Israeli airstrikes on Palestinian football stars on Wednesday killed Suleiman al-Obaid, who was waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza. He is one of 321 people killed in the Gaza-based football industry as a result of Israel’s ongoing genocide, known as the “Pele of Palestinian football.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva have spoken by phone, their offices said, discussing a broad range of topics that included tariffs imposed by the United States on goods from both countries.
Lula confirmed a state visit to India in early 2026 during the call on Thursday, which occurred a day after the Brazilian leader told the news agency Reuters that he would initiate a conversation among the BRICS group of countries on tackling US President Donald Trump’s levies, which are the highest on Brazil and India.
The group , of major emerging economies , also includes , China,  , Russia and South Africa.
“The leaders discussed the international economic scenario and the imposition of unilateral tariffs. Brazil and India are, to date, the two countries , most affected”, Lula’s office said in a statement.
Trump announced an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian goods on Wednesday, raising the total duty to 50 percent. The additional tariff, effective August 28, is meant to penalise India for continuing to buy Russian oil, Trump has said.
Trump has also slapped a 50 percent tariff on goods from Brazil, with lower levels , for sectors such as aircraft, energy and orange juice, tying the move to what he called a “witch hunt” against former President Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing ally on trial for an alleged coup plot to overturn his 2022 election loss.
On their call, Lula and Modi reiterated their goal of boosting bilateral trade to more than $20bn annually by 2030, according to the Brazilian president’s office, up from roughly $12bn last year.
Brasilia said they also agreed to expand the reach of the preferential trade agreement between India and the South American trade bloc Mercosur, and discussed the virtual payment platforms of their countries.
Modi’s office, in its statement, did not explicitly mention Trump or US tariffs, but said “the two leaders exchanged views on various regional and global issues of mutual interest”.
India is already signalling it may seek to rebalance its global partnerships after Trump’s salvo of tariffs on Indian goods.
Hamas’ captive Israelis were reportedly sailed toward the Gaza coast to warn of a ground invasion of the strip. They tore swim rings as a means of saving their loved ones, who they claim would be harmed by a ground assault.
At least six people have been killed and 10 others wounded in two separate Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon, according to media and government reports, in its latest near-daily violation of a US-brokered November ceasefire in a war with Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA), citing a Health Ministry statement, said a strike hit a vehicle on Thursday on the al-Masnaa international road in the Bekaa Valley, killing five people and injuring 10 others.
Another drone strike killed a Lebanese civilian in the town of Kfar Dan, west of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon.
According to the agency, the man was standing outside his home when he was targeted by the drone. No further details were immediately available.
The Israeli military has not commented on the attacks.
The reported strikes came as Lebanon’s government endorsed a US-backed proposal for Hezbollah to be disarmed by the end of the year.
A Syrian national was killed earlier and two others were injured in an overnight Israeli strike on the town of Deir Siryan in the Marjayoun district of southern Lebanon, the Ministry of Public Health reported.
The Israeli army also targeted the northern outskirts of Deir Siryan near the Litani River, as well as a garage and bulldozers near residential areas, according to NNA.
In a military statement, the Israeli army claimed to have struck Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the attacks.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began on October 8, 2023, as the Lebanese group launched strikes in solidarity with the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, which was coming under Israeli attack. This escalated into a full-scale war by September 2024, killing more than 4, 000 people and injuring approximately 17, 000.
Although a ceasefire was reached last November, Israel has conducted near-daily attacks in southern Lebanon, claiming to target Hezbollah’s activities. It has threatened that it will continue to do so until the Lebanese group is disarmed.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah was to withdraw its fighters north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border. Israel, meanwhile, was meant to pull all of its troops out of Lebanon, but has kept them in five areas it deems strategic.
The ceasefire was based on a previous United Nations Security Council resolution that said only the Lebanese military and UN peacekeepers should possess weapons in the country’s south, and that all non-state groups should be disarmed.
Washington, DC – United States President Donald Trump has said that he directed officials to exclude undocumented immigrants from being counted in the Census – a survey of the US population conducted every 10 years.
Trump said he directed the Commerce Department, which oversees the US Census Bureau, to immediately work on “new and highly accurate” survey based on “modern day facts and figures” and the results of the 2024 elections.
“People who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS”, Trump wrote in a social media post. “Thank you for your attention to this matter”!
The next Census is due in 2030, but it is not clear if Trump is calling for a new survey in the near future.
During his first term, the US president tried to add a citizenship question to the Census, but his efforts were blocked by the courts.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that the US administration failed to provide a “reasoned” explanation for adding the question.
This time, however, if Trump’s Census policy is challenged legally, it could go before a more conservative Supreme Court.
Trump appointed three justices serving on the court currently.
Critics say excluding undocumented immigrants from the Census would violate the US Constitution, deprive local communities of needed federal resources and distort the data used by scientists and researchers.
The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution says that congressional representation should be based on “counting the whole number of persons in each state”.
The Census already includes undocumented immigrants in the “hard to count” category.
pic.twitter.com/ou5k3RexW3
States use census data to draw congressional districts.
A 2023 report by the bureau found that the 2020 Census likely failed “in collecting data for a significant fraction of noncitizens residing” in the country.
On Thursday, several Democrats slammed Trump’s decision as unconstitutional.
“The Constitution mandates a census every ten years that counts every single person in the country, regardless of their citizenship status”, Congressman Jerrold Nadler wrote in a social media post.
“When Trump tried to do this in 2020, the courts flat out rejected it. The Constitution is plain and simple: ‘ whole number of persons. ‘”
Republicans defended the decision, arguing that counting undocumented immigrants rewards states that foster them and distorts congressional representation.
“‘ We the People ‘ means citizens, not invaders”, Congressman Mark Harris said on X, invoking the preamble of the US Constitution.
“Counting illegal aliens in the census disenfranchises Americans and rewards blue states for breaking the law. Let’s get a recount — ASAP! “!
Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, stated that “all of Gaza” is planned by Israel. He stated to Fox News that Israel would hand the strip over to “Arab forces” to rule before a security cabinet meeting. Hassan rejected his assertions, calling them a change in the course of the ceasefire negotiations.