Jerusalem (AFP) – Israeli defence minister Israel Katz says that the military’s offensive in Gaza City has so far displaced approximately 900,000 Palestinians. Israeli forces have carried out a sweeping air and ground assault in recent weeks around the city.
Pjöngjang (AFP) – North Korean state media releases images of leader Kim Jong Un attending the opening ceremony of the Defence Development-2025 in Pyongyang on October 4. During his address, Kim reportedly said North Korea had deployed “special assets” in response to what he called Washington’s arms build-up in the South.
Mumbai (AFP) – Bulldozers are expected to soon rumble into Dharavi, in the heart of the Indian megapolis of Mumbai, flattening its labyrinth of alleyways to make way for a brand-new neighbourhood. The $8 billion reconstruction plan promises new homes and infrastructure, but it also runs the risk of uprooting hundreds of thousands of residents.
Luxor (AFP) – The tomb of Pharoah Amenhotep III, one of the largest in southern Egypt’s Valley of the Kings and Queens, is officially opened to the public, after years of restoration. Decades of deterioration had left the structure at risk of collapse. Carved into the hillside on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, the tomb is “decorated with wall paintings that are among the most exquisite of those surviving in the royal tombs of the Eighteenth Dynasty”, according to Japan’s UNESCO mission.
Prag (AFP) – Czechs head to the polls for the second and final day of a general election in which the party of self-described “Trumpist” billionaire Andrej Babis is a frontrunner — something that could weaken Prague’s support for Ukraine and affect ties with the European Union. Babis looks set to win the election, scoring 37.6 percent of the vote with over 60 percent counted, according to interim official results.
Nuseirat (AFP) – Gazans and Israelis are hopeful after Islamist group Hamas said it is ready to start talks to resolve all outstanding issues under US President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire deal. The group said Friday that it was ready to release all hostages held in the Gaza Strip, but did not address calls for its disarmament and its exile from the Palestinian territory after the war’s end.
Antananarivo (AFP) – Police fire tear gas at protesters in Madagascar, who flee and take refuge inside a maternity hospital in Antananarivo. Addressing the president, protester Ricardo Rakotomalala says: “Get out, we’re really fed up with you. We’re not joking.” The United Nations says at least 22 people have been killed and hundreds injured since near-daily demonstrations called by a movement known as Gen Z Mada started.
Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump pledges in a brief video that all sides will be treated fairly in Gaza talks, as he hails Hamas’s apparent agreement to free hostages as a “special day”. “Everybody was unified in wanting this war to end,” Trump says in the message on his Truth Social network.
Rabat (AFP) – Youth-led protests demanding reforms to public healthcare and education take place in Morocco’s capital Rabat for a seventh day in a row. The protests, called by the online-based GenZ 212 group whose organisers remain unknown, also call on the kingdom’s premier to resign.
Tokyo (AFP) – Japan’s ruling party begins voting to choose its fifth leader in as many years, with the eventual winner almost certain to be approved by parliament as prime minister. The frontrunners for the Liberal Democratic Party’s top seat are Sanae Takaichi, a China hawk who would be Japan’s first woman premier, and the youthful but potentially out-of-his-depth Shinjiro Koizumi. IMAGES
Chan Junis (AFP) – Gazans scramble to receive hot meals distributed by a Turkish foundation and organised by local volunteers at a charity kitchen in Khan Yunis. The Israeli military is waging an air and ground offensive on the territory’s largest urban centre, from which hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee.
Luxemburg (AFP) – Following his swearing-in ceremony, Guillaume, the new Grand Duke of Luxembourg, comes out to greet the crowd from the balcony of the Grand Ducal Palace. He is accompanied by his wife, Grand Duchess Stéphanie and then joined by their children, their families, and the Belgian and Dutch royal families.
