Probe Agency Raids AAP Punjab MLA In Drugs-Linked Money Laundering Case

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday conducted searches at multiple locations in Punjab, including at the premises of AAP MLA Kulwant Singh, as part of a drugs-linked money laundering investigation, official sources said.

Locations in Mohali, Amritsar and Ludhiana are being covered by the federal probe agency along with an escort of central paramilitary forces personnel.

The premises linked to SAS Nagar Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Kulwant Singh, 61, in Mohali are also being covered, they said.

The ED action is being undertaken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is understood to be based on an FIR of the Punjab Police related to a narcotics and drugs trafficking case.

The MLA recently was in news after Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit asked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to take "strict action" against the legislator's real estate company whose two projects allegedly violated environmental norms.

The two projects in Mohali are being developed by Janta Land Promoters Limited (JLPL), which is owned by Singh.

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Covid Inquiry: WhatsApp Messages Accuse Boris Johnson On Creating Chaos

A series of WhatsApp messages exchanged between Boris Johnson and is team of advisers have accused the former UK prime minister of making it "impossible" to tackle Covid-19. Mr Johnson is also accused of creating chaos and changing direction "every day". According to The Guardian, the remarks were presented before a Covid-19 inquiry that was hearing about the Johnson government's handling of the pandemic. The messages were sent between Mr Johnson's advisors Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain, and former Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.

According to The Guardian report, a note from a diary of a private secretary quoted Mr Johnson's as saying in one of the meetings: "We're killing the patient to tackle the tumour. Large ppl (short for people) who will die, why are we destroying economy for people who will die anyway soon."

The messages and more notes like this suggested the former prime minister was held in low regard by his advisors.

Mr Case, the top civil servant, even declared at one point: "I am at the end of my tether."

"He changes strategic direction every day (Monday we were all about fear of virus returning as per Europe, March etc - today we're in 'let it rip' mode cos the UK is pathetic, needs a cold shower etc.)" Mr Case further said, as per the outlet. He is due to appear as a witness at the inquiry at a later date.

A report in Independent said Mr Johnson's chief scientific advisor Sir Patrick Vallance said the former prime minister was "all over the place" and "so completely inconsistent".

In other entries Sir Patrick described how he felt scientists were "used as human shields" by ministers.

Mr Johnson, who was the main political leader behind the movement to take Britain out of the European Union, became prime minister in 2019 and won a large majority in an election later that year. But he resigned in 2022 after a string of scandals which cost him the support of many Conservative Party lawmakers.

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Mob Searches For Jews On Israel Flight At Russia Airport, 60 Arrested

Sixty people have been arrested after a mob looking for Israelis and Jews overran an airport in Russia's Caucasus republic of Dagestan, the interior ministry said Monday.

"More than 150 active participants in the unrest have been identified, 60 of them have been arrested," the ministry said in a statement.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Video: Israel Hits Military Infrastructure In Syria As War In Gaza Rages

Israel's military said Monday it had carried out strikes on military infrastructure inside Syria, as fears grow that its war against Hamas could spur broader regional conflict.

"A short time ago, an IDF fighter jet attacked the launchers from which the launches were made last night from Syrian territory towards Israeli territory," the military said.

The Israeli jet "struck military infrastructure in Syrian territory", it said.

? In response to launches from Syria toward Israel earlier this Sunday, an IAF aircraft struck military infrastructure in Syrian territory. pic.twitter.com/Tbh06g7NiJ

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 29, 2023

The military did not provide more details, but according to Israeli public broadcaster Kan News, the strikes took place near Daraa.

Concerns are growing about the regional fallout from Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza.

There has been a string of attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria as well as increasing exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the Lebanon border since the Gaza conflict began.

Late Sunday, the Israeli military said it was striking "Hezbollah terrorist targets in Lebanon", also in response to rocket fire.

Cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah have become an almost daily occurrence since October 7, when Hamas operatives from Gaza stormed southern Israel and killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and seized nearly 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

Israel has responded with an unrelenting bombardment of Gaza, which the Hamas-run health ministry says has killed more than 8,000 people, nearly half of them children.

Since the Hamas attack, cross-border violence has killed at least 59 people in Lebanon according to an AFP tally.

Most were Hezbollah fighters, although there have been four civilians among the victims, including one journalist.

Israeli officials have reported four deaths, including one civilian.

Nearly 29,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon due to the clashes, according to the International Organization for Migration.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Elon Musk's X Starts New Subscription Tiers That Cost Up To $16 Per Month

Elon Musk's X began offering new subscription tiers for users on Friday in an attempt to shore up revenue at the social media company.

Subscribers have the option of paying $3 a month for the basic tier, which provides features such as the ability to edit posts and upload longer videos, according to the company formerly known as Twitter Inc.

Web users can opt to pay $8 a month for the premium tier or $16 a month for premium+, to get additional benefits including the blue checkmark, ad revenue sharing and fewer or no ads in their timelines. Users subscribing through Apple Inc.'s iOS and the Android platform will pay more.

Since Musk bought the company a year ago, X has shifted away from advertising and toward paid subscriptions. A new analysis from independent researcher Travis Brown estimated that 950,000 to 1.2 million people now pay for X's $8 monthly premium service.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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What Are Israel's New Secret Weapon "Sponge Bombs" And How They Work?

Ahead of an expected full-blown invasion, Israel on Friday "expanded" its operations in the Gaza Strip and said that its air force conducted extensive strikes on Hamas' tunnels and other infrastructure.

In a televised news briefing, Israel's military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that their ground forces were expanding their operations, days after the Hamas members attacked Israeli towns and killed over 1,400 people.

"Following the series of strikes of the last days, the ground forces are extending the ground operations tonight," Daniel Hagari said late on Friday.

In a statement on Saturday, Israel said that its fighter jets struck 150 "underground targets" in northern Gaza during an intense night of raids.

The sites hit included terror tunnels, underground combat spaces, and additional underground infrastructure, the Israeli military statement said.

"Furthermore, several Hamas terrorists were killed", the statement added.

Following days of relentless bombing in retaliation to the surprise October 7 Hamas attack, Israeli troops had also made limited ground incursions on Wednesday and Thursday.

Madhath Mubashar—Commander of Hamas' Western Khan Yunis Battalion—was eliminated by an IDF aerial strike.

Furthermore, the IDF struck 250+ Hamas targets including a terrorist tunnel network in Gaza that detonated the secondary explosions. pic.twitter.com/qaB5J0np2G

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 27, 2023

However, the extensive Hamas tunnel network, which is said to be hundreds of kilometers long and up to 80 meters deep, represents the greatest challenge to Israel. The Israeli forces are reportedly making "sponge bombs" to tackle this challenge.

What are "sponge bombs"? 

Being called Israel's "new secret weapon", a "sponge bomb" is a kind of chemical grenade. 

It contains no explosives but can be used to seal off gaps or tunnel entrances.

How do "sponge bombs" work?

As per reports, the "sponge bombs" are encased within a protective plastic container, which has a metal barrier that divides two distinct liquids. 

Once activated, these liquids merge and advance toward their intended destination.

Earlier in 2021, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly deployed these devices during exercises in a mock tunnel system near the Gaza border.

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Review: Tejas - An Air Combat Thriller Has Never Been So Airy-Fairy

When in doubt, think about the nation - that is the mantra that Tejas, written and directed by Sarvesh Mewara and produced by Ronnie Screwvala's RSVP Movies, harps upon. This is a film that religiously adheres to that axiom. It is always in doubt and it never lets the nation slip out of its thoughts.

But try as hard as it may, Tejas comes a complete cropper - it is a dead-on-arrival cinematic consignment that does no justice at all to the nation, the Air Force or the medium. It is an insufferably bland thriller that believes that peddling patriotism can help it paper over its pockmarks.

Toplined by a completely out of her depth Kangana Ranaut in the role of an Indian Air Force pilot who thrives on dangerous missions and empty platitudes, Tejas is a precariously low-flying vehicle that never gathers any velocity. It lurches from one crashlanding to another.

It must have taken some doing for the makers to turn an aviation actioner into such a stilted, insipid affair. The excruciatingly vacuous writing - the lines that the characters spout are right out of a how-real-people-should-not-speak handbook, is aggravated manifold by the terribly sloppy acting all around.

Ranaut's eponymous character is a 'rockstar' in the guise of a fighter pilot who flies the single-engine light combat aircraft that shares her name. Well, well, Tejas piloting a Tejas in a mission called Tejas in a film titled Tejas - how dramatic!

The film has a scene in which the appeal of a popstar (Varun Mitra, who shows up for a bit, is projected as the heroine's romantic interest and then is seen no more because the lady he wishes to woo has far more important things on her mind) is eclipsed by the aura that surrounds Wing Commander Tejas Gill (Ranaut). She is mobbed by autograph-hunting girls who look right through the preening crooner.

That, in a metafictional sense, is the kind of film Tejas is. Nobody is allowed to steal the heroine's thunder here. This is a Kangana Ranaut show all the way and that is the film's biggest undoing. There isn't a single fleeting moment - forget an entire sequence - in Tejas in which the lead performer is convincing.

Ranaut was infinitely better as Rani Lakshmibai (in Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi) than she is as an intrepid Air Force pilot. That, as is obvious, is saying a lot. The character she plays, all spunk and no substance, has a single dimension. She knows no doubts.

From her days in the Air Force academy to the risky mission she undertakes in order to save an Indian spy held hostage in Mir Ali town in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Tejas Gill is a fount of uncommon intelligence and unshakeable confidence. So, the character has no arc to speak of. She begins where she ends.

Tejas Gill's supportive parents pop up in a few scenes but the two-hour film has no space for the story of the protagonist's growing up years. This ain't no Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl. All that Tejas lets on is that the girl made up her mind about becoming a fighter pilot when Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee named India's fighter aircraft Tejas.

The female-led film touches upon the gender theme all right, but only cursorily. The men take a backseat as two girls lead the charge in the climactic sequences. That is the point that the film tries to make with all its might but muffs up its lines.

Tejas plunges straight into a sortie that Tejas makes in the company of Afiya (Anshul Chauhan, the only member of the cast who comes anywhere making an impression) to rescue an Air Force officer whose plane has crashed in the sea and his body has washed up on a prohibited island inhabited by the protected Sentinelese tribe.

Tejas refuses to back off despite orders from higher-ups and pulls off a daring rescue act, shaking off an attack by the tribals in the process. She is struck by arrows. But that is no more than a professional hazard that is shrugged off without much ado.

For their bold and selfless effort, she and Afiya - the name might ring a bell but her religious identity is fiercely guarded - face an internal inquiry. But since it is Kangana Ranaut who is in the line of fire, you know that she is going to sail through unscathed.

Yes, that is the level at which Tejas flies. Such are the flights of fancy that the exasperatingly listless film indulges in that barely 30 minutes in, it turns into a bit of a slog that is tough to sit through. Somebody says, Hum uddte uddte jaayenge, desh ke kaam aayenge. The protagonist takes that to heart. There is no stopping her from here on.

As Tejas sits at the controls of her first solo trial sortie, the instructor asks her what she can see. The runway, she replies. Look harder, the man says. The lady pauses and pipes up: I can see the road that will help me serve the nation. Spot on! She is ready for bigger things.

The film, unfortunately, never is. It crams in everything that you would expect from a drama of this nature. In 2008 Mumbai, terrorists interrupt a cosy family dinner. A shrieking, smirking mastermind harboured by Pakistan wants to ensure the barbadi of Hindustan.

Also look out for a ferocious executioner nicknamed Sar Qalam (meaning the act of decapitation) because of his proficiency at slitting the throats of hostages. But not to worry, the enemy soldiers that the protagonist has to deal with are a bunch of bumbling, easy-to-hoodwink men.

And for good measure, there is a spanking new temple that faces the threat of an attack from three jihadists who sneak in to sabotage the inauguration of the grand edifice.

Logic is lost in the deafening din of the combat aircraft. Tejas is a film that flies into rough weather from the word go and never manages to find a way out of it. An air combat thriller has never been so frustratingly airy-fairy.

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Books Banned In US Prisons: "The Art Of War", "Prison Ramen" And More

Tens of thousands of books are banned from US prisons, a new report said Wednesday, including a primer on drawing, a book about tying knots and textbooks teaching inmates foreign languages.

Prison authorities across the country cite vague "security" fears or worries over sexual content for their bans, which prevent some of America's 1.2 million inmates from reading often innocuous-sounding texts sent by friends, campaigners, publishers or bookstores.

A study by PEN America, a literacy and free expression advocacy group, found widely differing and often inconsistently enforced policies resulted in a "staggering" number of books never making it past a prison mailroom.

Victims of the censorship included "The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo" a memoir by Amy Schumer, Sun Tzu's classic military manual "The Art of War," the century-old tract "The Use of Ropes and Tackle" and "Anyone Can Draw: Create Sensational Artwork in Easy Steps."

"Bans for purported sexual content were applied extremely broadly, from books on menopause to issues of Cosmopolitan and Rolling Stone, to art and medical books," the campaign group said in its report "Reading Between the Bars."

Only around half of America's 50 states keep a centralized list of banned books, with many others implementing ad-hoc systems often at a prison mailroom level, the group says.

Of those states that did know which books were banned, Florida was the most enthusiastic censor, refusing almost 23,000 titles to its prison population. Texas was second with around 10,000.

Reasons for the bans were varied, but the report found they were often very broad.

In Michigan, for example, "Spanish at a Glance" was not permitted because authorities believe it posed a "threat to the good order and security of the facility."

"(The book) may be used by prisoners to learn to communicate in a language that staff at the facility does not understand."

The pressure group communicated with inmates who said the rationale for banning the written word appeared wholly at odds with other aspects of prison life.

"Robert Blankenship, incarcerated in Virginia, notes that in Virginia prisons, the "Game of Thrones" novels are banned, but his prison airs the full, unedited HBO series on the facility televisions," the report said.

The group found the most censored title in the US is "Prison Ramen" -- a cookbook banned in 19 states offering recipes that can be made in a cell.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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"Will Treat With Contempt...": India On Pakistan's Kashmir Reference At UN

India has said it will treat a reference by Pakistan to Kashmir during a Security Council meeting on the Israel-Gaza situation with the contempt it deserves and will not dignify it with a response.

The remarks by India's Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN, Ambassador R Ravindra, came on Tuesday after Pakistan's UN envoy Munir Akram made reference to Kashmir at the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East.

"Before I end, there was a remark of habitual nature by one delegation referring to Union Territories that are integral and inalienable parts of my country," Mr Ravindra said.

"I would treat these remarks with contempt they deserve and not dignify them with a response in the interest of time," Mr Ravindra said.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Security Council meeting that all acts of terrorism are unlawful and unjustifiable, whether they are carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based terror outfit, or by Hamas, targeting people in Mumbai or Kibbutz Beeri.

"We must affirm the right of any nation to defend itself and to prevent such horror from repeating itself. No member of this Council, no nation in this entire body could or would tolerate the slaughter of its people," Blinken said.

"As this Council and the UN General Assembly have repeatedly affirmed, all acts of terrorism are unlawful and unjustifiable. They're unlawful and unjustifiable, whether they target people in Nairobi or Bali... Istanbul or Mumbai, in New York or Kibbutz Be'eri," Blinken told the UN Security Council.

"They are unlawful and unjustifiable whether they're carried out by ISIS, by Boko Haram, by Al Shabaab, by Lashkar-e-Taiba or by Hamas. They are unlawful and unjustifiable whether victims are targeted for their faith, their ethnicity, their nationality or any other reason," Blinken said.

He stressed that the Security Council has a responsibility to denounce member states that arm, fund and train Hamas or "any other terrorist group that carries out such horrific acts." Blinken's remarks appeared to make a reference to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks carried out by Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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"Time To Actually Find Myself": Britney Spears In New Memoir

Britney Spears, the dewy-eyed child star who became a global pop phenomenon and then melted down in full view of the world, tells her story Tuesday with the release of her already bestselling memoir.

"The Woman In Me" is the pop princess in her own, unvarnished words, shot through with the anguish of a family she believes has failed her at every step of the way, in an industry that mercilessly devours its talent.

From sharing daiquiris with her mother as a young teenager -- two years after she became a regular on "The Mickey Mouse Club" -- to the 13 years she spent as an adult in a conservatorship, the memoir details how she struggled to escape the influence of her controlling father.

Until two years ago, when she got out from under the conservatorship legal relationship that she says dictated everything from her birth control choices to the set list at lucrative Las Vegas gigs.

In the intervening months, Spears has married a former dancer, announced then lost a pregnancy, and is now on the road to her third divorce.

The book, whose pre-orders catapulted it to the top of the Amazon best-seller list, was produced too early to include that coda with husband Sam Asghari.

But readers will still have plenty to chew on.

'Harlot'

Tidbits that have leaked ahead of publication include news of an abortion Spears says fellow Mickey Mouse Club alum Justin Timberlake urged her to have after she became pregnant while the couple was together.

When the pair split, and his hit "Cry Me A River" appeared to be about the way he felt she had betrayed him, Spears was painted as the "harlot who'd broken the heart of America's golden boy," she writes.

In reality, he was "happily running around Hollywood" while she was "comatose in Louisiana."

Readers have also learned of a brief but intense affair with Irish actor and Oscar nominee Colin Farrell, what she calls "a two-week brawl."

"Brawl is the only word for it -- we were all over each other, grappling so passionately it was like we were in a street fight."

The noughties brought fame and notoriety to Spears in equal measure, with a passionate fan base eager for every last scrap of news about her.

That collided with an aggressive paparazzi culture that delighted in capturing her partying alongside hell-raisers like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan.

Spears insists there were never hard drugs and that she did not have a drinking problem, but admits that she was taking Adderall, the ADHD medication.

A publicly played out bust-up with second husband Kevin Federline, and an ensuing custody fight over their two children, presaged the emotional low watermark: shaving her head and attacking a photographer's car.

"Flailing those weeks without my children, I lost it, over and over again," she writes. "I didn't even really know how to take care of myself.

"I'd begin to think in some ways like a child."

A year later, courts appointed her father Jamie Spears to control her money and her personal life.

Over the next 13 years, she was told who she could see, how much she could spend, and even ordered not to have more children.

Yet under Jamie Spears, she would still perform as a pop icon. 

"Too sick to choose my own boyfriend and yet somehow healthy enough to appear on sitcoms and morning shows, and to perform for thousands of people in a different part of the world every week."

"From that point on, I began to think that (my father) saw me as put on the earth for no other reason than to help their cash flow."

Jamie Spears has always insisted that he had the best interests of his daughter at heart and was seeking to protect her from exploitation.

The conservatorship was dissolved in 2021, but -- aside from collaborations with Elton John and will.i.am -- it has not heralded a return to creativity for Spears.

"Pushing forward in my music career is not my focus at the moment," the now-41-year-old Britney writes.

"It's time for me not to be someone who other people want; it's time to actually find myself."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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US Teacher Grabs, Slams Kindergarten Student For Throwing Paper On Ground

In a shocking incident, a teacher from Florida, United States, was arrested after she grabbed and slammed a kindergarten student for throwing a piece of paper, as per a report in the New York Post. Khadijah Tynnettta Muhammad, aged 54, grabbed the child by his neck and threw him to the ground, the police said.

On October 10, Ms Muhammad assaulted the kid at Margate Elementary School in Broward County in front of other students and staff. It is to be noted that she did not teach the student. According to the school's surveillance footage, the student was sitting on the floor in the hallway with other students before a class. He then threw a piece of paper in the direction of some of his classmates, as per police. The teacher walked to him and grabbed the boy by his left wrist "in an aggressive manner," police added.

As per the arrest report, "She continued to lift him off the ground by his arms, twist his arms and grabbed him by the back of his shirt while shoving him across the hallway."

The police added that the incident lasted for two minutes. "She ripped the jacket off his back and continuously grabbed the student by his arms, wrists, shirt and jacket until the altercation ended. Towards the end of the video, which was partially blocked from the camera view, she appeared to grab him around his neck and slam him to the ground," they added.

The 54-year-old was later arrested from her home on the grounds of child abuse. She is still employed by the school, as per officials. 

Nikki Glasco, the parent of the child added that disciplining should be left to the parents. "I know our kids may act out at times, but if there's a problem, leave the disciplining to the parents," she said. 

The district said that Ms Muhammad was reassigned from the students and an investigation is underway. "The school is working closely with law enforcement regarding this situation, and the teacher involved has been reassigned away from students and the school pending the outcome of the case," they said in a statement.

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"Helpless Feeling": Palestinian Students In India Pray For War To End

Visuals of flattened buildings, debris, and scorched ground in Gaza have caused immense psychological trauma to Talib, a Palestinian student in India, who is constantly worried about the well-being of his family members back home and barely able to concentrate on studies.

Running out of money, the 31-year-old also had to cut down on the "quality and quantity" of his meals.

"I haven't been able to read or write a single sentence ever since the war started. I am experiencing mental stress and haven't slept properly in a while," Talib told PTI.

Unable to get in touch with anyone back home, Talib said he doesn't know if his family members are alive. "It's a helpless feeling and a difficult situation to be in," he said.

"I have become conscious about spending money, even on food. Instead of three meals, I eat two meals now and have to compromise on their quality and quantity, " he added.

Eager to return home, Talib said he is praying for the war to end soon.

The latest Israel-Palestine conflict has been triggered by the unprecedented and multi-pronged attacks against Israel by Hamas militants on October 7. Israel has launched a massive counter-offensive in Gaza to avenge the attacks.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, over 3,300 people have been killed and over 12,000 wounded in Gaza since the conflict began.

Aliah, another Palestinian student, had completed her degree course and was planning to return home when the war erupted.

Ever since losing contact with her family, she has been suffering constant panic attacks.

Aliah said the Palestine Embassy has not provided any aid to the students in India and several of them are struggling to survive on their own.

"The Palestine Embassy in India has not provided us with any kind of support or inquired about our well-being," Aliah, who has been staying with her friends, alleged.

A similar experience was shared by Farook, who said he is left with barely enough money to survive one more week. However, he said some of his peers and teachers have supported him.

The Palestinian students also said the ongoing conflict has hampered their relationships with some students who are "pro-Israel".

"There are several students who support us, but there is a section that supports Israel. Our ties have been severed because of this," Farooq, who is studying at a leading university in Delhi, said.

Several Palestinian students in India have completed their courses and are waiting to return home once the Rafah crossing, the sole route connecting Gaza to Egypt, is opened. Currently, the crossing is open only for aid deliveries to Gaza.

(Names of the students are changed to protect identity).

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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"Shame On You": Justin Trudeau Booed In Canada Mosque Over Israel-Hamas War

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced backlash during his recent visit to a mosque in Toronto due to his response to the Israel-Hamas conflict. The video of the Prime Minister encountering the angry crowd has gained widespread attention and gone viral on various social media platforms.

According to The Toronto Sun, Trudeau attended a mosque on Friday in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, a visit the Prime Minister's Office did not tell the media about in advance and which, as of Friday evening, had still not appeared on his public itinerary. However, later, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed Trudeau's visit to the International Muslims Organization of Toronto, stating that it was to show support for those affected in the Muslim community by the events in the Middle East.

Several people posted the video to X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, that depicts a brief moment during the visit, in which some people gathered in the mosque are heard saying "shame" and urging a facilitator not to let Trudeau speak at the podium. The video shows Trudeau addressing the dozens gathered, thanking them for allowing him to "pray alongside you in this difficult time."

PM Justin Trudeau embarrassed and rejected from Canada Mosque pic.twitter.com/8NUhjYrzyr

— Mohammed Hijab (@mohammed_hijab) October 20, 2023

The video also depicted protesters assembled outside the mosque as Prime Minister Trudeau was departing. The protesters were urging the Prime Minister to advocate for a ceasefire in the conflict.

"Everyone is hurt and hurting; everyone is grieving; everyone is scared of what this means," Trudeau told reporters on Friday in Brampton, Ontario, when asked if his caucus is at odds over how the Liberals should respond.

The Toronto Sun reported that Toronto-area Liberal MP Salma Zahid, who is chair of the Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group, had written a letter to the Canadian PM that laid out certain demands in consideration of 33 MPs.

The letter demands Canada join the call for an immediate ceasefire, help facilitate the opening of a humanitarian corridor, and stand up for international law. It was signed by 23 backbench Liberal MPs, eight NDP MPs, and both Green Party MPs.

"International law is clear that innocent civilians and all those not taking part in the fighting must on no account be attacked and must be spared and protected," the letter said.

On Thursday, a dozen Muslim, Jewish, and Arab MPs from the Liberal caucus met to discuss the conflict.

Israel declared war against Hamas after the Palestinian group killed 1,400 Israelis in a brazen attack on October 7. Hamas, which Canada considers a terrorist organization, has control over the Gaza Strip, according to The Toronto Sun.

Tensions have risen across the Middle East as Israel has retaliated with airstrikes and cut off the Palestinian territory's access to water, food, and electricity. The United Nations says this violates international humanitarian law.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Ex-Pak PM Nawaz Sharif To Return Home Today After Four Years Of Self-Exile

Three-time Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif will return home on Saturday after four years of self-imposed exile, primed to make a political comeback ahead of elections. The South Asian nation is facing overlapping security, economic and political crises ahead of polls already pushed back to January 2024, with Sharif's primary opponent, the fiercely popular Imran Khan, languishing in jail.

"This is a time for hope and celebration. His return bodes well for Pakistan's economy and its people," said Khawaja Muhammad Asif, a senior leader of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.

Sharif has spent the past several days in Dubai, and will fly from there to the capital Islamabad, then on to Lahore, where his supporters will gather for a welcome home rally, his party has said.

His return has been touted for months by the PML-N, whose leaders hope Sharif's political clout and "man of the soil" swagger will revive its flagging popularity. 

However, the former leader has a conviction for graft and an unfinished prison sentence hanging over him.

Earlier this week, the Islamabad High Court granted protective bail to Sharif until Tuesday, removing the threat of immediate arrest when he lands back in the country. 

Sharif has been prime minister three times, but was ousted in 2017 and given a lifetime disqualification from politics after being convicted of corruption.

He served less than a year of a seven-year sentence before getting permission to seek medical care in the United Kingdom, ignoring subsequent court orders to return during former prime minister Imran Khan's government.

His fortunes changed when his brother Shehbaz Sharif came to power last year and his government oversaw changes to the law, including limiting the disqualification of lawmakers from contesting elections to five years.

Sharif's return has likely been smoothed by a deal between the military establishment and his party to prevent significant legal hurdles, said analyst Zahid Hussain.

"There was some sort of arrangement with the military establishment; without that he wouldn't have decided to come back," he told AFP.

Often draped in a red Gucci scarf, Sharif has seen his political fortunes rise and fall on his relationship with Pakistan's powerful military establishment -- the country's true kingmakers.

Politicians in Pakistan are often tangled in legal proceedings that rights monitors say are orchestrated by the powerful military, which has ruled the country directly for more than half of its history and continues to enjoy immense power.

Fans call him "the Lion of Punjab", the eastern and most populous province where his support is strongest, and he is known to parade big cats at extravagant political events drumming up support.

But he faces the tough task of winning over an electorate weary of dynastic politics and a young population that has been captured by Khan's social-media-savvy party. 

"Sharif's key challenge is first to establish himself and his party as viable options to replace Imran Khan, who is already popular, and secondly to turn around the economy," said political analyst Ayesha Siddiqa.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Andrea Giambruno: 5 Facts About Italian PM Giorgia Meloni's Ex-Partner

Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has announced her separation from her longtime partner Andrea Giambruno following his "explicit remarks" off-air. Ms Meloni said their "roads had long been divided", and it was time to realise it.

In an Instagram post, she wrote, "My relationship with Andrea Giambruno, which lasted almost ten years, ends here. I thank him for the wonderful years we spent together, for the difficulties we went through, and for giving me the most important thing in my life, which is our daughter Geneva."

“Our roads have long been divided, and it's time to realize it. I will defend who we were, I will defend our friendship, and I will defend, at all costs, a seven-year-old who loves her mother and father, the way I could not love mine. Nothing more to say about this one," Ms Meloni added.

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A post shared by Giorgia Meloni (@giorgiameloni)

Here are some facts about Andrea Giambruno:

1) Andrea Giambruno was born in 1981 in Milan, Italy, and started his television career at the age of 22, while he was still a student at Milan's Catholic University.

2) Mr Giambruno is a prominent television journalist known for his role as a presenter of a news programme on Mediaset, which is a part of the MFE media group owned by the heirs of the late Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italy prime minister and a political ally of Giorgia Meloni.

3) Andrea Giambruno and Giorgia Meloni first met when he was a writer for a TV show in which she appeared.

4) Mr Giambruno left his job at the Studio Aperto show and the Milan studios after Ms Meloni's rise to power in 2022 following her victory in the parliamentary elections. He subsequently settled in Rome, where he started working as a news presenter for Rete 4 channel's 'Diario del Giorno'.

5) Mr Giambruno was recently suspended from his current job at ‘Diaro del Giorno' following a scandal surrounding his lewd off-air remarks.

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In Twitter vs X Debate, Israel-Hamas War Spotlights "Information Crisis"

Twitter won fame in the Arab uprisings nearly a decade ago as a pivotal source for real-time crisis information, but that reputation has withered after the platform's transformation into a magnet for hate speech and disinformation under Elon Musk.

Historically, Twitter's greatest strength was as a tool for gathering and disseminating life-saving information and coordinating emergency relief during times of crisis. Its old-school verification system meant sources and news were widely trusted.

Now the platform, renamed X by new owner Musk, has removed content moderation, restored accounts of previously banned extremists, and allowed users simply to purchase account verification, helping them profit from viral -- but often inaccurate -- posts.

The fast-evolving Israel-Gaza conflict has been widely seen as the first real test of Musk's version of the platform during a major crisis. For many experts, the results confirm their worst fears: that changes have made it a challenge to discern truth from fiction.

"It is sobering, though not surprising, to see Musk's reckless decisions exacerbate the information crisis on Twitter surrounding the already tragic Israel-Hamas conflict," Nora Benavidez, senior counsel at the watchdog Free Press, told AFP.

The platform is flooded with violent videos and images -- some real but many fake and mislabeled from entirely different years and places.

Nearly three-fourths of the most viral posts promoting falsehoods about the conflict are being pushed by accounts with verified checkmarks, according to a new study by the watchdog NewsGuard.

In the absence of guardrails, that has made it "very difficult for the public to separate fact from fiction," while escalating "tension and division," Benavidez added.

That was evident on Tuesday after a deadly strike on a hospital in war-ravaged Gaza, as ordinary users scrambling for real-time information vented frustration that the site had become unusable.

Confusion reigned as fake accounts with verified checkmarks shared images of past conflicts while peddling hasty conclusions of unverified videos, illustrating how the platform had handed the megaphone to paying subscribers, irrespective of accuracy.

Accounts masquerading as official sources or news media stoked passions with inflammatory content.

Misinformation researchers warned that many users were treating an account of an activist group called "Israel war room," stamped with a gold checkmark -- indicating "an official organization account," according to X -- as a supposedly official Israeli source.

India-based bot accounts known for anti-Muslim rhetoric further muddied the waters by pushing false anti-Palestinian narratives, researchers said.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera warned that it had "no ties" to a Qatar-based account that falsely claimed affiliation to the Middle East broadcaster as it urged its followers to "exercise caution."

"It has become incredibly challenging to navigate the fire hose of information -- there is a relentless news cycle, push for clicks, and amplification of noise," Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, head of the National Association for Media Literacy Education, told AFP.

"Now it's clear Musk sees X not as a reliable information source but just another of his business ventures."

The chaos stands in sharp contrast to the 2011 Arab uprisings that prompted a surge of optimism in the Middle East about the potential of the platform to spread authentic information, mobilize communities, and elevate democratic ideals.

The breakdown of the site's basic functionality threatens to impede or disrupt the humanitarian response, experts warn.

Humanitarian organizations have typically relied on such platforms to assess needs, prepare logistical plans, and assess whether an area was safe to dispatch first responders. Human rights researchers use social media data to conduct investigations into possible war crimes, said Alessandro Accorsi, a senior analyst at the Crisis Group.

"The flood of misinformation and the limitations that X put in place for access to their API," which allow third-party developers to gather the social platform's data, had complicated those efforts, Accorsi told AFP.

X did not respond to AFP's request for comment.

The company's chief executive Linda Yaccarino has signaled that the platform was still serious about trust and safety, insisting that users were free to adjust their account settings to enable real-time sharing of information.

But researchers voiced pessimism, saying the site has abandoned efforts to elevate top news sources. Instead, a new ad revenue-sharing program with content creators incentivizes extreme content designed to boost engagement, critics say.

Pat de Brun, head of Big Tech Accountability at Amnesty International said X should use every tool available, including deploying so-called "break the glass measures" aimed at dampening the spread of falsehoods and hate speech.

"Platforms have clear responsibilities under international human rights standards," he told AFP. 

"These responsibilities are heightened in times of crisis and conflict."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Israel At War: All Quiet On West Bank

Violence in the occupied West Bank has surged since Israel began bombarding the Gaza Strip and clashing with Hezbollah at the Lebanon border, fuelling concerns the flashpoint Palestinian territory could become a third front in a wider war.

Israel is waging war against the militant Hamas group in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, but Israeli soldiers and settlers pulled out of Gaza in 2005. Israel still occupies the West Bank, captured with Gaza in a 1967 Middle East war.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, killed more than 1,400 people in a surprise attack in Israel on Oct. 7, prompting an Israeli bombardment that has killed 3,500 in Gaza. Israel is preparing a full-scale ground assault on Gaza to destroy Hamas.

Western countries supporting Israel fear a wider war that would open up Lebanon, with its Iran-backed group Hezbollah, as a second front and the West Bank as what Israeli media call a potential third front.

Clashes between Israeli soldiers and settlers and Palestinians have already turned deadly. More than 70 Palestinians have been killed in West Bank violence since Oct. 7 and Israel has arrested more than 800 people.

Israeli forces raided and carried out an air strike in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank on Thursday, killing at least 12 people, Palestinian officials said, and Israeli police said an officer was killed during the raid.

The violence poses a challenge to both Israel and to the Palestinian Authority (PA), the only Palestinian governing body recognised internationally which is headquartered there.

The Israeli military said it was on high alert and bracing for attacks including by Hamas militants in the West Bank.

Hamas was trying to "engulf Israel in a two- or three-front war", including the Lebanese border and the West Bank, military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told Reuters. "The threat is elevated," he said.

'GIVE PEOPLE WEAPONS. LET THEM CLASH'

In Ramallah, rare chants this week supporting the military wing of Hamas - a rival of the PA's ruling Fatah party - showed a growing appetite for armed resistance.

"Give people weapons. Let them clash. We'll show what we can do," said Salah, a 20-year-old demonstrator who gave only his first name.

Fatah official Mowafaq Sehweel told Reuters: "We should let go of the reins and use whatever means to fight occupation."

Others are less ready to fight.

Nizar Mughrabi, owner of an architecture firm, said he was disgusted by Israel's assault on Gaza but not ready to pick up a gun.

"Netanyahu wants to fight, Haniyeh wants to fight - put them in the desert with guns and let them shoot each other," he said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Palestinian officials and Israeli analysts say a number of factors are both helping to ignite tensions, but conversely also limiting their scope, for now.

One is the hundreds of arrests Israel has made.

Hamas cited attacks on West Bank Palestinians and arrests this year as part of its reason for attacking on Oct. 7.

But the arrests have also limited West Bank violence, said Mustafa al-Khawaja, a 52-year-old anti-settlement activist.

"In Gaza, there's enough time (for Hamas) to organise militarily," he said. "Here, the occupation (Israel) can clamp down on a daily basis. It leaves no space to build up military or political forces."

WEST BANK A COMPLEX PATCHWORK

While Hamas tightly controls besieged Gaza, the West Bank is a complex patchwork of hillside cities, Israeli settlements and army checkpoints that split Palestinian communities.

Israel occupied the territory in 1967 and has divided it into large areas it controls, small areas where Palestinians have full control and areas where Palestinians and Israeli forces divide civil and security duties.

Between the seat of power in Ramallah and poorer peripheral areas, there are multiple views on the benefits of violence.

Desperate young men in refugee camps are more willing to fight than those in Ramallah where businessmen and senior Palestinian officials stand to lose from a spiral of violence.

"My business is already suffering because of the unrest," Mughrabi said.

Another key factor in stemming violence is Israel's security agreement with 87-year-old President Mahmoud Abbas's PA.

Abbas condemned Israel's assault on Gaza while his security forces cracked down on demonstrations. Fatah has not issued public calls for armed resistance.

"The PA wants to keep peace and is worried that marches of thousands of people could quickly turn into hundreds of thousands," said Palestinian political analyst Hadi al-Masri.

He added that PA officials do well financially and rely on arrangements with Israel to get paid.

Should Abbas lose his grip or become ill in his old age, the situation could deteriorate, he said.

'LONE WOLVES'

Lior Akerman, a former officer in Israel's internal security service the Shin Bet, said fears over West Bank unrest predated the Hamas war.

Hamas for years had been trying to "do all it can to activate terrorists in the West Bank," he said.

Akerman acknowledged, however, that security measures had been tightened since the Gaza bombardment began, saying that the most recent round of arrests might not have happened under normal circumstances.

"Last night the army ... took around 100 terrorists in the West Bank. In regular days ... the Shin Bet would arrest only those they knew were preparing terror attacks," he said.

One worry for Israel in the West Bank is "lone wolf" attacks from among Palestinians who have disparate local loyalties but an overall contempt for Israeli occupation, analysts say.

Recent surveys have shown overwhelming public support among Palestinians for armed groups, including local militias that include members from traditionally separate factions.

Even before the current Gaza crisis, the West Bank had seen a surge in violence.

Israel stepped up military raids and a spate of Palestinian attacks targeted Israelis. The 2023 Palestinian death toll until Oct. 7 was over 220 and at least 29 people in Israel had been killed, according to UN records.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Russia Sends 27 Tonnes Of Humanitarian Aid To Gaza As War Escalates

Russia on Thursday sent 27 tonnes of humanitarian aid for civilians in the Gaza Strip to be transported from Egypt, Moscow's emergency situations ministry said.

"A special plane has taken off from the airport at Ramenskoye near Moscow for El-Arish in Egypt. The Russian humanitarian aid will be handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent to be sent to the Gaza Strip," deputy minister Ilya Denisov said in a statement.

Denisov said the aid comprised "wheat, sugar, rice (and) pasta".

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday unveiled a deal to allow desperately-needed humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, where one million people have fled their homes amid withering Israeli air strikes.

After face-to-face talks in Israel and intense telephone diplomacy with Egypt, Biden said a limited number of trucks would be allowed to cross the shuttered Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza from Friday. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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"Not In My Name": Jewish Protesters At US Capital Demand Ceasefire In Gaza

About a hundred protesters, many of them Jewish, protested at the US Congress today, raising slogans against Israel's offensive in Gaza and demanding that the Joe Biden administration push for a ceasefire.

The protesters were dressed in black t-shirts with "Jews say cease fire now" and "Not in our name" messages. Many of them wore the kippah, the Jewish traditional cap.

Photo Credit: AFP

The protesters occupied a building of the Congress, Canon Rotunda, and started singing and waving banners. Many of them were arrested.

"We warned the protestors to stop demonstrating and when they did not comply we began arresting them," the US Capitol police's official handle posted on X.

The protest was organised by the Jewish Voice for Peace, a Jewish anti-Zionist organization, reported news agency AFP.

Photo Credit: AFP

Seventy-one-year-old Linda Holtzman, a rabbi from Philadelphia, demanded an immediate ceasefire and urged Biden to "open your eyes", AFP reported.

"Biden really is the only one that has the power to pressure Israel right now and he needs to use that power to save innocent lives," said Hannah Lawrence, 32, who came from Vermont.

"Look at what's happening in Gaza. Look at the devastation in Gaza," Holtzman tolf AFP. "If you want to be able to live with yourself, you need to stand up and end the genocide. I demand a ceasefire right now."

Photo Credit: AFP

Visuals on social media showed cops taking away the handcuffed protesters and removing the banners. Dramatic visuals also showed Republican Congressman Brandon Williams waving an Israeli flag as a mark of solidarity as the protesters calling for a ceasefire staged a sit-in.

Hamas' October 7 attacks on Israel and the brutal counterstrike have claimed nearly 4,800 lives so far. Global outcry demanding an immediate end to hostilities in the Gaza Strip has grown louder after an attack on a hospital claimed hundreds of lives. While Hamas has accused Israel forces of striking the hospital, Tel Aviv has denied a role in the bombing and said a rocket misfired by Hamas ally Islamic Jihad led to the tragedy.

US President Biden reached Tel Aviv yesterday and met Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

During their meeting, Biden told the Israel Prime Minister that he is visiting for a "simple reason". "I want the people of Israel and the people of the world to know where the US stands," he said, adding that 33 American citizens were among those killed in the Hamas attacks. "They have committed evils and atrocities that make ISIS look somewhat more rational," he said, adding that "Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people and has brought them only suffering".

The US president said he was "deeply saddened" and "outraged" by the explosion at the hospital. "Based on what I've seen, it appears it was done by the other team, and not you," he told Netanyahu, publicly supporting Israel's position.

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Joe Bidens Carriers And Troops Send A Signal Of Force If Diplomacy Fails

President Joe Biden has spent the last week in frenzied diplomacy to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling into a broader conflict. But if those efforts fail, the US response may depend on the blunt force of its military. 

The Pentagon has moved the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford and its battle group into the eastern Mediterranean, and the Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group is on its way. Each bristles with F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets and other advanced aircraft. In addition, 2,000 Marines have been put on heightened alert for potential mobilization.

For now, the administration says the point is to warn Hezbollah in Lebanon and other Iranian proxies against getting involved. The US has sent back-channel messages through countries such as Qatar to suggest to Iran that it's serious about using force if necessary, according to an American official who discussed the sensitive situation on condition of anonymity.

"What the carriers and the flying squadrons give the president is options," said retired General Frank McKenzie, who led American forces in the Mideast until 2022. "We know that Iran watches our force levels and is deterred by additional posture in the theater." 

The stakes are high and have only increased since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, a group designated as terrorist by the US and European Union. The conflict has already cost thousands of Israeli and Palestinian lives, inflaming tensions across the region and increasing the possibility that the conflict will escalate. Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged sporadic rocket fire on Israel's northern border in recent days, and Iran has warned that the war's expansion is becoming unavoidable.

The most potent military assets at Biden's disposal are the aircraft carrier strike groups. The Ford probably is already assisting Israel with intelligence-gathering, but the ships have the potential to do much more.

The carriers give the US "significant striking power" in the region, said Phil Davidson, a retired four-star admiral who commanded carrier strike groups. Together, the two carriers provide about 80 aircraft with strike capabilities, as well as cruisers, destroyers and submarines armed with Tomahawk missiles, he said. 

They could also help Israel defend itself. Weapon systems, such as destroyers in the battle group, "could supplement the Israeli ballistic missile defense system against the potential of Iranian medium-range ballistic missile attacks," Davidson said. 

The Pentagon put 2,000 troops on heightened alert, and defense officials say that the US Marine Corps Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, numbering more than 4,000 sailors and Marines, will join the growing American fleet off the coast of Israel. 

Direct US involvement in military action also could shape voter attitudes, whether positively or negatively, as Biden prepares for a tough reelection contest next year.

There's virtually no discussion of a major role for US ground forces in a potential conflict. 

"There are no plans or intentions to put U.S. boots on the ground in combat in Israel," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday.

Still, US forces might be deployed in a number of scenarios.

One of the most serious would be a massive rocket attack on Israel by Hezbollah, which is estimated to possess about 130,000 rockets. Israel has warned that such an assault would be met with an overwhelming response, and it's possible that US forces would be involved in any retaliation. 

Biden denied an Israeli report Wednesday that the US had already told Israel that it would join the fight if Hezbollah attacked.

Hezbollah might also be tempted to target US bases or personnel in the region, as it has in the past. The group is thought to have been behind the 1983 suicide truck bombings of the US Embassy and US Marine barracks in Beirut.

Reprisals could also come from Iranian proxy groups in Iraq or Syria, which could fire rockets into Israel or even attack US troops and installations. 

In that case, the US would probably follow a tit-for-tat playbook, according to Kenneth Pollack, a former CIA Middle East analyst. "If they start shooting at us, we can simply go after whoever shoots at us," he said. In March, the US conducted airstrikes against what it said were Iranian-affiliated groups in Syria after a drone attack killed a US contractor and injured five US service members. 

There's no guarantee that US deterrence will work. 

Thousands of Palestinians have died as Israel carries out airstrikes on what it says are military targets, prompting protests in cities around the world. The stakes will increase if Israel goes ahead with a ground invasion that would almost certainly involve bloody street-to-street combat.  

"Hezbollah is hard to deter," said Emily Harding, a former CIA Middle East analyst. "They will look at Biden's track record of getting militarily involved in the region and must conclude this administration has little-to-no appetite for direct military activity." 

Iran said Monday that the war's expansion was increasingly becoming unavoidable. "The time for political solutions is running out, and the possible expansion of the war on other fronts is approaching the inevitable stage," Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, wrote on the social media platform X.

Still, Hezbollah may have its own reasons for not getting involved. Renewed conflict could erode its support in Lebanon, which is mired in economic crisis.

Iran also has reasons to discourage Hezbollah from pushing things too far, said Pollack, the former CIA analyst. "Iran's whole approach is that they have a long-term strategy toward the Middle East and Israel. As far as they're concerned, it's working. They just need to keep at it."

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Will Work With Egypt To "Inject More Stability" In Middle East: Xi Jinping

Chinese President Xi Jinping told Egypt's prime minister on Thursday that Beijing hoped to work with his country to bring "more stability" to the Middle East, state media reported, as the Israel-Hamas conflict cast a shadow over the region.

"China is willing to enhance cooperation with Egypt... and inject more certainty and stability into the region and the world," Xi told Mostafa Madbouli at a meeting in Beijing, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

"China and Egypt are good friends who share the same goals and trust each other, and good partners who work hand-in-hand for development and common prosperity", CCTV reported Xi as saying.

"At present, the international and regional situation is undergoing profound and complex changes, and the world is experiencing rapid changes not seen for a century," Xi added.

Beijing was also willing to work with Cairo to "jointly safeguard international fairness and justice as well as the common interests of developing countries", he said.

Since the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Hamas this month, Egypt has mostly kept closed its border with the Gaza Strip, where the humanitarian situation has become increasingly desperate.

But Cairo said Thursday it would allow the "sustainable" passage of humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing.

Relations between China and Egypt have strengthened in recent months, with Cairo set to become an official member of the BRICS group of emerging economies from next year.

"China congratulates Egypt on joining the BRICS cooperation mechanism and believes that this will inject new impetus into BRICS cooperation," Xi told Madbouli, according to CCTV.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Israel Responds After X User Asks What They Would Eliminate From The World

The war between Israel and Hamas has entered its 12th day. Thousands of people have been killed and the number of injured is going up each day. Further, an explosion at a hospital in Gaza killed at least 500 people last night, Reuters said citing the Hamas-run health ministry sources. The incident has sparked outrage across the globe. Local authorities blamed Israeli airstrikes, while Israel alleged it was Hamas rockets misfiring. Amid the ongoing conflict, the social media handles of Israel and the Israel Defence Forces have become very active, providing information and updates to people across the globe. The State of Israel's official X account, in response to a user's post, said that they would like to "eliminate" Hamas from the world.

A parody account of billionaire Elon Musk took to X, formerly Twitter, and put a post which read, "If you could eliminate ONE thing from the world, what would it be?" The parody account said that they would eliminate "every social media platform except X." This caught the eye of Israel's social media handle, who took a screengrab of the same and posted on their account with the caption "Hamas". 

Hamas. pic.twitter.com/m4kRBL58HP

— Israel ישראל ?? (@Israel) October 17, 2023

A surprise attack by Hamas fighters on Israel left hundreds of Israelis dead on Saturday, October 7, prompting Israel to respond with intense airstrikes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to demolish Hamas strongholds in Gaza, reducing them to rubble, as the conflict continues to escalate. "We are at war and we will win," he asserted, adding, "Not an 'operation,' not a 'round,' but at war."

At 6.30 a.m. on Saturday, Hamas fired a huge barrage of rockets into southern Israel. Air raid sirens across Israel shattered the morning silence and the Iron Dome system, one of the best air defence systems in the world, was again in action. The group launched 5,000 rockets and in response, Israel's military fired 2,500 rockets. Reuters report said that smoke billowed over residential Israeli areas and people sheltered behind buildings as sirens were heard.

The terrorists - travelling in vehicles, boats and motorised paragliders - also breached the security barriers using the rocket barrage as cover and attacked nearby Israeli towns and military posts, opening fire on civilians. Several videos on social media showed Hamas fighters in Israel border towns shooting at residents and passersby.

The Hamas attack came 50 years and a day after Egyptian and Syrian forces launched an assault during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur in an effort to retrieve territory Israel had taken during a brief conflict in 1967.

Meanwhile, according to the United Nations, over one million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in the northern Gaza Strip since Israel launched its air campaign against the Palestinian organisation Hamas. 

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Hamas Ready To Release All Hostages If Israel Stops Bombing Gaza: Report

Palestinian group Hamas, locked in a bitter war with Israel, has expressed its willingness to release women and children it holds captive if Israel stops its airstrikes on Gaza, The NBC News reported quoting a senior Hamas official. The report quoted a Hamas official saying that the hostages - both foreign and Israeli- could be released within the hour when Israel met its terms. The official claimed that there is no safe place to release them now.

Hamas, however, said that it does not have custody of all the hostages seized in the attack on Israel 10 days ago, a diplomat with knowledge of the talks and a former US diplomat told the news outlet.

Scores of people were taken hostage during Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, when terrorists shot, stabbed or burned to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. The videos of people being taken hostage also surfaced online.  

The former US official stated that some of the hostages are being held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another group based in Gaza, the officials said, while others are held by "random Gaza citizen opportunists," Hamas, which controls Gaza, is trying to gain custody of all of the captives but says it cannot amid continued bombing, the outlet reported quoting sources.

Emphasising that the talks on the fate of the hostages have been going on since "day one", the diplomat explained that earlier Hamas was pressing for an exchange of prisoners "but they have finally accepted that wasn't going to be the case."

The diplomat added that Hamas "appears to have understood that civilians will have to be released without a trade". "Discussions are ongoing and have been more positive recently, but no breakthrough yet."

The terrorist group's condition to release hostages came at a time when an explosion at a hospital in Gaza killed at least 500 people on Tuesday, Reuters said quoting the Hamas-run health ministry sources, sparking outrage. Local authorities blamed Israeli airstrikes, while Israel alleged it was Hamas rockets misfiring.

Yesterday, Hamas released a video of an Israeli woman taken hostage during the October 7 attacks. In the video, the woman's arm is seen wrapped in bandages.

In the video, the 21-year-old woman said she is from Sderot, a small Israeli city near the Gaza border. On the day of the attacks, she was attending the Supernova Sukkot Music Festival on Kibbutz Re'im when Hamas operatives attacked the gathering.

Turkey's top diplomat said Tuesday his country had been in touch with Hamas over some 200 Israeli and foreign hostages it is holding in Gaza, following requests from several governments.

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Mother Of Franco-Israeli Woman In Hamas Hostage Video Begs For Her Return

The mother of a French-Israeli woman, held hostage by Hamas, has appealed for a release, calling her detention and that of an estimated 200 hostages "a crime against humanity". The video of 21-year-old Mia Schem was released by Hamas' military wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades on Monday, more than a week after attacks that left over 1,300 dead and triggered a war in Gaza. On the day of the attack, Mia Schem was attending the Supernova music festival, from where she was taken hostage.

"I didn't know if she's dead or alive until yesterday. All I knew is that she might be kidnapped. I'm begging the world to bring my baby back home. She only went to a party, to a festival party to have some fun. Now she's in Gaza," her mother Keren Schem told mediapersons at a press conference in Jerusalem, reported The Guardian.

"This is a crime against humanity. We should all gather and stop this terror and bring everybody back home," she added.

The one-minute-long clip, originally shared on Telegram, and later verified by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), Ms Schem gazing tiredly into the camera, as her arm lay wrapped in a sling in her lap.

She is shown receiving medical care for her wounded arm before telling the camera she is being held in Gaza and pleading for her release.

French president Emmanuel Macron described the video as "an odious act". The Elysee Palace said that Mr Macron, who is on an official visit to Albania, demanded her unconditional release.

"It is an ignominy to take innocent people hostage and put them on show in this odious way," the presidential palace quoted Macron as saying. It added that France was "working with its partners to free French hostages held by Hamas".

The Israeli military issued a statement, saying it was in constant touch with Ms Schem's family and condemning Hamas as a "murderous terrorist organization". It said it was using "all intelligence and operational measures" for the return of the captives.

Earlier, Hamas' armed wing said non-Israelis kidnapped on October 7, were "guests" who would be released "when circumstances allow", as per news agency Reuters.

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"Superwomen": Israel Praises 2 Kerala Caregivers Who Saved People From Hamas

Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, the Israel Embassy in India took to social media to appreciate the efforts and determination of two Kerala women, who work as caregivers in Israel and saved civilians from Hamas attack. The official handle of the Embassy took to X, formerly Twitter, and called them "Indian superwomen". They also shared a video in which one of them recounted the horror of the day as they held onto a door handle and prevented the Hamas operatives from reaching them.

Ms Sabhita said that he works at the border in a kibbutz named Nir Oz along with Meera Mohanan. Both of them take care of an elderly lady, Rahel, who is suffering from ALS disease. "I have been working along the border for three years. We are two caregivers working at home here, taking care of an old lady with ALS disease...It was my night duty and I was about to leave when around 6:30 we heard the sirens and ran to a safety room. It was non-stop," she said in the video.

भारतीय वीरांगनाएं ! ????

मूलतः केरला की रहने वाली सबिता जी, जो अभी इजराइल में सेवारत हैं, बता रही हैं कि कैसे इन्होने और मीरा मोहन जी ने मिलकर इसरायली नागरिकों कि जान बचाई। हमास आतंकवादी हमले के दौरान इन वीरांगनाओं ने सेफ हाउस के दरवाजे को खुलने ही नहीं दिया क्योंकि आतंकवादी… pic.twitter.com/3vu9ba4q0d

— Israel in India (@IsraelinIndia) October 17, 2023

She added they got a call from Ms Rahel's daughter who said that "things are out of our hands". "We didn't know what to do. She asked us to lock the front and back doors. They removed their slippers to get more grip on the floor. "Within a few minutes, we heard the terrorists breaking into our house, shooting, breaking glasses. On calling the daughter, she asked us to hold onto the door, not to leave it. We were there for four and a half hours holding onto the door. The terrorists were in the house from almost 7:30. They were trying to open the door from outside but we tried our best to hold on to the door. They hit the door and shot at it," Sabitha said.

She added that Hamas destroyed "everything" and they didn't know what was happening outside. After a few hours, around 1 pm, they heard shots again. "Schmulik, the father of the house, told us that the Israeli Army had come to save us. He went out of the house to see how everything was completely destroyed. We didn't have anything. They have looted us completely, including Meera's passport. My emergency bag was taken. We never expected a terrorist attack but we knew missiles would be falling and when it happened, we used to go into the safety rooms. Once it was over, we used to come back. But on that day, there was no time for us to do anything," she said.

They also shared a picture of the door and the wall with bullet markings. "Indian superwomen! Listen to this story of Ms Sabitha, a caregiver from Kerala, as she shares how she and Meera Mohanan saved the Israeli civilians they were taking care of by holding the door handle & preventing the Hamas Terrorists from bursting in & killing them," Israel in India, wrote on the microblogging platform. 

Meanwhile, an explosion at a hospital in Gaza killed at least 500 people on Tuesday, Reuters said quoting the Hamas-run health ministry sources, sparking outrage. Local authorities blamed Israeli airstrikes, while Israel alleged it was Hamas rockets misfiring.

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Watch: Pakistan Stars Hail Rohit's Pull Shot, Ex-Captain Goes On Epic Rant

Captain Rohit Sharma rose to the occasion on Saturday as India mauled Pakistan by 7 wickets in their World Cup 2023 match in Ahmedabad. Chasing a target of 192, Rohit was on the attack from the very first bowl. Rohit scored 86 off just 63 balls, striking six sixes and as many fours, as India crossed the finishing line in 30.3 overs. The Pakistan pacers made the job easy for Rohit by bowling short-pitched deliveries as the Indian captain executed his pull-shot game to perfection.

Ahead of Saturday's blockbuster match, the International Cricket Council (ICC) posted a video where the Pakistan players were asked to name a player who plays the best pull shots.

In the video, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali and Babar Azam all took Rohit's name.

While pointing out the same video, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt tore into the players of failing to execute their plans, despite knowing that Rohit has the best range of pull shots under his sleeves.

"A few days back, the Pakistan players were asked 'who plays the best pull shots?' All five of them took Rohit Sharma's name. I don't know what the statisticians are doing. What are they telling the players. This is very weird that five players from the playing XI are saying that Rohit Sharma plays the pull shot efficiently, and you're still allowing him to score runs off that," Butt said in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel.

Strange | #INDvsPAK pic.twitter.com/b3TMpIlxfG

— Mustafa (@mmustafa_abid) October 14, 2023

Rohit hit the ball to all parts of the ground with his delightful flicks and pulls to entertain an almost all-Indian crowd at the world's biggest cricket stadium after Pakistan fans were effectively banned from attending.

He fell attempting another hit off Shaheen Shah Afridi to get caught at mid-wicket, but Iyer and KL Rahul took the team home with ease. 

(With AFP Inputs)

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Rafah Border Crossing Between Gaza And Egypt To Reopen Today: Report

The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt will reopen for foreign national Palestinians at 9 am (local time) on Monday when humanitarian aid will also start crossing into Gaza, NBC News reported citing Palestinian embassy representative Kamel Khatib.

The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt is the only remaining outlet to move people out of Gaza and send supplies into it. Notably, Israel has closed two border sites and the Rafah crossing has remained shut for much of the past week, according to NBC News report.

The US Embassy in Israel on Monday said that desperate residents hoping to move from Gaza through the Rafah crossing might receive "very little notice" if it opens, CNN reported.

The US Embassy said, "It is unclear whether, or for how long, travellers will be permitted to transit the crossing. If you assess it to be safe, you may wish to move closer to the Rafah border crossing," adding there may be "very little notice if the crossing opens and it may only open for a limited time," CNN reported.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced confidence in his recent conversation with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi regarding the delivery of aid to people in Gaza and said that the Rafah crossing will be reopened.

He made the remarks to the press at Cairo Airport on Sunday and added that the measures are being put in place with the United Nations, Egypt, Israel, and others to get assistance in and to get it to people who need it.

"With regard to Rafah, I had a very good conversation with President El-Sisi. We have put in place - Egypt has put in place a lot of material support for people in Gaza. And Rafah will be reopened. We're putting in place with the United Nations, with Egypt, with Israel, with others, a mechanism by which to get the assistance in and to get it to people who need it," Blinken said.

Meanwhile, Israel's Energy and Infrastructure Minister Israel Katz announced Israel's decision to open the water to the south of the Gaza Strip after it was shut off following Hamas's attack on October 7.

In a statement posted on X, Katz stated, "The decision to open the water to the south of the Gaza Strip, which was agreed upon between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Biden, will result in pushing the civilian population to the south of the Gaza Strip and will make it possible to tighten the general siege on Gaza in the areas of electricity, water and fuel, and will make it easier for the IDF to operate and destroy the Nazi Hamas infrastructure."

Amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas, Israel Defence Forces on Monday said that the terrorist group's willingness to commit war crimes were visible from outer space. Taking to X, Israel Defence Forces posted satellite images to show how Israel looked before and after Hamas's attacks on October 7.

While sharing the picture on X, the IDF stated, "The lengths Hamas is willing to go in order to commit war crimes are visible even from outer space. "In another post, Israel Defence Forces showed some of the confiscated weapons used by Hamas to kill Israelis. The IDF asserted that they will see to the removal of Hamas' terrorist infrastructure and weapon manufacturers in Gaza.

In the video, the Israeli soldier said, "All the munitions that you see in here is about approximately 20 per cent of what Hamas terrorists brought on their vehicles. You can see different kinds of shape charges, rockets, RPGs, grenades, all kinds of stuff around here."

"You can see by the amount of munitions, the medical equipment and food that they brought with them that they were prepared for a long term in villages. You can see by the symbols on all the equipment that everything is homemade of Hamas, homemade production," he added.

While sharing the video on X, the Israel Defence Forces stated, "These confiscated weapons are only 20 per cent of the ones used by Hamas to kill Israelis. In order to prevent further attacks, the IDF will see to the removal of Hamas' terrorist infrastructure and weapon manufacturers in Gaza."

Furthermore, IDF called Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar a "direct enemy" of Isreal and a threat to the entire world.

Taking to X, IDF stated, "Yahya Sinwar is a direct enemy of the State of Israel and his genocidal terrorist organization--Hamas--is a threat to the entire world."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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On Navratri, PM Modi Releases New Garba Song "Maadi"

On the auspicious occasion of Navrati, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a new Garba song titled "Maadi". The song, penned by PM Modi, is sung by Divya Kumar and is composed by the Meet Bros. He released the video of the same on YouTube and X, formerly Twitter. PM Modi said, "As the auspicious Navratri dawns upon us, I am delighted to share a Garba penned by me during the past week. Let the festive rhythms embrace everyone!" 

As the auspicious Navratri dawns upon us, I am delighted to share a Garba penned by me during the past week. Let the festive rhythms embrace everyone!

I thank @MeetBros, Divya Kumar for giving voice and music to this Garba.https://t.co/WqnlUFJTXm

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 15, 2023

He also thanked the singer and composer "for giving voice and music to this Garba." The song is four minutes and 40 seconds long and is sung in Gujarati. The video shows people dressed in colourful attire heading to various garba venues to swing to the beats while some are also seen with dandiya. Notably, in one of the frames, the Statue of Unity located in Vadodara and dedicated to Sardar Vallabhai Patel, features in the background. 

On Saturday, a music video featuring a Garba song written by PM Modi was released. The 190-second song, titled "Garbo", was authored by the Prime Minister several years ago. The song is sung by Dhvani Bhanushali and composed by Tanishk Bagchi. It was released under the banner of Jjust Music, a music label established by actor-producer Jackky Bhagnani. The song swiftly gained popularity online, amassing over a million views on YouTube within just six hours of its release.

The company posted the song on YouTube, describing it as "inspired by the poetic notes penned by none other than the one and only PM Narendra Modi. GARBO transports us to witness the dynamic culture of Gujarat during Navratri."

Talking about "Maadi", PM Modi said on Saturday, "I have not written for many years now, but I did manage to write a new Garba over the last few days, which I will share during Navratri," PM Modi tweeted on X.

PM Modi also wished people on the first day of the festival today. "May mother Durga, who gives strength, brings to everyone's life happiness, prosperity, good fortune and good health," he said on the microblogging platform.

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