Turkish police stormed the Istanbul offices of the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP), using shields and pepper spray to enforce a court ruling ousting provincial head Ozgur Celik. Party members barricaded themselves inside with furniture to block police.
Spain has announced sweeping measures against Israel, including a total arms embargo, with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez saying the move is aimed at “stopping the genocide in Gaza” and “supporting the Palestinian population”.
“There is a difference between defending your country and bombing hospitals or starving innocent children,” Sanchez, one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, said in a speech posted from his official X account.
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“This is an unjustifiable attack on the civilian population. Sixty thousand dead, two million displaced, half of them children. This is not self-defence … it is the extermination of a defenceless people.”
Central to the package, unveiled on Monday, is a royal decree law that will be approved by Spain’s cabinet and later ratified by parliament. The measure formalises what has been in effect since October 2023: a ban on the purchase and sale of weapons, ammunition and military equipment to Israel.
Spain will also prohibit ships carrying fuel for the Israeli army from docking at its ports, deny airspace access to aircraft transporting defence material, and bar entry to individuals “directly involved in genocide, human rights violations and war crimes” in Gaza, a restriction that could apply to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his government.
Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant have been issued an arrest warrant for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), but several European leaders have faced criticism for refusing to execute the ICC warrant. The United States, the closest ally of Israel and its main military funder, has even slapped sanctions on ICC prosecutor Karim Khan.
Other steps include banning imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and Sanchez pledging 10 million euros ($11.7m) in new funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and a total of 150 million euros ($176m) in humanitarian aid for Gaza by 2026.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned Spain’s measures as “anti-Semitic” and accused Sanchez’s socialist government of leading a “hostile anti-Israel line, with uncontrolled and hateful rhetoric”.
Israel’s leaders have often conflated criticism of its human rights violations and abuse against Palestinians with anti-Semitism. Similar charges were levelled against French President Emmanuel Macron and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in August after they announced recognition of the Palestinian state and called for an end to the war in Gaza.
Israel also announced it would bar two Spanish ministers from entering the country.
Madrid swiftly rejected the allegations, summoning its ambassador in Israel back for consultations. Spain’s Foreign Ministry said it “strongly rejects the false and slanderous accusations of antisemitism made by the Israeli government” and that it would “not be intimidated in its defence of peace, international law and human rights”.
“The measures relating to the inhumane situation in Gaza and the West Bank, announced today by the President of the Spanish Government, reflect the majority opinion of Spanish society and are adopted within the framework of its sovereignty and in line with its defence of peace, human rights and international law,” the ministry added.
Argentina’s markets have tumbled, with the peso currency at a historic low, after a heavy defeat for President Javier Milei’s party at the hands of the Peronist opposition at local elections stoked worries about the government’s ability to implement its economic reform agenda.
On Monday, the peso was last down almost 5 percent against the US dollar at 1,434 per greenback while the benchmark stock index fell 10.5 percent, and an index of Argentine stocks traded on United States exchanges lost more than 15 percent. Some of the country’s international bonds saw their biggest falls since they began trading in 2020 after a $65bn restructuring deal.
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The resounding victory for the Peronists signalled a tough battle for Milei in national midterm elections on October 26, when his party is aiming to secure enough seats to avoid overrides to presidential vetoes.
The government now faces the difficult choice of whether to allow the peso to depreciate ahead of next month’s midterms or spend its foreign exchange reserves to intervene in the FX market, according to Pramol Dhawan, head of EM portfolio management at Pimco.
“Opting for intervention would likely prove counterproductive, as it risks derailing the IMF programme and diminishing the country’s prospects for future market access to refinance external debt,” Dhawan said via email, referring to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “The more resources the government allocates to defending the currency, the fewer will be available to meet obligations to bondholders — thereby increasing the risk of default.”
He said early indications that the government may double down on the current strategy “would be a strategic misstep”.
The 13-point gap in the Buenos Aires Province (PBA) election in favour of the opposition Peronists was much wider than polls anticipated and what the market had priced in. The government setback at the polls adds to recent headwinds for a market that had until recently outperformed its Latin American peers.
“We had our reservations about the market being too complacent regarding the Buenos Aires election results. The foreign exchange market will undoubtedly be under the spotlight, as any instability there can have a ripple effect on Argentine assets,” said Shamaila Khan, head of fixed income for emerging markets and Asia Pacific at UBS, in response to emailed questions.
“However, it’s important to note that simply using reserves to prop up the currency isn’t likely to provide much reassurance to the market,” she added. “The midterm elections, in my opinion, carry more weight and their outcome will significantly influence how Argentine assets perform in the coming months.”
The bond market selloff saw the country’s 2035 issue fall 6.25 cents, on track for its largest daily drop since its post-restructuring issuance in 2020.
Based on official counts, the Peronists won 47.3 percent of the vote across the province, while the candidate of Milei’s party took 33.7 percent, with 99.98 percent of the votes counted.
Argentina – one of the big reform stories across emerging markets since Milei became president in December 2023 – has seen its markets come under heavy pressure over the last month following a corruption scandal involving Milei’s sister and political gatekeeper Karina Milei where she has been accused of accepting bribes for government contracts..
The government defeat also comes after the IMF approved a $20bn programme in April, of which some $15bn has already been disbursed. The IMF has eagerly backed the reform programme of Milei’s government to the point that its director, Kristalina Georgieva, had to clarify remarks earlier this year in which she invited Argentines to stay the course with the reforms.
The IMF did not respond to questions on whether this vote result would change its relationship with the Milei administration or alter the programme.
Argentina’s main equity index has dropped around 20 percent since the government corruption scandal broke, its international government bonds have sold off, and pressure on the recently unpegged peso has forced authorities to start intervening in the FX market.
“The result was much worse than the market expected – Milei took quite a big beating, so now he has to come up with something,” said Viktor Szabo, portfolio manager at Aberdeen Investments.
Morgan Stanley had warned in the run-up to the vote that the international bonds could fall up to 10 points if a Milei drubbing dented his agenda for radical reform. On Monday, the outcome saw the bank pull its ‘like’ stance on the bonds.
Barclays analyst Ivan Stambulsky pointed to comments from Economy Minister Luis Caputo on Sunday that the country’s FX regime won’t change.
“We’re likely to see strong pressure on the FX and declining reserves as the Ministry of Economy intervenes,” Stambulsky said. “If FX sales persist, markets will likely start wondering what will happen if the economic team is forced to let the currency depreciate before the October mid-terms.”
Some analysts, however, predicted other parts of the country were unlikely to vote as strongly against Milei as in Buenos Aires province given it is a traditional Peronist stronghold.
They also expected the Milei government to stick to its programme of fiscal discipline despite economic woes.
“The Province of Buenos Aires midterm election delivered a very negative result for the Milei administration, casting doubt on its ability to deliver a positive outcome in October’s national vote and risking the reform agenda in the second half of the term,” said JPMorgan in a Sunday client note.
At least five people have been killed and five others wounded after Israeli warplanes struck eastern Lebanon in the latest violation of the ceasefire agreement signed last November, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
The attacks on Monday hit the Bekaa and Hermel districts, with state media saying at least eight air raids were carried out. According to Lebanon’s National News Agency, seven bombs fell on the outskirts of Hermel, while another strike targeted the nearby town of Labweh.
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Israel’s military claimed the raids hit weapons depots and military facilities used by Hezbollah, though the claims could not be independently confirmed. Hezbollah has not yet commented.
Israel has continued launching near-daily assaults on Lebanese territory, particularly in the south, while maintaining an occupation at five border outposts despite the truce requiring a full withdrawal earlier this year.
The conflict erupted on October 8, 2023, when Israel opened a military offensive in Lebanon. By the time the ceasefire was reached in November the following year, more than 4,000 people had been killed and almost 17,000 wounded.
The fragile truce is under further strain as Lebanon grapples with a contentious plan pushed by the United States and Israel to disarm Hezbollah.
Earlier this month, Lebanon’s army presented a proposal to the cabinet outlining steps to begin dismantling the group’s arsenal. Information Minister Paul Morcos said the government welcomed the move, but stopped short of confirming cabinet approval.
The plan prompted a walkout by five Shia ministers, including representatives of Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal Movement, who insist the group will not disarm while Israel continues air strikes and occupation in the south.
The US and Hezbollah’s political rivals in Lebanon have increased pressure on the group to surrender its weapons. Hezbollah has resisted, warning that even raising the issue while Israeli attacks persist would be a “serious misstep”.
United States President Donald Trump is pushing for a ceasefire deal in Gaza after issuing a “last warning” to the Palestinian group Hamas.
Trump provided few details, but he insinuated that the already catastrophic war on Gaza – in which Israel has already killed more than 64,500 Palestinians and a famine has been declared – could get even worse if Hamas did not submit to the terms of his new proposal.
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Negotiators from the US, Qatar, and Egypt have been working on a ceasefire deal for months, but Israeli officials have repeatedly rejected or failed to respond to efforts to bring an end to their military operations.
Most recently, Hamas accepted a ceasefire proposal crafted months ago by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which would have resulted in the partial release of captives held in Gaza.
However, Israel and the US backed out after Netanyahu changed his tune and insisted on a full release of captives – as well as the full surrender of Hamas. Trump is now claiming that his new proposal could lead to a different and more positive outcome.
“We’re working on a solution that may be very good … You’ll be hearing about it pretty soon. We’re trying to get it ended, get the hostages back,” the US president told reporters in Washington, DC on Sunday evening, referring to the Israeli captives still in Gaza.
Here’s all you need to know about Trump’s latest plan and if it will stop Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.
Little information has been disclosed about the deal. However, Israeli media outlets say that the proposal is similar to one previously proposed by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, but with a few crucial differences.
Witkoff had previously proposed a deal where half of the living Israeli captives would be released, which would then lead to a 60-day ceasefire, and negotiations for a permanent end to the war. This was agreed to by Israel, but then, once Hamas had also indicated its agreement, Netanyahu insisted on the release of all the captives, reportedly telling the Israeli cabinet that “a partial deal is not relevant”, and that “Hamas must be destroyed”.
The current proposal being pushed by Trump appears to call for a release of all Israeli captives from the get-go, in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinian captives in Israeli prisons, and then only negotiations – but no permanent end to the war.
“[The new proposal] is basically a variation of the Witkoff plan – a hostages-for-prisoners swap, after which negotiations will commence to end the war,” according to an analysis in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The crucial difference is that the release of all the captives would not come in exchange for an immediate end to the war, leaving Israel with little incentive to not continue attacking Gaza with even more intensity in pursuit of its stated goal to completely destroy Hamas. That goal is difficult to quantify, and many Palestinians see it as useful cover for the complete destruction of Gaza.
Hamas confirmed it had received a US proposal. The group put out a statement saying it welcomed “any initiative that helps in the efforts to stop the aggression against our people”.
Hamas has repeatedly stuck to its own position: that the remaining Israeli captives held in Gaza be released in exchange for guarantees that Israel would stop its attacks and withdraw from Gaza.
“We affirm our immediate readiness to sit at the negotiation table to discuss the release of all prisoners in exchange for a clear declaration to end the war, the full withdrawal from Gaza, and the formation of a committee to manage Gaza from Palestinian independents, who will immediately begin their work,” a Hamas statement obtained by the news outlet Drop Site News is reported to have said.
Writing on Telegram, senior Hamas official Basem Naim said: “It is clear that the primary goal is to reach the refusal of the offer and not reach an agreement that leads to the end of the war.”
Israel has accepted the proposal, according to a press conference that Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar gave on Monday. He said that Israel was ready to end the war in exchange for all the captives and for Hamas laying down its weapons.
Hamas has previously said that it would surrender its weapons only if Israel withdraws from Gaza and agrees to a Palestinian state made up of the occupied West Bank and Gaza, with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.
Despite Israel’s backing for Trump’s proposal, some analysts believe Israel will later try to spin the proposal and claim that they accepted it while Hamas were the ones to refuse. This has precedence.
Hamas has previously accepted ceasefire proposals, only for Netanyahu to add conditions he knows will not be amenable to the group – or to Palestinians – as a tactic to continue the war.
In the meantime, Israeli officials are continuing to threaten Gaza.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz warned on Monday that a “powerful hurricane” will hit the territory and destroy Hamas targets, as Israel destroys civilian high-rise buildings across the Gaza Strip.
Also on Monday, Netanyahu threatened Gaza City residents, telling them to “get out of there”, and that a ground operation was about to begin in the city.
Trump is confident it will.
“I think we’re going to get them all,” he said of the return of the Israeli captives. Trump had previously predicted on August 25 that the war would come to a “conclusive ending” within three weeks.
But it is unclear why this time will be any different from when Trump made past promises to end the war. Analysts largely believe Trump’s latest proposal will meet similar fates as past ones, largely due to Netanyahu’s reticence to end the war.
“It won’t lead to anything because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no desire or interest to end the war,” Chaim Levinson wrote in an analysis for Haaretz. “Rather, he wants to claim that Hamas is being recalcitrant so he can keep it going for many months.”
The US under Trump has also shown little appetite to rein in Netanyahu. Back in May, Witkoff told Qatari and Egyptian mediators that the US will not “force Israel to end the Gaza war”.
Trump is saying that if Hamas gives up all the remaining captives, the US will make sure negotiations progress. However, Trump made a similar promise when his team helped outgoing US President Joe Biden ink a ceasefire deal that came into effect on January 19.
Netanyahu unilaterally violated the ceasefire to continue the war two months later.
Critics are sceptical that Netanyahu will stick to any future ceasefire agreement unless the US reins him in and holds Israel accountable.
“There is very good reason not to trust either Netanyahu or Trump at this moment on forcing Israel to stick to its word,” said Omar Rahman, an expert on Israel-Palestine with the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, a think tank in Doha, Qatar.
“That is especially true in light of their public plans to ethnically cleanse Gaza and turn it into an American real estate development,” he told Al Jazeera.
Trump previously proposed that Gaza’s population be forced out and that a “Gaza Riviera” be built on the ruins of the territory, an idea widely condemned as ethnic cleansing. The US president has largely dropped mention of the proposal, although he and his administration have occasionally returned to the idea.
Israel’s genocide in Gaza does not look like it will end in the foreseeable future.
At least 19 people have been killed in clashes between security forces and protesters in Nepal. Mostly young ‘Gen Z’ demonstrators took to the streets and stormed parliament amid anger over a social media ban and corruption.