Category: 2. World

Leading activist says three to five people feared killed in police fire, but no official word yet on casualty figures.

A protest in the Indian Himalayan region of Ladakh demanding statehood for the federal territory has turned violent as protesters clashed with police and set fire to a paramilitary vehicle and the office of the country’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Police fired tear gas on Wednesday and charged demonstrators with batons, injuring dozens of them, police said. Some among the injured were in critical condition, residents said.

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Authorities banned the assembly of more than five people in Leh district, the capital of the Ladakh region, after the clashes.

No official statement has been released on the number of casualties, but a local activist who has been on hunger strike seeking more power for the region bordering China told Indian media that three to five people are believed to have been killed in police gunfire.

“We have reports that many people have been injured. We don’t know the exact count,” Sonam Wangchuk was quoted as saying by the Indian Express site.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the casualty figures.

Protests erupted after youth groups called for the shutdown of Leh.

The protests are part of a larger movement in the federally governed region that seeks statehood and constitutional provisions from the Indian government for autonomy over land and agricultural decisions.

Ladakh lost its autonomy in 2019 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government carved the region out of India-administered Kashmir. Since then, the majority Muslim-Buddhist territory has been directly governed from New Delhi.

Protesters have called for Ladakh to be given special status that would allow for the creation of elected local bodies to protect its tribal areas.

At its core, the protests are calling for Ladakh to be included under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, which provides provisions for tribal areas and allows local communities to have a say in how the regions are administered.

Wangchuk called for restraint as he called off his hunger strike, which he launched two weeks ago. “My message of peaceful path failed today. I appeal to [the] youth to please stop this nonsense. This only damages our cause,” he said.

In a public notice, District Administrator Romil Singh Donk announced a ban on demonstrations, public gatherings and inflammatory speech.

Activists and local politicians in Ladakh have accused Modi’s government of not addressing their concerns. Several rounds of talks between local politicians and representatives from New Delhi in the past few years have not yielded results.

The next round of talks is expected to take place on October 6.

Ladakh, which shares a long border with China, is a strategically important territory for India. Ladakh was the site of deadly clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in 2020 that strained the ties between the two Asian countries. The two Asian giants have recently moved to mend their ties in the wake of Trump’s punishing tariff war.

Israel killed 22 people – including nine children – in strikes on Gaza City on Wednesday, Palestinian officials have said.

Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal described the killings as a “horrific massacre”.

Video purportedly from the scene of the attack on the Souq Firas area of the city showed the bodies of children being pulled from rubble.

“We were sleeping in God’s care, there was nothing – they did not inform us, or not even give us a sign – it was a surprise,” said Sami Hajjaj.

“There are children and women, around 200 people maybe, six to seven families – this square is full of families.”

The Israeli military claimed the strike targeted Hamas militants and that its forces tried to reduce harm to civilians in the area.

A total of 51 people have been killed across Gaza on Wednesday, according to hospital medics in the Hamas-run territory.

Israeli forces pushed towards the heart of Gaza City on Wednesday, placing at risk the lives of Palestinians who had stayed put in hopes that growing pressure on Israel for a ceasefire would mean they would not lose their homes.

“We moved to the western area near the beach, but many families didn’t have the time, tanks took them by surprise,” said Thaer, a 35-year-old father of one from Tel Al Hawa.

It comes as 20 people were wounded, including two seriously, after a drone fired from Yemen struck the southern Israeli city of Eilat, medics said.

Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Eilat “will remain under constant targeting”.

The Iranian-backed group has regularly fired drones and missiles at Israel in what it says is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the oxygen station at Al Quds Hospital in Gaza had stopped operating “due to Israeli occupation forces firing at it”.

“Operations are currently being conducted using pre-filled oxygen cylinders, which are sufficient for only three days,” the group said.

“Occupation forces are currently stationed at the southern gate of the society’s Al Quds Hospital in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City, preventing anyone from entering or leaving the hospital.”

The world’s leading authority on hunger crises said last month that Israel’s blockade and ongoing offensive had pushed Gaza City into famine.

More than 300,000 people have fled the city in recent weeks as Israel has ordered the population to move south, but UN agencies and aid groups say an estimated 700,000 remain.

More than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than half of them women and children.

Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

The current wave of violence began on 7 October, 2023, when Hamas-led militants carried out an attack inside Israel that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw around 250 people taken hostage.

Israel claims its operation in Gaza is aimed at pressuring Hamas to surrender and return the remaining 48 hostages. Israel believes around 20 of the captives are still alive.

Critics say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not interested in peace negotiations and wants to continue the war with a view to displacing Gaza’s population and expand Israeli settlements.

He has repeatedly rejected the possibility of a Palestinian state.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said: “In Gaza, the horrors are approaching a third monstrous year.

“They are the result of decisions that defy basic humanity,” he continued, citing “a scale of death and destruction beyond any other conflict” in his years as secretary-general.

“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people and the systematic destruction of Gaza,” he added.

The world’s leading association of genocide scholars, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), declared in August that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.

Several other leading rights organisations, including two Israeli groups, have also said Israel is committing genocide.

Israel has repeatedly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and claims they are justified as a means of self-defence.

Sadiq Khan has hit back at Donald Trump, accusing the US president of being “racist, sexist, misogynistic and Islamophobic” after he used a speech at the UN to call the London mayor “terrible” and claim the city was being steered toward “sharia law”.

Trump’s remarks on Tuesday night provoked anger among Labour figures, with the health secretary, Wes Streeting, praising Khan as someone who “stands up for difference of background and opinion”.

However, Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, a close ally of Keir Starmer, stopped short on Wednesday of commenting on Trump’s remarks about Khan. Instead, McFadden defended London’s reputation as a global city.

Khan later launched a blistering attack on Trump. He said: “I think President Trump has shown he is racist, he is sexist he is misogynistic and he’s Islamophobic.”

The London mayor also subtly criticised senior Labour figures, including the prime minister, for not calling out Trump’s rhetoric.

Trump has been publicly attacking the mayor of London since 2015, when Khan criticised the then presidential candidate for suggesting that Muslims should be banned from travelling to the US.

In an address to the UN general assembly, Trump said: “I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor, terrible, terrible mayor, and it’s been changed, it’s been so changed. Now they want to go to sharia law. But you are in a different country, you can’t do that.”

Pressed on what he made of Trump’s description of him as a “terrible, terrible mayor”, Khan pointed to the record numbers of American visitors and investors choosing London.

He said: “Since records began, there’s only been a period where more Americans have come to London.

“There must be a reason for that. You look at a number of different criteria; we’re often the No 1 city in the globe when it comes to culture, when it comes to foreign investment, when it comes to sports, when it comes to the ability of people to fulfil their potential. I’m really proud we are the greatest city in the world.”

Khan did not directly criticise the prime minister, McFadden and others who are yet to directly call out Trump’s rhetoric, but he indicated “they should have the confidence to”, given the UK and US have a special relationship.

Asked whether Starmer should be befriending Trump, Khan said: “One of the things about having a special relationship, it’s akin to having a best friend. I think when you have a best friend, you should expect more from them.

“It’s very different to an acquaintance or somebody who’s just, you know, a distant friend. I think one of the advantages of having a special relationship with the USA is obviously when it comes to trade, when it comes to military alliances.

“When it comes to other areas, where we work closely together, but it should also mean you’ve got the confidence to call them out when they’re wrong. I think President Trump is wrong in many, many ways.”

Last week Trump described Khan as “among the worst mayors in the world” and claimed he had made sure Khan was not invited to the banquet he attended at Windsor. Sources close to the mayor said this was false.

McFadden referred to Trump’s long-running dispute with Khan and said: “I think the two of them have had a beef for some years.”

The work and pensions secretary, who was on the government morning media round, later described London as “a great capital city that we have” adding: “I think it’s a great asset to the UK. And I’m afraid I differ from the president on that.”

Nigel Farage said Trump was right to say that sharia law “is an issue” in London, adding: “Trump has a point.”

The Reform UK leader told LBC: “Never take what he [Trump] says literally, ever on anything. But always take everything he says seriously.”

He added: “So is he right to say that sharia is an issue in London? Yes. Is it an overwhelming issue at this stage? No. Has the mayor of London directly linked himself to it? No.”

Good morning.

Donald Trump took the stage at the United Nations general assembly hall for the first time in six years to launch a full-on assault on the world body, which he described as a feckless, corrupt and pernicious global force that should follow the example of his own leadership.

In an inflammatory speech on the 80th anniversary of the founding of the UN, Trump called for countries to close their borders and expel foreigners, accused the world body of leading a “globalist migration agenda”, and telling national leaders that the UN was “funding an assault on your countries”.

• What did Trump say? He appealed to European leaders to embrace a blood-and-soil nationalism and follow his example. “It’s time to end the failed experiment of open borders,” he urged. “You have to end it now … Your countries are going to hell.”

• What is the significance of the address? Those who support the values of the UN must realize “the degree to which the world’s superpower seems bent on the destruction of everything they believe”, writes Patrick Wintour, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor. The speech urgently prompts the question of “how the world will operate in the absence of reliable American leadership”.

Trump says he believes Ukraine can regain all land lost to Russia since 2022 invasion

Donald Trump has said he believes Ukraine can regain all the land it has lost since the 2022 Russian invasion, in one of his strongest statements of support to Kyiv.

The president gave his upbeat assessment by claiming Russia was in big economic trouble in a post on Truth Social after meeting the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in New York. Zelenskyy hailed Trump’s intervention.

Earlier, Trump said that he planned to enforce his demand that Nato countries stop importing Russian oil – including Hungary, led by his close ally Viktor Orbán.

• What is the latest in the Russia-Ukraine war? Russia is launching long-range drones into Nato countries’ airspace to test the military alliance’s air defences and search for weak points, Zelenskyy said Tuesday.

• How serious is the risk of escalation? The first step of any further escalation would be new Russian incursions. That could happen “if the Russians think it may cause disruption or sow discord in Nato”, says David Jordan, of the Freeman Air and Space Institute at King’s College London.

Jimmy Kimmel returned to air on Tuesday night, calling government threats to silence comedians “anti-American”, as he broke his silence about his suspension from ABC which ignited a national debate over free speech and outcry over the bullying tactics of the Trump administration.

“This show is not important,” Kimmel said during his first monologue since Disney, which owns ABC, suspended his late-night show from the network last week under pressure from Trump officials over his comments on the shooting of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. “What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”

• How was Disney persuaded to reverse the decision? Unions, rights organizations, first amendment defenders and protesters stood by Kimmel. On Monday, for instance, the American Civil Liberties Union released an open letter signed by more than 400 Hollywood stars condemning this “dark moment for freedom of speech”.

In other news …

• A new bronze statue on the National Mall in DC celebrates the “long-lasting bond” between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, showing two men grinning and holding hands.

• A writer for FX’s The Bear was handcuffed and removed from a New York City train after a white woman complained that Alex O’Keefe, who is Black, had his feet on the seat.

• Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would not meet top congressional Democrats to discuss their demands for keeping the federal government open, prompting the Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer to accuse the president of “running away from the negotiating table” as a federal shutdown looms.

• Elon Musk’s father, Errol Musk, 79, has been accused of sexually abusing five of his children and stepchildren since 1993, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Stat of the day: 2 million people evacuated in southern China after deaths in Taiwan and the Philippines from Super Typhoon Ragasa

At least 17 people in Taiwan and two people in the Philippines have been killed, and more than 2 million people have been ordered to evacuate in southern China, as Super Typhoon Ragasa pummels parts of east Asia.

Don’t miss this: ‘Charlie Kirk was a divisive far-right podcaster. Why is he being rebranded as a national hero?’

Saida Grundy, associate professor of sociology and African American studies at Boston University, writes in an opinion piece that the memorializing of Charlie Kirk rewrites his legacy. It ignores how “Kirk ruled over an online fiefdom peddling his signature brand of rage-baiting racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic and misogynistic commentary”.

Climate check: Global investment in renewable energy up 10% on 2024 despite Trump rollback

In the first half of 2025, investment globally in renewable technologies and projects reached a record $386bn, rising about 10% on last year, according to Zero Carbon Analytics. It comes despite efforts by the White House to cancel and derail low-carbon projects.

Last Thing: ‘I chose red’ – why these brides ditched the white wedding dress for colorful gowns

Is the white wedding past its prime? In April, searches on Pinterest searches were up 240% for “unique wedding dresses”. Rachel Obordo spoke to women who ditched white for colorful gowns. “I had defaulted to a plain white pantsuit, but when I put it on I felt uninspired,” said Q, who wore dark green.

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A new interactive map and groundbreaking database allows people in the world’s largest metropolitan areas to track their air pollution exposure, along with their region’s biggest sources of planet-warming pollution.

The tool, which depicts air pollution plumes and their sources, is the work of a nonprofit coalition of scientists, universities and nongovernmental groups called Climate TRACE. The group says the tool is a breakthrough in showing the biggest sources of air pollution down to the facility level for about 2,500 urban areas worldwide.

The new data, which combines hazardous air pollutants known as PM2.5 and greenhouse gases, taps into Climate TRACE’s global inventory of more than 660 million sources of global warming pollutants.

The researchers found that air pollution “super emitters” — facilities that are in the top 10% of all PM2.5 pollution sources by volume — expose a disproportionate amount of people to hazardous air.

Of the 1.6 billion people who live in the high pollution zones, more than half, or about 900 million people, are exposed to air pollution from these super polluters, the scientists concluded.

Climate TRACE is partly funded and led by former US vice president Al Gore, along with dozens of other contributors and professionals in fields ranging from AI to air quality monitoring. The new pollution map includes information on every power plant, heavy manufacturing site, mine, port and refinery in the selected urban areas.

Climate TRACE created the maps by taking its global inventory of climate and air pollution and adding simulations of a year’s worth of weather. The resulting plume tool shows pollution traveling across urban areas on typical days with prevailing conditions, and also on a worst-case scenario day with the most people exposed.

Many of these sites release multiple types of pollutants — some have an acute health threat while others contribute to global warming, which has its own set of health risks.

“We’ve gone from greenhouse gases to the top seven pollutants of concern for health,” said Gavin McCormick, a cofounder of Climate TRACE and cofounder and CEO of WattTime, an environmental tech nonprofit. “In places like the United States, we actually had pretty good data on that already. In most countries, there’s nothing like it, and so that information is the kind of scientific breakthrough here.”

For example, PM2.5 exposure over time can prove lethal to individuals with preexisting conditions like asthma or cardiovascular illness, along with very young or elderly individuals. The airborne particles are small enough to enter the bloodstream or become lodged in the lungs, where they can cause or aggravate respiratory ailments and heart disease.

Such pollutants are responsible for nearly 9 million deaths per year globally, studies show.

Climate TRACE found that about 4 million people in the Houston area — rife with fossil fuel operations — are exposed to air pollution from nearly 140 facilities. But not all super polluters are not all power plants or oil refineries — for example, in Boston as well as Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, domestic shipping in and out of harbors qualifies as a super polluter.

“Ships are gnarly for pollution,” McCormick said.

Only one US metro ranked in the top 10 list of urban areas with the most people exposed to air pollution from major contributors to climate change: New York City. The rest are concentrated in Asia, particularly in China, Korea and Japan.

McCormick said he hopes that visualizing the transport of pollutants and showing people what they may be exposed to can lead to policy changes that reduce emissions from the places that are emitting the most pollutants.

“I didn’t know I was living in the pollution plume of a major emitter, that was pretty striking,” McCormick said. “And there’s about 2 billion people who we’re hoping will look this up and realize that they personally, their health is being affected by the same facilities that are really causing the climate crisis. And I think that’s less of a scientific breakthrough, but I don’t know another tool that does anything like that.”

“It’s one thing to measure how much pollution is coming out of a smokestack, but it’s even more important to see where it ends up,” Gore told CNN in a statement. “My hope is that everyone from grassroots activists to government leaders see these plumes and are equally horrified by the pollution as they are motivated to clean it up and in doing so, address the climate crisis.”

All of Climate TRACE’s emissions tracking data are available for free download to the public, with the hope that it will prove useful for public health and other researchers, as well as people interested in learning more about their region’s pollution sources.