Headline

Israel, Hamas Trade Blame After Strikes Kill 13 In Gaza

Published

7 months ago

October 19, 2025

Gaza’s nine-day-old ceasefire came under strain Sunday after the Israeli army said it launched air strikes in response to attacks it claimed were carried out by Hamas militants against its forces.

Hamas, however, maintained it was adhering to the truce, with one official accusing Israel of devising “pretexts” to resume its own attacks.

Later on Sunday, the military said in an online briefing that it launched strikes after attacks in Rafah, southern Gaza, and in the northern town of Beit Lahia, warning, “There is a possibility of more strikes.”

Gaza’s civil defence agency, which operates under Hamas authority, said at least 13 people had been killed across the territory. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports of casualties.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier instructed security forces to take “strong action against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip,” his office said in a statement, accusing Hamas of “a ceasefire violation.”

The Defence Minister, Israel Katz, then warned that the group would “pay a heavy price for every shot and every breach of the ceasefire,” adding Israel’s response would “become increasingly severe.”

The uneasy truce in the Palestinian territory, brokered by US President Donald Trump and taking effect on 10 October, brought to a halt more than two years of devastating war between Israel and Hamas.

The deal established the outline for hostage and prisoner exchanges and was proposed alongside an ambitious roadmap for Gaza’s future, but it has immediately faced challenges in implementation.

“Earlier today, terrorists fired anti-tank missiles and opened fire on IDF (army) forces” in Rafah, the military said in a statement.

“The IDF responded with air strikes by fighter jets and artillery fire, targeting the Rafah area,” the statement said.

Palestinian witnesses told AFP clashes erupted in the southern city of Rafah in an area still held by Israel.

One witness, a 38-year-old man who asked not to be identified by name, said that Hamas had been fighting a local Palestinian gang known as Abu Shabab, but the militants were “surprised by the presence of army tanks”.

“The air force conducted two strikes from the air,” he said.

‘Security illusion’

National security minister and right-wing firebrand Itamar Ben Gvir urged the army to “fully resume fighting in the Strip with all force.”

A statement from Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, reaffirmed the group’s commitment to the ceasefire and said Israel “continues to breach the agreement and fabricate flimsy pretexts to justify its crimes.”

Hamas’s armed wing insisted on Sunday that the group was adhering to the ceasefire agreement with Israel and had “no knowledge” of any clashes in Rafah.

Under Trump’s 20-point plan, Israeli forces have withdrawn beyond the so-called Yellow Line, leaving them in control of around half of Gaza, including the territory’s borders but not its main cities.

Hamas, in turn, has released 20 surviving hostages and is in the process of returning the remaining bodies of those who have died.

The war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, has killed at least 68,159 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.

The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.

Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Rafah crossing closed

On Sunday, Israel identified the latest two bodies returned overnight as Ronen Engel and Thai farmworker Sonthaya Oakkharasri.

Engel, a resident of Nir Oz kibbutz, was abducted from his home aged 54 and killed during the October 7 attacks, with his body taken to Gaza.

He was a photojournalist and volunteer ambulance driver for Magen David Adom, the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross, in the southern Negev region.

A farmworker at the Beeri kibbutz, Oakkharasri, was also killed in the attack on Israel. He had a seven-year-old daughter.

Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza on Sunday, bringing the total number handed over to 150, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said.

The issue of hostage bodies still in Gaza has become a sticking point in the ceasefire implementation, with Israel linking the reopening of the main gateway into the territory to the recovery of all of the deceased.

Relief agencies have called for the Rafah crossing from Egypt to be reopened to speed the flow of food, fuel and medicines.

Hamas has so far resisted disarming and, since the pause in fighting, has moved to reassert its control over Gaza.

The group has said it needs time and technical assistance to recover the remaining bodies from under Gaza’s rubble.

Netanyahu’s office said reopening Rafah would “be considered based on how Hamas fulfils its part in returning the hostages and the bodies of the deceased, and in implementing the agreed-upon framework,” it said.

Hamas warned late Saturday that the closure of the crossing would cause “significant delays in the retrieval and transfer of remains.”

AFP

Headline

‘Pioneer Of Cable TV News’: Key Facts About CNN Founder, Ted Turner

Published

1 week ago

May 9, 2026

Editor

Ted Turner, the media businessman who founded CNN died at the age of 87. He died peacefully on Wednesday, surrounded by family, according to Turner Enterprises.

Contents

Launched 24-hour news television

Built a media network

Expanded through sports

Recognition and influence

Philanthropy and global causes

Environmental efforts

Health and later years

Early career path

Leadership and legacy

Personal life

Exit from business

Family

Below are key facts about his life and impact:

Launched 24-hour news television

Turner founded CNN on June 1, 1980, introducing the first 24-hour news channel and changing how audiences follow global events.

Built a media network

He moved from billboards into broadcasting, turning an Atlanta TV station into a national superstation in 1976. His business later grew to include CNN International, TNT, Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network.

Expanded through sports

Turner invested in sports broadcasting and owned teams including the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Hawks, using television to reach wider audiences.

Recognition and influence

In 1991, he was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year for his role in shaping modern news coverage.

Philanthropy and global causes

He founded the United Nations Foundation and supported campaigns against nuclear weapons. In 1997, he pledged $1 billion to the United Nations.

Turner supported conservation work, including reintroducing bison in the United States, and backed environmental education through the “Captain Planet” cartoon.

Health and later years

In 2018, Turner revealed he had Lewy body dementia. He also recovered from a mild case of pneumonia in early 2025.

Early career path

He took over his father’s billboard company at 24 after his father’s death and later expanded into radio and television, despite limited experience in journalism.

“I worked until 7 o’clock, and when I got home the news was over,” he once said. “So I missed television news completely. And I figured there were lots of people like me.”

Leadership and legacy

“Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement,” Mark Thompson, Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, said in a statement. “He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognize him and his impact on our lives and the world.”

Personal life

Turner married actress Jane Fonda in 1991, and they later divorced after 10 years, though they remained close.

“I would never love anyone like I love him,” she said. “But I just couldn’t keep moving in his world, along the surface for the rest of my life. I knew that I would get to the end of my life and regret not doing the things that I also needed to do for me.”

Exit from business

He sold his company to Time Warner in 1996 and later stepped away following its merger with AOL.

Reflecting on his life, Turner once said: “I lost Jane. I lost my job here. I lost my fortune, most of it. Got a billion or two left. You can get by on that if you economize.”

Family

He is survived by his five children, 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Headline

Iran’s Nationwide Internet Shutdown Hits 70 Days

Published

1 week ago

May 9, 2026

Editor

NetBlocks, a monitoring group, has disclosed that an internet shutdown enforced by the Iranian regime has entered its 70th day, severing key access from swathes of the population under the shadow of war.

NetBlocks reported on Friday that the blackout has now surpassed 1,656 hours, marking more than two months since US-Israeli strikes pounded Tehran and escalated across the Middle East.

“Digital connectivity is vital in times of crisis,” NetBlocks said in a post on X. “Limiting service harms those most in need – people with disabilities, students, small businesses and the general public.”

According to CNN, Iran imposed a separate internet shutdown on the country’s 92 million people earlier this year, when it launched the most lethal crackdown on anti-government protesters since the Islamic Republic’s founding 47 years ago.

CNN further reports that the latest blackout has cut off another potential lifeline for Iranian residents faced with high unemployment and economic pressure exacerbated by the US-Israeli campaign.

(CNN)

Headline

Gas Prices In US Edge Down After Two Weeks Of Increases

Published

1 week ago

May 9, 2026

Editor

The cost of a gallon of regular gas in the United States (US) has edged down a little more than a penny to $4.55.

According to AAA’s readings, this marks the first decline in the average gas price after 15 straight days of increases.

The decline is minuscule compared to the large increases in gas prices over the last two weeks.

According to CNN, gasoline costs rose an average of nearly 4 cents a day during that period and had several daily increases of between 7 and 9 cents.

Also Read: Trump insists US-Iran ceasefire intact despite recent exchange of fire

CNN also reports that based on past gas spikes, it will likely take weeks for gas prices to get down below $4 a gallon.

The report, however, states that a previous two-week stretch of gas price declines only shaved 14 cents off the average price, taking the average price to $4.02, before the recent 15-day run of increases.

According to CNN, it could take months for the average price to fall below $3 per gallon, as it did before the war in Iran.

CNN further reports that only one state – Oklahoma – now has an average price of less than $4 a gallon, and its average stands at $3.98. California has the highest average price at $6.16.

(CNN)