Category: Foreign

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Israel kills over 50 in Gaza; Qatar calls Israeli attack ‘state terror’

As the world’s attention was focused on Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Israeli forces continued their unrelenting bombardment of Gaza, killing more than 50 people on Tuesday.

Among the dead are nine Palestinians, who had gathered in the enclave’s south seeking aid. Israel pressed on with its offensive in Gaza City after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Palestinians to flee to the south for their lives.

The Wafa news agency reported that a drone strike on a makeshift tent sheltering displaced families at Gaza’s port killed two civilians and injured others. Warplanes also hit several residential buildings, including four homes in the al-Mukhabarat area and the Zidan building northwest of Gaza City, it reported.

Another house was reportedly bombed in the Talbani neighbourhood of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, while two young men were killed in an attack on civilians in the az-Zarqa area of Tuffah, northeast of Gaza City.

Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency confirmed footage showing an Israeli strike on the Ibn Taymiyyah mosque in Deir el-Balah. The video captured a flash of light before the mosque’s minaret was enveloped in smoke. Despite the blast, the minaret appeared to remain standing.

Israel issued new evacuation threats on Monday, releasing maps warning Palestinians to leave a highlighted building and nearby tents on Jamal Abdel Nasser Street in Gaza City or face death. It told residents to move to the so-called “humanitarian area” in al-Mawasi, a barren stretch of coast in southern Gaza.

But al-Mawasi itself has been repeatedly bombed, despite Israel insisting it is a safe zone. At the start of the year, about 115,000 people lived there. Today, aid agencies estimate that more than 800,000 people – nearly a third of Gaza’s population – are crammed into overcrowded makeshift camps.

Philippe Lazzarini, the chief of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, described al-Mawasi as a vast camp “concentrating hungry Palestinians in despair”.

“There is no safe place in Gaza, let alone a humanitarian zone. Warnings of famine have fallen on deaf ears,” he said.

The Palestinian Civil Defence warned that “Gaza City is burning, and humanity is being annihilated”.

The rescue agency said that in just 72 hours, five high-rise towers containing more than 200 apartments were destroyed, leaving thousands of people homeless.

More than 350 tents sheltering displaced families were also flattened, it added, forcing nearly 7,600 people to sleep in the open, “struggling against death, hunger, and unbearable heat”.

More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed, some 20,000 of them children, in the Israeli offensive, which has been dubbed a genocide by numerous scholars and activists. The International Criminal Court has also issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes.

The Government Media Office in Gaza said that more than 1.3 million people remain in Gaza City and surrounding areas, despite Israeli attempts to push them south. It described the evacuation orders as an effort to carry out “the crime of forced displacement in violation of all international laws”.

More than 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced multiple times in 23 months of genocidal war, and an Israeli curb on aid entry, including food items, has led to starvation deaths. Last month, a UN agency declared famine in Gaza, affecting half a million people.

On Tuesday morning, Palestinians in central Gaza staged a protest against the latest evacuation orders.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said that demonstrators carried banners reading, “We will not leave”, and “Not going out”.

“The primary goal of the [Israeli] occupation is displacement,” said Bajees al-Khalidi, a displaced Palestinian at the protest. “But there’s no place left, not in the south, nor the north. We’ve become completely trapped.”

Violence also flared in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces killed two teenagers in the Jenin refugee camp, according to the Wafa news agency.

Mourners on Tuesday buried 14-year-old Islam Noah, who was shot while attempting to enter the besieged refugee camp. A funeral was also held for another 14-year-old, Muhammad Alawneh. Two others were wounded in the same incident.

Israel sent missiles at Doha as Hamas leaders were meeting in the Qatari capital for talks on the latest ceasefire proposal from the United States to end the war in Gaza. Hamas said five people were killed, while Qatar said a security official was also among the dead. Hamas said its leadership survived the assassination attempt.

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani condemned Israel’s “reckless criminal attack” in a phone call with US President Donald Trump. Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani called the attack “state terrorism”.

The Qatari prime minister said Doha would continue to work to end Israel’s war on Gaza, but raised doubts about the viability of the most recent talks. “When it comes to the current talks, I don’t think there is something valid right now after we’ve seen such an attack,” he said.

Qatar has sent a letter to the UN Security Council, condemning what it calls a cowardly Israeli assault on residential buildings in Doha.

The Doha attack has drawn global condemnation, with the UN chief calling it a “flagrant violation” of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar.

The White House claimed that the US had warned Qatar of the impending strike, but Doha rejected that account, insisting the warning came only after the bombing had begun.

Trump later said he felt “very badly about the location of the attack” and that he had assured Qatar that it would not happen again.

“This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals.” (AlJazeera)

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Thai court orders ex-PM back to prison over unlawful hospitalisation

Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been sent back to prison after the country’s Supreme Court ruled that his extended hospitalisation following his return from self-imposed exile was unjustified, Reuters reported.

The court found that both Thaksin and his doctors had colluded to avoid serving his sentence behind bars.

The 76-year-old billionaire and political powerbroker was returned to prison on Tuesday, marking the latest chapter in a turbulent political career that has dominated Thai politics for over two decades.

His re-incarceration comes amid a wave of political turmoil, just days after the collapse of the latest government led by his daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

Thaksin had returned to Thailand in August 2023 after 15 years abroad and was sentenced to eight years for corruption and abuse of power during his 2001–2006 premiership.

The sentence was later commuted to one year by royal pardon. However, he spent only a few hours in prison before being moved to a hospital, citing heart issues and chest pain.

He remained there for six months until his release on parole.

The Supreme Court found that Thaksin’s hospital stay was unwarranted and that minor surgeries were performed to extend his time outside prison.

“The defendant knew the facts or was aware the situation was not a critical emergency.

“The defendant only had a chronic condition that could be treated as an outpatient and did not require hospitalisation,” the court said in its ruling.

According to Reuters, television footage showed Thaksin being escorted by corrections officers and arriving at a Bangkok jail shortly after the court’s decision.

Thaksin’s daughter, Paetongtarn, who was removed from office on August 29, was visibly emotional outside the court. “Me and my family are concerned,” she told reporters, adding, “This is quite heavy.”

Anutin Charnvirakul, the incoming prime minister and a former member of Thaksin’s party, expressed sympathy.

“I am saddened, I sympathise with him.

“For someone who has governed the country, I don’t want him to face something like this,” Anutin said.

Thaksin remains a divisive figure in Thailand. Once a police officer who became a telecom magnate, he won the loyalty of rural and working-class voters with populist policies such as cash handouts, healthcare reforms, and farm subsidies.

However, his rise angered Thailand’s conservative elite, including the military and judiciary, leading to repeated clashes and his eventual ousting in a 2006 coup.

Thaksin is the first former Thai prime minister to be jailed. Whether this signals the end of his political career or yet another chapter remains to be seen. (Punch)

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Shooting in occupied East Jerusalem kills six, Israeli authorities say

Six people have been killed in a shooting attack in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities say, as the Israeli military’s punishing assault on besieged Gaza rages alongside an accelerated violent crackdown by the army and settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Paramedics said at least 12 people were injured and six were in “serious condition” after the shooting on Monday morning at Ramot Junction. Several others were “lightly injured by glass” and treated at the scene, Israel’s paramedic service, Magen David Adom, said.

Israeli police described the shooting as a suspected “terror attack”.

A security officer and a civilian shot and killed the perpetrators soon after the shooting began, police confirmed.

The police said the perpetrators arrived in a vehicle and opened fire at a bus station.

Israeli forces closed all checkpoints between East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank after the attack, sources told Al Jazeera.

After police said the perpetrators had come from the occupied West Bank, Israeli Army Radio reported Israeli forces imposed a military cordon on four villages in the Jerusalem governorate in the territory – Qatana, Biddu, Beit Inan and Beit Duqu – and conducted raids there.

The Israeli military said it had reinforced its forces in the wider Jerusalem area and was conducting a wide-ranging search for what it described as “accomplices” in the shooting.

Palestinians in the West Bank are preparing themselves to face collective punishment from Israel in retaliation for the attack, a Palestinian journalist said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from the Aida refugee camp in the West Bank, Leila Warah said Palestinians were “very much on edge, waiting to see what is going to happen”. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israeli forces are pursuing the villages where the attackers hailed from, in what was a now standard Israeli response to such attacks, said Warah.

Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut – reporting from Amman, Jordan, because Al Jazeera is banned from East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israel – said: “Israeli authorities are saying the two perpetrators are from an area in the occupied West Bank that is just west of occupied East Jerusalem. They say the two worked in tandem in this attack, that two gunmen boarded a bus – witnesses say one of them was dressed as a ticket inspector – and opened fire.”

“This attack took place near an illegal settlement of Ramot, just north of West Jerusalem, and if you look at where the Green Line is on a map, it actually bleeds into occupied East Jerusalem,” she added, referring to the generally recognised boundary between Israel and the West Bank. “These settlements are deemed illegal under international law and are buildings and structures that infringe on the rights of Palestinians and destroy territorial continuity for a future Palestinian state.”

“Israeli officials are now trying to wrap their heads around how exactly this happened, saying that they haven’t seen something like this happen in years, saying that the last shooting like this in greater Jerusalem was back in November 2023,” Salhut said.

Meanwhile, the Israel Hayom newspaper reported that Netanyahu informed judges that he would not attend his corruption trial session scheduled for Monday due to the security developments.

Both Netanyahu and far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have visited the scene of the shooting.

“We are in an intense war against terror on several fronts,” Netanyahu said there. “I want to send condolences to the families of the dead and to the wounded. A pursuit and encirclement of the villages from which the terrorists came is under way.”

In reaction to the shooting, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has “reiterated its firm position of rejecting and condemning any targeting of Palestinian and Israeli civilians”. Its presidential office said in a statement from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank that the PA denounces “all forms of violence and terrorism regardless of their source”.

Neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the shooting but have expressed “congratulations” for the attack.

Hamas said in a statement that the shooting was “a natural response to the crimes of the occupation and the genocide it wages against our people” and that it sends a clear message that Israel’s plans to “occupy and destroy Gaza City and desecrate Al-Aqsa Mosque will not pass without punishment”.

The group said Israel’s aggression against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank “will not weaken the determination of our people and their resistance” and called for more attacks in occupied territory.

The al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said in a short statement that the shooting was “a natural and legitimate response to the ongoing crimes of the Zionist enemy” in Palestinian territory.

The shooting most likely originated from the West Bank rather than from Hamas in Gaza, Israeli political analyst Ori Goldberg said.

Speaking from Tel Aviv, Goldberg told Al Jazeera he “seriously” doubted it had been ordered by Hamas.

If Hamas had carried out the attack, then it would mean Hamas was “trying to step up its resistance to what is beginning to look like a superimposed attempt to end the war”, he said, referring to comments from United States President Donald Trump’s administration that it is working on a solution to the war in Gaza.

Goldberg added that Israel has made some Palestinians feel that their only means of resistance is violence because Israel has done its utmost to ensure that they have no “sustainable model of politics”.

“Many Israelis ask where the Palestinian Nelson Mandela is at the moment, and the answer is either at a cemetery or in an Israeli prison. Israel has done everything it can to break any attempts on the part of the Palestinians to try and explore different paths, paths that are not violent like the ones we saw today,” he said, referring to the shooting.

Goldberg added that while Palestinians have also played a part in the failure of Palestinian politics, Israel is “by all means the stronger party” and bears most of the responsibility.

“Israel has done everything it can to break the Palestinian Authority, to arrest any semblance of a political leadership that might be amenable to a political process with Israel and to deny such a political process vehemently and repeatedly at all levels of the Israeli government,” he said. (AlJazeera)

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Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba resigns after election defeats

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has announced he is stepping down after less than a year in the role, following two major election losses.

The move comes a day before his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was expected to vote on whether to hold an internal leadership vote that could have forced him out.

The LDP has governed Japan for most of the past seven decades, but under Ishiba it lost its majority in the lower house for the first time in 15 years and then lost its majority in the upper house in July.

Japan, the world’s fourth-largest economy and a key US ally, now faces a period of political uncertainty as tensions rise with China and regional insecurity mounts.

“Now that a conclusion has been reached in the negotiations concerning the US tariff measures, I believe this is precisely the appropriate time,” Ishiba said, referring to a deal signed last week to ease tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on Japanese cars and other exports.

Until Sunday, he had resisted calls to resign, saying it was his responsibility to settle the dispute with Washington before stepping down.

“I have strongly believed that negotiations concerning the US tariff measures, which could be described as a national crisis, must be brought to a conclusion under our administration’s responsibility,” he said.

The 68-year-old said he would continue his responsibilities “to the people” until a successor was selected.

The LDP will now choose a new leader, who will become prime minister following a vote in parliament.

Ishiba, who took office in October 2024 promising to tackle rising prices, struggled to inspire confidence as the country faced economic headwinds, a cost-of-living crisis and fractious politics with the US.

Inflation, particularly the doubling of rice prices in the past year, was politically damaging.

Public support further slid after a series of controversies, including criticism of his decision to appoint only two women to his cabinet and handing out expensive gifts to party members. (BBC)

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New Zealand dad shot dead by police after years on the run with children

A father who had been on the run with his three children in New Zealand’s wilderness for nearly four years has been shot dead by police.

Tom Phillips, who disappeared with his children in late 2021, had evaded capture despite a nationwide search and multiple sightings over the years.

The case had gripped the country and remains one of New Zealand’s most enduring mysteries.

Phillips was killed in a shoot-out around 02:30 (14:30 GMT Sunday) on Monday, in which a police officer was seriously injured, authorities said.

Officers were responding to a reported robbery at a commercial property in Piopio, a small town in northern New Zealand, when Phillips and one of his children were spotted riding a quad bike.

Police officers then gave chase before laying road spikes to stop them. The bike hit the spikes and went off road.

When police reached the vehicle they were met with gunfire, Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers told reporters.

The first attending officer at the scene was shot in the head, and remains in a serious condition, police said.

A second patrol unit then engaged Phillips, who was shot and died at the scene. While the body had not been formally identified at the time of the announcement, police were confident it was Phillips.

The other two children were found later in the day at a remote campsite in dense bush. All three children are unharmed, Rogers said.

The child he was with, who has not been identified, had provided “crucial” information that helped them locate Phillips’ two other children later in the day.

It was unclear whether the children had been informed of their father’s death.

Police have notified their mother and Phillips’ parents that the children are safe, though they declined to comment on who will provide ongoing care.

The children’s mother, known only as Cat, told local media outlet RNZ she was “deeply relieved” that “this ordeal has come to an end” after missing her children dearly “every day for nearly four years.” But, she continued: “We are saddened by how events unfolded today.”

Authorities said Phillips had been evading capture since failing to appear in court in 2022.

Before they disappeared, Phillips and his children were living in Marokopa, a small rural town in the region of Waikato. Phillips, believed to be in his late-30s this year, had been described as an experienced hunter and bushman.

Police believe he took his children after losing legal custody of them.

Marokopa is an area surrounded by a very harsh landscape, a sweeping and rough coastline, dense bush and forested terrain with a network of caves spanning many kilometres.

Locals know Phillips as a bushman with survival skills that would have set him up for building shelters and foraging for food in the wilderness.

Still, there were signs that he got desperate for resources. Since 2023, there have been sightings of Phillips and his children at numerous break-ins at hardware and grocery shops.

Last October, a group of teenagers spotted them trekking through the bush and filmed the encounter. In the video, Phillips and the children were wearing camouflaged clothing and each was carrying their own packs.

The teenagers had briefly spoken to one of the children, asking if anyone knew they were there. The child had replied “only you” and kept walking, New Zealand’s 1News reported.

Last year, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Phillips over his suspected involvement in a bank robbery in Te Kuiti, a small town on the North Island.

Police said he had had an accomplice during the alleged incident.

In fact, over the years, many have wondered if Phillips got any help from the tight-knit community in Marokopa, a town where fewer than 100 people lived, and the question remains unanswered.

Phillips’s death comes less than a month after his family directly appealed to him to come home.

In an interview with local news website Stuff, his sister Rozzi said the family had been “ready to help [Phillips] walk through what you need to walk through”.

“I really want to see you and the kids and be part of your lives again,” she said then.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Chris Luxon has described the turn of events as “sad and absolutely tragic”.

“This is not what anybody wanted to happen today. I think that is a consistent feeling from everybody across New Zealand,” he said in a weekly briefing on Monday.

Other New Zealanders are also concerned about how Phillips’s death would affect his children’s wellbeing.

Marlene McIsaac, a resident in the Waitomo district, says she wished there had been “a happier ending”. “For the kids, you know? The kids will be devastated,” she told 1News. (BBC)

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UK deputy PM Angela Rayner resigns over tax error

Britain’s deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, resigned on Friday after an investigation found she breached the ministerial code by underpaying on a property tax, in a major blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s embattled Labour government.

Rayner, a figurehead among the party’s left-wing base, had earlier this week admitted not paying enough on the flat purchase and referred herself to the government’s independent ethics adviser.

In a letter to Starmer, ethics chief, Laurie Magnus, wrote that Rayner had failed to “heed the caution” of legal advice she had received and had therefore breached the ministerial code.

“Given the findings, and the impact on my family, I have therefore decided to resign,” Rayner wrote in a letter to Starmer, adding she would also be stepping down as housing minister and deputy leader of the Labour Party.

“I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice,” Rayner said, adding she took “full responsiblity for this error”.

In his reply, Starmer told her he was “very sad” to lose her from government, but added: “You will remain a major figure in our party”.

Rayner disclosed on Wednesday that she had underpayed on the so-called stamp duty on a flat in southern England following days of reports suggesting that she had saved £40,000 ($53,000) by removing her name from the deeds of another property.

The 45-year-old has three sons, one of whom was born prematurely and is registered blind with lifelong special needs.

She said on Wednesday that after her 2023 divorce she sold her part of the family home to the trust fund to protect it for her child’s future and used the money in the flat purchase.

She paid less of the property surcharge because she claimed it was her main home rather than a second home, but later conceded this was wrong because her son is under 18 years old.

Magnus said Rayner had “acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service” but concluded he considered the “code to have been breached”.

Rayner had often been tipped to become Labour leader one day and has been a top target for political attacks by the Conservatives and right-wing media.

She left school with no qualifications after becoming pregnant aged 16, and has a straight-talking style that has proved popular with working-class voters.

She grew up in Stockport on the outskirts of Manchester in northwest England, living in one of the area’s most deprived social housing complexes. (Punch)

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Britain’s Duchess of Kent, known for her ‘human touch,’ dead at 92

The Duchess of Kent, one of Britain’s most beloved royals, died on Thursday night at age 92, surrounded by close family, Buckingham Palace announced Friday.

“It is with deep sorrow that Buckingham Palace announces the death of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent,” a statement from Buckingham Palace said.

“Her Royal Highness passed away peacefully last night at Kensington Palace, surrounded by her family,” the statement continued.

King Charles, Queen Camilla and other members of the British royal family will remember the duchess for her “life-long devotion to all the organisations with which she was associated, her passion for music and her empathy for young people,” the palace said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sent his “sincere condolences” to the royal family following the death, calling the duchess “one of our hardest working royals.”

“She brought compassion, dignity and a human touch to everything she did,” he added.

The Prince and Princess of Wales said the duchess “will be a much missed member of the family” in a statement posted on X. “The Duchess worked tirelessly to help others and supported many causes, including through her love of music,” the post said.

The King has approved a period of royal mourning to take place until the day of her funeral. Details of the funeral and who will attend have not yet been released. The Union Jack over Buckingham Palace was lowered to half mast in a sign of respect following the announcement of the duchess’ death, and the traditional framed announcement was placed on the royal residence’s railings.

During this period of royal mourning, members of the royal family and staff will wear specific clothing until the funeral. Troops on public duties and those working in the Royal Mews and Livery will wear black armbands.

The duchess may not be as well known as other members of the family to the current generation of royal-watchers as she stepped back from royal duties more than two decades ago, in 2002. However, in Britain and to tennis fans worldwide she will be remembered for the part she played at the Wimbledon tennis tournament., where she presented the trophy at the ladies’ singles final for years.

Born Katharine Worsley to an aristocratic family from Yorkshire, the duchess met her future husband, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, in 1956, while he was stationed at a military barracks in northern England. She married into the royal family five years later, in 1961. Prince Edward was a cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Following their wedding, the duchess became a working royal, volunteering for the Passage night shelter for the homeless, and traveling the world as an ambassador for UNICEF. The couple had three children, and another son who was stillborn. In 1994, she became the first royal to convert to Catholicism for more than 300 years.

At Wimbledon, she famously cast aside royal formalities and became a consoling figure for the competition’s finalists – most notably comforting a devastated Jana Novotna following the Czech star’s defeat in the 1993 final.

Five years later, it was a different story when Novotna beat Nathalie Tauziat in the final to win the title, with the duchess on hand to present the trophy.

After stepping back from public duties in 2002, the duchess, who had a deep passion for music and played the piano, organ and violin, taught the subject at a primary school in Hull, northeastern England, for several years. She also founded Future Talent, a charity that seeks to give children equal opportunities to excel in music. (CNN)

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Three Britons among 16 people killed in Lisbon funicular crash, police confirm

Portuguese police have confirmed that three Britons were among the 16 people killed in Lisbon on Wednesday evening when one of the city’s funicular streetcars derailed and hurtled down a hill and into a building.

The accident, described by Portugal’s prime minister, Luís Montenegro, as “one of the biggest tragedies in our recent history”, also left 21 people injured, five of whom are in a serious condition.

A preliminary report on the crash on the Elevador da Glória is due to be released on Friday by the government’s office for air and rail accident investigations.

In a statement on Friday morning, police said the accident had killed five Portuguese citizens, three Britons, two South Koreans, two Canadians, one American, one Ukrainian, one Swiss citizen and one French person.

Police said that a German citizen thought to have died in the crash had been located alive in a hospital. Local media had reported that a German father had died and a mother was seriously hurt while their 3-year-old child suffered minor injuries.

The German foreign ministry said at least three German nationals were in hospital.

The injured also include Spanish, Israeli, Portuguese, Brazilian, Italian and French citizens, according to the executive director of Portugal’s national health service, Álvaro Santos Almeida.

Downing Street said Keir Starmer was deeply saddened to hear of the death of the three Britons.

A No 10 spokesperson said: “The prime minister is deeply saddened to hear that three British nationals have died in the funicular crash in Lisbon. His thoughts are with their families and those affected by this terrible incident. We stand united with Portugal during this difficult time.”

The wreckage of the Elevador da Glória vehicle was removed from the scene on Thursday night and taken by police for examination as a day of national mourning ended. The chief police investigator, Nelson Oliveira, said a preliminary police report, which would have a broader scope, was expected within 45 days.

Investigators have not found any evidence of sabotage, leaving mechanical failures or maintenance issues among the possible causes.

The Glória line carries about 3 million people, tourists and residents annually. Its two cars, each capable of carrying about 40 people, are attached to opposite ends of a haulage cable, with traction provided by electric motors on the cars.

On Thursday, the leader of the Fectrans union, Manuel Leal, told a local television station that workers had complained that problems with the tension of the cable that hauls the carriages had made braking difficult, but added it was too early to say if that had caused the crash.

Carris, the municipal public transport company that operates the service, said “all maintenance protocols” had been carried out, including monthly and weekly service programmes and daily inspections.

The president of Carris, Pedro de Brito Bogas, said the streetcar, which had been in service since 1914, underwent a scheduled full-maintenance programme last year and the company conducted a 30-minute visual inspection of it every day.

At a news conference, he said the streetcar had last been inspected nine hours before the derailment, but did not detail the visual inspection, nor specify when questioned whether all the cables had been tested.

Hundreds of people, including the prime minister, Portugal’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and Lisbon’s mayor, Carlos Moedas, attended a solemn mass at Lisbon’s church of Saint Dominic on Thursday evening.

On Thursday afternoon, the prime minister called the crash a “tragic accident that transcends borders and a pain that knows no nationality”, and promised a quick investigation to establish what had gone wrong.

“The competent authorities will swiftly carry out the necessary investigations to determine the cause of this tragic accident,” he said. “We will determine all responsibilities with a sense of respect for all those who suffered and are suffering the effects of this accident.”

Moedas said there were no words to describe the pain the city was feeling. “We’re gathering all the information to determine who is responsible. The city needs answers,” said Lisbon’s mayor. (Guardian)

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Trump to rebrand Pentagon as Department of War

US President Donald Trump is directing that the Pentagon be known as the Department of War.

He will sign an executive order on Friday for the Department of Defense to use the new name as a secondary title and for Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to be known as Secretary of War.

The Pentagon – which oversees the US armed services – is the successor to the War Department, which was first established as a cabinet-level agency in 1789 and existed until 1947.

The responsibility of creating executive departments rests with the US Congress, meaning that an amendment would be required to legally change the department’s name.

The BBC has seen the text of the executive order, which says: “The name ‘Department of War’ conveys a stronger message of readiness and resolve compared to ‘Department of Defense,’ which emphasizes only defensive capabilities.”

Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of the name change, arguing that the US had “an unbelievable history of victory” in both world wars under the previous name.

He has also expressed optimism that lawmakers would support such a change.

“I’m sure Congress will go along if we need that. I don’t even think we need that,” the president said last week. “But, if we need that, I’m sure Congress will go along.”

Trump and Hegseth have sought to refocus the department on “warfighting” and a “warrior ethos”.

They have argued that the department has become too focused on diversity, equity and inclusion programmes and “woke ideology”. (BBC)

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Italian fashion icon Giorgio Armani dies at 91

Italian fashion legend Giorgio Armani, king of a high-end lifestyle empire, has died at the age of 91, “surrounded by his loved ones”, his company said on Thursday.

“With infinite sorrow, the Armani Group announces the passing of its creator, founder, and tireless driving force: Giorgio Armani,” it said in a statement.

The best-known contemporary designer, Armani, opened his fashion house in Milan in 1975, quickly rising to the top of the industry and going on to dress the stars.

His funeral will be private, the group said, but well-wishers can pay respects beforehand at a funeral chamber open on Saturday and Sunday in Milan.

“Il Signor Armani, as he was always respectfully and admiringly called by employees and collaborators, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones,” the company said.

“Indefatigable to the end, he worked until his final days, dedicating himself to the company, the collections, and the many ongoing and future projects,” the company said.

Armani had cancelled his menswear show in Milan this year due to health reasons. He also missed the Paris Armani Prive show on doctors’ orders.

“My doctors advised more rest, even though I felt ready.”

He added that he had “followed and overseen every aspect of the show remotely”, stressing: “I approved and signed off on everything you will see.”

The Italian icon was credited with inventing red-carpet fashion, but also moved into a younger and less expensive range through Emporio Armani, and opened luxury hotels.

His death came just weeks ahead of celebrations marking 50 years of his eponymous label.

Italy’s Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli led the tributes, paying homage to “a leading figure in Italian culture, who was able to transform elegance into a universal language”.

“His understated and innovative style redefined the relationship between fashion, cinema, and society, leaving an indelible mark on contemporary culture,” he said.

“He was not only a master of fashion, but also a recognised ambassador of Italian identity around the world.” (Punch)