Israel’s settler outposts choke Palestinian life in West Bank’s villages
On a sweltering summer day, the insides of villagers’ homes in Ras Ein al-Auja smelled of rot. The villagers said that the day before, settlers had – not for the first time – severed the power lines between their homes and the off-grid electricity networks the community had built up with help from humanitarian organisations, causing the food in their refrigerators to spoil. Israeli authorities have long denied access to basic services such as water, electricity and sanitation to this Palestinian community and others in Area C, and almost all of these communities face demolition orders. Israel typically accuses Palestinians of building without permits to justify the orders, but it makes it near impossible to acquire the permits. The Israeli military did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment for this article. According to Ghawanmeh, Israeli settlers from the three surrounding outposts – all established in the past two years – cut the off-grid electricity systems “five or six times a week”. Last year, settlers prohibited the Bedouins from accessing the al-Auja spring, which locals depend on for both their herds’ and their own water needs. The Palestinian villagers and local reports indicate that Israeli military forces allowed the settlers to block access to the spring. Now, all of the land where the Palestinian locals had grazed their herds is off-limits, forcing them to keep their livestock penned up. Ibrahim Kaabneh, 35, has only 40 sheep and goats left. He once had 250, but he said he sold most of his herd after he and a relative were attacked by settlers last year and the settlers stole his relatives’ herd. “I needed to get money to feed the rest of the herd before they would die or be stolen by the settlers,” he said inside his sparse family home with his children looking on quietly in the summer heat. With settlers attacking them if they bring out their herds to graze and no longer able to access the water spring as well as being denied access to the nearby water pipes connected to Israeli settlements, Kaabneh now must spend about 200 shekels ($60) a day on fodder for his animals while paying for water tanks every two days. “Even the livestock that we still have, we feel like they’re not ours,” Kaabneh said. “Any moment, they can be stolen. Any moment, they can be attacked.” Kaabneh lives about 200 metres (220 yards) away from a second Israeli outpost that was established a year ago. The outpost, containing a corrugated iron pen allegedly stolen from an already-expelled Bedouin community nearby, is a preview of what the newest outpost will look like as it expands, according to locals. The outpost established in August is even closer to the Bedouins living here. This has added to the fears among community members who feel “suffocated” by encroaching settlers. Since the war in Gaza started, settlers have burned homes in the community and are alleged to have assaulted community members, including Kaabneh’s uncle, who was struck by a bulldozer. Settlers also come to the village inappropriately dressed or drunk, the Palestinians say. Kaabneh says he has trouble sleeping, and he is wary of leaving his home even to get groceries because he fears for his family. Women and children avoid leaving their homes for more than an hour or two at a time. An access road to the community – built with funding from the United States Agency for International Development, as a billboard attests – now has at its entrance a series of concrete blocks painted with Israeli flags, and community members face constant harassment to run the most basic of errands. “Once we step outside of the house, it seems like we’re doing something wrong or we’re doing something illegal,” Ghawanmeh explained. “Children, the women and everyone here is in constant fear and in constant danger whenever they leave the house for whatever necessary reason.” “What we are living at the moment is a disaster,” he continued. “To move from accessing 20,000 dunums of land to accessing nothing and from having a free water source to now not having it at all is crippling.” Adblock test (Why?)
Trump asks Supreme Court to let it cut billions in foreign aid
Published On 8 Sep 20258 Sep 2025 Days after a federal judge ruled that United States President Donald Trump’s administration cannot unilaterally slash billions in foreign aid funding, the Department of Justice has asked the Supreme Court to intervene. In a court filing on Monday, lawyers for the administration asked for an emergency stay to halt the order issued by the lower court and allow the administration to continue to withhold about $4bn in congressionally approved funds. Last month, Trump said he would not spend the money, invoking disputed authority that was last used by a US president roughly 50 years ago. Last week, US District Judge Amir Ali ruled that the Republican administration’s decision to withhold the funding was likely illegal. The money at issue in the case was approved by Congress for foreign aid, United Nations peacekeeping operations and democracy-promotion efforts overseas. The Justice Department said in its filing on Monday that the administration views the $4bn of disputed foreign aid funding as “contrary to US foreign policy”. Congress budgeted billions in foreign aid last year, about $11bn of which must be spent or obligated before a deadline of September 30 – the last day of the US government’s current fiscal year – lest it expire. After being sued by aid groups that expected to compete for the funding, the administration said last month that it intended to spend $6.5bn of the disputed funds. Trump also sought to block $4bn of the funding through an unusual step called a “pocket rescission”, which bypasses Congress. Advertisement Ali ruled on Wednesday that the administration cannot simply choose to withhold the money and it must comply with appropriations laws unless Congress changes them. The judge’s injunction “raises a grave and urgent threat to the separation of powers”, Justice Department lawyers wrote in Monday’s filing, adding that it would be “self-defeating and senseless for the executive branch to obligate the very funds that it is asking Congress to rescind”. Under the US Constitution, the government’s executive, legislative and judicial branches are assigned different powers. Trump budget director Russell Vought has argued that the president can withhold funds for 45 days after requesting a rescission, which would run out the clock until the end of the fiscal year. The White House said the tactic was last used in 1977. Lauren Bateman, a lawyer for a group of plaintiffs, said on Monday that the administration is asking the Supreme Court “to defend the illegal tactic of a pocket rescission.” “The administration is effectively asking the Supreme Court to bless its attempt to unlawfully accumulate power,” Bateman said. In recent months, the Supreme Court has issued a number of decisions in Trump’s favour through the use of emergency rulings – rarely requested by previous administrations but which Trump has sought and received in record number. From the beginning of his second term in January to early August, Trump had sought 22 emergency rulings, surpassing the 19 requested in all four years of President Joe Biden’s administration and nearly three times as many as the eight requested during each of the presidencies of Barack Obama and George W Bush, both of whom served two terms, or eight years. The rulings differ from typical cases in that they are often issued in extremely short, unsigned orders that give little in the way of legal reasoning despite the high stakes involved. That lack of transparency has led to criticism from legal scholars as well as rare pushback from federal judges. As of August, the court had sided with Trump in 16 out of the 22 emergency ruling cases. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel intensifies Gaza City destruction, bombs another high-rise tower
Israel has destroyed another high-rise in Gaza City, bringing the number of buildings razed during its campaign to seize the largest urban centre in the Gaza Strip to at least 50, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence. The attack on Al-Ruya Tower on Sunday came as Israeli forces killed at least 65 people across the Gaza Strip, including 49 in the northern part of the besieged enclave. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The Israeli military said it struck Al-Ruya Tower on Sunday after issuing an evacuation threat, forcing residents and displaced families sheltering in makeshift tents in the neighbourhood to flee. The head of the Palestinian NGOs Network, Amjad Shawa, who was near the site of the attack, told Al Jazeera that the situation “is scary”, with panic spreading among the people. “Today, hundreds of families lost their shelters. Israel [is] aiming to force Palestinians to the southern areas using these explosions, but everyone knows that there is no safe place in the south or any humanitarian zone,” Shawa said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the military was “eliminating terrorist infrastructure and nefarious terrorist high-rises”, a talking point that Israel often repeats as it obliterates civilian infrastructure in Gaza. The attack on Al-Ruya – a five-storey building with 24 apartments, as well as department stores, a clinic and a gym – follows an earlier one on the Al Jazeera Club in central Gaza City, where tents housing displaced families were also hit. It comes after Israel targeted the 15-storey Soussi Tower on Saturday and the 12-storey Mushtaha Tower on Friday. Several Palestinians sheltering in tent encampments around those towers were wounded. One family that had their shelter destroyed when the Soussi Tower was reduced to rubble said, “We have nothing left for us.” Advertisement “We quickly left the building without bringing anything with us. The Israelis attacked the building half an hour later,” the Palestinian man said. “Now, we are trying to stay away from the eyes of the other people by trying to sew some fabrics and sheets,” he said, referring to his family’s attempt to put up a new shelter. Israeli escalation in Gaza City Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan for the military occupation of Gaza City in August, a move Netanyahu suggested had already led to the displacement of 100,000 Palestinians. As Israel pushes to displace residents of Gaza City to the south of the enclave, Palestinians have been saying that nowhere is safe in the territory. Gaza’s Ministry of Interior issued a statement on Sunday warning Palestinians in Gaza City not to trust Israel’s claim that it had set up a humanitarian zone in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis. “We call on citizens in Gaza City to beware of the occupation’s deceitful claims about the existence of a humanitarian safe zone in the south of the Strip,” it said in a statement. The Israeli military had designated al-Mawasi a “humanitarian zone” early on in its campaign against Gaza. Since then, it has been bombed repeatedly. Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported that “every five to 10 minutes, you can hear the sounds of explosions from all directions in Gaza City”, including heavy bombing in the Sabra and Zeitoun neighbourhoods. “Israeli forces are using remotely controlled explosive robots, and detonating them in residential streets, destroying neighbourhoods,” he said. In Sheikh Radwan, Mahmoud added, homes, public facilities, schools and a mosque had been hit. Rescuers reported that at least eight Palestinians, including children, were killed when Israeli forces bombed the al-Farabi school-turned-shelter, west of Gaza City. Sohaib Foda, who was sleeping on a mattress in Gaza City’s al-Farabi School when the attack took place, said the attack left her and a young relative wounded. “I heard a thud, and a block fell on my face. My cousin’s daughter, who was sleeping here, got injured and fell beside me. Another block then fell on her head,” Foda said. “Everyone was screaming. I was scared. When I touched my face, it was covered in blood, and I realised I had been injured.” Mohammed Ayed, who witnessed the attack, said the school was hit by two rockets. He said teams were still working in the rubble to rescue missing people or recover their remains. “We have recovered two hands so far,” he said. “As you can see, these are children’s hands.” Advertisement Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 64,368 Palestinians and wounded 162,776 since October 2023, according to Gaza’s health authorities. Thousands more remain buried under the rubble as famine continues to spread across the enclave. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, meanwhile, said at least five people, including three children, have starved to death in Gaza over the past day. These figures bring the total number of malnutrition deaths in Gaza to 387, including 138 children, since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza. Since the global hunger monitor, IPC, confirmed the famine in northern Gaza on August 22, at least 109 hunger-related deaths have been recorded, 23 of them children, the ministry added. Academics, United Nations experts and leading rights groups have described the horrific Israeli atrocities in Gaza as a genocide. Later on Sunday, United States President Donald Trump suggested that he put forward a new proposal to end the war in Gaza, calling it a “final warning” for Hamas. The Palestinian group acknowledged receiving “ideas” from the US, saying that it welcomes any efforts to reach a lasting ceasefire. Adblock test (Why?)
Australia ‘mushroom murderer’ Erin Patterson sentenced to life in prison
Published On 8 Sep 20258 Sep 2025 An Australian judge has sentenced a woman convicted of killing three of her estranged husband’s relatives with toxic mushrooms to life in prison, with a non-parole period of 33 years. The sentence on Monday came after a jury found Erin Patterson guilty of killing her mother-in-law and father-in-law, Gail and Donald Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, by serving them a lunch of Beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The 50-year-old was also convicted of attempting to murder Wilkinson’s husband, Ian, who spent weeks in a hospital. Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon, was invited but did not attend the July 2023 lunch served at her home in Leongatha, some 135km (84 miles) southeast of Melbourne. Justice Christopher Beale said that the substantial planning of the murders and Patterson’s lack of remorse meant her sentence should be lengthy. “The devastating impact of your crimes is not limited to your direct victims. Your crimes have harmed a great many people,” he said at the hearing in Melbourne. “Not only did you cut short three lives and cause lasting damage to Ian Wilkinson’s health, thereby devastating the extended Patterson and Wilkinson families, you inflicted untold suffering on your own children, whom you robbed of their beloved grandparents,” he added. Life sentence Both prosecution and defence lawyers had agreed that a life sentence was an appropriate punishment for Patterson on three counts of murder and one of attempted murder. The defence lawyers had asked for Patterson to become eligible for parole after serving 30 years. Prosecutors had argued she should never be considered for parole because she did not deserve the court’s mercy. Advertisement Beale on Monday agreed that Patterson should receive the maximum penalty, and gave her three life sentences for the counts of murder and a 25-year-prison sentence for the count of attempted murder. All of the sentences are to be served concurrently. Beale gave her a chance at parole, however, after she serves a minimum period of 33 years. This means she will be 81 before she can be considered for release. In his remarks, Beale said Patterson had also intended to kill her husband if he had accepted his invitation to lunch. She had pretended to have been diagnosed with cancer as a reason to bring them together, and claimed to have wanted advice on how to break the news to her two children, who were not present at the lunch. Beale accepted Ian Wilkinson’s account that the guests were served grey plates while Patterson ate from an orange-tan plate. This was to ensure she did not accidentally eat a poisoned meal, Beale said. The judge said he would not speculate on her motive. Patterson maintained that she had added foraged mushrooms to the meals by accident. Patterson has been in custody since she was charged on November 2, 2023. A corrections officer has previously told the court that she was being kept in isolation for her own safety, and was permitted contact with only one other prisoner who is in jail for “terrorism” offences. Patterson now has 28 days to appeal her sentence, but has not indicated whether she will do so. ‘Half-alive’ The deaths have devastated the close-knit rural community of Korumburra, where all the victims lived. The court received a total of 28 victim impact statements, of which seven were read publicly at last month’s hearings. Ian Wilkinson, a pastor at a local church and the sole surviving guest of the lunch, told last month’s hearing that the death of his wife had left him bereft. “It’s a truly horrible thought to live with, that somebody could decide to take her life. I only feel half alive without her,” he said, breaking down in tears as he delivered his victim impact statement. The extraordinary media interest in the case, which gripped Australia for much of the 10-week trial, had been traumatic for the family, Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon, said at the same hearing. Journalists and television crews from around the world descended on the town of Morwell when the trial began in April, with millions of Australians following proceedings live through one of several popular daily podcasts. For the first time in its history, the Supreme Court of Victoria on Monday allowed a television camera into the court to broadcast Beale’s sentencing remarks live due to overwhelming public interest. Advertisement The trial has already inspired several books, documentaries, and a drama series, Toxic, set to air on state broadcaster ABC. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,292
Here are the key events on day 1,292 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Published On 8 Sep 20258 Sep 2025 Here is how things stand on Monday, September 8: Fighting Russia launched its largest air attack of the war on Ukraine on Sunday, killing at least four people, including a one-year-old baby, and wounding 44 others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The attack also set the main government building in central Kyiv on fire. It marked the first time that the building had been hit since the war began. “Such killings now, when real diplomacy could have already begun long ago, are a deliberate crime and a prolongation of the war,” Zelenskyy said in a post on social media, issuing a new appeal to allies to strengthen Ukrainian air defences. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 810 drones and 13 missiles during the attack, which caused damage across the country, including the cities of Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih and Odesa, as well as in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions. Other Russian attacks killed three in the Zaporizhia region, two in Donetsk, a 66-year-old woman in Kharkiv, a 51-year-old woman in Sumy, and a 54-year-old man in the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to Ukrainian officials. In Russian-occupied Donetsk, the TASS news agency reported that a Ukrainian attack injured six civilians. The Russian state media outlet cited Denis Pushilin, the head of the Moscow-installed authorities in Donetsk. Ukrainian forces also attacked the Druzhba oil pipeline in Russia’s Bryansk region, inflicting “comprehensive fire damage”, the commander of Ukraine’s drone forces, Robert Brovdi, said on Telegram on Sunday. The Russian Ministry of Defence said that its forces shot down 210 Ukrainian drones and three aerial bombs in a 24-hour period. TASS also reported that Russia’s military has occupied the settlement of Khoroshe in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region. Sanctions and economic situation Advertisement US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the United States and Europe could prompt Russian President Vladimir Putin to enter peace talks with Ukraine by imposing more sanctions on Moscow, as well as “secondary tariffs” on the countries that buy Russian oil. “The Russian economy will be in full collapse, and that will bring President Putin to the table,” Bessent said on NBC’s Meet the Press. US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said he is ready to move to a second phase of sanctioning Russia. He did not elaborate. Later on Sunday, he said that individual European leaders would visit the US on Monday or Tuesday to discuss how to resolve the war. The US president said he would speak to Putin soon, too. A tanker carrying liquefied natural gas from Russia’s sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project departed from a Chinese port, ship tracking data showed on Sunday. The Russian-flagged tanker, with a cargo of 150,000 cubic metres (about 40 million gallons) of LNG, was loaded up at the Arctic LNG 2 facility in Gydan in northern Siberia on July 19, LSEG data showed, and was the second from the sanctioned project to dock in China this year. Politics and Diplomacy The US envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, condemned the latest Russian air attack on Ukraine, saying it “was not a signal that Russia wants to diplomatically end this war”. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also said in a statement that he was appalled by Russia’s “latest brutal overnight assault on Kyiv and across Ukraine, which killed civilians and hit infrastructure”. Adblock test (Why?)
Gaza war film The Voice of Hind Rajab wins 2nd prize at Venice festival
A harrowing docudrama about Israel’s killing of a five-year-old Palestinian girl during its ongoing war on Gaza has won the Silver Lion prize at the Venice Film Festival. The Voice of Hind Rajab, by French-Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, came in second on Saturday to the movie Father Mother Sister Brother by United States indie director Jim Jarmusch. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The film tells the true story of Hind Rajab, who was killed by Israeli forces last year, as she and her family tried to evacuate Gaza City. It uses real audio from Rajab’s hours-long call to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, in which rescuers tried to reassure her as she lay trapped in a bullet-ridden car with the bodies of her aunt, uncle and three cousins, who had all been killed by Israeli fire. The girl was then also killed, as were the two ambulance workers who went to the scene to try and rescue her. The film was the most talked-about movie on the Venice Lido and tipped by many as the likely winner after a 23-minute standing ovation at its premiere on Wednesday. Ben Hania, accepting her award, said Rajab’s story was not just that of the young girl, but tragically that of “an entire people enduring genocide”. “Cinema cannot bring Hind back, nor can it erase the atrocity committed against her. Nothing can ever restore what was taken, but cinema can preserve her voice, make it resonate across borders,” the director said. “Her voice will continue to echo until accountability is real, until justice is served.” Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, including more than 18,000 children, cast a long shadow over this year’s festival. Jarmusch, who won the coveted Golden Lion, signalled his opposition to Israel’s continued siege and bombardment of Gaza by wearing a badge saying “Enough” at the award ceremony. Advertisement Earlier in the weekend, when he had unveiled Father Mother Sister Brother, the 72-year-old director acknowledged that he was concerned that one of his main distributors had taken money from a company with ties to the Israeli military. Jarmusch’s winning film stars Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver and Tom Waits, and is a three-part meditation on the uneasy ties between parents and their adult children. He called Saturday’s win an “unexpected honour” and thanked the grand jury for “appreciating our quiet film”. In other categories, Italy’s Toni Servillo was named best actor for his wry portrayal of a weary president nearing the end of his mandate, in La Grazia, while China’s Xin Zhilei won best actress for her role in The Sun Rises On Us All, a drama that delves into questions of sacrifice, guilt and unresolved feelings between estranged lovers who share a dark secret. The best director nod went to Benny Safdie for The Smashing Machine, which starred Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the role of the real-life mixed martial arts pioneer Mark Kerr. The special jury award went to Italy’s Gianfranco Rosi for his black-and-white documentary Below the Clouds, about life in the chaotic southern city of Naples, marked by repeated earthquakes and the threat of volcanic eruptions. Servillo, who won best actor, was one of several award-winners to speak about Gaza from the stage, expressing “admiration” for activists on a flotilla of boats attempting to break Israel’s siege of Gaza. They “have decided to set sail with courage to reach Palestine and to bring a sign of humanity to a land where human dignity is daily and cruelly demeaned”, Servillo said. Annapurna Roy, who won the best director prize in the Horizons sidebar, a discovery section led by French filmmaker Julia Ducournau, also devoted part of her remarks to the conflict in Gaza. Roy, who is Indian, won the award for her debut feature, Songs of Forgotton Trees, about two migrant women in Mumbai. “Every child deserves peace, freedom, liberation, and Palestine is no exception,” Roy said. “I stand beside Palestine. I might upset my country, but it doesn’t matter to me any more.” Armani Beauty’s audience award winning filmmaker Maryam Touzani (Calle Málaga) also spotlighted the conflict in Gaza. “How many mothers have been made childless?” she said. “How many more until this horror is brought to an end? We refuse to lose our humanity.” The Venice festival marks the start of the awards season, and regularly throws up big favourites for the Oscars, with films premiering there over the past four years collecting more than 90 Oscar nominations and winning almost 20. Advertisement Among the movies that left Venice empty-handed were a trio of Netflix pictures, Kathryn Bigelow’s nuclear thriller A House of Dynamite, Guillermo del Toro’s re-telling of Frankenstein, and Noah Baumbach’s comedy-drama Jay Kelly. No Other Choice by South Korea’s Park Chan-wook also failed to secure an award, despite strong reviews; likewise, Bugonia by Yorgos Lanthimos, which starred Emma Stone. Adblock test (Why?)
Trump threatens ‘war’ on Chicago as thousands protest federal crackdown
United States President Donald Trump has threatened to unleash his newly rebranded “Department of War” on Chicago, as thousands of protesters marched in the city as well as in Washington, DC, to denounce the deployment of National Guard troops and immigration agents to Democratic-led cities. Trump’s threat, posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, featured a parody image from the movie Apocalypse Now, showing a ball of flames as helicopters zoom over the skyline of Chicago, the US’s third-largest city. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning,’” Trump wrote on his social media site. “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.” The president offered no details beyond the label “Chipocalypse Now,” a play on the title of Francis Ford Coppola’s dystopian 1979 film set in the Vietnam war, in which a character says, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning”. The post from Trump follows his repeated threats to add Chicago to the list of other Democratic-led cities he has targeted for expanded federal enforcement. His administration is set to step up immigration enforcement in Chicago, as it did in Los Angeles, and deploy National Guard troops. Democratic Governor of Illinois JB Pritzker, where Chicago is located, voiced outrage at Trump’s post and said the state “won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator”. “The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal,” he wrote in a post on X. Thousands of demonstrators participate in the ‘We Are All DC’ national march, in solidarity with DC communities, and call for an end to Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in the US capital [Amid Farahi/AFP] Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also denounced Trump’s threat as “beneath the honor of our nation”. Advertisement “The reality is that he wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution. We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump,” Johnson wrote on X. Protests in Chicago, DC In addition to sending troops to Los Angeles in June, Trump has deployed them since last month in Washington, DC, as part of his unprecedented law enforcement takeover of the country’s capital. He has also suggested that Baltimore and New Orleans could get the same treatment and, on Friday, even mentioned federal authorities possibly heading for Portland, Oregon, to “wipe ’em out”, meaning the protesters. The US president on Friday also signed an order changing the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, saying it sends “a message of victory” to the world. The troop and federal agent deployments have prompted legal challenges and protests, with critics calling them an authoritarian show of force. On Saturday, more than a thousand protesters marched through the streets of downtown Chicago, with signs bearing slogans like “I.C.E. out of Illinois, I.C.E. out of everywhere”, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). Speakers offered the crowd instructions on what to do if encountering ICE agents. They also drew comparisons between the proposed ICE crackdown on Chicago and Israel’s presence in Gaza. “We are inspired by the steadfastness of Palestinians in Gaza, and it is why we refuse to cower to Trump and his threats,” Nazek Sankari, co-chair of the US Palestinian Community Network, said to the crowd as many waved Palestinian flags and donned keffiyehs. Viviana Barajas, leader with the community organisation Palenque LSNA, promised that Chicagoans would “stand up” as Los Angeles had if Trump deployed the National Guard in their city. “If he thinks these frivolous theatrics to undermine our sovereignty will shut out the passion we have for protecting our people, this is Chicago, and he is sorely mistaken,” Barajas said. “We have been studying LA and DC, and they have stood up for their cities.” In the US capital, protesters at the “We Are All DC” march, who also included supporters of Palestinian statehood, marched behind a bright red banner reading, “END THE D.C. OCCUPATION”, in English and Spanish. They chanted slogans denouncing Trump and carried posters, some of which read, “Trump must go now,” “Free DC”, and “Resist Tyranny”. Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro, reporting from Washington, DC, said the protesters were “furious” of Trump’s order, and were calling him “a fascist and an authoritarian”. Advertisement She noted that Trump had deployed the 2,000 troops last month to fight what he called a surge in violent crime, but that such offences in the US capital last year had hit “a 30-year low”. Mark Fitzpatrick, a former US diplomat who has been a DC resident for about a decade, told The Associated Press news agency on Saturday that he was worried about the “authoritarian nature” in which the administration is treating DC. “Federal agents, national guards patrolling our streets, that’s really an affront to the democracy of our city,” he said, adding that it is worse for DC residents due to their lack of federal representation. “We don’t have our own senators or members of the House of Representatives, so we’re at the mercy of a dictator like this, a wanna-be dictator.” Among the protesters on Saturday was Jun Lee, a printmaker artist, who showed up with a “Free DC” sign that she made on a woodcut block. She said she came to the protest because she was “saddened and heartbroken” about the impact of the federal intervention on her city. “This is my home, and I never, ever thought all the stuff that I watched in a history documentary that I’m actually living in person, and this is why this is important for everyone. This is our home; we need to fight, we need to resist,” she said. Trump has suggested that he has nearly limitless powers when it comes to deploying the National Guard. At times he has even touched on questions about his being a dictator. “Most
US Open: Sabalenka wins second straight title, defeats Anisimova
World number one Aryna Sabalenka defended her US Open title with a straight-sets victory against Wimbledon runner-up Amanda Anisimova. Published On 7 Sep 20257 Sep 2025 Aryna Sabalenka retained her US Open crown with a 6-3, 7-6(3) win over American eighth seed Amanda Anisimova in the women’s final on Saturday, underlining her claim as the modern queen of the hardcourt. The Belarusian has not missed a hardcourt major final since 2022. Her latest trophy brings her Grand Slam haul to four, as she becomes the first woman to win back-to-back US Opens since Serena Williams claimed three consecutive titles from 2012 to 2014. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The battle between two of tennis’s hardest-hitting, biggest-serving women boiled down to unforced errors, as Sabalenka kept them down to 15 compared with 29 from her opponent. “I want to thank everyone who came here, who flew in to be there in my box,” said Sabalenka, who fell to her knees after clinching the match with an un-returnable serve, and jumped up and down with her coaches in the stands in a scene of utter joy. “I’m going to reach a lot more finals, and I don’t care where you are in the world, I want you in my box.” Playing in only her second major final, New Jersey-born Anisimova had the partisan fans at the famed Arthur Ashe Stadium on her side, but could never hang onto the momentum. “It’s been a great summer. Losing in two finals in a row is great, but it’s also super hard,” said 24-year-old Anisimova, who was left in tears yet again after the heartbreak of her 6-0, 6-0 drubbing in the Wimbledon final two months ago. “I didn’t fight hard enough for my dreams today.” Sabalenka became the first woman to win the US Open in consecutive years since Serena Williams in 2014 [Timothy A Clary/AFP] Sabalenka sets the tone early Sabalenka, 27, had ice in her veins as she saved three break points in a nervy first game, and Anisimova handed over the early break when she sent a shot past the baseline in the second. Advertisement Anisimova hit her stride when she won a 12-shot rally with a forehand winner out of Sabalenka’s reach to break back in the third game. The American went up a break as her opponent hit one beyond the baseline in the fifth. The tiger-tattooed Belarusian prowled along the baseline in frustration and pounced on her chance to get the momentum back, breaking Anisimova to love in the sixth game and converting on another break point from the baseline in the eighth. Sabalenka closed out the first set with an un-returnable serve, and sent a backhand whizzing past her opponent to convert on a break point in the third game of the second set. Anisimova refused to give up as she levelled it in the sixth with a backhand winner of her own, whipping the fans into a frenzy. But the American party ended abruptly as their home hope sent the ball into the net on a break point in the seventh. Anisimova stayed in it as Sabalenka helped her break back with a flubbed smash in the 10th game. But she buckled to the Belarusian’s power in the tiebreak, where Sabalenka sprinted through to victory. Sabalenka, left, hugs Anisimova after winning the US Open [Charly Triballeau/AFP] Adblock test (Why?)
Cancelled concert shows political, social rifts in Iran amid war tensions
Tehran, Iran – By now, a celebrated Iranian singer was supposed to have performed a mega-concert at Tehran’s iconic Azadi Tower in a state-organised demonstration of national unity after the 12-day war with Israel. But the much-hyped late Friday public concert by 50-year-old Homayoun Shajarian, a traditional vocalist and son of legendary Mohammad Reza Shajarian, was cancelled by the authorities after days of speculation. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Two days before the event, Shajarian announced online that instruments and equipment for the 30-member orchestra that was to accompany him on stage were not permitted onto the site. He also said state organisers lacked a plan to manage the crowd, which could number up to a million people. Videos circulating online showed that Tehran Municipality workers welded shut gates at the square surrounding the tower, preventing the setup of audio equipment. The square is regularly used for state-organised affairs, having been heavily decorated a month earlier to host thousands marking the mourning ceremonies of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Alireza Zakani, the hardline former lawmaker who has been mayor of Tehran since 2021, suggested a lack of coordination between government officials was to blame, and that the event should be held in a stadium instead. People walk past a billboard with a picture of nuclear scientists killed in Israeli strikes and Iranian centrifuges, on a street in Tehran, Iran [File: Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters] The incident created a firestorm online, with the many interpretations surrounding it showing political and social divides at a tense time when biting United Nations sanctions could soon be reinstated by the West, and there are concerns that Israel and the United States will attack Iran again. Advertisement For some, the free concert in the heart of Tehran was a welcome proposal as it could bring a rare moment of joy to thousands at a time of hardship, which also includes surviving in an ailing economy defined by persistent chronic inflation. For others, including a number of Iranians abroad who are opposed to the theocratic establishment, the concert was seen as an attempt by the state to further lean into nationalist sentiment to muster any popular support while leaders in Israel and the West openly discuss regime change in Iran. Some of the foreign-based critics of the Iranian establishment lambasted Shajarian for allegedly backing the state through the concert, especially considering that his late father was known as a “voice of the people”. Other critics had hoped the massive public gathering would lead to antigovernment protests. Hardline member of parliament Hamid Resaee suggested the government organised the rushed concert in an attempt to “distract the people” from widespread power blackouts, a water crisis, and the devaluing national currency. The culture ministry apologised for the cancelled event, saying “we all lost” a missed opportunity for unity. A billboard with a caricature of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is displayed on a building in Tehran, Iran [File: Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters] Meanwhile, local media predominantly backed the concert, with some rare support also coming from hardline and conservative outlets that generally oppose major public festivities that are not entirely controlled by the state. Such is the controversy around the event that even the pro-reforms Shargh newspaper slammed the anti-establishment diaspora for its opposition to the concert, saying they were too extreme and “have taken the people hostage”. Shajarian told reporters that he originally applied to take the performance to the stage seven years ago and only received government permission this week, without any official explanation as to why the concert was blocked repeatedly before and why it was greenlit this week. After the event was cancelled, the singer released a lengthy post online to address the criticism. He pleaded for the effort not to be entangled with politics, and insisted it was not aimed at “covering up problems, but providing a moment of good feelings to people who deserve joy”. Outside pressure grows Despite the failed concert attempt, the Iranian state continues to emphasise unity and increasingly uses millennia-long Iranian history dating back to before Islam to invoke nationalist sentiment – something it rarely did prior to the recent war with Israel. Advertisement In Tehran and across the country in recent months, authorities have installed sculptures of ancient Iranian figures, erected banners showing Persian kings defeating invading foes, and talked extensively about territorial integrity and unity among Iran’s diverse ethnic groups. Pressure by the US, Israel and their European allies has only been mounting against Iran with the stated goal of dismantling its nuclear programme. France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the remaining European signatories to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal that US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018, are pushing to reinstate all UN sanctions against Iran that were lifted as part of the landmark accord. With Western powers trying to internationally blacklist Iran unless a deal is reached on its nuclear programme, the country’s markets are also on edge. The US dollar changed hands for about 1.02 million rials in Tehran on Saturday – slightly better than the new all-time low of 1.06 million rials, registered earlier in the week. The main index of the Tehran Stock Exchange slightly grew on Saturday to reach 2.54 million points, but the index has dramatically plunged in reaction to the war with Israel, having stood at about 3.15 million points in April when negotiations with the US started. Adblock test (Why?)
Alcaraz vs Sinner – US Open final: Match time, head-to-head, stats, Trump
The latest chapter of arguably the most riveting rivalry in modern-day men’s tennis is to unfold in New York when Carlos Alcaraz takes on Jannik Sinner in the final of the US Open 2025. For the tennis fans, it’s a chance to see the present and future of the game – nicknamed “Sincaraz” – duel in a Grand Slam final for the third time in 2025. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list For the young stars, the meeting offers an opportunity to put their hands on another major trophy as the year’s Grand Slams come to a close. Here’s everything you need to know about the match: When is the Alcaraz vs Sinner US Open final? The match is scheduled for Sunday at 2pm (18:00 GMT). Where will Alcaraz and Sinner play the final? The final will be played on the famous blue hardcourts of the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York. What happened in the last Alcaraz vs Sinner match? The pair last faced each other in the final of the Cincinnati Open on August 18, but the match ended prematurely when Sinner retired over health concerns. The Italian felt unwell in the sweltering conditions and pulled out of the match after 23 minutes of play. Alcaraz was crowned champion but said: “This is not the way that I want to win trophies.” How many times has Alcaraz beaten Sinner? Nine. The Spaniard has got the better of his rival in their 13 meetings since they first faced each other in 2021. Sinner has managed one win in the pair’s five meetings in 2025. When was the last time Sinner beat Alcaraz? Sinner beat Alcaraz to lift his first Wimbledon trophy in July. The match lasted four sets (4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4) and just over three hours as the Italian picked up his second Grand Slam title of 2025. Advertisement How long was the Alcaraz-Sinner match at the French Open final? The young stars enthralled crowds with top quality tennis in one of the most engaging Grand Slam finals of the modern era when they battled for five hours and 29 minutes in the final of the French Open 2025. Alcaraz emerged victorious in the five-set classic (4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6) for his second consecutive Roland Garros title. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played a five-set, five-and-a-half-hour final at the French Open 2025 [File: Aurelien Morissard/AP] How many US Open titles has Alcaraz won? One. The US Open gave Alcaraz his first taste of Grand Slam success when he won the trophy in 2022. He was unable to repeat the feat in 2023 when he lost to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals and had a shock second-round exit in 2024 at the hands of Botic van de Zandschulp. Have Alcaraz and Sinner ever played against each other at the US Open? The pair’s only previous meeting at the tournament came in the quarterfinals in 2022. It was another epic that kickstarted their rivalry. Alcaraz won in four sets in a match that lasted five hours and 15 minutes, finishing just before 3am in New York. How many Grand Slam titles have Alcaraz and Sinner won? Alcaraz has five titles to his name – one at the US Open (2022), two at Wimbledon (2023, 2024) and two at the French Open (2024, 2025). Sinner has won four Grand Slam finals – one at the US Open (2024), two at the Australian Open (2024, 2025) and one at Wimbledon (2025). What are the overall Alcaraz vs Sinner stats? Win-loss record in 2025: Alcaraz: 60-6Sinner: 37-4 Career win-loss record Alcaraz: 269-62Sinner: 300-84 Titles in 2025 Alcaraz: 2Sinner: 6 Career titles Alcaraz: 22Sinner: 20 Career prize money Alcaraz: $48.5mSinner: $46.3m Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz after the men’s singles final at Wimbledon [File: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images] What was Alcaraz’s route to the US Open final? First round: defeated Reilly Opelka 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 Second round: defeated Mattia Bellucci 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 Third round: defeated Luciano Darderi 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 Fourth round: defeated Arthur Rinderknech 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 Quarterfinals: defeated Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 Semifinals: defeated Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 What was Sinner’s route to the US Open final? First round: defeated Vit Kopriva 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 Second round: defeated Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 Third round: defeated Denis Shapovalov 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 Fourth round: defeated Alexander Bublik 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 Quarterfinals: defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 Advertisement Semifinals: defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 What has Alcaraz said about the final? “Just the level that I start the match, just wanted to keep that level really high during the whole match. “I’m thinking I’m doing that in this tournament, which I’m really proud about. ” What has Sinner said about Alcaraz and the final? “On court, we like to see each other, you know, because it means that, considering our ranking, it means that we are doing well in the tournament. “Sunday is a very special day and an amazing final again. “I feel like our rivalry started here, playing an amazing match. We are two different players now with different confidence too.” Why will President Donald Trump attend the US Open final? The US president plans to attend the tennis showpiece in his latest appearance at a major sporting event after trips to the Super Bowl in February and the FIFA Club World Cup final in July. The president will attend the final as a client guest and will watch the match from that client’s suite, a spokesperson for the US Tennis Association said. The association did not identify which client Trump will be a guest of. It’s to be Trump’s first appearance at the Grand Slam tournament in New York since 2015. Alcaraz said he would “try not to think” about the president’s presence at the final. “I don’t want myself to be nervous because of it, but I think, attending the tennis match, it’s great for tennis to have