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Israel deports first activists from Gaza aid flotilla

Israel on Friday deported four Italian activists, the first of hundreds detained from an aid flotilla bound for Gaza, shortly after the interception of the group's final boat brought an end to its mission.

The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail last month, ferrying politicians and activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg towards Gaza, where the United Nations says famine is taking hold.

The only remaining boat in a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza sailed towards the war-torn Palestinian territory on Friday

Protests worldwide condemn Israeli interception of Gaza flotilla

Protesters around the world Thursday railed at Israel's interception of a flotilla carrying aid for Gaza's besieged Palestinians, urging greater sanctions in response.

From Europe to Australia and South America, demonstrators took to the streets to condemn the treatment of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which set sail from Barcelona last month to challenge Israel's blockade of Gaza, where the United Nations reports famine conditions after nearly two years of war.

Protesters against Israel in Rome

Blinken says Biden laid groundwork for Trump's Gaza plan

Former US secretary of state Antony Blinken voiced support Thursday for a Gaza plan laid out by President Donald Trump, saying it was in line with a deal he pursued under Joe Biden.

"I do think it's cause for some hope. I certainly hope that the plan gets fully accepted, fully adopted and fully implemented," Blinken said.

"This is essentially the plan that developed over many months and more or less (was) left in a drawer for the incoming administration, and I'm very, very glad they picked it up," he told the podcast of former federal prosecutor Preet Bharara.

Former US secretary of state Antony Blinken (R) credited Joe Biden's administration for its work on a Gaza deal

Group leading Morocco protests demands govt dismissal

The group leading Morocco's mass protests called on Friday for the government's dismissal, following days of unrest that have seen the deaths of three people.

The demand came after fresh demonstrations demanding reforms to the health and education sectors took place across the kingdom on Thursday, a sixth consecutive day of largely peaceful protests pockmarked with spates of violence.

"We demand the dismissal of the current government for its failure to protect the constitutional rights of Moroccans and respond to their social demands," protest group GenZ 212 said.

The protests, which have focused on public health services and education also gained momentum last month following reports of the deaths of eight pregnant women at a public hospital in Agadir

Israel PM praises navy for intercepting Gaza bound flotilla

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Israeli naval forces Thursday for intercepting a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, as authorities prepared to deport hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists aboard the vessels.

The Global Sumud Flotilla of around 45 vessels began its voyage last month, with politicians and activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg heading to Gaza, where the United Nations says famine has set in.

The flotilla of some 45 vessels carrying activists and politicians, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg and Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela, departed Spain last month

'Terrorist attack' on UK synagogue kills two: police

An attacker ploughed a car into a crowd outside a packed synagogue in Britain on Thursday, a Jewish holiday, before going on a stabbing spree, killing two people and leaving three wounded, police said.

Police said they shot dead the suspect, later identifying him as a UK citizen of Syrian origin, and arrested three other people within hours of the attack in the city of Manchester, which took place as Jewish communities around the world marked Yom Kippur, the holiest holiday in the Jewish calendar.

Manchester police at the scene of a car ramming and stabbing incident outside a synagogue

Israel to deport intercepted Gaza flotilla activists

Israel said on Thursday it will deport to Europe pro-Palestinian activists on an aid flotilla headed towards Gaza as the Israeli navy intercepted vessel after vessel in the Mediterranean.

The Global Sumud Flotilla of around 45 vessels began its voyage to Gaza last month, with politicians and activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg aiming to break Israel's siege of the Palestinian territory, where the United Nations says famine has set in.

The flotilla of some 45 vessels carrying activists and politicians, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg and Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela, departed Spain last month

Israeli bulldozers in West Bank carve up hopes for Palestinian state

NEAR RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) -As U.S. President Donald Trump announced a plan this week to end the Gaza war and suggested a possible path to a Palestinian state, Ashraf Samara in the Israeli-occupied West Bank watched bulldozers around his village help bury his hopes for statehood.

Surrounded by armed security guards, the Israeli machinery shoved aside earth to create new routes for Jewish settlements, carving up the land around Samara's village of Beit Ur al-Fauqa and creating new barriers to movement for Palestinians.

A drone view of Al-Arroub refugee camp alongside a new road, part of the expansion of Israeli bypass roads connecting Israeli settlers in the West Bank with Jerusalem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, September 29, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Gaza mother clings to her sick daughter after losing twin babies in midst of war

GAZA (Reuters) -Nancy Abu Matroud has already lost three children during Gaza's war.

Now, the Palestinian mother, 22, is fighting to save her daughter, Etra - a two-year-old cancer patient newly deprived of vital medical care: the children's hospital treating her shut down last month during Israel's latest offensive in Gaza City.

"We are just asking for a shelter," Abu Matroud said. "I don't want to lose the daughter I still have."

Palestinian man Faraj al-Ghalayini, who fled Gaza City recently due to an Israeli military operation with his wife Nancy Abu Matroud, who went into labor while moving south then gave birth prematurely to twins who later died, holds their daughter Etra, a cancer patient, as they shelter by a roadside, in the central Gaza Strip September 26, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Egyptian, Congolese contenders vie for UNESCO top job

An Egyptian ex-minister is the favourite to become head of the UN's culture agency, but his Congolese rival says bets are still off before a key decision next week.

The vote to replace outgoing French UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay after two four-year terms in office is not expected until November 6, during the body's general assembly in Uzbekistan.

But UNESCO's executive board is on Monday to recommend a name, in a move that has in the past led to that person's election by the assembly.

Egypt's Khaled el-Enany says it's time for a diplomat from the Arab world to head the agency