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IMF lifts 2025 global growth forecast, warns of ongoing trade 'uncertainty'

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday lifted its outlook for global growth this year, flagging a milder-than-expected economic hit from President Donald Trump's tariff policies while warning of risks ahead.

In its flagship World Economic Outlook (WEO) report -- compiled before the most recent US-China tariff spat -- the IMF hiked its 2025 global growth forecast to 3.2 percent, up from 3.0 in July, while leaving its prediction for 2026 unchanged at 3.1 percent.

International Monetary Fund chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said the impact of the US trade shock had remained modest

Israel releases first batch of Palestinian bodies to Gaza

(Reuters) -A first batch of bodies of Palestinians killed during the Gaza war has arrived in the enclave after being released by Israel, local health authorities told Reuters on Tuesday.

Israel still hold hundreds of bodies of Palestinians killed since October 7, 2023, including of fighters who took part in the attack and the fighting afterwards.

(Reporting by Nidal Mughrabi, Writing by Tala Ramadan, Editing by William Maclean)

Palestinians walk past the rubble of buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 27, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Hamas launches Gaza crackdown as Trump vows to disarm group

Hamas tightened its grip on Gaza's ruined cities Tuesday, launching a crackdown and executing alleged collaborators, even as US President Donald Trump vowed to disarm the group.

The Israeli military said the remains of four more hostages held in Gaza had been brought into Israel, a day after Hamas handed over the bodies of four other captives and released the last 20 surviving hostages.

Hamas published a video on its official channel showing the street execution of eight blindfolded and kneeling suspects, branding them "collaborators and outlaws".

Palestinian militants of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas have been more prominent on the streets of the territory since the partial pullback of Israeli forces

Congo, M23 sign deal in Doha on ceasefire monitoring, sources say

By Sonia Rolley

(Reuters) -Congo and the M23 rebel group signed an agreement on Tuesday for the monitoring of an eventual "permanent ceasefire", a step towards potentially ending fighting in eastern Congo, according to sources on both sides and a copy seen by Reuters.

The agreement is a sign of progress in Qatar-mediated talks after the two sides missed an August 18 deadline to finalise a peace deal.

FILE PHOTO: An M23 rebel walks on the outskirts of Matanda which is controlled by M23 rebels, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, March 22, 2025. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo

Hamas fighters tighten grip in Gaza, clouding future of ceasefire

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Hamas fighters tightened their grip in Gaza on Tuesday after carrying out public executions, defying Israel's assertion that war cannot end under U.S. President Donald Trump's plan until the militants are disarmed.

Palestinians sit next to a tent, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, October 14, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Afghan man jailed for threat to kill Reform UK leader Farage in TikTok video

LONDON (Reuters) -An Afghan national was jailed for five years on Tuesday after he was found guilty of making a threat to kill Nigel Farage, the leader of the populist Reform UK party which leads opinion polls in Britain.

Fayaz Khan was last week convicted by a jury at London's Southwark Crown Court of a single count of making a threat to kill Farage in a TikTok video posted in October 2024.

Nigel Farage, leader of Britain’s Reform UK party, arrives to attend the sentencing of Fayaz Khan, who was earlier found guilty of making a threat in a TikTok video to kill Farage, at Southwark Crown Court  in London, Britain, October 14, 2025. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Factbox-Clans and armed groups challenging Hamas in Gaza

GAZA (Reuters) -As the Gaza war dragged on, a diminished Hamas faced growing internal challenges to its control of Gaza from long-standing rivals, many of them affiliated with powerful local clans.

Since Friday's ceasefire took hold, Hamas has sought to reassert itself, killing dozens of opponents in a crackdown after appearing to get a U.S. nod to temporarily police the shattered enclave.

The following are some of the key clans and figures whose members have clashed with Hamas forces over the past two years.

ABU SHABAB CLAN

A drone view shows people gathering at Nasser hospital as they welcome freed Palestinian prisoners released by Israel as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Iran says US president's invitation to dialogue is contradictory

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran's foreign ministry on Tuesday criticised U.S. President Donald Trump's call for dialogue, accusing Washington of "hostile and criminal behaviour" after his remarks to Israel's parliament about being ready to strike a deal with Tehran.

The ministry said in a statement that Trump's call for peace is in conflict with his actions towards Iran.

"Mr. Trump can either be a President of Peace or a President of War, but he cannot be both at the same time," Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a separate comment on X on Tuesday.

FILE PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi meets with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (unseen), in Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

Returning hostage bodies from Gaza may take time, Red Cross says

GENEVA (Reuters) -The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Tuesday that it will take time to hand over the remains of hostages and detainees killed in the Israel-Hamas war, calling it a "massive challenge" given the difficulties of finding bodies amid Gaza's rubble.

"That's an even bigger challenge than having the people alive being released. That's a massive challenge," said the ICRC's spokesperson Christian Cardon, adding it could take days or weeks and that there was a possibility they were never found.

(Reporting by Emma FargeEditing by Ludwig Burger)

A drone view shows Palestinians walking past the rubble, following Israeli forces' withdrawal from the area, in Gaza City, October 11. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

UN, Red Cross demand opening of all Gaza crossings to let in aid

The United Nations and the international Red Cross called on Tuesday for all crossings into Gaza to be opened to allow desperately needed aid into the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian territory.

The fragile truce in war-ravaged Gaza, introduced under US President Donald Trump's plan, needs to see crossings opened to flood the famine-hit territory with aid, they said.

Israel's total blockade of Gaza has led to famine in the Palestinian territory