The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian resolution demanding that Israel end its “unlawful presence” in Gaza and the West Bank within a year, withdraw its military forces and evacuate all settlers.

The resolution was a response to a ruling by the International Court of Justice at The Hague in July that said Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end.

The US, Israel, Argentina, Hungary and a handful of smaller states voted against the resolution.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, urged member nations to reject the resolution, describing it as “an attempt to destroy Israel through diplomatic terrorism” that never mentions Hamas’ atrocities and “ignores the truth, twists the facts and replaces reality with fiction”.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas Greenfield told reporters that the resolution has “a significant number of flaws”, saying it goes beyond the ICJ ruling, does not recognise that “Hamas is a terrorist organisation” in control of Gaza and that Israel has a right to defend itself.

Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 on October 7. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 41,272 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 120 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.

The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to legislation promoted by the Netanyahu government aimed at dramatically weakening Israel’s judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel’s most right-wing government ever.

Hand-held radios detonate across Lebanon

Explosions went off in Beirut and multiple parts of Lebanon in an apparent second wave of detonations of electronic devices, Hezbollah officials and state media said Wednesday, reporting walkie-talkies and even solar equipment detonating a day after hundreds of pagers blew up. At least one person was killed and more than 100 people wounded, the Health Ministry said.

Several blasts were heard at the funeral in Beirut for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene. An AP photographer in the southern coastal city of Sidon saw a car and a mobile phone shop damaged after devices exploded inside of them.

A Hezbollah official told the AP that walkie-talkies used by the group exploded. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. Lebanon’s official news agency reports that solar energy systems exploded in homes in several areas of Beirut and in southern Lebanon, wounding at least one girl.

The new blasts hit a country still thrown into confusion and anger after Tuesday’s pager bombings, which appeared to be a complex Israeli attack targeting Hezbollah members that caused civilian casualties, too. At least 12 people were killed, including two children, and some 2,800 people wounded as hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members began detonating wherever they happened to be – whether in homes, cars, at grocery stores or in cafes.

In the first wave of bombings, it appeared that small amounts of explosives had been hidden in the thousands of pagers delivered to Hezbollah and remotely detonated. The reports of further electronic devices exploding suggested even greater infiltration of boobytraps into Lebanon’s supply chain. It also deepens concerns over the attacks in which hundreds of blasts went off in public areas, often with many bystanders, with no certainty of who was holding the rigged devices.

The attacks, which Israel has not commented on, renewed fears that the simmering conflict between Israel and Hezbollah could escalate into all-out war. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the US was still assessing how the attack could affect efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Israel began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, according to an official with knowledge of the movements who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The UN Security Council will meet tomporrow, Friday, to discuss the communication device blasts, its president said.

Entrepreneur denies manufacturing explosive pagers

Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, the CEO of BAC Consulting, said “I do not make the pagers. I am just the intermediary. I think you got it wrong” when reached on the phone by NBC News. The devices, used by the Lebanese terror group to communicate securely, wounded more than 3,000 people and killed at least 12 in “an audacious Israeli attack”.

Israel says halting Hezbollah attacks is now a war goal

Israel has announced that halting Hezbollah’s attacks in the north in order to allow its residents to return is now an official war goal, as the country considers a wider military operation that could ignite an all-out conflict.

Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to take heavier military action to halt the near-daily attacks, which began shortly after the outbreak of the nearly year-long Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Israel has regularly launched airstrikes in response and has targeted and killed senior Hezbollah commanders.

Tit-for-tat strikes have displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border. Hezbollah has said it would halt the attacks if there is a cease-fire in Gaza, but those talks have repeatedly bogged down. The group has said while it does not want a wider war it is prepared for one. The United States has pressed for restraint even as it has rushed military aid to Israel, warning its close ally that a wider war would not achieve its goals.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said that “now a new phase of the conflict begins”. Speaking at the Ramat David Air Force Base, he declared, “The centre of gravity is moving north through the transfer of resources and forces. We are at the beginning of a new phase of the conflict, this requires courage, determination from us.”

Palestinian economy will require billions to rebuild, says the UN

The Palestinian economy is “in free fall,” the United Nations reports, with production in Gaza plunging to one-sixth of its level before Israeli forces began a blistering military response to the October 7 attacks in the territory.

The report from UN Trade and Development, or UNCTAD, also warned of “rapid and alarming economic decline” in the West Bank, citing expanded Israeli settlements, land confiscations, demolition of Palestinian buildings and violence by settlers.

“The Palestinian economy is in free fall,” Pedro Manuel Moreno, the agency’s deputy secretary-general, told reporters in Geneva. “The report calls for the international community to halt this economic free fall, address the humanitarian crisis, and lay the groundwork for lasting peace and development.”

That would include a “comprehensive recovery plan” for Palestinian areas, more international aid, the lifting of Israel’s blockade on Gaza, and the release of revenues and withheld funds for Palestinians retained by Israel, he said.

Gaza’s economy was weak even before the war, when unemployment was close to 50 per cent, but the war has brought it to a near-standstill, with the UN estimating that roughly 90 per cent of the territory’s population has been displaced, many living in squalid tent camps and dependent on international aid.

Democracy declined for 8th straight year around the globe, institute finds

Last year had the worst decline in election credibility and parliamentary oversight in almost a half-century, driven by government intimidation, foreign interference, disinformation and the misuse of artificial intelligence in campaigns, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance has said.

The Stockholm-based organisation said its “Global Report on the State of the Democracy”, which measures democratic performance in 158 countries from 1975 till today, found that 47 per cent of countries have experienced a decline in key democratic indicators over the past five years, marking the eighth consecutive year of global democratic backsliding. One in three elections are being disputed in some way and the average percentage of the voting age population who actually cast ballots has declined from 65.2 per cent in 2008 to 55.5 per cent in 2023.

Globally, in nearly 20 per cent of elections between 2020 and 2024, one of the losing candidates or parties rejected the result, and elections were being decided by court appeals at the same rate. The report said 2023 was the worst year when it came to free and fair elections and parliamentary oversight.

“The success of democracy depends on many things, but it becomes utterly impossible if elections fail,”said International IDEA’s Secretary-General, Kevin Casas-Zamora.

 ‘We will be a great team’ – von der Leyen

“Today I welcomed the team of commissioners-designate to the Berlaymont. Knowing each other is the basis of good cooperation,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, wrote on X. At the end of the meeting with the 26 Commissioners-designate for the next EU Commission, she declared, “I was happy to see that they are all very motivated and focused ahead of the hearings” at the European Parliament and “I think we will form a great team for Europe”.

EU claws back Hungarian funds

The European Union began the process Wednesday of clawing back some €200 million meant to go to Budapest after the anti-migrant government refused to pay a huge fine for breaking the bloc’s asylum rules.

In June, the top EU court ordered Hungary to pay €200 million for persistently depriving migrants of their right to apply for asylum. The court imposed an additional fine of €1m for every day it failed to comply.

Portugal wildfires stretch firefighters to the limit

More than 100 wildfires in the country’s north stretched thousands of firefighters to the limit, with seven deaths since the worst spate of recent years spread out of control over the weekend.

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro declared a state of calamity in the hardest-hit areas on Tuesday night, invoking powers to mobilise more firefighters and civil servants.

China announces sanctions against US companies selling arms to Taiwan

Sanctions against US companies selling arms to the breakaway island of Taiwan were announced by the Chinese government on Wednesday.

Chinese media reported the sanctions, citing the Foreign Ministry, but gave no details of the companies involved. Taiwan is awaiting deliveries of F-16 fighter jets, Abrams tanks and a range of missiles from the United States.

Pakistani police arrest key suspect in the gang-rape of polio worker  

Pakistani police have arrested the key suspect in the gang-rape of a female polio worker who was assaulted by three men during last week’s vaccination campaign, officials said. Two other suspects remain at large.

The victim had alerted the authorities, saying she had been raped by three men after going into a house in Jacobabad to administer polio drops to the children there.

Legendary Italian striker Totò Schillaci dies at 59

Totò Schillaci, Italy’s football idol behind the 1990 World Cup’s “notte magiche”, where he won the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball, has died at the age of 59.

The former star player had been hospitalised in serious condition since September 7 at the Civico hospital in his native Palermo.

The much-adored Italian national team striker, who plied his trade at Juventus and Inter, had long been battling cancer.

Two surgeries in recent days were declared successful, resulting in slight but steady improvement, domestic media reported. But his condition soon worsened, and he died shortly afterwards.

His funeral chamber will be set up in the Renzo Barbera stadium in Palermo.

Born Salvatore Schillaci in Palermo in 1964, Totò started scoring at Messina before moving to Juventus in 1989, where he contributed 15 goals to win the Coppa Italia and UEFA Cup and earned Azeglio Vicini’s call-up for the World Cup.

Starting as a reserve striker, Schillaci kicked off millions of Italians’ fairytale with a goal against Austria in the opening match of the Italia ’90 tournament.

Anthony Taylor removed from refereeing duty after social media abuse

Anthony Taylor will not officiate any Premier League match this weekend following the feisty Bournemouth vs Chelsea game he was in charge of.

The Premier League is looking into the social media abuse targeted at the official after the game at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday evening.

Taylor fished out 14 yellow cards to players in what was a new record for the most number of bookings in a single Premier League game. He also gave two more cards to the coaching staff, including Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca.

The visitors won the game late on, courtesy of a Christopher Nkunku finish from close range.

Taylor was thereafter subjected to widespread abuse, with the referee’s body, Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), stepping in to offer him support.

Both teams were also fined £25,000 each for failing to control their players.

PGMOL announced on Tuesday that the 45-year-old will not referee any match. He will, however, serve as the fourth official when Ipswich Town visit Southampton on Saturday, and Nottingham Forest travels to the South Coast to face Brighton on Sunday. Michael Oliver will be in charge of the biggest weekend match when Arsenal play Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Main photo: NASSER ISHTAYEH/FLASH90