Eight Israeli soldiers killed in Rafah operation, IDF says

By Hugo Bachega, MIDDLE EAST

Eight Israeli soldiers were killed in a blast in southern Gaza on Saturday, Israel’s military said, the deadliest incident for the army in the war since January.

The soldiers were in an armoured vehicle that was hit by a major explosion that, according to a preliminary investigation, detonated explosive “engineering material”, the army said.

The incident happened during an operation in the Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood of Rafah, which has been a key target for Israeli forces in recent weeks.

Earlier, the armed wing of Hamas said it had fired a rocket towards an armoured vehicle after setting up an ambush.

The soldiers were returning from an overnight operation in Rafah's Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood at around 05:15 local time (03:15 BST) when their armoured vehicle is understood to have exploded.

Israeli media reported that Israeli forces had killed 50 fighters in that operation, and Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said 30 Palestinians have been killed in the past day.

Seven of the eight soldiers have been named so far, Israeli media reported on Sunday morning.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had paid "a heart-rending price in our just war in defense of our homeland", but said his country would continue fighting this war "to ensure our existence and our future".

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant also expressed his sorrow, saying "the pain that comes with such loss is immense".

Israeli ground troops are continuing to operate in Rafah to oust Hamas from what it calls its “last major stronghold”.

Aid agencies have warned of a dire humanitarian situation in Rafah, where the UN says around one million Palestinians are taking refuge.

On Wednesday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a significant proportion of Gaza's population was facing "catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions".

Several world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, have urged Israel not to conduct a full-scale assault on Rafah.

The Hamas-run health ministry says more than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, and many hundreds of thousands more have been injured or displaced.

The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 others back to Gaza as hostages.

 

North Korea soldiers briefly crossed border - Seoul government

SEOUL, South Korea

South Korea on Tuesday said its soldiers fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the heavily fortified border separating the two rival neighbors.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that around 20 to 30 North Korean soldiers, who had been engaged in unspecified construction work on the northern side, briefly crossed the demarcated border at 8:30 a.m. (2330 GMT/UTC).

The JCS said the North Korean soldiers returned to their side of the border after South Korean border patrols fired warning shots.

A similar incident occurred on June 11 after another group of North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the border.

South Korea's military also said that landmine explosions near the border injured several North Korean soldiers, adding that Pyongyang had recently deployed troops to clear scrub and lay mines amid worsening relations between the two neighbors.

The JCS said it anticipates Pyongyang will increase its border construction activities, which it said could be aimed at making it more difficult for North Korean civilians or soldiers to escape to the South.

When relations had not been as frosty in 2018, the two Koreas removed landmines along a section of the fortified border in a move to ease military tensions. 

Pyongyang has been sending thousands of trash-filled balloons south which it says is a response to balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda sent north by activists.

In response to the trash balloons, the South Korean government earlier this month also suspended a 2018 tension-reducing military deal and restarted loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border.

The move irked Pyongyang, which warned Seoul was creating "a new crisis."

The neighbors remain technically at war as the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

The demilitarized zone and line of control dividing the peninsula is one of the most heavily mined places in the world.

India to probe railway collision that killed nine, injured dozens

KOLKATA, India

India government will launch an investigation on Tuesday into a train collision that killed nine people in the state of West Bengal and injured more than 50, a day after a top railway official blamed the incident on driver error.

The death toll was revised down to nine from 15 after Monday’s accident, in which a freight train rammed into a passenger train heading for the state capital of Kolkata from the northeastern state of Tripura.

The investigation by India’s top railway safety official will start on Tuesday, Chetan Kumar Shrivastava, general manager of the Northeast Frontier railway, where the accident happened, told Reuters.

“The inquiry will involve eye-witness accounts, scrutiny of official documents and statements from railway officials, regarding signaling and other mandatory safety issues,” he added.

On Monday, India’s top railway official said the driver of the freight train, who was among the dead, disregarded a signal, leading to the crash with the Kanchanjunga Express, which had halted near a railway station in the district of Darjeeling.

There were 1,400 people aboard, a railway spokesperson said.

But media said an automatic signaling system had not been working from Monday morning, prompting authorities to advise train drivers to proceed slower than usual, in a process known as “paper signals.”

India’s opposition leaders criticized the railway safety record of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, attributing it to negligence.

The incident came a little over a year after about 288 people were killed in one of India’s worst rail crashes in the neighboring state of Odisha, caused by a signaling error.

State-run Indian Railways, notorious for overcrowding, is the world’s fourth largest train network, carrying 13 million people a day, along with nearly 1.5 billion tons of freight in 2022.

In remarks to media on Monday, top railway official Jaya Varma Sinha, who chairs India’s railway board, called for human error to be reduced, adding that an anti-collision system was being set up nationwide.

Partial services resumed on the affected tracks on Tuesday, with some trains diverted and others running slower than usual, railway officials said.

 

France stutter to win against Austria in their Euro 2024 opener

DÜSSELDORF, Germany

Maximilian Woeber's own goal was enough to give France a winning start to their Euro 2024 campaign on Monday as they edged Austria 1-0 in their opening game but Kylian Mbappe came off late on with a broken nose.

Woeber diverted Mbappe's cutback into his own net seven minutes before half-time in Duesseldorf to allow the French, one of the leading contenders to win the tournament, to come through a stiff test.

Austria have been much-improved under Ralf Rangnick and they often made life uncomfortable for the 2022 World Cup runners-up, who saw Mbappe leave the field near the end after being hurt in a collision.

He had earlier failed to convert a glorious chance that would have allowed France to win by a wider margin, and sources close to the player confirmed he had broken his nose in the accidental clash with Kevin Danso.

"We had the chance to put the game to bed and it is true that we could have been more precise in attack, but it's very good to start with a victory," said France coach Didier Deschamps.

"It is a good habit to have and we need to try to keep it."

France will be relieved to have emerged victorious after a build-up overshadowed by talk of politics rather than football.

Mbappe and other French players had spent much of their time before the media in recent days answering questions about upcoming elections in the country which could see the far-right National Rally become the biggest party.

Any slip-up here would have led to suggestions their minds had not been fully focused on the competition.

Instead, the result leaves Deschamps's team level on three points in Group D with the Netherlands, who defeated Poland 2-1 in Hamburg on Sunday.

France and the Netherlands meet next in Leipzig on Friday, while Austria face Poland earlier the same day in Berlin.

"We are obviously disappointed with the result. No France player scored against us in 100 minutes, just a very unfortunate own goal," said Rangnick.

"I think Didier Deschamps was really happy when the final whistle came which shows how well my team played."

Austria had enjoyed some impressive results coming into the tournament on a seven-game unbeaten run and their team is on familiar ground during these Euros – their coach Rangnick is from Germany and eight of their starting line-up played in the German Bundesliga last season.

The French, however, are arguably the most talented team at the tournament, led by their captain Mbappe.

He endured a miserable time at his only previous Euros three years ago, failing to score and missing the decisive penalty in a shootout defeat by Switzerland in the last 16.

The new Real Madrid signing will wonder how he did not score in this game, with his first big opportunity arriving inside eight minutes.

Antoine Griezmann and Theo Hernandez combined to release Mbappe, who cut in from the left as he loves to do and shaped to curl a shot into the far corner before instead aiming for the near post.

However, Austria goalkeeper Patrick Pentz was able to make the save.

The Austrians settled into the contest and passed up a wonderful chance of their own to go ahead on 36 minutes.

Skipper Marcel Sabitzer touched down a Michael Gregoritsch cross from the left for Christoph Baumgartner, but he was foiled by goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

That proved crucial as France went ahead two minutes later.

Ousmane Dembele gave the ball to Mbappe on the right, and he produced a stepover to get to the byline before his cutback was nodded into the far corner of his own net by the unfortunate Woeber.

Mbappe was then thwarted by Pentz as he tried to go around the goalkeeper in first-half stoppage time, but that was nothing compared to the chance he squandered 10 minutes after the restart.

Adrien Rabiot sent Mbappe away, bounding in behind the Austrian defence, but he somehow put his shot wide with just the goalkeeper to beat.

That left the game in the balance, and Austria continued to push for a leveller, but without success.

Their fans were less than impressed by what they perceived as timewasting late on from Mbappe, who needed treatment after colliding with Kevin Danso in the box.

He left the pitch with his shirt stained by blood, only to then come back on and sit down, earning himself a yellow card before being replaced by Olivier Giroud.

Netanyahu dissolves War Cabinet that directed Gaza conflict

JERUSALEM, Israel

Israeli officials say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved the influential War Cabinet that was tasked with steering the war in Gaza.

The three-person War Cabinet was dissolved a week after Benny Gantz, a popular opposition lawmaker and former military chief, quit Netanyahu's governing coalition in frustration over how the war was being handled. In the early days of the war, Gantz demanded a small Cabinet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant be formed as a way to sideline far-right lawmakers in Netanyahu’s government.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the change with the media, said Monday that going forward Netanyahu would hold smaller forums with some of his government members for sensitive issues.

Critics say Netanyahu’s wartime decision-making has been influenced by ultranationalists in his government who oppose a deal with Hamas for a cease-fire in exchange for the release of hostages. Those hard-line politicians have voiced support for the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians out of Gaza, currently home to some 2.3 million people, and a return to military occupation over the territory.

Netanyahu denies the accusations and says he has the country’s best interests in mind.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 37,100 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and other supplies to Palestinians who are facing widespread hunger.

Israel launched the war after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250.

 

Two candidates up against Paul Kagame in July 15 poll

KIGALI, Rwanda 

Rwandans will choose between 3 presidential candidates and over 500 aspiring MPs during the July 15th elections.

The Rwanda National Electoral Commission unveiled Friday (Jun.14) the names of candidates in the presidential and parliamentary polls.

Paul Kagame, Rwanda's president for 23 years has been at the head of the Rwandan Patriotic Front since 1998. He will face Frank Habineza of the opposition Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and Philippe Mpayimana who runs as an independent.

In total, 9 candidates submitted their candidacy to the National Electoral Commission.

Habineza ran during the last presidential poll and garnered less than 2% of votes.

Kagame won previous elections in 2003, 2010 and 2017 – with more than 90 percent of the vote.

Critics and rights groups accuse him of ruling in a climate of fear that stifles dissent and free speech.

Last April, the Liberal Party (PL), and the Social Democratic Party (PSD), endorsed the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) candidate Paul Kagame. 

In doing so, they joined four smaller political parties, which are already in a coalition with the ruling RPF — in endorsing Kagame.

FIFA president presides over renaming of Paris stadium in honour of Pelé

PARIS, France 

FIFA President Gianni Infantino made a surprise stopover in Paris on Saturday to rename a stadium in a working class neighbourhood of the city.

Boutroux Stadium is now called Stade Pele, after the Brazilian football legend who is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.

It is a project that is dear to Infantino.

“Football unites and Pelé united the world before everyone else. He was the first international star and first international football icon,” he said.

“That’s why, when he passed away a year and a half ago, I made a plea that everywhere in the world, children need to remember and know who Pelé was.”

Infantino said that is why he asked that everywhere in the world, a stadium or a site be named after him.

The Paris stadium is the latest to change its name in honour of the Brazilian forward, following the likes of venues in Colombia, the Maldives, and Rwanda.

“Pelé was the first to try amazing things with the ball at his feet. And not only did he try them, he was also the first to pull them off. Many others copied him later, and some have succeeded, others less so,” said Infantino.

The ceremony also celebrated the promotion of the stadium’s home club, Paris 13 Atletico, to the French third division for next season.

But even with its new entrance and frescoes, the stadium is still not approved to host the team’s national league matches next season.

A budget has been approved and officials said Saturday’s inauguration was an important step, as bearing the name of Pelé obliges them to maintain a certain level of excellence.

Cyril Ramaphosa re-elected South African president

PRETORIA,  South Africa 

South Africa's parliament has re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the country's president following a landmark coalition deal between the governing African National Congress (ANC) and opposition parties.

The new government of national unity combines Mr Ramaphosa's ANC, the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) and smaller parties.

In his victory speech, Mr Ramaphosa hailed the new coalition, and said voters expected the leaders to "to act and to work together for the good of everyone in our country".

The agreement was hashed out on a day of high political drama, which saw the National Assembly sitting late into the evening for votes to confirm who would hold power in the new administration.

Earlier, a deal was struck following weeks of speculation about whom the ANC would partner with after losing its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years in last month's elections.

It got 40% of the vote, while the DA came second with 22%.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula called the coalition deal a "remarkable step".

It meant Mr Ramaphosa - who replaced Jacob Zuma as both president and ANC leader following a bitter power struggle in 2018 - was able to retain power.

The next step is for Mr Ramaphosa to allocate cabinet positions, which will include members of the DA.

The multi-party deal does not involve two ANC breakaway parties, and they will probably benefit if it fails to deliver economic improvements demanding by voters.

But opinion polls suggest many South Africans want this unprecedented grand coalition to succeed.

The ANC had always polled above 50% since the country's first democratic elections in 1994, which saw Nelson Mandela become president.

However, support for the party has been dropping significantly because of anger over high levels of corruption, unemployment and crime.

Addressing South Africa's parliament after his confirmation, Mr Ramaphosa called back to his party's first presidential victory 30 years ago.

"We have been here before, we were here in 1994, when we sought to unite our country and to effect reconciliation - and we are here now," he said.

An alliance between the centre-right DA and the ANC is unprecedented as the two parties have been rivals for decades.

Under Nelson Mandela, the ANC led the campaign against the racist system of apartheid and won the country's first democratic elections.

The DA's critics have accused it of trying to protect the economic privileges the country's white minority built up during apartheid - a charge the party denies.

Addressing lawmakers late on Friday in Cape Town, John Steenhuisen, the leader of the DA, said: “Today is a historic day for our country, and I think it is the start of a new chapter.”

The National Assembly also swore in a speaker from the ANC, while the post of deputy speaker went to the DA.

Among the party leaders speaking after the agreement was reached on Friday was Julius Malema, head of the Economic Freedom Fighters - the party he founded after leaving the ANC in 2013.

He said while his party accepted "the results and the voice of the people of South Africa", he criticised the agreement, saying: "We do not agree to this marriage of convenience, to consolidate the white monopoly power over the economy and the means of production in South Africa.

Euro 2024: Germany thrash Scotland in record win

MUNICH Germany 

Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz inspired Euro 2024 hosts Germany to the biggest-ever opening game win at a European Championship as Julian Nagelsmann's team inflicted a 5-1 defeat on Scotland.

Musiala and Wirtz, both 21, have been billed as leading Germany's new generation and they scored the opening goals to set the team on course for a victory that was even more comfortable than the eventual scoreline suggests. 

Scotland's task at avoiding a heavy defeat was made much more difficult following the sending off of defender Ryan Porteous at 42 minutes following a studs-up challenge on Ílkay Gündogan that, after a VAR review, resulted in a Germany penalty and a red card for the Watford player.

Germany had gone into the tournament behind France, England and Portugal as favourites to emerge as winners following a turbulent period under Nagelsmann and his sacked predecessor Hansi Flick.

Group stage exits at the previous two World Cups, and a round-of-16 elimination against England at Euro 2020, had left Germany fearing a difficult tournament as they attempt to become European champions for the first time since 1996. 

But the tension and apprehension among the home supporters evaporated within the first 10 minutes, as Bayer Leverkusen youngster Wirtz netted the opening goal following neat buildup play between Toni Kroos, Ilkay Gundogan and Joshua Kimmich.

Bayern Munich forward Musiala then doubled Germany's lead in the 19th minute after linking with Kai Havertz and while the points already looked safe at 2-0, Germany made sure when Havertz scored from the penalty spot following the Porteous foul on Gundogan.

Down to 10 men and with two group games against Switzerland and Hungary to come, Scotland coach Steve Clarke went for damage limitation in the second half by replacing forward Ché Adams with defender Grant Hanley. 

The change helped stem the tide, even if Scotland continued to be dominated by the hosts. 

Niclas Füllkrug finally netted a fourth for Germany in the 68th minute and the Borussia Dortmund forward thought he had made it 5-0 moments later, only for VAR to rule it out for offside.

An Antonio Rüdiger own goal in the 87th minute gave the sizable contingent of Scotland fans something to cheer -- and they did so in exaggerated fashion -- before Emre Can capped a brutal defeat, scoring Germany's fifth in the final minute of stoppage time. 

Putin gives tight conditions for Ukraine peace talks

MOSCOW, Russia

President of Russia, Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia would cease fire and enter peace talks if Ukraine dropped its NATO ambitions and withdrew its forces from four Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow.

Putin said Russia was ready to guarantee the safe withdrawal of Ukrainian units in order to enable this to happen.

He was speaking on the eve of a summit in Switzerland where more than 90 countries and organizations are due to discuss a possible path toward peace in Ukraine.

Russia has not been invited and says the gathering is a waste of time.

Russia controls nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory in the third year of the war, and Ukraine says peace can only be based on a full withdrawal of Russian forces and the restoration of its territorial integrity.

President Vladimir Putin also said that the West’s seizure of Russian sovereign assets was theft and would not go unpunished.

Putin, speaking at a meeting with Foreign Ministry officials, said the way the West had treated Moscow showed that “anyone” could be next and fall victim to a similar Western asset freeze.

Putin spoke a day after the leaders of the Group of Seven major democracies agreed on an outline deal to provide $50 billion of loans for Ukraine using interest from Russian sovereign assets frozen after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022 in what it called a special military operation.

G7 warns Iran over continuing nuclear program escalation

BARI, italy

The Group of Seven leaders warned Iran on Friday against advancing its nuclear enrichment program and said they would be ready to enforce new measures if Tehran were to transfer ballistic missiles to Russia, according to a draft communique.

“We urge Tehran to cease and reverse nuclear escalations, and stop the continuing uranium enrichment activities that have no credible civilian justifications,” the statement seen by our correspondent said.

Iran has rapidly installed extra uranium-enriching centrifuges at its Fordow site and begun setting up others, a UN nuclear watchdog report said on Thursday.

Iran is now enriching uranium to up to 60 percent purity, close to the 90 percent of weapons grade, and has enough material enriched to that level, if enriched further, for three nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.

“Iran must engage in serious dialogue and provide convincing assurances that its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful, in full cooperation and compliance with the IAEA’s monitoring and verification mechanism, including the Board of Governors’ resolution of 5 June,” the G7 said.

Iran says its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.

The leaders also warned Iran about concluding a deal to send ballistic missiles to Russia that would help it in its war against Ukraine, saying they were prepared to respond with significant measures if it were to happen.

“We call on Iran to stop assisting Russia’s war in Ukraine and not to transfer ballistic missiles and related technology, as this would represent a substantive material escalation and a direct threat to European security,” they said.

South Africa's ANC says it has broad agreement with main opposition, others

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa

South Africa’s African National Congress party said Thursday that it has a broad agreement with the main opposition and other parties to form a coalition government and end a political deadlock after the ANC lost its 30-year majority in an election two weeks ago.

The announcement came on the eve of the first sitting of South Africa’s new Parliament, when lawmakers will elect a president.

The ANC needs help from other parties to re-elect President Cyril Ramaphosa for a second and final term.

The ANC lost its long-held parliamentary majority in the May 29 vote.

ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula told reporters that the main opposition Democratic Alliance and others had agreed on the “fundamental” principle of forming a “government of national unity” with the ANC, but he noted that finer details of the agreement had not been finalized yet.

"So that to us represent a major breakthrough," he said.

Mbalula said the framework of the agreement would likely be made public on Friday.

A broad agreement was the first priority for the ANC to get Ramaphosa reelected with the help of others.

The negotiations faced a deadline to reach a general agreement because South Africa's constitution dictates that Parliament has to sit for the first time and elect a president within 14 days of the national election results being officially declared.

The deadline is Sunday and Parliament was called to convene on Friday to meet that deadline.

While Mbalula named several parties that had agreed to the principle of joining the unity government, the Democratic Alliance is the most crucial.

The ANC won the largest share of the vote in the election with 40% and the DA the second largest share with 21%. Together they would hold a clear majority in Parliament and be able to govern and elect Ramaphosa — if that's the agreement.

One of the smaller parties, the Inkatha Freedom Party, had already announced Wednesday night that it would join the unity government.

The ANC, the party of Nelson Mandela, had governed South Africa ever since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994.

But it lost that dominance in this year’s election in an historic change in the country’s politics.

South Africa has never had a coalition government at national level in its three decades as a democracy since the end of apartheid.

Mbalula said the ANC had discussions with all 17 other parties that are represented in Parliament, including the smallest ones with just one seat. They were all invited to join the unity government, he said. Some have refused.

Two other major parties, the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters and the new MK Party of former President Jacob Zuma — once the leader of the ANC — have said they will not be part of the government of national unity.

Germany braced for Euro 2024 kick-off with France, England the favourites

MUNICH, Germany

Euro 2024 kicks off on Friday at Munich Football Arena in Germany as the continent's footballing heavyweights prepare to fight it out over the next month with the aim of taking the crown away from reigning champions Italy.

Germany play Scotland in the opening game in Munich and the host nation are hoping their journey will continue all the way to the final in Berlin on July 14.

It is the first time the country has hosted a major men's international tournament since the 2006 World Cup, and it is a mouth-watering setting after the underwhelming nature of the last European Championship.

Euro 2020 was delayed by a year because of the pandemic, finally taking place in 2021 in front of limited crowds.

It was also staged in cities all across the continent, from Seville to Baku, and those factors stripped away much of what makes these tournaments so special.

This time all supporters will descend on Germany, where matches will be played in 10 stadiums, from Hamburg in the north to Munich in the south.

Germans are hoping for a repeat of 2006, when many fell in love with their national team again after a period in the doldrums similar to what they have experienced in the years leading up to this competition.

Philipp Lahm, the captain of Germany's 2014 World Cup-winning team and now Euro 2024 tournament director, also hopes the competition will bring people together at a time of division and disunity across the continent.

The tournament begins less than a week after far-right parties made significant gains in EU parliament elections, while Europe is still dealing with the crisis of the war in Ukraine.

"I hope at the very least the Euro will lead to a more united Germany again," said Lahm.

A good performance by Germany on the field would help, and the outlook is more positive for Julian Nagelsmann's team now than a few months ago.

A group also containing Hungary and Switzerland should be straightforward enough given the quality in Germany's ranks, from veteran playmaker Toni Kroos to younger stars Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala.

"We have gone through difficult phases as a national team, but something big can happen here," Musiala, of Bayern Munich, told Sportbild.

Israeli forces thrust deeper into Rafah as diplomacy falters

CAIRO, Egypt 

Israeli tanks advanced deeper into the western area of Rafah, amid one of the worst nights of bombardment from air, ground, and sea, forcing many families to flee their homes and tents under darkness, residents said on Thursday.

Residents said the Israeli forces thrust toward the Al-Mawasi area of Rafah near the beach, which is designated as a humanitarian area in all announcements and maps published by the Israeli army since it began its Rafah offensive in May.

The Israeli military denied in a statement it had launched any strikes inside the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone.

The Israeli military denied in a statement it had launched any strikes inside the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone.

Israel said its assault aimed to wipe out Hamas’ last intact combat units in Rafah, a city which had sheltered more than a million people before the latest advance began. 

Most of those people have now moved north toward Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said in a statement it was continuing “intelligence-based, targeted operations” on Rafah, saying forces in the past day had located weapons, and killed Palestinian gunmen in close-range combat.

Over the past day, the military said it had struck 45 targets across the Gaza Strip from the air, including military structures, militant cells, rocket launchers, and tunnel shafts.Israel has ruled out peace until Hamas is eradicated, and much of Gaza lies in ruins. 

But Hamas has proven resilient, with militants resurfacing to fight in areas where Israeli forces had previously declared to have defeated them and pulled back.

Italy hosts the Group of Seven summit with global conflicts on the agenda

BORGO EGNAZIA, Italy 

Italy is hosting the summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations in the wake of the European Parliament election, which saw a surge in support for the far right in places like G7 members France and Germany.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni also leads a far-right party but continues to hew to the center, particularly on foreign policy, which has made her a reassuring transatlantic partner amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The G7 summit through Saturday is focusing on global conflicts, the spread of artificial intelligence and on Africa issues, particularly Italy’s longstanding concern about uncontrolled migration to Europe from the continent. Perennial issues such as climate change and China also will be discussed.

The G7 is an informal forum with an annual summit to discuss economic policy and security issues. 

The members are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

South African parties form unity government as presidential deadline looms

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa 

South African lawmakers will elect the president on Friday after being sworn in at the first Parliament sitting.

This session will reveal the unity government the African National Congress (ANC) has formed after losing its majority for the first time since 1994.

Lawmakers will also elect the new speaker and deputy speaker, with choices influenced by ANC-opposition negotiations following the recent election results.

Parties are under pressure to conclude negotiations by Thursday to fulfill the constitutional requirement to swear in lawmakers and elect the president within 14 days of election results being declared.

The African National Congress won 40% of the national vote during the country's highly contested elections, followed by the Democratic Alliance with just over 21% and the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe Party with about 15% of the vote in their first-ever elections.

The ANC has opted to form a national unity government that will include most political parties that contested the elections instead of a straightforward coalition with a few parties.

However, initial negotiations have laid bare the deep divisions between South Africa's political parties, with some already rejecting the proposed unity government while others have agreed to be part of it.

The ANC's national executive committee, the party's highest decision-making body between conferences, will meet in Cape Town on Thursday to finalize the agreements it has made with the other parties and will make an announcement afterwards.

On Wednesday, the Inkatha Freedom Party, the fifth-biggest party with 3.85% of the vote, confirmed it had decided to join the national unity government that will be led by the ANC.

It said it had also started negotiations to form a coalition with the ANC and the Democratic Alliance in the KwaZulu-Natal province where the MK Party got the most votes.

"We will participate in the government of national unity for the sake of our country and for the sake of our people, who want life to continue with a stable government that will address their challenges," said IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa.

While the MK Party emerged as arguably the biggest winner in the elections with an impressive performance despite being formed only six months ago, it has refused to join the unity government and sought to prevent the sitting from going ahead.

The Constitutional Court on Thursday dismissed the party's application to interdict the chief justice from convening the first sitting, giving a go-ahead for it to proceed.

The party continues to dispute the election results, claiming widespread vote-rigging, and has said its 58 elected lawmakers will boycott the sitting.

South Africa's constitution says only one-third of Parliament's 400 lawmakers need to be present for a quorum and for the vote to elect the president to proceed.

South Africa's independent electoral commission and independent observers have declared the elections free and fair.

As the deadline to reach an agreement approached on Thursday, the rift between the second-biggest party, Democratic Alliance, and the fourth-biggest party, Economic Freedom Fighters, appeared to be one of the main sticking points.

The leftist Economic Freedom Fighters have said they will not be part of any arrangement that involves the centrist Democratic Alliance, which they accuse of being anti-Black and opposed to policies that aim to address the injustices of South Africa's past, including black economic empowerment and land redistribution.

The parties remain ideologically at odds, with the Democratic Alliance declaring the EFF its top rival last year.

The animosity between the two suggests the ANC might have to form a national unity government that does not include the EFF and the MK Party, a pattern that may also play out in coalition governments at the provincial level, where the ANC also failed to maintain a majority in several provinces.

At least 80 passengers killed in the latest boat accident in Congo

KINSHASA,  DR Congo 

A boat carrying more than 270 passengers has capsized on a river near Congo's capital of Kinshasa, leaving more than 80 dead, President Félix Tshisekedi said Wednesday.

It was the latest deadly boat accident in the central African country where overloading is often blamed, including in February when dozens lost their lives after an overloaded boat sank.

A statement quoting Tshisekedi said the locally made boat capsized late Monday in Maï-Ndombe province along the Kwa River.

The boat was carrying 271 passengers to Kinshasa when it broke down due to an engine failure, according to the U.N.-backed Radio Okapi, citing Ren Maker, the water commissioner in the Mushi district where the accident happened.

Eighty-six of the passengers died while 185 managed to swim ashore, some 70 kilometers (43 miles) near the closest city of Mushie, Maker said.

He said the boat hit the edge of the river bank and broke up.

Congolese officials have often warned against overloading and vowed to punish those violating safety measures for water transportation. 

But in remote areas where most passengers come from, many are unable to afford public transport for the few available roads.