Six In The Morning Sunday 31 August 2025

 

Israeli airstrikes and gunfire have killed 18 around Gaza City, local officials say

Toll includes 13 people trying to get food near distribution point, as Israeli cabinet to discuss next stages of offensive

Jon Henley and agencies

Sun 31 Aug 2025 12.14 BST

Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed at least 18 people in and around Gaza City, local health authorities said, as Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet prepared to discuss plans to seize the city.

Residents of Sheikh Radwan, one of the largest neighbourhoods of Gaza City, told reporters the area had been under Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes throughout Saturday, overnight and on Sunday morning, forcing many families to flee.

Secret Documents from the 1990sHow Close Was Russia to NATO Membership?

U.S. President Bill Clinton sincerely wanted to bring Russia into the NATO fold. European countries, though, were strictly opposed, particularly Germany. Previously classified documents from the 1990s reveal German Chancellor Helmut Kohl's two-pronged strategy.

By Klaus Wiegrefe

Lunch was finished and coffee had been brought out in the East Wing of the White House, yet U.S. President Bill Clinton, 48, and Russian President Boris Yeltsin, 63, still hadn’t exchanged a single word about NATO’s eastern expansion. Finally, Clinton laid his hand on his guest’s arm and said: "Boris, one last thing: on NATO: Please note, I have never said we shouldn’t consider Russia for membership … with NATO. So when we talk about NATO expanding, we’re emphasizing inclusion, not exclusion.” Then, he added: "My objective is to work with you and others to maximize the chances of a truly united, undivided, integrated Europe.”

Indonesia: President calls protests 'treason and terrorism'

Matt Ford AFP, Reuters

President Prabowo Subianto has addressed the ongoing protests against economic inequality in Indonesia and appeared to offer major concessions. The protests intensified after police killed a young delivery driver.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday criticized ongoing protests over social inequality and economic conditions in the country, though he also appeared to offer some concessions called for in the initial protests.

"The rights to peaceful assembly should be respected and protected," he said in a speech at the presidential palace in the capital Jakarta. "But we cannot deny that there are signs of actions outside the law, even against the law, even leaning toward treason and terrorism."

Brain implants that read minds: a medical miracle raises new ethical questions

For the first time, researchers have succeeded in translating silent thoughts in real time using a brain implant coupled with artificial intelligence. This technology promises to offer a new form of communication to paralysed people. But it also raises consent and privacy concerns.

It's a power associated with fictional superheroes, not the stuff of real life. But the capacity to read minds via direct neural interfaces, called brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), has advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years. A recent Stanford University study has made it possible to directly decode inner speech, or what a person thinks they are saying, without gestures or sound.

BCIs work by connecting a person's nervous system to implanted electrodes capable of interpreting brain activity, allowing them to perform actions – such as using a computer or moving a prosthetic hand – using only their thoughts. The technology could offer people with disabilities a renewed sense of autonomy.

How a children’s chocolate drink became a symbol of French colonialism

With its red fez, broad smile and simplified French, Banania’s mascot has been associated with racist stereotypes.

By Clément Girardot

In 1909, French journalist-turned-entrepreneur Pierre-Francois Lardet returned from a trip to Nicaragua determined to recreate a beverage he had tasted there.

Five years later, in August 1914, Banania was born.

The arrival of the chocolate-flavoured banana powder drink came just as France found itself at war.

China and India pledge to be 'partners not rivals'

Laura Bicker & Stephen McDonellChina correspondents, in Beijing and Tianjin and

Danai Nesta KupembaBBC News

The leaders of China and India say there is now deepening trust between them after years of tension that includes a long-running border dispute.

China's President Xi Jinping and Indian PM Narendra Modi met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) in the port city of Tianjin. It is Modi's first time in China in seven years.

Xi told Modi that China and India should be partners, not rivals, while Modi said there was now an "atmosphere of peace and stability" between them.

Gaza postwar plan envisions ‘voluntary’ relocation of entire population

The Trump administration and international partners are discussing proposals to build a “Riviera of the Middle East” on the rubble of Gaza. One would establish U.S. control and pay Palestinians to leave.

August 31, 2025 at 5:00 a.m. EDT

By Karen DeYoung

 and 

Cate Brown

A postwar plan for Gaza circulating within the Trump administration, modeled on President Donald Trump’s vow to “take over” the enclave, would turn it into a trusteeship administered by the United States for at least 10 years while it is transformed into a gleaming tourism resort and high-tech manufacturing and technology hub.

The 38-page prospectus seen by The Washington Post envisions at least a temporary relocation of all of Gaza’s more than 2 million population, either through what it calls “voluntary” departures to another country or into restricted, secured zones inside the enclave during reconstruction.