Israeli military kills two in new Gaza attack despite ‘resuming’ ceasefire
Israel’s military has carried out another deadly attack in northern Gaza despite claiming to resume the fragile ceasefire, which was already teetering from a wave of deadly bombardment it waged the night before. Israel’s latest aerial attack on Wednesday evening occurred in Gaza’s Beit Lahiya area, killing at least two people, according to al-Shifa Hospital. Israel claimed it had targeted a site storing weapons that posed “an immediate threat” to its troops. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The attack adds further uncertainty to Gaza’s fragile ceasefire, which was shaken by the fiercest episode of Israeli bombardment on Tuesday night since it entered into force on October 10. Following the reported killing of an Israeli soldier in southern Gaza’s Rafah on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “powerful” retaliatory strikes on Gaza. The resulting attacks killed 104 people, mostly women and children, said Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel claimed its strikes targeted senior Hamas fighters, killing dozens, and then said it would start observing the ceasefire again mid-Wednesday. United States President Donald Trump insisted the ceasefire “is not in jeopardy” despite the latest attacks. Regional mediator Qatar expressed frustration over the violence, but said mediators are still looking towards the next phase of the truce, including the disarmament of Hamas. ‘Calm turned into despair’ In Gaza, the renewed attacks have retraumatised a population desperate to see an end to the two-year war, said Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza City, Hani Mahmoud. Advertisement “A brief hope for calm turned into despair,” said Mahmoud. “For a lot of people, it’s a stark reminder of the opening weeks of the genocide in terms of the intensity and the scale of destruction that was caused by the massive bombs on Gaza City.” Khadija al-Husni, a displaced mother living with her children at a school in Gaza’s Shati refugee camp, said the latest attacks came just as people had “started to breathe again, trying to rebuild our lives”. “It’s a crime,” she said. “Either there is a truce or a war – it can’t be both. The children couldn’t sleep; they thought the war was over.” Don’t let peace ‘slip from our grasp’, says UN On Wednesday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN chief strongly condemned “the killings due to Israeli air strikes of civilians in Gaza” the day before, “including many children”. UN rights chief Volker Turk also said the report of so many dead was appalling and urged all sides not to let peace “slip from our grasp”, echoing calls from the United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union for the parties to recommit to the ceasefire. Hamas, for its part, denied its fighters had any “connection to the shooting incident in Rafah” that killed an Israeli soldier and reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire. However, it said it would postpone transferring the remains of a deceased captive due to Israel’s latest truce violations, further fuelling Israeli claims that the group is stalling the captive handover process. Hamas warned any “escalation” from Israel would “hinder the search, excavation and recovery of the bodies”. Israel, meanwhile, officially barred Red Cross representatives from visiting Palestinian prisoners, claiming such visits could pose a security threat. Hamas said the ban, which was already effectively in place during the war in Gaza, violates the rights of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and “adds to a series of systematic and criminal violations they are subjected to”, including killing, torture and starvation. The Elders, a group of respected former world leaders, called on Wednesday for the release of one of those Palestinian prisoners – Marwan Barghouti. The Palestinian leader continues to be held by Israel despite Hamas including him in its list of prisoners for release as part of the ceasefire deal. Israel has refused to release Barghouti, who is often referred to as the Palestinian Nelson Mandela. Barghouti is serving several life sentences for what Israel says is involvement in attacks against civilians – a claim he denies. Advertisement “Marwan Barghouti has been a long-term advocate for a two-state solution by peaceful means, and is consistently the most popular Palestinian leader in opinion polls,” The Elders said in a statement, calling on US President Donald Trump to ensure the release of Barghouti. “We condemn the ill-treatment, including torture, of Marwan Barghouti and other Palestinian prisoners, many of whom are arbitrarily detained,” The Elders added. “Israeli authorities must abide by their responsibilities under international law to protect prisoners’ human rights.” Adblock test (Why?)
Bangladesh’s fugitive ex-leader warns of mass voter boycott in 2026 polls
Sheikh Hasina puts up defiant front from exile in India, saying ban on her Awami League will disenfranchise millions. By News Agencies Published On 29 Oct 202529 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Bangladesh’s fugitive former leader Sheikh Hasina has warned that excluding her Awami League party from next year’s elections would deepen divisions in the country as millions of her supporters are set to boycott the vote. Now exiled in India, the 78-year-old is currently being tried for crimes against humanity after being toppled in August 2024 by a student-led uprising that, according to the United Nations, saw up to 1,400 people killed in crackdowns as she clung to power. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The interim government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has pledged to hold elections in February but has banned the Awami League under amendments to the antiterrorism act, citing national security threats and war crimes investigations into the party’s senior leaders. “The ban on the Awami League is not only unjust, it is self-defeating,” Hasina said in emailed comments to the Reuters news agency published on Wednesday. “Millions of people support the Awami League, so as things stand, they will not vote. You cannot disenfranchise millions of people if you want a political system that works.” The Awami League and the rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have long dominated the politics of Bangladesh, which has more than 126 million registered voters. The elections in January 2024 were boycotted by the BNP as its top leaders were either jailed or in exile. Human Rights Watch has condemned the ban on the Awami League as “draconian”. In the party’s absence, the BNP is predicted to lead in next year’s election while Jamaat-e-Islami, the Muslim-majority country’s largest Islamist party, is rising in popularity. Advertisement “We are not asking Awami League voters to support other parties,” Hasina told Reuters of the upcoming elections. “We still hope common sense will prevail and we will be allowed to contest the election ourselves.” ‘The nucleus’ of all crimes The International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court, has concluded proceedings against Hasina, and a verdict is expected on November 13. Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam accused Hasina of being “the nucleus around whom all the crimes were committed” during the uprising and called for the death penalty if she is found guilty. Prosecutors also alleged she oversaw disappearances and torture of opposition activists at clandestine detention centres run by security agencies. Hasina has defied court orders to return to attend the trial. She told Reuters the proceedings were “a politically motivated charade”. “They’ve been brought by kangaroo courts with guilty verdicts a foregone conclusion.” In an emailed interview with the AFP news agency also published on Wednesday, Hasina called charges that she had ordered security forces to fire on protesters as “bogus” and said she “mourned all the lives lost during the terrible days” of her crackdown. The prosecution, which insisted her trial was fair, has played audiotapes verified by police that suggested Hasina directly ordered her security forces to “use lethal weapons” against protesters. This month, lawyers for the Awami League requested that the International Criminal Court in The Hague investigate reported “retaliatory violence”, including allegations of “beatings and lynchings”. Adblock test (Why?)
Fact checking a viral chart on US food stamps recipients’ race, ethnicity
With millions of people in the United States at risk of losing access to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – also known as food stamps – from November 1, a viral chart has claimed to show the majority of the nation’s food stamp recipients are non-white and noncitizens. The chart, titled Food Stamps by Ethnicity, listed 36 groups of people and said it showed the “percentage of US households receiving SNAP benefits”. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The groups were labelled by nationality, such as “Afghan”, “Somali”, “Iraqi”, along with the racial groups “white”, “Black” and “native”. The chart appeared to show that Afghan people were the largest group receiving SNAP benefits, at 45.6 percent, followed by Somali (42.4 percent) and Iraqi (34.8 percent). White people, represented on the chart with the US flag, were third to last at 8.6 percent. The federal government shutdown, which started on October 1, is the cause of the looming SNAP funding lapse. SNAP provides food purchasing benefits to low-income households. Conservatives have peddled the misleading narrative that Democrats are pushing for healthcare for undocumented migrants, and people commenting on the chart rehashed a similar talking point. “Who is getting their EBT cut?” read the caption of an October 25 X post sharing the chart, which had 3.1 million views as of October 27. EBT stands for Electronic Benefits Transfer, which is a SNAP payment system. “Only 18.7% of EBT or food stamp recipients are American. Let that sink in …” read another post sharing the chart, seemingly mistakenly referring to the figure next to the word “Armenian”; there was no “American” category in the chart. “We are subsidizing foreigners on the taxpayers dime.” Who is getting their EBT cut pic.twitter.com/el8x9X5iVX — The General (@1776General_) October 25, 2025 Advertisement The chart doesn’t show the full picture of SNAP recipients by race or ethnicity. The most reliable source for the breakdown of SNAP recipients by demographics comes from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which administers the programme. According to the most recent USDA data available, from 2023, white people are the largest racial group receiving SNAP benefits, at 35.4 percent. African Americans are next, making up 25.7 percent of recipients, then Hispanic people at 15.6 percent, Asian people at 3.9 percent, Native Americans at 1.3 percent and multiracial people at 1 percent. The race of 17 percent of participants is unknown. The same report found that 89.4 percent of SNAP recipients were US-born citizens, meaning less than 11 percent of SNAP participants were foreign-born. Of the latter figure, 6.2 percent were naturalised citizens, 1.1 percent were refugees and 3.3 percent were other noncitizens, including lawful permanent residents and other eligible noncitizens. While large shares of the groups listed in the chart may receive food stamps, “they are certainly a tiny share of the households and spending on SNAP”, said Tracy Roof, University of Richmond associate professor of political science. Survey data shows an incomplete picture on SNAP recipients The chart shared on social media originated from a June blog post from The Personal Finance Wizards, which cited “US Census Table S0201” as its source. The site offers financial advice, but published a disclaimer saying it cannot guarantee the “completeness, accuracy, or reliability” of its information. The site’s authors appeared to cherry-pick groups to include in the chart, noting, “It’s important to note that the graph highlights a selection of ethnicities we felt would be most relevant and engaging for our audience.” It did not name an author. In a comment on an Instagram post sharing the chart, Personal Finance Wizards shared a link to the US Census table it used. It shows data from the 2024 American Community Survey, filtered by 49 racial and ethnic groups. The filtered groups don’t completely overlap with the groups in the chart, but the dataset has a column for “households with food stamp/SNAP benefits”, which shows percentages similar to the ones in the chart. The data does not show what percentage of all SNAP beneficiaries belong to an ethnic or nationality group. Joseph Llobrera, senior director of research for the food assistance team at the liberal think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said the chart appeared to show the shares of households receiving SNAP based on the household respondents’ reported ancestry, which is different from citizenship status. Advertisement “Without context, this graphic is misleading and may lead some to conclude that many non-citizens are participating in SNAP, which is not true,” he said. The American Community Survey allows respondents to self-identify their race. It also defines ancestry as a “person’s ethnic origin or descent, roots or heritage, place of birth, or place of parents’ ancestors before their arrival in the United States”. Colleen Heflin, Syracuse University expert on food insecurity, nutrition and welfare policy, said the American Community Survey data on SNAP receipts is self-reported, and that question “is known to have a great deal of measurement error” when compared with SNAP administrative data. Chart reflects higher levels of need in groups with higher shares of SNAP participation Groups such as Afghans and Iraqis, who are first and third on the chart, would have been more likely to have immediately qualified for the SNAP programme before the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s passage because of their special immigration status. Before the law’s passage, refugees and people who had been granted asylum were also eligible for SNAP without a waiting period. Somalis, who were second on the chart, are “more likely” to qualify based on those criteria, Roof said. Other noncitizens, such as lawful permanent residents, could be eligible for SNAP only after a five-year waiting period. But the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act changed the eligibility, making refugees and asylum seekers ineligible. Immigrants in the country illegally are not and have never been eligible for SNAP. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel kills over 100 Palestinians in Gaza as Trump insists truce holds
United States President Donald Trump insists that the Washington-brokered ceasefire in Gaza is holding, despite Israeli forces killing more than 100 Palestinians, including 46 children. In about 12 hours from Tuesday to Wednesday, Israeli attacks on Gaza killed at least 104 Palestinians and wounded 253 others, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “These documented crimes add to the long list of ongoing violations against our people,” the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza said in a statement, demanding an “immediate and comprehensive ceasefire” across the Strip. One of the latest attacks hit a tent housing displaced people in Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera. Other attacks targeted the northern and southern parts of the enclave. The US president defended Israel’s actions on Wednesday, citing reports that a 37-year-old Israeli soldier had been killed in southern Gaza. A brief statement from the Israeli military did not specify when the soldier was killed but said his family had been notified before the information was released. (Al Jazeera) “As I understand it, they took out an Israeli soldier,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One as he travelled from Japan to South Korea, saying he heard the soldier was apparently killed by sniper fire. “So the Israelis hit back and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit back,” he added, calling Israel’s attacks “retribution” for the soldier’s death. Hamas has denied responsibility for the alleged attack on Israeli forces in Rafah, southern Gaza, and said in a statement that it remained committed to the ceasefire deal. Advertisement “Nothing is going to jeopardise” the ceasefire, the US president affirmed. “You have to understand Hamas is a very small part of peace in the Middle East, and they have to behave,” he said. “If they [Hamas] are good, they are going to be happy and if they are not good, they are going to be terminated; their lives will be terminated.” In a statement on Wednesday, the Israeli military said it had reinstated the Gaza ceasefire after carrying out a series of strikes on dozens of “terror targets”, including “30 terrorists holding command positions”. It did not provide any evidence to back up these claims. ‘Indefinite, prolonged occupation’ Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said the renewed attacks had plunged Palestinians into a state of “panic”. “As of this morning, we see that a brief hope for calm has turned into despair. The skies are filled with fighter jets, drones and reconnaissance aircraft,” he said on Wednesday. “And the fear now is that what started last night is going to continue for days to come.” Save the Children called reports of children being killed along with their families “excruciating.” “This cannot become the new normal under a ceasefire,” Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children’s Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, said in a statement. “A lasting ceasefire must mean safety, relief, and recovery for children not continued suffering. It must be fully respected and upheld.” “We are pleading: stop this now. Protect the ceasefire, protect children, and give Gaza’s families a step towards the genuine peace they have been waiting for,” Alhendawi added. Mouin Rabbani, a nonresident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, told Al Jazeera that Israel had “never really fulfilled any of its commitments” under the deal, including withdrawing to the agreed line in Gaza or allowing the agreed-upon amount of aid to enter Gaza. According to Rabbani, Israel is deliberately trying to undermine a ceasefire deal it was unwillingly dragged into by the US. He said it is evident “Israel does not feel it is simply able to unilaterally renounce” the ceasefire, “so what we’re seeing is a gradual intensification of the process of erosion”. “The key issue here now is how will the United States … respond,” he added. For Rob Geist Pinfold, a lecturer in international security at King’s College London, the ceasefire has been fragile “from day one” as both Israel and Hamas agreed the deal under significant duress from the US. Advertisement He told Al Jazeera that as Israel still controls some 50 percent of the Strip, “it’s understandable why to many Palestinians in Gaza this might not look like an actual ceasefire and definitely not a peace plan and more an indefinite, prolonged occupation with no end in sight”. On the ground between Hamas and Israel, Pinfold said there is a “game of chicken where both sides are trying to test each other’s limits, test each other’s boundaries”. “The fact that a soldier was killed in Rafah – we still don’t know by whom, we still don’t know if this was ordered by Hamas or this was somebody else,” he said. But what the incident did was “allow Israel to seize this opportunity to violate the ceasefire because this is what they wanted all along”. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,343
Here are the key events from day 1,343 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Published On 29 Oct 202529 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here is how things stand on Wednesday, October 29, 2025: Fighting Russia launched 396 attacks on 15 settlements in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhia region, killing one person and injuring three others, Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Tuesday. Russian forces also launched drone attacks, air strikes and artillery shelling across Ukraine’s Kherson region, killing one person and wounding six, the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on Tuesday. A woman who was wounded in a Russian attack on the Kherson region on Monday died as a result of her injuries, Prokudin added. The head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said on national television that only 561 residents remain in the city of Kupiansk, in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, as of midday on Tuesday. Thousands of people have been evacuated from the city, which had a population of more than 26,000 prior to the war, as Russian forces advanced. Ukrainian attacks killed an 85-year-old woman in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s Kherson, according to a local official. The Russian-installed Governor of Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, said that Ukrainian attacks on power lines and substations in the region had left 5,800 people without electricity. In Russia, Ukrainian forces sent drones towards Moscow for a third consecutive night, disrupting air traffic around the Russian capital, authorities there said late on Tuesday. Ukrainian forces killed a person in the Russian border region of Bryansk, according to a local official. Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Rodion Miroshnik told the TASS state news agency that Ukrainian attacks on Russian regions in the past week killed nearly 20 people, including a child. Russian forces shot down 124 Ukrainian drones in a 24-hour period, TASS reported, citing the Russian Ministry of Defence. Advertisement Politics and Diplomacy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Kyiv was ready for peace talks with Russia, but it would not cede more territory as Moscow has demanded. He also said that Ukrainian and European officials would meet at the end of the week to discuss the details of a ceasefire plan. “It is not a plan to end the war. First of all, a ceasefire is needed,” Zelenskyy said. “This is a plan to begin diplomacy… Our advisers will meet in the coming days; we agreed on Friday or Saturday. They will discuss the details of this plan.” The Ukrainian leader also urged United States President Donald Trump to pressure Chinese leader Xi Jinping to end his support for Russia when the two leaders meet later this week. He added that Ukraine needs European financial support to continue its defence against Russian forces for another two or three years. Germany’s economy minister, Katherina Reiche, told Reuters that the US government has provided written assurances that the German business of Russia’s Rosneft company would be exempt from new oil sanctions because the assets are no longer under Russian control. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin acknowledges Trump’s statements urging other countries to stop buying Russian oil, but that Russia’s partners will make their own decisions on whether to continue buying its energy products. Peskov also claimed that Russia cannot assess the status of peace negotiations with Ukraine because Kyiv has put them on hold, and is unwilling to answer questions posed by Russia. Many Indian refiners have paused new orders for Russian oil since the US’s latest sanctions on Moscow, according to Reuters, but the state-run Indian Oil said it would not stop buying Russian oil as long as it is complying with sanctions. “Russian crude is not sanctioned. It is the entities and the shipping lines which have got sanctions,” Anuj Jain, Indian Oil’s finance director, said. “Today, if somebody comes to me with a non-sanctioned entity, and the cap is being complied with, and the shipping is OK, then I will continue to buy it,” he said. The Indian state-owned warplane maker Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd said on Tuesday that it signed an initial agreement to build civil commuter aircraft with the United Aircraft Corporation, a Russian aerospace firm subject to Western sanctions. Weapons Zelenskyy said that Ukraine, which has significantly increased its production of weapons during the war, is planning to begin controlled exports of arms from next month. US Permanent Representative to NATO Matthew Whitaker told Bloomberg that he expects $12bn to $15bn dollars will be raised to buy weapons for Ukraine into 2026. “It’s going to be US weapons… And I think this is another example of Europe stepping up, of our NATO allies here on the continent, stepping up and supporting Ukraine,” he said, referring to the Trump administration’s move towards ensuring European countries buy US weapons to support Ukraine, rather than the US government providing them. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
As Trump and Xi near deal, few see letup in heated US-China rivalry
Gyeongju, South Korea – As US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping prepare to meet for the first time since 2019, Washington and Beijing appear poised to reach a deal to lower the temperature of their fierce rivalry. But while Trump and Xi are widely expected to de-escalate US-China tensions in South Korea on Thursday, expectations are modest for how far any agreement will go to resolve the myriad points of contention between the world’s two largest economies. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Many details of the expected deal that have been flagged in advance relate to avoiding future escalation, rather than rolling back the trade war that Trump launched during his first term and has dramatically expanded since returning to office this year. Some of the proposed measures involve issues that have only arisen within the last few weeks, including China’s plan to impose strict export controls on rare earths from December 1. Whatever Trump and Xi agree to on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, there is little doubt that Washington and Beijing will continue to butt heads as they jockey for influence in a rapidly shifting international order, according to analysts. “I have modest expectations for this meeting,” said Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore. “I think, no matter what happens this week, we haven’t seen the end of economic tensions, tariff threats, export controls and restrictions, and the use of unusual levers like digital rules,” Elms told Al Jazeera. US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 29, 2019. [Susan Walsh/AP] Contours of a deal While the exact parameters of any deal are still to be determined by Trump and Xi, the contours of an agreement have emerged in recent days. Advertisement US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in media interviews this week that he expected China to defer its restrictions on rare earths and that Trump’s threatened 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods was “effectively off the table”. Bessent said he also anticipated that the Chinese side would agree to increase purchases of US-grown soya beans, enhance cooperation with the US to halt the flow of chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl, and sign off on a finalised TikTok deal. While heading off a further spiralling in US-China ties, a deal along these lines would leave intact a wide array of tariffs, sanctions and export controls that hinder trade and business between the sides. Since Washington and Beijing reached a partial truce in their tit-for-tat tariff salvoes in May, the average US duty on Chinese goods has stood at more than 55 percent, while China’s average levy on US products has hovered at about 32 percent. Washington has blacklisted hundreds of Chinese firms deemed to pose national security risks, and prohibited the export of advanced chips and key manufacturing equipment related to AI. China has, in turn, added dozens of US companies to its “unreliable entity” list, launched antitrust investigations into Nvidia and Qualcomm, and restricted exports of more than a dozen rare earths and metallic elements, including gallium and dysprosium. US-China trade has declined sharply since Trump re-entered the White House. China’s exports to the US fell 27 percent in September, the sixth straight month of decline, even as outbound shipments rose overall amid expanding trade with Southeast Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa. China’s imports of US goods declined 16 percent, continuing a downward trend since April. “The structural contradictions between China and the United States have not been resolved,” said Wang Wen, dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China in Beijing, predicting continuing friction and “even worse” relations between the superpowers in the future. “Most importantly, China’s strength is increasing and will surpass that of the United States in the future,” Wang told Al Jazeera. ‘De-escalation unlikely’ Shan Guo, a partner with Shanghai-based Hutong Research, said he expects the “bulk” of the deal between Trump and Xi to be about avoiding escalation. “A fundamental de-escalation is unlikely given the political environment in the US,” Guo told Al Jazeera. A man films the logo of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit (APEC) outside of the venue in Gyeongju, South Korea, Tuesday, October 28, 2025 [Lee Jin-man/AP] But with the US having no alternative to Chinese rare earths and minerals in the near-term, Washington and Beijing could put aside their differences for longer than past trade truces, Guo said. Advertisement “This means reduced downside risks in US-China relations for at least a year, or perhaps even longer,” he said. Dennis Wilder, a professor at Georgetown University who worked on China at the CIA and the White House’s National Security Council, said that while he is optimistic the summit will produce “positive tactical results”, it will not mark the end of the trade war. “A comprehensive trade deal is still not available,” Wilder told Al Jazeera. “Bessent and his Chinese counterpart will continue negotiating in hopes of a more lasting agreement if and when President Trump visits China next year.” Trump and Xi’s go-to language on the US-China relationship itself points to the gulf between the sides. While Trump often complains about the US being “ripped off” by China, Xi has repeatedly called for their relations to be defined by “mutual respect” and “win-win cooperation”. “The United States should treat China in a way that China considers respectful,” said Wang of Renmin University. “They have to respect China, and if they don’t, then the United States will receive an equal response until they become able to respect others,” he added. Adblock test (Why?)
North Korea test-fires cruise missiles as Trump visits South Korea
Pyongyang says the tests in the Yellow Sea were aimed at impressing its abilities upon its ‘enemies’. Published On 29 Oct 202529 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share North Korea has test-fired several sea-to-surface cruise missiles into its western waters, according to state media, hours before United States President Donald Trump begins a visit to South Korea. The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Wednesday that the missiles, carried out in the Yellow Sea on Tuesday, flew for more than two hours before accurately striking targets. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Top military official Pak Jong Chon oversaw the test and said “important successes” were being achieved in developing North Korea’s “nuclear forces” as a war deterrent, according to KCNA. The test was aimed at assessing “the reliability of different strategic offensive means and impress their abilities upon the enemies”, Pak said. “It is our responsible mission and duty to ceaselessly toughen the nuclear combat posture,” he added. South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said on Wednesday that the military had detected the North Korean launch preparations and that the cruise missiles were fired in the country’s northwestern waters at about 3pm (06:00 GMT) on Tuesday. The joint chiefs said South Korea and the US were analysing the weapons and maintaining a combined defence readiness capable of a “dominant response” against any North Korean provocation. North Korea’s latest launches followed short-range ballistic missile tests last week that it said involved a new hypersonic system designed to strengthen its nuclear war deterrent. The latest test came hours before an expected summit between Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the city of Gyeongju, where South Korea is hosting this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings. Advertisement Trump has expressed interest in meeting with Kim during his stay in South Korea, where he is also scheduled to hold a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. However, South Korean officials have said that a Trump-Kim meeting is unlikely. Kim has said he still personally holds “fond memories” of Trump, but has also said he would only be open to talks if Washington stops insisting his country give up its nuclear weapons programme. North Korea has shunned any form of talks with Washington and Seoul since Kim’s high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with Trump fell apart in 2019, during the US president’s first term. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meet with relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, at the Akasaka Palace state guest house in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday [Kiyoshi Ota/Pool via Reuters] Before flying to South Korea, Trump was in Tokyo, where he met with families of Japanese abducted by North Korea on Tuesday, telling them that “the US is with them all the way” as they asked for help to find their loved ones. After years of denial, North Korea admitted in 2002 that it had sent agents to kidnap 13 Japanese people decades ago, who were used to train spies in Japanese language and customs. Japan says that 17 of its citizens were abducted, five of whom were repatriated. North Korea has said that eight are dead as of 2019, and another four never entered the country. Adblock test (Why?)
Is the Insurrection Act the ‘most dangerous law’ in the United States?
Published On 28 Oct 202528 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share History Illustrated is a series of perspectives that puts news events and current affairs into historical context, using graphics generated with artificial intelligence. Adblock test (Why?)
LIVE: Israeli attack kills 2 in Gaza as Hamas returns body of captive
blinking-dotLive updatesLive updates, Israeli drone attack close to the southern city of Khan Younis kills at least 2 people despite ceasefire. Published On 28 Oct 202528 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Jamaica braces for Hurricane Melissa, island’s strongest storm on record
Officials in Jamaica have urged people to stay inside their shelters as Hurricane Melissa churns towards the Caribbean island as the most destructive storm on record to hit the area. The Category 5 hurricane is expected to make landfall early on Tuesday near St Elizabeth Parish in the south and leave the island around St Ann Parish in the north. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Andrew Holness, the Jamaican prime minister, appealed to the public to stay indoors. “I urge all Jamaicans to stay inside and remain within the safety of your homes. Avoid unnecessary travel. Strong winds, heavy rains and flash floods can occur at any moment,” he said late on Monday. “Staying indoors is the safest option and reduces the burden on our security and emergency personnel,” he added. I am satisfied that our security forces are properly deployed to maintain law and order during this disaster. In times like these, there are always individuals who may act against the common good, and we must protect both our communities and those individuals. Our security… pic.twitter.com/He0yyB24hZ — Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) October 28, 2025 Holness went on to warn of enormous destruction. “There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5,” he said, referring to the strongest storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale. “The question now is the speed of recovery. That’s the challenge.” ‘Catastrophic’ winds, flooding The storm already has been blamed for seven deaths in the Caribbean – three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing. Advertisement The United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported late on Monday that Melissa was still 240km (150 miles) southwest of Kingston with maximum wind speeds of 282km/h (175mph). It said the storm was expected to bring “catastrophic winds, flooding and storm surge” to Jamaica on Tuesday. Landslides, fallen trees and numerous power outages were reported ahead of landfall as officials also warned of a life-threatening storm surge of up to 4 metres (13ft) across southern Jamaica. Desmond McKenzie, Jamaica’s local government and community development minister, told Al Jazeera the government had done all it could to prepare. “We have put everything in place in regards to what are required in terms of evacuation, getting people to our shelters, providing the requisite resources, … and we have been cleaning our drains. We have been cleaning our gulleys,” he said from Kingston. “We have done all the mitigation exercises. We have done public education, and now it is a matter of seeing what the outcome of Melissa will be,” he said. McKenzie said 881 shelters have been set up across the country. “I must admit that not all the shelters have persons in the shelters. We have seen an uptick in the number of persons turning up to the shelters. The demand in certain parishes are much greater than in some,” he said. ‘I am not moving’ Despite the pleas to evacuate, many residents said they were staying put. “I am not moving. I don’t believe I can run from death,” Roy Brown told the AFP news agency in Kingston’s seaside area of Port Royal. The plumber and tiler said he was reluctant to flee because of his past experiences with the poor conditions of government hurricane shelters. In the Flagaman farming community of St Elizabeth, some residents were hunkering down in a store. Owner Enrico Coke said he opened his place for fear that his neighbours had nowhere to go. “I’m concerned about farmers. The fishermen will be suffering after this,” he told AFP. “We’ll need help as soon as possible, especially water for the people.” Colin Bogle, a Mercy Corps adviser based near Kingston, said most families are sheltering in place despite the government ordering evacuations in flood-prone communities. “Many have never experienced anything like this before, and the uncertainty is frightening,” he told The Associated Press news agency. “There is profound fear of losing homes and livelihoods, of injury and of displacement.” Meteorologists said part of Melissa’s punch stems from its slow pace: It is lumbering along slower than most people walk, at just 5km/h (3mph) or less. Advertisement That means areas in its path could endure punishing conditions for far longer than during most hurricanes. People take shelter in a school before Hurricane Melissa’s forecast landfall in Old Harbour, Jamaica, on October 27, 2025 [Matias Delacroix/AP Photo] Climate change After pummelling Jamaica, Melissa is forecast to cross over eastern Cuba on Tuesday night. A hurricane warning was in effect for Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Holguin provinces while a tropical storm warning was in effect for Las Tunas. Up to 510mm (20 inches) of rain were forecast for parts of Cuba along with a significant storm surge along the coast. Cuban officials said on Monday that they were evacuating more than 600,000 people from the region, including Santiago, the island’s second largest city. A hurricane warning was also in effect for the southeastern and central Bahamas, and a tropical storm warning was issued for the Turks and Caicos Islands. Meteorologist Kerry Emanuel said global warming was causing more storms to rapidly intensify as Melissa did, raising the potential for enormous rains. “Water kills a lot more people than wind,” he told AFP. The last major hurricane to impact Jamaica was Beryl in July 2024 – an abnormally strong storm for that time of year. “Human-caused climate change is making all of the worst aspects of Hurricane Melissa even worse,” climate scientist Daniel Gilford said. Adblock test (Why?)