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Young Moroccans protest for 7th day in a row

Youth-led protests demanding reforms to public healthcare and education took place on Friday in several Moroccan cities for a seventh day in a row, an AFP journalist and local media reported.

The protests, called by the online-based GenZ 212 group whose organisers remain unknown, also called on the kingdom's premier to resign.

"Our voices will not be silenced," read a sign held by a protester in Rabat, the Moroccan capital where dozens of people gathered in front of parliament.

Protesters want reforms in public healthcare and education

UK police accidentally shot victim who died in synagogue attack

By Sam Tabahriti

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -British police said on Friday they accidentally shot a victim who died in the attack on a synagogue in Manchester, as well as one of the survivors, as they attempted to stop an attacker who appeared to be wearing an explosive belt.

Police officers stand guard at the cordon outside the Manchester synagogue, where multiple people were killed on Yom Kippur in what police have declared a terrorist incident, in north Manchester, Britain, October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Phil Noble

Manchester attack raises fears of more violence and division across faiths

By Sam Tabahriti

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -In the wake of a deadly attack outside a synagogue in the northern English city of Manchester on Thursday, both Jewish and Muslim residents said they feared a rise in retaliatory violence and deepening divisions.

Jihad al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British man of Syrian descent, drove a car into pedestrians and then began stabbing several people on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, outside Manchester's Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue. Two men died in the attack.

A book of condolence is displayed at the Manchester central library, following the Manchester synagogue attack, in Manchester, Britain, October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja

Israeli military intercepts final aid boat as new flotilla sails to Gaza

By Alexander Cornwell

TEL AVIV (Reuters) -The Israeli military intercepted the last boat in an aid flotilla attempting to reach blockaded Gaza on Friday, a day after stopping most of the vessels and detaining some 450 activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg.

The organisers of the Global Sumud Flotilla said the Marinette was intercepted some 42.5 nautical miles (79 km) from Gaza. Israeli army radio said the navy had taken control of the last ship in the flotilla, detained those aboard and that the vessel was being led to Ashdod port in Israel.

A screengrab from a live stream video shows Israeli navy forces approaching the vessel the Marinette, believed to be the only ship from the Global Sumud Flotilla still sailing towards Gaza, which flotilla organisers report has now been intercepted, October 3, 2025. Global Sumud Flotilla/Handout via REUTERS

Mass protests, strikes in Italy for Gaza

Hundreds of thousands of people protested across Italy on Friday during a large-scale strike over the treatment of the Gaza aid flotilla and far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's cautious stance on the conflict.

Demonstrators condemned Rome's criticism of the Global Sumud Flotilla that sailed to challenge Israel's blockade of Gaza, where the United Nations has reported famine conditions after nearly two years of war.

Italians rallied against Israel's interception of the Gaza aid flotilla

Erdogan tells Trump he welcomes peace efforts, but Israel must stop attacks for their success

ANKARA (Reuters) -President Tayyip Erdogan told U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in a phone call on Friday that Turkey welcomed efforts to reach peace in the region, but that Israel must stop its attacks for efforts to be successful, the Turkish presidency said.

Erdogan and Trump met at the White House last month for the first time in six years, for a meeting that the Turkish leader said helped the NATO allies make "meaningful progress" on a range of issues.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands as they meet at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 25, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Trump gives Hamas until 2200 GMT Sunday to agree to Gaza deal

US President Donald Trump on Friday issued an ultimatum to Hamas of 2200 GMT Sunday to accept his Gaza peace deal or face "all hell."

The Palestinian militants have until "Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, D.C. time," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

"If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas."

In the post, Trump said "innocent Palestinians" should evacuate an unspecified area in anticipation of a potential assault on Hamas's remaining forces.

The Israel-Hamas war has devastated large swathes of the Gaza Strip

Italy-Libya migration pact under scrutiny as bullets fly

Years of criticism of an EU-backed migration pact between Italy and Libya are coming to a head as migrant rescuers say the Libyan coastguard has begun firing directly at them.

"Hundreds of bullets were fired during 20 terrifying minutes" in an attack "deliberately targeting crew members on the bridge... at head height", said SOS Mediterranee, the charity running the Ocean Viking ship, in August.

Last week, German charity Sea-Watch said its rescue ship was also shot at by the Libyan coastguard using live ammunition.

Critics say Italy and the EU are complicit in human rights breaches by militias in war-torn Libya.

India set to receive first Afghan Taliban minister

By Sakshi Dayal

NEW DELHI/KABUL (Reuters) -The U.N. Security Council Committee has temporarily lifted a travel ban on the Afghan Taliban foreign minister, which would allow him to visit India between October 9 and 16, India's foreign ministry said on Friday.

If confirmed, it would be the first visit to India by a senior leader of the Taliban-run Afghan administration since it seized power in 2021 after 20 years of U.S. military presence.

Delhi and Kabul have traditionally enjoyed close ties when the Islamist Taliban were not in power.

Taliban acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi speaks during a news conference in Kabul Afghanistan September 14, 2021. Picture taken September 14, 2021.REUTERS/Stringer

Italians take to the streets for Gaza flotilla general strike

By Angelo Amante and Alvise Armellini

ROME (Reuters) -Hundreds of thousands of Italians took to the streets across the country on Friday, as part of a day-long general strike called by unions in support of an aid flotilla carrying food to Gaza that was intercepted by Israel this week.

"After what I saw with the flotilla, I thought I couldn't just stand by and do nothing. It's the first time I go to these kind of demonstrations," Mario Mascetti, a protester in Rome, told Reuters.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest during a nationwide strike called by the USB union to condemn the Israeli forces' interception of some of the vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla aiming to reach Gaza and break Israel's naval blockade, in Rome, Italy, October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Yara Nardi