US President Donald Trump said he’s “not thrilled” about Israel’s deadly attack on Hamas in Qatar that targeted a residential compound in Doha, where a delegation was meeting to discuss the US’s ceasefire proposal for Gaza.
Published On 10 Sep 202510 Sep 2025
Just 41 percent of US firms optimistic about the five-year business outlook in China, chamber of commerce says.
Published On 10 Sep 202510 Sep 2025
US businesses in China are less optimistic about conditions in the country than at any point in the last quarter-century, a survey has revealed.
Only 41 percent of US businesses are optimistic about the five-year business outlook in China, according to the survey released on Wednesday by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.
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The figure, down from 47 percent in 2024, is the lowest since AmCham Shanghai began releasing its annual business report in 1999.
Just 45 percent of respondents said they expected revenues to increase in 2025, AmCham Shanghai said, which would be a record low if realised.
Just 12 percent ranked China as their headquarters’ top investment destination, also the lowest in the survey’s history, according to the business chamber.
Businesses cited US-China tensions and broader geopolitical pressures as the biggest challenges to operating.
Nearly half of respondents called for the removal of all US tariffs on Chinese goods, with 42 percent supporting the scrapping of Chinese tariffs on US products, according to AmCham Shanghai.
Despite the worsening sentiment, businesses also reported positive developments over the past year.
More than 70 percent of respondents said they were profitable in 2024, up from a record low of 66 percent in 2023.
And nearly half of respondents said the regulatory environment in China was transparent, a 13-percentage point jump from the previous year.
“Government efforts to improve the regulatory environment have been noticed by members, but they are overshadowed by US-China trade tensions,” AmCham Shanghai chair Jeffrey Lehman said in a statement.
“We urge both governments to create a stable and transparent framework that is conducive to cross-border trade and investment.”
The latest gauge of business sentiment comes as China’s slowing economy is facing a raft of challenges ranging from US President Donald Trump’s trade war to weak consumption and a years-long property downturn.
On Wednesday, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said that consumer prices fell in August at their fastest rate in six months, the latest sign of anaemic demand in the world’s second-largest economy.
Carsten Holz, an expert on the Chinese economy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said that the AmCham survey’s results showed that the uncoupling of the US and Chinese economies was “well under way.”
“The results mirror the findings of a May 2025 European Chamber of Commerce in China report that business optimism of European firms in China has never been as low as it currently is,” Holz told Al Jazeera.
“These findings are in line with China’s policy of achieving self-sufficiency across all sectors of its economy.”
Bolivia pulled off one of the biggest shocks of the South American qualifiers to reach the World Cup playoff round.
Published On 10 Sep 202510 Sep 2025
Bolivia shocked Brazil 1-0 to secure a spot in the intercontinental playoffs for next year’s World Cup, while Argentina suffered a 1-0 defeat by Ecuador in the final round of South America’s 2026 qualifiers on Tuesday night.
Bolivia’s Miguel Terceros converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time to secure the home win over five-time World Cup winners Brazil in La Paz, a result which saw Carlo Ancelotti’s side drop to fifth in the standings.
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Bolivia will be joined in the playoffs by two teams from CONCACAF as well as one each from the African, Asian and Oceania confederations, in the hunt for two places at the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
The playoffs will take place in Monterrey and Guadalajara in March.
While Ecuador and reigning champions Argentina had already qualified for the World Cup, there was no shortage of intensity in their match in Guayaquil.
Argentina’s Nicolas Otamendi was sent off in the 31st minute, and the hosts capitalised on their numerical advantage when Enner Valencia scored a penalty in first-half stoppage time.
Ecuador were also reduced to 10 men when Moises Caicedo was dismissed in the 50th minute, but they held firm to claim the 1-0 victory and go second in the table.
Argentina star Lionel Messi, who played his last official match at home last Thursday, did not suit up.
Despite the loss, Argentina retained top spot in the standings with 39 points, nine ahead of Ecuador.
Colombia secured third place with a 6-3 victory over Venezuela in Maturin, with Luis Suarez stealing the show by scoring four goals to extinguish Venezuelan hopes of clinching the playoff place.
Uruguay finished qualifying in fourth place following a 0-0 draw with Chile in Santiago, while Matias Galarza’s strike gave Paraguay a 1-0 win over Peru in Lima, leaving them in sixth place.
Sept. 10 (UPI) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would review a challenge to President Donald Trump‘s sweeping tariffs, expediting the case to be heard in two months.
The high court justices issued the one-page order that set the schedule for the case, with the arguments session to take place during the first week of November.
Trump asked the justices to intervene last week, seeking an early November review by the conservative-leaning high court to make a speedy decision on his controversial tariffs, after twice being told by the courts they are illegal.
“It is gratifying to see the Supreme Court accept these cases on an unusually fast track,” Andrew Morris, senior litigator with the New Civil Liberties Alliance, which filed amicus briefs against Trump’s tariffs in both cases challenging them, told UPI in an emailed statement.
“The court should act promptly to strike down the tariffs. It should hold that the president cannot invoke emergency powers — and national security — to impose tariffs on the American people.”
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has turned to tariffs as a key tool of his economic policy to right what he sees as unfair trading relationships that the United States has with other nations.
In April, he imposed a 10% tariff on nearly all goods imported from nearly all countries, followed by so-called reciprocal tariffs slapped on specific countries and at specific rates in order to redress those perceived negative trade imbalances.
Trump has argued he has the power to impose the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which permits the president to implement asset freezes, trade embargoes and other similar economic sanctions during a national emergency.
On April 22, the educational toy manufacturer Learning Resources Inc. sued the Trump administration, arguing the president did not have the power to impose sweeping tariffs, only Congress does.
“The Constitution vests the power to impose tariffs in Congress,” the company said in its complaint, while arguing Trump was misusing the IEEPA, which was intended to impose sanctions on foreign terrorist and hostile nations representing an unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. society.
“The statute does not mention tariffs or duties, and in the five decades and eight administrations since its enactment, no president besides President Trump has ever invoked IEEPA to impose a tariff or a duty.”
Several other lawsuits followed, and in May, the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York ruled against the Trump administration, finding the tariffs were illegal and that the IEEPA did not give the president import tax powers.
Late last month, a divided appeals court agreed. However, the tariffs remain in place, at least for now.
While Trump and his administration have boasted that the tariffs will raise billions in revenue, critics say it is the American public, and not the foreign companies, that are footing the bill.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles says large underwater attack drones have ‘very long range’ of operations.
Published On 10 Sep 202510 Sep 2025
Australia will spend 1.7 billion Australian dollars ($1.1bn) on a fleet of extra-large underwater “Ghost Shark” attack drones, in a move that officials said would supplement the country’s plans to acquire sophisticated nuclear-powered submarines.
Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said on Wednesday that the Ghost Shark autonomous underwater vehicles will complement Australia’s naval surface fleet and submarines to provide “a more capable and more lethal navy”.
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“This is a profoundly important capability for the Royal Australian Navy,” Marles said.
“We have consistently articulated that Australia faces the most complex, in some ways, the most threatening, strategic landscape that we have had since the end of the second world war,” Marles said.
The government said it signed the $1.1bn, five-year contract with Anduril Australia to build, maintain and develop the uncrewed undersea vehicles in Australia.
“This is the highest tech capability in the world,” Marles said, adding that the drones would have a “very long range” as well as stealth capabilities.
Australia is in the midst of a major military restructuring, focused on bolstering its long-range strike capabilities in an effort to balance China’s expanding military might in the Asia Pacific region.
Marles also said that Australia was now a leading player in “the world in terms of autonomous underwater military capabilities, and Ghost Shark is capable of engaging in intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike”.
Dozens of Ghost Sharks will be built in Australia, with opportunities to export to the country’s allies, Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said, adding that the first Ghost Sharks will be in service at the beginning of 2026.
Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Group has said it wants to incorporate autonomous technology into the country’s defence forces because Australia has a vast coastline and up to 3 million square kilometres (1.1 million square miles) of northern ocean that needs to be defended, but only a relatively sparse population.
Separately, Australia plans to build stealth, nuclear-powered submarines with the United Kingdom and the United States under the AUKUS programme over three decades.
But critics of the AUKUS deal in the US have questioned why Washington would sell nuclear-powered submarines to Australia without stocking its own military first.
As a result of the criticism, US President Donald Trump’s administration has put AUKUS under review to ensure it aligns with his “America First” agenda.
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says military defences deployed after ‘multiple violations of Polish airspace’.
Published On 10 Sep 202510 Sep 2025
Poland has shot down drones over its territory after repeated violations of its airspace during a Russian aerial attack on neighbouring Ukraine, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces said.
“During today’s attack by the Russian Federation targeting targets in Ukraine, our airspace was repeatedly violated by drones,” the Polish command said in a statement early on Wednesday.
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“At the request of the Operational Commander of the Armed Forces, weapons have been used, and operations are under way to locate the downed targets,” the military said.
The army said that Polish and NATO military aircraft had been mobilised to ensure airspace safety.
“Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness,” the operational command said.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed that an “operation is under way related to multiple violations of Polish airspace”.
Trwa operacja związana z wielokrotnym naruszeniem polskiej przestrzeni powietrznej. Przeciwko obiektom wojsko użyło uzbrojenia. Jestem w stałym kontakcie z Prezydentem i Ministrem Obrony. Odebrałem bezpośredni meldunek od dowódcy operacyjnego.
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) September 10, 2025
Translation: An operation is under way related to multiple violations of Polish airspace. The military used armaments against the objects. I am in constant contact with the President and the Minister of Defence. I received a direct report from the operational commander.
Earlier, it was reported that four airports in Poland, including its main Chopin airport in Warsaw, were closed due to military activity.
According to notices posted to the US Federal Aviation Administration’s website, the three other airports closed were Rzeszow–Jasionka airport, the Warsaw Modlin airport, and the Lublin airport. Poland’s military did not mention the airport closures.
The military mobilisation in Poland came after Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russian drones had entered Polish airspace, posing a threat to the city of Zamosc, but the air force later removed the statement from its Telegram messaging app.
Most of Ukraine, including the western regions of Volyn and Lviv, which border Poland, were under air raid alerts for several hours overnight, according to Ukraine’s Air Force data.
Poland said earlier that it planned to close its border with Belarus at midnight local time on Thursday (22:00 GMT, Wednesday) due to Russian-led military exercises scheduled to take place in Belarus.
Russia and Belarus’s large-scale military exercises, known as the “Zapad” drills, have raised security concerns in neighbouring NATO member states: Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. The “Zapad-2025” (West-2025) drills will be held in western Russia and Belarus from Friday.
Asked about the duration of the border closure, Polish Minister of Interior Marcin Kierwinski said it would only be reopened when the government was sure “there was no more threat to Polish citizens”.
The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had summoned the Polish charge d’affaires to complain about the border closure, which it said “caused significant difficulties”.
It described Poland’s move as “an abuse of its geographical position”.
“The temporary suspension of passage indicates rather an intention to conceal one’s own actions than the existence of any threat from Belarus,” the Foreign Ministry said.
Lithuania’s border guard said on Tuesday that the protection of its border with Belarus and Russia would be strengthened due to the exercises.
US President Donald Trump has called on the European Union to hit China and India with tariffs of up to 100% as part of his efforts to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, a source familiar with the discussions has told the BBC.
He made the demand, first reported by the Financial Times, during a meeting between US and EU officials on Tuesday discussing options to increase economic pressure on Russia.
The proposal comes as Trump struggles to broker a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv and as Russia’s strikes on Ukraine intensify.
Separately, Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he plans to talk to Putin on a call this week or early next week.
Ukraine’s main government building in Kyiv was struck by a Russian missile over the weekend – in an attack that was seen as both symbolic and a major increase of aggression by the Kremlin.
Over the weekend, attacks across the country marked the heaviest aerial bombardment on Ukraine since the war began. Ukraine said Russian forces used at least 810 drones and 13 missiles.
On Tuesday, more than 20 civilians were killed by a Russian glide bomb in the eastern Donbas region, as they queued to collect their pensions.
Speaking to reporters after the weekend bombardment, Trump said he was “not happy with the whole situation” and threatened harsher sanctions on the Kremlin.
The US president has previously threatened harsher measures against Russia, but not taken any action despite Putin ignoring his deadlines and threats of sanctions.
A highly anticipated summit between the leaders in Alaska last month ended without a peace deal.
Trump’s request to the European Union follows remarks from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said Washington was prepared to escalate economic pressure but needed stronger European backing.
Trump also said on Tuesday that the US and India were “continuing negotiations to address the Trade Barriers” between the two countries.
He planned to speak to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the coming weeks and expects a “successful conclusion” to their trade talks, he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
China and India are major purchasers of Russian oil, which helps to keep the Russian economy afloat.
Last month, the US imposed a 50% tariff on goods from India, which included a 25% penalty for its transactions with Russia.
Although the EU has said it would end its dependency on Russian energy, around 19% of its natural gas imports still come from Russia.
If the EU does impose the tariffs on China and India it would mark a change to its approach of attempting to isolate Russia with sanctions rather than trade levies.
1 of 3 | Federal investigators with the National Institute of Standards and Technology on Tuesday updated their investigation into the collapse of the Champlain Towers building. They analyzed building photos like the one shown, as well as other records to find signs of distress in the building. Photo by Miami-Dade County Open Data Hub/NIST
Sept. 9 (UPI) — A Miami area condo was showing visible signs of structural strains weeks before it collapsed and killed 98 people, federal investigators revealed Tuesday.
The update from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) comes four years after the catastrophic collapse of the Champlain Towers building in Surfside, Fla. The incident drew national headlines, leaving questions about what caused the 12-story building to suddenly fall apart.
NIST investigators determined that the collapse likely started in the building’s pool deck instead of the structure of the tower, aligning with preliminary findings into the cause of the incident. Co-lead investigator Glenn Bell said that “it is more likely that the failure started in a pool deck slab-column connection,” according to a news release.
Investigators used computer simulations, large-scale structural testing and signs that the building was in distress weeks before the collapse, according to the release. Those signs included a sliding glass door that had come off its frame, a horizontal crack in a planter wall and a vertical gate shifting so much that it became jammed and could not be opened.
The signs of distress were concentrated in a small area of the pool deck and the street-level parking lot, both of which began to give way at least seven minutes before the rest of the tower collapsed, the release stated. Additionally, a leak in part of the garage ceiling that was cracked had undergone many repairs and became significantly worse a day before the collapse, investigators found.
Investigators are fine-tuning their analysis of the role steel reinforcement corrosion, concrete shrinkage and shoddy construction joints in the pool deck slab had in the collapse. They intend to complete their technical work by the end of the year and draft reports on their findings. A significant update on the investigation is expected by spring 2026.
Previously, Surfside Mayor Charles W. Burkett suggested a sinkhole caused the collapse. Lawyers for victims also argued that construction on a neighboring luxury building destabilized the condos.
The collapse destroyed 55 condominium units and left the remaining 136 units to be demolished. In 202, a Miami Judge approved a $1 billion settlement to surviving family members, condo owners and people injured.
Lord Palmerston’s maxim that “We have no eternal allies nor perpetual enemies. “Our interests are eternal and perpetual,” aptly describes the rapidly changing nature of India-China relations. Border strife has been the norm between the two nations for decades, shaping their strategic stances. However, October 2024 saw a minor thaw in relations, with New Delhi and Beijing coming to terms with a major agreement on patrolling protocols along the disputed LAC. This breakthrough led to a series of high-level diplomatic engagements in a carefully measured but pragmatic manner. More importantly, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping engaged in direct bilateral talks at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, which was followed by a defense ministers’ conversation during the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting in November. The momentum then carried over into December in the form of the revival of the India–China Special Representatives Meeting, one of the important strategic platforms that had been asleep for five years. Although these developments do not eliminate deeply ingrained strategic distrust, they demonstrate a realist convergence; both nations are putting national interests ahead of ideological or historical animosities, embracing engagement rather than isolation as a way to manage competition and maintain regional stability.
In August 2025, Mr. Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Affairs Minister, visited India after three years for the improvement of the relationship between the two nuclear and emerging regional states. During his stay in India, Wang Yi co-chaired the 24th round of the Special Representatives’ Dialogue on the Boundary Question between India and China with the National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval. He also had bilateral discussions with Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar and met Prime Minister Modi. His visit after the 2020 Galwan clashes between India and China primarily concentrated on bilateral issues like border stabilization, economic cooperation, and regional security.
Therefore, Mr. Wang Yi’s visit to India marks a recalibration of ties based on a healthy and stable India-China relationship that serves the long-term interests of both countries.Secondly, the visit preceded PM Modi’s trip to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, his first visit in seven years, thereby laying the groundwork for stronger bilateral engagements. Thirdly, the visit came at a crucial time, as both countries face pressure from shifting US trade orientations, resulting in a push for pragmatic recalibration of ties and a strategic embrace on both sides.
However, during the month of February 2025, the Indian government ordered the erasure of 119 Chinese applications from the Google Play Store and, by June, announced a five-year tariff on imports of Chinese industrial inputs, which read as putting up a false facade of resistance against Beijing. However, the most compelling contrast comes from the diplomatic posture of India; calling for normalization with China while acting tough on them quite literally sounded like shouting at a neighbor while still borrowing sugar from them. Abandonment by America becomes evident for Modi; therefore, his choice of dialogue with Beijing reinforces both strategic weakness and duplicitous diplomacy. After many years during which warnings on Chinese expansionism were issued, the border may remain tense, but New Delhi seems determined to maintain good relations with China. This very decision of shaking hands underscored India’s inability to match China on political, strategic, and economic fronts. Meanwhile, Wang Yi’s parallel visits to Pakistan and Afghanistan highlight Beijing’s much broader regional priorities, reminding New Delhi just how far it is from being at the very center of China’s diplomacy.
The SCO Summit in Beijing saw the attendance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who sought to mend ties between China and India after a period of tension; however, unresolved grievances cast serious doubts on the sustainability of this rapprochement. In the short term, ties may improve, since India has realized how great the necessity for cooperation with China has become in pushing its economic ambitions. This necessity to engage China more aggressively is driven especially in light of strained relations with the US under Trump’s steep tariffs. However, deep sensitivities on sovereignty and territorial integrity argue against any form of a sustainable relationship with China, beginning at the Sino-Indian border conflict and continuing through Arunachal Pradesh and Kashmir to China’s stance on Tibet. Mutual suspicion over regional engagements also exists, fueled by Beijing’s relations with Pakistan and New Delhi’s burgeoning naval cooperation in Asia. Contrasting language in the Modi–Xi meeting readouts, with India stressing a “multi-polar Asia” while China glossed over it, further reflects differing perspectives on the regional order. Through the stopover of Modi in Japan before going to Beijing and participation in the SCO Summit while skipping China’s Victory Day celebrations, it shows India’s cautious attempts to consolidate strategic autonomy, moving closer to both China and Russia while not disturbing the US or the West. If there is not any forward movement on the substantive disputes, the tensions will resurface in time, making any sustainable rapprochement between India and China again very unlikely, even if large-scale conflict does not seem to be a strong possibility.
In short, India and China may converge temporarily out of pragmatism, but without resolving core disputes, trust will remain elusive. New Delhi’s balancing act between Beijing, Washington, and Moscow highlights both its ambitions and vulnerabilities. Lasting peace requires more than symbolic summits—it demands substantive compromises on sovereignty, security, and regional influence. Until then, rapprochement will remain fragile, an uneasy truce rather than a genuine transformation.
Israel’s attack that killed six in Doha draws criticism from across the world as Israeli troops continue to bombard Gaza.
Published On 10 Sep 202510 Sep 2025
Israel’s military described its attack on a residential complex in central Doha, Qatar, as a “precise” attack.
In an official statement on Tuesday, the Palestinian movement Hamas said the attack killed five of its members, and a Qatari officer, but did not eliminate its negotiating delegation or any of its senior leadership.
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Here is what we know about the victims, and the senior leaders who were targeted – but who appear to have survived the attack:
Reports say the strike targeted senior Hamas figures, including Khalil al-Hayya, the group’s exiled Gaza leader and main negotiator.
Al-Hayya rose in importance after the killings of top Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, and military commander Mohammed Deif last year. Sinwar, who had taken charge in Gaza after Haniyeh’s death, was killed later in 2024.
With those losses, al-Hayya is now one of five leaders steering Hamas’s leadership council.
The leadership council refers to the temporary, five-member ruling committee that was formed in late 2024 to govern the group during the war.
Born in the Gaza Strip in 1960, al-Hayya has been part of Hamas since it was set up in 1987, but he became especially important on the diplomatic front, based mainly in Qatar, which became the main hub for mediation with other countries, including Israel, Egypt, and the United States.
Operating outside Gaza allowed him to travel and coordinate between neighbouring countries without the constraints of the Israeli blockade on Gaza. Al-Hayya has also led Hamas’s delegations in mediated talks with Israel to try to secure a Gaza ceasefire deal.
Al-Hayya’s own family have suffered as a result of Israeli attacks: During the 2014 war, an Israeli strike destroyed the house of his eldest son, Osama, killing him, his wife, and three of their children, and during Tuesday’s attack, his son, Humam, was also killed.
But he stressed that the loss of any lives is tragic. “The blood of the leadership of the movement is like the blood of any Palestinian child,” he told Al Jazeera.
Zaher Jabarin is believed to also have been a target of Israel’s attack. He currently serves as the movement’s chief financial administrator.
Earlier in 1993, Israel arrested Jabarin and sentenced him to life imprisonment. He spent almost two decades in prison before being released in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange.
Following his release, Jabarin rose quickly through Hamas ranks. He became head of the group’s financial bureau, managing and overseeing an extensive investment and funding network. He currently also heads Hamas in the occupied West Bank, and he is one of the five members of the leadership council.
The leaders assassinated during Israel’s attack in Qatar also include:
The sixth person killed, according to Qatar, was Corporal Bader Saad Mohammed al-Humaidi al-Dosari, a member of the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya).
With many of Hamas’s leadership killed since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, the group formed a five-man leadership council – which includes al-Hayya and Jabarin – and also has a senior military figure in Gaza itself.
Izz al-Din al-Haddad
Al-Haddad became the most senior Hamas military leader in the Gaza Strip after Sinwar’s death. Israel considers him one of the masterminds behind October 7 and has placed him on its most-wanted list. He is not a member of the five-man leadership council.
Khaled Meshaal
Khaled Meshaal, 68, has been a senior political leader of Hamas, a Palestinian resistance movement, since the 1990s. He became known when Israeli agents attempted to inject a slow-acting lethal chemical into his ear on a public street in Jordan, but the operation was botched, and the men were soon arrested. He is now based in Qatar, serving on the leadership council.
“It is true that in reality, there will be an entity or a state called Israel on the rest of Palestinian land,” Meshaal has said. “But I won’t deal with it in terms of recognising or admitting it.”
Mohammad Darwish
He is also based in Qatar, and is the nominal head of Hamas’s leadership council. According to reports, in early 2025, he met Turkiye’s President Erdogan and publicly endorsed the idea of a technocratic or national unity government for post-war Gaza.
Awadallah is a long-time Hamas leader. He is seen as one of Hamas’s original members and has held several important positions, including in its armed wing. Since the October 7 attacks, he has not spoken publicly or appeared in the media.
Sept. 9 (UPI) — NASA invited the public on Tuesday to grab a boarding pass and be a part of the space agency’s test flight of its Artemis II mission set to launch four astronauts into orbit next year.
Officials at the U.S. space agency NASA said its public effort to involve civilians in the orbital venture around the moon and back in the Artemis test mission flight means individual spots for “Send Your Name with Artemis II” need to be claimed before January 21.
The Artemis II program is a “key test flight in our effort to return humans to the moon’s surface and build toward future missions to Mars,” according to Lori Glaze, NASA’s acting associate director for exploration systems development based in the nation’s capital.
NASA is prepping for its 10-day Artemis II 1 mission next year that will send a crew of four astronauts around the moon in the bid to prep for future crewed landings on Earth’s neighboring satellite and beyond.
Notably, Artemis II will carry the first woman and person of color to the lunar surface in what has been described by NASA as a so-called “Golden Age of innovation and exploration.”
America’s NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, are set to lift off no later than April aboard the Orion spacecraft and its space launch system rocket as the first crewed flight under NASA’s Artemis campaign.
“And it’s also an opportunity to inspire people across the globe and to give them an opportunity to follow along as we lead the way in human exploration deeper into space,” Glaze said in a statement.
NASA’s “send your name” initiative for the Artemis space mission with allow a person to send an individual name on an SD card along with the four-person crew as they test their rocket for critical hardware systems required for deep space exploration.
And, on return to Earth, participants can download their personalized inscribed boarding pass as a collectable.
“Your name could be flying to the Moon!” Canada’s space agency posted Tuesday on X as it called out for virtual crew members to fly alongside CSA’s Hansen on Orion.
NASA officials — who’ve assigned both English and Spanish sign-up portals — have called it yet “another step” toward new U.S.-crewed moon surface missions on the way toward ultimately sending the first American astronauts to Mars for the first time.
As the world’s attention was focused on Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Israeli forces continued their unrelenting bombardment of Gaza, killing more than 50 people on Tuesday.
Among the dead are nine Palestinians, who had gathered in the enclave’s south seeking aid. Israel pressed on with its offensive in Gaza City after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Palestinians to flee to the south for their lives.
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The Wafa news agency reported that a drone strike on a makeshift tent sheltering displaced families at Gaza’s port killed two civilians and injured others. Warplanes also hit several residential buildings, including four homes in the al-Mukhabarat area and the Zidan building northwest of Gaza City, it reported.
Another house was reportedly bombed in the Talbani neighbourhood of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, while two young men were killed in an attack on civilians in the az-Zarqa area of Tuffah, northeast of Gaza City.
Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency confirmed footage showing an Israeli strike on the Ibn Taymiyyah mosque in Deir el-Balah. The video captured a flash of light before the mosque’s minaret was enveloped in smoke. Despite the blast, the minaret appeared to remain standing.
Israel issued new evacuation threats on Monday, releasing maps warning Palestinians to leave a highlighted building and nearby tents on Jamal Abdel Nasser Street in Gaza City or face death. It told residents to move to the so-called “humanitarian area” in al-Mawasi, a barren stretch of coast in southern Gaza.
But al-Mawasi itself has been repeatedly bombed, despite Israel insisting it is a safe zone. At the start of the year, about 115,000 people lived there. Today, aid agencies estimate that more than 800,000 people – nearly a third of Gaza’s population – are crammed into overcrowded makeshift camps.
Philippe Lazzarini, the chief of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, described al-Mawasi as a vast camp “concentrating hungry Palestinians in despair”.
“There is no safe place in Gaza, let alone a humanitarian zone. Warnings of famine have fallen on deaf ears,” he said.
The Palestinian Civil Defence warned that “Gaza City is burning, and humanity is being annihilated”.
The rescue agency said that in just 72 hours, five high-rise towers containing more than 200 apartments were destroyed, leaving thousands of people homeless.
More than 350 tents sheltering displaced families were also flattened, it added, forcing nearly 7,600 people to sleep in the open, “struggling against death, hunger, and unbearable heat”.
More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed, some 20,000 of them children, in the Israeli offensive, which has been dubbed a genocide by numerous scholars and activists. The International Criminal Court has also issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes.
The Government Media Office in Gaza said that more than 1.3 million people remain in Gaza City and surrounding areas, despite Israeli attempts to push them south. It described the evacuation orders as an effort to carry out “the crime of forced displacement in violation of all international laws”.
More than 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced multiple times in 23 months of genocidal war, and an Israeli curb on aid entry, including food items, has led to starvation deaths. Last month, a UN agency declared famine in Gaza, affecting half a million people.
On Tuesday morning, Palestinians in central Gaza staged a protest against the latest evacuation orders.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said that demonstrators carried banners reading, “We will not leave”, and “Not going out”.
“The primary goal of the [Israeli] occupation is displacement,” said Bajees al-Khalidi, a displaced Palestinian at the protest. “But there’s no place left, not in the south, nor the north. We’ve become completely trapped.”
Violence also flared in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces killed two teenagers in the Jenin refugee camp, according to the Wafa news agency.
Mourners on Tuesday buried 14-year-old Islam Noah, who was shot while attempting to enter the besieged refugee camp. A funeral was also held for another 14-year-old, Muhammad Alawneh. Two others were wounded in the same incident.
Israel sent missiles at Doha as Hamas leaders were meeting in the Qatari capital for talks on the latest ceasefire proposal from the United States to end the war in Gaza. Hamas said five people were killed, while Qatar said a security official was also among the dead. Hamas said its leadership survived the assassination attempt.
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani condemned Israel’s “reckless criminal attack” in a phone call with US President Donald Trump. Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani called the attack “state terrorism”.
The Qatari prime minister said Doha would continue to work to end Israel’s war on Gaza, but raised doubts about the viability of the most recent talks. “When it comes to the current talks, I don’t think there is something valid right now after we’ve seen such an attack,” he said.
Qatar has sent a letter to the UN Security Council, condemning what it calls a cowardly Israeli assault on residential buildings in Doha.
The Doha attack has drawn global condemnation, with the UN chief calling it a “flagrant violation” of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar.
The White House claimed that the US had warned Qatar of the impending strike, but Doha rejected that account, insisting the warning came only after the bombing had begun.
Trump later said he felt “very badly about the location of the attack” and that he had assured Qatar that it would not happen again.
“This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals.”
US President Trump confirms Elizabeth Tsurkov freed after being held by Iraqi group amid spy claims.
Published On 9 Sep 20259 Sep 2025
Israeli-Russian academic and Princeton University student Elizabeth Tsurkov has been freed in Iraq after spending more than two years in the custody of an Iraqi armed group, US President Donald Trump has announced.
“I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton Student, whose sister is an American Citizen, was just released by Kata’ib Hezbollah (MILITANT Hezbollah), and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months. I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up. HAMAS, RELEASE THE HOSTAGES, NOW!” Trump posted on TruthSocial on Tuesday, referring at the end to the captives held in Gaza, who were taken from Israel during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack.
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Kataib Hezbollah, which is a separate entity from the armed group Hezbollah in Lebanon, is part of Iraq’s security apparatus under the umbrella of the state-funded Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a Shia paramilitary dominated by Iran-backed armed groups.
Tsurkov, who was accused of being a spy, disappeared in Baghdad in March 2023, while conducting academic research. She was last seen in the Karrada district before reports surfaced that Kata’ib Hezbollah had abducted her. Her case remained secret for months until Israel’s prime minister’s office confirmed in July 2023 that she had been abducted. It said the Iraqi government was responsible for her safety.
The 37-year-old holds both Israeli and Russian passports and had entered Iraq on her Russian travel documents, according to Israeli authorities.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani confirmed that Tsurkov had been released and said, “We reaffirm, once again, that we will not tolerate any compromise in enforcing the law and upholding the authority of the state, nor will we allow anyone to undermine the reputation of Iraq and its people.”
In November 2023, Iraqi state television aired footage of Tsurkov in which she claimed to be working for both Mossad and the CIA, allegations her family rejected as coerced confessions.
The precise terms of her release remain unclear. Earlier this year, reports suggested that Washington and Baghdad were engaged in negotiations over her case.
There were reports of a possible deal for the release of Tsurkov in January.
After Trump’s announcement, her sister Emma Tsurkov, who has campaigned publicly for her freedom, expressed relief in a post on X.
“My entire family is incredibly happy. We cannot wait to see Elizabeth and give her all the love we have been waiting to share for 903 days. We are so thankful to President Trump and his Special Envoy, Adam Boehler. If Adam had not made my sister’s return his personal mission, I do not know where we would be,” she wrote.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also confirmed her release, crediting months of work led by Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for captives and missing people. “Through a team effort … after great efforts, we succeeded in bringing about her release,” Netanyahu said.
The Supreme Court has scheduled to hear the case in November, lightning fast by its typical standards.
Published On 9 Sep 20259 Sep 2025
The United States Supreme Court has granted an unusually quick hearing on whether President Donald Trump has the power to impose sweeping tariffs under federal law.
The justices said on Tuesday that they will hear arguments in November, which is lightning fast by the typical standards of the nation’s highest court.
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The small businesses and states that challenged the tariffs in court also agreed to the accelerated timetable. They say Trump illegally used emergency powers to set import taxes on goods from almost every country in the world, nearly driving their businesses to bankruptcy.
The justices also agreed to hear a separate challenge to Trump’s tariffs brought by a family-owned toy company, Learning Resources.
Two lower courts have found that most of the tariffs were illegally imposed, though a 7-4 appeals court has left them in place for now.
The levies are part of a trade war instigated by Trump since he returned to the presidency in January, which has alienated trading partners, increased volatility in financial markets and driven global economic uncertainty.
Trump has made tariffs a key foreign policy tool, using them to renegotiate trade deals, extract concessions and exert political pressure on countries. Revenue from tariffs totalled $159bn by late August, more than double what it was at the same point a year earlier.
The Trump administration asked the justices to intervene quickly, arguing the law gives him the power to regulate imports and that the country would be on “the brink of economic catastrophe” if the president were barred from exercising unilateral tariff authority.
The case will come before a court that has been reluctant to check Trump’s extraordinary flex of executive power. One big question is whether the justices’ own expansive view of presidential authority allows for Trump’s tariffs without the explicit approval of Congress, which the US Constitution endows with the power to levy tariffs.
Three of the justices on the conservative-majority court were nominated by Trump in his first term.
US Solicitor General D John Sauer has argued that the lower court rulings are already impacting those trade negotiations. Treasury might take a hit by having to refund some of the import taxes it has collected, Trump administration officials have said. A ruling against the tariffs could even hamper the nation’s ability to reduce the flow of fentanyl and efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, Sauer argued.
The administration did win over four appeals court judges who found the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, lets the president regulate importation during emergencies without explicit limitations. In recent decades, Congress has ceded some tariff authority to the president, and Trump has made the most of the power vacuum.
The case involves two sets of import taxes, both of which Trump justified by declaring a national emergency: the tariffs first announced in April and the ones from February on imports from Canada, China and Mexico.
It does not include his levies on foreign steel, aluminium and autos, or the tariffs Trump imposed on China in his first term that were kept by former President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
Trump can impose tariffs under other laws, but those have more limitations on the speed and severity with which he could act.
Sept. 9 (UPI) — Ukrainian drones struck the Russian city of Sochi early Tuesday morning hours after President Vladimir Putin joined a virtual meeting with other world leaders from the Black Sea vacation destination.
Russian air defenses intercepted 31 Ukrainian drones in the attack, shooting down about half over the Black Sea in the overnight attack, military officials told the state-run TASS news agency.The attack damaged six homes and killed one person in Sochi after drone debris fell on the car he was driving, Krasnodar Region Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev, told TASS.
The strike came in response to Russia’s growing wave of drone attacks that are meant to overwhelm Ukraine‘s air defenses. The same morning, more than 20 people in Ukraine waiting in lines for pensions were killed by a Russian drone attack.
While it’s unclear if Putin was in Sochi during the attack, the Russian leader was at his residence in the city where he participated in a video conference with other leaders in BRICS, an intergovernmental organization intended to be a counterweight to the United States and Europe, according to a Kremlin readout.
Hours earlier a Il-96-300PU aircraft of the Rossiya squadron arrived in Sochi, reported the independent news outlet Agentstvo, citing flight data. That plane had the tail number RA-96024, which was the same as the aircraft Putin used to fly to Alaska to meet with President Donald Trump last month, according to the new outlet.
Russian authorities closed the airport in Sochi in response to the attacks, reported independent new outlet Meduza.
Sochi hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics and is regarded as Russia’s top resort city. Putin previously spent weeks at his residence “Bocharov Ruchey” in Sochi but has avoided visiting the city since Ukraine increased drone strikes, according to the news outlet.
US President Donald Trump has said Israel’s strike on Hamas targets in Qatar “does not advance Israel or America’s goals”, adding that he feels “very badly” about the location of the attack.
In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump said he was notified that Israel was attacking Hamas in the capital Doha by the US military, but it was “unfortunately, too late to stop the attack”.
“This was a decision made by [Israel’s] Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” he said, before praising Qatar as a “strong ally and friend”.
Six people were killed in the strike, Hamas said, including one member of the Qatari security forces, but the group said its leadership team survived.
The Israeli military said it had conducted a “precise strike” targeted at Hamas senior leaders using “precise munitions”. Israeli media reported the operation involved 15 Israeli fighter jets, which fired 10 munitions against a single target.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he authorised the strike and there would be “no immunity” for Hamas leaders.
In his statement on Tuesday, President Trump issued a rare rebuke of Netanyahu. “Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals,” he wrote.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said earlier that “The president also spoke to the emir and prime minister of Qatar and thanked them for their support and friendship to our country.”
“He assured them that such a thing will not happen again on their soil,” she added.
Trump said, however, that “eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal” and reiterated that he wants “ALL of the hostages, and the bodies of the dead released and this War to END, NOW!”.
The attack took place on early Tuesday afternoon, with footage showing a badly damaged building in Doha.
Qatar’s foreign ministry condemned the strike “in the strongest possible terms,” and said the attack was a “blatant violation” of international law.
It later said that Qatari officials were not notified of the Israeli strike ahead of time.
“The communication received from one of the US officials came during the sound of explosions,” said Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari in a post on X.
Qatar has hosted Hamas’s political bureau since 2012 and played a key role in facilitating indirect negotiations between the group and Israel since the 7 October attacks.
It has also been a close ally of the US. Around 10,000 American troops are stationed at a US airbase in al-Udeid, just outside Doha. In May, Trump announced a “historic” economic agreement signed between the two countries that he said is valued at least $1.2 trillion (£890bn).
Qatar has also recently gifted Trump a plane – valued at $400m – as an “unconditional gift” to be used as the new Air Force One, the official aircraft of the US president.
Hamas said their negotiating team in Doha survived Tuesday’s attack, adding that the action “confirms beyond doubt that Netanyahu and his government do not want to reach any agreement” for peace.
It said it holds the US administration “jointly responsible” due to its ongoing support of Israel.
The office for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu put out a statement shortly after the strike, which said the attack was “a wholly independent Israeli operation”.
“Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility,” the statement said.
A few days prior to the attack, Hamas said it welcomed “some ideas” from the US on how to reach a Gaza ceasefire, and that it was discussing how to turn them “into a comprehensive agreement”.
In its statement, the White House said Trump believes the “unfortunate” attack “could serve as an opportunity for peace,” and that Netanyahu had expressed to him after the attack that “he wants to make peace and quickly”.
Published On 9 Sep 20259 Sep 2025
French President Emmanuel Macron has named his defence minister and close ally, Sebastien Lecornu, as the new prime minister after Prime Minister Francois Bayrou resigned after losing a confidence vote.
Lecornu, 39, the fifth prime minister in less than two years, has major challenges ahead, including resolving a deepening political crisis as protests loom in the coming days.
“The President of the Republic has entrusted me with the task of building a government with a clear direction: the defence of our independence and power, the service of the French people, and political and institutional stability for the unity of the country,” the incoming prime minister said.
The French parliament – the National Assembly – on Monday voted to remove Bayrou over his proposed $51bn in budget cuts to address the country’s debt crisis. The formal handover of power between Bayrou and Lecornu is due to take place on Wednesday.
Macron’s decision to choose Lecornu, analysts say, is an indication that he intends to continue on with a minority government that supports his pro-business economic reform agenda. In the 577-member National Assembly, the left bloc, which has opposed Macron’s pro-business policy, has most seats but not enough to form a government.
The appointment of Lecornu, a one-time conservative, risks alienating France’s centre-left Socialist Party, which leaves Macron’s government depending on Marine Le Pen and the far-right National Rally for support in parliament.
“Regardless of Sebastien Lecornu’s personal qualities, his nomination is a slap in the face of parliament,” Philippe Brun, the Socialist lawmaker who has been in charge of budget negotiations, told Reuters.
However, Jordan Bardella, seen as Le Pen’s protege, seemed willing to give Lecornu a chance.
“We will judge, without illusion, the new prime minister on his merits,” he said, adding that the party still kept strict “red lines”.
France, the European Union’s second-biggest economy, seems on the brink of yet another period of instability.
The immediate reason for Bayrou’s fall was his budget proposal for next year. His unpopular 44-billion-euro ($51bn) deficit-reduction plan, including freezing most welfare spending and scrapping two public holidays, has been widely rejected by parliamentarians.
The French budget deficit is now nearly 169 billion euros ($198bn), or 5.8 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), well above the 3 percent limit set by the European Union for countries using the euro. Investors worry that France’s persistent deficits will cause ever-higher debt ratios and undermine its credit score.
Before Monday’s vote, Bayrou warned lawmakers: “You have the power to bring down the government, but you do not have the power to erase reality. Reality will remain relentless: expenses will continue to rise, and the burden of debt, already unbearable, will grow heavier and more costly.”
The prime minister’s proposals came on top of Macron’s unpopular 2023 move to raise France’s retirement age by two years to 64. At the time, the president argued that excessive pension payments were a drag on the country’s finances.
As Macron grapples with the collapse of his fourth government in less than two years, French citizens are planning to take to the streets this week in “Block Everything” protests.
The movement, which lacks centralised leadership and planning, is threatening widespread disruption this week.
“The public authorities and the government have betrayed us so much that I’m not sure they can really meet the expectations of the people,” Louise Nechin, a left-wing activist in Paris, told Reuters.
The protests have drawn comparisons with 2018’s “yellow vest” demonstrations, with protesters at the time setting fire to makeshift barricades and vehicles.
The November 2018 protests, which began over planned hikes in diesel taxes, widened into an uprising against Macron’s policies and became the biggest challenge to his presidency at the time.
The hum of a generator was the sound of success for Uzor Igwe. In his small but bustling workshop in Lilu town, Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria, the 38-year-old master technician could detect a faulty coil or a clogged carburettor just by listening. His grease-stained hands were tools of precision, restoring electricity to homes and businesses. For years, he was a pillar of his community, a man who fixed things.
Today, the only thing Uzor is trying to fix is his life. He now lives in Asaba, in the country’s South South, where the sound of generators is a painful reminder of all he has lost.
Uzor’s story is the human cost of the violence that has transformed his hometown of Lilu into a part of a larger place locals fearfully call “another Sambisa,” alluding to the famous Sambisa forest in faraway northeastern Nigeria, where Boko Haram combatants have taken shelter. His thriving generator repair business, built over 15 years, was ultimately another casualty of gunmen who held his community hostage.
“I had two apprentices, three benches full of tools I collected over a lifetime, and customers from three local governments,” Uzor recalls. “On a good week, I could fix ten, fifteen generators. I was training others; I was providing. I was happy.”
The winds of fear now sweep through the forests and farmlands of southeastern Nigeria. Once-vibrant towns have withered into haunted shells of their former selves, as armed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) fighters and their affiliates loom over daily life.
Police officers often wear muftis to avoid being targeted. “Everyone is afraid to speak,” said a senior police officer who served in Imo for “two dreaded years” before he begged his superiors to transfer him to Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital. The climate of fear over the daily loss of lives, rape of women, and trade across the region is palpable.
At the core of this situation is a complex combination of separatist unrest, violent crimes like murders committed against civilians and state actors, and arson on official facilities and assets that is comparable to terrorism, as well as a lack of effective official security.
The descent began around 2021. IPOB, a separatist group long declared a terror group by the Nigerian government, were violent in their efforts to establish an independent country of Biafra in the country’s South East and some parts of the South-South.
They enforced an illegal sit-at-home order on Mondays and Thursdays, which crippled businesses like Uzor’s, brutalised citizens, and spread propaganda online. The order was a protest to the government to release the group’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who had been in detention for years.
Since then, over 700 people have been killed by the group, and economic losses are estimated at ₦7.6 trillion, according to SBM Intelligence.
In Lilu, the sounds of power bikes and sporadic gunfire began to compete with the hum of Uzor’s generators. Customers became too afraid to venture out. His apprentices, fearing being conscripted or caught in the crossfire, stopped coming.
HumAngle had previously collected open-source data from over 100 locations in the South East to track the effect of the sit-at-home order on businesses like Uzor’s and public spaces. We found that Anambra, where he was located, experienced 11 reported cases of violence from the group in efforts to ensure compliance with the order last year. The threat of violence has resulted in significantly lower activity in the region than in other parts of the country on those days.
“The final straw was not even for me, but for my family,” Uzor says, his gaze dropping. His father, a retired teacher, passed away from illness in early 2024. Instead of a time for mourning and tradition, the family was plunged into a grotesque negotiation.
“We were told we had to pay a levy to bury our own father,” Uzor explains, the absurdity of the statement still raw. “₦200,000 for permission to lay a good man to rest. The same boys who might have been responsible for killing our neighbours were now taxing our grief. We paid. What choice did we have? But paying for my father’s burial with that money… it killed something in me.”
He knew then that Lilu could no longer be his home. The risk of being killed for refusing to comply, or for simply being in the wrong place, was too high. With his business already dead, he feared his life would be next.
With only what they could carry, Uzor, his wife, and their two young children fled under the cover of night, becoming displaced people in their country. They left behind his workshop, his tools, his client ledger—the entire architecture of his livelihood.
Now in Asaba, he is starting from zero. The small room he rents doubles as a home and a struggling new workshop. His tools are a cheap, basic set. He has no network, no reputation, and is just one of many technicians in a crowded city.
“Here, I am nobody. I have to beg for jobs that pay little. I compete with boys half my age,” he says, wiping his hands on a rag that sees less grease these days. “Sometimes a whole week will pass, and this toolbox will not even open.”
The struggle is both financial and psychological; the confidence of a master craftsman has been replaced by the anxiety of a newcomer.
“In Lilu, I was Uzor, the man who could fix anything,” he adds. “Here, I am just a man from the troubled East, trying to survive. I lost my community, my identity, and my father’s grave is in a land I am now afraid to visit.”
He prays for peace, not just for the safety of those left behind, but for the chance to one day reclaim the fragments of the life he was forced to abandon.
Sept. 9 (UPI) — Apple debuted its new iPhone 17 during its annual Apple Event on Tuesday, with four new models including the thin iPhone Air, a base model and the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models.
The phones go on sale Sept. 19, with preorders starting Friday.
The event, titled, “Awe Dropping,” showcased the latest versions of its flagship devices.
The Apple Watch 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3 are the company’s latest smartwatches, with Apple launching a new standard smartwatch, and other entry-level and premium wearables. Apple also unveiled new AirPod Pro 3 earbuds.
The base model phone, which has upgraded storage, still starts at $799. The iPhone 17 Pro now costs $1,099, which is a $100 price raise from the iPhone 16 Pro. But the new phone comes with 256GB of storage.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max starts at $1,199, the same as last year’s model.
The new iPhone Air debuts at $999. It’s $100 more than the iPhone 16 Plus it replaces in the lineup.
Apple says it made changes to the iPhone 17 Pro to manage the temperature of the device. There’s a new vapor chamber to help dissipate heat and deliver thermal performance.
Apple also launched iOS 26 with a new design, Apple Intelligence capabilities and improvements to apps. The new design is called Liquid Glass, which “makes apps and system experiences more expressive and delightful, bringing greater focus to content while keeping iOS instantly familiar,” Apple said. It will be released Monday.
Apple Intelligence now translates text and audio with Live Translation, helping users communicate across languages in Messages, FaceTime and phone, the company said.
Apple also introduced N1, a new Apple-designed wireless networking chip that enables Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. N1 improves the overall performance and reliability of features such as Personal Hotspot and AirDrop, the company said.
The new Apple Watch 11 offers longer battery life, more durable cover glass and 5G cellular capabilities in the thinnest design yet, Apple said. The new watch can notify users of chronic high blood pressure and better sleep insights. The watch has up to 24 hours of battery life and new glass that’s more scratch-resistant.
The new watch OS 26 has Workout Buddy, powered by Apple Intelligence, a wrist flick gesture and new watch faces. The Watch 11 is available for pre-order now and is available Sept. 19.
The new AirPods Pro 3 claims the world’s best in-ear active noise cancellation, removing up to two times more noise than the previous-generation AirPods Pro. The updated design helps AirPods Pro 3 fit better and offers better in-ear stability during activities. The AirPods Pro 3 can now measure heart rate and track over 50 workout types in the Fitness app on the iPhone. They also offer Live Translation. Pre-orders are available and the AirPods will come out Sept. 19.
Apple’s latest product announcements apparently didn’t excite investors. Apple shares were down about 1.5% when the event was over.
During an earnings call in July, Apple chief executive Tim Cook mentioned the company was working on a more personalized Siri, and it is expected to be released next year.