Israel marks third anniversary of 7 October Hamas attacks | First Thing
Site of the Nova music festival near Re’im one of the locations where grieving relatives have gathered
Good morning. Israel is holding ceremonies and gatherings to mark the third anniversary of the 7 October attack by Hamas, in which about 1,200 people were killed and another 251 taken captive to Gaza. Israeli communities shattered by the massacres, torn between rebuilding their lives and remembering lost friends and relatives, have spoken to Emma Graham-Harrison about their experiences of that day and the days since. The Guardian is marking the day with a live blog, featuring the latest images of events taking place in Israel and around the world.
Israel’s government responded to the attack by launching a devastating war on Gaza, during which at least 74,243 people have been killed, according to the territory’s health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.
What is happening with the flydubai attack investigation? New Zealand authorities have launched their own investigation into the flydubai co-pilot who allegedly tried to hijack an Israel-bound plane, after police confirmed he underwent flight training there about a year after he abandoned a degree in Australia. Disaster was narrowly averted on 30 September when passengers and crew intervened to stop the alleged attempt to take control of a flight to Tel Aviv with 182 people onboard.
What it is the latest settler violence? Armed Israeli settlers beat a photographer in the presence of Israeli soldiers, hospitalising him, as he covered worsening settler violence against olive farmers in the occupied West Bank. Jaafar Ashtiyeh, a 58-year-old veteran photographer for Agence France-Presse in Palestine, was beaten with the butts of rifles, despite him being marked as press, in view of about a dozen armed Israeli soldiers.
US justice department moves to strip citizenship of 40 naturalized citizens
The justice department has moved to strip the citizenship of 40 naturalized citizens accused of crimes in what authorities describe as “the largest” such initiative over a single period. Officials announced the filing of “denaturalization actions” against more than three dozen people alleged to have committed such offenses as “acting as an agent for a foreign government, committing voluntary manslaughter, and aggravated sodomy against a special‑needs man.”
A statement attributed to the US attorney general, Todd Blanche, maintained that those at the center of Monday’s announcement “concealed critical facts from the US government and represent serious criminal offenders.”
Who is the latest person taking legal action against the administration’s immigration enforcement? Marimar Martinez, a US citizen who was shot one year ago by a Customs and Border Protection agent during a sweeping immigration crackdown in Chicago, has filed a lawsuit against the federal government, alleging the agent lied about the shooting and fired into her vehicle from behind.
What has a whistleblower said about FBI investigations into LA anti-ICE protesters? Alex Padilla, a Democratic senator who represents California and serves on the Senate judiciary committee, said his office had received a copy of a complaint from a whistleblower that makes sweeping allegations about the Trump administration’s response to protests in LA in early 2025, claiming the president himself ordered the FBI to investigate protesters.
Riot police fire teargas as 250,000 people take part in schools protests across France
Police fired teargas at protesters as more than 250,000 pupils, teachers and parents demonstrated across France on the biggest day yet of a campaign for better high school conditions that has been marred by often violent clashes with police. The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, said at least 215 teenagers and 85 school staff had been injured since the protests began more than a fortnight ago. Nearly 500 people were arrested and authorities said 43 police officers were injured.
Why are there such large protests over French schools? School students say the education system is riven with inequality, that many buildings are in disrepair, class sizes are too big, and there are not enough teachers or funding. Lecornu has promised to address what he called “legitimate” complaints, including on class sizes, long hours, dilapidated buildings and teacher provisions.
Christa Pike is conscious and speaking after botched execution attempt, lawyers say
Christa Pike is awake and speaking as she receives treatment at a hospital, her attorneys said Tuesday. Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital, a sedative, as Tennessee officials attempted to put her to death last Wednesday, in a case that shocked many in America and created headlines around the world. Pike and her boyfriend killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, one of their classmates, in 1995. The case garnered nationwide attention due to the young ages of those involved and the brutality of the murder.
In other news …
An oil tanker off Russia’s Black Sea coast was struck by a naval drone, causing a huge fire and a black smoke cloud that blanketed parts of the resort city of Sochi, Russia’s transport ministry has said.
Paramount has completed the $111bn acquisition of Warner Bros to form a new media empire, Skydance.
Donald Trump said his administration was considering suspending the federal gasoline tax. Pump prices have stayed high since the US-Israeli war on Iran raised them sharply earlier this year.
The New York governor, Kathy Hochul, has declared a state of emergency in response to a dramatic rise in measles cases in the state. There have been 108 confirmed cases in New York so far this year. There was just one reported case in 2023.
A former senior CIA official pleaded guilty to a charge that he abused his position and government funds to enrich himself by acquiring Florida real estate and hundreds of gold bars.
Stat of the day: California couple charged with child abuse in surrogacy scheme involving at least 21 children
Silvia Zhang and her husband, Guojun Xuan, are expected to face conspiracy to commit child abuse charges. Fifteen children were removed from the couple’s opulent home in Arcadia last year after an allegation of abuse, and another six living elsewhere were also located.
Well Actually: Experts on how to get more comfortable with death
Madeleine Aggeler explores how we live in, as one expert puts it, “grief-illiterate and grief-phobic societies” despite us all knowing that we will die one day. It is a very thought-provoking piece.
Don’t miss this: Who owns ‘brain rot’? Inside the international legal drama over a beloved meme
Kari Paul reports on the extraordinary legal tussle over Tung Tung Tung Sahur, also known as Triple T. There is a huge question about who gets to profit from the OpenAI image-generated character, created in 2025 by an Indonesian teen who goes by the username Noxa.
Climate check: Tropical depression in Gulf predicted to be Atlantic season’s first hurricane
As an unprecedented heatwave has gripped southern California, boosting temperatures to 15 to 20 degrees above normal for autumn, on the other side of the US a tropical depression in the Gulf is predicted to be the Atlantic season’s first hurricane. The first hurricane of the season has not formed this late since 1905. Scientists predict a possible US landfall on Saturday.
Last Thing: Hundreds of dachshunds march down the Champs-Élysées
If your answer to the question “Would you like to watch a video featuring hundreds of sausage dogs marching down one of France’s most famous landmarks?” is no, I urge you to click this link and reconsider.
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