Muharram is the first month of the Islamic lunar Hijri calendar (Hijirah, because the Prophet began his migration on that day, thereby giving the name Hijri to the calendar), to the city of Yathrib, where the Prophet became the leader of the city, thereafter renamed Madinat Al Nawabi, or the City of the Prophet, said Syed Meeran.
Muslims of both sects (Shia and Sunni) view and value the tenth of Muharram with considerable significance. For the Sunnis it is the day on which God saved Moses and his people from the Pharaoh and thus they demonstrate their gratitude by fasting. It also holds reverence because it is believed God created Adam and Eve on this day.
Another significance of Ashura is the martyrdom of Iman Hussain, the son of Imam Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, and the fourth Caliph of Islam and for the Shiite Muslims, the first Imam of the community. Hussain’s martyrdom provides an example of selfless sacrifice in the cause of God’s justice in the face of human oppression. This event took place around fifty years after the passing of the Prophet. Yazid, a tyrannical and by all accounts disreputable figure, was forcibly assuming leadership of the Muslim community and was demanding that Hussain swear allegiance to him. Hussain rejected the proposition seeing Yazid unfit for office. At the battlefield of Karbala, 5,000 of Yazid’s forces stormed the Hussain’s contingent of 80 people. What ensued was a massacre and nearly all the companions and family, including young children and a six-month old baby of Hussain, Ali Asghar, were slaughtered. The last one standing was Hussain himself.
Thus the ‘Month of God’, of Prophets and celebrated heroes and martyrs, Muharram continues to be one of the most significant months, in terms of worship and the opportunities it affords to learn about the long history.
LONDON (AP) — Nuno Borges had hoped to wear a Diogo Jota soccer jersey onto the court for his match at Wimbledon on Friday, but he settled for a black ribbon on his hat instead.
The All England Club has a strict all-white dress code for players while on court, but permission to wear the ribbon was granted after Jota and his brother were killed in a car crash in Spain.
Family and friends of the Liverpool forward and his brother gathered at a chapel where their bodies were brought for a wake on Friday, a day after the fatal crash.
Borges, who at No. 37 is Portugal’s highest-ranked tennis player, told the PA news agency that his agent contacted Wimbledon about the idea of wearing Jota’s national team jersey as a tribute, but it wasn’t approved. Tournament officials did not immediately comment late Friday.
Borgest lost his third-round match to Karen Khachanov in five sets.
Francisco Cabral wore a black ribbon on his left sleeve during a doubles match.
JERUSALEM/GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Hamas said it was ready to start talks “immediately” on a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, where the civil defense agency said Israel’s ongoing offensive killed 20 people on Saturday.
The announcement came after it held consultations with other Palestinian factions and before a visit on Monday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, where President Donald Trump is pushing for an end to the war, now in its 21st month.
“The movement is ready to engage immediately and seriously in a cycle of negotiations on the mechanism to put in place” the terms of a draft US-backed truce proposal received from mediators, the militant group said in a statement.
Israel meanwhile said Saturday it was still mulling its response to a positive reaction from Hamas to the latest US-sponsored proposal for a Gaza ceasefire.
“No decision has been made yet on that issue,” a government official said on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly about it. Israel’s security cabinet was due to meet later on Saturday, after the end of the Jewish sabbath at sundown, Israeli media reported.
Hamas ally Islamic Jihad said it supported ceasefire talks, but demanded “guarantees” that Israel “will not resume its aggression” once hostages held in Gaza are freed.
Trump, when asked about Hamas’s response aboard Air Force One on Friday, said: “That’s good. They haven’t briefed me on it. We have to get it over with. We have to do something about Gaza.”
The conflict in Gaza began with Hamas’s October 2023 attack, which sparked a massive Israeli offensive aimed at destroying Hamas and bringing home all the hostages seized by Palestinian militants.
On Friday, Netanyahu again pledged to bring home the hostages, after coming under massive domestic pressure over their fate.
Two previous ceasefires mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have seen temporary halts in fighting, coupled with the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Efforts to broker a new truce have repeatedly failed, with the primary point of contention being Israel’s rejection of Hamas’s demand for guarantees that any new ceasefire will be lasting.
A previous round of talks broke down in May with Hamas and Israel trading blame for its failure.
The Palestinian militant group said it had given a “positive response” to a truce proposal from US special envoy Steve Witkoff, but its request for a guarantee that hostilities would not resume had been rejected by Israel.
A Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations told AFP earlier this week that the latest proposal included “a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release half of the living Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip” — thought to number 22 — “in exchange for Israel releasing a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.”
Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Nearly 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has recently expanded its military operations.
Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said Israeli military operations killed 20 people across the war-battered territory on Saturday.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency.
Bassal said five of the dead were killed in a strike on a school in Gaza City.
A second strike near another school in the city where displaced civilians had found shelter killed three people and wounded around 10, including children, he said.
Many Gazans have sought shelter in schools and other public buildings since the war began with Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it could not comment on specific strikes without precise coordinates.
The civil defense agency said Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 52 people on Friday.
The Hamas attack of October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 57,268 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
The atmosphere on the concourses in Cardiff after the first Oasis gig of their long-awaited reunion tour was one of speechlessness that the once-estranged Gallagher brothers had pulled it off.
Leigh, from Cardiff, could hardly find the words to describe the two and a half hours he had just witnessed. “They were quiet at the beginning, then the crescendos went wild, then they were non-stop wild,” he said. “It went supernova – crazy. I couldn’t believe it. I don’t know what to say – I was 18 again.”
He had attended with his 22-year-old daughter and her boyfriend. “They didn’t know Oasis and came for the experience. It was the best night. They’ve been to concerts before but never like this – it was a new level.” During Stand By Me, the trio had a cuddle – or a cwtch, in Welsh – “two generations together. I’ve convinced her throughout the years that they’re the best band, and she was ecstatic to get to this point on her journey.”
The show had been “100%” worth the money, he said. “I could’ve gone away with the family for two weeks, all-inclusive, in the sun, but I wouldn’t swap it.”
Jack from Stockport, described the concert as “biblical: the presence, everything,” he said. “There was no silence during the set at all, everyone was singing as one.”
It wasn’t until the very end of the set that Liam and Noel Gallagher acknowledged each other: Liam walked towards his brother, clapped him on the back twice, and then immediately escaped in a Range Rover waiting on the side of stage to drive him to sanctuary; presumably a similar car awaited Noel on the other side. “The one time they interacted, they looked like actual brothers,” said Jack. “Though Liam didn’t look as if he was giving Noel a lift home.”
Oasis fans singing along inside. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters
His partner, Beth, appeared out of the women’s loos, heavily pregnant with the pair’s twins – their first in utero gig. Beth was born a month after the band’s famous performance at Knebworth in August 1996. Had they considered Noel and Liam as potential names? “They’re girl twins,” she said. “But we did think about Lyla” – a song from 2005’s Don’t Believe the Truth – “as a name for a little bit.”
Couple Jarvis and Valentina had travelled from north London for the show. “It was absolutely incredible,” he said. “Liam’s voice hasn’t sounded that good since the mid-90s. At the end of the 00s his voice was shot. That’s incredible.”
The pair knew what they were talking about: Valentina said they saw them about 40 times during their initial incarnation. She had moved from Italy to the UK in the year 2000 because of her love for the band. “We used to follow them everywhere,” she said of herself and her teenage girl friends. Once in Florence, she said, they snuck into the band’s hotel “and spent the afternoon drinking with them.”
She clarified: “There was no malice. We were good Italian girls. But Liam was drinking from 2pm until 7pm, and by the end I was seeing double. We talked about the Beatles. We would follow them everywhere and if we didn’t have a ticket, they would say, ‘Girls, do you have a ticket?’ and get us in.”
Tonight’s show, she said, brought back “so many memories of happy, better times, lots of us cried. They’re a working-class band and they attract that audience: no band has touched a generation like that.”
“If I’d dreamed it,” said Jarvis, “they couldn’t have been better.”
Bans on smartphones in Dutch schools have improved the learning environment despite initial protests, according to a study commissioned by the government of the Netherlands.
National guidelines, introduced in January 2024, recommend banning smartphones from classrooms and almost all schools have complied. Close to two-thirds of secondary schools ask pupils to leave their phones at home or put them in lockers, while phones are given in at the start of a lesson at one in five.
Researchers surveyed 317 secondary school leaders, 313 primary schools and conducted 12 focus groups with teachers, teaching assistants, students and parents. Secondary schools reported that children found it easier to concentrate (75%), the social environment was better (59%) and some said results had improved (28%).
Dr Alexander Krepel, a researcher at the Kohnstamm Instituut, said interactions between pupils had improved the most. “It’s not possible to secretly take a picture of someone in the classroom and then spread it in a WhatsApp group, so there’s an increase in social safety,” he said. “Especially in the breaks between the lessons, students would be on their phones and now they’re forced to talk … Maybe they also get into a fight a bit more often but schools, teachers and students are quite happy with how the atmosphere is better.”
Initial fears surrounding the ban proved unfounded, according to Freya Sixma, spokesperson for the VO-raad secondary education council, which represents schools and governing boards. “There was quite a lot of protest at first from schools, teachers, students, parents, questions about how it would all work,” she said. “But now you see that actually everyone is pretty happy.”
The study showed in special schools, where exceptions can be given for learning support devices, about half reported that the ban had had a positive or very positive effect. In primary schools, smartphones did not have a huge effect before the ban, but a quarter were positive about it.
Mariëlle Paul, the minister for primary and secondary education, said the national guideline helped classroom discipline. “Teachers and school leaders indicated that if an individual teacher wanted to ban the mobile from his or her class it would always be a discussion,” she said. “More inexperienced teachers would have difficulties enforcing that.”
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Statistics Netherlands reports that 96% of children go online almost every day, mostly through their phones. Last month, the caretaker government advised parents to ban social media for under-15s and limit screen time, while one MP has proposed a total ban on smartphones in schools.
If he wins the general election in November, Zohran Mamdani could become New York City’s first South Asian mayor and the first of Indian origin.
But the same identity that makes him a trailblazer in United States politics has also exposed him to public outcry in India and within its diaspora.
Ever since Mamdani achieved a thumping win in the Democratic mayoral primary on June 24, his campaign has weathered a flood of vitriol – some of it coming from the Hindu right.
Experts say the attacks are a reflection of the tensions that have arisen between supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and critics of the human rights abuses under his leadership, particularly against religious minorities.
A number of those attacks have fixated on Mamdani’s religion: The 33-year-old is Muslim. Some commenters have accused the mayoral hopeful of being a “jihadi” and “Islamist”. Others have called him anti-Hindu and anti-India.
Kayla Bassett, the director of research at the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH), a Washington-based think tank, believes the attacks against Mamdani are a vehicle to attack the Muslim community more broadly.
“This isn’t just about one individual,” she said. “It’s about promoting a narrative that casts Muslims as inherently suspect or un-American.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has faced criticism for the treatment of religious minorities in India [Jermaine Cruickshank/AP Photo]
Backlash from Modi’s party
That narrative could potentially have consequences for Mamdani’s campaign, as he works to increase his support among New York voters.
Mamdani will face competition in November from more established names in politics. He is expected to face incumbent mayor Eric Adams in the final vote. His rival in the Democratic primary, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, has also not yet ruled out an independent run.
The mayoral hopeful has vocally denounced human rights abuses, including in places like Gaza and India.
That unabashed stance has not only earned him criticism from his rival candidates but also from overseas.
Members of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for example, have been among the voices slamming Mamdani’s remarks and questioning his fitness for the mayor’s seat.
BJP Member of Parliament Kangana Ranaut posted on social media, for example, that Mamdani “sounds more Pakistani than Indian”.
“Whatever happened to his Hindu identity or bloodline,” she asked, pointing to the Hindu roots of his mother, director Mira Nair. “Now he is ready to wipe out Hinduism.”
Soon after Mamdani’s primary win, a prominent pro-BJP news channel in India, Aaj Tak, also aired a segment claiming that he had received funding from organisations that promote an “anti-India” agenda.
It also warned of a growing Muslim population in New York City, an assertion it coupled with footage of women wearing hijabs.
But some of the backlash has come from sources closer to home.
A New Jersey-based group named Indian Americans for Cuomo spent $3,570 for a plane to fly a banner over New York City with the message: “Save NYC from Global Intifada. Reject Mamdani.”
Mayoral candidates Andrew Cuomo, Michael Blake, Zohran Mamdani and Whitney Tilson participate in a Democratic mayoral primary debate on June 4 in New York [Yuki Iwamura/AP Photo]
A critic of human rights abuses
Much of the pushback can be linked to Mamdani’s vocal criticism of Hindu nationalism and Modi in particular.
In 2020, Mamdani participated in a Times Square demonstration against a temple built on the site of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya that was destroyed by Hindu extremists in 1992. He called out the BJP’s participation in and normalisation of that violence.
“I am here today to protest against the BJP government in India and the demolition of the Babri masjid,” he said.
Then, in 2023, Mamdani read aloud notes from an imprisoned Indian activist ahead of Modi’s visit to New York City.
That activist, Umar Khalid, has been imprisoned since 2020 without trial on terrorism charges after making speeches criticising Modi’s government.
More recently, during a town hall for mayoral candidates in May, Mamdani was asked if he would meet with Modi if the prime minister were to visit the city again. Mamdani said he wouldn’t.
“This is a war criminal,” he replied.
Mamdani pointed to Modi’s leadership in the Indian state of Gujarat during a period of religious riots in 2002. Modi has been criticised for turning a blind eye to the violence, which killed more than a thousand people, many of them Muslim.
In the aftermath, Modi was denied a US visa for “severe violations of religious freedom”.
“Narendra Modi helped to orchestrate what was a mass slaughter of Muslims in Gujarat, to the extent that we don’t even believe that there are Gujarati Muslims any more,” Mamdani told the town hall. “When I tell someone that I am, it’s a shock to them that that’s even the case.”
Protesters in 2014 gather to mark the anniversary of the violence in the Indian state of Gujarat [File: Ajit Solanki/AP Photo]
Barriers of class and religion
It’s that “fearless” and consistent criticism of Modi that has made Mamdani the target of outrage from the Hindu right, according to Rohit Chopra, a communications professor at Santa Clara University.
“Among the Hindu right, there is a project of the political management of the memory of 2002. There’s this silence around Modi being denied a visa to enter the US,” said Chopra.
The professor also said class fragmentation among Hindu Americans may also fuel scepticism towards Mamdani.
Hindu Americans are a relatively privileged minority in terms of socioeconomic status: The Pew Research Center estimates that 44 percent Asian American Hindus enjoy a family income of more than $150,000, and six in 10 have obtained postgraduate degrees.
That relative prosperity, Chopra said, can translate into social barriers.
“They don’t necessarily even identify with other Hindu Americans who may come from very different kinds of class backgrounds – people who might be working as cab drivers, or dishwashers, or other blue-collar jobs,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Suchitra Vijayan, a New York City-based writer and the founder of the digital magazine Polis Project, has noticed that many lines of attack against Mamdani centre on his identity.
“Mamdani is an elected leader who is unabashedly Muslim,” she said.
She pointed out that other Muslim politicians, including US Congress members Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, have sparked similar backlash for reproaching Modi over the Gujarat violence.
But Mamdani’s family ties to the region make the scrutiny all the more intense.
“In Mamdani’s case, he’s Muslim, he’s African, but also his father is of Gujarati descent and has openly spoken about the pogrom in Gujarat,” Vijayan said.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani waves to supporters at an event on July 2 [David ‘Dee’ Delgado/Reuters]
A ‘seismic’ victory
Despite the online backlash, experts and local organisers believe Mamdani’s campaign can mobilise Indian American voters and other members of the South Asian diaspora who traditionally lean Democratic.
The Pew Research Center estimates that there are 710,000 Indians and Indian Americans living in the New York City area, the most of any metropolitan centre in the US.
Preliminary results from June’s mayoral primary show that Mamdani scored big in neighbourhoods with strong Asian populations, like Little Bangladesh, Jackson Heights and Parkchester.
A final tally of the ranked-choice ballots was released earlier this week, on July 1, showing Mamdani trounced his closest rival, Cuomo, 56 percent to 44.
“I’ve heard his win described as ‘seismic’,” said Arvind Rajagopal, a professor of media studies at New York University. “He can speak not only Spanish but Hindi, Urdu, and passable Bangla. A candidate with this level of depth and breadth is rare in recent times.”
Rajagopal added that Mamdani’s decision to own his Muslim identity became an asset for him on the campaign trail, particularly in the current political climate.
With President Donald Trump in office for a second term, many voters are bracing for the anti-Muslim rhetoric and policies that accompanied his first four years in the White House.
Back then, Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”, saying they represented an “influx of hatred” and “danger”.
“The moment of Trump is something that Mamdani answers perfectly,” Rajagopal said. He called Mamdani’s success “a big reality check for the Hindu right”.
Whatever backlash Mamdani is facing from Hindu groups, Jagpreet Singh is sceptical about its influence over New York City.
“I can assure you – it’s not coming from within the city,” said Singh, the political director of DRUM Beats, a sister organisation to the social justice organisation Desis Rising Up and Moving.
That group was among the first in the city to endorse Mamdani’s candidacy for mayor.
Since early in his campaign, Singh pointed out that Mamdani has reached out to Hindu working-class communities “in an authentic way”.
This included visiting the Durga Temple and Nepalese Cultural Center in Ridgewood and speaking at events in the Guyanese and Trinidadian Hindu communities, Singh pointed out. During his time as a state assembly member, Mamdani also pushed for legislation that would recognise Diwali – the Hindu festival of lights – as a state holiday.
At a Diwali celebration last year, Singh said Mamdani “took part in lighting of the diyas, spoke on stage, and talked about his mother’s background as being somebody who is of Hindu faith”.
To Singh, the message was clear. South Asian groups in New York City, including Hindu Americans, “have adopted him as their own”.
Hopes for an end to the bloody fighting in Gaza appeared to brighten Friday when Hamas announced that it had given a thumbs-up to the latest ceasefire proposal, but added that further talks were needed.
“Hamas has completed its internal consultations with Palestinian factions and forces regarding the mediators’ latest proposal to halt the aggression against our people in Gaza,” the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
“The movement has submitted a positive response to the mediators,” the statement added. “The movement is fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework.”
The development came just days after President Donald Trump said Israel has “agreed to the necessary conditions” to finalize a 60-day ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas war.
But in his first remarks since Trump’s announcement on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not confirm Trump’s claim and once again called for the elimination of Hamas.
“There will be no Hamas,” Netanyahu said. “There will be no Hamastan. We are not going back to that. It is over. We will release all our hostages.”
Netanyahu is scheduled to visit to the White House on Monday, where he is expected to discuss the situation in Gaza with Trump.
Hamas has been weighing the new ceasefire proposals that it had received from the Egyptian and Qatari mediators for several days.
In a statement Wednesday, Hamas said it would be “conducting national consultations” with the final aim of ending the fighting, ensuring the withdrawal of Israeli forces and delivering “urgent relief” to the people of Gaza.
The war in Gaza erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, after Hamas launched a bloody surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 people dead. Hamas also took 251 people hostage. And of the remaining hostages in captivity, 28 are presumed to be dead.
Meanwhile, Israel’s attacks in Gaza have killed more than 56,000 people and created a humanitarian crisis in the densely populated Palestinian territory, where most of the 2 million residents have been forced from their homes.
Swaggering, cocksure and incredibly loud, Oasis burst back on to the live music scene on Friday night with an accomplished – if ever so slightly distanced – debut gig on their reunion world tour.
Playing Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, the six-piece impressed at the start of what is arguably the most anticipated tour of the century, focusing overwhelmingly on songs from their 1990s heyday – only one song, Little By Little, was taken from their final four albums.
For years it looked as if Liam and Noel Gallagher would never patch up their fractious fraternal relationship. A backstage bust-up in 2009 brought Oasis to an end, after a 16-year career in which they became the pre-eminent British rock’n’roll band, and the Gallaghers continued to snipe at each other in the press and social media in the following years – most memorably with Liam dubbing Noel a “potato”. Even when Oasis announced a reunion in August 2024 – “The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over” – some fans wondered if another ruction between the brothers would scupper the plans.
But following support slots from Britpop peers Cast and Richard Ashcroft, Oasis did indeed appear. They kicked straight into gear without a word to the crowd, playing Hello, the song that begins (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, their 18-times platinum album which is outsold in the UK only by Queen and Abba’s greatest hits.
“Because we need each other, we believe in one another”, Noel Gallagher sang on the second track, Acquiesce: a statement of unity that inspired delirious mosh pits and crowd-surfing. But the actual relations between the Gallaghers were relatively frosty, with little acknowledgment of each other, and with original guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs stationed between them.
Liam Gallagher is centre stage during the opening night of the Oasis Live 25 reunion tour at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Photograph: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
The Gallaghers were backed by Arthurs, the rhythm guitarist on their era-defining first two albums Definitely Maybe (1994) and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory (1995), plus 1997 follow-up Be Here Now, which was less critically acclaimed but still enormous in terms of sound and commercial success. More recently, Arthurs had played with Liam Gallagher’s solo band.
Arthurs, who was successfully treated for tonsil cancer in 2022, was replaced in Oasis in 1999 by Gem Archer, who also features in the new line-up having played with both Liam and Noel during their solo careers. Andy Bell, the co-founder of Ride – Oasis’s label mates on Creation Records – and another 1999 Oasis appointee, played bass. The American musician Joey Waronker, known for his work with Beck, REM and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, was on drums, having recently collaborated with Liam Gallagher on his 2024 album with Stone Roses guitarist John Squire.
Noel took the lead on a three-song run of Talk Tonight, Half the World Away and Little By Little – the only post-millennium song, from 2002’s Heathen Chemisty – in the middle of the set, with Liam bringing his trademark sneer and brio back for D’You Know What I Mean, which led into another Be Here Now song, Stand By Me.
Thereafter it was a return to the middle of the mid-1990s, with one-off singles and B-sides such as Whatever and The Masterplan, and a run of the band’s very biggest hits including Live Forever, Rock ’n’ Roll Star, Don’t Look Back in Anger, Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova.
Oasis perform on stage during the opening night of their Live 25′ Tour at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Photo: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
The latter-day Oasis albums aren’t as well loved as the first three, but they certainly contain songs fans might have expected to hear including Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Lyla, Songbird and Go Let it Out. There were no curveballs or deep cuts. Instead, Oasis delivered exactly what most fans were hoping for.
There were tributes to the late Portuguese footballer Diego Jota, who died yesterday in a car crash at the age of 28: he was well known to British fans, having won the Premier League and FA Cup during a spell with Liverpool. Cast dedicated their own football anthem, Walkaway to him, and an image of Jota was displayed during Oasis’s performance of Live Forever.
For a famously gobby band, there was relatively little stage banter, though Liam beseeched the crowd at one point: “I want you to turn around and put your arms around each other … and jump up and fucking down.”
He also made a brazen reference to the pricing scandal that made headlines when tickets went on sale: a “dynamic pricing” mechanism meant that the popularity of the tickets drove up the cost, prompting anger from fans and promises from culture secretary Lisa Nandy to look into the practice. “What’s happening? Everyone having a good time yeah? Is it worth the £4,000 you paid for a ticket?”, Liam told the crowd.
Noel meanwhile thanked the band’s younger fans as he began the encore with a rendition of The Masterplan: “This one is for all the people in their 20s who have never seen us before who have kept us shit hot for the last 20 years.” – Guardian service
Oasis perform during the opening night of their Live 25′ Tour at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Photo: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
Hamas announced on Friday that it had “submitted a positive response” to a proposal for a 60-day ceasefire with Israel in Gaza, opening the path toward a deal to halt the conflict after months of failed efforts.
Hamas has “submitted a positive response to the mediators, and the movement is fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations regarding the mechanism for implementing this framework,” the group said in a statement.
Israel had previously accepted the US-sponsored framework, which means the two sides are now expected to enter final, detailed negotiations before a ceasefire agreement is officially reached.
Bishara Bahbah, a Palestinian-American interlocutor who has been in direct discussions with Hamas, praised the group’s response on Facebook, saying, “We are now much closer to ending this cursed war.”
He said Hamas had introduced “amendments it deemed necessary.”
“In my view, these amendments will not prevent reaching a ceasefire agreement within the coming week, God willing,” he said.
An Israeli source familiar with the matter said earlier Friday that Israel had expected a positive response from Hamas, with the rewording of a few points in the proposal language. The source said these changes were not expected to derail the ceasefire efforts.
Of the 50 Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza, the proposal calls for the release of 10 living hostages and 18 deceased during the ceasefire. On the first day of the ceasefire, Hamas would release eight living hostages in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Following the release, Israel would withdraw from parts of northern Gaza, and the two sides would begin negotiations toward a permanent ceasefire.
The release of the hostages is to take place without any Hamas ceremonies or fanfare. The remaining hostages would be released on four more dates specific in the proposal.
Efforts to secure a ceasefire intensified following the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran last month. Qatar, a key negotiator, immediately launched a new round of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas to find a “middle ground” based on previous proposals.
The new proposal includes stronger assurances about the US’s commitment to keeping Israel at the negotiating table to reach a permanent ceasefire deal, during or potentially after the 60-day truce, according to an Israeli official and source familiar with the negotiations.
It also commits Israel to allowing a surge of aid into Gaza through traditional humanitarian channels, rather than through the controversial Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
US President Donald Trump has pushed hard for a ceasefire, saying on Tuesday that Israel had “agreed to the necessary conditions” to finalize a deal for a 60-day cessation of hostilities. In a post on Truth Social, Trump warned Hamas to accept the proposal as well.
“I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” he said, thanking Qatar and Egypt for their role in advancing the proposal.
Israel accepted the new proposal on Tuesday while Ron Dermer, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was in Washington, DC, meeting with top Trump administration officials, including US special envoy Steve Witkoff. The next day, Hamas said it was discussing the proposal as part of “national consultations” and that it aimed to reach an agreement that would guarantee “an end to the aggression, the withdrawal (of Israeli forces), and urgent relief for our people in the Gaza Strip.”
According to a source familiar with the negotiations, Israel and Hamas are now expected to enter quickly into proximity talks, during which officials from both sides are in the same building, with negotiators passing messages between them expeditiously to reach a deal. Such talks can take days, or they can be concluded faster. One of the key issues to resolve will be the timeline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces in Gaza during the ceasefire, the source said.
Qatar submitted the new proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, backed by the Trump administration, to both Hamas and Israel this week, following months of behind-the-scenes efforts led by Witkoff.
After a two-month ceasefire collapsed in March – and Israel renewed its bombardment of Gaza – the Trump administration put forward a ceasefire proposal that was rejected by Hamas because it failed to include guarantees about a permanent end to the war. The new version attempted to account for that key Hamas demand, offering stronger US assurances that the ceasefire would continue beyond 60 days even if a comprehensive agreement had not yet been reached.
Israel has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the war began, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. As negotiators worked to advance the latest ceasefire proposal, Israel intensified its bombardment of Gaza, killing scores across the besieged enclave.
Until now, Israel has refused to agree to a ceasefire deal that includes a comprehensive end to the war, as Netanyahu said the country’s goals included destroying Hamas’ military capability and ability to govern. But after the conflict with Iran, he has signaled a new willingness to compromise.
On Sunday, Netanyahu said that “many opportunities have opened up” following Israel’s military operations in Iran, including the possibility of bringing home the remaining hostages held in Gaza. It marked the first time in months that the long-time Israeli leader has clearly prioritized the return of the hostages over the defeat of Hamas.
Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to Washington this weekend and meet Trump at the White House on Monday. Before he leaves for the trip, he will convene his full cabinet on Saturday night to discuss the proposal. Even though far-right members of Israel’s government have said they will try to torpedo the deal, other political parties have made clear they will throw their support behind a ceasefire.
