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  • Pope Leo Tells US Bishops to Address Trump’s Immigration Crackdown

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    VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Leo told U.S. bishops visiting him at the Vatican on Wednesday that they should firmly address how immigrants are being treated by President Donald Trump’s hardline policies, attendees said, in the latest push by the pontiff on the issue.

    Leo, the first U.S. pope, was handed dozens of letters from immigrants describing their fears of deportation under the Trump administration’s policies during the meeting, which included bishops and social workers from the U.S.-Mexico border.

    “Our Holy Father … is very personally concerned about these matters,” El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz, who took part in the meeting, told Reuters. “He expressed his desire that the U.S. Bishops’ Conference would speak strongly on this issue.”

    “It means a lot to all of us to know of his personal desire that we continue to speak out,” said Seitz.

    The Vatican did not immediately comment on the pope’s meeting.

    Elected in May to replace the late Pope Francis, Leo has shown a much more reserved style than his predecessor, who frequently criticised the Trump administration and often spoke in surprise, off-the-cuff remarks.

    But Leo has been ramping up his criticism in recent weeks.

    The pope questioned on September 30 whether the Trump administration’s anti-immigration policies were in line with the Catholic Church’s pro-life teachings, in comments that drew heated backlash from some prominent conservative Catholics.

    The White House has said Trump was elected based on his many promises, including to deport criminal illegal aliens.

    One of the letters given to the pope on Wednesday, shared with Reuters, described a family with two members who did not have legal permission to stay in the U.S. and who were afraid to leave the house for fear of deportation.

    “I believe the Pope should speak out openly against the raids and the unfair treatment the community is experiencing,” read the letter, written in Spanish.

    Leo also met privately with a group of about 100 American Catholics involved in ministry with migrants on Tuesday evening, thanking them for their work.

    (Reporting by Joshua McElweeEditing by Ros Russell)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • After Lecornu’s Fall, All Eyes on Macron’s Next Move With France in Political Turmoil

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    PARIS (AP) — Outgoing French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, aiming to calm the political storm triggered by his resignation on Monday less than 24 hours after unveiling his ministers, faced a tight deadline Wednesday to break the deadlock caused by his departure.

    After accepting Lecornu’s resignation, President Emmanuel Macron gave him 48 hours to hold further talks with political parties, citing the need to preserve national stability.

    The tight time frame for Lecornu bought Macron some time to consider his options. But all eyes turned to Macron on Wednesday as debate swirls about how he may respond to France’s political crisis and dig himself out of the crisis.

    The fragile coalition between Macron’s centrists and the conservatives unraveled almost immediately after Lecornu’s government was announced, leaving parties deeply divided, and he failed to secure the parliamentary backing needed to pass the 2026 budget.

    Lecornu invited all political forces to talks, but far-right leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella of the National Rally party rejected the call, pressing instead for snap elections. On the far left, France Unbowed officials also boycotted.

    The French constitution gives large powers to the president, who names the prime minister. Even when weakened politically, he still holds some powers over foreign policy, European affairs and negotiates and ratifies international treaties. The president also is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

    Macron, whose approval ratings have sunk to record lows, has not indicated his next move if Lecornu fails. Rivals say his choices are limited to calling new elections, appointing a prime minister from outside his camp or resigning.

    Here is a closer look at Macron’s options:


    Choosing an outsider for a political cohabitation

    Republicans party leader Bruno Retailleau, along with the Socialists, Greens and Communists, have pushed for the inclusion of a prime minister from another party. Retailleau, who withdrew support from the government coalition, said he could join a new cabinet only under such an arrangement.

    Under cohabitation, the prime minister governs with the backing of parliament, while the president retains influence mainly over foreign policy, defense and European affairs. France has seen three such periods, most recently from 1997 to 2002, when President Jacques Chirac shared power with Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.

    The French president can dissolve the National Assembly and call elections before the end of deputies’ terms. The tool has been used repeatedly under since 1958 to resolve political crises, but it carries risks of deepening divisions.

    Macron already tried this path last year after the European elections, when the National Rally surged to a historic win. The move produced a fractured Assembly in which the far right and left now hold more than 320 seats, while centrists and conservatives control 210. That fragmentation has led to chronic instability and a rapid succession of governments.

    While unlikely to win an outright majority, the National Rally views a snap election as a golden chance to come to power. Jordan Bardella, the party president, has said he would be ready to work with Republicans MPs in order to secure a majority.


    Resignation is possible but unlikely

    Macron’s second term is set to end in May 2027 and he has repeatedly said he will not resign. But if his mind changed and he quit, the Constitutional Council would declare a vacancy, the Senate president would assume interim powers and a new presidential election would be held within 35 days.

    On the far left, Melenchon’s France Unbowed has asked for Macron’s departure.

    More surprisingly, and a sign of Macron’s growing isolation inside his own camp, Édouard Philippe, Macron’s first prime minister after he swept to power in 2017 and once a close ally, has suggested the president should step down and call an early presidential election once the 2026 budget is adopted.

    Since 1958 and the inception of the Fifth Republic, only one French president has resigned: Charles De Gaulle after losing a 1969 referendum.

    Petrequin reported from London.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • UK Prosecutor Says a Spying Case Collapsed Because the Government Wouldn’t Call China a Threat

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    Former parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash and academic Christopher Berry were charged in April 2024 with violating the Official Secrets Act by providing information or documents that could be “useful to an enemy” and “prejudicial to the safety or interests” of the U.K. between late 2021 and February 2023.

    But Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said the case collapsed because no one from the government was willing to testify “that at the time of the offense China represented a threat to national security.”

    “When this became apparent, the case could not proceed,” he wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to lawmakers on Parliament’s home affairs and justice committees.

    Under the Official Secrets Act, a statute from 1911, prosecutors would have had to show the defendants were acting for an “enemy.”

    The two men deny wrongdoing, and the Chinese Embassy has called the allegations fabricated and dismissed them as “malicious slander.”

    The case was dropped last month, weeks before the trial was due to begin, with prosecutors saying there was not enough evidence to proceed. The collapse of the case sparked allegations of political interference, which the government denies.

    British intelligence authorities have ratcheted up their warnings about Beijing’s covert activities in recent years. The government has called Beijing a strategic challenge, but not an enemy.

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the government couldn’t provide the testimony prosecutors wanted because his predecessor, who was in office at the time of the alleged spying, had not designated China a threat.

    He said evidence had to rely on the assessment of the previous Conservative government, which called China an “epoch-defining challenge.”

    “You can’t prosecute someone two years later in relation to a designation that wasn’t in place at the time,” Starmer said.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Japan’s Likely Next Prime Minister Wrestles Coalition Backlash

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    By Tamiyuki Kihara and John Geddie

    TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s likely next premier Sanae Takaichi is already facing criticism from her ruling party’s long-time coalition partner, a rift that could delay or, in an extreme scenario, jeopardise her premiership.

    Hardline conservative Takaichi, selected by the Liberal Democratic Party as its new head in a weekend vote, held a meeting on Tuesday with the leader of their moderate partner Komeito to discuss their concerns about some of her positions.

    While Takaichi is widely expected to win approval in parliament to become Japan’s first female premier later this month, it is not guaranteed as the ruling coalition does not have a majority.

    If Komeito splits, Takaichi may seek to broker alliances with other parties including the fiscally-expansionist Democratic Party for the People (DPP), further fraying investor nerves about one of the world’s most indebted countries.

    “Everybody does think that Takaichi probably has the upper hand,” said Kei Okamura, managing director at asset manager Neuberger Berman in Tokyo. “It’s just a matter of how big of a hand that is.”

    A vote in parliament had been expected to take place on October 15, but is likely to be pushed back as coalition talks rumble on, LDP sources said. U.S. President Donald Trump is due to visit Japan at the end of the month.

    OPPOSITION SEEKS ALTERNATIVE CANDIDATE

    Komeito, a socially-liberal party affiliated with a lay Buddhist organisation, has been in an alliance with the LDP since 1999, and is often seen as a brake on its more hawkish leanings like its step back from pacifism.

    The party has criticised Takaichi’s tough language on foreigners and visits to the Yasakuni Shrine – seen by neighbours as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism. It also wants the LDP to take a tougher response to a fundraising scandal that has rocked the party.

    After Tuesday’s talks, Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito told reporters he had raised these issues with Takaichi in talks that lasted around 90 minutes, but reached no conclusion.

    Meanwhile, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) has called for other parties to rally behind an alternative candidate for prime minister.

    If that happens, the DPP’s charismatic leader Yuichiro Tamaki, an advocate for major stimulus and tax cuts, would be a strong candidate, local media cited the CDP’s secretary general, Jun Azumi, as saying on Wednesday.

    Opposition parties can put forward their own candidates when parliament meets to vote on the next premier.

    Any candidate who secures a simple majority in the first round wins approval. If not, a run-off poll follows between the two candidates with the most votes.

    However, getting agreement between a disparate band of opposition parties to challenge Takaichi remains a remote possibility, political analysts say.

    Takaichi “is almost nailed on”, said Paul Nadeau, a political science associate professor at Temple University in Tokyo.

    (Reporting by Tamiyuki Kihara, John Geddie, Yoshifumi Takemoto and Rocky Swift; Writing by John Geddie; Editing by Kim Coghill)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Explainer-What the EU’s New Biometric Border Checks Mean for Non-EU Citizens

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    LONDON (Reuters) -How all non-European Union citizens, including British visitors, travel to and from the bloc will start to change from Sunday when its long-delayed new biometric entry-check system starts operations.

    The Entry/Exit System (EES) will require all non-EU citizens to register their personal details, including fingerprints and facial images, when they first enter the Schengen area – all EU nations apart from Ireland and Cyprus, plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

    Data collection will be gradually introduced at border crossings with full implementation by April 10, 2026, giving the EU confidence there will not be long queues at the border.

    WHY IS THE EU MAKING THE CHANGES?   

    The new electronic system will remove the requirement to manually stamp passports at the EU’s external border and instead create digital records that link a travel document to a person’s identity using biometrics.

    The EU wants to modernise the management of its external borders, prevent illegal migration, combat identity fraud, and identify overstayers.

    It will monitor whether people who are travelling to the bloc without a visa are sticking to its up-to-90 days stay within any 180-day period rule.

    Anyone arriving in the Schengen area for the first time will have to scan their passports, register their fingerprints and provide a facial scan.

    On departure, travellers’ details will be checked against the EES database to confirm compliance with existing rules on time limits of stay and register departure.

    Subsequent journeys will only require facial biometric verification.

    Children under 12 will need to be registered under EES but will just have their photograph taken. Travellers do not have to pay for EES.

    WHERE WILL THE CHECKS HAPPEN?

    On arrival at international airports, ports, train terminals and road border crossings in the Schengen area.

    But at the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone and Eurostar terminal at London St Pancras – EES registration will be required on departure from the UK, overseen by French border officials. Travellers arriving at their destination won’t need to do the check again until their departure.

    WILL EES’S INTRODUCTION MEAN DELAYS AT THE BORDER?

    Because EES is being gradually introduced, the EU is confident there will not be significant disruption.

    Border officials will be able to suspend checks for short periods if processing times become excessively long.

    At both the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone only freight and coach traffic will be subject to EES checks from October 12.

    Passenger vehicle checks will follow in November at Dover and by the end of the year at Eurotunnel. Eurostar has said it will gradually introduce the new border procedures.

    The British government has, however, advised travellers to allow more time for their journeys as the new EU systems bed in, while Britain’s Road Haulage Association has said there may be longer waits at busy times.

    The big test will be holiday traffic at Easter 2026 and the following summer when many families travel for the first time after EES’ introduction.

    MORE CHANGE COMING IN 2026   

    EES is a precursor to another system that is slated to become operational in late 2026 – the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS).

    Non-Schengen area citizens will then need to apply for an ETIAS authorisation, provide personal information and details about their trip and pay a 20 euro fee before they travel.

    The authorisation will be valid for three years or until a passport expires, whichever comes first.

    Since April, European visitors to Britain have had to purchase an electronic permit in advance for trips.

    (Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Taiwan Re-Appoints Former Economy Minister as APEC Summit Representative

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    TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan’s presidential office said on Wednesday it had appointed for the second year running a former economy minister as its envoy to this year’s APEC summit in South Korea, one of the few international forums both Taiwan and China take part in.

    Lin Hsin-i, also chairman of government-backed investment fund Taiwania Capital, would represent Taiwan at the summit, the presidential office said in a statement.

    Lin, who also led Taiwan’s delegation in 2005 when it was likewise held in South Korea, was the most suitable candidate to represent Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, the president’s office said.

    This year’s summit could give an opportunity for a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump.

    At last year’s summit in Peru, Lin greeted Xi with a wave but they did not speak. Lin also met then-U.S. President Joe Biden while in Lima.

    Chinese-claimed Taiwan participates as “Chinese Taipei” at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and does not send its president to summits given the political sensitivities and China’s objections, given it views the island as its own territory.

    The democratically elected government in Taipei rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.

    (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Hundreds of Hikers Rescued From Mount Everest After Severe Snowstorm

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    BEIJING (AP) — About 900 hikers, guides and other staff who were stranded by a weekend snowstorm on the Chinese side of Mount Everest have reached safety, state media said late Tuesday.

    A severe storm struck the area Saturday night, cutting off access to where the hikers were staying in tents at an altitude of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

    In all, 580 hikers and more than 300 guides, yak herders and other workers were stranded. About 350 hikers were able to descend by noon Monday and the rest had arrived by Tuesday, state media said, citing the local government.

    Some hikers reportedly had hypothermia, and the official Xinhua News Agency said about a dozen of them were escorted to a meeting point by teams with food, medicine, heating and oxygen supplies.

    The scenic area at Mount Everest in China’s Tibet region has been temporarily closed. The 8,850-meter (29,000-foot) peak, the world’s highest, straddles the border with Nepal.

    The storm struck during a weeklong holiday that ends Wednesday. Many Chinese travel at home and abroad during the holiday, which marks the anniversary of the start of Communist Party rule in China on Oct. 1, 1949.

    In Nepal, a South Korean climber died in a weekend storm near the summit of Mera Peak, a 6,476-meter (21,250-foot) Himalayan mountain south of Everest.

    Early-season snowstorms hit at least two other areas in western China over the weekend, killing one person and stranding motorists on an icy and snowy highway near a scenic hiking spot.

    More than 200 people were evacuated from a remote and rugged valley in the Qilian Mountains in Qinghai province. One person died of hypothermia and altitude sickness.

    The area is undeveloped, and authorities later warned people against entering without permission, citing the difficult terrain, unpredictable weather and an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters (13,000 feet).

    In northwest China’s Xinjiang region, the Kanas scenic area was closed after a snowstorm Sunday that stranded motorists on a nearby highway. The road had been cleared by Monday, state media said.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Britain Not Seeking Visa Deal With India, Starmer Says

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    MUMBAI (Reuters) -Britain will not pursue a visa deal with India, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, as he aims to deepen economic ties with the country following this year’s trade agreement.

    Starmer begins a two-day trip to India on Wednesday, bringing a trade mission of businesses to promote the trade deal, which was agreed in May, signed in July and due to come into effect next year.

    Starmer said that visas had blocked up previous efforts to seal a trade deal, and that, having reached an agreement which had no visa implications, he didn’t wish to revisit the issue when he meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks on Thursday.

    “That isn’t part of the plans,” he told reporters en route to India when asked about visas, adding the visit was “to take advantage of the free trade agreement that we’ve already struck”.

    “Businesses are taking advantage of that. But the issue is not about visas.”

    Starmer is trying to take a more restrictive stance on both immigration amid high public concern about the issue, as his Labour Party trails the populist Reform UK party in polls.

    He said visas would not be on the table in order to attract tech sector professionals from India, after U.S. President Donald Trump hiked fees on H-1B visas, though he said more broadly he wanted to have “top talent” in Britain.

    Asked if he would stop issuing visas to arrivals from countries who won’t take back foreign criminals or people wanted to deport, Starmer said it was a “non-issue” with India as there is a returns agreement, but it was something he would look at more broadly.

    “We are looking at whether there should be a link between visas and returns agreements,” he said.

    (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Catarina Demony)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • UK Police Arrest Two Over London Ransomware of Children’s Data

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    LONDON (Reuters) -British police said on Tuesday that they had arrested two people on suspicion of computer misuse and blackmail following a cyberattack on a London childcare company in which data on more than 8,000 children was stolen.

    The hackers declined to say how much money they were demanding from Kido International, which operates 18 nurseries in Greater London that typically serve babies up to 5-year-olds.

    The gang, which identifies itself as Radiant, reported on the attack on its dark web portal last month. It evidenced its claim by publishing the names, photos, home addresses and family contact information of 10 children it said attended one of Kido’s centres.

    London’s Metropolitan Police said the two men, aged 17 and 22, were arrested and taken into custody, where they will remain for questioning. The arrests followed an operation at several residential properties in the town of Bishop’s Stortford.

    The hack, which raises serious concerns about child safeguarding and data privacy, was the latest in a string of serious ransomware incidents in Britain that have rocked businesses in Britain this year.

    (Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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  • Putin Says Russia Has Captured 5,000 Square Kilometers in Ukraine This Year

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    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russian forces captured almost 5,000 square kilometers (1930 square miles) in Ukraine in 2025 and that Moscow retained complete strategic initiative on the battlefield.

    Kyiv was trying to strike deep into Russian territory, but it would not help it to change the situation, Putin said at a meeting with Russian top military commanders.

    (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Chris Reese)

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  • Zelenskiy Says Russia Using Tankers for Reconnaissance, Sabotage

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    KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia on Tuesday of using oil tankers for intelligence gathering and sabotage operations.

    Zelenskiy, writing in a post on Telegram after receiving a briefing from Ukraine’s foreign intelligence chief, said his country was cooperating with allies on the matter.

    “Currently, Russians are using tankers not only to earn money for the war, but also for reconnaissance and even sabotage activities. It is entirely possible to stop this,” he said.

    Speaking later in his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said foreign intelligence chief Oleh Ivashchenko described in his report how Russia was using tankers from its “shadow fleet” to “conduct sabotage and destabilising operations in Europe.”

    “Recent cases of drones being launched from tankers are one such example,” he said. “We are sharing this information with partners and it is important that their response to Russia be real.”

    (Reporting by Yuliia Dysa. Writing by Max Hunder. Editing by Mark Potter, Ron Popeski and Mark Porter)

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  • Trump Says He Is Optimistic About a Gaza Deal

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    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Two years after the Gaza conflict erupted, President Donald Trump on Tuesday pledged U.S. support for Gaza security guarantees and said he believes a deal is close to being completed for the remaining hostages.

    Talking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said, “I think there’s a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East” beyond just Gaza. He said he would discuss Gaza with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

    A U.S. official said U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who was Trump’s Middle East envoy during his first term, were headed to Egypt on Tuesday to join the negotiations there.

    The talks seem to represent the most promising negotiations yet for ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and devastated Gaza since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken back to Gaza as hostages.

    “We are very close to making a deal on the Middle East that will bring peace to the Middle East after all of these years,” Trump said at the start of an Oval Office meeting with Carney.

    Asked what security guarantees the United States was willing to offer, Trump pledged help without offering specifics.

    “We are going to do everything possible – we have a lot of power – and we’re going to do everything possible to make sure everybody adheres to the deal,” he said.

    (Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland, Editing by Franklin Paul and Rod Nickel)

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  • Explainer-How Many Palestinians Has Israel’s Gaza Offensive Killed?

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    By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Emma Farge

    CAIRO/GENEVA (Reuters) -Palestinian health authorities say Israel’s two-year-old ground and air campaign against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 67,000 people, with nearly a third of the dead under the age of 18.

    The war, triggered by the deadly October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, has focused on Gaza City since last month and the offensive has continued despite talks on U.S. President Donald Trump’s new, 20-point plan for ending the conflict.

    HOW DO GAZA HEALTH AUTHORITIES CALCULATE THE DEATH TOLL?

    The latest detailed breakdown released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health on October 7 showed 67,173 killed, including 20,179 children, accounting for 30% of the total.

    The official ministry death toll dwarfs those killed in all previous bouts of fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza since 2005, according to data from Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem.

    In the first months of the war, death tolls were calculated simply by counting bodies that arrived in hospitals, and data included names and identity numbers for most of those killed.

    In May 2024, the health ministry included unidentified bodies, which accounted for nearly a third of the overall toll. However, since October 2024, it has only encompassed identified bodies. 

    A Reuters examination in March of an earlier Gaza Health Ministry list of those killed showed that more than 1,200 families were completely wiped out, including one family of 14 people.  

    IS THE GAZA DEATH TOLL COMPREHENSIVE?

    The numbers do not necessarily reflect all victims, as the Palestinian Health Ministry estimates several thousand bodies are under rubble and it does not count the 460 malnutrition-related deaths it has recorded amid a famine in North Gaza.

    Official Palestinian tallies of direct deaths likely undercounted the number of casualties by around 40% in the first nine months of the war as Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure disintegrated, according to a peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet journal in January.

    The U.N. human rights office also says the Palestinian authorities’ figure is probably an undercount.

    The conflict deaths it has verified using its own methodology up to July 20 show that 40% were children and 22% were women.

    A U.N. inquiry assessed last month that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza – citing the scale of the killings as one of the acts backing up its finding. Israel called the finding biased and “scandalous.”

    HOW CREDIBLE IS THE GAZA DEATH TOLL?

    Pre-war Gaza had robust population statistics and better health information systems than in most Middle East countries, public health experts told Reuters.

    The U.N. often cites the health ministry’s death figures and says they are credible.

    DOES HAMAS CONTROL THE FIGURES? 

    While Hamas has run Gaza since 2007, the enclave’s Health Ministry also answers to the overall Palestinian Authority ministry in Ramallah in the West Bank. 

    Gaza’s Hamas-run government has paid the salaries of all those hired in public departments since 2007, including in the Health Ministry. The Palestinian Authority pays the salaries of those hired before then. 

    Israeli officials have said previously that the death toll figures are suspect because of Hamas’ control over government in Gaza, and that they are manipulated. 

    The Israeli military says 466 of its soldiers were killed in combat, and 2,951 others wounded since its Gaza ground operation began on October 27, 2023. 

    It also says it goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties. It says Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields by operating within densely populated areas, humanitarian zones, schools and hospitals, a repeated accusation that Hamas denies.

    The conflict began on October 7, 2023 when Hamas militants stormed across the border into Israeli communities. Israel says the militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people into captivity in Gaza, of whom some 20 are thought to be still alive there.

    HOW MANY OF THE DEAD ARE FIGHTERS?

    The Palestinian Health Ministry figures do not differentiate between civilians and Hamas combatants, who do not wear formal uniform or carry separate identification. 

    The Israeli military said in January 2025 it had killed nearly 20,000 Hamas fighters. It has not provided an update since. Such estimates are reached through a combination of counting bodies on the battlefield, intercepts of Hamas communications and intelligence assessments of personnel in targets that were destroyed. 

    Hamas has said Israeli estimates of its losses are exaggerated, without saying how many of its fighters have been killed.

    (Compiled by Emma Farge, Nidal al-Mughrabi, Ali Sawafta, James MacKenzie and Angus McDowall; editing by William Maclean, Peter Graff, Alexandra Hudson, Mark Heinrich and Deepa Babington)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Russia and India Begin Joint Military Drills in Rajasthan

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    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia and India have begun joint military drills in the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan aimed at improving counter-terrorism operations, Russia’s defence ministry said.

    The Russia-India “Indra 2025” drills are taking place at the Mahajan range in Rajasthan and will continue until October 15, the ministry said.

    “The main goal of the drills is honing the cohesion of both countries’ units in the fight against terrorism, including the perfection of counter-terrorism operations’ tactics,” the ministry said.

    “Particular attention will be paid to increasing the operational compatibility of units and exchanging the best practices in the context of modern warfare.”

    (Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Hugh Lawson)

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  • Mayor in Western Germany in Critical Condition After Stabbing, Says Source

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    DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) -A freshly elected mayor was found injured in western Germany with multiple stab wounds and her life is in danger, a security source told Reuters on Tuesday.

    Bild newspaper reported that Iris Stalzer, a Social Democrat who was due to take office after being elected mayor of Herdecke in the Ruhr region a week ago, had been found by her son.

    The case raises memories of the 2019 murder of conservative local government president Walter Luebcke, a support of then Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy, who was shot dead by a far-right activist as he smoked a late-night cigarette on his terrace at home.

    Local and regional authorities were not immediately available to comment.

    (Reporting by Matthias InverardiWriting by Thomas EscrittEditing by Sabine Wollrab and Madeline Chambers)

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  • Russia Says It Awaits Clarity on Possible US Supply of Tomahawks to Ukraine

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    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Tuesday it was waiting for clarity from the United States about the possible supply of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, saying such weapons could theoretically carry nuclear warheads.

    U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would want to know what Ukraine planned to do with Tomahawks before agreeing to provide them because he did not want to escalate the war between Russia and Ukraine. He said, however, that he had “sort of made a decision” on the matter.

    Asked about the comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We understand that we need to wait, probably, for clearer statements, if any come.”

    Peskov said that under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, U.S. practice had been to announce supplies of new weapons only once they had been delivered to Ukraine.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said in comments published on Sunday that if Washington supplied Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for long-range strikes deep into Russia, it would lead to the destruction of Moscow’s relationship with the U.S.

    Peskov said it was important to realise that “if we abstract from various nuances, we’re talking about missiles that could also be nuclear-capable. Therefore, this is truly a serious round of escalation.”

    Tomahawk missiles have a range of 2,500 km (1,550 miles), so Ukraine would be able to use them to strike targets anywhere in European Russia, including Moscow, if Trump gave the go-ahead to supply them.

    (Reporting by Reuters, Writing by Felix Light and Mark Trevelyan; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Court Releases Tunisian Man Sentenced to Death After Widespread Criticism

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    TUNIS (Reuters) -A Tunisian court released a man on Tuesday who had been sentenced to death just last week for Facebook posts criticising the president, following a wave of public criticism and human rights concerns over the case.

    Last week’s ruling was unprecedented in Tunisia, where restrictions on free speech have been tightened since President Kais Saied seized almost all powers in 2021.

    Lawyer Oussama Bouthelja confirmed the release of his client, 56-year-old Saber Chouchane. Saber’s brother, Jamal Chouchane, also said he was free, without giving details.

    Chouchane was arrested last year.

    Civil society groups and activists described last week’s ruling as a shock, and it sparked a wave of criticism and ridicule on social media among activists and ordinary Tunisians.

    Since Saied dissolved the elected parliament four years ago and started ruling by decree, Tunisia has faced growing criticism by rights groups over the erosion of judicial independence.

    (Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Aidan Lewis)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Cautious Calm in Aleppo After Clashes Between Syrian Forces and Kurdish Fighters

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    DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A cautious calm set in Tuesday morning in neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo in northern Syria after overnight clashes between Syrian security forces and Kurdish fighters.

    The violence came as tensions grow between the central government in Damascus and Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria.

    Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces targeted checkpoints of the Internal Security Forces on Monday evening, killing one and injuring four.

    SDF forces fired into residential neighborhoods in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighborhoods of Aleppo “with mortar shells and heavy machine guns” and there were civilian casualties, but it was not clear how many were wounded and killed, SANA reported.

    The SDF denied attacking the checkpoints and said its forces withdrew from the area months ago.

    Syrian state-run TV reported Tuesday morning that a ceasefire had been reached without giving further details.

    The new leadership in Damascus led by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the former leader of an Islamist insurgent group that helped overthrow former Syrian President Bashar Assad, inked a deal in March with the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which controls much of the country’s northeast.

    Under the agreement, the SDF was to merge its forces with the new Syrian army, but implementation has stalled.

    Damascus seeks to consolidate control over all of Syria, while the SDF wants to maintain the de facto autonomy of northeast Syria from the central state. Syria held parliamentary elections Sunday in most areas of Syria, but voting was not held in SDF-controlled areas.

    In April, scores of SDF fighters left the two predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo as part of the deal with Damascus.

    The SDF issued a statement Tuesday accusing government military factions of carrying out “repeated attacks” against civilians in the two Aleppo neighborhoods and imposing a siege on them.

    Government forces then attempted “to advance with tanks and armored vehicles, targeting residential areas with mortar shells and drone strikes, which has led to civilian casualties and significant damage to property,” the SDF said, which “provoked the residents and pushed them to defend themselves, alongside the internal security forces in the neighborhoods.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Former French PM Philippe in Favour of Early Presidential Election

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    PARIS (Reuters) -Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Tuesday that he was in favour of an early presidential election, due to the current political crisis engulfing the country.

    Philippe, once a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, said he favoured new presidential elections in an interview with radio station RTL, following the Monday resignation of outgoing Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, whose government was rejected by both allies and opponents.

    Philippe’s comments were echoed by Jordan Bardella, the leader of the far-right party National Rally, who said in a separate interview on BFM TV that he supported first a dissolution of the parliament, followed by parliamentary elections or early presidential elections.

    (Reporting by Inti Landauro, Bertrand Boucey and Nicolas Delame;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)

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  • Two Years After She Was Pictured in Grief, Gaza Woman Faces More Misery

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    GAZA, October 7 (Reuters) -Two years of Israeli bombardment of Gaza has piled grief upon grief for displaced Palestinian Inas Abu Maamar.

    In the first days of the war, a Reuters photograph showed Abu Maamar stricken in a hospital morgue, cradling the shrouded body of her five-year-old niece Saly.

    Since then, Israeli airstrikes and tank shells have killed many of her close relatives and left her bereaved, hungry and homeless, caring for her orphaned young nephew.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has embraced a plan by U.S. President Donald Trump for Gaza, and Hamas has partially accepted it, but there is no certainty over when or whether the plan will end the war.

    All previous efforts to halt the conflict since Israel began its offensive in response to Hamas’ deadly attack on October 7, 2023, have collapsed.

    ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE KILLED YOUNG NIECE

    Saly was killed when an Israeli missile struck the family home in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem found Abu Maamar embracing her body at the Nasser Hospital morgue in Khan Younis on October 17, 2023.

    The blast also killed Abu Maamar’s aunt and uncle, her sister-in-law and her cousins, as well as Saly’s baby sister Seba. This summer, her father and her brother Ramez, Saly’s father, were killed while bringing food back to the family.

    They are among more than 67,000 Palestinians who local health authorities say have been killed by Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Thousands more are believed to be lying dead under the rubble but not counted in the official death toll.

    “The war destroyed us all. It destroyed our family, destroyed our homes. It left pain and loss in our hearts,” said Abu Maamar, who is now 38.

    Israel launched its offensive in retaliation for the attack exactly two years ago in which Hamas gunmen burst through border defences from Gaza, killed about 1,200 people and dragged another 250 back into the enclave as hostages.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will pursue the war until the Palestinian militant group has been destroyed, and the army has intensified its campaign by pushing again into Gaza City in the north.

    The Israeli military says it tries to avoid civilian casualties but strikes at Hamas wherever it sees militants emerge, accusing the group of hiding among the civilian population. Hamas denies that.

    LIFE IS TOUGH IN CROWDED TENT ENCAMPMENT

    Abu Maamar and her remaining relatives have fled waves of Israeli bombing and ground incursions several times over the past two years and are now living in a crowded tent encampment on bare sand near the beach.

    Conditions are harsh. Sickness is rife. Food and clean water are scarce. Israeli bombardments terrify the traumatised population.

    Abu Maamar’s greatest concern is for her nephew Ahmed, the son of Ramez and younger brother of Saly.

    Having lost his mother, both sisters and maternal grandparents 10 days into the conflict, he lost his father and paternal grandfather when they were killed while fetching food in June after it had run out the previous day, Abu Maamar said.

    “His father would take him around, play with him, take him to the beach, take him around to see his aunts,” Abu Maamar said of her nephew.

    “His life really changed now. He’s in the tent 24 hours (each day),” she said.

    After his father’s death, Ahmed spent a lot of time with a cat he named Loz. The cat died in August, Abu Maamar said.

    CONCERN THAT THE WAR IS NOT ABOUT TO END

    When Reuters interviewed Abu Maamar a year ago, she said she was “waiting for the cascade of blood to stop”.

    She is still waiting, and fears the latest moves to end the war will fail unless Trump puts more pressure on Israel.

    “It is enough for us. What we lost is enough. A lot of our loved ones are gone, we lost them. We left (our homes) with them, and we will return without them,” she said on Sunday.

    “My only fear is for the war to continue. We do not want it to continue. We want it to end once and for all.”

    (Reporting by Ramadan Abed, Writing by Angus McDowall, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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