NEWS

LaToya Cantrell is accused of ‘defrauding’ the city, paying Jeffrey Vappie as if he were on duty while on trips and trysts.

The mayor of New Orleans has been indicted on conspiracy, fraud and obstruction charges by a federal grand jury after a long-running investigation.

The charges released on Friday against LaToya Cantrell were based on accusations that she tried to hide a romantic relationship with bodyguard Jeffrey Vappie, who was paid as if on duty while the pair conducted their affair.

The indictment states that Cantrell and Vappie “developed a personal and intimate relationship” in 2021, defrauding the city as they attempted to “hide their relationship and maximise their time together”.

Acting United States Attorney Michael Simpson said the pair met in an apartment while Vappie claimed to be on duty, and that Cantrell had arranged for Vappie to attend 14 trips.

The trips, which included wine tasting at vineyards, were described by her as times “when they were truly alone”, said Simpson.

He dubbed the affair a “three-year fraud scheme that we allege exploited their public authority and positions”.

Cantrell allegedly lied in an affidavit that she had activated a function on her phone that automatically deleted messages in 2021, when she had not activated the feature until December 2022, one month after the media began speculating on the pair’s conduct.

When a private citizen took photos of the pair dining together and drinking wine, Cantrell filed a police report and sought a restraining order, said Simpson.

The mayor’s office didn’t immediately comment.

“This is a sad day for the people of New Orleans,” said Monet Brignac, a spokesperson for City Council President JP Morrell.

Vappie is accused of hiding a romantic relationship with Cantrell and filing false payroll records claiming he was on duty.

He has pleaded not guilty following his indictment on charges of wire fraud and making false statements.

Cantrell, the city’s first female mayor, is term-limited and will leave office in January.

Palestinian residents of Gaza City have come under relentless Israeli bombardment as the military prepares for a major offensive to seize and ethnically cleanse the area, barring emergency workers from reaching people trapped in the residential Zeitoun neighbourhood.

Gaza civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told Al Jazeera that the Israeli army had been firing at emergency vehicles trying to reach the wounded in Zeitoun on Friday, as Israeli quadcopters dropped leaflets threatening a forced displacement. Residents were told to leave sections of the eastern neighbourhood, where hundreds of homes have recently been destroyed.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said Israel had been deploying “heavy artillery, drones and fighter jets”, with four neighbourhoods of Gaza City “reporting relentless bombardment shaking the ground day and night” as the military advanced its plans.

It was, he said, “a full dismantling of civilian life to ensure that people will never be allowed back into this area”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing to seize Gaza’s largest urban hub and forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to concentration zones, despite a wave of criticism from families of captives held in Gaza and their supporters, the Israeli security establishment, and a multitude of nations and organisations around the world.

As the military closed in on Gaza City, it also continued attacks on other parts of the enclave, killing 44 people, including 16 aid seekers desperately seeking sustenance for their families, according to medical sources who spoke to Al Jazeera.

Attacks included strikes on two hospitals, underscoring daily Palestinian pleas that no place in the besieged and bombarded enclave is safe. One person was killed at al-Shifa in Gaza City, which has been bombed and burned multiple times over the war. And at least two were killed at Deir el-Balah’s Al-Aqsa Hospital in an explosion preceded by a swarm of Israeli drones hovering over the hospital.

‘Human remains 46 days under the rubble’

Amid the reports of further Israeli killing, Al Jazeera Arabic reported that a woman in the devastated Tuffah neighbourhood east of Gaza City retrieved the body of her brother and some remains of her father from the rubble of a bombed house.

The woman said that the bodies had been trapped along with 31 others since an air strike that had taken place 46 days earlier – the timeline indicating the attack occurred at the end of June. With no equipment to retrieve them under Israel’s harshly punitive blockade, it had been impossible to find them.

“What we are facing is too much. Too much torture and oppression. Torture, tiredness, and pain,” she said.

Starvation and dehydration as temperatures soar

In parallel, aid seekers continued to be targeted near humanitarian distribution sites run by the GHF, with medical sources reporting 16 were killed on Friday.

The United Nations human rights office said at least 1,760 Palestinians had been killed while seeking aid in Gaza since late May – a jump of several hundred since its last published figures at the beginning of August.

Of the 1,760, 994 were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites and 766 along the routes of supply convoys. Most of the killings were committed by the Israeli military, the agency said in a statement. United States security contractors have also fired on aid seekers.

Meanwhile, as reports emerged that another child had died of Israeli-induced starvation in the enclave, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA)  said nearly one in five young children in Gaza City were now deemed to be malnourished.

The starvation death toll has now reached 240, including 107 children, according to the Health Ministry.

The UN has said Gaza requires the equivalent of at least 600 trucks of aid entering daily to fight off the effects of man-made starvation caused by months of total Israeli blockade.

The Israeli army entity in charge of managing aid – Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories – claimed that it allowed 310 aid trucks to enter Gaza on Thursday. It said that more than 290 were collected and distributed by the UN and other international organisations.

International and Palestinian groups are reporting only one-sixth of the necessary 600 trucks a day are actually entering the territory where Israeli-backed gangs are engaged in looting.

As people battle extreme hunger, they are also enduring severe dehydration in the current heatwave, with record temperatures surpassing 40C (or 104F), and are resorting to drinking contaminated water.

“It causes stomach cramps for adults and children, without exception,” Hosni Shaheen, whose family was displaced from Khan Younis, told The Associated Press. “You don’t feel safe when your children drink it”.

He is in line to share a £50,000 147 bonus with Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, who knocked in the third maximum of the season earlier this week.

Both players will also collect a further £147,000 if they are able to make another 147 at any of this season’s Triple Crown events – the UK Championship, Masters and World Championship.

In Friday’s earlier last-four match – at a tournament regarded as snooker’s ‘fourth major’ by organisers – Neil Robertson claimed a 6-3 win over Elliot Slessor.

While neither player was at their best, the rejuvenated Australian was always in control and enjoyed two runs of 93 and a 50 as he reached the 39th ranking final of his career.

“The start was crucial today, I could see Elliot was a bit nervous and I was able to use my experience,” said 2010 Crucible winner Robertson.

“To get to the final is huge in terms of ranking points, it means I should be in all of the big events later in the season which makes my scheduling so much easier.

“I took that for granted a few years ago when I was always in the top four. The standard is so high now that I have realised you have to keep your foot down all the time. A lot of hard work has happened to get these kind of results.”

Heavy rains are forecast to start with the storm expected to become a major Category 3 storm over the weekend.

Hurricane Erin has formed in the Atlantic Ocean as it approaches the northeast Caribbean, as forecasters warn of possible flooding and landslides in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The storm is expected to remain over open waters, although tropical storm watches were issued for Anguilla and Barbuda, St Martin and St Barts, Saba and St Eustatius and St Maarten.

Heavy rains were forecast to start late on Friday in Antigua and Barbuda, the US and British Virgin Islands, and southern and eastern Puerto Rico. Up to 10cm (four inches) are expected, with isolated totals of up to 15cm (six inches), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Forecasters also warned of dangerous swells.

The storm was located about 835km (520 miles) east of the Northern Leeward Islands. It had maximum sustained winds of 110km/h (70mph) and was moving west-northwest at 28km/h (17mph).

Erin is forecast to become a major Category 3 storm late this weekend.

The hurricane centre noted that “there is still uncertainty about what impacts Erin may bring to portions of the Bahamas, the east coast of the United States, and Bermuda in the long range.”

Fifth named storm

Dangerous surf and rip currents are expected to affect the US East Coast next week, with waves reaching up to five metres (16.4 feet) along parts of the North Carolina coast that could cause beach erosion, according to Accuweather.

“Erin is forecast to explode into a powerful Category 4 hurricane as it moves across very warm waters in the open Atlantic. Water temperatures at the surface and hundreds of feet deep are several degrees higher than the historical average,” Alex DaSilva, Accuweather’s lead hurricane expert, was quoted by The Associated Press news agency.

Erin is the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.

This year’s season is once again expected to be unusually busy and potentially perilous. The forecast calls for six to 10 hurricanes, with three to five reaching major status with winds of more than 177km/h (110mph).

Who: Mallorca vs Barcelona
What: Spanish La Liga
Where: Estadi Mallorca Son Moix in Mallorca, Spain
When: Saturday at 7:30pm (17:30 GMT)

How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 4:30pm (15:30 GMT) in advance of our live text commentary stream.

Barcelona begin their defence of their La Liga title on Saturday after flying to the island of Mallorca.

The Catalan club disposed of their fierce rivals and winners of the previous year’s title, Real Madrid, on all fronts last season.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the first major match of the new La Liga season and what clues there may be as to whether Barca will give Real a glimpse of hope in the title race this time around.

How dominant were Barcelona last season?

The Catalan club is coming off one of its best seasons in years, having won the league, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. It also went deep in the Champions League, reaching the semifinals for the first time since 2019.

How big a role will Marcus Rashford play at Barcelona?

In its second year under coach Hansi Flick, the Catalan club will try to add to its success from last season by boosting its squad with Marcus Rashford on loan from Manchester United. He will be teaming up with Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski in an attacking front that was one of the best in Europe last season.

It led the scoring charts both in the Spanish league – with more than 100 goals – and in the Champions League.

With Lewandowski set to miss the start of the new season, Rashford will vie with Ferran Torres for a place in Barca’s attack.

After Rashford fell down the pecking order at Old Trafford, his move to Barcelona presents a huge chance to rebuild his career.

What other changes have Barcelona made?

Leaving the team are veteran defender Inigo Martínez, who has signed with Saudi club Al-Nassr, and Ansu Fati, who went on loan to Monaco after not playing much last season.

How many La Liga titles have Barcelona won?

Last season’s title was Barcelona’s 28th trophy lift in La Liga. Real Madrid are the record winners with 36 victories to their name.

Has Mallorca ever beaten Barcelona?

Yes. The Spanish islanders have won 17 of their 75 meetings. Barca, however, have won 44 of the encounters.

Where did Mallorca finish last season?

Mallorca squeezed into the top half of La Liga last season with a 10th-placed finish.

Only one team had a worse home record among the top 12 teams last season after Mallorca recorded only seven wins in 19 league matches in front of their own crowd. Six of those games resulted in defeats.

What happened the last time Barcelona met Mallorca?

Barca narrowly beat Mallorca 1-0 at home in their last meeting in April. Dani Olmo scored the only goal in the first minute of the second half to settle the La Liga match.

The corresponding fixture resulted in a 5-1 win for Barca with Raphinha netting twice.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick’s prematch thoughts

“We are working hard to face this new season. Winning three titles last year is not the end – it’s a continuation. We will give everything this year.

“Lamine Yamal still has room to improve. I like what I’m seeing. He’s training very well, with and without the ball, defending and pressing.”

Head-to-head

Mallorca have not defeated Barcelona since May 2009 – a 2-1 home win in an end-of-season affair in La Liga.

Barca, meanwhile, have won 14 of their last 15 matches against Mallorca in all competitions.

Mallorca team news

Pablo Maffeo will be heavily missed in defence due to a hamstring injury.

Pablo Torre is set to start against his former side, having joined from Barcelona in the summer window. Spain Under-21 international Mateo Joseph is also in line to feature, having joined on loan from Leeds United.

Omar Mascarell has a suspension hanging over from last season after his booking in the final game of the last La Liga campaign.

Barcelona team news

The Catalan club starts the season without veteran goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen because of surgery for lower back problems.

The goalkeeper was at odds with the club about his recovery time. He was provisionally stripped of his captaincy for refusing to sign a medical report about the injury, but he and the club eventually reached an agreement that restored his role as captain.

Veteran striker Lewandowski also isn’t expected to play early in the new campaign because of a muscle issue. Rashford’s registration after his loan from Manchester United has proved problematic, similar to the financial issues that held up Dani Olmo’s participation last season.

Mallorca predicted starting lineup

Greif; Morey, Lopez, Raillo, Lato; Sanchez, Costa, Torre, Darder; Muriqi, Joseph

Barcelona predicted starting lineup

Garcia; Kounde, Cubarsi, Araujo, Balde; de Jong, Pedri, Olmo; Lamine Yamal, Torres, Raphinha

Kingsmill’s owner has said it has agreed to buy rival Hovis and plans to merge the companies in a move that would create the UK’s biggest bread brand.

Associated British Foods (ABF) which also owns Primark, Ryvita and Twinings, said it would cut costs to make the two currently loss-making businesses profitable.

The Unite union represents workers at Hovis and Kingsmill and warned it would “not tolerate attacks on jobs, pay or conditions”.

Warburtons is the current market leader in UK breadmaking and the deal would need approval from the competition watchdog in order to go ahead.

Sales of Kingsmill and Hovis loaves are thought to have fallen flat due to a drop in demand for basic pre-packaged bread, as speciality breads such as sourdough and ciabatta took a bigger slice of the market.

Sandwiches and toast are also off the menu for some British consumers who are cutting back on carbohydrates in favour of high-protein diets.

ABF told investors on Friday it had reached an agreement to buy historic brand Hovis from private equity owner Endless.

It said the combined business would be “better placed to compete effectively” and to create new products “as a result of changing consumer tastes and needs.”

ABF’s Allied Bakeries business, which makes Kingsmill and Allinson’s bread, first confirmed talks over a potential deal three months ago.

Hovis, which was founded in 1890, was bought by Endless in 2020 from Premier Foods, which owns the Mr Kipling brand.

ABF said the deal would lead to “significant costs synergies and efficiencies” in an effort to create a sustainably profitable bread business.

George Weston, chief executive of ABF said: “This solution will create value for shareholders, provide greater choice for consumers and increase efficiencies for customers.”

But Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “While there is still a long way to go before any buyout happens, Hovis and Kingsmill must ensure that jobs are protected.”

She said Unite would be working to ensure the two brands fully involve the union in any decisions that impact its members.

The deal requires approval from the Competition and Markets Authority.

The day after Eid al-Fitr, a festive period for Muslims, is usually quiet; a time for rest, reflection, and recovery for most tailors who had had sleepless nights to ensure people looked colourful during the celebrations. For Abubakar Ibrahim, this March, it became a day etched in trauma.

It began as a brawl between two boys from neighbouring communities, Tunga Sabon Titi and Maje, divided only by a narrow stretch of road in Minna, the capital of Niger State in North Central Nigeria. The brawl quickly escalated into a full-blown gang clash, drawing in allies and sympathisers from both sides.

Ibrahim, a tailor and student in his early twenties, was at home when the commotion began. “I was heading somewhere when I heard the rants ‘karya ne wallahi, Ba sulhu [It’s a lie, no reconciliation]’,” he recalled. “While all this was happening, vigilantes were trying to disperse the crowd as we stood and watched.”

Moments later, gunfire shattered the air. He never saw it coming; six pellets from a Dane gun tore into him. Two lodged near his clavicle, the rest in his lap. “I didn’t realise I was hit until someone drew my attention while we were running,” he told HumAngle. “Then I felt dizzy, my leg went numb, and I collapsed.”

Residents told HumAngle that Mada, a local vigilante, had been aiming at the gang when his bullet missed and struck Ibrahim, who had no part in the clash or any gang activity. He was simply trying to earn a living, yet became another innocent casualty in a pattern of violence that has become disturbingly familiar in Minna.

Tracing the origins

Investigations by HumAngle trace the roots of Minna’s gang violence to long-standing turf rivalries between youths in neighbourhoods in the mid-2000s, when loosely organised gangs, locally called Yan Daba, engaged in sporadic confrontations, largely confined to street-level disputes.

Over time, the scale and lethality of these conflicts grew. Neighbourhood rivalries now pit entire communities such as Limawa, Unguwan Daji, Bosso, Soje, Kpakungu, Barikin Sale, against each other. Festive periods, school closures, and political transitions frequently trigger violent episodes, often leaving deaths, injuries, and property destruction in their wake. Some sources within these communities said the violence sometimes happens as weekend fights over petty theft, insults, or territory.

These confrontations have also spilt into schools, with rivals asserting dominance through violence. Schools such as Zarumai Model in Bosso, Government Day Secondary School in Unguwan Daji, Father O’Connell Science College (formerly Government Secondary School), and Hill Top Model Schools have all witnessed inter-school violent gang clashes, sometimes ending in serious injuries or deaths.

HumAngle has previously documented the activities of a gang with the same name in northwestern Nigeria’s Kano, where they terrorised neighbourhoods, showing that this style of youth-driven violence is not confined to one city.

These gangs are usually armed with daggers, cutlasses, and sharp weapons like scissors, animal horns, and screwdrivers. 

This violence is not confined to the past. In a pre-dawn sting operation in April, police officers in Niger State arrested 24 suspected criminals linked to thuggery and armed robbery in Maitumbi, a troubled suburb of Minna. The coordinated raid, led by the Anti-Thuggery Unit and backed by local police divisions and vigilantes, targeted crime hotspots like Angwan-Roka, Kwari-Berger, Flamingo, and Tudun Wada, following a surge in youth violence and gang activity, according to police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun.

In March, the state Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education shut down Government Day Secondary School, Bosso Road, and Father O’Connell Science College in Minna, after assessing ongoing conflicts between students and local youths, some posing as students.

Although many incidents go unreported, they continue to claim lives and property.

In April last year, a violent clash between rival gangs in the Maitumbi area left two dead, with shops, vehicles, and tricycles damaged. The police confirmed the arrest of six suspects connected to the incident and stated that efforts were underway to apprehend others involved. 

Later in December, a 15-year-old boy, Saidu Ubu, was killed in another fight between rival groups from Gurgudu and Kwari-Berger. The altercation, which began as a minor dispute late at night, quickly escalated into a brutal fight that caused panic among residents. By the time police arrived, the attackers had fled.

More recently, police arrested 18-year-old Jamilu Abdullahi, known as Zabo, over alleged armed robbery, culpable homicide, and gang violence in several of the affected communities.

Caught in the fix

For residents like Ibrahim, these flare-ups are more than news headlines; they are life-altering. After he collapsed due to the gunshots, his brother rushed to the scene and took him to Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida Specialist Hospital, a nearby public medical facility.  

But the ordeal was far from over. 

When they arrived at the hospital, they were told that there were no doctors available to attend to him at the moment. “They only gave me some injections but didn’t attempt to remove the bullets,” Ibrahim recounted. 

Four days later, still in pain, his family turned to a local hunter in nearby Wushishi known for removing Dane gun pellets. The hunter succeeded where the hospital had failed.

“I was unconscious when I arrived at the hospital,” Ibrahim said. “I only woke up there. But the bullets stayed in me for four days until they were removed by the local hunter.”

The recovery was slow and painful. Ibrahim missed his exams, adding academic loss to physical trauma. “It took me a while [over a month] to recover,” he said quietly.

The vigilante accused of shooting him was reportedly arrested, but Ibrahim has heard nothing since; no justice, no closure. 

Residents who spoke to HumAngle expressed concerns over the lingering menace that has not only continued to affect their loved ones but has also left them worried about having to raise their children in such an environment.

“I do not want my child to grow up witnessing this violence and someday be influenced to partake in it. It will break my heart,” said Danlami Shittu, a designer whose shop is just metres away from where Ibrahim was shot. “Every festive period, we hold our breath. These boys do not just fight; they settle old scores. Yet those of us who are not involved still pay the price.”

The missing links

Aminu Muhammad, a consultant in peace and conflict management, said the roots of this crisis lie deep within the decay of societal values and systemic neglect and a defect in the state’s justice and security frameworks.

He identified poor parenting as a primary driver of youth delinquency in the city, noting that many parents in the city are disengaged from their children’s lives, unaware of where they live or who they associate with.

This parental neglect has created a vacuum filled by peer influence and street culture, pushing many youths toward gang affiliation. “You must first take care of your children before they become more acceptable in society,” he told HumAngle.

Beyond the home, Dr. Aminu, who is also a lecturer at the Abdullahi Kure University, Minna, revealed that lack of access to education and vocational training has left many young people idle and vulnerable. Those who cannot enrol in formal schools are rarely offered alternatives to learn trades or acquire skills that could make them self-reliant. This absence of opportunity often translates into frustration and a turn toward violence.

Dr. Aminu also points to the failure of security agencies and the justice system. 

“When there are calls to security personnel during violent encounters, the response is often delayed. These delays allow attackers to escape and victims to retaliate, perpetuating a cycle of violence,” he added. “Even when arrests are made, the lack of stern punishment mechanisms undermines accountability. These guys are granted bail or discharged without much consequence. Influential persons and even government officials sometimes intervene to secure their release.”

To stem the tide of violence, the conflict management consultant suggested a multi-pronged approach: stronger parental involvement, public sensitisation through the National Orientation Agency, and a tougher security and judicial framework. Without this, he warns, Minna risks losing its identity as a peaceful city and its youth to the streets. 

Bello Abdullahi, the state’s Commissioner for Homeland Security, did not respond to multiple calls and messages requesting official comments on the issue.

For Ibrahim, the physical wounds have healed, and he has returned to his tailoring, but the emotional scars will outlast the headlines. And for other casualties of this violence, their stories never even make it that far.

“I want peace. Not just for me, but for all of us,” Ibrahim said.

This week’s visit to Lebanon of senior Iranian politician Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, is seen as an attempt to smooth any feathers ruffled by rhetoric from Tehran about Hezbollah’s disarmament.

In early August, the Lebanese government, under pressure from the United States, announced that it would seek to disarm Hezbollah, long considered a principal ally of Tehran, by the end of the year.

The group reacted angrily to the call to disarm with its secretary-general, Naim Qassem, denouncing the idea on Friday and saying the Lebanese government “does not have the right to question the resistance’s legitimacy”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview last week: “We support any decision the group makes, but we do not intervene.”

“This is not the first time they’ve tried to strip Hezbollah of its weapons,” he said. “The reason is clear: The power of resistance has proven itself in the field.”

His comments were received angrily in Beirut. Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji – who is from the anti-Hezbollah, right-wing Lebanese Forces party – said Araghchi’s statement is “firmly rejected and condemned”.

“Such statements undermine Lebanon’s sovereignty, unity and stability and constitute an unacceptable interference in its internal matters and sovereign decisions,” Rajji said.

Hezbollah and Iran have emerged bruised from separate conflicts with Israel in November and June, respectively. Now, Beirut’s instruction for Hezbollah to disarm risks further undermining the relevance of the group at a critical time, analysts said.

Who decides?

Many analysts believe the decision on whether to retain or relinquish its arms may not be Hezbollah’s alone.

”Hezbollah does not have complete freedom of action in this regard,” HA Hellyer of the Royal United Services Institute told Al Jazeera, referencing the group’s close ties with Iran.

“But it doesn’t act simply as a proxy for Tehran and is in the midst of a rather challenging period of its existence, especially given the surrounding geopolitics of the region,” he said of the regional upheavals since Israel began its war on Gaza in October 2023 and launched subsequent assaults on Lebanon and Syria.

Those assaults inflicted significant damage on Lebanon, principally in the southern Beirut suburbs and southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah’s support base is located.

Lebanon was already locked into an economic crisis before Israel’s war, and the World Bank estimated in May that it would now need $11bn to rebuild. The central government would be responsible for distributing that money, giving it some influence over Hezbollah.

“Tehran will be very opposed to Hezbollah disarming,” Hellyer said. “But if Hezbollah decides it needs to, to preserve its political position, Tehran can’t veto.”

He also suggested that Tehran may see some of its allied groups in Iraq, which Larijani visited before Beirut, more favourably now, especially since the fall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad in December severed its land supply routes to Lebanon.

“Hezbollah is, of course, very important to Iran, but I think the Iraqi militia groups are becoming more so, particularly after the loss of Assad,” Hellyer said.

A threat and a provocation

Hezbollah has long been considered the most powerful nonstate armed actor in the Middle East, a valuable ally for Iran and a nemesis for Israel.

“Hezbollah has always been a threat and a provocation, depending on where you’re standing,“ said Nicholas Blanford, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and an authority on Hezbollah.

“It’s still both, though to a much lesser degree,” he added, noting the damage the group sustained from Israel’s attacks and the assassinations of its leadership in the build-up to and during Israel’s war on Lebanon in October and November.

“It’s clear that Iran wants Hezbollah to remain as it is and, as far as we can tell, is helping it reorganise its ranks.

“It’s also clear from their statements that Hezbollah has no intention of giving up its arms. Even relatively moderate figures within the group are comparing doing so to suicide.”

In his speech on Friday, Qassem’s rejection was unequivocal: “The resistance will not disarm so long as the aggression continues and the occupation persists.

“If necessary, we will fight a Karbala’i battle to confront this Israeli-American project, no matter the costs, and we are certain we will win,” he said, referencing the Battle of Karbala, venerated by Shia Muslims as a foundational battle against tyranny and oppression.

Qassem seemed to exclude the Lebanese military from his ire, warning the government: “Do not embroil the national army in this conflict. … It has a spotless record and does not want [this].”

Inside the tent

Larijani’s visit on Wednesday was seen as a potential opportunity for Beirut to open up new lines of communication with one of the region’s most significant actors, Tehran, and potentially determine what Iran might be willing to consider in return for Hezbollah’s future disarmament.

“It’s not possible for Lebanon to break relations between the Shia community and Iran, any more than it could the Sunni community and Saudi Arabia,” Michael Young of the Carnegie Middle East Center said.

“Iran is a major regional actor. It has a strong relationship with one of [the two] largest communities in the country,” he said of Lebanon’s large Shia community.

“You can’t cut ties. It doesn’t make sense. You want Iranians inside the tent, not outside.”

Given the precarity of Lebanon’s position, balanced between the US support it relies upon and the regional alliances it needs, Young suggested that Lebanese lawmakers nevertheless seek an opportunity to secure some sort of middle ground while accepting that some in Beirut may not be willing to countenance any negotiations with Iran.

“It’s important for the Lebanese to see if there are openings in the Iranian position,” Young continued, casting Larijani’s visit as a potential opportunity for the Lebanese government to influence Iran’s position on Hezbollah’s future.

“And this is something Larijani’s visit, if well exploited, could provide,” he said, “It’s important for the Lebanese to see if the Iranians propose anything in the future or if they show a willingness to compromise on behalf of Hezbollah.”

Footage shows far-right minister taunting 66-year-old Palestinian leader during jail visit.

Palestinian officials have condemned far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s taunting visit to the jail cell of long-imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti.

Footage of the visit shared on social media on Thursday showed the minister making threatening remarks to the 66-year-old.

In the footage, Ben-Gvir is seen telling Barghouti, who has been in prison since 2002, including years in solitary confinement: “You won’t win. Whoever messes with the nation of Israel, whoever murders our children and women – we will wipe them out.”

“You should know this, [this happened] throughout history,” Ben-Gvir added.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the incident “in the strongest terms”.

In a statement on Thursday, the ministry said Ben-Gvir’s actions were “an unprecedented provocation and organised state terrorism, falling within the framework of the crimes of genocide, displacement, and annexation faced by the prisoners and our people”.

It added that the Palestinian Authority will take the threat seriously and will follow up with the International Committee of the Red Cross, relevant states, the international community, and its specialised organisations and councils.

Barghouti’s wife, Fadwa, said he and other Palestinian prisoners are subjected to inhumane treatment behind bars.

“They are still, Marwan, chasing you and pursuing you even in the solitary cell you’ve been living in for two years, and the struggle of the occupation and its figures with you continues. The shackles are on your hands, but I know your spirit and determination, and I know you will remain free, free, free,” she wrote in a statement on Facebook.

“I know that the only thing that can shake you is what you hear about your people’s pain, and the only thing that crushes and wounds you is the failure to protect our sons and daughters. You are of the people; wherever you are among the people, you are one of them and part of them.”

‘Shocking’

Israel’s Channel 12 broadcast a video clip of Ben-Gvir’s visit at Ganot Prison in central Israel. The channel reported that the minister’s visit was intended to oversee stricter conditions for Palestinian prisoners.

The video marks the first time for years that footage of Barghouti has been published. His family and rights groups said he has been in solitary confinement since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023 after Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel.

Relatives of Barghouti who viewed the footage told Al Jazeera Arabic there was a “shocking” appearance in his features, apparently from “exhaustion and hunger”, and expressed fear that he would die in custody.

In October, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society accused Israeli prison staff of “brutally assaulting” and injuring Barghouti while he was being held in solitary confinement.

The claims that he has several times been beaten by prison staff have been denied by the Israel Prisons Service.

The Fatah leader was sentenced to five life sentences plus 40 years for his alleged role in planning attacks that caused the deaths of five civilians during the second Intifada.

Sewage water has flooded the emergency department of Gaza’s Nasser Hospital after an Israeli strike damaged nearby infrastructure. Doctors warn the flooding increases patients’ risk of infections and disease outbreaks.

Phil Aspin

Apology

Israeli authorities froze all bank accounts of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem over a long-standing property tax dispute, escalating tensions with Christian institutions in the occupied city, local media said on Thursday, Anadolu reports.

A statement by Protecting Holy Land Christians, a group founded by Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, said the freeze has left the Patriarchate unable to pay salaries to clergy, teachers, and staff.

The Times of Israel news outlet said the freeze, enacted on Aug. 6, stems from the Jerusalem Municipality’s push to collect Arnona, a property tax, on church-owned properties used for non-religious purposes, such as guesthouses and coffee shops.

The municipality claimed that the measure followed “efforts at dialogue and engagement” that failed because the Patriarchate “ignored letters from the municipality demanding payment.”

“Administrative enforcement measures were taken against the Greek Patriarchate because it failed to settle its property tax debts for assets not used as houses of worship,” its spokesperson office said.

“This was done despite efforts at dialogue and engagement with them, and in light of their ignoring letters from the municipality demanding payment.”

A decades-long agreement had historically exempted churches from such taxes, but in 2018, the city narrowed the exemption to properties used solely for prayer, religious teaching, or related needs, seeking tens of millions of shekels in back taxes.

The dispute echoes a 2018 clash when then-mayor Nir Barkat froze church accounts, prompting a three-day closure of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in protest. The municipality relented after intervention by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Tensions have since flared periodically over specific properties and activities.

South Korea’s President Lee Jae-myung said he will restore a military agreement to rebuild trust with North Korea.

South Korea has said it intends to restore an agreement suspending military activity along its border with North Korea and revive inter-Korean cooperation, as President Lee Jae-myung attempts to dampen soaring tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme and deepening ties with Russia.

Marking the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule on Friday, Lee said he will seek to restore the so-called September 19 Military Agreement and rebuild trust with North Korea.

“To prevent accidental clashes between South and North Korea and to build military trust, we will take proactive, gradual steps to restore the [2018] September 19 Military Agreement,” Lee said in a televised speech.

Lee added that his government “will not pursue any form of unification by absorption and has no intention of engaging in hostile acts” against its northern neighbour.

The September 19 agreement was signed at an inter-Korean summit in 2018, where the leaders of both countries declared the start of a new era of peace.

But Seoul partially suspended the deal in late 2023 after it objected to North Korea launching a military spy satellite into space, with Pyongyang then effectively ripping up the deal as it deployed heavy weapons into the Demilitarized Zone between both countries and restored guard posts.

Tensions then spiralled between the two Koreas under Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korea’s conservative ex-president who was elected in 2022 but removed from office in April and is now serving jail time for his brief imposition of martial law in December.

South Korea and North Korea – separated along the heavily militarised buffer zone known as the 38th parallel – are still technically at war after their 1950-53 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Making clear his desire to resume dialogue with Pyongyang since winning a snap election in June, South Korea’s new left-leaning President Lee has taken a softer tone and sought rapprochement with North Korea.

Soon after his inauguration and in his government’s first concrete step towards easing tensions, Lee halted the South blasting propaganda messages and K-pop songs across the border into the North.

Earlier this month, South Korea began removing its loudspeakers from its side of the border, while Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff claimed it had evidence that Pyongyang was doing the same.

But, on Thursday, Kim Yo Jong – the powerful sister of North Korea’s long-ruling leader Kim Jong Un – dampened any suggestion of warming ties between the Koreas.

Kim, who oversees the propaganda operations of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which has ruled the country since 1948, accused Seoul of misleading the public and “building up the public opinion while embellishing their new policy” towards Pyongyang.

“We have never removed loudspeakers installed on the border area and are not willing to remove them,” Kim said.

Malian minister says situation under control after plot foiled to ‘destabilising the institutions of the republic’.

Authorities in Mali have arrested a group of military personnel and civilians, including two Malian army generals and a suspected French secret agent, accused of attempting to destabilise the country.

Mali’s security minister, General Daoud Aly Mohammedine, announced the arrests on Thursday evening following days of rumours that Malian military officials had been arrested.

The minister said, “The situation is completely under control.”

“The transitional government informs the national public of the arrest of a small group of marginal elements of the Malian armed and security forces for criminal offences aimed at destabilising the institutions of the republic,” Mohammedine said on national news.

“The conspiracy has been foiled with the arrests of those involved,” he said, adding that the plot began on August 1.

“These soldiers and civilians” had obtained “the help of foreign states”, Mali’s military said in a statement, adding that a French national – identified as Yann Christian Bernard Vezilier – was held on suspicion of working “on behalf of the French intelligence service”.

The security minister said the Frenchman acted “on behalf of the French intelligence service, which mobilised political leaders, civil society actors and military personnel” in Mali.

Images shared on social media of the alleged French spying suspect featured a white man in his 50s wearing a white shirt and appearing somewhat alarmed.

National television also broadcast photos of 11 people it said were members of the group that planned the coup.

The security minister also identified two Malian generals he said were part of the plot.

One of the suspects, General Abass Dembele, is a former governor of the country’s central Mopti region, who was abruptly dismissed in May when he demanded an investigation into allegations that the Malian army killed civilians in the village of Diafarabe. The second general, Nema Sagara, was previously lauded for her role in fighting rebel groups in 2012.

Security sources told the AFP news agency that at least 55 soldiers had been arrested, and authorities said they were working to identify “possible accomplices”.

Impoverished Mali has been gripped by a security crisis since 2012, fuelled notably by violence from armed groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the ISIL (ISIS) group, as well as local criminal gangs.

The country’s military rulers, led by President Assimi Goita, have in recent years turned away from Western partners, notably former colonial power France, and aligned politically and militarily with Russia in the name of national sovereignty.

In June, Goita was granted an additional five years in power, despite the military’s earlier promises of a return to civilian rule by March 2024.

Closing arguments are due to begin in the national security trial of Jimmy Lai, 77, a fierce critic of China’s Communist Party.

United States President Donald Trump has renewed his promise to “save” jailed Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai, who is on trial for alleged national security crimes over his pro-democracy activism and antipathy towards China’s Communist Party.

“I’m going to do everything I can to save him. I’m going to do everything … His name has already entered the circle of things that we’re talking about, and we’ll see what we can do,” Trump told Fox News Radio in the US.

Trump’s remarks came as closing arguments in Lai’s high-profile trial.

Closing arguments have been pushed from Friday to Monday after Lai’s lawyer said he had experienced heart palpitations.

The delay marks the second in as many days, after Hong Kong courts were closed due to bad weather.

Trump previously pledged to rescue Lai during an interview last October, just weeks before his election as president, and had said he would “100 percent get him out”.

Lai is one of the most prominent Hong Kongers to be charged under the city’s draconian 2020 national security law, and his cause has made international headlines.

The 77-year-old is a longtime opponent of China’s Communist Party thanks to his ownership of Apple Daily, a now-shuttered pro-democracy tabloid newspaper.

Thank you, President Trump, for your support for Jimmy Lai at this critical time.

“I’m going to do everything I can to save [Jimmy Lai]. I’m going to do everything…His name has already entered the circle of things that we’re talking about, and we’ll see what we can do. I… pic.twitter.com/EmscQHYQmX

— #FreeJimmyLai (@SupportJimmyLai) August 14, 2025

He is facing two counts of “colluding with foreign forces” and a separate charge of sedition in the long-running national security trial that began in December 2023.

If found guilty, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. He has always protested his innocence.

Lai was first arrested in 2020, just months after Beijing imposed the new national security law on Hong Kong, which criminalised the city’s pro-democracy movement and categorised public protests as acts of secession, subversion and terrorism.

The law was later expanded in 2024 to include further crimes such as espionage and sabotage.

Lai has been in detention continuously since December 2020 and is serving separate prison sentences for participating in a banned candlelight vigil and committing “fraud” on an office lease agreement.

He has spent more than 1,600 days in solitary confinement, according to the United Kingdom-based Hong Kong Watch, despite his age and health complications.

Lai was also denied the lawyer of his choice during trial and access to independent medical care.

A verdict in his trial is expected within days.

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‘I put all of my trust in social media’

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A community torn away

Duncan Edmonstone

Banned, unbanned – then banned again

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What has Meta said?

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United States President Donald Trump has marked the 90th anniversary of Social Security with a defence of his administration’s policies toward the programme — and attacks on his Democratic rivals.

On Thursday, Trump signed a presidential proclamation in the Oval Office, wherein he acknowledged the “monumental” importance of the social safety-net programme.

“I recommit to always defending Social Security,” the proclamation reads.

“To this day, Social Security is rooted in a simple promise: those who gave their careers to building our Nation will always have the support, stability, and relief they deserve.”

But Trump’s second term as president has been dogged by accusations that he has undermined programmes like Social Security in the pursuit of other agenda items, including his restructuring of the federal government.

What is Social Security?

Social Security in the US draws on payroll taxes to fund monthly payments to the elderly, the spouses of deceased workers, and the disabled. For many recipients, the payouts are a primary source of income during retirement.

The programme is considered widely popular: In 2024, the Pew Research Center found that 79 percent of Americans believe Social Security should not be cut in any way.

Additionally, four out of 10 people surveyed sided with the view that Social Security should be expanded to include more people and more benefits.

But the programme faces significant hurdles to its long-term feasibility.

Last year, the Social Security Administration (SSA) published a report that found the costs for old-age, disability and survivors’ insurance outstripped the programmes’ income.

It noted that the trust funds fuelling those programmes “are projected to become depleted during 2033” if measures are not taken to reverse the trend.

At Thursday’s Oval Office appearance, Trump sought to soothe those concerns, while taking a swipe at the Democratic Party.

“ You keep hearing stories that in six years, seven years, Social Security will be gone,” Trump said.

“And it will be if the Democrats ever get involved because they don’t know what they’re doing. But it’s going to be around a long time with us.”

He added that Social Security was “going to be destroyed” under his Democratic predecessor, former President Joe Biden, a frequent target for his attacks.

Criticism of Trump’s track record

But Trump himself has faced criticism for weakening Social Security since returning to the White House for a second term in January.

Early on, Trump and his then-adviser Elon Musk laid out plans to slash the federal workforce and reduce spending, including by targeting the Social Security Administration (SSA).

In February, the Social Security Administration said it would “reduce the size of its bloated workforce and organizational structure”, echoing Trump and Musk’s rhetoric.

The projected layoffs and incentives for early retirement were designed to cut Social Security’s staff from 57,000 to 50,000, a 12.3-percent decrease.

Under Trump, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has also announced plans to pare back Social Security’s phone services, though it has since backtracked in the face of public outcry.

In addition, Musk and Trump have attacked Social Security’s reputation, with the former adviser telling podcast host Joe Rogan, “Social Security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”

The two men even claimed Social Security is paying benefits to millions of long-dead individuals, though critics point out that those claims do not appear to be true.

The COBOL programming system used by the Social Security Administration marks incomplete entries with birthdates set 150 years back, according to the news magazine Wired. Those entries, however, generally do not receive benefits.

The Office of the Inspector General overseeing the Social Security Administration has repeatedly looked into these older entries. It confirmed that these entries are not active.

“We acknowledge that almost none of the numberholders discussed in the report currently receive SSA payments,” a report from 2023 said.

It also indicated that the Social Security Administration would have to pay between $5.5m and $9.7m to update its programming, though the changes would yield “limited benefits” in the fight against fraud.

Still, Trump doubled down on the claim that dead people were receiving benefits on Thursday.

“We had 12.4 million names where they were over 120 years old,” Trump said. “There were nearly 135,000 people listed who were over 160 years old and, in some cases, getting payments. So somebody’s getting those payments.”

Questions after ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’

Critics have also questioned whether Trump’s push to cut taxes will have long-term effects that erode Social Security.

In July, Trump’s signature piece of legislation, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), cemented his 2017 tax cuts. It also increased the tax deductions for earners who rely on tips or Social Security benefits.

But groups like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a bipartisan think tank, estimate that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will shorten the timeline for Social Security’s insolvency.

“The law dictates that when the trust funds deplete their reserves, payments are limited to incoming revenues,” the committee said in late July.

“For the Social Security retirement program, we estimate that means a 24 percent benefit cut in late 2032, after the enactment of OBBBA.”

Still, Trump has repeatedly promised to defend Social Security from any benefit cuts. He reiterated that pledge in Thursday’s appearance.

“American seniors, every single day, we’re going to fight for them. We’re going to make them richer, better, stronger in so many different ways,” Trump said.

“But Social Security is pretty much the one that we think about, and we love it, and we love what’s happening with it, and it’s going to be good for 90 years and beyond.”

More than 69.9 million Americans received Social Security benefits as of July.

Talks for an undisclosed stake come days after President Donald Trump called for Intel’s CEO to resign.

The administration of United States President Donald Trump is in talks with Intel to have the US government potentially take a stake in the chipmaker.

Intel’s shares surged more than 7 percent in regular trading and then another 2.6 percent after the bell on Thursday, following Bloomberg News’ initial report of the potential deal, which cited people familiar with the plan.

It is unclear what size stake the federal government will take, but Bloomberg reports that the deal will help “shore up” a planned factory in Ohio that has been delayed.

The plan stems from a meeting this week between Trump and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, the report said.

Tan also met Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“The meeting was a very interesting one,” Trump said on Truth Social on Monday, adding that his cabinet members and Tan are going to spend time together and bring suggestions to him during the next week.

The meeting came after Trump publicly demanded the resignation of Tan over his past investments in Chinese tech companies, some linked to the Chinese military.

Intel declined to comment on the report but said it was deeply committed to supporting Trump’s efforts to strengthen US technology and manufacturing leadership.

“Discussion about hypothetical deals should be regarded as speculation unless officially announced by the administration,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai.

The details of the stake and price are still being discussed, according to the report.

Struggling business

Any agreement and potential cash infusion will help the years-long efforts to turn around the company’s fortunes. Once the undisputed leader in chip manufacturing, Intel has lost its position in recent years.

The chipmaker’s stock market value has plummeted to $104bn from $288bn in 2020.

Intel’s profit margins – once the envy of the industry – are also at about half their historical highs.

Tan has been tasked to undo years of missteps that left Intel struggling to make inroads in the booming AI chip industry dominated by Nvidia, while investment-heavy contract manufacturing ambitions led to heavy losses.

Any agreement would likely help Intel build out its planned chip complex in Ohio, Bloomberg reported.

Intel’s planned $28bn chip fabrication plants in Ohio have been delayed, with the first unit now slated for completion in 2030 and operations to begin between 2030 and 2031, pushing the timeline back by at least five years.

Taking a stake in Intel would mark the latest move by Trump, a Republican, to deepen the government’s involvement in the US chip industry, seen as a vital security interest to the country.

Earlier this week, Trump made a deal with Nvidia to pay the US government a cut of its sales in exchange for resuming exports of banned AI chips to China.

Protests started last year after deadly collapse of rail station roof, with President Vucic accused of corruption.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets across Serbia, smashing windows of the governing party’s headquarters in the northern city of Novi Sad, where the country’s antigovernment revolt started more than nine months ago.

The protesters came out in force for a third night on Thursday, following major clashes earlier in the week that saw dozens detained or injured, demanding that President Aleksandar Vucic call an early election.

In Novi Sad, where a train station canopy collapsed last year, killing 16 people and creating public anger over alleged corruption in infrastructure projects, protesters attacked the offices of the governing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), carrying away furniture and documents, and splashing paint on the entrance.

“He is finished,” they shouted, with reference to the president as they demolished the offices. The police and Vucic’s supporters, who have guarded the office in Serbia’s second-largest city for months, were nowhere to be seen.

In Belgrade, the Serbian capital, hundreds of protesters and SNS supporters threw flares and firecrackers at each other on one of the city’s main boulevards. Police fired tear gas at least two locations to disperse the protesters and keep the opposing camps apart.

Similar protests were held in towns across the country.

Vucic told pro-government Informer television that “the state will win” as he announced a crackdown on antigovernment protesters, accusing them of inciting violence and of being “enemies of their own country”.

“I think it is clear they did not want peace and Gandhian protests. There will be more arrests,” he said during the broadcast.

He reiterated earlier claims that the protests have been organised from abroad, offering no evidence.

The previous night, there were gatherings at some 90 locations in the country, according to Interior Minister Ivica Dacic the following day.

Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said that 47 people were arrested in Wednesday’s clashes, with about 80 civilians and 27 police officers left injured.

The EU’s Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said on X that the reports of violence were “deeply concerning”.

“Advancing on the EU path requires citizens can express their views freely and journalists can report without intimidation or attacks,” Kos said on X.

The Serbian president denies allegations of allowing organised crime and corruption to flourish in the country, which is a candidate for European Union membership.