Israel withdrew its forces from the Netzarim corridor, a passage across the Gaza Strip that it had occupied. Their departure is one of the terms of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Crowds gathered to cross the former buffer zone, which had cut off southern Gaza from urban areas in the north. Under the ceasefire agreement Hamas has so far released 16 Israeli hostages in exchange for 566 Palestinians incarcerated by Israel. The group has also released five Thai hostages under a separate deal.
Donald Trump praised Elon Musk as the Department of Government Efficiency continued to slash spending by federal agencies. The president told Fox News that he would “soon” ask Mr Musk, who leads DOGE, to examine spending at the Education Department, which the president has promised to shut down. Mr Musk would move on to the armed forces. On Saturday a federal judge temporarily blocked Mr Musk’s team from gaining access to sensitive Treasury payment systems. White House officials criticised the ruling.
China plans to reduce its subsidies for green-energy projects, Reuters reported, after a big increase in its capacity to produce solar and wind power. The country’s main agency for economic planning suggested it would introduce “market-oriented” policies to encourage development. The subsidy programme helped China dominate production of solar panels and other green-energy infrastructure.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan rejected suggestions that Palestinians could be moved out of Gaza and the West Bank. The three countries appeared to be responding to remarks by Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, who said in a television interview that Saudi Arabia has “a lot of land” and so could house a Palestinian state. Donald Trump has called for the eviction of Palestinians from Gaza and an American takeover of the enclave.
Mr Trump told the New York Post that he had spoken to Vladimir Putin about ending the war in Ukraine. Mr Trump did not say how many conversations had taken place, or when. A Kremlin spokesperson said they could neither confirm nor deny the reports. Meanwhile Ukraine’s armed forces said that Russia had launched around 150 drones at the country overnight; some 70 were intercepted.
Mr Trump signed an executive order to cut financial aid to South Africa, accusing its government of “racial discrimination” against Afrikaners, an ethnic group descended from European settlers. The order instructs the Department of Homeland Security to promote the resettlement of “Afrikaner refugees”. South Africa’s government said the directive lacks “factual accuracy” and “fails to recognise South Africa’s profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid”.
Sam Nujoma, the first president of Namibia, died in the country’s capital, Windhoek, aged 95. He led the South West Africa People’s Organisation, a rebel movement that freed Namibia from rule by South Africa and became a political party. Mr Nujoma, the last of a generation of African leaders who achieved independence for their countries, was Namibia’s president for 15 years from 1990. SWAPO remains in power.
Fact of the day: 1.9bn, the number of users TikTok has worldwide. Read the full story.
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