NATO countries have accused Russia of violating the airspace of alliance members Estonia, Poland and Romania, as Russia rejected the claims and accused the European powers of levying baseless accusations.
“Your reckless actions risk direct armed confrontation between NATO and Russia. Our alliance is defensive, but be under no illusion, we stand ready to defend NATO’s skies and NATO’s territory,” UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said, addressing a meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Monday.
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“If we need to confront planes operating in NATO space without permission, then we will do so,” she added.
Cooper’s comments were echoed by other Western countries at the meeting, including the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, who suggested that the multiple incidents could not be considered an accident.
Earlier on Monday, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski said that Russian aircraft would be brought down if they entered his country’s airspace.
“If another missile or aircraft enters our space without permission, deliberately or by mistake, and gets shot down and the wreckage falls on NATO territory, please don’t come here to whine about it. You have been warned.”
Several European countries have accused Russia of violating their airspaces in the past weeks, which Moscow has denied.
Estonia said on Friday that Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace for 12 minutes, before they were forced to withdraw, in an episode that Western officials said was designed to test NATO’s readiness and resolve.
Romania said last week that its radar detected a Russian drone, prompting it to scramble fighter jets.
Earlier this month, Poland reported that it had shot down several drones during a Russian aerial attack on Ukraine, marking the first time NATO forces have directly engaged in the conflict that began after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour.
Ukraine’s foreign minister said that such actions by Moscow should be met robustly, and renewed Kyiv’s offer to integrate its air defences into those of neighbouring Western countries to counter the Russian front.
“A strong response means that a threat should not be escorted, neither for 12 minutes, nor for one minute. It should be neutralised,” said Andrii Sybiha.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. It has also forced European nations to boost their defence amid fears of Russian aggression.
United States President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war seem to have faltered so far.
NATO’s North Atlantic Council will meet to discuss the issue on Tuesday.
The US’s new envoy to the UN, Michael Waltz, making his first appearance since taking his post, said that Moscow needed to defuse tensions, not exacerbate them.
“I want to take this first opportunity to repeat and to emphasise: The United States and our allies will defend every inch of NATO territory,” Waltz said.
Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, said there was no evidence backing the claims of Moscow’s incursions into NATO members’ airspace, and accused European powers of levying baseless accusations.
“We won’t be partaking in this theatre of the absurd,” he said.
“When you decide that you want to engage in a serious discussion about European security, about the fate of our common continent, about how to make this continent prosperous and secure for everybody, we’ll be ready.”
They dispatched of the Denver Broncos on Sunday, after beating the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders in the previous two weeks.
If you’re keeping a scorecard, those are wins over Andy Reid, Pete Carroll and now Sean Payton, all Super Bowl winners, in a historic start for Jim Harbaugh, who is quick to remind people not to “put me on that dance floor” because he has yet to win a ring.
But Sunday’s 23-20 triumph might have been the most impressive considering the Chargers were flat as day-old soda for a considerable stretch yet still found a way to come back and win.
“It’s a signature win,” said Harbaugh, whose 3-0 start matches the club’s best since 2002.
His team’s first home game of the season, when the SoFi Stadium stands were mostly orange, had the Chargers taking a 10-0 lead before surrendering 17 unanswered points that left them chasing the entire second half.
The game-tying touchdown was a beauty, a sidearmed, cross-body, 20-yard sling by Justin Herbert to ageless receiver Keenan Allen, who was blanketed in the end zone yet still came up with the catch.
“I was lower than he was,” Allen said of cornerback Riley Moss. “I put my hands out there and the ball just kind of stuck.”
Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen, right, celebrates with tight end Oronde Gadsden II after catching a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter Sunday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Everyone in the stadium watched in amazement. Everyone, that is, but Herbert. He was on the ground, so he didn’t see the touchdown but heard it.
“I’m sure it was an incredible catch by Keenan,” said the quarterback, who planned to watch the replays when he got home Sunday evening. “The defender wasn’t looking. That’s advantage Keenan.”
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Sam Farmer breaks down what has gone right for the Chargers over the course of their 3-0 start to the season.
That play locked the score at 20-20, but it was the ultra-accurate Cameron Dicker who broke that tie a couple minutes later with a 43-yard field goal as the clock expired. It was the eighth winning kick of his career and extinguished a remarkable effort by the Broncos, who sacked Herbert five times and pulled off the most creative touchdown in Payton’s two-season tenure with the team.
The play in question came with 46 seconds left in the first half with Denver trailing, 10-0, and facing a fourth-and-two at their 48.
Denver gave every indication it planned to run, and the Chargers called timeout to prepare their defense. When the Broncos emerged from the timeout, they loaded up the right side of their line with both starting tackles and a tight end between them. The ball was definitely going to that side.
Quarterback Bo Nix rolled right then surprised everyone by throwing left to a wide-open Courtland Sutton who essentially was ignored by defenders and raced untouched 52 yards for a score. It was the longest Broncos touchdown pass on fourth down since 1978 and a testament to the play-drawing artistry of Payton.
“He’s a master at scheming it up,” said Chargers safety Tony Jefferson, in his 11th season. “Ever since I got into the league, I’ve played the Saints so much [Payton’s former team] and you’ve always got to be on your P’s and Q’s with them.”
The Chargers had to watch their P’s and Q’s, and their old J.K. — running back J.K. Dobbins, who played for them last season and Sunday made them pay. He caught a screen pass for the Broncos at the beginning of the second half and turned it upfield for a 19-yard touchdown. He dashed down the sideline as if sprinting on a tightrope before diving across the goal line to give Denver its first lead of the day.
Cameron Dicker kicks the winning field goal as time expires in the Chargers’ 23-20 win over the Broncos on Sunday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Payton lamented his team’s slow start and the 10 penalties, compared to three for the Chargers.
“Tomorrow’s an important day,” he told reporters afterward. “Tomorrow’s more important than the game we just played. Because we’re in this accelerated … we’ve got to get better fast. And if we do, I think this will be all right.”
Whereas Dobbins led all rushers with 83 yards, the Chargers are still looking to get their ground attack rolling. That just got a lot tougher as the team lost veteran running back Najee Harris to an ankle injury in the second quarter. He had to be helped off the field, and the replays were cover-your-eyes cringeworthy, although the severity of his injury was not disclosed.
That piles even more of the running burden onto the shoulders of rookie first-round pick Omarion Hampton, who ran for 70 yards in 19 carries including his first NFL touchdown, from three yards out.
The Chargers, who had to reshuffle their offensive line with the loss of left tackle Rashawn Slater before the season, had to do so again Sunday when right guard Mekhi Becton sustained a concussion.
Those are the realities of the game, though, just as the Chargers already had to adjust to losing edge rusher Khalil Mack (shoulder) as well as defensive backs Elijah Molden (hamstring) and Cam Hart (hip).
Chargers linebacker Troy Dye (43) tackles Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin in the third quarter Sunday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
“That’s the unfortunate part of the NFL,” Herbert said. “You’re going to have to deal with adversity.”
Against the Broncos, the Chargers dealt with it and wound up on top. That makes this victory particularly impactful, a touchstone that Harbaugh and others can point to in future high-pressure situations.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if this does a lot for morale, and that was already high,” said Harbaugh, adding his team has “gravel in our gut.”
With that in mind, they have sent an unambiguous message to their three division foes: kick rocks.
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law giving California the power to set its own immunization schedules based on state health experts and independent medical groups — a sharp break from decades of reliance on guidance from the federal government.
The move came the same day that California and its West Coast allies issued joint recommendations for COVID-19, flu and RSV vaccines, part of a regional alliance formed to counter what they say is a politicized U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
“Our states are united in putting science, safety, and transparency first — and in protecting families with clear, credible vaccine guidance,” said the governors of California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii, which make up the West Coast Health Alliance.
The flurry of vaccine actions came as lawmakers and the University of California proposed a $23-billion ballot measure to replace federal research dollars lost to Trump-era cuts, underscoring efforts by Democrats in the state to shield science and public health from shifting federal policies. The measure, if passed by the California Legislature when lawmakers return in January, would go before voters in November 2026.
“The loss of critical federal funding awarded to the University of California presents an unprecedented and perilous moment for the state and its communities,” Theresa Maldonado, UC vice president for research and innovation, said in a statement.
The healthcare clash comes following a wave of COVID cases and as the annual flu season nears. For decades, the CDC has been the nation’s trusted authority on vaccines — setting childhood immunization schedules, guiding which shots adults should receive and shaping state health policies across the country.
Now, at the direction of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Trump ally, the CDC fired top leadership, lost senior scientific advisors and remade its vaccine advisory committee with members who the Associated Press found spread misinformation and conspiracy theories about immunizations.
Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, has defended the shakeup as necessary to create trust and “eliminate politics from science.”
“They deserve the truth and that’s what we’re going to give them for the first time in the history of the agency,” Kennedy told the Senate Finance Committee earlier this month during a contentious hearing.
The overhaul triggered a fierce backlash as more than 1,000 employees at the health agency and national health organizations have called on Kennedy to resign. Some states, however, have embraced the approach — Florida announced plans to become the first state to end all vaccines mandated, including for schoolchildren.
The polarization is taking a toll. A recent KFF poll found Americans are increasingly uncertain about public health guidance and whether new recommendations from the administration will make them more or less safe.
Public health experts say that not only are vaccines crucial for the health of individuals and the community but they also ultimately save money — preventing sickness and the rise in healthcare costs that would accompany widespread disease outbreaks.
The changes in federal vaccine recommendations have been sweeping. The Food and Drug Administration, which falls under Kennedy’s purview, now requires adults 65 and younger and otherwise healthy — who report no underlying health issues — to consult with a healthcare provider before getting the COVID vaccine. Similarly, the CDC requires parents of healthy children to talk to a healthcare provider before their child can receive the COVID vaccine, a barrier the American Academy of Pediatrics called “deeply troubling.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics issued its own COVID vaccine guidance, countering what the CDC recommended, that says all young children 6 months to 23 months should be vaccinated, as well as certain high-risk older children. The group has also said that older children should be offered the vaccine if their parents request it.
The CDC also changed its vaccine schedule from recommending the COVID vaccine to all pregnant women to offering “no guidance” as to whether healthy pregnant women should get the vaccine. In response, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended that people receive the updated COVID-19 vaccine at any point during their pregnancy.
California said it too will reject CDC guidance, starting with the recommendations released Wednesday from the West Coast Health Alliance. Those recommendations were developed by health officers and subject matter experts from each state, who considered guidelines from medical organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
The COVID-19 vaccine recommendations from the West Coast Health Alliance include vaccinating all children 6 months to 23 months and those 2 years old to 64 years old with risk factors. The alliance also recommended all pregnant and postpartum women or those planning to become pregnant to be vaccinated.
The alliance recommended children 6 months and older and all adults and pregnant women to receive the flu shot. For the RSV vaccine, the alliance recommends it for children younger than 8 months, as well as anyone 75 years or older. The alliance recommends the RSV vaccine for all other ages if a person has risk factors.
“We want the people who live and work in our states to know that there is a strong public health, healthcare and scientific community that will continue to stand together to provide and use the data and evidence needed for you to make healthy choices, and we are here to protect our communities,” said Dr. Erica Pan, director of the California Department of Public Health, in a statement.
The happy couple opted for a theme of Hollywood glamour, and thought the Firle Place in East Sussex made the perfect venue for this.
Speaking to Vogue on her big day, Marisa revealed: “Things really fell into place once we found our ceremony and dinner locations.
“We wanted to lean into our love of classic, nostalgic romance with our ceremony.”
She added: “Firle Place is such a beautiful home with so much character, and I fell in love with the drama of those big blue doors.
Marisa made a beautiful bride and went for classic silk wedding dress which took over 250 hours to make.
The gown, which was designed by Emilia Wickstead, oozed elegance and had a constructed corset and draped off the shoulder.
Speaking about her dress, she told the fashion magazine: “We are both theatrical.
“And we don’t shy away from a touch of drama when it feels appropriate, so I knew I wanted my wedding dress to feel like a real moment.”
Talking about her choice of designer, she added: “Emilia creates dresses with such timeless elegance that I knew she would understand my references immediately,”
Back To Black International Teaser Trailer
GETTING ENGAGED
Marisa is well known for starring in the Amy Winehouse movie, Back To Black.
And in a nod to the Amy, Marisa’s new husband popped the question in one of the late singer’s favourite places.
It came after he chose Primrose Hill to get down on one knee, which is nearby to the Rehab star’s beloved Camden.
Jamie asked Marisa to marry him in July, 2024, and sharing the moment at the time on Instagram he joked: “She said she’ll think about it!”
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Jamie and Marisa met when they were students at the drama school RADACredit: Instagram / @jamiebogyo
BECOMING A STAR
Marisa first found fame as posh and seductive investment banker Yasmin in sex-fuelled BBC drama Industry.
This then led to her being cast in the Sam Taylor-Johnson directed Amy Winehouse movie Back To Black last year.
JERUSALEM — Palestinian Oscar-winning director Basel Adra said Israeli soldiers conducted a raid at his home in the occupied West Bank over the weekend, searching for him and going through his wife’s phone.
Israeli settlers attacked his village Saturday, injuring two of his brothers and one cousin, Adra told the Associated Press. He accompanied them to the hospital. While there, he said that he heard from family in the village that nine Israeli soldiers had stormed his home.
The soldiers asked his wife, Suha, of his whereabouts and went through her phone while his 9-month-old daughter was home. They also briefly detained one of his uncles, he said.
Adra spent the night outside the village, unable to get home and check on his family because soldiers were blocking the village entrance and he was scared of being detained, he said.
Israel’s military said soldiers were in the village after Palestinians had thrown rocks, injuring two Israeli civilians. It said its forces were still in the village, searching the area and questioning people.
Adra said settlers attacked the Palestinians on their land, and denied throwing rocks or seeing anyone from the village do so.
Videos recorded by Adra’s cousin and viewed by the AP showed settlers attacking a man Adra identified as his brother, Adam, who was hospitalized with bruising to his left hand, elbow and chest, according to hospital records shared with the AP.
In another video, a settler chases a solidarity activist through an olive grove, tackling her to the ground.
Adra has spent his career as a journalist and filmmaker chronicling settler violence in Masafer Yatta, the southern reaches of the West Bank where he was born. After settlers attacked his co-director, Hamdan Ballal, in March, he told the AP that he felt they were being targeted more intensely since winning the Oscar.
He described Saturday’s events as “horrific.”
“Even if you are just filming the settlers, the army comes and chases you, searches your house,” he said. “The whole system is built to attack us, to terrify us, to make us very scared.”
Another co-director, Yuval Abraham, said he was “terrified for Basel.”
“What happened today in his village, we’ve seen this dynamic again and again, where the Israeli settlers brutally attack a Palestinian village and later on the army comes, and attacks the Palestinians,” Abraham said.
“No Other Land,” which won an Oscar this year for best documentary, depicts the struggle by residents of the Masafer Yatta area to stop the Israeli military from demolishing their villages. Ballal and Adra made the joint Palestinian-Israeli production with Israeli directors Abraham and Rachel Szor.
The film has won a string of international awards, starting at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2024. It has also drawn ire in Israel and abroad, such as when Miami Beach proposed ending the lease of a movie theater that screened the documentary.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East War, along with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. The Palestinians want all three for a future state and view Jewish settlement growth as a major obstacle to a two-state solution.
Israel has built well over 100 settlements, home to more than 500,000 settlers who have Israeli citizenship. The 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule, with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority administering population centers.
The Israeli military designated Masafer Yatta in the southern West Bank as a live-fire training zone in the 1980s and ordered residents, mostly Arab Bedouins, to be expelled. Around 1,000 residents have largely remained, but soldiers regularly move in to demolish homes, tents, water tanks and olive orchards, and Palestinians fear outright expulsion could come at any time.
During the war in Gaza, Israel has killed hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank during wide-scale military operations. There has also been a rise in settler attacks on Palestinians, as well as a surge in Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian student, Baraa Jamal Karama, during a raid on her home in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. In the footage, a soldier shushes her as she calls out, while another points his gun at the person filming.
BBC Sport’s chief football news reporter Simon Stone:
Even when they are being subjected to the kind of criticism they are getting at the moment, West Ham’s ownership tend not to go in for knee-jerk reactions when it comes to dealing with managers.
Chairman David Sullivan is more likely to give someone a game or two extra rather than act when there is still a possibility the situation might be pulled round.
Clearly though, heavy home defeats by two of the club’s fiercest rivals and slipping into the bottom three is not a good look, especially when Potter’s appointment last season failed to trigger the improvement hoped for.
If there is a slight positive as far as Potter is concerned, it comes from knowing we are still incredibly early into the new season.
Julen Lopetegui collected only five points from his first six Premier League games in charge last season and it was January before he was sacked. In 2022-23, West Ham collected five points from seven games with David Moyes in charge.
The secondary point is that West Ham made four signings between 29 August and the transfer deadline closing two days later. Given there was an international break in between, how much time has Potter had to work with his new-look squad?
Next week, unbeaten Crystal Palace visit London Stadium for a game where huge demonstrations against the ownership are planned. If that game doesn’t go well, a tense atmosphere could turn toxic.
After that it’s a trip to Merseyside and a meeting with Moyes’ improving Everton before a trip to Arsenal, where West Ham have won on their past two visits, including under Potter in February.
That feels a more obvious time to reassess, even if many West Ham fans feel getting rid of the manager is only the start of the change they really want.
Palestinians face mass arrests, displacement in the occupied territory as Netanyahu pushes settlement expansion.
Israeli forces have sealed off entrances to Tulkarem in the northern occupied West Bank, further escalating a campaign of raids, arrests and collective punishment that has displaced thousands of Palestinians as the military relentlessly destroys Gaza.
Footage from Thursday night shared by residents showed soldiers marching Palestinians in lines through the streets in what many described as a humiliating show of force.
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Tulkarem Governor Abdullah Kamil appealed to the international community on Friday, urging the United Nations General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, and humanitarian groups to act against what he called “crimes” being committed against the city’s nearly 100,000 residents.
Kamil said Israeli forces were “arbitrarily and unjustly” carrying out mass arrests, storming homes, destroying property and “terrorising children and women”, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
On Thursday, Israeli forces in Tulkarem were allegedly struck by what Israel called an explosive device that injured two Israeli soldiers.
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Doha, described “videos of the Israeli forces dragging hundreds and hundreds of Palestinians from their homes, from their cafes, from even a garage … in a show of humiliation”.
“They’re trying to remind everyone that if there is any incident in any place in the occupied West Bank that they do not like … they’re going to crack down, not just on the perpetrators … but on everyone in that vicinity,” said Ibrahim.
She added that Israel’s crackdown has displaced “tens of thousands of Palestinians out of their homes … rendering the city, the refugee camps into ghost towns”. Ibrahim said Palestinians see this as part of a broader policy, with Israeli forces trying “to crack down on Palestinians and really … remind them who has the upper hand and control in the occupied West Bank”.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, five young Palestinians were shot and wounded by Israeli forces in the village of Deir Jarir, Wafa reported. One of the injured was arrested before receiving medical treatment, according to the village council. Israeli soldiers also closed the village entrance for several hours.
Israeli troops stormed Nablus and the nearby town of Beit Furik at dawn on Friday, raiding several neighbourhoods in the Old City and surrounding areas.
Witnesses said shops were ransacked, while in Beitin, east of Ramallah, Israeli soldiers seized a house and converted it into a military barracks.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the raids, saying international silence had emboldened Israel to press ahead with unilateral measures aimed at destabilising the territory.
‘There will be no Palestinian state’
The escalation comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advances an illegal settlement expansion plan that would all but eliminate the possibility of a Palestinian state.
On Thursday, he signed an agreement to push forward with construction in the so-called E1 area near the illegal Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, several kilometres to the east of Jerusalem.
“We are going to fulfil our promise that there will be no Palestinian state. This place belongs to us,” Netanyahu declared at the signing ceremony, adding: “We are going to double the city’s population.”
The project, which has been driven by far-right ministers in the government, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, covers a 12sq km (4.6sq mile) stretch of land and foresees 3,400 new homes for Israeli settlers. Critics say the plan would cut off large parts of the occupied West Bank from East Jerusalem while linking together major settlement blocs.
Palestinians view East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. Under international law, all Israeli settlements in occupied territory are illegal, regardless of whether they have Israeli government approval.
Israeli action in Tulkarem city comes as Palestinians have been subjected to ‘collective punishment’ in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces have detained more than 100 Palestinians in raids on the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem and have imposed a curfew, Al Jazeera Arabic reports, as the Israeli offensive in Gaza City has forced more than 200,000 Palestinians to flee the largest urban center in the enclave.
As reported earlier, Israel’s military has been conducting raids in Tulkarem after it said two Israeli soldiers were wounded when their vehicle was “hit by an explosive device“.
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Soldiers stormed shops and cafes, detaining patrons, as well as residents in their vehicles, forcing them to march in line towards an Israeli military checkpoint, a WAFA correspondent reported.
Israeli forces launched a campaign of violence in the occupied West Bank after six people were killed in a shooting attack in occupied East Jerusalem earlier this week. Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the shooting, in which both suspects were killed.
In response, Israel ordered the demolition of the homes of the two suspects, as well as sanctions on their family members and residents of their towns, Qatanna and al-Qubeiba, northwest of Jerusalem in the West Bank.
“There has been a complete siege and lockdown of these areas,” Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said on Tuesday following the shooting. “Collective punishment is in full swing in the occupied West Bank.”
Israel’s growing crackdown in the West Bank
Israel has launched a crackdown on the occupied West Bank since it launched its devastating war on Gaza, killing more than 1,000 Palestinians, arresting thousands, and demolishing hundreds of homes and civic infrastructure. Even before the October 7, 2023, attack inside Israel by the Hamas-led Palestinian groups, Israeli military and settler violence was at its highest in years.
Israel’s military operation has fuelled the forced displacement of more than 40,000 Palestinians.
“Israel’s deadly military operation in the occupied West Bank, unfolding in the horrific shadow of its ongoing genocide in the occupied Gaza Strip, has had catastrophic consequences for tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians who are facing a rapidly escalating crisis with no foreseeable prospects of return. Unlawful transfer of protected persons is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a war crime,” Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s senior director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, said in a statement on June 5.
As well as the Israeli military actions against Palestinians, violence by Israeli settlers spiked during the war on Gaza. At least 1,860 incidents of settler violence in the occupied West Bank were recorded between October 7, 2023, and December 31, 2024, according to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The rise of far-right leaders to power has pushed Israel further towards right, with politicians at the highest levels, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, openly indulging in anti-Palestinian rhetoric.
“We are going to fulfil our promise that there will be no Palestinian state. This place belongs to us,” Netanyahu reiterated at an event in Maale Adumim, an illegal Israeli settlement just east of Jerusalem, on Thursday.
“We are going to double the city’s population.”
All the settlements are considered illegal under international law and are considered the biggest hurdle in the resolution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Last September, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) overwhelmingly adopted a resolution calling on Israel to end its illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories within a year. Still, Israel has since expanded its settlements in complete disregard of international laws and norms.
West Africa is becoming a silent powder keg that could explode into a cataclysmic situation in the next few years. As the world’s attention remains focused on Europe and the Indo-Pacific, Islamic extremist organizations are gaining traction and territory along Africa’s “coup belt.”
Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali, all ruled by pro-Russian military juntas, are facing military defeats and setbacks by al-Qaeda and ISIS affiliates. A spillover of the conflict could create a domino effect not only on the African continent but also in Europe and among various regional and world powers, all of which have vested interests in Africa.
Jihadist Foothold in the Maghreb
The Sahel region is haunted by a lack of political leadership, miscommunication amongst regional neighbors, and persistent military coups that have allowed extremist organizations to flourish. In the early 2010s, al-Qaeda’s Maghreb branch, AQIM, suffered degradation from counterterrorism operations in Algeria but found reinvigorated life from Mali’s instability.
Taking advantage of the 2012 Tuareg rebellion in Mali, jihadist groups affiliated with AQIM rapidly captured major Malian cities in the North and threatened to march South. In response to the jihadist threat, the West would conduct two major French-led interventions in Serval and Barkhane that pushed the al-Qaeda-led extremist factions back but did not defeat them fully.
Several Islamist militia factions and AQIM would formally merge to form Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) in 2017 to combat Malian, West African (ECOWAS), and Western forces, along with consolidating their remaining held areas. Using a lack of control on other neighboring borders, JNIM and later ISIS would spill over the insurgency into Burkina Faso, Niger, and others.
Rise of the Russian-Backed Juntas and Wagner Group Atrocities
The fight against JNIM and ISIS would take a major turn due to the rise of the coup belt, which is a domino effect of unstable governments being ousted by military officers, which led to hostile juntas across West Africa. Since 2020, coups have frequently taken place in Mali, Niger, Chad, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Gabon.
The blowback from the repeated coups became detrimental to countering ISIS and JNIM, as the military juntas refused cooperation with Western states that had the capabilities to target jihadists, train fledgling African militaries, and provide valuable intelligence. The Malian junta particularly ended collaboration with France and demanded a French withdrawal from their country, which Paris started in 2022, while the government denied being forced to leave.
Furthermore, the United States would lose its largest drone base on the continent in Niger as the Nigerian junta broke off military cooperation with Washington and demanded a withdrawal. The drift between the junta and the West left a powder keg that Russia would soon exploit.
The Kremlin dispatched the Wagner Group/Afrika Corps to prop up the juntas in the coup belt in a deal to provide ‘protection’ in return for resources. Outside of gas and oil, Russia also uses the black-market illicit resource trade from Africa to help fund its invasion of Ukraine.
Russian mercenaries are enshrined in atrocities along the coup belt, such as wholesale massacres of villages in Mali, sexual assaults, and using locals as slave labor to extract minerals. Furthermore, the presence of Russian mercenaries is turning Africa into another front of the Russo-Ukrainian War as Kyiv’s special forces conduct clandestine operations against the Afrika Korps in the region.
The Russian-backed Juntas Are Rapidly Losing Control
The aforementioned drift between regional blocs such as ECOWAS and Western states capable of providing resources that West African nations don’t have is having a detrimental effect on combating extremism in the region. In Mali, the brutality of the military junta and aligned African Corps mercenaries is now having a blowback, as both forces have attempted to subdue Tuareg separatists unsuccessfully.
In late July of 2024, several dozen Wagner and Malian junta soldiers were ambushed by Tuareg militia in Tinzaouaten, marking the deadliest ambush for Russian mercenaries in Africa in several years. Further losses have led to one-third of Malian territory either being contested or controlled by JNIM or ISIS as of 2025.
Niger’s junta government is also facing setbacks from extremist militias. Without U.S. advisors and the drone base supplementing local Niger forces, ISIS’s Sahel-affiliated IS-GS now has a foothold that encompasses Western Niger’s territory. Digressing from ECOWAS and having a diplomatic conflict with Nigeria, Niger no longer has cross-border cooperation on counterinsurgency operations, which Boko Haram, IS-GS, and JNIM are taking advantage of.
Burkina Faso’s security situation is rapidly deteriorating under Ibrahim Traore, the most pro-Russian junta leader in West Africa. Currently, 40% of Burkina Faso’s territory is under the control of or contested by JNIM.
Russia has been unable to stop the advance of the Islamist extremist groups through its Wagner and Africa Corps mercenaries due to several factors. With the war in Ukraine causing a plethora of equipment losses to the Russian military, Moscow has been unable to fulfill defense contracts of weapon exports to their allies and interests in Africa. After losing influence in Syria, the South Caucasus, and, to a lesser extent, Central Asia, the Kremlin could also lose its key West African juntas as their invasion of Ukraine ties down critical assets. Implications for Africa and Europe
Growing regional instability in West Africa will have looming negative effects for outlying countries in the region. With the junta’s disengagement in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations with more experienced countries, al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other extremist groups will continue to grow or perhaps even take over key provincial capitals, as seen with decades of combating extremism in Somalia.
Jihadist groups historically implemented archaic forms of sharia law that include frequent executions for minor infractions. Because of fears of what JNIM and ISIS will implement, along with atrocities committed by the junta, a brewing, exacerbated refugee crisis could unfold in both Africa and Europe.
Russia has used armed conflicts in Africa to its advantage, particularly due to the refugee crisis, which plays into Moscow’s hybrid warfare strategy. Using Islamist insurgencies that fuel the refugee crisis towards Europe plays into the Kremlin’s strategy of attempting to prop up pro-Russian political parties under the guise of anti-migration, as seen in Hungary, Slovakia, Germany, France, and others.
Regional security and stability are crucial to the interests of Africa, the West, and the East. The lack of governance enacted by the juntas, along with their failures in counterinsurgency, is now having negative consequences on the continent. Unless the coup-belt officers turn course and allow regional coordination to combat al-Qaeda and ISIS, the jihadists will continue to gain ground and perhaps create a major base of operations not seen since ISIS’s ‘caliphate’ that stretched across large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
At some point, the Dodgers hope, they will be able to field a fully healthy lineup.
A late scratch on Wednesday to catcher Will Smith, however, meant it would have to wait at least a couple more days.
Despite activating Tommy Edman from the injured list pregame, and proceeding to sweep the Colorado Rockies with a 9-0 win that stretched their National League West lead to three games, the Dodgers were left dealing with another injury headache Wednesday, removing Smith from the starting lineup just 15 minutes before first pitch after swelling developed around the bone bruise he has been dealing with in his right hand.
“Not overly concerned,” manager Dave Roberts said of Smith’s status, “but we’ve got to get that swelling under wraps.”
Smith’s absence hardly hampered the Dodgers in their fourth straight win.
Their lineup exploded for four runs in the second inning and five in the eighth behind a huge night from Mookie Betts, who continued his recent tear with a four-for-five, five-RBI performance that included a run-scoring double early and a grand slam to put things away late. Betts is now on a 16-game on-base streak, has multiple RBIs in five-straight contests, and is batting .352 with seven home runs and 26 RBIs over his last 32 games.
Behind the plate, Ben Rortvedt filled in to catch Blake Snell’s scoreless six-inning, 11-strikeout start, which continued a dominant run from a Dodgers’ rotation that now has a 1.18 ERA over the last six games.
And thanks to a loss earlier in the day by the San Diego Padres, the team grew its lead atop the division for a second day in a row, effectively taking a 3-½ game NL West lead (when accounting for its head-to-head tiebreaker over San Diego) with 16 games to play.
“That was a big home series sweep, to get us going … get us moving in the right direction,” Snell said. “All of us have been looking forward to getting it going. This was a really good step.”
Yet, after activating Max Muncy off the injured list Monday, and welcoming Edman back into the fold Wednesday afternoon, the Dodgers were finally on the verge of having a full-strength squad for the first time since early July.
Instead, they were reminded of the tenuous reality of their oft-injured roster — and the difficulty of trying to manage Smith’s hand in particular.
It had only been a week since Smith first got hurt, when a foul ball in Pittsburgh ricocheted off his dangling throwing hand behind the plate and left him with a bone bruise that sidelined him until Tuesday — though didn’t require an injured list stint. Smith had looked OK in his return to action that night, lining a double in his first at-bat while helping Emmet Sheehan carry a no-hitter into the sixth. He was back in the original lineup the Dodgers posted Wednesday, as they sought a series sweep over the 106-loss Rockies.
The issue, it appeared, might be behind him.
But then, when the Dodgers emerged from the dugout Wednesday night, it was Rortvedt who went to squat behind home plate.
“Literally 15 minutes before the game, as he’s getting ready, his hand started to swell up,” Roberts said. “After [his pregame] hitting, getting dressed, getting ready for the game, that’s when it started to show itself. He tried to get out there and throw. It just didn’t respond well.”
After Smith first got hurt, Roberts cautioned his injury could linger for the rest of the season. After Wednesday, he said the team would monitor Smith on Thursday’s off day –– and potentially send him for an MRI –– then decide on Friday whether he’ll play in this weekend’s series-opener in San Francisco.
“We’ve got to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Roberts said.
Miguel Rojas slides home to score a run in the second inning.
(Eric Thayer/Eric Thayer For The Los Angeles)
Smith’s hand won’t be the only injury the Dodgers (82-64) will have to manage down the stretch.
While Edman returned from an ankle injury that had plagued him all year, and sidelined him since its own flare-up on Aug. 3, Roberts said pregame he was still curious to see how the utilityman looked.
Edman slotted in center field on Wednesday — where he tracked down a fly ball on the game’s first pitch — and will likely see most of his playing time there for at least the foreseeable future. Roberts noted that, unlike earlier this year when Edman was mainly limited to infield duties, the quick reactions required at second base might be tougher on his ankle now.
“Getting off the ball is something I’m going to be really mindful of watching,” Roberts said of Edman. “Once he gets to full speed, it’s a lot easier [to decide what he can handle].”
With Edman in center, the Dodgers also ran out a new outfield alignment, with Andy Pages moving to left field and Michael Conforto dropping to the bench.
Roberts said Conforto will still see playing time against right-handed pitchers (the Rockies started left-hander Kyle Freeland on Wednesday). He also didn’t close the door on eventually flipping Pages (who had three hits Wednesday, including an RBI double in the second to open the scoring) and Teoscar Hernández (who went deep in the eighth for his third home run in the last two nights) in the corners, though noted he is keeping Hernández in right for now thanks to his improved defensive play in recent weeks.
“Teo played the season last year in left field, so we’ve shown that we can win a championship with him in left field,” Roberts said. “Not quite there yet, but thinking about it.”
Despite the moving pieces, it all brought the Dodgers closer to the lineup they envisioned having at the start of this season, the one they’ve floundered with offensively (entering the night ranked just 26th in the majors in scoring since July 4) while playing without.
“I think that we’ve all been waiting for our guys to come back to health and see what we look like,” Roberts said.
Still, they won’t be at full strength again until Smith is. Wednesday was a reminder that his health remains in doubt.
Roberts said that could include finding the rookie right-hander, who finally rediscovered his 100-mph fastball Tuesday after lacking velocity and battling a shoulder injury previously this year, an opportunity to start a big-league game for the first time since April. Or, potentially pitching out of the bullpen, which is how the 23-year-old would likely be used if he were to be included on the postseason roster.
Before that latter scenario could become reality, of course, the Dodgers will need to see Sasaki have some sort of success back in the majors, where he had a 4.72 ERA in eight starts at the beginning of the season before going on the IL.
Nonetheless, Roberts described Sasaki’s rehab outing on Tuesday as “great for the Dodgers, great for Roki’s confidence, great for the organization.
“Mostly it was great for Roki,” Roberts added. “Just to really let it eat, let it fly, have some success and know that he can be the guy that he’s known to be.”
From Kevin Baxter: It was picture day at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, one of those quaint baseball traditions that has endured long past its usefulness.
So the team set up three rows of aluminum risers in shallow center field and the players, wearing impossibly white uniforms, filed out of the clubhouse just before 3 p.m., passing up batting practice to pose for the cameras. For a sport that thrives on routine, the afternoon had a unique last-day-of-school vibe.
“It’s a weird day,” manager Dave Roberts agreed.
But picture day also serves to bring the end of the season into tighter focus since it usually happens in the final three weeks. And the players who climb those risers are the ones who will decide the team’s postseason fate.
That was especially true for the Dodgers, who rode another splendid pitching performance — this one from Emmet Sheehan — to a 7-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies. Sheehan, bidding for a spot in the playoff rotation, was backed by four homers, including a pair of solo shots from Teoscar Hernández, who had his first three-hit night in more than a month.
The win, the team’s third in a row, coupled with San Diego’s loss to Cincinnati, expanded the Dodgers’ lead in the National League West to two games over the second-place Padres with just 17 left to play.
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ANGELS
Kyle Hendricks threw seven shutout innings, Chris Taylor and Yoán Moncada hit three-run homers, and the Angels scored all of their runs with two out in a 12-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.
Hendricks (7-9) gave up four hits, struck out six and walked one in his best start of the season, throwing 58 of 80 pitches for strikes. Right-hander Zabby Matthews (4-5) took the loss, giving up five runs and seven hits in 4 ⅔ innings.
The Angels had 17 hits and went eight for 17 with runners in scoring position. Leadoff man Mike Trout and Moncada each scored three runs. Luis Rengifo delivered two clutch hits, a two-out, two-run single in the first inning and a two-out RBI single in the fifth, as the Angels built a 5-0 lead.
From Ben Bolch: The numbers are in, and they’re not good.
None of them.
There are 134 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. UCLA ranks near the bottom in the most significant statistical categories, a big reason the Bruins have started the season 0-2.
Scoring offense? The Bruins are tied for No. 115, averaging 16.5 points per game.
Scoring defense? UCLA is tied for No. 120, giving up 36.5 points per game.
Penalties? The Bruins are No. 121, averaging 79.5 yards per game.
Opposing third-down conversions? UCLA is No. 133, opponents converting 70.4% of their chances.
It was a monumental deal, one that could come to define Thompson’s career and help repair Angel City’s brand as a rich club that has mostly bumbled its way through its first four seasons.
It was a massive win for the player and both clubs.
Yet before the ink on the agreement had dried Angel City was already tarnishing what it should have been cheering. Coach Alexander Straus refused to even say Thompson’s name, opening a conference call with reporters Thursday by insisting he would not answer questions about “a certain player” or “a certain transfer.”
It was the second time in four days Straus refused to acknowledge his team’s best player.
Thompson, of course, has never been “a certain player” or “a certain transfer.” She’s a player Angel City moved heaven and earth to draft and sign in 2023, giving her a contract worth an estimated $1 million, then one of the richest in the NWSL. She’s a player who went on to become the club’s all-time leader in goals and rank sixth in appearances.
Dearica Hamby scored 16 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter, Rae Burrell had a career-high 20 points off the bench and the Sparks beat the Phoenix Mercury 88-83 on Tuesday night but the Sparks were eliminated from the playoff race.
The Sparks needed a win and a Seattle loss to send the chase for the last playoff spot to the last day of the season on Thursday, but the Storm pulled out a 74-73 win over Golden State.
Phoenix, the No. 4 seed, will host fifth-seeded New York, the defending champion, in the best-of-three series when the playoffs open on Sunday.
1933 — Fred Perry wins his first U.S. men’s singles title with a 6-3, 11-13, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 victory over Australian Jack Crawford.
1937 — The Cleveland Rams play their first NFL game and lose 28-0 to the Detroit Lions.
1962 — Rod Laver becomes the first man since Don Budge in 1938 to win the Grand Slam beating Roy Emerson 6-2, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, at the U.S. Open. Margaret Smith becomes the first Australian woman to win the U.S. Open with a 9-7, 6-4 win over Darlene Hard.
1966 — Muhammad Ali knocks out Karl Mildenberger in the 12th round in Frankfurt, Germany, to retain his world heavyweight title.
1967 — John Newcombe beats Clark Graebner to win the men’s title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships. Billie Jean King wins the singles, doubles and mixed doubles championships.
1972 — The United States men’s basketball team loses its first game in Olympic competition. The Soviet Union wins 51-50 with the help of a controversial ending. Dr. William Jones, secretary general of the International Amateur Basketball Federation, tells the referees to have the players replay the final three seconds and the Soviets score a last-second bucket. The Americans, who had the lead when the buzzer sounded the first time, protest in vain. The U.S. team later refuses to accept the silver medal.
1972 — Emerson Fittipaldi wins the Italian Grand Prix to become the youngest to win a Formula I championship. Fittipaldi, 25, wins his fifth race of the season and clinches the title with two races remaining.
1978 — Jimmy Connors becomes the only player to win the U.S. Open on three different surfaces, with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win over Bjorn Borg. Connors wins the first men’s final played on the Deco Turf II courts at the new USTA National Tennis Center. Connors had won the 1974 U.S. Open on grass and the 1976 U.S. Open on clay courts.
1983 — Larry Holmes TKOs Scott Frank in 5 for heavyweight boxing title.
1988 — Steffi Graf becomes the third women to complete the Grand Slam, defeating Gabriela Sabatini 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the U.S. Open.
1989 — Five days after hitting a HR for Yankees in a 12-2 win over the Mariners, MLB and NFL player Deion Sanders returns a punt 68 yards for a touchdown, his first.
1989 — Indianapolis running back Eric Dickerson rushes for 106 yards against San Francisco to become the fastest player to top the 10,000 yard plateau; 91st career game.
1993 — Pernell Whitaker and Julio Cesar Chavez fight to a majority draw. Two judges score the fight 115-115 and the third scores the fight 115-113 for Whitaker. It’s the first blemish on Chavez’s record who was 87-0 entering the bout.
1995 — Pete Sampras wins his third U.S. Open men’s singles title, taking down the No. 1 seed and defending champion Andre Agassi, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
1995 — Fuad Reveiz of the Minnesota Vikings sets an NFL record for consecutive field goals, converting from 32 and 27 yards to give him 30 in a row.
2004 — Zippy Chippy, thoroughbred racing’s lovable loser, makes it 0-for-100 when he finishes last in an eight-horse field at the Three-County Fairgrounds in Northampton, Mass.
2006 — Roger Federer defeats Andy Roddick 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the U.S. Open final for his third major championship this year and ninth of his career. Federer becomes the first man ever to win back-to-back Wimbledon and U.S. Open crowns for three straight years.
2006 — Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts make fewer mistakes than Eli Manning and the New York Giants in the first NFL game to feature two brothers starting at quarterback. Big brother Peyton is 25-of-41 for 276 yards and a touchdown and the Colts score on five of their first seven possessions to defeat Eli and the Giants 26-21.
2012 — Andy Murray wins the U.S. Open in five grueling sets to become the first British man since 1936 to capture a Grand Slam title. Murray beats defending champion Novak Djokovic 7-6 (10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 in his fifth try in the final of a major tournament.
2017 — Rafael Nadal wins his 16th Grand Slam title by sweeping Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in the U.S. Open final.
2017 — The Rams rout the Indianapolis Colts 46-9 in 31-year-old Sean McVay’s impressive debut as the youngest head coach in modern league history.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1919 — Cleveland’s Ray Caldwell pitched a no-hitter against the New York Yankees, a 3-0 victory by the Indians in the opening game of a doubleheader.
1950 — Joe DiMaggio became the first player to hit three home runs in one game at Griffith Stadium, and the New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators 8-1.
1967 — Joe Horlen of the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers with a 6-0 no-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader.
1969 — The New York Mets swept Montreal in a doubleheader at Shea Stadium, 3-2 in 12 innings and 7-1. The victories moved the Mets into first place in the NL East for their first time on top.
1974 — Lou Brock tied Maury Wills’ single-season stolen base record in the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies. He broke the record with steal No. 105 in the seventh inning.
1977 — Roy Howell hit two home runs, two doubles and a single and drove in nine runs, powering Toronto past the New York Yankees 19-3.
1980 — Bill Gullickson struck out 18 — the most by a rookie — to lead the Montreal Expos past the Chicago Cubs 4-2.
1997 — Mark McGwire joined Babe Ruth as the only players in major league history with consecutive 50-homer seasons by hitting a 446-foot shot off Shawn Estes in the third inning of St. Louis’ game against at San Francisco. McGwire, who hit a major league-leading 52 homers for Oakland last season, became the first player with back-to-back 50-homer seasons since Ruth did it in 1927 and 1928.
2000 — Arizona’s Randy Johnson became the 12th player to reach 3,000 strikeouts, fanning a season-high 14 in seven innings in the Diamondbacks’ 4-3 loss to Florida in 12 innings.
2003 — St. Louis’ Tony La Russa became the eighth manager in major league history to reach 2,000 wins when the Cardinals beat Colorado 10-2. La Russa is 2,000-1,782 in 25 seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland and St. Louis.
2007 — Kurt Suzuki and Dan Johnson hit grand slams to power Oakland past Seattle 9-3.
2013 — Mark Trumbo matched a team record with four extra-base hits, including back-to-back home runs with Josh Hamilton, and the Angels beat Toronto 12-6.
2017 — Aaron Judge became the second major league rookie with a 40-homer season, going deep twice in New York’s 16-7 rout of the Texas Rangers 16-7.
2022 — 42-year-old Albert Pujols, who has stated many times that he will retire at the end of the season, hits his 17th homer of the year and No. 696 of his career off J.T. Brubaker of the Pirates in the sixth inning of a 7-5 Cardinals win to tie Alex Rodriguez for fourth place on the all-time list.
2024 — By leading off the bottom of the first with a homer off Taj Bradley at Citizens Bank Park, Kyle Schwarber sets a new record with his 14th leadoff homer of the season. The Phillies go on to defeat the Rays, 9-4. The previous record holder was Alfonso Soriano, who had hit 13 such long balls for the 2003 Yankees.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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Issa Amro lives in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank. He never knows how far he can venture out of his neighbourhood, due to attacks by Israeli settlers and random checkpoint closures. His video diary shows the challenges Palestinians living in Hebron face as settlers try to take their land, supported by the Israeli state and military.
Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank amid a sharp escalation of violence, following the country’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call this week to take over most of the territory.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the dead man as Ahmed Shehadeh, 57, saying he was killed on Friday by “occupation bullets” near the al-Murabba’a checkpoint south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
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Palestinian news agency Wafa cited Amid Ahmed, director of the Red Crescent’s Emergency and Ambulance Centre in Nablus, as saying Israeli soldiers prevented his crew from reaching the site of the shooting.
The Israeli military claimed in a statement that a man had “hurled a suspicious object” at soldiers operating near the checkpoint, after which they “eliminated” him.
Further south, troops carried out multiple raids in Bethlehem, with soldiers entering the Khalayel al-Louz area southeast of the city and setting up a military checkpoint, according to Wafa.
The news agency also reported raids on the villages of Artas and al-Ubayyat, where soldiers tore down posters of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces.
In parallel, Israeli settlers wielding knives and sticks stormed the village of Khallet al-Dabaa in the Masafer Yatta area south of Hebron, injuring 20 people, including a three-month-old infant.
Palestinian activist Osama al-Makhmara told the Anadolu news agency that the injuries ranged from bruises and fractures to stab wounds, claiming that nine people were taken to hospital for treatment.
Four months ago, Israeli authorities demolished 25 homes, agricultural structures and water wells in the village, citing “unlicensed construction”.
Israel’s drive to expand illegal settlements in the West Bank was given renewed impetus by far-right finance minister and settler leader Smotrich, who said on Wednesday that Israel should annex roughly 82 percent of the West Bank.
Smotrich said he wanted “maximum territory and minimum [Palestinian] population” to be brought under Israeli sovereignty, “to remove, once and for all, a Palestinian state from the agenda”.
More than 700,000 settlers, or 10 percent of Israel’s population, live in 150 illegal settlements and 128 outposts spread across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Xavier Abu Eid, former communications director for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), told Al Jazeera that Israeli flags and settlements were now visible across the 30-40km (18-25 miles) between Ramallah and Nablus.
“Clearly, the maps that were presented by Smotrich are being designed on the ground by settlers and the Israeli army,” he said.
‘Too little, too late’
Smotrich launched his maximalist campaign as France, Britain, Belgium, Australia and Canada pledged to formally recognise a Palestinian state during the United Nations General Assembly in New York later this month.
The diplomatic push comes as Israel mounts its full-scale offensive on Gaza City as part of takeover plans for the entire enclave, while accelerating its West Bank annexation plans in the background.
On Friday, Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen announced on X that her country would join the growing international drive for a two-state solution, which is being spearheaded by France and Saudi Arabia. She called it “the most significant international effort in years to create the conditions for a two-state solution”.
The previous day, Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo adopted a resolution saying that peaceful coexistence in the Middle East cannot be achieved while Israel “issues implicit threats to occupy or annex further Arab lands”.
The League said any lasting settlement must be based on a two-state solution and the 2022 Arab Peace Initiative, which offers a full normalisation of relations in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the territories it occupied in 1967.
But the PLO’s Abu Eid told Al Jazeera that time was running out. “Many people feel that there is no longer a two-state solution to speak about, and perhaps this late international response recognising the state of Palestine is once again seen as too little, too late,” he said.
Mass arrests
As Israel grabs more Palestinian territory in the West Bank, its forces have ramped up their campaign of mass arrests, detaining at least 70 people across dozens of villages over the past week.
Wafa reported arrests in the town of Haris, near Salfit, where village council head Omar Samara, deputy head of the village council Tayseer Kulaib, and a “large number of villagers” were detained.
Troops also arrested a man in Qalqilya city as they raided family homes.
Israeli prison conditions for Palestinians have long been described by rights groups as harsh and degrading, with reports of medical neglect and abuse.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office issued a statement on Bilal Barghouti, a 39-year-old from Beit Rima serving a life sentence in Israel’s Gilboa prison, describing the conditions in which he was being kept as “slow murder and systematic torture”.
Former detainees have said Barghouti, who suffers from a range of chronic illnesses, has lost a lot of weight, has been barred from visits, and subjected to beatings, insults and scalding with hot water.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said on Friday that Israeli forces had made more than 19,000 arrests – including at least 585 women and 1,550 children – across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the war on Gaza started.
It said the figure does not include arrests in Gaza itself, where the number is believed to be in the thousands, according to its statement carried by news agency Wafa.
The society also reported 77 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody, including 46 from Gaza. The bodies of 74 of those who died remain withheld by Israel, alongside at least 85 other prisoners whose remains are being kept from their families.
The United Arab Emirates warned Wednesday that Israel’s annexation of the occupied West Bank would cross a “red line,” and end “the vision of regional integration,” Anadolu reports.
“Annexation would be a red line for my government, and that means there can be no lasting peace,” Emirati Special Envoy Lana Nusseibeh told The Times of Israel news outlet.
“It would foreclose the idea of regional integration and be the death knell of the two-state solution,” she said.
In 2020, the UAE signed US-sponsored agreements with Israel to normalize their relations. Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco also followed suit.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said early Wednesday that Israel plans to annex 82% of the occupied West Bank to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“Israeli sovereignty will be applied to 82% of the territory,” Smotrich, the leader of the far-right Religious Zionism Party, told a press conference in Jerusalem.
The far-right minister called the West Bank annexation “a preventative step” against moves by many countries to recognize Palestinian statehood.
Several countries, including Belgium, France, the UK, Canada, and Australia, announced plans to recognize Palestinian statehood during the upcoming meetings of the UN General Assembly on Sept. 8-23, joining 147 nations that already do.
On Aug. 20, Israel approved a major settlement project, called E1, which aims to split the occupied West Bank into two parts, cutting off the northern cities of Ramallah and Nablus from Bethlehem and Hebron in the south and isolating East Jerusalem.
The international community, including the UN, considers the Israeli settlements illegal under international law. The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
In an advisory opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
California, Oregon and Washington are joining forces to insulate vaccine guidance and other public health recommendations from political interference, a direct response to turmoil at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under President Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, Tina Kotek of Oregon and Bob Ferguson of Washington announced Wednesday the creation of the West Coast Health Alliance, a pact that aims to keep their states’ health policies unified and grounded in scientific expertise. The move comes as the nation’s top public health agency is being reshaped by Kennedy and his vaccine-skeptic allies, with key leadership fired and the agency in turmoil.
“President Trump’s mass firing of CDC doctors and scientists — and his blatant politicization of the agency — is a direct assault on the health and safety of the American people,” the three governors said in a joint statement. “The CDC has become a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science, ideology that will lead to severe health consequences. California, Oregon, and Washington will not allow the people of our states to be put at risk.”
In June, the three states issued a joint statement condemning Kennedy’s decision to remove all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Among the replacements named by Kennedy are appointees who spread vaccine misinformation and relayed conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Associated Press.
Kennedy said the change would improve public trust by ensuring members of the committee didn’t have “any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda.”
Kennedy has warned that more turnover could be coming at the agency.
In the announcement for the newly formed West Coast Health Alliance, the states said the focus would be on providing evidence-based recommendations about who should receive immunizations while ensuring the public has access to credible information about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. The alliance will share immunization recommendations, but each state will also pursue independent strategies based on “unique laws, geographies, histories, and peoples.”
Dr. Erica Pan, director of the California Department of Public Health and the state health officer, said it’s imperative that California stand with medical professionals.
“The dismantling of public health and dismissal of experienced and respected health leaders and advisors, along with the lack of using science, data, and evidence to improve our nation’s health are placing lives at risk,” Pan said in a statement.
The Russian president defends the military campaign in Ukraine, blaming NATO and Western policies for the conflict.
Published On 1 Sep 20251 Sep 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed the West for igniting the war in Ukraine, insisting Moscow’s assault was provoked by years of Western provocations.
Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin on Monday, Putin accused NATO of destabilising the region and dismissed claims that Russia triggered the war.
“This crisis was not triggered by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, but was a result of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West,” Putin told the gathering of regional leaders. He was referring to the 2013-14 pro-European uprising that toppled Ukraine’s then-President Viktor Yanukovych.
Russia responded to the revolution by annexing Crimea and backing separatists in eastern Ukraine, leading to a conflict that has left tens of thousands dead and devastated large parts of the country.
Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 escalated the fighting, prompting sweeping sanctions from the United States and the European Union and deepening Russia’s isolation from the West, though not from the rest of the international community.
Putin said Western efforts to draw Ukraine into NATO were a key driver of the war, reiterating that Russia’s security concerns must be addressed before any peace deal can be reached.
“For the Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long-term, the root causes of the crisis must be addressed,” he said.
The Russian president highlighted talks he held with US President Donald Trump in August, describing the discussions as “opening a way to peace”. He praised diplomatic efforts from Beijing and New Delhi, saying their proposals could “facilitate the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis”.
Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday to discuss Ukraine and said he would expand on those talks in bilateral meetings with leaders on the sidelines of the summit. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are also attending.
Moscow and Beijing have promoted the SCO as a counterweight to Western-led alliances, with Putin arguing the world needs a “system that would replace outdated Eurocentric and Euro-Atlantic models”.
Despite repeated calls from Trump for Moscow and Kyiv to negotiate, peace efforts have faltered. Russia has rejected ceasefire proposals and demanded that Ukraine cede more territory, conditions Kyiv has dismissed as unacceptable.
“For the Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long-term, the root causes of the crisis must be addressed,” said Putin.
Part of the source of the conflict “lies in the ongoing attempts by the West to bring Ukraine into NATO”, he said.
Putin also held talks with Modi and Erdogan, and is expected to meet Pezeshkian later on Monday as he seeks to bolster diplomatic backing amid the drawn-out conflict.
More settler attacks also take place across the territory, with a Palestinian husband and wife hurt in the violence.
Published On 31 Aug 202531 Aug 2025
The Israeli army has carried out raids and arrests across the occupied West Bank, with incidents reported in the cities of Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus and Ramallah.
Multiple Palestinians were detained in the territory on Sunday, according to the Wafa news agency, including a child and a young man in the town of Yabad.
Reports suggested that a 37-year-old man was also arrested in the town of Beit Fajjar, while a 25-year-old man was taken into Israeli custody in the town of Nilin near Ramallah.
Several raids took place in the Ramallah and el-Bireh governorate, just days after Israel launched a prolonged raid in the area that injured at least 58 people.
Israeli soldiers were also present in the towns of Kafr Malek, Nilin and Deir Qaddis, but did not make any arrests.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, intense and continuous gunfire broke out south of Hebron, as shown by online videos verified by Al Jazeera.
Wafa said that five Palestinians, including a girl, were injured by Israeli bullets and taken to hospital for treatment.
Israeli soldiers also allegedly fired live ammunition in the northern village of Sarra and the town of Sebastia, but no injuries were reported.
Meanwhile, a settler attack left a Palestinian man and his wife with injuries in Khallet al-Daba village in Masafer Yatta.
Israeli settlers also attacked Palestinian homes in the village of Kisan near Bethlehem.
The Wafa news agency reports that the settlers broke into Palestinian properties and looted them, while receiving protection from the Israeli army.
In the first eight months of the year, more than 1,000 Israeli settler attacks have been recorded in the occupied West Bank that caused injuries, property damage or both, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Settlers rampage on Palestinian land on a daily basis, with impunity and backed by the Israeli military.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 671 Palestinians, including 129 children, across the region since October 2023, according to OCHA.
An armed settler stands near Israeli troops during a weekly settlers’ tour in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, August 23, 2025 [Mussa Qawasma/Reuters]
As well as the Israeli raids and the settler attacks, the Palestinian Authority (PA) said that Israeli authorities had engaged in unauthorised excavation and demolition operations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.
“These operations deliberately target Islamic antiquities dating back to the Umayyad period, which stand as living witnesses and irrefutable evidence of Muslims’ rightful claim to the site,” the PA’s Jerusalem governorate said in a statement.
It said that Israel intends to remove the site’s Muslim history to build a Jewish temple there in the future.
