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Stuttering Gaza ceasefire talks entered a second week on Monday, with mediators seeking to close the gap between Israel and Hamas, as more than 20 people were killed across the Palestinian territory.The indirect negotiations in Qatar appear deadlocked after both sides blamed the other for blocking a deal for the release of hostages and a 60-day ceasefire after 21 months of fighting.An official with knowledge of the talks said they were “ongoing” in Doha on Monday, telling AFP: “Discussions are currently focused on the proposed maps for the deployment of Israeli forces within Gaza.””Mediators are actively exploring innovative mechanisms to bridge the remaining gaps and maintain momentum in the negotiations,” the source added on condition of anonymity.Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who wants to see the Palestinian militant group destroyed — of being the main obstacle.”Netanyahu is skilled at sabotaging one round of negotiations after another, and is unwilling to reach any agreement,” the group wrote on Telegram.In Gaza, the civil defence agency said at least 22 people were killed Monday in the latest Israeli strikes in and around Gaza City and in Khan Yunis in the south.An Israeli military statement said troops had destroyed “buildings and terrorist infrastructure” used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza City’s Shujaiya and Zeitun areas.The Al-Quds Brigades — the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, which has fought alongside Hamas — released footage on Monday that it said showed its fighters firing missiles at an Israeli army command and control centre near Shujaiya.The military later on Monday said three soldiers — aged 19, 20 and 21 — “fell during combat in the northern Gaza Strip” and died in hospital on Monday. Another from the same battalion was severely injured.- Talks ‘ongoing’ -US President Donald Trump said he was still hopeful of securing a truce deal, telling reporters on Sunday night: “We are talking and hopefully we’re going to get that straightened out over the next week.”Hamas’s top negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, and the leadership of Hamas and Islamic Jihad held a “consultative meeting” in Doha on Sunday evening to “coordinate visions and positions”, a Palestinian source with knowledge of the talks told AFP.”Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators continue their efforts that make Israel present a modified withdrawal map that would be acceptable,” they added.On Saturday, the same source said Hamas rejected Israeli proposals to keep troops in more than 40 percent of Gaza, as well as plans to move Palestinians into an enclave on the border with Egypt.A senior Israeli political official countered by accusing Hamas of inflexibility and trying to deliberately scupper the talks by “clinging to positions that prevent the mediators from advancing an agreement”.- Pressure – Netanyahu has said he would be ready to enter talks for a more lasting ceasefire once a deal for a temporary truce is agreed, but only when Hamas lays down its arms.He is under pressure to wrap up the war, with military casualties rising and with public frustration mounting at both the continued captivity of the hostages taken on October 7 and a perceived lack of progress in the conflict.Politically, Netanyahu’s fragile governing coalition is holding, for now, but he denies being beholden to a minority of far-right ministers in prolonging an increasingly unpopular conflict.He also faces a backlash over the feasibility, cost and ethics of a plan to build a so-called “humanitarian city” from scratch in southern Gaza to house Palestinians if and when a ceasefire takes hold.Israel’s security establishment is reported to be unhappy with the plan, which the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and Israel’s former prime minister Ehud Olmert have described as a “concentration camp”.”If they (Palestinians) will be deported there into the new ‘humanitarian city’, then you can say that this is part of an ethnic cleansing,” Olmert was quoted as saying by The Guardian newspaper late on Sunday.Hamas’s attack on Israel in 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.A total of 251 hostages were taken that day, of whom 49 are still being held, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.Israel’s military reprisals have killed 58,386 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Syrian government forces were advancing towards the southern city of Sweida on Monday amid clashes in the region between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes that have killed nearly 100 people, according to a war monitor.As the violence escalated, Israel — which had previously warned that it would intervene in Syria to protect the Druze — said it struck “several tanks” in the area, citing security concerns.The fighting underscores the challenges facing interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, whose Islamist forces ousted president Bashar al-Assad in December after nearly 14 years of civil war.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor raised its death toll to 99 killed since fighting erupted Sunday, including 60 Druze, four of them civilians, 18 Bedouin fighters, 14 security personnel and seven unidentified people in military uniforms.Syrian forces on Monday took control of the Druze village of Al-Mazraa, where Bedouin fighters were also located, an AFP correspondent said.A commander, Ezzeddine al-Shamayer, told AFP the forces “are heading toward Sweida” city.In a statement, the interior ministry declared that “army and internal security forces have moved closer to the centre” of Sweida.Israel, which has attacked Syria in the past months under the pretext of protecting the Druze, said it hit several tanks heading towards Sweida.The strikes were “a clear warning to the Syrian regime — we will not allow harm to be done to the Druze in Syria”, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz posted on X.Druze spiritual leaders called for calm and urged Damascus to intervene.But Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, one of the three Druze spiritual leaders in Sweida, expressed his “rejection of the entry” of general security forces into the province, demanding “international protection”.- Fear of massacres -Syria’s pre-war Druze population was estimated at around 700,000, many of them concentrated in Sweida province.The Druze, followers of an esoteric religion that split from Shiite Islam, are mainly found in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.Following deadly clashes with government forces in April and May, local and religious leaders reached an agreement with Damascus under which Druze fighters have been providing security in the province since May.The streets of Sweida were deserted, with an AFP photographer reporting gunfire during funerals.”We lived in a state of extreme terror — the shells were falling randomly,” said Abu Taym, a 51-year-old father in Sweida.”Traffic on the streets is paralysed, and most shops are closed.””We fear a repeat of the coastal scenario,” said Amal, 46, referring to the March massacres of over 1,700 mostly Alawite civilians in Syria’s coast, where groups affiliated with the government were blamed for most of the killings.”We are not against the state, but we are against surrendering our weapons without a state that treats everyone the same,” she added, noting that she and her family escaped Sweida to a nearby village.In a post on X, Syrian Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra urged his troops to “protect your fellow citizens” from “outlaw gangs” and “restore stability to Sweida”.- ‘Lack of state institutions’ -The violence began Sunday when Bedouin gunmen abducted a Druze vegetable vendor on the highway to Damascus, prompting retaliatory kidnappings.Though hostages were later released, the fighting carried on Monday outside Sweida city, with mortar fire hitting villages and dozens wounded, according to the Suwayda 24 news outlet.In a Sunday post on X, Interior Minister Anas Khattab said “the lack of state, military and security institutions is a major reason” for the ongoing tensions in Sweida.The latest bloodshed follows deadly violence in April and May, when clashes between Druze fighters and security forces in Druze-populated areas near Damascus and Sweida killed more than 100 people.The Observatory said members of Bedouin tribes, who are Sunni Muslims, had sided with security forces during earlier confrontations.Bedouin and Druze factions have a longstanding feud in Sweida, and violence occasionally erupts between the two sides.The wave of massacres in March targeting the Alawite community and the subsequent attacks on Druze areas, as well as a deadly attack on a Damascus church in June, have undermined confidence in the new Syrian authorities’ ability to protect minorities.

Italian fashion house Loro Piana, owned by French giant LVMH, has been placed under court administration for allegedly facilitating the exploitation of workers by subcontractors, police and a company source said Monday.In a statement, the Italian police labour protection service said it had “executed a decree of judicial administration issued by the Milan court” against …

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The European Union is seeking “fair competition” with China and not a race to the bottom in wages and environmental standards, the bloc’s vice president for the clean transition told AFP in Beijing on Monday.Deep frictions exist over economic relations between the 27-nation bloc and China.Brussels is worried that a manufacturing glut propelled by massive …

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At least 89 people were killed in the southern Syrian province of Sweida as clashes between Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters raged for a second day Monday, a monitor said.As the violence escalated, Israel — which had previously warned that it would intervene in Syria to protect the Druze — said it struck “several tanks” in Sweida, without providing further details.The fighting underscores the challenges facing interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, whose Islamist forces ousted president Bashar al-Assad in December, in a country reeling from 14 years of war.The Syrian military and interior ministries announced troop deployments, safe corridors for civilians and a pledge to end the fighting “quickly and decisively”.The violence began Sunday when Bedouin gunmen abducted a Druze vegetable vendor on the highway to Damascus, prompting retaliatory kidnappings.Though hostages were later released, the fighting carried on Monday outside Sweida city, with mortar fire hitting villages and dozens wounded, said the Suwayda 24 news outlet.The streets of Sweida were deserted, with an AFP photographer reporting gunfire during funerals.”We lived in a state of extreme terror — the shells were falling randomly,” said Abu Taym, a 51-year-old father in Sweida.”Traffic on the streets is paralysed, and most shops are closed.”Suwayda 24 reported the arrival of “dozens of victims” at hospitals as a result of clashes in the province’s western countryside and shelling of villages.The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground, raised its death toll to 89, including 46 Druze, four civilians, 18 Bedouin fighters and seven unidentified people in military uniforms.A defence ministry source told Al-Ekhbariya state television six security forces personnel were killed “during disengagement operations in Sweida”.An AFP correspondent on the outskirts of Sweida city saw vehicles carrying fighters, large interior ministry military convoys, civilian vehicles and motorcycles carrying armed men towards the front lines, as well as ambulances transporting the wounded to hospitals in Damascus.While Druze spiritual leaders called for calm and urged Damascus to intervene.Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, one of the three Druze spiritual leaders in Sweida, expressed his “rejection of the entry” of general security forces into the province, demanding “international protection”.- ‘Lack of state institutions’ -In a Sunday post on X, Interior Minister Anas Khattab said: “The lack of state, military and security institutions is a major reason for the ongoing tensions in Sweida,”The only solution is to reactivate these institutions to ensure civil peace,” he added.The latest bloodshed follows deadly violence in April and May, when clashes between Druze fighters and security forces in Druze-populated areas near Damascus and Sweida killed more than 100 people.The Observatory said members of Bedouin tribes, who are Sunni Muslim, had sided with security forces during earlier confrontations.Local leaders and religious figures brokered agreements at the time to de-escalate the tensions, putting Druze fighters in charge of security in Sweida since May, though armed Bedouins remain present in several areas.On Sunday, Sweida governor Mustapha al-Bakur urged his constituents to “exercise self-restraint”, while Druze community leaders urged authorities to step in.In response to the violence, the education ministry announced the postponement of Monday’s scheduled secondary school exams in the province.- Israel and the Druze -Syria’s pre-civil war Druze population numbers around 700,000, many in Sweida province.The Druze, followers of an esoteric religion that split from Shiite Islam, are mainly found in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.Bedouin and Druze factions have a longstanding feud in Sweida, and violence occasionally erupts between the two sides.A surge in violence in March targeting the Alawite community — with more than 1,700 killed — and the subsequent attacks on Druze areas have undermined confidence in the new Syrian authorities’ ability to protect minorities.In the wake of those incidents, Israel — which has occupied part of Syria’s Golan Heights since 1967 — cited the protection of the Druze to justify several strikes, including one in early May near the presidential palace in Damascus.Israel is home to around 152,000 Druze, according to the latest available data, including 24,000 living in the Israeli-occupied Golan, of whom fewer than five percent hold Israeli citizenship.

Hundreds of rowdy spectators, many heavily tattooed, roared Monday at a Tokyo arena usually reserved for boxing — except the contestants were not athletes, but barbers.A dozen Japanese and foreign contestants were taking part in the World Barber Classic, showing off their hairdressing skills surrounded by national flags and the blare of hip-hop tunes.The event …

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Stuttering Gaza ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas entered a second week on Monday, with US President Donald Trump still hopeful of a breakthrough and as more than 20 people were killed on the ground.The indirect negotiations in the Qatari capital, Doha, appeared deadlocked at the weekend after both sides blamed the other for blocking a deal for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of hostages.In Gaza, the Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency said at least 22 people were killed in the latest Israeli strikes on Monday in and around Gaza City, and Khan Yunis in the south.One strike on a tent in Khan Yunis on Sunday killed the parents and three brothers of a young Gazan boy, who only survived as he was outside getting water, the boy’s uncle told AFP.Belal al-Adlouni called for revenge for “every drop of blood” saying it “will not be forgotten and will not die with the passage of time, nor with displacement or with death”.AFP reporters in southern Israel meanwhile saw large plumes of smoke in northern Gaza, where the military said fighter jets had pounded Hamas targets over the weekend.Trump, who met Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington last week, is keen to secure a truce in the 21-month war, which was sparked by Hamas’s deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.”Gaza — we are talking and hopefully we’re going to get that straightened out over the next week,” he told reporters late on Sunday, echoing similarly optimistic comments he made on July 4.A Palestinian source with knowledge of the talks told AFP on Saturday that Hamas rejected Israeli proposals to keep troops in over 40 percent of Gaza and plans to move Palestinians into an enclave on the border with Egypt.In response, a senior Israeli political official accused Hamas of inflexibility and trying to deliberately scupper the talks by “clinging to positions that prevent the mediators from advancing an agreement”.- Pressure -Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and the Palestinian minister of state for foreign affairs Varsen Aghabekian Shahin headed to Brussels on Monday for talks between the EU and its Mediterranean neighbours.But the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority denied media reports that any meeting between the two was on the agenda.In Israel, Netanyahu has said he would be ready to enter talks for a more lasting ceasefire when a deal for a temporary truce is agreed and only when Hamas lays down its weapons.But he is under pressure to quickly wrap up the war, with military casualties mounting and with public frustration both at the continued captivity of the hostages and a perceived lack of progress in the conflict.Politically, his fragile governing coalition is holding, for now, but Netanyahu is seen as beholden to a minority of far-right ministers in prolonging an increasingly unpopular conflict.He also faces a backlash over the feasibility and ethics of a plan to build a so-called “humanitarian city” from scratch in southern Gaza to house displaced Palestinians if and when a ceasefire takes hold.The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has described the proposed facility as a “concentration camp” and Israel’s own security establishment is reported to be unhappy at the plan.Israeli media said the costs were discussed at a security cabinet meeting at the prime minister’s office on Sunday night, just hours before his latest court appearance in a long-running corruption trial on Monday.Hamas’s attacks on Israel in 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.A total of 251 hostages were taken that day, of which 49 are still being held, including 27 that the Israeli military says are dead.Israel’s military reprisals have killed 58,026 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Syria deployed security forces Monday in the southern province of Sweida after at least 50 people were killed in clashes between Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters, a monitor said.The outbreak of sectarian violence underscores the challenges facing the administration of interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, whose Islamist forces overthrew president Bashar al-Assad in December, in a country reeling from 14 years of war.The latest fighting, which began Sunday, continued sporadically into Monday in several villages, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor and the Suwayda 24 news outlet.The clashes reportedly erupted when a Druze vegetable vendor was seized by armed Bedouins on the main highway linking Sweida to Damascus.The incident triggered a series of retaliatory abductions by both sides. Suwayda 24 said those abducted were released Sunday night.The Observatory raised its death toll Monday to 50, including 34 Druze — among them two children — 10 Bedouins and six members of the security forces. State television confirmed six deaths among the security forces.The highway between Damascus and Sweida remained closed, said the Britain-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources on the ground.The defence ministry put the toll at 30 dead and around 100 wounded.Dozens more have been wounded amid armed clashes and mortar fire in Sweida city and nearby villages.- ‘Lack of state institutions’ -Syria’s defence and interior ministries announced the deployment of military units to the affected areas, the establishment of safe corridors for civilians, and a commitment to “end the clashes quickly and decisively”.”The lack of state, military and security institutions is a major reason for the ongoing tensions in Sweida,” Interior Minister Anas Khattab said Sunday on X.”The only solution is to reactivate these institutions to ensure civil peace,” he added.The latest unrest follows deadly violence in April and May, when clashes between Druze fighters and security forces in Druze-populated areas near Damascus and Sweida killed more than 100 people.The Observatory said members of Bedouin tribes, who are Sunni Muslim, had sided with security forces during earlier confrontations.Local leaders and religious figures brokered agreements at the time to de-escalate the tensions, putting Druze fighters in charge of local security in Sweida since May, though armed Bedouins remain present in several areas.On Sunday, Sweida governor Mustapha al-Bakur urged his constituents to “exercise self-restraint”, while Druze community leaders urged authorities to step in.In response to the violence, the education ministry announced the postponement of Monday’s scheduled secondary school exams in the province.- Israel and the Druze -Syria’s pre-civil war Druze population numbers around 700,000, many in Sweida province.The Druze, followers of an esoteric religion that split from Shiite Islam, are mainly found in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.Bedouin and Druze factions have a longstanding feud in Sweida, and violence occasionally erupts between the two.A surge in violence in March targeting the Alawite community — with more than 1,700 killed — and the subsequent attacks on Druze areas have undermined confidence in the new Syrian authorities’ ability to protect minorities.In the wake of those incidents, Israel — which has occupied part of Syria’s Golan Heights since 1967 — cited the protection of the Druze to justify several strikes, including one in early May near the presidential palace in Damascus.Israel is home to around 152,000 Druze, according to the latest available data, including 24,000 living in the Israeli-occupied Golan, of whom fewer than five percent hold Israeli citizenship.