Six In The Morning Saturday 1 November 2025

Defence of Donbas town a priority, Zelensky says, as special forces deployed

James LandaleDiplomatic correspondent, in Kyiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the defence of Pokrovsk is a "priority", as elite special force were deployed to the embattled town on the eastern front line.

Ukrainian army sources told the BBC that special forces from military intelligence and assault groups were being used as regular infantry to protect supply lines to troops holding the town in the Donbas region.

There have been growing reports of Russian advances around the strategic town to the west of Donetsk. Ukraine has denied claims their forces were surrounded.

‘We don’t feel safe’: after week of bombings, people in Gaza are losing faith in ceasefire

After initial enthusiasm, people fear ceasefire does not mean end to war but just less frequent, more unpredictable violence

Seham Tantesh in Gaza and William Christou in Beirut

Sat 1 Nov 2025 13.00 GMT

Ameen al-Zein, like many in Gaza, was overjoyed by the news of the ceasefire. It was a rare moment of relief after years of fear and loss. On Tuesday night he gave an interview to a local NGO urging people to return to their homes in northern Gaza now that fighting had stopped. Just half an hour later, Zein was dead, killed in an Israeli bombing on the school where he had been sheltering in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.

He died without being able to fulfil his vow to his wife that they would return to Beit Lahia and pitch a tent over the rubble, eager to be home even if their house was no longer there.

Serbians gather to commemorate Novi Sad tragedy 

Thousands across Serbia are set to join a rally in Novi Sad in the coming hours, to mark one year since a fatal railway station roof collapse. Protests in late 2024 called for accountability for the tragedy...and eventually led to the collapse of the federal government. Demonstrators today will honor the 16 people who died in the accident, but will also call for more transparency, and indeed, snap elections.

Tanzania President Hassan wins disputed election amid deadly protests

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan won a landslide election victory, official results showed Saturday. The opposition Chadema party, barred from taking part in the poll, said that hundreds of people have been killed by security forces since protests broke out on election day on Wednesday.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has won a landslide election victory, official results showed Saturday, after key candidates were jailed or barred from a vote that has triggered days of violent protests.

The final result showed Hassan won 97.66 percent of the vote, dominating every constituency, the electoral commission announced on state television.

A quick swearing-in ceremony would take place on Saturday, state TV said.

Iran grapples over social freedoms after war with Israel

Some elements of the Iranian state are in favour of relatively relaxing social controls, while others wish to cede no ground.

By Maziar Motamedi

President Masoud Pezeshkian unveiled a “Gen Z adviser” about a month ago, posing for a smiling photo with him that went viral online.

The adviser, Amirreza Ahmadi, told local media that he sees his mission as listening to the youth of Iran, “from Tehran to the borders of this country”, going so far as to share his mobile number.

APEC leaders wrap up their summit in South Korea

HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG

Leaders of 21 Asia-Pacific Rim nations wrapped up their annual summit with a statement underscoring regional economic cooperation, just days after the presidents of the United States and China agreed to dial down their trade war.

After two days of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, APEC leaders issued a joint statement pledging greater cooperation to overcome shared challenges in a global economy hit hard by trade tensions between the U.S. and China, the world’s two largest economies.