A New Zealand father who was killed by police while on the run with his three children had been hiding at a makeshift bushland campsite stocked with weapons and ammunition, police have said.
Tom Phillips, who absconded with his three children in 2021 amid a custody dispute with his former partner, was killed on Monday after being confronted by police following a burglary in the rural town of Piopio.
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Police say they shot Phillips dead after he opened fire on officers, leaving one with critical injuries.
Phillips’ children – aged 12, 10 and nine – were safely recovered by authorities.
New Zealand Police on Tuesday released images of the campsite where they say Phillips and his children had been holed up before his fatal encounter with police.
Police said “several” firearms were recovered from the campsite located in “dense bush” in Waitomo, a rural community located about 190km (120 miles) south of Auckland, along with three guns that were found at the scene of the shootout.
Two quad bikes were also recovered at the campsite.
Zealand Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said officers had spent years considering how to best handle the situation as they were aware that Phillips was “armed,” “dangerous” and “motivated”.
“We were confident that, irrespective of how hard we tried to bring it to a peaceful conclusion, that with a motivated person that was always going to be a challenge,” Chambers told a news conference.
“And that has informed the way that we have dealt with this matter over the four years.”
Chambers said Philips, who was facing robbery and other charges, and his children had moved about frequently, making it difficult to pin down their whereabouts.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell said officers had been at pains to bring the situation to a conclusion without any loss of life.
“You had a father, in Mr Phillips, who, in my view, had no regard for the safety of those children. He seemed to be solely motivated in terms of what he wanted to do and how things were impacting him,” Mitchell said.
Philips’s disappearance from the remote community of Marokop with his children in December 2021 gripped New Zealand and generated headlines worldwide.
Despite sightings over the years and appeals by his family, Philips was able to repeatedly frustrate the efforts of police to bring him into custody.
Nepal has lifted its social media ban one day after protests turned deadly, with at least 19 people killed by security forces as demonstrators rallied against internet restrictions and government corruption.
Police fatally shot 17 people in Kathmandu, according to spokesman Shekhar Khanal, with two additional deaths reported in eastern Nepal’s Sunsari district. Officers deployed rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannons and batons when protesters broke through barbed wire barriers attempting to reach Parliament.
Approximately 400 people sustained injuries, including more than 100 police officers. Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak resigned following the violence.
“I had been there for a peaceful protest, but the government used force,” said 20-year-old Iman Magar, who was struck in his right arm. “It was not a rubber bullet but a metallic one, and it took away a part of my hand. The doctor says I need to undergo an operation.”
Emergency vehicles rushed the wounded to hospitals throughout the city. “I have never seen such a disturbing situation at the hospital,” said Ranjana Nepal, information officer at the Civil Service Hospital. “Tear gas entered the hospital area as well, making it difficult for doctors to work.”
The social media ban triggered widespread anger, particularly among younger Nepalis who depend on these platforms for communication. Amnesty International reported that authorities used live ammunition against protesters, while the United Nations called for a transparent investigation.
Millions of Nepalis use platforms like Instagram for entertainment, news, and business purposes. “This isn’t just about social media – it’s about trust, corruption, and a generation that refuses to stay silent,” wrote the Kathmandu Post newspaper. “Gen Z grew up with smartphones, global trends, and promises of a federal, prosperous Nepal. For them, digital freedom is personal freedom. Cutting off access feels like silencing an entire generation.”
On Sunday, Russia launched its largest drone and missile attack since the war began, firing a total of 823 projectiles into Ukraine.
The attack killed at least four people, wounded 44, and caused damage to a key building in Kyiv’s government district, making it the first on the site since the full-fledged war began in February 2022.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 810 drones and decoys, as well as 13 cruise and ballistic missiles. They added that nine missiles and about 60 drones had made it through their air defences and landed in Ukraine.
Smoke rises over a Ukrainian government building after Russian drone and missile strikes in Kyiv on September 7, 2025 [Serhii Korovainyi/Reuters]
The air force said 33 locations were struck across Ukraine, with officials saying that Russian strikes damaged civilian and residential infrastructure in Kyiv, Sumy, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia cities; Kremenchuk in Poltava province; Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk province; Sloviansk in Donetsk province; and parts of Chernihiv and Cherkasy provinces.
How many drone strikes has Russia launched?
Since the start of the year, Russia has launched at least 37,000 air attacks on Ukraine, according to a tally by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russia has intensified drone strikes following Ukraine-Russia bilateral talks in Istanbul, Turkiye, on May 15. The talks, pushed by United States President Donald Trump, did not yield any breakthrough.
Between January and May 2025, Russian drone strikes averaged about 120 strikes per day. From May to August, drone strikes averaged 185 per day.
What types of drones is Russia using?
Russia is mainly using Shahed-type drones in their attacks. At the start of the war, these low-cost weapons were primarily supplied by Iran.
The number of Russian drones has risen significantly, with Moscow scaling up its production of Shahed-type drones, known as Gerans (Russian analogues of the Iranian missiles), Garpiyas (made with Chinese components), and Gerberas (low-cost decoys that mimic Shaheds on radar but carry little or no explosives, intended to deplete Ukraine’s expensive interceptor missiles).
Russia is producing these drones in Tatarstan and has opened a new production line at the Izhevsk Electromechanical Plant, where it already produces Garpiya drones, according to the ISW.
In June 2025, Ukrainian defence intelligence suggested that Russia was capable of producing an average of 170 Shahed-type drones per day (about 5,100 per month) and planned to increase production to 190 drones per day by the end of 2025.
The Russian-made Geran-1 (also known as Shahed 131) and Geran-2 (also known as Shahed 136) are low-cost, with a price range of $20,000-$50,000 for domestic production, but have a high impact.
The Shahed-131 is a smaller munition with a range of 700-900km (435-560 miles), while the larger Shahed-136 has a range of at least 2,000km (1,243 miles). They are known for flying at low altitudes and slow speeds. That means they can be shot down by individual soldiers, but they can also be used against front-line positions and are more manoeuvrable than faster missiles.
Some of Russia’s homegrown drones include the Lancet kamikaze drone, designed for precision strikes, the ZALA family of reconnaissance and attack drones, and several reconnaissance models such as the Orlan-10, Supercam and Merlin-VR.
However, Russia is predominantly relying on Shahed-type drones, and — alongside those — is also using cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
Russian soldiers prepare a Lancet drone for action in an undisclosed location in Ukraine [Russian Ministry of Defence via AP]
What type of air defence system has Ukraine used against Russian air attacks?
Ukraine has employed several tactics and weapons to take down or disable drones, including modern air defence systems alongside mobile fire teams and electronic warfare.
Man-portable air defence kits (MANPADS), heavy machineguns and German-made IRIS-T and US-made NASAMS and SHORAD missile defence systems have also been used against drone attacks, intensifying in recent weeks.
Ukraine has had the most success in downing drones with the German radar-assisted Gepard anti-air 35mm gun and domestically-developed interceptor drones, according to Ukrainian drone warfare expert Olena Kryzhanivska.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz gets off a German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun Flakpanzer Gepard during a visit to the training programme for Ukrainian soldiers near Oldenburg, Germany, on August 25, 2022 [Axel Heimken/Pool via Reuters]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made domestically produced weapons a top priority, saying in July that within six months, the country’s domestic arms production should aim to reach 50 percent of its needs.
Ukraine has also used the US-made Patriot system against ballistic and cruise missiles, providing a critical layer of defence against long-range attacks, including from some of Russia’s most advanced missiles.
What are the latest developments on the ground?
Currently, Russia controls one-fifth – 114,500sq km (44,600sq miles) – of Ukrainian land, with about 88 percent of the Donbas under its control and three-quarters of Zaporizhia and Kherson oblasts.
For most of this year, the war has settled into a grinding impasse with heavy losses on both sides; however, in August, Russian forces made significant gains, advancing about 10km (6 miles) beyond the front lines.
Israeli forces have stormed towns and begun demolishing homes of Palestinian suspects in the wake of a deadly attack in occupied East Jerusalem, raising fears of further military and settler violence and collective punishment in the occupied West Bank as Israel relentlessly pounds Gaza.
Israel said on Tuesday it had surveyed and ordered the demolition of the homes of two Palestinians suspected of the attack at Ramot Junction in occupied East Jerusalem, which left six dead and 12 injured. Both suspects were killed in the attack.
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In a statement, Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had also ordered sanctions to be imposed on the men’s family members, as well as residents of their towns – Qatanna and Qubeiba, north of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.
Those sanctions included the demolition of every structure that had been built without permits in the towns, and the revocation of 750 work permits and entry permits to Israel.
Israeli government ministers, including Katz and far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, issued hardline statements in the wake of Monday’s attack, vowing to demolish homes and deport their family members.
While Israel claims such actions are intended as a deterrent to future attacks, Palestinians and human rights groups say they amount to a form of collective punishment, prohibited by international law.
Home demolished southwest of Hebron
Amid the crackdown in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, Israeli forces also destroyed the home of another Palestinian suspected of having carried out an earlier shooting attack in December.
Soldiers encircled the house of detainee Thabet Masalma in the town of Beit Awwa, southwest of Hebron, before blowing up the property with explosives.
The raid sparked clashes with locals, during which Israeli troops fired live ammunition, wounding two people.
Masalma is accused of being part of a shooting attack eight months ago that resulted in the death of an Israeli settler and wounded three others.
The demolition leaves the detainee’s wife, parents and three children homeless.
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has documented at least 26 homes demolished in the occupied West Bank as a punitive measure in 2025, displacing more than 70 Palestinians.
Israeli police stand guard near the scene where a suspected shooting attack took place at Ramot Junction [Ammar Awad / Reuters]
Tensions high
While raids and settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have ramped up since the war in Gaza began, Monday’s attack has heightened tensions and sparked fears of increased violence and repression.
On Tuesday morning, the Palestinian Wafa news agency, citing local sources, reported that Israeli forces stormed the town of Biddu and closed its main entrance that connects it to the town of al-Jib, which is the only main road for nearly “70,000 citizens in the area”.
During the raid, Israeli forces fired live bullets, sound bombs and, amid clashes with locals, fired toxic and tear gas.
Israeli forces also raided several towns northwest of Jerusalem and carried out arrests using heavy tear gas.
Following Monday’s attack, Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir said in a statement that he had ordered a “full closure” of the area that the alleged gunmen had come from.
“We will continue with a determined and ongoing operational and intelligence effort, we will pursue terror cells everywhere, and we will thwart terrorist infrastructure and its organisers,” he said.
Local sources on the ground told Al Jazeera Arabic that a number of settlers had attacked homes belonging to Palestinians and spray-painted racist slogans in the village of Jurish, south of Nablus.
Wafa reported that Israeli settlers also vandalised vehicles belonging to Palestinians in Jurish, breaking their windows, while another group of settlers cut down olive trees grown by Palestinian families in Aqraba, a town southeast of Nablus.
Meanwhile, in Hebron governorate, Israeli forces arrested two people and set up several military checkpoints at the entrances to the towns, villages and camps. Soldiers also closed several primary and secondary roads, Wafa reported.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is visiting Vanuatu, has said he will not be signing a landmark security and climate resilience agreement with the Pacific island nation as was expected.
“I wouldn’t expect that it would be signed today, but what we will do is progress it,” Albanese said in a radio interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday morning.
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“Vanuatu politics can be very complex,” he said.
In a ceremony last month, Australia initialled a deal worth 500 million Australian dollars ($326.5m) to strengthen economic and security ties with Vanuatu.
The Vanuatu deal is one of two major security agreements Australia had expected to sign with Pacific island neighbours this month, as Canberra seeks to block China from expanding its security presence in the region.
Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat said at a news conference that the delay in signing the pact was due to his government’s coalition partner being concerned that the deal would limit Vanuatu’s access to infrastructure funding from other countries.
Beijing is Vanuatu’s largest external creditor, after Chinese banks extended loans to Vanuatu to pay Chinese companies to build infrastructure, including a presidential office complex, the nation’s parliament, and roads.
Albanese told reporters he was confident the deal would be signed soon.
“This is an agreement that will importantly respect the sovereignty of Vanuatu, but one as well that will respect the sovereignty of Australia,” he said.
A 2022 security deal signed by Australia and Vanuatu, months after China signed a pact with the Solomon Islands, was later blocked by Vanuatu after failing to win domestic political support.
The newly drafted Nakamal Agreement goes beyond the terms of other similar security pacts, to include climate resilience, economic development and “simpler access to Australia for Vanuatu citizens”.
Vanuatu, which has been battered by repeated cyclones, rising sea levels and other problems made worse by climate change, has taken a leading role in addressing the issue at the global level.
After Vanuatu, Albanese will head to Solomon Islands, where Australia will participate in the Pacific Islands Forum as one of 18 member countries.
Notably, the Solomon Islands chose not to invite observers to participate this year, meaning China and the United States will not be attending.
Asked about the decision to bar non-members, Albanese said, “We think that the presence of partners to observe events, whether that be the United States or Taiwan or other countries, is something that adds to the forum.”
“But that is a decision that’s being made by the Solomons,” which he emphasises is a “sovereign nation”.
After the Solomon Islands, Albanese is expected to travel to Papua New Guinea (PNG) next week for the 50th anniversary of independence celebrations, where a new defence treaty between Australia and PNG is due to be signed.
