After decades in exile, Assata Shakur, a Black American liberation activist who was granted political asylum in Cuba, passed away at the age of 78, according to her family and Cuban officials.
The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday that Shakur, who was born Joanne Deborah Chesimard, had advanced age and health problems.
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Kakuya Shakur, her daughter, also provided a Facebook post about her passing. She wrote, “Words cannot describe the depth of loss I am feeling right now.”
The former Black Liberation Army (BLA) member, who was a hero of many activists, escaped a US prison in 1979 after serving a life sentence for the killing of a police officer.
Four years after a shootout between BLA members and two state police officers who had stopped them for a traffic violation in New Jersey, Shakur was found guilty in 1977 of first-degree murder. Shakur always disputed her innocence, claiming that the incident occurred while she was hunched in the air.
According to the FBI, which later placed Shakur on its “most wanted terrorist” list and offered a $2 million reward for her capture, one of the police officers, Werner Foerster, was killed “execution-style” at point-blank range while his colleague was hurt.
Shakur was on the lookout for a number of crimes, including bank robbery, according to the statement.
One of Shakur’s fellow BLA members passed away in the incident, while Sundiata Acoli, a third BLA member, served almost 50 years in prison before receiving parole in 2022.
“Due to fight for freedom.”
The BLA, a Marxist-Leninist organization that split from the Black Panther Party, invited Shakur’s female prisoners and forced them to leave the Clinton Correctional Facility.
She vanished in 1984 and was reunited with her family in Cuba, where Fidel Castro granted her asylum.
Later, Shakur’s artwork became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement. Some people, however, criticized her for incorporating Marxist and communist ideology.
“We have a duty to fight for our freedom,” he said. In her 1988 autobiography, Shakur wrote, “It is our duty to win.” We must support and love one another, according to nbsp. Our chains are everything, not ours.
A group of American racial justice activists called her name in a statement on Instagram after her death was revealed. As we fight in her memory and honor, “may our work be righteous and brave.”
The already tense relationship between the US and Cuba was strained by the case of Shakur, who was close to the late rapper Tupac Shakur’s family.
A resolution by Russia and China that would have delayed the lifting of sanctions against Iran by six months has received a vote in the UN Security Council.
World leaders on Friday voted to reimpose sanctions due to Iran’s nuclear program, 4 to 9, with 2 abstentions. As of 8 p.m. on Saturday in New York (00:00 GMT on Sunday), the sanctions will resume.
Russian and Chinese diplomats pushed for the Security Council to halt the lifting of sanctions, but they were unable to sway enough other members.
Iran has been accused of violating the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement, which was intended to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, as well as the E3. In 2018, Donald Trump resigned from the JCPOA without authorization.
Iran has repeatedly disputed its nuclear weapons’ right to pursue nuclear energy peacefully.
Iran and the world’s leaders, including the US, signed the JCPOA, which lifted sanctions and put an end to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, described the imminent lifting of UN sanctions on Friday as “legally void.”
According to Araghchi, the “pursuit of the so-called “snapback” is clear and consistent, but it is legally void, politically reckless, and has procedural flaws.
He continued, “E3 has buried diplomacy, but the United States has betrayed it.”
They have actively and intently opened the door to a dangerous escalation by disobeying facts, spreading false claims, disproven Iran’s peaceful program, and blocking diplomacy.
No more negotiations, please.
Before the vote, Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s deputy UN envoy, stated in the chamber that while Western powers had tried to avoid any compromise, Iran had done everything.
However, Jerome Bonnafont, France’s permanent representative at the UN in New York, refuted that and claimed Iran had not taken any serious steps to prevent the sanctions from being renewed.
However, Bonnafont added that negotiations should continue and that a negotiated resolution should not be reached at the end of the day.
According to James Bays, a journalist for the UN, “It doesn’t seem like there will be any further negotiation.” All week long, negotiations took place in New York.
However, Bays noted that Iran was aware of the possibility of a new round of sanctions. The Iranian supreme leader said he didn’t believe there would be any progress and that snapback was likely. “I don’t believe there is much more effort being put forth in terms of negotiations right now.”
The already stringent Western sanctions against Iran will be layered on top of them.
“All the international sanctions and UN sanctions that were in place before 2015 are what we are talking about here.”
Israel launched a 12-day war against Iran in June, with Israeli and US forces striking a number of nuclear facilities, escalating regional tensions. The UN nuclear watchdog board declared the Israeli-US bombing a day after Iran violated international nuclear safeguards.
Thomas Skinner, the star of Strictly Come Dancing, is getting ready for his first live performance tomorrow night with his dance partner Amy Dowden.
Reality TV star Thomas Skinner has shared an update about his preparations for Strictly Come Dancing ahead of the first live show of the new series this weekend. He teased a change to his lifestyle amid training for the BBC show.
Thomas, 34, who rose to fame as a candidate on the Apprentice in 2019, is among the contestants who will be taking to the dancefloor tomorrow night. It has already been announced that the entrepreneur will be performing a paso doble with his dance partner Amy Dowden, 35.
He previously disclosed how he was spending his Friday afternoon before the episode. Thomas teased that he wouldn’t be going to the pub because of tomorrow’s live performance and that he was at home with his family.
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Thomas, who, away from his TV career, sells mattresses, has previously posted on Instagram about having a pint in a pub on Friday afternoons on numerous occasions. His most recent post about it was shared on September 5.
He stated in his update tonight, “It’s been a very, very busy week. I’ve been dancing with Amy Dowden, who is amazing, instead of grafting. I’m doing my first live dance tomorrow night, he continued, “As you all know, I’m doing it.”
Thomas told his followers: “No golden nectar tonight, so no golden nectar.” After his three children expressed excitement over his involvement with Strictly, Thomas’ three children grew up. Instead, we have a lovely Diet Coke. You know me, I don’t look when I douse myself with sour cream, but the wife has done me the Chilli Con Carne.
In the video message to the fans, Thomas continued, “I want to wish you all a wonderful weekend. Friday afternoon is approaching. We’ve worked hard, so whatever you’re doing, I want you to have a beer to enjoy down your pub. I want you to leave and spend some quality time with your family.
He continued, “Sorry, I’ve been working so hard with this dancing; I’m so excited to try to… y’know have an opportunity to do it, so please watch it.” It’s very enjoyable, please. I’ve come a long way since learning to dance a few weeks ago.
The contestant, whose life off-screen has made headlines in recent weeks, concluded by saying in the video: “Big love to everyone out there. Keep on going. Keep on putting one foot in front of the other and always stay positive.”
Happy Friday, lovely people! was Thomas’s tagline in the video’s caption. Tonight’s Strictly Come Dancing performance will be the first live show for me. I had been working so hard with my dance partner, the lovely Amy, two weeks ago when I was just beginning to learn to dance.
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“The wife has done the family a chilli concert,” the wife said, “and I can’t wait to see it all tomorrow night”! I wish you and your families love. Continue to put one foot in front of the other. I adore you all. strictly up. Bosh. “
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Vancouver, Canada – After a major slowdown in Canada’s high-priced housing market, real estate sales in the country appear to be gradually inching up again.
That is cause for optimism across the country’s sector — hopes buoyed even more after the central bank dropped its key interest rate to its lowest in three years.
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The Bank of Canada’s 0.25 percent rate cut on September 17 — mirroring its US counterpart’s move the same day — has experts hopeful it might help lift home sales and prices, which had left thousands of properties sitting unsold.
Mortgage broker Mary Sialtsis, in Toronto, where sales have been slowest, said she saw homes taking longer to sell this year, as many of her clients held off buying amid economic anxieties.
“It’s a little bit slower right now than it has been in the past”, she told Al Jazeera before the rate announcement. “During the pandemic, prices really spiked — there was almost like a buying frenzy.
“Things have tempered quite a bit since then.”
Many would-be homebuyers had been reluctant to invest amid United States President Donald Trump’s chaotic imposition of tariffs on Canadian imports, she said.
As a result, many sellers were pressured to settle for less.
“There’s just been, I think, a general hesitancy,” Sialtsis said.
But last month, national home sales rose just more than 1 percent, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the fifth consecutive month of small increases, as average house prices climbed nearly 2 percent from last year.
Real estate is one of Canada’s most lucrative sectors. It makes up nearly 400 billion Canadian dollars (US$287bn) of the country’s gross domestic product, representing 13 percent of Canada’s economy.
‘Rates should have come down a lot faster’
Last week, the Bank of Canada reduced its federally set key interest rate to 2.5 percent, down by a quarter-point.
The central bank’s governor, Tiff Macklem, told reporters the Crown corporation’s council had a “clear consensus” that dropping the rate would “help the economy adjust while maintaining well-controlled inflation”.
“Obviously, tariffs are weakening the Canadian economy”, he said at a news conference after the rate cut. “We are proceeding carefully … We don’t want Canadians to have to worry about big increases in the cost of living.”
Despite what the bank described in a statement as “a lot of job losses” and a weakening economy, increased housing activity was among the few “signs of resilience”.
The central bank’s key interest rate influences private banks’ own lending rates, including mortgages. Lower rates mean more people can afford to take out house loans — and also many mortgage-holders can get some relief on their costs.
The bank’s rate started climbing in early 2022, skyrocketing from just 0.25 percent in early 2022 up to 5 percent the next year, its highest since 2001.
Real estate is one of Canada’s most lucrative sectors [David P Ball/Al Jazeera]
According to Sialtsis, keeping the rate high so long “caused some people to pull back”.
She said some of her would-be clients did not buy houses, despite it having become a buyers’ market. They were “holding off because of the uncertainty due to the trade tariffs and the potential impact”.
But since April last year, the nationally set interest rate has been gradually declining as the country battled post-pandemic inflation, which drove up the cost of living for Canadians.
Shaun Cathcart, senior economist with CREA, said the historically high interest rates kept the market “mostly asleep” for three years.
“We thought that 2025 was going to be a rebound year,” he said. “And then, of course, what happened was this total tariff chaos just completely derailed that.
“People just pulled right back and said, ‘We’re not going to make any big decisions like this, I don’t know if I’m going to have a job.’”
But recent improved house sales, he said, suggest the initial “dread” from the trade war may have “sort of calmed down”.
And he believes there’s a good chance “that trend could accelerate this fall.”
For University of British Columbia economics professor Andrey Pavlov, holding the rates high as long as the central bank did “was a mistake”.
“Interest rates should have come down a lot faster and a lot further than they did,” he told Al Jazeera prior to the latest rate cut.
“Income per capita has been flat or declining in Canada for the past two years — allowing that to happen [was] a policy mistake.”
Pavlov said he would like to see more “substantial” reductions in the central bank’s rates to get the housing market moving again.
“It’s a very early trend of recovery”, he said. “High interest rates obviously present a major headwind to real estate.
“Some substantial interest rate cuts will then establish the trend of normal recovery and going back to a normal or seller’s market.”
Ottawa launches new housing agency
Before the rate cut, the country’s minister of housing and infrastructure, Gregor Robertson, acknowledged slower-than-expected real estate sales, but added some regions fared better than others.
For instance, Canada’s most populated metropolis, the Greater Toronto Area, actually saw its house sales drop last month.
“Generally, the market is challenged by the US tariffs and the threats we face across the global economy with wars and uncertainties”, Robertson told Al Jazeera.
“Housing and infrastructure are right at the core of Canada’s economy … It’s critical that we leverage that overall investment and create more jobs — create more homes.”
On September 15, Ottawa unveiled Build Canada Homes, a new agency with a 13 billion Canadian dollars (US$9.3bn) mission to ramp up construction of up to 50,000 “factory-made” housing units on federally owned land.
In a statement, Prime Minister Mark Carney said the new agency will “partner with private market developers to build affordable homes” for middle-class Canadians.
Ottawa’s plan would see the private sector offer “construction capacity, innovation, supply chains, and financing” — with the government bringing to the table “federal lands, faster approvals, and strong incentives”.
And in a nod to industries worst-hit by US tariffs, Carney said the initiative will follow a “buy Canadian” policy, to “channel demand through Canadian industries” such as lumber, aluminium and steel.
Private developers can be ‘very speculative’, experts warn [David P Ball/Al Jazeera]
Economist Jim Stanford, with the Centre for Future Work, said federal promises to expand the housing supply were “ambitious”.
“A big expansion of housing activity would help Canada weather the Trump tariffs,” he said.
But he cautioned against relying too much on private developers, which he described as “very speculative and very financialised”.
“If it’s just left to the private housing industry … we could see one of the ramifications of a Trump recession would be a further decline in housing prices,” he warned, “and a decline in housing construction.”
Although falling home prices can stimulate demand and construction, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation notes that in some cases “falling prices and tighter credit” can create “risks for buyers,” and too many unsold homes on the market can lead to projects being delayed or cancelled.
‘Strength of the real estate market’
The housing minister said the affordability crisis has created urgency around building more homes for middle-income earners, as well as non-market homes for lower-income and homeless people.
“We need to really scale up the number of homes being built below market,” Robertson said, “and make it more affordable for Canadians.”
According to mortgage broker Sialtsis, many Canadians — including renters and first-time homeowners — have been deeply challenged by a lack of affordable housing.
While close to two-thirds of Canadians own their primary home, affordability remains a major barrier, she noted.
But despite the housing sector’s slow recovery this year, Sialtsis remains a “firm believer in the strength” of Canada’s real estate market overall.
Bethpage is a news correspondent for BBC Sport golf.
The comparisons were unavoidable.
Similarity can be drawn between Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler’s dominance at the top of the men’s game, which was insurmountable with her dominance as the world no.1 and her relentless victories at the majors and her PGA Tour success.
Another similarity between the two American superstars began to emerge at Bethpage: struggling in Ryder Cup pairings.
Scheffler has now lost all three of his matches in the alternate shot format, winning only three of the 41 holes he has played since losing in the opening foursomes on Friday.
American journalist Alex Miceli claimed that his foursome play is “absolutely atrocious” and that there is no justification for it.
“There’s no denying that he will eventually figure it out,” he said, “but here we are in 2025, and he still hasn’t figured it out.”
Scheffler made his Ryder Cup debut in 2021, but he lost in two significant matches in 2023.
Before falling to Viktor Hovland and Ludvig berg on Saturday in record 9& 7, the 29-year-old was in tears, Scheffler and Sam Burns lost 4& 3 to Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton on Friday in Rome.
How the best foursomes in the world compete?
Europe has frequently sought out a talisman as a driver for their Ryder Cup bid, starting with Seve Ballesteros in the 1980s and Rory McIlroy in the present day.
Even Woods, not the United States, has never been able to locate that leader.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the 15-time major champion elevated golf to a new level, ensuring that he continues to be the game’s preeminent superstar.
But oddly enough, Woods only won 35% of his matches and was only a Ryder Cup champion.
He lost nine of his final foursomes, losing only four of them.
Why ? One theory is that Woods and Scheffler are unable to turn their unyielding behavior into a game in which they rely on their playing partner.
In all his pomp, Woods appeared to be a lone wolf. He won four of his six matches in the singles and lost two.
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In either of his two singles matches so far, he has won against the Spaniard in Rome and defeated Rahm as an unheralded rookie in the 2021 victory over Whistling Straits.
In his pre-tournament press conference, Scheffler stated, “I’d like to think that I’m not difficult to pair with people.”
“I’ve worked with a few different partners over the years and had some success.” I would never fit into that category, in my opinion.
Another theory that Woods and Scheffler’s quartet struggles is that their team-mates can’t cope with expectation.
Scheffler, a four-time major winner, has a different vibe. He is always trying to act as the bloke who lives next door.
The Ryder Cup field’s top-ranked player has only won 38% of their matches since 1999.
They put a lot of pressure on themselves, and Scheffler claims that he doesn’t think about it because he thinks about it all the time, according to Miceli.
Scottie is a different kind of person than Tiger, who didn’t care that much.
Scheffler &, Henley “failed to fire.”
Scheffler is not merely to blame for the quartet’s defeats, of course.
His partner, Russell Henley, did not appear to be much better than Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick did in Friday’s 4&, 3 loss.
Henley appeared shaky on his Ryder Cup debut despite being fourth in a world ranking system that was influenced by LIV golfers’ omissions.
Even Scheffler, whose game relies heavily on consistent driving and metronomic irons, was unable to save them.
Former European Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson, who is analysing the Bethpage action for BBC Radio 5 Live, claimed that Scheffler and Henley “undoubtedly failed to fire, but the European performance was perfect.”
They “made the Americans earn nothing,” they claimed, and they were unable to produce the goods.
The Americans “had a little sultry spell at the end,” according to the statement. “They had a little bit of life coming, but it just wasn’t enough, and it was far too late.”
After that, Scheffler expressed his gratitude for how his team performed “some good things.”
“We simply didn’t hole enough putts early.” There were some chances. He continued, “I believe the putts simply didn’t fall.”
Along with debutant JJ Spaun, he aimed to make amends in the fourballs on Friday afternoon.
A report from the UN has revealed that more than 150 businesses, including Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, and TripAdvisor, are profiting from Israel’s illegal settlement operation in the occupied West Bank.
158 businesses that are alleged to be in abusive settlements were updated by the UN human rights office on Friday, according to a new database update.
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The list includes multinationals with offices in the United States, Canada, China, France, and Germany, despite the majority being Israeli.
Businesses have a duty to avoid causing abuses, according to the report.
According to the statement, “Business enterprises that have identified their causes or contributed to negative human rights impacts should provide for or cooperate in remediation through appropriate processes.”
Since the last update, which included British-registered online travel agencies Opodo and eDreams, was added to the list of 68 businesses since June 2023.
The construction, real estate, mining, and quarrying industries, which are essential to Israel’s efforts to expand its settlements, had a large presence among the other businesses. Over 300 additional businesses are still being looked at.
Volker Turk, the UN’s human rights representative, praised the findings as evidence of corporate responsibility in conflict areas.
This report emphasizes the due diligence responsibility of businesses engaged in conflict to ensure that their activities don’t lead to human rights violations, he said.
Israeli strategy for displacement of Palestinians
The review comes as Israel’s ongoing genocide against Gaza and its occupation in the West Bank are being closely watched more than ever.
Armed Jewish settlers have terrorized Palestinian communities in the West Bank, killing civilians, forcing families to relocate, and grabbing land in what human rights groups call ethnic cleansing.
Since Israel seized the West Bank in the 1967 war, settlements have been strewn up, carving up the region with checkpoints, walls, and roads to encircle Palestinians who are now under military rule.
Israel allegedly employs a deliberate strategy to forcibly relocate Palestinians, establish Jewish-only settlements, and advance toward full annexation of the West Bank, according to a separate UN Commission of Inquiry this week.
The database, which the Human Rights Council mandated in 2016, is a crucial tool for influencing companies’ decisions to leave settlements, according to civil society organizations. According to rights advocates, international companies that Israel’s occupation are involved in violating international law.
