World

The best cities for food have been revealed and they are not all in Italy

When it comes to culinary delights, most people’s minds wander to Italy’s pasta, Japan’s sushi or Mexico’s tacos. However, a study by TasteAtlas has revealed the top foodie destinations around the globe.

The team analysed nearly half a million ratings from 17,073 cities in their database. Interestingly, many of the top-rated locations are just a short hop from the UK, with the majority of the top 10 nestled within Europe.

Naples clinched the top spot, thanks to its status as the birthplace of pizza, lasagna and macaroni.

But this stunning city wasn’t the only Italian gem to make the list, reports the Express.

Milan bagged second place, with its famous dishes such as risotto and panettone earning it high marks.

And let’s not forget that Milan is also the home of Campari, perfect for washing down those delicious meals.

Italy dominated the top three, with Bologna securing third place.

This city is renowned for its spaghetti bolognese, ragu and tortellini.

Despite the Italian dominance, other popular cities like Paris, Vienna and Mumbai also made the cut in the top 10.

Sadly, the UK didn’t manage to crack the top 30, with other notable absences including Hong Kong, Barcelona, Ho Chi Minh, Bangkok, and Amsterdam.

The top 30 best cities for food:

1. Naples
2. Milan
3. Bologna
4. Florence
5. Mumbai
6. Rome
7. Paris
8. Vienna
9. Turin
10. Osaka
11. Madrid
12. New York
13. Genoa
14. Nice
15. Lima
16. Jakarta
17. Kyoto
18. Gaziantep
19. Ferrara
20. New Orleans
21. Catania
22. Singapore
23. Venice
24. Istanbul
25. Tokyo
26. San Francisco
27. Lisbon
28. Guadalajara
29. Chicago
30. Philadelphia

This comes as Booking.com has unveiled its 2026 Travel Predictions, declaring the year ahead as the era of YOU – where individuality takes the spotlight.

One of the trends they found was Shelf-ie Souvenirs. This is where Brits will look to turn kitchen shelves into cultural showcases.

These shelf-ie souvenirs are moving from fridge magnets to pantry shelves, with travellers increasingly seeking edible and design-led treasures that turn everyday kitchens into showcases of global culture.

This shift is as much about meaning as aesthetics.

More than a quarter (25%) say edible souvenirs help them relive a destination each time they cook, while 24% value how these items showcase local craft, sustainability, and traditional methods.

For others, exclusivity and style play a role, with nearly one in five (16%) choosing destinations for rare souvenirs, limited-edition cookware, or packaging that looks as good on a shelf as it does on social media.

SEOUL, Oct. 17 (UPI) — Samsung Electronics and SK hynix emerged as the biggest winners on the Seoul bourse during the third quarter, thanks to a strong semiconductor market, according to Korean consultancy CXO Institute on Friday. The two firms are the world’s top two memory chipmakers.

During the July-to-September period, the market capitalization of Samsung Electronics surged by more than $100 billion, maintaining its position as South Korea’s most valuable company. SK hynix followed with an increase of $28.5 billion.

Riding on the mounting global demand for weapons, Korea’s leading defense company, Hanwha Aerospace, ranked third with a $12 billion gain, followed by battery maker LG Energy Solution with $8.3 billion and shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean with $6.7 billion.

“During the third quarter, the South Korean stock market was bullish. In particular, sectors such as semiconductors, shipbuilding, rechargeable batteries and biopharmaceuticals did well,” CXO Institute chief Oh Il-sun told UPI.

“The biggest winners were Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. As the memory chip market remains hot, the two corporations are expected to cruise well during the remainder of this year, too,” he added.

Indeed, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix saw their share price further rise by 16.7% and 30.2% this month, respectively.

As a result, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s stock holdings topped $14 billion this month for the first time to solidify his status as the country’s wealthiest businessman.

He has shares in seven Samsung subsidiaries, including Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, Samsung SDS and Samsung Life Insurance.

Sogang University economics professor Kim Young-ick cautioned that the market may face a correction phase in the short term.

“In consideration of nominal gross domestic products, currency circulation and export data, I think that the stock market, led by Samsung Electronics, may enter a period of adjustment in the fourth quarter,” Kim said in a phone interview.

“As Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are projected to post strong results next year, however, the upward trend is likely to continue in the medium term,” he said.

Another standout performer was Hanwha Group, as two of its affiliates made the top-five list. The combined market capitalization of the conglomerate’s listed units more than tripled this year from $28.8 billion to $89.6 billion as of the end of last month.

As the figure nears $100 billion mark, Hanwha Chairman Kim Seung-youn encouraged its units to become global leaders in their respective fields.

“With the sense of responsibility that comes from being a national representative company, we must take the lead in every field,” Kim said his anniversary message to employees earlier this month.

“We are carrying out large-scale projects in various parts of the world, including North America, Europe, and the Middle East, in segments such as defense, shipbuilding and energy,” he said.

Biggest losers: Doosan Enerbility, Kakao units

In contrast, South Korea’s top heavy industry company, Doosan Enerbility, was the biggest loser, as its market capitalization fell by $2.6 billion during the third quarter, chased by online game publisher Krafton, down $2.4 billion.

Kakao Pay and Kakao Bank also languished by losing $2.2 billion and $2.1 billion, respectively, while the country’s largest contractor, Hyundai E&C, rounded out the bottom five with a $1.9 billion drop.

“In the third quarter, many companies in the construction, telecom, game, entertainment and retail sectors struggled. Oh said. “Of note is that two Kakao subsidiaries were among the underperformers.”

Once hailed as a next-generation online platform, Kakao aggressively expanded into multiple industries, but has experienced growing challenges in recent years.

Its founder Kim Beom-su, also known as Brian Kim, faces legal risks as the prosecution sought a 15-year prison term for him in late August.

Kim has been accused of being involved in the stock price manipulation of K-pop management agency SM Entertainment in 2023 to block a takeover attempt by rival company HYBE.

Kim has denied the allegations. He resigned from Kakao’s top decision-making council early this year, but remains as its largest shareholder.

She has informed the WDF she will not be playing in the women’s championship, which starts on 28 November

A WDF statement said: “Although Beau will no longer be competing on the Lakeside stage, we wish her all the best in the next stage of her darting career.

“She has been a fantastic ambassador for our system since we returned from the pandemic in 2021, winning every major WDF title on the way.

“It’s been fantastic to see how her game has gone from strength to strength playing in WDF events and we know that she’ll continue to make even more history on the PDC circuit.”

A minimum of four women will compete at the PDC World Championship after a new qualifying structure was announced.

This year’s event will have an expanded field of 128 players, up from 96 in 2024-25, with the winner taking home £1m of a £5m prize pot.

Fallon Sherrock, the only woman to have won matches in the tournament – in 2019 – is the only other female player to have qualified so far.

With seeded players entering the tournament in the first round, rather than the second, Greaves and Sherrock could meet one of the top men.

Jody Cundy claimed his 22nd world track gold medal with victory in the 1km time trial at the Para-Cycling World Championships in Rio de Janeiro.

Cundy, 47, led home a British one-two in the men’s C4 event, finishing 1.7 seconds ahead of Archie Atkinson.

It is an incredible 16th C4 1km world title in a row for the English rider.

Cundy – who has six Paralympic golds in cycling and three in swimming, first competed at the track worlds in 2006, two years after team-mate Atkinson was born.

Reigning champion Blaine Hunt was second in the MC5 1km time trial, with Matthew Robertson third in the MC2 10km scratch race.

The finals run until Sunday and are the fourth edition of the event to be held in the Olympic Velodrome in Rio, after 2018, 2021 and 2024.

Oct. 16 (UPI) — Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford said he received an assurance from Jeep maker Stellantis’ Canadian chief the company will keep its Canadian plant open for future manufacturing.

Ford said Wednesday that the company’s Brampton auto plant will continue running despite Tuesday’s revelation that Jeep Compass production will shift to an American facility.

“I want to keep the Brampton plant open, no matter what,” Ford said following talks with Stellantis Canada president Jeff Hines. “He’s given me his word, they are going to keep it open.”

Stellantis, the parent company of multiple auto brands including Jeep and Chrysler, announced this week plans to invest billions in the United States to reopen facilities and add roughly 5,000 U.S. jobs plants in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana over the next four years.

In April, Stellantis put a hold on production of its new electric SUV at its Canadian plant on Williams Parkway in the wake of tax-like tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

It was set to move forward with production later this year.

“Our government will continue to use every tool we have, including through our $20 million investment in POWER Centers to support displaced workers, including through retraining to re-enter the workforce as quickly as possible,” Ford posted Wednesday on X.

On Tuesday, Ford spoke with Canada’s Stellantis chief who reportedly said the company is “going to postpone it for a year” and claimed Stellantis will “find a new model” to build at the Canadian site.

“They are going to see what products they are going to put in there,” said Ford.

Ford, the leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party, added plans exist to add a third shift to a Windsor plant to possibly transfer up to 3,000 or less workers.

A Stellantis spokesperson pointed to its 100-year history in Canada and said Britain’s fellow commonwealth nation was “very important” to Jeep’s parent owner.

“We have plans for Brampton and will share them upon further discussions with the Canadian government,” the company stated.

Meanwhile, Canada’s Industry Minister Melanie Joly reminded CEO Antonio Filosa in a letter that Stellantis made critical commitments to Canadians.

“While the current U.S. tariff environment is creating complex challenges, Stellantis has made important commitments to Canada and to its workforce,” Joly wrote.

Joly said if Stellantis chooses not “to respect its obligations,” the Canadian government would “act in the interests of all Canadians and hold the company to full account, and exercise all options, including legal.”

United Arab Emirates denied Japan and took the final place at next year’s men’s T20 World Cup with an eight-wicket victory in the qualifier in Oman.

Japan could have reached their first major tournament with a victory but UAE held them to 116-9 and then chased their target in 12.1 overs.

It means UAE join Oman and Nepal in progressing from the Asia and East Asia-Pacific qualifier to the World Cup held in India and Sri Lanka in February and March next year.

In addition to the two hosts getting automatic spots, England, Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, United States and West Indies qualified courtesy of reaching the Super 8 stage of the 2024 edition held in the United States and West Indies.

Ireland, Pakistan and New Zealand qualified via the rankings while Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Namibia and Zimbabwe came through their regional qualifying tournaments.

The tournament schedule is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Japan beat Kuwait and Samoa earlier in their qualifying tournament which meant they would have progressed had they beaten UAE and overturned a net run-rate deficit.

They slumped to 58-8, however, with spinner Haider Ali taking 3-20, and only limped to their total thanks to 45 not out from Wataru Miyauchi.

Alishan Sharafu and Muhammad Waseem put on 70 for the first wicket of the chase and, despite the pair falling for 46 and 42 respectively, UAE, who played at the 2014 and 2022 T20 World Cups, eased to victory.

Despite a ceasefire deal with Israel, Palestinians across the devastated Gaza Strip continue to go hungry as food supplies remain critically low and aid fails to reach those who need it most.

As per the ceasefire agreement, Israel was supposed to allow 600 humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza per day. However, Israel has since reduced the limit to 300 trucks per day, citing delays in retrieving bodies of Israeli captives buried under the rubble by Israeli attacks.

According to the UN2720 Monitoring and Tracking Dashboard, which monitors humanitarian aid being offloaded, collected, delivered and intercepted on its way into Gaza, from October 10-16, only 216 trucks have reached their intended destinations inside Gaza.

According to truck drivers, aid deliveries are facing significant delays, with Israeli inspections taking much longer than expected.

‘Palestinians want food’

While some food aid has trickled in over the past few days, medical equipment, therapeutic nutrition and medicines are still in extremely short supply, despite being desperately needed by the most impoverished, particularly malnourished children.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said some commercial trucks have entered Gaza over the past few days, but most Palestinians do not have the ability to buy any of the items they are bringing in as they have spent all of their savings in the past two years.

So far, what has arrived in the trucks includes “wheat, rice, sugar, oil, fuel and cooking gas”, she said.

While food distribution points are expected to open for parcels and other humanitarian aid, people in Gaza have yet to receive them. “Palestinians want food, they want shelter, they want medicine,” Khoudary said.

She added that even 600 trucks a day would be insufficient to meet the needs of Gaza’s entire population.

Food ‘is not a bargaining chip’

The UN humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, has urged Israel to open more border crossings for humanitarian aid.

“We need more crossings open and a genuine, practical, problem-solving approach to removing remaining obstacles. Throughout this crisis, we have insisted that withholding aid from civilians is not a bargaining chip. Facilitation of aid is a legal obligation,” Fletcher said.

Since the ceasefire began, 137 World Food Programme trucks have entered Gaza as of October 14, delivering supplies to bakeries and supporting nutrition and food distribution programmes.

With the ceasefire in effect, WFP is now scaling up.

🔹137 trucks have already entered #Gaza — supporting bakeries, nutrition, and food distributions.

🔹170,000+ MT of food ready to move, enough to feed 2M people.

The goal: flood Gaza with food, fast. The ceasefire must hold. pic.twitter.com/AjKBu8rap7

— World Food Programme (@WFP) October 14, 2025

Israeli authorities continue to block UNRWA

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) – the primary and largest organisation providing aid to Palestinians – has faced significant restrictions imposed by Israel.

The agency, which was responsible for delivering food, medical care, education and emergency assistance, says it has enough food aid in warehouses in Jordan and Egypt to supply the people in Gaza for three months.

This includes food parcels for 1.1 million people and flour for 2.1 million, and shelter supplies sufficient for up to 1.3 million individuals.

However, despite the ceasefire, Israeli authorities are continuing to block them from entering.

UNRWA has enough food outside #Gaza to supply people there for three months, amid desperate need. Our teams stand ready to deliver it.

But despite the #ceasefire, the Israeli Authorities’ block on UNRWA bringing any supplies into Gaza still continues after over 7 months.

Let us… pic.twitter.com/O3fwK70d5V

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 16, 2025

Malnutrition among children

As of October 12, at least 463 people, including 157 children, have died from starvation amid Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. Nearly one in four children suffers from severe acute malnutrition.

After prolonged starvation, food must be reintroduced carefully under medical supervision to avoid re-feeding syndrome, a potentially fatal condition in which sudden intake of nutrients causes dangerous shifts in electrolytes, affecting the heart, nerves and muscles. A larger supply of nutritional aid, given safely, could dramatically save lives.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 90 percent of children in Gaza less than two years of age consume fewer than two food groups each day, which doesn’t include protein-rich foods.

At least 290,000 children between the ages of six months and 5 years, and 150,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women require feeding and micronutrient supplies.

In addition to this, there are an estimated 132,000 cases of children less than the age of five, and 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women projected to be suffering from acute malnutrition by June 2026, if immediate food aid isn’t made available.

After starting with four pars, Lowry – who is without an individual victory since September 2022 – carded back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth holes.

The former Open champion vaulted into a share of the lead with a run of five straight birdies from the par-four 11th before picking up a shot at the last to edge ahead of Nakajima.

“It’s not that hard when you hit it in play out there, but you start missing fairways it becomes quite tricky, so I’m happy with that,” said Lowry.

He added: “You need to shape it around the course, hit it in position off the tee and it’s all about your iron play. That’s one of my strengths and I took advantage of that today and managed to roll a few putts in on the back nine, which was nice.”

Lowry added there was a “little bit” of Ryder Cup chat with playing partners Fleetwood and Donald.

“We could hear the horns from the road, it was not as off-putting as the Bethpage [Black] crowd,” he said with a smile, referring to the hostile New York fans at last month’s Ryder Cup.

Fleetwood mixed four birdies, an eagle and two bogeys to sit four shots back.

Donald, who is playing his first tournament since his second Ryder Cup success as captain, carded five birdies and a bogey to match fellow Englishman Fleetwood and 2023 Open champion Brian Harman.

Playing with McIlroy, US Ryder Cup player Ben Griffin opened with a 68 while McIlroy’s European team-mate Viktor Hovland signed for a 71.

UNIVERSAL has revealed further plans for yet another theme park which is due to open next year.

Set to open in Texas, America, Universal Kid’s Resort will be solely focused on children’s attractions.

The park will feature seven lands in total, all based on popular children’s shows and stories.

The lands will include Shrek’s Swamp, Puss in Boots Del Mar, Minions vs Minions: Bello Bay Club, Jurassic World Adventure Camp, TrollsFest, SpongeBob SquarePants Bikini Bottom and Isle of Curiosity.

Visitors will enter through the Isle of Curiosity where they will be able to meet Gabby from Gabby’s Dollhouse and enjoy a dance party together.

Then in Shrek’s world, which Universal describes as a “waterlogged paradise”, guests will be able to meet Shrek and Fiona, as well as grab a photo at the onion carriage.

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The land will have two interactive play areas as well – Shrek’s Swamp Rompin’ Stomp and Shrek’s Swamp Splash & Smash.

For kids who prefer Puss in Boots, they can meet the character themselves as well as Mama Luna and Perrito from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

The land will also have a series of carnival-themed games and concept arts suggest there will be a swing carousel.

One of the main attractions in the Minions land, where Yellow Minions battle Purple ones, will be a water ride that snakes around the world.

Onlookers can participate in the fun too, by using water pistols to spray those on the ride.

Aspiring paleontologists will get the opportunity to see a newly hatched baby dinosaur in the Jurassic World Adventure Camp as well as climb up Lookout Towers in a play area.

Concept art also reveals a rollercoaster and drop tower ride.

In the Trolls land, visitors can once again meet characters such as Poppy and Branch and experience two play areas – Poppy’s Playland and Trolls Critter Crawl.

In addition, some of the concept art shows that the land may also have a rollercoaster, hot air balloon-themed ride and a netted climbing area.

Heading ‘undersea’ to SpongeBob’s land, kids can head to Mussel Beach and also see SpongeBob’s iconic pineapple house.

Across the park, there will be multiple sensory gardens with different touch, sound and colour attractions as well.

For families looking to stay close-by, the theme park will have a colourfully-themed 300-room hotel.

Molly Murphy, president of Universal Creative said: “Universal Kids Resort embodies the spirit of igniting thrill that drives everything we create — designed to bring our youngest guests and families together through play, creativity, and beloved characters and stories.”

Brian Robinson, executive vice president and chief creative officer at Universal Creative said: “We envisioned this park through the unbridled creativity of kids where infinite imagination, curiosity and free-spirited play were core to our design philosophies.

“It produced a park that’s pure joy and an absolute celebration of what it is to be a kid.”

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In other family attraction news, a new theme park with world’s fastest and tallest rollercoaster to finally open this year.

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Kilian Jornet, one of the world’s most accomplished mountaineers, did something this month that left even other elite athletes gasping: He climbed all 72 summits in the contiguous United States that stand over 14,000 feet tall.

In 31 days.

That’s like climbing California’s Mt. Whitney — the nation’s tallest mountain outside of Alaska — two-and-a-half times per day, every day, for a month.

But reaching so many summits, so quickly, was only half the battle. In fact, it was “the fun part,” a surprisingly rested-looking Jornet said in a Zoom interview from Seattle earlier this month, three days after summiting Mt. Rainier in knee-deep snow to complete the grueling journey, which he started in early September.

The hard part was negotiating the spaces in between.

Spanish mountaineer Kilian Jornet treks through the Sierra Nevada range known as the Normans 13, which connects 13 summits over 14,000 feet.

(Andy Cochrane)

“If you’re driving, you see the landscape,” Jornet explained. “But you don’t feel it.”

OK, how do you feel it?

By running the hundreds of miles of remote mountain ridges, and biking the thousands of miles of desolate highway, that separate the towering summits scattered across Colorado, California and Washington.

In total, Jornet covered 3,198 miles under his own power. He biked 2,568 miles. He ran 629 miles. He climbed 403,638 vertical feet.

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Tommy Caldwell, arguably the best technical rock climber of his generation and the first to climb Yosemite’s nearly impossible Dawn Wall, followed Jornet’s progress on Instagram. When the Spaniard finished, Caldwell posted, “my mind is officially blown.”

Like many elite climbers, Jornet, 37, slips into a stoic, been-there-done-that voice when describing mountain conditions that would terrify mere mortals. But he broke character, briefly, talking about climbing the summit of Mt. Shasta in Northern California.

As often happens on that free-standing volcano, a howling gale struck just as Jornet approached the 14,162-foot summit.

Shaky video shot by a climbing partner shows Jornet’s trekking poles flailing and his feet sliding around on the ice as he struggles — and fails — to remain upright in what sounds like a hurricane.

“It was crazy,” he conceded, “probably the windiest day I have ever had in the mountains.”

Asked why, exactly, he puts himself through so much agony, he snapped back into aw-shucks mode. He sank into his comfy seat, smiled with the confidence of a man who has parried that question a thousand times, and said:

“Why not?”

Spanish mountaineer Kilian Jornet climbed 72 summits over 14,000 feet in the contiguous U.S. in 31 days.

(Nick Danielson)

In an age saturated with professional outdoor athletes competing for social media attention and lucrative sponsorships — and in a world where the most iconic summits have been climbed, the biggest waves have been surfed and the wildest rivers have been run — one fashionable way to stand out is by setting a fastest known time, or “FKT.”

Jornet’s jaunt over and between those 72 summits, which he dubbed “States of Elevation” and gorgeously documented for his 1.8 million followers on Instagram, was, by all accounts, the fastest known time. It was also the only known time. Apparently, nobody else has tried to link all of those summits together in a single, human-powered push.

“Yes, it’s hard,” Jornet said with a laugh when asked if the constant, grinding pain was worth it. But after a while, “you get used to the discomfort, it’s just part of it, it doesn’t really bother you.”

The finale of Jornet’s 72-peak feat was a 14,441-foot volcano covered with glaciers, one of the broadest and most visually imposing mountains on the planet. Few people even attempt to climb Mt. Rainier this time of year because the weather can be so brutal.

As Jornet pedaled closer to the peak, it started to rain down in the flats, so he knew that meant snow on the mountain.

Crossing the glaciers with their immense, yawning crevasses hidden by fresh snow would have been too dangerous, so Jornet chose a steep and challenging rock route known as Success Cleaver. But even that was buried in knee-deep snow.

After summiting Mt. Rainier, Jornet posted that his U.S. journey was, “never about just the numbers, but rather a deep connection to wild places, and true test of resilience in body and mind.”

Anyone else claiming that might have been met with eye rolls, but Jornet is one of the few outdoor athletes who probably doesn’t need to pad his resume: He cemented his legacy as one of the all-time greats long ago.

Spanish mountaineer Kilian Jornet hikes in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado in September.

(Nick Danielson)

Born just outside of Barcelona in 1987, he grew up in a ski area in the Pyrenees where his father was a mountain guide. He climbed his first mountain over 10,000 feet when he was 5.

At 20, he won the first of six titles in the Sky Runner World Series, an international competition consisting of long, high-altitude foot races that test speed and endurance on steep mountainsides.

At 26, he set FKTs for climbing Switzerland’s Matterhorn and France’s Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Western Europe. A year later, he broke the speed record climbing the bitterly cold and deadly Denali, in Alaska, the tallest mountain in North America.

A few years after that, he climbed Mt. Everest twice in one week without supplemental oxygen.

In addition to all of the technical mountaineering, Jornet has been one of the most successful ultramarathoners in history, winning the prestigious Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc, a 100-mile race through the Alps, four times.

After his early career dominating distance races in relatively cold climates, Jornet showed up at Northern California’s Western States ultramarathon in 2010. It’s a 100-mile race that starts near the shore of Lake Tahoe and descends to the Sacramento suburbs in late June, when the sun and temperatures can be unforgiving.

He was comically unprepared. “I didn’t do any heat training,” Jornet recalled, “so when I arrived I was like, ‘Should I have brought water for this race?’” Still, he came in third, then returned the next year to win.

In June, he went back to the Western States 100 for the first time in 14 years. The event has evolved since then: The field is fitter and more professional. But even at his relatively advanced age, Jornet came in third, dropping more than an hour off his winning time in 2011.

Back then, he relied mostly on raw talent, Jornet said. “I train much better now, I know I need to prepare specifically and put in the work.”

But does he ever just kick back and spend a weekend sprawled on the couch, a remote in one hand and a bowl of ice cream in the other?

“For me, that’s not relaxing,” he said, recalling the time he and his wife, Emelie Forsberg, also a world champion runner and skier, tried to take a normal vacation.

They had just completed a race on Reunion Island, off the coast of Madagascar, when they decided to spend a week on the nearby tropical island of Mauritius.

“We said we’d just sit on the beach and read books, and that’s all,” Jornet said. But by the end of the first day they looked at each other and wondered if they should change their flight to get back to running and skiing in the mountains. “It was like, yes, yes, yes for both of us,” Jornet said.

Spanish mountaineer Kilian Jornet in the Sierra Nevada range known as the Normans 13, which connects 13 summits over 14,000 feet.

(Andy Cochrane)

After years living in Chamonix, France, a hard-partying resort in the Alps regarded as the mountain sports capital of the world, Jornet and Forsberg moved to a house by a remote fjord in Norway. It’s a quiet place to raise their three young children, grow their own vegetables and train in the surrounding mountains, some of which have no names.

“Sometimes when you’re climbing Everest, or Mont Blanc, or Mt. Whitney, it’s like you’re climbing the famous name,” Jornet said. As he matures, he prefers climbing mountains simply “because they’re beautiful.”

But he still craves big challenges.

Last year, he climbed all 82 summits in the Alps over 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) in 19 days, traveling the 750 miles between them on foot and bicycle.

“This was, without any doubt, the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life, mentally, physically, and technically,” he wrote on social media. “But also maybe the most beautiful.”

That got him thinking even bigger, trying to imagine the most “aesthetic line” for a similar expedition in the United States.

After landing in Denver last month, he went straight to the trailhead for 14,256-foot Longs Peak. “But I really felt like crap,” he said, blaming a combination of jet lag and the air being so much drier in Colorado than in Norway.

For the first week, he wondered if he should just quit. But then, somewhere along the way, his body switched, “from fighting to adapting,” and he settled into a comfortable rhythm.

After summiting 56 mountains in Colorado, Jornet hopped on his bike and pedaled 900 miles to California, where 15 more high peaks awaited. At times, the headwind was so brutal he slowed to a maddening crawl, even when going downhill.

He’d also lost 10 pounds in the mountains and, at 5’7” and about 130 pounds, his slender frame has nothing to spare. So he spent much of his time on the bike shoveling calories — even spiking his water bottles with generous helpings of olive oil — to replace lost fat.

His long slog on the bike ended in Lone Pine, a dusty town four hours north of Los Angeles, where the Eastern Sierra rise 10,000 feet, like a solid granite wall, from the desert floor.

Jornet had covered nearly 200 miles that day, and faced a 6,000-foot climb to the Cottonwood Lakes trailhead, where he would sleep before starting the toughest part of the whole trip.

The road up to Cottonwood Lakes is 23 miles of harrowing switchbacks, with vertigo-inducing views of the valley below at almost every turn. The drive, alone, freaks out a lot of people.

“It was cool that I arrived there in the dark,” Jornet said, undaunted by the prospect of pedaling off the side of a cliff. “Nice to do the climb when it wasn’t so hot.”

The next morning he started running “Norman’s 13” — a baker’s dozen of 14,000-foot summits along the Sierra Crest between Lone Pine and Bishop, the most remote and punishing alpine terrain in California. He made astonishing time: cruising over 14,032-foot Mt. Langley and 14,505-froot Mt. Whitney like they were speed bumps.

But for all their imposing altitude, the standard routes up Langley and Whitney don’t require any special skills, they’re just long hiking trails with very little exposure to deadly falls. Things changed when Jornet reached a section called the Palisades Traverse, just up the hill from Big Pine.

There, a ridge of jagged granite rises like an upside down saw’s blade over one of the last remaining glaciers in California. There are no hiking trails, just daunting towers of shattered and jumbled rock, where seemingly any misstep can lead to a thousand-foot fall.

Only the most committed mountaineers go there, and they tend to take their time, waiting for good weather and climbing with ropes and harnesses.

But when you’re on a mission like Jornet’s, you don’t get to “choose your weather,” he said. You just start and then you’re committed, you have to take what comes.

What came the day he reached the traverse was a surprising, early-season blizzard. It covered the usually reliable, grippy granite with about 4 inches of snow and ice. The storm made climbing “more complicated,” Jornet said, and more miserable.

It was cold and “I was completely soaked,” Jornet said. But with the help of Matt Cornell, a well-known climber from Bishop, he was able to keep going and finish the 100 miles of Norman’s 13 in 56 hours, shaving more than 19 hours off the previous record.

He only slept once during that span, he said, for about an hour and a half, lying in the middle of a trail.

When speed climbing over peaks, Jornet traveled light, carrying only the bare essentials to stay nourished and protected from the weather.

When possible, he was accompanied by photographers and videographers, most of whom had to be exceptional athletes to keep up.

He also stayed in contact with his press team and social media producers, and he sometimes slept in a support RV at the trailheads.

But after the frigid Palisades Traverse he indulged in a bit of luxury, pizza and a glorious night in a hotel bed in Bishop. The next morning, he hiked 14,252-foot White Mountain and then hopped on the bike for the 500-mile ride to the unexpected ordeal that awaited him on Mt. Shasta.

Having survived that with no serious damage, he biked through Oregon, finally with a tailwind, and then surmounted Mt. Rainier.

When he finally descended, instead of popping champagne in front of cameras and an adoring crowd, he and a few close friends spent a quiet night in an RV, swapping stories from the road and sharing shots of pickle juice — an inside joke that started somewhere during the trip.

“I’m not a big celebration guy,” Jornet explained.

He wouldn’t say what his next project will be, but several times he returned to the idea of climbing without crowds or fanfare.

“I do these things because I love them, because they bring me joy and happiness, not because I think they’re very important.”

One place he can sit quietly is at home in Norway, looking out the window, across the fjord to the nameless, snowcapped mountains in the distance.

He lets his eyes linger on their faces, settling on pretty lines to climb up or ski down.

The report says 10 small, ocean-dependent nations will experience the biggest increase in dangerous heat days, despite collectively producing only 1 percent of global heat-trapping gases.

A new study by World Weather Attribution and United States-based Climate Central has calculated the increase in dangerous “superhot days” – defined as warmer than 90 percent of comparable days between 1991 and 2020 – due to climate change.

The report, which is not yet peer-reviewed but uses established techniques for climate attribution, was released on Thursday. It highlights the significant effect of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Before the 2015 accord, the world was on track for a catastrophic 4C (7.2F) of warming by the end of the century, which would have resulted in an additional 114 superhot days per year.

By fulfilling current commitments to curb emissions, the world is now heading towards 2.6C (4.7F) of warming. Under this scenario, the Earth will still add 57 superhot days annually by 2100 – nearly two months of dangerously high temperatures – but this is half the increase of the worst-case scenario. Since 2015, the world has already added 11 superhot days on average.

Potsdam Climate Institute Director Johan Rockstrom, who was not part of the research team, said people should not be relieved that we are no longer on the 4-degree warming pre-Paris trajectory because the current track “would still imply a disastrous future for billions of humans on Earth”.

The report does not say how many people will be affected by the additional dangerously hot days, but coauthor Friederike Otto of Imperial College London said “it will definitely be tens of thousands or millions, not less”. She noted that thousands die in heatwaves each year already.

The study also underscores the profound unfairness of the impact of climate change across the world, showing a massive disconnect between carbon pollution and expected heat exposure.

The 10 countries that will experience the biggest increase in dangerous heat days are almost all small, ocean-dependent nations like Panama, the Solomon Islands, and Samoa. These countries are expected to see the largest spikes, with Panama projected to face 149 extra superhot days a year. These 10 nations collectively produce only 1 percent of global heat-trapping gases.

In stark contrast, the top carbon-polluting countries – the United States, China, and India – are predicted to get only between 23 and 30 extra superhot days. Despite being responsible for 42 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide, they will face less than 1 percent of the additional superhot days.

University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver, who was not part of the study team, said this heat inequality drives “yet another wedge between have and have-not nations”, potentially sowing seeds of geopolitical instability.

Oct. 15 (UPI) — Half of adults in the United States are more concerned than excited about the rise of artificial intelligence, at the top of the worries list of those surveyed in 25 countries by Pew Research.

The study, which was released Wednesday, didn’t include respondents from the following nations with populations of at least 100 million: China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Philippines, Congo and Vietnam.

Globally, 34% expressed concern about AI with 42% equally in both extremes and 16% more excited.

Joining the United States at 50% are those in Italy, followed by Australia at 49%, Brazil at 48%, Greece at 47%, and Canada at 45%.

At the other end, South Korea is the least concerned at 16%, followed by India at 19%, Israel at 21%, Nigeria at 24%, Turkey at 26%, Japan at 28% and Germany at 29%.

The other nations ranged in the 30s, including Britain, Argentina and Spain at 39% and France at 35%.

In none of the countries, no more than 3-in-10 adults say they are mainly excited.

In the United States, the survey was conducted among 3,605 adults from March 24 to 30 and 5,023 adults from June 9 to 15 online or by phone with a live interviewer. They are all members of the Center’s American Trends Panel.

For non-U.S. adults, surveys were done over the phone, face-to-face or online, depending on the country, among 28,333 from Jan. 8 to April 26.

A median of 34% of adults worldwide have heard or read a lot about AI, while 47% have heard a little and 14% say they’ve heard nothing at all.

There was a correlation between the country’s domestic product per capita and AI awareness.

In the comparatively wealthy countries of Japan, Germany, France and the United States, around half have heard a lot about AI, but only 14% in India and 12% in Kenya.

Younger adults are more aware and excited about AI than the older respondents.

For example, 46% of Israeli adults under 35 are more excited than concerned about its increased use in daily life, compared with 15% of those ages 50 and older.

In more than half of the countries surveyed, men are more likely than women to have heard a lot about AI.

People who frequently use the Internet are more likely than others to be mainly excited about the growing use of AI .

Geographically, 53% of adults trust the European Union to regulate AI, while 37% trust the U.S. and 27% trust China. In the EU, the survey found those in France, Greece, Italy and Poland the least trusting.

Oct. 15 (UPI) — The Japanese Diet is scheduled to vote on the nation’s next prime minister on Tuesday, which has political parties angling to gain support for their preferred candidates.

Sanae Takaichi is the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and is its choice to become Japan’s next prime minister, but opposition parties might block her path, according to NHK World.

The LDP has asked the opposition Japan Innovation Party to join its political coalition and support Takaichi’s candidacy to replace outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

The JIP would replace the Komeito party, which last week announced its withdrawal from the ruling coalition.

LDP members hold 196 of 465 seats in Japan’s House of Representatives and 100 of 248 seats in the House of Councillors [sic], which is the most of any political party.

While it holds more seats in the Japanese Diet than any other political party, it does not control of majority and seeks additional support to solidify Takaichi’s candidacy.

The opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan also seeks support from the JIP and the Democratic Party for the People to promote a viable candidate capable of winning the Diet’s vote over Takaichi.

Despite the opposition to her candidacy to become prime minister, Takaichi told supporters she “will never give up” in her quest to win the election, which typically goes to the leader of the ruling party, China Daily reported.

The leaders of Japan’s various political parties have several meetings scheduled on Wednesday to potentially build support coalitions that could result in Takaichi or other candidates to replace Ishiba as Japan’s prime minister.

DPFP leader Yuichiro Tamaki is among those who might derail Takaichi’s effort to become prime minister.

If Takaichi should become Japan’s next prime minister, she would be the nation’s first woman to hold the position, according to CNBC.

A MAJOR cruise line has revealed it will be launching a 124-day voyage around the world in 2028.

The Epic World Explorer will be one of P&O Cruises longest-ever world voyages.

The cruise line’s Arcadia ship will set off from Southampton on January 6, 2028 and finish back in Southampton on May 10, 2028.

The 124-night cruise – which is exclusively for adults – will focus on the Far East with stops in South Korea and Thailand.

It will also call into Japan for the first time since 2019, with a new overnight stop in Tokyo with calls to Kagoshima and Nagasaki.

Other top destinations include San Francisco in the USA, Cape Verde and Sydney in Australia.

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In fact, there are over 30 destinations on the voyage.

Prices for the cruise start from £11,199 per person.

On board the ship, which features an Art Deco domed roof and can accommodate up to 2,094 guests and 866 members of crew, there are 15 bars and restaurants, five entertainment venues and two swimming pools.

Included in the price of the cruise, guests get access to the Palladium, which is a three-tiered theatre that hosts live entertainment.

Shows include Magic Moments – it tells the story of Burt Bacharach’s life and music.

Or you could watch magic show, Unbelievable.

Also included is the Screening Room, which is a 30-seat cinema that shows the latest blockbusters.

For a bit of gambling, passengers can head to the Monte Carlo Casino with classic table games such as blackjack, roulette and poker.

Fancy some late night entertainment? Then there’s The Globe – a circular bar with live music, game shows and ballroom and Latin dance events.

Passengers don’t need to worry about missing the pub either, as they can enjoy The Rising Sun with interiors just like a British country pub.

There are cosy booths, a jukebox, darts, karaoke and even live sports screenings.

For travellers wanting to stay fit during their voyage, there are plenty of opportunities to do this.

In addition to a fully-equipped gym, there is also a sports court on board where passengers can play football, basketball, tennis or cricket.

There are even complimentary fitness classes too.

If treating yourself is more your thing, then there is The Oasis Spa and Salon, complete with a hydrotherapy pool, sauna and steam room.

Guests can also grab a number of treatments like haircuts, massages and facials.

The ship has a number of pool areas as well – one of which has a retractable roof for all-weather enjoyment.

When it comes to food onboard the ship, travellers will never be short of choice.

At breakfast, The Belvedere offers a casual dining spot with an all-day buffet.

For a lighter lunch or fast food, there is the Neptune Grill which serves hot dogs and classic fish and chips.

Alternatively, you could grab some small plates at the Meridian Restaurant.

Steak lovers should then check out Marco Pierre White’s Ocean Grill.

For a special treat, once a week on sea days the Arcadia serves typically British afternoon tea with cute sandwiches, sweet treats, warm scones and unlimited tea at the Meridian Restaurant.

The speciality restaurants onboard the ship are Marco Pierre White’s Ocean Grill, which serves a number of steaks and fresh seafood dishes and Sindhu, which combines Indian and British cuisine.

There are five types of cabins on board including inside, sea view, deluxe balcony, mini suite and suite.

The most basic cabin, which is inside, is simply inside with a comfy bed, tea and coffee making facilities and White Company toiletries.

There of course is also a TV with free movies and TV shows on.

Sea view cabins then have the added benefit of a window or port hole.

In the deluxe balcony cabins, guests can enjoy a sea breeze in their own private outdoor space.

Mini suites then have an additional lounging area and at the top end, suites have a dedicated butler service as well as spacious accommodation and a large bathroom.

Guests in suites can also enjoy breakfast each day in an exclusive restaurant.

And at the end of your 124-day cruise, if you want to take home a souvenir to loved ones there are plenty of shops on board including jewellery, cosmetics, perfume, clothes and art and collectibles stores.

The sailing has been announced as part of P&O Cruises’ new winter 2027 and spring 2028 programme, which also includes a 75-night Grand Tour of South America.

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In other cruise news, The Sun’s assistant travel editor, Sophie Swietochowski went on the world’s largest cruise ship with Vegas-like casinos, Broadway-style shows and dare-devil slides.

Plus, there is a little-known hack that experts swear by to save you hundreds when booking a cruise holiday.

The picture for the FIFA World Cup 2026 became a lot clearer on Tuesday when a number of top teams across the continents booked their place at football’s global showpiece.

The number of confirmed teams has now risen to 28 following the latest round of qualifiers, with another 20 still to be filled by various confederational playoffs, intercontinental playoffs, and – in Europe’s case – the main qualifying stage, which still needs to be completed.

England, South Africa and Qatar were among the headline names to book their place at the tournament on Tuesday.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the tournament that the nations around the world are all vying to reach.

When and where is the FIFA World Cup 2026?

The tournament is being staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The first match will be played in Mexico City on June 11, while the final will be staged in New Jersey, US, on July 19.

Due to the expansion of the tournament – from 32 teams to 48 – the 39-day event is the longest in its history.

When will we know all the teams for the FIFA World Cup 2026?

FIFA’s intercontinental playoffs will be the last chance saloon for teams around the world to reach next summer’s event. The finale of that route will be on March 31, 2026, less than three months before the World Cup kicks off. The European qualification process runs until March, but most of the remaining confederations will have finished their continental qualification processes long before then.

What are the FIFA intercontinental playoffs?

Once the respective confederations finish their qualification process, FIFA offers two final spots to be contested by the best-placed team from each of the six continental routes that have not already qualified.

When is the draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026?

Although we will not know the full list of teams for the event until the end of March 2026, the draw will take place on December 5, 2025.

28/48 ✅@Aramco | #WeAre26 pic.twitter.com/eaksBnrBYM

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) October 14, 2025

Where will the draw be held for the FIFA World Cup 2026?

The draw will take place in the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. US President Donald Trump confirmed the location while speaking in the Oval Office at the White House, flanked by Vice President JD Vance and FIFA boss Gianni Infantino. He did not rule out overseeing the draw itself.

What will the format be for the FIFA World Cup 2026?

With the expansion to 48 teams, the World Cup will now feature 12 four-team groups. That in turn will lead to a round of 32, an extra knockout round to previous editions.

Indeed, the tournament has doubled in size since it was staged in the US in 1994, when only 24 teams competed.

Can Trump move games at the FIFA World Cup 2026?

Trump has been quite clear and consistent on the staging of games within the US, saying he will move the games from any cities that he deems to be unsafe.

On September 26, when Trump was asked about games being moved, he warned: “Well, that’s an interesting question … but we’re going to make sure they’re safe. [Seattle and San Francisco are] run by radical left lunatics who don’t know what they’re doing.”

How will the FIFA World Cup 2026 game staging be split between the hosts?

The US will stage games in 11 cities: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey/New York (joint host region), Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle.

Canada will host 13 games in total, split between Toronto and Vancouver. Mexico will also get 13 games, which will be played in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.

Where will the FIFA World Cup 2026 final be staged?

The US will stage the final, which will be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Who are the defending FIFA World Cup champions?

Argentina won the last edition of the FIFA World Cup, beating France in the final of Qatar 2022.

With the game level at 3-3 after extra time, Argentina won the penalty shootout 4-2.

Will the weather affect games at the FIFA World Cup 2026?

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup was staged in the US, and the heat and resulting thunderstorms proved to be a huge problem for the tournament.

Three stadiums – in Arlington, Atlanta and Houston – have retractable roofs that are expected to be closed due to the summer heat, while Inglewood and Vancouver have fixed roofs.

Which teams have already qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026?

After the latest round of qualifying matches, here is a breakdown of the confirmed contenders from each of the six regions:

Hosts: Canada, Mexico, USA

Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Uzbekistan

Africa: Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia

Europe: England

Oceania: New Zealand

South America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay

Which teams can still qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026?

Africa: Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Nigeria will play off for the final intercontinental spot from the continent. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced November 13 for the first matches, followed by a deciding match three days later.

Asia: UAE and Iraq will vie for one intercontinental playoffs spot when they compete over two legs in the final stage of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifiers on November 13 and 18.

Europe: 53 of the 54 European teams vying for 16 qualification spots can still confirm their berths, alongside England, as their first-round matches will run until November 18. European qualification will run until March, just before the intercontinental playoffs begin.

North, Central America and the Caribbean: Three spots remain up for grabs, given the World Cup hosts take up three spots already. Bermuda, Costa Rica, Curacao, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago have all advanced to the third round, with the winners to be decided by November 18. The three second-placed teams from each group will then fight for the intercontinental playoffs spot.

Oceania: New Caledonia have qualified for the intercontinental playoffs.

South America: Bolivia have qualified for the intercontinental playoffs, having missed out on one of the six automatic qualifying positions.

Oct. 15 (UPI) — Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that one of the four bodies returned from Gaza in this week’s cease-fire deal did not belong to any of the hostages taken by Hamas.

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it has completed the identification process and informed that the families of Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levy that their remains have been returned to Israel.

“The government of Israel shares in the deep sorrow of the Baruch, Nimrodi and Levy families, and the families of the fallen hostages,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

The IDF said the fourth body has yet to be identified.

“Following the completion of examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages,” the IDF said, according to NBC News. Hamas has returned the bodies of seven hostages out of the 28 bodies believed to be held in Gaza.

Israel’s far-right security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, called for a halt on humanitarian aid into Gaza, accusing Hamas of not putting enough effort into recovering the remaining dead hostages, The Guardian reported. Hamas negotiators said nine of the bodies weren’t able to be recovered amid rubbling from bombing.

“Enough with the disgrace,” Ben Gvir said.

“Moments after opening the crossings to hundreds of trucks, Hamas very quickly returned to its known methods — to lie, to cheat, and to abuse families and the bodies. This Nazi terror understands only force, and the only way to deal with it is to erase it from the face of the earth.”

The Israel Defense Forces said Nimrodi, a member of the IDF, was taken alive at the age of 18 from the Coordination and Liaison Headquarters base in the Gaza Division, and is believed to have been killed at the beginning of the war.

Baruch, 35, a husband and father of two, was killed on Oct. 7, 2023. The IDF said he was fleeing the Nova music festival and his body was taken back into Gaza. The military had confirmed on March 26, 2024, that he had died.

Levy, 53, was also killed on Oct. 7, 2023, and his body was taken back into Gaza, the IDF said, adding that officials confirmed on Dec. 8, 2023, that he was dead. He leaves behind a son and a sister.

“The IDF shares in the families’ grief, continues to invest all efforts in returning the bodies of the fallen hostages and is preparing to continue implementing the agreement,” the military said.

Israel said Tuesday night that it had received the remains of four deceased hostages that Hamas had kidnapped during its surprise attack on Israel Oct. 7, 2023, that ignited the two-year-long war. A total 251 hostages were taken that day.

The bodies were returned as part of the first phase of a 20-point peace plan that began to be implemented Monday when Hamas released 20 living hostages to Israel and Israel released nearly 2,000 detainees into Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

No living hostages remain in Gaza following Monday’s exchange, though it is believed that the bodies of 20 deceased hostages remain in Gaza.

Israel had said Tuesday that the bodies of the four deceased hostages were transferred to the IDF via the Red Cross inside the Palestinian enclave and were transported into Israel where they were received in a military ceremony.

Oct. 15 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump issued guarantees that Hamas will lay down its arms in line with his 20-point peace plan, but warned that if the terror group failed to comply, it would be disarmed, quickly and possibly by force.

Speaking to reporters in the White House at a bilateral lunch with visiting Argentinian President Javier Milei on Tuesday, Trump said that in indirect conversations with Hamas, the group had assured him they would disarm and that their weapons would be taken from them if they failed to do so — but he declined to say how.

“I don’t have to explain that to you. But if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them. They know I’m not playing games. It will happen quickly and perhaps violently. But they will disarm, do you understand me?

Asked how long he would give Hamas to disarm, Trump refused to provide a deadline but said they would be given a “reasonable period of time.”

The plan, as published by the administration, states that all military, terror, and offensive infrastructure in Gaza, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and that independent monitors would oversee a demilitarisation process, including “placing weapons permanently beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning.”

Until now, Hamas has always insisted that it would only disarm upon the establishment of a Palestinian State.

Trump’s comments came as Hamas was using a vacuum created by the withdrawal of Israeli forces from around half of the land area of Gaza in line with the first phase of the deal to reassert its authority, using its weapons to settle scores with rivals on the ground.

The group posted a video online on Tuesday showing Hamas fighters executing “collaborators and outlaws.” The eight men were kneeling down, hooded and shackled, as they were shot dead.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CBS News that he hoped the follow-up phases of his country’s deal with Hamas would go to plan and remain peaceful, but appeared to mirror Trump’s position, saying the president had been unequivocal that Hamas must disarm and demilitarize, or “all hell breaks loose.”

Netanyahu said he strongly hoped it would be the former, not the latter, and that Israel was “certainly ready to do this peacefully.”

“We agreed to give peace a chance. First, Hamas has to give up its arms. And second, you want to make sure that there are no weapons factories inside Gaza. There’s no smuggling of weapons into Gaza. That’s demilitarization,” added Netanyahu.

SEOUL, Oct. 15 (UPI) — South Korea on Wednesday resumed an excavation project for the remains of soldiers killed in the Korean War at a battle site in the demilitarized zone, its military said, as Seoul looks to improve frosty inter-Korean relations.

“As part of measures to ease military tensions between the South and the North, the Ministry of National Defense has resumed the excavation of remains around White Horse Ridge in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, which was suspended in 2022,” the ministry said in a message to reporters.

“This is an effort to return the remains of soldiers killed in the Korean War to their families … and is a practical measure to transform the DMZ into a zone of peace,” the ministry said.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has made efforts to rehabilitate relations between the two Koreas since he took office in June, with conciliatory gestures such as removing propaganda loudspeakers from border areas.

Lee has also said he would take “proactive and gradual steps” to restore the 2018 inter-Korean military pact that was suspended amid tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang during the administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol in 2024.

The pact established buffer zones along the border and included measures such as the removal of some guard posts in the DMZ and the banning of live-fire exercises in certain areas.

In April 2018, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to launch a joint project to retrieve remains of soldiers killed during the Korean War from Arrowhead Ridge, the site of one of the fiercest battles of the 1950-53 Korean War.

However, after the failed 2019 summit in Hanoi between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the North refused to participate.

South Korea began excavation work alone on the site in 2019 and retrieved remains of some 424 soldiers. Seoul later expanded efforts to White Horse Ridge, where teams found the remains of 67 soldiers, but the project was suspended in 2022 amid deteriorating ties with the North.

“KPop Demon Hunters” creator Maggie Kang thinks there’s potential for more Huntr/x stories in the future, but only in animation.

In a recent interview with the BBC, the co-director of the Netflix phenomenon said there is nothing officially in the works, but she thinks “there’s definitely more we can do with these characters in this world.” Kang and her co-director Chris Appelhans also assured fans that if another “KPop Demon Hunters” were to happen, “it will be a story that deserves to be a sequel, and it will be something that we want to see.”

Produced by Sony Pictures Animation, the movie follows a popular K-pop girl group whose members use their music and dance moves (and magical powers) to fight demons and protect the world. But Huntr/x’s leader Rumi is keeping a secret from her bandmates Mira and Zoey that could lead to their downfall.

Since its June debut, “KPop Demon Hunters” and its catchy soundtrack have smashed numerous records on Netflix as well as the Billboard charts. The movie’s massive popularity led to a limited theatrical run for sing-along screenings as well as live performances of its songs.

With Hollywood’s current trend of sequels and remakes, it’s easy to believe that “KPop Demon Hunters” could spawn its own franchise. But Kang and Appelhans both insist that a live-action adaptation should be off the table.

“It’s really hard to imagine these characters in a live action world,” Kang told the BBC, pointing to the tone and comedic elements in “KPop.” “It would feel too grounded. So totally it wouldn’t work for me.”

Appelhans agreed that the characters in “KPop Demon Hunters” are best suited for animation and worried a live-action version of them could feel too “stilted.”

“One of the great things about animation is that you make these composites of impossibly great attributes,” Appelhans told the BBC. “Rumi can be this goofy comedian and then singing and doing a spinning back-kick a second later and then free-falling through the sky. The joy of animation is how far you can push and elevate what’s possible.”

For now, it seems that Huntr/x will keep shining only in the medium they were born to be — in animation.

Football fans celebrated in Qatar as the country’s football team qualified for next year’s FIFA World Cup, with a 2-1 win over the United Arab Emirates. It’s the first time Qatar has reached a World Cup through competitive qualifiers after hosting the tournament in 2022.