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Palestinian medics report that Israeli strikes killed 14 people in Gaza the previous day.
Israeli military strikes killed at least fourteen Palestinians in Gaza Strip during the past 24 hour, said the Gaza Strip's Health Ministry on Sunday. Arab and U.S. mediators are working to maintain a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas. Palestinian officials claim that Israeli fire has killed dozens of Palestinians despite the truce on January 19, which halted major fighting in Gaza. Israel's army has stated that its forces have intervened in order to stop "terrorists", who were threatening its troops, or those who had planted bombs. Gaza's Health Ministry reported that the majority of recent deaths occurred on Saturday, when an Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahiya killed nine Palestinians, including four journalists. Six men, whom Israel's military identified as being members of Hamas' armed wing and Islamic Jihad, a militant group that is allied with Hamas, were killed in this strike. The Israeli military said that some militants were operating "under the cover" of journalists. Salama Marouf is the head of Hamas' Gaza government media. She said that the statement made by the military about the incident contained names of people not present. Marouf claimed that the report was based "without bothering to check the facts" and was inaccurate. Gaza's health officials confirmed that at least four Palestinians died in separate Israeli attacks on Saturday. The medics reported that an Israeli drone fired a missile on a group in Juhr Eldeek, central Gaza, Sunday, killing one 62-year old man and injuring others. A missile fired by an Israeli drone at a crowd of people in Rafah injured several others, the medics added. The Israeli military claimed it did not know about the reported drone attacks. CEASEFIRE TALKS The bloodshed in Gaza continues to highlight the fragility in the three-stage truce agreement, mediated by Qatar Egypt and the United States. They have intervened to help Israel and Hamas reach an agreement on how to proceed. Israel is proposing to extend the first phase of the ceasefire, which has been backed by U.S. ambassador Steve Witkoff. Hamas has said it will only resume releasing hostages under the second phase, which was supposed to start on March 2. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that on Saturday, negotiators were instructed to be prepared to continue the talks in response to the mediators' responses to the U.S. proposal to release 11 hostages alive and half the dead. Hamas said on Friday that it would release the American-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander and four hostage bodies if Israel agreed immediately to start talks on the implementation of the second phase of agreement. Israel accused Hamas in response of "psychological war" against the families of hostages. Netanyahu's Office said that an Israeli delegation had been in Egypt to discuss a possible agreement with senior Egyptian officials, which would free more hostages. According to Israeli statistics, the war began on October 7, 2023 when Hamas launched a raid across the border into southern Israel, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages. According to Gaza's health officials, Israel's subsequent attack on Gaza killed over 48,000 Palestinians. It also displaced the majority of the population, and left much of the area in ruins. (Maayan Lubell contributed additional reporting; Nidal al Mughrabi wrote the article; Helen Popper edited it)
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Rubio: US could enter into new trade agreements after tariffs are imposed
Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State for Florida, said that once the United States imposes tariffs on major trading partners they could begin bilateral discussions with other countries about new trade agreements. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, threatened to slap 200% tariffs on wine, cognac, and other alcohol imported from Europe on Thursday, opening a second front in a trade war that's roiled financial market and caused recession fears. Rubio said that the United States will retaliate if other nations impose tariffs against it. This is global. "It's not against Canada It's not against the law Mexico He told the CBS program "Face the Nation" that it wasn't against the EU. He continued, "And from this new baseline of fairness, reciprocity and mutuality, we'll engage in - potentially – bilateral negotiations with other countries around the globe on new trade agreements that make sense to both sides." Rubio did not provide any details on the possible new deals, but said that the United States will "reset the baseline", to ensure that it is treated fairly. "We don’t like the current status quo. "We are going to establish a new status-quo and then, if other nations want it, we can negotiate," he said. "What we are doing now is not sustainable." Reporting by David Ljunggren, Editing by Mark Porter
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Palestinian medics report that Israeli strikes killed 14 people in Gaza the previous day.
Israeli military strikes killed at least fourteen Palestinians in Gaza Strip during the past 24 hour, said the Gaza Strip's Health Ministry on Sunday. Arab and U.S. mediators are working to maintain a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas. Palestinian officials claim that Israeli fire has killed dozens of Palestinians despite the truce on January 19, which halted major fighting in Gaza. Israel's army has stated that its forces have intervened in order to stop "terrorists", who were threatening its troops, or those who had planted bombs. Gaza's Health Ministry reported that the majority of recent deaths occurred on Saturday, when an Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahiya killed nine Palestinians, including four journalists. Six men, whom Israel's military identified as being members of Hamas' armed wing and Islamic Jihad, a militant group that is allied with Hamas, were killed in this strike. The Israeli military said that some militants were operating "under the cover" of journalists. Salama Marouf is the head of Hamas' Gaza government media. She said that the statement made by the military about the incident contained names of people not present. Marouf claimed that the report was based "without bothering to check the facts" and was inaccurate. Gaza's health officials confirmed that at least four Palestinians died in separate Israeli attacks on Saturday. The medics reported that an Israeli drone fired a missile on a group in Juhr Eldeek, central Gaza, Sunday, killing one 62-year old man and injuring others. A missile fired by an Israeli drone at a crowd of people in Rafah injured several others, the medics added. The Israeli military claimed it did not know about the reported drone attacks. CEASEFIRE TALKS The bloodshed in Gaza continues to highlight the fragility in the three-stage truce agreement, which was mediated by Qatar Egypt and the United States. They have intervened to help Israel and Hamas reach an agreement on how to proceed. Israel is proposing to extend the first phase of the ceasefire, which has been backed by U.S. ambassador Steve Witkoff. Hamas has said it will only resume releasing hostages under the second phase, which was supposed to start on March 2. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that on Saturday, negotiators were instructed to continue the talks in response to the mediators' responses to the U.S. proposal to release 11 hostages alive and half the dead. Hamas said on Friday that it would release the American-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander and four hostage bodies if Israel agreed immediately to start talks on the implementation of the second phase of agreement. Israel accused Hamas in response of "psychological war" against the families of hostages. According to Israeli statistics, the war began on October 7, 2023 when Hamas launched a raid across the border into southern Israel, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israel has denied accusations of war crimes and genocide. The Israeli assault on Gaza, which followed, killed over 48,000 Palestinians. Nidal al Mughrabi, Nidal Popper and Helen Popper contributed to the reporting and writing.
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Cuba restores power to Havana, the capital and its outlying provinces
Cuba's Havana capital saw some lights come back on on Sunday morning after a national grid collapse knocked out electricity for 10 million people. Havana's Electric Company said on social media about 19% of their clients in the city have seen power restored but did not give an estimate for full recovery. Cuba's Energy and Mines Ministry announced early Sunday that it had started up the Felton power station, one of Cuba's largest power plants and a benchmark for the restoration of power in eastern provinces. The ministry stated that the country's biggest plant, Antonio Guinteras in Matanzas was not yet operational. Many residents in Havana, and elsewhere, were worried that their frozen food would spoil after 36 hours of no electricity. Since Friday evening, around 8:15 pm (0015 GMT), a large part of the two-million-person city - a densely-populated tourist center - was without electricity. The only places that had lights were popular tourist hotels, restaurants, homes, and businesses equipped with generators. Cuba's grid collapsed Friday evening, after a transmission cable at a Havana substation shorted. This caused a chain reaction which completely shut down electricity generation on the entire island. The blackout on Friday was the fourth to occur in the country since October. Cuba's oil fired power plants, which were already outdated and struggled to keep the lights lit, reached a crisis last year when oil imports from Venezuela and Russia, as well as Mexico, decreased. Before Friday's grid failure, many on the island were already experiencing daily blackouts of 20 hours or longer. Cuba has blamed the growing crisis on an embargo imposed by the United States during the Cold War and on new restrictions imposed by President Donald Trump. Trump recently tightened the sanctions against the communist government and promised to restore "tough" policies toward the longtime U.S. enemy. In an effort to reduce reliance on oil-fired power generation, the government wants to help China develop large solar farms. (Reporting and editing by David Holmes; Dave Sherwood)
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The North Macedonian nightclub fire leaves 51 dead and over 100 injured
Pance Toskovski, the Interior Minister of North Macedonia, said that 51 people died and over 100 were injured in an early morning fire in a nightclub in Kocani. Toskovski claimed that the fire was caused "pyrotechnics" used at a concert. He said that "sparks caused the fire... and the fire spread throughout the discotheque." Video from the event was verified by and shows two flares shooting white sparks in the air flanking a band on stage. The sparks ignite the ceiling above the band as the video cuts. A local TV station showed footage of firefighters dousing the smoke and charred entrance to the Pulse club. The public broadcaster MRT in North Macedonia reported that 27 people with severe burns were admitted to the Skopje City Hospital, while another 23 patients were treated at the Clinical Center. It said that minors were among the injured. The fire broke out in Kocani at 3:00 am. Hristijan Micoski, the Prime Minister of Macedonia, said on Facebook that "this is a very difficult and sad day for Macedonia!" The loss of many young lives was irreparable. The pain felt by the families and loved ones is incomparable. "I urge all institutions, including the health services and relevant authorities, to take immediate action to help the injured as well as the families of those families." (Reporting and writing by Aleksandar Vasovic, Editing by Bernadettebaum)
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CNN reports that 33 people were killed by tornadoes in the US South amid an increase in risk.
CNN reported that on Saturday night at least 33 tornadoes struck several states across the Midwest and Southeast of the United States. The Missouri highway patrol reported that 12 deaths occurred in five counties. Robbie Myers is the director of emergency response in Missouri's Butler County. He told reporters that over 500 homes, as well as a grocery store and a church, were destroyed in the county. He said that a mobile home park was "totally wiped out". Tate Reeves, the Mississippi governor, posted on X about six deaths in the state – one in Covington County; two in Jeff Davis County; and three in Walthall County. Reeves reported that preliminary assessments showed 29 injuries statewide, and damage to 21 counties. The Department of Emergency Management in Arkansas reported that three people died and 32 were injured. David Roth, a National Weather Service meteorologist, told reporters that 26 tornadoes had been reported, but were not confirmed, to have touched ground late Friday night and early Saturday morning as a low pressure system pushed powerful thunderstorms through parts of Arkansas and Illinois. Rich McKay reported from Atlanta, and Shivani Tana in Bengaluru. Editing was done by Aidan Lewis and Rod Nickel.
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New South Wales, Australia, is sweltering in a heatwave and faces an 'extreme bushfire risk'
New South Wales, Australia, sweated through a heatwave on Sunday that increased the risk of bushfires. Authorities issued a fire ban in Sydney's capital. New South Wales is nearing the end a high-risk bushfire season, which runs until March. The "Black Summer" wildfires of 2019-2020 destroyed an area as large as Turkey and killed over 33 people. Sydney, Australia's largest city, is expected to reach 37C (98.6F) on Sunday. Forecasters report that the temperature at Sydney Airport was 29.3C (84.7 F), more than three degrees higher than the average maximum temperature for March. The forecaster's website warned that "strong winds, hot conditions, and low relative humidities will create extreme fire danger in the greater Sydney area." According to X, the Rural Fire Service of the State of New York announced that a total ban on fires was in effect for a large swath of the state, including Sydney. This is due to "hot and dry conditions" forecasted. Bernard Barbetti, an official with the Country Fire Authority, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Sunday that a house was destroyed by a bushfire in Victoria, which was fought by 200 firefighters. The Australian science agency stated last year that climate change was causing extreme heat to be more frequent in Australia. Australia is a country prone to bushfires with a population of 27 million. (Reporting from Sydney by Sam McKeith, editing by Deepa Babyington)
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The economy of Peru grew by 4.07% in January
Data from the nation's INEI statistical agency on Saturday showed that Peru's economy grew 4.07% during the first month in 2025. This was in line with forecasts by the central bank and analysts, with almost all sectors registering growth, with the exception being the financial sector. The January data was slightly above the 4% estimated by analysts, but lower than the 4.85% recorded last month last year. Mining and energy, the Andean nation’s most important sector, grew by 1.4%. Meanwhile, agriculture and fishing, a smaller sector but still very important to the country's economy grew by 3.2% and 23.5%. Transportation grew by 7.9% and manufacturing by 5.5%, while the public sector and construction and defense both saw growth above 4%. Commercial banks' lending decreased by 0.35%, causing the financial sector to contract. Calling on Friday The top economist of Peru's central banks said that the economic activity is developing better than expected as the economy recovered from the recession it entered in the year 2023. The bank said that the U.S. Tariffs would have a limited effect, stating that Peruvian agricultural products are a complement to North American supplies, when North America is not able produce locally due to seasonal factors, and that copper exports could be sold in many other markets. Late last month, Peru's Economy Minister Predicted The economy will grow by 4% in 2019, up from 3.3% in 2024, and 0.4% in 2017. This makes it one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America. (Reporting and editing by Diane Craft, Raul Cortes, and Sarah Morland)
As M23 rebels arrive in the suburbs, there is looting and destruction in Bukavu, eastern Congo.
On Saturday, chaotic scenes unfolded as Rwanda-backed M23 M23 rebels reached the outskirts of Bukavu. Meanwhile, a threat from Uganda's army chief of attacking a Congolese city raised fears that the conflict could escalate into a regional war.
Since they captured Goma at the end of the last month, rebels are pushing southwards towards Bukavu. This is the second largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
A spokesperson for the World Food Programme said that on Saturday, the depot of Bukavu which contained 6,800 metric tonnes of food was looted.
The theft of supplies will only worsen the situation for those who are in need. Claude Kalinga stated that the agency has already been suspended from its activities due to the deteriorating safety situation.
Bukavu residents reported hearing sporadic gunfire throughout the night and Saturday morning. They said that looters were responsible for the shootings.
Corneille Nangaa is the leader of an alliance of rebels that includes M23. He said Friday evening that rebels have entered Bukavu, and will continue their operations in the city Saturday.
Bagira, a suburb in northern Bukavu, was the scene of two residents claiming to have seen no fighting and only rebels.
Nevertheless, an M23 source as well as two Congolese Army officers and several Bukavu residents said that on Saturday, the rebels hadn't yet entered the centre of the city.
According to one of the officers, soldiers were evacuated from Goma in order not to have a "carnage". According to the United Nations, about 3,000 people died in the days leading up to the capture of Goma.
According to eyewitnesses, Congolese soldiers were seen in the streets of Bukavu Saturday. Five residents and a source from the military claim that soldiers in their army base set a fire to an arsenal.
Bukavu is a city with a population of 2 million, according to its mayor. It would be an unprecedented expansion in territory that the M23 has controlled since the last insurgency began in 2022. This would also deal a blow to Kinshasa in the eastern borderlands of Congo, which are rich with minerals.
In a Saturday post on X, Uganda's chief of defence forces General Muhoozi Kaineruaba said that he was going to attack Bunia, a town in eastern Congo, unless the "all forces" surrendered within 24 hours.
Kainerugaba's threat, whose father, President Yoweri Museeveni, is a source of concern, has added to the fear that Africa's Great Lakes Region could slip back into a wider war, similar to conflicts that occurred in the 1990s or 2000s, which killed millions.
Since 2021, Ugandan soldiers have supported the Congolese military in their fight against islamist militants to the east. In late January and early Febraury, another 1,000 troops were deployed there.
U.N. experts claim that Uganda also supported the M23, which is led by ethnic Tutsis.
In a Saturday speech to the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged a dialogue between warring parties.
Last weekend, leaders from the regional blocs of Eastern and Southern Africa also urged that all parties hold direct talks. However, the Congolese president Felix Tshisekedi refused to speak directly with the M23, and cancelled his attendance at the AU Summit, sending his Prime Minister to represent Congo.
Tshisekedi, who attended the Munich Security Conference on Friday, returned to Kinshasa Saturday morning, the presidency reports.
Kigali denied supporting M23. On Saturday, President Paul Kagame posted on Facebook that he told the AU peace and Security Council "Rwanda had nothing to do with Congo’s problems."
The United States warned that possible sanctions could be imposed against officials in Rwanda and Congo. The European Union announced on Saturday that it was considering all means available to protect Congo. Reporting by Dawit Endshaw in Addis Ababa and Nairobi, Sonia Rolley and Sudip K-Gupta from Paris, and Portia Crowe and Ammu Kanampilly in Brussels. Editing and writing by David Evans, William Mallard and Kirby Donovan.
(source: Reuters)