Renowned chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall dies at 91
NewsFeed Jane Goodall, the British conservationist and primatologist renowned for her groundbreaking research on chimpanzees, has died at age 91. Goodall revolutionised the study of humans’ nearest animal relatives and became a global advocate for wildlife and the planet. Published On 2 Oct 20252 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli forces board Gaza flotilla, detain Greta Thunberg, other activists
The Israeli military has intercepted several ships from the flotilla of vessels carrying humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, detaining many of the activists on board. At least three ships from the Global Sumud Flotilla, made up of 44 vessels and some 500 activists, were intercepted approximately 70 nautical miles (130km) from the coast of Gaza, according to organisers. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on X on Wednesday that “several vessels” of the flotilla were “safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port”. It wrote that Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who had been on board the lead ship Alma, “and her friends are safe and healthy”. The ministry also shared a video showing Thunberg. So far, at least six ships have been intercepted by the Israeli navy, according to the activist group. The names of the vessels are Deir Yassin/Mali, Huga, Spectre, Adara, Alma and Sirius. Several ships were targeted by acts of “active aggression”, it said. “Florida vessel has been deliberately rammed at sea. Yulara, Meteque and others have been targeted with water cannons,” it said on Telegram. All passengers on board were unharmed, it added. Before being intercepted, the vessels had succeeded in sailing beyond the point where the Madleen Flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces earlier this year. Before the interceptions began, the activists warned the Israeli military had cut off their connection by disabling their devices, which affected their cameras, their livestreams and communications systems that allowed the ships to relay messages to the world. Advertisement The Global Sumud Flotilla’s official channels denounced Israel’s actions in a statement, saying the mission’s vessels were being “illegally intercepted”. “People of conscience have been abducted,” it said on X. “The flotilla broke no laws. What is illegal is Israel’s genocide, Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza, and Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon.” The statement urged supporters to pressure governments to act, writing: “Demand your government cut ties with Israel.” United States citizen and activist Leila Hegazy, who is on one of the vessels, posted a prerecorded message on social media stating that her sharing the video means she has been “kidnapped by the Israeli occupation forces and brought to Israel against [her] will”. “I ask you all to pressure the United States government to end its complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza and also to ensure the safe return of every humanitarian on this mission,” she said. Hassan Jabareen, director of the legal centre Adalah, which has represented flotilla activists in the past, told Al Jazeera that “this time, we do not know what Israel will do”. The activists could be deported within 72 hours, according to the law, or brought to court within 96 hours. He added that some activists could be arrested but noted that Israel usually opts for immediate release. “If they arrest and detain them, it can lead to a losing situation, because media coverage will continue as long as they are in custody,” Jabareen said. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said the activists would be deported once the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur concludes on Thursday. Turkiye’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Israel’s interception of the boats, denouncing it as an “act of terrorism” and a severe breach of international law. In a statement, the ministry said it was taking initiatives to ensure the immediate release of Turkish citizens and other passengers detained by the Israeli forces. Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the Israeli operation was expected to take two to three hours. He told state TV Rai that the boats would be towed to Israel’s port of Ashdod and the activists would be deported in the coming days. He also said Israeli forces have been told “not to use violence”. As news of the interceptions circulated on social media, protests broke out across several major world cities, including Athens, Rome, Berlin, Brussels, Tunis and Ankara. Italy’s largest union called a general strike for Friday in protest over the treatment of the Sumud Flotilla. Adblock test (Why?)
FBI cuts ties with Anti-Defamation League amid conservative backlash
FBI Director Kash Patel announces break with anti-Semitism watchdog amid outrage over description of Charlie Kirk. Published On 2 Oct 20252 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The top law enforcement agency in the United States has cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), accusing the Jewish advocacy organisation and anti-Semitism watchdog of spying on conservatives. FBI Director Kash Patel made the announcement on Wednesday after prominent conservative influencers, including Elon Musk, pounced on the ADL’s inclusion of the murdered right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in its “Glossary of Extremism and Hate”. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list In a brief statement, Patel singled out the ADL’s associations with former FBI Director James Comey, a strident critic of President Donald Trump who was indicted last week on charges of obstruction and lying to the US Congress. Patel said Comey had written “love letters” to the ADL and embedded agents within the group, which he accused of running “disgraceful ops spying on Americans”. “This FBI won’t partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs,” Patel said in a social media post. In a 2014 speech to the ADL’s National Leadership Summit, Comey said the FBI had made the advocacy group’s Law Enforcement and Society training mandatory for personnel and partnered with it to draft a “Hate Crimes Training Manual”. Comey called the ADL’s experience in investigating hate crimes “essential” and its training “eye-opening and insightful”. “If this sounds a bit like a love letter to the ADL, it is, and rightly so,” he said. While Patel did not mention Kirk in his statement, his announcement came just a day after the ADL removed more than 1,000 entries about alleged extremism from its website amid right-wing outrage over references to the late activist. Advertisement The ADL said it made the decision as many of the terms were outdated and a number of entries had been “intentionally misrepresented and misused”. In a since-deleted entry on Kirk and his youth organisation Turning Point USA (TPUSA), the ADL said Kirk promoted “Christian nationalism” and “numerous conspiracy theories about election fraud and Covid-19 and has demonised the transgender community”. The entry also said TPUSA attracted racists, that its representatives had made “bigoted remarks” about minority groups and the LGBTQ community, and that white nationalists had attended its events, “even though the group says it rejects white supremacist ideology”. Kirk himself strongly criticised the ADL while he was alive, once describing it as a “hate group that dons a religious mask to justify stoking hatred of the left’s enemies”. In a statement responding to Patel’s remarks on Wednesday, the ADL said it had “deep respect” for the FBI and all law enforcement officers who work to protect Americans regardless of their ancestry, religion, ethnicity, faith and political affiliation. “In light of an unprecedented surge of antisemitism, we remain more committed than ever to our core purpose to protect the Jewish people,” it said. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel intercepts Gaza Sumud flotilla vessels: What we know so far
Israeli forces have boarded and taken control of several ships that are part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which had been attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, and that had garnered global attention as one of the biggest naval aid missions to the Palestinian enclave. The flotilla – which in all includes more than 40 civilian boats and about 500 activists – was intercepted by Israeli forces late on Wednesday, with activists on board detained and taken to Israel. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Israel had previously said that it would do whatever it takes to stop the Gaza-bound flotilla, claiming the volunteers were trying to “breach a lawful naval blockade” – a claim that goes against international law. Israel has blockaded Gaza to varying degrees since Hamas took control of the Strip in 2007. Gaza’s residents have largely been trapped in the territory since then, with the entry of food, goods and aid strictly controlled by Israel. Here is what to know. What happened to the flotilla on Wednesday? Israel intercepted a flotilla of boats carrying humanitarian aid, according to statements from the flotilla organisers. They reported that Israeli naval forces boarded the vessels about 70 nautical miles (130km) off the coast of Gaza, cutting communications and jamming signals as the flotilla neared the blockaded enclave. In total, at least 13 vessels that are part of the flotilla have been intercepted at sea. Saif Abukeshek, spokesperson for the Global Sumud Flotilla, said more than 201 people from 37 countries were on board these boats. This included 30 participants from Spain, 22 from Italy, 21 from Turkiye and 12 from Malaysia, among others. Advertisement “We have around 30 ships that are still fighting their way away from the military vessels of the occupation forces trying to reach to the shores of Gaza. They are determined,” he added. Those are now 85km (46 nautical miles) from Gaza’s coast, according to the flotilla organisers. The flotilla’s progress across the Mediterranean had already drawn international attention, and the arrests of activists on board sparked protests in cities including Rome, Buenos Aires and Istanbul on Wednesday night. Earlier in the day, activists described shadowy encounters with unlit boats and drones tailing the convoy, heightening tensions on board. “On Wednesday … at around 8:30pm [17:30 GMT], multiple vessels of Global Sumud Flotilla – notably Alma, Surius, Adara – were illegally intercepted and boarded by Israeli Occupation Forces in international waters,” a flotilla statement said. “Prior to illegally boarding the ships, it appears as though the Israeli naval vessels intentionally damaged ship communications, in an attempt to block distress signals and stop the livestream of their illegal boat boarding.” Despite carrying only a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid, the flotilla had pressed forward with its mission to establish a maritime corridor into Gaza, where nearly two years of Israel’s war have left the population facing an acute humanitarian crisis. How did Israel respond? Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a video showing a woman in military uniform speaking by phone, introducing herself as a representative of the Israeli navy. In the call, she warns the flotilla that it is nearing a restricted, blockaded area and explains that any aid for Gaza must be sent “through the established channels”. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also said that activists on board the Gaza aid flotilla will be deported once the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur concludes on Thursday. “Reports suggest more interceptions are expected,” Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Doha, said. “Israeli soldiers have boarded the ships and detained many of the activists on board. Those detained would normally go through a legal process, but Israel is currently under near-total shutdown because of the Yom Kippur holiday,” she added. “That means courts and prisons are not functioning, creating a limbo for the activists if they are detained.” A video published by Israel’s Foreign Ministry showed Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate campaigner, sitting on a deck with soldiers around her. Advertisement “Several vessels of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port,” the ministry said on X. “Greta and her friends are safe and healthy.” We will not allow any PR stunt approaching an active war zone to violate our sovereignty. Those who tried to enter Israeli territory illegally will be deported immediately after Yom Kippur in Israel. Israel has repeatedly offered ways to peacefully deliver aid to Gaza, but this… pic.twitter.com/JVZldN0kYb — Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) October 1, 2025 Since 2009, Israel has formally enforced a naval blockade it says is necessary to prevent weapons from being smuggled in. Israeli authorities have also alleged that some flotilla organisers are connected to Hamas, a claim the activists strongly reject as unfounded. Israel has yet to present any evidence to prove its claims. Has this happened before? Vessels and convoys have attempted to break the blockade of Gaza since 2010. A few key examples include: 2010 – The Mavi Marmara incident: The most infamous case, when Israeli commandos boarded the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Clashes broke out, and 10 activists were killed as a result, drawing global condemnation and straining Israel-Turkiye relations. Israel apologised for “operational mistakes” in the raid in 2013. A compensation deal is still being negotiated between the two countries. Israeli soldiers and officials who took part in the attack are being tried in absentia in Turkiye for war crimes. 2011-2018 – Smaller flotillas stopped: Several subsequent flotillas, including vessels in 2011, 2015, and 2018. Israel typically diverted the ships to Ashdod port, detained activists, and confiscated cargo. In 2018, activists were arrested, and some reported they were tasered and beaten. 2024 – Flotilla attempts: Activist groups continued organising flotillas, but Israel either prevented them from leaving ports abroad or intercepted them before they could approach Gaza. 2025 – Several flotilla missions set sail to challenge Israel’s naval blockade. One such mission in June involved the
Ethiopia church scaffolding collapse kills 36 during religious festival
Pilgrims were visiting the Menjar Shenkora Arerti Mariam Church to mark the annual Virgin Mary festival. By News Agencies Published On 1 Oct 20251 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Makeshift scaffolding set up at a church in Ethiopia has collapsed, killing at least 36 people and injuring dozens, state media reported. The incident occurred at about 7:45am [4:45 GMT] on Wednesday in the town of Arerti, in the Amhara region, some 70 kilometres (43 miles) east of the capital, Addis Ababa. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list A group of pilgrims were visiting the Menjar Shenkora Arerti Mariam Church to mark the annual Virgin Mary festival when the scaffolding collapsed. District police chief Ahmed Gebeyehu told state media Fana “the number of dead has reached 36 and could increase more,” according to the AFP news agency. The number of people injured remains unclear, but some reports suggest they could be as many as 200. Local official Atnafu Abate told the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) that some people remained under the rubble but did not provide details on rescue operations. Some of the more seriously hurt were taken to hospitals in the capital, he added. Worshippers stand inside the Menjar Shenkora Arerti Mariam Church under construction that collapsed in Arerti, Amhara region of northern Ethiopia, on Wednesday, October 1, 2025 [Samuel Getachew/AP Photo] Teshale Tilahun, the local administrator, described the incident as “a tragic loss for the community”. Images shared on the EBC’s official Facebook page showed tangled wooden poles, with crowds gathering amid the dense debris. Other pictures appeared to show the outside of the church, where scaffolding had been precariously constructed. Health and safety regulations are virtually non-existent in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous nation, and construction accidents are common. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
PSG beat Barcelona for winning start to Champions League defence
Holders Paris Saint-Germain come from behind to win 2-1 at Barcelona in the league phase of the Champions League. Paris St Germain battled back from a goal down to grab a 2-1 win over Barcelona in a gripping Champions League encounter, with the defending champions overcoming a raft of injuries to secure a valuable victory away from home. Barcelona started well on Wednesday, and their pressure paid off in the 19th minute when Marcus Rashford delivered a precise pass across the box to Ferran Torres, who slid in to beat the offside trap and slot past PSG goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list PSG, however, responded tenaciously, despite missing captain Marquinhos and their starting attacking trio of Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue. They took control of proceedings and equalised in the 38th minute when Nuno Mendes embarked on a dazzling run down the left, beating three defenders before setting up 19-year-old Senny Mayulu, who finished clinically into the bottom corner. After substitute Lee Kang-in hit the post with a shot from the edge of the box in the 83rd minute, PSG finally scored a deserved winner from a quick counter in the 90th, with Achraf Hakimi crossing for substitute Goncalo Ramos to fire home from close range. “Very disappointing feeling at the end, when you concede in the last minute of the game, to lose at home, you have to be disappointed,” Barcelona captain Freddie de Jong told Movistar+. “They [PSG] were better in the final stages, in the second half in general. We began the game better. So it went back and forward, but it’s true, they were better in the second half.” Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scores his side’s first goal against PSG [Albert Gea/Reuters] Man City and Juventus held but Arsenal and Newcastle win Manchester City had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Monaco after Eric Dier scored a 90th-minute penalty for the hosts. Advertisement Villarreal and Juventus also ended 2-2 after Renato Veiga’s late equaliser. Arsenal beat Olympiakos 2-0, with Gabriel Martinelli netting after 12 minutes and Bukayo Sako sealing the win in injury time. “We want to be creative, we know the quality we have in the team,” Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard said. “Everyone can see the quality and depth in the squad now, it is a feeling from every single player on the pitch that you want to keep your place.” On Arsenal finishing second in the English Premier League for three consecutive seasons and being knocked out of the Champions League in the semifinals last year, Odegaard added: “We have used everything that happened to us in a good way and have also brought a few new players in – hopefully this is going to be our year.” Nick Woltemade is doing his best to make Newcastle fans forget about Alexander Isak. The club-record $93m signing scored his third goal in four starts for Newcastle to set up the 4-0 rout of Union Saint-Gilloise. The German international was signed to fill the sizable void left by Isak’s contentious move to Liverpool. And he has made an instant impact. His 17th-minute goal at Lotto Park might not have been the prettiest — diverting Sandro Tonali’s goalbound shot past Kjell Scherpen — but it got Newcastle off to the perfect start. It also highlighted his useful knack of being in the right place at the right time. Woltemade has now scored in back-to-back games after his goal against Arsenal on Sunday. He still has some way to go to prove he can replace Isak, who scored 54 goals in 78 Premier League starts for Newcastle, but the early signs are promising after his move from Stuttgart. Anthony Gordon struck twice from the penalty spot — scoring either side of halftime to put Newcastle in control, and substitute Harvey Barnes added a fourth. Qarabag maintained its 100 percent start to the Champions League with a 2-0 win over Copenhagen. Abdellah Zoubir and Emmanuel Addai were on target for the Azerbaijani team. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel kills journalist Yahia Barzaq known for his newborn baby portraits
NewsFeed An Israeli air strike has killed journalist Yahia Barzaq, who was known for his creative portraits of newborn children before the war in Gaza. Published On 1 Oct 20251 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share facebooktwitterwhatsappcopylink Save Adblock test (Why?)
LIVE: Barcelona vs PSG – UEFA Champions League
blinking-dotLive MatchLive Match, Follow our live build-up with full team news before our text commentary stream of the league phase encounter. Published On 1 Oct 20251 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Mysterious, majestic; Sudan’s Nuba Mountains
Published On 1 Oct 20251 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The skyline of the vast and rugged Nuba Mountains in Sudan, stretching across the south of the country’s South Kordofan region, is defined by rocky hills and scattered huts. Constant war has put pressure on the region’s Nuba people for decades, as the government in Khartoum starved and bombed them for decades after the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), the rebel group in control, fought for autonomy in the mountains. More recently, ethnic cleansing campaigns by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have further haunted the local population. Then, at the start of this year, the SPLM-N picked a side in the war, allying with the RSF, a group accused of genocide, war crimes and ethnic cleansing, which has battled the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for control of the country since 2023. The pact stirred deep uncertainty and mixed emotions among residents of the Nuba Mountains. Some residents, scarred by past RSF abuses, regard the move with suspicion, but many are too afraid to speak openly, choosing instead to trust that their leaders’ decision will bring peace to the region. Despite lingering fear, many hope the alliance could open a path to stability and peace – something desperately needed after decades of continual wars. Conflict has brought hunger to the Nuba Mountains more than once, its spectre looming larger now that the new alliance might bring more fighting. In 2024, a year into the war, famine was declared in parts of the mountains, driven by aid blockages by the warring parties, failed harvests and locust swarms. Advertisement The local communities and the more than one million internally displaced people who have arrived in the region since the war began in 2023 survived on leaves and scraps, and continue to be food insecure. Doctors across the region report a surge in malnutrition, especially among children and pregnant women, and warn of a silent mental health crisis among the displaced. And yet, amid this devastation, a powerful spirit of solidarity endures. Communities reach across lines of faith and geography to support one another. Local communities have welcomed the internally displaced into their homes, and those who settled in camps have formed tight-knit communities that help each other. Adblock test (Why?)
A history of US government shutdowns: Every closure and how long it lasted
The United States federal government shut down at 12:01am East Coast time (04:01 GMT) on Wednesday after Congress failed to pass a new spending bill, forcing operations considered inessential to close. President Donald Trump has threatened to use the budget deadlock to push through mass layoffs of federal employees. Democrats and Republicans remain divided over spending priorities as Democrats push to protect healthcare, social programmes and foreign aid while Republicans demand cuts. This is not the first time Washington has faced such a standoff. The graphic below shows every US funding gap and government shutdown since 1976, including how long each lasted and under which administration it occurred. (Al Jazeera) What is a government shutdown? A government shutdown happens when Congress does not agree on a budget, so parts of the federal government have to close until a spending plan is approved. Shutdowns tend to happen in October because the government’s fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. How many times has the government shut down? The current budget process was established in 1976. Since then, the government has had 20 funding gaps, resulting in 10 shutdowns. A funding gap occurs whenever Congress misses the deadline to pass a budget or a stopgap spending bill (also called a continuing resolution), leaving the government without legal authority to spend money. A single shutdown can involve multiple funding gaps if temporary funding measures expire before a long-term agreement is reached. A shutdown happens only if government operations actually stop because of that funding gap. Advertisement Before the 1980s, funding gaps did not usually lead to shutdowns, and agencies kept operating, assuming funding would be restored soon. After 1980, Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti issued legal opinions stating that, under federal law, agencies may not spend money without congressional approval. Only essential services – such as national security, air traffic control and law enforcement – could continue. Since 1982, with this new legal basis in place, funding gaps have more often resulted in full or partial government shutdowns until Congress resolves the standoff. When was the last government shutdown? The last government shutdown occurred in December 2018 and January 2019 after President Donald Trump, then in his first term, and Democratic politicians hit an impasse over the president’s request for $5bn in funding for a wall on the US-Mexico border, a demand the Democrats opposed. When was the longest shutdown? The last shutdown was also the longest in US history, lasting 35 days from December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019, when Trump announced he had reached a tentative deal with congressional leaders to reopen the government for three weeks while negotiations on the border wall continued. What happens during a shutdown? During a government shutdown, nonessential federal services are halted or reduced, and many government employees are furloughed, or placed on unpaid leave. Meanwhile, essential personnel – such as military service members, law enforcement officers and air traffic controllers – are required to keep working, often without pay until funding is restored. How are government shutdowns resolved? Shutdowns are typically resolved when Congress passes a continuing resolution, which provides short-term funding while negotiations for a longer-term budget continue. Since 1990, every shutdown has ended through the passage of a continuing resolution. Which services are halted? A shutdown primarily affects nonessential federal employees as well as people and businesses that rely on government services. The federal government is the nation’s largest employer. As of November, it had a little more than 3 million workers – about 1.9 percent of the civilian workforce – according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data reported by the Pew Research Centre. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that if funding lapses in fiscal year 2026, about 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed each day, and their lost pay would add up to about $400m daily. The exact number of furloughed workers could change over time because some agencies might increase layoffs the longer a shutdown continues while others could bring some employees back. Advertisement Past shutdowns have affected numerous services and agencies, including: National parks and monuments Federal museums Federal research projects Processing of certain government benefits IRS taxpayer services Which services are still in operation? Even during a shutdown, many core government functions remain in operation. Some continue because they are classified as essential for public safety and welfare while others are funded separately from the annual budget process through mandatory or self-sustaining programmes. Examples include: Social Security and Medicare benefits The military and federal law enforcement US Postal Service Air traffic control US Passport Agency Adblock test (Why?)