TEL AVIV/SYDNEY: Israel’s foreign minister said on Monday he had revoked the visas of Australian diplomats to the Palestinian Authority, following a decision by Canberra to recognise a Palestinian state and cancel an Israeli lawmaker’s visa.
The Australian government said it had cancelled the visa of a lawmaker from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition who has advocated against Palestinian statehood and called for Israel to annex the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Australia’s ambassador to Israel had been informed that the visas of representatives to the Palestinian Authority had been revoked.
Like many countries, Australia maintains an embassy to Israel in Tel Aviv and a representative office to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank city of Ramallah. “I also instructed the Israeli Embassy in Canberra to carefully examine any official Australian visa application for entry to Israel,” Saar wrote on X, describing Australia’s refusal to grant visas to some Israelis as “unjustifiable”.
Mourners attend the funeral of Al Jazeera journalists Anas Al Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and another colleague, who were killed in an Israeli strike, in Gaza City August 11, 2025. — Reuters
In one night, Israel murdered Al Jazeera’s entire media crew in Gaza City. The Israeli military admitted to assassinating the journalists in an August 10 airstrike on a media tent outside Al-Shifa hospital. The strike killed Al Jazeera Arabic correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal.
Freelance cameraman Moamen Aliwa and reporter Mohammad al-Khaldi were also killed.
At just 28, Anas al-Sharif was a renowned journalist, husband, and father of two young children. He and his colleagues lived through constant Israeli bombardment while reporting on every aspect of the escalating genocide in Gaza, including the mass killing and maiming of Palestinians, widespread destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure like medical facilities, and forced starvation.
Like other Palestinian journalists, Israeli forces threatened al-Sharif’s life repeatedly, falsely accusing him of “heading a Hamas militant cell.” Yet he persisted in his fearless coverage.
He also suffered profound loss. In December 2023, an Israeli airstrike targeted his family’s home in the Jabalia refugee camp, killing his 90-year-old father. Weeks before, Israeli military officials had demanded that al-Sharif stop reporting from northern Gaza. But he refused.
The UN and human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists, have all condemned the deliberate killings of al-Sharif and his colleagues.
Sadly, this isn’t the first time Israel has smeared Palestinian journalists as “militants” or “terrorists” without evidence and then killed them. Among others, Israel assassinated Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent Hossam Shabat on March 24 in a strike on his car. On July 31, 2024, Israeli forces also murdered Al Jazeera’s Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi in a drone strike on their car. Meanwhile, the Israeli government has denied international journalists access to Gaza. Its murders of Palestinian media workers fit a pattern of trying to eliminate witnesses to its heinous human rights violations.
Nearly 270 journalists and media workers, the vast majority of them Palestinians, have been killed by Israel since October 7, 2023. They are not “collateral damage” – they’re being hunted.
According to Brown University’s Watson Institute, more journalists have been killed in Gaza over the past two years than in the US Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and Ukraine combined.
The deliberate targeting and killing of journalists are blatant war crimes. Like all civilians, they must be protected. Journalists play an integral role in covering potential violations of international humanitarian law like we’ve seen in Gaza.
Alongside its devastating bombardments, Israel’s unlawful use of starvation as warfare and restrictions on humanitarian aid are destroying the existence of Palestinian life in Gaza. At least 61,000 Palestinians have been confirmed killed, but the true number is estimated in the hundreds of thousands.
The US continues to be an active participant in the ongoing genocide by providing Israel with military, economic, and diplomatic support. This must end. Israel’s nearly 18-year illegal siege on Gaza must be lifted immediately. All humanitarian aid must be allowed in, overseen by the UN and its partners, not the US-Israeli death traps where soldiers shoot starving people at so-called “aid distribution sites.”
Despite Israel’s efforts to silence witnesses, Gaza’s brave journalists are still reaching the world. People continue to demand that their governments stop enabling the mass slaughter and starvation of Palestinians – including in the US, where a bipartisan majority of Americans oppose Israel’s actions. Communities are also mobilizing for justice and accountability for all the slain journalists.
Excerpted: ‘In All of History, Gaza Is the Most Dangerous Place Ever for Journalists’.
Lounging on the tulips, roosting in the eucalyptus, humming around the bottlebrush – a butterfly swarm has invaded a rural Australian town to the delight of locals and tourists alike.
Thousands of monarch butterflies have taken over Nannup, in south-west Western Australia, although experts warn their high numbers are evidence of the advance of invasive weeds.
Horticulturalist Colin Barlow said the butterflies, which have a life cycle of about six weeks once hatched, feed as larvae on one of two weeds, varieties of cotton bush and milkweed, which are prevalent in surrounding pine plantations.
A monarch butterfly settles on tulips at the Nannup flower and garden festival. Photograph: Angela Rasmussen/Nannup flower and garden festival
“The reason why it was so good this year is because they had a very good food source,” he said.
Barlow said the species is one of few that can eat the plants, adding that the monarch’s distinctive, bright orange colouring is a warning of their potential toxicity. “There’s only a couple of species of birds that can actually eat the butterflies.”
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But the adult butterflies are also interested in other plant species. Maggie Longmore, who runs Nannup’s annual flower and garden festival in August, said they were particularly drawn to the tulips, as well as native bottlebrush and eucalyptus plants.
“It has been an added attraction for the festival,” she said. “It’s gone a bit viral on social media … People have been coming to see the butterflies and the tulips.
“I’ve lived in Nannup for 25 years. We see a few butterflies around, but this year they’re in the thousands.”
The window has also been particularly long this year – more than two months, Longmore estimates. Burana Skelton, from Mandurah to the north, was driving through Nannup with her family during the July school holidays when they started to notice the insects.
“We were, like, counting the butterflies as we were driving down the main street, going: ‘Oh, there’s one, two.’ And we got up to 20,” she said.
“As we got further down towards the little local park area … it was literally covered in [them].
“My husband and the kids got out the car … We had all our windows down and even the dogs were looking at it.”
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Monarch butterflies roost by the roadside in Nannup. Photograph: Burana Skelton
Monarch butterflies are native to North America and are believed to have been blown across to Australia via the Pacific islands during cyclonic weather in the early 1870s.
Barlow says the species only took hold in the last 30 years when the invasive weeds also gained a footing, describing the situation as “a delicate balance”, but still “a beautiful sight”.
“What we recommend is people to control the milkweed and the cotton bush inside of bushland areas, and in and around roadsides, so it doesn’t spread.”
Skelton said the phenomenon’s complicated backstory did not detract from its beauty.
“It’s hard to put into words,” she said. “It felt magical.”
WASHINGTON: U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday accused India of profiteering from its sharply increased purchases of Russian oil during the war in Ukraine, saying Washington viewed the situation as unacceptable. Bessent told CNBC in an interview that Russian oil now accounted for 42% of India’s total oil purchases, up from under 1% before the war, and contrasted that with longtime buyer China, whose Russian oil purchases had increased to 16% from 13%.
“India is just profiteering. They are reselling,” Bessent said. “What I would call Indian arbitrage – buying cheap Russian oil, reselling it as product has just sprung up during the war – which is unacceptable,” he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump this month announced an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods as a punishment for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total additional tariffs announced since he took office to 50%.
Trump has credited the Indian tariffs as piling pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to work toward ending the war in Ukraine, but has stopped short of imposing similar tariffs on China over its purchases of Russian oil.
US adviser Navarro says India’s Russian crude buying has to stop
Bessent, asked about the Trump administration’s failure to move ahead with similar tariffs on China, said the situation was “completely different” given that Beijing was a longtime buyer and had not engaged in the kind of “arbitrage” done by India.
U.S.-India relations have been strained by Trump’s tariffs after months of forecasts by the U.S. president and other officials that they were close to reaching an agreement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on a trade deal that would have lowered the tariff rate.
India on Tuesday temporarily suspended an 11% import duty on cotton until September 30, a move seen as a signal to Washington that New Delhi is willing to address U.S. concerns on agricultural tariffs.
It came after the abrupt cancellation of a planned visit by U.S. trade negotiators to New Delhi from August 25-29.
CAIRO: Hamas has accepted a new ceasefire proposal for Gaza, after a fresh diplomatic push to end more than 22 months of fighting, senior Hamas official Bassem Naim claimed in a Facebook post on Monday.
Mediators Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, have struggled to secure a lasting truce in the conflict, which has triggered a dire humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
After receiving a new proposal from mediators, Hamas said it was ready for talks. “The movement has submitted its response, agreeing to the mediators’ new proposal. We pray to God to extinguish the fire of this war on our people,” senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said.
Egypt said it and Qatar had sent the new proposal to Israel, adding “the ball is now in its court”. Israel has yet to respond.
Thousands flee Gaza City fearing Israeli offensive
A Palestinian source familiar with the talks said mediators were “expected to announce that an agreement has been reached and set a date for the resumption of talks”, adding that guarantees were offered to ensure implementation and pursue a permanent solution.
According to a report in Egyptian state-linked media Al-Qahera, the deal proposed an initial 60-day truce, partial prisoners release and provisions to allow for the entry of aid.
The proposal comes more than a week after Israel’s security cabinet approved plans to expand operations into Gaza City and nearby refugee camps, which has sparked international outcry as well as domestic opposition.
Palestinians leave homes
Fearing an imminent Israeli ground offensive, thousands of Palestinians have left their homes in eastern areas of Gaza City, now under constant Israeli bombardment, for points to the west and south in the shattered territory.
In Gaza City, many Palestinians have also been calling for protests soon to demand an end to a conflict that has destroyed much of the territory and wrought a humanitarian disaster, and for Hamas to intensify talks to avert an Israeli ground offensive.
BEIRUT: US envoy Tom Barrack on Monday called on Israel to honour commitments under a ceasefire that ended its war with Hezbollah, after the Lebanese government launched a process to disarm the group.
Under the November truce, which ended more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group was to withdraw its fighters from near the Israeli border and weapons were to come under the control of the Lebanese state.
Israel was to withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them at five border points it deems strategic and has continued to strike Lebanon, threatening to do so until Hezbollah has been disarmed.
“There’s always a step-by-step approach but I think the Lebanese government has done their part. They’ve taken the first step. Now what we need is Israel to comply,” Barrack said following a meeting in Beirut with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
“We’re all moving in the right direction,” he said after meeting parliament speaker Nabih Berri. Berri, a Hezbollah ally, said Israel’s commitment to the ceasefire and its troop withdrawal was “the gateway to stability in Lebanon”, a statement said.
‘Progress’
Asked by reporters whether he expected to see Israel fully withdraw from Lebanese territory and stop its violations, Barrack said that “that’s exactly the next step” needed. “We need participation on the part of Israel, and we need an economic plan for prosperity, restoration and renovation,” the US diplomat added, with Lebanon weighed down by an economic crisis.
Barrack said Washington was “in the process of now discussing with Israel what their position is”, adding that “in the next few weeks you’re going to see progress on all sides.” “It means a better life for the people… and at least the beginning of a roadway to a different kind of dialogue” in the region, he said.
The visit comes after Lebanon’s cabinet tasked the army with developing a plan to disarm Hezbollah by year end — an unprecedented step since civil war factions gave up their weapons decades ago.
The cabinet has also tackled a US proposal that includes a timetable for Hezbollah’s disarmament, with Washington pressing Lebanon to take action.
The cabinet endorsed the introduction of the US text, which lists 11 objectives including to “ensure the sustainability” of the ceasefire, and to phase out “the armed presence of all non-state actors, including Hezbollah” across all Lebanese territory.
It also provides for demarcating Lebanon’s land borders with Israel and neighbouring Syria, and a process involving the international community to support reconstruction.
‘Lebanese process’
Aoun told Barrack that what was needed was for “other parties to adhere to the contents” of the joint declaration, “more support for the Lebanese army”, and expedited steps towards reconstruction, the presidency said.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Washington needed to “fulfil its responsibility in pressuring Israel halt hostilities”, withdraw troops and release Lebanese prisoners it holds.
ISTANBUL: At least four migrants died after falling into the sea from their rubber dinghy on Monday off the western coast of Turkiye, officials said.
The incident took place off the coast of the Karaburun district, the coast guard command said in a statement.
Officials rescued two migrants and found four bodies, and were still searching for more missing with the help of a helicopter, drone, five boats and a larger vessel.
It was not immediately clear how many migrants the boat carried or what their nationality was.
Many migrants embark on the short but perilous route between the Turkish coast and the nearby Greek islands of Samos, Rhodes and Lesbos, which serve as entry points to the European Union.
LONDON: Words popularised by Gen Z and Gen Alpha including “skibidi”, “delulu”, and “tradwife” are among 6,000 new entries to the online edition of the Cambridge Dictionary over the last year, its publisher said on Monday.
Cambridge University Press said tradwife, a portmanteau of traditional wife, reflected “a growing, controversial Instagram and TikTok trend that embraces traditional gender roles”.
The dictionary also took on the challenge of defining skibidi, a word popularised in online memes, as a term which had “different meanings such as cool or bad, or can be used with no real meaning”.
The gibberish word was spread by a YouTube channel called “Skibidi Toilet” and is associated with the mindless, “brain rot” content found on social media and consumed by Gen Alpha’s overwhelmingly digital lifestyle.
The dictionary defined delulu, derived from the word delusional, as “believing things that are not real or true, usually because you choose to”.
As an example, it cited a 2025 speech in parliament where Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used the phrase “delulu with no solulu”.
“It’s not every day you get to see words like skibidi and delulu make their way into the Cambridge Dictionary,” said Colin McIntosh, Lexical Programme manager at the Cambridge Dictionary.
“We only add words where we think they’ll have staying power. Internet culture is changing the English language and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture in the Dictionary.”
Other new phrases include “lewk”, used to describe a unique fashion look and popularised by RuPaul’s Drag Race, and “inspo”, short for inspiration.
Work from home culture has given rise to “mouse jiggler”, referring to a way to pretend to work when you are not.
There is also “forever chemical”, man-made chemicals that stay in the environment for years and have gained traction as concerns grow about the irreversible impact of climate change on the health of humans and the plant.
THE American capital was unusually silent over the weekend. In many areas, the familiar hum of late-night traffic and crowds spilling from bars and restaurants was replaced by the steady crunch of boots as National Guard troops and police patrolled shuttered storefronts and darkened sidewalks.
Nearly a week after President Donald Trump ordered troops into Washington, the city seems like its still in shock. Roadblocks, searches, and soldiers on city streets are unusual here. While some parts of the city have long struggled with violent crime, drug trafficking, prostitution, and murders, these problems had mostly been confined to poorer neighborhoods.
Recent incidents in middle- and upper-middle-class areas, however, caught the president’s attention, reminding him of his election promise to “cleanse” America’s major cities.
Some nights ago, at Logan Circle, Guardsmen stopped cars, demanded IDs, and questioned drivers. Pedestrians were pulled aside. From a nearby porch, a white-haired woman shouted, “Get off our streets!” while her younger neighbor yelled, “Democracy, not kingdom!”
In Dupont Circle, several hundred protesters marched with drums and bells, holding handmade signs reading “Trump Must Go Now” and “No ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)! No National Guard!”
One woman carrying a candle said, “I grew up in Poland. I know what it feels like when soldiers replace police. This is not America.” A young man filmed troops on his phone. “We record everything,” he said, “otherwise no one will believe this is happening in Washington, D.C.”
President Trump paints a starkly different picture. At a recent rally, he said Washington had become a haven for “violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals.” To respond, he sent hundreds of National Guard troops from Ohio, West Virginia, and South Carolina to assist local law enforcement — and sought broader authority over the city’s police operations.
Supporters describe this as decisive action to protect residents. Critics warn it undermines local governance and risks intimidating residents. In the United States, the National Guard is usually deployed for emergencies, such as natural disasters or civil unrest, not for routine policing —making this intervention highly unusual.
Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, has strongly challenged Trump’s depiction of the city. “Yes, we saw a spike in crime in 2023,” she said, “but it has since come down sharply. The president’s claims about rampant crime do not reflect the reality of our city.”
Police data supports her position: homicides dropped 32 per cent between 2023 and 2024, reaching the lowest level since 2019. Violent crime overall is down 26pc so far in 2025, while robberies have fallen 28pc.
Bowser has also made visible gestures in support of racial justice. In 2020, she had a section of 16th Street near the White House painted with “Black Lives Matter” and renamed it Black Lives Matter Plaza, but this was undone when President Trump took over.
Divided, but restless
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are split along predictable partisan lines. Republicans support Trump, arguing extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. Democrats accuse him of trampling the rights of DC residents, 92pc of whom voted for Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) criticised the deployment as a “total abuse of power” and a “manufactured emergency.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued a warning that, regardless of the uniform, federal and military officials are bound by the U.S. Constitution and local law.
Quoting a Wall Street Journal report, the ACLU noted that troops “may be allowed to start carrying weapons in the coming days,” and said: “Sending heavily armed federal agents and National Guard troops from hundreds of miles away into our nation’s capital is unnecessary, inflammatory, and puts people’s rights at high risk of being violated.”
Last week, the DC government sued the Trump administration to block its order asserting federal authority over the city’s police department, citing the Home Rule Act.
Later, the attorney general issued a revised directive that removed the provision giving federal authorities full control over the DC police, instead specifying certain “services” they could perform.
Meanwhile, the streets tell their own story. Residents are unsettled, some angry, others resigned. Candlelight vigils have appeared in neighborhoods from Columbia Heights to Capitol Hill. At one vigil, soft chants rose into the humid night air: “Free D.C.! Free D.C.!”
Local journalists who have covered Washington for decades have witnessed protests large and small — anti-war marches, immigration rallies, women’s rights demonstrations. The city has always carried tension, but even to them this feels different.
BEIRUT: US envoy Tom Barrack on Monday called on Israel to honour commitments under a ceasefire that ended its war with Hezbollah, after the Lebanese government launched a process to disarm the group.
Under the November truce, which ended more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group was to withdraw its fighters from near the Israeli border and weapons were to come under the control of the Lebanese state.
Israel was to withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them at five border points it deems strategic and has continued to strike Lebanon, threatening to do so until Hezbollah has been disarmed.
“There’s always a step-by-step approach but I think the Lebanese government has done their part. They’ve taken the first step. Now what we need is Israel to comply,” Barrack said following a meeting in Beirut with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
“We’re all moving in the right direction,” he said after meeting parliament speaker Nabih Berri. Berri, a Hezbollah ally, said Israel’s commitment to the ceasefire and its troop withdrawal was “the gateway to stability in Lebanon”, a statement said.
‘Progress’
Asked by reporters whether he expected to see Israel fully withdraw from Lebanese territory and stop its violations, Barrack said that “that’s exactly the next step” needed. “We need participation on the part of Israel, and we need an economic plan for prosperity, restoration and renovation,” the US diplomat added, with Lebanon weighed down by an economic crisis.
Barrack said Washington was “in the process of now discussing with Israel what their position is”, adding that “in the next few weeks you’re going to see progress on all sides.” “It means a better life for the people… and at least the beginning of a roadway to a different kind of dialogue” in the region, he said.
The visit comes after Lebanon’s cabinet tasked the army with developing a plan to disarm Hezbollah by year end — an unprecedented step since civil war factions gave up their weapons decades ago.
The cabinet has also tackled a US proposal that includes a timetable for Hezbollah’s disarmament, with Washington pressing Lebanon to take action.
The cabinet endorsed the introduction of the US text, which lists 11 objectives including to “ensure the sustainability” of the ceasefire, and to phase out “the armed presence of all non-state actors, including Hezbollah” across all Lebanese territory.
It also provides for demarcating Lebanon’s land borders with Israel and neighbouring Syria, and a process involving the international community to support reconstruction.
‘Lebanese process’
Aoun told Barrack that what was needed was for “other parties to adhere to the contents” of the joint declaration, “more support for the Lebanese army”, and expedited steps towards reconstruction, the presidency said.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Washington needed to “fulfil its responsibility in pressuring Israel halt hostilities”, withdraw troops and release Lebanese prisoners it holds.
