be a part of the space agency’s test flight of its Artemis II mission set to launch four astronauts into orbit next year.

Officials at the U.S. space agency NASA said its public effort to involve civilians in the orbital venture around the moon and back in the Artemis test mission flight means individual spots for “Send Your Name with Artemis II” need to be claimed before January 21.

The Artemis II program is a “key test flight in our effort to return humans to the moon’s surface and build toward future missions to Mars,” according to Lori Glaze, NASA’s acting associate director for exploration systems development based in the nation’s capital.

NASA is prepping for its 10-day Artemis II 1 mission next year that will send a crew of four astronauts around the moon in the bid to prep for future crewed landings on Earth’s neighboring satellite and beyond.

Notably, Artemis II will carry the first woman and person of color to the lunar surface in what has been described by NASA as a so-called “Golden Age of innovation and exploration.”

America’s NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, are set to lift off no later than April aboard the Orion spacecraft and its space launch system rocket as the first crewed flight under NASA’s Artemis campaign.

“And it’s also an opportunity to inspire people across the globe and to give them an opportunity to follow along as we lead the way in human exploration deeper into space,” Glaze said in a statement.

NASA’s “send your name” initiative for the Artemis space mission with allow a person to send an individual name on an SD card along with the four-person crew as they test their rocket for critical hardware systems required for deep space exploration.

And, on return to Earth, participants can download their personalized inscribed boarding pass as a collectable.

“Your name could be flying to the Moon!” Canada’s space agency posted Tuesday on X as it called out for virtual crew members to fly alongside CSA’s Hansen on Orion.

NASA officials — who’ve assigned both English and Spanish sign-up portals — have called it yet “another step” toward new U.S.-crewed moon surface missions on the way toward ultimately sending the first American astronauts to Mars for the first time.

WASHINGTON — President Trump has asked the Supreme Court for a fast-tracking ruling that he has broad power acting on his own to impose tariffs on products coming from countries around the world.

Despite losing in the lower courts, Trump and his lawyers have reason to believe they can win in the Supreme Court. The six conservative justices believe in strong presidential power, particularly in the area of foreign policy and national security.

In a three-page appeal filed Wednesday evening, they proposed the court decide by Wednesday to grant review and to hear arguments in early November.

They said the lower court setbacks, unless quickly reversed, “gravely undermine the President’s ability to conduct real-world diplomacy and his ability to protect the national security and economy of the United States.”

They cited Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s warning about the potential for economic disruption if the court does not act soon.

“Delaying a ruling until June 26 could result in a scenario in which $750 billion-$1 trillion have already been collected and unwinding them could cause significant disruption.” he wrote.

Trump and his tariffs ran into three strong arguments in the lower courts.

First, the Constitution says Congress, not the president, has the power “to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises” and a tariff is an import tax.

Second, the 1977 emergency powers law that Trump relies on does not mention tariffs, taxes or duties, and no previous president has used it to impose tariffs.

And third, the Supreme Court has frowned on recent presidents who relied on old laws to justify bold new costly regulations.

So far, however, the so-called “major questions” doctrine has been used to restrict Democratic presidents, not Republicans.

Three years ago, the court’s conservative majority struck down a major climate change regulation proposed by Presidents Obama and Biden that could have transformed the electric power industry on the grounds it was not clearly based on the Clean Air Acts of the 1970s.

Two years ago, the court by the same 6-3 vote struck down Biden’s plan to forgive hundreds of millions of dollars in student loans. Congress had said the Education Department may “waive or modify” monthly loan payments during a national emergency like the Covid 19 pandemic, but it did not say the loans may be forgiven, the court said. Its opinion noted the “staggering” cost could be more than $500 billion.

The impact of Trump’s tariffs figure to be at least five times greater, a federal appeals court said last week in ruling them illegal.

By a 7-4 vote, the federal circuit court cited all three arguments in ruling Trump had exceeded his legal authority.

“We conclude Congress, in enacting the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, did not give the president wide-ranging authority to impose tariffs,” they said.

But the outcome was not a total loss for Trump. The appellate judges put their decision on hold until the Supreme Court rules. That means Trump’s tariffs are likely to remain in effect for many months.

Trump’s lawyers were heartened by the dissent written by Judge Richard Taranto and joined by other others.

He argued that presidents are understood to have extra power when confronted with foreign threats to the nation’s security.

He called the 1977 law “an eyes-open congressional grant of broad emergency authority in this foreign-affairs realm” that said the president may “regulate” the “importation” of dangerous products including drugs coming into this country.

Citing other laws from that era, he said Congress understood that tariffs and duties are a “common tool of import regulation.”

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