The second Monday of the US Open saw every match on the two main courts, Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong, end in straight sets.
But the only fourth-round match scheduled out on Grandstand delivered tension, quality and history as No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova defeated No. 27 seed Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-7(0), 6-3 in 2 hours and 53 minutes. It meant that, for the first time in the Open Era, three Czech women have made the quarterfinals at the US Open.
US Open: Draws | Scores | Order of play
All three booked their places there via fourth-round barnburners. Muchova’s win followed Barbora Krejcikova saving eight match points to end Taylor Townsend’s run 1-6, 7-6(13), 6-3 and Marketa Vondrousova’s 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 masterclass over Elena Rybakina on Sunday. Three Czechs have reached the last eight of a single major once previously — at Wimbledon 2014, where champion Petra Kvitova defeated her compatriots Lucie Safarova in the semifinals and Barbora Strycova in the quarterfinals.
Muchova’s run is her third in a row to the US Open quarterfinals — she was a semifinalist in both 2023 and 2024. Krejcikova and Vondrousova are back at this stage for a second time each, having been quarterfinalists in 2021 and 2023 respectively.
“Three of us in the quarters, it’s nice for our country,” Muchova said afterwards. “We are more one by one, honestly, [but] when we see each other here in the locker room, I think we are all happy for each other and we talk. Obviously with Marketa, we are from the same club, so I know her a little better than Bara. But with both of them, nice relationship, we support each other.”
The Czech talent pipeline has, throughout the Open Era, consistently punched above its weight in women’s tennis. This is less to do with an overarching system than availability of opportunities, according to Muchova.
“I wouldn’t really say it’s a system,” she told press. “For me personally, I was practicing most of the time in my hometown, always found myself a coach and built my team. I think for most of us, it was this way. It’s either family or parents helping out. Then when I was older, I moved to Prague and went to the bigger club where there was more players to have more opportunities.
“I wouldn’t say it was the system for me, but it was nice that we had a lot of tournaments that we could compete against each other in the Czech Republic. So that would be probably the one thing that I will tell you is great in Czech Republic.”
Impressively, Muchova has won four three-setters in four matches to reach the quarterfinals. She’s the 12th player in the Open Era to achieve that feat, following: Lesley Hunt (US Open 1978), Sylvia Hanika (US Open 1979), Joanne Russell (Wimbledon 1982), Melissa Brown (Roland Garros 1984), Jennifer Capriati (Wimbledon 1993), Lindsay Davenport (Roland Garros 2005), Jelena Dokic (Australian Open 2009), Maria Sharapova (Roland Garros 2009), Alison Riske-Amritraj (Wimbledon 2019), Jelena Ostapenko (US Open 2023) and Emma Navarro (Australian Open 2025).
The Czech trio’s success this fortnight is all the sweeter given their extensive injury histories. The careers of all three have been marked by remarkable highs, when they’re healthy enough for their talent to flow, punctuated by long periods on the sidelines and rankings that have yo-yoed from inside the Top 10 to outside the Top 100. At the age of 26, Vondrousova has only played a full season twice (2021, when she was the silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympic Games, and 2023, when she won Wimbledon). Muchova, 29, the 2022 Roland Garros finalist, has not played a full season since 2019, and this year was forced to temporarily play with a one-handed backhand due to a left wrist issue.
That’s the cause of another statistical first. Two-time major champion Krejcikova and Vondrousova have both been on the comeback trail yet again this year — Krejcikova was sidelined for the first half of 2025 by a back injury, while Vondrousova underwent shoulder surgery last August. They are ranked No. 62 and No. 60 respectively this week, meaning that for the first time in the Open Era, two Grand Slam champions have reached the quarterfinals of a major while ranked outside the Top 50.
But quality tends to shine through regardless of ranking number — and while the low-key trio may slip out of the spotlight during their absences from the game, they’ve shown this fortnight that they should never be overlooked.
And there’s still more history that could be made at Flushing Meadows. On Tuesday, Vondrousova takes on No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka and Krejcikova faces No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula; on Wednesday, Muchova will play No. 23 seed Naomi Osaka for the third time in the past five majors. In the Open Era, two Czechs have reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam on three previous occasions: Roland Garros 1986 (Hana Mandlikova and Helena Sukova, representing the former Czechoslovakia), Wimbledon 2014 (Kvitova and Safarova) and the Australian Open 2019 (Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova).
If Vondrousova, Krejcikova and Muchova all win their quarterfinals this week, it would be the first time in history that three Czechs have made the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament.
A systematic review analyzed associations of high-concentration delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cannabis products with mental health outcomes. The review found that high-concentration THC products are associated with unfavorable mental health outcomes, particularly for psychosis or schizophrenia and cannabis use disorder (CUD). However, there are limitations to currently available evidence and the researchers call for studies with improved designs to provide more accurate guidance for clinicians and the public. The review is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Researchers from University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and colleagues analyzed 99 studies comprising 221,097 participants completed between 1977 and 2023. Study selection was intentionally broad and included studies examining associations between high-concentration cannabis products and mental health outcomes regardless of whether the study had the purpose of evaluating therapeutic effects.
High-concentration cannabis products were defined as having THC concentration exceeding 5 mg THC or 10% THC per serving or products described as “high-potency concentrate,” “shatter,” or “dab.” The mental health outcomes of interest included anxiety, depression, psychosis, schizophrenia, CUD and other substance use disorders. The researchers defined acute effects (within 12 hours), post-acute effects (after consistent use for 1 to 2 months), and long-term effects (after consistent use for > 1 year).
In studies not testing for therapeutic effects, high concentration THC products were associated with psychosis, schizophrenia, and cannabis use disorder. No therapeutic studies found favorable effects on psychosis or schizophrenia. Of non-therapeutic studies, 53% identified unfavorable associations with anxiety and 41% found unfavorable associations with depression. Among therapeutic studies, some suggested beneficial effects for anxiety (47%) and depression (48%), while others suggested unfavorable effects (24% for anxiety and 30% for depression).
The findings reinforce previous conclusions that higher THC concentrations increase the risk for adverse mental health outcomes; however, they fall short of providing the definitive evidence needed to provide clear advice to patients.
Belgium to recognise Palestinian state at UN general assembly
We are restarting our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza. Belgium’s foreign minister, Maxime Prévot, has said his country will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN general assembly later this month, adding to international pressure on Israel after similar moves by Australia, Britain, Canada and France.
The decision comes “in light of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Palestine, particularly in Gaza, and in response to the violence perpetrated by Israel in violation of international law,” Prévot said in a post to social media.
Israel has become increasingly isolated on the international stage as it faces credible accusations of genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and the collective punishment of the civilian population of Gaza.
Israel’s assault has flattened large parts of Gaza, killing more than 63,000 people, mostly civilians, forcing nearly all of Gaza’s more than 2 million people from their homes and causing what the UN-backed hunger monitor, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), described last month as a “man-made famine” in and around Gaza City. Israel is still obstructing aid into the territory, despite widespread starvation.
In a lengthy post on X describing the Belgium government’s new position, Prévotwrote:
In light of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Palestine, particularly in Gaza, and in response to the violence perpetrated by Israel in violation of international law, given its international obligations, including the duty to prevent any risk of genocide, Belgium had to take strong decisions to increase pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas terrorists.
This is not about sanctioning the Israeli people but about ensuring that their government respects international and humanitarian law and taking action to try to change the situation on the ground.
Maxime Prévot said Belgium took the decision to step up pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas. Photograph: Shutterstock
The recognition of Palestine would only be formalised if Hamas releases all remaining Israeli hostages kidnapped in the Hamas-led 7 October attack on southern Israel in 2023 and the militant group “no longer has any role in managing Palestine,” Prévot added.
Prévot saidBelgium, a member of the European Union, would levy 12 “firm” sanctions on Israel, such as a ban on importing products from its settlements and a review of public procurement policies with Israeli companies. It will also declare Hamas leaders persona non grata in Belgium.
The minister also said two “extremist” Israeli ministers and several “violent settlers” would be designated “persona non grata” in Belgium. While he didn’t name the ministers, they are likely to be Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far right security minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, and Bezalel Smotrich, the far right finance minister.
Over the summer, the UK, alongside Australia, Canada, New Zealand and NorwaysanctionedBen-Gvir and Smotrich over “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities” in the occupied West Bank.
Key events
Closing summary
Belgium’s foreign minister, Maxime Prévot, has said his country will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN general assembly later this month, adding to international pressure on Israel after similar moves by Australia, Britain, Canada and France. The decision comes “in light of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Palestine, particularly in Gaza, and in response to the violence perpetrated by Israel in violation of international law,” Prévot said in a post to social media.
Gaza’s civil defence agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told the Agence France-Presse news agency (AFP) that Israeli forces had struck the top floor of a residential building in southwestern Gaza City overnight, killing 10 people. Bassal said Israeli helicopters also struck an apartment in the west of the city, killing three and injuring several others.
At least nine people, including five children, have been killed in an Israeli strike while fetching water in al-Mawasi, an area of southern Gaza which Israel has designated as a safe zone, health officials said. A doctor from al-Nasser hospital shared a picture of the children’s bodies in the hospital, as well as a picture of water jugs left in a pool of blood at the site of the attack on Tuesday.
At least 73 Palestinian people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn, including 42 people in Gaza City, Al Jazeera is reporting, citing hospital sources.
At least 63,633 Palestinian people have been killed and 160,914 others injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Gaza’s civil defence agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told the Agence France-Presse news agency (AFP) that Israeli forces had struck the top floor of a residential building in southwestern Gaza City overnight, killing 10 people. Bassal said Israeli helicopters also struck an apartment in the west of the city, killing three and injuring several others.
Israel has started mobilising tens of thousands of reservists and repeated evacuation warnings as part of its plan to widen its offensive in Gaza City, which has sparked opposition domestically and condemnation abroad. The beginning of September call-up, announced last month, comes as ground and air forces press forward and pursue more targets in northern and central Gaza, striking parts of Zeitoun and Shijaiyah — two western Gaza City neighborhoods that Israeli forces have repeatedly invaded, AP reported.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said the US should urgently revise its decision to revoke the visas of Palestinian officials and bar them from attending a gathering of world leaders at the United Nations this month in New York. Washington said last week it would not allow the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, and others to travel to New York, where several US allies are set to recognise Palestine as a state, Reuters reports.
Israeli president Isaac Herzog will travel to the Vatican on Thursday to meet Pope Leo XIV, who recently demanded that Israel stop its “collective punishment” of the population in Gaza. The one-day visit is being made at the invitation of the pope, Herzog’s office said in a statement earlier today.
A plan circulating in the White House to develop the “Gaza Riviera” as a string of high-tech megacities has been dismissed as an “insane” attempt to provide cover for the large-scale ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian territory’s population. On Sunday, the Washington Post published a leaked prospectus for the plan, which would involve the forced displacement of Gaza’s entire population of 2 million people and put the territory into a US trusteeship for at least a decade.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF)says it killed a Hamas commander and a deputy commander in its operations in the northern and central parts of the Gaza Strip in collaboration with the 99th Division and Israel’s internal intelligence agency, Shin Bet, over the last month. In a post on X, the IDF claimed it had killed Ahmed Abu Daif, who the military said had served as deputy company commander of the Zeitoun battalion since last year.
The world’s leading genocide scholars’ association has backed a resolution stating that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of the crime. Out of the International Association of Genocide Scholars’s (IAGS) 500 members, 28% took part in the vote. Of those who voted, 86% supported the resolution.
French judicial authorities have issued arrest warrants for ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and six other top former officials over the bombardment of a rebel-held city in 2012 that killed two journalists, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency has just cited lawyers as having said. Marie Colvin, 56, an American working for The Sunday Times, and French photographer Remi Ochlik, 28, were killed on 22 February 2012 by the explosion in the eastern city of Homs, which is being investigated by the French judiciary as a potential crime against humanity.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday that they had attacked a ship in the northern Red Sea with two drones and a missile over its connection to Israel. The group did not say when the attack happened.
Five children in Gaza among those killed by Israeli strike while fetching water
William Christou
At least nine people, including five children, have been killed in an Israeli strike while fetching water in al-Mawasi, an area of southern Gaza which Israel has designated as a safe zone, health officials said.
A doctor from al-Nasser hospital shared a picture of the children’s bodies in the hospital, as well as a picture of water jugs left in a pool of blood at the site of the attack on Tuesday.
The attack came shortly after the Israel Defense Forces encouraged people to leave Gaza City for al-Mawasi, before Israel’s looming invasion of Gaza City. The Israeli military has sought to displace people from the city before its offensive and has promised that southern Gaza would be able to accommodate them, despite experts disagreeing with the suggestion.
“We wish to remind you that in al-Mawasi, enhanced services will be provided with an emphasis on access to medical care, water and food,” the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X on Tuesday afternoon.
Israel continued to push ahead with its operation and began the mobilisation of tens of thousands of reservists on Tuesday.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday that they had attacked a ship in the northern Red Sea with two drones and a missile over its connection to Israel.
The group did not say when the attack happened.
Iran and the US could reopen “rational negotiations”, the secretary of Iran’s supreme national security council, Ali Larijani, has said in a post on X.
“We indeed pursue rational negotiations. By raising unrealisable issues such as missile restrictions, they set a path that negates any talks,” Larijani added.
Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian mission to the United Kingdom, has said that recognition of the Palestinian state is the first step in “an international momentum to implement the two-state solution”.
Speaking at Chatham House today, he said:
We, and with us the region, and the rest of the international community are in desperate and real search for an alternative path.
Recognition is a first step. It’s not a final step. It’s just a first, meaningful, significant, step in an international momentum to implement the two-state solution rather than negotiate it.
Zomlot previously served as a strategic affairs adviser to the Palestinian president.
“The issuing of the seven arrest warrants is a decisive step that paves the way for a trial in France for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime,” said Clemence Bectarte, lawyer for the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Remi Ochlik’s parents.
The FIDH said the journalists had clandestinely entered Homs to “document the crimes committed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime” and were victims of a “targeted bombing”.
“The investigation clearly established that the attack on the informal press centre was part of the Syrian regime’s explicit intention to target foreign journalists in order to limit media coverage of its crimes and force them to leave the city and the country,” said Mazen Darwish, lawyer and director of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM).
France issues arrest warrant for Syria’s Assad over 2012 journalist killings, lawyers say
French judicial authorities have issued arrest warrants for ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad an six other top former officials over the bombardment of a rebel-held city in 2012 that killed two journalists, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency has just cited lawyers as having said.
Marie Colvin, 56, an American working for The Sunday Times, and French photographer Remi Ochlik, 28, were killed on 22 February 2012 by the explosion in the eastern city of Homs, which is being investigated by the French judiciary as a potential crime against humanity.
Since December 2024, Assad has been living in exile in Russia after rebels led by Turkish-backed forces took control of Syria.
At least 73 Palestinian people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn, including 42 people in Gaza City, Al Jazeera is reporting, citing hospital sources.
We have not yet been able to independently verify this figure.
Israel has started mobilising tens of thousands of reservists and repeated evacuation warnings as part of its plan to widen its offensive in Gaza City, which has sparked opposition domestically and condemnation abroad.
The beginning of September call-up, announced last month, comes as ground and air forces press forward and pursue more targets in northern and central Gaza, striking parts of Zeitoun and Shijaiyah — two western Gaza City neighborhoods that Israeli forces have repeatedly invaded, AP reported.
Zeitoun, once Gaza City’s largest neighbourhood, with markets, schools and clinics, has been transformed over the past month, with streets being emptied and buildings reduced to rubble as it becomes what Israel’s military last week called a “dangerous combat zone”.
Gaza City is Hamas’ political and military stronghold and, according to Israel, still home to a vast tunnel network, despite incursions throughout the war.
It is also one of the last refuges in northern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are sheltering, facing the twin threats of combat and famine.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said the US should urgently revise its decision to revoke the visas of Palestinian officials and bar them from attending a gathering of world leaders at the United Nations this month in New York.
Washington said last week it would not allow the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, and others to travel to New York, where several US allies are set to recognise Palestine as a state, Reuters reports.
The move “does not fit the United Nations’ raison d’etre,” Erdogan told reporters on a flight home from China, according to a readout from his office on Tuesday. “The decision needs to be urgently revised. The United Nations general assembly exists for the issues of the world to be discussed and for solutions to be found.”
“The Palestinian delegation not being at the general assembly would only please Israel,” he added. “What is expected from the United States is to say ‘stop’ to Israel’s massacres, cruelty.”
Palestinians carry pans and bowls forms a crowd to receive food aid provided by charity organisation in Gaza City, Gaza, on September 2, 2025.
Palestinians carry pans and bowls forms a crowd to receive food aid provided by charity organization in Gaza City, Gaza on 2 September, 2025. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Israeli president to meet Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Thursday
Israeli President Isaac Herzog will travel to the Vatican on Thursday to meet Pope Leo XIV, who recently demanded that Israel stop its “collective punishment” of the population in Gaza.
The one-day visit is being made at the invitation of the pope, Herzog’s office said in a statement earlier today.
The president will also meet secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s chief diplomat, and tour the Vatican Archives and Library, it added.
“Central to their meetings will be the efforts to secure the release of the hostages, the fight against global antisemitism, and the safeguarding of Christian communities in the Middle East, alongside discussions on other political matters,” the presidency said.
The pope has previously condemned the “barbarity” of the war in Gaza and the “indiscriminate use of force”.
Leaked ‘Gaza Riviera’ plan dismissed as ‘insane’ attempt to cover ethnic cleansing
A plan circulating in the White House to develop the “Gaza Riviera” as a string of high-tech megacities has been dismissed as an “insane” attempt to provide cover for the large-scale ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian territory’s population.
On Sunday the Washington Post published a leaked prospectus for the plan, which would involve the forced displacement of Gaza’s entire population of 2 million people and put the territory into a US trusteeship for at least a decade.
Named the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust – or Great – the proposal was reportedly developed by some of the same Israelis who created and set in motion the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation with financial planning contributed by Boston Consulting Group.
Most controversially, the 38-page plan suggests what it calls “temporary relocation of all of Gaza’s more than 2 million population” – a proposal that would amount to ethnic cleansing, potentially a genocidal act.
Image from the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust – or Great – proposal. Photograph: Supplied
Palestinians would be encouraged into “voluntary” departure to another country or into restricted, secure zones during reconstruction. Those who own land would be offered “a digital token” by the trust in exchange for rights to redevelop their property, to be used to finance a new life elsewhere.
Those who stay would be housed in properties with a tiny footprint of 323 sq ft – minuscule even by the standards of many non-refugee camp homes in Gaza.
You can read the full story by my colleagues Peter BeaumontandAlice Speri here:
Belgium to recognise Palestinian state at UN general assembly
We are restarting our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza. Belgium’s foreign minister, Maxime Prévot, has said his country will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN general assembly later this month, adding to international pressure on Israel after similar moves by Australia, Britain, Canada and France.
The decision comes “in light of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Palestine, particularly in Gaza, and in response to the violence perpetrated by Israel in violation of international law,” Prévot said in a post to social media.
Israel has become increasingly isolated on the international stage as it faces credible accusations of genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and the collective punishment of the civilian population of Gaza.
Israel’s assault has flattened large parts of Gaza, killing more than 63,000 people, mostly civilians, forcing nearly all of Gaza’s more than 2 million people from their homes and causing what the UN-backed hunger monitor, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), described last month as a “man-made famine” in and around Gaza City. Israel is still obstructing aid into the territory, despite widespread starvation.
In a lengthy post on X describing the Belgium government’s new position, Prévotwrote:
In light of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Palestine, particularly in Gaza, and in response to the violence perpetrated by Israel in violation of international law, given its international obligations, including the duty to prevent any risk of genocide, Belgium had to take strong decisions to increase pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas terrorists.
This is not about sanctioning the Israeli people but about ensuring that their government respects international and humanitarian law and taking action to try to change the situation on the ground.
Maxime Prévot said Belgium took the decision to step up pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas. Photograph: Shutterstock
The recognition of Palestine would only be formalised if Hamas releases all remaining Israeli hostages kidnapped in the Hamas-led 7 October attack on southern Israel in 2023 and the militant group “no longer has any role in managing Palestine,” Prévot added.
Prévot saidBelgium, a member of the European Union, would levy 12 “firm” sanctions on Israel, such as a ban on importing products from its settlements and a review of public procurement policies with Israeli companies. It will also declare Hamas leaders persona non grata in Belgium.
The minister also said two “extremist” Israeli ministers and several “violent settlers” would be designated “persona non grata” in Belgium. While he didn’t name the ministers, they are likely to be Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far right security minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, and Bezalel Smotrich, the far right finance minister.
Over the summer, the UK, alongside Australia, Canada, New Zealand and NorwaysanctionedBen-Gvir and Smotrich over “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities” in the occupied West Bank.
Key events
Despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly denied there is starvation in Gaza, and his government called the recent famine declaration by international food security experts “an outright lie”.
Gaza’s health ministry said in a post on Telegram that over the past day it recorded 13 new deaths, including three children, caused by “famine and malnutrition”.
This brings the total number of Palestinian people who have died from famine and malnutrition to 361, including 130 children.
Israel has been widely accused of using food as a political weapon and was accused of flagrantly breaking international law by collectively punishing the civilian population of Gaza by its total 11 week blockade of aid (which began in March), which was only slightly eased in response to international pressure, particularly from US senators.
Aid organisations were bringing somewhere between 500 and 600 aid trucks a day into Gaza during the ceasefire earlier this year, but now ongoing Israeli restrictions mean much less aid is being allowed into the territory and distributed.
Palestinian people wait in line for scarce amounts of food in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF)says it killed a Hamas commander and a deputy commander in its operations in the northern and central parts of the Gaza Strip in collaboration with the 99th Division and Israel’s internal intelligence agency, Shin Bet, over the last month,
In a post on X, the IDF claimed it had killed Ahmed Abu Daif, who the military said had served as deputy company commander of the Zeitoun battalion since last year.
“As part of his role, he planned, directed, and carried out dozens of ambushes and attacks against IDF forces, and in addition, he acted to recruit additional terrorists to the Hamas terror organization,” the IDF wrote.
“In one of the operations, the terrorist Talab Sadki Talab Abu Itaywi, commander of a Nukhba team who infiltrated the territory of the State of Israel on October 7, was eliminated,” it added.
Israel committing genocide in Gaza, world’s top scholars on the crime say
Lorenzo Tondo
Lorenzo Tondo is an international correspondent for the Guardian
The world’s leading genocide scholars’ association has backed a resolution stating that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of the crime.
Out of the International Association of Genocide Scholars’s (IAGS) 500 members, 28% took part in the vote. Of those who voted, 86% supported the resolution.
The resolution states that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide in article II of the United Nations convention for the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (1948).”
The three-page resolution passed by the body calls on Israel to “immediately cease all acts that constitute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza, including deliberate attacks against and killing of civilians including children; starvation; deprivation of humanitarian aid, water, fuel, and other items essential to the survival of the population; sexual and reproductive violence; and forced displacement of the population.”
You can read the full story here:
Israel continues deadly attacks on Gaza City as military seeks to forcibly displace Palestinian residents
Gaza’s civil defence agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told the Agence France-Presse news agency (AFP) that Israeli forces had struck the top floor of a residential building in southwestern Gaza City overnight, killing 10 people.
Bassal said Israeli helicopters also struck an apartment in the west of the city, killing three and injuring several others.
Israel has stepped up its destruction of Gaza City as it prepares for an assault on the shattered remains of the territory’s largest city.
Palestinian children in Gaza City on 01 September 2025. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Around 1 million Palestinian people, many of whom are too frail or old to keep moving, are expected to be displaced by Israel’s expanded assault in the area.
Gaza City residents are being told to move to the southern part of the territory to areas that are under frequent Israeli bombardment and are already overcrowded.
Israel declared Gaza City a “dangerous combat zone” on Friday, ending the daily humanitarian pauses that were meant to alleviate hunger and starvation there.
As my colleague William Christou notes in this story, Gaza City is in the throes of famine, a result of an Israeli blockade that despite the pauses has choked off food and medical supplies into the territory.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said the assault is the best way to weaken Hamas and return hostages, a claim that is heavily disputed.
Mourners sit next to the bodies of Palestinian people killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes. This picture was taken during the funeral at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Photograph: Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters
Jennifer Rankin
My colleague Jennifer Rankin has given some political context to Belgium’s decision:
Belgium’s deputy prime minister Maxime Prévot indicated that Belgium would recognise Palestine at this month’s UN general assembly, after France announced such an intention in July in the hope of creating momentum for peace. But the Belgian royal decree on recognition would not be issued until the last hostage is released.
The compromise averts a political crisis within the relatively new Belgian government.
Prévot, a centrist who is also foreign minister, had threatened to block government business if there was no agreement on recognition, or taking a stricter tone towards Israel.
Only last week prime minister Bart de Wever, a Flemish nationalist, described recognition as “counterproductive” and “pointless” without the full disarmament of Hamas.
The Palestinian foreign ministry has said it welcomes Belgium’s announcement that it will recognise Palestinian statehood.
In a statement on X, the ministry said it considered the move “to be in line with international law and United Nations resolutions, and protective of the two-state solution and supportive of achieving peace”.
The statement added:
The ministry calls on the countries that have not yet recognized the state of Palestine to quickly take the initiative for this recognition, and to intensify practical efforts to stop the crimes of genocide, displacement, starvation, and annexation, and to open a real political path to resolve the conflict and end the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine.
What will recognising Palestine mean in practice?
The Guardian’s political correspondent Eleni Courea has done an explainer with a section looking at what recognising Palestine would look in practice. Here is an extract:
Recognition is a symbolic step but one that would infuriate the Israeli government, which argues that it would encourage Hamas and reward terrorism.
It is in effect a formal, political acknowledgment of Palestinian self-determination – without the need to engage in thorny practicalities such as the location of its borders or capital city.
It also allows the establishment of full diplomatic relations that would result in a Palestinian ambassador (rather than a head of mission) being stationed in London and a British ambassador in Palestine. Advocates say it is a way of kickstarting a political process towards an eventual two-state solution.
Out of the 193 UN member states, about 140 already recognise Palestine as a state. These include China, India and Russia, as well as a majority of European countries such as Cyprus, Ireland, Norway, Spain and Sweden.
A map showing the countries that have recognised Palestinian statehood or are about to
Belgium to recognise Palestinian state at UN general assembly
We are restarting our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza. Belgium’s foreign minister, Maxime Prévot, has said his country will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN general assembly later this month, adding to international pressure on Israel after similar moves by Australia, Britain, Canada and France.
The decision comes “in light of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Palestine, particularly in Gaza, and in response to the violence perpetrated by Israel in violation of international law,” Prévot said in a post to social media.
Israel has become increasingly isolated on the international stage as it faces credible accusations of genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and the collective punishment of the civilian population of Gaza.
Israel’s assault has flattened large parts of Gaza, killing more than 63,000 people, mostly civilians, forcing nearly all of Gaza’s more than 2 million people from their homes and causing what the UN-backed hunger monitor, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), described last month as a “man-made famine” in and around Gaza City. Israel is still obstructing aid into the territory, despite widespread starvation.
In a lengthy post on X describing the Belgium government’s new position, Prévotwrote:
In light of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Palestine, particularly in Gaza, and in response to the violence perpetrated by Israel in violation of international law, given its international obligations, including the duty to prevent any risk of genocide, Belgium had to take strong decisions to increase pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas terrorists.
This is not about sanctioning the Israeli people but about ensuring that their government respects international and humanitarian law and taking action to try to change the situation on the ground.
Maxime Prévot said Belgium took the decision to step up pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas. Photograph: Shutterstock
The recognition of Palestine would only be formalised if Hamas releases all remaining Israeli hostages kidnapped in the Hamas-led 7 October attack on southern Israel in 2023 and the militant group “no longer has any role in managing Palestine,” Prévot added.
Prévot saidBelgium, a member of the European Union, would levy 12 “firm” sanctions on Israel, such as a ban on importing products from its settlements and a review of public procurement policies with Israeli companies. It will also declare Hamas leaders persona non grata in Belgium.
The minister also said two “extremist” Israeli ministers and several “violent settlers” would be designated “persona non grata” in Belgium. While he didn’t name the ministers, they are likely to be Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far right security minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, and Bezalel Smotrich, the far right finance minister.
Over the summer, the UK, alongside Australia, Canada, New Zealand and NorwaysanctionedBen-Gvir and Smotrich over “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities” in the occupied West Bank.
Pakistan and China on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening their “iron-clad and all-weather strategic cooperative partnership” through enhanced cooperation, reflecting their unique bilateral relationship.
Pakistan and China share a longstanding strategic partnership with ties ranging across different sectors — including trade, energy, defence, and infrastructure.
The bilateral ties and cooperation were discussed in a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State (CHS) summit, held from August 31 to September 1.
“During the meeting, the two leaders agreed that the relationship between their countries was unique and unparalleled, which should be reflected in their enhanced bilateral cooperation,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said.
“Both leaders also discussed important regional and global developments and agreed to continue close cooperation between Pakistan and China in this regard.”
PM Shehbaz reaffirmed the desire to continue working closely with China for the successful implementation of the next phase of the upgraded China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with its five new corridors, the report said.
“He congratulated President Xi on the success of the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit in Tianjin and offered his felicitations on the 80th anniversary of the World Anti-Fascist War.”
Lauding President Xi Jinping for his visionary and transformational leadership that has inspired China’s remaining journey towards modernisation and progress, the prime minister said that Pakistan took great pride in Beijing’s achievements and would always stand ready to work together with China in this great journey.
He also appreciated China’s unflinching support for Pakistan’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and socio-economic development, as well as the significance of CPEC as a flagship project of President Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to help both countries build an even stronger Pakistan-China community with a shared future.
The prime minister hailed President Xi’s strong commitment to strengthening multilateralism and said Pakistan fully supported China’s landmark steps in this regard, including the Global Governance Initiative, Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, as well as Global Civilisation Initiative.
“These initiatives would serve the collective global good and contribute to regional as well as global peace, stability and development,” the PM was quoted as saying in the report.
President Xi said that China would continue to assist Pakistan in all fields of economic growth and development, especially as the two countries were now ushering in the second Phase of CPEC, which would focus on Pakistan’s most important economic sectors.
PM Shehbaz renewed his “most cordial” invitation to President Xi to undertake an official visit to Pakistan next year, when both countries would celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Pakistan-China diplomatic ties.
Export markets remain a key challenge for global carmakers, with the US in focus. Half of all cars sold there are built abroad, and in 2024, the top five exporters – Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and Germany – shipped over 7.4 million vehicles to the US.
Although tariffs have been reduced from the initial 25-27.5% for most car imports, the 15% rate is still a significant burden, which carmakers are unlikely to fully absorb in the medium term. Additionally, the significantly weakened dollar has made US car imports more expensive, compounding the pressure.
While tariffs on US car exports to regions like Europe will be removed, it’s disappointing that companies with major US production – such as BMW (which exported 225k mostly SUVs from the US) and Mercedes – won’t benefit from netting those exports.
Between January and July 2025, US car prices hardly showed any increase, which indicates that carmakers are absorbing a significant portion of the cost in the short term. This is already evident in second-quarter company reports, with the world’s largest carmakers, including the big three American manufacturers GM, Stellantis and Ford, reporting multi-billion dollar impacts.
Fears of slowing sales, lingering trade policy uncertainty, and the 2021-23 price surge may be driving a more cautious pricing strategy.
*We expect car companies to look into options to increase production in existing US facilities rather than large investments
“Inspiring younger generations to build with environmental care, knowledge and empathy is among the greatest aims of this Award. Architecture today must engage with the climate crisis, enhance education and nourish our shared humanity. Through it, we plant seeds of optimism – quiet acts of resilience that grow into spaces of belonging, where the future may thrive in dignity and hope.”
– His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V, AKAA Steering Committee Chair
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture was established in 1977 by His late Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, to identify and encourage building concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of communities in which Muslims have a significant presence. The Award’sselection process emphasises architecture that not only provides for people’s physical, social and economic needs, but that also stimulates and responds to their cultural aspirations. In the past 16 triennial cycles of the Award, 136 projects have been awarded and nearly 10,000 building projects documented.
“Architecture can – and must – be a catalyst for hope, shaping not only the spaces we inhabit but the futures we imagine. In an age defined by climate crisis, resource inequality and rapid urbanisation, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture celebrates projects that unite society, sustainability and pluralism to empower a more harmonious and resilient world,” said Farrokh Derakhshani, Director of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
Download assets from the Award’sonline press kit
Read more about the Award’s 2025 Master Juryand 2025 Steering Committee
For more information, please contact:
Nadia Siméon, Deputy Director, Aga Khan Award for Architecture [email protected]
Optimism and Architecture,edited by Lesley Lokko, will be published by ArchiTangle in September 2025. It presents the awarded and shortlisted projects for the 2025 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Through essays and conversations, this volume examines how architecture can reinvigorate tradition through innovation, connect local practices with global conversations, and create inclusive spaces where diverse cultures and histories converge. Read more.
NOTES
AKAA is a programme of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). Founded and guided by His Late Highness Karim Aga Khan IV, AKDN works in 30 countries to improve the quality of life and to create opportunity for people of all faiths and origins. Its agencies operate over 1,000 programmes and institutions – some more than a century old. The Network’s approach to development spans a range of cultural, social, economic and environmental endeavours. The mandates of its agencies include education and health, agriculture and food security, micro-finance, human habitat, crisis response and disaster reduction, protection of the environment, art, music, architecture, urban planning and conservation, and cultural heritage and preservation. AKDN employs approximately 96,000 people, the majority of whom are based in developing countries. Its annual expenditures for non-profit development activities are approximately $1 billion.
Recent growth indicators still point to a path of higher rates from here, but disinflation is a risk pushing in the opposite direction. The eurozone’s August core CPI number is expected to come in at 2.2%, just a notch below the 2.3% from July. But the outlook is for lower values and the ECB’s own projections even show the headline CPI number falling to just 1.6% in 2026. We think the ECB will have a bias towards more easing, not just because of the inflation outlook, but also because the hard data is still showing close to zero growth. Having said that, the direction of inflation from here is still a live debate at the Governing Council, as also highlighted by the more hawkish comments from Isabel Schnabel this morning.
As inflation numbers come in softer, we think the front end of the euro swap curve could find itself nudging lower again. A key question is how longer rates will react. On the one hand, the German fiscal impulse is expected to gain traction next year, which would then have an inflationary impact. In this case, the back end of the curve would hold high, resulting in a steeper curve. On the other hand, markets may be too quick to extrapolate lower inflation numbers as a return to a secular stagnation world. This would also drag down the back end of the curve, limiting the steepening. But with soft growth numbers still doing well, as Monday’s PMIs confirmed, we think the balance of risks is to a further steepening in the near term.
India’s Yuki Bhambri and his partner Michael Venus of New Zealand progressed to the pre-quarterfinals of the US Open 2025 tennis men’s doubles event in New York on Monday.
Seeded 14th, Bhambri and Venus defeated the unseeded pair of Colombia’s Gonzalo Escobar and Mexico’s Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela 6-1, 7-5 in an hour and 25 minutes at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre.
Bhambri, India’s top-ranked men’s doubles tennis player at world No. 32, and Venus broke their opponents twice to race to a 3-0 lead before sealing the opening set 6-1.
Escobar and Reyes-Varela fought harder in the second, but Bhambri and Venus held firm, taking the set 7-5 to book their spot in the last 16. They will next face the fourth-seeded German pair of Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz.
In their opener, Bhambri and Venus had breezed past the USA’s Marcos Giron and Learner Tien 6-0, 6-3.
Last year, Bhambri partnered with French tennis player Albano Olivetti for the US Open and made the pre-quarterfinals.
The duo lost to Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos in straight sets. Bhambri has never progressed beyond the pre-quarterfinals stage in a Grand Slam.
On Sunday, Anirudh Chandrasekar and Vijay Sundar Prashanth’s run came to an end with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat to Brazil’s Fernando Romboli and Australia’s John-Patrick Smith.
The Indian tennis players had stunned eighth-seeded Americans Evan King and Christian Harrison in the first round.
Earlier, Indian veteran Rohan Bopanna and his partner Romain Arneodo of Monaco crashed out in the opening round on Saturday. Arjun Kadhe and his partner, Diego Hidalgo of Ecuador, also made a first-round exit.
