The US Justice Department announced criminal charges on Tuesday against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other senior militants in connection with the October 7, 2023, rampage in Israel – marking the first effort by American law enforcement to formally call out the masterminds of the attack.

The seven-count criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York City includes charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, conspiracy to murder US nationals and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, resulting in death. It also accuses Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah of providing financial support and weapons, including rockets, and military supplies.

The Associated Press opines that the impact of the case may be mostly symbolic given that Sinwar is believed to be hiding out in tunnels and the Justice Department says three of the six defendants named in the complaint are believed now to be dead. But officials say additional actions are expected as part of a broader effort to target the operations of a militant group that was designated in 1997 by the US government as a foreign terrorist organisation and has been linked to a series of deadly attacks on Israel, including suicide bombings.

The charges come as the White House says it is developing a new cease-fire and hostage deal proposal with its Egyptian and Qatari counterparts to try to bring about an agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the nearly 11-month war in Gaza. A US official told The Associated Press there was no reason to believe the charges would affect the ongoing negotiations.

National security spokesman John Kirby said the recent “executions” of six hostages, including one American, by Hamas underscore “the sense of urgency” in the talks.

Protesters again gather in Tel Aviv

Large protests continued in Tel Aviv for a third consecutive night Tuesday as hundreds took to the streets to call on the government to reach a cease-fire deal that would bring home the remaining hostages held in Gaza.

Many Israelis blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the mounting number of dead hostages and are calling for a cease-fire agreement to free the remaining hostages.

Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli military announced it had killed a Hamas militant who appeared in a widely viewed video from October 7, where he was seen drinking from a bottle of cola in front of two children wounded in a grenade attack that had just killed their father.

The military identified the militant as Ahmed Fozi Wadia, a commander in a Hamas commando battalion. The Israeli military said aircraft on Saturday struck a compound in Gaza City where Hamas militants were operating, killing eight militants, including Wadia.

Netanyahu refuses to budge on war despite protests over hostages

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sticking to his hard-line approach on Hamas, in the face of mass protests at home over the killing of six hostages and the suspension of some British arms licenses.

A general strike called by the main labour union on Monday – joined by major companies and small businesses alike – triggered a day of chaos as protesters blamed Netanyahu for allowing the hostages to die at the hands of their captors. That came as the US pushes Israel’s leader to agree to a cease-fire with the Palestinian militant group, while the UK said the use of British components in Gaza risks violating international humanitarian law.

Israeli businesses resumed trading as normal on Tuesday, with the nation taking a pause from rallies after the funerals of the slain prisoners.

The demonstrators were calling on the government to give more ground in truce talks with Iran-backed Hamas, so a deal can be struck to bring home the roughly 100 remaining abductees and pause a war that’s raged for almost 11 months.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant shares that view, while many senior military figures say Israel has weakened Hamas sufficiently to pull forces from the border between Gaza and Egypt. That would allow an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners in an initial phase of a wider agreement.

But in a highly charged televised speech on Monday night, Netanyahu said the 14-km border area, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, is the key supply route for Hamas and thus should never be abandoned. To do so, he said, would increase the threat of an attack on Israel similar to the October 7 invasion that triggered the conflict.

One barrier to a cease-fire deal is that Israel says it needs to retain the right to restart fighting to achieve its aim of destroying the group. Hamas has said any accord should amount to a permanent end to the conflict.

Egypt and Hamas, designated a terrorist organisation by the US, say they’ll never accept an Israeli military presence in the area.

Hamas has also hardened its stance. Israeli military pressure to free hostages “will mean they will return to their families inside coffins”, the group said in a statement. “New instructions were issued to the militants assigned to guard the prisoners if the occupation army approaches their place of detention.”

The US has stood firmly by Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza, which began when thousands of Hamas operatives swarmed across the border, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250. Israel’s counter-attack has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and nearly 94,300 injuries, according to health officials in Hamas-run Gaza. An ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.

Egypt rejects Netanyahu’s accusations of weapons smuggling into Gaza

Egypt rejected Tuesday claims by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that weapons were being smuggled to Hamas through its border.

In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry called Netanyahu’s accusations “an attempt to hinder mediation efforts to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap deal”.

On Monday, Netanyahu renewed his refusal to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor, a demilitarised area along Egypt’s border with Gaza. The Israeli premier claimed that the corridor was a “lifeline” for Hamas to rearm.

Cairo accused Netanyahu of “trying to involve Egypt to divert Israeli public opinion and obstruct a cease-fire and hostage swap deal, as well as hindering mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar, and the US”.

It held the Israeli government responsible for the consequences of these statements “which exacerbate the situation and aim to justify aggressive and inflammatory policies, leading to further escalation in the region”.

Egypt rejects any Israeli military presence along the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza.

Russia’s bloodiest blow: 51 killed in year’s most devastating attack

In a chilling escalation of violence, Russia has launched its deadliest strike of the year, resulting in 50 fatalities and significant destruction. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has condemned the attack as one of the most devastating of the conflict, prompting international concern. The assault has heightened fears and intensified calls for global intervention

Two Russian ballistic missiles struck a military training facility and nearby hospital in a central-eastern region of Ukraine, killing at least 51 people and wounding 271 others.

The strike occurred in the city of Poltava, the capital of the region of the same name, officials said. Poltava is located about 350 kilometers southeast of Kyiv. The city is on the main highway and rail route between Kyiv and Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, which is close to the Russian border.

The strike appeared to be one of the deadliest carried out by Russian forces since the war began more than 900 days ago on February 24, 2022.

“One of the buildings of the (Poltava Military) Institute of Communications was partially destroyed. People found themselves under the rubble. Many were saved,” Zelenskyy said in a video posted on his Telegram channel.

Rescue crews and medics saved 25 people, 11 of them dug out from the rubble, a Defence Ministry statement said. Poltava Gov. Filip Pronin announced three days of mourning.

Zelenskyy repeated his appeal for Ukraine’s Western partners to ensure swift delivery of military aid. He has previously chided the US and European countries for being slow to make good on their pledges of help.

Kamala Harris takes lead against Donald Trump in conservative poll

Vice President Kamala Harris is now leading Donald Trump in a survey by a conservative-leaning polling group that tends to favor Republican candidates.

Newsweek says a poll from Rasmussen Reports, consisting of 380 respondents, shows that Harris has a one-point lead over Trump (47 per cent to 46 per cent) with just over two months to go until November’s election.

The results are a continuation of the trend that has seen Harris cut into Trump’s lead since she entered the 2024 race after President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign. A July 23 poll from Rasmussen, released soon after Biden endorsed Harris in the election, showed the former president had a 16-point lead over the vice president.

The results are also significant as they suggest Harris is the frontrunner in the 2024 election even in the conservative polls.

At least 13 dead after migrant boat capsizes near France

The mayor of a French coastal town being used in a rescue operation says 13 migrants are dead after their boat ripped apart Tuesday during an attempted crossing of the English Channel.

Dozens of people plunged into the treacherous waters of the busy channel.

“Unfortunately, the bottom of the boat ripped open,” said Olivier Barbarin, mayor of Le Portel near the fishing port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, where a first aid post was set up to treat victims. “It’s a big drama.”

Etienne Baggio, a spokesman for the French maritime prefecture that oversees that stretch of sea, said “more than 10” people were dead but he didn’t have an exact number. The prefecture said the boat got into difficulty off Gris-Nez point.

Both Baggio and the mayor said rescuers recovered 61 people from the waters.

Sea temperatures off northern France were around 20^OC.

161,000 children receive polio jabs in Gaza over 2 days – WHO

The World Health Organisation on Tuesday said 161,000 children in Gaza received polio vaccination over two days, surpassing the agency’s target of 156,500 children.

Quoting preliminary data, spokesperson Richard Peeperkorn told a UN press briefing in Geneva that about 74,340 children were vaccinated on day two of the vaccination campaign, in addition to day one’s over 86,600.

Peeperkorn said that day three of the campaign is ongoing and the majority of remaining children in central Gaza should be vaccinated by the end of round one.

At least 129 dead after attempted jailbreak at Congo prison

An attempted jailbreak in Congo’s main prison left 129 people dead, including some who were shot and others who died in a stampede at the overcrowded facility, authorities said Tuesday. Activists alleged the death toll was higher but did not provide a figure.

A provisional assessment showed that 24 inmates were fatally shot by “warning” shots fired by guards as they tried to escape from the Makala Central Prison in the capital of Kinshasa early on Monday, Congolese Interior Minister Jacquemin Shabani said on the social platform X.

“There are also 59 injured people taken into care by the government, as well as some cases of women raped,” he said, adding that order has now been restored at the prison, part of which was burned in the attempted jailbreak.

He did not elaborate on the incidents of rape. The prison holds both male and female inmates.

Uganda Olympic athlete set on fire by her boyfriend

A Ugandan athlete living in Kenya was attacked and set on fire by her boyfriend and is receiving treatment for burns on 75 per cent of her body, police said.

Rebecca Cheptegei, a distance runner who finished at the 44th position in the 2024 Paris Olympics, was attacked in her house in the western Trans Nzoia County. She was in critical condition as of Tuesday, the BBC reported.

“Her condition looks serious with facial burns and bandages,” a MTRH staff member told AFP.

 ‘Christmas in October this year’, decrees Maduro

 Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, has declared that Christmas will take place earlier than usual this year, with festivities to be brought forward to October 1.

“It’s September and it already smells like Christmas. As a thank you to the fighting people, I will bring Christmas forward to October 1 by decree,” Maduro told supporters on television.

This is not the first time that Maduro has resorted to this unusual move to distract attention from the South American country’s pressing problems.

During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, he brought Christmas forward to October 15, and the following year to October 4.

‘Cell phones not linked to brain cancer’

Cell phones are not linked to brain and head cancers, even when used for a long time or over many years.

This is confirmed by a comprehensive review of available data, commissioned by the World Health Organisation and published in the journal Environment International.

Cell phones, like everything that uses wireless technology, including laptops and televisions, emit radio frequency electromagnetic radiation, or radio waves.

Photo: Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images)