Six in The Morning Saturday 20 September 2025

 

Israel ramps up Gaza City assault, kills children in strike on school

By Stephen Quillen, Virginia Pietromarchi and Umut Uras

• At least 51 people killed, including 43 in Gaza City, as Israeli forces continue to bombard Gaza.
• The Palestinian Civil Defence says nearly half of Gaza City’s population, or about 450,000 people, have fled the area since Israel launched its major operation there in August.
• UN chief Antonio Guterres says Gaza is experiencing the “worst level of death and destruction” he has seen in his lifetime and calls on the international community not to be “intimidated” by Israel.

Former New Zealand PM urges urgent humanitarian action in Gaza

New Zealand’s former PM Jacinda Ardern has penned an op-ed highlighting the toll of humanitarian crises on pregnant women and children, calling on “those with power” to take action.

“We should start with Gaza,” she wrote, where “there is a path to stopping the genocide still happening daily before us.

Zelenskyy accuses allies of ‘wasting time’ as he prepares for Trump meeting

Ukrainian president will urge his US counterpart to impose more sanctions on Russia when they meet next week

Luke Harding in Kyiv

Sat 20 Sep 2025 12.26 BST

Volodymyr Zelenskyy will urge Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Russia when they meet next week at the United Nations in New York, and has called on Ukraine’s allies to “stop wasting time”.

Zelenskyy said he expected further sanctions to be imposed if Vladimir Putin refuses to meet him for face-to-face talks or to agree to a ceasefire. “If the war continues and there are no moves towards peace we expect sanctions,” he said.

Airports across Europe face disruptions due to cyberattack

Dmytro Hubenko | Midhat Fatimah with AFP, dpa, Reuters

The cyberattack has led to severe delays to flights across the continent, with airports in Brussels, Berlin and London affected.

Operations at several major airports in Europe faced disruptions Saturday after a cyberattack targeted the service provider for check-in and boarding systems.

Flights were delayed or canceled at airports in London, Berlin and Brussels.

"There was a cyberattack on Friday night, 19 September, against the service provider for the check-in and boarding systems, affecting several European airports, including Brussels Airport," a statement shared on the website of Brussels Airport said.

Venezuela accuses US of waging 'undeclared war' in strikes on alleged drug traffickers

Venezuela on Friday accused the United States of waging an “undeclared war” in the Caribbean after a series of US military strikes on boats that the Trump administration says are used in drug trafficking. Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said that those killed in the strikes were “executed without the right to a defence”.

Venezuela on Friday accused the United States of waging an "undeclared war" in the Caribbean and called for a UN probe of American strikes that have killed over a dozen alleged drug traffickers on boats in recent weeks.

Washington has deployed warships to international waters off Venezuela's coast, backed by F-35 fighters sent to Puerto Rico in what it calls an anti-drug operation.

South Africa's DA names former leader Zille as candidate for Johannesburg mayor

By Nqobile Dludla

September 20, 20255:18 AM PDT

South Africa's Democratic Alliance said on Saturday former leader Helen Zille would be its next candidate for mayor of Johannesburg, as the party seeks to win back control of the country's biggest city in next year's local government election.

The 74-year-old was widely regarded as the main architect of the party's political strategy in last year's national election, in which the ruling African National Congress lost its majority for the first time, forcing it to share power with second-placed DA and a host of smaller parties.

VOX POPULI: Longest-running comic strip in Asahi on cusp of major milestone

Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of The Asahi Shimbun.

September 20, 2025 at 11:20 JST

One of the characters in “Nono-chan,” the four-panel comic strip in the morning edition of The Asahi Shimbun, is Hitomi Fujiwara, 27, an elementary school teacher in charge of Third Year, Class Three pupils.

“Don’t sweat the small stuff” must be her motto. To put it nicely, she is delightfully laid back. To be less nice, she is irresponsible and sloppy.

Here’s an example: Fujiwara doesn’t care if someone’s answer in an arithmetic test is a bit off. She’d go, “It’s close, and that’s good enough,” and mark it as “correct.” And with a bored shrug, she’d add, “A number? It is what it is. That’s all there is to it.”