Reuters: World

Mexico's Acapulco ravaged by looting after Hurricane Otis Looting ravaged the Mexican city of Acapulco after the iconic beach resort was hammered this week by Hurricane Otis, a record-breaking storm that killed at least 27 people and left thousands of residents struggling to get food and water. Otis pounded Acapulco with winds of 165 miles per hour (266 km per hour) early on Wednesday, flooding the city, tearing roofs from homes, stores and hotels, submerging vehicles, and severing communications as well as road and air connections. The cost of devastation left by the Category 5 storm was estimated at billions of dollars, and over 8,000 armed forces members were sent to help the stricken port recover. read more

Release of hostages needs ceasefire, Hamas official says A Hamas official tied the release of hostages held in Gaza to a ceasefire in Israel's bombardment of the enclave, launched after a deadly rampage by Hamas militants into southern Israel nearly three weeks ago. Israel says it is preparing a ground invasion, but has been urged by the U.S. and Arab countries to delay an operation that would multiply the number of civilian casualties in the densely populated coastal strip and might ignite a wider conflict. Two U.S. fighter jets struck weapons and ammunition facilities in Syria on Friday in retaliation for attacks on U.S. forces by Iranian-backed militias since the Gaza war erupted. read more

China ex-Premier Li Keqiang, sidelined by Xi Jinping, dies at 68 China's former Premier Li Keqiang died of a heart attack on Friday, just 10 months after retiring from a decade in office during which his reformist star had dimmed. He was 68. Once viewed as a top Communist Party leadership contender, Li was sidelined in recent years by President Xi Jinping, who tightened his grip on power and steered the world's second-largest economy in a more statist direction. The elite economist supported of a more open market economy, advocating for supply-side reforms in an approach dubbed "Likonomics" - which was never fully implemented. Ultimately, he had to bend to Xi's preference for more state control and his former power base waned in influence as Xi installed his own acolytes to powerful positions. read more

Maine mass shootings: Police scour Lewiston for suspect Hundreds of police on Thursday fanned out across Maine looking for a gunman wanted for opening fire at a bar and a bowling alley in the city of Lewiston, with news outlets reporting a death toll ranging from 16 to 22, with dozens more wounded. Officials said there were multiple casualties in the Wednesday evening attack but declined to provide figures. Police told residents to stay indoors and schools across the area were closed on Thursday. State and local police identified Robert R. Card, who reportedly had been committed to a mental health facility over the summer, as a person of interest in the case. They circulated photographs of a bearded man in a brown hoodie and jeans at one of the crime scenes, holding what appeared to be a semi-automatic rifle in the firing position. read more

Israel bombards Gaza as Putin warns conflict could spread beyond Middle East Israel bombarded the Gaza Strip as it prepared for a ground invasion it says is aimed at annihilating the Palestinian militant group Hamas as Russia warned the conflict could spread beyond the Middle East. In besieged Gaza humanitarian supplies were critically low, as world powers failed to agree on a lull to the fighting to deliver aid, and residents buried the dead in mass graves as the civilain toll mounted. U.S. President Joe Biden, in remarks looking beyond the war, said on Wednesday that the future should include Israeli and Palestinian states side by side. read more

Turkey's Erdogan says Hamas is not terrorist organisation Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, in his strongest comments yet on the Gaza conflict, said on Wednesday the Palestinian militant group Hamas was not a terrorist organisation but a liberation group fighting to protect Palestinian lands and people. NATO member Turkey condemned the civilian deaths caused by Hamas' Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel, but also urged Israeli forces to act with restraint. As the violence and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza have worsened, Ankara has strongly criticised Israel's bombardment of the territory. "Hamas is not a terrorist organisation, it is a liberation group, 'mujahideen' waging a battle to protect its lands and people," he told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party, using an Arabic word denoting those who fight for their faith. read more

China willing to cooperate with US, manage differences - Xi Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday that China is willing to cooperate with the United States as both sides manage their differences and work together to respond to global challenges, according to Chinese state media. Whether or not the United States and China could establish the "right" way of getting along would be crucial to the world, Xi said in a letter delivered at an annual dinner of New York-headquartered National Committee on United States-China Relations. Xi's call for more stable bilateral ties, which he says should be built on the principles of "mutual respect, peaceful co-existence and win-win cooperation", comes before a key visit by Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Washington later this week. read more

White House says Iran 'actively facilitating' some attacks on US military bases The White House on Monday said Iran was in some cases "actively facilitating" rocket and drone attacks by Iranian-backed proxy groups on U.S. military bases in Iraq and Syria, and President Biden has directed the Department of Defense to brace for more and respond appropriately. White House spokesman John Kirby said there had been an uptick in such attacks over the last week, and especially over the last few days, but the U.S. would not allow its interests in the region to "go unchallenged." He said the United States believed these groups were supported by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and the Iranian government, which was also continuing to support the Hamas and Hezbollah militant groups. read more

Israel strikes Gaza, Lebanon overnight; Netanyahu convenes generals Israel bombarded Gaza with air strikes early on Monday and its aircraft struck southern Lebanon overnight, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting of his top generals and his war cabinet to assess the escalating conflict. Israel's attacks concentrated on the Gaza Strip's centre and north, Palestinian media reported. A strike on a house near the Jabalia refugee camp, in northern Gaza, killed several Palestinians and wounded others, according to media reports. Health authorities in Gaza said at least 4,600 people were killed in Israel's two-week bombardment that began after a Hamas Oct. 7 rampage on southern Israeli communities in which 1,400 people were killed and 212 were taken into Gaza as hostages. read more

Israel strikes militant compound under West Bank mosque, military says Israeli aircraft struck a compound beneath a mosque in the occupied West Bank early on Sunday that the military said was being used by militants to organise attacks, and Palestinian medics said at least one person was killed. The Israeli air strike is at least the second in recent days to hit the West Bank, where violence has surged since Hamas gunmen from Gaza carried out a deadly Oct. 7 rampage in Israel. Israel said the compound beneath al-Ansar Mosque, in Jenin refugee camp, belonged to operatives from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad who were responsible for attacks in recent months. read more

Israeli air strikes hammer Gaza anew after Hamas releases two US hostages Israel kept up heavy bombardment of targets throughout Gaza overnight on Saturday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to "fight until victory" following the release of the first two hostages by the enclave's ruling Hamas group. After Netanyahu signalled no pause in Israel's aerial onslaught and expected ground invasion, its military said fighter jets had struck a "large number of Hamas terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip" including command centres and combat positions inside multi-story buildings. Palestinian media said Israeli aircraft had struck six homes in the north of Gaza, a coastal enclave that is one of the world's most densely populated places, killing at least 19 people and injuring dozens. read more

Biden to seek billions in military aid for Israel as invasion of Gaza nears U.S. President Joe Biden asked Americans to spend billions more dollars to help Israel fight Hamas while Israel's defence chief told his troops to be ready to go into the Gaza Strip to destroy the Palestinian militant group. In a televised White House speech late on Thursday that also addressed Ukraine's effort to repel Russia's invasion, Biden said Hamas sought to "annihilate" Israel's democracy. The president also stressed the urgency of getting relief to Palestinian civilians in Gaza who lack food, water and medicine. read more