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Supporters of Israel and backers of the Palestinian cause held competing rallies in several American cities Sunday over the conflict that has killed hundreds and wounded thousands in the Middle East. In New York City, a skirmish broke out between opposing demonstrators near the United Nations compound after a large group of Palestinian supporters rallied in Times Square. Palestinian Americans protested outside the Israeli consulates in Atlanta and Chicago. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a Jewish community gathering to support Israel at a synagogue in San Francisco. The demonstrations and involvement of American political leaders show the far-reaching ramifications of a conflict that has already prompted the U.S. to order naval forces deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean, ready to assist Israel. Here's what reaction around the country has looked like: NEW YORK In New York City, police ringed the United Nations compound as scores of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered a block away, chanting and waving flags. Metal barricades kept them on sidewalks as officers worked to separate them from an opposing group across the street, some waving Israeli flags. Read: US demands condemnation of Hamas at UN meeting, but Security Council takes no immediate action As some pro-Palestinian demonstrators were leaving, men yelling and carrying Israeli flags crossed the barricades. A short skirmish broke out in the crowd, with one man ripping away an Israeli flag and throwing it to the sidewalk, where people stomped on it. Police quickly separated the two sides. “We want to show the world that when Palestine rises up in resistance, the diaspora rises with it,” Munir Atalla, of the Palestinian Youth Movement, said before the scuffle. In Times Square, social media earlier showed Palestinian supporters rallied, with police barricades separating the crowd from a pro-Israel group. The pro-Palestinians eventually marched away chanting “free, free Palestine, long live Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as tourists and onlookers snapped photos. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, condemned the planned pro-Palestinian rally in a statement on Saturday night, calling it “abhorrent and morally repugnant.” Other political leaders in New York have issued similar statements. ATLANTA In Atlanta, more than 75 people demonstrated at the Israeli consulate Sunday afternoon, chanting slogans in support of Hamas and calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel. Read: Hamas attack on Israel thrusts Biden into Mideast crisis and has him fending off GOP criticism “We're here because we think everyone in the United States is funding Israeli apartheid," said Natalie Villasana, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. She said U.S. military aid would be better spent on problems in the United State, although demonstrators also argued that Hamas' actions were justified by Israeli actions. Talia Segal, a student at nearby Georgia Tech, came as a counter-protester, carrying an Israeli flag fringed with the rainbow of the LGBTQ+ pride movement. “Terrorism is never justified. Their target was Israeli civilians,” said Segal, who is Jewish and said she fears for her family in Israel. CHICAGO In Chicago, Priscilla Reed was among hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who rallied outside the Israeli consulate. Many waved Palestinian flags or wore keffiyeh, the black and white checkered scarfs that have come to symbolize Palestinian solidarity. Their chants, in both English and Arabic, included, “Netanyahu you will see, Palestine will be free!” Read: More than 1,000 dead after surprise Hamas attack and Israel’s response Reed, a retired teacher, said the attacks by Hamas were in response to Israel's "systemic daily violence against Palestinians.”

The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting behind closed doors Sunday, with the United States demanding all 15 members strongly condemn “these heinous terrorist attacks committed by Hamas,” but they took no immediate action. U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood said afterward that “a good number of countries” did condemn the Hamas attack but not all council members. He told reporters they could probably figure out one of them. Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told The Associated Press the Americans tried to say during the meeting that Russia isn’t condemning the attacks, but “that’s untrue.” “It was in my comments,” he said. “We condemn all the attacks on civilians.” Nebenzia said Russia’s message is: “It’s important to stop the fighting immediately, to go to a cease-fire and to meaningful negotiations, which were stalled for decades.” Read: More than 1,000 dead after surprise Hamas attack and Israel’s response Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun voiced a similar position earlier, as he headed into the meeting. He said Beijing condemns all attacks on civilians, though he did not mention Hamas. “What’s really important is to prevent the further escalation of the situation and further casualties of civilians,” Zhang said. “What’s also important is really to come back to the two-state solution.” Wood made clear the U.S. is focused on condemning Hamas for “this unprovoked invasion and the terrorist attacks,” and said Hamas must end its “violent terrorist activity against the Israeli people.” Asked if it wasn't impportant to restart talks on a two-state solution and end the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian confilct, he replied: “There’ll be time for that. The time right now is we’ve got to deal with the hostage taking, the violence that is going on that’s being perpetrated by Hamas. and we’ve got to deal with first things first.” China’s ambassador said it is important the Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, “have its voice heard.” But Russia’s Nebenzia said no country put forward a statement for the council's consideration. Read: Israeli and Palestinian supporters rally across U.S. as Israel declares war after Hamas attack That could happen in the coming days, if differences over condemning Hamas and condemning civilian deaths can be bridged, along with agreement on possible language on ending the violence and resuming negotiations. Malta’s U.N. ambassador, Vanessa Frazier, who called for the meeting, said she didn't know if the council would adopt a statement, but added that any condemnation must be mostly against Hamas. “Palestinian civilians are also victims in this and Hamas put them in this position,” she said. Council members were briefed virtually by U.N. Mideast envoy Tor Wennesland. Nebenzia said Wennesland told the council that the situation was “precarious” and “awful" and that “people are scared on both sides.” Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh of the United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the council, said all members understand it is key for everyone to work “for calm and de-escalation,” with a priority on protecting civilians on both sides. Read: Israel’s Security Council says country at war with Hamas and authorizes significant military steps Wood called the situation “still fluid and very dangerous,” stressing that the Biden administration is “working hard, as I know other countries in the region are, to try to prevent this conflict from spreading.” Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan told reporters before the meeting that Hamas had carried out a surprise “barbaric pogrom” and accused the militant group of “blatant, documented war crimes.” “These animal-like terrorists broke into homes gathered entire families into rooms and shot them point blank, as if they were stomping on insects,” he said. “Grandparents and the elderly, among them Holocaust survivors who endured the Nazis, were violently dragged from their homes, this time by Hamas and taken into Gaza.” Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador, said Israel’s blockade of Gaza and repeated assaults in the territory didn’t achieve its aims of destroying Hamas’ military capabilities and ensuring security. Instead, it inflicted terrible suffering on Gaza’s civilian population, he said. “It is time for an immediate end to the violence and the bloodshed, and it is time to end this blockade and to open a political horizon,” he said. “This is not a time to let Israel double-down on its terrible choices. This is a time to tell Israel it needs to change course — that there is a path to peace, where neither Israelis nor Palestinians are killed. And it is the one diametrically opposed to the one Israel is embarked on.”  

The deadly Hamas militant attack on Israel and the massive retaliation it provoked from Jerusalem have thrust President Joe Biden into a Middle East crisis that risks expanding into a broader conflict and has left him fending off criticism from GOP presidential rivals that his administration's policies led to this moment. The potential for prolonged and expanding violence could test Biden's leadership on both the world stage and at home as he tries to navigate between demonstrating unflinching support for Israel and fostering a broader peace in the combustible Mideast, where sympathetic militants were quick to loudly praise the action by Hamas. Lebanon's Hezbollah group welcomed the attack as a response to "Israeli crimes." The group, which holds similar goals as Hamas for the destruction of the Israeli state, said its command was in contact with Hamas about the operation. A senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader also lauded the deadly attack. And Hamas said it was ready for a potentially long fight. Gunfire, rockets and carnage: Israelis are stunned and shaken by unprecedented Hamas attack Israeli media, citing rescue service officials, said at least 300 people were killed, including 26 soldiers, while in Gaza officials said 313 people had died. An Israeli military official said hundreds of militants had been killed and dozens captured. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military official, said the military had killed 400 militants since the start of the war and captured dozens more. Among the 313 killed in Gaza were 20 children, and close to 2,000 wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Several 2024 Republican presidential contenders immediately tried to pin a portion of the blame on Biden. They sought to tie his recent decision to release $6 billion in blocked Iranian funds in exchange for freeing five Americans who had been detained in Iran to Saturday's complex attack by air, land and sea. The White House pushed back fiercely against the GOP criticism, noting that the money unfrozen last month in the prisoner swap has yet to be spent by Iran and can only be used for humanitarian needs. 5 things to know about the Hamas group's unprecedented attack on Israel Iran has historically maintained strong ties with both Palestinian Hamas and Hezbollah. A senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity said it was "too early to say whether the state of Iran was directly involved in planning or supporting" the complex attack but noted Iran's deep ties to Hamas. Biden and top aides spent Saturday consulting with European and Middle East leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In remarks before reporters at the White House, Biden called the attacks "unconscionable" and pledged his administration would ensure Israel has "what it needs to defend itself." "Let me say this as clearly as I can: This is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage," Biden said. The attack only adds new complications as the Biden administration and Iran are locked in disputes over Tehran's nuclear program. Iran says the program is peaceful, but it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. Still, the administration hasn't given up hope on reviving a deal brokered during the Obama administration — and scrapped during the Trump White House — that eased sanctions on Iran in return for curbs to its nuclear program. Israeli soldiers battle Hamas on second day of surprise attack; strikes level buildings in Gaza Biden administration officials have also been working on brokering a normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the most powerful and wealthy Arab state. Such a deal has the potential to reshape the region and boost Israel's standing in historic ways. But brokering such a deal was already seen as a heavy lift as the kingdom has said it won't officially recognize Israel before a resolution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The new conflict adds an enormous new roadblock to Biden's ambitions, although the administration official said the White House did not see the Hamas attack derailing the effort. Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry in a statement did not condemn the Hamas attack, but noted the kingdom's "repeated warnings of the dangers … of the situation as a result of the continued occupation, the deprivation of the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights, and the repetition of systematic provocations against its sanctities." Netanyahu vowed in his own national address to avenge the startling attacks, pledging to "bring the fight to them with a might and scale that the enemy has not yet known." Hamas fighters have taken an unknown number of civilians and soldiers captive into Gaza, in harrowing scenes posted on social media. Those images — and the mounting death toll — come 50 years and a day after invading forces from Egypt and Syria caught Israel by surprise with the launch of an attack on Israel that set off the 19-day conflict that became known as the Yom Kippur War. Jonathan Schanzer, an analyst at the Washington think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Biden did "a good job" at keeping Israel's critics, particularly his fellow Democrats, at bay while Netanyahu sought to achieve his military objectives against Hamas during their last major conflict, an 11-day war in 2021. It will likely be tougher this time around. "There will be mistakes that often happen on the battlefield, no military is perfect. That's when I think the president will come under fire from his left flank," Schanzer said. Some in the 2024 Republican field were quick to place blame squarely on Biden for the Hamas assault. Former President Donald Trump charged that the U.S. is perceived as being "weak and ineffective" on the global stage under Biden, opening the door to hostility against Israel. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis accused Biden of "policies that have gone easy on Iran" and have "helped to fill their coffers." And South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott alleged the attack was "the Biden $6 billion ransom payment at work," a reference to the prisoner deal. Biden administration officials pushed back against the argument. "Let's be clear: the deal to bring U.S. citizens home from Iran has nothing to do with the horrific attack on Israel," said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. "Not a penny has been spent, and when it is, it can only go for humanitarian needs like food and medicine." Biden administration officials did not address whether Iran, in anticipation of using the money — now held in Qatari banks — for food, medicine, medical supplies and agricultural products, may have diverted other funds to Hamas or other proxies. In a briefing with Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff on Saturday, administration officials said the U.S. had warned Iran "through interlocutors" that direct involvement in the Gaza situation would imperil any future initiatives the U.S. might consider with the Islamic Republic, according to a congressional aide familiar with the session. Death toll from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza rises to 232 The officials did not elaborate on who the interlocutors were or what future initiatives would be in jeopardy, although acting deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and the top U.S. diplomat for the Mideast, Barbara Leaf, both spoke to officials in Lebanon about the situation. Some Lebanese officials maintain contact with Iran, which supports the militant group Hezbollah in the country. Another point of criticism leveled at the administration by Republicans is that its decision shortly after taking office to reverse a Trump-era ban on assistance to the Palestinians, including civilians in Gaza, may have helped fund the operation. Administration officials roundly rejected this, saying their efforts to help Palestinian civilians in Gaza and elsewhere do not involve money that Hamas can use or divert.

Israel's national rescue service says the death toll has risen to 100 from Hamas' surprise incursion into southern Israel on Saturday. The figure was announced by Zaki Heller of the Magen David Adom paramedic service. With hundreds of people hospitalized in serious and critical condition, that number is likely to rise. The figures make Saturday one of the deadliest days in Israel's 75-year history. Hamas militants fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of fighters into Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip in an unprecedented surprise early morning attack during a major Jewish holiday Saturday, killing dozens and stunning the country. Israel said it was now at war with Hamas and launched airstrikes in Gaza, vowing to inflict an “unprecedented price.” Several hours after the incursion began, Hamas militants were still fighting gunbattles inside several Israeli communities near Gaza. Israel’s national rescue service said at least 40 people have been killed and hundreds wounded, making it the deadliest attack in Israel in years. Also, an unknown number of Israeli soldiers and civilians had been seized and taken into Gaza. At least 198 people in the Gaza Strip have been killed in Israel’s retaliation and at least 1,610 wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said. The strength, sophistication and timing of the attack shocked Israelis, with images of Hamas gunmen bringing seized soldiers and civilians into Gaza on motorbikes and parading what appeared to be captured Israeli military vehicles through the streets. Videos on social media showed what appeared to be at least one dead Israeli soldier within Gaza being dragged and trampled by an angry crowd of Palestinians shouting “God is Greatest.” The assault threatened to spiral into a greater conflict, mirroring previous Hamas-Israel conflicts that brought widespread death and destruction in Gaza and days of rocket fire on Israeli communities. Read: UN warns Pakistan that forcibly deporting Afghans could lead to severe human rights violations “We are at war,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address, declaring a mass army mobilization. “Not an ‘operation,’ not a ‘round,’ but at war.” “The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” he added, promising that Israel would “return fire of a magnitude that the enemy has not known.” The shadowy leader of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, in turn, said the assault was in response to the continued blockade of Gaza, Israeli raids inside West Bank cities over the past year, violence at Al Aqsa — the disputed Jerusalem holy site sacred to Jews as the Temple Mount — increasing attacks by settlers on Palestinians and continued growth of settlements. He said the morning attack was only the start of what he called “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.” “Enough is enough,” Deif, who does not appear in public, said in the recorded message, as he called on Palestinians from east Jerusalem to northern Israel to join the fight. “Today the people are regaining their revolution.” At a meeting of top security officials later on Saturday, Netanyahu said the first priority was to “cleanse the area” of enemy infiltrators, then to “exact a huge price from the enemy,” and to fortify other areas so that no other militant groups join the war. The serious incursion on Simchat Torah, a normally joyous day when Jews complete the annual cycle of reading the Torah scroll, revived painful memories of the 1973 Mideast war practically 50 years to the day, in which Israel’s enemies launched a surprise attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Comparisons to one of the most traumatic moments in Israeli history sharpened criticism of Netanyahu and his far-right allies, who had campaigned on more aggressive action against threats from Gaza. Political commentators lambasted the government over its failure to anticipate what appeared to be a Hamas attack unseen in its level of planning and coordination. The Israeli military struck targets in Gaza in response for some 2,500 rockets that sent air raid sirens wailing constantly as far north as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) away. It said its forces were engaged in gunfights with Hamas militants who had infiltrated Israel in at least seven locations. The fighters had sneaked across the separation fence and even invaded Israel through the air with paragliders, the army said. Israeli TV broadcast footage of explosions tearing through the Gaza-Israel border fence, followed by what appeared to be Palestinian gunmen riding into Israel on motorcycles. Gunmen also reportedly entered on pickup trucks. Videos released by Hamas appeared to show at least three Israelis captured alive. The military declined to give details about casualties or kidnappings as it continued to battle the infiltrators.

Global sugar prices surged by nearly 10 percent in September to their highest level since 2010, pushed by decreased production from major suppliers and concerns about energy prices and the impacts of the El Nino weather phenomenon, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said.  Saudi Arabia says it will maintain production cuts that have helped drive oil prices up FAO said sugar prices in September were on average 9.8 percent higher than in August due to lower sugar production. An increase in transport costs due to rising energy prices and dry weather caused by El Nino, a warm weather event in the Pacific Ocean, were also contributing factors. Gold price decreased by Tk1750 to Tk98,211 per bhori from Sunday With the increase in September, the FAO sub-index for sugar reached its highest level since November 2010, while other parts of the overall FAO Food Price Index saw less dramatic moves. Selling dollars at higher prices: What is Bangladesh Bank’s action against treasury heads of 10 banks? The index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of globally-traded food commodities, averaged 121.5 points in September, compared to 121.4 points in August. At this level, the index is 10.7 percent below its value a year ago and 24.0 percent below its all-time high reached in March 2022, according to the FAO.

At least 16 migrants from Venezuela and Haiti died early Friday in a bus crash in southern Mexico, authorities said. Mexico's National Immigration Institute originally reported 18 dead, but later lowered that figure. Prosecutors in the southern state of Oaxaca later said there had been an overcount due to some of the bodies being dismembered, and that the real death toll was 16. Both sources said the dead include two women and three children, and that 29 people were injured. There was no immediate information on their condition. Bus crash near Venice, Italy, kills at least 21 people, including Ukrainian tourists Photos from the scene showed the bus rolled over onto its side on a curvy section of highway in the southern state of Oaxaca. The cause of the crash in the town of Tepelmeme, near the border with the neighboring state of Puebla, is under investigation. The institute said a total of 55 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, were aboard the vehicle. It was the latest in a series of migrant deaths in Mexico amid a surge in migrants traveling toward the U.S. border. Because migration agents often raid regular buses, migrants and smugglers often seek out risky forms of transportation, like unregulated buses, trains or freight trucks. Last week, 10 Cuban migrants died and 17 others were seriously injured after a freight truck they were riding in crashed on a highway in the neighboring state of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala. 3 dead as bus crashes into broken-down truck in Munshiganj The National Immigration Institute said all of the dead Cuban migrants were women, and one of them was under 18. The Institute said the driver of the vehicle had apparently been speeding and lost control of the truck, which was carrying 27 migrants at the time. The driver fled the scene. Mexican authorities generally prohibit migrants without proper documents from buying tickets for regular buses, so those without the money to hire smugglers often hire poorly-driven, poorly-maintained buses that speed to avoid being stopped. Or they walk along the side of highways, hitching rides aboard passing trucks. A bus crashes off the road in central Turkey, leaving 12 passengers dead Last week, a truck flipped over on a highway in Chiapas, killing two Central American migrants and injuring another 27. And two Central American migrants died last week after trying to board a moving train in the state of Coahuila near the Texas border.

Imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in recognition of her tireless campaigning for women’s rights and democracy, and against the death penalty. Mohammadi, 51, has kept up her activism despite numerous arrests by Iranian authorities and spending years behind bars. She has remained a leading light for nationwide, women-led protests sparked by the death last year of a 22-year-old woman in police custody that have grown into one of the most intense challenges to Iran’s theocratic government. Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, began Friday's announcement with the words “Woman, Life, Freedom” in Farsi — the slogan of the demonstrations in Iran. “This prize is first and foremost a recognition of the very important work of a whole movement in Iran with its undisputed leader, Narges Mohammadi," Reiss-Andersen said. She also urged Iran to release Mohammadi in time for the prize ceremony on Dec. 10. The Nobel Peace Prize is to be announced in Oslo Friday For nearly all of Mohammadi’s life, Iran has been governed by a Shiite theocracy headed by the country’s supreme leader. While women hold jobs, academic positions and even government appointments, their lives are tightly controlled. Women are required by law to wear a headscarf, or hijab, to cover their hair. Iran and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only countries to mandate that. In a statement released after the Nobel announcement, Mohammadi said she will "never stop striving for the realization of democracy, freedom and equality.” “Surely, the Nobel Peace Prize will make me more resilient, determined, hopeful and enthusiastic on this path, and it will accelerate my pace," she said in the statement, prepared in advance in case she was named the Nobel laureate. Norwegian author Jon Fosse wins the Nobel Prize in literature An engineer by training, Mohammadi has been imprisoned 13 times and convicted five. In total, she has been sentenced to 31 years in prison. Her most recent incarceration began when she was detained in 2021 after attending a memorial for a person killed in nationwide protests. She has been held at Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, whose inmates include those with Western ties and political prisoners. U.S. President Joe Biden and Amnesty International joined calls for Mohammadi’s immediate release. “This award is a recognition that, even as she is currently and unjustly held in Evin Prison, the world still hears the clarion voice of Narges Mohammadi calling for freedom and equality,” Biden said in a statement. “I urge the government in Iran to immediately release her and her fellow gender equality advocates from captivity.” Friday's prize sends "a clear message to the Iranian authorities that their crackdown on peaceful critics and human rights defenders will not go unchallenged,” Amnesty said. Mohammadi's brother, Hamidreza Mohammadi, said that while “the prize means that the world has seen this movement,” it will not affect the situation in Iran. “The regime will double down on the opposition" he told The Associated Press. "They will just crush people.” Mohammadi's husband, Taghi Rahmani, who lives in exile in Paris with their two children, 16-year-old twins, said his wife "has a sentence she always repeats: ‘Every single award will make me more intrepid, more resilient and more brave for realizing human rights, freedom, civil equality and democracy.'” Rahmani hasn't been able to see his wife for 11 years, and their children haven't seen their mother for seven, he said. Their son, Ali Rahmani, said the Nobel was not just for his mother: "It's for the struggle." "This prize is for the entire population, for the whole struggle from the beginning, since the Islamic government came to power," the teen said. Women political prisoners in Evin aren’t allowed to use the phone on Thursday and Friday, so Mohammadi prepared her statement in advance of the Nobel announcement, said exiled Iranian photographer Reihane Taravati, a family friend who spent 14 days in solitary confinement there before fleeing to France this year. Mohammadi is the 19th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize and the second Iranian woman, after human rights activist Shirin Ebadi won in 2003. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Friday's selection “a tribute to all those women who are fighting for their rights at the risk of their freedom, their health and even their lives.” It’s the fifth time in its 122-year history that the Nobel Peace Prize has been given to someone in prison or under house arrest. In 2022, the top human rights advocate in Belarus, Ales Bialiatski, was among the winners. He remains imprisoned. Mohammadi was in detention for the recent protests of the death of Mahsa Amini, who was picked up by the morality police for her allegedly loose headscarf. More than 500 people were killed in a security crackdown, while over 22,000 others were arrested. But from behind bars, Mohammadi contributed an opinion piece for The New York Times in September. “What the government may not understand is that the more of us they lock up, the stronger we become,” she wrote. Iran's government, which holds Mohammadi behind bars, criticized the Nobel committee's decision as being part of the “interventionist and anti-Iranian policies of some European countries.” It “is another link in the chain of pressure from Western circles against Iran,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement. Iranian state media described Mohammadi as being “in and out of jail for much of her adult life," calling her internationally applauded activism “propaganda” and an “act against national security.” In Tehran, people expressed support for Mohammadi and her resilience. "The prize was her right. She stayed inside the country, in prison and defended people, bravo!" said Mina Gilani, a girl's high school teacher. Arezou Mohebi, a 22-year-old chemistry student, called the Nobel “an award for all Iranian girls and women,” and described Mohammadi "as the bravest I have ever seen." Political analyst Ahmad Zeidabadi said the prize might lead to more pressure on Mohammadi. “The prize will simultaneously bring possibilities and restrictions,” he wrote online. “I hope Narges will not be confined by its restrictions.” Before being jailed, Mohammadi was vice president of the banned Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran, founded by Nobel laureate Ebadi. The Nobel prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million). Unlike the other Nobel prizes that are selected and announced in Stockholm, founder Alfred Nobel decreed the peace prize be decided and awarded in Oslo by the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee. The Nobel season ends Monday with the announcement of the winner of the economics prize, formally known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.  

The United States has dismissed reports saying that the diplomatic spat between India and Canada over Justin Trudeau's allegation against the Narendra Modi government will deteriorate relations between New Delhi and Washington. Following an article in a Washington-based website titled "Why Biden's mum on the India-Canada spat," the US embassy released the denial, reports NDTV. According to the article, US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, informed his colleagues that India-US relations "could get worse for a time." According to the report, Garcetti stated that the US "may need to reduce its contacts with Indian officials for an undefined period of time." Read: India-Canada diplomatic row: Talks with India ‘in private,’ says Canadian Foreign Minister According to a statement given by the US Embassy in India: “The U.S. Embassy dismisses these reports. Ambassador Garcetti is working hard every day to deepen the partnership between the people and governments of the United States and India. As his personal engagement and public schedule demonstrates, Ambassador Garcetti and the U.S. Mission to India are working every day to advance the important, strategic, and consequential partnership we have with India." Since Trudeau accused the Indian government of involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist from Khalistani movement, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in June, New Delhi and Ottawa have been stuck in a diplomatic standoff. The claims have been described as "absurd" and "motivated" by India, the report added. So far, the Joe Biden administration has insisted that the Canadian government's charges must be investigated, it said. Read: Killing of Sikh separatist: India tells Canada to withdraw over 40 diplomatic staff, reports say The issue was raised during a meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the latter's visit to the US. According to John Kirby, coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council at the White House, the subject was also discussed when Jaishankar and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met. "We'll certainly leave it to those two countries to talk about their bilateral relationship. We've been clear, these allegations are serious, they need to be fully investigated and of course, as we've said before, we urge India to participate actively in that investigation," Kirby said. The Washington Post previously reported that Canadian authorities sought public criticism of Nijjar's murder from its friends, particularly the United States, ahead of the G20 conference, but were met with reluctance, the report concluded.  

Today is World Teachers' Day. World Teachers' Day is observed on October 5 to commemorate teachers worldwide and highlight their essential role in advancing education and moulding students' futures. This year, celebrations of the day will focus on the theme "The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage". Also read: Teachers, students can motivate people to plant more trees: Environment Minister It highlights that without education as its foundation, a society cannot completely develop, and that only a civilised society can exist with a high literacy rate. World Teachers’ Day 2023 Every year on October 5, World Teachers' Day commemorates the approval of the 1966 International Labour Organisation (ILO) and United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recommendation on the status of teachers. This proposal was expanded to include higher education teachers in 1997. World Teachers' Day was first observed globally in 1994, according to an NDTV report. Also read: ChatGPT maker releases tool to help teachers detect if AI wrote homework This day also provides a chance to assist teachers in fully utilising their abilities and passions, as well as to anticipate the future of the teaching profession on a worldwide scale. World Teachers' Day is coordinated by the ILO, UNICEF, and Education International. Theme for World Teachers' Day This year's World Teachers' Day theme is "The Teachers We Need for the Education We Want: The Global Imperative to Reverse the Teacher Shortage." The fundamental goal is to avoid the reduction in the number of educators and to take initiatives to boost their worldwide presence. It also seeks to investigate how education systems, cultures, communities, and families may identify, appreciate, and actively support teachers, the report said. Significance of World Teachers' Day This day is significant because teachers have the ability to affect transformational and long-term changes in the lives of others, contributing to the construction of sustainable futures and personal fulfilment. However, the world is presently experiencing an unprecedented teacher shortage, which is worsened by decreasing working conditions and professional standing.

Far more people are in harm's way as they move into high flood zones across the globe, adding to an increase in watery disasters from climate change, a new study said. Since 1985, the number of the world's settlements in the riskiest flood zones has increased 122%, compared to 80% for the safest areas, according to a study in Wednesday's journal Nature by researchers at The World Bank. The authors looked at settlement extent and expansion using satellites instead of population, with the world's built-up regions growing 85% overall from 1985 to 2015. "People are on a search for better lives and better jobs and then sort of get stuck in bad lands because that's what they can afford," said study co-author Stephane Hallegatte, a World Bank senior climate adviser and expert on disaster economics. He said they know it's dangerous when they arrive. Also read: Rush-hour storm floods New York City area, swamping streets and stranding people in traffic The problem is driven by middle- and low-income countries, the study found. Richer countries like the United States and parts of Europe are seeing more growth in safer areas than flood-prone ones and the poorest nations haven't quite developed as heavily in flood-prone areas, it said. China and Vietnam both saw their settlement extent more than tripling in the past 30 years, increasing far more than their dry land areas. Most countries, especially in East Asia, saw more settlements in regular flood zones and ultra high flood zones than in dry areas. Libya, which suffered from devastating flooding last month, had an 83% increase in settlement extent in the worst flood zones. Pakistan, also the victim of catastrophic flooding both last year and this year, had an 89% increase. What's happening is that as a nation grows a bit wealthier there's a change from rural to urban and people leave the country to go to cities, which are often near waterways that flood in places, said study lead author Jun Rentschler, a World Bank economist. Also read: For a divided Libya, disastrous floods have become a rallying cry for unity "What we're trying to do with the study is to track the process of urban development over time," Rentschler said. "What you would expect is that initially you settle in a safe space, but as the city expands, it's more likely to grow into areas that it previously avoided, flood zones for instance." Then comes the issue of is it cheaper to fortify these dangerous areas or better to move people out, the study authors said. Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, is a poster city for this problem, they said. It boomed from a fishing village of about 83,000 people in 1950 to more than 7 million people now, according to World Population Review. On the other hand, the United States saw dry settlements increase 76% and the highest flood settlements go up only 46%. Other countries with more dry settlements than ultra-wet include France, Sweden, Austria, Finland, Japan, Canada and India. Also read: Searchers look for more than 10,000 missing in flooded Libyan city where death toll eclipsed 11,000 "It is an important paper that compiles data on both developed areas and assets exposed to flooding as never has been done before," said Columbia University climate scientist Klaus Jacob, who wasn't part of the research. "Especially the data on differentiating the countries by income levels is of importance and provides interesting socioeconomic insights." Populations growing into flood zones doesn't mean that climate change isn't a major problem, the study authors said. In fact, they are intertwined, Rentschler said. And in both cases poorer countries could keep from falling into a trap middle income countries are doing now, Hallegatte said. With urban development, smart planning can prevent some of the moving into the riskiest places, he said. Also read: Thousands are feared dead and thousands more are missing in flood-ravaged eastern Libya "It's way cheaper to fix it now than it is to fix it later," Hallegatte said. "We're making the same argument on carbon emissions."