Trump retaliated against Canada’s counter-tariffs on $20bn worth of US imports by banning $1bn of Canadian goods.The United States is implementing a ban on nearly $1bn in imports from Canada, including alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motorcycles.The ban took effect early Tuesday and is likely to further strain already-tense relations between the two neighbours.Ottawa and Washington DC have long been allies and trade partners, with approximately $880bn worth of annual two-way trade. That relationship has been upended during US President Donald Trump’s second term as he unleashed tariffs on most trading partners, including Canada, and referred to the northern neighbour as the 51st state of the US.Most recently, the US slapped 50 percent levies on Canadian goods worth $20bn, including dairy and motorcycles, on August 22 after trade negotiations failed. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney retaliated, saying Ottawa will match US tariffs “dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families and businesses”. Canada levied tariffs of 15 percent, 25 percent and 50 percent on US exports of a similar value.“The impact of such a ban will be minor, it is only $1bn while we trade hundreds of billions with Canada,” Professor Gary Shields at Wayne State University’s School of Business told Al Jazeera. “It is, however, rather astonishing how President Trump treats our allies in Canada and Europe, while rolling out the red carpet for China’s dictator when he visited the US last week”.“It is a tit-for-tat. It will not reduce people’s taxes and won’t put money in their pockets. It is kind of personal and a way of showing off toughness,” Shields added.Canada’s economy grew by an estimated 0.2 percent in August after remaining unchanged in July, according to Statistics Canada. But the new US-Canada tariffs, tighter financial conditions and a shrinking population should further weaken growth in late 2026 and early 2027, Michael Davenport, senior Canada economist at Oxford Economics, said in a note provided to Al Jazeera.
Read briefing For decades, US support for Israel was one of Washington’s few unbreakable bipartisan positions. The genocide in Gaza has changed that.Josh Rushing is joined by Matt Duss, former policy adviser to US Senator Bernie Sanders, and Kelley Vlahos, editor-in-chief of Responsible Statecraft, to examine how a war that killed more than 74,000 Palestinians fractured Democratic and Republican coalitions alike – reshaping primaries, campus politics and the terms on which a generation now sees Israel and American power.Matt Duss: Executive vice president, Center for International PolicyKelley Vlahos: Editor-in-chief, Responsible Statecraft
Read briefing US Army soldiers have fully withdrawn from the US base in Baghdad, marking the end of a presence that started with the 2003 US-led invasion against Saddam Hussein. Al Jazeera’s Jack Hewson reports from Baghdad as military jets depart the city.
Read briefing The last remaining US troops have left Iraq. The US military was first deployed to Iraq back in 2003 to depose its leader, Saddam Hussein.It later faced a series of crises that ensued after the ousting of Hussein. Iraq became embroiled in a cycle of violence that considerably weakened the country.While the US may have prevented the collapse of the state, it’s also accused of contributing to the subsequent chaos that engulfed it.Kenneth Katzman – Senior fellow at The Soufan Center specialising in Middle East geopolitics and US foreign policy.Abdullah Alshayji – Professor of political science at Kuwait University specialising in US politics and Gulf security.
Read briefing Spain’s housing crisis is deepening as soaring rents and a shortage of homes put affordable housing out of reach. In Madrid, protesters describe the personal impact: from losing homes and spending half their income on rent to being unable to afford living independently.
Read briefing California jury finds Apple infringed two Taction patents but did not willfully violate them; Apple plans to appeal.Apple has been ordered to pay more than $5.7bn for using patented technology from Taction Technology to power haptic feedback, the vibrations users feel when they receive a notification or press a button.A jury in federal court in the Southern district of California found that the iPhone maker infringed two patents owned by the San Diego-based company.“We’re happy the jury found for Taction and vindicated its patent rights,” said Taction attorney Lance Yang following the verdict on Friday.The verdict is the culmination of a legal battle that began in 2021, when Taction first filed its lawsuit against Apple. In 2023, a federal judge ruled that Apple had not infringed Taction’s patents, but an appeals court revived the case last year.“Apple is capitalising on Taction’s innovation and success by selling devices that infringe Taction’s patents. Apple is utilising Taction’s patented inventions without license or authority from Taction. Taction has brought this action to remedy Apple’s infringement,” Taction said in the original 31-page complaint.It also claimed that Apple “at a minimum believed there was a high probability that the accused products were covered by Taction’s patents, but willfully blinded itself to Taction’s patents and the infringing nature of the Accused Products”.“Apple’s Taptic Engine is fundamentally different from Taction’s technology, which Taction’s own testing of Apple’s products confirmed during trial,” Apple said in response.The verdict comes at a pivotal moment for the company, amid transitions in its C-suite. In September, John Ternus took over as CEO from Tim Cook, who led Apple for 15 years. The leadership change comes as the Cupertino, California-based tech giant lags behind other major technology companies in rolling out its artificial intelligence products.Apple shares fell on Monday, declining about two percent as trading got underway.
Read briefing Amid tight Iowa midterm races, President Trump emphasises steel industry revival with project announcement.Just weeks before the midterm elections, United States President Donald Trump has announced that a Minnesota-based steel manufacturer intends to build a $15bn steel mill project in Iowa, as the White House tries to highlight its focus on domestic manufacturing.On Monday, joined by executives from Mesabi Metallics, which recently opened Minnesota’s first new iron ore mine in 50 years, Trump announced the project. It is expected to begin production in 2030 and could bring more than 1,700 jobs to the region, with an initial production capacity of 7.5 million tonnes per year.The first phase of construction for the project will generate 5,000–6,000 construction jobs, a White House official told Al Jazeera.The plant in Iowa will use iron ore from the Mesabi Iron Range in nearby Minnesota. Mesabi, which is owned by Indian conglomerate Essar Group, invested more than $2.5bn to build the mine in Minnesota.“President Trump is delivering on his promise to rebuild American industry, re-shore manufacturing, and create new jobs. Today’s announcement underscores the president’s historic efforts to revitalize the US steel industry—supporting local communities, strengthening supply chains, and protecting our national security,” White House Spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement to Al Jazeera.The steel industry has loomed over the first half of Trump’s second term in office. The president imposed 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports last year in an effort to boost domestic production, but also threatened to increase prices of products that use those materials, from soda cans to washing machines to cars.“These are your 232 tariffs, the steel tariffs at work. Without those tariffs, this mine does not get built, and this steel plant does not get built”, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in the Oval Office on Monday.Trump also solidified the US government’s stake in US Steel, which was acquired by Japan’s Nippon Steel in June 2025. As part of the deal, the US government received a so-called “golden share”, which gives the president the authority to appoint a board member to weigh in on decisions that would impact domestic steel production.The announcement comes a little more than a month ahead of the US midterm elections, and the economy is top of mind for US voters.Among Republicans, Trump is losing steam on his handling of economic issues, with a new September 21 Ipsos poll finding that 56 percent approve of his handling of the economy, down from 80 percent.Iowa is in play as a seat Democrats could flip in the midterm elections, with Republican Ashley Hinson facing Democrat Josh Turek in November and with polls suggesting a tight race.A poll conducted by the Republican-aligned pollster the Trafalgar Group showed Hinson with a two-point lead, while an InsiderAdvantage poll, which is considered more nonpartisan, found Turek leading by two points.
Read briefing Heavy rain has triggered deadly floods and landslides across Nepal, killing at least 21 people and leaving five missing, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. An avalanche on Himlung Himal has left 12 local workers missing.
Read briefing Agency used video of Hall of Fame player Brian Dawkins to show readiness for border protection.The National Football League (NFL) has asked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to stop using a video of a retired star player on social media, after the agency used highlights of his career to show its readiness to protect the United States border against a purported caravan of immigrants that was heading towards it.“The league has requested the DHS take down the video,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said on Monday.The video, posted on Sunday, shows Brian Dawkins, a former player for the Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos, walking out before a game and chanting “the time has come”. It then features a montage of him tackling opposing players on the field, set to heavy metal music. The DHS post includes the caption: “Our time has come.”Dawkins was a highly celebrated NFL player who retired in 2011 after playing 16 seasons in the NFL.US President Donald Trump has made immigration a central part of his second term in office, terming the inflow of migrants across the border from Mexico an “invasion” and deploying federal forces in cities across the country to round up undocumented people.During his first term, Trump deployed thousands of troops along the border with Mexico to stop a caravan of Central American migrants who had been making their way north. Critics called the deployment a vast overreaction and dismissed it as a political stunt ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
Read briefing The security officials were tried in absentia 10 years after the Italian student was found dead after being tortured.An Italian court has convicted three Egyptian security officials for their involvement in the kidnapping of student Giulio Regeni, who was later found dead.The men were sentenced to 10 years in prison for aggravated kidnapping on Monday, while a fourth defendant was acquitted. They were tried in absentia and are unlikely to face extradition given the strained relations between Italy and Egypt as a result of the case.“We achieved this result despite what can be described as less than wholehearted cooperation from the Egyptian authorities,” Rome Chief Prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi told reporters.Regeni, a postgraduate student at the United Kingdom’s University of Cambridge, disappeared in the Egyptian capital in January 2016. His body was later found on the side of a road with broken teeth, cigarette burns and broken bones. A post-mortem determined he had been tortured.Human rights activists said his injuries were similar to those found on people who have been tortured in Egyptian security agency facilities.Egypt has denied any involvement in his death. The four men, Major Magdi Sharif, from General Intelligence; police Colonel Hisham Helmy; Colonel Ather Kamal, a former head of investigations in Cairo; and former head of state security Major General Tarek Sabir, who was acquitted, have never responded to the accusations against them.The judge dismissed the accusation of “conspiracy to commit aggravated murder” levelled against Sharif on Monday.Egyptian and Italian prosecutors initially investigated the case together. However, Egypt then said that members of a criminal gang were responsible for the murder and had been killed in a police shootout. It has subsequently maintained that Regeni’s killers are unknown.Italian prosecutors said that Egyptian security officials kidnapped and tortured Regeni because of his academic research into trade unions. He had been researching union activities among street vendors in Cairo at the time he disappeared. They accused Egypt of undermining their investigation and refusing to disclose the men’s whereabouts.Italian legislation allows for the prosecution of crimes committed abroad against Italian citizens. However, an earlier trial of the four men was suspended in 2021 after the judge questioned its legitimacy, given that the accused may not have known whether they had been charged.This decision was dismissed in 2023 by Italy’s top court, which said the trial should not be impeded by Egypt’s failure to cooperate. Egypt denied it had refused to cooperate with Italian officials.
Read briefing Despite student-led protests and political unrest challenging his rule, Vucic intends to run in the snap elections.Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has resigned to seek the prime minister’s post in a snap parliamentary election on October 25, as a student-led movement mounts the most serious challenge to his rule in more than a decade.Vucic, on the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) ballot, has dominated Serbian politics as president or prime minister since 2014. Barred from seeking a third presidential term, he is now seeking to extend his hold on power through the parliamentary vote.Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic, a close ally, will serve as acting president pending a presidential election. Vucic said one of his final acts in office was to pardon 49 people, including 23 convicted in connection with the protests.The election follows nearly two years of demonstrations prompted by the killing of 16 people when a concrete canopy collapsed at a railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad on November 1, 2024.Students have since organised some of Serbia’s largest demonstrations in decades, drawing hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets.Protesters have accused the government of corruption, a lack of transparency and political interference in state institutions.Vucic and his allies reject the allegations that they are responsible for the problems highlighted by the protesters.The student movement is contesting the parliamentary election under the banner “Students Win”, with the backing of several opposition parties, including the Democratic Party, which was once led by former Serbian President Boris Tadic.Its list of 250 candidates includes mostly university professors and professionals from a range of fields. Its platform calls for investigations into allegedly ill-gotten property, measures against corruption and political interference in public institutions and greater transparency in the use of public funds.Some polls suggest that the student-backed movement could pose a serious threat to Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party, although the authenticity and methodology of some of the polls are difficult to independently verify.Belgrade-based editor and columnist Dejan Ilic told Al Jazeera that Vucic should not be credited with choosing to hold an early election.“Vucic is not the only actor in this country. People have said that Serbia is in a bad state, they demanded elections and they forced elections,” Ilic said.Aida Corovic, a former Serbian parliamentarian and human rights activist, said the anger extended beyond the student movement.“Serbia has been undergoing internal change in recent months,” Corovic told Al Jazeera.“I fear that the crisis in Serbia could only begin after the October 25 elections,” she said. “This government has taken over the institutions, it is deeply intertwined with organised crime and it will try every possible way to remain in power.”A few hours before his resignation, Vucic told CNN that if the opposition won, he would acknowledge the results and congratulate his opponents that same evening.The political crisis in Serbia is being closely watched across the Western Balkans.Belgrade maintains close political, economic and cultural ties with Serbian communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Kosovo, giving developments in Belgrade significant influence beyond its borders.Tanja Topic, head of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation office in neighbouring Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, said a change in Serbia’s political direction could ease tensions across the region.“It is crucial that the paradigm in Serbia’s politics changes because it would bring relief to the entire region,” Topic told Al Jazeera.She said Belgrade has for years sent mixed messages to its neighbours, presenting itself as a supporter of peace, stability and prosperity while, in her view, contributing to political tensions in the region.That influence has been particularly significant in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Topic said, while relations between Serbia and Croatia have also deteriorated in recent years.“Changing the value system would be a long and difficult process, but I think that disappointment if change does not come could have more serious and damaging consequences, both in Serbia and across the region.”With a population of about six million, Serbia is the largest country in the Western Balkans with one of the region’s largest economies.Vucic has promoted the country as an emerging economic success story, pointing to Chinese investment, energy supplies from Russia and, more recently, growing cooperation with Israel.But average wages remain below those in neighbouring European Union member states.According to official statistics, the average net monthly salary in Serbia was 1,032 euros ($1,174) in April, compared with 1,555 euros ($1,770) in neighbouring Croatia – a difference of about 51 percent compared with the EU member.The contrast in living standards is one of several issues shaping public debate as voters prepare to return to the polls.
Read briefing Israel escalates retaliatory measures as Western sanctions target illegal West Bank settlements.Israel has revoked the diplomatic status of Dutch diplomats at the Netherlands’ Representative Office in Ramallah, Israel’s Foreign Ministry has said.The countermeasure announced on Sunday comes in response to the Dutch government’s ban on imports originating from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.In a statement posted on X, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gidoen Saar said, “If the Netherlands wishes to continue representing its interests with the Palestinians, it may do so from Palestinian Authority territory, rather than from the territory of the State of Israel.”Israel informed the Dutch embassy that “diplomats operating in Ramallah must return their Israeli-issued diplomatic documentation within seven days”.Saar said, “Last month, we removed the Dutch delegation from the International Support Center for Gaza in Kiryat Gat, following actions taken by the Dutch Government against Israel. I reiterate: Israel will not ignore measures intended to harm it. Any country that acts in a hostile and unilateral manner against Israel will lose influence and relevance in the region.”Israel has enacted a series of retaliatory measures in response to the United Kingdom, France and Canada announcing sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements.Earlier this month, Israel announced a seven-day deadline for the removal of British representatives from the International Gaza Support Center as one of four countermeasures against the UK for imposing sanctions on illegal settlements in the West Bank.The Netherlands brought its ban into force on September 22. The Dutch measure goes further than some others. It bans the import, purchase and sale of goods from illegal Israeli settlements, as well as services facilitating that trade.Bilateral trade between the Netherlands and Israel totalled about $4.8bn last year. Its significance extends beyond the Dutch market, with the Netherlands serving as a major gateway for goods entering the rest of Europe.The legal non-profit Global Echo group said the Netherlands accounted for a third of agricultural exports from Israel’s illegal settlements and nearly half of those destined for the European Union.
Read briefing That was the immediate reaction from US President Donald Trump to Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.Tehran says it’s still awaiting what it called a ‘definitive repsonse’ from Washington, through mediators.So, is his rejection of the proposal an effort to pressure Tehran for more concessions?Abas Aslani – Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic StudiesAmbassador Henry Ensher – Former U.S. diplomat and former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Read briefing The Republic of Ireland has been thrust into the global spotlight over two controversial Nations League football games against Israel.On match days, Peadar Browns pub in Dublin’s historic Liberties area is usually jam-packed with football fans piling in to watch the game on various screens.As kickoff approached in the Republic of Ireland’s Nations League game against Israel on Sunday, there was a similarly busy crowd.The pub has made a deliberate decision not to show the game tonight in protest against Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.“We committed about a month ago not to show any of the upcoming Nations League fixtures until Ireland made a stand against Israel,” says owner Aidan Brown. “We didn’t show the Kosovo game, and we’ve absolutely no intention of showing the Israel games.”Brown has been compiling a list of venues refusing to screen the match. At his last count, it included 140 pubs and bars in Ireland and abroad. He expected the number had risen before kickoff as tumultuous events within the Ireland team reverberated around the country.Ireland, a staunch and long-standing ally of the Palestinian cause, has been thrust into the global spotlight over whether the team will play the two scheduled games against Israel.Brown compares the atmosphere in Dublin to one of the most enduring sporting dramas in modern Irish history.“I think this is just as big as Saipan and the Roy Keane saga in 2002,” he says.Saipan became a national drama when Ireland captain Roy Keane left the 2002 World Cup squad in Japan after a confrontation with manager Mick McCarthy over training facilities.This time the public debate across the island of Ireland is not about football standards, but moral ones.In Derry, in the north of Ireland, Liam Doherty, another pub owner refusing to show the game, describes a similar sense of mobilisation.“It has to come from the bottom up, and it has to come from a small nation,” says the owner of the Delacroix bar. “I think that we have to be the one that shows that this is just wrong.”Rebecca O’Keeffe, chair of Irish Sport for Palestine, which has led the Stop the Game campaign, says the past week has shown just how far that mobilisation has spread.“It’s a mass movement,” she says. “It’s reached corners of Ireland that maybe wouldn’t have been engaged with this issue before. It’s all people can talk about. We are past the point of symbolic gestures and hollow words.”It’s not unanimous, but Irish public opinion is clearly against tonight’s fixture taking place.A poll of Irish football supporters found 76 percent opposed to the match going ahead. Among athletes, 63 percent of members of the Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland voted against playing the game.But that groundswell of public sentiment has been ignored by those in charge of the sport in the country, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).In November, 93 percent of FAI members voted for the association to seek Israel’s suspension from UEFA competitions.Yet when the FAI voted in July on whether the Republic of Ireland should play Israel, it chose to proceed with the fixtures. The motion passed 75 votes to 32, with three abstentions. The FAI cited the consequences non-fulfillment could have for Irish football, such as potential points deductions.Daniel Lambert, the Bohemian FC chief commercial officer who helped propose the original November motion, says the sequence explains much of the anger towards the FAI.“It’s been mishandled from the very first day by the FAI,” he says. “The November vote was a very clear instruction from the membership, but they never really entertained not playing the games.”Lambert argues that the FAI also failed to recognise what it could have gained by taking a stand.“There are huge benefits to not playing,” he says. “Not only would it have the support of the Irish people … this would have enhanced the FAI’s reputation, not damaged it.”Susan Shalabi, vice president of the Palestinian Football Association, believes the buck stops even higher up.“The deeper issue is that the FAI and many others should never have been placed in this position,” she told Al Jazeera. “Had football’s international governing bodies [FIFA and UEFA] consistently applied their own rules, this dilemma would not exist.”Instead, the decision has been left not with the governing bodies, but with the Irish players themselves.Earlier this week, more than 160 Irish sportspeople signed an open letter calling on the squad to boycott the fixtures. Team coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said some players were “really uncomfortable” playing, while midfielder Jason Knight said the games should not be happening.Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu told his teammates he did not want to play. The players subsequently voted to fulfil the fixture, with reports suggesting eight had voted against playing. Bazunu was the only one who ultimately refused.“To do that on your own in a group of 25 players is staggering courage,” he says. “He’s represented Ireland more than those 24 players ever will. He has the respect of the Irish people forever.”
Read briefing The billionaire cofounder of Microsoft says without restrictions, AI could ‘cause a billion deaths’.Not requiring AI to have safeguards and be subject to outside monitoring is “completely irresponsible” and could lead to global harm to humanity, said tech mogul Bill Gates, in a series of media appearances where the philanthropist weighed in on global discussions concerning how to regulate the technology.“You need law enforcement and the politicians to get into the discussion of what safeguards and monitoring looks like,” Gates said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, parts of which aired on Sunday.Gates warned that the technology was “certainly powerful enough to drive events that, you know, cause a billion deaths.” Ensuring that did not happen, he said, could be a more difficult task than other existential threats, such as slowing the proliferation of nuclear weapons.The tech pioneer turned philanthropist said he was willing to speak with US President Donald Trump to convey his concerns directly and disagreed with his characterisation of recent warnings over the danger AI posed as a “hoax”.“I hope that, given my life’s work in the field, my saying how unique and different this is and how concerned I am will add to what he’s hearing from other people,” Gates said in the interview.In recent weeks, the heads of leading AI companies have said publicly that their industry needs frameworks and guardrails to ensure the technology does not outpace human oversight, spin out of control and prove to be catastrophic for the world.“If managed poorly, I even believe AI could be a risk to humanity as a whole,” Dario Amodei, the chief executive officer of Anthropic, the company behind Claude, told members of the United Nations Security Council last week.But Trump and senior officials in his administration have baulked at imposing regulations on the multi-trillion-dollar industry, which they say is part of a race between the US and China.On Saturday, the day after meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss AI, Trump repeated his scepticism of the warnings and said he would not regulate the industry. He compared the apocalyptic warnings to other issues he is dismissive of, such as climate change and Russian interference in US elections. “It’s just like, everybody’s going to be dead, you’re all supposed to be dead now because of global warming. It’s like Russia, Russia, Russia hoax. All of these different hoaxes,” Trump said.Gates told CNN that the kind of safeguards needed for AI development would not harm the industry.“The amount of slowing down is not going to be that dramatic,” he said. “To have a monitoring or policing layer that says, is this being used for a cyberattack, is this being used for bio-terrorism, that can be done.”The 70-year-old co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 and ran it during an era of widespread consumer adoption of personal computers and later the internet. He became the richest person in the world in 1995, and retained that spot throughout much of the next two decades, before giving much of his wealth away for philanthropic causes and being replaced by a new generation of tech moguls, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.Earlier this month, his philanthropy, the Gates Foundation, said it was committing $1bn to expand AI access in the developing world.
Read briefing Hamas accuses Board of Peace of aligning with Israel after excluding UN agency for Palestinians from Gaza operations.Palestinian group Hamas has condemned the Board of Peace’s decision not to work with the United Nations agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, and for saying that the agency will have no role in Gaza.The US-created Board’s decision is “a complete alignment with the Zionist [Israeli] position”, aimed at ending UNRWA’s operations, preventing it from delivering aid to Palestinians and eliminating the right of return, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said on Saturday.On Friday, the Board of Peace said that “UNRWA’s involvement in Gaza is unchanged.”“We will only work with trusted partners who will deliver for the people of Gaza and contribute to a deradicalized Strip,” it said in a post on X, adding that “UNRWA fails on those litmus tests”.In his statement, Qassem said it was “strange for the Peace Council to adopt this hostile stance towards UNRWA while simultaneously failing to provide aid to Gaza or compel the occupation to abide by the ceasefire agreement and halt the daily killings of Palestinians in the Strip”.UNRWA, set up in 1949, has for decades provided aid and education services to Palestinian refugees and preserved their national rights.Palestinians see the agency as safeguarding their right of return to their homeland, while Israel wants it dismantled.The Associated Press reported on Friday that Board of Peace members had been more willing to work with UNRWA behind the scenes than their public stance suggested.At the Board of Peace briefing to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, officials named several UN agencies as partners. UNRWA was not among them.However, a Board of Peace official, speaking to The AP on condition of anonymity, confirmed that board members had met UNRWA officials several times.The official said the agency’s programmes could continue if they served Gaza’s residents well, but maintained that “UNRWA’s days are over”.Philippe Lazzarini, who led UNRWA until earlier this year, told The AP that members of the Palestinian technocratic committee appointed by the Board to govern Gaza wanted to work with the agency.On Thursday, Lazzarini accused the Board of failing to deliver on its mandate, saying in a post on X that Israeli authorities are still blocking basic aid “as part of a wider plan to keep Gaza unlivable for Palestinians”.“Grandiose plans is what the Board of Peace does best. Plans however will not keep the people of Gaza warm this winter,” he added, urging that crossings into Gaza be opened and supplies let in at scale.On the ground on Saturday, Israel’s pattern of violations against Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank continued.Israeli attacks killed seven Palestinians across the Gaza Strip in the past 48 hours, including one person who succumbed to wounds sustained prior, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said.In northern Gaza, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian in Jabalia, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. An Israeli drone strike near Joulis Street and al-Nouri Tower in the Nuseirat refugee camp killed another person and wounded others.In al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, an Israeli drone strike wounded several Palestinians, including a girl, while Israeli artillery shelled areas east of the city.An Israeli quadcopter also opened fire on Salah al-Din Street in central Gaza, wounding three people, including another girl.Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces stormed Ramallah-based Birzeit University, raiding one of its buildings while students sat final examinations, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.In Tulkarem, forces arrested resident Bashar Odeh after raiding his home in Shuweika, and interrogated others during home searches in Zeita.In Bethlehem governorate, Israeli forces closed the military gates at the entrances to western villages, stopping residents, including pedestrians, from passing.Raids continued across other localities, including the Qalandiya and Am’ari refugee camps.
Read briefing Demonstrators are demanding early elections and accuse Pedro Sanchez’s government of negligence.Thousands of people have rallied in the Spanish capital to protest the government’s policy on irregular migration and its handling of a recent migrant influx into the North African enclave of Ceuta.Saturday’s protest in Madrid was organised by right-wing civil society group Sociedad Civil Espanola and backed by the mainstream conservative People’s Party (PP) and far-right Vox.According to the government, 20,000 people attended, while protest organisers put the turnout at 180,000.At the end of July, more than 70,000 migrants stormed into the autonomous Spanish city of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco, before most of them were returned. However, thousands remain stranded.Demonstrators accused Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his government of failing to protect the borders of Ceuta.They are calling for an early election to be held by mid-November, with Vox demanding Sanchez be tried for treason. Spain’s next general election is not due until August 2027.PP’s secretary-general Miguel Tellado said there was a “widespread feeling that the government has not acted responsibly; there has been a dereliction of duty, extreme negligence”.“Spanish society has to take to the streets to ask the government to defend our territorial integrity,” he added.The July 30 and 31 surge of people into Ceuta led to unprecedented scenes and the deaths of dozens of migrants.Sanchez said on Tuesday that Moroccan border control failed to adequately handle the incident and that an investigation was still under way, adding that Rabat had been asked for answers.The Spanish government estimates that between 6,000 and 10,000 stranded migrants remain in Ceuta.Vox leader Santiago Abascal is demanding that everyone who arrived in late July be deported to their country of origin.Abascal said Ceuta remained “invaded because Sanchez continues to be Morocco’s servant”.Spanish newspaper El Pais reported on Saturday that the government is planning to approve a decree on Tuesday to accelerate the return of migrants from Ceuta to Morocco.The protest is the second under the March for Dignity banner. That demonstration was held in late May before the incident in Ceuta and attracted 40,000 protesters, according to the government.
Read briefing Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of ‘flagrant attacks’ and condemns Houthis in UN addressSaudi Arabia has used its address to the UN General Assembly to accuse Iran of flagrant attacks on civilian and economic targets across the region, while calling on the international community to condemn Houthi actions threatening Red Sea shipping.
Read briefing Ireland will play their Nations League fixture against Israel on Sunday after holding a squad vote on whether to proceed, following one player’s intention to withdraw. Head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson said playing the match does not mean supporting the war in Gaza, adding that the team intends to wear black armbands in memory of lives lost.
Read briefing Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia’s ‘fight for truth and justice’ in Ukraine will continue ‘through to the end’, vowing that the objectives of Moscow’s military operation will be achieved.
Read briefing Afghan taxi drivers are playing music in their cars despite it being banned by the Taliban. The drivers are risking punishment by the morality police. Music has been restricted to religious or patriotic songs approved by Taliban authorities since they returned to power in 2021.
Read briefing Dozens of countries’ delegations walked out of or were absent for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s UN General Assembly speech in protest over Israel’s war in Gaza. Here’s which countries’ seats were visibly empty — and which delegations remained.
Read briefing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the UNGA was filled with bold claims about Israel’s policies. But as delegates walked out and with Israeli elections weeks away, was his real audience at the UN, or back home? Al Jazeera’s Mohammad Saleh has the latest.
Read briefing Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif, a signatory to the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia at UNGA 81, calling threats to holy sites a ‘red line’. His remarks come as Pakistan and Turkiye send military chiefs to Riyadh for an urgent meeting.
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