Last of 10 Escapees From New Orleans Jail Is Captured in Atlanta
© Brett Duke/The Advocate, via Associated Press
© Brett Duke/The Advocate, via Associated Press
US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will join Gaza peace plan talks between Israeli and Hamas negotiators in Egypt on Wednesday.
Their arrival comes as a second day of indirect talks on Tuesday ended without tangible results, a senior Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told the BBC.
Trump struck a positive tone on Tuesday, as Israel marked the second anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attacks, saying "there's a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not comment on the status of the talks, but told Israelis they were in "fateful days of decision".
In a post on X, Netanyahu added that Israel would continue to act to achieve its war aims: "The return of all the kidnapped, the elimination of the Hamas regime and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel".
Witkoff and Kushner were expected to depart the US on Tuesday evening and arrive in Egypt on Wednesday, a source familiar with the talks told the BBC.
Qatar's prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, seen as a key mediator, will also join the talks, an official told the Reuters news agency.
Al Thani's attendance was aimed at "pushing forward the Gaza ceasefire plan and hostage release agreement", the official said.
Qatar's foreign minister and the head of Turkish intelligence are expected to join him.
A senior Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told the BBC that an evening round of indirect talks on Tuesday began at 19:00 local time (16:00 GMT).
The official said the morning session ended without tangible results, amid disagreements over the proposed Israeli withdrawal maps from Gaza and over guarantees Hamas wants to ensure Israel does not resume fighting after the first phase of the deal.
He added that the talks were "tough and have yet to produce any real breakthrough," but noted that mediators were working hard to narrow the gaps between the two sides.
Earlier, a Palestinian official said the negotiations were focused on five key issues: a permanent ceasefire; the exchange of the hostages still held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza; the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza; arrangements for humanitarian aid deliveries; and post-war governance of the territory.
Chief Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, whom Israel targeted last month in a series of strikes on Qatar's capital, told Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV the group had come "to engage in serious and responsible negotiations," according to the Reuters news agency.
Al-Hayya said Hamas was ready to reach a deal, but it needed "guarantees" that the war would end and not restart.
Senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said the group's negotiators were working to remove "all obstacles to an agreement that meets the aspirations of our people".
Trump said the prospects for peace were "something even beyond the Gaza situation", adding that "we want the release of the hostages immediately".
Speaking on the anniversary of the 7 October attacks, the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, UN Secretary General António Guterres called on all parties to agree to Trump's peace plan, describing it as a "historic opportunity" to "bring this tragic conflict to an end".
Opinion polls now consistently show that around 70% of Israelis want the war to end in exchange for the release of the hostages.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 67,160 have been killed by Israeli military operations in Gaza since then, including 18,000 children, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Its figures are seen as reliable by the UN and other international bodies.
In August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-backed body, said that more than half a million people across Gaza were facing "catastrophic" conditions characterised by "starvation, destitution and death".
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied starvation is taking place in Gaza.
A United Nations commission of inquiry found Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, in a report Israel's foreign ministry categorically rejected as "distorted and false".
French President Emmanuel Macron will name a new prime minister within 48 hours, the Elysee Palace has said, fending off speculation that fresh elections could be imminent.
Earlier on Wednesday, outgoing Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the possibility of dissolving parliament was beginning to fade following talks with political parties over the last two days.
"There is a majority in parliament and that is the majority that keen to avoid fresh elections," he said.
On Monday, Lecornu - a close ally of Macron - became the third French PM to leave his job in less than a year, driven out by a hung parliament deeply divided along ideological lines.
He was then asked by Macron to stay on for two days to form a consensus among parties on how to get out of the current political crisis.
In a much-awaited TV interview on Wednesday evening, Lecornu said that as well as not wanting fresh elections, most MPs also recognised the pressing need to pass a budget by the end of the year.
However, Lecornu recognised the path towards forming a government was still complicated due to the divisions within parliament and to politicians eyeing the next presidential election.
Whoever ends up in government "will need to be completely disconnected from any presidential ambition for 2027," Lecornu said.
Lecornu, a former armed forces minister, gave no indication about who the next prime minister would be, and although he said his mission was "finished" he also did not appear to rule himself out entirely.
France's political stalemate began following snap elections in July 2024. Since then no one party has had a majority, making it difficult to pass any laws or reforms including the yearly budget.
The big challenge facing Lecornu and his two predecessors has been how to tackle France's crippling national debt, which this year stood at €3.4tn (£2.9tn), or almost 114% of economic output (GDP), the third highest in the eurozone after Greece and Italy.
Previous prime Ministers Michel Barnier and Francois Bayrou were ousted in confidence votes after they presented austerity budgets.
Lecornu said his own draft budget would be presented next week, although it would be "open for debate".
"But the debate needs to begin... parties cannot say they'll vote it down without examining it," he added.
Similarly, Lecornu said, one big issue that has been plaguing French politics since 2023 will need to be revisited - Macron's highly contested pension reforms. "We have to find a way for the debate to take place," Lecornu said.
But some factions in parliament appear immovable from their positions.
Mathilde Panot of the radical left France Unbowed (LFI) said soon after Lecornu's TV interview that the only solution was "the resignation and departure of Emmanuel Macron".
Meanwhile, far right National Rally's leader Marine Le Pen, who has long been calling for fresh elections, stated on Wednesday that she would vote down any new government.
It is unclear, at this stage, which political forces would support a new government.
The so-called common platform of centrists and Republicans that have run the government since last year appears to have fallen apart.
The big question now is whether over the last 48 hours Lecornu was able to persuade the Socialists, who were part of that left bloc during the elections, to prop up a government in some way.
Asked about the calls by some political factions for Macron to resign, with even Macron's own former prime minister Edouard Philippe floating the idea earlier this week, Lecornu said France needed a stable, internationally recognised figure at its helm.
"This is not the time to change the president," Lecornu said.
However, Macron is appearing increasingly isolated, with even close allies beginning to distance themselves from him.
Earlier this week Gabriel Attal, widely seen as Macron's protégé, said he "no longer understood" Macron and called for the appointment of an independent negotiator to steer the government.
Macron has not yet spoken publicly since Lecornu's shock resignation on Monday morning. Lecornu promised the president would "address the French people in due course," without specifying when that may be.
TV shows with famous contestants usually have a loose definition of the word "celebrity". But there are no recycled Love Islanders among the 19 big names in the first series of The Celebrity Traitors, which has got off to a cracking start.
"When they came to me and said they wanted to do a celebrity version, I said, 'Oh I don't think we should do that, I like just doing it non-celeb'," said host Claudia Winkleman at the show's launch, only half joking.
"Thankfully I have absolutely zero power, because they said, 'Well, these are the people who have expressed interest.' And I couldn't believe it."
Granted, it's worth keeping things in perspective. It's not Taylor Swift and Tom Cruise entering Ardross Castle in Inverness. But frankly, if Kate Garraway is on board, so are we.
The ITV daytime star was joined by Jonathan Ross, Celia Imrie, Sir Stephen Fry and other familiar names as the series got under way on Wednesday.
Here are six highlights from the opening episode.
Spoilers below
As you'd expect, the celebrities are extremely comfortable in front of the cameras, creating a fun new dynamic and giving the show a new lease of life.
Many of them already know each other and had an immediate confidence that the regular contestants don't. All of them evidently know and love the format, and there were some genuinely funny moments as the stars tried to make each other laugh.
Making the comedian a traitor was exactly the kind of brilliant casting decision we were hoping for. ("How could you not?" said Claudia.)
In the first episode, Carr was panicked, sweating and generally squirming over being a traitor. "I feel sick," he said. "It's the worst secret ever and it's just burning me, I'm so nervous."
He is a delight to watch - even just the sight of him strolling the corridors with his hood up trying to look menacing makes you laugh.
"I've had to have my cloak taken out because I'm so fat," he joked in the first traitors' meeting in the turret.
The traitors were completed by chat show host Ross and singer Cat Burns - both of whom seem to have more of the conniving mindset needed for a great traitor.
But Carr is the truly inspired choice. "My aim was to go under the radar, and I think I've pole-vaulted over it," he reflected at one point. We're in for some fantastic memes.
Instead of the traditional arrival by train, the stars were driven to a graveyard and set an opening challenge that saw them dig through soil in search of six available shields.
The lucky recipients included Ross, Garraway, rugby player Joe Marler, comedian Joe Wilkinson and singer Charlotte Church.
The sixth shield finder was actress Celia Imrie - albeit helped by Ted Lasso star Nick Mohammed.
"My aim was to try and get Celia a shield, because I love her," he explained. But this is exactly the sort of kindness that can make people suspicious in this show, so he'd better tread carefully.
Messing with the format isn't always a success - who can forget the disastrous "Seer" twist that ruined the climax of the last series? - but this was a terrific task, especially Carr's disappointment that the shield he thought he'd found was actually a rock.
The contestants were challenged to pull a giant Trojan horse up a hill and through a series of gates that each required a special code, before eventually setting the horse alight.
Unfortunately, Balding locked in an incorrect combination at the first gate before the contestants had even begun tackling the puzzle, not realising you only got one chance to enter the code.
"No! I didn't realise I locked it in, sorry!" she shouted. "I've made a complete mistake there."
She explained later: "I thought, oh we can guess lots of numbers, so while they're working that out, I'll just stick a number in."
"I would've done exactly the same," sympathised Winkleman. "She was mortified, she really was, so I felt terrible for her."
The mission raised a few eyebrows - some were suspicious that Church gave up her shield so willingly in exchange for Balding's error, while swimmer Tom Daley suspected Balding might have deliberately sabotaged the task because she's a traitor.
Luckily, the rest of the task went well, partly thanks to Mohammed, who Garraway described as a "puzzle ninja". Ultimately the contestants completed the mission, would you believe it, with just moments to spare.
Some fans were nervous about the celebrity spin-off, but the bottom line is: it works.
"It's not often in our sheltered world that we are put in a position where we have no idea how we're going to react," noted Sir Stephen.
"I don't want to incriminate myself, but I've always wanted to murder a celebrity," added Ross.
But in some ways, the fact that the contestants are well-known makes strategising harder.
"I was thinking about going in speaking Welsh and pretending I've actually been Welsh all this time. Sort of a reverse of Charlotte," joked comedian Lucy Beaumont ahead of the series, referring to the last traitor standing in series three.
The celebrities are playing for a £100,000 prize for their chosen charity (although they also receive a separate appearance fee).
"You think you know these people," Winkleman reflected, "and then you watch them play this game, and I was awestruck by the way they played it - with empathy, with wit and with real smarts."
Despite its extended running time, the episode ended without a murder or a banishment, leaving us with a huge number of questions.
We didn't find out if the celebrities are any better than previous contestants at spelling each other's names at the round table, or whether there will be another outbreak of contestants telling each other: "I'm voting for yourself."
But we know there will be drama. "Did the roundtables get heated? Yes," said Winkleman.
"They're polite, but they want to catch the traitors, and the traitors want to remain undetected, and both parties are excellent at what they do."
Sir Stephen's total dismissal of the "gut instinct" tactic was particularly refreshing.
"The idea that you can be good at reading people is absolute nonsense, and it's just like astrology or anything else," he said before heading into the castle. "Woo woo. You just can't do it.
"We can all be convinced, even though the facts tell us otherwise. These notions of 'I just knew, it's the way he lifted his glass, his eye doing that thing' – all nonsense."
As the episode drew to a close, the most pressing question was which star would be murdered by Carr in plain sight.
"I can't believe they've left me to it," he said. "I have people I want to kill, but it's not going to be easy. What am I going to do?"
We can't wait to find out.
The Celebrity Traitors is on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, and continues on Thursday at 21:00 BST.
King Charles says he wants to inspire a "sense of determination" to protect the environment, as details are announced of a TV documentary in which he will explain his philosophy of "harmony" and the need "to work with rather than against nature".
The King's Foundation says the feature-length TV film, provisionally titled Finding Harmony: A King's Vision, will be screened on Amazon's Prime Video early next year.
"Never has it been more important for the world to make a concerted effort to protect and prioritise our planet, and to restore our relationship with it," the monarch said about the project.
In the film the King will reflect on his own decades of campaigning for sustainability.
The King said it was his "fondest hope that this film may encourage a new audience to learn about the philosophy of Harmony - and perhaps inspire the same sense of determination it has given me to help build a more sustainable future."
The King has appeared in a behind-the-scenes BBC film about the Coronation, but this will be a more unusual approach in looking at his beliefs.
"For much of my life I have sought to promote and encourage ways we can work with, rather than against nature. In other words, to restore balance to our planet which is under such stress," said the King.
The one-off documentary will show how he believes humans are "part of nature, not apart from nature" and that a healthy connection with nature is at "the core of human wellbeing".
With examples from around the world, the documentary will show how the philosophy of harmony can be applied to agriculture, traditional craft skills, architecture and town planning.
"This film will, I hope, demonstrate just some of the remarkable work being done around the world to put harmony into practice, from the forests of Guyana to sustainable communities in India – and, closer to home, through the work of my King's Foundation at Dumfries House and Highgrove," said the King.
Director Nicolas Brown said there was a gap in knowledge about how the King's views on harmony had shaped his work.
"Remarkably few people around the world know the full depth of the King's lifelong battle to bring nature and humanity into harmony," he said.
Their cameras recorded the King's first harmony summit, held at Highgrove in Gloucestershire in July.
This brought together leaders of Indigenous people from around the world who shared their knowledge of how communities can live in tune with the natural world. Along with the King, they performed a fire ceremony at the start of the day, paying their respects to nature.
The King's views on harmony and the design of towns have also influenced thinking about creating a new generation of new towns in England.
With his Amazon documentary, the King will be the latest royal to appear on a streaming service. Prince William recently faced questions from Eugene Levy on Apple TV+ and Prince Harry and Meghan were in a Netflix series about their departure from royal life.
They have provided platforms for the royals to share their thoughts and opinions, but without a conventional interview format.
Kristina Murrin, chief executive of the King's Foundation, said the documentary would show the decades of the King's commitment to harmony, in a way that was "both moving and inspiring to see that journey committed to film".
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French President Emmanuel Macron will name a new prime minister within 48 hours, the Elysee Palace has said, fending off speculation that fresh elections could be imminent.
Earlier on Wednesday, outgoing Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the possibility of dissolving parliament was beginning to fade following talks with political parties over the last two days.
"There is a majority in parliament and that is the majority that keen to avoid fresh elections," he said.
On Monday, Lecornu - a close ally of Macron - became the third French PM to leave his job in less than a year, driven out by a hung parliament deeply divided along ideological lines.
He was then asked by Macron to stay on for two days to form a consensus among parties on how to get out of the current political crisis.
In a much-awaited TV interview on Wednesday evening, Lecornu said that as well as not wanting fresh elections, most MPs also recognised the pressing need to pass a budget by the end of the year.
However, Lecornu recognised the path towards forming a government was still complicated due to the divisions within parliament and to politicians eyeing the next presidential election.
Whoever ends up in government "will need to be completely disconnected from any presidential ambition for 2027," Lecornu said.
Lecornu, a former armed forces minister, gave no indication about who the next prime minister would be, and although he said his mission was "finished" he also did not appear to rule himself out entirely.
France's political stalemate began following snap elections in July 2024. Since then no one party has had a majority, making it difficult to pass any laws or reforms including the yearly budget.
The big challenge facing Lecornu and his two predecessors has been how to tackle France's crippling national debt, which this year stood at €3.4tn (£2.9tn), or almost 114% of economic output (GDP), the third highest in the eurozone after Greece and Italy.
Previous prime Ministers Michel Barnier and Francois Bayrou were ousted in confidence votes after they presented austerity budgets.
Lecornu said his own draft budget would be presented next week, although it would be "open for debate".
"But the debate needs to begin... parties cannot say they'll vote it down without examining it," he added.
Similarly, Lecornu said, one big issue that has been plaguing French politics since 2023 will need to be revisited - Macron's highly contested pension reforms. "We have to find a way for the debate to take place," Lecornu said.
But some factions in parliament appear immovable from their positions.
Mathilde Panot of the radical left France Unbowed (LFI) said soon after Lecornu's TV interview that the only solution was "the resignation and departure of Emmanuel Macron".
Meanwhile, far right National Rally's leader Marine Le Pen, who has long been calling for fresh elections, stated on Wednesday that she would vote down any new government.
It is unclear, at this stage, which political forces would support a new government.
The so-called common platform of centrists and Republicans that have run the government since last year appears to have fallen apart.
The big question now is whether over the last 48 hours Lecornu was able to persuade the Socialists, who were part of that left bloc during the elections, to prop up a government in some way.
Asked about the calls by some political factions for Macron to resign, with even Macron's own former prime minister Edouard Philippe floating the idea earlier this week, Lecornu said France needed a stable, internationally recognised figure at its helm.
"This is not the time to change the president," Lecornu said.
However, Macron is appearing increasingly isolated, with even close allies beginning to distance themselves from him.
Earlier this week Gabriel Attal, widely seen as Macron's protégé, said he "no longer understood" Macron and called for the appointment of an independent negotiator to steer the government.
Macron has not yet spoken publicly since Lecornu's shock resignation on Monday morning. Lecornu promised the president would "address the French people in due course," without specifying when that may be.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will join Gaza peace plan talks between Israeli and Hamas negotiators in Egypt on Wednesday.
Their arrival comes as a second day of indirect talks on Tuesday ended without tangible results, a senior Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told the BBC.
Trump struck a positive tone on Tuesday, as Israel marked the second anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attacks, saying "there's a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not comment on the status of the talks, but told Israelis they were in "fateful days of decision".
In a post on X, Netanyahu added that Israel would continue to act to achieve its war aims: "The return of all the kidnapped, the elimination of the Hamas regime and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel".
Witkoff and Kushner were expected to depart the US on Tuesday evening and arrive in Egypt on Wednesday, a source familiar with the talks told the BBC.
Qatar's prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, seen as a key mediator, will also join the talks, an official told the Reuters news agency.
Al Thani's attendance was aimed at "pushing forward the Gaza ceasefire plan and hostage release agreement", the official said.
Qatar's foreign minister and the head of Turkish intelligence are expected to join him.
A senior Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told the BBC that an evening round of indirect talks on Tuesday began at 19:00 local time (16:00 GMT).
The official said the morning session ended without tangible results, amid disagreements over the proposed Israeli withdrawal maps from Gaza and over guarantees Hamas wants to ensure Israel does not resume fighting after the first phase of the deal.
He added that the talks were "tough and have yet to produce any real breakthrough," but noted that mediators were working hard to narrow the gaps between the two sides.
Earlier, a Palestinian official said the negotiations were focused on five key issues: a permanent ceasefire; the exchange of the hostages still held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza; the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza; arrangements for humanitarian aid deliveries; and post-war governance of the territory.
Chief Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, whom Israel targeted last month in a series of strikes on Qatar's capital, told Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV the group had come "to engage in serious and responsible negotiations," according to the Reuters news agency.
Al-Hayya said Hamas was ready to reach a deal, but it needed "guarantees" that the war would end and not restart.
Senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said the group's negotiators were working to remove "all obstacles to an agreement that meets the aspirations of our people".
Trump said the prospects for peace were "something even beyond the Gaza situation", adding that "we want the release of the hostages immediately".
Speaking on the anniversary of the 7 October attacks, the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, UN Secretary General António Guterres called on all parties to agree to Trump's peace plan, describing it as a "historic opportunity" to "bring this tragic conflict to an end".
Opinion polls now consistently show that around 70% of Israelis want the war to end in exchange for the release of the hostages.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 67,160 have been killed by Israeli military operations in Gaza since then, including 18,000 children, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Its figures are seen as reliable by the UN and other international bodies.
In August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-backed body, said that more than half a million people across Gaza were facing "catastrophic" conditions characterised by "starvation, destitution and death".
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied starvation is taking place in Gaza.
A United Nations commission of inquiry found Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, in a report Israel's foreign ministry categorically rejected as "distorted and false".
© Kenny Holston/The New York Times
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一个多月前,华盛顿向委内瑞拉沿海的南加勒比海地区部署了八艘军舰和一艘核动力潜艇,正式作为禁毒行动的一部分。迄今为止,特朗普政府已对至少四艘涉嫌贩毒的船只进行了打击,造成至少21人死亡。
委内瑞拉总统马杜罗谴责美国的“武装侵略”,指责华盛顿以贩毒为借口“强加政权更迭”,并夺取世界上一些最大的石油储备。总统在Telegram上表示:“‘独立200’演习已经开始,拉瓜伊拉州综合防御区(加拉加斯港口和机场所在地)和卡拉沃沃州综合防御区(加拉加斯西部沿海州)的所有防御和进攻计划已全面启动。”
据政府称,该计划包括部署士兵、无人机和民兵(一支由编入军队的平民志愿者组成的部队)。
法新社记者指出,在卡拉沃沃州,警察和军事人员已被部署,尤其是在首都瓦伦西亚的主干道之一大学大道,以演习击退“入侵”。
为了回应美国的部署,加拉加斯已在该国多个地区举行了多次军事演习,并启动了预备役和民兵的动员。一些专家并不排除华盛顿可能决定在委内瑞拉领土上实施打击的可能性。
委内瑞拉国防部长弗拉基米尔·帕德里诺·洛佩斯(Vladimir Padrino Lopez)周三在电视上表示:“我们必须做好准备,因为美帝国主义的这种非理性行为是不正常的。”他谴责这种“好战”和“粗俗”的态度。
据政府称,马杜罗总统已准备好一项关于“外部干扰”的法令,该法令将赋予他特殊权力,并允许限制某些宪法权利。
联合国儿童基金会警告说,到2025年,将有超过330万儿童需要人道主义援助,而去年这一数字为300万,另有100万儿童面临严重的粮食短缺。“对于海地儿童来说,这些不断累积的危机意味着他们每天都要为生存而挣扎,学校停课,医院不堪重负,童年也因暴力、忽视、剥削和饥饿而夭折”。
据联合国记录,2024年,海地发生了2269起针对1373名儿童的“严重侵犯人权行为”,其中213人死亡,138人受伤,566人遭受性暴力(包括406起强奸和160起轮奸),302人被帮派招募。
该机构估计,目前有270万人生活在帮派控制的地区,其中包括160万妇女和儿童,占总人口的近四分之一。
在这些地区,尤其是在几乎完全被武装团体控制的首都太子港,“无数儿童的日常生活都饱受创伤”,他们目睹杀戮,或被迫在半夜逃亡。
联合国儿童基金会警告说:“如果不紧急恢复保护服务,整整一代人都可能在恐惧中长大,不断遭受暴力和剥削。” 在此背景下,在过去一年中,因暴力而流离失所的儿童人数几乎翻了一番,达到68万多人,而流离失所者总数已超过130万人。
这些未成年人有时孤身一人,只能在废弃的建筑物、学校或临时避难所里避难,那里挤满了流离失所者,没有干净的水和卫生设施,这些条件很容易滋生霍乱等疾病。
到2025年,将有超过330万儿童需要人道主义援助,而去年这一数字为300万,另有100万儿童面临严重的粮食短缺。
联合国安理会于9月底批准将支持海地警察的多国特派团转变为一支更强大的部队,以遏制肆虐该国的暴力活动,该国长期以来一直受到政治、人道主义和安全危机的严重打击。
利安德巴塞尔公司在其官方领英账户上表示,关闭该工厂于3月25日宣布,原因是“全球产能过剩、亚洲进口增加以及欧洲生产成本高昂”。他补充说,所有这些因素使得该工厂“无法维持运营”,该工厂主要生产环氧丙烷和苯乙烯单体。
根据欧洲塑料协会(Plastics Europe)周三发布的年度报告,整个塑料行业都面临着同样的问题。对于这个汇集了约100家公司、占欧洲塑料产量90%以上的组织来说,欧洲塑料行业甚至“濒临崩溃”。
欧洲2024年的塑料产量将超过2023年:总计5460万吨(增长0.4%)。但前一年产量急剧下降,而且长期来看降幅巨大(2018年产量为6230万吨)。
欧洲塑料生产商的销售额正在遭受重创。2024年,销售额下降了3%,至3980亿欧元(2023年为4100亿欧元)。该行业仍为净出口行业,出口额达123亿欧元。然而,近年来,欧洲的进口量超过了出口量。欧洲塑料协会将欧洲的衰退归因于竞争力较弱,尤其是电力和天然气成本高昂。此外,欧洲的环保法规“比其他地区更严格”、“劳动力成本高昂”以及受国际竞争压低的价格等因素也导致欧洲塑料行业价格下跌。
该协会估计,2022年至2024年期间,欧洲塑料行业150万从业人员中将有约3.5万人失业,并“呼吁欧洲和各国紧急制定政策”,尤其是在能源成本方面。它还呼吁加强“欧盟法律的边境执法”,特别是增加海关人员来监督进口产品的合规性。
欧洲化学工业联合会(Cefic)在其领英账户上也强调,整个化学工业正面临“前所未有的挑战”。该组织是欧洲化学工业的制造商游说团体,自称是“欧洲生态和数字化转型的支柱”。
此次会议将与以色列和哈马斯在沙姆沙伊赫举行的间接谈判同时举行,旨在讨论如何实施美国总统特朗普提出的和平计划。新一轮埃及沙姆沙伊赫加沙和谈扩大会议落实美国总统特朗普提出的加沙停火协议“二十点计划”,包括卡塔尔、土耳其和美国的代表团均已抵达沙姆沙伊赫会场。
巴黎加沙过渡期部长级会议将有法国、英国、德国、意大利、西班牙、约旦、卡塔尔、沙特阿拉伯、阿联酋、印度尼西亚、土耳其、加拿大以及欧盟外交政策负责人出席。
据一位法国外交消息人士称,美国和以色列已获悉会议的筹备情况,议程将包括向加沙提供人道主义援助和重建该区域、解除哈马斯武装以及支持巴勒斯坦权力机构和巴勒斯坦安全部队。
以色列外交部长吉迪恩·萨尔表示,“在沙姆沙伊赫谈判的敏感时刻,法国政府的新举措是多余的,而且是带有偏见的”。
一位美国国防官员周二宣布,200名国民警卫队队员已抵达芝加哥附近,此前总统将这座北方大城市描述为“战区”。
特朗普本周末授权部署700名国民警卫队队员,但民主党反对派在法庭上质疑该命令的合法性,指责这位亿万富翁“惩罚他的政治敌人”。她声称,特朗普政府正以芝加哥郊区ICE设施外的抗议活动为“借口”,为派遣军队开脱。负责此案的联邦法官已安排于周四举行听证会。
其他地方的部署受阻?
本周末,一名法官暂时阻止了在另一座民主党城市波特兰(西北部)的类似部署。她辩称,“波特兰没有发生叛乱,也没有对国家安全的威胁”,这与特朗普政府的说法相反。
特朗普数周来一直将芝加哥作为攻击目标,并提出了援引《叛乱法》的可能性。该法汇集了18世纪和19世纪的法律。该法允许宣布进入紧急状态,授权对美国公民使用武装部队,而这在原则上是被禁止的。总统已经向民主党城市洛杉矶、华盛顿和孟菲斯(南部)部署了国民警卫队,但每次都是违背地方当局的建议。
该法案以178票对169票获得通过,桑切斯领导的少数派政府最终获得了四名极左翼“我们可以”党议员的支持,而这四名议员直到周三上午才确定最终投票结果。
2025年9月9日,西班牙首相桑切斯宣布,禁止向以色列运送武器的船只和飞机进入西班牙港口或领空。
桑切斯表示,措施是要向以色列总理内塔尼亚胡施压,除武器禁运外,西班牙会将明年度对加沙的人道救援增至1.5亿欧元,而参与加沙“种族灭绝”的人将被拒绝入境西班牙。
西班牙是欧洲反对以色列在加沙地带发动军事进攻的最强烈国家之一。此次进攻是为了回应哈马斯于2023年10月7日发动的袭击。据西班牙媒体报道,周三通过的法案文本原定于周二提交议会,但最终投票被推迟到周三,以免与哈马斯袭击日重合。
以色列驻马德里大使馆在6日晚间发表声明表示:“西班牙政府选择10月7日作为对以色列武器禁运法令的投票日期,这是一个荒谬且应受谴责的决定。”
纽约期货金价周二(10月7日)涨破4,000美元/盎司关口,为史上首次。
纽约期货金价在10月7日首次涨破4,000美元/盎司,不仅创下历史最高记录,也只用了半年时间,就从每盎司3000美元上涨至4000美元。年内累计涨幅超过44%。
分析认为:世界局势多种因素引发避险情绪升温,都会带动金价上涨。目前美国政府关门使通膨数据虽然呈现真空状态,但依据最新就业数据,劳动力状况呈现疲软,推升10月接续降息的可能性大增。同时,俄乌战争持续、慕尼黑机场无人机入侵等,都使欧洲神经紧绷,这些动荡的国际局势都有利黄金持续上涨。
高盛分析师表示,西方黄金ETF的配置在9月意外强劲,大幅超过了此前降息模型预测的水准。高盛此前的预计是,黄金价格到2026年中期将达到每盎司4,000美元,到明年年底则将达到每盎司4,300美元。
虽然黄金价格一路高涨,但一些投行仍看好未来上涨空间,高盛表示,若私人持有的美国公债资金有1%转向黄金,金价理论上将升至每盎司5,000美元;摩根大通则认为,如果美元资产有0.5%转投黄金,金价可上看6,000美元/盎司。
勒科尔尼在晚间新闻中接受专访时表示:“我们必须“找到一种方法,让养老金改革的辩论得以推行”。
要不要暂停政府退休制度改革方案?面对这个问题,勒科尔尼表示,这已经不是我能再决定的事情了,因为我已辞职了。但各方打不成妥协的症结所在就是将法定退休年龄从62岁逐步提高到64岁。
他还预测说,如果暂停这项提升法定退休年龄的改革的话,到2027年将耗资“不少于30亿欧元”。
勒科尔尼还表示,将被任命的下一届政府必须“完全放弃2027年的总统野心”。面对呼吁马克龙提前辞职的呼声,辞职的总理表示,“现在不是更换共和国总统的时候”。他解释说,总统主要负责国防及外交等“专属领域”的事务,这一专属权必须得到保护和维护。
辞职的总理对法国记者表示,我尽心尽力了,今晚可以说我完成了使命。10月8日法国绿党“最后一次”郑重呼吁共和国总统任命“一位左翼绿党”出任下届总理。极右翼国民联盟主席巴尔代拉敦促马克龙再次解散国民议会。
在接受法国电视二台专访前,辞职的总理勒科尔尼和总统马克龙举行了一个小时的会晤。
© Anna Rose Layden for The New York Times
Dolly Parton's sister has asked fans to pray for the American country singer, who last week postponed a forthcoming Las Vegas residency due to unspecified health issues.
The 79-year-old country music legend has delayed the December concerts, telling fans she needs "a few procedures" to deal with ongoing "health challenges".
"Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly," Freida Parton wrote on Facebook. "Many of you know she hasn't been feeling her best lately."
"I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been lead to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me."
Freida ended her message on an upbeat note.
"She's strong, she's loved, and with all the prayers being lifted for her, I know in my heart she's going to be just fine," she wrote.
"Godspeed, my sissy Dolly. We all love you!"
Parton had been scheduled to perform six shows at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in December.
But she postponed the gigs until September next year, explaining she wouldn't have enough time to rehearse for them.
Parton did not disclose the nature of her health issues, but she was recently forced to pull out of a Dollywood event after being diagnosed with a kidney stone that she said was causing "a lot of problems".
Earlier this year, she lost her beloved husband Carl Dean after nearly 60 years of marriage.
She later dedicated a new song, If You Hadn't Been There, to his memory.
The musician is best known for a string of country crossover hits including Coat of Many Colors, I Will Always Love You, 9 To 5 and Jolene.
Her Las Vegas stint would have been her first visit to the Strip since the 1990s, when she performed alongside her Islands In The Stream duet partner, Kenny Rogers.
A former Royal Marine who is suing the Ministry of Defence (MoD) over hearing loss says he and others in his unit cheated hearing tests with the help of military medics so they could be deployed.
Christopher Lambie is one of about 10,000 former personnel suing the MoD over noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).
He is one of four test cases which is being heard at the High Court, with the result of those hearings impacting how much compensation others could receive. Before proceedings began one test case, retired Lt Col Andrew Davies, settled his claim for £182,250.
The MoD accepts it has a duty of care but disputes the extent to which hearing loss happened in some cases.
Mr Lambie, 45, is claiming more than £400,000 in damages, but the MoD has offered him about £58,000 with its barristers claiming his hearing loss has not and will not have an impact on his future income.
He joined the Royal Marines in 1998 and was diagnosed with NIHL in 2002 but, in a witness statement, said "nothing was put in place to prevent me from being exposed to loud noise".
Members of his unit were put through a hearing test before deployment to Afghanistan in 2011 and Mr Lambie said he was "very conscious" about as his "entire career was spent training for deployment".
He initially failed but said he passed a retake by watching the medic testing him "press the button for the tone and then I pressed my clicker straight away".
"We all knew that the emphasis on the staff was to ensure that Marines passed all the tests they needed to pass for deployment, as the MoD needed as many people as possible to deploy," he said.
He said: "This is why the medics helped us pass our medicals," adding the medic conducting the tests was "completely aware" of this,
Mr Lambie, who is now a defence and security consultant after being discharged in 2021, said members of the unit had joked about cheating the tests to ensure they passed regardless of whether they needed to.
The MoD has accepted "primary causation" in his case, but disputes how much he should receive.
David Platt KC, for the department, said in written submissions that Mr Lambie's "instance of faking" the hearing test in 2011 was an "undoubtedly regrettable" but was "apparently isolated instance of cheating".
He said the amount the former marine was claiming was "wholly unrealistic" as hearing loss had not impeded his career.
At a hearing in July last year, the MoD admitted that it had a duty of care to former personnel, having disputed this in earlier legal action.
It also accepted that noise exposure during service caused hearing loss among former personnel, but disputes the extent to which this happened in some individual cases.
Lt Col Davies, 58, said his pay out "does finally acknowledge what I lost and provides some justice". In a statement he said that serving was an "honour and a privilege" but being left with a permanent injury which could have been prevented was "hard to accept".
Another former serviceman, Stephen Hambridge settled his case for £550,000.
The trial is due to last nine weeks.
Separately thousands of military veterans are taking legal action against the MoD and an earplug manufacturer after being given ear protection they say was faulty.
An MoD spokesperson said: "To ensure value for money for the taxpayer, we are defending against a range of claims or limiting costs.
"Many of these claims are historic, and in the years since, we have substantially improved protective measures around hearing to prevent noise-related issues amongst our people.
"The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme provides no-fault compensation to Service Personnel and veterans for injuries, illness and death caused by service."
Comedian Romesh Ranganathan will make his West End debut later this year, co-starring in a play with Sheridan Smith. But although it's first time acting on stage, he tells BBC News he's aware of the risks of overexposure.
The 47-year-old is already one of the most familiar faces in British entertainment, with a CV that includes The Weakest Link, A League of Their Own, a BBC Radio 2 show, hosting the TV Baftas, and several documentaries and sitcoms.
From December, Ranganathan will also appear in a new production of Alan Ayckbourn's Woman in Mind. But taking on new roles isn't without risk, in an entertainment landscape where the public can grow tired of seeing the same stars.
"Well, I just want to put this out there, and I'd love you to publicise this as much as possible: I do say no to stuff," Ranganathan jokes to BBC News. "I'm not just walking around taking whatever's offered.
"The truth is, people say to me 'you're on everything' - that accusation has been levelled at me.
"But I feel like whenever I'm thinking about doing something, I'm just asking, do I think think this will be good, is it something I'd watch, is it something I think I'd be able to do a decent job at? And then, if the answer to those questions is yes, that's what makes you do it.
"I mean, obviously I need a fee as well," he laughs, "there's no point in doing it totally for the love of the game."
Many figures at the very top of television - Ant and Dec, Michael McIntyre and Claudia Winkleman - are selective with their choices, notably hosting no more than three or four shows each per year.
But when a particular star is in demand, it can be tricky to strike the delicate balance between saying yes to work while not taking on too much.
"I understand the thing about overexposure, but if that happens, it happens," Ranganathan reflects. "I try not to overthink things that much, to be honest.
"You normally just have a gut feeling whether something's good or not or whether you'll be good for it or not.
"But who knows, maybe after this play goes out, the general public might say 'OK we've had enough', and I'll go and work in a café or something."
Ranganathan will join the previously announced Smith in Woman in Mind, which will run at London's Duke of York's Theatre from 9 December until 28 February, before playing additional dates in Sunderland and Glasgow in March.
Ayckbourn's psychological comedy follows a woman named Susan, who has an accident that leaves her with a head injury. A new fantasy life emerges in front of her, before the line between her real and imagined lives begins to blur.
"I play her doctor, who basically is the only link between the two worlds throughout the play," Ranganathan explains.
Smith shot to fame in the early noughties sitcoms The Royle Family and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, and went on to appear in The Railway Children Return and ITV's Cilla, which saw her portray the legendary British entertainer Cilla Black.
But she has also has a huge number of stage credits - she led West End hits such as Funny Girl and Shirley Valentine, and has won two Olivier Awards for her roles in Legally Blonde and Flare Path.
Announcing her role in Woman in Mind last month, Smith told BBC Radio 2's Scott Mills: "I'm so excited, this is an amazing part for an actress.
"It's thought of as one of Alan Ayckbourn's finest plays, it's really funny and it's got a lot of darkness as it goes on.
"There are loads of characters, it's just bonkers and brilliant, it's kind of like a big farce. I can't wait to get started."
Woman in Mind premiered in 1985 and has since been revived in the US and the UK several times. Stockard Channing, Julia McKenzie and Dame Helen Mirren have all previously played the role of Susan.
Ranganathan says he and Smith had a text exchange when he was cast, adding: "It's both exciting and intimidating, because she's obviously incredibly talented, phenomenal at what she does, so it's an honour to be doing it opposite her.
"But also what it means is my abilities will be in sharp contrast to that, so there's a little bit of added pressure. But we're both excited, I've not worked with her before so I'm looking forward to that."
The comic has previously acted in TV sitcoms such as Avoidance and Romantic Getaway, but this will mark his first time acting on stage. "Well, since primary school", he laughs. "I might have played second shepherd in the Nativity."
Ranganathan says he feels "nervous" about his West End debut, but adds: "It was something I'd been thinking about doing for a while.
"I'd been talking about it for maybe a year or two, my wife is an ex-drama teacher and has a real passion for theatre, so it's something I started discussing, but I didn't know what it would be. This kind of popped up and they were kind enough to let me read for it, and it felt like an opportunity too good to miss."
The new adaptation will be directed by Michael Longhurst, with Ranganathan noting: "It's going to be very close to the source material, but the way it might be performed and presented might be a little bit different.
"But what I want to do is allay any fears that we might decide to rap it," he jokes. "There's nothing like that in the works."