Journalist and author Jeremy Scahill argues that Israel is feigning ignorance if it thinks Hamas will surrender.
If Israel rejects the latest offer to pause its War on Gaza, it’s a sign that Israel “doesn’t want any deal”, argues US journalist and author Jeremy Scahill.
Scahill, the co-founder of Drop Site News, tells host Steve Clemons that Hamas has offered major concessions on sticking points such as the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released, Israeli withdrawal from the border with Egypt, and the so-called GHF.
Phones buzzed and wry smiles broadened inside the Scotland camp as the Serie A fixtures dropped in June – Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour of Italian champions Napoli would open the season at Josh Doig’s newly promoted Sassuolo.
Doig, who would make his international debut later that week, beamed at the thought of facing Gilmour – someone he grew up playing youth football against – as well as McTominay, a man who returns not just as the league’s player of the season, but a Ballon d’Or nominee and Neapolitan hero.
“It’s just mad,” says 23-year-old left back Doig, who helped Sassuolo return to the top flight at the first time of asking under Italian World Cup winner Fabio Grosso.
“Scott did unbelievable last season, he is like a god now and he deserves it because he is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet in football.
“I watched most of their games last season. Any Scottish guy in Italy I will always take an interest in, because we are all in it together.”
That Scottish contingent is only growing – six of June’s international squad will play in Serie A this season, with Che Adams at Torino, Lewis Ferguson at Bologna and 18-year-old midfielder Lennon Miller joining Udinese from Motherwell.
Trailblazer Liam Henderson, meanwhile, is at second-tier Sampdoria, his sixth Italian club.
The midfielder arrived at Bari in 2018 as the first Scot to play in Italy since Graeme Souness left Sampdoria in 1986. Aaron Hickey, now at Brentford, then became the first to score in Serie A in 35 years when he netted for Bologna in September 2021.
Doig, meanwhile, is about to begin his fourth season in Italy after leaving Hibernian for Verona aged 19, before joining Sassuolo in January last year.
“Italy is one of the most beautiful countries in the world,” explains Doig. “Food-wise, places to go on holiday – it has got everything. The way of life is unbelievable. I enjoy every moment.
“But football-wise as well, it is a tough league, it is a very difficult league, and you really need to work hard – it is expected of you.
Getty Images
While Doig has enjoyed the cultural hubs of Verona and Modena, and Ferguson and Hickey the culinary delights of Bologna, few cities compare to the intensity of a frenzied and chaotic Naples.
Gilmour and McTominay quickly found that out when they joined Antonio Conte’s side from Brighton and Manchester United, respectively, in summer 2024.
“I saw the passionate fans, I saw the coach, I saw the players and I saw an opportunity,” McTominay told BBC Scotland in December. “I love this place, I love the fans, I love my team-mates.”
By the end of the season, his 12 goals having helped fire Napoli to the Scudetto, McTominay’s face was painted on walls in the Quartieri Spagnoli, and his ‘McFratm’ nickname inked on fans’ skins.
He has entered into a pantheon of Partenopei legends topped by Argentina legend Diego Maradona.
Speaking at Wimbledon in July, the 28-year-old added: “The people in Naples are incredible, they’re so passionate and everywhere you go there are people who say ‘Forza Napoli’.
“They want to speak to you and have a conversation and that inspires you every time you go on the pitch because they care.
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“Everything was great about Italy, bar the football,” said the late Denis Law, who made a British-record move to Torino in 1961 and spent the season alongside Scotland-raised England international Joe Baker in an era characterised by Italy’s ultra-defensive catenaccio system.
Joe Jordan, dubbed the Shark by Italian media, followed in 1981, joining AC Milan and then Verona, before Souness won the Coppa Italia in 1985 during his first of two seasons at a Sampdoria side emerging as one of Italy’s finest.
But it would be 32 years before another Scotsman made the switch. Henderson, joining Serie B side Bari from Celtic, was also the first to move directly from a Scottish club.
Henderson may have been an anomaly when he signed, but he did give Italian fans a taste of the Scottish game.
“Their mentality, they are hungry players, committed, both inside the pitch and outside the pitch. They are so professional,” explains Francesco Strozzi, who was a scout at Bologna when the club signed Ferguson and Hickey and now works for Torino.
“Of course, on the pitch there is a trend about increasing physical football. So we’re talking about making runs for the team, having two phases, attacking, defending – especially when it comes to midfielders.
“It’s something being recognised also by the fans. The intensity, the physicality, the hunger for results – they’re loved for that.”
Strozzi says the real change came when Covid hit. Bologna were already exploring the Scottish market, but lockdown restrictions meant clubs were forced to rely more on video and data analysis, which inevitably broadened their pool of potential recruits.
They found value in Scotland, where young players were gaining first-team experience and, in some cases, registering minutes in European competitions.
“Scottish football is not just about Celtic and Rangers,” adds Strozzi.
Aged 18 and on the radar of some of Europe’s top clubs, Hickey joined Bologna from Hearts for £1.5m in 2020, making 48 appearances over two seasons before being sold to Brentford for £17m.
Ferguson, 22 at the time, followed from Aberdeen in 2022 for £3m and has since captained the Rossoblu to a first Coppa Italia triumph in more than 50 years, led them into the Champions League for the first time and been named the best midfielder in Italy.
“Ferguson is an incredible player, captain,” says Strozzi. “He was able to give Bologna what was missing back then in their midfield – a player giving 100% for the team, making important runs, scoring important goals but also being able to run back, defend and be a presence on the pitch.
Getty Images
Doig believes the trend can be good for the national team, with Scottish players not just finding a pathway to Italy but all over Europe. At the last international camp, he says there were chats about “completely different experiences all over the world”.
“It is so interesting for Scottish football,” adds Doig. “There are boys everywhere now, it is good for the culture.
“When you are a young boy, the thing is to go down to England, try and get a move down south, but when I heard Verona were interested I thought ‘this is unbelievable’.
“I was terrified, obviously I was so young, but it was the best thing that could happen to me. Now in Sassuolo, I am absolutely loving it.
“It is the same for all the boys I have spoken to – I was with Billy in the summer and he was just saying he can’t get enough of it.”
When Steve Clarke named his last squad, as well as the Italian boys, there was Jack Hendry at Al-Etiffaq in Saudi Arabia, Max Johnston with Sturm Graz in Austria and Scott McKenna at Las Palmas in Spain.
Doig says younger players have also asked him about moving abroad.
Phones buzzed and wry smiles broadened inside the Scotland camp as the Serie A fixtures dropped in June – Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour of Italian champions Napoli would open the season at Josh Doig’s newly promoted Sassuolo.
Doig, who would make his international debut later that week, beamed at the thought of facing Gilmour – someone he grew up playing youth football against – as well as McTominay, a man who returns not just as the league’s player of the season, but a Ballon d’Or nominee and Neapolitan hero.
“It’s just mad,” says 23-year-old left back Doig, who helped Sassuolo return to the top flight at the first time of asking under Italian World Cup winner Fabio Grosso.
“Scott did unbelievable last season, he is like a god now and he deserves it because he is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet in football.
“I watched most of their games last season. Any Scottish guy in Italy I will always take an interest in, because we are all in it together.”
That Scottish contingent is only growing – six of June’s international squad will play in Serie A this season, with Che Adams at Torino, Lewis Ferguson at Bologna and 18-year-old midfielder Lennon Miller joining Udinese from Motherwell.
Trailblazer Liam Henderson, meanwhile, is at second-tier Sampdoria, his sixth Italian club.
The midfielder arrived at Bari in 2018 as the first Scot to play in Italy since Graeme Souness left Sampdoria in 1986. Aaron Hickey, now at Brentford, then became the first to score in Serie A in 35 years when he netted for Bologna in September 2021.
Doig, meanwhile, is about to begin his fourth season in Italy after leaving Hibernian for Verona aged 19, before joining Sassuolo in January last year.
“Italy is one of the most beautiful countries in the world,” explains Doig. “Food-wise, places to go on holiday – it has got everything. The way of life is unbelievable. I enjoy every moment.
“But football-wise as well, it is a tough league, it is a very difficult league, and you really need to work hard – it is expected of you.
Getty Images
While Doig has enjoyed the cultural hubs of Verona and Modena, and Ferguson and Hickey the culinary delights of Bologna, few cities compare to the intensity of a frenzied and chaotic Naples.
Gilmour and McTominay quickly found that out when they joined Antonio Conte’s side from Brighton and Manchester United, respectively, in summer 2024.
“I saw the passionate fans, I saw the coach, I saw the players and I saw an opportunity,” McTominay told BBC Scotland in December. “I love this place, I love the fans, I love my team-mates.”
By the end of the season, his 12 goals having helped fire Napoli to the Scudetto, McTominay’s face was painted on walls in the Quartieri Spagnoli, and his ‘McFratm’ nickname inked on fans’ skins.
He has entered into a pantheon of Partenopei legends topped by Argentina legend Diego Maradona.
Speaking at Wimbledon in July, the 28-year-old added: “The people in Naples are incredible, they’re so passionate and everywhere you go there are people who say ‘Forza Napoli’.
“They want to speak to you and have a conversation and that inspires you every time you go on the pitch because they care.
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
“Everything was great about Italy, bar the football,” said the late Denis Law, who made a British-record move to Torino in 1961 and spent the season alongside Scotland-raised England international Joe Baker in an era characterised by Italy’s ultra-defensive catenaccio system.
Joe Jordan, dubbed the Shark by Italian media, followed in 1981, joining AC Milan and then Verona, before Souness won the Coppa Italia in 1985 during his first of two seasons at a Sampdoria side emerging as one of Italy’s finest.
But it would be 32 years before another Scotsman made the switch. Henderson, joining Serie B side Bari from Celtic, was also the first to move directly from a Scottish club.
Henderson may have been an anomaly when he signed, but he did give Italian fans a taste of the Scottish game.
“Their mentality, they are hungry players, committed, both inside the pitch and outside the pitch. They are so professional,” explains Francesco Strozzi, who was a scout at Bologna when the club signed Ferguson and Hickey and now works for Torino.
“Of course, on the pitch there is a trend about increasing physical football. So we’re talking about making runs for the team, having two phases, attacking, defending – especially when it comes to midfielders.
“It’s something being recognised also by the fans. The intensity, the physicality, the hunger for results – they’re loved for that.”
Strozzi says the real change came when Covid hit. Bologna were already exploring the Scottish market, but lockdown restrictions meant clubs were forced to rely more on video and data analysis, which inevitably broadened their pool of potential recruits.
They found value in Scotland, where young players were gaining first-team experience and, in some cases, registering minutes in European competitions.
“Scottish football is not just about Celtic and Rangers,” adds Strozzi.
Aged 18 and on the radar of some of Europe’s top clubs, Hickey joined Bologna from Hearts for £1.5m in 2020, making 48 appearances over two seasons before being sold to Brentford for £17m.
Ferguson, 22 at the time, followed from Aberdeen in 2022 for £3m and has since captained the Rossoblu to a first Coppa Italia triumph in more than 50 years, led them into the Champions League for the first time and been named the best midfielder in Italy.
“Ferguson is an incredible player, captain,” says Strozzi. “He was able to give Bologna what was missing back then in their midfield – a player giving 100% for the team, making important runs, scoring important goals but also being able to run back, defend and be a presence on the pitch.
Getty Images
Doig believes the trend can be good for the national team, with Scottish players not just finding a pathway to Italy but all over Europe. At the last international camp, he says there were chats about “completely different experiences all over the world”.
“It is so interesting for Scottish football,” adds Doig. “There are boys everywhere now, it is good for the culture.
“When you are a young boy, the thing is to go down to England, try and get a move down south, but when I heard Verona were interested I thought ‘this is unbelievable’.
“I was terrified, obviously I was so young, but it was the best thing that could happen to me. Now in Sassuolo, I am absolutely loving it.
“It is the same for all the boys I have spoken to – I was with Billy in the summer and he was just saying he can’t get enough of it.”
When Steve Clarke named his last squad, as well as the Italian boys, there was Jack Hendry at Al-Etiffaq in Saudi Arabia, Max Johnston with Sturm Graz in Austria and Scott McKenna at Las Palmas in Spain.
Doig says younger players have also asked him about moving abroad.
A United States judicial commission has denied parole to Joseph Lyle Menendez, a day after his brother Erik was also ordered to stay in prison for the murder of their parents in a Beverly Hills mansion more than three decades ago.
A California panel ordered on Friday the 57-year-old, who goes by his middle name, to remain behind bars along with his younger sibling, defying a campaign for their freedom waged by family, friends and celebrities, including Kim Kardashian.
“Joseph (Lyle) Menendez was denied parole for three years at his initial suitability hearing today,” read a brief statement from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
The outcome of Lyle Menendez’s hearing is the latest blow to a movement that has swelled in recent years, amplified by Netflix’s smash hit dramatic series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
The show and myriad documentaries have fixated on the gory details of the 1989 shotgun murders, and the televised jury trial that captivated audiences with accounts of their abusive upbringings and posh lifestyles.
Eleven-hour hearing
Friday’s hearing came just over 36 years after the deaths of parents Jose and Kitty Menendez, in what prosecutors said was a cynical attempt by their sons to obtain a large family fortune.
After setting up alibis and trying to cover their tracks, Erik and Lyle shot Jose Menendez five times with shotguns, including in the kneecaps.
Kitty Menendez died from a shotgun blast as she tried desperately to crawl away from her killers.
The brothers initially blamed the deaths on a mafia hit, but changed their story several times in the ensuing months.
Erik, then 18, confessed to the murders in a session with his therapist.
The pair ultimately claimed they had acted in self-defence after years of emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of a tyrannical father.
During their decades in prison, changing social mores and greater awareness of sexual abuse helped elevate the men to something approaching cultural icons.
Friday’s hearing, which was closed to the public, lasted 11 hours. It was held separately from Thursday’s hearing for his brother Erik, 54.
Both brothers appeared by videolink from the San Diego prison where they are being held.
The panel members, whose identities were not released by CDCR, questioned them on their behaviour and attitude towards the murders.
Assistant director Diego Borella of Netflix’s Emily in Paris, who was filming the fifth season of the show, passed away at the age of 47.
Moments before the final scene of the fifth series’ fifth episode of Venice was scheduled to be shot, it is said that Diego died while collapsing on the romantic comedy’s set.
According to local reports, doctors reportedly arrived at the Hotel Danieli on Thursday night at 7 o’clock. They were unable to save Diego despite their best efforts.
Following Diego’s passing, it is thought that Emily’s filming in Paris has been postponed.
As President Donald Trump intensifies his controversial efforts to remove immigrants from the nation, Uganda is the latest of several nations to reach a deportation agreement with the US.
In a statement on Thursday, Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Kampala had agreed for Washington to send over third-country nationals who face deportation from the US, but are unwilling to return to their home countries. According to the ministry, the agreement was reached under a number of conditions.
Trump’s contentious plans to deport millions of undocumented immigrants have been condemned by rights organizations and law experts. Those already deported include convicted criminals and “uniquely barbaric monsters”, according to the White House.
Similar agreements have been made between African nations, such as Eswatini, which was formerly known as Swaziland, reportedly in exchange for lower tariffs. According to Melusi Simelane of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC), the US’s actions constitute exploitative behavior and amount to “dumping ground” for the continent, adding that Washington was particularly focused on developing nations with weak human rights protection.
Here’s what you need to know about the Uganda deal and what countries might be getting in return for hosting US deportees:
What ratified in Uganda?
The permanent secretary of Uganda’s foreign ministry, Bagiire Vincent Waiswa, claimed in a statement posted on X on Thursday that the nation had a “temporary arrangement” with the US. He did not state the timelines for when the deportations would begin or end.
According to the statement, there are caveats about the people who would be transferred, such as the statement that Uganda “prefers” that Africans be transferred as part of the deal.
The statement continued, “The two parties are putting together the detailed modalities for the implementation of the agreement.”
A US State Department statement confirmed that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had held discussions over the phone regarding “migration, reciprocal trade, and commercial ties”.
After weeks of speculation in the local Ugandan media regarding whether the country would accept US deportees, the deal was announced.
Henry Okello Oryem, the foreign affairs minister in Uganda, refuted the media reports on Wednesday, claiming the country lacks the facilities to house deportees.
Speaking to The Associated Press news agency, Oryem said Uganda was discussing issues of “visas, tariffs, sanctions and related issues” with the US, but not of migration.
“We’re talking about cartels,” said one analyst. How can we incorporate them into Uganda’s local communities? he told the AP.
Uganda’s narrative had changed the day afterward.
During his two-day state visit to Nairobi on May 16, 2024, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni gestures to the media during a joint briefing with Kenyan President William Ruto (unseen).
What might Uganda gain from this?
What might Uganda be receiving in return was not disclosed in the Foreign Ministry’s statement on Thursday.
Other nations, including Eswatini, reportedly offer deportees lower tariffs.
Uganda has been hit with 15 percent tariffs on goods entering the US, as part of Trump’s reciprocal tariff wars. Early in August, senior government officials in Uganda announced that Kampala would start negotiations for a better deal and that the tariffs would impede exports, particularly in the agricultural sector.
One of Uganda’s most important exports to the US is coffee, vanilla, cocoa, and petroleum products. Kampala is particularly keen on boosting coffee exports to the US and competing with bigger suppliers like Colombia. On the other hand, the US pays an 18% tariff on imported goods to Uganda, which exports machinery, such as aircraft parts.
The US and Uganda have historically forged friendly relations, with US aid arriving in Kampala on a regular basis. However, after Uganda passed an anti-homosexuality bill into law in 2023, relations turned sour, and the US accused Uganda of “human rights violations”. For same-sex relationships, punishment under the law, including life sentences, is imposed.
After that, Washington halted HIV-related aid and imposed visa restrictions on Ugandan government officials who “were complicit in undermining the democratic process.” The US also banned Uganda from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a trade programme that helped African countries trade tariff-free with the US, but that Trump’s tariffs have effectively killed.
Uganda was also prohibited from receiving two-year loans by the World Bank, but this restriction was lifted in June.
Rights activists claim that the deportees’ accord could lead to a more favorable US administration position toward Uganda, but at the expense of those who have been deported.
“The proposed deal runs afoul of international law”, human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo told the AP. According to him, such a system leaves deportees without clear definition of their legal status as refugees or prisoners.
Because of the desire for Uganda to appear in the good books of the United States, Opiyo said, “We are sacrificing human beings for political expediency in this case.” “That I can keep your prisoners if you pay me, how is that different from human trafficking”?
Are refugees already a thing in Uganda?
Yes, Uganda hosts the most refugees in Africa. It already hosts some 1.7 million refugees, largely from neighbouring South Sudan, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are all dealing with armed conflict and unrest.
In the past, the country has been praised for having a “progressive refugee policy” and “maintaining an open-door approach to asylum.”
Opposition activists are, however, raising concerns about the government’s poor human rights record. Uganda has been ruled by Museveni since 1986, with his party winning contested elections in landslides. Of course, opposition figures and journalists are frequently the targets of arrests. Some people report being tortured while they are being held.
Speaking to the AP, opposition lawmaker Muwada Nkunyingi said the US deal could give Museveni’s government further Western legitimacy ahead of general elections scheduled for January 2026.
According to Nkunyingi, the agreement “clears their image now that we are about to hold elections in 2026.” He urged the US to take into account what he termed Uganda’s human rights problems.
Jasmin Ramirez holds a photo of her son, Angelo Escalona, at a government-organised rally protesting against the deportation of alleged members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, who were transferred to an El Salvador prison, in Caracas, Venezuela, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025]Ariana Cubillos/AP]
What other nations has the US sent people there?
Similar agreements have been reached with the US by Eswatini, Rwanda, and South Sudan.
Eswatini, in July, accepted five unnamed men from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba and Yemen.
They were described as “individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back,” according to Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department for Homeland Security. She added that they were sentenced to up to 25 years in prison for crimes ranging from child rape to murder. The men are presently held in detention facilities and will be sent back to their countries, according to officials who did not state a timeline.
The Eswatini government is accused of participating in the deal in exchange for US tariff cuts. The tiny nation, which pays US exports of clothing, fruits, nuts, and raw sugar, received a 10% tariff.
“No country should have to be engaged in the violation of international human rights laws, including breaching its domestic laws, to please the Global North in the name of trade”, Simulane of SALC, who is leading an ongoing court case challenging the Eswatini government’s decision, told Al Jazeera. According to him, the action was in contravention of the nation’s constitution, which requires that parliament approves international agreements.
The agreement should be made public for the public to see if it is in line with our national interest, Simulane said, “at the core.” “We further want the agreement declared unconstitutional because it lacked parliamentary approval”.
South Africa, which borders Eswatini on three sides, summoned the smaller nation’s diplomats earlier in August to raise security concerns.
In July, the US sent eight “barbaric” criminals to South Sudan. The DHS listed them as being from Cuba, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Mexico and South Sudan. According to the DHS, they were found guilty of first-degree murder, robbery, drug trafficking, and sexual assault.
In the US, the men were initially directed to Djibouti for months while a legal challenge was pending. However, in late June, the US Supreme Court approved the move to South Sudan.
Rwanda has also stated that it will deport 250 Americans at an unnamed time. The deportees will enjoy “workforce training, health care, and accommodations,” says government spokesman Yolande Makolo. The country previously struck a controversial migrant deal for a fee with the United Kingdom. However, that agreement was broken when the UK’s new Labour government was elected in 2024.
El Salvador has accepted 300 migrants, primarily from Venezuela, for a $6 million fee.
Costa Rica accepted 200 asylum seekers from Afghanistan, China, Ghana, India and Vietnam. By June, 28 people had already been detained, compared to the majority of those who had been repatriated. What did the US offer in return remain a mystery.
