Category World News

Israeli settlers attack West Bank villages under army’s protection

Israeli settlers have set vehicles and properties on fire under the protection of Israeli forces while also injuring at least 21 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank.

Jalal Bashir, head of Jinasfut village council, was quoted as saying by Wafa news agency on Monday evening that the attacks took place in the villages of Jinasfut and Funduq, east of Qalqilya.

He added that dozens of Israeli settlers raided Jinasfut and set fire to three homes, a nursery and a workshop. The settlers also set several vehicles owned by Palestinian residents ablaze.

One Palestinian sustained a head injury while trying to protect his home. Several others were undergoing treatment after inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its medical teams treated those injured by the settlers in Jinsafut and Fanduq, adding that the victims suffered bruises as they were beaten by the settlers.

In the southern West Bank, Israeli settlers also stormed a Palestinian home in the Masafer Yatta area. Dozens of settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles with stones south of Hebron, damaging several of them.

Yesh Din, which monitors human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, shared video clips showing Palestinian-owned vehicles and a building in flames from earlier settler attacks.

According to the group, settlers set two Palestinian homes on fire and torched at least four vehicles in Sinjil village, located northeast of Ramallah. In Ein Siniya village, settlers attacked and set fire to homes, north of Ramallah. It added that settlers attacked and damaged Palestinian-owned property in Turmus Aya, northeast of Ramallah, and also threw stones at vehicles on Route 60, near al-Lubban Asharqiya, south of Nablus.

The attacks by Israeli settlers come as US President Donald Trump signed an order on Monday to reverse US sanctions on them in the occupied West Bank. The Biden administration described them as part of the “extremist settlement movement”.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Palestine also expressed alarm at the “wave of renewed violence” by Israeli settlers and armed forces in the occupied West Bank.

“The UN Human Rights Office is alarmed by a wave of renewed violence perpetrated by settlers and Israeli security forces in the Occupied West Bank, coinciding with the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement,” it said in a statement.

The OHCHR also said the violence was accompanied by reinforced restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement, including the closure of checkpoints and installation of new gates, resulting in entire communities being locked in.

Hotel fire at Turkiye ski resort kills at least 10

A hotel fire in a ski resort in northwestern Turkiye has killed at least 10 people, officials announced.

The blaze broke out overnight in the restaurant of the hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, Minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya said. A further 32 people have been hospitalised with injuries, he added.

“Two-hundred and sixty-seven personnel from various public institutions and organisations responded to the fire and the response is ongoing,” he wrote on X.

Speaking to Turkish news outlet TRT, Bolu Governor Abdulaziz Aydin said the fire began on the fourth floor of the 11-storey hotel at about 3:30am (00:30 GMT). Hours later, firefighters were still working to put it out.

The cause of the fire will be investigated by authorities, he added, noting that it broke out on the restaurant floor.

Two of the victims died after jumping out of the building in a panic, Aydin told the state-run Anadolu news agency. There were 234 guests staying at the hotel, he said.

Television images showed the roof and top floors of the hotel on fire.

Video: Trump ‘not confident’ on Gaza ceasefire future

NewsFeed

US President Donald Trump told reporters he was “not confident” of the Gaza ceasefire deal holding and said the territory had to be rebuilt in a “different way”, as he signed executive orders on day one of his new term.

Gauff stunned by Badosa in Australian Open quarters; Zverev beats Paul

An “emotional” Paula Badosa has shattered world number three Coco Gauff’s dream of a first Australian Open title with a stunning 7-5, 6-4 win in the quarterfinals in Melbourne.

Badosa reached a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time in her career – the first Spanish woman to do so since Garbine Muguruza at Melbourne in 2020 – in a match that lasted one hour and 43 minutes on Tuesday.

“I’m a bit emotional,” said Badosa, who will face either her close friend and two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a place in the final.

“I’m a very emotional person. I wanted to play my best game. I think I did it.

“I’m super proud of the level I gave today. ”

It caps a remarkable comeback to tennis for the 11th seed who was ranked outside the top 100 a year ago after a stress fracture in her back.

“I mean, a year ago, I was here with my back that I didn’t know if I had to retire from this sport, and now I’m here playing against the best in the world,” said Badosa.

Third seed Gauff had been unbeaten in nine matches this season but dropped her first set of 2025 before recovering to beat Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic in the last 16.

Badosa began aggressively and had the Gauff serve under pressure early in the first set.

The American, uncharacteristically, failed to create any break points in the first set and littered her game with unforced errors.

Gauff was far from her aggressive best but said she felt more positive than she did after her fourth-round loss to compatriot Emma Navarro in the US Open.

“Even though I lost today, I feel like I’m on an upward trajectory,” Gauff told reporters after the match.

“I know what I need to work on.

“I’m obviously disappointed, but I’m not completely crushed. ”

Coco Gauff has never won the Australian Open [David Gray/AFP]

Meanwhile, men’s second seed Alexander Zverev overcame Tommy Paul to register a 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, 6-1 win and book his spot in the last four.

Zverev, who received a warning for cursing during his quarterfinal after he got bothered by a bird’s feather, is among the favourites for the title.

The German was down a break in the second set when Paul saved two break points. With the game in the balance, chair umpire Nacho Forcadell called a let and ordered a replay of a point when he saw a white feather drop into Zverev’s eye line as the German player was in his backswing.

“What? A feather? There’s millions of them on the court,” Zverev said as he approached the official while holding up the feather.

Zverev grasped the net to pause for a while before going back to work, but Paul soon held serve.

The world number two will face the winner of the mouthwatering quarterfinal between 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and four-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz.

Germany's Alexander Zverev shows a feather to the umpire while arguing over a point during his men's singles quarterfinal match against the USA's Tommy Paul on day ten of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 21, 2025. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE --
Alexander Zverev shows a feather to the chair umpire while arguing over a point during his quarterfinal match against Tommy Paul on [Martin Keep/AFP]

Trump critics say inauguration optics show oligarchy in action

The influence of Silicon Valley was on display at Donald Trump’s inauguration, with the 47th president of the United States taking the oath of office flanked by some of the most prominent CEOs of the tech world.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet Inc CEO Sundar Pichai, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took some of the most exclusive seats at the inauguration on Monday, sitting closer to the president than even some of his cabinet picks.

The ceremony was originally planned as an outdoor event with tech leaders sitting some distance from Trump on a dais, but it was moved indoors to the much smaller Capitol Rotunda due to unusually cold weather in Washington, DC.

The prominence of some of the world’s richest people at the event marked a break from tradition, as the best seats at presidential inaugurations are typically reserved for family members and former US presidents.

As well as outgoing President Joe Biden, past presidents George W Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama attended the inauguration, although Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, stayed away.

The optics of Silicon Valley’s proximity to the president were not lost on Trump’s critics, who have warned about the growing threat of a tech oligarchy since his re-election in November.

“When I started talking about Oligarchy, many people didn’t understand what I meant. Well, that’s changed,” Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said in a post on X.

“When the 3 wealthiest men in America sit behind Trump at his inauguration, everyone understands that the billionaire class now controls our government. We must fight back. ”

Some critics noted the combined wealth of just three tech titans – Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos – has grown to nearly $1 trillion over the past decade, while the federal minimum wage has remained unchanged since 2009.

They also took issue with what they saw as preferential treatment for even the family members of tech leaders.

Lauren Sanchez, the fiancee of Bezos, and Zuckerberg’s wife Priscilla Chan, also attended the inauguration despite the limited number of seats in the Capitol Rotunda.

US media reported that Musk’s mother, Maye Musk, was seated closer to Trump than most lawmakers or his future cabinet members.

“No congressional spouses were allowed in the Rotunda for the ceremony today. Different rules for the oligarchs,” said left-leaning media commentator Ron Filipkowski on X.

The presence of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Monday also raised eyebrows, as did his seat next to Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick to be the next director of national intelligence.

TikTok briefly shut down in the US on Sunday after its Chinese owner failed to sell the platform as mandated by legislation signed last year by Biden.

Whereas much of the tech industry embraced progressive corporate values like diversity under Biden, top Silicon Valley leaders have moved closer to Trump since the election.

Musk, who spent years expressing support for Democrats, donated more than $200m to Trump’s campaign and is set to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency in the new administration.

Bezos blocked an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris by The Washington Post during the presidential race, the newspaper he owns reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

In advance of the inauguration, Musk and Zuckerberg flew to Florida to spend time with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Zuckerberg recently also announced he would end Meta’s fact-checking programme, which conservatives had for years accused of censoring voices supportive of Trump.

Meta, Amazon and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also donated to Trump’s inauguration fund.

In his final speech as president, Biden last week warned of the “tech industrial complex” and its “dangerous” concentration of power in a speech reminiscent of President Dwight D Eisenhower’s famous 1961 farewell address.

Eisenhower’s speech, given at the height of the Cold War, famously coined the term “military-industrial complex” to describe the relationship between the defence industry and the US government.

Taliban announces release of two US citizens in prisoner swap deal

The Taliban government in Afghanistan has announced the release of detained Americans in a prisoner swap deal with the United States.

The Taliban Foreign Ministry in Kabul did not name the US citizens or say how many were released but said they were exchanged for Khan Mohammad, who was arrested in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar two decades ago and has been serving a life sentence in a California prison.

“Following extensive and productive negotiations between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the United States of America, an agreement was reached facilitating the release of an Afghan Mujahid, Khan Mohammad, from a US prison in exchange for the release of American nationals,” the Afghan Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday in a post on X.

The Associated Press news agency quoted the family of Ryan Corbett, one of the Americans reportedly part of the swap deal, as saying that their hearts were filled with “overwhelming gratitude for sustaining his life and bringing him back home after what had been the most challenging and uncertain 894 days of our lives”.

Corbett, who had lived in Afghanistan with his family at the time of the 2021 collapse of the US-backed government, was detained by the Taliban in August 2022 while on a business trip.

The Afghan Foreign Ministry said the prisoner exchange, brokered by Qatar, was the result of “long and fruitful negotiations” with the US.

The announcement comes the day after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who, during his first term in office, presided over a deal with the Taliban that paved the way for the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.